Hermione stretched languidly, gently massaging her neck. She had woken up to find that Draco had already left for work, but he'd left her a Hangover potion by the bedside table to ensure all her mental faculties were firing. His thoughtfulness had almost made up for her disappointment upon waking up alone, but she still found herself counting down the hours until lunch, when he would be coming by to have their regular post-Blansy drama discussion. She checked the clock again: only two more hours until lunch. With a small sigh, Hermione forced herself to work steadily on the forms that the Auror department had sent over regarding Vaisey's disappearance. Several tracking charms had been tried, none of them yielding any results. Hermione chewed the end of her quill as she carefully read through the application form for blood-tracking clearance. Even though blood magic was only very rarely used to track missing people, given the recent circumstances the Auror department had petitioned to waive the mandatory twenty-one day waiting period. Given the fact that during her own recent abduction from the Ministry Ball, a similar petition had been denied, she was forced to peruse large volumes of previous cases to check for precedents. As much as she wanted to help Vaisey's pregnant wife, 'a hysterical spouse' was unfortunately not a valid reason to speed things along; neither was the argument that his life could potentially be in danger from the same killer that was attacking former Death Eaters because he didn't fit the victim profile neatly enough.

She was so caught up mentally damning the bureaucracy that she didn't even realise it was lunch time until Draco knocked on her door two hours later.

"You look busy," he commented, as he set the take-away containers on the table.

"Just pushing the paperwork around for Vaisey," Hermione responded, as she neatly wiped her parchments clean and set them aside. "Thanks for the Hangover potion by the way, I would be hating my life even more if it wasn't for you."

Draco smirked as he opened the containers. "Oh how things have changed. I never thought I would hear that sentence come out of your mouth."

"Things have changed between us, haven't they?" commented Hermione significantly.

"For the better I think," Draco responded carefully, and arched an eyebrow. Why do I get the feeling that she's talking about something much deeper? Women! Just come out and say what you're really thinking. Gryffindor courage indeed…

Hermione thoughtfully munched on a chip. "Have you noticed that things between us are getting better, while things with our friends are going down the dumps? I was thinking about that last night when Pansy and Ginny were complaining about the men in their lives."

Draco took a long sip of his Butterbeer as he pondered over her comment. "What are you trying to say, Granger?" he asked, finally.

"Nothing, never mind," Hermione answered quickly, no longer eager to grab the bull by it's horns. Gryffindor courage my arse! Why is it so hard to tell him that I like him, and that our marriage is starting to feel real?

"If you're sure," Draco gave her an odd look. "So, how miserable are we going to be on the Blansy front for the next few weeks?"

"Blaise is moving in with Audrey," Hermione rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Pansy is a mix of furious and unhappy. I think it would be best if we acted as a buffer between them as much as possible. I don't know what Blaise is thinking or doing, but for Merlin's sake he needs to get his act together and stop jerking Pansy around."

Draco nodded. "What should we do about our dinner plans with them on Friday?"

"We could invite Harry and Ron as well, that way it won't be just the four of us."

"Really?" Draco wrinkled his nose. "Potter's alright but Weasley? Do we have to?"

Hermione gave him a stern look. "Ron will grow on you."

Just like fungus. "Fine," Draco relented. "We can have them over. What about Ginny? She's nice."

"She'll probably be working, and having a couple there besides us will throw off the friendly dynamic we're trying to create," Hermione admonished.

"That's what we're trying to do? I thought we were getting as many people there as possible to make sure she doesn't Avada Blaise," said Draco, looking bewildered. "Or we could just cancel the whole thing and run away until things calm down. We could change our names and find less idiotic friends."

Hermione chuckled at that. "Now I know the world has definitely gone insane. In a sane universe, you and I wouldn't be running away together in a quest for tranquility."

"We could go to Mexico," suggested Draco, only half-joking.

"We could," Hermione agreed, forcing herself to sound light despite the sudden tremor in her hands at the thought. She was so flustered that she managed to tip her Butterbeer –and knocked over the box of antiques on her desk as she jumped away from the rapidly spreading liquid. Draco quickly Vanished the spilt Butterbeer and gathered the contents of the box off the floor while Hermione anxiously dried her files.

