Hello again! Sorry for the intense delay; I've been caught up with uni assignments and it's totally draining me… And I may or may not have been catching up on television shows (-cough- GoT –cough- OUAT –cough- Orange is the New Black -cough-). In any case, enjoy the next installment!

Edit: Thank you for the reviews, follows and favs! They really do make me want to write more. If I get more than 10 reviews on this chapter, I'll update much sooner ;)

Chapter 4

Ginny Potter leaned over her kitchen counter, teacup in both hands, staring at Hermione with a knowing (almost condescending) smile. As much as it annoyed Hermione, she had better things to worry about. She'd decided to visit the Potter home a week before she was scheduled to go see her parents, to confide in Ginny about her… situation.

Ginny, on the other hand, hadn't even batted an eyelid at the idea. In fact, she was quite enthusiastic about it, which was more than could be said about Harry's reaction; as soon as she began talking about it, he'd lifted his hands up in resignation and left the room, muttering "not my area of expertise". She understood though; Malfoy was still very much a touchy topic for Harry.

As for Ginny… not so much.

"I don't see what the problem is. You're dating, right? So wouldn't it be right to introduce him to your parents?"

Hermione sighed and set her own teacup down. "But it's too soon! Ron and I have barely been divorced for a year and suddenly I'm dating the guy who I've complained to them about for years! I haven't even told them that I work for him."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Hermione, there are no rules about how long you have to wait before you start dating after a divorce. They would understand that. Also, I'm fairly sure Malfoy can charm his way out of any awkward situations; he is a Slytherin, after all. Certainly worked with you didn't it? And besides, if you feel as though it's too soon to introduce them, why start dating?"

Oh how Hermione wished she could just tell Ginny the truth! "I don't know, it just sort of… happened. I didn't plan for it."

"Bet Malfoy did."

"Ginny!" Hermione admonished.

"What? Oh come on. Boys pick on girls who they like, and he's been doing that since the moment you guys met… more so with you that anyone else, really. There were plenty of Muggleborns at Hogwarts, but for some reason, he'd always go out of his way to be particularly nasty to you."

Hermione sighed. "It's because I'm friends with Harry."

Ginny's lip quirk up on the right side, amused. "I really don't think so."

Rolling her eyes, Hermione took a languid sip from her tea before replying. "Malfoy would laugh at your silly accusations."

Suddenly Ginny looked confused. "Why do you still call him 'Malfoy'?"

Hermione shrugged, trying to feign casualness when internally, she was berating herself for not realizing how weird it would be to be calling your romantic partner by their surname still. "Familiarity, I guess…?" And because we're not actually dating, she mentally added on.

Ginny seemed to be okay with that answer though. "Look, I'm sure it'll be fine. And Rose will get used to it over time—"

"Rose can't know; she's still upset over the divorce!"

"She's going to find out eventually, if she hasn't already."

Hermione stopped herself from spilling everything out. Ginny was right; it was just surprising that Rose hadn't contacted her sooner about it. No doubt she would have seen it all over the tabloids. As would Scorpius. Hermione mentally cringed.

"I really don't want to deal with that at the moment, so I'm just glad she hasn't contacted me about it yet."

"But she will, and when she does, you'll have a lot of explaining to do."

"I know."

Portkeying into the Muggle world always excited Hermione. After spending so much time in the Wizarding world, it was always nice to get a break from it all. It was different coming home where she lived in Muggle London; had expressed how eager they were to see her and it was more of a "no man's land" to her, so it didn't really count. It had been a while since she visited her parents, and they had expressed how eager they were to see her meet "the new boyfriend". She still hadn't managed to tell them who it was exactly, which now in hindsight, was a bad idea. She should have at least warned them.

No turning back now, she thought as she stepped out of the Floo network into Malfoy Manor with her luggage in hand. Draco was already waiting for her, looking fairly impatient.

