For anyone's quick reference:

There are several rounds but the showdown is where the dealer has place five cards down and you have to come up with the best combination of cards between the five cards the dealer put down and the cards in your hand.

Big Blind: Highest set bet.

Fold: Basically you tap out for the round.

River Rat: Someone gets lucky towards the ends of the rounds.

If there are any parts / questions you did not understand or broke the flow of the work too badly, PLEASE comment below so I may add it here :) Thank you!

Lucius glanced nervously at the fireplace where his auror would appear to escort him to Poker night at the Greengrass Estate.

"I'm excited to get out of here. The first time in five years, Draco."

Draco looked over at his father. Seven years ago when Draco was still in his fifth year, if someone had said that this was what was his father would be reduced to, he would have laughed in their face and spat at them before walking away. The man before him was still a racist bigot but there was only so many people you could intimidate when you were on house arrest for life without magic. Lucius had become more docile, more open to Draco and his mother after the war, but the fact they were the only two people he saw regularly humbled him to the point he was a much more loving father and husband.

"Are you sure you're not nervous?" Draco's lips pulled up into a playful smirk as he closed the book he was reading.

His father gave him an equally playful scowl. "Nonsense. Malfoys don't get scared." Lucius made a show of fixing his tie and adopting a faux snooty tone when he said this, causing Draco to laugh. He never knew his father could be a comedian, but perhaps that was always hidden beneath his fear of Voldemort. Lucius had known the dark lord was 'alive' after Harry Potter had survived the killing curse as a toddler, but never searched for him, hoping that he never rose to power again.

Draco stopped laughing then. Thinking of Voldemort reminded him of his sixth and seventh year, one year being more horrendous than the last. He still had nightmares- ones where Nagini was eating him while he bled out from the initial strike she made, Granger being tortured in the drawing room, or him being tortured by Bellatrix.

Lucius looked at his pocket watch and stood. "Five more minutes till-"

The floo roared and Draco's jaw dropped open as Hermione Granger herself stepped out of it. She wore a Blue blazer with matching blue slacks that flared at the bottom leaving her ministry issued combat boots to poke out at the front. Over her breast pocket, there was the Ministry's seal embroidered on to it along with her auror number.

She kept a hand on her holstered wand as she looked around before settling her eyes on the two Malfoy men. When she felt there were no threats present, she dropped her hand but stayed tense. Did the Ministry not know she was tortured here? His hands coiled into fists as he remembered who was head auror. Potter let her come here? Goddamn duffer. "Good evening." She looked at Lucius then Draco, nodding to both of them. Draco threw his book on to the table, letting out a huff of air in his anger.

He looked at his father whose face was twisted in disgust as Lucius gave Hermione a once over. "They sent you? The Ministry insists on making a mockery of me, still?" Draco shook his head, letting his hair fall over his eyes. Not completely humbled. Draco glance over to Hermione who now had her arms crossed over her chest.

"Amazing. I'm the only one who spoke on the Malfoys behalf five years ago and the only one who vouched for you to have regular supervised outings when your request was made, but I'm not even offered tea? Instead I am greeted with a comment on how my very presence is insulting?"

Draco's eyebrows went up and he looked over at his father who had blanched. "Tea," Lucius repeated as if he had been stupefied, realizing that- per usual- she was right. "Would you like tea?"

Hermione's eyebrows came together. "No, I would like to be on our way." Hermione turned to Draco but her eyes fell on the book he had placed on the table. Draco watched her annoyed expression change into one of pleasant surprise. "The Picture of Dorian Gray? That's a muggle text."

"It is." Draco sounded annoyed and short, but it was not directed at her, it was the lingering annoyance of him thinking that Potter had sent her to the manor. He was in shock that she had even stepped inside the manor when even his father didn't use the drawing room when he had visitors. It was too big of a reminder of the dark path of the Malfoys.

Hermione didn't know his annoyance wasn't because of her however, and she returned her attention to Lucius before Draco could think of how to reassure her that she was not the source of his irate deportment. "Shall we head off or would you like to stay?"

Lucius grabbed the coat he laid on the couch and put it on, not saying another word until he went to step into the floo. "Are you sure you're not coming, Draco?"

Draco's eyes flicked over to Hermione. Her hair was pulled into a slick bun, with side bangs curled to frame her face. He hadn't seen her since she testified for them and he realized, five years after the fact, that it bothered him. He never even thanked her for helping them at the trial after he left her on the floor with Bellatrix and it filled him with shame. "No, I'll stay here."

Lucius stepped into the fireplace and when Hermione started walking towards the fire place, he stepped to the side as if he was trying to disappear into the corner. "What are you doing?"

"We're going to have to floo together in order for you to get past the Ministries' wards. Please move over some and hand me your arm."

Draco would have laughed at his father's face turning pink if he didn't know what was going on in his father's head. Lucius still found muggleborns to be disgusting and completely beneath him. He knew his father's aversion to the idea of being touched by someone of Hermione's pedigree was literally causing his skin to crawl. Draco wasn't sure what to think of muggleborns after the war. In hindsight, he had no reason to hate Hermione, especially after he stopped his whole family from being sentenced to life in Azkaban or a dementor's kiss and unless someone said they were muggleborn, he couldn't tell them apart from a pureblood wizard.

"Mr. Malfoy, please." Hermione's voice broke Draco from his thoughts and he focused on the scene before him.

Lucius glanced at his son, and Draco shrugged picking his book back up. The message clear in his actions: It's either you do what she says, old man, or you stay here. Lucius made his decision then and moved over so Hermione could get into the fireplace next to him and held out his arm like the gentleman he was.

Hermione held out a fistful of floo powder and didn't glance at Draco before shouting her next destination: "GREENGRASS ESTATE!"

When they were gone, Draco chuckled as he flipped the first edition of the book in his hand. He had planned on finishing the book tonight as it was such a short read but after seeing Hermione, War Hero and recipient of the Order of Merlin, First Class after four years, he thought of her instead- even thought about fantasizing about her a bit that night. He wouldn't of hand minded seeing her once a month on a regular basis. She looked good. He paused and grabbed the back of his neck, letting his head roll back as a scream from her enduring crucio rang through his head. Better.

And he hoped she was happy.

One month later.

"You should come, Draco."

"Why? I'm a terrible gambler and I'm in the middle of my book."

Lucius rolled his eyes. "You read a new book everyday- you do know that it will still be there tomorrow if you don't rush through it tonight, right?"

Draco sighed and removed his reading glasses. "Yes, I do, but it's... calming." Lucius and Draco sat in the foyer again, waiting for Hermione to come and escort Lucius to his poker night. "Plus, I'm not very fond of the lot that gathers there."

Draco made a face and Lucius laughed. "They're not... terrible and Blaise goes there often apparently. He has his eye on Astoria it seems."

"You only say that because they're the only people you see aside from mum and I!" Draco laughed but Lucius' smile wavered. Knowing he crossed a line, Draco flinched as his laughter died. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

Lucius waved a hand and looked away. Further proof of how being locked in the manor with hardly any one to interact with had changed him. He didn't strike Draco anymore when he was slighted.

There was a silence that settled between them and Draco thought it was now a safe time to ask the question he had been thinking on and off about for the past month. "So how was it with Granger being there?"

