"Ginny wants to go ice skating."

They were two weeks into January and Hermione had just curled up in her favourite armchair, wrapped herself up with her favourite blanket, and propped open her favourite book. It was Saturday, and she had glorious plans to spend the day reading, drinking tea, and certainly not thinking about a specific blonde man. The problem, of course, was that every time she thought of him she thought of the mark, and then him kissing her on New Year's, and she was still struggling to reconcile the two images in her mind, despite the fact that she had already mentally forgiven him.

Harry was leaning in the doorway of the library, batting his eyelashes up at her.

"Today?" Hermione asked, trying to keep her tone light and hide the disappointment of a potentially lost afternoon of solitude.

Harry nodded. "Yeah. She has a game tomorrow, so she can't then, and she's worried the little bit of ice we have is going to melt. She even had Bilby cast an extra charm over the pond to keep it frozen, but that likely won't hold for more than a day."

Hermione sighed, looking wistfully back at her book. "And I suppose I'm needed to come, in case anyone sees us, to continue the pretense that this is nothing more than two couples enjoying each other's company."

"If, yeah, if you wouldn't mind." Harry nodded as he spoke and Hermione sighed. She wanted to tell him no - that she had big plans to do very little - but the sting of guilt in her stomach stopped her. All she had wanted, when she was fighting Voldemort, was for Harry to have a normal, happy life. For him to survive the war, marry his girlfriend, have beautiful babies. To be happy. And even though it wasn't her fault, she couldn't help but feel that she was an obstacle to that happiness.

"Alright. Let me just grab my coat."

A few minutes later, Hermione and Harry were standing in the backyard of the manor, bundled up in wool coats and scarves and gloves. The door opened and Ginny and Draco more or less tumbled out, Ginny smacking the blonde's arm playfully as she did so with a mittened hand.

"And what are you two fighting about?" Harry asked, as the others approached him. He pulled Ginny into a hug and kissed her forehead and Draco stuck his hands in his pockets uncomfortably, watching Hermione. She smiled at him, and his shoulders dropped slightly in relaxation.

"I practically had to bribe him to come out with us." Ginny explained, shooting a glare back over at Draco - but, being Ginny, she was also smirking at him. "He doesn't know how to skate."

Harry couldn't help it, he laughed, and Draco shot him a withering look that only made him laugh more. "Oh," Harry said, grinning broadly with mischief twinkling in his eyes. "This'll be priceless."

Harry and Ginny were already out on the ice, Ginny racing down one side of the pond and laughing with delight as Harry chased after her. Hermione watched as Harry crashed into her and they both tumbled to the ground, laughter floating back across the pond.

Hermione was standing on the edge, having transfigured her shoes into skates, and was watching Draco with her hands on her hips. He was on the bank beside the pond, wobbling on the blades now under his feet, and looking at the ice with trepidation.

"Honestly, Malfoy. I know you're not a coward. You lived with Voldemort; you can handle ice skating."

Draco peered up at her, crossing his arms. "I'm not a coward, Granger, but that doesn't mean I'm an idiot. The whole thing is a death trap."

Hermione sighed, thinking about how she could get him on the ice. And then it hit her. "Ron knows how to ice skate. He's quite good, actually. All of the Weasleys do."

Draco let out a low noise that sounded a bit like a growl and then stepped forwards onto the ice. Immediately he started to wobble and Hermione reached out to grab him before he fell. He stood very still, other than his still shaking feet, and held onto her hands like they were the only thing between him and sudden death. "Right. This can't be that hard." And then, he let go of her grip, took one step, and immediately slipped, crashing to the ground and only barely managing to stick out his hands to stop himself.

"Fuck!" He shouted. Hermione clapped a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. Draco shot a look at her and tried to use his hands to push himself up, and as he pressed the blades of his skates into the ground he slipped again, this time ending up on his behind.

Hermione couldn't help it now. She laughed loudly, pressing a hand to her stomach as she did so. "Oh, Malfoy. I needed that." She admitted, and then slid gracefully over to him. "Come here, don't let your pride be the death of you." She reached a hand out and Draco glared up at her, but took her hand and let her pull him to his feet.

"Alright," Hermione began, sliding easily into the role of instructor. "Take both of my hands." When he did so, Hermione smiled up at him. "Great. Hold onto me, but try to just use me for balance - don't lean on me too hard." Draco nodded once. "Okay, I'm going to move now. Focus on your center of balance. Like, like you're on a broom… I think."

