"I thought I told you to leave me alone–" Hermione jumped off the bed and launched into a tirade as soon as Draco walked through the master suites an hour and a half later. Draco stood there and listened to her fondly, mentally counting just how many times he could make the normally prim Hermione Granger swear at him. He was up to seven before she paused to take a breath and fettered out of steam.

"All done?" Draco smirked.

Hermione narrowed her eyes. "It's really creepy having you stand there smiling while I yell at you."

Draco nodded. "Of course."

"You are so maddening!" Hermione screeched at his still-smiling face. It was as disconcerting as fighting with Albus Dumbledore while his eyes were twinkling away.

"It's part of my charm," Draco agreed, as he took her arm and half dragged her to the Apparition room, ignoring her protests.

They Apparated to their destination before Hermione could extricate herself, and she rounded on him as soon as they landed. "Just what do you– Oh!" she broke off as she took in their surroundings. "What are we doing behind Heathrow airport?"

Draco gave her a pleasant smile. "We're watching the airing-planes take off, of course."

"Is that my car?" Hermione's eyes landed on the metallic shape behind Draco. "My dad bought me that on my eighteenth birthday. What is it doing here?"

"Come sit," Draco gestured to the bonnet, as he propped himself onto it. "I wanted to do something nice to cheer you up, so I asked Herman–"

"You went to my dad?" Hermione interrupted.

Draco nodded, still smiling. "I asked Herman if there was anything that you enjoyed doing as a child. He told me that you used to come up here with him when you were younger to watch the airing-planes–"

"Airplanes," Hermione corrected him automatically.

"Whatever," Draco waved an imperiously dismissive hand. "So I arranged for you to come here. Now, will you please sit? I feel rather odd sitting here all by myself."

Hermione capitulated and joined him on the bonnet. "Did you drive the car here?" she asked, suspiciously.

"Of course not," said Draco scathingly. "I'm a wizard. I shrunk the car, put a Featherlight charm on it and Apparated it here. I also brought food." He pulled out the square of cardboard that he had placed under a mild Warming charm to keep it hot for when they arrived. "I hope you're hungry."

"You bought me pizza?" Hermione's eyes lit up.

"Well your father ordered it on the teleport," said Draco, as he opened the box and offered it to her. "Someone brought it to the house, and he also arranged for some drink you really liked. Miraculous really, how muggles manage without elves."

Hermione felt herself tear up again as Draco held up the bottle of Coke. She was married to the most infuriatingly thoughtful man she knew. "Thanks."

"No problem, though your father threatened to come after me if he lost his only child to tooth rot," said Draco quizzically, and then gave her a small smile, full of hesitant vulnerability. "Now, will you show me how to eat this thing?"

They spent a pleasant quarter of an hour enjoying the deliciously cheesy pizza and coke, as Hermione felt the stress of the day dissipate. A small part of her brain struggled to come to terms with the surrealistic fact that she was watching planes take off with Draco Malfoy, who had just done something incredibly thoughtful for her despite her own less-than-rational behaviour. She found herself laughing at his startled reaction to the first plane that took off, and then to her surprise, they were involved in a deep discussion on the properties of aerodynamics. She had always known that Draco was intelligent, but she hadn't realised just how pleasant it was to discuss topics she had come across in her years of library-worship with someone that was actually interested enough to listen. The slices of pizza rapidly disappeared as the sky grew darker and the stars started to twinkle overhead. To her surprise, Draco could appreciate the fine properties of muggle junk-food as much as any other muggle-born male. Hermione had often wondered what it would have been like to date if she had never found out she was a witch, especially during summers with her cousins, who talked about the inventive places their boyfriends had taken them to. It was most definitely surreal to think that she was out on the best –and only muggle– date she had ever been on with her pure-blood husband.

Hermione stopped mid-chew. Date?

"Are you alright?" Draco asked, noticing the change in her peaceful expression.

"Fine," Hermione nodded, her mind still reeling. Date?

Draco wiped his fingers on a paper napkin. "You aren't still upset about the rings are you? I honestly didn't realise I'd lost them."

Hermione gave him a distracted smile. "Maybe I overreacted slightly." Date?

"If you want," Draco began cautiously. "We can go to Diagon Alley over the weekend and pick out new ones."

