It was rare that Malfoy didn't have to be out of the room the moment he woke up, but today he was still asleep when Hermione snuck through to the bathroom. He had been taking to sleeping without a nightshirt and she could see his bare back as she walked by. The muscles in his shoulders were defined and she wondered what it would be like to trace them with her fingers. She closed herself in the bathroom before her mind could linger too long on that idea.

She finished her shower and was dressed in only a bathrobe when Malfoy walked in. She was startled and then annoyed he didn't bother to knock.

"Quit trying to get me back," she said, turning to the sink to brush her teeth.

He grinned and walked to the smaller room containing the toilet. Hermione moved to the side when he walked out so that he could get to the sink and he dried his clean hands on the back of her robe. The touch made her choke a little on her toothpaste.

He pulled himself up to sit on the counter, wearing only pajama bottoms and Hermione couldn't find anywhere safe to look.

"I get the day off, today. Should be pretty quiet if you want to practice wandless techniques in the barn?" She looked at him, forgetting herself.

"Is everyone gone?"

"Enough," Malfoy shrugged. "Most have gone with the Dark Lord to Hogwarts. We can bring some polyjuice with us on the off chance someone comes by."

"How would I get there without being seen?"

"Neddy or I can side-along freely within the grounds." He picked up her toothpaste and started fiddling with it in his fingers. "Unless you have mastered transfiguration?"

"No, I wish," she said honestly. "You're not a secret animagus are you?" She asked only half joking.

"Definitely not. I'm not going to waste years of my life training to be a ferret." He said tossing the tub in the air and catching it.

"There is no saying what form you will take. A forced transfiguration can change the affected into anything." She tried to sooth him. "Is your Patronus a ferret?"

"Most likely," he complained. "Don't tell me yours is a lion," he said with a mixture of teasing and envy.

"No, not a lion. My Patronus is an otter, actually."

Malfoy thought for a few moments while looking her over. Even though the robe was huge on her, she felt exposed under his scrutiny.

"Hmm, a river ferret."

Hermione stopped her brushing and looked directly at him.

"An otter is not a river ferret," she retorted. He chuckled at her and hopped off the counter, leaning down to speak in almost a whisper.

"Face it, Granger. You're basically me, only wetter." He strolled towards the door. "Hurry up. I'm already running behind in my morning routine!"

Malfoy checked the barn and then signaled for Neddy to bring Hermione. The horses were out flying, giving them more space to work with. Hermione stood opposite of Malfoy as he rolled up his sleeves, revealing his dark mark. The only other times his forearm had been showing he had been completely shirtless, and Hermione did her best not to fix her gaze on him at all. She was still staring when Malfoy pulled her from her thoughts.

"That can't be a surprise," he said, referring to his arm.

"It's not. I suspected you got it in sixth year. I just never really looked at it before," she answered.

"How did you know?"

"I could tell something was different- off about you. You looked… unwell. Voldemort was back, and I had seen your father in the Department of Mysteries, it wasn't that hard to put together," she rambled a little bit but was able to stop herself. She looked at him sympathetically.

"No need to hide such things now," he pulled out his wand.

"Have you done nonverbal spells before?" He pointed his wand at Hermione, and she reflexively reached for her right pocket. Coming up with nothing, she let her arms fall to her side.

"I can do all of the curriculum for N.E.W.T. plus a few shields. I have never tried without a wand though." She attempted to keep her voice steady, but she wished Malfoy would lower his wand.

"Have you read any of your text yet?" He drawled out his words like Profession Snape always did at the beginning of their lessons.

"You know I haven't," she took a few steps back and he raised his arm higher.

He clicked his tongue, "Unprepared. No matter. Best to practice a few times before anyhow. Test how well your instincts can protect you."

He started circling her as he spoke. Hermione kept still, and only moved her head to track him. "Did you have any outbursts of magic as a child? Before you knew you were a witch?"

"Yes." She answered shortly and he stopped in his tracks.

"What was it like?"

"What?"

"What did it feel like, Granger. You didn't even know magic existed, what was it like to feel it for the first time?" He antagonized her.

"I-I don't remember."

Malfoy didn't speak again and continued circling her, wand at the ready. She closed her eyes, trying to focus and recall the memory.

"It felt like… I finally understood everything. In one moment. All these tiny bits of magic that were floating in me came together and it just… lit me up."

Hermione stretched out her fingers as she remembered all the times the tips of her fingers would buzz and tingle when her magic started presenting. "I was so embarrassed and would try to hide. I was scared I had to control myself all the time so that it wouldn't act up, and then one day I just… didn't."