"You're late. Is this to become a habit?" He sounded annoyed.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Honestly, I'm a minute late. Relax, the Portkey won't be ready for another three."

The Portkey was a small glass cup that was already in the center of the room.

"Are you sure you want to do this? I know how you don't like going into the Muggle world, Malfoy."

"I don't really have a choice now, do I? We've already informed Copperwait that we're both going. And I'm prepared for the worst; who knows what kind of hovel you grew up in? Besides, Scorpius insists on staying at Hogwarts with his friends this year. I assume it's about the yearly "Slytherin After Party"—well, "Hogwarts After Party", I should say. I don't know what McGonagall was thinking with this "uniting of the Houses" shit."

Hermione raised an eyebrow inquisitively. "Rose changed her mind last-minute to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas this year, too. She owled me yesterday morning about it… sounds suspicious. "

Draco smirked at her. "If she's anything like her mother, I'm sure there's nothing to be afraid of. She'll probably be holing herself up in the Library the entire time."

"That's what I'm afraid of though, she's nothing like me."

Draco looked amused and was about to reply, right before the glass cup in the middle of the room began to glow.

"Well, are you ready?"

He held his hand out to her as they stepped closer to the cup. She took it hesitantly; his hands were callous, but delicate at the same time, she mused briefly. "As ready as I'll ever be."

And with that said, they both touched the cup with their free hands.

The alleyway they landed on was adjacent a quiet, quaint street that seemed to be the main road. The shops surrounding them were all just about to open. As they stepped onto the main street, Hermione sighed happily. Draco, on the other hand, was looking around with curiosity. She was glad it wasn't distaste.

"come on, we have to find a taxi."

Draco frowned at her. "A what?"

But Hermione was already hailing one from the street that had to do a u-turn to get on the same side as them. "A taxi, Malfoy," she said as she beckoned him to follow her. "Muggle transport."

The taxi stopped in front of them, opening the boot for their luggage. Hermione made her way to the boot as Draco stood where he was, looking at the taxi with the utmost apprehension. The taxi driver came out and greeted them. "Where are we off to, then?" he seemed to ask Draco. The Wizard narrowed his eyes at him, but spoke to Hermione instead as she made her way over to grab his luggage.

"I'm not getting into that… that… contraption."

Hermione rolled her eyes as she made her way to the boot. Thank goodness it was charmed so that it was as light as air. "Just go along with it. It's only a five-minute ride."

"No."

"Then you can go back. I'll just tell Copperwait that things didn't work out and that you're still a prejudice—" but before she could finish, he was entering the taxi, but not without a scowl set on his face.

Smiling triumphantly, she made her way into the taxi as well, and gave directions to the taxi driver.

"Granger."

"…"

"Granger!"

Hermione snapped out it as she turned her head towards Draco she had been watching the town go by her window, completely forgetting that Draco was there. "What?"

"Your name."

"Huh?"

He looked irritated. "Your surname. It's almost on every shop in this town. You'd have thought you would have mentioned it once or twice."

Hermione shrugged nonchalantly, turning her head back to the window as the taxi made a right turn. "My family made some investments over the years."

Draco continued to glare at her, and she tried very hard not to look back.

Not until the taxi turn into a small dirt road that let to a large wooden gate that had security cameras on each post did Draco stop glaring at her. The taxi driver stopped the car so that Hermione's window was directly next to the intercom.

She pressed the small black button and waited for a few seconds. Before long, there was a static noise coming from the intercom, and she had to fight the urge to snigger as she heard Draco shuffle in his seat. "Yes?" A female voice came through.

"Mum, it's me."

There was an excited squeal before the female voice replied. "Hermione! You're finally here—dear, Hermione's home! Come in, sweetheart!"

