Chapter 2 - To Move On or To Stay Still?

The next morning Draco woke up after one of the most disrupted nights sleep he had had in a long time. Granger was all he could think about. What was she doing here? Why did he care? Was he ready to face the wizarding world again?

He'd hoped a good nights sleep would have cleared his mind. He'd hoped to wake up and get on with his life as if nothing had happened. It looked like this was something he was going to have to deal with.

"Damn" he said as he headed to the shower.

Draco dressed and headed out, maybe keeping busy would help. He headed down to the beach, thinking a run or a swim might help him clear his head.

He'd run from Bronte to Bondi and was now sitting on the beach reading a book. He had surprised himself but he had come to enjoy muggle literature. He was currently reading Stieg Larsson's "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo", which had been recommended to him by one of the guys he knew from his local coffee shop.

Deciding it was time to stretch his legs, Draco headed towards the ocean.

As he was heading back to his towel, Draco saw her again. She was lying not to far away from him in a turquoise bikini. She looked just as stunning as she had the day before.

Draco headed straight back to his towel, shaking his head. Was this fate? This was the second day in a row that he had seen her. Why now? All of the questions he had failed to answer the night before returned, only this time they seemed more urgent.

Draco sat down at his towel and tried to focus. He would just walk away, move on somewhere else and start again. He'd been doing it for years, and Sydney was the longest he had stayed in one place since the end of the war. Yet he couldn't move. He sat there watching her, wondering what had happened to her since the war, why she was in Sydney, and where was Weasel. Surely they would be married with a family by now, but she didn't appear to have any children with her, or Weasel for that matter.

As the afternoon went on Draco spent more time watching Hermione rather than reading his book. She also had a book that looked very well read, and hadn't appeared to see him.

Eventually she started to pack up, and Draco followed. He wasn't sure why but this time he did not want to walk away. Maybe talking to her would help, but how?

Hermione had headed into a cafe, but Draco kept walking. Would talking to her help? Would it make it worse? Did he have to tell her who he was? Would she figure it out?

Taking a deep breath, Draco turned around and headed back to the cafe he'd seen Hermione enter. Talking to her seemed like the only option, and he needed to do something.

As he entered he saw Hermione sitting at a table out the front, with a drink in front of her, reading the book she had been reading on the beach. He placed his order and looked around the cafe realising that the cafe was busy. He decided there was only one thing to do, taking another deep breath he headed towards her table.

"Is this seat taken?" he asked

"Um, no" Hermione answered, looking up from her book, and glancing around the cafe, seeing it was virtually full.

Draco smiled as he took a seat, "So Hermione how have you been?" he asked.

AN: Ok so I know this chapter is shorted then the last one, but the next one will be longer, I promise, I'm just not totally happy with it at the moment :(