Hermione looked at him, expecting him to be bored but found he was listening intently on every word. "For the first time in my life, I was so happy that I was different. I knew I would trade being normal and having friends if I got to keep my magic. It went from being the thing I most hated and feared about myself into the most precious thing I've ever had."

"Magic is nothing to be ashamed of, Granger. Never let muggles tell you that it is. They would give anything to be like you." His statement was cold. Nearly hateful.

"Even my mudblood magic?"

He stopped circling once he was standing in front of her. "What does it feel like now, without a wand. Little pieces again?"

She tried to concentrate, but her feelings towards the wizard in front of her were fighting for her attention and she couldn't tell the two apart. She didn't know what to make of either.

"I don't know," she answered honestly.

"What was happening, when you had your first real outburst?"

"I was falling off my horse. I lost my grip when we went over a jump and got flung off."

"How old were you?"

"Seven."

Malfoy hummed. "And that was the first time?"

"I had small accidents for as long as I can remember. But that was the first time I told my magic what to do and it listened." Still in front of her, he took a few steps back.

"Let's see if it's gotten any better over the years," he flicked his wand, and a stinging jinx hit her arm.

She grabbed it in pain and barely recovered before he sent another, and she dodged it just in time. For some reason, she thought today's training would be a bit more pleasant. Maybe attempting levitating or summoning small items.

"Were you afraid?" He asked her as she ran to avoid his next hex. "When you were falling?"

"Yes! Of course!" she was already panting due to the mix of pain and physical activity.

"And are you afraid now?"

"No!"

"Are you sure? You are standing in an isolated building, wandless, with a death eater."

"I'm not afraid of you, Malfoy." She tried to verbally cast a protego but was unsuccessful without a wand and got hit again. She physically dodged the next several jinx but was already getting fatigued.

"That's your problem, you're too trusting. One day is going to end up-" She mimicked the motion of the spell with her arm this time and Malfoy's jinx went rebounding back to him and she dropped to her knees breathless.

"Ouch," she panted, hand bracing the ground to keep herself from falling over.

Malfoy walked up to her and offered his hand. "Atta girl."

She ignored him, not ready to get up. The stings from the jinx were mild, but she took so many they still sent shocks of pain throughout her body for several minutes.

"A wand pulls the magic to it, concentrating all in one spot, on one spell," he sent a cooling charm over her body, and she closed her eyes for a moment with relief. "Without one, you have to tell your magic where to go yourself. It is instinctually easier to use when you are hurt or frightened and your magic is already aware and trying to defend against the danger. You only need to tell it how."

He conjured two chairs and signaled for Hermione to sit down and took the other. They practiced summoning charms next, but Hermione couldn't get any of the items to move.

"Moment of truth," she said, standing up and turning to Malfoy. "Let's see your Patronus."

"This training was for you, not me," he argued.

"It's for us," Hermione insisted.

"I can cast one good enough. It just doesn't take a form," he tried to resist again.

"Let's see, then," she chirped in her peppiest tone. He lazily casted the spell and surprisingly, he did manage a powerful white vapor. "You're so close Malfoy. Do you have a good memory?"

"Good enough," he shrugged. "I think I'm done with training for the day, want to go for a walk?"

"Is that a good idea?" She was excited about seeing more of the grounds, but the manor wasn't empty like it was on their last excursion.

"We could go to the pitch? I'll set it to warn us if anyone is close," he suggested while he vanished the chairs.

The idea seemed reckless, but he was asking her to go with him, and she knew how much he loved flying. She didn't want to reject him when he was willing to sharing things with her.

"Or you could join me in the air?"

The soreness in her muscles made her think better of it. "I'll stay on the ground. I've had enough excitement for one day."

He hesitated for a moment and then held out his hand, and she reached out to grab it and touched him for the first time. There was a fluttering in her stomach the moment their hands met before it was replaced by the pull of apparition, and they reappear on the quidditch pitch.

Hermione leaned against one of the towers and watched Malfoy in the air showing off. She started daydreaming about her school days, trying to remember if she ever paid attention to him during any of the quidditch matches.

"Oi, Draco!" A voice boomed from her right and she saw Theo, Blaise, and Goyle walk towards the center of the quidditch pitch.

As slowly as she could, she scooted back and maneuvered around the opening until she was hidden within the tower. The gaps in the wood were wide enough for her to see through but kept her mostly out of sight.

They were walking towards her, and she ducked down more and made herself as small as possible. She heard Malfoy land behind them, causing the group to turn their backs towards her. It eased her enough to chance another look through the cracks.