"Nice idea, but I was thinking I'd go myself and buy them for you," Hermione said, forcing herself to focus. "After all, you have gotten me quite a large number of rings."

"Only two," Draco grinned. "The promise ring –both of them, actually– were from McGonagall."

Hermione turned to him in surprise. "I'd forgotten that. You wouldn't happen to know where she got them from, would you? I'd so like for the designs to match."

Draco shook his head. "They were antiques I'm afraid, she was set to have a similar blood-curse bound marriage when she was younger, but her intended died before they could make it official."

"That's awful," murmured Hermione sadly.

"But it was nice of her to give us her rings," added Draco, as he set the empty pizza box on the ground. "I doubt she would have done that for anyone but her star Gryffindor."

Hermione blushed as she finished her slice. "She is a lovely lady."

"Not as lovely as you," said Draco, with a boyish lopsided grin that made Hermione's heart race. He shifted closer and threaded his fingers through hers before leaning back on the windscreen of the cars to survey the velvety sky. He spread an arm across the windscreen, and Hermione leaned back, resting her head on it. Silence spun a delicate web of intimacy around them, as they looked up at the shimmering stars.

"I didn't know you were so romantic," she teased, several minutes later.

Draco exhaled quietly. "There is a lot you don't know about me."

Narcissa's words rang through Hermione's mind, filling her with a burning curiosity to know more about the man she had married. Maybe Narcissa was right, after all, Draco was the boy who had let Death Eaters into the school just to keep his mother safe when his father could not. If there was anything Hermione appreciated, it was loyalty to friends and family, and for all of Draco's misdemeanours during Hogwarts, he had always been fiercely loyal to those he loved. She just hadn't been one of them then, but things were different now.

Draco broke the silence. "Are you ready to head home?"

"Is this the end of the date then?" Hermione asked, before she lost her courage.

"I guess it is," Draco laughed softly, a rumbling sound that Hermione could feel gently shiver through her body. "You Apparate home, I'll put the car away and meet you back there."

She took a deep breath. "Traditionally, the boy kisses the girl at the end of the date."

Draco's breath caught in his throat. "Well, I am a traditionalist."

"So I suppose you have to kiss me then," Hermione nodded, as she tore her eyes away from the beautiful stars above them and looked at the boy laying beside her.

"I suppose I do," Draco agreed, as he too turned his head in her direction, his eyes searching hers, their lips now millimetres from each other. Hermione moved closer, nestling herself in the crook of his arm.

That was all the encouragement Draco needed to brush his lips softly against hers. Once, twice, three times, before he finally captured her bottom lip with a gentle nip. Hermione felt the tingles return as she deepened the kiss, moaning softly as his tongue slipped into her mouth, playfully battling with her own. Time itself seemed to stop for his soul searing kisses, and Hermione once again lost herself in the sweetness of his mouth. Their fingers were still interlinked, but neither of them broke the contact to turn their kiss into a more passionate embrace. There is a time for passion, Hermione reflected, and a time for intimacy. As they broke the kiss, Hermione found herself feeling inexplicably closer to Draco, more so than if they had slept together.

"That was some kiss," Draco said, as he gathered the empty box and bottle.

"Right back at you," Hermione smiled, and pecked his lips again before Apparating home.

Despite having had a relatively late night the previous evening, Hermione was up and alert to face the day as soon as Draco's wristwatch indicated that it was seven. She untangled herself from his warm arms with some regret as she set about getting dressed in order to accomplish everything that she had planned for the day. She spread her work out over the dining table and methodically caught up on what she had missed following the Ministry Ball. At nine, she was joined by Narcissa who insisted that Hermione halt her work for breakfast. They were just finishing when a bleary Draco trudged his way into the room and instantly made a beeline for the coffee. Eventually, both Draco and Narcissa left Hermione to finish off her work unhindered, and she managed to toil steadily until noon. With a languid stretch, Hermione wrapped up her work and relocated to the back gardens with a pot of tea to check over all the corrections she had made to the alarming stack of bills that had gathered in her absence. She was so engrossed that she almost didn't notice she had company until a familiar arm shook her concentration.

"Harry!" Hermione looked up with a pleasant smile at the visitors. "Merlin, I completely lost track of time."

