The Harry Potter universe and its characters are the sole property of J. K. Rowling. By using them below, I am in no way claiming them as my own.

Mibby suddenly ran into the dining room, the poor elf panting from the exertion. 'Master, master!' Concerned, Draco glanced down at the elf.

'Calm down, Mibby, what's wrong?'

'There's a witch trying to overcome the wards on the grounds!' Draco frowned and shook off the blanket.

'I'll see to it, Mibby.' He reached for his wand then shot an enquiring look at Hermione. She smiled,

'Sure, I'll come.'

The pair were unsure what they were walking into, as they moved down the gravel path towards the front gate. The sun had risen higher in the sky, alleviating the gloominess of the grounds and its overgrown topiary bushes. In this new light, the place seemed almost magical to Hermione. It was a strong contrast to her feelings the evening she had arrived with Susan.

A figure on a broomstick had been flitting about above them as they walked towards the gates, and dropped lower to face them through the iron bars. Hermione had been surprised to recognise an angry Sandra from Accounting as the attempted-intruder. The witch's normal blonde curls were a frizzy mess, and her usually pristine make-up even worse. Her red lipstick was smudged against her cheek, her eyes circled with wet mascara.

'You!' Sandra shrieked. She fired a curse at the gate, hoping to hit Hermione, but the wards protected them. The curse instead rebounded, the force pushing Sandra away on the brookstick. She manoeuvred herself back towards the gates, her pink dress-suit scorched around the edges. 'I can't believe you reported me and Ben to HR!

Hermione's eyes widened and Draco sighed, burying his hands in his pockets.

'I guess you were right. Alternative reality yet again.' Hermione was not forthcoming with a response and he glanced at her, curious. She bit her lip and shrugged.

'What?' Her eyes moved back to Sandra, her response for the benefit of both parties. 'That is not what the office supplies cupboard is for, Sandra!'

'He's my fiancé!' Sandra screamed through the bars, lowering herself enough that her feet touched the ground. She'd lost one of the patent-pink pumps in her flight to Malfoy Manor.

'I needed a stapler,' Hermione replied, matter-of-factly. Draco rolled his eyes.

'Is there anyone you haven't annoyed today?' His question was joking and Hermione smirked back at him. Fair enough. In that one night, Hermione had irritated two Dracos, his deceased father and Ginny. He had overcome his anger at Hermione's carelessness with the cursed glass after the fun they'd had in solving the problem, and in angering Lucius, she had also provided him an opportunity to finally face his father once more. Ginny? Well, he didn't really care about her.

'Disciplinary action!' Sandra managed to get out, in-between shrieks. She continued a stream of unintelligible noises, frustrated at being unable to break the wards. Draco moved an arm around Hermione's shoulder, turning them away from Sandra and back towards the house.

'I don't know about you,' he offered, when Sandra's outbursts had faded into the distance, 'but I'm really looking forward to climbing into my bed.' He smiled and glanced sideways at her. 'How about we put off that interview till tomorrow?'

'No need,' Hermione replied, also smiling. 'I think I might quit journalism.'

'Oh?'

'Yes. It's far too dangerous.'

They chuckled to themselves as Draco led her up the stone steps and into the Manor house.

THE END

Author's note: What can I say... time-travel is a huge PITA, and I do not recommend it for anyone! There are various bits in this story where I think it lags because I had to be at least semi-plausible with the time travel aspect, and even then, there are plenty of holes. Still, I hope you enjoyed it!

This was my last planned story for this arc, although I do fully intend to do other Dramione stories, most likely one offs which are completely independent of these. I'll be taking another (most likely short) break before starting something new.

So - what did you enjoy/hate? Please leave a review/pm!