Draco Malfoy

Hermione bounced on the balls of her feet in front of her closet. She had no idea what to wear. Draco would be there at two and that implied that she wasn't expected to dress formally, but for one of the richest Wizards in England, she didn't know if the rules were always the same.

She bit her lip and finally tore through her flat to her writing desk. Dipping her quill in ink, she jotted a short note to Draco (Sorry to bother, but I discovered, upon staring at my closet, that I haven't the slightest idea what the dress code is for today's adventure), and sent it off with her owl, Hermes, instructing him not to return until she got a response. It was not yet noon, so she assumed he was probably still at home.

It took all of five minutes for Draco's response to return and Hermione couldn't help but smile as she read it.

Granger,

Anything you wear will be lovely, I'm sure. But for today, let's keep it casual. I want you to be comfortable.

Malfoy

Hermione smiled to herself. She knew exactly what she'd wear. It was casual, comfortable, and looked amazing on her. It was perfect. Before she could get to her closet, though, Ginny came barreling through the Floo.

"You know, it's polite to ask before coming in," Hermione said with a wry smile.

"Well, at least I know you aren't with a man," Ginny smirked. "Don't worry, when you make your choice, I won't be popping over unannounced anymore. Now, tell me about your date."

Hermione laughed. "It was very nice." She pulled out the sundress she planned to wear along with a pair of comfortable sandals and Ginny went to work on her hair, which looked like a bird's nest at present.

"Where did he take you? I've always imagined that Lucius Malfoy would take his dates in a hot-air balloon or something." Ginny giggled to herself.

"You haven't seen the Prophet?" Hermione asked.

"No, Adrian and I were up rather late last night," Ginny said, wagging her eyebrows at Hermione. "I just got up a half hour ago."

"Well," Hermione said, reaching for the paper, "we made the front page, though Merlin knows why. There has to be something more important going on in the world than me going on a date with Lucius Malfoy."

"Very little," Ginny scoffed reading the article with hungry eyes. "Oh wow, I can't believe he took you there. Do you realize it's about fifty galleons a plate?"

"Yes, Ginny," Hermione bit out. "And you know I don't care about such things.

"Well," Ginny said, finishing the article, "at least they didn't come right out and call you a whore," she laughed, trying to ease the tension.

"Let's just hope I don't have to endure any more glowing character studies by the moronic Huns at the Daily Prophet. If I need to, I can make Rita write a story when this is all done, with my story, and the story of whichever guy I choose," Hermione added.

"It is nice having her in your back pocket, isn't it?" Ginny laughed, continuing work on Hermione's hair. "So, was there a goodnight kiss?"

"Yes," Hermione blushed.

"Tell..." Ginny said, chomping at the bit.

"It was explosive, that's for sure." Hermione smiled at the memory. "Although, I'm still a little confused about why. It could just be left over fantasy fulfillment excitement."

"True," Ginny said, "but at least you know you'd have that spark for one night."

"That is true," Hermione admitted.

Hermione had whipped herself up into a small frenzy by the time 2:00 arrived. Every other suitor had shown up on time or before, but 2:01 came, and still no Draco. She guessed she shouldn't worry yet. But that nagging feeling that this was just a game to him wouldn't go away.

Finally, at 2:10, there was a sharp knock on the door and Hermione was able to breathe a sigh of relief, although she didn't know why she was so concerned. If Draco blew her off, it was his loss. She had five other men who were more than willing to show her admiration and respect. Perhaps it had something to do with her overwhelming curiosity about Draco's motives.

Opening the door, she was shocked to see Draco standing on the other side of the door in and entirely Muggle outfit, like her own. He had on perfectly fitted blue jeans with a blue and white stripped oxford shirt. His hair was perfectly coifed, as usual, and Hermione couldn't help but consider what it would look like if she ran her hands through it.

All the old feelings came back to her in an instant, and he could have been three hours late and she wouldn't have cared. He was stunning and he was looking at her expectantly. "Umm, please, come in," she said, moving aside to let him into her house. She saw him eyeing her up and down, and decided she'd picked the right outfit because he definitely approved. It made her a little weak in the knees to have Draco Malfoy looking at her like that.

"I'm very sorry I'm late," Draco said, his normal drawl, was now slightly pleading. "My father held me up with work stuff, but I'm more likely to believe he was trying to make me late," Draco rolled his eyes. "I also had a beautiful flower arrangement to give you, but in my haste to get here sooner, I left it."

Hermione smiled brightly at him. "It's quite alright. While I appreciate the gesture, I've run out of vases for all the flowers at this point."

