A/N sorry for the long wait in between chapters. I hope this makes up for it, just don't be too hard on Hermione in the next few chapters. Sometimes we can't help who we fall for...lol. Happy reading and please don't forget to review!

Gulf of Lions

Hermione woke up early the next morning and sent an owl to Ginny asking her to keep Hugo a bit longer so that she could 'sleep in.' She had no intention of doing that. She wanted to get as far away from Ronald as possible. He was snoring loudly and reeked of cheap alcohol and even cheaper perfume. She got up at 5 am, showered again, got dressed and headed for the office. She would work all day and not think about Ron or Draco at all.

'I need perspective.' she told herself. 'Things are getting too complicated.' All these thoughts collided inside her head as she swirled around the green flames heading towards the ministry. When she arrived in the hallway there were just a few people working that day. So she didn't have to explain to anyone why she was there that day. Her office now felt like a refuge for her. A place to avoid fights and relive moments without being bothered. She shut the door behind her and locked it. Her wand lit the fireplace and the room glowed to life. She placed her bag on the sofa and went to her desk where she was surprised by a small box tied with a white ribbon.

"Who sent this?" she wondered. There was a small note on the outside, she pulled it off and understood. It made her smile. She tore into the box and discovered a book. An old book and she absolutely loved it. Pride and Prejudice was one of her all time favorites. She looked on the inside and realized that it was a third edition, in good condition. She frowned a bit.

'He must have spent a fortune on this.' she said. Just then a slip of paper fell out of the book. It gave direction to chapter 60. She flipped forward and read that chapter, she knew it well. But why did he want her to read that chapter. She found out why a few pages later. A little star was marked by a quote. He had marked it with his wand so as not to damage the book. She read the quote and gasped. She had to read it a few more times before what it said sank in.

I cannot fix on the hour, or the look, or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun.

She felt tears welling in her eyes again. It was one of the most thoughtful gifts she had ever received. She put the book in her top desk drawer and started to write him a note when there was a knock on the door.

'Who on earth could that be?' she wondered.

"Come in." she said clearing her voice.

The door opened and for once she was not happy to see her guest.

"Harry…" she sighed.

"What are you doing here Hermione?" he asked.

"Harry, it's not the time." she snapped.

"Why are you here? You told us you were 'sleeping in'." he said making quotations with his hands.

"Yeah well…"

"How was your special night?"

"Drop it." she warned.

"What?" he asked innocently.

"I don't want to talk about it." she said darkly.

"He worked really hard to plan it." he told her, adjusting his glasses.

"I know."

"So what was the problem?"

"THE PROBLEM?" she yelled. Her emotions were bubbling over the surface and pouring out onto her best friend.

"Geez." he sighed. "I just wondered since I helped him plan."

"Harry it was fine. Ron pressuring me to…well you know when I was tired was not fine. And I told him so. And then he blew up at me and left."

"He left?" Harry asked.

"And he stayed out all night, came home reeking of booze and perfume. So no, my night didn't go all that well. I'm trying to distract myself by working if you don't mind." she said a little more curtly than was necessary.

"I'm sorry." he said sincerely.

"Don't be. It's not your fault. But can you keep Hugo all day? Or until Ron sobers up. I'm going to catch up on paperwork and things besides this cursed project with Draco." she felt a little bad for saying it that way, but she needed Harry to believe her.

"Ok. I'll talk to him if you want."

"No, don't bother."

"He loves you Hermione."

"He has a funny way of showing it."

"Talk to you soon." Harry said waving as he shut the door. She tried to smile but it looked more like a grimace. As soon as he was out the door she picked up her quill and wrote a note to Draco asking if she could meet him somewhere. After sending it off she waited for his response. It was quick and of course it was yes. He asked to meet her at a cottage his family owned in southern France. The address was on the note. She stuffed the note in her pocket and made a mental note to burn it later; she put the book in her handbag before heading off to the floo network and swooshing away not knowing where she was going.

Draco had arrived minutes before she did. He was quite amazed that she wanted to see him again and he wondered if she had received his gift yet. He heard the swoosh of her arriving and went to meet her in the living room. The cottage was decorated in French country style. Lots of yellows and creams and deep blues. Hermione steadied herself as she landed in front of the fireplace and dusted herself off.

"Hello." she called out.

"Hey." he said entering the room from the veranda. He was dressed very casually, a white button down shirt and jeans. It surprised her to see him like that.

"So you wanted to see me?" he asked. "I didn't expect to hear from you until Monday at least." he smiled.

