New Beginnings

Chapter 2

1030am

Draco sat at his desk, thinking aloud.
'She came to see me, she wasn't even sure it was me but she came anyway. That's gotta mean something…but what? Something good, right?' He paused, turning to look out the window. 'She forgave me, she didn't have to and Merlin knows I didn't deserve her forgiveness but she forgave me anyway. Why?' He ran his through his hair as he got up and began to pace.
'Why did she come here? I've managed to live around her for…what 4 years now? So, why now? She doesn't hate me. What's that all about? Not that it's a bad thing that she DOESN'T hate me but still…It's confusing.' Draco walked over the book shelves, taking down his Hogwarts Annual. There was an entire section on the 'Golden Trio'. For some reason, he knew exactly where her section was; truth be told, he had spent more than a bit of time looking at her photos over the years; he didn’t know why.
Draco smiled as he ran his fingers over his favorite photo of Hermione. She was sitting by the lake reading. The sun was highlighting her hair perfectly; she wasn't looking at the camera. As she sat there, the sweet half smile lit up her face as if she read something funny. He closed the book, putting it back on the shelf then looked at his watch. 1045am. 'She's in her office by now and she would be there for a while. The only reason she couldn't have lunch was because she has office hours. So….why can't I bring lunch to her? She might even think I'm being sweet… Besides, I'm tired of eating lunch…and dinner alone.' With a very determined, yet happy look on his face, Draco grabbed his coat and headed for the door.

"Alice, I'm going to be gone for a couple of hours. I'm not exactly how long I'll be. If you get hungry and you haven't brought your lunch, call Sid & Nancie's and order something for yourself, the menu is on my desk. They'll deliver if you don't feel like walking down to get it. Oh yes, and make sure you put it on the office tab. If I'm not back by 330pm, just lock up and take the rest of the day for yourself, ok?" Alice stared at her boss, in shock. She had worked for Drake for quite a while, he never went out, he always had lunch delivered and wait…was he smiling?

"Ummm, Drake…are you ok?"
"Yeah, I'm great. Why?"
"Well, boss, you're downright…chipper...You're acting very…un-Drake-like" He started laughing.
"Un-Drake-like, huh? What exactly is Drake-like, may I ask?"
"Well, you're usually more sullen and morose." He looked at her in disbelief.
"I am?" Alice nodded.
"Damn…Sorry about that, Alice." She shrugged.
"So, what's brought on this chipper mood?" Draco's face lit up in a genuine schoolboy crush type smile.
"I had an unexpected visitor this morning. It was a surprisingly lovely visit." He did his best to conceal his giddy smile but it wasn't working. "With any luck, I will be having lunch with her shortly." He glanced at his watch again. "Oh, I've gotta run, Alice, time is of the essence. If I don't see you later, have a nice afternoon. Remember, lunch is on me. Cheers."
"Bye."
Alice sat back in her chair a look of happy, confusion on her face. 'Drake has a lady friend? Well, it's about time! He's such a nice young man and damn good looking to boot. He's too good of a catch to be single. Alice had come to care for Drake a great deal since she had worked for him. He was only slightly older than her youngest son, she couldn’t help but want to 'mother' him. He never noticed or he didn't mind, she wasn't sure which but she also knew never to over step her bounds. Alice turned the radio up a bit and went back to typing the contract she had been working on while humming to the radio.