"Well, I have a feeling you will like the date, so let's hope that puts me back in your good graces," Draco winked at her. He seemed to have gotten his confidence back. Again she was confused. Was this an act? Was it real? It was frustrating not knowing, but she had to admit, she was still excited to be in the same room with him.

"Then let's get to it," Hermione beamed at him.

"Okay, Granger, do you trust me?" Draco asked.

"Yes," she said, in a questioning tone, her brow furrowing.

"Then touch this, and hold on tight," Draco said, pulling out a small thimble from his pocket. She looked at it quizzically for a second before doing as she was told and immediately she felt the pull of a Portkey.

"Wh-where are we?" she asked, clinging to Draco for support when they were dropped on the ground. She'd never gotten used to Portkeys, as she so rarely used them.

"Paris," Draco said matter-of-factly. Hermione's eyes doubled. "I remembered, at Grimmauld Place that summer after the war, you told Ron how much you missed Paris. You use to visit with your parents every other year. You said it was your favorite place in the world," Draco said, looking directly into her eyes.

"You remember that?" Hermione asked. That had to have been six years ago, and she couldn't have possibly said it often because Ron never got the hint that she wanted him to take her there.

"I remember many things, Granger," he said with a smirk.

"About that... if you are considering having sex with me, don't you think you should call me 'Hermione'?" she asked.

"If it would make you more comfortable," Draco said, "but you will always be 'Granger' to me."

"Even if I got married and my last name changed?" she countered with a flirtatious smirk.

"Especially then," Draco answered, his tone clipped as if he was irritated by the thought. Interesting. Very interesting.

"Well, thank you, Draco. It's lovely here," Hermione said, noticing he'd slipped his hand in hers, twining their fingers together. "Where are we off to?"

"Well, as I feel like you and I - more than most probably - have a bit of history to sort out, I thought we'd take a walk through Monmatre and catch up. It's less hectic than the Champs-Élysées and it has been quite a long time since we've spoken, you know," he said with a smirk.

"We never really spoke, Draco," Hermione countered, "but that is a lovely idea. I have to admit, I'm very curious about some things. I only ask that you tell me the truth. I promise it will not affect your standing."

"If you want, I'll take some Veritaserum," Draco joked, holding her hand tightly as he led them down the sidewalk and around the corner to the artist's district.

Hermione grinned back at him. "That won't be necessary. I'm trusting a Slytherin here, so don't let me down."

"I won't," Draco said, looking at her seriously. "Can I ask why you decided to do this whole thing? I mean, I know what the article said, but there must be more to it than that."

"The truth is mostly in that article," Hermione admitted. "I'm twenty-five years old, and for my entire adult life, I've been with one man. A man I wasn't even attracted to. I thought that was normal. I thought passion was something in romance novels and real people were more like Ron and me." Draco had to control the scoff at that remark. But he was pretty sure Hermione would take it the wrong way and the last thing he needed was another strike against him.

"It doesn't have to be like that," Draco said.

"Have you had romance novel passion with someone?" Hermione asked. "I mean, I know you've been with many women," she blushed suddenly at her own comment, but decided to press on. "But have you ever had it all. The sexual passion andthe enduring friendship?"

"No," Draco said. "And to tell you the truth, sexual passion on its own is not all it's cracked up to be. A stranger is still a stranger in the morning."

"And yet, you bid, I'm assuming millions of galleons for one night of sexual passion with me," Hermione said.

"Have we ever been strangers, Hermione?" he asked, using her first name. It sounded beautiful coming from his mouth. "Enemies, yes. Fellow soldiers, yes. But we've never been strangers. Even if I was too stupid to act on my feelings, you've been one of the biggest parts of my life for nearly fifteen years."

Hermione was nearly struck dumb at his words and his forthrightness. Draco was known for talking around issues and having a silver tongue. It was how he excelled at nearly everything he did. "Are you saying that you're not bidding for one night?"

Draco sighed and pulled her closer to him, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. She couldn't help but feel giddy at the close contact. Her head felt light, and she couldn't keep the smile off her face. "If I win, and we share a night together, it will be one of the most amazing nights of both of our lives, I'm sure. But if I win, and we share a night together, and you'd give me the chance to show you that we can have it all, that night will just be the starting off point for something so much better."

Hermione stopped walking and had to work to catch her breath. She felt like she was in the middle of a romance novel already. "Draco, you can't say things like that to me to win an auction. My feelings are involved here. How can you possibly feel that strongly about me, when we haven't said more than a few words to each other since we left Grimmauld Place that summer after the war?"

