Seven years

Hermione stared in utter shock at her husband. Slowly, she pulled herself out of his arms and took a few steps away to put some space between them so she could think.

Draco watched as she turned her back to him and felt his heart begin to hammer harder in his chest. The stupid thing was thumping so loudly in his ears that he could hardly think straight.

Obviously, he'd made a grave mistake.

Realizing he loved her hadn't been some instantaneous moment where a gorgeous beam of light enveloped him or he heard a hallelujah chorus like in her muggle movies. He was able to peg the moment when his feelings changed, the moment where she became more to him than what he'd once said she was, but realizing his love was gradual. He'd been well and truly sick when he was faced with such an unbelievable reality.

But it was in a single moment that she'd broken him.

He'd since vowed to make her his reason for changing. Every decision he'd made, Hermione Granger had been in the back of his mind.

When she turned back to him, he felt his heart drop into his stomach at the sight of the tears gathered around her eyes. He'd also vowed to never again make her cry.

I'm a bloody prick.

"I really believed that you weren't this cruel anymore," she spoke quietly, oddly calm.

His face screwed up in confusion and he shook his head but she kept going.

"Do you honestly expect me to believe that? Seven years ago puts us back near the end of the war, Draco. That doesn't add up. Maybe you didn't want me dead but you couldn't have been in love with me. I'm angry that you'd even insult my intelligence like that." She blinked away the wetness in her eyes as she shook her head angrily. Her voice was dangerously low when she spoke again. "I don't know why you really want to stay married to me but lying wasn't the way to go about it. I hate dishonestly, Draco."

For the love of Merlin, what had he done? Not only was she rejecting him, but she didn't even believe him.

"Hermione," he pleaded gently, "I'm not lying. I promised to be honest with you. I meant what I said."

Hermione looked as if he'd just told her she'd failed a final at Hogwarts. She held up a hand to silence him and forced her way past him into her bedroom.

"Just leave me alone."

Her door slammed in his face and he heard the lock click definitively. No doubt she was putting up her own wards to keep him out. His shoulders slumped as he stood there staring at the wood in his face. Before he could stop himself, he slammed his fist into the wall.

Of course, that had been stupid and all he'd managed to do was make his knuckles bleed. With a defeated groan, he retired to his own room. If he were lucky at all maybe he'd pass out from sheer emotional exhaustion.

His body sagged as he sat on the edge of his bed. His hand bled lightly while he stared at the moving photo on his dresser that he'd clipped from the Daily Prophet of her kissing his cheek at the quidditch match over the weekend.

Fuck Potter for making me believe, like an idiot, that I could tell her. Fuck those louts I work with who think they deserve her more than me, even if they do.

He sighed as he dropped his head into his hands. Fuck myself for being so worthless growing up.

~o~O~o~

Hermione did something she'd never done before in her entire life—she owled in sick to work the next morning.

She'd heard Draco stop at her bedroom door on his way downstairs. She saw the shadow of his immaculate dress shoes as he shuffled his feet there uncertainly. She imagined him raising a hand to knock but losing his nerve because he eventually left. She'd cried herself to sleep because of him and had no desire to see his stupid face, no matter how attractive it was.

And it made her bleeding angry. She'd sworn years ago at school that she'd never allow him to be the cause of her tears ever again. And here he was, causing her to cry in a way that seared her emotions even worse.

How could she have been so stupid as to allow herself to begin believing in him? To like him? And maybe begin to feel something even stronger for him but that wouldn't be explored. Certainly not now, or ever.

After gaining a fitful nap, Hermione finally got up for real around ten o'clock. She trudged down the stairs as she ran a hand through her unkempt hair and rubbed her swollen eyes. The house was empty. It was Tuesday and Bitsy usually ran errands for the day so it left her alone to wallow in her emotions.

She tried to read a book in the library but the room only reminded her of the husband she was trying desperately not to think about. Instead, she nabbed some food from the kitchen and locked herself back in her room for the remainder of the day where she drowned her sorrows in her favorite novels.

