A/N: I know, I've been terrible, but I have a lot going on right now and I'm afraid this story has taken a backseat. I'm still trying to update every two weeks, though!

Also, thank you for getting me to the five-hundred review mark after only thirteen chapters. That's absolutely incredible and I appreciate each and every one of you. Group hug! ;o)

And just when I think my chapters can't get any longer, this happens …

"Mr. Malfoy, Harry Potter is here to see you," Victoire's voice called from the orb on Draco's desk.

Draco pressed it and said, "Thank you, Mrs. Lupin. Tell him I will just be five minutes."

Hermione giggled as he took his finger off of the orb and began sucking on her exposed breast again. "Five minutes, Mr. Malfoy? Are you that confident you'll be able to finish me off before then?"

"With time to cuddle after," said Draco as he restarted his thrusts.

Hermione's head fell back as he moved just right. "I feel wrong doing this with Harry in the other room."

"He's early. That's on him."

She felt like she should fight him a little harder on the subject but, in that moment, she was in complete ecstasy, already on the verge of an orgasm but trying to hold it back so as not to make him even cockier. But the soft, sensual way he was sucking on her nipple while fucking her with such abandon was just too much. He glanced up at her and smirked, removing his teeth from her nipple and keeping her gaze as he ran his tongue around it before moving to the next. And then he was rubbing her clit, his fingers moving as aggressively as his cock. Hermione's head fell back again as she screamed loudly. His smirk grew.

"Fine. You win," she said, panting as he continued to fuck her.

"I always do."

Draco pulled her off of the desk and turned her around, sitting down in his chair before placing her back on his cock. "Your turn to do the work, doll."

Hermione had no problem with that. She turned her head and kissed him softly before planting her feet on either side of him and beginning to move, slow at first and rolling her hips in a way she knew drove him mad. Continuing to kiss her, Draco's hand crept down again to rub her clit. She moved faster, both of their moans growing louder as the sound of clapping flesh filled the room.

Once Hermione knew they were in the home stretch, she placed both of her feet on the ground and leaned forward, putting her hands on the desk to brace herself while she bounced aggressively on top of him. She knew this view of her arse moving while his cock disappeared inside of her was always his favorite way to finish.

Draco let out a loud groan as she fucked him through his orgasm, continuing to rub her clit until she was having one of her own.

Hermione fell back onto his lap, his cock soft inside of her as they both caught their breath, Draco planting lazy kisses on her neck and cheek.

"Finished you off twice in less than five minutes. A new record," he said with a smirk.

"That second one is always the easiest," she replied, laughing before kissing his pouty lips. "Well done." She stood up and straightened herself up, adjusting her hair and fixing her clothes before putting her heels back on. "I suppose I should hurry off before I'm late for our meeting." She winked at him. "Lunch after?"

Draco, who still had not moved from the chair, looked at her and cocked an eyebrow. "Again? We've already done it twice today and it's not even eleven yet."

"Not up for it?"

Draco narrowed his eyes. "Touché. I suppose I can't deny my lady what she wants." He stood up and pulled his trousers back on.

Hermione walked over and straightened his tie before fixing his hair. He tilted her chin up and kissed her, gazing into her eyes for a long moment after.

"I don't want to go," she said, squeezing her arms around him. "Let's run away from this meeting."

"Quite a bold statement coming from you," said Draco with a laugh. "But you're not wrong. We do need to run away together." He kissed her cheek. "Somewhere quiet." Then her jaw. "Romantic." Her neck. "Where no one knows who we are. A long weekend."

"I couldn't possibly -"

He silenced her with his lips, then whispered, "Just you and me."

Hermione shuddered as she looked into his lust-filled eyes. "I … can't," she said. "Not now. I have less than a month until I go in front of the Wizengamot."

"Then after."

"I -"

"It's already been decided," said Draco, pulling away from her. "I'm booking it." He winked and she smiled. "See you in a few minutes, doll."

Hermione went to his fireplace and Flooed to Diagon Alley. Then she hurried through the crowd to get to his building, which was several blocks away. She really should not have gone to Draco's office before their meeting at all but after a very rough morning, starting with waking up late and ending with a very loud fight with Cormac over Draco always emailing her with updates on his companies progress and leaving him out of the loop, she knew she had to see him. To relieve stress, yes, but also to get that comfort that only he could seem to provide.

When Hermione got to the building, she walked right past the receptionist and towards the lift. She was not stopped, though Kelly did give her a very prominent glare. Victoire said that Kelly did not like any women who spent time with Draco regularly. She had a thing for him, like most of the young witches who came through here. Which, of course, always made Hermione nervous. She was still waiting for the day Draco would realize he had so many other options and kick her to the curb.

The lift opened and Hermione was met with the eyes of Draco, Harry, Alexandra, Colby, Cormac, Victoire, Kingsley, Teddy and, "Ron. I didn't know you were going to be here." And suddenly just having Harry waiting outside while she shagged Draco in his office seemed not that important, considering he was more than likely not alone.

"I asked him to come," said Kingsley. "As Harry's second in command it is important that he is updated for when Harry is not around."

"Yes, of course," said Hermione. "Should I step out or are we going to a different floor?"

Victoire stood up from her desk with a bright smile on her face and headed towards the lift. "Follow me," she said.

"I am letting Mrs. Lupin lead your tour," Draco said to Kingsley. "She keeps an eye on my staff's progress throughout the day since I am constantly in and out of the office and I feel it is important for her to understand what she is seeing."

Victoire smiled brightly at him, pushing off Teddy's hand when he tried to grab hers in an attempt to stay professional.

"You won't be disappointed, Minister," she said, pushing the button for the twelfth floor once everyone was in the lift. Somehow Hermione ended up sandwiched between Ron and Cormac. She glanced sideways passed the latter to see Draco was holding in a laugh. He met her gaze and winked.

"This is our research facility," said Victoire as she led their group through pure-white halls with several glass rooms, all filled with witches and wizards writing in notebooks, working on lab tables, stirring cauldrons, and casting spells on dummies and targets. "Our experts are constantly working on various projects to meet our clientele's demands. We have potioneers, spell-makers, arithmancers, alchemists, and charmers, as they so humorously like to call themselves."

Everyone gave a small laugh.