The wooden gates turned out to be electronic, sliding apart for the taxi to drive through. As they drove, Hermione snuck a glance at Draco, who looked a bit impressed at the sight out the window; the driveway was filled with small beige pebbles that crunched underneath the wheels, lined by pink and white rose shrubbery that led into the front driveway with a water fountain in the middle before a large three story villa made from large warm beige sand stone. The entrance was a double door made of thick mahogany that had three horizontal glass panels on each side. To add to it, the large land was the perfect shade of grass green, and that was only the front of the house.

The taxi driver made a low whistle. "Fancy digs you have, miss. If I had known you lived here, I would have charged double!" he joked, looking impressed as he sounded. Hermione smiled politely, even though he couldn't see.

"It's my parents house."

Draco's head whipped back in her direction to scowl at her, and she flinched. What was he so upset about, anyway?! But he continued to say nothing, and after a few awkward seconds, he turned his head away from her to look at the house again. Hermione let out a breath of relief and made her way out of the taxi.

The front doors of the house opened as Draco made his way out as well. Mr. and Mrs. Granger came out, smiling brightly at their daughter whom they enveloped into a big hug.

"Oh we've missed you so much!" Mrs. Granger sounded teary.

"Good to see you guys too. I've missed you both," replied Hermione as she struggled to free herself from their grasp.

Mr. Granger's eyes settled on Draco was the hug was over, suddenly looking stern. Hermione internally groaned.

"Mum, dad, this is Draco Malfoy, my… uh, boyfriend," she muttered as she motioned to the blond. Suddenly Mr. Granger's expression darkened.

"Draco Malfoy… Isn't he the one who bullied you relentlessly for years?"

Draco suddenly had his hand around Hermione's waist with the most charming smile she'd ever seen on his face; her heart skipped a beat. He truly was handsome… in a manipulative, snarky, arrogant kind of way. He made a gesture to shake Mr. Granger's hand as he spoke.

"I've been spending a good few years trying to make it up to her for all that. I was a downright nightmare, and she was never afraid to point that out and put me in my place. I guess it sort of grew on me, and now look at us," he said as he gave Hermione the same charming grin, but she noticed there was a hint of amusement in his eyes. Git, she thought. "Pleased to meet you both." Draco added smoothly. All the while, Mr. Granger still hadn't taken his offer to shake hands, continuing to stare at Draco with suspicion.

Luckily, Mrs. Granger stepped in and took his hand in place of her husband. "Pleased to meet you as well, Mr. Malfoy—"

"Draco, please." Draco said as he shook her hand, the same grin still plastered on his face.

The smile on Mrs. Granger's face was warm and genuine, and soon Hermione was scared that she might fall for Draco's charms. She made a mental note to disparage her mother's idea about him later.

Draco then excused himself and followed Mr. Granger to the boot of the taxi to gather their luggage, leaving Hermione and her mother to head into the house.

"He's quite the handsome man," her mother said offhandedly.

"I guess…"

"What do you mean, 'I guess'? When you told us about him as a child, I envisioned him to be a big ugly boy with terrible acne, beady eyes and a horrible personality."

Hermione smirked. "You've just met him; give it a couple more minutes and you'll see the horrible personality come through."

Mrs. Granger gasped. "Hermione, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that you didn't like him, which doesn't make any sense because you're together. That's no way to speak about your partner," she admonished, but there was a hint of playfulness in her voice. "Personally, I wouldn't mind as long as he kept looking the way he does. You've got to dig your claws into that one, sweetheart!"

"Mum!"

"What? He's a good-looking young man. If I was your age and not married, I'd have a crack at him."

Hermione groaned, then suddenly stopped as Draco and her father came in with the luggage. Hermione blushed furiously; she was very sure that Draco had heard her mother, if his smirk was anything to go by.

Mr. Granger made his way towards the stairs, taking the luggage from Draco as well. "Hermione, you could have told me you'd made these much lighter. He didn't have to help," her father said, shooting a glare at Draco. Draco looked as though he was pretending not to see. "In any case, I'll meet you three in the sun room. Your mother's prepared breakfast there." And with that, he made his way up the grand staircase.

