Draco landed softly outside the gates of the Manor, the crisp fall air rustling the leaves blanketing the ground. He opened the gate and felt the ward give to his touch, sending a wave of magic along his skin. Gone were the large foreboding hedges that lined the main pathway to the front door. Instead, they had been trimmed into elegant shapes and surrounded with various perennials the house elves arranged. The walkway had been lit with soft lanterns, illuminating the expansive property. It had become inviting, rather than foreboding and oozing of dark magic. Draco walked towards the front door, and noticed it opened as a blurred creature began making its way towards him at an alarming rate.

Duke Malfoy, the manor's one-year old German Shepherd, had just perfected his all out sprint and used it to transport himself every which way across the Manor. He still had yet to perfect his breaking mechanism, for when he reached Draco, he barreled into him, showering his owner with sloppy wet kisses. Draco landed with a hard thump, unable to brace himself again the impact.

"Oy," Draco managed to get out, "it's only been eight hours Duke." The young pup finally settled down, promptly sitting himself in Draco's lap. He ran his hands over the giant dog; his soft ears folding backwards as he finally got attention from his human father. "You are my absolute favorite, but it is too cold to be sitting out here all night. Come on." The two walked (well Duke ran then stopped every ten feet) back to the front doors of the Manor. Upon entering, he noticed Shelley, the house elf, was watching wide eyed as Duke took off towards his water bowl in the receiving room, the sloshing of water echoing through the abnormally quiet home.

"Master Draco, the puppy has been missing you sir," Shelley said, taking Draco's robes. He laughed as he heard the heavy steps run back towards him. This time he was prepared, and grabbed the puppy, halting his momentum.

"Is that right?" He laughed, scratching the dog behind his ear. "Shelley, it's awfully quiet in here. Where'd mum go?"

"Mistress Cissa had Mistress Andy over after brunch this morning. They left you a note," the elf gestured towards a sealed letter, labeled Draco in his mother's perfect penmanship.

Draco Darling,

I hope you had a wonderful first day at the Ministry. How was Miss Granger? I cannot wait to hear all about it (or as much as you are permitted to divulge).

Andy and I are quite not ready for this fall weather. We are spending the day and next at the Nice house and will be back in time for the Potter's Sunday supper. Andy dropped Teddy off by Harry's and last I checked, the Weasleys were teaching him questionable Quidditch maneuvers.

See you Sunday at dinner. I love you.

Mum

"Thanks Shelley. I'm all set for tonight, see you tomorrow." The elf nodded and disappeared. Draco headed towards his wing of the manor. He and his mother had completely renovated the old family home after Lucius was sentenced to the Dementor's kiss. It was their liberation party.

The day he was scheduled to receive the kiss, Draco and his mother had one last visit with him. They had visited him once a month as permitted by his sentence, and each visit caused more pain than the last. He blamed them for his incarceration, especially Draco. He belittled Narcissa as he always had, screaming against his bonds that he should have married someone else, an arranged marriage be damned. Narcissa had taken it to heart initially, but with each passing visit, she realized how mentally unwell he was and had always been. On their last visit, he sat stone faced, staring at the table in between them. Narcissa held onto Draco for dear life, her nails causing bright red marks onto the pale skin of his forearm.

"So this is it," Lucius had said, sneering at the both of them. "This is what you want?" Before Draco could even reason with him, Narcissa cut in. Her bright blue eyes fierce despite the tears threatening to fall down her porcelain cheeks.

"You deserve this," she said coldly. "After everything you put me through, put himthrough!" Lucius sat back, unaccustomed to anyone yelling at him, let alone his submissive wife. "He was our baby, our only baby. You promised me we would take care of him, we would keep him safe. And you did the exact opposite. You let a madman rule our lives, you self-serving bastard." Draco could not believe his ears. "You will meet your maker, and when you do, you will have so much explaining to do. We're done here." And with that Narcissa Malfoy, née Black, stormed out of the visitor's room, never once looking back at the man she had called her husband. Draco took one last look at Lucius, giving him the opportunity to apologize. Lucius stared back, his mouth shut in defiance. Draco stood, and followed his mother without so much a goodbye.

That night, Narcissa poured Draco a shot of bourbon and led him to the center of the Manor. She sighed deeply, her hand never leaving his arm, although now with a softer hold. "I've always hated this Manor," she had admitted softly. "I should've known a cold dark place such as this was only befitting of an equally cold, dark man."

"You did the best that you could," Draco reminded her. She nodded and took a swig of her drink.

"Not good enough, I'm afraid. But that is going to change Draco. We may be Malfoys by name, but we will be reinventing ourselves anew. We will do well in this world, as we should have from the beginning. I feel so relieved he is gone." Draco nodded absentmindedly, the day weighing down on him heavily. "And our first task, is to completely remodel this house. Because it needs to be a home. No more bloodshed, no more tears. I've hired a group from Germany to come in and cleanse this place from top to bottom. Then, we begin tearing down walls, and paintings, and dark knickknacks. We will rebuild from the ground up."

