Chapter Nine

As Hermione lays in bed next to Draco she can't imagine anywhere else she would rather be.

She's nestled up next to his body with her head on his bare chest as his hand plays with her hair. Her hand has been intertwined with his left hand, but as she starts to move it his arm turns over in the process and she sees the mark on his forearm. There's only a slight glow of the moonlight in the room, but there's enough for her to notice that the dark mark has faded. She slowly starts to trace the pattern with her fingers, and she feels Draco tense.

"I wish you wouldn't" he tells her in a strained voice "I've tried many different things to try and get rid of it, but alas, it doesn't seem to want to bugger off" at that he gives a sarcastic laugh.

"It's from the past Draco, just like mine." At that she raises her arm to reveal her scar: the words MUDBLOOD etched onto her forearm as well. She looks up at him and can see that his eyes slightly narrow at the sight of her scar, and she realizes how important this conversation is for them.

"These scars symbolize what we had to go through to get where we are, we both changed so much in that war…"

"I just hate the reminder of the terrible choices I made and that I didn't do something to stop Bellatrix that night" Draco chokes out.

"You did what you could, and I don't blame you for anything. Honestly, having this scar on my arm reminds me every day that I'm proud of who I am, I'm proud to be a Muggleborn. It gives me the drive and passion I need at work, that I'm fighting for every single being to have rights and that they don't deserve discrimination."

"Yes, well, I wish this mark gave me more than just remorse and regret…"

Hermione slowly raises half her body so that she can look into his steel blue eyes, "you were thinking of your family, your mother, and like I said at your trial years ago, in the end when it really mattered, you made the right choices." She slowly lowers her lips to his and puts all her emotion behind the kiss, hoping he never doubts her feelings on the subject again.

When Hermione wakes up there's a soft light coming in through the bedroom window and she realizes Draco is no longer next to her. As she gradually gets up from the bed she decides she doesn't have the energy to find the clothes that were tossed carelessly around last night and decides to grab something from the dresser. After finding a simple pair of black sweats and one of Draco's old Slytherin green t-shirts she leaves the bedroom and follows the smells wafting from the kitchen. She expects to see him sitting at the table but he's not there, instead there's a plate of food and a warm cup of tea next to it. Her stomach rumbles at the thought of food and decides to eat and that surely Draco will show up.

Just as she is about to take her first bite, she hears him enter the room.

"You know, that color looks quite fetching on you." She can hear the smile behind his words and she instantly turns around so she can see it. What she wasn't expecting was her throat to completely dry up at the sight of the half-naked man standing before her. It appears that Draco does not wear shirts in the mornings. Noted.

Clearly he knows exactly what she's thinking because he starts to chuckle and joins her at the table.

"Good morning Granger" he says with his husky morning voice and leans over to give her an effortless kiss. She almost takes him then and there to make a repeat of last night but decides there will be plenty of time for that later.

"What do you have going on today?" She asks him, wondering how long she does have him for.

"It seems that Theo was serious about getting all the Slytherins together for lunch, so I have that to get to in about 3 hours…any chance you would like to accompany me?" He nonchalantly asks her.

She hesitates for a moment, "you realize you're asking me to have lunch with a bunch of people who hate me."

"Oh please, the only person that maybe hated you was Pansy, and she hates everyone so don't feel special." She lets out a small chuckle. "Come on, they've been asking about you recently since that article came out, it's the perfect time." He gives her that smile that makes her brain go fuzzy and she knows she'll end up going.

She quickly finishes eating then stands up and grabs his hand, "Fine, I'm about half way to agreeing, I think there's something you can do to get me to fully agree…" with that she tugs him out of the seat and gives him a wink as she leads him into the bedroom.

She can hear him chuckling as he suddenly grabs her from behind and starts kissing her neck fiercely.

"I'm not sure you know what you just got yourself into Granger, but don't worry, you're about to find out."

A few hours later she is back at her flat getting ready for a lunch that is currently causing her to stress out. She knew she would have to meet all of Draco's friends one of these days, but she isn't prepared for it to be today. She also didn't fail to notice that Theo would be there...and although her and Draco talked about him already, she hopes things won't be awkward.

She's just finishing putting her shoes on when she hears the floo, she looks up and she doesn't think she will ever get used to the butterflies that go out of control every time she sees him.

As they walk into the restaurant, she can see the whole group in the back corner:

Pansy Parkinson seated next to Gregory Goyle and looking alarmingly chummy, Blaise Zabini next to Daphne Greengrass (she remembers reading in the paper that they got married last year), Astoria Greengrass (didn't realize she would be here) and then there is Theo at the head of the table.