"We've expanded the space to accommodate your project," continued Victoire, leading them down another white hall and straight to the end of it. "These four rooms are all yours. Three research stations and a testing center. Currently, room number one," she pointed, "is working on a potion to temporarily improve the stamina of your Aurors when working on long missions. We know there are already potions like this in existence, some you use even, but one of the main things Mr. Rees noticed when trailing your Aurors the other week was that on late nights they tend to crash, like any normal person, and we want to find a way to make it … less exhausting, I suppose. Did I miss anything?" she asked, looking at Draco.

"At this stage we have the potion working," he added, "but all of our test subjects keep falling asleep the moment the potion wears off and cannot be woken for a solid sixteen hours. Our main goal is to make the sleep controlled. Right now it's involuntary."

Kingsley nodded.

"In room number two the focus is charmed objects," said Victoire, moving on. "For that moment you can't think of the right spell to detain a witch or wizard who has decided to pull a runner -"

"We don't have a problem with that," said Harry. "To even be chosen as an Auror you have to be quick thinking."

"Even so, our objects are quicker," insisted Draco. "When every second counts you should be happy to have a tool that casts a Tripping jinx without having to even think the spell."

One of the 'charmers', obviously having heard them, turned around and showed what looked like a small baton. He flicked it and a thick, metal string flung out of it, tripping his colleague. He laughed.

Victoire rolled her eyes before pressing the button to let them into the glass room. "That one still needs some work," she said, helping the fallen wizard to his feet. "Kragen, show them my favorite."

The wizard holding the small baton put it down and picked up a white orb. "When activated," he said, pushing the top of it and making the orb glow red, "All Apparition within twenty meters becomes impossible. We're working on getting it to fifty."

"But this building already has an Apparition shield around it," said Ron. "How do you test it?"

"The shield is lifted on this floor," said Kragen, pressing the orb so it turned white again and Apparating so he was on the other side of the glass. He waved before Apparating back, then pressed the orb so it turned red again. "Go on, give it a whirl."

Ron looked like he was concentrating very hard for a moment. When he did not go anywhere, Harry took the orb and looked at it. "How does it work?" he asked.

"Just press the symbol at the top with your pinky finger. We chose that one so you're less likely to set it off in your pocket."

Harry pressed it and the orb went white again. "I like that."

"One Potter-approved item. You've already lost the bet, Alex," said Draco. He and Colby bumped fists while Alex stomped her foot.

"I was positive he would be more difficult to please," said Alex. She looked Harry straight in the eye. "I don't like to lose."

"Sorry," he said, turning bright red.

"Why are you apologizing, mate?" said Ron. "They shouldn't be betting on you in the first place."

"We like to keep things interesting," said Draco.

Hermione blinked. That sentence was the most interaction Draco and Ron had shared in years. Maybe one of these days they would have an actual conversation.

After playing around with a few of the objects for a while, another favorite of Harry's being a map that let him see the location of all of his on-duty Aurors at any given time while the Minister favored whistles that only the holders could hear so they could signal each other. Cormac was awfully quiet through it all.

Hermione looked at him to see his reaction to everything and he very obviously avoided her gaze. He was still angry about their fight from earlier. Or maybe it was the fact that she already knew all of the information on these objects while he barely knew their names. She bit her lip. Maybe he had a point earlier. This was his project. She had not meant to take it over but, with her budding relationship with Draco, it was hard not to, especially when he kept running ideas by her during their … personal time.

Once they were finished with that room, Victoire was going to show them room number three until they realized the researchers were currently in the testing room.

"Their purpose is to improve the use of Occlumency and Legilimency for all Aurors," she explained. "We know the spell already exists but it is still greatly impacted by the skill of the user. Our spell will make all Aurors equals with these abilities. All experts."

"From what I recall, you're not the best Occlumens, Potter," said Draco. "Care to give it a go?"

"Is it safe?" asked Harry.

Draco gave a little shrug. "Some of our test subjects felt a bit disoriented but no one has died from it if that's your concern."

Harry looked into the glass room where the two researchers were testing the spell on each other. "All right. I'll do it," he said.

"Perfect." Draco pressed a button, opening the door. "Grayer, Stevens, step out, will you?"

The wizards headed for the door, Draco taking something from one of them as he walked into the room. "Come along, Potter."

"You're going to do Legilimency on me?" asked Harry as he hesitantly followed him inside.

"Obviously. I'm not going to pass up an opportunity like this."

Draco handed Harry a small piece of parchment with some Latin words written on it.

"Try and do Occlumency like you normally would while reciting those words in your head. Once we get it down we plan to place it on some sort of object. Not a stone. We understand you don't want to be running around with a dozen stones in your pockets."

The door shut behind them and Draco and Harry stood on opposite ends of the white room. There was nothing in here but plushy walls that reminded Harry of an insane asylum. The spot where the window should have been was completely solid at the moment.

Draco took out his wand. "Ready, Potter?"

Harry did the same and nodded.

They each took a battle stance and Draco shouted, " Legilimens !"

Harry recited the words in his head while trying to close off his mind. For the smallest instant, he saw a memory of him, Ginny, Ron and Hermione in happier times, then there was a wall. A solid, stone wall where he could hear a faint knocking coming from the other end. And then it vanished, his eyes flooded with the white light of the room before they adjusted again and Draco became clear.

Draco smirked at him. "Very good, Potter. Did you want to try the Legilimency spell next? It's a bit less developed but -"

"No," Harry said quickly. "You're right, that spell was a bit disorienting. It's powerful but it definitely still needs work."

Only, it was not the spell that had Harry feeling disoriented. It was something else. Something he could not quite place.

"Were you looking for a particular memory just now?" he asked.

"No," said Draco with a shrug. "I just thought of the lovely golden trio. Why, did I almost stumble upon something private?"

Harry shook his head. "No." Just the night he and Ginny had taken Hermione and Ron to dinner to tell them she was pregnant with Albus, only to be beaten to the punch as his friends broke down telling them about Rose, their first child who they had been trying for years to conceive. It was singly his favorite memory of the four of them together ever, and it had just been invaded.

"All right then," said Draco, cocking an eyebrow.

He moved past Harry to get to the door, pushing a button to open it. The researchers walked in and took the parchment back from Harry. He headed for the door.

"You alright, mate?" asked Ron as Harry exited.

"Yeah, just made me feel a little dizzy."

He watched as Draco went and stood next to Hermione, whispering something to her. She laughed and shoved him playfully. Colby must have heard them because he turned around and chimed in. Now they all laughed.