Blaise gave her an amused look. "No problem, we've only been standing here calling your name for the last five minutes."

Hermione gave him an apologetic look as she waved them to the chairs. "Please sit, have you three eaten lunch yet?"

"No, and we missed breakfast too," Ron whined, though his expression perked up hopefully at the promise of food.

"The elves will lay lunch out here, no doubt," Hermione assured him, as she packed her notes away. "Help yourselves to tea till then. It's just us today. Malfoy had to go into work, apparently everything is in disarray since we left."

Harry sat down and gratefully poured himself a steaming cup. "Thanks, where is Narcissa? Won't she be joining us?"

"Narcissa went to go pick Juls up from Andromeda's," Hermione explained, as she poured Ron and Blaise tea. "No doubt she will stay there for lunch and only return before tea."

Lunch appeared on Narcissa's delicate bone china plates, and the four of them happily tucked into the elegant platters of roast chicken, bread rolls and an assortment of late winter vegetables. As eager as Hermione was for information, she knew better than to press the boys while their stomachs were rumbling –especially when they all looked much worse for wear. All three of them had bloodshot eyes; Harry's hair gave him a frightening resemblance to a dark scarecrow, Blaise's normally immaculate robes were hopelessly wrinkled, and Ron looked pale enough to rival the Hogwarts ghosts. Eventually, when their empty plates were taken away, the three Aurors regretfully got down to business.

"We all got called in last night," Blaise started, as he pulled out his notes. "Another murder, this time it was Macnair."

Hermione was horrified. "Where?"

"He was found dead in his house, which had been blown to smithereens by a bomb," Harry answered, as he ran his hands through his hair. "The department has been inundated with letters from reporters, it's a giant mess all over again."

"Still can't believe that git managed to talk his way out of an Azkaban sentence," Ron muttered darkly.

Blaise nodded. "He was a foul piece of work, but his death is still something we need to investigate properly. Obviously, it just has to be related to whoever tried to kidnap Hermione, but none of our theories are holding up. At first, I was certain it was some sort of vigilante group, but now nothing makes sense."

"The symbol over Diagon Alley was clearly one of peace," Harry argued. "And there's the fact that there have been bombs used –first at Hermione's wedding, then at Diagon Alley and now at Macnair's. Somehow, I don't see Death Eaters using muggle methods, most of them were pure-bloods."

"Yet, the symbol was oddly similar to the Dark Mark, both in the concept and in the colour scheme," Hermione pointed out, frowning. "Also, not all Death Eaters were pure-bloods. Snape, for one, and Voldemort himself were half-bloods. Both of them were raised like muggles."

Ron sighed, his frustration over the tired discussion evident. "For the time being, we should just treat the two cases as separate. We are getting nowhere in trying to find a connection, so we obviously need to change tactics."

"I agree, we have spent enough time going around in circles," Blaise accepted, looking resigned. "We made some headway with the list you made for us, managed to track down six Apothecaries that have sold at least half the ingredients required to brew the poison Valmont was given, from which two of them sold the Bundimun acid and only one of them sold the Streeler venom."

Hermione Summoned her own notes and perused them swiftly. "Those are both ingredients I marked as significant," she said, looking up. "Bundimun acid has a shelf-life of a year, while the Streeler venom has a shelf-life of eight months. They are both very rarely used in potions, and dreadfully expensive."

Harry glanced over at her notes. "From the looks of things, the person was smart enough not to buy all their ingredients at the same Apothecary. The Streeler venom was purchased three months ago, and the Bundimun acid was purchased two days later from the smaller Apothecary of the two."

"Both purchases were paid for in coins," Ron added, as he pulled out his own food-stained notes. "I spoke to the owners myself, no leads on who bought them."

"Damn," Hermione swore. "The Apothecary leads could've been promising."

Blaise shot her a sympathetic look. "It was still worth investigating. This does, however, tell us that the person was planning the hit for a while."

Hermione actually groaned. "So now we have to work out the motives for why someone would want to kill me, a bunch of Death Eaters and Valmont?"

"Welcome to our world," Harry grimaced.

