Liberated

Author's note: Thanks for your kind reviews; I'm so pleased you're enjoying this story. As always, JKR has split her soul into seven books and stored them in our hearts!

"Can I ask you something, Malfoy?"

"Can I stop you?"

Granger huffed and sat down on the couch next to him. She had been getting ready for bed, and was currently combing through her wet hair with lazy fingers. It had been three days since his breakdown on the bathroom floor, and the storm cycle had yet to break. It had been raining with icy sleet steadily ever since. But the mood in the house was quite the opposite. They had both slipped back into a state of happy denial since then and not spoken of anything even remotely serious. Tilly kept bringing them up to date with reports from Malfoy manor, but it sounded like Voldemort was still off on whatever quest he had been obsessed with for the last few months, and everything was relatively quiet. The war had been centred on the ministry and the politics of it all, which for Draco had been a huge relief. It gave him more time to spend with Granger. Living together in his little cottage had been everything he'd hoped. They ate together, read together, laughed, argued, apologized and said goodnight with the promise of tomorrow. He knew it couldn't last, but while it did he was clinging on to every moment.

Granger was pursing her lips in a stubborn frown that he recognised. With more time to study her, he was becoming more aware of all her various facial minutiae that gave away her emotions.

"Ask the bloody question, Granger."

She thought for a moment more, her hair angled to the side with her wet strands dangling close to him as she untangled it.

"I'm sorry, but it's been on my mind for a couple of days now…"

Draco felt his mouth get drier at her nervous expression as she paused before reluctantly continuing,

"Well I'm doing a lot better. My legs and arms are doing what I want most of the time now. And I don't tire as quickly."

"Okay…" he agreed hesitantly.

"And I guess I was just wondering if there's any chance we can… go somewhere."

Draco furrowed his brows in confusion.

"Um…where do you want to go?"

"Anywhere! I'm just starting to go a little stir crazy and I want to go outside. I want to walk in the snow, and feel cold air on me. I know that it's important to stay inside your wards, but maybe we could just go for a really short walk or something," she had started to ramble a bit in anxiety, and Draco smiled fondly at her, relief soothing his pounding heart. At first he had thought she was talking about re-joining her friends – not that they had any clue where they were – but he knew that she was smart enough to realise she wasn't ready for that yet. She was almost healthy enough to apparate, but Draco admitted guiltily to himself that he wasn't exactly rushing to find her a replacement wand and fix her up so she could just leave him. He dreaded the idea of her disappearing to return to the moronic duo and their suicidal quest. With a start he realised she was still talking nervously, and he quickly held up a hand to stop her.

"Granger, stop babbling," she immediately halted her rant, biting into her bottom lip hopefully and looking up at him with those big milky eyes that never failed to win him over, "I think it's a great idea."

Granger looked at him for a split second of surprise, before she squealed in joy and bounced a little on the couch.

Draco laughed. He had never seen her so unrestrained like this before. She was a bundle of energy, and her smile was so big he could see the two little dimples form in her cheeks. He stared at her with his own half smile, which as usual came out looking more like a smirk. If she were going to react like this every time, he'd agree to anything.

He could remember seeing her smile a lot in school, but it had more often than not been to herself. He had frequently seen her smiling at a private joke of her own, or in response to something that flew over everyone else's heads. But outside her two closest friends she didn't often laugh or enjoy a joke. That was why a lot of the students had assumed she was a prude or a sourpuss. But after observing her for long enough, he had come to understand that she was actually neither. Granger was smart, really smart, and that meant that she wasn't amused by the bawdy adolescent jokes of those around her. Draco had found himself mesmerised by her quiet humour from the other side of the library. He recognised the cheeky, secret smile she would get on her face when something she read really tickled her.

But on her face now was an impish delight he had never seen before. It was adorable.

"Are you sure? I don't want to threaten your hiding place here or anything, and I don't want to bother you when you have so much on your plate-"

Draco shook his head wryly and reached across to place his hand over the top of hers. He hadn't initiated much contact between them, and the bold move gave him a quiet thrill.

