Chapter 16

A/N: *tear* The last chapter! I've been done writing this story for over a month now... Maybe two, I can't remember. It's still sad to be posting the last chapter and officially done with it (except for the oneshot, I wrote more about it after this chapter so I don't give anything away).

As always, thanks to GreekGirl for betaing and thanks to everyone who reviewed, especially those of you who have been with this from the start! You guys are the best!

For the few of you who saw this in the coupe minutes it took me to realize there were too many words in this chapter sorry about that. It looks like I accidentally pasted you a chapter of Pansy's Revenge... You should probably just ignore it.

~Frosty

The brunette blinked her eyes open, and glanced around in confusion. Why was she sleeping on the sofa? Usually, she had trouble sleeping on the uncomfortable piece of furniture...

Malfoy shifted slightly underneath her and tightened the arm holding her to his chest. Ah, that explained it. She remembered coming out of her room to watch a few late-night shows and eat some candy because she couldn't sleep. Malfoy had found her and they'd eventually fallen asleep there, tangled together in a loving embrace.

Part of Malfoy's agreement with the hospital stated that both he and Hermione would report back to be checked over before he would be officially discharged and she could go back to work. Her appointment was rapidly approaching, so she should really start getting ready.

Smiling at the sleeping blonde, Hermione kissed his cheek and extracted herself from his grasp. He shifted slightly and made a quite humming sound that she could only assume was contentment as her hair brushed his face when she stood. The git would deny it if she brought it up, but he was more cuddly and affectionate than he let on.

Her appointment was much earlier than his –probably his doing in an effort to irritate her- so she quickly showered and dressed.

She was nearly in the fireplace when Pansy ran into the room and stuffed a sandwich in her hand. The elf accompanied the food with a stern glare that brooked no argument, so Hermione meekly took a bite, smiling her thanks. It seemed that Malfoy had spoken to the elf about her poor eating habits and the little creature had taken it upon herself to remedy them.

Satisfied, Pansy left the room again to clatter around in the kitchen. She was probably hoping to make enough noise to 'accidentally' wake up Malfoy so he could get an early start to his day.

Hermione shot one last look at the sprawled form on the sofa before shaking her head fondly and entering the fire with a smile. It was amazing what a few hours could do to a person's outlook on the world; one moment she and Malfoy were at each other's throats, and the next they were together.

As the premier hospital for magical maladies in the Northern hemisphere, St. Mungoes never closed. It did however, have lulls in activity that could make the entire hospital feel eerily quiet; the kind of quiet that makes people antsy because they start expecting something horrible to happen and break it.

Hermione could tell as soon as she exited the Floo system that one of these types of quiet had descended on the building. After working there for a few months, the brunette had come to understand that these lulls didn't always foretell some catastrophe, they were just natural breaks in activity. The lulls never failed to make late-night visitors uncomfortable as they wandered the halls in search of a caffeinated beverage to help them survive the remainder of the night.

She nearly fell over when Luna came bustling around the corner, reading a clipboard that was propped on her hip as she hummed a song with no real tune. It figured that Luna was completely unaffected by the atmosphere of the place and just carried on her merry way.

"Oh! Hermione, you're looking much better," Luna said when she saw her friend. "I take it things worked out with you and Malfoy?"

The brunette wrinkled her nose to hide the dreamy smile the threatened to overtake her lips. The expression probably made her look like a mental patient. "Sort of. There's currently a House Elf in my kitchen cooking, so we obviously still have some issues to work out."

Luna beamed and hugged her friend. "But that's the fun part! Particularly for two people who love to fight so much. It's once all the issues are all worked out and you can't find anything to fight about that you'll have to start to worry." She tilted her blonde head to the side. "I suppose you could always revert to school rivalries..." her blue eyes lit up with the possibility. "I think you should start sooner than later, Malfoy would love pretending he's corrupting an innocent little Gryffindor. Do you still have your uniform?"

Hermione blushed at the things her friend was suggesting. She actually did still have her old uniform, though it was a little tighter in the chest and hips than it had been when she was 18. Maybe, if he was really, really good, she'd show Malfoy someday. In the meantime, it was out of the question. Unless he still had his old school uniform and was willing to wear it for her... He'd filled out in the shoulders since school had ended, so it probably wouldn't even fit him anymore. It was a shame, he'd probably look great in it. He definitely had then and he'd been such a prat back then that his personality had detracted from his attractiveness.

"Luna, what in the world is in those tentacles you're always eating? I think it's affecting your brain." Hermione mumbled, feeling the need to give a token objection. She didn't miss Luna's knowing smile and only blushed harder.

So she was considering the suggestion, it wasn't like Luna needed to know that. Though it seemed Luna knew anyway.