"Getting back to the list," Blaise reminded, as he shuffled through the parchments tiredly. "We had some of our trainee Aurors search Valmont's office, and the entire area has been quarantined. No traces of Dark magic were found, but we will have to go through his things more thoroughly for clues ourselves when we have some more time. With you lot disappearing and Parker being attacked, we've been run off our feet in ten different directions."

"I understand," Hermione gave him a wan smile.

Ron flipped a gravy-stained parchment over. "Nothing on the ropes either. We are still no closer to finding out why they were in your office without any clue as to what they did."

"Hopefully we will find out something when we go through Valmont's stuff," Harry added.

Hermione bit her lip. "How is he?"

"No change," Blaise replied, looking pained. "I know you lot didn't really know or like him, but he was a decent enough bloke. I've had Audrey check up on him regularly, and we still have two junior Aurors posted at Mungo's."

"Sorry to hear that," Hermione mumbled awkwardly.

Harry cleared his throat. "So between Valmont, who is lying in the hospital and the cockroach attacker that no one can change back, we have absolutely no viable hostages for questioning."

"Which is not your fault," Ron interjected, catching the guilty look on Hermione's face. "That bastard deserves to be stuck as a cockroach."

"Really, Hermione," said Blaise kindly. "Don't beat yourself up over it. Accidents happen."

"Thanks guys," Hermione felt herself tear up again at the unaccusing show of support. "I still feel awful, you guys are working yourself to the bone and if I hadn't lost control like that you would've had something to go on other than theories. No offence, but you three look terrible."

Harry ran his hands through his hair again. "It's not just the work that's getting to me," he admitted quietly. "It's Ginny."

Hermione looked to him in surprise. Harry, despite his angst-ridden teenage years, rarely talked about his feelings or problems. It was even more surprising that he was opening up in front of Blaise, and to an extent, in front of Ron.

"Really?" Hermione ventured carefully. "What's going on?"

"We've been fighting a lot more than usual," Harry confessed bleakly. "Our schedules are so conflicting lately, and whenever we do see each other she's always so insecure. I don't mean to sound insensitive, but there are only so many times I can reassure her that I love just her without wanting to scream. I especially don't want to do it after a long work day, over the Floo."

To Hermione's astonishment, Ron nodded along. "I agree mate," he said with a heartfelt sigh. "It's the same with Lav, she's so insecure about her appearance that it drives me insane."

"Lavender? Insecure? Please," Hermione scoffed.

"Oi!" Ron protested. "Have you forgotten that you saved her from Greyback? He got his claws all over her. She covers the scars up on her face, but her stomach and back are filled with them."

Hermione suddenly felt wrong-footed. "I can't believe I forgot about that," she whispered in horror. "I never even gave it a second thought amid all the confusion during the war."

"It also doesn't help that she owes you a life-debt," Ron added, shaking his hair away from his face.

Both boys turned expectantly to Blaise, who groaned. "Don't even get me started on all the idiocy that took place while you lot were away. My love life is in complete shambles."

"What did you do?" Hermione demanded, feeling her anger rise at the thought of Blaise further messing with Pansy's feelings.

"Nothing I want to talk about," said Blaise firmly, a hard glint in his eyes.

Harry patted Blaise morosely on the back. "What about you Hermione? Did you and Malfoy resolve your fight?"

"How did you–?"

"He came by last night," Ron smirked. "Tail between his legs. Wanted to know if me and Harry could help him with getting you something nice."

"Harry and I," Hermione corrected, and then narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "I thought you were seeing Lavender last night, and Ginny told me she had plans with Harry."

"She cancelled," Harry told her flatly, giving her the impression that there was a back story to the statement. "And Lavender had to go visit a sick aunt."

"He came by Pansy's too," Blaise added casually. "I was there visiting Parker."

Hermione felt a sudden rush of love for her absentee husband. She couldn't remember the last time someone had gone to such lengths just to try make her happy. It was oddly unnerving and confidence boosting at the same time that Draco would put in that much effort into making up after their fight. Perhaps Fleur was correct, and he didn't truly love Aurelia as much as she suspected? After all, Draco had told her something to that effect himself at the Ministry Ball…

She found her voice. "We resolved things," she managed to say thickly. "Thanks."

Harry sensed her discomfort and changed the topic. "How is Audrey doing?"

Blaise hesitated. "She's been fine, but I swear she has to be at least mildly curious about Pansy. Either she is trying to test me to see if I will cave in and tell her how I feel about Pans, or she is completely clueless."