"Granger, shut up. You already convinced me. Are you trying to deter me now?"

Granger pressed her lips together with a mischievous gleam in her eye.

"Nope."

Draco realised he was still touching her with his hand, and hurriedly drew it back. Her smile faltered a little bit at the haste with which he pulled away. But it returned with full force as she rose to her feet excitedly, even though it seemed a bit forced at the edges. She seemed just as nervous about them touching as he had been.

"Thank you."

Draco smiled too.

"So what did you have in mind?"

"I don't know," she said with a thoughtful frown, moving to pin up her still damp hair which was now about as untangled as she was ever going to get it, "You know the area around here, what do you suggest?"

Draco thought about it for a little while as he mechanically returned some books to their rightful place on the shelves. It had to be something fun to help her snap out of the banality of being stuck in the cottage. But still be relatively safe and easy going on her injuries. Then he was struck by a clever idea.

"Well the real estate agent said they have a winter festival in the local village each year, and I read a bit about it in a newspaper while I was down there one weekend. It's supposed to be for showing off the area's winter flowers or something. But I think they also turn it into a whole market stall food fair…" Draco trailed off when he saw Granger bite her bottom lip. She looked unhappy. He immediately backtracked, with a nervous laugh, "Okay, so that's a terribly cliché idea. I'll think of something else-"

"No!" Granger interrupted with a short laugh, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to put you off. That sounds completely perfect."

"Are you sure? Because-"

"Malfoy! It's perfect. I can't wait."

Draco frowned at her.

"Then why did you just look like I killed a puppy?"

Granger let out a soft giggle.

"I just didn't expect it. Harry and Ron aren't exactly thoughtful when it comes to doing things I want to do. Quidditch is not one of my interests. The festival honestly does sound perfect. But are you sure you will enjoy it?"

Draco scoffed. He didn't overly like the comparison to her two idiot friends, but since he was coming out on top, then he supposed it didn't hurt. And they were idiots. He couldn't care less what he did or where he went. Spending the day with her was what he craved. They could be attending a knitting club and it would still be quality time. He had a feeling that Granger could make any activity fun for him. She always found happiness in the simplest things, as she had shown through her memories of her father. He desperately wanted to be a part of one of those memories for her.

"Granger, stop worrying. I've felt just as imprisoned lately as you. It will be nice to just get out and do something without other people expecting or demanding things from us."

"Exactly," she said with a knowing look, her face serious now as she stared back at him with an intensity that shook him, "I forget sometimes how young we are."

Draco felt his palms sweat and he wiped them discreetly on his pants. He managed to give her a shaky smirk.

"Yes, well, don't hold your breath. I don't think you'll feel very young at this festival we're going to. I think we'll probably feel about ninety."

Granger laughed again. He loved making her laugh.

"Well I do love jam and peppermint-" she said with a cheeky smile, before she started to back away towards the bedroom.

"I'll get Tilly to wake you up at eight," he said to her as she turned around to go to bed.

"Ok," she said with a parting smile, "I'm looking forward to it."

Draco shook his head as she closed the door to the bedroom softly to get changed into pyjamas. He fell back down onto the couch with a sigh. For some reason his heart was thrumming happily and he couldn't wipe the smile from his lips. The rational part of his mind knew that it was all just an escape from their self-imposed captivity, but he couldn't silence the other small part of him that felt like this was a date.

He was going on a date with Hermione Granger.

….

Apparently Draco was not the only one in the house who thought it was a date. He woke up early the next morning and stumbled into the kitchen, following the light chinking sound that he thought might have roused him. He peered around the counter and looked in disbelief at Tilly. She was rummaging around in the cupboards and muttering to herself. There was yarn running around the floor in a web across her feet; a hodgepodge mixture of black and forest green.

"Tilly, what in Merlin's name are you doing?"