Maybe he was just crazy.

Someone turned the corner onto their hall and they all looked. Scorpius took a step back when he saw them all there. "Oh, sorry."

He started to walk away but turned back when his father called him. "What are you doing here?" asked Draco.

"I didn't know you were in a meeting," he said. "I was going to see if you were available for lunch. You weren't in your office so I came down here."

"Oh." Draco unconsciously looked at Hermione. "Actually, I -"

"Do you two already have plans?" asked Scorpius, looking at them curiously.

All eyes now on her, Hermione remained poised and said, "Nothing that can't be rescheduled. You two go ahead."

Scorpius stared at her. He blinked. "Actually, there's something I wanted to talk to you about, as well. Wedding related. So if you could come too."

Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Oh … All right. I can do that."

Draco turned and looked at Victoire. "Mrs. Lupin, I believe we're about finished down here. Could you run upstairs and change our reservation from two to three?"

"Of course," said Victoire without missing a beat. "I will see you all momentarily." She hurried off towards the lift. Scorpius followed her.

"Was there anything further you wanted to see before we head back upstairs, Minister?" asked Draco.

"Yes, I would actually like to try that Occlumency spell myself, if that's all right?"

"Of course."

Draco led Kingsley into the testing room again and everyone else watched them through the glass window.

Hermione stood near Harry. She glanced sideways at him and asked, "Is everything all right?"

"Yes," he answered. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I've done the spell before and, while it made me a bit disoriented, as Draco said it would, I was more dizzy than anything. That doesn't really seem like the problem with you."

"When did you start calling him Draco?"

Hermione was taken aback. "I don't know. A while now. Why?"

"No reason," said Harry. "I realized the two of you were becoming chummy but …"

"But what?" she asked, pursing her eyebrows.

Harry sighed and glanced at Ron, who was standing near room number two and talking to Alexandra about something. Cormac was on the other side of Hermione, quite obviously listening to them. "Nothing. Forget I said anything."

When Draco and Kingsley came out of the testing room, they all headed for the lift and went back upstairs. Everyone went into Draco's office to discuss what they liked, what they did not like, and what needed to be adjusted. Once it was over, Kingsley, Harry, Ron and Cormac used Draco's fireplace to head back to the Ministry, Colby and Alexandra headed back to their own offices, and Teddy went to see Victoire. Draco and Hermione shared a quick kiss before heading out to the front office.

When they got there, Victoire was practically hanging out of the window.

"What are you doing?" asked Draco, rushing over and pulling her back.

"That damn mini owl is on the ledge again," she said.

"Paul?" asked Scorpius, coming back into the room from the kitchen carrying a vase of flowers. He put them on Victoire's desk.

"Is that his name?" asked Victoire, going back over to her desk and making a few adjustments to the flowers. "Thanks for changing the water for me."

Draco looked at his son. When he turned back around, Hermione was now hanging out of the window.

"Hermione!" he snapped, grabbing her waist and pulling her back a bit more aggressively than he did with Victoire.

"Relax, Draco, I got him," she said, showing him the small owl that was now attached to her wrist. She took the slip of paper off of Paul's leg and handed it to him.

Draco unrolled it and read. "Reservation confirmed. Thank you, Mrs. Lupin."

"That's what I'm here for." She smiled and winked when she saw Scorpius was not looking. Teddy walked into the room from the kitchen carrying two cups of tea. "I hope it's all right if Teddy has lunch here with me."

"Yes, of course," said Draco. "Why aren't you going out?"

"I know you're expecting several important owls and I don't want them to get lost on Kelly's desk, so I figured I would stay."

Draco smiled. "You work too hard. Are you ready?" he asked Hermione.

She nodded, smiling as she looked at something. He followed her eyes and watched as Scorpius played with the small owl, trying to snatch it but it kept slipping through his finger.

"His first owl," said Draco. "Astoria made him get rid of it a few years back when it started taking weeks to bring letters from Hogwarts, so I brought it here."

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "It's bloody rubbish. I told her it was just me being slow about getting back to her."

"Which was only a half-lie," said Draco. "Leave the owl, Scorpius, we have a reservation to get to."

Scorpius frowned. "All right." He grabbed Paul and put him down on a small branch Victoire had made into a stand on her desk. "Be nice to him," he said. "He's getting up there in the years."

"I'm always nice," said Victoire, giving the small owl's belly a rub. "When he's not late delivering something urgent."

When Scorpius turned around, Hermione and his father were holding the lift for him. He stepped inside and they let the doors close.

"Actually, that's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about," said Scorpius as they rode the lift down.

"Paul?" asked Draco, cocking an eyebrow.

"No, an owl. Specifically one Grandmother and Grandfather brought me and Rose a few days ago. A snow owl."

"In your small flat?" asked Draco.

"Exactly," said Scorpius. "Not to mention the Muggle neighbors who keep complaining to our landlord that they hear cooing."

"Owls don't coo," said Hermione. "They hoo." She laughed, but she was alone in it. "Sorry."

"It's not that I don't want the owl," continued Scorpius, "but it's just so inconvenient and … well, Rose -"

"The little lady told you to get rid of it," said Draco. It was not a question.

"Yeah, sort of."

The lift opened and they all stepped out, halting their conversation as they left the building and headed for the restaurant. When they got there, they were greeted instantly, the hostess not even bothering to ask for their names. She already knew Draco Malfoy and, as Hermione looked around the crowded room, she had to wonder who got bumped to accommodate them.

"What do you mean you don't see my reservation? I made it over a bloody week ago!" yelled an angry patron.

Guess that answered her question. Hermione kept her head low as she walked right by the man and the two people with him. A man and a woman who looked very important as well as impatient. She stopped. Draco turned.

"Are you coming?" he asked.

Hermione looked at him and bit her lip. "The restaurant seems to have lost that man's reservation," she said, motioning with her head.

"So?" said Draco.

Hermione stared sternly at him.

His nostrils flared. "You're not serious?"

"Is something wrong?" asked Scorpius, walking back towards them with the hostess.

"You know, I should have said something before but I have this incredible craving for tacos. There's a delicious taco place just down the street we could go to."

"Tacos?" repeated Draco, raising his eyebrows.

"Yes." Hermione looked at the hostess. "Thank you but I believe we'll be going elsewhere. Perhaps you could give our table to that man and his party over there?" She pointed.

