I know it's been a while between updates adn I am sorry about that, work has kicked me in and I've not felt settled enough to update this story. I hope this one is as good as the last have been. I am currently ill with laryngitis so have a bit of time to catch up.

Thanks for sticking with it,

Lu.

Hermione didn't hear from Severus for a few days, for which she was both glad and saddened. Their last conversations had been trying and the distance had given her time to think about what was to be done. She had written it all in a letter, as she had promised, and left it at that. She found that she missed his conversation and subtle sense of humour more than anything else, it left her a little forlorn and it wasn't long before Lavender was quietly telling her to cut it out as Molly was picking up on it.

Forced cheer was worse than real melancholy. She did her best however, and there was a function on the horizon to look forward to. Well, there were always functions to look forward to, however this one would involve nearly everyone she knew. She hadn't seen some of the people who were going to be in attendance for a number of days now, weeks for some and she was dearly looking forward to catching up with them. Draco was one of them. She had enjoyed his witty observations at the picnic before and had found that she wanted to converse with him. He had a way of knowing what was going on and hearing things that no other would. What was better was that he seemed willing to share them with her too.

She had decided to wear the pale blue dress that evening, it had been a while and she liked the way it hung on her hips, very flattering she thought. The neckline wasn't too high either and it was comfortable. It would be better if she had left out the steel underwear but all the women wore them and to do so would be deemed as lewd. Molly would not allow for such things! A smile crossed her lips as she was helped down from the carriage, she could see some of her friends already. The moment she was out the carriage, she began walking towards them, keen to greet them.

The first she saw was Bill, speaking to Percy about something. She spoke to both of them and the greeted her warmly. It was nice to be among friends. Percy teased her about still annoying his parents and she shrugged, blaming their mother's inability to not feed whatever waif or stray happened to roll through the door. Niether of them were able to deny these allegations and the conversation resumed. Hermione found herself distracted by other arrivals and so bid the brothers farewell and entered the hall properly.

A large vaulted ceiling greeted her, decorated with soft floating lights which resembled stars. The yellow light filled the room, showing her a large dancefloor with several seats around the outside. There was space for a band; however they'd not yet turned up. There was a table to one side of the room which contained many plates of food; some people were already helping themselves to a couple of bites here and there. She didn't blame them as the thought of food set her stomach growling too. The only thing that was stopping her from going over there and getting some herself was the way being blocked by Draco.

Her smile widened when their eyes met and she was by his side in seconds, "Good evening," she said warmly. Draco's first reaction was to smirk at her; he then picked up her hand and pressed his lips to the back of it in some mockery of formal greeting.

"Evening," he said his tone far more casual than his manners. "What brings you my way?" he asked after he had straightened up.

"I need a reason to say hello to a friend?" she asked, tilting her head a little. He shrugged and laughed a little.

"You've been busy?"

"I have," she replied. A man with a tray of drinks appeared and she took two from it, handing one to him. He took it, the smirk on his face reappearing once more.

"So I have heard," he said. Now it was her turn to look at him with a small grin.

"What have you heard?" she asked before sipping some of the drink in her hand.

"The whole town has heard about your meetings with Severus," he said. This was nothing out of the ordinary.

"He's teaching me about potions," she said with a small shrug, "There's nothing more to it than that," she added.

"We both know that's true," Draco said with a nod, "But the rest of the town are going to think otherwise as it's known you go without another there. What do you think that looks like to an outsider?" he added. Despite knowing that she shouldn't care about such things, Hermione flushed a little.

"I don't care what they think," she said. She then knew she sounded like a pouty child and forced herself to relax. "Besides, it's a harmless friendship; people are probably thinking the same as we're now stood talking."

Draco shrugged at that, "I can buy them off, silence them if I need to," he said. There was no real arrogance in his tone when he spoke, it was the truth after all. "So, there's nothing else to what's going on during your meetings then?" he asked. Hermione levelled her gaze at Draco.

"Are you digging for information?" she said a little flatly.

He shook his blonde head, "No, not at all, just curious." She eyed him again before deciding that he was telling the truth. She still wasn't entirely sure what to tell him, however, he was sly enough to be able to help and so she told him what was really going on. She left out the part regarding his first wife, focusing instead on the Fleur situation. By the time she was done, both of them had emptied their glasses. Draco remained silent after the telling of the tale and appeared to thinking it through. "Quite a predicament you have there," he said before snatching up a couple of fresh glasses and handing one to her.

Taking the glass, she twisted it in her hand and gave a small shrug. "There has to be a way out of it though," she said, her optimism showing through.

"Yes, I believe there is," Draco said, his tone as thoughtful as ever. Hermione looked at him again, a slight frown between her eyebrows.

"Well, are you going to share it with me?" she asked after taking another sip of wine. Draco's eyes flicked to somewhere behind her and she turned her head. A smile grew on her face to mask the ire as Luna approached with Neville at her side. "Later," Draco whispered before nodding at the approaching couple.

"You should try the food Hermione, it really is lovely," Luna said, skipping any greeting. Hermione smiled, glad that at least the airy nature of her friend never changed.

"How are you?" Neville asked.

"Quite well," she replied. Before she knew what was happening, they were both caught up in a conversation about their forth coming wedding and how stressful the planning was. It wasn't really what Hermione wanted to listen to but she could find no way of getting out of that conversation. A glance around the room showed her that a lot more people had arrived and the food was indeed being served properly now. Her stomach rumbled and she cast a look at Draco, begging him to cry off the conversation and follow her to the table. He seemed to take the hint. The kept their conversation to a minimum as they picked some of the better looking nibbles from the table and found themselves somewhere quiet to sit. Hermione was dimly aware that Molly was giving her approving nods at this connection and she resisted the temptation to roll her eyes. Draco was a fantastic guy, and she had no doubt that he would make a great lover, he just wasn't for her.

When they were settled, she picked up one of the more interesting things and popped it into her mouth. Chicken with peanut butter spread over it – delicious! Her mind however, wasn't on the food. She looked at Draco and smiled, "What did you have in mind then?" she asked.

Her friend swallowed the mouthful of food he had, leaned forward and grinned, "Here's what you can do…"