Draco straightened up, his face oddly dark. "Granger," he said urgently, holding up her spindle. "Where the hell did you get this thing?"

"The spindle?" Hermione answered, perplexed. "It was amongst a consignment of suspicious artefacts. I checked over it thoroughly for Dark magic, but it came up clean. Why?"

"When did you get this?" Draco demanded, holding the spindle by a thumb and forefinger.

Hermione racked her brain, still confused. "Err– couple weeks before Christmas?"

Draco blanched and sat back down on her chair with a thump. "So almost a month before we did the promise ceremony."

"Yes, but what does this have to do with– Oh Merlin! It pricked me," Hermione babbled incoherently. "It drew blood. Merlin. How did you know what this was?"

He looked up at her dully. "Because I got one too."

Harry and Ron's cramped Auror office had never held that many visitors before. The claustrophobic space did nothing to soothe Hermione's agitation as she frantically flipped through her notes, searching for the copied paragraphs of instructions to prepare the potion that had sealed their betrothal. Thankfully, in her research on the ingredients required, she had come across the order –and timelines– in which they needed to be added. Chills ran up and down her spine as she finally located the sentence she was searching for: written in her neat handwriting, were the words 'blood of both parties, to be added twenty-one days before the potion is due to be completed.'

"This is it," said Hermione excitedly. "This is how they got our blood."

Blaise ran a hand over his unshaven chin. "It does seem awfully coincidental to be unconnected. How did you and Draco get the spindles?"

"It was just on my desk," Draco admitted, thinking carefully. "I don't know how it got there, I picked it up and it instantly pricked me. I had my receptionist get rid of it after."

"You picked up an unknown object that just happened to be sitting on your desk?" Harry asked incredulously.

Draco scowled. "We're not all as paranoid as you Potter. It was seven in the morning and I was barely awake. I got to my desk and there was this thing sitting there. I picked it up to get it out of the way and it pricked me."

"How much blood does the potion need?" Ron asked, as he picked up his half-eaten sandwich.

"Sixteen drops I think," Hermione replied, skimming through the notes.

Blaise straightened up instantly. "Can't be from the spindle then. How much blood did the spindle draw?"

"Maybe a drop?" Hermione turned to Draco doubtfully, who shrugged.

"I got pricked by it too, remember?" Harry shot the spindle a look of distaste as memories of being bound to Draco assaulted his mind. "If there was some mechanism in the spindle to take our blood, it can't have gotten more than a drop. I let it go as soon as it pricked me."

"Me too," Draco agreed. "That's a bust then."

Hermione looked to Draco in surprise. "A bust? What do you mean? Even if they had a drop, they could've increased the quantity. You cannot really think someone took sixteen drops of our blood without either of us knowing and that this spindle is just a coincidence. Have you never heard of Occam's Razor?"

"Who?" Ron surveyed Hermione dubiously.

"Never mind," Hermione responded, frustrated. "They have to have increased our blood."

Blaise shook his head. "That's not how blood magic works, Hermione. There is no way in the Wizarding world to viably increase the quantity of someone's blood."

Hermione slammed her notes down on the table. "That's ridiculous. What about Blood-Replenishing potions?"

"They only increase the rate of blood production within the body, they don't increase the quantity," Draco stated authoritatively. "My company employs several researchers that are currently working on increasing the rate of blood production even further. If there was a way to directly increase quantity, they would've cracked it. They are some of the most brilliant potions researchers of this century."

"It's not a coincidence," Hermione insisted stubbornly.

Ron gave her a half-hearted shrug. "I agree with you, but at the same time if the blood quantity can't be increased…"

Harry ran his hands through his hair, rumpling it beyond recognition. "This is the most frustrating case. If they didn't take the blood from the spindle, then how did they take it? If they did take the blood from the spindle, how did they increase it? What do we do with the fucking spindle now, anyways?"

