A/N: Hello! I'm back, another chapter ready to go, finally. Thank you to all my readers for sticking with it so far. Thank you for all my reviews, you guys are great!

In the midst of all the unpacking, I managed to get a lot more written than I thought I would, I have the rest of the chapters all planned out, so I should hopefully be able to update fairly quick. However, it seems everytime I get toward the end of one story, I'm suddenly bombarded with so many ideas for the next one. But I'll keep Tainted as my priority until the end.

Hope you guys like the chapter...enjoy :) (Quick note, nothing particularly M-rated, but lots of implications, and a tiny little bit of smuttyness...if that's even a word? lol)

xBx

~ Chapter 26: Good News & Complications ~

Just as Draco had predicted, Beth returned Hermione's letter later that week; she had really outdone herself, and Hermione was thrilled at the size of the scroll that landed in front of her on Thursday morning, before she could begin to unroll the thick scroll of papers, another owl landed in front of her with a letter considerably smaller. The owls took flight in unison after Hermione relieved the second one of its letter, and a quick glance at the writing on the front told her immediately it was from Narcissa.

"Someone's popular today," Neville commented from across the table.

Hermione looked up and smiled, "Only two." She said simply, reaching for her goblet of orange juice.

"The first one looked pretty thick," Ginny commented from beside her, "and I've never seen parchment like that." She added.

Hermione chuckled: from the look of the tight roll of papers, Beth had done her research online and printed her findings off to send them. Of course Ginny, being a pureblood, would never have come across plain white A-4 printer paper.

"Its just paper." Hermione said lamely.

"What's the difference between paper and parchment?" Ginny pressed, seeming genuinely intrigued, and Hermione was baffled at the reason why.

Hermione opened her mouth, but seemed to struggle for the right words to say: when it came down to it, there really was no answer to that question. "I don't know," Hermione shrugged, "They're made different?" Somehow this came out more like a question, than a statement.

Neville choked on his juice as he laughed, "I'm sorry, I think I'm hallucinating. Did Hermione Granger just answer a question with 'I don't know'?"

Hermione glared at him through narrowed eyes, but she couldn't help but smile as she threw a piece of toast across the table, hitting Neville square between the eyes as Ginny laughed.

"Shut it." Hermione laughed, before placing the letters in her school bag.

"Aren't you going to read those?" Ginny asked.

"They can keep," Hermione said simply, "Plus, I need to get going to Arithmancy, if I don't want to be late." She said standing from the table, "I'll see you in charms." She said to Ginny, before leaving the hall.

The letters remained in Hermione's bag all day, and she devoted both her frees to completing her homework, so that after dinner she was free to give her undivided attention to Beth's reply. Draco was having another Quidditch practice, and Ginny was studying in the Library with Dean and Neville, which left Hermione with the entire tower to herself. Taking full advantage of this, Hermione brought down her accounts books, and began looking through the papers Beth had sent her, finally able to put in the final figures to her estimates.

When Draco returned to the tower, Hermione was still pouring over the books, her eyes read and her hair even frizzier than usual due to the constant running of her fingers through it in frustration.

"You look…intense?" Draco commented as he came over to the table.

Hermione looked up and gave him a quick tired smile before looking back down, "Beth got back to me today," she explained, "She's sent me a few really good properties for sale in both Nottingham and Newcastle. Exactly what I'm looking for."

"Told you so." Draco said simply, and Hermione could hear the gloating smirk in his voice.

"Yes. Thank you." She said, rolling her eyes. "I now have the final estimate of the budget I need to find. But finding the money is the hard part." She mumbled, speaking more to herself than Draco. "There are a few investments which are turning a prophet; we could take finance from there. I don't really want to touch the house if I can help it." She looked up thoughtfully, staring across to the fireplace. "Harry." She said. "I need to write to Harry." She decided, standing from the study table and making her way across the room to the small table by the window that Hermione had taken to using to write her letters.

Draco frowned and followed, "You're going to ask Potter for money?"

Hermione shook her head, "No. But over Christmas he mentioned something about a settlement, from the Ministry. Compensation for being hunted, and a thank you for saving their arses." She said, with her customary eye roll, that made Draco chuckle.

"I'm guessing they didn't phrase it quite the same way." He said, taking a seat in front of the fire, at an angle that allowed him to watch her profile.