Tilly jumped a little bit and spun her head around to look at him, even as she kept feeling around on a low shelf.

"Tilly is searching for a button, Master."

Draco frowned, leaning against the counter as he ran one hand through his sleep-ruffled hair.

"Okay…but why would you look in the kitchen cupboards?"

The little elf made a tutting sound and rolled her eyes.

"Because that is where Tilly keeps the buttons," her tone was slow and clear, as if speaking to a child. Draco smirked.

"Alright, smart ass. Why do you need buttons? It's seven in the morning."

"Miss Hermninny is needing a warm jacket for her outing with Master. So Tilly got up early to make one."

Draco stared at her in surprise at the admission. He knew she adored Granger but seeing her working so hard to please the Gryffindor brought a sad smile to his face.

"That's very sweet of you, Tilly. You like Miss Hermione a lot, don't you?"

Tilly nodded eagerly, and then made a noise of delight as she scooped out a big black button from inside a saucepan.

"She is very kind to Tilly, Sir. She is treating me as equal."

Draco nodded, knowing only too well the effect that Granger could have on people.

"Yeh, she's pretty special," he murmured almost to himself, then continued talking to the elf as he helped himself to a hot coffee from the espresso machine, "So why didn't you just transfigure a coat for her from my wardrobe? That is one of your many talents, after all."

Tilly shook her head brusquely as her fingers flew like electric wires over the growing material, using her own sensitive household magic to weave it together beautifully.

"No, that won't do. Today has to be perfect. Tilly doesn't want anything to go wrong."

Draco chuckled with an awkward smile as he filled up a small glass and began to sip at his coffee pensively. It was clear that Tilly was on the same page as him in her hopes for Granger, but she was a lot less subtle about it. Which was saying something, since he thought he'd been pretty damn obvious about his feelings. Draco considered for a moment that maybe he should speak to the elf about it, warn her not to get her hopes up. Because those hopes would probably be dashed when Granger either returned to her best friends never to see them again, or flat out rejected him and recoiled in disgust from his love. Not that he was planning to declare his heart to her anytime soon. He was a Slytherin, after all. Both he and Tilly would just have to take it one day at a time.

…..

The weather had obviously conspired to work alongside Draco's plans for the day, since the unpleasant winds had all but disappeared overnight. There was the hint of sun somewhere behind the rolling clouds above them, peeking through with the promise of fine weather later. And the snow was falling in dainty flakes that Draco watched fall and come to rest ever so gently in Granger's hair.

Her curls were cascading out from under a cute green and silver beanie that Tilly had also made for her, that had little silver plaits hanging down her cold-pinked cheeks. They were trekking slowly closer to the town that was only a few hundred metres away from Draco's cottage. Even from this distance they could hear the sound of a band playing soft festive music, and the chatter of a hundred or more people. Granger was fairly steady on her feet, although he could hear her panting heavily beside him. She let out a frustrated breath as the path curved upwards.

"I can't believe you let Tilly do this."

Draco smirked.

"As if I could stop her," he retorted, earning a reproachful glare from the curly haired witch beside him, "And besides," he added, "Don't you like your new coat? I thought it was a nice gift."

Granger tutted and crossed her arms closer around herself to ward off the chill, even though she was probably quite snug in the stunning coat she had been given that morning.

"Of course I like it. It's exquisite. I just can't help but be suspicious that you had something to do with the colour scheme…"

Draco looked her up and down with a mocking frown of contemplation. She was in full Slytherin colours, which was no doubt supposed to be some kind of meaningful hint from that damned elf. And what made matters worse was that he did in fact react strongly to seeing her dressed like this. She looked like his fantasies, if only it were a little more revealing. He liked seeing her in these colours. It was the same sensation he had felt when she wore his t-shirt. A need to possess her and wrap his arms around her to show everyone that they belonged together. Instead of speaking any of these thoughts out loud, he merely smiled cheekily at her and lifted one hand to tug on a silver plait by her ear.

