Draco had done a lot of soul-searching that night about what his true intentions were with Hermione. It was clear that she cared about him, and he her, and mainly he just couldn't believe that he had somehow caught her affections. The thought of staying here with her, as much as he kept trying to repel it, consumed him. They'd known each other a month now and he already knew that she called to him on some deep, primal level. He'd never felt like this with any previous girlfriends. He wanted to settle down with Hermione. Wanted to be a part of her life for the rest of his life.

But he wanted to do it all properly. He wanted to introduce her to his family and be introduced to hers. He wanted her to meet his friends and in turn meet hers. They came from two completely different worlds though and she probably didn't even remember much about her parents. She was probably clueless to the fact that she lived within minutes of them.

How could he even begin to have an ordinary life with her, an ordinary relationship, like this?

Gawain had tried to get in contact with Draco but he had declined every single call. He didn't want to talk about the case anymore. He didn't want to talk about deadlines or how he was going to return to Hermione's memories to her. In all honesty he was seriously considering running far away from it all. He wouldn't though, because Hermione was here and to run away from everything would mean to run away from her. Draco concluded that staying was probably the most Gryffindor thing he had ever done. Well, he assumed it would be had he not been staying for purely selfish reasons.

They had a date tomorrow anyway and he was thoroughly looking forward to it. He grinned at the memory of her face the day before yesterday, her shy smile and bright eyes asking him if he wanted to come for dinner at her place. He couldn't wait to spend more time with her outside of her workplace and see little Boo again.

"Draco! You're here!" Hermione exclaimed as she threw the door open and leaped into his arms. He staggered slightly, unprepared, but folded his arms around her petite frame. They stayed like that for a moment until a small squeak interrupted them.

"Hello again," Draco murmured to the small kitten that was peaking at him from behind Hermione's legs. He knelt and scooped the kitten up into his arms. Boo had grown a bit since the last time he had seen her. She hadn't been on her tower in the book shop recently. Hermione had explained that Boo had taken to following her to the shop in the mornings but then prowling off on her own adventures. He smiled down at Boo who stared up at him with wide eyes and tickled her tummy with his other hand. She squirmed and pawed at his fingers to get him away. He obliged and set her back on the floor.

When he glanced back up at Hermione he saw she was pulling on a pair of converses. "I thought you were cooking me dinner?" He questioned, "Get in the kitchen!"

She rolled her eyes at him, "Hah very funny, Draco. Actually I need to go out to the shops to get some food but I didn't want you to show up and me not be here so I figured you could come with me. That alright? You're more than welcome to wait here with Boo."

Draco smiled at her, "No it's fine, I'll come with. I can be a fussy eater."

Hermione shook her head in exasperation, "Not you too. Boo is going through a weird phase at the moment. She won't eat any cat food, instead she meows at me until I give her real food like tuna or prawns. I think she's turning into a diva. Maybe you're rubbing off on her."

"Hey!" Draco exclaimed, throwing his hands up, "I haven't seen her enough to be influencing her. As the father figure I demand more visitation rights," He joked, nudging her with his elbow as they walked out the door of her apartment and down a flight of stairs.

Hermione hummed, glancing at his smirking face from the corner of her eyes, "How do I know you're going to stick around to be a part of Boo's life?"

He draped his arm across Hermione's shoulder, giving her a wide, teeth-sparkling grin, "Well Boo's mother is a very attractive, intelligent and captivating young woman. I think she might persuade me to stick around." Hermione rolled her eyes at him again but couldn't help the grin that spread across her face.

"What do you do anyway? I remember you saying you were here on work?"

Draco had to think quickly, "I'm sort of like a police officer I suppose."

Hermione frowned, "Sort of?"

"Well," His eyes shone with pride, "I suppose I'm a bit more important than your average police officer."