Draco headed down the street towards Sid and Nancie's, humming as he walked. As he got closer, he slowed his pace. He started to think about what Hermione had said, 'they're quite smitten with you.' Lisa and Mitzy were nice enough girls and they were his only human contact when he was first setting up the foundation. They took good care of him back then. With that said, they also knew a bit more about him than he expected and they were a bit too eager to talk about him. Yes, it was to Hermione, who knew a lot more about him than they did but still. Draco crossed the street at the corner and walked down two blocks to Ichabod's, a little pub that he used to go to a lot when he was in school. Everything was made from scratch and all of the recipes tasted like they were straight from the Manor kitchen. If he didn't know better, he would swear they had elves running their kitchen.
"Drake, it's been too long."
"Hi Bart, how have you been?"
"Stellar and you?"
"Fine, thank you. What can I get for you today?"
"How about 2 Shepard's pies, four of those chocolate cupcakes with the cappuccino chip icing? What do you suggest for drinks?"
"I'll surprise you. Fifteen minutes, Drake. So, who are you having lunch with?"
"Just a mate from school that works at the University. They're stuck in their office for a couple of hours so I'm bringing over lunch."
"You're a good bloke, aren't you?"
"I try."
"How's the charity biz going?"
"Quite well, thanks. There are a lot of people in need but there are lot folks that wish to help, also, which is surprisingly nice."
"Ok, you're all set. This is your drinks and here are the pies. This bag should keep them warm for a little while."
"Thank you, Bart." Draco pays for lunch and heads for the door.
"Have a good day, Drake."

Bart walks into the kitchen and heads towards the office. "Did Master Draco like the pumpkin juice?" Tinky asked, her wide eyes blinking up at him.
"I didn't tell him, Tinky, he would suspect something. I just told him that it was a surprise when he asked for a drink recommendation." Tinky nodded.
"How did you know he was going to here today, Tinky?"
"Miss Granger…Miss Granger came to see him. She made him smile. He's going to see you for lunch at the school."
"Granger? Hermione Granger?"
"Yes… She came to see him. They smiled together. They kissed and smiled. Please don't tell, Mr. Bart. I just want Master to be happy. He hasn't smiled since Mistress…", the little elf's eyes filled with tears.
"I won't tell anyone Tinky. It will be our secret. I kept your secret when you told me who he was so you could help me make his favorite meals without him knowing. Besides Tinky, you taught me how make so many good recipes; my business is doing really well thanks to you."

"Tinky likes to help. The manor is so quiet now without the Master and his family", she sniffled.
"Well, Tinky, maybe that will change soon."
"Tinky hopes so."

Draco climbed the staircase closest to Hermione's office, his heart was racing and it wasn't from the exertion. When he reached her door, he tried to calm his breathing. He smiled as he admired her nameplate on the door.

Hermione Granger, PhD, JD, WD (Author’s Note: WD=Wizarding Doctorate)
Department of Cultural Sciences and Investigations

He held his breath and knocked on the door.
"Come in, it's open." Draco slowly turned the door handle and pushed the door open. She didn't look up, she was engrossed in something. "I'll be with you in just a moment, I just need to finish this thought." He walked in and placed the food on the side table by the couch. Still, she didn't look up so he walked behind her and covered her eyes.
"Guess who?" He whispered in her ear.
Hermione felt a shiver down her spine as she felt someone's warm breath on her ear. The intoxicating smell of sandlewood and musk washed over her senses. She knew that smell, it was imprinted in her brain since third year. She may have punched him in the nose but no woman in their right mind could forget that hypnotic scent. She smiled softly as she reached up and brought his arms down around her neck, pulling him closer to her.
"What are you doing here, Draco?"
"You couldn't go out for lunch, so I brought lunch to you." She turned around to look at him, not letting him go of his hands. She smiled up at him.
"Why are you doing this?"
"Doing what?"
"Spoiling me?"
"Because you're letting me." He smiled at her, warmly. "Are you hunger?"
"Starving. How did you know?"
"Lucky guess? Seriously, I was hungry and I didn't want to eat lunch alone."
Hermione's voice softened, "Yeah, I don't like eating lunch alone either so I usually just skip it."

