A/N: Thank you for the reviews, I really love you for them :D I'm really glad that someone likes this story enough to review it or even add it to their favourites. Really, thank you, it means so much to me.

Thanks to my beta. hug .

I'm not even trying to guess what you're going to think about this chapter. I personally think it's crap but my best friend vehemently disagrees, so... I'll leave it to you :D Let me know what you think.

Next chapter after the weekend I'm afraid ;/.

Chapter X

If someone told her a week ago that she'll be working for Draco Malfoy and liking it, she'd probably hex them into the next week. She would never have expected the job of a marketing advisor to be so exciting. See, the 'advisor' was only the official name. She could do whatever she wanted however she wanted. Malfoy gave her a small office and said "Make me popular". He was doing the daily checkups on her progress of course, but he gave her a free hand when it came to the way she was going to make his wish come true. So there she was, creating advertisements of all sorts and shapes. She was currently working on preparing a short spot for the Charming Channel - the most popular, quite frankly the only, Wizarding TV channel. It was founded by muggle-borns for muggle-borns, so where else would she find a better audience? She smiled to herself. This was going so well. Malfoy seemed very impressed with her idea too. He had no idea such channel even existed. No surprises there.

She was quite shocked at how different he was now from how he was at school. They talked a lot, about work mostly, sometimes about general stuff going around in the Wizarding World, nothing personal really, they weren't buddy-buddy or anything, just normal co-workers. It still was more than she could ever imagine having with Malfoy, ever. She was really glad that he wasn't his vile self from the past, because if he was... she wouldn't have been able to spend as many hours as she did at work. She tried to keep herself as busy as possible and do as little thinking as she could.

She had to admit, she was avoiding coming to the flat at all costs. After what George told her a week ago she was sure that it was for the better. She did realise there was some sort of... attraction between them before but she never knew that it would evolve so quickly. She thought she could restrain herself and that he didn't feel anything for her anyway. She thought that they could ignore it. That it would disappear, or maybe... that it could wait. But she realized now, after he clearly stated that the feeling's mutual, that there will come a time when they could no longer hold back, and she figured that it was best to just avoid each other for a while so the time wouldn't come while she was still Ron's wife. You might say that she shouldn't worry about Ron and give in to the lust, but Hermione couldn't. She wasn't going to lower herself to Ron's level. She was too good for that. And if that meant she was going to suffer for it then so be it.

He knew she was avoiding him. He wasn't angry, not really. He understood. Perfectly. And he wasn't going to make her do anything she doesn't want to. He understood why she was holding back, why she wasn't making any moves, why she didn't really say anything. He suspected she might feel attracted to him only because of what she said on New Year's Eve. She never acted on it, however. And he knew why... It wasn't as if she wanted to remain faithful to Ron, she just wasn't going to do the exact thing she had dumped him for. She was... very honourable. He respected it. Meanwhile, he was going to do what every other male would do...

"Hello hand."

What else could you expect...? The last time he's gotten any was... eh, very long ago. Having the object of his desires walking around in his shirt and boxers all the time didn't help much. He didn't even know why she kept the attire, he figured she felt comfortable in it and decided not to mention it. At first it was ok, but later... when he started seeing her in a... different light, oh the shirt was too much... there were days when he was sitting in the kitchen in the morning and she was making herself a cup of morning tea, having just woken, her hair wild, and his shirt falling loosely on her shoulders... She looked as if they've been shagging all night. Eh, how he wished they were. And that's exactly why they were avoiding each other now. And it was better this way.

Meanwhile Fred's wedding was approaching and Hermione was getting really excited. The last wedding she'd been on was her own, and it was beautiful. Back then she was so in love with her husband that it hurt. They made sure everything was perfect on that day. Ron's been so... sweet, allowing her to choose everything, helping her with the plans... loving her. She didn't know what had gone wrong it was as if the wedding was the best but also the last of good days of her life. As if they've been cursed the moment they said 'I do'. If they argued about the silliest of things before then they argued about absolutely everything after the wedding. Like the fact that he always insisted on buying her roses on every occasion having thought them to be the most romantic thing in the world. She didn't know which part of "I'm allergic to roses" he didn't understand.Ugh, Hermione! Stop thinking about him already! It's Angie and Fred's time and you should be happy for them! Not thinking about how your own marriage proved itself to be a complete failure! She scolded herself mentally. She was currently preparing herself for the hen night that was to take place later that night.

She persuaded Malfoy to give her half of her salary on the beginning of the month. He agreed after hearing of her financial situation. He really was changed. Now she had 100 Galleons in her purse and was cruising through a fancy dress store. She was glad that she only had to buy two dresses, for the hen night and the reception, and not three thanks to Angie who ordered the dresses for the bridesmaids, because she didn't want to spend the first money she had since almost a month entirely on clothes. She finally found what she was looking for and proceeded to the changing rooms. Perfect!She twirled a few times and was really satisfied with the effect. She paid for the dresses and went out of the store. She was so preoccupied with thinking about the wedding, the hen night and the reception that she didn't notice a man walking out of a bookstore and bumped into him.

"Oh my God! I'm so sorry sir, here let me he... Malfoy?"

"Hello there." He looked at the bag in her hand. "Ah, so this was what you needed the money for." He smirked. "Dresses, how... utterly surprising. I don't think I ever saw you wear a dress before." He raised an eyebrow.