"We send it to the Department of Mysteries," Draco replied wearily. "They're going to examine the spindle to work out it's mechanisms. There has to be a way for the spindle to have even transported our blood after it pricked our fingers."

"They can't have used that blood," Blaise protested. "It has to be something else."

The door flung open, cutting off Hermione's annoyed response. Everyone looked up to see a livid Ginny standing with her hands on her hips, her face almost as red with anger as her elaborately tied hair. She was wearing expensive, fluid-like dress robes in cerulean silk, and looked as though she was about to go off somewhere fancy for lunch.

Harry paled at the sight of her and immediately leapt off his seat. "Gosh Gin, I'm so sorry. I completely forgot–"

Ginny threw off the tentative arm he had placed across her shoulders. "You stood me up," she said coldly. "I was waiting at the restaurant for almost forty minutes, waiting for you to drag your sorry arse over. Time that I could've spent catching up with my family, or even finishing all the errands I set aside to even make the time to see you in the first place."

"I'm really sorry, we had a breakthro–" Harry started.

"Forget it," Ginny raised one elegantly manicured hand and cut him off. "Just fucking forget it. You're always working and you're always having 'breakthroughs'. I don't know what you expect from me, but I'm sure as hell not going to wait around in the sidelines for you to constantly finish saving the world and put me second to everything else."

"Ginny–" Harry tried again.

"Fuck off," Ginny replied, and turned on one expensive heel.

"Crap," Harry muttered before he ran down the hall after her. Hermione got up and swiftly shut the door, blocking out most of the sounds of their argument.

Hermione turned back and caught Draco's eye. "So, Mexico?"

"Mexico," Draco agreed.

Narcissa covered up her smile by taking a dainty bite of the stuffed chicken on her plate. Throughout dinner, Draco and Hermione had been acting like the married couple they were. She watched affectionately as they swapped tomatoes for mushrooms, but her poker face failed when Hermione offered up her last tomato straight from the fork, and Draco bit it off appreciatively. What might've started out as an innocent swap had turned into them feeding each other. A wave of loneliness crashed over her as she thought of Lucius, who had probably not even had a meal all day. Suddenly, Narcissa lost her appetite and pushed her plate away, resisting the urge to spit out the bite of food in her mouth into the silk napkin by her plate.

"Are you feeling all right, Narcissa?" Hermione eyed her with concern.

Narcissa forced herself to quell the rising bile in her throat as she swallowed the morsel. "Fine," she managed faintly, sipping her water.

"Are you sure?" Hermione persisted.

"I think the food is a bit rich for me tonight," said Narcissa, trying to keep a note of self-disgust from her voice.

Draco narrowed his eyes. "You love stuffed chicken," he stated suspiciously.

"And your father loves roast beef," Narcissa said frostily. "Excuse me."

"What the hell was that about?" Draco turned to Hermione the second the hem of Narcissa's robes disappeared out the door. "I think she's losing her mind."

Hermione pushed her own meal away. "Seriously, Malfoy? Isn't it obvious? Narcissa is feeling guilty about living comfortably while her husband is in Azkaban. How do you not get that? She testified against him at his trial but she clearly loves him deeply."

"No reason to stop eating," said Draco insensitively, looking surly. "He got what he deserved."

"I don't think your mother sees it quite that way," Hermione managed to say patiently. Whenever any reference was made to his father, Draco clammed up and got increasingly bad-tempered. It's a good thing that Juls is staying the night with Teddy and Andromeda, or he would've been too agitated to sleep. Juls is so close to Narcissa that at the slightest hint of her distress, he's unable to focus on anything except cheering her up. As sweet as that is, there are limits to what a three year old can do when it comes to helping Narcissa face her demons.

A house-elf appeared, and for the second time in as many days, announced that there was a visitor waiting in the sitting room and that they seemed upset. Hermione and Draco simultaneously groaned as they pushed away their finished plates.

"What do you think Blaise has done now?" asked Draco, as they made their way to the sitting room.

Hermione sighed. "Knowing our luck, probably proposed to Audrey."

"Or knocked her up," Draco suggested.

