Author's note: I own nothing except my ideas. Thank you all for reading the first chapter. I wanted to flesh out Hermione's family a little more in this story than was ever done in the books. Please forgive the few liberties I have taken with them. I do not own the books and therefore can't remember if there was ever mention of what they do or their names. Here is Chapter 2.

Chapter 2

He heard the girl leaving out the front door and Draco let his breath go, odd that he didn't realize he'd been holding it. He knew he needed to stop bringing random girls home to ease his loneliness. In his cavernous kitchen with his hands around a mug of coffee Draco's brain wandered to her. The one that got away, well she was never his to begin with. How could it be that someone so his opposite would be the one that he desired most of all? Draco always assumed it was because she always stood for what was right and good in the world and he was forced to stand for the opposite. It's not like you can say no to the Dark Lord when he tells you to do his bidding. The rest of it all stemmed from him not wanting to disappoint a father that rarely showed any emotion above annoyance and anger. His mother was just a stony towards him. When he got his acceptance letter to Hogwarts his parents barely acknowledged it. He has since realized that they just expected him to get in.

Even now he can remember the heart stopping moment he saw the tangled nest of hair. It was on the train the first year. He was all a bundle of nerves, anxious about what will happen and excited to be away from his family. He heard her before he saw her, asking about a frog. He leaned over and saw her slide into another coach. She never made it down to where he was sitting; he had hoped she would so he could try to talk to her. It always seemed to him that Ron and Harry always took her for granted. Draco was so lost in his thoughts that he was in his car driving to work before coming realizing what he was doing, thankfully he was dressed and neat looking. He was running a few minutes late and was at a stop light when he saw that same nest of brown hair, though tamed through the years, walking across the cross walk. His heart stopped, and he was startled when the car behind him honked for him to go.

Absentmindedly Hermione got on the elevator and pushed the button for her floor.

"Hold up the lift." She pressed the door open button and contemplated the voice. It sounded familiar but not at the same time. It wasn't until she saw the white blonde hair that she recognized the voice. "Thank you. Did you press for your floor yet?" Draco was looking at some paperwork and didn't notice who had held the lift for him. He heard a tiny gasp and figured it had to do with the dark mark that was still slightly visible on his arm. He knew he should hide it but since he didn't work with witches or wizards anymore saw no point in it. He looked up and that is when he noticed who was on the lift with him. His heart pounded and his ears were ringing.

Hermione benignly smiled at Draco and nodded. He had turned an adorable shade of pink. Wait did she just think his blushing was adorable? Now she was also blushing and about to claw her way out of the elevator.

"Hello Draco. It has been a while since I've seen you. How are you doing these days?" It took him a minute for his mouth to start working.

"Things are going well Hermione. How about you? How are Ron and his family doing, and Harry him as well?"

"They are doing well as am I, thank you." Before she could continue talking her floor arrived. She looked once more at him and walked away from the doors. It was a good five minutes later before Draco could focus on what he was doing well enough to not just sit and stare at his computer. He wondered why she was there in this building. It is not a common wizard place.

"Hello could you please let Mr. Granger know that his daughter is here to see him?" The secretary nodded and pushed a button and spoke into her headset.

"Go right on in ma'am." With a nod and a weary smile Hermione walked into her father's office. Compared to her mom; Hermione's father always had a way of seeing right through her. He could tell in one brief look that there was something eating at his daughter but he knew his daughter well enough to realize that she would tell them in her own time what was troubling her.

"Let me just grab my coat and keys and we will be on our way to lunch. How are you students doing?" Hermione gave a half shrug as she waited for him to find his keys only to remember that they were in his pocket the whole time. All throughout lunch and at her house that evening Hermione's thoughts kept going back to Draco and what he was doing in a law office. She just could not see him working with mortals all day every day. She always thought that he would end up doing whatever her father had done, at least did before going to Azkaban prison. Hell she didn't even know what Lucius did.

Draco sat in the ember lit living room sipping on some firewhisky. He thought he had gotten over her but when he saw her in the lift it was almost like a sign. Those eight years felt like they hadn't passed yet. He was still that awkward boy, not quite a little kid but not a man just yet. He noticed that she didn't have a wedding ring on. He was sure that Weasly had gotten her because last he saw them they were all over each other. With that memory Draco had to swallow around a lump that was forming in his throat. He wasn't quite sure when at Hogwarts he had fallen for her, sometime before the war broke out, but one day during their flex schedule he had seen her sitting beneath a tree reading and his heart skipped a beat. Her hair was gently blowing in the wind and the sun was just starting to set and she practically glowed. He had always wondered if things had been different whether she would have ever looked at him the way he did her. If she were in Slytherin instead of Gryffindor, would her same alliance with Potter and Weasly stand or would she have banded together with him and his group.

"I cannot believe you are standing there telling me that Ron." Her voice was full of annoyance. Not only did he show up unannounced he just apparated in front of her door. He knew she lived with muggles and that it was unacceptable.

"I don't understand why you would just abandon a part of yourself. We miss you, Hermione, I miss you please come back." Ron's voice, usually having an edge of humor in it was lacking that which made Hermione raise her head. He had tears in his eyes.

"I love you, Hermione, I….look I know the miscarriage hurt you a lot but we can still be together. We are stronger that way. I want to marry you, I want us back."

"Ron, it wasn't just the miscarriage that made me decide this. Things were….are easier this way. This is what I know, this world is what I lived prior to Hogwarts. That whole time was us trying to stay alive, even our first year with the sorcerer's stone. That is not a life I want to live anymore. Please go." She didn't wait to see him leave; walking into her bedroom she pushed the door to and waited for the telltale pop of him disapparating. Once Ron was gone Hermione decided she needed to go out and have a drink to try and ease the ache in her heart.