"Or maybe she doesn't care," Ron offered.

Hermione winced. "Tactfully put, Ronald."

"There's only so much tact I can muster after getting no sleep," Ron complained.

"No harm done," Blaise assured him.

"I'm quite surprised at how open you three are being," Hermione remarked genuinely. "I'm really glad to see it."

Harry gave her a patient smile full of exhaustion. "After spending a certain amount of time with some people, they become pretty much like family. We're all in the same boat, we work ridiculous hours every day and end up taking most of our meals together. When we're not with our girlfriends, we go out for a few drinks after work. I spend more time at work with these two than I do with Ginny."

"Things will slow down," Hermione tried to bolster their confidence.

Ron grinned. "You said the same thing after the war. Don't worry 'bout us, we'll be fine."

"Speaking of work, you are coming to Flint's tonight aren't you?" Blaise questioned.

Hermione could've hit herself over the head. "I haven't asked Malfoy yet. It completely slipped my mind, but if he's invited I'm sure he will at least make an appearance."

"Undoubtedly," Blaise agreed. "Tell Draco I'll drop by at seven, we can grab a drink before we get to Flint's to discuss the potential suspects that will be present. I'm meeting Audrey there, and since Theo is taking Pansy to dinner before, they will get there directly too."

Blaise could hear the sounds of the blazing row occurring upstairs in the master suites even as he walked through the opulent living room. He rolled his eyes and sighed to himself as he prepared to deal with a moody Draco and a seething Hermione for the rest of the evening. As he entered the sitting room, he saw Narcissa fussing over Julius' dress robes, wincing at every clearly audible swear word.

"Doesn't it just warm your heart to see a couple so in love?" Blaise joked, as he kissed Narcissa on the cheek.

Narcissa raised her eyes to the roof. "Just warms my heart having to live with them."

"Uncle Blaise! Are you taking me to the party? Daddy said mummy and I couldn't go," Julius gave an imperious pout, the effect slightly diminished by his plump cheeks and grand height of less than three feet.

Blaise tousled his hair affectionately. "If any of us make it out of here alive, I promise to take you."

"–well I said no, and that's that." Draco yelled audibly from behind the closed doors.

Hermione bellowed back, if possible, even louder. "Stop bothering me while I'm trying to get dressed."

"Stop bloody getting dressed then you obstinate witch!"

Narcissa sighed. "At least he said 'witch' that time."

"Shall I go interrupt the happy couple?" Blaise suggested, as Narcissa nodded gratefully. Blaise walked to the door and rapped smartly twice. From the volume of the bellowing inside the room, it would have been a miracle if either of them had heard him –or if they had managed to have any hearing capacity left at all. He steeled himself and stepped inside the room, slamming the door behind him.

Draco and Hermione were on opposite ends of their bedroom, which was probably the only reason their hearing was still intact. Draco was scowling as he buttoned his robes, while Hermione had her back turned to him as she sat at her vanity and viciously speared hairpins into the pile of curls she had managed to fasten atop her furious face.

"You are not bloody coming and that's final," Draco snarled firmly, leaving no room for argument.

Hermione spared him a scathing look before returning her attention to the bejewelled hairpins in her hands. "You do not own me, Malfoy."

Draco counted to ten in his head before replying. "Flint is my friend and I'm telling you that you're not coming."

"Well, this invitation has my name on it too," Hermione whirled around and brandished the engraved parchment in his face. "And as much as you'd love to chain me to your bed, I'm coming."

Blaise almost choked on his laughter at the accidental innuendo.

"What the hell are you doing here Blaise?" Draco had finally noticed his best friend, who was standing by the door looking amused.

"We are having a private conversation," Hermione added, her eyes flashing.

"Not at that volume you weren't," said Blaise cheerfully, dropping down on an armchair. "Well do continue, I just came here to eavesdrop in comfort. Awfully cold out there, you should look into that mate."

"I'll be sure to do that right away," Draco rolled his eyes.

Hermione appraised her reflection critically. She was wearing her trusty black robes from her engagement party, along with the dangling black diamonds Draco had presented her. Despite the minor distraction of her husband screaming at her while she got dressed, she hadn't done too shoddy of a job. She picked up her beaded clutch. "I'm ready."

