I don't own HP. Wish I did, but I don't.

Points of Change: Due to whatever changes you want to imagine, Voldemort was defeated in the graveyard. Making this only canon up to where Harry and Cedric grabbed the Triwizard Cup together.

AN: Thanks, as normal, is due to JuliS and trinkisme. Especially as I only gave it to them to beta yesterday afternoon! Ya'll are awesome!

Happy Valentine's Day!

XXX

Hermione took a sip of her drink and looked around the crowded pub. She didn't see anyone nearby that she knew and she sighed. She'd have to fight her way through the crowd, hoping she'd be stumble across Harry or Ron.

Why Harry had thought celebrating his team's recent quidditch win in a public place was a good idea she would never know.

It wasn't like he didn't have a perfectly nice house to use. Sirius would have loved to have the entire team and all of the other people around. That man lived and breathed social interactions.

She wondered sometimes if he'd always been that way or if it was merely a result of over a decade in Azkaban and being starved for human contact.

Unless she found a way to travel back that far in time she'd likely never know.

She took another sip of her drink and then began sliding through the crowd. She passed by a group and saw Oliver Wood animatedly giving a blow by blow account of every move he had made during the game to a group of enthralled young fans. Likely all of them were hoping for a spot in his bed that evening, just judging from the way they were watching him. Knowing Oliver, she wouldn't be surprised if he rented a hotel suite and invited all of them.

She gave him a friendly nod and pushed onwards. The Weasley twins and Lee Jordan were laughing and passing out some of their creations, including their new line of Quidditch trading cards. They had, of course, gotten the idea from her recent trip to the US with her parents. Perhaps giving Mr. Weasley a pack of muggle baseball cards as a gift hadn't been the best idea, but it had been cheap. And she didn't exactly make a lot of money at the moment.

Harry was still annoyed he was now immortalized on a Weasley's quidditch card AND a chocolate frog card. Ron had found it hilarious.

She didn't though. Harry willingly throwing himself in front of a death curse was not something she wanted to remember. Even if doing so had saved Cedric Diggory and led to the permanent death of Voldemort soon after.

Though the quidditch card was rather amusing. She'd made a point of giving Harry a modified one capturing the first moment he had ever caught the snitch.

He hadn't spoken with her for a week after that. Likely as she had made a point of giving copies to all of his teammates and Sirius.

She narrowly avoided being elbowed in the face by a wildly gesturing Mclaggen by sliding to the side. Her feet hit something and the next thing she knew she had landed solidly in someone's lap. A very quick someone who somehow managed to steady her drink before it could go everywhere.

A warm, strong pair of arms encircled her and she looked up to see Draco Malfoy staring down at her.

"Not exactly graceful, are you?"

She scowled, "I was dodging Mclaggen."

His eyes sparkled with mischief, "I'm glad to hear my lap rates higher than Mclaggen."

Her breath caught for a moment, utterly transfixed by this side of her old classmate. She didn't see Malfoy much since they had finished school. She knew from the paper that he was following in his father's footsteps during the week (despite his father being in Azkaban), while his name was linked to a different witch's practically every week.

In fact….

"Why on earth are you here tonight? Shouldn't you have a date on Valentine's Day? Don't you always have a date?"

His eyes widened a fraction and she clapped her hand over her mouth.

He smirked at her, "Keeping tabs on me?"

"No! Just, you know, I read the paper. Every day, you know. It's important. Keeps me in touch. Plus, you know, information is always important. In fact-"

He reached up and touched her lips with his long, elegant finger. She froze and stared down at his hand in shock.

"You're rambling."

It had to be the alcohol. She never drank. That, or it was the fact she was once again single for Valentine's Day and feeling rather desperate. It had had been much too long since she'd even kissed a guy.

Her tongue flicked out of her mouth and she heard his breath catch.

Feeling bold, she gave his finger another flick with her tongue and then nipped the skin with her teeth. His eyes became liquid pools of silver and his arms tightened around her. She was immediately reminded that she was sitting on his lap. She had to resist the urge to squirm, wishing they were alone.

"Well, this is certainly an unexpected development."

She jumped, only Malfoy's arms stopped her from from standing up.