Hermione grinned a little, "Not quite that way, no." She admitted, "But the sentiments the same." She assured him, pulling a piece of parchment toward her and beginning to write.

When she had finished writing, she pulled another letter toward her, which she opened and proceeded to read, leaning back in her chair, a small smile playing on her lips. Draco wondered who this correspondent was, whose words seemed so delightful to read. He watched as she progressed down the page, he smile widening at parts, laughing with wide eyes at another, before biting her lip as her eyes filled with tears.

Draco frowned, "What's wrong?" He asked concerned, standing from his seat and going over to her.

Hermione shook her head, as if to shake away the emotions, and blinked to rid herself of tears. "It's nothing," she said, forcing herself to smile. One look at Draco's face told her he wasn't going to let it drop, so she continued, "This letter is from your mother-"

"My mother?" Draco interrupted, "Why is my mother writing to you again?" he asked.

"Because I wrote to her, again." Hermione said simply, as if this was the most obvious thing in the world.

"How long has this been going on?" Draco asked, clearly surprised, "And how come I didn't know?"

"Since I received Narcissa's first not at the beginning of term, we've been corresponding regularly for weeks." Hermione explained, "And because you didn't ask."

"You're on a first name basis." Draco stated, looking wary, "That's a little weird."

"I know," Hermione admitted, "But I'm getting used to it. She writes that Teddy took his first steps, the other day, in your Library. I wish I could have seen it, but then I thought of how this news is coming to me in your mother's hand. It's not right," Hermione said, her voice breaking slightly, "It should be Dora writing this."

Draco was at a complete loss at what to say, and what to do for that matter. Hermione took a deep breath, shook her head and straightened up, forcing a smile onto her face.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I think I'm tired."

Draco frowned, "You don't have to apologise." He told her, taking her hand and pulling her to her feet so that he could wrap his arms around her. Pulling her closer, he spoke softly, hoping to reassure her and not set her off crying.

"You're right, my cousin should be the one telling you about her son's milestones. But we've just come through a war, and wars are cruel. This war in particular was worse than cruel. I'm not trying to belittle anyone's death, but everyone lost someone in that war, and as hard as it is, we have to remember that they died as heroes. Teddy lost his parents, but they will never be forgotten."

Hermione nodded, and pulled herself away, "I know." She stated, and Draco was relieved to see there were no tears. "I think I'm going to go to bed."

Draco frowned as he looked at her closely – there were no tears in her eyes, but nor were there any emotions either. Hermione's mask was back up, a mask she hadn't worn in front of him for weeks: Draco had become used to understanding Hermione's feelings simply by looking at her eyes, now all of a sudden he was cut off. Before he could do anything, she turned and left him standing alone in the sitting room, wondering what the hell had just happened.

Come the morning, it was as if the previous night hadn't happened: their Friday went the same as any other Friday and that evening they were graced with Ginny's presence, though she was more of an annoying distraction than usual, feeling frantic about Gryffindor's match against Ravenclaw the following day. After an hour of non-stop talking from the redhead, Hermione finally lost her patience.

"One more word about Quidditch," Hermione said, deliberately slow and threatening, "and I swear I will send you flying across the room." She threatened, her eyes never leaving her parchment, "And I don't mean I'll use a flying charm, I'm talking about punching you so hard, that I will send you sprawling across the floor."

Ginny stopped short in her rant, words failing her for a moment, but Draco sniggered from the other end of the table.

"You've turned violent." Ginny said, finally finding her voice, "I blame you."

Hermione looked up to see Ginny glaring accusingly at Draco. "Why me?" Draco asked defensively, "She's always been violent."

"I have not," Hermione said with indignation. Draco put down his quill and leaned back in his seat.

"You punched me in third year." He stated, and Hermione flushed a little.

"Oh yeah, I did do that." Hermione admitted, "I'd had a long day and you pissed me off. But you know what?" She countered, defending herself with her fiery temper, "you try doing your day three times over to attend every class this place has to offer, keep up with all the homework, and find time to compose a defence for an innocent victim: see how long it takes for you to crack."

"Three times over?" Draco repeated, clearly sceptical.

"Yes. I had three classes at one time, all day every day." Hermione confirmed, "I was exhausted, and my patience was wearing just a little bit thin when you decided to antagonise me."