Lucius placed an elbow on his knee to prop his head on his fist. "The mudblood just stood off to the side. Didn't do or say anything until we had to come back."

He nodded and decided not to continue talking about Hermione so Lucius did not grow suspicious of Draco's lack of disgust with her blood. "So there's a time frame for you to be out?" Draco knew the answer had to be 'yes' as the ministry hardly ever gave a generous allowance like house arrest, but he had not received much information from his father as both were busy with the family company or taking care of an ill Narcissa.

Lucius nodded and straightened up when he saw his pocket watch, it was six minutes till eight. "I can be out until one AM."

"That's generous of the Ministry." When he heard from their lawyer there were people who were able to leave their property on house arrest it was always for two or three hours- not five.

His father's expression soured again. "Yes, something the mudblood reminded me of last month. Apparently it's her doing- I wonder what she wants from us and I grow suspicious of her friendliness."

"Has she threatened you?" Draco closed his book and sat up. He didn't think Hermone was the type to hold something over another's head. Unless... The corners of his lips pulled upwards. "Did you provoke her so she had to remind you of the favors she's done for us?"

Lucius scowled but was cut off when the fireplace roared and Hermione stepped out of it. She looked exactly the same except this time she was out of breath. "Act like I'm not here." With a wave of her wand towards her shoes, she climbed up the side of the fireplace and placed one arm on the mantle to prop herself into a hand stand directly over the fire place so she did not step on the Malfoy family portrait that hung over the mantel. One arm supported her weight effortlessly- thanks to auror training, Draco assumed- while the other had her wand poised and ready to attack whomever was coming out of the fireplace next.

Draco and Lucius only had a few seconds to give each other a look before the floo roared to life again and Ronald Weasley stepped out, looking so angry, he was already puce in the face. Ron immediately locked eyes with Draco and practically snarled his question. "Where is she?"

It wasn't hard for Draco to relax back into his signature sneer and drawling voice. "Well, well, father. It seems our floo has a few extra enchantments on it, first the Kneazle drags in the Gryffindor Princess, this month a Weasel. I suppose next month we'll have The Boy Who Lived." Draco tilted his head to the side.

Ron's eyes flashed and he started towards Draco. "Listen here-"

Ron never got the chance to say what he was going to say as Hermione had cast a silent Petrificus Totalus, which caused him to fall forward at Draco's feet, completely unable to move. "Well, I'm listening." Draco's sneer grew into a grin as he spoke, too delighted to see Hermione hex Ron to question why she did it.

Hermione rolled Ron over on to his back and dragged him by his feet back towards the fireplace. "Miss Granger, may I ask why you've hexed another auror in my foyer?" Lucius was more curious than bothered, but had no qualms demanding answers in his home- even if his one slice of freedom was at the mercy of the auror he questioned.

She stood and ran a hand over her hair even though not a single strand had left it's tight bun. It was a habit he recognized from Hogwarts, one that she clearly never broke out of. "You may." Draco glanced at his father, still grinning, to see Lucius take a deep breath before asking. Draco wondered what exactly happened since the last time she was at the manor that had his father tolerating her sass.

"Why did you hex the Weasel in my foyer?" Draco expected her to correct her father's use of Draco's nickname for Ron but was surprised again when she hadn't.

Instead, she glared at Ron and bent over to look him in the eyes when she replied. "Because, despite our break up being months ago, Mr. Weasley thinks he can still interfere with my work saying he's there for 'extra protection.'" She scoffed and looked at her watch again. "We have two minutes before our window closes, Lucius. Would one of you give me a hand so I can get him into the fireplace?" Hermione stood up, stepping by Ronald's shoulders so she could grab him while someone else grabbed his feet.

"Are you not a witch? You can use your wand." Lucius nearly spat as he grabbed his coat and stood by the still-petrified Weasley. He was miffed she had the audacity to use his first name and annoyed she expected a Malfoy to help her with any sort of leg work. "And are you not going to free him?" That was asked in a calmer tone, one that was half filled with curiosity again.

Hermione's head snapped up at first with how rude Lucius sounded but her expression turned into one of guilt, remembering he would never use a wand again. Draco himself often forgot his father's wand was destroyed with his sentence of life on house arrest, and Draco knew that any reminders to Lucius that he had to live like a muggle was one of two things that angered him more than being at the manor 24/7. She avoided the first question as she removed her wand and cast a silent Mobilicorpus causing Ron's legs to move him into the fireplace at Hermione's control. "No, someone at the burrow can sort him out. Until then, he can think about what would happen the next time he wants to get in my way." With Ron in the fireplace, she through the floo powder in. "THE BURROW!" Draco watched his father when Hermione's back was turned and saw the slightest pull of his mouth go up, but it disappeared when she turned back to him, waving an arm at the fireplace. "After you."

Lucius stepped into the fireplace and waited as Hermione glanced back at Draco- or rather his book. "Moby Dick is another muggle text."

But before Draco could reply, she called out to the Greengrass estate in the green flames of the floo.

Two months later

Draco missed the third time Hermione came to the manor and the fourth time she came, she was the last thing on his mind for the first time in the past four months.

When Draco had gotten home that afternoon from his would-be three month long business trip he had only been on for a little over a month, he rushed up the stairs to his parents bedroom to find his father blocking the recently deceased Narcissa's body from three healers and one auror. Draco knew they were new to the position as anyone who was older would have hexed Lucius and left with what they needed.

"YOU CAN'T TAKE HER! SHE NEEDS TO BE BURIED HERE!"

"Father!" Draco brushed by a healer as he walked around the bed and reached out to his father. Lucius grabbed Draco's arms and his stomach turned. He could see his father was still sane, Narcissa had been sick for some time now so her death was expected, but he was nearly in hysterics.

"Draco, they want to take her but they can't! She has to be buried here, on the property- She's a Malfoy, they can't take her!" His father sucked in a ragged breath. He never saw his father look so weak, even when Voldemort had his family fearing for their lives. Everyday, Lucius maintained a collected demeanor in front of the Death Eaters, just barely, but he never broke in front of anyone- not once.

Draco turned onto the Healers and auror. "Why are you-"

"It's our orders." The auror answered him. Draco gave him a hard glare that made the auror swallow nervously after interrupting him so rudely. Upon further inspection, Draco realized it was the younger brother of the Creavey brothers- the one that didn't die by sneaking back on to the battle field at Hogwarts. He tried to remember his name, Dimitri, Daniel, Derek-

"Dennis, what the bloody hell is going on?" Hermione Granger walked into the room, holding a bouquet of yellow and white flowers. Her eyes flicked over to Narcissa's body and she quickly looked away. "I'm the one handling the Malfoy's, you shouldn't be here." It's one in the afternoon, how the hell did she know to come?

Dennis didn't meet Hermione's eyes as he spoke, and even glanced back at the healers for reassurance. Definitely a new auror, Draco thought as he sat next to his father on the bed, careful not to touch Narcissa's body. He straightened up to demand Dennis and the healers get out, but Lucius placed an arm over Draco's shoulders. It was for his own comfort, but it distracted Draco enough to stop.