Bitsy had been worried when she realized something was wrong after she returned from Diagon Alley with the household supplies. Yet, she dutifully didn't ask for details and merely agreed to bring Hermione's dinner to her room later.

However, she needn't have been worried because Draco didn't come home until well after she'd gone to bed. The wizard had crept quietly out of the floo and looked around to make sure he was alone. He almost made it to the stairs before a throat cleared in the kitchen doorway and he froze when he found Bitsy standing there with her hands clutched in front of her nervously.

"Mistress Hermione isn't well, Master Draco. Bitsy has been worried, sir. She took dinner in her room and didn't go to work today."

Draco sighed and nodded warily. He'd been well aware that she hadn't gone to work. He'd heard through the grapevine, more like the voices outside his office door, that the most hard-working department head, the witch who'd never taken a single day off as long as she'd been there, had owled in sick.

Bullshit, he'd wanted to tell them. Yet, he'd been a surly mess himself all day and nearly ripped Harry a new one when he smiled too cheerily in greeting that morning.

"Thank you, Bitsy. Just give her space if that's what she wants."

The poor house elf merely nodded quickly and wrung her hands nervously as he trudged up the stairs to his room. He dropped his briefcase unceremoniously in the armchair near his bed and shucked his robes as well.

Draco's hands trembled as he undid the knot on his tie and flung the garment to the floor with his shoes. He'd not bothered to heal his hand the night before and the raw cuts still stung when he stepped under the hot spray of his shower.

He stood there for a moment allowing the steaming water to soak him from head to toe much as he used to his seventh year. In some ways, he'd hoped the hot water could cleanse him inside as well but he always stepped out of the shower feeling just as soiled as he'd started.

He ran his hands through his hair, wiping the thick mess away from his face as he turned his back to the spray. He felt so full of rage not just at himself but at his parents.

While he took responsibility for the things he'd done, the hurtful slurs he'd slung daily at those who hadn't deserved them, he felt they were at least partly responsible for making him this way.

How ironic that he'd been told his blood was more pure than the others when in reality he was so very polluted.

He fought the memories that flooded his mind but it was no use. When they started, there was no stopping the recollection.

"What's the matter, Granger, your filthy parents didn't teach you proper manners?" His fifteen year-old self sneered.

She'd looked at him with rage in her brown eyes, eyes he'd once been convinced were the color of mud. Just like her dirty blood.

"I really don't have the patience to verbally spar with you today, Malfoy. Just move out of my way."

He'd smirked at her irritated expression and purposefully shoved her shoulder as he passed her on his way out of the library, missing her wince as her other shoulder knocked roughly into the doorway as he passed.

Draco clenched his fisted hand against the tiled shower wall and squeezed his eyes shut tightly at the memories.

He'd missed the other person entering the library as he rushed to replace his book in his bag. He heard the other person's books slam into the stone flooring and he crouched without bothering to look at who he'd just jostled.

He missed her small gasp when he quickly crouched to pick up the books and stood to hand them back, making eye contact with her finally. At eighteen, nearly nineteen, he didn't have any venom left for her.

He swallowed hard as he realized who it was and ducked his head uncomfortably. "Sorry, Granger," he muttered before he hurried off to his next class. Graduation was so close but it couldn't come soon enough.

Draco shut the shower off and quickly wrapped a towel around his waist as he exited. With a deep breath, he wiped the mirror and stared into his watery reflection. He'd just leave her alone for the rest of the year and everything would all go back to normal. Perhaps he could even petition the Minister to exclude him from this bloody hell the Ministry had created.

~o~O~o~

On the second day Hermione owled in again and was sure her department was up in arms over what was going on but she didn't have it in her to face him yet. She planned to lock herself in her room and work on the bit of work she'd brought home with her before and then start on drafting some new bylaw addendums.

Once she was certain Draco was out of the house—truly she hadn't even heard him that morning—she crept down the stairs, rubbing her bleary eyes which were still swollen from the lingering tears when she finally fell asleep the night before.

She nearly stopped cold when she heard voices in the living room. She peeked around the corner of the stairs and saw Ginny and Bitsy sitting with cups of tea.

"Ah, there she is," Ginny glared over Bitsy's head.

