Chapter 9

The Day After Tomorrow

December 28, 1998

The Burrow

Hermione was worried about what to wear to meet Draco. Why did she care? It was Malfoy. He had seen her at her worst and her best. She wanted to look nice though. Oh, why did she even care? She should just go ask Ginny for help, but that would mean she'd have to tell her what she was doing. She didn't want to do that, yet.

She decided to wait and see what Draco wanted before she said anything to anyone. There was no way she was going to tell the boys. They would have a fit, at least Ron would. Harry really seemed to want to forgive. She was going to tell George but if he wanted her help on the spell then he would have to keep his mouth shut. She knew he would.

Draco's Flat

Draco paced back and forth in his flat. He was nervous. Really nervous.

"It's just Granger. Granger who is a bookworm and has bushy brown hair. Granger who was smarter than any other person he'd ever met. Granger who was normal. There is no reason to be nervous, Draco. She called me Draco. I called her Hermione."

He was talking to himself again. He had been doing that a lot over the past two days. He was worried about what he was going to say to her. He was worried she was going to get up and leave and not actually want to have lunch with him. He needed a drink. He walked over to his hutch and poured himself a small bit of firewhiskey. Downed the firewhiskey, cleaned the glass, then apparated to Diagon Alley.

He made his way to Weasley's shop. He got there and saw Hermione inside talking to George. It looked like she was showing him something. There was waving of wands and it looked like George was imitating her. She looked amazing. She was wearing muggle black jeans that were tight in just the right places, a rose colored sweater that hugged her curves, a black and rose colored scarf, and her curls were tamed and her hair was framing her face. She really was beautiful. Roddy might have been right. Damn him. He watched her for a moment before he gathered the strength to walk in there.

When the door opened Hermione and George looked up at him. She was smiling and he had a funny grin on his face

"Remember what I said, George. Don't say a word or I won't help you with the spell. Hello, Draco." Hermione said.

"Yes, yes, yes, 'Mione. I know I know. I hope you two have a lovely lunch. Bye 'Mione thanks for all your help. Later Malfoy." George said after he hugged Hermione goodbye.

"Was a Weasel just nice to me?" Draco asked rather shocked after they left the shop.

Hermione just grinned and asked where they were going.

"A little restaurant in Bedford, we'll have to apparate there." Draco paused for a moment then added "You look amazing by the way."

Hermione blushed a deep scarlet before she took hold of Draco's arm. Something warm flooded through her body when she touched him before they apparated. Draco felt warm all over when Hermione took ahold of his arm. He didn't want her to let go.

When they landed in the town Hermione's cheeks were still rosy. "Thank you, Draco." she said shyly.

He smiled and led the way into a small Greek restaurant. "I know it's a little far from home, but the food here amazing, and our faces won't be near as well known." It was his turn to act shy.

"Are you saying you're embarrassed to be seen with me, Draco Malfoy." Hermione said indignantly.

"No, no. That isn't what I meant at all. I just figured that it would be easier to talk if there weren't so many people looking at us and talking about us and trying to take our picture or make up stories." Draco said very flustered. This was not how he wanted to start off their lunch.

She laughed and told him that it was quite alright, and she really appreciated his thoughtfulness.

The waiter sat them at a small table for two in the back.

"I'm really surprised you agreed to have lunch with me." Draco said modestly.

"I'm really surprised you asked me."

"I figured with what you said that evening in Hogsmeade that you were a much better person than I could have even imagined you to be or ever hope to be. What you said about me was more on target than what anyone else has ever said about me. I thought for sure you hated me. I was shocked to hear any kind words come out of your mouth about me. I also thought I could use a friend who didn't live across an ocean and you didn't seem to want to kill me or hex me."

"So it is true you do have feelings and a heart. I guess the rumors that you were pure evil were wrong." Hermione said with a smile. "Now on a more serious note, everything I said to Luke I believe. I think you did everything you could for us and your mom is the reason Harry is alive. I don't think you're evil. I think you're secretly a good person who was drove to make the hardest kind of decisions."

Draco just stared at her. He was dumbfounded by the words that came out of her mouth. How in the world was she able to see behind his mask? No one was able to see behind his mask unless he wanted them too. He quickly regained his composure and thanked her for her kind words. He asked if she had decided on what to eat. When the waiter came they ordered their meal and made small talk.

He asked about Hogwarts and how finishing up her final year was going and the N.E.W.T.s. She told him all about being head girl and about her frustrations with school and the first years and the issues with the prefects, Dean, and Seamus. He laughed when she talked about Astoria and how big of a pain she was being and scowled at mention of Dean and Seamus. He wasn't surprised, not in the least about Astoria. She was a Greengrass after all. They had some very fast mouths on them. She even told him that she allowed Harry and Ron to get her on a broom just yesterday. She said she was terrified but it felt great. He laughed at her story and even thought semi-kind things about Potter and Weasel. She asked what he was doing now that he wasn't in school. He told her how he had taken over for his father and was trying to make the company more reputable and was more or less "cleaning house" when it came to the employees and some of the companies and people they work with. She was impressed with what he was doing and couldn't imagine that kind of responsibility at their age. He said he wanted to get it over and done with so that in 5 or so years he could just be the figure head and CEO and have the board and higher ups basically run the company, but he wouldn't do that if there wasn't people he trusted in place to do that.

"I have no desire to run that company like my father did. I am not going to scare people into submission. If they want to cross me and don't like the way I do things, then they can find employment elsewhere. People keep trying to compare me to my father. I'm not him. I have no desire to be him. I am not into dark anything, despite what I led everyone to believe and my last name. I made bad decisions, but I did what I thought was best. I've been running the company since my father received his sentence in early June and things are finally becoming more routine. Many of the people who were on the side of the Dark Lord aren't able to be employed and those who want to stick to the ways of my father are no longer there. I've cleaned out and cleaned up the board and the trustees. Things are going well. I trust my board with the company and my employees aren't giving me any problems. It was a lot of work for a long time, but now I pretty much work 9-4 and only during the weeks." Draco said. Draco hadn't talked this much about his work to anyone other than his mother, Roddy, and his assistant.

"That's really awesome what you are doing Draco. It takes a lot of strength to do what is right especially when it goes against everything you've been taught and everything you've ever really known. You are doing the right thing and I'm sure the company will succeed and flourish with you running it. I'm sure you mother is proud of you too." Hermione said.

They continued to talk after they finished their meal and were strolling down the streets of wizarding Bedford. They really had to start all over again. They didn't really know much about one another.

When they got to cold to continue on they decided to head back. Hermione thanked Draco for the wonderful afternoon and hoped they could do it again. Draco was basically beaming at this statement and was silently throwing himself a party for being nice and able to have a normal afternoon with a normal person. He, of course, said she could expect another owl and that they would keep in touch. He also said that if Roddy ok'd it that he would talk to her about the America situation.

She quickly reached up and wrapped her arms around him and hugged him. Before she could let go he returned the gesture. He hadn't had a real friend hug in well, forever. It felt good. Again that warm feeling rushed through both of their bodies.

When they let go they were both blushing. With a smile Hermione apparated to the meadow at The Burrow and Draco to his flat in London.

AN:

I promise the longer chapters are coming! I've got up to chapter 16 written so far. So the updates should be coming pretty fast.

Please let me know what you think!

Oh yeah, I don't own anything related to Harry Potter. I could only wish I was genius enough to come up with something that brilliant.

Thanks JKR