"Well…I think it's quite fetching,"

"Of course you do, that's what worries me."

Draco's smile only widened as he realised she was teasing him. Her face looked serious at first glance, but he noticed that twitch in her lip that said she was holding back a smile.

"Well by all means, take it off."

Granger snorted and slapped his arm with her hand. He loved bringing out her playful side.

"Maybe next time I should get Tilly to make you a red and gold shirt…" she muttered sulkily. Draco gasped.

"You wouldn't dare," he said in a completely serious tone that made her only laugh harder.

By the time they neared the little main street of the village, Granger was walking a lot slower, but her gait was still quite even and she didn't appear to be in any pain. He figured she was probably just weary; she hadn't been this physical in a long time. They finally arrived at a narrow winding street packed with people, stalls of flowers and food covered by pretty overhanging trellises encircled by climbing vines and fairy lights. He heard Granger make a little mewling sound of awe, and he gave her a mocking smile that she studiously ignored. Draco awkwardly dragged one hand through his hair. Looking around at the masses of people there he suddenly felt nervous. It was highly unlikely that any Death Eaters would pop up in a place like this that was so exceptionally muggle, but if by some complete miracle they did, his hair was far too distinctive. Pausing for a moment, he quickly held one of the gloves that he'd removed and transfigured it wandlessly into a warm hat. As he pulled it over his head firmly, he caught Granger's eye. She nodded in understanding and reached up to straighten it on his head so that it covered as much of his hair as possible. He looked down at her with a smirk, loving the way her cheeks and nose were tinged pink by the cold, and how red her lips had turned. His own lips felt extremely dry and cracked from the frigid wind, but hers looked so moist. He wondered if he just leaned down the few inches between them and kissed her whether her lips would sooth his like a balm.

"Oh look – snow drops!" she cried in delight as she looked over his shoulder at the first row of planter boxes.

Draco watched her wander away with a rueful smile. He was letting himself get far too distracted. Following close behind her, they wandered through the rows of flowers, with Granger pointing out particular ones she liked. They strolled for a little while, and he noticed that he had been right the night before; the average age of patrons of this festival did seem to be around fifty. But the people were very pleasant and they received a lot of friendly smiles and greetings.

"You know, your cottage would look really lovely with some snap dragons in that small patch out the back near the lavender."

Draco smirked at her as she gazed lovingly on some flowers with dainty pink petals. They were very sweet. He leaned over and bumped her shoulder with his own.

"Well why don't you plant some there, then?" he suggested lightly.

"What?"

"It can be your garden patch, if you like."

He saw Granger bite her lip and she looked up at him with wide, confused eyes. He could see her thinking at top speed as she stared at him, and he swallowed the lump in his throat. He might have just put his foot in it. She was probably contemplating how soon she would want to leave him and his cottage behind. And from the look of consternation on her face she felt uneasy about him inviting her to do any gardening there. Was that too intimate? Did gardening carry some kind of hidden connotation for muggles?

Wanting to save her the pain of turning down his idea, Draco spun them both around to continue walking.

"I'm famished, Granger. You want to eat?"

He heard and felt her walking alongside him, but tried to concentrate his eyes on the path in front. Eventually he heard her take a breath to begin speaking again. When she did he noticed she had pushed away her uncertainty and was trying to sound light hearted once more.

"You know, Draco is latin for Dragon."

"Really Granger? I had no idea," he replied sarcastically, making her push him back with her shoulder.

"I'm just saying. Snap dragons would be fitting."

He snorted, but didn't reply. When he noticed a couple of cake stalls, Draco pointed her over and they leisurely approached the display. Granger bent over to look at all the dainty little pastries and cakes in the window, letting out little cooing sounds every now and then when she saw something she really liked.

"What would you like?" he asked politely after a while.

Granger straightened up and pursed her lips, turning to look at him worriedly.

"Um…it's fine. I can eat something back at the cottage."