"I have an appointment to get to, I'll see you later," she told her friend, using it as an excuse to flee.

"The tentacles are actually a plant, related to the grape as a matter of fact. They taste similar, but I like the little extra wiggle as they go down," Luna's dreamy voice followed her as she strode down the corridor towards the office of her supervisor. Hermione shuddered in revulsion; who would want to eat something that was slimy-looking and wiggled on the way down?

Happily, Hermione was given a clean bill of health. She was ordered to spend another day keeping up the rest and eating, but after that she was free to return to work.

On the way back to the Floo station in the lobby, she passed her office and noticed that the door was open, which was odd since she was always careful to lock it behind her. Just in case, she slipped her wand into her hand before hesitantly peeking around the door.

When she saw into the room, she nearly chucked her wand at the trespasser in irritation. A less effective technique than hexing, sure, but it would be an accurate reflection of her frustration. It wasn't like he was dangerous and she'd need her wand against this particular threat anyway. Seated behind her desk like he owned the place was Malfoy, looking smug.

"I thought I'd come to see what all the fuss was about," he explained when she didn't immediately throw herself at him.

"How did you know where my office is?" she asked.

"Everyone here's still afraid of me; it wasn't difficult to intimidate someone into telling me." He shrugged, as if spreading terror was a normal thing as a Malfoy. Come to think of it, spreading terror was a normal thing for a Malfoy. It was practically as natural as breathing to them.

Hermione knew exactly what he was thinking, and she shook her head at him, but couldn't stop the little smile on her lips. Just because he could easily intimidate people didn't mean he should abuse the ability all the time.

He pushed the chair back and gestured for her to come sit in his lap. Did he really know so little about her that he thought she'd actually obey him?

"Malfoy, there's no way I'm going to do something so unprofessional." She told him sternly, already walking over to him. He didn't even need words to be persuasive and he used his powers for evil. Evil and corruption; before him, there was no way she'd allow herself to be so unprofessional at work.

She hesitated when she reached him, but Malfoy was having none of that. Grabbing her around the waist, he pulled her onto his lap, grinning smugly the entire time. "Most fun things are unprofessional, the key is to keep the employees so afraid of you that they don't even think to call you on it."

He nipped her collarbone to keep her from objecting, pleased that she had chosen a low-cut shirt, as it gave him an excellent view of her slim neck and the tops of her breasts. He would definitely be visiting her in her office more often.

Hermione wiggled happily and let out the occasional moan as Malfoy set about tasting, nipping and sucking every centimetre of flesh exposed by her shirt. It was Heaven, though he was anything but an angel.

A coughing sound made Hermione look up, immediately turn bright red and jump off Malfoy's lap. Standing in the doorway was one of Draco's hulking goons from school, and he had a knowing grin on his face that only made her blush more. She was really getting tired of receiving knowing looks.

"Not now Greg," Draco said dismissively as he tried to pull Hermione back to her earlier position.

She wasn't about to let him continue while they had an audience, they shouldn't even have started in the first place. She twisted out of his grasp and sat down in the visitor's chair on the other side of her desk, far out of the blonde's reach. The blonde shot her a look that clearly said 'this isn't over'.

"Yes now Draco!" The visitor snapped irritably. "I thought you were missing for weeks and then I hear from Owen that you were in the hospital for Splinching yourself, but otherwise you're perfectly fine. I had to hear it from my boyfriend whenI should've gotten an owl from you! I've been blaming myself for dragging you along to that dog show! I thought that had something to do with why you were missing." There was no mistaking the accusation in the man's tone, he blamed his friend for all the worry he'd suffered and Hermione could completely sympathise; Malfoy wasn't an easy person to care about, he was very... prickly most of the time.

As he continued, Hermione stood from her chair and edged towards the door. Malfoy was fine, he'd be discharged later in the day and she'd seen him then. He'd be irritated that she'd left, but he'd have to learn that she wasn't one of his lackeys that was just going to obey his commands – it seemed that even the lackeys didn't have to obey him if Goyle's actions were anything to judge from.

She made her way to the Floo and went back home with a big smile on her face the entire way. Everything felt light and bright and shiny like it had when Malfoy had dosed her with the cheering potion, except this time she knew her mood wasn't artificial. It was good Draco didn't turn into a shadow anymore, or her mood alone would probably make him disappear.

Ginny and Harry were waiting for her on the sofa when she appeared, stumbling out of the fireplace. They both had their arms crossed and seemed surprised that she looked so happy. "What happened?" Harry asked when she'd righted herself after her awkward entrance.

