Draco's bed was cold when he woke up the next morning, the haphazard blankets being the only sign he hadn't slept alone.

He listened out for a sign of life, but the apartment was quiet. Walking out to the living area, he saw a piece of parchment stuck to his fully repaired curtains.

Draco,

I was going to wait for you to wake, but got called in to a work emergency. I have coated the curtains in a fire-proof potion, I shall be very upset if any of your idiot friends ruin my handiwork. I'll see you at the Harpies vs Tornadoes game this afternoon.

- Hermione

Draco couldn't help the smile that appeared on his face as he read Hermione's note. While he had expected her to finish repairing the curtains, since she seemed to be The-Little-Witch-That-Couldn't-Give-Up, he hadn't expected her to go the extra step to make sure they weren't damaged again.

He was also ecstatic that she was going to be at his game today, however the enthusiasm waned as he realised he would have to be going up against Hermione's best friend, who wasn't so much of his fan the last time they crossed paths at that disastrous dinner.

Draco's Floo flashed bright green and he scowled as Theo tumbled out into the living room, dusting himself off onto Draco's freshly-cleaned floor.

"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" Theo asked with a smirk.

"You're interrupting my peace and quiet."

"I take that as a no. Pity, I didn't think Granger was the kind of girl to kiss and run, though I can hardly blame her for not wanting to stick around you much longer."

"Piss off, Theo."

"Oh come on, darling, we finally have some time to ourselves," Theo teased, running his hand up Draco's arm. Draco slapped his hand away as Theo chuckled to himself, flopping down on the couch.

"Was there a purpose for your visit, Nott?"

"While you were snogging Granger on the balcony last night, we were discussing the upcoming Tornadoes Charity Auction."

"I'm not sure you've noticed recently, but I'm no longer an eligible bachelor."

"I'm sure Granger wouldn't mind parting with her boy-toy for a singular date in the name of charity."

Draco decided against arguing, because he knew Theo's statement to be true particularly as they weren't actually dating.

"Count me out."

"Come on, Malfoy—"

"No, absolutely not. Last year was humiliating, I'm not doing it again."

Theo stuck his bottom lip out in a pout. "Fine." He glanced around the kitchen, quickly swatting an empty glass off the counter in the same manner as a cat, then disappearing through the Floo before Draco could even have time to react.

Draco made a mental note to kick Theo squarely in the crotch before their game.

Draco bounced on the spot as he heard Lee Jordan announce the entrance of the Holyhead Harpies over the speakers surrounding the Quidditch pitch, trying to amp himself up. The roars of the crowd grew louder as he heard Ginny Weasley make her entrance, to which Draco rolled his eyes in annoyance. Had she not been with Potter for years, she would have been as obscure as the rest of the team.

Theo appeared beside Draco, scowling up at him as Lee began to announce the Tornadoes team. Theo adjusted himself as Draco smirked, having made good on his promise to himself from earlier.

One by one, his teammates flew out onto the pitch, until Draco was the last one left standing.

"And finally, the Tutshill Tornadoes Seeker, Draco Malfoy!"

Draco pushed himself off the ground, zipping his broom around the stadium to more cheers than he remembered ever receiving. His eyes scanned the stadium until he spotted the Harpies box that Potter usually sat in. Hermione was sat on his right-hand side, clapping and cheering enthusiastically as Draco passed by the box.

Stopping directly in front of the box, Draco pointed his wand towards the sky, the illusions of a golden lion and a silver snake dancing in the sky. He flew around the illusions as fuschia smoke erupted from his wand, leaving a smoky, pink heart around the symbols of his and Hermione's Hogwarts houses.

He looked back towards Hermione, unable to stop the grin that spread across his face as she clutched her hands to her chest, beaming with an infectious happiness. She blew him a kiss, which he cheekily pretended to catch. She mimicked his action as he returned the kiss.

Draco resumed his position on the pitch, staring down the Harpies' Seeker, one Ginny Weasley. She narrowed her eyes at him slightly as the referee released the Snitch between them. Draco smirked as the whistle blew and the Quaffle was thrown up into the air, signifying the beginning of the game.

Draco and Ginny both shot up into the sky after the whistle blow, bumping into each other on their search for the Golden Snitch.

"Watch yourself, Weasley," Draco growled at her as she steered her broom into his for the third time.