Malfoy was seated at a table with Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott, Daphne Greengrass, and - of course - the bane of her existence: Pansy Parkinson.

Hermione and Parkinson had never gotten along at Hogwarts, and that was stating it mildly.

But it had gotten even worse since they had entered the workforce. Parkinson worked as a reporter at the Daily Prophet and Hermione worked in Records at the Ministry. Records happened to be one of Parkinson's favorite places to dig out information and she viewed Hermione as her personal assistant.

In fact, seeing as she was the one that had spoken, Hermione was fairly sure that come Monday the entire Records Department would know she had been sitting on Malfoy's lap, nibbling on his fingers in a public place.

"Oh, don't worry Granger, Pans won't say anything about this. Will you Pans?" Zabini sent Parkinson a cool look, one thin eyebrow raised delicately.

She pouted, but shook her head, "Of course not. This is Brigade time, and what happens during Brigade time-"

"Is never spoken of again," Nott finished, grinning and raising a hand to summon another a waitress over.

Hermione's eyebrows rose in disbelief, "Really? Pansy Parkinson, nosy reporter, queen of exposing corruption, will never mention me sitting on Malfoy's lap?"

Malfoy's hands wandered until one rested on her thigh. She could feel his heat through her skin. "No one breaks trust in the Brigade. Now, did you want to scamper off like the good little rule-abiding girl you pretend to be? Or do you want to join us on an adventure?" His mouth was so low that he was practically hissing, his warm breath tickling her ear.

Electricity shot down her spine and she gasped as he lifted his hips a bit; pressing himself against her.

"What-what adventure?" she gasped, thinking of her last adventure. It had been over a decade since she and Harry had traveled in time to save Buckbeak and Sirius, but it had been so thrilling….if terrifying.

Somehow she suspected what Malfoy had planned was more thrilling than terrifying.

She considered it for a moment. Harry, Ron and Ginny would be looking for her soon. But would they worry if they didn't find her?

Likely not. It wasn't as if they were in danger anymore. At least not of the illegal variety.

But, breaking rules just for fun….

"Draco, why are you inviting her? Little Miss Perfect isn't interested in us or you. She wasn't interested in school, why would she be now? Besides, you should see her at work. I swear, she's the most stuck up and aggravating recordkeeper in all of Britain."

Parkinson's voice was so full of scorn that Hermione's mind was immediately made up. Who was Parkinson to say what Hermione was and wasn't interested in? She didn't know everything that Hermione had done before she turned fifteen. She didn't know that it had been Hermione acting as Ron's dueling partner as he trained to be an auror. Harry had helped, but he'd been too busy training for quidditch tryouts to do much.

She shifted on Malfoy's lap and looked around, noticing that the eyes of most people seemed to slide from the table on one side of her to the table on her other side. No wonder she hadn't noticed them and tripped. Whatever this Brigade business was - and now she was curious - they were serious about keeping it secret.

"Shut up, Parks. I'm in."

Parkinson's eyebrows shot up, but the boys just grinned.

"Alright, now that we have a date for Draco, let's get out of here," Nott said before downing the rest of his drink.

XXX

Hermione gazed around the hotel suite in wonder. She'd only ever seen places like this on the telly at her parents'. She was almost afraid to touch anything.

"Shocking, isn't it?" Draco drawled. "How muggles think this is the epitome of opulence."

She looked at him in disbelief, "This isn't the epitome of opulence?!"

He sneered at her. "Oh, no, you should see Malfoy Manor sometime. Makes this place look like a hovel. Now," he clapped his hands, "let's get you into something more fitting. We have a muggle ball to crash! Pans! Daphne!"

The next hour was a whirlwind of motion. By the end of it Hermione was more dressed up than she had been since the Yule Ball. And that time she hadn't been wearing jewelry worth more than her parents' house! She wanted to protest, but she held her tongue when she saw what everyone else was wearing.

They made her look positively dowdy.

The final piece was a small half-mask that matched the one Malfoy had on. Greengrass and Parkinson were wearing matching masks, as were Zabini and Nott. As they were putting them on Parkinson shot her a look practically daring Hermione to say something about it.

Really? Did her love for organization and rules make her seem like an archaic prude?