Draco frowned, thinking, "So, if you hadn't been as tired, you could have probably put more strength behind that left hook of yours?" He queried: now that was a scary thought, as her punch had hurt at the time, and had left him with bruise – he had had to use a glamour charm for a week to stop people asking questions. Hermione nodded, confirming his suspicion, and Draco turned to look Ginny directly in the eye.

"Run, Ginny." He told her bluntly, "Run now, and don't look back."

Hermione couldn't help but laugh, and she looked at Ginny to give her a reassuring smile, "I'm not as stressed as I was back then, but I'm still pretty wound up. Just please, give Quidditch a rest for a while? At least until I finish this essay?"

Ginny sighed, but gave in to Hermione's request. "Why are you so determined to finish this essay tonight, anyway?" She asked, "You have the entire weekend ahead of you."

"Because she's Hermione Granger." Draco muttered from the other end of the table. Hermione didn't verbally respond to the jibe, but she threw a balled up piece of parchment at his head.

"Because I have a lot of other things to do this weekend, besides school work, so the more I complete tonight, the more time I'll have for the other stuff. So if you could get your team catch the snitch quickly tomorrow, that would be a huge help." Hermione said with a grin.

"I will try my best." Ginny said with an accompanying eye roll.

###

Hermione got her wish for a quick game: each team barely managed to score a goal apiece before Ginny's seeker caught the snitch. It was the shortest match in history, lasting a total of six minutes and forty-two seconds, and while the crowd cheered valiantly for the end of the match, there was a slight feeling of confusion as to what to do next.

"I feel that was too short." Hermione commented to Draco as they walked back to the tower after the match, "Usually at the end of a match we'd go to dinner – but we've only just had lunch." She mused

"I thought you wanted a short match?" Draco smirked, "You're a difficult woman to please Granger." He said shaking his head.

Hermione gave him a smirk worth of his own, "Any woman worth pleasing is always difficult to please." She told him, "And yes, a short match, but five minutes is taking it to the extreme. I was expecting to be down there at least an hour."

"So you have an extra fifty five minutes to fill," Draco said innocently, but the smirk playing across his features told a different story, "I reckon I could help with that." He said, grabbing her wrist and pulling through a tapestry into one of the many hidden passageways. He pinned her to the wall and pressed his lips against hers before she could object.

Hermione reacted instinctively: no matter how many times they kissed it always left her wanting more, and as soon as his lips ever met hers, she couldn't stop herself from wrapping her arms around him to pull him closer and tangle her hands in his hair. She didn't know how he did it, but one simple touch set her skin on fire. She felt him smirk against her lips, and knew that he was fully aware of this little slice of power he had over her. Pressing her further up against the wall with his own body, Draco let his hands roam up and down her sides, and after exploring her mouth with his tongue and kissing her until her lips were swollen, he began to trail soft kisses along her jaw and down onto her neck.

Of course, as soon as her mouth was free of his, she began saying how this was a bad idea. "Anyone could walk in on us," Hermione said breathlessly.

Draco rolled his eyes and brought his lips to hover over hers, "Relax, Granger," he rasped, his voice think with lust – Hermione had the same effect on Draco as he did on her, "No one ever comes in this passage." He told her, before crushing his lips back to hers, and sliding his hand under her shirt running his finger along her waist.

She shuddered at his touch, and gave a small moan against his lips, and before she could think of the consequences of her actions, her hands fluttered down to his shirt and she began to work on his buttons-

"oops! Sorry," A female voice brought them back to reality, and they tore their lips away from each other,

"Oh my," the female voice said, recognising the two in front of her, laughter colouring her tone.

Draco scowled down at the floor with a growl, but Hermione turned to look at the intruder and saw Rachel, the Prefect looking at them and barely containing her mirth.

"Hello Rachel," Hermione sighed.

"Hello." Rachel laughed, barely containing her laugh, "I'll take the long route." She said, before disappearing back out of the portrait. When she had left Hermione glared at Draco,

"So, no one ever comes in this passage." She repeated his words back to him, "Is that so?"

"Not usually, no." He said, stubborn as ever. Hermione pushed him back away from her, and standing away from the wall.

"That was embarrassing," Hermione said, walking through the passage to continue back to the tower, "And it will be around the entire school by the end of the day." She sighed.