"The Yule Ball..."

"Ah, that doesn't count, it was obligatory." He smirked at her offended look.

"The hen night and the reception have dress codes too, you know... So those two don't count either. You may go back to being unsurprised now."

"Hen night? Who's getting married?"

"Ron's brother, one of the Weasley twins, Fred. He's marrying Angelina Johnson. You might remember her, she was Gryffindor's Quidditch Captain in our fifth year."

"Yeah, I do, vaguely. Speaking of the Weasel... I mean the one you married. I saw something really interesting yesterday." She nodded, encouraging him to continue. "I was on a quidditch match yesterday. Weasley's team was playing. Being the filthy rich person I am I was invited to meet with the players after the game." Hermione was getting an idea of where exactly his story was going. "Guess who I saw snogging some groupie when I went the wrong way." Bingo.

"That groupie was Lavender Brown... Another schoolmate of ours." He looked at her surprised.

"You mean you actually knew?" She nodded her head. "I didn't know you were divorced."

"We're not." She muttered. She really didn't want to talk about this with Malfoy of all the people.

"You're not. May I ask why?"

"No you may not."

"Well I'm asking anyway." Stupid prat.

"Can't you just let it go?"

"Nope. Not today nor ever." She wanted to smack him so much. She did. He just laughed.

"Stupid jerk. If you must know, he refuses to sign the divorce papers. I've been trying to persuade them for the last two months."

"Two months?! And you still haven't taken the case to the court?!"

"I... What?" Huh?

"The court Granger, don't tell me you..." He noticed the disbelieving look on her face. "Oh my, you really didn't think about that, did you?" She shook her head silently her eyes still wide. She was moving her lips but no sound came out. He wondered whether she'd kill him if he laughed at her. Finally she seemed to grow her vocal cords back.

"I can't believe... I just can't believe... But still... Where would I find a lawyer? I don't have much money..." She was muttering to herself but he heard her anyway.

"Are you really that stupid or are you just pretending?"

"What are you on about?" She looked up at him. And suddenly it dawned on her. "Oh... Oh! You would? Really? I mean... Oh God thank you!" She tried to hug him but he stepped aside the last moment and she hugged a pillar instead. What a prat!"What? Afraid to get my muggle germs on you?" He raised an eyebrow.

"No, but considering that you're going to bring proceedings against your husband who cheated on you it wouldn't be good for you to be seen hugging other men in the middle of the street. I'm just looking forward." She blushed.

"Oh, right, I haven't thought about that."

"Obviously."Jesus, does he have to be so damn patronizing all the time? "We'll talk about your case on Monday. As your lawyer I have to know everything about the possible advantages or disadvantages."

"Oh I just can't wait for our heart to heart talk." Her voice was dripping sarcasm and he just smirked at her.

"Till then" He nodded his head at her and walked in the direction of the Leaky Cauldron.

How does he do it? I've just received the best news of my life from him and the next minute I wish I could make him suffer a painful death... Must be a Malfoy trait...

The hen night was really something to remember. The girls had gone to great lengths to make Angie the happiest and the drunkest bride ever. Hermione was having fun but her mind was elsewhere. How could she have been so stupid and miss the most obvious of all possible solutions? And she'd been working in a legal office for over a week no less! Way to go Hermione, way to go, I see great future ahead of you, If you notice it of course! Stupid, stupid, stupid! She still couldn't believe why Malfoy offered his services to her, it wasn't as if they were friends or anything, they tolerated each other, they were polite, and that's all. He must have some ulterior motive... I'll have to ask him about that. There's no way in hell that he's doing it out of the goodness of his heart! She sighed. How could everything be so simple and yet so complicated at the same time?
"Angelina Johnson, I take you to be my lawfully wedded wife. Before these witnesses, I vow to love you and care for you as long as we both shall live. I take you, with all your faults and strengths, as I offer myself to you with all my faults and strengths. I will help you when you need help, and turn to you when I need help. I choose you as the person with whom I will spend my life."

"Fred Weasley, I take you to be my lawfully wedded husband. Before these witnesses, I vow to love you and care for you as long as we both shall live. I take you, with all your faults and strengths, as I offer myself to you with all my faults and strengths. I will help you when you need help, and turn to you when I need help. I choose you as the person with whom I will spend my life." Hermione wished the tears to go away but she just could not help herself from crying when she heard those beautiful vows. She wanted these vows to be true so much. She hoped that they would be, in Fred and Angelina's case. It was so obvious that they loved each other very much. Both of them. She peeked a glance at George who was Fred's best man to find him staring back at her. He raised his eyebrow at her wet cheeks and she gave him a teary smile in return. He rolled his eyes and looked back at Fred and Angelina.

She looked at them as well just as Fred was lowering his head to meet Angelina's lips with his. His ginger hair fell over his face and he closed his eyes. His long eyelashes clearly visible on his freckled cheeks. Hermione felt something weird in the pit of her stomach. She watched as Fred's mouth moved over those of his wife and felt a sudden surge of jealousy.

The twins really were identical after all.

End of Chapter X

A/N: http / www . myweddingvows . com / this is where I took the wedding vows from.

We're finally getting some action, eh? I didn't know how much could I write about nothing happening. Anyway, wait patiently for chapter XII (I think it'll be XII, I'm not sure yet...) cause it's going to change everything. :D

Review, please? pretty please? pretty please with a cherry on top?