And then, slowly, Hermione began to skate backwards, pulling Draco along with her. When he started to lean in too much or grab her too tightly she slowed down drastically, reminding him to recenter. There was something so peaceful in this moment, gliding across the ice, listening to Draco mumble and swear under his breath about stupid activities and damn Gryffindors and bloody fucking slippery. The way that he looked at her though, listened to her patient teachings and smiled at the corner of his mouth left butterflies in her chest and a heat in her stomach. She taught him how to move and how to stop, and finally decided he would probably be fine. He was an athlete, after all.

"Right." Hermione decided, slowing them to a stop. "I'm going to let go. Remember your center of balance, remember how to stop. You've got this." And then, she dropped his hands and slid backwards.

Draco wobbled slightly, but took a breath and centered himself and stopped. He looked at her and she nodded encouragingly, and Draco slowly began to push himself forwards. Finally, he reached where she was again, beaming. "I made it all the way around the pond! Without falling!" He sounded as giddy as a child and there was something in his pure joy that made Hermione's heart swell.

"Amazing." She agreed, nodding.

"Yes, Granger. I am quite incredible." Draco's chest was puffed out and despite the pink tinging his cheeks and nose and the parts of his ears peeking out from his hat, he looked quite proud of himself.

Hermione couldn't help it. She'd always been a show off. Flashing him a grin, she took off down the ice, long graceful slides. With a quick thought of I hope I can still do this, she began to turn and then kicked off from the ice, spinning with her arms wrapped tightly around her body, and landed, swooping her back leg out behind her. Flushing and grinning with self-pride, she glided back over to where Draco now stood, his mouth open in shock.

"I," he began, shaking his head. "But you?" He tried again. "How?" He finally asked, and Hermione burst out laughing at his incredulous stare.

"I took years of figure skating, before Hogwarts. Even then I often practised in the summer, at an indoor rink. And usually over break. I needed to channel my perfectionism into something, according to my mother, and gymnastics was too dangerous and dance was too catty." Hermione shrugged, but grinned up at him anyways.

"You mad, mad woman." Draco responded, shaking his head, and then he caught her arms and pulled her into him, pressing a sweet and soft kiss to her lips. Neither of them noticed Ginny watching them, a look of interest on her face.

Finally, the four collectively decided that they were far too cold to keep skating and needed to go outside. Draco took one look at the way Hermione apprehensively glanced at the manor and suggested they go to Grimmauld Place, seeing as it was cozier.

Dinner was, as usual with the four of them, enjoyable if a little strained. They all did their best not to ever speak about the realities of their predicament and the fact that they were all married to the wrong people. Instead, they talked about work, and Quidditch, and about how beautiful Luna and Pansy's daughters were, and how thrilled Dean and Seamus were. They didn't talk about their future children, or how two babies' potential magical abilities could change their lives.

Easy, but strained. As always.

When Harry and Ginny followed their customary schedule and slipped upstairs after dessert, Hermione and Draco were left in the dining room. Hermione was doing her best to avoid his eyes, and he was fiddling with the ring on his finger.

"Look, Draco-"

"I wanted to apologize-"

Hermione flushed as they spoke at the same time and she looked up at him, nodding for him to continue first. Draco sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face.

"I wanted to apologize. For the last time. I… I didn't even think… about the fact that it would bother you." He paused, inhaled deeply, and squared his shoulders. "It was an oversight, but a grave one, and I understand if you don't want to do this any longer."

Hermione frowned, and stood up. She couldn't help herself, and she circled around the table, leaning against it next to him and looking down at him. "Stop it." She commanded, softly. "Stop thinking that you are… are forcing me into this! Or that I don't really want this. I need this." She paused, thinking. "'How we need another soul to cling to, another body to keep us warm. To rest and trust; to give your soul in confidence: I need this, I need someone to pour myself into.'" As she spoke, her cheeks flushed. Something about this moment felt like she was standing on the edge of a precipice, and that she should step back or lean into it and embrace the fall.

Draco frowned up at her, and she reached out, catching his hand in hers and twining their fingers together. He sighed, softly, but his lips quirked into a smile too. "Really, Granger? I'm not sure if quoting Sylvia Plath is the best way to seduce a man." He admitted, and when she started to frown he laughed. "Luckily for you, I can't help but find it utterly and completely enticing."

Draco pushed himself to his feet and stepped in between her legs, pushing her back into the table and capturing her face with his hands, staring down into her large brown eyes. Hermione looked up at him, and pressed herself forward, and their lips met and she remembered exactly why she wanted this.

She didn't just want to embrace the fall. She wanted to leap.

