Hermione sat on the wooden park bench watching the sun start to go down, and threw her last piece of bread towards the seagulls.

For the past few days, the idea of Draco changing into a gentler man had puzzled her quite a bit. The man she once knew was now gone, as if he was non-existent, yet the memories of the past kept flooding her mind. She now accepted the fact that he intimately liked her and that he wanted things between them to change, but what really made her think was how far he was willing to go in order for them to make it work. He was all talk, but could he do the walk?

However, what she worried about more was if she herself was willing to change so that she could accept this new man. He had presented himself in a different manner than she was used to, and she wasn't sure if adapting to this change would work out for the better. The thought that he could he playing with her emotions kept poking its way into her thoughts and made Hermione very frustrated.

She came to the conclusion that the only way she would know for sure is if she took a leap of faith. A giant one, she had to keep reminding herself.

Also, she had to keep reminding herself why she was even taking this leap of faith. Although she was hesitant to embrace it, there was no denying her feelings for Draco. He was very polite, gentlemanly, funny, friendly, and not to mention extremely attractive.

His face will be the death of me.

Sooner or later she would have to embrace those feelings though, because he was expecting an answer.

And that's exactly why she was sitting on this bench. She told Draco where and when to meet her an hour before she got here, and he had agreed without question.

She needed the extra hour to collect her thoughts. She wouldn't want to be rambling on about her feelings to a man she punched in the nose during her third year.

She started to smile inwardly at herself when the click-clack of shoes made her snap her head towards her right. Sure enough, there he was, striding towards her in yet another expensive-looking suit.

Hermione obviously knew of the wealth he inherited, but why buy so many suits with that money? Why not buy sweatpants and lots of pizza? To be honest, it's what she would have done with that money.

He sat down beside her but didn't turn to face her. So she, in response, sat back straight and together they watched the sun disappear down the horizon in silence.

When the outstretching land had covered almost of half the sun, Draco spoke, but still didn't turn to face her.

"I'm assuming you called me here because you've made your decision. Care to share?"

Here it comes.

"Yes, actually." She cleared her throat and began again. "even though I have known you from the past as a brutal, evil, menacing, good-for-nothing, arrogant, deceitful, terrible-"

"Yeah, Granger, I get it," he said in a mildly annoyed tone.

"Anyway, even though I was hesitant at first because I remembered our history, there was no way I could hide my feelings from myself. So I decided that… we should give it a shot. Us, I mean."

This made his head turn completely. Now, his attention was directly and solely on her. He looked at her first with disbelief, and then it softened into relief. A smile crept ever so slightly onto his face. Not a smug one, but a genuine smile showing how happy he was. It made her smile too, and soon they were laughing together as the sun was almost three-quarters out of the sky.

The excitement faded and they were now staring deeply into each other's eyes. Hermione felt herself blush so she lowered her head in embarrassment.

Draco slid closer and place his right hand over her neck, his thumb stroking small circles across her cheek.

The touch made her heart race and she was struggling to make it sound as if she was breathing properly, when she actually wasn't. She tried to keep up the act, but she couldn't because he was drawing his face closer to hers; the anticipation driving her crazy.

It seemed like a lifetime until their faces met, his lips softly grazing hers. She lifted her arms and wrapped her hands around his neck, drawing him closer. He drew her closer by the waist.

Soon they wanted to be closer than they were, and Draco broke the kiss to lift her legs on top of his, allowing their hips to touch so that the kiss could become deeper.

He opened his mouth and slid his tongue into her mouth, the contact of the two tongues made her sigh with relief into his mouth. Of course, he grinned smugly and she could feel his lips curl into a smile against her own.

Suddenly, Hermione felt her heart race as if she had been running and had to take a break so she could breathe properly. While she was catching her breath, she rested her forehead against his and he continued to use his thumb to stroke circles against her body, this time on her waist.

"Smile for me," he whispered.

"Why?"

"All I've been doing for a while now is remembering your smile from a year ago. I want to see it again, right here, right now."

His words made her feel giddy inside and made her smile like an idiot. Her smile made him smile, and now their curled lips were once again pressed against each other.

"How did you get here?" he asked.

"I walked; it's not that far from where I live," she responded.

He checked the time on his watch and said, "I want you to come somewhere with me before I take you home."

He stood up and offered her his hand. She gracefully slid her hand into his while she stood up, and they walked together down the park path and into the parking lot with their hands playfully swinging back and forth.

He led her over to his car. It was the same one that she had been in on Sunday night. She let herself in and leather interior felt familiar around her body as she snuggled inside the seat. Draco hopped in next to her and they smiled at each other before he started the car.