Draco swung his cloak around him. "Like hell you are."

"She looks ready to me mate," Blaise interjected, as he gave Hermione an approving thumbs-up.

"Shut the fuck up Blaise. Granger is not coming tonight, it's too dangerous," Draco viciously tied the fastenings around his throat, nearly choking himself in the process. He frantically loosened them with his wand and forced himself to relax before attempting to tie them again. Who knew that marriage is so injurious to one's health?

Hermione threw him a scornful glance as she stalked outside the room. "Hello Narcissa, is Juls ready to go?" she asked loudly.

"That impertinent bitch," Draco muttered, before he too stalked out of the room, forcing Blaise to vacate his armchair and follow him.

Julius threw his arms around Draco's knees as soon as he emerged from the bedroom. "Daddy! Why won't you let me and mummy come with you? I'm even wearing pretty robes."

Draco attempted to take a deep, calming breath. "Your robes are not pretty Julius."

"Don't listen to him," Hermione soothed, as Julius looked ready to cry. "Your robes are very pretty."

Julius beamed at Hermione. "Thank you Mummy! Daddy is just mean." he turned around and kicked Draco painfully hard in the shins.

Draco gave an outraged yelp and forced himself to remember all the reasons why he loved the oddly strong brat. He massaged his temples as he struggled to recollect fond memories, attempting to ignore the shooting pain in his shin that wanted him to do nothing else but strangle his son. To add insult to injury, Blaise was correct; the outer sitting room was several degrees cooler than the master suites. Just bloody great. Now I will have to recast the Heating charms.

"Juls! You mustn't kick," Narcissa chided, as she scooped her grandson onto her lap. "Daddy didn't mean your robes weren't nice, he meant to say they were handsome, not pretty. Isn't that correct, Son?"

Draco looked mutinous, but complied at the unyielding look on his mother's face. "That's correct Mother."

"Shall we leave?" Hermione enquired briskly. "If we don't get going soon, we will be quite late."

"Mother, I really don't think Granger and Juls should go," Draco appealed. "It's not safe for Granger to make herself a target like that when there is a murdering psychopath out there that wants her blood. Also, the Healer was very firm that she was not to take any sort of stress or lose her temper–"

"–which you're doing a great job of ensuring," Blaise muttered.

Narcissa gave Draco a reproachful look. "Darling, don't you think you're being a bit overprotective–?"

"–a bit?" Hermione cut in.

"It is important that Hermione and Juls not turn down the invitation, after all Marcus did invite them particularly," Narcissa continued in soothing tones. "It will be Juls' first social event as the Malfoy heir, and what will people say if you don't bring your new wife along?"

Draco glared at his mother. "If you think it's such a big deal, why don't you go?"

Narcissa flinched as the blood drained from her face. "I would go," she said, her voice oddly thick. "If I were received."

"Sorry Mother," Draco amended hastily, taking her hands in his. "I didn't mean it like that–"

Hermione turned to Blaise. "If she was received? What does that mean?"

"In polite pure-blood society, married women of her ag– err– standing don't appear without their partners," Blaise explained in undertone, wincing at his almost-slip of the word 'age'. "Narcissa isn't invited because Lucius isn't around to escort her. She rarely goes out in public alone either, especially since Draco got married."

"Oh," Hermione mumbled awkwardly.

Draco turned to Hermione. "Please Granger," he pleaded, sensing her vulnerability. "I just want to keep you safe."

"It's not going to work Malfoy," Hermione informed him. "I'm still coming."

He rolled his eyes and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'give me strength' followed by 'bloody obstinate Gryffindors'.

As soon as they arrived at the party, they were enthusiastically greeted by a ruddy-cheeked Marcus Flint. Hermione was taken aback when he politely kissed her hand in welcome, and said that he hoped she would enjoy herself. Draco stuck to her side firmly as they meandered their way across the room, greeting several of his old school mates and some business associates. Hermione recognised several members of the Slytherin Quidditch team dispersed amidst the older witches and wizards. Blaise excused himself as Audrey arrived, and was busy introducing her to his old classmates when Pansy and Theo made their appearance. Apart from a contemptuous look at Blaise and Audrey, Pansy proceeded to firmly ignore them while she chatted avidly to Hermione.

