Draco.

Living with Hermione was much simpler than expected. She did not boss him around and make him do all the washing up. No, she was calm and relaxed around him, which was silently satisfying to Draco. They shared out the house work equally and surprisingly had very few arguments. It was almost too good to be true for him.

If he ever did get married, he hoped it would be like this. No fuss, no petty little rows, just peace and serenity. He had not had this with Astoria, but then they didn't know each other well enough. When they had been together it had been boring small talk such as how work is going and the weather. Draco never felt that he could reveal anything to her, which is probably the main reason he ditched her.

Hermione was different.

With her, she understood him; she listened to him and most of all she cared. Which is more than he could say for his own parents, let alone Astoria. And as the weeks went on, Draco found himself becoming more and more fond of her. Every time he saw her with her feet up on the sofa, he smiled. She was so poised yet completely comfortable in his presence.

"What are you smiling at?" She asked, glancing up from her book.

"Nothing" he replied keeping his face calm yet his insides were churning wildly by her.

On many occasions he had felt like this, growing stronger each time. Was he falling for her?

No, that was impossible. Him, pure-blooded Draco Malfoy falling in love with a Muggle-born such as Hermione Granger. He dismissed the idea however it scratched away constantly in his mind. So much so that every morning when he left for work, he knew he would miss her. She apparated to St Mungos while he used the Floo to travel to the Ministry, his fireplace connected directly to one of theirs.

"See you later!" She grinned, grabbing her bag and apparating quickly.

Draco stood there for longer than needed merely staring at the spot in which she once was. A twinge travelling up his spine, causing him to shiver. He missed her and she had only been gone thirty seconds, this had to mean something. He had never felt like this in his entire life.

Again, discarding the thought he pulled on his work robe and swiftly Flooed to the Ministry.

As usual it was crammed with bustling witches and wizards, rushing about frantically. Draco strolled calmly to his office, doing his best to not get knocked over by the racing people.

But as he did so, his eyes were met with none other than Harry Potter and he was headed his way.

He had not seen Potter since the day he had been in Diagon Alley on the awful day of Hermione's crumble, but Draco had heard that he had gone a dangerous mission shortly afterwards. Potter did not look particularly angry but his eyes told another story and as he paced briskly towards him, Draco halted.

He watched as Potter, who was several inches shorter than himself, stopped in front of him and quickly nodded his head.

"Can I see you in my office?" He questioned, narrowing his emerald eyes.

Draco frowned considerably but nodded back, unsure to what he wanted. They worked in utterly different departments and had nothing to do with each other, so this couldn't be about work.

"What the hell is going on Malfoy?" Potter spat, shutting the door of his office once Draco had squeezed inside.

He was definitely stunned by this question. What was he even talking about? Why did Potter assume he knew what he was saying because he certainly didn't.

"I don't know what you mean Potter." He retorted, desperate to remain at ease.

"Don't play fucking games" Harry snarled, "Ron told me! You and Hermione? You're friends or something? And I heard in the Daily Prophet that you're even living together now?! I mean what the hell?"

Draco was astonished. How the hell did anyone know they were living together? His house was in the middle of nowhere, guarded by various magical defences; no one could possibly find them. But obviously someone had.

"I don't think that concerns you." He said, resisting the urge to smirk. He loved seeing Potter angry and frustrated.

"Doesn't concern me? She's one of my best friends!" He shouted, "I haven't seen her in over a month and now I find out she's hanging around with you! She's not safe!"

For some reason, Harry's last statement got to him. Right in the gut. Not safe? How dare he assume that he was not safe or to be trusted. He would never dream of harming Hermione, of course Potter didn't know how he really felt. Neither did he really, but not safe? He was not a ruthless murderer, now was he.

"I would never hurt Hermione." Draco replied finally, not gazing directly into Potter's raging eyes.

He watched as Harry's expression went from fuming mad to utterly shocked. He knew what he must be thinking, but he dreaded him to say it. However, he did.

"Malfoy… Are you dating Hermione?"

Hermione.

Sometimes being a Healer was extremely hard. So many gruesome injuries that made her head spin and her breakfast rise into her throat. They were vile. Others were purely magical and could not be seen to the untrained eye. But Hermione was an expert and always knew exactly what to do.

But today, it seemed she could not. She had a patient who possessed a large, purple bruise-like mark spreading across the whole of his stomach and no matter how many spells or enchantments she muttered, it would not disappear.

"How did you get this?" She asked, running her fingers gently over the man's bare body. Blushing slightly, he was after all rather attractive. Not as good looking as Draco though. Had she really just thought that?

Hermione shook her head slightly, bringing her focus back to the relentless bruise, or what looked like a bruise. It was definitely something more.

"Duel against an old Death eater" The man mumbled. Hermione soon realised who the man was, she had hardly recognised him because of how much he had changed since Hogwarts.

Blaise Zabini. He was now a superb Auror, which was odd considering he had been a Slytherin. Nevertheless, he was covered in countless amounts of scars and marks proving his bravery which Hermione studied throughout his muscular body. Hermione seem to blush even more furiously once she had realised who the man was.

"Sounds nasty…" she breathed, before asking Blaise to put his shirt back on.

"I'm sorry, but I have never seen anything like that before. I guess it is a very dark spell. Does the mark hurt at all?" She queried, gazing up at his chocolate brown eyes that glistened beautifully.

"Nope, just small twinges sometimes… Never mind, I'm sure it will be fine" He shrugged, giving her a warm smile.

"I could refer you to a more experienced Healer?" She offered.

"No, honestly, it's alright… Hermione."

She was surprised that he used her name but did not show it and lifted the corners of her mouth to him.

"Well, okay then. Take care" She grinned, swivelling around to get to her next patient.

"Um Hermione" She heard Blaise mumble, she turned around quickly to face him once more. He was frowning a bit and looked rather frustrated.

"Yes?" She smiled eagerly.

"Have you err… seen Draco lately? I err… heard you were hanging around with him recently…" His voice grew quieter at the mention of Draco's name.

Hermione recoiled; she certainly had not been expected for him to ask her that. But she soon remembered that Blaise was in fact Draco's best friend and would obviously be concerned to his whereabouts.

But she did not know how to reply to him. Did she tell him about her and Draco living together? Or did she lie and say she hadn't seen him?

This was Draco's best friend, much like Harry and Ron were hers. She imagined how they'd feel if they hadn't seen her in a long time. Which they hadn't, apart from her and Ron's encounter in Diagon Alley. She assumed that Ron most likely told Harry too, she pictured their hurt faces and worried thoughts. So decided to tell Blaise at least part of the truth.

"Um… Yes, Draco and I have become unexpectedly close recently… but I… err… haven't seen him in about a week…" She spoke cautiously, waiting for Blaise's reaction. He didn't look hurt, more relieved that his friend was okay.

"Yeah, I haven't even since his wedding, although he ditched" Blaise chuckled, "But that was over a month ago…"

Hermione bit her lip, she wanted to tell him where Draco really was, but decided against it, because Draco would be furious.

"I knew of course… That he didn't love that Astoria" He recalled with an amused look on his face, "Nah, Draco wants a smart girl who cares about more than just shopping and whatever."

Then Blaise gave her a knowing look and allowed a small smirk slip across his face, "Someone like you…" he grinned, before waltzing off in the opposite direction, leaving Hermione totally confused.

A/N: So now Harry and Blaise have entered the story, I wonder what will happen? Thanks so much for all your lovely reviews!