Hermione pulled a candy out of her pocket and popped it into her mouth; they somehow tasted better when Malfoy was there watching her eat them or eating them with her, but they were still pretty delicious the rest of the time. They served the added bonus of calming her down slightly. Lollipops were her cigarettes; they rotted her teeth instead of her lungs, but her parents hated them just the same.

Her friend's eyes widened. "Did you and Owen break up? You're eating candies again and looking much too happy for someone whose relationship is dead."

"That relationship was dead before it started," Hermione dismissed. "I met his boyfriend today, Gregory Goyle."

Ginny silently held her hand out to her fiancé with an expectant smile on her face. Grudgingly, Harry pressed a galleon into it and sheepishly looked back towards Hermione, expecting to be scolded. He was surprised when he only received a knowing grin.

"Does your mood have anything to with Malfoy's admission to the hospital?" Harry asked suspiciously. At Hermione's questioning look, he held up a copy of the paper, showing a picture of Malfoy and a dramatic headline about the dangers of alcohol and Apparation. Oh the scandal. At least that explained their unannounced presence in her living room. The press had taken a surprisingly long time running the story, but it wasn't like there were other reputable magical publications to get the scoop first. It seemed they'd even taken the time to consult experts on both Apparation while under the influence and Splinching.

"Is that why you two are here?" Hermione asked when she was done scanning the article.

"Hermione, you two can't be in the same place without something dramatic happening. We weren't sure if you would be trying to murder each other or trying to rip each other's clothes off... It can go either way with you two. We're here to remind you not in front of witnesses whichever you choose." Ginny said. Harry looked like he'd rather be anywhere other than in her presence at the moment, but he nodded along with the redhead, in complete agreement.

Hermione's mood was too light to be crushed by the severe lack of faith her friends seemed to have in her self-restraint. Before she could comment, there was a knock at the door. Whoever it was at the door seemed impatient, the knob turned a moment later and Draco burst in.

Hermione had been half-way to the door to answer, but he just swept her up, pressed her against the wall and started snogging her senseless. Her feet weren't touching the ground, so she had nowhere to put them but around his waist. If he hadn't been so distracting, she'd have been mortified that her friends were watching, but she was quick to forget them.

He'd probably left without getting discharged from the hospital when he noticed that she was gone. She'd yell at him for it later when he wasn't - Oh! She moaned and pressed herself against him in the way she'd just done, smirking when he moaned as well this time. If this was going to be how he always distracted her so she didn't scold him, she was going to have to try to scold him more often; distractions were enjoyable.

"Hermione! What did Ginny just say?" Harry yelled, looking like he wanted to bleach his eyes; it was probably something to do with the friend he liked to think of as a sister doing very inappropriate things with his enemy right in front of him.

Draco hadn't noticed her friends, but Harry's interruption made it obvious that they weren't alone. "Fuck off Potter." He said, looking away from Hermione for a moment to glare before going right back to what he's previously been doing. He wasn't about to let her run away just because they had an audience. She was his now and the more people who knew, the better.

Harry turned red and looked like he wanted to hex Malfoy, but Hermione was wrapped around him, so he couldn't try without risking hitting his friend. Maybe something harmless just to make them stop? Ginny elbowed him sharply in the ribs and shook her head when he glanced down at her. She'd obviously guessed the direction his thoughts had been heading.

Hermione pulled her lips away from Draco to glare at Harry over the blonde's shoulder. It was hard to be coherent when Malfoy moved on to her neck, but she was proud of herself for managing. "This isn't public, this is my flat," she said, pulling her hands out of Draco's hair to make shooing motions with her hands.

Luckily, Ginny got the point and started dragging Harry towards the fireplace. "That blinkly light beepy thing was talking in your mum's voice... A monster ate your cousin's laptop and now he's afraid of shadows. It said he needs to come live with you for a few weeks until he's recovered." The redhead called before they disappeared into the emerald flames.

Hermione tensed for a moment, but then Draco found a particularly sensitive spot near her ear that made her melt against him; she would deal with everything else later, what mattered now was the she had Malfoy –Draco- and they were happy. At least until their next fight – it was just unrealistic to pretend there wasn't going to be one.

The End.

A/N: Okay, I'm hoping at least a few of you are interested in the one shot that takes place not long after where this story ends. It's called Shadow No Moreand should be up soon, so keep an eye out! I'll give you a hint what it's about: Hermione tries something Luna's suggested and Chris makes a reappearance!

Also, for those of you who've read Pansy's Revenge, there's a scene in here that's similar to one in there... I actually wrote this story first and forgot how it ended. *blushes* I didn't even notice the similarities until I re-edited it just now. I'm not going to change it because I like it, but I'll be more careful in the future, kay?

~Frosty