"Well, we can't have that, now, can we? Come with me, Professor Granger, your lunch awaits." Draco kisses her on the cheek, and helps her out of her chair, leading her to the leather couch. They sit down and he takes out their lunch. "Ok, we have Shepard’s Pie, Chocolate Cupcakes, and…I'm not sure what we have for drinks, I told Bart to surprise me, would you open the bag and see what he picked out for us, please." Draco heard a high pitched squeal that nearly made him jump off of the couch.. "Jeez, woman!! What is it?"
"Draco, how did you find this? I've missed this so much. It's one of the few things I truly miss about the wizarding world." Before he could reply, Hermione kissed him on the cheek then started, happily, drinking whatever was in the cup. He looked at her blankly as he picked up his cup and took a sip. His eyes rolled back in his head, savoring the flavor of good quality pumpkin juice.
"Gods, that tastes so good." He sighs. "I have no idea how Bart got this but I'm not going to argue."
"Me neither."
"Draco, thank you so much."
"For what?" She looked down for a moment.
"I don't have many friends here and the ones I do have, from school, are muggles that don't know I'm a witch, so I always feel like I'm hiding a part of myself from them. It's nice to have a friend that I can be myself with and not feel self conscious. Thank you so much." She giggles so softly. "What a difference a couple of hours can make, huh?"
"Yeah." He smiles. "Hermione, the fact that you're calling me friend means the world to me. It really does. Can I tell you something?"
"Of course, you can tell me anything."
"It's been really lonely here for me since everything happened. I don’t feel lonely when I'm with you. My secretary even noticed that I was smiling for the first time since she's known me. I have you to thank for that."
"You only saw me this morning?"
"I know but you forgave me and you agreed to spend time with me, I've been smiling ever since; thank you." Hermione smiled.
"Ya know, I've had a content smile on my face all morning because of you, too. We've really changed a lot, haven't we, Draco?"
"I guess so. I think we've just grown up and decided to give each other a chance." She nodded. "Thank you for forgiving me, Hermione."
"Thank you for giving me a chance, Draco." She took a sip of her pumpkin juice and giggled to herself.
"What?"
"I never thought stopping for hot cocoa would turn out like this."
"Me, neither." Without even thinking about it, Hermione leaned over and hugged Draco really tight, he sighed, holding her tightly in his arms. She rested her head on his shoulder momentarily, before running her hands through his soft hair and kissing him on the forehead, sending a shiver down Draco's back, making it almost hard for him to breath.
"What was that for?" He asked, weakly.
"No reason at all. I just wanted, needed to do that. I…I Can we talk about this later, not here?" Draco looked into her eyes, he knew she would tell him but she didn't want to be sitting in her office when she did it. "Draco, can we still have dinner tonight?"

"I was looking forward to it."

"I'd like to make dinner for you, if you don't mind?"

"Mind? If I don’t mind? Hermione, I would love that but I would love one thing more." She looked at him, surprised.

"What?"

"I would love it if we could make dinner together." Her face lit up.

"You can cook?" He gave her smirk.

"Of course, I can cook, smart ass." He started to tickle her. Hermione let out a squealing giggle, trying to get away from him, not succeeding.

"Ok, Ok! Mercy! You win!!" Draco was lying on top of her, both of them breathing heavily from laughing.

"You look really pretty when you smile, Hera." She looked at him, surprised.

"What did you call me?"

"Oh sorry…"

"No, just say it again."

"I called you Hera, the wife of Zeus, Goddess of Gods. There's just something about you that remind me of her. I always thought it was a prettier nickname than 'Mione."

Hermione winced, inwardly, hearing that nickname.

"I like it, it's nice", smiling, warmly. No one had ever told her she reminded them of a goddess before.

They chatted while they ate lunch. "So what else do you do beside teach, Hermione?"
"Sadly, not much. I usually don't have anyone to do stuff with so I read a lot and I like watching movies. What about you?"

"Pretty much the same. I've also become somewhat of a workaholic. I don't have much else to do so, I work." Hermione frowned.

"We'll have to fix that. You, sir, are not meant to be a workaholic. It offends reason." Draco laughs out loud.

"Maybe they weren't as dumb as I always thought", he said with a smile.

"What?"

"Potter and the Weasel. They were always so protective of you. It wasn't over-protective; they didn’t want to share you. They knew exactly what they had and they didn't want anyone else to discover what a treasure you are." Hermione froze, staring at me. "What?" He looked at her as he took another bite of his lunch.

"Draco…I can't believe that you just said that."

"Why?"

"History."

"Like I said earlier, I've grown up a lot and I've learned to appreciate the treasures that are right in front of me." A strange glint appeared in his eye. "I want to show you something and if I'm right, you're a sentimental fool so it won't be too far from you." She looked at him, suspiciously. "Accio Hogwarts Annual." The book glided to his hand. Hermione started to blush.