"It will not. But so what if it is?" Draco countered, "I don't care." He said, and Hermione thought he actually sounded slightly surprised by his own revelation. "People can say what the want, I don't care, and it has nothing to do with them. At the end of the day you make me happy, you make me a better person, why should I hide that?"

Hermione didn't know what to say to such a revelation, so instead she simply took Draco's hand in hers as they walked the rest of the way in silence. The pair spent the rest of their afternoon in the Head's Tower, so they were unaware of how fast the gossip-mill was turning until later in the evening when Ginny and Blaise let themselves into the tower unannounced.

Hermione was at the large table, frowning over accounts books yet again, trying to locate the funds she needed. Draco was on one of couches, reading. Hermione hadn't paid much attention to what he was reading, but she was pretty certain he'd taken her book again – it hadn't taken long for him to finish the first one, and now he was catching up to her. Hermione was seriously considering attempting a complex duplication charm just to stop him nagging her.

Blaise and Ginny took their own seats, and after a few moments of silence Blaise finally spoke.

"Alright, I'm just going to come out a say it: You two have an entire tower to yourselves but you decide to go at it in the corridors? What's the matter with you?" Blaise chastised, but everyone could hear the laughter in his voice without looking up to see him smirking.

"You're one to talk," Hermione muttered, without lifting her eyes from her papers.

"I don't have my own tower," Blaise countered, "The whole school is now talking about you. It's like the scandal of the year: the Gryffindor Princess and the Slytherin Prince; foes turned lovers. The story is on everyone's lips."

This time Hermione did look up, to glower at Draco, "Told you so, didn't I?" She reminded him.

"And I told you I didn't care." Draco said simply, not looking up from the book.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Why do I get the feeling this is going to come back and bite me in the arse." She muttered.

###

The next week, whispers followed Draco and Hermione throughout the school, and even the teachers seemed to look at them more intently than usual, particularly when they had classes together and would sit beside each other. Despite the whispers, Draco and Hermione's outward appearance didn't change from what it had always been, it was only that people now noticed the subtleties of their dynamic more since their 'relationship' had been ousted. They would go to and from the classes they had together, like they always did, only now people began to notice that Draco always let Hermione pass into a room before him, holding the door open if it was required. They also began to notice their levels of communication, and how some things seemed to be said with only a look. And in light of these new findings, people started to ask themselves why it was never noted before.

Hermione ignored the mutters, the whispers and the comments from the general population, but harder to ignore were the constant questions of her friends. Parvati was full of blatant indignation that both Ginny and Neville seemed to have prior knowledge of Draco and Hermione's relationship, and wouldn't shut up about wheedling every piece of information she could get. Dean had a slight disapproving look on his face, but never said a word against any of it, he simply said: "As long as you know what you doing. We don't want to see you get hurt."

Hermione smiled, and thanked them, but told them not to worry; she had no intention of getting her heart broken. As the scandal began to die down, something else occurred to put the spotlight back on Hermione once again. She was at breakfast on a Wednesday a couple of weeks later, when the post arrived delivering Parvati's regular Witch Weekly, and depositing an official looking letter to Hermione, as well as a note from Harry. Tearing Harry's letter open first, she read the quick note eagerly. He had finally got back to her with the exact sum of money she would be getting from the ministry – it didn't cover the entirety of the costs she needed, but it covered a good portion. Folding the letter back up, she tucked it safely into her robes and opened the official envelope, which contained the official response to her application to join the ministry.

After quickly scanning the opening lines, Hermione gave an excited squeal, quiet enough so that only those around her heard.

"Everything alright?" Neville asked her across the table. Hermione looked up to see Parvati, Neville and Dean staring at her intently, and she could feel Ginny's curious look from beside her.

Hermione nodded, "My application was accepted. I start working for the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures on August first." She said excitedly.

Immediately her friends began congratulating her, and Ginny even raised her goblet of juice to make a toast. Hermione drank with the rest, but she noticed Parvati looking at her left hand intently as she reached for her goblet.

"What's wrong, Parvati?" Hermione asked, after she placed her goblet back down.

Parvati's eyes widened and she shook her head, "Nothing," she squeaked, looking back down at her Witch Weekly. Hermione's heart sank.

"No, tell me." Hermione asked, despite dreading the response. "There's another article about me isn't there?"

Parvati nodded reluctantly, and Hermione took a breath, before quietly asking: "What does it say?"