Draco looked around and spotted a bench at the base of the hill leading up to Sacré-Cœur which was, oddly, void of tourists. Leading her over to it, he sat down and pulled her down next to him. "I've never been like this before, Gr-Hermione. I've wanted you since third year. At first, I was disgusted. I didn't know my father was actually on the right side of the war until fifth year, but still I wanted you. I'd always been raised to believe Purebloods were superior to everyone else. I never considered that I was wrong. It took my father a very long time to see the error of his Pureblood prejudice. But he couldn't share his transformation with me, for fear of alerting the other Death Eaters of his change of heart.

"When I was smart enough to figure out that this 'Mudblood' bigotry was all bullshit, I couldn't be anything but mean to you for fear of blowing my own cover."

"But what about after that?" Hermione asked, her eyes deep with questions. "When you came to Grimmauld Place, you could have said something then."

"Would you have believed me? Or better yet, would Weasley have let you off your leash long enough for me to try and explain?" Draco asked bitterly.

"So, it's all Ron's fault?" Hermione said, rolling her eyes.

"Yes! No!" Draco sighed in frustration. "Look, it's all my fault, really. I was a coward, which is not an easy thing to admit, so cut me a break here." Hermione smiled slightly to herself but let him continue. "I should have fought, but I had no way of knowing that you were running off with Weasley because you thought no one else desired you. Though, how you could believe such a ridiculous thing, I'll never know."

"And if I used Legilimency on you, right now, I wouldn't find some sort of lie in there?" Hermione asked, cocking an eyebrow at him.

"No," Draco said seriously. "I know I've made a huge mess of all of this, but what I'm telling you is true."

"Okay," Hermione said, laying her hand over his. "I believe you. But if you are lying to me, I'll have you killed. I'm Hermione Granger; you know I could do it." She smiled brilliantly at him, and he chuckled in response.

"I guess it's too much to ask if you return the feelings," Draco said, standing and extending his hand to her.

"You'll have to wait and see," Hermione said, winking at him. But he knew she had to return some of his feelings, or she'd have freaked out and run from him. Hermione wasn't the type to lead someone on. He'd just have to hope her feelings were as strong as his.

After their walk, Draco led Hermione into a local cafe for coffee before dinner. "You know," Hermione said, "you have been very lucky with this early date. The other gentlemen had short dates since they started do late."

"That was my plan all along," Draco said, shooting her a heartbreakingly beautiful smile. "I might have just acted like a Hufflepuff back there, but I am still Slytherin." He laughed, and Hermione joined him, ordering a black coffee.

"Well, I have to admit, your knowledge of Muggle culture has grown exponentially," she said, as he ordered a café au lait.

Draco actually blushed under her gaze and she found it the most adorable thing she'd ever seen. "Actually, I spent several months, before going to work with my father, living in Muggle London."

"So, that's where you went," Hermione said more to herself than him.

"You've been keeping track of me?" Draco asked, smirking at her.

"Of course not, you self-obsessed prat," she scowled. "I just happened to notice you dropped off the face of the earth not long after the war ended, and then returned like you'd never left," Hermione explained.

Draco just chuckled at her indignation, but explained anyway. "After everything with the war, and how fast we all had to grow up, I had to take a break. I figured, since I was shunned from all those Muggle Studies classes, what better way to learn about how the other half lives than to join them."

"You're the one who got Malfoy Industries to invest in Muggle technology, aren't you?" Hermione gasped. She'd never really considered it. Her impression of Draco was so trenched in their past, she had difficulty figuring out this new, grown up Draco.

"Yes," Draco said, feeling a little embarrassed. His business was very important to him, but he wasn't used to women who cared about what he did for a living. Yet another reason why Hermione Granger was a keeper. "I saw how they'd overcome not having magic with technology, and I wanted in. Besides, I think wizards could learn a lot from them. We rely on our magic too much. I'm guilty of it as well. If we combined the two, we'd be unstoppable. But old minds are hard to change."

Hermione couldn't help herself. His honest expression of a belief she held dear was too much. Before she could even muster the will to stop herself she flung herself at him and planted a forceful kiss directly on his lips. Pulling back, she blushed furiously. "Oh Merlin, I can't believe I did that."

Draco, still a little dazed by the welcomed assault of his lips, chuckled. "Feel free to do it again, if you feel the need."

"Stop laughing at me," Hermione said, but there was no real anger in her voice. "I just couldn't have said it better myself. It's like people don't care about how Muggles live. When you said that, I just...lost control for a minute." Her face was absolutely violet with the blushing, and she wanted to crawl in a hole and die.

"Hermione," Draco said, his voice quiet and soothing. He took her chin in hand and forced her to look at him. "I never would have made the decision to investigate how Muggles live if it hadn't been for your influence. You've changed my life more than you realize. No matter what happens, that will always be true."