Bitsy stood quickly and hurried over to her. "Bitsy was most worried when Mistress Hermione didn't leave for work this morning. Is there anything Bitsy can do?"

Hermione offered her a kind smile and shook her head. "No, just feeling a bit under the weather again this morning. I'll be just fine."

"Bitsy will be attending to the gardening if Mistress needs her."

With a loud crack, the house elf was gone. That left a defeated Hermione with a rather irritated looking Ginny Potter. The redhead had that look in her eyes which usually meant she was about to get a most colorful dressing down.

"I don't know why exactly you're glaring at me like that," Hermione sighed as she came into the room and sat in the chair opposite her friend.

"You, Hermione Granger-Malfoy," she stressed the last part, "are a complete ass."

Hermione sat straighter at the insult and managed a glare of her own. "And exactly why are you here in my living room slinging insults?"

The fire in Ginny's eyes was a bit frightening but she didn't shrink away from her.

"Because I received a rather infuriating owl from Harry this morning. Apparently, Malfoy, in a rare moment of stupid bravery, admitted that he loves you the other night and you didn't believe him. Now the snarling, brooding idiot has closed himself off in his office, again, and told Harry he won't come out until he's done the office filing." She paused for dramatic effect, "Everyone knows their filing is atrocious and nobody does it willingly!"

She shook her head with a scoff and sat stiff in her chair. "Unbelievable. I suppose you and Harry expect me to believe him then? It doesn't make any bloody sense, Ginny!"

Ginny grumbled under her breath before focusing again. "It does if you'd let him explain, Hermione. The stupid prat has been in love with you for seven years. He's avoided you like the plague since he started at the Ministry because he knew you didn't like him. Now that you've given him some inkling that you might be interested in his advances, he gets brave and admits his feelings and then you throw them in his face."

Ginny huffed angrily and stood to pace. Now she was beginning to understand why Draco did it whenever he was angry or nervous.

"I know that in the past he made your life miserable. I also know he's apologized to you numerous times since you married him and that he's been nothing but honest since then. He's gone out of his way to be kind to you."

"It doesn't add up, Ginny," she insisted.

Ginny shook her head angrily, her red her flying around her face, looking much like flames licking at her features. "Look, I can't explain the moment it happened for him. I can't explain why he feels the way he does. That's his story to tell. All I know is that he loves you and has for a very long time."

Hermione hard eyes trained on her friend as her stomach knotted at her words. It just couldn't be true, could it?

"And why the hell have you and Harry been privilege to this knowledge all this time?"

Ginny turned to face her again, the fire in her eyes gone as she spoke more gently. "Because he came to trust Harry. He was the first one to honestly give Draco a chance after he got the job in the Auror's department. Frankly, we both felt horrible for him. He lost a lot in that war, too, and we all know the depraved family he was raised in. He's made efforts to be a better man." She threw her hands up in exasperation. "Let him for Merlin's sake!"

Hermione tipped her head curiously as she worked through what she knew so far. He claimed to have loved her for seven years. Which meant that included the latter half of the war, through their seventh year of school, and beyond as they both began work at the Ministry.

From what she observed of him seventh year, he kept to himself. Brooding and cold, very few spoke to him and even fewer were nice to him. Most avoided him as if he was a leper, and by wizarding standards, it seemed that he had become one. He hadn't taunted her once that year.

After gaining employment at the Ministry of Magic, they avoided each other. It had seemed like an unspoken agreement not to rock the boat of the civility towards one another. But perhaps his motives for avoiding her had been different from her own.

She licked her lips and looked up to find Ginny waiting for her to speak. "So he willingly told you about his feelings for me?"

She rolled her eyes and finally cracked a slight smile. "Not exactly. He was over at Harry's flat one night before we got married and had a bit too much to drink. You don't even want to know how many cups of coffee it took to get him to stop waxing and waning about you. I was embarrassed for him. I mean, the man finds your odd quirks attractive for Merlin's sake. I don't know anyone else who thinks making overly organized lists is adorable."

Hermione blushed at that but didn't argue.