To their surprise, when they arrived at the sitting room a forlorn Harry sat there, looking uneasy. Hermione's jaw dropped as she took in his haggard appearance and red-rimmed eyes. Harry looked up as they entered, and gave them a nervous smile.

"Harry?" Hermione raced to his side and threw her arms around him in what looked like a rib-annihilating hug.

"Sorry to barge in like this," Harry muttered, spitting out Hermione's curls from his mouth. "You're crushing me, Hermione."

Hermione let him go instantly. "Sorry," she said sheepishly. "What happened? Did something go wrong with Ginny?"

Harry awkwardly pushed his hands into his pockets. "We broke up."

"Oh no," Hermione mumbled, as she forced Harry to sit back down. "I'll ring for some tea, shall I?"

"He'll want something stronger than that Granger," Draco intervened, as he pulled out three tumblers from the crystal cabinet. "How does Firewhiskey sound, Potter?"

"Sounds perfect, thanks," said Harry gratefully, as he accepted a glass of Ogden's finest.

Hermione looked at him and Draco disapprovingly, but dropped the issue. "What happened? Was she really that upset over lunch?"

"She was, but we ended up having a massive fight at the Ministry. The conversation sort of got away from me, and I ended up breaking up with her–"

"You broke up with her?" Hermione interrupted.

"Yeah, I'll get into that in a bit," Harry downed his drink and appreciatively accepted another from Draco. "After it happened, Ginny went crying into our office, and then Ron barged out to yell at me some more. Eventually I just sloped off and I was kind of lost on where to go. Can't exactly stay at work because Ron was there when I left, nor can I go to Grimmauld Place just in case Ginny goes there tonight. I thought about going to our apartment, but there's a fairly good chance Ron will come home at some point. The Burrow is out of the question for the same reason. I came by to see if you would come with me to Godric's Hollow, just for a bit–"

Draco tutted impatiently. "You're staying here Potter. You do have friends that aren't Weasleys you know."

"I can't impose on you," Harry protested feebly.

"Which would be a problem if you were imposing," Draco said firmly. "Are you telling me that if I came to you with nowhere to go, you would just turn me out on my arse? After my mother saved your life?"

Harry faltered. "Well, no–"

Draco arched an eyebrow. "I get it," he said coolly. "You think so badly of me that you won't even consider I would do the same for you."

"Of course not," Harry objected, colouring. "I never said that."

"So you're staying then, aren't you?" Draco smirked.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "You are such a Slytherin, Malfoy."

"It's part of my charm love," Draco replied easily, as he refilled his glass. "So Potter, shall I send an elf to bring some of your things over? Or will you decline my hospitality?"

"Thanks Malfoy," Harry nodded to him gratefully.

Draco stood. "Excuse me, I will go make the necessary arrangements," he said cordially, giving the two friends a chance for privacy. "I'll have the elves bring out dessert here. Potter, my mother is very proud of our chocolate mousse and cheese selection. Even if you're not hungry, you should at least try them, or she will be quite upset."

"When did Malfoy turn in to such a decent bloke?" Harry asked in undertone once Draco had left.

Hermione grinned, her eyes almost brimming with tears at Draco's thoughtfulness over ensuring Harry got some sugar in his system. "He's so different now, isn't he?"

"He really is," Harry agreed. "The world has gone mental."

"It really has."

When Draco returned, they enjoyed a pleasant dessert by the fire. Hermione was more and more impressed with Draco's impeccable manners and his flawless handling of what could've been an awkward situation. Draco went as far as to ask Harry's advice on broomstick kits and thus successfully diverted Harry's attention towards Quidditch. There was something to be said for good breeding after all, because by the time the three decided to retire, Harry was entirely comfortable about staying with them.

At the door to the guest bedroom, Draco paused, shifting uncomfortably. "Granger, I think you should stay with Potter tonight."

"Really?" Hermione was gobsmacked.

"I'll be fine," Harry put in quickly, even as he hesitated on the doorknob. "I don't want to take her away from you."