"Harry said it was your day off and didn't want to disturb you." Dennis shifted his weight from one foot to the other, still not meeting Hermione's eyes. Draco looked back at her again to see she had the flowers gently propped on the crook of one arm while her other hand was a fist on her hip.

"Then when you go back to the Ministry, remind Harry that not only am I salary and don't have a single day of the year 'off', but I requested to be the only auror allowed within the Ministry's wards." Oh. Draco's eye widened as realization hit him. She must have sensed Narcissa's death if she's the one who altered the wards for Lucius to leave. "Now, I will handle it from here- what was the last thing that was done?"

Dennis glanced at Lucius and Draco before finally looking up at her, feeling like Hermione may start to take his side once Dennis explained what had happened. "We finished everything; we determined her cause of death, we collected samples as proof, and took pictures," he gestured to his late brother's camera that hung from his neck. "But when we tried to remove the body, Mr. Malfoy resisted."

"We have our own cemetery and rituals for our family." Draco interjected, looking at Hermione with angry, but pleading eyes. He felt his world start to crumble as talking about his mother's death made it more real for him. He wasn't ready. "My father-"

"I won't let them take her." Lucius said, just as stern as he was before Draco and Hermione came, but he wasn't yelling anymore. Hermione's face had grown darker as they spoke and Draco could feel something inside of him start to dissipate. He realized then that the feeling was hope and the more angry Hermione visibly got, the more it faded. When she finally spoke, Draco thought he hadn't seen her look that angry since she punched him in third year.

"So why are you still here, Dennis?" Draco and Lucius both tensed and looked at young auror who was completely gobsmacked at being the target of her anger.

"Ma-Ma'am?"

Hermione spoke again, but through gritted teeth. "Why are you not allowing them to grieve? They have their own customs to abide by and as officials we need to uphold that for our citizens." Draco's jaw dropped and he knew if circumstances were different, his father would have made him shut it as Lucius would claim it would only attract flies.

"I contacted Harry, ma'am-"

"Oh did you?" Hermione pulled out her wand. "Expecto Patronum." A silver otter game out of her wand and hovered in the air before her. "Go to Harry and tell him to review Title five, code 16, section 43 of The Ministry of Magic's Codes and Ethics." The otter disappeared and Hermione returned her attention to Draco and Lucius. Her gaze did not soften when she spoke to him although her voice did. "Do you need the healers to assist you?"

It took Draco a moment to respond to Hermione as he was in shock she was helping them once again. And this time he had no reason as to why. He didn't think that his father and her became completely chummy in the one visit he missed. "No, we have our own healers and staff to contact." He looked at his father for confirmation and Lucius nodded.

She turned back to Dennis and the Healers, who all looked very uncomfortable now. "Then this will be the last time I say this to any of you," Hermione stepped to the side so she was no longer blocking the bedroom door. "Get out."

No one moved for a few seconds and Draco stood with hands balled into fists. One of the healers, the youngest girl of the group, ran from the room when he got to full height. The other two healers followed shortly after leaving a hesitant Dennis. He took a couple steps closer to Hermione, an anxious look in his eyes as he fumbled with the camera he had. "Ma'am, it was a direct order from Harry-"

"One," Hermione unholstered he wand and all blood from Dennis's face disappeared.

"Seriously?" Dennis backed away and nearly bumped into the dresser behind him.

"Two," Hermione raised her wand to him and Dennis started to make a run for the door but Harry's silver stag appeared in the room.

"Dennis and company, please leave Malfoy Manor as Auror Granger will be taking over from this point forward." The stag turned to face Hermione. "When they return I better not hear you threatened them."

The stag disappeared and Hermione smirked as she holstered her wand. "There's your direct order." He nodded and had just passed the threshold into the hall when she continued. "And Dennis? Please do well to remember how I didn't threaten you." His lips were pressed into a thin line and he disappeared down the hall to the stairs.

Hermione walked over to the side of the bed where Lucius sat and Draco stood. Lucius was shaking as he was over come with many emotions and Draco was digging his nails into his palm to stop himself from breaking down or kissing Hermione's feet in thanks. He wasn't sure which reaction he would have first if he let himself fall apart.

Hermione didn't touch the bed as she knelt in front of his father. "I am so sorry, Lucius." She offered the flowers to Lucius and Draco held his breath hoping his father had the sense to accept the flowers.

To Draco's relief, Lucius did. He held them close as his dark grey eyes searched Hermione's face, wondering why she was doing this. "Thank you." His voice was low and tense, once again reminding Draco of when Voldemort had lived with them. "For letting us give her a proper burial."

Hermione nodded and stood, turning to Draco now. Draco let out a strangled breath as he looked at her. For a moment, he allowed himself to see her for what she was at the moment: a former school mate he used to bully who was giving him and his father the chance to properly say goodbye to his mother. Hermione had every reason not to provide them such a kindness, but here she was, coming to the rescue once again.

"I'm so sorry, Draco."

Draco. It was the first time she said his name and before he could think about why he shouldn't, he pulled her into a hug. He allowed the contact to say everything he couldn't say, as he let his tears soak her collar.

Three months later

"... are you SERIOUS, LUCIUS!"

Draco woke with a start, sitting straight up, causing the book he laid on his chest before falling asleep on the couch to fall to the ground. He waved his wand and the lantern's fire in the foyer intensified. He saw two shapes stumbling out of the fireplace and realized it was Hermione trying to hold up his father.

Draco got up and put Lucius' other arm over his shoulders to help. "What happened to him?" Hermione had come over the past two months, once a week instead of once a month, playing poker with Lucius and checking on him along with trying to get him to leave for poker night. Tonight was the first time since his mother's death Lucius allowed Hermione to take him to poker night, which was why Draco stayed by the floo- in the event something like this happened.

"CISSY!" His father called out with a sob and Draco froze, looking over at Hermione who had locked eyes with Draco. Shite.

"Father..." Draco readjusted Lucius' arm as the extra body weight was already starting to make his back ache.

"Draco. She used to call you her dragon? Remember that?" Lucius let his head roll back and he stopped walking forward. "I never loved anyone other than your mother. I didn't look at anyone but your mother."

"Please keep moving, Lucius." Hermione took a step forward and Lucius had thankfully obliged, his head falling to the side again, continuing his drunken walk as it just barely helped them to keep him moving.

"I remember the first time I met her, she slapped me! She said..."

Draco opened his mouth to comment on Lucius weight but he realized something instead, completely cutting off his father. "Why are we not using magic?"

"I tried and he refused. Actually snarled at me at one point so I settled on guiding him the muggle way." She shrugged her unused shoulder, focusing on the stairs ahead of them. "I had to do the same thing for Ron a couple times so I didn't mind."

"He was a drunk, too?" Lucius interjected suddenly, stopping Draco from saying that wasn't something she was supposed to be used to. Draco didn't miss the word 'too' as if he was continuing a conversation they already had. "If it's not to bold to say, Miss Granger, I am happy you and that pissant are no longer together."

Hermione threw a look at Lucius but Draco doubted his father processed it, even with being mere inches from her face. "You know, that is too bold to say. Not to mention that you were so drunk tonight, I had to finish your game for you so you can't say too much more about Ronald." Ronald... So they're friends again. Draco was unsure why but he felt his stomach sink at the fact.