"How did you know?" He smiled and touched her cheek, gently.

"Because I have mine in my office, too," that little confession made her smile. Draco pushed the coffee table back with his feet. "Come here, we can look at it together."
He opened his arms for her to rest against his chest. She looked him, tentatively at first. 'It would feel really nice to be close to someone again. The last person I cuddled with in any way was Harry. That was way too long ago. I don't even care if he turned back into 'the old Malfoy' afterwards. I need to feel someone's warmth…his warmth.' Draco looked at her; he could see that she was deciding if this was a good idea. When she moved towards him, Draco felt his heart skip a beat. She settled between his legs as they flipped through the annual, they laughed and reminisced. They got to the 'Golden Trio Section', Hermione tried to skip it. "No, no. There's something I wanted to show you." She sighed. She hated this section of the annual. He flipped to her section and she began to blush; he flipped to his favorite photo. She watched him trace the picture with his finger, reverently; she turned and looked at him.

"This is my favorite photo of you. So beautiful." He gently turned her face towards him and kissed her very softly on the lips, Hermione sighed, softly. She reached up; brought her soft hand to his warm face. Draco sighed as their kiss deepened. He buried his hands in her soft curls as their tongues danced with each other. They slowly parted, resting their foreheads together. Hermione turned, placed the Annual on the coffee table, silently lock charmed the door and looked at Draco and held out her hand. He slid down on the 8 foot long leather couch, gently pulled her on top him. They began to kiss again, slowly, softly, gently. They reveled, not just in the heat of each other's touch but the need for true connection with another human being. Hermione caressed his face, gently, as they kissed. It was like she had locked away every ounce of tenderness and affection for so long, she wasn't sure if she still knew how to feel until now. Draco's hands gently explored her body as he savored the taste of her kisses. He had almost forgotten how wonderful kisses tasted and how much he loved kissing like this. He moaned softly when he felt Hermione's warm hand began to caress his stomach beneath his jumper.

'Gods, I didn't know I missed this so much.' He slid his hand under the back of her jumper; her skin was so soft. Draco kisses moved down her neck, making Hermione moan and gently rocking her hips forward, feeling his arousal. She smiled to herself, 'I forgot how good this feels.' He moaned softly at her increased pressure, deepening his kiss and sliding both hands up her sides, trying to satisfy his need to feel her soft skin. He so wanted to caress her soft breasts, taste her, feel her. He had been so closed off from everyone and everything for so long. Being with her, like this just felt right. Draco tightened his arms around her, hugging her as he ran his finger through her hair. He pulled away slightly, ending their kiss and resting his forehead against hers. She stroked his face gently and kissed his nose.

Hermione turned her head when she heard the bells from the clock tower sound, glancing at the clock, she sighs.

"What?" Draco looks at the clock, 1pm. They had completely lost track of time. She had lecture soon. They sighed and resting their foreheads together again. They both closed their eyes, finding comfort in each other's closeness, not wanting to move. Hermione sat back a bit and looked at him then kissed his forehead before moving to the edge of the couch.

"Accio cellphone." Hermione's phone came jetting across the room to her hand. Draco watched her silently; he wasn't sure what she was doing and he wasn't going to ask.

"Yes, Yvonne. This is Professor Granger.
Not so good, unfortunately. I think I cracked a tooth.
Yes, they were. I've already called one of their friends. They're going to fit me in at 2pm.
Please. Can you post it on the website, on the classroom door; send out a mass email, please?
Yes. Thank you very much. I will. Thank you, Yvonne. Goodbye."

She closed her phone and looked at Draco. He had a completely blank look on his face. "Did you just ditch your classes?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because."
"Because why?"
"Because I want to spend the afternoon with you."
"You do?"
"Yes."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously."
"Wow. What do you want to do?"
"Honestly, I would be really happy doing this, on my couch, in my flat, if that's ok with you?"
"Do you want to watch a movie or something?"
"That's fine with me; I just want to be with you." Draco smiled and blushed.
They clean up their lunch, took the cupcakes with them and apparate to Hermione's flat.