He frowned.

"You're not hungry?"

"Well…no. No I had a lot of breakfast."

Her words were reassuring, but Draco noticed her eyes darting occasionally over to a few of the more dainty looking tarts covetously.

"What's wrong, Granger?"

"Nothing!"

Draco scoffed, leaning in closer so they wouldn't be overheard.

"Bull shit. Why don't you want something to eat? Are you worried I'll try to poison you? Because that would be so much easier to do at home."

He was staring at her through narrowed eyes, waiting for her to give him an honest answer. He was hoping his joke about poison would at least crack a smile from her, but she was still looking like her cat died.

"It's just…" she leaned in too, lowering her tone to a whisper, "I don't have any money. Everything got taken from me when they…" she stopped abruptly, but didn't need to finish. Draco looked at her in fond disbelief. She was at a quaint country fair with one of the richest heirs in wizarding England and she was stressing about having no money?

"Merlin's beard, Granger! I'll buy you a bloody treat."

Her eyes widened.

"But you'd need muggle currency."

Draco smirked, pulling his wallet out of his pocket and opening it to show her the rather extravagant wad of pound notes he was carrying.

"Oh…"

"Satisfied? Now pick a cake. And make it quick, because I've got a craving for a scone."

Granger smiled tentatively up at him.

"Really? You don't mind paying? I can pay you back when I get a chance."

Draco groaned.

"Seriously, Granger, do you not know how wealthy I am?"

She just rolled her eyes and returned her gaze to the window. She bit into her lip for a moment longer with childlike excitement before she made up her mind. Granger stepped over to say a friendly hello to the woman running the stall. She was a tiny old woman, drowning in layers of sky blue knit wear.

"Would you recommend the blackberry tart or the peppermint éclair? I can't seem to decide."

"Ah! Both wonderful choices," the lady croaked in a warm, kindly voice, "and two of my personal favourites. You'll have to go with your gut, dear."

Draco leaned against the counter with a smile.

"We'll take one scone and one blackberry tart, please, but we'd also like a peppermint éclair in a box to take home."

Granger's smile widened into a happy grin that warmed Draco right through. No wonder Tilly was obsessed with making Granger smile, it was the best feeling in the world.

"Are you sure?"

"Don't argue. It's rude," he said with a playful drawl.

The old lady gave them a knowing look as she handed over the two cakes on frilly napkins, as well as a little blue cardboard box with the éclair.

"You have a very devoted boyfriend, dear. He's a keeper."

Granger had just taken a small bite from the pastry crust on her tart when the woman said that, and she promptly started to cough and choke as she swallowed it suddenly. Her face went pink with a mortified blush as she spluttered to take in a wheezing breath.

"Oh…um…thanks…" she managed to stammer out, before hurriedly turning away and continuing down the street as she regained her ability to breathe. Draco smiled cheekily and followed, enjoying licking at the sweet raspberry jam on his scone.

"Well then-" he began, giving her a mischievous wink as he caught up to her, but to his dismay he saw she wasn't smiling anymore. In fact, she was looking extremely terrified, and wouldn't quite meet his eye. Draco swallowed. This wasn't the reaction he had been hoping for. Even if she'd laughed off the lady's comments, he would've been happy, knowing that the thought didn't freak her out. But she was concentrating on eating her pastry and looked like she wanted to sink through the ground and away from him. The easy camaraderie of earlier was gone.

"Look Granger, she was just some old biddy-"

"It's fine," she said with a shake of her head, and he saw the determination on her face that he hoped meant she was going to perk up again, "It was just a surreal moment for me, I suppose. I panicked."

Draco smiled shakily and tried bumping their shoulders very lightly together once more.

"Because we're mortal enemies?"

Granger finally raised her eyes to meet his, and he saw the moment she started to feel guilty for her reaction. In a split second, her expression turned from nervous to compassionate, and she gave him a tentative smile in return.