"Well, its been said." Lucius shrugged. "And you enjoyed it so you can't say much more yourself. You should thank me for being such a great teacher." Lucius had adopted his snooty but playful tone and Hermione snorted. She kept her mouth shut, though, deciding arguing with a drunk Lucius was more effort than it should have been. Draco wondered if this was the first time Lucius had shown Hermione his comedic side, but with the friendly banter that the two shared, he assumed it wasn't.

When they reached the stairs, Hermione and Draco both paused as they knew guiding Lucius up the stairs could take hours with how drunk Lucius was and how high the stairs went- if they managed not to drop him. Draco removed his wand, deciding he was done with doing anything else the muggle way. "Father, I'm going to use magic on you. Would you like to do this willingly?"

Lucius tried to give Draco a withering look, but ended up looking completely defeated after a moment of trying. "As much as it hurts that I'll never be able to perform magic again, I'm happy you and your mother were able to keep your wands."

Draco swallowed and was acutely aware of Hermione staring at him as she shifted to better hold Lucius' weight. "I shouldn't have been able to keep mine." They were quiet until Draco looked up, remembering Hermione was there, trying to get Lucius up the stairs. "Mobilicorpus is the perfect spell, but we should walk with him to keep him upright as it will only affect his legs." Hermione nodded and Draco cast the spell. "Mobilicorpus."

The three of them went up the stairs in silence, not saying another word as the atmosphere had turned somber around them. When they got to the top, Hermione turned right, intending to guide Lucius into the master bedroom, but was stopped by Lucius' hand giving her shoulder a tight squeeze. "I don't sleep in there anymore." Hermione nodded, understanding why.

When they reached one of the extra bedrooms, Draco thought about telling her she could go, but didn't. Hermione stayed by the door as Draco laid Lucius down on the bed in one of the guest rooms, and when Draco came back out, he pointed at the sleeve of her blazer that was ripped.

She immediately tapped her wand to it and it started to repair itself. "He fell at one point and I tried to catch him, but obviously that did not end well for my jacket." She gave a soft smile and Draco was mesmerized by how perfect it was. From the straight, white teeth, to the pink of her lips. He saw them move but didn't process everything she said. "... Night's Dream."

"S-Sorry?" He forced himself to look at her eyes which was almost a mistake as they had an even stronger pull on him than her lips did, so he settled on staring at the bridge of her nose. After his mother had passed, Hermione still visited Lucius at the manor even though he declined going out for poker. Hermione and Draco had very brief conversations when he was able to catch her either when she got to the manor to visit his father or when she was leaving the manor. She was always in a hurry and he was always awkward as he thought about crying on her when she arrived the day of his mother's death, but each interaction left him wanting to talk to her more and more as it felt as if he was getting a puzzle piece that was a part of the 'Hermione Granger puzzle'. Draco wanted to say she was just a distraction, but if he was being honest, books were a distraction to him. Hermione was interesting, and in her own way, enticing.

"You were reading Hamlet downstairs, right?" He nodded once. He had been reading Hamlet for three months as it was the book he had picked up just before his mother passed. He had finished it but couldn't seem to move on to another so he kept re-reading it. "It's good, but I prefer A Midsummer Night's Dream."

"Really?" Hermione started to walk, but he did not want to follow. He wanted her to stay and have a full conversation with her. Many people had been by the manor in the past three months to give their condolences but none could fill the air like Hermione. Logic told him that it was because she was the first one there to apologize for their loss, but his heart said it was because she showed more compassion and sympathy in one pinky-finger than anyone else had in their whole body. Draco found that to be one of his more favorite pieces of her puzzle. "I would have thought you to be more of the realistic type. Not so much fantasy."

She laughed and he made sure to pay as much attention as he could so he could remember the sound. "I like all kinds of books, but yes. It's a comedy, you know. It's a bit of a Soap, honestly."

"A 'soap'?" They were reaching the bottom of the stairs and his mood dropped with every stair they descended. His brain tried to think of other interesting topics to bring up to keep her talking so she wouldn't leave so soon.

"A 'Soap Opera', it's a muggle thing. It's a type of show they air on the tele. Really dramatic and the characters make the wildest decisions." When they reached the bottom he stopped and it took her a couple steps to realize he wasn't following. When she looked at him, she didn't hide the concerned look on her face when she saw his face. He decided on what to bring up next, and the look he had said he wished there was something better to talk about but he needed his question answered.

"Why did you do it?" His hands were shoved in his pockets and he studied every move she made, determined to watch for any sign of her lying to him.

Hermione looked up the stairs in the direction of the master bedroom. "I never got to say good bye to my parents. You had been through enough, and anyone deserves proper closure from- from that." She choked on the last part and looked down at the ground. "I had obliviated them and sent them to Australia during the war so they were protected." Hermione looked at him and his heart ached seeing the tears in her eyes. He wanted her to smile at him, not cry. "Bellatrix found them though, after we had escaped the manor." Draco felt like he was punched in the stomach and he remembered again that she was coming to a place he knew she had nightmares about, as he had the same ones.

"You shouldn't be here." Hermione looked taken aback and he continued so she would not get the wrong idea. "This place has to haunt you- Why did you vouch for my father and request he get out once a month?" That was the question he had meant to ask and he wanted to kick himself for not being clear, causing her to tell him about a dark part of their past.

Hermione bit her lip and looked down, looking uncomfortable and indecisive. His stomach sank at that look and he took a few steps forward so they were standing in front of each other. Draco guarded his emotions before he allowed himself to look into her chocolate eyes when she decided on what to say next. "Narcissa wrote to me." He was completely caught off guard at the mention of his mother and his eyebrows scrunched up. "She- she- When she found out she was sick- more sick than anyone thought she was- she asked me to vouch for Lucius when they decided to file an appeal for him to be able to leave the manor. I didn't know that she had put in a request for herself to leave the manor so I didn't prepare a defense for her, but I realized after that was a part of her plan. She figured if the Ministry could deny one request, it would make the other look better, giving Lucius a chance." Hermione looked down, unable to continue looking at Draco's stormy silvery eyes that had narrowed as she spoke.

Draco's expression twisted into anger as he realized his mother was more sick than anyone thought she was but only told one person. One person who said nothing. "What do you mean, 'more sick than anyone thought she was?'"

Hermione looked up and took a step back. Guilt consumed her features as she looked up at him. "She swore me to secrecy, Draco."

"Don't give me that shit, Granger." He was mad, some of it directed at his mother, most of it directed at Hermione as she was the one who was still alive and standing in front of him. The memories of coming home the day he found his mother dead filled his head; His father contacting the family healers as Draco cried on Hermione's shoulder. His lungs filling with the scent of a soft strawberry and vanilla musk with every sob he took. "If we would have known sooner, we might have been able to catch it on time!" He could tell blood was rushing to the sharp features of his face, turning them red. A part of him wanted to stop taking it out on her but he kept going. "And now she's gone! How could a home bound woman even get you to promise not to tell the only two people in her life who gave a damn about her?!"

