Vas

Draco: You came.

Hermione: Yeah... What? No insults tonight?

Draco: No... You actually look very... Nice.

Hermione: Oh... Well. Thank you. So do you.

Draco: ... Thank you.

Theo: (thinking) I'm going to wear a grey suit to their wedding; it will bring out my eyes.

Draco turns and walks through the wooden door on his right.

His pace steady. His doubts quelled.

Undaunted.

Unflinching.

Unsolved.

///

And Hermione wants to think he did see her.

She wants to think he did know what was going to happen. And that he went into that room willingly, because it was the only way to atone for everything he'd done.

Hermione wants to think she loved a good man.

But somehow, Hermione always comes back to the last one.

She's used to always being the one with the answers. But when she watches him falter again, the same question she once asked him resurfaces.

'Don't you ever think you're on the wrong side?'

Draco stops. He looks towards her. He swallows.

"Did you know I was there?" The older Hermione whispers for the thousandth time. "Could you hear me crying for you?"

Draco swallows. Then he turns and walks through the wooden door on his right.

The memory starts again.

She has other memories of him. Hundreds, some even happy.

Hermione —the younger one, the one that loved him, the one that hadn't lost him yet— remained hidden under Harry's invisibility cloak, while Draco unknowingly marched towards his death.

Except he doubted.

He stopped and for a heart-stopping second, he looked right at her.

A group of high profile rebels were to be executed, and they had the intel of exactly

His name was not on that list.

Later, she found out it was due to something as mundane as a shift reassignment.

She wanted to laugh. Shift reassignments for executions.

The banality of evil.

Does he know something is wrong?

Every time she revisits the memory, she wonders.

'Why did you stop?' she whispers, staring at his beautiful face, frozen in time. 'Did you know?'

The funny thing is, he wasn't even supposed to be there.

/ death

He doubts. Just for a second.

Draco doubts.

That's the moment Hermione remembers the most.

The little tilt of his head. How his steps falter. A deep breath.

He's going into an ambush. Planned by her.

Draco is heading towards his death.

But he doubts.

Does he know something is wrong?

brushing her hair off her shoulder and letting his fingers graze her neck.

Hermione shivers.

"Yes," she swallows. "A one time thing."

"Let's not hurry then," he says, running his thumb over her lower lip. "I want to take my time with you."

-

-

Turns out, it was not a one time thing.

///

Draco stops at the end of the hall and opens the door after a few clumsy attempts to make the key card work.

"After you." He says, much softer than before, much less performative.

They're alone now, and the way he's looking at her is anything but smug.

"A one time thing, huh?" He murmurs,

Draco starts walking ahead of her and she takes that private moment to really analyse him; the slight trembling in his hands, the tightness in his jaw, how fast he's walking, as if he's afraid she's going to change her mind if he doesn't hurry.

He wasn't lying. He really has thought about it.

Hermione pushes him against the wall and kisses that smug grin off his face, biting his lip and scratching his neck until he groans.

"Fuck." He mutters when she pulls away, eyes darkened with desire.

The doors open and Hermione nods at the empty hallway.

"Lead the way."

"Don't you have to book a room first?" Hermione frowns.

He shrugs.

"I did that an hour ago while you were in the bathroom."

She snaps her head towards him as they get into the elevator.

He's still smirking at her.

Arrogant. Rude. Selfish. Manipulative. Mean.

Fucking hot.

Draco gives her that same cocksure grins that always drives opposing counsel crazy, and now makes her want to press her legs together.

"A one time thing." He nods, placing his hand on the small of her back to guide her towards the elevators.

The benefits of drinking at a bar in a hotel.

One unique, isolated event that we shall never mention ever again."

"Sure," Draco says, already opening his wallet and leaving an absurd amount of bills on the table without even looking.

"I mean it, Draco," Hermione says. "This is a one time thing."

Hermione huffs.

"You... Are one year younger than me."

Draco smirks, leaning closer to her until their shoulders touch.

"And you... Are running out of excuses."

Hermione exhales.

She stares at her drink and finishes it in one gulp.

"Okay," she says, voice rough from the alcohol. "One night.

"You've thought about this."

"Oh, Hermione... You have no idea."

She takes a sharp inhale.

"And why are you so sure I want you?"

"Because you do."

"Do I? Let's see; you're arrogant—"

"Confident."

"Rude."

"Direct."

"Selfish."

"Ambitious."

"Manipulative."

"Cunning."

"Mean."

"Funny."

drinks. "I did that earlier today, after I saw you wipe the floor with the opposing counsel."

She stares at him, biting her lip.

"We're name partners in our firms. Things can get really messy."

"Things are always messy. At least this mess would be worth it."

She considers him carefully.

"You have a girlfriend," Hermione fires back. "Remember?"

He makes a show of taking out his phone and firing a quick text.

"There. Done."

She blinks at him, unimpressed.

"Did you just break up with her over text?"

"Nope," he replies, nodding in thanks at the bartender after he brings them their

"We work together."

"Yes," He nods, signaling the bartender for another round. "We work /very well/ together. So one has to wonder what else we may do well together."

She huffs, vaguely amused.

"We are... Involved with other people."

"You're getting a divorce," Draco points out.

"Why haven't we slept together yet?"
Draco asks her, as they drink to celebrate another win at court.

The question sits heavily between them, and he watches avidly for any cracks in her armor, any signs of shock.

He's disappointed.

"Well," Hermione ponders, swirling the tequila in its glass.

Who's in the mood for a The Good Wife inspired AU?

Coming tomorrow!

Hermione groans.

"You are an idiot." She says, but she's smiling.

"Come on, I sound just like him."

"You wish."

They keep arguing about it on their way to the coffee shop, and by the time they finally get there, neither of them remember when they started holding hands.

///

"I thought it would be obvious by now."

She stops walking too and looks up at him, vaguely nervous.

"Yes?"

"It's because... You're my girl! Love, you will always be my girl!" Draco cries theatrically.

"Alright. Lead the way." She says, trying to suppress a smile.

They say their goodbyes to Theo and Astoria and then keep walking in comfortable silence.

"You're being way too nice," she comments, glancing at him from the corner of her eye. "Why?"

Draco stops walking.

"Alright then," she sighs tiredly.

He catches her hand before she turns around.

"Or," Draco says, swallowing the sudden lump in his throat. "We can go to a small coffee shop a few blocks from here. I heard great things about their hot chocolate."

Hermione's eyes glint with interest.

"Who. Who says that."

As Theo catches up with his date, Hermione starts walking towards Draco as if she is heading for her execution.

"So, what now?" She asks, already bored.

"I think the plan was to get some drinks and then go dancing at some club," Draco says, without missing her wince.

explaining something to Astoria.

Draco sighs.

"This shouldn't have been our first date. She already hates me and I don't think the blackmail helped."

"Well, you know what they say," Theo says, walking past him to join Astoria. "The dildo of consequences rarely arrives lubed."

"And yet," Theo goes on as if he hadn't spoken. "Faced with all the possible women who inexplicably would go out with you in a heartbeat, you chose Granger. Who hates you."

"At least she can hold a conversation."

"With anyone but you, apparently." Theo observes, as they watch Hermione animatedly