"What the fuck?" He yelled at them, failing to hide his rage. Luckily, it passed for adrenaline from the flight.

"Why didn't you tell us you came home early?" Blaise yelled back at him.

"Wanted time to clear my head," Malfoy ran his hand through his hair, taming the waves, and he stood before his friends. He was working hard to look anywhere but her direction.

"You shouldn't be alone after all that, mate. You'll go mad," Goyle threw in timidly. "We'll fly with you. it's been ages since I got on a broom."

"I'll summon 'em," Theo said, raising his wand.

"I was already about to turn in." Malfoy cut him off.

"Bullshit, you are. You've been avoiding us for weeks. Haven't seen you outside of work since the night at Greg's. What's going on with you?" Blaise was relentless.

"Nothing is going on with me. And you only see me at meetings since that's all I have time to bloody do anymore." Malfoy defended himself.

"You going to a meeting tonight?" Blaise persisted.

Malfoy clenched his jaw. "No."

"Splendid. We'll have a night at yours. Just us lads."

"Fine. Go ahead in. I'll meet you in the dining room."

"That's hardly enjoyable, it's only Lestrange and Flint inside. I'm not spending one minute more with those tossers than I'm obligated to," Theo snarled.

"Easy, Theo." Blaise warned his friend. "Why don't you want us in your rooms, Malfoy? You haven't let anyone up since before the battle."

Malfoy's friends had been paying more attention to him than they realized. Malfoy hesitated for a moment and Blaise started surveying the area around the pitch.

"Fine! Forgive me for wanting a moment of peace. Give me your arm, we're close enough I can get us there in one go." Draco rushed out.

"You're going to side along three of us?" Blaise asked, refusing to relent his questioning.

"Let's just walk. Haven't been out here in years. Are the peacocks still around?" Goyle jumped in. He reminded her of when Neddy distracted Malfoy when he got flustered in meetings.

It worked, and Malfoy lightened up before responding. "I think I saw them by the greenhouse on my way out."

"Oi, the greenhouse! I've missed the greenhouse. Still got any of our muggle plants?" Theo chimed and the group started walking away.

"Merlin, I'd forgotten about those. They've probably taken over."

"That solves it then, greenhouse first. Anything to help our blonde popsicle relax," Blaise teased and Malfoy hit him with his broom. He just chucked and ran a few paces ahead, and within a few moments the group was out of earshot.

A half hour passed, and Hermione was still sitting within the tower. She had left her bag in her bathroom cupboard, not wanting to risk harming, or exposing, it during their training so she was without the cloak. The sun was just starting to set when she heard a small crack a few feet away.

"Neddy!" Hermione whispered to her.

"Hi miss. Master instructed Neddy to bring miss back to the rooms."

"Are they gone already?" Hermione crawled out from within the tower.

"Master is hosting guests in the study. Neddy is to bring miss back to the bedroom." Hermione had been hoping Malfoy would find a way around bringing his friends up to their rooms, but it seemed he lost that battle this time.

Once in the bedroom, she was relieved to see her book and other items sitting on the coffee table. She could hear the talking and laughter from the study like they are all in the same room. She sat in the chair farthest from the door, being careful not to make a sound in case they could hear her just as clearly.

"Pansy said you stood her up again, going to ruin your chances with her mate if you keep it up," Theo said, laced with sarcasm.

"Brat. She's the one who cancelled on me. Went to see that Durmstrang bloke again," Blaise replied lightly. "Don't know why she's trying to ruin my good name."

"Ah, makes sense. Her father was there, probably didn't want him to catch on to anything."

"If her father was there, she'd do well to not put him off me. She's not going to be able to sneak around if I can't cover for her." Blaise said like he was holding his breath, and then coughed several times. The other boys followed by laughing at him.

"Especially with this one hiding all the time," Theo said as his friend continued coughing. "How you manage to get out of every social obligation I will never know."

"The Dark Lord doesn't care about courting, finds it a nuisance." Draco took a pause, inhaling deeply and only coughing a couple times. "Besides, there hasn't been much to skip out on anyhow."

"It's a bit odd isn't it? The Dark Lord doesn't care much for any pureblood traditions. We're all supposed to be married by now, or at least starting on betrothal agreements." It was Goyle who was speaking now. "I thought once the war was over, we'd be back on track."

That didn't surprise Hermione at all. Voldemort probably didn't know much about pureblood traditions, being a half-blood who was raised in a muggle orphanage himself.

"More important things on the Lord's mind I suspect," Malfoy replied. "Besides, the war's not really over, is it?" There was a moment of silence between the friends.

