Chapter 4

And his gut feeling proved right the moment he stepped out of the fireplace at his home, as he found her wrapped up on his sofa with a book on her knees. "Oh, thank Merlin!"

His outcry startled her, but as soon as she recognised him, her face softened into an apologetic smile, closing the book. "I-I didn't know where else to go–"

"Don't worry." Relieved, but still worried about her, Draco sat down on the lounge table, facing her. "Potter sent me a note… Are you okay?"

To avoid his gaze, she slowly put the book on the small table next to the sofa's armrest. Only then did she shake her head, lips pressed into a thin line. "Ron… Ron saw the pictures in the press. He-He didn't know that… that we aren't married for real."

"He was abroad for a mission, right?" Without a second thought, he reached for her hand to hold it as a comfort.

Her lips curling ever so slightly into a softer smile, she twined her fingers with his, holding on to him. "I did try to explain to him, but he didn't believe me. Ugh, it was so stupid… I thought I made it clear that I was breaking up with him for good, that there was no chance of getting back together this time. And-And he thought we just had another relationship break like we had before. And now, with the pictures, he thinks I had an affair with you, and that I only broke up with him because you proposed."

Draco could hear the anger in her voice, despite her effort to hide it. "Did he do anything–?"

"Like hurt me? No, he's not that type of person! But… but I think I lost it for a moment when he said those things. I think I hexed him or something. I-I was so shocked about myself that I left. I came here because he doesn't have access to your place, and I just wanted to calm down again."

"You can stay as long as you want."

Sighing, she nodded, even tried to add a smile. "Right now, I just want a hug."

"Anything…" He squeezed her hand in reassurance before he rose to his feet. "I'll just let Potter know that you're here and safe, alright?"

Wrapping the knitted throw tighter around her shoulder, she nodded again. "Tell him I'm sorry."

..

An hour later, Hermione was cuddling tightly against his frame, her head nestled on his shoulder and her legs long since stretched out over his while she listened intently to him reading from her book. She had calmed down again, even laughed at his terrible attempts of doing voices.

As he finished another chapter of the surprisingly delightful book, he looked at her as he pulled her closer for a moment. "You can stay here for the night if you want. Tilly won't mind getting the guestroom all set up for you."

"Can't we just stay like this?" she replied with a tired sigh. "I… It's nice."

Without thought, he pressed a kiss on top of her head, glad she couldn't see his blushing once he realised what he had done. "Well… I'm afraid my legs might fall asleep soon."

"Sorry," she said with a small smirk, tilting her head up to look at him. "It's just so comfortable."

Just as he wanted to start the next chapter, the Floo activated, announcing a call. Hermione immediately tensed up, shaking her head as Draco put the book aside.

"Draco?" a female voice came through. "Are you there?"

After carefully pushing Hermione's legs off his lap, Draco went over to the fireplace. "I'm here, Ginny. I told your husband already that Hermione is safe–"

"Oh, I can see her at the edge," Ginny said with a relieved smile. "Just wanted to say that we finally managed to talk to my dear brother. Did you really hex him?"

"Oh God, yes. I'm so sorry about it..." Hermione hid her embarrassment behind her hands as she nodded.

"Don't worry," Ginny replied through the Floo, then her face briefly disappeared, her voice becoming distant. Seconds later, a bag was pushed through. "However, I figured you'd be staying for the night, so I picked up a few things. Sorry if I didn't get everything you usually need for the night. And I fed Crookshanks–"

"Thanks." Draco brought the bag over to Hermione who immediately inspected the contents with a happy smile.

"Thank you! You're a sweetheart!"

"No problem!" Ginny's face reappeared in the flames, her eyes switching to Draco. "Please take care of her. As much as I love my brother, he sometimes forgets to think when he is angry…"

"I get why he was angry, but it was a nasty fight based on what she told me." He threw a glance behind him to the sofa where Hermione was still checking out the contents of the bag.