Then Mrs. Granger led them to the back of the house where the sunroom was located.

"So, how did this relationship come to be? Given your history, this is quite a surprise, Mrs. Granger asked as she delicately wiped the side of her mouth. The four of them were sitting around a small round dining table that was situated near the window that overlooked the vast backyard. The sun illuminated the bright room, gleaming off the white china on the table.

Hermione, who had been eating a piece of toast, made a choking sound—clearly unable to answer. Draco, who was sitting next to her, put his free hand on the small of her back in an attempt at comfort as he spoke. "We've been working together for a couple of years. I guess it all just chalks down to having to spend so much time together. She grew on me," he drawled as he rubbed her back in small circles— her flesh tingling where he rubbed, becoming increasingly embarrassed.

But she nodded in agreement anyway as Mrs. Granger smiled at them. Mr. Granger lifted an eyebrow slowly. "Hermione's never mentioned working with you," he addressed Draco.

"Dad—"

"How's Rosie taking the news?" Her mother interrupted as she placed a stern hand on her husband's knee.

"I haven't been able to talk to her in person about it yet, but—"

"And how does Ronald feel about this?" Mr. Granger interrupted his daughter. Honestly, she was getting tired of people talking over her. She gave him a stern look.

"What Ron thinks in no concern of mine. Rose is old enough to understand the intricacies of divorce. And I'm sure the same could be said for Scorpius," she said as she looked to Draco. He looked amused, which further annoyed her.

Her mother's eyebrows shot up. "Who's Scorpius?"

"My son."

"Oh!" the older woman exclaimed excitedly. Mr. Granger was still not warming up, unfortunately.

"So you're also a divorcee?"

Draco nodded. "My ex-wife and I had many conflicting views about how a marriage is supposed to be. It was arranged anyway."

"Is that common in the Wizarding world?"

Draco gave a non-committal shrug as he reach for his teacup. "It is among the Purebl—older families." he corrected himself, decidedly shutting up by sipping from his cup. Hermione was grateful that he stopped when he did; her parents (specifically speaking, her father) were clearly not happy with the couple. It would be a nightmare for Draco's old discriminating ways to be brought up in a more direct manner. He was obviously conscious of it.

"How've you both been?" Hermione asked her parents, and thus removing the spotlight from Draco and herself.

Her parents continued on about how the extended family was, their holiday back to Australia earlier in June, and the family business. Draco seemed to perk up when Mr. Granger spoke of his business ventures. "... and Mr. Williams seems to be happy with it now," Mr. Granger finished.

"So I take it that you family owns most of the businesses in this town," Draco decided that this was the best time to join the conversation. Mr. Granger looked curiously over at the blond.

"Yes... Our family's been here for several generations, so naturally we've expanded. My wife and I are dentists by trade, but my family has always had a knack for dipping their hands into business. We have quite an expansive collection of subsidiary businesses."

"Hermione's never mentioned it to me, surprisingly. And she knows just how much I love running a business," Draco said lightly, but Hermione saw right through it; he was still very annoyed. Although about what, she couldn't figure out. It wasn't like she owed him an explanation!

But now her father was actually interested in having a decent conversation with Draco, it seemed. "You know about business, Mr. Malfoy?"

Draco smirked. "I'm currently running my own family's company."

And thus started a good chat about their similar tastes, goals and business strategy as Hermione and her mother observed. It last a good twenty minutes, and it seemed as though Mr. Granger was seeing Draco in a new light. "I'm not surprised that Hermione hasn't brought it up with you; she's never been interested in contributing to the family business... Then again, I suppose she belongs to a different world now. We're still very proud of her, despite our conflicting priorities. Though, I had hoped..." Mr. Granger sounded disappointed.

Hermione sighed. "Dad, you know Jamie's more than happy to take it up," she reminded him.