Draco tugged her sweater over her head and this time she let him easily, and when he pressed his lips against her collarbone she hissed and arched her back into his touch, aching to feel him. Reaching up, Hermione began to undo his buttons and he pulled back from her, looking into her eyes. "Granger," he said, voice rough. "I can leave it on…"

Hermione cut him off by capturing his lips again, kissing as she worked her way through the buttons. "I forgive you." She murmured, and then took a deep breath. Steeling herself, she reached up and pushed the shirt over his shoulders, and he let it fall away.

Hermione swallowed, and looked away from his eyes, down at his arm.

And what she saw made her gasp, pressing a hand to her chest. "What?" She asked, looking up at him. He was standing in front of her, slightly awkwardly, but his expression had not changed. Trepidation. Uncertainty. His shoulders were set and his jaw was tense and she reached out, capturing his wrist to pull his arm closer to her.

His mark was still there, yes. It was unmistakable. But instead of sitting against his pale skin, stark and shocking and horrendous, it was nestled in a bed of flowers. Tattooed all around it, in brilliant whites and yellows and pinks and reds and blues. They covered nearly his whole forearm. Hermione swallowed hard, and ran a finger over it. The flowers shuddered in a way that looked like they were responding to the breeze, and she gasped again, looking up at him, searching his eyes.

"I don't understand?" She breathed.

Draco flushed, just slightly, and shrugged his other shoulder uncomfortably. Instead of really explaining, he used his free hand to guide hers, pointing out flowers with her finger. "Plumeria," he explained, pointing to a clump of stunning pink-and-yellow flowers. "New beginnings." He moved her finger again, to a grouping of small yellow flowers. "Wormwood. Bitter sorrow." Next he pointed to a clustering of bright blue and purple flowers, shaped like stars.

Hermione spoke before he could, brushing her fingers over them. "Borage. Courage." He nodded, and she continued, touching a clump of delicate pink flowers, enchanted by the magic that left them moving against his skin. "Sweetbriar; wounds to heal." A stunning white flower with a red center and red edges was beside the sweetbriar, and she pressed her fingers into that one. "Amaryllis. Pride."

Draco took over again, moving her finger to a large cluster of mostly white flowers, with stunning yellow-red centres. "Narcissus," he whispered, and she swallowed. "Leaving the past behind." Hermione met his eyes now, but there was one more flower that he hadn't identified, and he pressed her fingers against it, looking back at her, hesitant. Careful. "Moonflower." His voice was hesitant, careful, but he couldn't stop now. "Dreaming of love."

Hermione's heart caught in her throat and she leaned forward, closing the gap between them and pressing her lips against his. She had been so caught up in the flowers, in the weight of what he'd done, that she had barely noticed the mark. Yes, it was there, hideous and terrifying. But his arm didn't look like Bellatrix's anymore, and the beauty and hope of it was so overwhelming that all feelings of panic seemed to have been dashed from her mind.

The kiss grew heavy, and Draco reached a hand to undo her bra. Hermione slid it off her arms and then gasped as he rolled one of her dusky brown nipples between his fingers. She couldn't help but let out a moan when he replaced his fingers with his lips, lathing his tongue over her.

Draco lifted her slightly, so that she was on the table, and in the same motion also began to tug down her jeans. Hermione helped shimmy out of them and they hit the floor with a dull thud, and Draco pressed their bodies together, drawing another moan from her lips at the heated skin on skin contact.

Hermione leaned forward, undoing his pants as well and letting them slide off his hips. She couldn't help herself and she pressed her hand to the front of his crotch, and he groaned against her skin, sending shivers down her spine.

"These too." Draco said, and slid his wedding ring off his finger, placing it beside them on the table. He reached over and pulled Hermione's off as well, dropping it next to him. "Don't want to see it on your finger." He admitted, and Hermione nodded in agreement. It felt possessive and consuming and she couldn't help but agree with him. "And this," he murmured, waving his wand over the two of them and muttering the contraceptive charm that Hermione had memorized the day she turned fourteen. The weight of the situation was settling in now, and Hermione's stomach clenched and rolled in anticipation.

"Fuck." Draco mumbled, afterwards. Hermione nodded underneath him, running her fingers through his sweaty hair. "Was that… alright?" Draco asked, and she couldn't help but laugh.

"More than." Hermione admitted, and then shifted a little so that she could tug his head up from where it rested on her chest to look at him closely. "Incredible." She admitted, and he grinned wolfishly down at her.