"The boys had a shouting match, to be honest. Harry was pissed that Ron was late for his report this morning, and Ron was still upset from his fight with Hermione. If only he had come straight to the Auror office…"

Draco nodded. "I'll make sure she is fine. Thanks for the bag, though."

Ginny's smile widened. "I'll call again tomorrow. And Hermione, don't worry, okay?"

"I'll be fine, but thanks."

With that, Ginny disappeared again, and the Floo connection died down. After a quick look at the clock, Draco sighed but covered it immediately with a smile. "How about getting ready for bed now? It's late, and I do need to get up early tomorrow."

Her smile wavered for a second, but then she nodded and stretched her legs to get up and follow him to the bedrooms. At the door to the guest room, she pressed a kiss on his cheek. "Thanks for letting me stay tonight."

..

The next morning, Draco was rather rudely pulled from his pleasant dreams by his alarm, just as he got to the best part of it—Hermione had been the main part of his dream, and she had just taken off her shirt.

With an annoyed grunt, he silenced the alarm and turned on his back to stretch his legs and arms before getting up. As he spread out his arms to the side, he found that something had encroached on his personal space.

Holding his breath, he turned back on his side, facing the heap of blanket next to him and slowly pulled it down, only to breathlessly gasp at the sight.

"You have a very annoying alarm," Hermione murmured and tried to pull the blanket up again.

"Well…" He couldn't help but smile at the sight of her sleepy form, eyes still closed and hair covering the majority of the pillow she had claimed for the night. Without a second thought, he brushed an obstinate strand out of her face, caressing her cheek in the process.

She hummed and leaned into his touch. "That's better."

He slid closer as carefully as he could, his fingers still softly tracing her cheek and neck; her content smile at his touch was mesmerising, and he ached to kiss her awake. "Good morning, you sleepy head."

Only then did Hermione open her eyes, or at least the eye that wasn't covered by the pillow; she immediately covered it with her hand when she recognised him with an embarrassed groan. "Morning."

"How come you are here?" he asked, his voice now a sleepy but soft whisper as he gently pulled her hand from her face.

"I couldn't sleep," she replied, grinning nervously. "I counted thousands of sheep, but I just couldn't relax enough. And I always sleep better with someone next to me–"

"So you came over."

She nodded, her grin softening into a warm smile that brightened up her whole face. "Thanks for being so nice, even though you don't really have to be."

"Hermione, please, it's no big–"

She placed a finger on his lips. "My filters aren't working yet… I know it's just a game of pretence, but I do enjoy spending time with you, you know? Honestly, it's nice to feel appreciated and not taken for granted. I… I haven't felt this comfortable in a long while, not even with…"

Her sigh sent a pang through his chest; it sounded lonely and miserable, as short as it was. So, he reached for the hand that was still covering his mouth and twined their fingers. "No one should ever take you for granted. You've done more remarkable things than other wizards ever achieve in their lifetime. And everyone who forgets that, well… they aren't worth your attention."

There was now a spark in her eyes, and her smile had turned into a little smirk as she squeezed his hand and pulled him a little closer. "And you think you are worth my attention?"

"Hmm… Given that you chose to sleep in my bed, I'd say so." He didn't resist her pulling, and his gaze lingered on those temptingly smirking lips. He'd give his bloody fortune to just know whether her little flirting game right now meant he was allowed to kiss her.

Little shivers of excitement kept running down his spine because he was so goddamn close, and she was pulling him even closer. If only his little treacherous heart would stop beating so damn hard against his chest.

But before he could move in to claim her lips, she buried her face in the fabric of his sleep shirt, pressed against his chest, inhaling deeply before letting the air out again in a low purr.

He was fucked.

And after a check on his alarm, he was also starting to run late to his dismay. Burying his fingers in the hair on the side of her head, he gently tilted her up. "Come with me to the company, I'd like to show you what I do all day, meet my people…"

Her face once more brightened up with a smile, and she nodded in response. "I'd love to. But not without coffee first."

"My kind of person!" He chuckled and finally let go of her to climb out of bed, followed by Hermione after a hard yawn and a stretch of her legs.

