After the uneventful, albeit awkward dinner, Harry and Hermione left the restaurant. Draco also left, going in the opposite direction without so much as a goodbye.

After walking in silence for about thirty seconds, Harry turned to look at Hermione with his chin down and eyebrows raised. "Not to sound like Ron, but what the bloody hell was that?" He pointed in the direction where Draco had just been walking. "I try to take you out for a relaxing dinner, and you feel the need to invite Malfoy to dine with us? And don't think I didn't see the two of you dancing the other night. You owe me an explanation."

Hermione stared back at him defiantly, then she began to chew her lip and look away. "I...I don't have an explanation."

Harry sighed. "Look, I know it's been five years, and I'm guessing you thought he had changed or something like that. Correct me if I'm wrong."

"You're not wrong."

"But sometimes, people just stay the same. Even after a war. I don't think any amount of kindness could change that git from the person he was when we were in school. Sure, he managed to sit at a table with us and only insult us a handful of times. But he's still the same on the inside. Just do me a favor and try to stay away from him. It would make me feel a lot better as far as your safety goes."

"I can handle myself," said Hermione as she turned away from him.

"I know you can," he replied to the back of her head. "And if you absolutely must become friends with Draco Malfoy, then leave me out of it. That was possibly the worst dinner of my life, and I lived with the Dursley's my entire childhood."

Hermione, still facing away from him, muttered quietly, "Fine." She then turned her head to see Harry chuckling quietly to himself.

"What's so funny?"

He shrugged. "I dunno. It just seems like you've always been the one lecturing me. It's...kinda nice having it be the other way around for once."

Hermione shook her head, her curls bouncing as she did so, though she couldn't help but smile. "I don't lecture you that much, do I?"

Harry put his arm around her shoulders and responded, "Hermione, I couldn't count the number of times Ron and I have been viciously chewed out by you." They began walking down the lamp-lit sidewalk, his arm still around her. "But you're worth every single one." They continued to walk together until they said their goodbyes and apparated to their own homes.

Draco lay in bed, wide awake. He sat up, grabbed his wand, and whispered, "Lumos." Blinking his eyes in the sudden brightness, he got out of bed and stumbled to his small desk. After grabbing a quill, some ink, and a sheet of parchment out of one of the drawers, he sat back on his bed and enchanted the quill to write for him as he spoke.

As he walked to the cage where his Eagle Owl was perched, he stopped and thought, 'Do I really want this?' Before he had even answered himself, he had tied the note to the owl's leg and was sending the creature off into the night.

He then got back in bed and promptly fell asleep.

Hermione awoke to the sound of light tapping on her apartment window.

She stretched her arms out, then checked her watch. It read 6:43. Groaning, she lazily snuggled back into the covers and closed her eyes. When the tapping persisted, she threw off the blanket and dragged herself to the window, where she saw a beautiful Eagle Owl perched outside with a note tied to its leg.

"Hello there," she greeted as she squinted in the morning sunlight, still half asleep. "I wonder who you belong to." After she untied the note, the owl flew off without waiting for a reply. Hermione closed the window then opened the note.

Granger,

Meet me at Whitehall at 11:00 a.m. There are things I need to say. We'll need to blend in with Muggles, but look presentable nonetheless.

~D.M.

P.S. No, this is not a joke.

Hermione slowly lowered the note and sat back down on her bed. What could Draco Malfoy possibly have to say to her? Somehow, she knew the note and its message were both legitimate. It said so on the note itself, but it went deeper than that. She had not forgotten what he said- or at least began to say- to her at the ball. Perhaps it was time that she gave him a chance to say what he needed to. Besides, if it indeed turned out to be an immature prank, her wand would be at the ready. She had learned a few things since Hogwarts that she would love to use on Malfoy.

Though she would most definitely not be telling Ron.