Draco was brought back to the present, as he neared the entrance to his wing. They had agreed to design it with the intention that one day, should the fates forgive him of all his transgressions, he would raise a family in this section of the house. He passed the main entry door, and walked directly into a receiving room. He and his mother had chosen warm brown furniture and light blue accents that reminded him of the sea. The receiving room opened up into a large kitchen, where muggle appliances had been installed at the request of Draco. His mother educated herself on all of the mechanics and options, agreeing that although the elves were useful in food preparation, sometimes cooking one's own meal was equally as rewarding. With the help of magic, he began prepping his dinner before setting off to his bedroom.

At the end of the long hallway was the master suite. He unshrunk the Genetics book Granger had given him, placing it reverently onto his nightstand. A large King size bed with deep green sheets sat between two tall windows with great views of the rear property. To the right stood a tall bookcase with his favorite novels and knickknacks he had collected over the years. To the left, was the master bathroom, which he began walking towards in great need of a hot shower. He stripped his clothes before stepping under the hot jets, feeling the tension slowly ease from his body.

Unloading all of the stress he carried from the day was simply euphoric. He had prepared for all different scenarios, mainly involving Granger. He was unsure how she would act towards him after everything that had happened between them. Had she hired him simply to flaunt her new role as Minister and assign him ungodly tasks? Would she try to destroy his family as retribution for everything he had done? Or did she simply want him to work because she valued his intelligence, all hostility aside. To say he was surprised by her disposition would be an understatement. She had clearly spent a lot of time thinking about things, about him. That had only confused him greater.

Hermione Granger had always been a force. Though he verbally abused her for half of her life, he had always admired how she never backed down. She was fiery, where all of the pureblood witches he had socialized with were demure pushovers. Pansy Parkinson had been one of the only other witches who had found her voice after the battle, but by then, he was no longer interested.

He remembered specifically a time where both he and Granger were in the library studying during fifth year, the reign of Dolores Umbridge in full swing. Her head was buried deep in an Ancient Runes book, her quill feverishly stabbing the parchment as it tried to keep pace with her thoughts. He had walked directly over to her table and said some idiotic slur before she looked him dead in the eye and told him to "go fuck himself." He had never heard any witches curse before. His bewildered expression had caused her to laugh haughtily at him. She struck him down even further and told him to "seriously, run your bollocks in a door." He was so stunned he strode past her table, his face flushed in embarrassment.

That same year, she proceeded to lie perfectly to the sociopath Umbridge, leading her to meet her fate at the hands of several enraged centaurs. The year after, she dealt with the pigheaded Ron Weasley sucking face with Lavender Brown, all while keeping Potter alive. He had then nearly gotten her killed when he let his deranged Aunt into Hogwarts; although nothing would compare to having her first visit to the Manor spent in bloodshed.

The memories of her being tortured on the floor downstairs sent a wave of nausea through him. He braced his hand against the marble wall, the water running down his hair flooding his eyes. He remembered her eyes then, while she was being Crucioed. She looked him dead on, like she had done in the library, but this time he was not the cause of her torment. He remembered the tears rolling down her cheeks as she screamed with each new curse cast. She stared him down as she lied to his aunt through gritted teeth, her brown eyes devoid of all the warmth they were so notable to hold. As Bella carved 'Mudblood' into her arm, Hermione's eyes had drifted into the nothingness and for a moment, he thought she had finally succumbed to the torture. It was when Dobby freed them, Draco noticed for the first time a new feeling overcoming him: relief. He remembered briefly seeing her battle the Death Eaters at Hogwarts, her wand movements confident while she shouted curses he had not even heard of at his father's colleagues. She truly was unstoppable.

And now she was Minister, in a world she helped reshape after such horrific events burnt it down. People were more accepting towards one another and more understanding. They were also more accountable for their actions. She had made leaps and bounds for the evolution of the magical world, and not just politically. Her academic accomplishments were even greater, and more numerous than any predecessor elected. She was the youngest Minister ever to hold office, and probably the only Minister to ever be so deserving of the prestigious position.

Hermione Granger was well liked by most, with the exception of Viktor Krum's fan girls. Malfoy laughed at the memory of Potter imitating her fury over the Howlers she received weekly from distraught fans. Her very publicized romance with the top ranked Quidditch player rankled not only the European female population, but also most of the male population who wished to court the young war heroine. Draco had been seeing a French witch at the time, and had on a few occasions run into the dynamic duo at various outings across Europe. He was happy enough to have any spotlight on his romantic life refocused, even if it meant highlighting how successful Miss Hermione Granger was in everything she did.