"It seems they've been holding back some information for a while, building up a story," Parvati started, "I don't know what to believe, but it's about you living a double life."

"Right," Hermione said confused, "I mean, I live like a Muggle during the school holidays, I guess that could be counted as a double life to some degree."

"Yes," Parvati agreed, "But this is saying it's more than that. They've got wind about your relationship with Malfoy. But they're also saying you have a title: That you're Lady Hermione Roseby-Granger, who's going to marry a Muggle Millionaire in June." All of the colour drained from Hermione's face as Parvati delivered the final blow, "They even have photo's of you wearing what suspiciously looks like an engagement ring."

Hermione clapped her hand over he mouth to stop herself screaming out loud. "Show me." She whispered after a moment, holding out her hand for the magazine. Parvati handed it over quietly and Hermione took it without meeting her eyes, and ignoring the looks of the others. She didn't bother to read the article, Parvati had told her the important bits, instead she concentrated on the photos. There were indeed photos of her wearing the engagement ring: one of them was taken outside the theatre in London. The pictures were moving, so a wizard had obviously followed her, and they had snapped her being helped out of the car by Richard – he was holding her left hand up, perfectly displaying the glaringly obvious ruby on her third finger. Hermione stared at the photo, not daring to speak as she felt she might vomit if she opened her mouth.

Ginny had been peering at the spread over Hermione's shoulder, "Where was that one taken?" she asked intrigued, pointing to a photo lower down. When Hermione focused on where her finger was aiming, her eyes widened. She was looking at a muggle photograph (how they had come across it, Hermione couldn't even begin to imagine) that had been taken at Christmas Eve, she was wearing her emerald gown, the ruby ring hung around her neck. Draco was at her side, Richard opposite and the picture had captured the enmity between the two men perfectly: it was easy to see the hate in both their eyes as they looked at each other.

Hermione swallowed, "That was taken in my home," she admitted quietly, "The party my parents held on Christmas Eve."

"Holy shit!" Ginny said, yanking the magazine from Hermione's grasp. Hermione felt the sting of more than one paper cut, but she didn't say anything, she was still too numb. "This room is in your house? It looks as big as my bloody house!"

Hermione couldn't help but laugh at that, and a few shaky bursts came through.

"Is it true?" Parvati asked.

"Which bit?" Hermione asked, shaking her head. She took a deep breath and then answered before Parvati could ask again, "I have a title," she admitted, "But I don't use it. It comes with the house, and it's been in our family for generations. But I'm not marrying Richard." She said quietly. "If anyone asks you, tell them that. I'm not marrying Richard."

Hermione stood from the table and quickly left the hall, deciding to get to Charms early and wait in the classroom; Ginny came to sit next to her, having left the hall not long after her.

"You said you're not going to marry Richard." Ginny said quietly as she sat down, "but you never said you weren't engaged. Is this the complication you and Malfoy have been talking about?" she asked, "Every time you've said 'it's complicated' is this why?"

Hermione looked over her shoulder to make sure the room was empty, then looked at Ginny. She kept her lips tight together but gave a quick nod, before putting her head in her hands and resting her elbows on the table.

"It's such a mess, Gin," she admitted, "It got out of control, and I couldn't stop it. But I'm getting out of it. Even if it kills me, I'm getting out of it."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Ginny asked, and Hermione could hear the hurt in her voice.

"I'm sorry," Hermione said, "I didn't want anyone to know – Draco only found out because he saw the ring. That's the reason Harry knows as well. But I couldn't tell anyone: if people knew, it would be real. And then I'd never get out of it. It's a business arrangement, that's all. My parents want me to marry him for the money. I'm finding an alternative." Hermione explained simply, but before she could elaborate the door opened and the rest of class entered.

Hermione took a deep breath, sat up straight and smiled at Ginny as if nothing was the matter. She couldn't help but laugh at Ginny's shocked expression.

"How the hell do you do that?" Ginny hissed, "one second you look distraught to tears, next it's like you haven't got a care in the world."

Hermione smiled her best smile, "You know the whole truth about me now," she said, "The fake smiles, and the-devil-may-care attitude is all part of the territory of being a Lady." She told Ginny, as Professor Flitwick entered the classroom and began his lesson.

"I am now reading into everything you've ever done in a completely different light." Ginny muttered with a grin.

