Hermione couldn't help but relive the kiss they had shared. She knew it was the best if she didn't feed fuel to the fire that Malfoy was stirring but who could resist the sinful Draco Malfoy?
She had picked up an emerald green dress for the occasion, subconsciously. She knew that in the Regency era, dinners meant that one had to dress up for the occasion.

Polly had informed her that they were to finally meet the entire Fawley family tonight, including the Fawley matriarch for whom they had been summoned.

Hermione was feeling rather nervous and she wondered where was Draco and what was he up to.

Once she was all dolled up to Polly's satisfaction, Hermione made her way to the dining hall accompanied by Polly. At the door of the hall, stood a dashing looking Draco. He wore a suit in blue that made his blonde hair and porcelain like skin stand out even more. But what was hard to miss were his eyes that seemed silvery in the light. He took in her appearance and extended his arm for her to hold onto.

As they entered, a man-servant announced their arrival. The Fawley's were already seated.
At the head of the table sat the Matriarch, Hermione assumed, she recognised Hector Fawley on the left with his younger brother and his own daughter next to him. His wife, The Lady Fawley, sat opposite him next to the Head of the family on the other side. There were two seats reserved for them next to her. Draco guided her to their seats and they sat down after exchanging greetings.

Hector did a round of introductions and Hermione her assumptions about the family stood correct.

Even though the older Lady Fawley seemed like a stern person, she was actually a very warm and compassionate person, it seemed. If Hermione were to put it simply, she was like Professor McGonagall with a touch of Molly Weasley. She realised that she was already very fond of the Fawley Matriarch, Lady Fawley.

Polly had instructed that as Hector was the current Lord of the Estate, his wife was The Lady Fawley, while his mother was to be referred to as Lady Fawley. Hermione's head was reeling with all the tidbits that Polly had told her, but she was glad for the help.

As they awaited the first course and everyone was busy with conversations, Draco had slyly leant in and whispered, "Green really is your colour. It suits you. Now I just wish the silk sheets on our bed were as green as those that are there in my room, back home. They would suit you too." Hermione had gasped but thankfully no one was the wiser.

"Quite sure. It's just that I have finally decided that it's easier to make you blush and perplexed than to get a rise out of you by being mean and annoying. I guess you can handle the snarky Slytherin Prince but not you clearly don't know what to do with the charming one."
Draco smirked.
So it was his way of trying to embarrass her and entertain himself. She looked at him with eyes that were shooting a string of Avadas at him.

After a merry meal with the family, the make-believe couple made its way to their chambers. As Hermione shut the door behind them, Draco put a quick Colloportus on it. She gave him a weird look.

"I think we can transfigure the arm chair or the table into a small bed. What say?"

"What for?" Draco said while taking off his cufflinks. He had picked up a pair that was left behind by Silvius. He owned them in the future anyway, was his reason.

"To sleep." Hermione said as if Draco was a five-year-old who needed everything to be explained in detail.

"You can sleep on the bed with me. I don't bite. And I promise to keep my hands to myself if that's what you want." His expression looked like he was questioning not only her intent but even his own.

"No thank you. And who said anything about me sleeping on the smaller bed?"

"Granger you are the smaller one out of us, it's the sensible thing to do."

"But not the gentlemanly thing to do."

"I am not a gentleman. I do as I please and take what I want and when I want." He said as he moved towards her and at the end moment, instead of touching her as she had half hoped and half expected, he simply put his cufflinks and collar on the vanity and went back. He smiled to himself at her reaction.

Hermione warned, "Don't turn. I need to change."

"Okay and I think we should sleep together."

"What?!"

"You are one perverted female and then you will have the audacity to blame me, Hermione. I meant literally sleep together, because when in the morning, Polly or any other servant comes to wake us up, they wouldn't be happy to find a newly married couple, stationed in a single room to be sleeping in different beds. We aren't prince or princesses, just normal folks. It would look extremely suspicious and plain absurd."