The hostess looked at Draco, who glared at Hermione for a moment longer before looking at her and nodding. She walked off and whispered something to the other hostess at the podium.

"You're in luck, a table has just become available," said the woman.

The man let out a huge breath of relief. "Thank you."

"Shall we?" Hermione said chipperly as she headed for the door.

"Are we really eating tacos?" Scorpius whispered to Draco as they headed out.

"Apparently," said Draco through a clenched jaw.

When they got to the taco place, it was pretty much just a stand with several tables set up outside. Draco looked up. The sky was gray but he did not think it was going to rain.

The men let Hermione order for them, since they had no idea what to expect. When they finally sat down with their food, Hermione was the only one to dig in right away.

"Honestly, Scorpius, if you're not willing to experiment with food a bit then you're never going to make it in our family," joked Hermione as she finished her first taco.

That was enough to at least get him to take a bite. He tried to eat it dry so she dumped some salsa on top before it even hit his mouth. Draco still was not touching his food, but one stern look from Hermione and he finally picked one up, but he was not happy about it.

"The spring rolls are better," he said after taking two bites.

"Then we'll get Chinese next time," she said. "Scorpius, I know you're here seeking advice from your father but if you really want to keep your owl then I suggest you tell Rose just that. Relationships are about honesty. It's obviously bothering you so why don't you bring it up? She may be annoyed at first, in fact, I'm positive she will, but she'll get over it."

"Yeah," said Scorpius. "But it's just such a small place for four, and Perdy really likes to chase Eirwen around the flat."

Hermione smiled. "But if you already named it then you have to keep it."

"Maybe …"

"Listen to the woman, Scorpius. You don't want to continually lie to your future wife and never get what you want."

Scorpius tensed.

Hermione pursed her eyebrows. "Continually?"

"Ignore him," said Scorpius. "What I wanted to talk to you about was the venue. Rose said she told you that it's slightly out of budget."

Draco laughed. "Slightly?"

"All right, it's very out of budget."

"How very?" asked Hermione.

"Triple what Weasley said he is willing to spend on a venue, and then triple that," said Draco.

Hermione's eyes widened. "You're joking."

"Unfortunately, he's not," said Scorpius, looking sullen. "I'm sorry, I really didn't realize it would be that much when I brought Rose there."

"It's the season," said Draco. "If you got married next autumn or winter -"

"No," Scorpius said sternly. "We're getting married in the spring. And it doesn't matter what season it is, it's still out of budget. We should probably start looking for another venue."

Hermione noticed how sad he looked when he said this. She frowned. "Or we could figure something out," she said. Both men looked at her. "I know my hus - Ron isn't going to budge on this, but … I can't believe I'm saying this, but maybe if we told him it was less than it actually is …"

"You mean lie to him," said Draco. "And what, have me pay the difference?"

"You did already offer," said Hermione, smiling slyly at him.

Draco smiled in return. "Fine. I'll leave the art of deception to you, since you seem to be so skillful at it."

"Is that really all right?" asked Scorpius.

"Not really but it seems to be necessary," said Hermione before taking a bite of her last taco. "The majority of a wedding is what the bride wants. This is the one thing you've asked for and I don't think it's unreasonable for you to get it. I'm sure Rose feels the same."

Hermione watched as the men slowly consumed their food. She laughed. "Would you rather go down the street and get a sandwich or something?"

"Yes," said Draco, immediately tossing his food into the nearest rubbish bin.

"I'm fine with this," said Scorpius, starting on his last taco.

Draco grunted but waited.

"So how is your job going?" asked Hermione. She really did not see Scorpius as much as she would have liked. She wanted to get to know the wizard her daughter was marrying but there had not really been any time for that.

Draco grunted again and Scorpius looked hesitant to go on.

"It's all right," said Scorpius. "A bit boring sometimes. I'm alone in the office a lot, but I'm learning to use a Muggle computer and I'm getting pretty good with it. Bill let Rose put some games on it for me for days we're slow."

Draco grunted again. "I still don't understand why you took that bloody job."

"I told you, I want to work in the vaults," Scorpius said a bit impatiently, turning slightly red around his pale nose.

"But they told you that won't be for years. Why waste your time?"

"I'm not!"

Hermione fidgeted in her seat, starting to feel a bit uncomfortable. "I think it's a perfectly respectable job for someone just starting out."

"You don't know what you're talking about," snapped Draco.

Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

"There are six people allowed to work in the vaults and Scorpius won't be given that job unless one of them leaves or retires," explained Draco. "I've spoken to each of them. No one plans to leave anytime soon and the oldest is that bloody Weasley. He's only a few years older than we are, he's not going to be retiring anytime soon. You can't advance there, Scorpius. You're wasting your time." It seemed he could not emphasize that enough.

Scorpius' entire body tensed. "Well, I'm not going to bloody work for you and be miserable for the rest of my fucking life!" He blushed and looked at Hermione. "Sorry for the language." Standing up, he said, "I need to get back to my office. Thank you for the advice on the owl." He left without so much as even a glance at his father.

"I need to go too," said Hermione, standing. "I'll email you later. If you're going to email me about work, do me a favor and include Cormac. He's getting a bit angry that you only seem to answer to me."

Draco rolled his eyes and stood. For that brief moment when they were alone and near each other, a camera flashed.

"Bloody hell!" shouted Hermione, pushing their usual photographer away from her. "Quit doing that! How do you even know where we are all the time?"

"He just camps outside of my building every day around lunchtime," said Draco. "Don't give him credit where credit is not due."

Hermione and Draco headed off in their opposite directions, her suddenly feeling much angrier than she had earlier that day. She was not sure if it was a side-effect from witnessing a father and son fight, what Harry had said or that bloody photographer but, whatever it was, it had just ruined her day.

When Hermione stepped off of the lift at the Ministry, she stormed to her office, completely missing whatever it was Teddy was trying to tell her. Which was probably why she was so surprised she actually screamed when she saw Harry sitting in her chair.

"You gave me a bloody fright, Harry! What are you doing here?"

"Sorry," he said, his cheeks flushing. "Is this a new chair?"

"Sort of," she said, walking over to her desk. "I got it a few months ago."

"It's like I'm sitting on a cloud."

"Yes, that was the appeal." As well as shagging on one. "Come to tell me what you were getting at before? About me and Draco being chummy ?"