Draco cleared his throat awkwardly. "If Granger had a brother who just broke up with his girlfriend, I wouldn't care if they stayed together. I mean–" he broke off, looking discomfited. "I don't exactly know if that's normal, since none of us have siblings here, but I guess what I'm trying to say is that I wouldn't think twice about something like that. You are like her brother and I know it will be innocent," he rambled disconcertedly.

"Thanks," said Hermione, touched. "It's up to Harry, of course."

Harry shuffled, addressing his trainers. "If neither of you minds, then I guess I'd like the company."

"That's settled then," said Draco crisply, looking relieved the conversation was over. "I'll have an elf send Granger's nightclothes down. Yours are already inside. Sleep well."

"Go get changed Harry, I'll be with you in a minute," said Hermione, giving Harry a light push inside the room.

"Goodnight then," Harry muttered swiftly, as he shut the door firmly behind him.

Draco looked at Hermione curiously, as she stood there biting her lip.

"Granger–?"

He was cut off as Hermione threw her arms around him and pushed him up against the wall. Draco felt a hundred unfulfilled fantasies suddenly spring into fruition as Hermione pressed her lips against his, kissing him with reckless abandon. He almost gasped as her tongue slid into his mouth, tasting deliciously of chocolate and wine. In a flash, Draco turned around so that she was now the one pushed up against the wall. Hermione felt a tingle run through her body at the sight of Draco's white-blond hair falling rakishly into his lust darkened, stormy eyes. He interlinked his fingers with hers and rested them against the wall on either side of her face as he sensually kissed his way across her jaw line –pausing to nibble at a sinfully soft earlobe– and trailed heady kisses down the column of her neck.

Hermione moaned softly. "Please touch me."

"Where?" Draco breathed against the hollow of her neck, feeling her pulse flutter delicately at his touch.

"Please…" Hermione mumbled incoherently, as he kissed his way down to the curve of her breasts. Draco nudged the neckline of her robes open with his nose and nipped torturously lightly at the exposed skin, making Hermione moan again.

"Would you like me to touch you here?" Draco whispered huskily, as he extricated one hand from hers and ran a finger down towards her breasts, igniting small fires in its wake. "Or here perhaps?" he suggested silkily, as he lightly caressed one breast, sending electricity down her body. "Does this feel good?" he ran his thumb over one pebbled nipple, causing moisture to pool between Hermione's thighs.

Hermione arched her back, thrusting her breast more securely into his palm. "More…" she moaned, as she raked her fingernails lightly across his back.

"Fuck, you will be the death of me," Draco groaned, as Hermione freed her other hand and brushed her fingers over his erection.

"That's the plan," Hermione said seductively, with a devilish grin.

Draco lowered his mouth to take one dusky nipple in his mouth. "Not if I can help it," his voice rumbled against her sensitive skin. "Can you even concentrate when I do this?" he flicked his tongue languidly over one nipple, and then moved to the other. "Or this?" he took the velvety nipple in his mouth and sucked on it gently, swirling his tongue around the aroused peak.

Hermione moaned again. "Evil…"

"Cunning too," Draco growled softly as he turned Hermione around again, this time so that her breasts were pushed up against the cool wall. He slipped a hand beneath her robes and slowly trailed it up her bare thigh, stopping at her silky underwear.

"Don't stop," Hermione pleaded, as she felt him grind his hardness into her back.

Draco slipped a finger inside her underwear and made scorching circles around her slick wetness. "Yes ma'am," he nibbled her earlobe, sending a jolt of arousal down her spine. With careful precision he slid one finger into her silky tightness. "Merlin, Granger," he moaned. "You're so wet, so utterly perfect." He slid his free hand down the neck of her robes and rolled a nipple between his thumb and forefinger.

Hermione shivered with fevered impatience. "I need…" she trailed off incoherently as he slowly pumped his finger in and out of her, one thumb still drawing lazy circles over her clit. "You're going to make me come if you keep doing that."

"Let go, love," Draco mumbled against her neck, as he increased the pace of his fingers. "Come for me." She arched against his hand obligingly, her muscles tightening around his fingers. "That's it," Draco urged. "You feel amazing love, I want to feel you clench around my hand."