Hermione let one tear fall as she watched him in stunned silence. She knew how it would look from his perspective, but it didn't stop her from her own anger rising. "I'll send the letters over if you want an explanation. Ron has done enough yelling at me for the past few years though and I won't sit here and allow you to speak to me like that." It was a weak insult comparing Draco to someone he hated but it was all she could think of at the moment. Hermione turned on her heal and strode into the fireplace, not giving him the chance to say anything else to her.

Two months later.

Hermione made good on her promise to send the letters between her and Narcissa, making sure they arrived to the manor by owl the next day. Draco, however, hadn't read them until the week after Hermione escorted Lucius for poker at the Greengrass estate in the first month following their row. He had convinced himself to hold on to the anger, saying it was easier than grieving, but when he caught sight of her and his father entering the floo, his old feelings came back- entangled in regret. So he marched back into his room, and read the letters that night, leaving him with the urge to Avada himself for putting it off that long. In the letters, Narcissa explained that she had been making private house owls for a healer (something that was easy to hide with how large the manor is) and knew for months she was at the point of no return before contacting Hermione. There was nothing that could be done. His mother, tricked Hermione into secrecy by making out that what she was writing about was no big deal, asking her to sign off on an enchanted letter that was glamoured to say something else entirely. Thus, her promise became unbreakable once she agreed. Draco only had proof of this by the runes and sigils his mother had written on the edges of the contract, something that would have only been revealed once the parchment was signed. Reading his mother's letters brought an immediate round of regret and Draco promised himself he would find a way to make it up to Hermione.

When Lucius was waiting in the foyer a month later, Draco came out holding a tea tray with three cups. He cast a quick cooling charm so the tea was just warm enough for Hermione to have a quick cup before she left with his father. "Tea?" Lucius asked, his eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Well she's been coming by for the past eight months or so, I thought it would be nice enough for it to be offered." Draco sat in his usual spot on the couch with A Midsummer's Night Dream open in front of him.

"Hmmm." Lucius narrowed his eyes in thought but did not say nothing more on the subject. Draco silently counted the minutes pretending to be reading the play. He had located a copy and finished it in one sitting, finding himself in agreement with Hermione on it being a much better selection in Shakespear's work. "Will you come to poker tonight?"

Draco genuinely considered it, pondering if it was a good idea, but decided if Hermione did not come off as friendly tonight, he wouldn't want to overwhelm her by forcing her into an evening with him , especially since she was technically working when she watched over his father. "No, not tonight."

"When? We haven't had a father and son day in forever."

Draco felt guilty, especially since he never told his father what happened when Lucius came home drunk or about any of the letters, but Draco wanted to know where he stood with Hermione before he made any promises where he had to be in her presence the entire night. "It hasn't been forever- maybe next time though." Draco flipped a page over and tried to hide how happy he was to hear the floo finally chime.

A happiness that immediately died when he set down his book and did not see Hermione Granger standing in the foyer. Instead it was Dennis Creavey who was a lot less nervous than the last time he was at the manor but still very uncomfortable. "Good eve-"

"What are you doing here?" Draco's voice was deadly, rivaling a pitch his father took years to perfect. Draco's eyes narrowed as he sized up the auror who wore the same uniform as Hermione, the only difference is that his slacks did not flair at the bottom.

"I-Uh-" Dennis cleared his throat, determined not to let himself become intimidated again. "Granger is no longer the assigned auror who will be escorting Mr. Malfoy on his outings." Draco felt like the wind was knocked out of him. I have to owl her. I'll send flowers, or chocolates- what was her favorite candy from Honeydukes? She probably stopped coming because-

"Is that tea for anyone, per chance?" Dennis motioned to the set on the table.

"No." Draco said flatly as he stood and silently vanished the tea set. He strode from the room, not bothering to see his father off as he thought of every way for him to apologize to Hermione for being a bigger git than he had ever been before.

Two months later.

For the next month, Draco sent flowers, sent her every candy in Honeydukes, and even went as far as requesting an appointment with her at the Ministry. He never received an owl back and the secretary insisted Hermione was too busy to meet him on 'unofficial business.' Draco knew she didn't want to see him but all he wanted to do was apologize. At the end of the month though, he stopped as he was sure the only owl he would receive from the Ministry was a restraining order.

Draco completely lost track as time flew by over the next month after he dealt with his rejection. He kept himself busy with the company, and when he wasn't working he was reading again- although he stopped reading books by muggle authors. He was still ashamed with how he acted and guilt ate at him whenever he thought of Hermione or Narcissa.

Draco had been working on his second glass of Fire Whiskey one night, when he heard a knock on his study door. Draco opened the door to reveal his father, dressed in one of his fancier wizard robes. "You're coming to poker with me tonight."

Draco thought about refusing, but decided he didn't mind going. He would just keep drinking so he didn't have to think about how the night may be a constant reminder of Hermione. "Alright."

If Lucius was surprised that Draco finally accepted the invitation, he hid it well. The only change in his expression being one corner of his mouth turning up in triumph. "Get dressed." Draco nodded before closing the door and going to his closet. He did not know why his dad was dressed in such fancy attire, but didn't question it, putting on velvet dress robes and a suit that matched the quality of his father's perfectly.

He met Lucius downstairs, five minutes before eight. He didn't know Dennis very well but one thing he had noticed, was that he wasn't as punctual as Hermione. It annoyed his father and Lucius rambled about 'not getting to his gambling buddies on time due to that unprofessional bastard of an auror' several times. As a matter of fact, he was ranting about it now.

"Do you miss her then?" Draco looked over at his father, cutting off whatever colorful word he was going to use to describe Dennis again. Cause I miss her. It was weird but he came to terms that he started to fancy Hermione coming over for five minutes once a month. The short time frames gave her an air of mystery that reminded him of the Sherlock Holmes novels he blew through one month when he first started to read muggle novels.

"Hermione?" Draco's head whipped around. Not only had his father not called Hermione a mudblood, he used her first name. "I miss her punctuality. I see her every month at poker though."

Draco's mouth dropped open. She's been playing poker with him this whole time? "You didn't say she was playing with you every month."

Lucius raised an eyebrow as he adjusted a cuff link. "I shouldn't have to tell you a lady is going to be somewhere in order for you to spend time with me." Draco was angry but confused. He didn't understand how his father knew of his interest in Hermione as he still never mentioned his feelings towards her or any muggleborns. As if reading his mind, Lucius continued, "I have eyes you know."

"I-" But before Draco had finished, Dennis appeared.

"Good even-" Lucius walked into the fireplace immediately, knocking into Dennis' shoulder to make room for Draco. Draco pressed himself between his father and the fireplace wall and Dennis pulled floo powder out of his jacket pocket, giving up on trying to greet them. "GREENGRASS ESTATE!"

Draco tried to stand as still as he could while they flew by many fireplaces in the green blur of floo. The sensation reminded him of being on a broomstick but much less pleasant as he bumped into his father's shoulder several times throughout the flight. In the distance he started to hear a chanting and it started to grow louder until they stopped at the fireplace the noise was coming from.