"I…" she said. She was at a loss for words. She pulled the book from her bag and held it up.

"Oh." he said smiling. "You didn't like it."

"Are you serious? I adore it." she said walking towards him.

"I thought you would."

He held his arms out for her and she let herself be wrapped in his arms.

"Thank you so much." she said. "It was the best gift I have ever received."

"Ever?" he asked.

"Well it was certainly the most thoughtful." she replied.

"Did you do anything special last night?" he asked carefully, not really wanting to know if she did anything with her husband. It was none of his business.

"Don't ask, please." she said rubbing her temple.

"Alright, I won't."

"Thank you."

"So why were you at work today?" he asked thinking he was changing the subject.

"Don't ask that either…" she laughed.

"Well what can I ask then?" he laughed back.

"I don't know. I guess I am quite limited today. This is a beautiful home." she said changing the subject.

"Thank you. I spent a lot of happy summers here when I was very young. Before my father got involved with…well you know."

Hermione stood up and looked out the French doors to the balcony.

"Oh, we're seaside." she said inhaling the fresh, salty air.

"The beach belongs to us too. It's private. Might be a little too cool for a swim this time of year."

"Is that the Mediterranean?" she asked.

"The gulf of lions to be exact." he said walking up behind her. "We're just outside of Provence."

"Oh. It's beautiful." Hermione sighed. She could see some huge rocky islands in the distance. The water was a brilliant blue-green with white capped waves.

"Thank you."

Hermione wanted to ask him about the quote in the book, but she didn't know if she wanted to hear the answer. He couldn't possibly be in love with her, it was ridiculous. But what did it mean then?

His hot breath on her neck brought her out of thoughts of books and quotes and back to thoughts of him. His lips brushed along her neckline. Shivers ran up and down her spine as he did so. Hermione turned around to face him and put her arms around his neck. His intense grey eyes that used to frighten her now comforted her. Every time she fought with Ron it felt easier to be alone with him.

"Thank you." she said.

"For what?"

"Being here, being my friend." she said.

"Your friend." he smiled and nodded. It sounded good to him. He leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips.

"I think I like the way that sounds you know?" she smiled into his lips.

"I do too." he said. "Are you hungry?"

"A little." Hermione admitted.

"I can make some breakfast."

"You can cook?" she asked in amazement.

"Yes, a little." he motioned for her to sit down at the small wrought iron table on the veranda. "I'll be right back."

She looked out into the sea and wondered where this was all going. Was it just an affair to her? To him? Since she had never considered being with another man besides Ron since their wedding day she didn't know how far she would let this go. Or if she had the strength to stay away from him now that she knew how it could be for her. She knew she was being incredibly selfish and putting her own needs in front of her families. But after nearly 20 years she deserved a little selfishness didn't she? Her head was swimming with questions when he returned with two plates.

"Thank you." she said as he placed a plate in front of her with a cheese omelet, fruit and a croissant. "It looks delicious."

"You are welcome. I'm so glad you owled me today. How long can you stay?" he asked her.

"Harry and Ginny are watching Hugo until Ron sobers…I mean wakes up."

Draco looked up but said nothing at her slip of the tongue.

"They think I'm at the office so I can stay for a while." she said.

"Why was he drunk?" Draco asked nonchalantly. He took another bite of omelet.

"Long story."

"I don't mind listening." he said.

"I know, but…well its embarrassing."

"Well it's up to you. But you might feel better getting it all off of your chest."

She swallowed hard. Should she really open up to him? What would that mean for this little thing they had going? Did they even have a 'thing'?

"Let's just say Ron had a romantic evening planned."

Exactly what Draco didn't want to hear. He took another bite of food and kept listening.

"And he bought me this silly pink nightgown."

He looked up and pictured her opening something tacky that her husband picked. Still he said nothing.

"And he wanted to…you know, but I didn't want to. And he got really mad and stormed out. He came home in the middle of the night drunk and reeking of someone else's perfume."

Draco just nodded and listened.

"Not that I have any right to be angry after you and I…" she said cutting herself off.

Draco bit into his croissant. He had to be careful on handling this situation.

"Say something." she said.

"I just said I would listen. I don't claim to be a relationship expert. I mean look at my marriage." he smirked.

"You must want to say something."

"I do."

"Say it then."

"Come for a swim with me."

"What?"

"Come swimming with me."

"That's what you want to say?"

"Yes. Will you come?"

"How will that help?"

"Come and find out."

"Alright. You're on."