She moaned loudly as she came on his fingers and slumped against the wall, breathing heavily.

"These walls aren't sound proof you know," Harry called out from inside the guest bedroom.

Draco groaned. "Bit too soon to be testing the boundaries of friendship Potter," he called back, as he released Hermione and turned her back around to face him.

"That was–" Hermione trailed off, flushing.

"I'll let you go back to Potter now," Draco smirked, as he leaned in and kissed Hermione deeply. "Goodnight beautiful."

Hermione walked into the guest bedroom, still in a daze over the earth-shattering orgasm she had just had against a wall in Malfoy Manor. There were so many absurd things in that statement that she didn't even know whether to laugh or to chase Draco down the hallway and have her way with him until the sun rose. She settled for looking decidedly rumpled as she leaned against the door, unaware of Harry surveying her with amusement.

"All finished then?" Harry grinned, as he took in her post-orgasmic bliss.

"Err– yes," Hermione mumbled, mortified, as she fled to the sanctuary of the bathroom.

Hermione cleaned herself up quickly, enjoying the swirling waters of the bathtub. She regretfully hauled herself out of the warm bubbles and dried her self off on a sinfully fluffy towel. The pajamas she had worn during their abduction were sitting on the cool marble sink, freshly washed and pressed. She grinned to herself at the thought of Draco purposely sending her least sexy pajamas, as she put them on. She shut the door behind her and gratefully slipped between the silky sheets.

"So what actually happened with Ginny?" Hermione asked, as she crossed her legs and faced Harry.

"She slept with Neville," Harry growled, unconsciously pummelling the pillow he had been adjusting behind his back.

Hermione's jaw dropped. "What?"

Harry scowled. "Yep. She fucking slept with Neville, and she never mentioned it until today."

"When?" Hermione asked uncertainly, as she reached over and squeezed Harry's hand compassionately.

"During the time we were hunting the Horcruxes," Harry glowered, his body shaking with unsuppressed rage. "Before we left she was oh-so-worried about me finding some Veela chick to hook up with, and then she turned around and did this."

Hermione bit her lip. "Well, at least you both weren't actually together then."

"Even so," Harry scoffed dispassionately. "She could've told me. All this while I've been thinking we've only ever slept with each other, and then it turns out that Neville fucked her too."

"Calm down Harry," Hermione winced at his language. "Did she… lose her virginity to him?"

Harry shook his head. "We slept together back in sixth year, but it's still inexcusable. She said that it never came up in conversation, and that the first time I brought up that we'd only ever slept with each other, she set me straight right away. Still, lying by omission is still a fucking lie. And Neville, no wonder he hasn't hung around us much since the end of the war. I thought it was because he was busy, but turns out it was because he fucked my girlfriend."

"I know, Harry," Hermione soothed. "But was she right when she said it had never come up before today?"

"I guess," Harry said dismissively. "Doesn't make this right though."

"No it doesn't," agreed Hermione softly.

Harry slumped his shoulders. "Ron came out and yelled at me. He is meant to be my best mate, and yet he didn't even give me a chance to explain. One look at Ginny's tears and suddenly I'm the evil one. He even gave me some tripe about family loyalty, and how he was entitled to punch me because I hurt his baby sister. It was as though he was expecting me to be fucking grateful he wasn't causing me bodily harm before so much as listening to my side."

Hermione drew Harry's head on to her lap. "Oh Harry, you know how Ron can get," she said diplomatically. "He acts first and thinks later."

"Well I'm fucking sick of it," Harry mumbled against her knees, as his breathing started to even out.

"It will all look better tomorrow honey," Hermione promised, as she ran her fingers through his messy hair.