"LET IT DOWN! LET IT DOWN! LET IT DOWN!" Blaise Zabini, James Parkinson, Theodore Knott, Jr., Goyle, Sr., Gareth Greengrass and Viktor Krum all stood, chanting at Hermione who had her back to the floo. She let her head roll back to laugh before pulling out the bobby pins in her hair. When they were all out, the magic that was holding it together released her curls, allowing them to fall to the middle of her back. Draco's hand started to itch and his stomach did flops as he had a strong urge to run his fingers over her hair. The men cheered and Dennis walked to the side of the room, past Hermione, without saying a word.

Seeing that Dennis had arrived, Hermione whirled around with a huge grin on her face. Her eyes flicked to Draco for a second but she betrayed nothing as she threw her hands in the air. "Lucius!" Draco watched in continued amazement as his father walked forward, arms open to hug Hermione. Hell has for sure froze over.
"Draco!" James Parkinson, Pansy's father, came over and clapped him on the shoulder. "I haven't seen you since- since Hogwarts." It was a lie, the last time was at Narcissa's funeral but there was no reason to bring up terrible memories.

"Sorry, sir, I've been- ah- occupied." He glanced at Parkinson but his eyes went back to Hermione who had also been staring back at him. She was approached by Viktor and after a few words she turned to Viktor, smiling. Draco felt a fire burn in his belly as he wanted to be the one to hold her attention.

"He's visiting from out of town. Staying at her place from the looks of it." Blaise had joined Draco's other side, his standard shit-eating grin on his face. Draco had vented to Blaise a few time about what had happened with Hermione and while Blaise was a great listener, he had the habit of teasing Draco about it.

"This is exactly why I don't hang out with you, mate." Draco said giving Blaise a smile. Draco had no ill feelings behind his tease, but he wished he could walk up to Hermione and talk to her like everyone else was able to. Knowing that he couldn't made him anxious about how tonight would go. Draco turned away from Blaise to see that Hermione had disappeared from where she was standing. Draco's heart skipped a beat and he hated himself for feeling so much over someone he barely knew.

"Come sit, we were just waiting on Lucius so we could start." Parkinson did not wait for Draco to answer and guided him to the side of the huge poker table. Not long after, he was joined by everyone else, his father to his immediate right.

Hermione stood on the dealer's side of the table, which made her the person closest to Draco's left, and faced them all. "Gentlemen." She greeted. She took off her Ministry blazer, but she still wore her white button up top with her black tie completely undone. The top two buttons of her shirt were undone and her hair cascaded down her shoulders and arms, blocking most of her face from his view when her head was tilted down. "Before we start, I have to make an announcement." She clapped her hands together and everyone quieted. "One year ago today, Lucius and I came here for his first poker game after the second war." The room was silent as everyone watched her. Even the smoke from the cigars seemed to slow in their swirling. "I didn't expect us all to be friends, or for me to be a gambler, but here we are." The other men laughed at that while Draco felt uncomfortable. Had it really been a year already? Draco counted back the months and realized that if they counted the first night she appeared, it had been a year. "For that, I want to give Lucius a gift for teaching me what he knew."

She pulled out her wand and conjured a wooden box. She slid the wooden box to Lucius over the vibrant purple felt of the poker table. Looking at the top of it, Draco could see an intricate, engraved ace of spades burnt into the box along with the letters 'L.A.M.' beneatih it- which were obviously Lucius' initials. When he opened the box, he saw two poker decks- one white and green, the other black and gold. "Hermione, these are magnificent."

"I'm glad you like them." She waved a hand. "I did enchant the black deck though."

"For Exploding Poker?" Lucius grinned and Hermione nodded.

"Vat is Exploding Poker?" Viktor Krum leaned forward over the table, to look at the cards. He then turned back to Hermione and Draco thought about what Blaise had said earlier, hoping that he wasn't actually staying at Hermione's place.

"Something Hermione came up with." Lucius answered for her. "It's a cross between regular Poker cards and Exploding Snap cards but in the simplest of ways. If you break a rule, or are cheating, the cards explode. It's more for humiliation and adds to the atmosphere."

"I did add an extra enchantment to your cards though, they'll repair themselves on their own so don't be afraid to use them."

Lucius laughed and picked up the black deck. "Then let's use them now." He slid them to her and she started to riffle shuffle.

"Shall I be dealer first then?" She let the cards fall into a bridge before starting to riffle again.

"I'll do it." Draco got up and stood by her side. Her fruity scent was gently tickling his nose and he felt the urge to touch her curls again.

Hermione quickly repeated the shuffle six more times before she stopped before giving him a smile, but pleasant smile before holding the cards out to him in her palm. When he picked up the cards, he made sure their fingers brushed, hoping he could get a reaction from her so he had an inkling on where he stood in her eyes. Instead, the only reaction he was able to read was Viktor Krum's as he glared daggers at Draco during the betting round.

Viktor chose the seat to the dealer's left, presumably to be as close to Hermione as he could be if she was dealing, with Blaise to Viktor's left and Theo to Blaise's left. The older Slytherin men sat in the middle of the table leaving Hermione to Draco's right in what would have been Draco's seat. He was relieved that Viktor would not be sitting next to Hermione but they were directly across from each other, allowing them to make a lot of eye contact. Draco realized this would annoy him as they went into their second round of betting.

Betting went on for a bit, mostly due to Blaise exclaiming, "Blaise rhymes with Raise!" before he doubled the Big Blind's bet every round. After the fifth round of betting, Blaise stopped and the Flop stage started. Viktor, Blaise, Theo and Hermione entered the round while the older men checked when Draco set down three cards. "The young ones will have to learn the hard way I guess." Goyle, Sr. said as he watched Blaise bet even more money.

"Please," Hermione said. "Blaise will never learn. He's always done this before even I started to play."

"And yet, I never leave with less than what I came with." Blaise flashed her a flirty smile that had Greengrass grab the back of Blaise's shoulders before whispering something into his ear.

Blaise's smile instantly dropped making Draco laugh. "You have to tell me what you said to get him to stop later."

"Sure, but he'll have to be dating your daughter first." Greengrass winked at Draco and everyone laughed.

They entered the Turn stage without anyone folding but the River stage was where Hermione and Theo folded. When Viktor was beat in the showdown by Blaise who had a full house over Viktor's High Card hand.

Hermione groaned as she let her head fall back and Draco wanted to bury his face in the area between her chin and shirt. "Goddamn River rat." Lucius had gotten her a drink after he checked and Hermione took a sip of it. "This needs tea." When she took another sip, she gestured for the cards to be passed to her.

"Only you would like tea in your fire whiskey." Lucius said rolling his eyes to the ceiling. "Don't bother shuffling the cards, Draco, Hermione is the only one allowed to do it anymore."

"It wasn't that serious!" Theo exclaimed and Lucius laughed. Before Draco could ask what had happened, Hermione continued her conversation with Lucius.

"Everyone would like it if they just put fire whiskey in their apple or ginger tea from time to time." Hermione held a hand out to Draco so she could shuffle the cards after he collected them all.

When he placed the cards in her hands again he made sure to lock eyes with her. "That doesn't sound half bad actually." There was a flash of something on her face but as soon as it came, it was gone. Draco hoped it was good.