Hermione snorted and delivered a light punch to his stomach. His smile just grew wider and from that they slipped into easy conversation about what they'd been up to. They spoke briefly about 'The God of Small Things,' once more. Draco expressed that the quotes Hermione had highlighted for him had left him with a lot of thinking to do. She had smiled at his, happy to have made him see things in a more positive light.

Soon enough they were at the supermarket. Draco grabbed a trolley and insisted that it was his duty as the man to push it and complain about it at the same time. Hermione couldn't believe how normal this all felt. She had never thought that when she moved here she would find a boyfriend. Was he even that? Neither of them had asked the other the question yet. Despite that, Hermione felt like neither of them needed to. It felt so immature to have to say, 'Oh yeah I really like you and you really like me so let's join together in our mutual likeness and confirm that we're together.' It wasn't something she felt like she needed to say. She had already told him that she cared about him. Why did they need to have that conversation?

They perused the items of food on the shelves. Hermione was constantly checking what Draco did and didn't like whom was hmming and ahhing as if he were a world-renowned food critic. She found out that he couldn't stand banana's, exclaiming the apple was the greatest fruit of all fruits, followed swiftly by cherries.

"Savoury foods Draco, not sweet," Hermione scolded as he reached to pick up a big bag of cherries, "I'm cooking you dinner, not dessert."

Draco's face twisted into that of despair as he slowly returned the cherries to their rightful place whispering, "I'm sorry, one day we shall be reunited again," to them. Hermione shook his head at his display and he glanced up at her, raising his eyebrows, "Jealous?"

"Of a bag of cherries? You wish. Come on." She said. He sighed and resumed pushing the trolley again, moaning about how much of an effort it was. She smiled lightly and started grabbing items of food to put in their cart. Draco sneakily slid the cherries into the trolley and smirked at his handy work before whistling his way around the shop. Occasionally he'd bump the trolley into the back of Hermione gently and would simply give her his toothiest grin when she scowled at him.

They'd gotten about half way around the shop when it had happened. A very small, frizzy haired girl was heading straight towards them attempting to push a trolley that was far too big for her. It zoomed past Hermione, just missing her, but collided with Draco's trolley. Draco kept a firm grip of the contraption but the small girl toppled over and fell on the floor, the noise of the collision echoing throughout the store. It was silent for a few short moments and then a shrill crying broke through the hair.

Hermione rushed over instantly crouching by the girl and stroking her hair gently whispering soothing words and asking where her parents were. The girl in response to this question simply cried more and big fat tears fell from her eyes and coated her cheeks. Hermione reached her hands out and whipped the wetness away whilst desperately looking around for a parental figure.

"Hermione!"

Hermione's head snapped up and there she saw an older woman, probably in her late forties. Draco tensed as he took in the familiar face. He recognised her instantly from the information Gawain had sent him over when he'd first arrived here. Mrs Granger clocked the small girl on the floor and groaned slightly. Draco was filled with a desperate need to get Hermione away. This could only end badly. If Mrs Granger approached her daughter only to discover she no longer recognised her Draco would be in a lot of trouble. This was an extremely public place, and the amount of people who would need to be oblivated if Hermione started to get confused or if Mrs Granger revealed all about the wizarding world… it would just ruin everything.

Everything for her or everything for you? A mocking voice questioned in Draco's head but he whacked it away quickly.

Hermione gazed at the woman. She had sleek, brown hair that was just a little longer than a bob. Her eyes were hazel and she had a light dusting of freckles across her nose. Something in Hermione's mind snapped and her heart was pounding so hard that she could feel it in her cheeks. The pages in her mind turned suddenly and came to a halt by one single word.

"Mum?"

Mrs Granger completely ignored Hermione and ran to the youngest girl practically pushing Hermione out-of-the-way. The small girls cries had subsided and she smiled up at Mrs Granger. The older woman attempted to scold her for running off with the cart but couldn't hide her smile either. Hermione wanted to scream. She suddenly felt very much like an outsider. This older woman and this small girl bared such a strong resemblance to her. Draco noted that it looked like the little girl could be Hermione's daughter. They looked like three generations of Granger's taking a trip out to the shops together. He glanced over at Hermione and saw her bottom lip begin to tremble. He abandoned the cart and rushed over to her, taking her in his arms and pressing soft kisses to the top of her head.