"Still, it's such a shame. Your cousins not as bright as you are," her father replied. That's true, she thought as she laughed lightly in response.

"Speaking of cousins, will they be coming for Christmas?"

Mrs. Granger clasped her hands excitedly. "Yes! They've been so excited to see you!"

"We've invited the Stormbrooke's this year as well," her father added in a very business-like manner. Hermione paled.

"Then Felix will be here too?"

"Who's Felix?" Draco drawled. Hermione was about to answer, but Mr. Granger thought it would be best to answer the blond himself.

"Felix Stormbrooke is the son of one of our business partners—very good lad. It's such a shame that he never had the chance to date our Hermione; he's always been keen to."

"Robert!" Mrs. Granger exclaimed angrily, but her husband looked unaffected. In fact, he was watching Draco, probably looking for a reaction to assess. Luckily, Hermione thought, her relationship with Draco was a farce and he wasn't interested in her that was at all, so of course he wouldn't rise to the challenge—

"Guess I lucked out, then."

Or, maybe she was wrong.

She looked over at the blond man, astonished. His clenched knuckles were whiter than usual, and his face had paled. There was also a forced smile on his face that looked terribly uncomfortable. Was he... jealous?

No, it's just an act, she rationalized quickly, he's just good at playing the part...

The subject was quickly changed when Mrs. Granger interrupted the glaring contest between the two men, and soon breakfast was over. Hermione offered to help her mother clean up, but the older woman shooed her away to go unpack with Draco—who had made his own way to the bedroom according to the directions Hermione gave him.

When she arrived in her old bedroom, she found Draco smirking at the wall that had old pictures hanging. "Amusing, is it?" she said as she made her way over to him. He shrugged.

"It's nostalgic. This is the Granger I remember loving to hate," he replied, motioning to a particular photo of her; it was the photo her parents had taken of her on the day she first made her way to Hogwarts.

She rolled her eyes. "Nothing's changed, Malfoy," she said as she walked towards her luggage. He made no comment.

Her room was fairly large with cream coloured walls that had photos hung up. She was never the type for gaudy-stereotypical teenage decoration. And besides, she was barely home, so nothing had changed much. Her queen-sized bed was covered with black beddings and white pillows that had red trimmings, colour-coordinating with the black furniture. There was a cream furry mat in between the full bookshelf and the floor of the bed, and next to the bookshelf was her desk that had a new computer. She looked at it curiously, reminding herself to ask her parents about where it had come from.

She really did miss her family— the only thing missing was Rose, who was instead replaced with—

"So, we're sharing a bed."

"I-I'm sorry?"

"Well, they've put all our luggage in the same room, so I assume they think we'll be sleeping together."

Hermione, who had been in the middle of unpacking, froze. She hadn't even thought about it. "U-Uh... you could sleep in the spare room," she offered, but he shook his head as he made his way over to the bed, making himself comfortable just sitting at the foot of it.

"Wouldn't that be suspicious?" Shit.

She sighed and ran a hand over her head to smooth out her hair. "Then I can go sleep there."

"Doesn't make a difference, Granger. Bottom line is, we're stuck."

"Sleep on the floor, then."

Draco looked appalled. "I will not sleep on your—"

"But I refuse to sleep in the same bed as you!"

"Then you sleep on the floor—"

"It's my bed!"

Draco frowned. "Look, I promise I won't do anything. It's not like I want to," he said as he rolled his eyes, but then a sly smirk spread slowly across his face. "Unless you're interested."

She flushed as she picked up one of her cardigans and threw it at his face. Unfortunately though, he caught it in time. Damn his fast reaction time, she thought ruefully.

"I want nothing of the sort, Malfoy."

He shrugged. "Suit yourself," he said as he began to inspect his nails. "So you're fine with sleeping in the same bed then?"

She scowled at him, refusing to meet his triumphant gaze. "It's not like we have a choice."

He grinned.