Harry cringed.

"I'm not going to start calling him Malfoy again just because it makes you uncomfortable."

"I swear I still hear him call you Granger."

"Only around Ron because he knows it grates his nerves," she said. "You've known for a while that I've been spending time with him, why is it just bothering you now?"

"I don't know," said Harry. "There was just something … weird about what he was searching for in my head. He found my favorite memory of us before I got him out."

Hermione smiled. "The Rose and Albus night?"

Harry smiled back. "Yeah, and it really wasn't something I wanted to share with him."

"Well, I highly doubt he was looking for it specifically," she said. "I really don't understand what the problem is. I like spending time with Draco. When he's not being an arse, at least. He's not the same boy we hated all those years ago."

"I know that."

"Then why are we even having this conversation?" she asked with a shrug.

"I guess I don't know," said Harry.

"The three of us are going out for drinks sometime soon. It's time for you two to officially bury the hatchet." Hermione walked back to her door and held it open. "Time for you to go, Harry. We both have work to do."

"Right." Harry stood and walked to the door. "Sorry to bother you."

"You know you never could."

They smiled at each other as he exited. Hermione leaned against the doorframe and watched him with pursed lips. Then she caught a quick glimpse of a girl walking into their department from the corner of her eye. She took one look at Harry and turned in the opposite direction. He did not even notice her, even as she poked her head back out to see where he had gone, staring longingly at the Auror office. Her eyes were blotchy and red, and she sniffled when she caught sight of a boy sitting at one of the desks. James, an Auror in training.

Hermione hurried over. "Edie."

Edie jumped when she heard her name. "Hermione! I'm sorry, I was just -"

"Is everything all right?"

"Yes, I …" She sniffled again. "I must've … taken a wrong turn to my dad's -"

"Come with me." Hermione grabbed Edie's hand and dragged her towards her office. She put her inside and said, "Wait right there."

Hermione hurried over to the Auror office. She knocked on the panel opposite the open door and everyone looked up.

"Excuse me, Harry, but could I borrow James for a moment? A shelf fell in my office and I need some help hanging it back up."

James looked at Harry, who nodded his approval.

"Why don't you want my help? I'm at least ten times stronger than James," said Albus, showing off his guns.

"Age before beauty," said Hermione with a wink.

"Ow," said James, following her out.

"Oh, come on, James. You know that ever since Al was three and told me he was going to marry me someday that he has always been my favorite," she joked.

"It was those bloody cherub cheeks of his," said James. "All women fell for that game. At least they're a lot less cute now." He smirked at his brother, who was sneering at him as he exited.

"Someone's in my office who wants to see you," Hermione said quietly as they headed towards her office.

"Who?" he asked.

"Your girlfriend, from what I accidentally heard our pretty red-heads whispering about." She put a finger to her lips.

"Bloody Lily …"

James entered her office, smiling until he saw the state Edie was in.

"Edie, what's wrong?" he asked, running to her while Hermione shut the door.

"Nothing, I … I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't have come here but I just got in this huge fight with my mum and … and …" She hiccupped with her sniffle this time.

"James, I'm going to Apparate down to the archives," said Hermione. "Come get me when you're finished here."

He nodded in agreement.

Hermione Disapparated and busied herself by researching outdated pureblood laws that were still in effect, spending a great deal of time on the one about arranged marriages. While it was not mandatory any longer, though still preferred, the law had only been changed about a century prior. It was odd to think about how much the wizarding world really had changed.

It was a good hour before James came for her, and then she really had to bust her arse to get her work done.

Draco emailed her just before six since she had failed to get in touch with him. He was double-checking their dinner menu for the night so he could stop by the store on his way home. She wrote back and told him whatever he chose was fine, but let him know that she would not be leaving her office for at least another hour. He sent her a sad face in return and she laughed. Then he told her to call him when she was on her way. She agreed.

Hermione went back to work, trying hard to stay focused. When she finally looked up at the clock again, it was half past seven. She gasped and looked at her phone, realizing it had accidentally been on silent since their meeting earlier. Draco had already tried calling twice.

Clearing off her desk in a hurry, Hermione shut down her computer, threw on her coat, grabbed her bag and rushed for the door. She could not believe she let this happen. Well … actually, she could.

When she got to the atrium, she ran for the fireplaces. But then she stopped, her eye catching something, or someone, as it seemed. She had been spending enough time with him to know the silhouette, but she still walked over for a closer inspection.

"Theo?"

Theo looked up, a bit surprised to see her there. He had been sitting on the edge of the fountain, throwing a Sickle in and using his wand to suck it back out.

"What are you still doing here?" she asked.

"I could ask you the same question." He threw his Sickle in again, flicked his wand, and caught it.

Hermione stepped closer. "Is something wrong?"

"Nope." And repeat.

She sighed and took a seat. "I'm sure you realize I'm not quite thick enough to believe that. You've been listening to my problems for over a month now. I believe it's your turn."

"You were moving awfully fast just now," he said. "Don't you have somewhere to be?"

"Well, yes," she said, taking out her phone. She quickly typed Draco a message.

Something came up. Going to be late. XOXO

"And now I don't."

Before she could even put her phone away, it beeped. She read the message.

Is everything all right? Let me know if you need anything. XXXX

Hermione smiled and slipped it back in her pocket. "I'm all yours. What's wrong?"

"Something that shouldn't be bothering me. And it bloody pisses me off that it does," said Theo.

"Care to elaborate?" she asked.

Theo glanced sideways at her, looking unsure whether or not he wanted to go on. Then he caved and sighed. "My ex-wife is engaged. To a fucking prick."

Hermione blinked. "Oh. That man from the restaurant?"

"Yeah. They've only been dating since July."

Hermione felt guilty as her mind strayed off, suddenly realizing that Jaclyn had been seeing her fiancé for less time than Hermione had been seeing Draco. That … was disturbing.

"He works on my floor and I've hated him since our first meeting." Theo paused. "She came up there today to see him. I didn't know about the engagement yet but she started showing off the ring to everyone. Edie had come by to meet me for lunch and she flipped her shit. I mean, she already knew, but she actually called Jackie a bitch for not telling me properly. Then that prick had the nerve to put his hands on my daughter and demand she apologize to her mother. He grabbed her wrist and bloody hurt her!"

Hermione's eyes popped. "And what did you do?" she asked.