Mrs Granger looked at them both then, relieved that the small girl was clearly fine, "Sorry about that," She said, voice light and airy, "Hermione is forever running off at the moment. I think it's all the books I've been reading to her recently. She's always trying to find some sort of adventure to go after." Hermione tried to respond but only a choking noise fell from her lips as she glanced at the smaller version of herself and then her mother.

Her mum. What was her mum doing here? Why did she have another daughter that bared her name? Mrs Granger stared at the older Hermione, frowning at the young woman's reaction. "Are you quite alright?"

Hermione's mouth opened and close a few times but Draco was the one that spoke, "Sorry. Hermione recently lost her mother. You look an awful lot like her," He desperately hoped the woman in his arms would go along with this. Surprisingly enough she just didn't speak. Still staring, eyes glazed over.

"Hermione?" Mrs Granger questioned, "Beautiful name. I always told myself that when I had a daughter I would call her that. It's so unusual. Your mother must have had good taste. I'm sorry for your loss, dear."

Hermione was shaking in Draco's arms, still refusing to cry, but it was hard to contain the tremors that were coursing through each limb. Mrs Granger gazed at the girl and reached out, rubbing her arm softly and giving her a weak smile before she turned to pick up her small daughter and placed her in the seat fitted in the trolley.

As she walked away from the two Hermione stared after her. The small girl from her seat stared back at her, head cocked and eyes alight with curiosity. She waved and then looked over at a packet of chocolate. Hermione and Draco watched in horror as the chocolate bar rose from its place on the shelf and floated into the trolley.

"There's another one of me," she murmured, "I've been replaced."

Draco wasn't sure what to do. It seemed she could remember her Mother, remember that she was a witch and was clearly hurting because of this. Yet, she hadn't recoiled from Draco. She still clutched on to him as Mrs Granger rounded the corner and was gone from their eyesight.

It was like a light switch flicked off suddenly. Hermione's vision became slightly more aware and in tune with her surroundings. Her body stilled and she glanced up and Draco cheekily, "I know I'm irresistible but you don't have to attach yourself to me all the time," she grinned, attempting to wriggle out of his arms.

"Hermione stop I need to tell you something."

"What?" She said, her voice alarmed, "What is it?"

"I… you're… I just wanted to say," He stammered as he tried to get the words out. His mind was betraying him though, screaming at him to stop. Luckily for that half of his head, Hermione stopped him thinking he was about to say something completely different.

"Draco, no, not now. You don't need to say it."

He halted, "Say what?"

It was her turn to look nervous now, "I know you care about me. You know I care about you too. We don't need to have this discussion now, about what we are or how we feel. We know how we feel. Let's just let it happen, please."

He stood there bewildered for a moment before nodding his head sharply, "Yes, yes. Let's just let it happen."

She smiled at him and he at her. They shared a lingering kiss before continuing down the aisle.

Hermione busied herself in the kitchen preparing her and Draco's dinner. She had put on some old school disco tracks and was singing and dancing around the small space. Draco was leaning in the door frame, watching her with a big grin on his face. Boo, sat next to him, was also observing the situation. Hermione's hips swayed and her head bobbed in time with the music.

"ALLLLLL THE LOVE IN THE WORLD CAN'T BE GONE, OOOHHH," She sang loudly as she bent to put the chicken she was cooking into the oven. Draco shook her head at her.

"Lovely singing," He smirked.

She grinned back, "I know. Merlin, I should enter American Idol or something. I'd definitely get the recording contract." He raised his eyebrows at her a smile still planted firmly on his face, "Dance with me!" She exclaimed, grabbing his hands and pulling him towards her.