Despite Hermione's intolerance and supposed lack of aura in Divination, her prediction turned out to be accurate. The very next morning, Ron apologised to Harry at work and even brought him some of Molly's freshly baked cookies as a peace offering. When Hermione met Harry for lunch, she was pleasantly surprised to see Ron accompany him, and the three of them managed to keep the conversation away from Harry's break-up. After lunch, Hermione barricaded herself in her office, determined to get all the letters she needed to write out of the way. First, she wrote a letter to Ginny asking her how she was and whether she wanted to meet up that evening. Once that was finished, she quickly penned the appropriate memos –and attached copies of precedents– to hasten the blood-tracking for Vaisey, who was still missing. When Ginny's acceptance swooped back in, Hermione wrote a short letter to Draco, informing him of her new plans for the night.

Satisfied with her productivity, Hermione forced herself to start on the letter she had been considering writing since Friday. Not long after the war, Madame Maxime had injured her back so severely that she had been paralysed from the neck down. Hagrid had immediately quit his position as gamekeeper and had moved to France to look after her. He had since claimed that not even wild Hippogriffs could drag him away from her side, a theory which Hermione had toyed with testing around the time of her wedding –especially since the Ministry had recently opened an enclosure for a particularly rare hybrid of Hippogriffs that had resulted from the unlikely mating with a Blast-Ended Skrewt.

Hermione forced herself to stop procrastinating as she determinedly set her quill to parchment.

Dear Hagrid,

How have you been? Thank you for the treacle fudge you sent with Fleur last month. It was delicious. How is Madame Maxime's health faring now?

I'm actually writing to see if she remembers a former student of hers, an Aurelia de Nazelle? She would be my age or younger. Any information she might remember about her will be extremely helpful to me.

Let me know if I can send you anything from England.

Love,

Hermione.

She tied the letter to the owl before she could chicken out, and resolutely sent it on its way. Feeling oddly dirty, she wiped her parchments clean and neatly filed them away. She checked the clock; she had just enough time to stop by the Leaky Cauldron for a quick pint with the boys –who were taking Harry out to get pissed– before she was due to meet Ginny. She made her way out of the Ministry and Apparated to the Leaky Cauldron, where she located Harry, Ron, Blaise and Draco sitting down at a cramped table. The pub was full of wizards that had stopped by for a post-work beverage, as she squeezed past them with some difficulty and sat down.

"Evening boys, how are we all today?" she asked airily, as Tom brought over her regular Butterbeer.

"Good," Draco answered, as he slung his arm on the back of her chair. "Weren't you meeting Ginny tonight?"

Harry's head snapped up. "You're seeing Ginny?"

"She's my friend too," Hermione replied carefully. "I'm not taking sides in this break-up. I'll be there for both of you if you need me."

"Of course," Harry nodded, backpedalling. "I'm glad you're going to be there for her."

Ron threw Harry a dubious look. "Where are you meeting Gin?"

"Here itself, but don't worry she won't be coming in," Hermione assured him, mostly for Harry's sake. "Ginny will meet me outside at seven-thirty."

"Good idea," said Blaise favourably.

"I've been meaning to ask you this," Hermione leaned forward slightly so he could hear her over the bustling patrons. "Do you have any time during this week or perhaps over the weekend? I wanted to go to Diagon Alley to look at rings. Malfoy has managed to lose both his promise ring and wedding ring."

Blaise looked to Draco in mild horror. "And he's still alive? Mate, you really don't know anything about women do you?"

"It's not my fault that I lost my rings while wrestling some lout," Draco sneered.

"Both of them?" Ron asked doubtfully.

Draco shrugged. "I'm as baffled as you are. I don't know how I didn't feel them come off, or how they both went missing."

"It doesn't matter," said Hermione firmly.

"I'll owl you and we'll go," promised Blaise. "This weekend seems most likely though."

"Whenever you have the time," Hermione smiled gratefully.

Ron reached over for the nuts on the table. "Why don't you ask some girl to go with you? Like Pansy, Luna or Ginny?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, wondering how she had ever dated someone that oblivious. "Really Ronald," she scolded him. "Luna is away for work, and it really wouldn't be tactful for me to ask Ginny or Pansy–"

"Ask me what?"

The occupants of the table turned to find Pansy standing there, looking at Hermione expectantly. Blaise immediately started studying his peanuts, as though he was going to be momentarily held at wand-point and asked to give a thorough description. Draco suppressed a groan while Hermione floundered at the question.