Hermione maintained her poise throughout the rest of day, ignoring the return of the whispers, and answering the pointed questions with a calm indifference. More than once did someone come up to her in the corridors asking her if she was really going to marry a Muggle, when she told them no they always had to ask "So why is there a picture of you wearing an engagement ring."

"It's a family heirloom, it will only fit on that one finger." Hermione lied calmly, before carrying on her way.

That night in the tower they were once again joined by Blaise and Ginny; no one mentioned the Witch Weekly article, but its presence was there. Eventually Blaise cracked, and broached the subject first.

"Are we ever going to talk about the white elephant in the room?" he said.

"What white elephant?" Hermione challenged. She felt rather than saw Draco's smirk beside her, and she saw Ginny roll her eyes.

"You can't leave anything alone, can you Blaise?" Ginny accused.

"I'm sorry, I like to know everything. And you know what," he said, addressing his girlfriend quickly before turning to Hermione, "The Gossip Queen of Hogwarts is part of your little Gryffindor clique, so you obviously know what's been printed in Witch Weekly today. You're wealthy." He stated.

"I am." Hermione agreed, "I don't know why that's such a white elephant in the room. If you want to talk about it, go ahead. Just don't expect me to join in. I have a lot of things I have to do and I'm running out of time."

"So it's true then?" Blaise said, "You are engaged to be married to a Muggle in June."

"It's not been formally announced. Not really" Hermione said calmly, "No announcement has been posted, no engagement party held. But it can't be put off forever, I have a feeling my parents will want it announced by April – so, I have until Easter to get out of it. There are three weeks left before the end of term: I'm running out of time, so I don't have the time to spare to answer these stupid questions. And if you talk of this to anyone else, I will personally hunt you down, and hex you so bad that you will never talk again. As far as anyone else needs to know, the story is a fabrication based on misrepresented information. Excuse me." She finished, rising from her seat and moving off up her stairs.

Ginny made to follow, but Draco called her back. "Leave her be." He said simply, "She doesn't want to talk, it'll only upset her more if you follow her."

"And how is it you know her so well all of a sudden?" Ginny countered, but she retook her seat none the less.

Draco shrugged, staring into the flames not looking anyone in the eyes, "It's not all of a sudden, I've gotten used to her ways over time: Living in such close quarters, with only each other for company most of time, you tend to pick things up easier that way." He said quietly. "You guys should go," he said after a moment, "She wont relax knowing you're both still here."

Draco still refused to look away from the flames, but he heard the other two leave their seats and depart the tower in silence. Still he sat and stared, thinking. Three weeks: he was losing her, if she didn't figure this out in three weeks she was going to do the bloody selfless thing and marry that arse to save her family. He wanted to help her, he wanted to give her the money she needed, but life wasn't that blissfully simple. Sure, he had the money, but thanks to his father's fastidiousness, all his money was locked away and he couldn't get to it until he turned twenty-one and Hermione didn't have that long.

Three weeks to find a solution: if this didn't work, he only had until June to be with her, until she was chained to someone else. So what the hell was he doing down here while she was upstairs?

Without a second thought, Draco stood and followed Hermione's footsteps up to her room. He didn't bother to knock, just entered and saw her standing in the doorway out to the balcony, leaning against the frame.

She looked over her shoulder as he entered, gave him a small smile before noticing the look on his face. Draco had so many emotions flowing through him he had no idea which one she was seeing, but whatever it was, it made her frown.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"Are you alright?" Draco asked, ignoring her question.

"For so long I've kept my muggle life separate from my life here. Now, all of sudden, the walls are crashing down and I can't seem to stop them merging no matter how hard I try. Everyone seems to want to know everything about me."

Draco nodded, "Yep, being a saviour of the Wizarding world will do that to you."

Hermione gave a humourless laugh, "I'm missing something." She whispered, turning back to look out into the night, "And if I don't find it soon it's going to be over. The next expose Witch Weekly will be printing will be my wedding."

Draco didn't want to hear anymore: he walked over to Hermione took her in his arms, and spun her around to face him, "Don't give in." He said feelingly, "You'll figure this out. You have to." He breathed, before crushing his lips to her with a need he'd never shown before.