Perhaps Ginny was right and Hermione really needed to get out more. She couldn't spend her entire life working. Even if she was already making great headway in modernizing how the Ministry did things.

Ron had even kissed her when he found out she'd managed to halve the amount of paperwork an auror had to do after an arrest.

He'd then promptly apologized. They'd determined in their seventh year that they were better off as friends. And friends didn't kiss like that.

"Well, let's go, Granger."

She blinked and looked over to see Malfoy standing there, his arm held out for her. She gave herself a mental shake and slipped her arm through his.

"Oh! Wait a minute! We must inform Granger of the rules," Zabini said before he took Nott's arm.

She frowned, "Rules? Isn't this about not having rules?"

"Oh, no, of course not!" He pulled a flask out of his dinner jacket pocket and took a sip. "Now, you must abide by these two rules once we leave this room. First, you must never use a word that contains an 'e'. Second, you must never let go of your partner. Your partner is, of course, Draco. These rules end after three hours." He flashed a blinding smile at her as he passed the flask to Nott. "Simple enough, right?"

Her mind whirled, but she nodded.

"Alright, I can do that."

"I don't doubt it. Your mind is said to contain a dictionary. Am I not right?" Parkinson's smile was small, her eyes glittering like gems from beneath her mask and her voice made Hermione want to give her a swift kick.

"My mind has no dictionary within it. It is only that I put in many hours of study. Primarily with books. You should try it." She gave Parkinson a small, tight smile and watched the other girl wrinkle her nose in disgust,

"I do say, Draco, you found an outstanding companion for this affair," Zabini drawled, returning his flask to his jacket before slipping his arm through Nott's.

Draco chuckled and Hermione looked up at him, feeling warmth spread through her veins at how wonderful he looked without the pinched sneer he had always worn around her at Hogwarts.

"You all should know by now that I will always find an outstanding companion. Though I must say that Lion is not cut from any cloth that has hit upon my boy," Malfoy said smoothly as he they all left the hotel suite.

Hermione scowled, "Lion?"

"I am afraid that is you, my Lion. As your typical alias contains that which I cannot say."

She had nothing to say to that as they took the lift to the ballroom. All three of her names contained the letter 'e'. It did make her wonder what Parkinson was calling Greengrass. But she didn't wonder enough to ask. It was already hard enough to talk like this without asking unnecessary questions.

Upon entering the ballroom the three couples split up. Hermione let Draco lead her around, they moved through the crowd together with an easy pace. As she looked around she realized that there was something odd about quite a number of masks. About half of the masks were like the ones she and Malfoy wore. While the others were...different.

She couldn't explain how, just that they were.

That was, until they stopped by the punch bowl and she held a glass as Malfoy filled it for her. A couple next to them had the masks that were different and she could hear them speaking to each other.

"Sally, I just don't see why we have to come here every year. All these ridiculous masks. You know I'd be happy to go to any restaurant. Your pick," the man said.

"George, would you hush! This event is for charity! We can go out to dinner on our anniversary!" the woman hissed back before tightly smiling at Hermione and then walking away. Leaving her husband blustering and chasing after her.

The ones with masks similar to her own weren't breaking contact with their partners. Nor were they using 'e'.

"Why! I say! Is that Draco Malfoy? Oh, and who is this striking woman upon your arm?" A loud, boisterous voice said from the other side of Malfoy.

Malfoy put the punch ladle down and turned them to face a rather large man with a woman on his arm.

"Why, Slughorn, I must bid you a good day. As for this woman, I can only accord you with Lion as I must follow our laws."

Hermione smiled at the older couple, " I bid you a good day, Slughorn and-" she stopped, looking at the woman expectantly.

The woman gave a simpering smile, "I go by Pink. Or so I'm told. This game is rather odd."

Malfoy stiffened beside her and Slughorn's genial smile disappeared.

"I regret that we must now take our leave. Good luck to you two. Come, Dolores, let's go find a nice restaurant," Slughorn said, tipping his head to them and leading his date out of the ballroom.

"What-" Hermione started to say, but found Malfoy's finger once more upon her lips and his silver gaze meeting hers.

"Hush, my lion. I find I am wanting to waltz."

