DISCLAIMER: I do not, and will not ever, own any part of the Harry Potter franchise. I make no profits from this, and all recognisable characters, places etc. are the property of J.K.

A.N: Again, I can't apologise enough for the long wait - I've just started 6th form so I've been trying to get set up and prepared for the year, and I just haven't had any spare time to write until now. Also, my computer changer has gone AWOL so this was typed up on my phone - apologies for any spelling, punctuation, grammar or formatting errors. If you see any, just let me know, I'll be trying to tidy this up (especially the formatting) as and when I find my bloody charger. Sorry again for the long wait, and I hope you enjoy the chapter :)

Hermione stared blankly at her ceiling, almost wishing it was a workday; even though she was starting to absolutely hate her job. She just felt like she needed something - anything - to keep her mind occupied right now.

It had been exactly a week since her timer had stopped, which would make it... God, what was the date? She rolled over and looked at her alarm clock, and saw that it was April 25th. She also noticed with a sigh that it was only 8:15.

Sometimes, Hermione wished she was a bit more like Ron or Harry, just so that she would be able to have a lie in on the weekends. When they were younger and Hermione had spent summers with the pair at the Burrow, she had always been the first one to wake up, and she had had to come up with some creative solutions to get them both out of bed - a bucket of cold water often did the trick. Hermione supposed she had developed her mothers stance on early rising - her mother had always said to her when she was a little girl that it was a waste of the day to stay in bed and do nothing, and that you should always be up and ready to seize whatever opportunities should come your way.

Hermione sniffed as she felt the hot sting of tears, and quickly diverted her thoughts away from family. That, she thought to herself, was for another day.

Sitting up in bed, she pulled the covers up to her waist and pulled her knees up to her chest, hugging them tightly. She knew she should probably get up and do something, but her bed was probably one of her favourite places in the world.

Large and luxurious, it contrasted with all the rest of her (much more modest) furnishings. It was king sized, with a sturdy oak frame and decoratively carved bed knobs. The covers were a bright, golden yellow - Hermione's favourite colour. She loved when the sun streamed through the curtains on sunny mornings like this one and bounced of the bedsheets, casting a golden glow all around the room. Whatever mood she woke up in, the sight of that always managed to cheer her up.

She yawned, stretched, and then decided it was time to get up. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she slipped her feet into her fluffy red slippers and walked to the door, where she took her dressing gown off the hanger and slipped into it, relishing the feel of it's warmth. She grabbed her wand from her bedside table and then made her way downstairs.

Sat at the dining room table, a steaming cup of tea in hand, she leafed her way through the daily prophet - not that there was anything worth seeing. The once infamous newspaper had had a turnaround after the war, as people no longer wanted to buy something which had been proven to constantly and consistently churn out stories full of lies and fabrications. Realising this, the new management had fired the journalists responsible and vowed to only ever print the cold hard truth from that day forward. Hermione thought it had definitely been the right and responsible thing to do, but Gods, it didn't half make for some boring news.

Her focus was drawn away from the newspaper at the sound of an owl tapping on the kitchen window. She stood up, walked over and pulled up the sash, smiling as she let the familiar brown bird inside. Harry's familiar brown bird.

Sure enough, tied to its leg was a note from Harry, and Hermione's smile grew even larger when she read it.

Hermione,

How would you like to meet me and Ginny for lunch today? Say, 1 o'clock? We could go to Florean Fortescue's for ice cream afterwards. It would be nice to catch up with you - it feels like we haven't seen you in forever. Send a reply back with Comet.

Love, Harry

Hermione scribbled a quick reply on the back of the parchment, telling Harry that yes, she would love to meet him and Ginny today, and could they please meet her outside of Flourish and Blotts? She sent Comet on his way and then finished off her cup of tea.

Glad that she wouldn't be stuck inside all day, Hermione went about the rest of her morning with a smile on her face.

Bored of his mothers daily nagging for him to do something productive rather than just sit around all day, Draco had taken to strolling along Diagon Alley most afternoons. He never bought much - the occasional book or gift for mother being the exceptions. Instead, he had taken up people watching.

He supposed some might find it creepy, but he enjoyed seeing other people just going about their daily business. Buying presents, supplies and trinkets and dressed in their own individual styles, everybody was all so different, and Draco found it fascinating to watch. Must be the scientist in him, he thought.

Today though, he felt a little more antsy than usual. He felt like he needed a little peace and quiet. Usually, he enjoyed the buzz of a crowded coffee shop or a bustling cafe, because he had found that the more he was out in public, the more people became accustomed to the sight of him. But today, he felt like he wanted somewhere truly quiet and lonely.

He checked his watch. Half past 12.

He reached Flourish and Blotts within five minutes, and heard the faint tinkling of a bell as he opened the door. A man scurried out of a back room and stood straight backed and proper behind the front desk.