..

"Good morning, Una." As every morning after arriving in his office, Draco made a point of greeting his assistant, who narrowed her eyes at him for a second, silently scolding him.

"Boss, you're late," Una said with exactly the right measure of disappointment in her voice to make him blush for the briefest of moments before he caught himself again.

"I'm aware of that." He stepped out of his office, gently pulling Hermione with him who was still admiring his office, or more likely the view. "My… er… wife was the reason for my tardiness. Una, this is Hermione. She helped me get the Thursby deal."

Now Una's face brightened up with the biggest smile she could muster as she rose to her feet to greet Hermione. "So, you're the one. Lovely to meet you!"

"Er… yes. I'm the one." Slightly confused, but with a soft smile, Hermione shook Una's hand. "I'm sorry for making him late; it wasn't my intention."

"Don't worry, love. Only a couple of minutes anyway." Una suddenly remembered a message and searched her desk for it until she found a note on a piece of parchment. "Boss, Mr Zabini asks for a response to his meeting proposal, the earlier the better."

Draco widened his eyes and let out a small gasp. "Damn, I meant to do that yesterday. I'll be right back!"

As he hastily searched for the proposal parchment to write a response, he could hear the two women exchange a few words outside his still open office door.

"I guess he's going to show you around?" Una asked, apparently sitting down again based on the squeaking sound of her chair.

"He said so, yeah," Hermione replied, probably with a nod. "What's he like as a boss?"

"Oh, I worked for quite a few people in my lifetime, and he is amongst the nicest of them. I wouldn't want to work anywhere else, even though he does have his snarky moments."

Hermione briefly laughed at Una's words. "Oh yes, he is snarky!"

"But everyone loves working for his company. I'm sure he'll explain everything on your tour anyway. We're still growing though, trying to get recognised as a quality supplier of potions and ingredients, but the wages are more than fair, and those with families get holiday priority over the summer."

With the finished response in his hand, he returned to Una's desk. "Good workplace makes loyal employees, that's all."

"Whatever you say, Boss." Una took the note and placed it in her urgent outbox, although she kept throwing him side-glances throughout. "I'm glad he has you now. As much as he does for society, he deserves a little happiness himself."

"Una, please," Draco uttered in slight exasperation, brushing through his hair to get a stubborn strand out of his eyes.

"So, what does he do for society, then?" Hermione asked, her voice taking a teasing hint as she looked at him. Her smile, however, was warm, almost ardent even.

"I think one of his favourites is the charity fund for students from poor families, covering school books, uniforms, and wands even in some cases."

"That's you?" Now Hermione gasped in surprise, although she immediately covered her gaping mouth with her hand. "I heard about that, and it's such a great help for those children!"

"Privately funded," Una added, leaning towards Hermione. "I told you, he's one of the nicest bosses I ever worked for. Don't let him slip away, my dear."

"I-I think we better start with the tour now," Draco said, his cheeks burning, although he couldn't help but feel a tiny bit proud because Hermione kept looking at him with those big eyes, sparkling with astonishment and a hint of adoration. "Or you'll have to reschedule a lot."

..

Half an hour later, he was leading her into the laboratory section of his company, one of his favourite places besides his own office. "Now, I want to show you one of my latest projects, but please don't mention it outside this lab."

"I can keep my mouth shut; you should know that," Hermione replied as she followed him into the anteroom where she was handed a lab coat and a pair of safety glasses.

Seconds later, he opened the lab door with a touch on the magic sensor. "I know you are very keen on improving life quality of those suffering from lycanthropy. One of my teams here has been working on an improved Wolfsbane Potion for a while now. It's a complicated potion to begin with, so progress is slow."

"Complicated and expensive." Her eyes wide in wonder, Hermione looked around, checking every vial and lingering on different setups of tests, although she thankfully refrained from touching anything.

"Yes, expensive. We try and find an alternative that is just as effective, but less costly; that way, it might be available for more people."