Ginny stopped pacing and came to sit next to her friend. "Look, Hermione, I know how it sounds. Draco Malfoy in love with Hermione Granger? Frankly, we all would have thought that was mental at one time. But I promise that man is stupidly in love with you. Just at least give him the chance to explain, would you?"

Hermione wasn't completely convinced but it did speak volumes that both Harry and Ginny believed him. Given their friendship, she really should at least believe them.

She sighed and nodded her agreement. "Fine. I'll go see him around lunch time." She stood and made to trudge back up the stairs to change and manage her rat's nest of hair. "My life has become a complete mess," she mumbled.

Ginny was gone by the time she came back down the stairs, dressed in black jeans and a long, grey cardigan. She'd tamed her hair and pulled it back into a ponytail. She wore little makeup to begin with but her face was completely bare now. She stepped into the floo and with a dejected sigh threw a handful of powder.

She ignored the curious stares as she passed through the main lobby of the Ministry and took the closest lift to the floor of the aurors' offices. Angelina Johnson and Cormac McLaggen both froze when they saw her enter the main office. Seamus Finnegan snorted and turned to them to mutter, "Five galleons says she's come to tell Malfoy off for whatever's got his wand in a knot lately."

Harry noticed the commotion from his open doorway and met her before she could make it to Draco's.

"Come to hear him out," he asked, arms crossed arrogantly over his chest.

"Come off it, Harry," she hissed quietly. "I have every right to be doubtful of such…a declaration."

Harry, to his credit, merely rolled his eyes as he adjusted his glasses. "Doubtful but not hurtful. He's been perfectly kind to you."

Hermione didn't very well like how the tables had been turned on her. These were her friends, weren't they? "You've proven your point, Harry. Now shove off."

He laughed and gestured with his hands for her to go ahead. "Good luck. He's got it locked magically. I even let Seamus try to blow up the lock earlier but he only succeeded in scorching his shirt." He turned to retreat into his office but thought better and turned back to her. "Oh, and see if you can do something about his hand. He won't let anyone look at it."

Bewildered and irritated again, she rolled her eyes and pulled her wand from her pocket. "Do remember who you're talking to." With an elegant swish, the door clicked and opened just an inch. "Perhaps you might consider teaching your aurors more unlocking charms if that's the best they can do."

Harry stared in awe at the opened door. "I'm going to echo Ron from when we were kids but…you're brilliant but scary sometimes. Are you sure you work in the right department?"

Hermione ignored him and pushed inside without another word, closing the door behind her. Upon the intrusion, Draco whirled around to face whoever had managed to get around his spell on the lock and stared wide-eyed at her. There were papers strewn everywhere and file folders lined up along the desk. It looked as if Cornish pixies had been set loose.

Draco had his jacket thrown haphazardly over the back of his chair and his sleeves rolled up just below his dark mark. The anger on his face shifted and he glanced down at the floor, wishing terribly that it would swallow him whole.

He was hurt, and even worse, he was embarrassed. There wasn't an emotion that Draco Malfoy hated more than embarrassment. Seven years hadn't done anything to help him deal with feelings of vulnerability.

"What are you doing here," he asked, his voice much quieter than she'd have expected.

He looked unexpectedly dejected and defeated at her presence. Suddenly, she began to question her own reaction to his words two nights ago. No man who was lying would look like that. A normal reaction from him might have been anger or the cold shoulder. Not this.

With a deep breath, she spoke, "We need to talk, Draco."

He shrugged and turned back to the filing cabinet he was sorting through. "Already tried that. You don't believe me."

Annoyed that he had his back to her, she moved to stand next to the cabinet so she could see his face. "So tell me why I should. Harry and Ginny know all about it. Why can't you tell me when you realized it?"

"The it," he ground out with a snarl, "is that I love you. You can't even say it. Is the idea of being loved by someone like me that repulsive?"

Nearly two months ago she would have said yes. Now though…a part of her wanted it to be true. And that realization stung unexpectedly.

"Draco, can you please explain everything to me? If I jumped to the wrong conclusion how am I supposed to know how to feel if I don't know the reasoning?"