"Piss off, Malfoy," she spat back as she surged ahead of him. Draco heard a loud thwack and the familiar whistle of a Bludger soaring through the air. He turned his head to the right to see a Bludger aiming towards where he and Ginny were flying. He stalled momentarily, letting the Bludger run its course as it flew directly into the youngest Weasley, stunning her momentarily as it nearly knocked her off her broom. Draco took the opportunity to get ahead of her, giving Blaise a high-five as he passed by him.

Draco and Ginny continued their cat and mouse game, dodging the Bludgers Zabini was throwing their way as the points racked up. The score was even as the game approached it's second hour, and Draco was ready for the blasted thing to end already. Ginny had been hot on his heels the entire match, fire in her eyes as she vowed to make up for their loss last time.

Draco's eyes flashed towards where Hermione was seated with Harry, a sly grin creeping on his face as he saw how her gaze followed his every move. A flash of gold in his peripheral vision pulled his attention from the witch however and he shot upward in pursuit. Weasley was nowhere to be found, so Draco honed his focus in on the Snitch.

It kept darting just out of his reach, and he was beginning to grow frustrated. He had been told previously that he needed to find something that motivated him to give him that extra power in the last moment of pursuit, but he had always come up blank when he thought about what motivated him. Money had always come easily to him, his family couldn't care less if he won or lost, and he didn't care enough about what his friends thought of him to make that his motivating factor.

Draco closed his eyes as he thought about the witch in the stands cheering for him, the way she would beam with pride for him as he took his victory lap, his heart swelling as he thought about how she looked at him in adoration…

Draco's fingers closed around something smooth and cold, his eyes opening as a siren signalled the end of the game. The Snitch was in his hand.

Blue smoke shot into the air from the flag poles, declaring the Tornadoes the winners. Draco grinned as he pumped his fist wrapped around the Snitch into the air, eliciting a loud cheer from the crowd. A vast improvement from his last game against the Harpies.

He zoomed around the stadium, unable to wipe the grin off his face as his teammates joined him, slapping him on the back and offering up high-fives. He found himself back in front of the Harpies box, hearing more boos than he had all day, bar one ecstatic Hermione Granger, who was clapping and cheering loudly with a beaming grin on her face as Draco stopped in front of the box.

Feeling high on victory and unabashedly cheeky, he flew further towards the box until he was hovering in front of her. Her eyes grew wide as he held his hand out for her.

"What are you doing, Malfoy?"

"Do you trust me?"

She eyed him warily as she took his hand and he effortlessly pulled her up onto his broom, seating her in front of him. Hermione squeaked in surprise as Draco shot them forward, one hand on the front of the broom where Hermione's hands were gripping, the other arm wrapped firmly around her waist.

"Put me down, Malfoy, I hate flying," she shouted over the roar of the wind as they zoomed around the pitch.

"Relax, Granger, I won't let you fall," Draco assured her, his voice low in her ear, "Now smile, this box we're about to fly past is the media box."

Various camera bulbs flashed as Draco slowed down slightly, allowing the cameras to capture this moment for them. He tightened his hold on her as he rested his chin on her shoulder, watching as her face started to light up in excitement from the exhilarating thrill of flying.

"I won't let you fall, Granger, take your hands off the broom."

Draco felt a slight shiver roll down Hermione's back as she shakily took one hand off the broom, followed by the second. Once she realised how firm his grip on her was, she slowly raised her arms up, feeling the rush of the wind against her as it made her long curls fly back in the breeze. She giggled as Draco spun them around for a second lap, the sound making Draco never want to put his feet on flat ground ever again so he could listen to it for the rest of his life.

Draco aimed them gently towards the ground as the crowds began to dissipate, bringing his broom to hover gently above the ground until his and Hermione's feet reached the ground. His arm never left her waist as she spun around to wrap her arms around his neck, pulling him into a close embrace.

"Thank you," she whispered in his ear, before pulling away as they were joined by Draco's teammates. He gave her hand a squeeze before she walked off to meet Harry and Ginny.

"Three Broomsticks tonight, lads?"

The pub was packed by the time Draco arrived, freshly showered and no longer smelling like sweaty leather. He glanced around the room, seeing his friends spread out throughout the room.

A table in the corner caught his eye, partly due to the shock of red hair surrounding it, but mostly due to the curly haired witch who was waving at him to gain his attention.