Draco was a dealer for the first hour or so before switching out with Lucius. It forced him to take Lucius' seat next to Hermione- something he did not complain about at all. They didn't talk for the first game of poker after Lucius was dealer, but Draco noticed Viktor kept trying to catch Hermione's attention from across the table. Eight years since the Yule ball and he's still trying? Draco finally opened his mouth after swallowing the lump in it, determined he would be the one to have her attention instead of Viktor.

"I read a Midsummer's Night Dream." Hermione didn't reply so he continued. "It was funnier than I thought it would be."

Hermione looked up at him and stared at him. She kept her poker face on as she turned back to the game, placing another two galleons down. Not paying attention to what he was doing, he did the same. "I know."

He was taken aback at her declaration. "You do? How?"

"You put it on a note with one of the bouquets you sent me." She thumbed the edge of her cards as she debated if she should continue. "I wasn't sure if you sent me chocolate covered roaches as a message or if you sent me every candy at Honeydukes. I didn't know how to reply- not just because of the candy, then I was sent on an undercover mission for a month."

"Oh." Draco was thankful for the explanation, but it caused more questions to rise. He knew he sent her a lot over the span of one month and it would have needed time to be processed. The more he sat and thought back at what Honeydukes sold, the more foolish he thought he was. Honeydukes had a lot of candy but only a third of it would be considered 'normal' wizarding candy. Honeydukes was known for having the obscure sweets, whether in shape, taste or charm. Draco realized he should have gone with buying things from Sugar Plum's Sweet Shop if he wanted to send the proper message. "Listen,-"

Hermione held up a finger as the cards were dealt for the Flop. She did not allow him to say anything else until the Showdown was over where Draco won against her and Viktor's hands.

"Lucius said you were a shit poker player." She had finished her glass by that time and switched to a red wine instead. Hermione gave him a once over and Draco smirked. He loved it when she looked at him like he was something to be figured out and he didn't want her to turn away again.

"That's because I told him I was a shit poker player." She let a giggle slip due to the alcohol and Draco couldn't help but find it adorable.

"Thank Godric for that." She leaned in close to his ear and her whisper was breathy. When he felt the air from her speaking so close to him, he felt goosebumps rise. "Viktor can't play to save his life."

Draco and Hermione laughed. He resisted to urge to look at Viktor's dwindling stack of coins to not make their topic of conversation aware of what she said. Regardless though, Viktor was unamused to see Hermione laughing with someone else.

"Herm-own-ninny, Da cards." Hermione stopped laughing and looked at the cards that had been placed in front of her for shuffling. Draco looked over to Theo who had the same questioning look Draco had.

Herm-own-ninny? Theo mouthed. Draco pretended to be readjusting his jacket and shrugged a shoulder.

When the betting round started, Draco kept his voice low and leaned towards her. "Is that an inside joke?"

Hermione gave him a warning look. "He can't say my name."

Draco realized the warning look was for him not to laugh, but he didn't find it funny in the first place. "Oh." Blaise raised the bet again and Theo groaned. "Blaise if you don't stop that-!" Draco had grown annoyed at with his Italian friend while he was dealing since Blaise was making the games last longer than they needed to be.

"Ah, It's the last game for me anyway." Blaise waved Draco off as the betting continued.

Everyone was silent until he felt Hermione lean in again, an eyebrow raised curiously. "Are you not going to have a laugh?"

Draco was confused for a second, unsure what she was referring to until he remembered they were talking about Viktor not being able to pronounce her name. "Oh, you mean- no. I just fired a couple of interns for making fun of how one of my elves at the office speaks." Hermione looked at him and drank deeply from her wine glass. She was unsure whether to be impressed or be upset that he had elves. He guessed what her look was from and clarified. "They're paid elves. I read your thesis paper on house elves when you first started working at the Ministry. It was published publicly and I remembered your Spew Club-"

"Draco, fold or pay attention." Draco looked up at his father, then back at the table and saw that everyone was staring at him as the Flop stage had started.

Draco made a call, just to play it off that he was in fact paying attention and looked forward. Hermione did the same that he did and betting for the Flop continued. This time, he made sure to pay some attention to the game.

"S.P.E.W." Hermione corrected with a smile. "Not 'Spew'. You read my thesis? Not even Percy read it and he wrote his on Couldron bottom's when he started!" Her voice was nearly a low hiss and she finished off her wine.

"It was after... everything. We needed to rebuild our image after I had to take over the company and I figured a good place to start was in the Golden Girl's footsteps." He gave her a boyish grin and she looked down as she smiled to herself. She didn't like the nickname The Daily Prophet came up with for her, but she couldn't deny being flattered when Draco said it. "I remember finding the points in your writing were valid and very progressive." No one else had raised the bets so the Turn stage started. "I didn't tell father what gave me the idea though. He wasn't... as friendly then."

Hermione gave a soft snort and his stomach flipped, thinking how cute she was. He liked this, them talking, having a good time as they joked as if they had always been friends. He didn't want it to end. He glanced over at Viktor who was glaring and Draco knew he had to make a move tonight- especially if Viktor was staying at Hermione's place. After the Showdown, where Viktor had finally won a hand, Blaise and Goyle Sr. left. At Midnight, Theo left and Hermione stood to take over dealing for Lucius, however, Greengrass decided to cut in for her.

"Sit, Draco and Lucius only have an hour left and I wouldn't be a proper host if I didn't deal at least once tonight."

Draco was grateful for Greengrass being a gentleman as after he mentioned the thesis paper, Hermione became a lot more open with him and they were laughing through out the night. Viktor was pissed and so were a few of the other players who had left as there were more moments where the duo were not paying attention. Draco still felt the need to make sure that they would at least stay friends after the night, but... he knew he really wanted more.

After the first few games with Greengrass dealing, an idea came to him. Instead of eyeing Hermione, Lucius and Viktor to pick up on what their tells were, he paid more attention to who was on a tilt and was making mistakes because of it. He knew Viktor was suffering badly and should have long quit playing altogether. Draco could easily use this to his advantage but he needed his father out of the game, too. If Draco wanted his plan to work, Hermione was the one who needed to win this round.

Dennis walked up to the table, just as the Flop stage had finished. "After this game we should head out." Draco, Lucius, and Geralt Greengrass stared at him. All with very unwelcoming looks on their faces and even Viktor had an eyebrow raised at the interruption- although Draco suspected his may have been due to confusion on why Dennis interrupted.

"Thank you, Auror Dennis." Hermione gave a polite smile before turning back to the game. Dennis walked back to his wall where he stood by himself. "I try to be nice, but I'm not sure what Harry saw in him."

Draco chuckled as he looked at the cards in front of them. A queen of hearts, a Jack of hearts and a Jack of Spades. Draco had the Ace of Hearts and the King of hearts. It could turn into a very high hand for him but the chances of that were not likely so he was confident he imagined he could bluff until Hermione won. He raised his bet and pulled out his wand. Draco conjured parchment and a quill, writing something on it hidden from everyone's view before casting a drying spell and adding the parchment to his bet.

"That better not be a promise to the deeds of anything we own." Lucius narrowed his eyes at Draco, giving his son a hard look.

"I would never. However, it is a promise to something worth several hundred galleons." Draco adopted his drawling voice again as he eyed Viktor's hands before flicking his gaze to Viktor's face. Viktor cursed before slamming his cards to the table, causing an automatic fold once he let his hand off the cards. Draco looked back up at his father and smiled. "It would be of no use to you though, if you were to win."