The half-finished punch glass was plucked from her fingers and she was pulled onto a dance floor.

And then she promptly lost track of all time.

All she was aware of was the heat of his hand on her waist and the feel of his fingers against hers.

It was the oddest thing, as she'd always assumed Malfoy to be soft and pampered - he certainly looked delicate - but his fingers were rough. Not as much as Harry's or Ron's were, but definitely not soft.

And he danced beautifully.

As they swept across the floor she found herself grateful that her father had spent the summer before her fifth year teaching her to dance. She'd used books and faked her way through the Yule Ball and her date with Viktor, but she'd been determined to never worry about embarrassing herself again.

She was certainly not embarrassing herself now.

The swept and glided across the floor. Nothing existed but the music and his strong arms guiding her. She felt as if she was floating, wishing it would never end.

Praying it would never end.

Whatever was happening on this evening, with this odd brigade and their eccentric games, she didn't want it to end.

She hadn't felt this alive in years.

Eventually the music came to an end and Malfoy pulled out an old-fashioned pocket watch. He flipped it open and grinned.

"Time's up!" He leaned over and placed a quick kiss on her lips, making her gasp.

"What-?"

He snapped the watch closed and slipped it back into his jacket. "We survived this stage. Now, let's go back to the suite. See who else is there."

His fingers were interlaced with hers as he pulled her along, turning to throw her an excited grin as they left the ballroom.

"You know, I wondered if I was right to invite a little lion into our little game, but you proved yourself."

She was a bit lost.

"I proved myself? What? I thought this was just an adventure. Just you five. But then, there were the masks and that older couple..."

He pressed a button to call the lift before leaning down and give her a rather forceful kiss that left her gasping.

"You just survived the first game for our Valentine's Event. Our only event that requires everyone to be part of a pair. Oh, and we means the Snakes and Ravens Brigade. It's not often a Lion joins us."

She frowned, "Snakes and Ravens? As in Ravenclaws and Slytherins?"

"Exactly. Typically only the older, wealthier families get invited. I was recruited during my sixth year."

The lift dinged and the doors opened.

He pulled her inside and the next thing she knew her back was to one of the mirrors and he was pressed against her.

"I never realized what you were hiding under all that hair."

She opened her mouth to give a retort, but was silenced by his lips meeting hers. She moaned and tangled her fingers in his soft hair, pulling him closer as their tongues dueled.

Neither of them heard the lift ding open.

But they did hear the shocked gasp.

Dazed, Malfoy pulled away from her and she looked at the open lift door.

A pair of old ladies, no younger than seventy-five, stood there in full evening attire. They were scowling at them.

Sniffing delicately the women stepped into the lift and shut the doors. Malfoy and Hermione stood there awkwardly until the doors opened on their floor and he led her out, his fingers interlaced with hers.

She couldn't stop smiling.

XXX

Hermione gulped and squeezed Malfoy's hand, hearing him gasp in pain did nothing to lessen her hold on him.

This was not what she called an adventure! This was a bloody death wish!

"No. I refuse. I am not jumping off of a perfectly good building!" she hissed at Malfoy.

She'd done everything else this evening. After the ball they had gone to the London Eye and ridden it - on top of the pods full of muggles. And the pods moved as they went around, so you couldn't fall either.

A few people were seen by muggles and disqualified. Others couldn't manage to stay on the pod. They'd started that game with a good eighteen couples.

The next event had only had eight. Though there were quite a number of people watching as the remaining couples played muggle polo on broomsticks.

It had been utterly bizarre.

But somehow her team had won.

Now, the remaining four couples were standing inside of Elizabeth Tower, right next to the famous Big Ben.

Hermione was once again in the evening dress from earlier and in her hands was a weightless potion. They would all just float down to the ground. No one would see them. The bystanders would use spells to ensure it.

And she trusted the potion. She could see Snape's mark on the bottom of the vial. Terrible teacher he may have been, but he was still a master of his craft.

But she still thought it was terrible idea. There was no need to jump out of a perfectly good building!

"Granger! If you back out now we're done!" He stomped his foot and glared down at her, "And I have NOT come this close to winning to back out now!"

"Winning?" she hissed. "What's the point of winning if you die doing it! Besides how many of these events are there?!"

He grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the other three couples.

She yanked her arm out of his grip and put her hands on her hips, glaring up at him. He took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair, messing it up and making him look even more tantalizing in his muggle evening wear. "Listen, this is the last event. There's no limit on the number of winners. And there's no trophy for winning. The real prize is the experience. It's the fact that we'll safely jump off of one of the most famous landmarks in the world."

Her eyes narrowed. "There's something else. What is it? I mean. Why did you invite me on this if you're so intent on winning? It's been fun and all, but surely there was someone else? Doesn't Greengrass have a younger sister?"

"Oi! Draco! Granger! Hurry it up!" Nott shouted out, waving his own little potion at them.

"One minute!" Malfoy called over his shoulder before running his hand through his hair again. "Listen, Granger, this isn't exactly the time, but I've learned something since we finished school."

"What's that?"

"That if we don't take chances we never live. Did you know I thought about asking you to the Yule Ball? Oh, don't look at me that way, Granger. I may have been utterly terrible and nasty, but I still had a crush on you. Ended up not risking it. Then, later, after Potter defeated You-Know-Who and my father went to Azkaban I did a lot of thinking. Also spent a lot of time watching you. Saw you with Weasley. Think I was the only one in the Brigade that bet on you two ending without a wedding ring in sight. I thought to look you up a half dozen times, especially when Pans started telling me her work stories. You know, you're the only one that's ever stood up to her? She's always so excited when she has to go to Records and bother you."

Hermione snorted in disbelief, but didn't interrupt. She'd corner Parkinson about that little tidbit on Monday.

"But, well, it never worked out. Until tonight."

Her glare softened into a frown of confusion and she pinned him with her eyes. "What do you mean?"

He squirmed, but didn't look away from her. "Daphne got one of Wood's groupies to spill on the location of their quidditch after party. I knew you'd show in support of Potter, so we staked it out. Then when you passed Theo sent a quick tripping jinx your way and Blaise had bribed Mclaggen to herd you towards us…"

She gaped at him. "Why-! You little sneaky snake!"

Color appeared high on his cheeks. "Well, um, yes, I am a snake…"

Emotions swirled within her. He'd staked her out, maneuvered things so she ended up on his lap and then-!

She stopped.

And then he had offered her a choice. He couldn't have slipped her anything. She'd only had the punch and some water during the polo match. Both were things that many others had drank. She had obviously wanted to do all of this. Protesting now would be stupid and pointless.

And Hermione was never stupid.

She huffed, "I'm not forgetting about this."

He winced, "I didn't think you would."

"BUT," she reached out and grabbed the front of his shirt, yanking him down so he was on eye-level with her. She watched his eyes grew wide with fear before letting her face soften, "I will forgive you."

His fear flipped into disbelief, "Really?"

"Yes, dammit, I will. I'll also jump."

He grinned and his face lit up like a little boy's at Christmas. "Really?"

"Merlin's beard! I said yes already! BUT, I demand breakfast and a real conversation after all of this. No adventures. Understand?"

He nodded happily.

Five minutes later they all stood spread out across the hands of the clock. With the hour hand on the three and the minute hand on the nine they had plenty of room.

Her hand was firmly clasped by Malfoy and her entire body felt as if it was made of cotton candy. She was nothing but spun sugar and air. An effect of the potion.

"Are you ready?" A witch shouted from her spot on a broomstick hovering in front of them.

"Yes!" Everyone called out.

Malfoy gave her hand a tight squeeze and she looked over at him. He looked so excited that she couldn't help but lean over and give him a kiss.

"Alright! Here we go! On three! One!"

As she was pulling back his free hand reached up and snagged her, pulling her close to him so he could whisper in her ear, "You trust me?"

She hesitated, but nodded.

"Two!"

He pulled away from her and grinned. "You jump, I jump, little Lion."

"Three!"

She gripped his hand tightly and jumped.

Author's Note: Yes. This did just combine Harry Potter with the Life and Death Brigade from Gilmore Girls. This is all due to faerieflightz coming up with the brilliant idea of combining them. And then asking if anyone could write a story using this idea. I just took the idea, ran with it, and then shared it with all you lovely people!

Enjoy