"Draco! Over here!"

The now-familiar swell in his heart increased as his name fell from Hermione's mouth, rather than his surname which was starting to sound more like an insult. He grinned as he approached the table, Hermione throwing her arms around him immediately. Draco inhaled as he buried his face in her hair; she smelled like cinnamon and roses.

As he pulled back, Potter stepped forward, his hand extended. Draco eyed it warily, before locking his former nemesis in a sharp handshake.

"That was some game, Malfoy."

Draco was surprised. "Thanks, Potter."

"Kept Ginny on her toes, that's for sure. Hermione and I were on the edge of our seats the entire time."

"I won twenty Galleons!" Hermione exclaimed proudly, her slightly glassy eyes beaming up at Draco.

Draco chuckled. "Have you spent it all on firewhiskey yet?"

"I'm close to it. I bet that you would catch the Snitch, Ginny's not too happy with me for betting against her, but she'll get over it."

Draco looked around the table, noticing the youngest Weasley was missing from the group. A throat cleared behind him and he turned to find her with a glass of firewhiskey in each hand.

"Ferret."

"Weaselette."

Ginny's eyes glanced towards Hermione, who raised an eyebrow, before clearing her throat again and extending one of the glasses towards Draco.

"An olive branch, of sorts. Our Hermione rather likes having you around, and you're not completely terrible at Quidditch either."

Draco took the glass from her, giving it a sniff before sipping it, making sure she hadn't poisoned him.

"Thank you for the rather backhanded compliment, I guess you're not the worst yourself either. Good game today."

Ginny exhaled in what seemed to be relief, taking a sip of her own drink as she stood next to her fiancé, their conversation seemingly over.

"Your friends have quite a way with words," he murmured in Hermione's ear.

"That was their way of saying they accept you. Harry's never been one for showing much emotion, and Ginny takes her Quidditch very serious. They're trying to make an effort."

Draco watched the pair as Harry hovered over Ginny protectively, always on the lookout for danger.

He was interrupted from his thoughts by a slap on his ass, whipping his head around to find Theo snickering.

"How is our boyfriend doing?" he asked, pushing himself between Hermione and Draco while throwing his arms around their shoulders. Draco scowled at him, while Hermione giggled the same way she did on the Quidditch pitch, making the scowl on Draco's face soften slightly.

Draco swatted Theo's arm away, only making Theo wrap a second arm around Hermione. Theo planted a kiss on Hermione's cheek, making her blush and Draco start to see red.

"Nott, get off my girlfriend," he seethed, his hands balling up into fists.

"Your girlfriend is going to have to share you with someone else soon, it's only fair you share your girlfriend with the rest of us," Theo taunted, tightening his arms around Hermione.

Hermione didn't struggle out of his grip, only looked at Draco with a puzzled look. "What does he mean by sharing you?"

Draco pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers. "I already said I'm not doing it this year, I'm off-market."

"The off-market ones always bring in the most Galleons," Theo waggled his eyebrows suggestively, "Besides, Granger won't mind in the name of charity, right?"

Hermione's eyes lit up. "Oh! Is this for the charity auction? Draco, you must!"

"Yes Draco, you must!" Theo mimicked, cradling Hermione's face against his. Hermione's giggles turned into a cackle as Theo began spinning her round.

Draco huffed. "Granger, don't you dare agree with him on this. Last time was absolute torture."

"I'll start the bidding war," Theo exclaimed gleefully, ignoring Draco's futile attempt to back out. Hermione continued cackling in Theo's embrace, the firewhiskey having long consumed any rational thought. Draco realised he was fighting a losing battle.

Theo joined the table full of Weasleys, Potter, Granger and Draco for the remainder of the night, fitting in with the group surprisingly well as he told story after story of Draco's embarrassing past. Draco cut Theo off as he brought up Bellatrix casually in a tale from Draco's darker years.

"Theo, that's enough," Draco said sharply, eyes flickering to Hermione.

Hermione just took a casual sip of her drink, before blurting out a sentence that Draco had never expected to hear. "I polyjuiced myself into Bellatrix to break into her vault."

The Slytherins at the table dropped their mouths in shock as Harry stifled a grin. "She was quite brilliant, really."

"I wasn't that great. Anyway, then we stole a horcrux and I rode a dragon."

"Bet that's not the only dragon you've ridden since then," Theo snickered, dodging Draco's fist.

