The following day Hermione woke up and immediately felt uneasy. Draco would most likely come to work today and she had no idea how to treat him. Cordially, she supposed. Cordial and civil, the man had, after all, had his entire world shaken. She could be his guide, she decided. A friend of sorts, to help him start his new life. If he even wants your help, she said to herself. Perhaps he'd show up, call her a Mudblood, and she'd have to send him back to Azkaban. She shook her head to try and clear her thoughts and, when that didn't work, she got out of bed and began to prepare for her day.

Draco awoke the next morning with a similar feeling that Hermione had. He'd have to see her today and he had absolutely no idea how she was going to react. He'd fallen apart on her, kissed her, and ran. "She probably thinks I'm a bloody Hufflepuff," he grumbled as he dragged himself out of bed. He stood and looked around his room at the half-hazard job he'd done cleaning it. Not bad, he thought, for not using magic. If only repairing things with Granger was as easy as putting his desk upright. And he did want to repair things with her, he realized. And he wanted to change. The kiss they'd shared had shattered him but at the same time, made him feel whole. New him was a bit of a sap, he scowled. He'd fix things though, certain he could now that he'd set his mind to it, and he'd take the opportunity he had to work with her, to spend time with her, and not waste it. He strode to the bathroom determined to fix what was left of his life and do what his mother had done and make it better.

At 1:45pm, Draco and Hermione found themselves back in the room where Draco had been reading Hermione's research, both quietly reading. When Draco had arrived at Hermione's office 15 minutes prior, he'd lost his nerve and mumbled a quick apology. She'd accepted and after several minutes of awkward silence, she'd suggested they work and they'd been back in the room since, separated by the desk between them. Draco however found he couldn't focus at all. He'd re-read the same sentence four times and he still had no idea what it said. He needed to talk to Hermione but he had no idea how to start. Hermione couldn't focus either, she kept glancing at Draco, wondering if she should say something. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore.

"Should we talk about yesterday?" she blurted out, startling Draco. "I just, I mean, we have to work together, you were upset, I just talking would...be...good…."

"I should apologize," Draco began but Hermione interrupted.

"For the kiss? I mean, you don't have to, I mean, it was unexpected but, I…"

"Granger, stop," Draco said, interrupting her. "Can I finish what I was going to say?"

"Yes, yes of course," she stammered. "Sorry."

"What I was going to say is I should apologize for the last ten years," Draco said. "The way that I treated you at Hogwarts, the way I've treated you since I began working here. Everything I've ever said or done to you was...horrible, and I'm so sorry Granger, I truly am."

"It's okay," Hermione told him. "Not okay, per se, but forgiven. I forgave you ages ago."

"My parents shaped the way I thought," he continued. "That's not an excuse but it's the truth. I intend to try to be better, to use the second chance that I have and I hope me kissing you hasn't ruined my chance to work here. I have ideas for potions, I know about the curse having used it and seen it, and I really believe I can help."

"I think you can too," Hermione said with a smile. "So we'll get back to work then."

Draco opened his mouth to reply but closed it when Hermione buried her face in the book she was reading. He watched her as she read, in a way he'd never looked at her before. She was pretty, he realized, as if he was seeing her clearly for the first time. She was smart, if anyone was worthy of their magic it was her. He thought back to the day that she had collapsed, how he'd felt when he saw her laying there, bleeding. It had bothered him and it had struck a cord within him. He pushed aside his thoughts and broke the silence.

"I have another patient for you," he said.

Hermione looked up from her book and regarded him quizzically. "You do?"

"Yes," Draco said. "I think my mother is suffering from the effects of the Cruciatus curse."

"Malfoy-" Hermione began but he cut her off.

"Remember how I told you the Dark Lord didn't have to use the Cruciatus curse on me? That he had other ways? He would torture my mother and make me watch," he explained. "Sometimes, he'd make me be the one to do it. She starts to shake, like you do. Sometimes she vomits. Sometimes, she's in so much pain she can barely move. Will you help her?"

"Voldemort," Hermione said and Draco flinched. "You should call him by his name. He's no one's lord anymore, especially not yours."

"That doesn't answer my question," Draco replied, looking at Hermione. "Will you help my mother?"

"I already am," she told him with a smile.

"What?" Draco asked, certain he'd misheard or misunderstood. "What do you mean?"

"Your mother came to me shortly after you were sentenced to Azkaban. I was the only person she knew who'd...experienced the Cruciatus curse and she wanted to know if I could help her. Because of my own symptoms, I had already started researching the curse but I didn't have anything that could help. She saved my best friend's life and played a huge role in Harry's defeat of Voldemort so I promised her that, when I did, I would help her."

Hermione paused to take a breath before continuing.

"About a year after my research, I came up with the first potion. It did exactly what we talked about earlier, it blocked the pain receptors but it only worked for a very short period of time and it dulled the pain, it didn't take it away. Every potion I've made since then has been a variation of that initial potion that I made for your mother. It wasn't until about two years ago that I went to Kingsley with everything I had and was given permission to work on it here at St. Mungo's. I spoke to every single person who is in that ward now and got their permission for them to be, for all intents and purposes, my guinea pigs. But Draco, you mother is the one who started it all."

"She never told me," Draco said shakily. "All this time, she never told me."

"Can't you guess why?" Hermione asked. "Think of how you would have reacted if she'd have told you this yesterday. The muggle born you hated helping your pureblood mother? You would have gone mad."

"I suppose you're right," Draco said ruefully. "Though if she had told me lately, I probably would have taken it okay."

Hermione looked at him curiously and asked, "what do you mean?"

"I don't know when it happened, but I could feel myself slowly sliding away from and letting go of those pureblood supremacy beliefs," he explained. "Maybe it was you, proving to me that a Muggleborn could be just as good as, maybe even better than a pureblood. Maybe it was my best friend doing a 180 and marrying a brilliant and kind of scary Muggleborn. Maybe it was Blaise screaming at me, demanding that I tell him I'd fought for the right side, and I couldn't articulate an answer. I don't know what it was, maybe it was all of it, but seeing Goyle, finding out Theo, Crabbe, and Millicent are all alive, that pushed me over the edge."

"I'm glad," Hermione said with a smile. "I honestly thought Luna was crazy when she deemed you rehabilitated."

"I thought so too," Draco said with a laugh. "I was so proud of myself because I thought I was so clever for tricking her into believing me."

"I think she realized she'd done everything she could for you," Hermione replied. "I think she knew you had to be here, surrounded by the right people, to have your beliefs shattered so you could see the truth."

"So now what do we do?" Draco asked. "I can't possibly focus on research after everything that's happened."

She thought for a moment then said, "Why don't we go out to eat in muggle London? It'll be good for you."

Draco thought for a moment then nodded. "Alright," he said. "Just don't get mad if I forget I'm reformed and say or do something terrible, old habits and all that."

"Don't worry," Hermione replied. "I'll remind you."

They both rose from their chairs and began to walk toward the door.

"I can hear my father having a stroke from here," Draco told her, half-joking. "The head of the Malfoy family on his way to dinner with the Gryffindor princess."

Hermione laughed and stepped out of the room. "Let's go."

A/N: Okay, I'm dying to know, is the change too drastic? I wanted it to be, I wanted him to go from the wrong side, slide to the other, then (because I think he's a really drive, determined person) try to make his life what it needs to be to fit in the post-war world. I hope I accomplished that and that you like it! Let me know when you leave a review!