"I guess not anymore, huh?"

"Do you still consider me your enemy?" he asked seriously, with a sad smile. There were people wandering around them and brushing past through the narrow street, but the two of them stood there isolated from it all in their own little world. Granger stared at him curiously for a very long time. So long that he almost broke the silence again, but something inside him told him not to. Her eyes carried a weight of intensity that shook him to his core, and he took a tiny shuffling step closer to her. As he waited for her to ponder her answer to his question, he reached up and toyed with one of the silver and green plaits on her beanie. Draco felt emboldened when she shivered and blinked slowly, so he let his fingers drift from the hat to one of her heavy brown curls. He ran the back of his hand over Granger's silky hair, before letting his arm drop to his side. He saw her jaw twitch as she swallowed, releasing a breath she had clearly been holding onto.

"No. I don't," she finally said, the words rolling slowly off her tongue as if she was only just realising it herself.

"There. That wasn't so hard, was it?" he said, feeling that the timing was right to let his cheeky smirk return.

"You're can still be an arrogant prat, though" she replied a little louder, causing a couple of heads to turn their way.

Draco ignored her, taking a big jammy bite out of his scone and sneering at her in a mockery of his younger self. Hoping to get her mind back onto more playful thoughts again, he pointed enthusiastically to an area behind her.

"Oh look, roses!" he said eagerly, manoeuvring them over that way, and she laughed at his sudden change, letting herself be dragged away by him. As they approached the beautiful winter rose blooms, he felt his heart rate return to normal, not realising it had been racing throughout that conversation. He knew that it wouldn't be easy. Draco had been a complete bastard to her in their early years of school. He had degraded and insulted her so often that he wasn't surprised that she would struggle with this new turnabout. But apart from the occasional moments when she clearly had flashbacks to their earlier acquaintance in school, he thought she was adapting very well to their new relationship. It had taken him months to overcome his childhood hatred of her, and even longer watching her to realise just how much he admired her. He couldn't expect her to transform her view of him completely in just a few weeks.

Luckily it wasn't long before she seemed to have forgotten their little awkward moment. Of course he doubted Granger had actually forgotten, she was a walking encyclopaedia after all, but she had quickly put it behind her.

After another hour of chatting and casual banter as they wandered the craft stalls at the opposite end of the fair, Granger was starting to tire. They had eaten snacks at three more stalls, and were both feeling pretty self-indulgent.

"I should get you home," he said when he saw her yawn for the third time in as many minutes.

He was pleased to see that Granger looked upset at his suggestion.

"What about lunch?"

He smirked.

"You're not full yet, Granger?"

She blushed and looked around at the few quaint village restaurants.

"I suppose we should leave," she said reluctantly. Draco shook his head at her before spotting the most perfect little country pub behind them and gesturing to it with one brow raised suggestively.

"Alright, then. I've been craving some battered fish and chips anyway."

Granger laughed openly at him as she eagerly started to make her way towards the pub he had pointed to.

"Somehow I can't imagine that being served at your fancy pureblood parties."

Draco grinned cheekily.

"It's not. But Blaise and I spent a couple of weeks one summer down in Cornwall after fourth year to get away, and it's basically all I ate."

Granger paused outside the pub, looking dreamily up in the air.

"Just wait a moment while I try to picture that hilarious image. Stuck up Slytherins eating greasy food at a muggle pub."

"Very funny, Granger. Laugh it up."

"I will, thank you."

He gave her a gentle shove, before offering her his arm in a chivalrous gesture.

"Shall we?"

She bit her lip a little nervously, but was much more relaxed this time as she linked her arm around his elbow. He enjoyed the warmth of her body close to his, and led them both with a smug smile into the pub where a fire was crackling away and the booths were a cosy fit.

He had to hand it to these muggles, they knew how to create the perfect atmosphere for a date.

….

Thanks for reading and following this story! Next chapter we'll pick up where we left off here, and see where things go on their 'date'. Please review.