Wind.

Hermione was in the air watching as she towered over trees on hills. She flew past a curious owl with an envelope between its beaks. Her mass of curls danced behind her, and she felt the sun warm her face. She was on a broomstick but she wasn't scared. She felt thrilled, she didn't know this was what it was like to fly. It felt freeing. She had her arms wrapped around a man. She leaned forward and pressed her cheek against his shoulder.

Cinnamon, leather and mint.

Wait, what?

"Enjoying the ride, Granger?"

Draco Malfoy turned around, his grey eyes silver and opal under the sun. He was smiling at her.

Before she could say anything, the broomstick took a plunge and Hermione's heart dropped. This is it, it's the end. She was gonna fall to her death with Draco Malfoy of all people. They were nearing a roaring waterfall when at the last minute Malfoy maneuvered the broomstick so that it flew up again. If the fall felt torturous, the rise was the opposite. It was the freeing feeling again. She was Icarus, and the sun was in front of her. She reached out her fingers and brushed Malfoy's hair and then a blinding light took over.

Hermione sat up with a jolt. She looked around her, no owls, no waterfalls, no open skies. Best of all, no Draco Malfoy. It was just her room. Books, a teacup on her nightstand, Crookshanks crawling off her bed after being startled awake, and Ron still fast asleep. She looked at the clock hanging on the wall, it was 2:22 in the morning.

What kinda nightmare was that? Draco Malfoy smiling and flying on a broomstick all in one dream? Horrible.

She made herself comfortable again and let her sleepiness take over. Before she knew it, she was asleep again.

And no, there was no weird Malfoy dream this time.

6:30 am

Hermione woke to a banging noise. It sounded like a metal pot was dropped, followed by someone loudly swearing. She quickly hopped off the bed and tiptoed to the kitchen. She definitely did not expect to see the scene she walked in on.

The kitchen was a mess. There was a dropped egg on the floor and flour dusting the counters. An almost empty milk carton has been tipped over and the remaining milk was now dripping on the kitchen mat. There were dishes stacked on the sink and burnt bacon on a plate. In the middle of it all was Ron.

"What happened here?" she was mildly irritated. She hated messes and liked to keep her kitchen tidy and now it looked like a starving escaped prisoner had rummaged through her kitchen and devastated her fridge.

Ron sheepishly smiled and rubbed the back of his head, "I wanted to surprise you with breakfast in bed. Only I've never made it before, Mum made it look so easy but it's not."

Hermione smiled at him. It was a sweet gesture, and he meant well. She told him it was alright and helped him clean up. After the spills had been scourgified and dishes cleaned, Hermione put an apron on and set to teaching.

"Ok, an important rule when you're cooking is you don't leave food on the stove unattended for too long. You need to be keeping an eye on it."

She floated some eggs towards her and showed him how to crack an egg without getting the shells in it. "You need to crack hard and quickly but gently drop the egg into the pan. But don't crack so hard that it splatters everywhere."

She then put pieces of bacon on and told him these would cook at different times so he needed to keep an eye on both.

Ron whined, "this is so complicated! It's like I'm in potions class again."

"It's not that hard once you get the hang of it. You learn as you go. The first time I cooked for my family I broke all the egg yolks and we had semi scrambled fried eggs."

"It's hard to imagine you not being good at anything first try," laughed Ron "oh, well except for divination and quidditch.

Hermione blushed and remembered her odd dream last night. She was in the air riding Malfoy's broomstick and she had her arm wrapped around him. He smiled at her.

Ron grabbed her hand which brought her back to the present moment. "Hermione did I say something wrong? I was just kidding about you not being good at that stuff."

"No, no sorry I was just in my thoughts. Just thinking about the time turner incident." Hermione quickly lied. She could never tell Ron about that dream, probably not anyone ever. It was too unnatural and it might be taken the wrong way. She would never consciously want to think about Draco Malfoy's opalescent eyes under the sun.

"Yeah, so lucky you had that with you third year, or else how would we have saved Sirius? Even if it was only a few years with him, Harry felt like he had family for once." Ron looked sad.