"I shoved that piece of shit off of her! No one lays a hand on one of my children like that. Not unless they want their bloody arse beaten."

Hermione smiled. "I feel the same way about my children." She looked over when she heard footsteps. A witch with an obvious staring problem was headed towards the Floo network. "Do you want to go grab a drink somewhere?" she asked, not even waiting for an answer before standing. "It seems like you could use one."

Theo blinked. "Yeah, all right," he said. "You're sure you don't have somewhere to be?"

"I can be late," she said. "I actually already am."

"And whoever you're meeting isn't going to be angry?"

"No." Of course he was. "It's just one drink. We're not going to be out for hours getting sloshed."

Hermione reached her hand out and Theo took it. She pulled him to his feet and they headed out to London, her letting him take the lead and guide them to a nearby restaurant that also had a bar. The moment they stepped inside, they both froze.

"Oh, bloody hell."

It appeared that they had walked in on a small engagement party. Jaclyn spotted them right away, blushing as she whispered something to Astoria, who immediately turned and looked.

Theo moved to leave but Hermione grabbed his arm. "Don't give her the satisfaction," she said, holding on tight as she pulled him towards the bar. At least the party was in the lounge area so they would not have to mingle.

The two of them sat at the bar, Theo tapping his fingers while Hermione ordered them strong firewhiskey.

"This is humiliating," he said, taking a sip of his drink.

"Why? Am I an embarrassment?"

Theo went red. "No, I … I didn't mean you are … I meant the bloody situation is …"

Hermione laughed. "Theo, I know. But what she did today was rude and disrespectful. After all of your years together she shouldn't treat you like that. Don't even let her affect you. She's not worth it." She paused. "And she's friends with Astoria, who is already on my list."

"Why? What did she do?"

"Let's just say she verbally grabbed Rose's wrist. Disrespecting me is one thing, I can deal with that, but she has disrespected my daughter on more than one occasion and that's not all right." Hermione took a sip of her firewhiskey and gulped it down.

"Theo."

Theo turned to see Goyle standing beside him. " Gregory ."

Goyle gulped. "Daphne made me come," he said nervously.

Theo continued to stare right at him, his face unchanging as he took a long sip of his drink. "Uhuh."

"I mean it. I didn't -"

"Honestly, Goyle, I couldn't give two shits," said Theo. "I'm just here having a drink with this lovely lady," He motioned to Hermione, "so go on and continue your evening. If I ever get married again I suspect you'll drag Daph along to whatever bloody celebration I have."

Goyle looked at Hermione and then back at Theo. He hesitated for a moment, glancing back at his wife before pulling out a barstool and taking a seat. "Three more of whatever they're having," he said to the bartender.

"Looks like we're having more than one drink," said Theo, finishing his off. He put his glass down and looked at Hermione.

"That's fine," she said. "I just have to run to the ladies room really quick."

She stood up and hurried off.

"Has to message her boyfriend on that bloody Muggle thing," Theo said to Goyle.

She looked back over her shoulder but Theo did not notice she had heard him. He was actually right. Hermione went into one of the stalls and pulled out her phone. There were five messages from Draco.

HERMIONE, IS EVERYTHING ALL RIGHT? Get back to me.

She sighed and wrote back.

Yes, fine. I'm sorry, I'll explain later.

She would explain now if she was not so sure he would get bloody pissed and quite possibly show up.

She put her phone away again, flushed for good measure and exited the stall. Someone else did the same beside her. She glanced sideways and saw it was Astoria.

"Hermione," said the other witch, going over to wash her hands.

"Astoria." Hermione did the same.

"What are you doing here?"

"Just having a drink." She grabbed a paper towel and dried her hands.

"Yes, I can see that," said Astoria. "Why here?"

"A random choice," she said, "and clearly a mistake. We won't be here long."

"Whatever." Astoria shrugged her shoulders. "I could care less. As long as it's not my ex-husband then you're free to do whatever and whoever you want. Jackie's moved on. It's only fair that Theo does too. Show him a good time."

Astoria winked at her and headed out the door.

Hermione sneered at her back before following her out. Theo was already finishing his second drink by the time she got back to the bar. He was alone.

"Where did Goyle go?" she asked.

"Daph dragged him back," he said. "You're right, I feel much better." He waved his empty glass at the bartender.

"I didn't mean to overdo it," she said, giving a little sigh.

Theo glanced sideways at her and frowned. "Sorry." When the bartender put a new glass in front of him, he pushed it away. "Can I ask you a question?"

Hermione sucked in her breath. "Sure."

"Have you read any of the pureblood literature you're trying to get banned?"

She smiled. That definitely was not the question she was expecting. "I've skimmed it."

"You should read it," he said. "I remember my prick of a cousin saying your lack of knowledge on the subject weakened your argument when you tried to ban the books a few years back. You can borrow my copies."

Hermione blinked. "All right." She paused for a moment and then asked, "It really doesn't bother you that your family is so angry you spend time with me?"

"Not at all," said Theo, eyeing his drink. "It's just the family on my father's side. I never liked him, let alone his bloody relatives. He had me when he was already in his late forties so I didn't really grow up with any of my cousins since they were all older. Tobias is the youngest and he has a good ten years on me."

"And yet you beat his arse when you were children?" she said with a laugh, recalling their time with Tobias in the lift.

"Damn right I did! And I'll gladly do it as an adult if he dares call you that derogatory name again!"

Hermione smiled. "That's sweet."

"I'm a sweet guy." Theo looked at his drink again.

She laughed. "Pick it up, Theo, but this is it."

Picking up her own drink, Hermione held it out and the two of them clanked glasses before taking a sip. It was easy enough to distract him from the party just a few meters away. All she had to do was bring up Quidditch, and he was more than happy to go on about how he finally got Bentley, who would be playing for the Chudley Cannons this year, out of his hair. Before long, Theo was even laughing.

It was fun just sitting there talking, but then Hermione got a glimpse at a clock above the bar. It was already after nine.

"I really need to go," she said, reaching into her purse and searching for her Galleons.

"It's fine, I've got it," said Theo, grabbing a pouch from his coat pocket and throwing some money on the bar. "Are you going far?"

"I actually have to stop home first." That was a lie, but she did not want him to follow her to a Floo network and overhear where she was going.

"I'll walk you."