Draco pushed the drawer shut with a bit too much force and the cabinet rocked a bit. He left her to sit in his desk chair while he stared at her. He folded his arms over his chest and heaved a deep breath.

"You're not going to like it."

Hermione took a seat on the edge of his desk and crossed her own arms. "Talk, Malfoy."

He snorted and stared at a random spot on the wall. "I didn't realize it in the moment it happened. It wasn't until later on when I had time to digest it. But the moment I fell in love with you was while you were under the cruciatus." He swallowed at the sound of her harsh intake of breath and turned his gaze to his shoes. "Something just snapped inside me, like a puzzle piece shifting into place after being shoved into the wrong spot for too long. As I watched her get in your face, the tears in your eyes, and the way your body writhed under her spell—I knew you were lying to her. Despite the circumstances—the pain, humiliation, and fear—you were strong, your amazing mind still intact."

He shook his head and cleared his throat which was becoming thick with emotion. He could see it all still playing in his mind like one of those muggle films and it disturbed him to remember it all so clearly. "Just as strong and determined as that swotty little know-it-all I first met and decided I hated upon first sight."

He fought the urge to pace the room as he continued his story but she was blocking his path with the way she was sitting on his desk.

"And you were beautiful. Even in pain, you were beautiful. I'd admitted before that you'd changed and had outgrown your awkward appearance much the way we all had but I hadn't truly seen your beauty until that moment. When she carved that foul word into your arm, I wanted to murder her on the spot. How could prim and proper Hermione Granger have so much as a scratch on her? It wasn't right. But you already know how I felt about trying to stop her. It wasn't until later that year when I realized what I was feeling and why I couldn't explain it."

Draco took a deep breath and looked up to find her staring at him, her mouth hanging open slightly. Her arms had fallen and her hands were gripping the edge of his desk so tightly that her knuckles were turning white.

"I told you that you wouldn't like it," he shook his head dejectedly.

Hermione swallowed and it felt like knives digging into her throat as she fought the urge to cry. She blinked to clear her eyes of the extra moisture and glanced away from him for a moment.

"Why did you never say anything to me then after we returned to Hogwarts? I thought you still hated me for being…well…me."

Draco shrugged and pulled a handkerchief from his waistcoat in case she started crying. It sounded like tears in her voice. "I was still struggling to understand how I felt and accept it myself. I spent the better part of the year just watching you and trying to understand." He laughed at himself, "I also wasn't stupid. You were Hogwarts' golden girl and everyone loved you. What did I have to offer you? A rotten reputation and a blackened heart? You wouldn't have wanted me and I wouldn't have blamed you. I haven't much liked myself over the years."

Her warm, brown eyes watched him and he felt raw under her scrutiny but he finally had nothing left to hide. His last secret was in the open and whatever happened, happened.

"When I got the letter from the ministry telling me that we'd been matched under the marriage law I was torn between being happy for myself and utterly anxious that you'd hate me even more for all the things I'd said or done to you over the years."

Hermione licked her lips and nodded. Her heart felt ready to leap right out of her chest. "I need a little time to digest this but thank you."

The air seemed lighter between them but obviously this wasn't solved.

Before she stood to leave, she glanced at his injured hand and recalled the loud smash she heard that night after she'd slammed the door in his face. Wordlessly, she pulled her wand from her pocket with a quick wave healed the still slightly raw cuts.

Draco simply nodded his thanks and followed her to the door as she got up to leave. She had her hand on the knob but turned back to him abruptly and reached for his tie to pull him closer. She stood on her toes and captured his mouth with her lips.

Her kiss was oddly possessive but he wasn't complaining. A small bit of relief washed over him knowing she wasn't shying away from touching him now. It was like a drink of cold water after a lifetime of drought.

Hermione didn't know why she kissed him. She just knew she couldn't leave his office without touching him again.

Her tongue forced into his mouth which surprised him but he groaned and returned her intensity as he rested a heavy hand against the door behind her head. He didn't even care if she knew how desperate for her touch he was or how quickly she set him on fire.

She pulled back far too soon for his liking but he didn't dare argue.