"Have you always been this amazing?" Hermione breathed. She knew she was playing her hand too soon, but she couldn't help it. Draco Malfoy had turned her world upside down in the last three hours.

"No, I think it's a fairly recent development," Draco laughed. "Come, let's go to dinner. I figured a nice authentic, French, outdoor restaurant would be nice." Hermione nodded and followed him to wherever they were headed next.

Dinner was filled with much less heavy conversation. They discussed work and friends among other things, and Hermione found herself feeling very comfortable with Draco. It wasn't the kind of comfort she had with Harry or Ginny, but he wasn't strained either, which is what she thought it would be like.

When it was time to go, they ventured along the Champs-Elysees, marveling at the beautiful lights of the city now that they were lit for dusk. "It's so beautiful here," Hermione sighed, wrapping her arms around herself as the chill of the night air began to make her shiver.

"Here," Draco said, transfiguring a nearby tablecloth into a fetching wrap and wrapping it around Hermione's shoulders. "I have a Portkey to take us back to your flat. It will depart when we both touch it."

"Let's go. As beautiful as this is, I think I need a cup of tea," Hermione said, with a smile. Draco nodded and pulled a pair of old eyeglasses out of his pocket. When they touched it, they were pulled directly into the living room of Hermione's flat.

"I'll start the tea, make yourself comfortable," Hermione said, pulling away from Draco and heading to the kitchen. Draco took the opportunity to look around Hermione's place. It was quite nice, and you could tell she spent a lot of her free time there, likely reading or watching the television that was facing the love seat.

He sat down on it, hoping that the shorter couch would encourage her to sit closer to him. He was a Slytherin, after all. He smiled wistfully at all the pictures she had in her living room. He wondered what it would be like to have such close friends. He had friends, sure, but Slytherin friendships were a little different. As much as he valued Adrian, Greg, Blaise, and Theo, he couldn't help but wonder what a friendship without societal pressures was like.

He was broken from his thoughts when Hermione entered the room carrying a tray with various teas and a kettle on it. "I didn't know what you liked..." she said, indicating that he should help himself.

When their tea was served, Draco leaned back and wrapped his arm around Hermione's shoulders. She'd sat right where he wanted her to, and he smiled at his fortune. "You have a lovely place."

"Do you still live at the Manor?" Hermione asked, luckily keeping the tremor out of her voice.

"Yes," Draco said cautiously. "But I do have a flat in London. It's easier to conduct some business with Muggles from there."

"I can imagine. Even without the bad memories, I can't say Malfoy Manor is a prime place to meet unsuspecting Muggles," Hermione laughed awkwardly, trying to cut the tension that came with discussing the Manor.

"About that," Draco started, but Hermione cut him off.

"No," Hermione said sternly. "You are not going to feel guilty about that. If you had stopped Bellatrix we would have all been killed, okay?"

"Okay," Draco said reluctantly. He didn't think he'd ever be able to get the guilt of that night out of his system though. Deciding he needed to change the subject, and wanting to feel her lips against his again (perhaps for longer this time) he turned to her and said, "May I kiss you? It's only fair after you got your chance." His Slytherin smirk was deep and Hermione's breath caught as she saw how sexy he looked like that.

"You can try," she said, her voice suddenly husky, and she'd just set her teacup down when Draco moved in. His hands went to her face, pulling her closer to him. He couldn't believe this was finally happening, after all these years.

Their lips touched gently at first until Draco deepened it, darting his tongue out to taste her, she quickly opened her mouth to allow his tongue to find hers. Swirling around each other, she let out a breathy moan as Draco pulled her to him, smashing their bodies together.

"Hermione," he breathed rubbing his nose against hers before delving back into the hot cavern of her mouth. His kisses were perfect, not too hard, but not too tentative either. She felt electric shocks throughout her system as she fisted the material of his shirt, trying to bring him closer to her. She'd never been this overcome by physical passion in her life.

Neither knew how much time passed by the time they broke the kiss, both panting heavily with need to breathe. "Wow," Draco said, knowing he only fell more for her after that.

"Yeah," Hermione replied, having no ability to make her words come out properly.

"I probably ought to go," Draco said reluctantly. "As much as I want to say, I can't be tempted."

Hermione snapped out of it then and smiled. "Yes," she said. "I-I'll talk to you soon." Draco kissed her one last time on the lips, lingering longer than strictly necessary before leaving her flat. Hermione just stared at the teapot in front of her, trying to collect herself. Sparks didn't even begin to describe that kiss.