It was only after multiple assurances that they would be fine, did Draco leave the two women to talk freely whilst he greeted some old friends of his mother's. Hermione wanted to groan with exasperation when Draco nodded discreetly to Blaise from across the room several minutes later, who nodded back, and grudgingly left Audrey with Theo next to the bar. He walked over and stood by her side so that Pansy could make a round of the room. Despite the seamless shift-change of her babysitters, Pansy didn't deign to so much as acknowledge Blaise.

When Draco looked back at Hermione, having finally extricated himself from a particularly tedious conversation with one of his mother's close friends, she, Julius and Blaise were conversing with an elderly wizard that Draco vaguely remembered used to be at odds with his grandfather. He approached them cautiously, keeping his distance so as not to offend the man by a display of over-protectiveness.

"You seem to have adjusted to the Wizarding world quite well for a mud…le-born," the elderly wizard Hermione was speaking to hastily amended, as Draco neared into earshot.

Hermione fought the urge to roll her eyes. This was the fourth time she had been called a 'muddleborn' that evening, and she was almost starting to wish that they would just call her a mudblood and be done with it. There was nothing muddled about her birth, thank you very much. Stupid delayed political correctness, she thought to herself crossly as she forced her lips into something that was in the same neighbourhood as a smile.

Draco swooped in, sensing Hermione's rapidly dwindling patience. "She's been in the Wizarding world for all of her adolescent life," he snapped impatiently. "And she's better at magic than the average wizard."

"Of course," the wizard graciously nodded. Hermione had already forgotten his name; all the pure-blood bigots had begun merging together in her head.

"Excuse me," said Draco curtly, at Blaise's discreet warning look. "My wife looks thirsty. Will you come with me Juls?"

"No Daddy, I'll stay with mummy," Julius insisted, enthralled with the adult conversation. Draco pressed his lips into a thin line as he reluctantly turned on his heel and stalked off to join Theo and Audrey by the bar.

The elderly wizard inclined his head politely at Draco's retreating back, and then addressed Julius. "Are you enjoying yourself tonight, young man?"

"Yes thank you sir," Julius squeaked politely, excited at being spoken to.

"I must admit, Mrs Malfoy, I am rather surprised to see you in attendance," said the wizard candidly. "Draco rarely brings his family along to social gatherings."

It was a thinly veiled barb at Narcissa and Hermione recognised it. She bit back a snappy retort at his obvious disdain for the Malfoys and found herself mentally reiterating Draco's muttered request for strength from earlier that night. However, before she could think of a suitable response, Julius interjected, having clearly inherited Draco's lack of knowing when to keep his mouth shut.

"Was it because daddy wanted to keep you chained to his bed?" Julius questioned innocently, loud enough for a few heads to turn in their direction.

Hermione gasped, mortification mingling with horror, and Blaise hastily disguised his incredulous laugh with an unconvincing cough.

The elderly wizard snorted. "Is that so?" he leered at Hermione.

Julius nodded enthusiastically, thriving on the attention. "Mummy kept screaming that she was going to come–"

"Kids," Hermione cut Julius off, shaking her head in what she hoped was a worldly way. She knew that she had already lost the battle against her flaming cheeks and determinedly fixed her gaze on a distant spot over the wizard's shoulder, avoiding looking directly at both him and Blaise. "Excuse me, I should go help my husband with the drinks."

She whirled away as quickly as her uncomfortable shoes would carry her and located Draco's pale blonde head easily. Hermione stalked over to him and grabbed his arm. "The next time we argue within earshot of Juls, we are throwing up a Silencing charm," she hissed.

Draco nodded, his eyes filled with confusion. It was always safest to agree with Hermione whenever she got the manic glint in her eye that she was currently sporting. "Err– sure," he broke off hesitantly and rubbed his hand across the back of his neck. "Or, we could try not to argue. I hate fighting with you and I think we would both benefit from keeping a cool head."

Hermione blinked at the unexpected response, her anger rapidly dissipating. "We could," she agreed, her lips curving into a smile.

"I think we're finally getting the hang of this whole marriage thing," Draco muttered bashfully, and then flashed Hermione a cheeky smile. "You know, I do believe that it is traditional for a married couple to kiss and make up."