"Can I help you with anything?" the man asked.

"No, thank you," said Draco flatly.

Noting his dismissal, the man scurried back to whatever he had been doing previously, and Draco made his way upstairs.

He made his way through the aisles towards the muggle studies section. Despite his stint being involved with Muggle science coming to an end a while ago, Draco still found himself fascinated by it - and it wasn't like he would find any Muggle books in his library at Malfoy manor.

Muggles, he had come to realise, had discovered just as much - if not more - about the world as witches and wizards had. The two groups had just been discovering things in different areas was all, and Draco wanted to know about it all.

He found a suitably interesting book and sat himself down on one of the many armchairs dotted around the shop.

After about ten minutes, he was drawn away from a paragraph about the discovery of the atom. The source of the distraction was a shuffling sound from behind the bookcase nearest to him. He simply rolled his eyes and went back to reading. It was probably just some nosey idiot wanting to see if it really was the infamous Draco Malfoy. Would he ever be able to get any bloody peace?

Hermione shifted her weight from one foot to the other as she stood outside of Flourish and Blotts. It was five past 1 - where were Harry and Ginny? Huffing and folding her arms across her chest, Hermione registered that there were other things her mother had passed down to her - a distain for lateness being one of them.

She sighed with relief as she spotted the familiar shock of messy, jet black hair making its way through a nearby crowd. And sure enough, just next to it was an equally familiar head of bright ginger.

"Hey, Hermione!" shouted Ginny, a grin stretched across her face. Hermione felt herself match the young girls expression, just as the flame haired witch launched herself at her.

"Ginny," Hermione giggled as she struggled in her friend's affectionate embrace, "get off me so I can actually say hello to you both!"

"Oh yeah," the other witch laughed, "sorry 'bout that."

"Hey Hermione" said Harry, smiling at the display of affection between his wife and his best friend.

"Hi Harry, how are you?" Hermione asked as she reached up to hug him.

"I'm just great, how about you?" he asked in reply.

Hermione thought for a second before she answered.

"You know, I'm actually feeling quite good today," she answered.

"Good," Ginny chimed in, and then she said mischievously, "so no more being angsty over the whole Malfoy situation?"

Hermione's smile fell and she threw her head back and growled in exasperation.

"Ugh, for goodness sake Gin, why did you have to bring that up again?" she said, hating the whiny tone her voice had now taken on.

"I'm only messing with you 'Mione," Ginny laughed, "I know you just want me to leave it, and I will... Eventually."

Hermione let her smile return out of amusement at her friend's teasing. That was, until she remembered what had happened about 15 minutes earlier.

"Actually, listen to this," she said, pulling the other two to walk with her towards a cafe that was nearby. "I was reading before -"

"Of course you were," said Harry in a playful voice. Hermione ignored him.

"Yes, well anyway, I was reading a book about the history of wand making, enjoying the peace and quiet, until who do I see coming up the stairs? Draco bloody Malfoy," she said, "and you'll never guess what he was reading."

"What?" said Harry and Ginny in unison.

"A book about Muggle science," she said incredulously. "I even went over to have a peek from behind a book case, just to check it really was him and I hadn't actually gone insane," she finished, hoping they wouldn't choose to pick up on the fact that she had essentially been spying on Draco Malfoy, her supposed 'soulmate'.

"Merlin," said Ginny, "and you're sure it was him? Not a secret 'less-hateful-towards-all-things-muggle' twin or something?"

"Absolutely positive," said Hermione definitively.

"Huh," mused Ginny, "isn't that strange..."

They slipped into a comfortable silence for a minute until they reached the cafe, where they were seated at a table near the window on the second floor, looking out at the street below.

They each ordered from the menu, ignoring the stares and whispers from their fellow diners. Being The Boy Who Lived (twice) and two of the wars greatest Heroines came with stares and whispers as part of the package - they had all learned to block it out.

"You know," Harry said after a minute, interrupting Hermione and Ginny's catching-up session, "it makes sense."

Confused, Hermione asked him what he meant.

"I just mean, it's not so strange for Malfoy to be reading a Muggle book," (he noticed the two women's' dubious looks) "no really, I mean, last I heard he's just got back from a year in America. I asked someone in work about it the other day, and they said it had something to do with science, something about... a muggle-magical merger? I don't know, I didn't think much of it at the time - thought he must have been on about the wrong guy," he finished with a shrug.

Hermione nodded, and Harry and Ginny launched into a conversation about Ron and Pansy, which she tried to keep up with. Her mind though, was now filled with questions. What was Malfoy doing dabbling in Muggle science? What was he doing half way across the world for a year? And had he... Changed? At this, she shook her head. No, she thought, if there was one thing she knew about that man, it was that Malfoy would never really change.