Hermione ran her thumb over his lower lip, still wet from her kiss. "We'll talk again when you get home."

He nodded dumbly and watched as she slipped out his door and walked right past a stunned bunch of aurors on her way to the lifts. Harry was standing just outside of his office doorway, watching with crossed arms.

"Well," he asked after a moment.

"Bugger off, Potter." He turned to the others watching him and lifted one corner of his mouth in a sneer. "And get your eyes back in their sockets, McLaggen. You've just gotten married yourself. Hermione's mine."

Harry watched him slam his door behind him and laughed. "Well, that's an improvement," he announced to everyone.

Draco was sitting on pins and needles the rest of the work day. Her kiss before she left told him that maybe there was hope for them after all but he had no idea what to expect when he got home.

"Chin up, Malfoy," Harry had told him with a pat on the back.

He took the floo home at half past five. When he stepped out, he was slightly surprised to find her seated on the couch with a book in one hand and a cup of tea in the other with her cat curled into a black ball behind her head.

Hermione looked up from her book and set her cup down. "How was the rest of your day?"

"It was…fine." He set his briefcase down in a chair and removed his robes. "Yours?"

She shrugged her shoulders and closed her book. "I've never taken time off before. It was nice to have time to think."

And there it was.

He cleared his throat, "And what did you think about?"

"You. Us."

Draco licked his dry lips and took a seat in the armchair adjacent to their sofa. "There's an 'us'?"

She nodded, pushing stray curls out of her eyes. "You have a bit of an advantage over me here, Draco. You say you're in love with me…while I'm still…falling."

"Falling," he asked hopefully with a raised eyebrow.

She nodded nervously. "I'm beginning to believe the ministry knew what they were doing after all."

An invisible weight he hadn't been aware that he was carrying suddenly lifted. He practically melted into the chair with relief.

She had an amused smile on her lips when she next spoke. "Are you just going to sit over there and stare or are you going to come over here and kiss me?"

"Hm? Oh!"

He quickly moved to sit next to her and captured her mouth in a deep kiss, his tongue quickly tracing the seam of her lips before she accepted him. His heart thrummed happily when her hands came up to cup his face before she threaded her fingers through the short hair at the base of his skull.

He never wanted to kiss another woman again as long as he lived.

Hermione was just getting into the kiss when he began to lean her back against the couch. She moved a hand to his chest and pressed gently enough to break contact.

"Did I do something wrong," he panted as he pulled her back into a sitting position.

She shook her head, running her hand across his chest and feeling the muscle there she'd not paid enough attention to before now. She hadn't seen him without a shirt yet but it was obvious that the weight he'd put on since school was all muscle.

"No, I just…can we take that side of things slow? I need time to adjust to this."

"Of course. Hermione, I won't ask for more than you want to give me."

She bit her lip before meeting his eyes. "We still need to get to know each other and where this is going better. And, well, I've never done…that before."

His eyes widened considerably and he didn't really understand why that information thrilled him. She'd truly be all his. "You and Weasley never…?"

She rolled her eyes. "No, I wasn't ready and I didn't love him. Not the way I think you should to have a physical relationship like that anyway."

Draco gave her a rare but encouraging smile. "If it makes you feel any better I've only ever been with one person…really only done it twice. I didn't exactly enjoy it either."

Hermione's hand stilled on his chest. "What do you mean?"

He sighed and sat back to give her a bit of space, himself as well.

"It was during the war. My father was pressuring me to secure the family name. He hoped that if I had a son, no matter what happened to us, the child would carry on the Malfoy name." He shook his head at the memory. "Merlin, was she hideous. Blonde with horrible green eyes—she seemed far too happy about the whole thing if you asked me."

Hermione was outraged. "Draco, you were only seventeen! That's horrible!"

He shrugged and shook off the memory of her. "And my father is a horrible man. I won't lie to you; I got bloody plastered beforehand. I don't think I could have done it otherwise. I haven't been with a woman since."

She gave him a gentle smile. "So you really don't like blondes?"

He shook his head. "Never have. Couldn't have admitted as much to my parents though. Purists and all that shit. No one in the Malfoy family has had anything but blonde hair for more than a century." He stopped and made a face. "Kind of disturbing really."