"And we have already established that you're a traditionalist," Hermione grinned back.

Draco stepped closer. "I do believe you owe me a kiss, Mrs Malfoy," he whispered against her bejewelled earlobe.

"I would so hate to be in debt to you," Hermione whispered back, as she wound her arms around his neck and pulled him closer for another heart-stopping kiss. Hermione felt herself melting against the warm cage of Draco's arms as he kissed away any residual anger. It was taking Draco all his strength not to push her up against a wall and take her there and then, especially when she was so sweetly pliant against his body.

They heard an amused cough behind them, and broke apart hastily, both of them slightly embarrassed by their rather public display. They turned to find Adrian Pucey observing them with unconcealed interest.

"Adrian," Draco inclined his head in acknowledgement. "Do you remember my wife?"

Adrian kissed Hermione's hand, displaying his charming manners. "Of course," he drawled. "She's rather memorable."

Draco stiffened. "That she is."

"We went to the same law school," Hermione added to Draco, as she gave Adrian a polite smile. "He was ahead of me though."

"Kind of you to remember," said Adrian pleasantly.

"He's the lawyer my company consults with," Draco explained to Hermione, as he placed a possessive arm over her shoulder. "Made quite an impression on my receptionist."

Adrian flashed them a dazzling smile. "She was interesting."

"I'm sure she was," Draco smirked. "She always gets rather flustered when she announces you. It's extremely nauseating."

"You're just jealous that I have a way with the ladies," retorted Adrian, with an easy laugh.

Draco gave Hermione a long, lingering look. "Definitely not jealous, mate. I think I've already hit the lottery as far as women go."

Adrian inclined his head, his lips curling with private mirth. "You're definitely lucky."

Hermione flushed.

"So, how did you both get together?" Adrian questioned, his eyes flashing with curiosity. "No offence, but you weren't exactly close at school. Everyone was rather surprised to hear of your sudden engagement."

They were spared from answering by the sudden arrival of Blaise and Julius, who were shortly followed by Theo and Audrey. In the string of introductions that followed, Draco politely excused himself and Hermione from the conversation, and drew her to a quiet alcove away from the milling guests. He surreptitiously looked behind them, and then threw up a Silencing charm to ensure their privacy.

Draco turned to Hermione. "So, anyone suspicious?"

Hermione sighed. "It's hard to definitively identify anyone. Most of them are bigots at best and have dabbled in Dark magic at worst. Though there are a few people we can scratch off the list, such as Adrian and Marcus."

"I didn't suspect them to begin with," Draco admitted, as he paced along the alcove. "Marcus cares about very little other than having a good time, and I know Adrian well enough."

"We can also scratch off that annoying wizard I was speaking to earlier," Hermione added, as she mentally went through everyone she had met. "He was sick with the Dragon Pox for at least the last few months. Blaise mentioned something about it because he had managed to get him referred to Audrey for treatment."

Draco nodded. "That's good. It's also safe to scratch off Miles Bletchley and Montague; Bletchley has played professional Quidditch for over a year now, and Montague joined at the end of last year. I heard a few people talking about their performance this season, so they definitely couldn't have had the time to get mixed up in this absurd business."

"Alright," Hermione agreed. "Shall we head back inside? It will look suspicious if we're here for too long."

"We're newlyweds, no one would be that surprised if we snuck off somewhere quiet," Draco smirked and winked.

Hermione rolled her eyes as she undid the Silencing charm. "Boys and their one track minds."

As they walked back inside hand-in-hand, they automatically searched for their friends –and Julius– only to notice Blaise and Pansy in the middle of what looked like a heated argument.

A/n: Thank you all so very very much for the astounding number of reviews I received on my last chapter! It's safe to say that the number of reviews I get are directly proportional to how happy my muses are :D. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. A big thank you to all my repeat reviewers (I do so love reading your reviews!) and to the new readers that painstakingly review every chapter. I absolutely love continual feedback! Thanks also to everyone that has added me to their alerts and favourites. Hope you all are enjoying my work.

Once again, patience is a virtue. Lemons will make their way in due time ;)

If you are so inclined, leave me a review. They make me mega smile, and I have a horridly stressful day tomorrow. Ugh, give me strength.