"Fine by me, I have no interest in getting married. Need more time for unsuitable behavior before I am tied down to an unimaginative, pure wife for the rest of my life," Blaise spoke up again.

"And Pansy is pure?" Goyle poked at him.

"Officially." Blaise replied playfully with a laugh. "You're right. My future wife is exceptional. It's poor Malfoy here that will be bored to death each night. Better learn how to make love with your clothes on mate, I doubt Astoria has ever even let a man see her ankles."

"Somehow I think I'll manage. Besides, like Goyle said, I don't really see any weddings in the near future."

Hermione forgot to breathe for a moment. He was not engaged to Astoria. He couldn't be.

"You should pay more attention, mate. Daph tells me Astoria is quite popular in her year. She has a few young wizards asking Cyrus to court her as well. He's shot him down so far, but your luck may run out soon."

"Let her court who she wants. Cyrus is too interested in my wealth for there to be any real competition." Draco said, sounding bored.

"She's a good one though, Astoria. And Daphne. There are not too many pureblood Hufflepuffs out there. And she's far more elegant than any other witches from our year," Theo carried on. "She sort of reminds me of Narcissa in that way, always flawless, pristine. If not a bit less scary."

Malfoy just responded with another long inhale.

"Both bloody gorgeous– Ow!" Blaise was speaking before one of the others, likely Theo, made him think better of it. "Objectively speaking of course. And hereditary too, look at you. You're a proper stunner."

Hermione could hear Malfoy's eye roll through the wall. It was weird hearing other people talk about his mom so freely. Probably due to the fact they had known her their entire life.

"I need a toilet. Have the elves send us some food, we drank right through dinner."

"Yeah, I need a break too. You lot can use the toilet off the guest room in the hall, no one is staying there." Malfoy announced and she heard the boys stand up and start to walk about the room.

"Water too, my mouth is fucking dry. And pumpkin juice for Theo!" Blaise yelled as he and another left the study into the hall.

Malfoy walked into the room and instantly met her eyes. Holding her gaze, he gently closed the door and leaned against it.

"That was stupid," he offered as an apology.

"It both our fault, I agreed to it. I thought you were going to set up an alarm around the pitch though?" Hermione answered in a whisper.

"I was I just… got distracted," he said sheepishly. Hermione stood up and started to close the distance between them.

"Can they hear us in there?" She asked quietly.

Malfoy stepped towards her. "The bedroom is silenced, sound only goes one way."

"Is that- have you been smoking?!" The smell was so strong now that he was only a few feet in front of her.

He gave her a devilish grin. "Just a little something Goyle picked up in London a few years ago. We planted it as more of a joke, but it just took off."

She was so shocked. Her mouth gaped and she just blinked for a moment, which caused him to laugh. No- giggle, as he closed the gap between them even more.

"You're keeping marijuana plants in your greenhouse?" He was so close she had to look up to meet his eyes.

He just grinned and shrugged.

"That's a muggle thing." She stated as a fact.

He licked his bottom lip. "I'm starting to think not all muggle things are bad."

"It's an illegal muggle thing." She looked at his mouth for a moment before braving his eyes again. He was standing right in front of her now, if she took a deep breath, her chest could touch his.

"And you are an illegal pureblood thing. But I quite enjoy keeping you as well." He said while running his finger down her nose. He put his hand on her hip as he maneuvered her to the side so that he could pass. Not that he didn't have a large space he could have walked through instead.

"That doesn't even make sense," she came up with to say back.

"I'm a purebood, and you are essentially contraband. Making you another one of my illegal possessions."

"I am not a possession!"

"Shhh!" he sounded back at her, turning to look at the study door.

She covered her mouth with both hands and her eyes went wide. Malfoy smiled around the finger he was holding up to his lips. Right, they can't hear them in the bedroom.

She shot him her meanest look. "You, Malfoy, are even more annoying than usual when under the influence."

He just laughed and grabbed a detox potion before coming back to the bedroom.

He got closer where she was still standing near the foot of the bed and leaned against the bedpost while he drank. It took effect nearly immediately. He looked her over a bit longer without saying anything before getting abnormally close to her again.

"You're a mess," he said, pulling blades of grass from her hair and tossing it on the floor.

"I was afraid they'd hear the shower if I tried to use it," she explained.

"You're always such a mess," he said almost fondly. "And not in a dirty way," he continued, anticipating her complaint, "just in an… inelegant way."

He kept fondling her hair, but he was more rolling it between his fingers than anything else. She didn't know if his statements were meant to be insults or compliments. The words and his tone were so at odds with one another.