###

For the next couple of weeks Draco and Hermione barely left their tower except for lessons and meals. Their usual crowd would always be present on an evening to study and converse, but as soon as the curfew hit they would willingly leave the two Heads to the alone time they desperately craved. Yet as soon as the tower was empty, Hermione would return to her accounts going over and over the same pages, coming back with the same numbers, but all the time there was something nagging in the back of her mind: she was missing something, painfully obvious, but what it was she just could not say. After an hour of fruitless counting, Draco would always drag her away; sometimes they would simply sit in silence, by the fire as she tried to relax, others they would give in to their passion and their need for each other right there on the study table, or on the rug in front of the fire. They spent every night together either in her bed or his, but despite maintaining an optimistic front, the unspoken words still hung in the air around them: neither would say it out loud, but as each day passed it was hard to ignore that they had one day less to be together.

As they entered the final week of term, Hermione's agitation was severe though only Ginny and Draco knew her well enough to pick up on it. She entered the great hall for breakfast on Tuesday morning looking as calm and serene as she usually did, and didn't falter in her smiles and conversation until the post delivered a letter into her lap. She recognised the hand as her mothers, and couldn't help but wonder what fresh hell she had in store for her on her return home: her mother wouldn't write a general note to her this close to the holidays. Resigned she opened the letter and began to read, picking up her goblet to take a serene sip of orange juice in an attempt to convey a nonchalance she certainly didn't feel. In retrospect, taking a drink was not one of Hermione's wisest decisions, as she barely got halfway down the page before choking on the drink and spraying a decent amount of juice over her letter and her breakfast.

"Sweet Merlin, Hermione!" Ginny called over Hermione's coughing fit, slapping her on the back, "What's the matter with you?"

The commotion had caused a stir amongst all those near to here, and she could feel the eyes of certain Slytherins watching her intently from across the hall. When she finally got her breath back, she managed to stutter out, "Sorry about that." But gave no further indication as to what had caused her little episode.

"Is everything alright?" Ginny asked quietly, as everyone went back to his or her breakfast.

"I've run out of time." Hermione whispered, passing the letter to Ginny so she could read it for herself. Ginny did a better job of keeping a straight face when she discovered that Hermione's mother had arranged for a dress fitting the Monday after Hermione's return. But Ginny did raise her eyebrows as she read the following sentence, detailing Victoria's plan to formally announce the engagement on Tuesday, one week from today.

"You're not out of time yet," Ginny whispered back, handing Hermione her letter. "You still have a week. And once you're home, if you need more time, you can try and postpone your Mother -"

Hermione let out a loud laugh at that, causing people to look back at them, "Oh Ginny. You do not know my Mother."

"Come on, she can't be as stubborn as you?" Ginny countered.

"No." Hermione said, rising from her seat, "She's worse." She gave Ginny a pat on the shoulder, "I have a lot of work to do, thank Merlin I have a free first thing. I'll catch you at break." She said, leaving Ginny to the barrage of questions that were no doubt to be thrown at her as soon as Hermione left the hall.

Despite the extra determination that Victoria's letter had inspired, Hermione still couldn't find that missing piece she was desperate to find. By the time she went to the Great Hall for dinner that evening she was near ready to throw in the towel and admit defeat. Draco had eaten early as he was joining the Slytherin team's final practice session before the end of term, and as Hermione really didn't feel like sitting in the tower alone, tearing her hair out, she decided to walk down to the lake and sit in the gathering dusk, despite the smell of rain that hung heavy in the air.

Draco had been flying for an hour by the time the heavens opened and the cold spring rain fell down upon them. Blaise called an early end to the session and as the team moved off to reconvene in the changing rooms, Blaise deliberately held back to walk by Draco's side, ten paces behind the rest of the team.

"Granger had any breakthroughs yet?" Blaise asked, and Draco thought he already knew the answer to his question. Unbeknown to Draco and Hermione, Blaise and Ginny had been talking about this newest revelation of Hermione's engagement, and while they didn't know the specific details, they knew enough. Draco shook his head, without giving a verbal response and Blaise continued.

"You know, there is an obvious solution here." Blaise pointed out.

"Then please, enlighten me." Draco drawled, "Because Hermione and I can't see it."

"Are you kidding?" Blaise said in slight disbelief, before shaking his head and continuing before Draco could interrupt. "Look, Gin and I don't know the full details, but we know this is to do with money." Draco nodded. "Well, forgive me for stating the obvious, but you're the richest guy I know."