A timer going off in the kitchen interrupted Draco's musings. He had almost forgotten to finish cooking his meal. He finished scrubbing his body, the Dark Mark glaring up angrily at him from his forearm. His initial inspiration into academia was to find a way to rid himself of this horrendous tattoo. More like enslavement, he thought angrily. He poured all of his energy for two years into finding a cure, but no such advancement had been made in the magical world. Many people simply cast disillusionment charms and accepted it. He sighed, exiting the shower and changing into his pajama bottoms.

When he got to the kitchen, he saw Shelley attempting to correct whatever mistake he had made while attempting dinner.

"Master Draco, I think this dinner is no good sir," she said exasperatedly. Shelley did not like letting Draco cook for himself after prepping his meals for him since he was in diapers. It was a hard adjustment to make for both of them.

"It appears that way. I hate to bother you Shelley, but would you mind picking up some Pizza? I know it's late," no sooner had he said Pizza did Shelley disappear. He noticed she had completely cleaned up the kitchen along with his disastrous attempt at dinner. Five minutes later, she returned with a fresh pie and mozzarella sticks. "Thank you Shelley." She laughed and started preparing Duke's dinner.

"Master Duke eats a lot sir," she said disapprovingly.

"He's a growing boy Shells," he mouthed through a slice. "Besides, I think he likes being spoiled by you."

"Yes," she retorted. Somewhere along the way she picked up his mother's newfound sass. "But when is Master going to bring home a Mrs?" She peered over the sink, staring him down.

"When I find a girlfriend first, although that is not so easy," he confessed. Shelley had been his favorite elf, and he tried his hardest to keep her from harm during Lucius's existence. They had become even closer in his absence.

"You better hurry up or all the nice witches will be gone," she scolded. He threw his hands up in defense before grabbing another slice of pizza.

"I'll try harder." She nodded before disappearing with Duke's food. He heard her pop into the receiving room with a fresh bowl for the bottomless pit that was his stomach.

"Now you'ze be a good puppy and sit," she demanded. "Good, now eat like a good little master."

Draco laughed, finishing his meal. He cleared the food before walking over to see Duke lying on his side with Shelley rubbing his soft belly. "You're spoiling him," he said, staring at the puppy amusedly.

"I spoiled you too," she replied. "Goodnight Master Draco."

"Goodnight Shelley."

Duke slowly stood up, stretching his hind legs while yawning. "Come on you lump," he said to Duke, "let's go read." The two slowly made their way to Draco's bedroom, where Duke took his spot at the foot of the bed. Draco jumped in on the right side, grabbing the Genetics book Hermione had lent him, and settled in for a long night of study. Duke quickly fell asleep, the soft snores calming Draco's restless mind.

Hermione landed in the foyer of her two story flat in central London. She chose to live in a muggle building, needing both a break from the magical world and the luxury of Netflix. Living in two worlds was no easy feat, and she felt compartmentalizing one from the other had given her some much needed peace.

She unloaded her bags from her extended purse, laying the files carefully on the desk in her office. She peered into the empty fridge, sighing as she moved to order some Korean food. Peter answered, laughing when he heard Hermione's voice.

"The usual?"

"Yes Peter, the usual thanks."

"Rough week, huh?" He asked, the noise of the busy restaurant echoing in the background.

"You could say that."

"Well, luckily it's over. Wayne will be outside in twenty."

Hermione sighed, kicking off her clothes and headed straight towards the shower. The hot water immediately warmed her chilled bones, although nothing could quite fill the void in her chest. Well nothing except..

"Hermione, don't do it," she chided herself. "Just go for a run in the morning, it'll work itself out," she affirmed. But oh it was so tempting. A quick phone call and he could be here in ten minutes if in country, he always said. She sighed and scrubbed her curly mop of hair before taking the time to clean up every inch of her body. "It would be much easier with an extra pair of hands," a voice inside her head teased. "Ugh!" She shouted before quickly finishing her shower. She picked up the phone and called Peter again.

"Hi Peter its Mia," she said quickly. "Can you make it a double order and just have Wayne leave it outside? Yes, I'm sure. Thanks again, bye." She hung up before moving grabbing her cellphone out of the pocket of her robes. She went to her favorites, took a deep breath and sent a text.

Double order of K BBQ. Rough week.

Within thirty seconds, she heard her phone vibrate.

See you in ten. Red or white?

Or Firewhiskey?

She laughed, replying Firewhiskey, before cleaning up her apartment. She stared at herself in the mirror. Gone was the little girl from Hogwarts. Instead, stood a proud Minister for Magic. And an exceptionally frustrated single thirty-three year old woman who had needs. Needs that were as of late, being unattended to. She heard the sound of the floo roar and two heavy steps enter her living room.

"Mia?" He asked hesitantly.

She walked out of the bathroom and took in the ever-attractive Viktor Krum.

"Hi there."