Now she felt worse that she had used Sirius' memory to lie about Draco. It was just the first thing that popped in her head, she didn't mean to. They talked about Sirius for a bit, they don't usually bring the topic up unless Harry does since it was still a sore spot. Harry missed Sirius terribly. Even after they had all lost loved ones, it was still hard to talk about them. Ron hardly mentions his brother without looking like he might cry. We all just miss them so much. And Hermione never brings up her parents. She had shut down anyone who has ever tried talking about it and when they pushed, she would snap and get angry.

Breakfast became a gloomy affair and Ron said goodbye after helping to clean up. Then Hermione got ready for another day at work.

After she had showered, Hermione worked her hair into a tight braid which she then rolled into a low bun. She used some products to tame the strands that usually frame her face. She then put on wide leg black trousers that rose high on her waist with a black long sleeve turtleneck. The fabric was very soft and made her feel very cozy so she loved wearing it. She grabbed some black leather Maryjanes to complete the look. The look was definitely darker than her usual but she quite liked it. The monochrome looked cohesive and it was very work appropriate. Yes, the trousers were a bit tight around the bum but all of her pants fit that way do Malfoy can eat slugs if he say anything about it.

Once she had her work bag packed, she apparated away. She was walking to her office when she passed an open door where she heard a giggle. She glanced over and saw Tracey Davis giggling next to Malfoy. He was leaning against the door, as he usually does and she was fawning all over him.

"Thanks for the pastry, Draco," Tracy cooed.

Hermione rolled her eyes. How could she be falling for his act? Seriously it was pathetic, Malfoy was the biggest flirt in the office. Tracy didn't honestly think she was special.

She quickly made her way to her office and almost squashed the lemon loaf sitting on her desk with her bag. Lemon loaf was her favourite, it even had a generous amount of white icing with sprinkles of lemon zest on top. She took a bite and moaned in delight. It was just how she liked it. It was from her favourite cafe, La Pomme. How sweet of Harry to remember.

She was taking another bite when an unwelcome voice interrupted her.

"Enjoying your treat, Granger?

She didn't need to look up to see who it was or know that he was smirking.

"Why, yes I am. I'd like to continue enjoying it if you'd like to leave me in peace."

Hermione took a small bite but still did not look up. She heard his footsteps come closer until his dragon leather oxfords came in to view.

"Did no one teach you manners at Gryffindor? You're supposed to thank the person who bring you food. Honestly, Granger, remind me to never go out to dinner with you. Are you this rude to the staff?" He had now decided to plant his hands on the desk and she could feel him looking at her.

She swallowed and took a sip of water. She still couldn't look at him right now, not without thinking about the dream. "If you must know, I assumed Harry brought it for me. It's from my favourite bakery. I am very kind to the staff thank you very much, and thank you Malfoy for the kind gesture. I hope you have a great day."

"Why are you acting weird, Granger?" Malfoy pulled the chair behind him and sat in front of her. He leaned over on her desk and was looking straight at her face.

"Why won't you look at me?"

Hermione blushed. Malfoy smiling at her was haunting her mind and she could not get the image out of her head. She took a deep breath and slowly looked up.

"Just practicing being zen," she smiled.

Malfoy raised an eyebrow and looked at her suspiciously, "well, you're no fun today." He then strolled out of her office.

I guess that's all she had to do to be rid of him, be a nice human. Huh, she could tolerate being civil with him, and he wouldn't be a pompous dick anymore. It sounded easy enough.

The rest of the day continued on with no Malfoy incidents, thankfully. The next time she saw him was when she was leaving work and Tracey Davies was opening the door from his office.

Hm, there must be something going on between them.