"Mr Malfoy!" One of the lab employees came over to greet them. "We're almost ready for the next test run, although we are running low on wolfsbane."

"Thanks, Larkin. Send me the results once the test run is done." Draco nodded in acknowledgement as he watched Hermione shake the employee's hand. He saw her eyes widen when she saw the scars on his hands as well as the faint ones in his face.

"Such an honour to meet you! We all hope you'll get the law reforms to pass the vote; they would be such a tremendous victory for us!"

"You're… You're…" Hermione glanced from Larkin to Draco and back. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to be rude."

Larkin's smile widened in response to the stuttered apology. "Don't worry, Miss Granger. Many people are surprised when I tell them that we work for Mr Malfoy."

"Larkin here is a specialist for everything related to the aconite plant; no one knows more about it," Draco explained with a shrug. He tried to keep a straight face despite the growing feeling of pride in his chest because he had managed to make Hermione speechless. "I needed someone with that knowledge for the project, so I hired him. He recommended the others on the team."

"Why don't you talk about this in the papers?" Hermione asked, still completely baffled. "You could set an example that others would follow!"

"I've been called a hypocrite far too often in the past, so…"

"I get that, but still…" Nodding, she ran a hand over her hair on the side of her head, grinning sheepishly every time she caught his gaze. "Damn, and I underestimated you in everything! You really learned the lesson…"

Draco had always hoped to show her his achievements one day, so he did relish the sight of her trying to comprehend everything, looking around the labs in astonishment. But then, she surprised him by closing the space between them and pulling him down for a grateful peck on his cheek. However, he turned his head at the wrong moment, so their lips touched each other instead.

He froze at the touch, his whole body feeling as if electricity ran through it. His heart was racing, but he didn't dare to breathe as he waited for her reaction.

He was fucked. Utterly so.

After a brief smile without losing contact, Hermione pulled him even closer to deepen the kiss, coaxing him gently into more.

He was stunned.

Yet, after a deep intake of much-needed air, he finally found the courage to frame her face with his hands, his fingers digging into those beautifully soft curls on the side, and ever so slightly part his lips.

The first touch of their tongues had him let out a small, content moan; within moments, he was lost to the sensation of her kissing him, claiming his lips in such a soft, yet addictive way.

They both didn't quite hear Larkin quietly leaving the room to return to his work.

In the end, it was Hermione who finally pulled away, her forehead pressed against his as she smiled sheepishly, licking her lips. "I… Sorry. This was… wow."

He was mesmerised by the tongue running over her lips; he ran his thumb over their corner before continuing the trail across her cheek. "You have no idea how much I… how long I waited for this. It's… Hermione, it's not a pretence for me."

Still smiling warmly, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Shit."

Draco was surprised by her response to his admission, even more so by the low chuckle that escaped her as she kept shaking her head in disbelief. "What's–?"

"I was so stupid!" With a laugh, she straightened up, her hands now on his that were still resting on her cheeks. "I really should have listened to my friends. Draco, you… I don't know how to say this. You-You changed so much, and everything you showed me only made me like you more. You care, and I wish I knew how to show you how much that means to me. It's-It's not a pretence for me any longer either–"

He stopped her from babbling any more, capturing her lips in another, deeper kiss, daring to let his heart dance in joy when she responded in kind.

Una would have to reschedule his appointments for today. He was not going to let Hermione slip away now.

..

"So, you really want to make me your Lady Malfoy for real?" Hermione asked the next day as she pushed the door to her flat open, Draco following behind her.

"At some point, yes. But I'm not in a hurry." He closed the door behind him before he reached for her hand to pull her in to him. "There are other things I prefer to do, like kissing that smirk off your lips–"

"Merlin, you're insatiable!" She willingly let him gently push her against the wall in the corridor before meeting him in another kiss, pulling his body as close as she could. Her hands ran all over his back and sides, teasing him along the seam of his trousers until they came to rest on his arse.