It was nothing like the way he had been taught when he was growing up. Hermione's dancing was lively, upbeat and energetic. Granted it had no real technique to it, but it was fun. Draco was never a huge fan of all the waltzing he'd had to do when he was younger. This seemed more like a way of releasing energy than moving with elegance and poise. He jumped around with her; their hands still clasped, and twirled her under his arm a few times. She laughed and kicked her legs out. Soon enough they had perfected their own rhythm and style. Draco swung her around and attempted to lift her on to his hips but they toppled slightly, Hermione landing on the counter sat up with Draco in-between her legs still stood.

The two of them were out of breath, cheeks hurting from laughing so much. He leaned over and planted his lips on hers with force and she eagerly replied, locking her legs around his hips and her arms around his neck. Their kissing was as energetic as their dancing, tongues moving this way and that, mouths pressing and pushing against the others.

Boo hopped on top of the counter and mewed at the two of them, clearly annoyed that she was being ignored. Draco pulled away from his witch and scratched the space between Boo's ears. Boo purred in contentment and Hermione sighed, littering any space of Draco she could reach with kisses.

"I can really see myself falling for you Malfoy." She murmured, though her mind was telling her she had already fallen and to stop being such a coward and just tell him.

He returned his gaze to hers; his eyes alight with joy, and replied, "I can, too."

They shared one more lingering kiss before Hermione slid down from the counter to serve dinner. It was lovely. Not on par with food from the manor, but then nothing often beat the cooking of his parent's house elves. He made sure, however, to complement Hermione's cooking and gave her a soft peck on the cheek in appreciation.

After they'd cleared up that sat on the sofa for a while, Draco's arms around Hermione and Boo sitting on her lap, snoring softly.

"Draco, the other day, when I said about figuring out whatever you were hiding from me," Hermione started, unsure about broaching this topic with him. She could feel him still behind her for a few seconds, before continuing to kiss along her shoulder softly, "You know I meant it when I said I won't judge you for the things you've done in the past. I feel like I'm a part of that past, though I can't work out why. Anyway, what I mean to say is that you can look at my list if you want."

"The list about me?" He answered. She nodded, "Yes okay. I'll try fill in any blanks, maybe. Not everything tonight. Soon."

She nodded eagerly, excited for information and ran to her bedroom quickly, picking up her diary and darting back to the sofa. Draco took it from her and flicked to the page that held his name. As he read he frowned and bit the fingernail on his thumb, deep in contemplation.

"You're very observant," He expressed. Hermione smiled at this and waited for him to continue, "Yes I say Merlin a lot. When you meet my friends you'll find they will too. I think you also know me well enough now to know I do have a big ego. Tragic past too, maybe? I haven't explained it all but as I said you will know all this very soon. Yes my father does make potions. I said medicine afterwards, I know, to cover it up, but he makes potions. Again, this is something you'll know all about in due time. I'm not going to explain why I called you a Gryffindor. It'll also become obvious in a few days. I'm not familiar with muggle technology, hence why I often refer to things as 'that machine thing,' and disappearing at the beach… I'm basically a super hero-,"

"Or a super villain?" She smirked, chuckling to herself. He raised one eyebrow at her.

"Something like that. Yes I was once in an arranged marriage with a lovely girl called Astoria. It was arranged by our families. They saw her as a perfect bride. She had good manners, wealth, good blood, good status, power and I had all those things too. It was supposed to be the perfect match. Once upon I time I would have accepted it willingly but circumstances made me see it differently when it actually happened. We tried to make it work but it didn't. Yes I was in a gang and you're right to add that it comes across as more than that. Again, you'll know all this in a few days. It's just a matter of fine tuning the details."

Hermione couldn't help but feel her heart sink. He hadn't really told her anything, just confirmed that she'd made good points. Why did he look so distraught? His face was closed off from her, trying to stay blank, but she could see in his eyes that he clearly felt troubled.

"In a few days?" She questioned him.

"Yes, I promise you'll know everything very soon."

"You don't seem happy about that."