Draco was severely disappointed. He went to so much trouble for nothing. He had to somehow casually bring up baked goods in a conversation with Pansy to eventually get her to mention that she and Hermione would go cafe hopping a lot. She gushed about her favourite menu items and Draco had to praise her weird choices just so he could make a snark comment about how Granger probably has horrible taste in food. This would of course prompt her friend to defend Granger's taste and reveal her favourite item from her favourite place. It was the lemon loaf from La Pomme. To not look suspicious about bringing up Granger, he had to say, "Honestly, just sprinkle some ginger on top of it and Granger will fall in love with it." This earned him a smack from his Slytherin friend and then he proceeded to change the topic. Oh, but it doesn't end there. He had to get to the office early to send an intern to go buy the aforementioned loaf and something for everyone in order to not raise attention. To look like a generous and caring boss, he, himself, then dropped off the treats to every one. Draco had to endure a tedious eight minutes worth of conversation about pastries with Tracey Davies. What a waste of time. And this was all he got? Detention with Professor Mcgonnagall would be more stimulating than his encounter with Granger. Now he was in a bad mood.

He focused on work instead and didn't realize that time flew by. It was lunch already. He was interrupted by a knock at his door and told them to come in.

"Hi, Draco," cooed Tracey.

Great.

"What can I do for you, Tracey?"

She walked slowly in front of his desk, an attempt at a seductive walk Draco assumed. Tracey was about as seductive as a waddling duck. She wasn't ugly, per say, but she just wasn't attractive to him. She had straight brown hair and she's grown into her looks since Harvard. But there was something about her that just wasn't it. Maybe it was her sickeningly sweet lavender vanilla perfume or her high pitched voice. She also dumbed herself down to get Draco to tell her about things.

The witch proceeded to twirl a piece of her hair around her finger and in a coquettish voice asked, "Well, I wanted to thank you for breakfast today so I was wondering if I can take you out for a couple drinks this weekend."

I hate my life.

Draco has had to reject girls before at Hogwarts but he never did it nicely. This was one of his employees which would be frowned upon and he was not at all interested. He somehow had to make that clear in a polite way.

"You don't have to do that Tracey. I brought treats for everyone it was nothing. Now if there's anything else?"

She leaned forward. He noticed the blazer she was wearing was now missing. She was now wearing a button up blouse which conveniently had the first few buttons popped, so that a bit of her cleavage peeked through. She leaned low enough to spy the bright orange lace trim of her bra.

Tacky.

"I know, it was such a kind gesture I just wanted to show you that someone appreciates you at work. It can be between us if you're worried about people at work finding out," she batted her eyes.

Every time Tracey made and attempt at flirting, it had only made Draco squirm internally.

Come on, make this end Draco.

"I appreciate the gesture, Tracey. However good the intention, I have to refuse you. My girlfriend would not be very happy with me if she found out."

She pulled back and shyly wrapped an arm around herself, "Oh, yeah. I'm sorry I didn't know you were seeing someone."

Draco gave her a fake smile, "it's private, no one really knows. She's got a temper, that one, so best not to cross her."

Tracey slowly started walking backwards, "I understand. Have a good rest of your day!"

"You as well."

Draco sighed as she was shutting the door. He was glad it was over. He caught a glimpse of a familiar figure in the hallway. Granger was leaving for lunch. He made a mental note to stop by her office when she comes back. He'd mention that her attire was improving, although by the way some of the male employees would sneak a peek of her behind when she would walk past, her trousers were still too tight. He should send out a note about that. It's very unprofessional and unbecoming of gentlemen working at Malfoy Enterprises to be eyeing up a colleague like she was some street tramp. Honestly, they act as if they're 11 and have never seen a woman's bum. Although, he would bet his fortune that Terry Boot has never seen one past an erotic magazine. He was about as charming as a mealworm.

Draco called the intern to order him a blue cheese fillet with mashed potatoes from the restaurant down the street. Rare with gravy on the side, obviously. Half an hour after lunch, Draco ventured outside his office to lecture a certain Gryffindor. He was shocked to find the lights out and still no Granger. Annoyed, he went back to his office to check again later. He reminded himself to scold her for taking an extended lunch break.

At 3 pm, he walked past her office again and was met with the same vacant room. What was she doing? This was unacceptable.

A couple hours later, the whole office was clearing out and still, there was no sign of the Golden Girl. He went home even more annoyed. She's gonna get one hell of a talking to tomorrow. He could even write her up. I bet she'd like that, she's probably never been in trouble at work.

Draco fell asleep coming up with zingers for his argument with Granger tomorrow.