"You brewed polyjuice potion at seventeen years old?" Draco asked incredulously.

"Actually, I was twelve the first time I dabbled in polyjuice. Worked great on Ron and Harry, but I had unfortunately plucked the wrong hair from Millicent Bulstrode's robes, I thought I made a rather fetching cat, to be honest."

Theo cackled at the thought of Hermione turning herself into a cat, but Draco kept pushing.

"What business did you have making polyjuice potion in second year?"

Hermione smirked. "Actually, we used it to try get information from you. Sadly, you were of no use to us, you knew nothing about who opened the Chamber of Secrets."

Draco's mouth gaped like a fish. "Hang on, when exactly did this happen? I'd like to think I'd know if two twelve year olds on polyjuice potion were talking to me."

"I forgot to take off my glasses and you were rather surprised Goyle could read," Harry offered, helpfully.

Draco took his mind back to that conversation. Crabbe and Goyle hadn't been the most intelligent of his friends, he had never taken their conversations at more than face value.

Draco turned back to Hermione. "You are truly an extraordinary witch."

Hermione blushed as Draco pushed Theo off his extraordinary witch and pressed a kiss onto the top of her head.

Hermione drank the last of her whiskey, setting her empty glass on the counter. "Well, this has been fun, but I should probably get going now."

Draco wrapped his arm around Hermione's waist, setting his own glass down. "Let me walk you home."

Draco waved goodbye to the remainder of the table, flipping Theo a middle finger, before escorting Hermione out of the pub. Madame Rosmerta gave him a stink eye from the door as they exited.

"She has never quite forgiven me for using the Imperius Curse on her in our Sixth year."

"I imagine that's why they call it an Unforgiveable curse," Hermione mused. Draco chuckled as he pulled her closer, the early October air beginning to grow cold. His didn't let her leave his side as they Flooed to Hermione's townhouse together.

Crookshanks launched himself at Hermione the moment they exited the Floo.

"Crooks! I missed you, my handsome boy," Hermione cooed, picking up the orange beast she called a cat. "I'm just going to take him outside to the bathroom, I'll be back in a moment."

As she closed the back door behind her, Draco quickly slipped into her bedroom, facing the large potion cabinet again. The potion he had taken had been replaced with another vial of Dreamless Sleep. The alcohol that fogged his brain shut down any rational thought of leaving it behind, and with a quick Disillusionment charm, the new vial was in his pocket.

Not wanting to be caught out, he pushed open the back door, finding Hermione seated on the wooden swing under the willow tree, illuminated by fairy lights. She was staring up at the floating lights in front of her, lost in thought.

Draco made his way up the path, joining her on the seat. Hermione sighed blissfully.

"Do you ever feel like you're just really lucky some days? Like, everything is just happening the way you want it to?"

Draco kicked at the grass under his feet. "Not particularly. Maybe slightly more recently, but I still don't feel lucky."

"Do you think you ever will?"

Draco thought for a moment, then shook his head. "No. People like me, with my past and my family history, we don't ever get to feel that way."

Hermione put her hand on Draco's knee. "You're not your past, and you're not your father, if that's what you're worried about. That's the beauty of the war, we get to choose our own paths now."

Hermione rested her head on Draco's shoulder, closing her eyes with that same blissful look on her face as Draco looked down at her. He thought more about what she constituted as luck, and what he might feel lucky for. Right now, he felt lucky that he got to look down at the slope of her nose, slightly upturned at the end with a smattering of light freckles spread across the porcelain skin. He felt lucky that he had the power to make the skin on her high cheekbones flush pink with every compliment or lewd comment. He felt lucky that the eyes behind her fluttering eyelids only gazed at him with adoration and kindness, rather than the cold, hard stares he was used to.

Hermione's head grew heavy on Draco's shoulder, the whiskey lulling her to sleep. Draco wrapped his arm around her waist, holding her to his side as he kissed the top of her head.

"I'm lucky for having met you," he whispered into the night air, knowing she wouldn't hear it.

Cradling her to his chest, he carried her back inside the house, Crookshanks running in under his feet as he set her down gently in her bed, tucking her rose-scented blankets around her.

"Goodnight, Hermione."

As Draco settled himself into his own bed, missing the warm body next to him, his heart hammered as he realised he had broken rule three of the contract: do not catch feelings.