He sighed and brought her to him, holding her close. He placed a single kiss to her forehead and stroked her back softly. Boo, who had jumped off the sofa when Hermione had moved to get her diary was now curled up in front of the television.

"I don't think you'll want anything to do with me when you find out."

Hermione pushed herself up from him. Their faces were a few inches apart. Her eyes swept over his face, taking in every single point and slope and committing them to memory. He was doing the same, bringing up his hands to trace the curves and plains of her face too. He didn't just want to remember what she looked like; he wanted to remember what she felt like, tasted like, smelt like. What could she do to reassure him she wouldn't leave? Why was he so certain that she would anyway? Had she not proved over the course of this month that she cared about him? Wasn't that enough? She hadn't run when he'd spoken about the gang, or when she'd seen his scars, or the scary tattoo.

Her fingers trailed from his face to the bottom of his shirt and found the long scar on his left hip. She used her other hand to push his shirt up slightly to look at it closer. He watched in fascination, amazed she could obviously feel some sort of connection with it. She frowned at the scar and tried to imagine what it must feel like against his skin. Did it feel like she was just stroking any other part of his body? Or did this scar tissue cause her touch to feel different here? Draco acknowledged in his head that it did feel different, but only because it was Hermione's touch. He could see the sadness in her eyes as she looked at it and his gaze softened. Unknowingly, she felt drawn to it and upset about it. He knew that deep down she knew she'd done it and that she regretted it.

His fingers inched towards her scar on her arm. She still hadn't spoken about it come up with an explanation for it's existence. Maybe that was because she knew she couldn't explain it with a lie. How would anyone be able to come up with a plausible story for it? Muggles didn't know the word mudblood and because they didn't understand the origins the wouldn't be able to comprehend what it meant.

They stayed like that for a while. Hands simply exploring the others skin. It was slow and sensual. Despite Hermione felt so connected with Draco. She had craved intimacy like this for so long. To just be able to hold and touch the person she loved. To be able to explore them and be explored. It was all so exciting and new and Hermione's feelings bubbled to the surface and tumbled from her mouth.

"I love you, Draco." She whispered, connecting their mouths in a euphoric kiss.

Draco's body sang and his kiss and touch became more desperate, claiming every bit of skin hat was available to him. Their breaths were shallow but their chests rose and fell in time with the others, their bodies synchronising themselves. Their heart beats found a compatible rhythm to beat along to. Hermione felt as if her blood would burst from her veins. Heat was powering through every inch of her, surging from her fingers which were placed on his cheeks, and on to Draco to be absorbed by his skin.

A soft white light surrounded them both in a bubble of energy so strong that it woke Boo who cocked her head at the aura surrounding the two. The tried to slink her way through it but found she couldn't pass the barrier their magic had created around them, binding them in love. It lightened, pushing out slightly, and then slowly began to travel inwards, smothering them both in the oldest magic there was.

Love.

A/N: To the guest who said this was 'a bit confusing and muddled' I would love if you could leave a longer review explaining this point more. I would hate for this story to come across as complicated. I have a timeline written out so I know what's happening and I'm hoping that comes across. I'm glad you've vocalised this opinion that it comes across as jumbled, but I would just like a bit more of an explanation as it will help me to improve!

t: Yes it took a while! I knew what quotes I was looking for though. It's an incredible book. I would recommend it to anyone. I was going through a bit of a tough time when we had to study it for my a-levels and was just amazed by it. There is so much in that book that I would say I try to live my life by. It has an incredible message. I just love it. Glad you're enjoying the story!

Thank you to all the reviews, follows and favourites. Please don't feel shy to share your opinion. I'm not going to be one of those writers that shouts at anyone if they say, 'Oh I don't think this worked well,' or 'this was good but you could have approached it like this...' I think every writer out there just wants to get feedback to help them improve and I have gotten a lot of nice feedback, so thank you. But if you, like t, feel things don't make sense or want clarification on certain points just let me know! Thank you.