Draco had a point, but she could not let this Slytherin slither into her bed!

"Fine. But you stay on your side and I stay on mine. Deal?"

"Anything for you, Wifey." He said while putting on his night shirt.

As they were finally in bed and settled under the covers, Draco turned towards Hermione and looked at her very intently. "You're staring." She chided. "I know. Just can't wrap my head around our circumstances. You are the only thing that I relate to in this era. Who thought this would be a day in our lives?"

Hermione smiled at him softly. She had taken a dreamless draught potion secretly that she had asked Polly to leave in the room for her. She did not want Draco to know about her nightmares. He did not want to fall asleep before her because he did not want her to witness his nightmares. He had planned to cast a Silencio as soon as she would go fall asleep.

Both lay awake with their eyes closed. Aware of their heartbeats and the breathing of the other. Gradually Draco heard Hermione's breathing become lighter as she drifted off to sleep. He cast a silent Silencio and went to sleep.

Hermione heard a zap as if someone had gotten electrocuted and woke up alarmed. She saw Draco nursing an injured right arm. She had cast a spell to hurt him if he had tried to cross over to her side, as a joke. He hadn't tried anything and she had completely forgotten about the spell.
She saw from under sleep-laden eyes how he cursed a bit, fixed his arm and tried to fall asleep. She saw his calm form but the creases between his forehead that formed a deep frown unsettled her. She stayed up pretending to be asleep, long after he had gone off to sleep this time. That's when the nightmares began again. Hermione was herself half-asleep when she felt the mattress move slightly. She opened her eyes to see Draco mouthing some words and shaking his head frantically as if saying no to something desperately. She quietly removed her spell and realised that he had cast a Silencing charm which she lifted with a Finite Incantatem.

She held his hands in hers and tried to call out to him. "Draco! Draco listen to me! You are alright! Draco!" Hermione heard herself grow louder and sound more panicked with each syllable.
Finally, she shoved him hard with which his eyes sprung open. He realised that Hermione was half leaning on top of him and was currently staring at him with a lot of worry and fear.

"Fuck. I didn't mean to wake you up. I am extremely sorry! I will go transfigure another bed."

More than embarrassed about being comforted by Hermione he looked more embarrassed about the fact that Hermione had seen him in this state in complete abandon.

"It's okay Draco. And I put up the spell between us as a joke and forgot about it. I am sorry too." She whispered softly as she moved to lie back in her place.

"It happens to me too, you know? To all of us who saw the War. It's normal." She confessed.

"I could borrow some of your Dreamless Draught the next time, in that case?"

"How do you know?" Hermione asked confused.

"I saw you sneak it up. And I used to be an addict. Everything was easier without my trials and all the lengthy discussions at the Wizengamot regarding the fate of my family. It was easier to forget it all and just lull into sleep." He was staring ahead at the ceiling.

Almost silently he made the next confession that made Hermione's heart ache for him.

"And sometimes I wanted to fall asleep forever."

Hermione barely heard that but as soon as she registered it, she had draped herself over Draco and was hugging him. Neither realised that they lay entwined in each other's arms.

"I just stopped because of my Mother. I couldn't give her another traumatic experience. She has seen enough of it for one lifetime."

"So have you." Hermione added. Her head lay on his chest and she could feel his breathing and his words reverberate through him as he spoke.

"I meant all that I said that night Draco." She said looking up at him. "I really think you didn't deserve to go through all that. You were a git to us back in school. And you were rather mean. But that doesn't make you a bad person! You might have done unspeakable things, but you did it for those whom you love. That doesn't make you an evil person. That just makes you human."
She whispered to him.

"What do you call this, then?" She brought up his arm and rolled up the sleeve to reveal the sinister looking albeit faded Dark Mark.

"Scars from the War. Like we all have. I have my share. You have seen mine Draco. You saw me get them."