"I'm afraid I'm going to muddy your family line. Pun intended."

That earned her a good laugh from him. His smiles had been rare but she hoped she'd be treated to more of them now. He really did have a handsome smile when he let go.

"And I can't wait." Her face warmed when he reached out to stroke her cheek. "I hope our children look just like you."

She could tell he was only trying to be honest, not overly sweet but Merlin, he was going to melt her logical self into a puddle with comments like that.

Draco dropped his hand and reached for her left hand. He eyed the stones adorning her engagement ring.

"I chose topaz for your eyes," he finally admitted, harkening back to her question during their first dinner.

She bit the inside of her lip as she watched his thumb brush over the stones on her rings. "You once told me 'muddy eyes for a mudblood'," she reminded him a bit sardonically.

Draco closed his eyes with a cringe as his own words were repeated back to him. He nodded, "I know. And I'm sorry. I was wrong."

She didn't want to hurt him but he needed to know. "I remember going back to my dorm and staring into a mirror for the longest time trying to tell myself I didn't hate my eyes."

He sucked in a harsh breath at that. After a while of passing her constantly in the Ministry when he first started working there and avoiding her around her friends, he'd tried to stop reliving his stupid words to her.

He knew he'd left some emotional scars and she didn't deserve them. No one did but especially not her.

"Your eyes," he released her hand and instead ran a fingertip along her nose, "are the color of milk chocolate. Dark but beautiful."

She stared into his soft, grey eyes before suddenly releasing a breathy laugh. She watched his forehead wrinkle in confusion and shook her head at him. "I'm sorry. It's just I never thought that I'd be on the receiving end of Draco Malfoy sweet talking someone. Really that you'd ever sweet talk anyone at all."

He frowned at that and retracted his hand from her. "I wasn't trying to sweet talk you. I was trying to be honest."

She calmed her laughter and nodded, still smiling. "I know. I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to make you upset. I just…I'm not used to this from you. You've shattered all of my previous expectations of you since this all started."

He lifted a caustic eyebrow, "I should think that would be a good thing."

"It is, Draco." She narrowed her eyes at him. "You're still a rather moody sort, you know. Even you have to admit that you'd have laughed if you imagined our lives intertwining like this when we were younger."

He bobbed his head from side to side before rolling his eyes. "As always, you're right. Do you ever get sick of being right?"

Hermione huffed and smacked his arm with a laugh. "Now you're beginning to sound like Harry."

"No need to be insulting," he countered.

"You really are insufferable," she mumbled just before she leaned in to kiss him again.

The kiss didn't get to progress very far before Bitsy appeared with a pop and interrupted them.

She had her eyes covered when they pulled back and both looked at her.

"Bitsy is most sorry to interrupt." She was smiling when Draco reached out to move her hands. "Bitsy left dinner in the kitchen."

"Bitsy, did you want to stay and eat with us," Hermione asked, ignoring Draco's wide eyes.

"Bitsy is most honored, Mistress Hermione, but she has a poker game to attend."

Draco gave her an odd look. "Bitsy, you play wizard poker?"

"Oh yes, sir. Won 10 galleons off of the Pincers' house elves last month, sir," she beamed proudly.

He smirked confidently. "Perhaps I'll ask for your help the next time I play Potter and Longbottom. I had rotten luck last time."

"Bitsy would be most honored to help, sir." She gave an elegant curtsy and disappeared with a loud pop.

"Who are the Pincer's," Hermione asked as they stood together.

"One of the few decent pureblood families left, outside of the Weasley's. Have them investigated under your new law if you'd like but I can guarantee they don't mistreat their elves."

"I trust you."

That declaration caused him to stop dead in his tracks. "That means everything to hear you say that."

Hermione bit her lip. "I do, Draco. And I'm sorry I didn't believe you initially. I didn't like the boy I went to school with but I could easily fall in love with the man he's become."

Draco searched her eyes to make sure she was serious. A small smile turned one corner of his mouth up. "Then I'll be annoyingly charming until you've finally fallen in love with me then."