The drive lasted just over half an hour, the sun well down by the time they arrived at their destination. She had only ever been here once before, and that one time was such a horrible memory that she never would have thought to return to the place.

The Malfoy Manor looked as great and powerful as it did during her seventh year, only this time the atmosphere wasn't dark with traces of awaiting death. Although the sun was setting, bits of sunlight seemed to hit the building, making it look less ominous than she had remembered.

She was almost afraid to leave her seat. She saw Draco in the corner of her right eye unbuckle his seatbelt and move towards the door, but he stopped and looked at Hermione. She could feel his eyes on her face as she continued to stare at the massive house.

He reached over and kissed her cheek. "I know this is the last place you'd want to be after what happened, but we won't be here long and there is no one else home. Promise."

She considered this for a while, but reminded herself that she needed to start trusting Draco more often. "Okay," she said softly as she unbuckled her seatbelt.

They both got out of the car and as they neared the front door, they interlocked hands once more. He simply pushed the door and it opened for them, revealing the interior she would much rather forget. She felt his hand squeeze slightly tighter around hers, making her push away all her previous that's about this place and focus on what they were here to do.

What were they here to do?

"Draco," she said shakily, "what are we doing here?"

He led her up the grand staircase as he said, "I want to give you something. I want you to trust me as I trust you, and this might get you started."

There were several floors in the Manor, which meant several flights of stairs. He stopped after the third flight and they turned left and entered a room.

She assumed they had just entered his bedroom, and she was correct. Other than the odor of his cologne and the obvious fact that he was beyond spoiled enough to have such a massive room to himself, there were blatant things hinting that this was his room.

For example, his prefect badge lay on a dresser on top of his Slytherin house tie. She started to wonder why he never put those away, but then she noticed all the other clothes lying scattered around on the floor and then it became obvious to her. He was a lazy butt.

She stood in the doorway, not daring to enter his room. She watched him as he looked over and under piles of clothes and random objects, giggling at how silly he looked. He searched in and behind drawers, over and around the bed looking for whatever it was he was looking for. He looked frustrated at one point and resorted to his closet.

She waited for him in the doorway of his room, but he still didn't leave his closet. Confused as to what could be taking him so long, she carefully stepped into the room, trying to avoid large piles of clothing.

After a few steps she reached the closet door and looked in. She had expected a closet as big as her kitchen, and she was right. It was incredibly big.

He was kneeling on the floor, rummaging through a black box. She now stood in the doorway of the closet, crossing her arms and leaning against the frame. Draco was only about a foot away from her, and she looked over his shoulder into the contents of the box. There were photographs and little trinkets being thrown onto the floor, and she got to wondering what he could be looking for.

After a couple more minutes of searching, he stood up carrying something small and shiny in his hand. He held it between his forefinger and thumb, showing to her that it was a charm in the shape of an M.

"On my first birthday, my mom gave this to me. Just the charm. On the day before my first year at Hogwarts, she took me to a jewelry store for a chain to put this around." He threw it up into the air and caught it. "I wore it as a necklace from that day until the day I graduated."

He took a step closer to her and took her hand. He placed it in her palm and closed her hand. "I want you to have it."

She immediately looked up. The shock was clearly showing in her eyes but he didn't look at her face, only at her hands that were encased in his. "You can't be serious."

"Dead serious," he replied. "I would be absolutely devastated without it, but I trust you so much and this is how I am proving it to you." He kissed her hands and pulled her in for a hug. While he wrapped his arms around her he said, "I want you to trust me just as much."

They stayed like that for a while, her in his arms. She looked up, kissed him lightly on the lips and smiled. He smiled back. And then kissed her back. Deeply.

He leaned her against the frame of the closet doorway and held her waist while he kissed her. She slid the charm into the pocket of her jeans and wrapped her hands around his neck.

They kissed for a while until Draco broke it, saying, "You trust me?"

She nodded.

All of a sudden, he swung her off her feet and was now carrying her like a baby. He moved so quickly she didn't even have time to protest about being carried.

He dropped – literally dropped – her on the bed and crawled on top of her. Her heart was beating fast, but it wasn't just because of how close they were; it was because of fear this time. She didn't know what to expect now that this bad boy was lying on top of her.

The terror must have shown in her face because he chuckled and said, "Don't worry, I told you my parents won't be home for a while."

He kissed her then, passionately. Hermione was adoring the kiss, but she was still afraid of what this might lead to.

His words rang in her head. Trust me.

So she did.