Draco interrupted him this time, "No, I'm not." He said, "When I reach twenty-one, I will be. But until then, it's my family that are rich, not me."

"Alright," Blaise conceded, "So you can't touch your money until you're twenty-one. Or, until you marry." Blaise let his sentence hang in the air.

Draco sighed, "You'd think that would be the case, but still no. My father tied my inheritance up tight. Usually you get access at a certain age or if you marry, whichever comes first, but my father decided I was the kind of petulant child who would marry just to get my money, so he scrapped that clause. I could marry Hermione, and she would be inline for a hell of a lot more money than Alden can ever dream of giving her. But she wouldn't get it until I turned twenty-one, and she can't wait that long. And besides, why would she get out of one marriage of convenience just to go into another." Draco finished.

"It's obvious you two want to be together: I doubt she'd see it as a marriage of convenience." Blaise countered.

"She'd be marrying me to get out of marrying Richard. What else would you call that if not for convenience?" Draco snapped. "You're team is waiting for you, I'm going back to the castle." He said, turning away from his friend and walking from the pitch.

He wasn't sure what drew his attention to the lake as he passed, but something did and he saw her sat there, simply staring across the lake in the pouring rain. He knew it was her, despite the distance between them, he would recognise her profile anywhere. And only she would be crazy enough to sit out in the rain, he thought as he made his way toward her.

"Are you trying to catch your death out here?" Draco said as he approached her. Hermione turned to look up at him as he approached.

"Voldemort and his Death Eaters couldn't finish me, I doubt a little rain will do what they could not." She smiled, and despite the worry he was constantly feeling about her future – or rather their future, he supposed – he couldn't help but smile back at her, and took a seat beside her.

"You look tense." He stated.

"I am." Hermione nodded, "I just feel that I'm missing something painfully obvious!" She declared suddenly, "There is a source of money, untapped, and I can't think what it is."

Draco sighed, "I wish I could help. If I could, I would invest-"

Hermione shook her head and interrupted, "I couldn't ask you to do that." She said,

Draco chuckled, "I know. You're too bloody stubborn. That's why I would have come to you, and just gave you the money. I have it, in my trust fund, but I can't access it until I turn twenty one."

Hermione's eyes widened and she let out a squeal of a laugh, "You're a genius!" She declared, jumping up.

"I am?" Draco asked, standing up with her, looking confused and wary.

Hermione beamed, "Yes! My trustfund! I have no idea how much is in there, but it should be enough. It will definitely cover more than the missing funds, and if I join it with the Ministry pay out, it may even cover the entire costs, which could save me taking money from other investments! I can't believe I never thought of it. I'll need my parents permission to access it, of course, but if I propose it to them in the right way, they surely can't refuse." She babbled excitedly, and Draco could see the hope in her eyes.

"You're certain? You'd have enough?" Draco asked. "This will solve everything?" He didn't know if he dared believe it, not yet.

Hermione Nodded, "All I have to do is get my parents to agree. Thank you," She breathed feelingly, "I would have never figured that out without you. Thank you!" She said again, before throwing herself forwards and crushing her lips to his.

Draco reacted instantaneously, despite the fact that they were in a very public place and the Slytherin team could be leaving the changing rooms any time now. But for once he didn't care about keeping a low profile, hope was radiating from Hermione in waves, and it was intoxicating. He wrapped one hand around her waist, pulling her body to his; the other tangled itself into her hair, keeping her head in place as close to his as it could possibly be. Before they could get too involved in each other, they were distracted by a series of wolf-whistles and catcalls. It would seem the Slytherin team were making their way back to the castle. Draco felt Hermione laugh softly, but she didn't break contact from his lips, she was too happy to care. So taking his lead from her he refused to break contact too, though he did give his team-mates the finger, before wrapping his arm back around Hermione and holding her tight.

When Hermione finally made it back to the tower, she wrote a quick response to her Mother's note, before penning a letter to her father, asking him for all the information regarding her trust fund. Now all she had to do was wait. It would give her a very small window of opportunity to act, but she was as prepared as she could possibly be up to this point. Everything rested on her father's information.

A/N: So we've finally made a breakthrough, I have the rest of the chapters planned out, and it's going to be so much fun to write. We've also made it to the end of term, so next chapter will bring back the man we love to hate. I will get working on that asap :)

let me know what you guys think

xBx