"I can be elegant." It was barely a whisper.

He bit his bottom lip before taking a deep breath and stepping back. His hand stroked her shoulder and arm as he lowered it from her hair.

"I should be able to get rid of them soon," he suddenly changed the subject. "We'll have something to eat then they should let me turn in for the night."

She bobbed her head and moved out of his way, so he had a clear path to the door. Not needing to brush by her again.

"Dessert? When they're gone?" He asked before walking out. She gave him a tight smile and nodded, not trusting how the words would come out if she tried to speak.

Malfoy walked back in the room a few seconds after the chocolate cake appeared on the coffee table. She was showered with her clean hair in a large braid, a few curls already having escaped around her face. She was wearing a small pair of the pajama shorts Neddy had brought her along with an old, warm Slytherin jumper.

She sat up on the couch and set down the book she was reading as Malfoy took a seat next to her, their knees brushing. Had they always touched this much, and she just never noticed until she had to take his hand earlier today? She tried to appear unphased and folded her hands in her lap. They chatted for a bit about nonsense, but Hermione couldn't get her mind off the close proximity.

"Well, you know I have to ask." she said teasingly.

"Oh Merlin, what?"

"Blonde popsicle?" She said suppressing a laugh.

"Oh no, not you too," he responded, not able to control his own. "Another reason to kill Zabini."

"What does it even mean?"

"Who bloody knows what it means," he turned to face her more, throwing his arm over the back of the couch. "It was right before sixth year, and we were buying our supplies for school. I shot up early and was head and shoulders over everyone else and some old bat at The Leaky just yelled it at me."

He was laughing as he told his story and Hermione tried to mimic the gesture, but a lock of wavy blonde fringe fell in front of his eyes as he turned to her.

"She just yelled it at you?"

"I believe her words were, 'aren't you just a tall blonde popsicle', I wanted to die." Hermione didn't have to fake her laugh that time and Malfoy joined her.

"Blaise and Crabbe nearly did die of laughter. They never let me forget it. Told all our friends. Granted me mercy in never saying it around too many people, though." He turned his gaze back towards the table shaking his head.

"And what is my little swot reading these days," He opened the book with his free hand and started flipping through the pages. It was a text on Occlumency that Hermione had been studying for several days.

"Ah, Severus gave this to me during my training with Aunt Bella. Didn't help me much though." He flipped through a few more pages and another bit of fringe fell in front of his eyes. Surely, he wasn't going to just let it lay there.

He turned his gaze to her. "Have you found it helpful at all?"

"I can't practice anything without a wand," she replied automatically, proud of the sturdiness in her voice.

"Right. I keep forgetting that." He gave her a sympathetic smile before flipping through a few more pages.

He ran his hand through his hair and once it was fixed, she tried to relax a little. His arm around the couch brushed her back slightly as he leaned it to read more.

"I always hated Severus' books. They're always such a disaster. He writes all over the margins and dog-ears every other page. He even tore some pages out of this book if I remember." A thought crossed his mind, and he laughed sitting up and turning to face her again.

"Oh Granger, it must make you mental." He teased with a huge smile.

She didn't mean to.

She only had to reach up a little and her lips were on his. Once their lips touched, something clicked, and she untucked her hands from her lap to push herself higher, pressing her lips even harder to his.

Every moment with Malfoy had been so confusing and, finally, it felt like it all made sense. Like she understood everything all at once. But after the first few moments passed, she could feel his lips weren't pushing back.

She was still at first, but then slowly pulled away, releasing Malfoy's bottom lip from between hers. She stayed there, trying to fathom what she had done while feeling Malfoy's breath on her mouth and staring at his closed eyes.

She looked down and saw that one hand was on the couch and her other was on this thigh, resting there from when she pushed herself closer to him.

Her eyes looked back up and he was staring at her with the same terrified look she was sure mirrors her own.

She needed to run.

Hermione tried to push herself back to stand but she couldn't move and looked down to see what was stopping her. Malfoy's hand was gripped on her hip. Hard. His fingered indenting her skin and holding her in place. He seemed to notice it a second after she did and then pulled his hand back like he had been burned.

She didn't waste any time jumping up and running, tucking her loose hairs behind her ears as she went. It feels like she was looking through a narrowed tunnel when she reached for the door.

"Granger." Malfoy's voice cracked, sounding forced.

She stopped, but couldn't make herself turn around to face him.

"We can't. It's-" he stopped in the middle of his sentence and took a few breaths.

"It's not right."

She closed her eyes and gave a small nod before leaving into the study.