A/N: And here is Chapter 5! Thank you all for the lovely reviews. I'm really glad to here that you guys liked the story idea. I actually started thinking about it a couple years ago….but it never seemed quite right until I realized that it would make a perfect HGDM story.

But anyway—

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I only own the Arkkien

Warnings: I will post these when I feel that they are going to become applicable.

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Hermione stepped off the bus and looked around, a bit surprised. Everything looked so…off. It wasn't as dramatic as all the travel books made it sound, but the somewhat normal landscape had a different edge to it than Britain. It was somewhat disconcerting to hear so many American accents in one place.

"Hey, are you lost?" A female voice asked politely from behind her.

Hermione turned, and was met with the sight of a very strange woman. She had fire engine red hair, and it was cut in a short pixie cut that framed her small, angular face. Her eyes were a fierce green, and Hermione was struck by their wry intelligence. "I'm not quite sure, actually." She admitted sheepishly.

The woman gave a grin. "I thought you were British." She said, satisfied. Hermione gave her an inquisitive look. "You have the British look about you. I don't know why, but all the tourists and recent immigrants from that part of Europe always seem to look around with a befuddled expression. It's almost like they've expected something alien, and instead they find out that yes, we're normal, we're sane, and we have brash accents."

The matter of fact tone that the woman used made Hermione smile. She liked her. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name. I'm Hermione Granger." She extended her hand, then realized that her map of Michigan was in it. Blushing, she transferred it to her left hand.

"My name's Zoe. Nice to meet you. You kind of got off at an odd place for tourists….are you here to visit relatives?" Her gaze wasn't prying, but Hermione could tell that the woman was interested. Hermione didn't blame her. She'd be interested if this fiery bombshell showed up in Diagon Alley, too.

"No, I'm not actually. I decided to leave London yesterday, and I came to Grand Rapids because it was the first town in America that I thought of." Zoe gave her an odd look.

"Grand Rapids isn't exactly New York City."

"I know," Hermione said quickly, "but I have a friend who is very interested in art, and she'd heard of this new competition called Art Prize—

"Ohhh!" Zoe said, her face lighting up. "Gotcha. Art Prize is amazing. It's actually in a couple weeks. Did you come to GR to see the exhibits?"

"No. I just….up and left." Zoe gave her an odd look, but kept silent at the drawn look on Hermione's face.

Aware of the awkward silence that ensued, Hermione gazed around at her surroundings. They were standing outside of a huge bookstore, and by the look of the numerous bookshelves inside, Hermione could tell it was a national chain.

"Where exactly are we? I didn't really pay attention to the bus. I was in such a hurry to stretch my legs, I just got off."

Zoe laughed. "You seem to do that a lot lately, this get-up-and-leave thing. Hey listen, do you want to catch a coffee inside? This place has Starbucks coffee. Have you ever had it?" Hermione shook her head. Zoe looked appalled. "Well that settles it, then. First stop is the coffee shop. Then we can talk about where you're off too. I take it you've found a hotel someplace, due to your lack of baggage…" Zoe looked at Hermione's small shoulder purse.

She missed absolutely nothing, Hermione thought wryly. No wonder she liked her. In actuality, Hermione had not found a hotel. All of her bags had been shrunk to size and stuffed in her purse. But Zoe didn't need to know that.

"Yeah, I did." Hermione said vaguely. She started towards the store, and Zoe didn't press Hermione for the name. Thank God, thought Hermione, because she didn't know any American hotel chains.

The two young women quickly found themselves bonding over coffee. Zoe, like Hermione, was a devout bookaholic. Hermione was glad that she had stayed with the current muggle fiction writers, because to her intense delight, Zoe liked the same genres and stories that Hermione did.

Two coffees later, the women began to meander their way through the bookshelves. "I've always found the smell of new books to be comforting." Zoe said suddenly.

"I agree." Hermione said, he body fully relaxed from the warm latte. "However, old books also have their good smells." Zoe nodded. She grabbed a book with a purple spine and read the back. Two seconds later, she slammed it back onto the shelf in disgust.

"Of course." At this outburst, Hermione looked at her oddly.

"What?" She asked, surprised.

"It was just a typical story. Girl is emotional after break-up trauma. Goes through several months of pain, and then when you're shown the light at the end of the tunnel, the book ends." Zoe rolled her eyes in disgust. Hermione watched her with amusement. She was a 23-or-something year old woman, and her opinions were already as fully fleshed out as the average 30-something confident woman. Hermione admired her.

"I don't enjoy those stories either. My theory is—if I wanted to feel sad, I'd just think about my own problems. I don't need anybody else's problems added on to my own."

Zoe nodded. The women spent the next two hours in the bookstore, arguing and agreein g in turn about anything and everything under the sun.

After they had made their way to the entrance again, Zoe turned to Hermione.

"I haven't lost track of time like that in long time. Would you like to stay with me during your travels? I know it's rather sudden, and you're probably wondering if I'm completely sane. I assure you, I am. I just have an apartment, but it's big enough, and I've got a guest room. I don't normally do this, but I just had the feeling that you're in need of somewhere to be." She gave Hermione a knowing look. Hermione doubted she'd accurately assessed her situation, but seeing as Hermione couldn't tell her, she let it go. Hermione, who normally was a more cautious woman, found herself accepting before she'd even given time to think about it.

"Yes, I'd love that."

"Great!...I hope you like cats."

Hermione just grinned.

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Draco was falling apart. It had been three days since the incident in the office with Hermione, and already his Arkkien side was crumbling. London had had three days of storms, and even though they had been mild, the forecast had predicted sunny skies. The fact that his magic was already causing lightning storms was a bad sign.

He needed to find Hermione.

As an Arkkien, his soul could feel her, instinctively being able to feel her emotions. It was a skill that had helped the Arkkien race acclimate to their often human mates. The Arkkien were usually unused to human emotions and feelings, and in order to survive, they had had to been able to tell what their mates were feeling.

While it was surely a useful tool to a happily mated Arkkien, it was hell on Draco. He could sense his mate's happiness, and it was slowly killing him.

Hermione was safe and happy, he knew that much. But she wasn't in London. In fact, Draco wasn't even sure she was still in England. The Arkkien could sense most of the life forms around them, but only to a point. Draco could only feel out the people near him. He had no idea where she was.

She had seemed educated on the Arkkien, he thought desperately. Surely she was just figuring out her feelings.

But Draco knew that wasn't the case.

Hermione was perfectly content, wherever she was. She wasn't having any conflicts in her emotions. Which was making Draco nervous. He hadn't chased her, because he knew if he pursued her, he wouldn't be able to talk to her. She run, like any animal that was chased. The flight instinct takes over.

He thought he'd give her space. But he had, and she was still gone.

But what was he supposed to do? He couldn't go find her and force the mating. The mating had to be willing. Which hadn't been a problem 200 years ago, when the Arkkien had been treated like Gods in the wizarding world. But Hermione would be different.

In school, you had had to win Hermione over. If you had wanted her approval, you had had to show her you were worth it.

Draco sighed.

He was going to have to woo her.

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Well now Hermione's got a friend. I thought that it'd be more natural for her to have found a person to be around and live with, because she is going to be in America for some time.

And it looks like Draco will be joining her….. possibilites.

Review with your comments/concerns/questions!

I will respond to all questions.

In answer to some of your comments on the length of the chapters, I always have shorter chapters. I like to concentrate the story in smaller doses, because I don't have a ton of free time, and if I don't write the chapter all in one go, the longer installments have a fragmented feel to them. But don't worry—the important encounters will have longer chapters. But for plot builders (like this one), I like smaller installments.

Thanks for reading!

TLA