Theo stood and motioned for Hermione to go first. She headed for the exit, incredibly aware of the many sets of eyes watching them. Glancing sideways, she noticed Jaclyn watching them closer than anyone. Her fiancé noticed too and he moved her to face the other direction pretty quickly.

Once outside, Hermione and Theo both put on their gloves once they were met with the nippy air. Autumn was definitely here.

"You really don't have to walk me," she said. "I can Apparate right to my street so very little walking is actually involved."

"I don't mind," he said, somehow managing to pull a scarf out of his pocket and wrapping it around Hermione's neck.

"Thanks," she said with a smile. "Undetectable Extension Charm on a pocket? Pretty impressive."

Hermione grabbed his arm and Apparated the two of them to her street. She walked towards her house, noticing Theo was moving a little sluggishly.

"Feeling that alcohol?" she asked.

"Not really," he said.

They finally got to her doorstep and Hermione stopped at the bottom of the stairs, but Theo continued walking up them. She was starting to feel a bit nervous about something but she still followed.

"Thanks for tonight," said Theo, avoiding her gaze as he rocked on his heels. "I know I wasn't the pleasantest of company."

"You were fine, Theo," said Hermione, rolling her eyes. "Your ex-wife really is a piece of work."

"Yeah. I hope we put a damper on her evening."

They both laughed, though a bit awkwardly.

Theo finally looked at her, gazing right into her eyes. Now she was really feeling nervous. "Umm … Theo -"

She did not even have the chance to finish before he was leaning forward and kissing her. Hermione stepped back.

"What are you doing?" she demanded.

"Sorry," he said with cheeks flushed both from the cold and embarrassment. "I thought I was getting a vibe -"

"No!" she shouted quickly. Then she looked at him and sighed. "No, it's not you. It's just … complicated."

"Because you're married? I already bloody know that."

Before Hermione had the chance to tell him that was just the icing on the cake, he had his gloved hands cupping her cheeks and was kissing her again.

Hermione's door swung open with a bang. She and Theo both jumped and turned their heads. Draco was standing in her doorway, hands clenched, brow furrowed, eyes flaming, and he was looking right at Theo.

"Evening, mate," said Theo, lowering his hands from her cheeks but not stepping back. "Uhh … what are you doing in there?"

Before anyone knew what was happening, Draco had Theo by the collar and was flinging him into her house.

"Draco, stop that!" shouted Hermione, running in after them.

Draco did not hear her, deafened by his anger as he stormed across the floor, picking Theo up again and punching him in the face.

"Dammit, Draco! What the fuck is going on?" shouted Theo, shoving the other wizard off of him and obviously tempted to take a swing himself. But he refrained.

Draco did not answer, only pounced at him again.

"Draco, STOP!" shouted Hermione, waving her wand and sending them both flying into opposite corners of the ceiling. She walked so she was underneath him. "What are you doing here?" she demanded.

" Me ? What about you ? You weren't answering my calls. I was fucking worried so I came looking for you, only to find you snogging this … this fucking prick!"

Theo looked a little hurt from his corner of the ceiling.

"So this is why you were late? Because you were on a fucking date!"

"No, I wasn't!" she shouted.

"Then what the bloody hell was -?"

"A misunderstanding, Draco! That's all!"

And now Theo looked more than a little hurt.

Hermione sighed and lowered Draco to the floor. "Go home," she ordered.

"What?" he spat. "No."

"Go, Draco! I am already bloody angry and you don't want to test my patience right now! Go home and I will be there to deal with you shortly."

Draco's nostrils flared. He looked up at Theo, who was still stuck to the ceiling, and sneered. He leaned in and kissed Hermione's cheek before heading for the fireplace. Hermione waited until he was gone to lower Theo back to the floor.

"And suddenly 'complicated' makes a lot more sense," said Theo, rubbing at his bruised cheek.

"I don't throw the term around loosely," she said, walking up to him and inspecting his wounds. She frowned and dragged him towards her sofa. "Come sit."

Theo sat down and Hermione sat next to him, using her wand to cast a Healing Charm on him.

"Theo, I'm sor -"

"Please don't," he said, back to not looking her in the eye.

"But I really didn't mean to give you the wrong impression."

Theo gulped. "You didn't. I was just reading into something that wasn't there. I figured you were seeing someone when you got those flowers on your birthday but I thought since you ditched them tonight for me -"

"You needed someone," she said. "And I like spending time with you. Honestly, if I had ran back into you two months earlier -"

"Two months," repeated Theo, finally looking her in the eye. "Has it been going on that long?"

Hermione sighed and nodded. "Since the engagement party." She held his face still and cast another Healing Charm on the mark that did not seem to be going away.

Theo's jaw tensed. "And I couldn't make it that night because I was away putting the bloody finishing touches on the stadium for the World Cup." He glanced at her and smirked. "Could've been me."

Hermione smiled softly and released his face. Then Theo was grabbing hers again, forcing her to look into his eyes.

"I'm going to kiss you again, Hermione."

She gulped. "If you do that I'm going to have to tell Draco and there's a good chance he might kill you."

Theo shrugged. "I'll take the risk." He leaned in and caught her lips with his, kissing her softly for a moment before pulling away and looking back into her eyes. "Anything?"

Hermione gazed back at him. "I … have to go."

"Or you could stay here with me," said Theo, brushing his lips back against hers.

Hermione pulled away. "No, I could never do that. As wrong as it is, I'm already invested in Draco. I wouldn't do that to him."

Theo let out a puff of breath. "Well, it was worth a shot." He stood up. "Figures, the first woman I've liked since my divorce is not only married, but secretly involved with one of my best mate's. Bloody bugger."

"I'm sorry," Hermione said again.

"No, it's my own fault."

Theo headed for the door. She stood and followed him, taking off the scarf she still had wrapped around her neck and giving it back to him.

"I suppose you'll want me to be quiet about this."

Hermione really did not want to ask anything of him right now. "If you would."

"Hey, it's not my business," said Theo. He paused. "Judging by his reaction, I would say Draco is pretty invested too. But he doesn't exactly have to best track record when it comes to women. If he does you wrong -"

"He won't," she said sternly.

"I hope you're right, but if he does then you come to me and I'll put him in his place." Theo wrapped his scarf around his neck and gave it a whiff. "You smell nice." He smiled at her and kissed her cheek before walking out the door.