A smile falls on her lips, she always feels a sense of ease when he is around, and she feels mildly better having lunch with a bunch of Slytherins. She squeezes the hand that is holding hers and looks up at Draco, wondering how he is feeling with all of this. But, of course, he looks exactly like a well brought up pureblood would, completely cool and refined.

As they get closer to the table everyone's heads swivel in their direction, it would have been comical if she wasn't so nervous. It is in that moment though that she realizes her relationship with Draco Malfoy never came up in conversation at her lunch with Theo. This conclusion comes to her because he is who she focuses on when they are walking up to the table, and it is clear on his face that A) he didn't know she would be coming and B) he didn't know she is with Draco. A prickly little seed starts to form in her stomach, and she wishes it would go away.

She is then distracted by Pansy, the first person to speak, "Well, would you look who it is, Drake in all his glory."

She can see a slight flicker of irritation run over his features at the nickname, but it is gone before anyone else can see it. Instead he smiles and leans down to kiss her on the cheek. "Always a pleasure Pansy." He then proceeds around the table kissing each girl on the cheek in greeting - Pureblood etiquette is something she will have to get used to. But she decides to conveniently look away when he gets to Astoria.

As they sat down, he introduces everyone to Hermione and goes around the table saying everyone's names as if they didn't all go to school together for seven years.

"Draco, mate, I think we all know who The Hermione Granger is, but do tell us, how in hell you ended up with the Gryffindor Princess?" Blaise asks while giving her a dashing smile and wink. He seems like quite an audacious man, she wouldn't know though considering she didn't associate with him much at Hogwarts.

Her attention turns entirely to Draco, she doesn't dare peek at Theo even though she wants to desperately see how he has reacted to Blaise's question.

"Well, it's actually quite a funny story" at this he looks at her and by the smirk on his face she can tell what is about to come next. "I was at work, about to go into a meeting with Potter of all people, and out walks Hermione Granger, next thing I know this feisty woman right here is kissing me senseless."

This causes the entire table to erupt in laughter, Hermione on the other hand kicks him under the table, unbelievably embarrassed that he just shared that story.

But it seems aside from that humiliating moment the rest of the lunch goes surprisingly well, it seems that she doesn't mind the Slytherins all that much and, dare she say, they're entertaining to be around. Their humor may be a bit more suggestive than what she is used to with her friends, but she finds herself warming up more to their humor and enjoying herself.

As they're finishing up their lunch she excuses herself to use the loo, and as she comes out there's someone waiting for her in the hallway.

"Hey Theo…" her tone starts out happy but the look on his face causes her uncertainty.

He still gives her a smile though and that eases her thoughts slightly.

"Hey Hermione, I just wanted to talk to you for a minute…away from everyone." He motions towards a tiny table a few steps away from them so they can sit down.

As she moves towards the chair she's trying to decipher what he's feeling, he doesn't seem angry or upset he seems…disappointed. Which is so much worse.

Theo clears his throat to talk, but she beats him to it, "I know I should have told you about me and Draco."

He gives her a small smile, "it's okay Hermione, I'm just…I'm just embarrassed." At this he hangs his head a bit in shame and starts to slowly shake it back and forth, "because I read it all wrong."

She inwardly cringes, "It's completely my fault. There were multiple opportunities during our lunch, and I just didn't tell you. I'm sorry."

At that he lifts his head back up and locks his eyes with hers. "Since we're coming clean about stuff, you know how I also work in the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures department in America?"

"Yeah…" since learning about that last week she did find it, if not surprising, definitely interesting.

"It's because of you."

Well she certainly didn't see that one coming. "What do you mean?"

He averts his eyes, as though he's embarrassed again, "It was actually fourth year, I overheard you talking about Spew one day to your friends"

"It's S.P.E.W" she says under her breath but loud enough for him to hear.

He starts to laugh, "yes sorry, S.P.E.W. Well, that initially got my attention but it wasn't until we were partners in Ancient Runes and we started to become friends, and that's when I realized it wasn't just Elf rights you were passionate about, but all of it, equality for all. I was captivated. It wasn't until after the war that I had to decide what I was going to do with my life, I nearly went into transcribing runic scripture, but I knew that wouldn't fulfill me, I wanted to make a change, like you."

A few beats of silence followed while she let everything he had said sink in. She had made such a huge impression on him, and she'd had no idea.

Finally she responds, "Wow, I honestly don't know what to say, I never knew any of that" a few seconds later she adds, "are we okay Theo?"

"We've always been okay Hermione." At that he gives her that dimpled smile that she loves so much.

As they head back to the table to join the rest of the group, she feels much better about everything. And even better, the prickle that has formed in her stomach earlier, is finally gone.