Suddenly he shifted and held her tightly against her. She felt him give a soft kiss to the top of her head. There was silence for a long time but half-asleep, Hermione heard a soft 'Sorry'. But in her heart she knew, she had already forgiven him for the past, even for all that she had endured in his drawing room.

The next morning, Polly knocked on the door and when she heard no noise, she knocked loudly and called out to the couple. Draco heard her and woke up to realise that Hermione was wrapped all over him. His face was surrounded by a mop of curls and he could feel her breathing against her chest. A strange warm feeling bubbled up in his chest. He did not want to wake her up and neither did he want to leave the bed.

"M'lord, m'lady, Lady Fawley and her nurse would be waiting for you in an hour's time before breakfast. I was sent to inform you." Polly knocked yet again. Draco sighed and carefully got Hermione off him as he made his way to the door. He unlocked it and was met with a flustered looking Polly. "We will be there. We will summon you when Hermione would need your help. Till then it would be wonderful if you can arrange for a bath for me perhaps?"
Baths were a luxury that everyone did not have access to in this era, especially a prepared bath, so Draco thought it was best if he used this opportunity.

He looked at Hermione sleeping peacefully in their bed. It sounded so strange and so foreign to his ears; their bed. He smiled at how strange his life had suddenly become. He made an effort to not wake her up and asked Polly to wake up Hermione and help her get ready, twenty minutes later when he left.

Hermione was up and ready and she could not believe how peacefully she had slept last night. The conversation that the two had mid-sleep almost seemed like a dream, a really sad dream marred by a war that was yet to happen. Hermione was feeling rather melancholic as she drifted towards the hall where Draco was to join them to go meet Lady Fawley and her nurse.

It had been almost half an hour that Draco and Hermione had been pouring over notes about Lady Fawley's health with Hermione occasionally asking questions. Draco was absolutely clueless, it just sounded like old age to him. After all feeling lethargic, frequently needing to relieve oneself and being irritable came with old age and not diseases, in his opinion. But, of course, he couldn't say it to any of them, not even Hermione who looked dead serious about her research.

"We would look through the notes and get back to you after breakfast. However, I would advise that you do not eat anything prepared with anything sweet or made with flour. Not even fruits."

"What do you suspect?" said the frail old lady.

"I am not sure so I would not like to give you any false ideas. I will let you know soon, My Lady." With that, they bowed and left.

"So?" Draco asked. "She has Diabetes. Type 2 to be precise if I am not wrong. We can't cure it Draco, but we can try to manage the symptoms." Hermione said as they made their way for breakfast.

"They did not figure this out already? Really? It took you what, an hour to know this?"

"We are from the modern times and am the daughter of two muggle dentists, who often come across patients who need alternate medications because of their condition. I just knew better. The role of Insulin in diabetes wasn't even known until 1910, which is yet to come at least a century later!"

"Then you should be glad that I know of a potion that can cure it."

"What? You can cure it?!" Hermione turned to face him.

"I was working on it. I am not sure about the curing part, but it definitely pushed back its onset a great deal. I just had to give it a final test before applying for a license."

"You do noble work. Just agree that you have redeemed yourself to all possible extents. You get the license and then make sure that the healing potions you make are sold at the least possible prices. If that isn't noble, then I do not know the meaning of the word Malfoy."

"There isn't a thing that you don't know Hermione Granger. Not a thing." He smiled fondly at the brunette that was walking ahead of him. He felt rather smug that Hermione had praised him. All her praises up until this point seemed like consolations, but this was a genuine one and he knew that she meant it.

(A/N)

Hello, everyone, this was more of a filler/fluff, but I felt it was necessary to re-establish the kind of things that still plagued the two of them after the War.

More plot in the next chapter! And rather exciting too. They would be visiting some place that they have both been to in the past (rather future in this case) and would unravel some more secrets! Can you guess which place?

And tomorrow is my birthday (Friday) so it's going to be a long weekend for me so probably updates would be few and far in between. So until then, enjoy!

Mili