Hermione watched him go all the way down the steps before Disapparating. She sighed and went back inside, not even taking a moment before Flooing to Draco's. He was, of course, waiting right in front of the fireplace for her.

Approaching her, he shouted, "What the hell -"

Hermione put her hand up to stop him. "Theo kissed me again."

Draco turned bright-red, looking just about ready to burst as he eyed the fireplace behind her. She moved so she was blocking his path to it.

"Draco, I don't want to lie to you," she said. "Theo would definitely be the simpler choice. Not simple by any means. After all, his family does want to destroy me. But definitely simpler. Yet here I am, standing in front of you for the hundredth time when I know I should just walk away."

Draco stood there silently, just gazing at her with what appeared to be watery eyes. She thought it might just be a trick of the flames but she was not sure.

"We said no one else," he finally choked out.

"I know and I meant it," said Hermione. "We weren't on a date, Draco, I would never do that to you. I lost track of time and left the Ministry later than planned. He was sitting in the atrium by himself looking upset and I couldn't just walk right by him like he wasn't there. So I talked to him, we went out for a drink, he walked me home, and you know the rest. I didn't know he was going to do that, Draco. If I did then I never would have let it happen. He was upset over his ex-wife's engagement for Merlin's sake!"

Draco's tense body eased a little. "Yeah, I'd heard a rumor about that."

Hermione sighed again and crossed her arms. "Draco, why don't you trust me?"

"I do."

"Accusing me of being on a date tonight says otherwise."

Draco tensed again and looked away. "It's not a lack of trust. But I've been disappointed often by people, and I know it's bound to come."

"Well, maybe your expectations of everyone are too high," she said, dropping her arms.

"What does that mean?" he asked, looking at her again.

"Your son for example," she said matter-of-factly. "Scorpius worships the ground you walk on but you can't support him in one of the only decisions he's ever made for himself."

Draco pursed his brow. "His job?" he said.

Hermione nodded.

"You don't know what you're talking about. I have always supported Scorpius. In everything he does."

"Really? Because that's not how it sounded today," she said. "You sounded like one of those controlling fathers who won't be happy unless their children follow in their footsteps, and all that's going to happen is he's going to end up disappointed in everyone when he looks back and realizes he hasn't lived his own life, just like you do."

"I don't want him to work for me!"

"But that's what he said -"

"Because I offered it to him as a bloody temporary solution!" shouted Draco. "He would hate working for me! I would never let him stay there forever!"

"Then why are you so down on him all the time?" she asked. "Practically every time I see the two of you together you're bringing it up!"

"Because -" Draco stopped dead in his words and rubbed irritably at his face. "I'm not … Oh, fuck it! Wait here!" he ordered before storming off.

"Where -?"

"Wait. HERE!"

Draco disappeared down one of his halls. He reappeared a minute later by Apparating in front of her. Then he shoved a piece of parchment in her hand.

"My son's little secret."

Hermione lifted the parchment and read.

Dear Mr. Malfoy,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into our dragonologist training program at our headquarters in Romania. Please find an enclosed contract.

Training begins on 21 September. We await your owl by no later than 30 June.

Yours sincerely,

Charlie Weasley

Head Dragonologist

Hermione's jaw fell open as she looked back up at Draco, suddenly becoming very aware of all of the dragon portraits watching them. "He got in?" she asked. "The dragonologist program is very exclusive."

"He did," said Draco. "He received that the day after he arrived home from Hogwarts and he let the deadline pass because he was too scared to tell your little flower. This has been his dream since he was five, so you might understand why I'm a little bitter he took that job before he'd lost his chance. He thought she'd leave him if he told her they had to pick up and move to Romania. He said she's only working in the bookstore until she makes it as a writer, but I told him she can bloody do that anywhere."

"I'm sure she would have gone," said Hermione, looking at the letter again. "Surely we can contest -"

"I already tried that. They gave the spot to someone else. He lost his chance."

"Well … shit!" she said, re-reading the name at the bottom. "Why didn't you show this to me sooner? I could have talked to Charlie for him."

"Scorpius told me not to say anything," explained Draco. "He said it was his choice."

"I don't understand why he would do that." Hermione handed him the letter back. "I'm sorry."

"For what? Making more assumptions about me?"

She blushed and stared down at the floor.

"Maybe I don't trust you, Hermione, but you obviously don't respect me! You still see me for who I was all those years ago! I have been working my bloody arse off for the last thirty fucking years trying to separate myself from that boy and even you, the one person I actually want to see me differently, can't fucking do it!"

Tears filled her eyes as her throat went dry. "I know that's not you anymore. I don't know what I was thinking."

"You were thinking that I'm shit!"

"No!" Hermione shook her head frantically and looked up at him. "I could never think that." She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his waist, nuzzling her head into his chest. "Draco, I'm sorry. I know you're different, I do. I wouldn't be here if I still saw you that way." She choked on her breath. "I don't know what's wrong with me today."

Draco wrapped his arms around her shoulders and held her close.

Hermione sighed into his chest. "I should just go home."

"What?" Draco's arms gripped tighter. "Why?"

"Because I'm exhausted," she said. "We both are. We need to sleep and we never just sleep when I stay over."

"We can just sleep," he said.

"Really?"

"Yes. Just … don't leave."

Draco leaned down and nudged his forehead against hers until she gave in and looked at him. He smiled and kissed her, but then he pulled away pretty quickly.

"You taste different." And then it hit him. "Fucking hell! Am I tasting bloody Theo?"

Hermione fought back a chuckle and touched her lips. "I'm sorry."

Draco Apparated them to his bedroom, immediately going into the washroom and brushing his teeth as hard as he could. Hermione changed first before joining him.

"Get nice and deep, doll," he said, handing her the mouthwash as soon as he was finished with it. "A spell wouldn't hurt either."

Hermione obeyed, just relieved that he was not any angrier. If the roles had been reversed that night she would still be having at him. She knew she had messed up, in more ways than one.

By the time Hermione was finished, Draco was already in the bed with the lights off. She climbed in next to him, cuddling close as the cool air from the open balcony doors consumed them.

"Your mouth all clean?" he asked.

"Yes," she answered.

"Then get over here and kiss me properly before we just sleep."

Hermione smiled, leaning up and stroking his cheek as she kissed him softly. She had definitely made the right choice that night. While she may have felt a small flicker when Theo kissed her, it was not like this. Nothing could ever be as perfect as this.

31