Slightly out of breath from the sheer excitement about what she was hinting at, Draco kissed his way down her jaw until he reached her earlobe. With cunning lips, he teased her with nibbles and soft sucking until he coaxed small, desperate sounds out of her.

They were sinfully heavenly, something he wanted to hear over and over again.

"Draco," she finally murmured, her hands running up to his shoulders, only to add a sigh. "Let's just collect some things I need and… and continue this at your place."

After one last soft kiss below her ear, he let go of her, and with a grin, he stepped back. "Sorry."

She nudged him as she turned towards the stairs leading upstairs to her bedroom. "Won't take long, okay?"

"I'll just have a look around…"

Halfway up, Hermione stopped and turned around once more. "Just check if you can find Crookshanks somewhere. And don't worry if he hisses at you; he's a tad protective, but he can warm up to people."

He nodded and then watched her walk up the rest of the stairs before turning around to inspect her living room more closely, once more impressed by the cosy feel of the room and the bookshelf covering one wall.

On the sofa was an orange ball of fluffy fur, not moving at all to acknowledge that he had entered the room; only the soft breathing movement indicated that the Kneazle was still alive. However, he preferred not to end up with scratches, so he left him in peace.

Just as he returned his attention to the book wall, curious to know what Hermione loved to read, he heard the front door being opened again, even though he knew that she was still upstairs. His mood sank when he checked and saw a familiar head of red hair enter, as quietly as he could. "Does she know you still have a key to her place, Weasley?"

Ron startled but caught himself within moments, throwing him an annoyed glare as he closed the door behind him. "What are you doing here, Malfoy? Snooping around?"

"She is upstairs to collect a few things to bring over to my place. I'm just waiting here…"

"You really have some guts," Ron retorted as he moved towards the stairs, even pushing his shoulder into Draco as he passed him. "Don't think you have a chance."

Ron barely made another step upstairs when Hermione showed up at the upper landing. "Oh goodness! What are you doing here, Ron?"

Draco could see the colour disappear from the redhead's face before he gulped.

"Can… Can we talk for a moment? Just promise you don't hex me again."

Hermione's stern stance softened immediately at those words and she nodded. "Downstairs, though."

Draco remained in the corridor, although he kept them in sight. He didn't want Hermione to be upset all over again thanks to this sometimes rather insensitive idiot.

"Look," Ron started cautiously, his hands in his trouser pockets. "I just want to apologise for the fight. It was just a shock to see that picture on the front page. I'm really sorry for what I said; I didn't mean to hurt you like that."

"Thanks." Hermione's words were just a whisper, and she had her arms crossed, yet she managed to smile. "I'm sorry for hexing you. I was so shocked about it–"

"I think I deserved it." Ron shrugged and then threw a side-glance to Draco before he returned his attention to her again. "Hermione, you're a great person, honestly. And I guess–"

"I know, Ron. We're not made to be a couple. You need someone who makes you a home, and I can't do that for you. It wouldn't be fair on either of us."

"Yeah. That's what Ginny said too." After a sigh, he opened his arms to offer a hug, which she gladly accepted. "Just… does it have to be him?"

"Ron!" She hit his back in response and clicked her tongue before winking at Draco who was still watching them from the corridor. "Give him a chance; you'd be surprised."

"For you." To Draco's relief, Ron finally let go again. "Be careful, okay? And if he does hurt you, I'll hex him for you…"

She chuckled as she patted his upper arm to chastise him gently. "Thanks."

"Okay, I have to go back to the office, or Harry is going to put me on desk duty for a month."

"Say hello from us."

Ron only nodded and then made to leave, ignoring Draco on the way out.

"You found everything?" Draco asked when Hermione joined him, wrapping her arms around his waist. He pressed a kiss on her head and rubbed her back.

"Yes. Not sure what to do about Crookshanks, though. But I guess he'll be fine for another day as long as he has enough food. I just want to get back and cuddle up."

"Sure."

She was his now, and he would make sure to give her anything she wanted or needed. And one day, he'd ask her to become his wife for real, willing to spend the rest of their lives together and watch her change the world.

END