"Oh nothing Pansy," she said eventually.

Pansy had finally taken in all the occupants of the table. "I didn't realise you would all be here," she hesitated, as she gingerly sat down on the seat Draco had obligingly pulled out for her. "Ginny owled me earlier to tell me to meet you both here, and I finished work early so I figured I would come in to check if you were around yet."

"Would you like a drink, Pans?" Draco asked gently, looking between Pansy and Blaise worriedly.

"No thank you," said Pansy primly, as she turned to Blaise. "Oriella told me that you and Audrey were moving in together. Congratulations," she managed stiffly.

Blaise looked up from his peanut, his eyes inscrutable. "Thanks."

"Will you be having a housewarming party?" Pansy asked politely, not breaking eye contact. Hermione had to hand it to her for keeping herself together so perfectly.

"Perhaps," Blaise answered noncommittally, dropping his gaze back to the peanut.

Harry intervened, in a poor attempt to break the mounting tension. "How is Theo?"

"He's just fine, thanks," Pansy gave him a brilliant smile. "I'm going away with him this weekend to visit his grandmother. She's the only remaining family he speaks with these days."

"Don't you think that's a bit fast?" Blaise cut in, glaring daggers at Pansy. "You've barely been together a month, and you're already going on holidays with him?"

Pansy gave Blaise a scornful look. "We've been together almost as long as you and Audrey have."

"That's not the point!" Blaise sputtered, looking indignant. "The two situations can't be compared."

"And why is that?" Pansy raised a challenging eyebrow, all the while keeping her tone cool and civil.

Blaise flushed with anger, crushing the peanut between his fingers. "Because that's not an appropriate way for a lady to conduct herself."

"You fucking hypocrite," Pansy hissed, drawing her wand. Before anyone could intervene, she had thrown a non-verbal pale blue jinx at Blaise's crotch. For a second it seemed as though nothing had happened, but then, Blaise looked down towards his lap in shock. His face tightened and he broke out into a sweat, looking pained.

"What the hell did you do?" he panted, gripping the edge of the table.

"If memory serves, you will want to leave rather quickly unless you want to be in a sticky situation," Pansy smirked, as she tucked her wand away.

Blaise went pale and leapt up from his seat immediately. The mistreated peanut clattered to the floor as he hurriedly squeezed his way out. He struggled to get past the throngs of thirsty patrons until he finally reached the line outside the bathroom, holding his robes as far from his body as he could, looking homicidal.

Draco turned to Pansy in awe. "What the hell did you do?"

"Nothing dangerous, just a particularly vigorous Polishing charm that I found in a book of household spells," replied Pansy, unrepentantly.

Ron made the same strangled noise at the words 'book of household spells' that Crookshanks made whenever he was unceremoniously picked up by the scruff of his neck.

"No wonder his mum found that book on household charms 'dead useful'," Draco muttered to Harry in undertone, but still loud enough for Ron to hear. Harry choked on his Firewhiskey as the Knut dropped, and guffawed loudly.

Hermione forced her attention away from the alternate dimension she had slipped into, one where Harry and Draco had inside jokes. "How long does it last?" she asked, resolutely ignoring the chortling boys.

Pansy gave her an evil smirk. "Long enough."

"I think it's time we got going," Hermione consulted her watch. "See you later boys."

To her surprise, Draco gave her a quick peck on the lips –while Harry and Ron were craning their necks to locate Blaise– that caused her to blush all throughout the walk out of the Leaky Cauldron. Despite the cool air on her cheeks, she felt oddly warm as they waited for Ginny to Apparate in.

A/n: A quick update this time, mainly because of all the encouragement I received last chapter. I loved all the reviews that I got! Plus, I have a horrible day ahead of me and I figured I could use the smiles all your reviews put on my face.

Hope that you all enjoyed the update. I'd love to hear about any specific lines or bits you all particularly liked.

As usual, thanks to everyone that added me to their alerts and favourites. You all make me smile ^.^