Slowly, Draco stood up and stretched his arms over his head and she couldn't help but look down at him again, enjoying the smooth planes of his body and his incredibly pale skin. He pulled his shirt back on then and all of a sudden she remembered that they were in the dining room at Grimmauld Place. A place where she had sat with the Order to strategize, learned about the deaths of her friends, and ate dinner with Harry every night.

Quickly, she jumped off the table and began to pull her clothes back on. "Oh Merlin," she mumbled, shaking her head as she pulled her shirt back over her head. "I cannot believe we just… in the dining room!"

Draco laughed, slipping his ring back on his finger and picking up hers. "Granger, don't tell me it didn't turn you on. The thought that we could have been caught at any minute." Hermione began to shake her head but he stepped forward, pulling her body against his. "Everyone likes playing with fire."

Draco kissed her again, slow and leisurely, and as he did so he found her hand and slid her ring back on her finger, and Hermione's heart ached for just a moment with the thought that at the end of the day, he was not hers to keep.

"We have a situation to discuss, you know." Ginny said with a sigh, stretching out further on Harry's bed.

Harry turned a little to look at her, tracing a finger across his girlfriend's naked skin. "Nobody knows about us, Ginny. Or maybe they don't care."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Harry, if someone knew, if they had actual proof, we'd be in Azkaban by now - or at the very least standing in front of the Wizengamot trying to explain that we're just really good friends. They were quite clear on the consequences of cheating," She paused, frowning, and then sighed. "No. I'm talking about Draco and Hermione."

Harry groaned and lifted a hand up to push his mess of hair away from his eyes. "I know. I've been trying not to… But I told Hermione that she needed to be careful. And..."

"She kissed him, Harry. And not just… it was familiar. It wasn't a one time thing." Ginny sighed again and traced her eyes over the cracked ceiling of Harry's bedroom. "He really isn't as bad as he used to be, you know."

Harry buried his head under his pillow and let out what sounded like a groan of frustration. "I know," he said, voice muffled thanks to the cotton and down over his head. "We have dinner parties. He's… amicable. Not who I would have chosen for her-"

"You don't get to choose for her though, Harry. That's the whole point, that's why we're in this bloody fucking mess in the first place. Someone thought they could choose for everyone. I've spent time with him, you know. Sometimes we eat dinner together at the manor. We actually, uh," Ginny paused, and then a grin broke out over her face. "I took him to get a tattoo."

"You did what?" Harry asked, pulling the pillow off his head so he could stare at her. "Why on earth would you-"

"He was upset about his mark. He didn't say why, just that he couldn't stand to look at it anymore. That it made him sick, remembering what he'd done." Ginny paused, and then realization dawned on her face. "I think he was worried about Hermione seeing it," she added, and then returned to her story. "Anyways. It reminded me of how Charlie keeps getting tattoos around his scars, to dress them up a little, you know? So I asked Charlie where he went when he was home, and I took Draco."

Harry was shaking his head as he watched her. "You're absolutely mad, you know that, right?"

Ginny only grinned. "The point, Harry, is that I think… well, I think it might not be the worst thing to be happening. We don't really know if it's serious anyways. But, they've both been really excellent, about us."

Sighing again, Harry flopped over onto his back and slid his hand down into one of Ginny's. "I know. We really asked a lot of them both. And we were the ones who kept leaving them together. I guess it was only natural they would get… close."

"Besides," Ginny said, with a smirk of her own. "If they're busy with each other, it leaves more time for us to be busy, if you know what I'm saying."

Harry furrowed his brow at her. "I literally never want to think about either of them having sex. Especially when we're naked."

Ginny laughed and rolled so she was half on top of him, pressing a sweet kiss down to one of his shoulders. "Things are different than they used to be, Harry. It's a different world now."

"I still don't like it." He admitted, kissing the top of her head softly.

"I know." Ginny agreed, with a nod. "But it's not our place to say. I think we need to just… step back, and pay attention. And try not to land any of us in Azkaban."

Harry winced at this, but Ginny was smiling up and him and he nodded in agreement. "You're right." He said, and kissed her forehead now.

"I always am." Ginny sighed, and pulled herself fully on top of Harry now, glad, for now, to be busy.

A/N: Alright! Like I have said since the beginning, this is an edited version of this fic to meet ffnet's guidelines. If you would like to read the full thing, including the missing scene (which is ~1000 words of smut, basically), you should check out this story on archiveofourown, posted under the same name – my username is the same as well.

The quote is, as Draco correctly identifies, a Sylvia Plath quote, from The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath.

The next update will be Tuesday! The best way to not miss an update is to follow the story here, or follow me on tumblr. I also have far more of my writing posted on ao3 and on tumblr, if you're interested.