Lucius caught Draco's drift, and pursed his lips in thought. Lucius looked at the gold in the pot, then everyone's bets. Draco thought for a second Lucius would stay in the game, but then his father shrugged and folded, deciding he had enough. Greengrass lifted his eyebrows at what was happening, especially after Draco raised the bet again. Hermione looked at the stack of money Draco was adding to the pot. He hoped he piqued her interest with the parchment and when he saw her push every Galleon, Knickle and Knut forward, he wanted to jump with joy as she had taken the bait. "All in."

Greengrass hesitated before taking the money to add to the pot. "Are you sure, Hermione?"

Hermione looked at Draco and gave a cocky smile. Her eyes shined from the alcohol and Draco couldn't help but think she still looked stunning half-tipsy. "Absolutely." Draco returned her grin with one of his own before turning back to the purple table in front of them. Greengrass continued into the Turn Stage, revealing a Jack of Diamonds. Draco looked at Hermione who was glancing furiously between her hand and what was on the table. Draco knew it was something she did when she thought she had a good hand but then she put her head in her one hand again. It was obvious she was unsure of something. Draco held his breath as they entered the River Stage to reveal the last card.

As soon as the card was flipped over, Draco wanted to curse. The odds were one in 649,739, yet he was sitting there in the Greengrass manor, the one time he did not care to win a Poker game, with a Royal Flush- the highest hand in poker. He knew he dropped his poker face, but could hardly care. The real bet to him was losing so of course fate would not be in his favor. It always happened that way.

"It's a cross between regular Poker cards and Exploding Snap cards but in the simplest of ways. If you break a rule, or are cheating, the cards explode. It's more for humiliation and adds to the atmosphere."

Draco, for the first time in a long time, felt pride at being able to call himself a Slytherin. It was a shame that he was wasting a once in a lifetime hand, but Slytherins didn't put their value in what everyone else put their value in, they put their value in what they found valuable before proceeding to get it by any means necessary. So if Draco had to throw out a thousand of the best hands for a chance with Hermione, he would. If he had to humiliate himself a thousand times in front of his father's oldest friends for her to give him a chance, he would. He saw her for who she truly was after so many years and wanted to not just be in her life, but wanted her. His eyes met hers before they drifted over what he could see above the table. In every way. Hermione, ignoring the blush from Draco's intense gaze had flipped her cards over, revealing a straight flush- the second highest hand in the game. His inner twelve year old wanted screamed to accept the win and ask her out normally as it was the first (and possibly only) time Draco would have Hermione-Swot-Granger come second to him, but he ignored it and focused on the ace of hearts in his hands as he made a motion to put his cards down, face up. He felt his magic crackle between his fingers as he imagined the large Ace turning into a heart. After a moment, it changed and right before it hit the velvet of the table, Hermione's spells went off.

SNAP, SNAP, SNAP!

Everyone at the table jumped, including Draco who did not expect the explosion the cards made to sound so loud in the smokey room. Everyone was silent as they all stared at Draco's temporarily burnt cards- which had reverted back to his true hand. No one knew whether to comment on the fact that someone had actually attempted to cheat with a deck Hermione modified or the fact that Draco tried to morph a card when he should have won.

Then everyone realized that either way it made him look stupid and they all spoke at once.

"Vat was ve point of that?" Viktor said, genuinely confused.

"Bit of a soggy cunt for that one, huh?" Goyle, Sr. laughed out while he was bent over.

"Well if there was any Malfoy honor left, there it went." That one had Draco staring at his father who didn't understand what Draco's true goal was, but was utterly amused by what Draco had done to get to it. "Hope it was worth it." He mumbled before downing the last of his whiskey and reaching for his coat, a reminder that they were on a tight schedule.

"You had a Royal Flush!" Everyone quieted when Hermione finally spoke. "Why would you do that?" She looked between Draco's hand and the River, more confused than Viktor.

Draco leaned forward and looked at the cards who had already reversed to their pristine state, as if they had never exploded. "Oh, I suppose I did." He had a small smile on his lips that would have made her hair curl with how annoyed it made her, if her hair needed anymore curling. He considered telling her to read the note, but thought that he would rather let her think about what the parchment said rather than make a scene from what he hoped her to find as a romantic gesture in the Greengrass's home. While he wanted her to accept the offer for a night out with him, he didn't want to pressure her into an answer. "Well, you did win fair and square. I hope you enjoy your winnings." In one motion he stood and slipped on his suit jacket as Lucius collected the cards into the wooden box. "Let's get you home before the aurors arrive to send you to Azkaban."

Lucius chuckled and barely stood before he was cut off.

"Mr. Malfoy." Dennis interrupted, "It's time to go." The Malfoy's shared a look that both confirmed how inept they found Dennis to be before following the auror

Lucius turned to Gareth Greengrass and gave a slight bow. "Thank you as always for having me." Then Lucius gave a wave to everyone else who remained before turning to Hermione. "Thank you again, Hermione. I hope to see you at next month's game?" Draco's couldn't help, but feel proud with how far his dad had come along while watching Lucius say goodbye to everyone.

"So long as work permits it." She didn't remove her eyes from Draco as she spoke even as the money- and parchment- were pushed towards her, too deep in thought on trying to figure him out.

"Thank you, everyone, for having me." Draco kept his good-bye general as he followed his father out, only stopping to give Gareth a firm handshake. Only when he got into the fireplace to floo back to the manor was when he finally looked at Hermione, giving her a flirty wink and a cheeky smile before disappearing in the green flames.

Two years and Three Months later

Draco had a glass of scotch in one hand and a deck of cards in the other. He crouched in front of his mother's grave, the feeling of saudade nearly filling him from head to toe. It was accompanied by one other emotion and it made his stomach want to empty itself on his mother's grave when he thought of the reason behind it.

It was nervousness. But that's what he had the scotch for.

"Draco, Teddy is waiting." The voice was soft, and not at all demanding. He turned to see Ginny Weasley standing behind him. She wore a simple sapphire dress that had a slight glitter to it when the material shifted. Draco looked down at his mother's grave before deciding to leave the glass of scotch as an offering to her. He straightened up and joined Ginny so they would walk back to the warmth that the manor provided. He looked at the warm, yellow lights peaking out from the windows and thought about going back for the scotch glass. "I don't deserve her."

"As her best friend, I have the right to say if you're worthy or not and I can assure you, you are." Ginny gave him a smile before they fell into silence again. Over the past two years Hermione and Draco had been together, he slowly grew closer with not just Harry and GInny, but nearly all of the Weasley clan. Ron still had a temper to him, but even he came around after a while.

"I don't know-"

"But I do. You're just being a worry wart about it, now stop before I start talking about her relationship with Krum."

A dark look crossed Draco's face as he thought of the bulgarian man who had been invited tonight due to Hermione maintaining a close long distance relationship with him. He trusted his girlfriend with everything he had, and she knew she would never run to Krum or Ron again, but that didn't mean he liked entertaining the idea of their hands being on her. "What a Slytherin thing to say. How did you end up in Gryffindor again?"

They had reached the glass back door of the manor where Ginny stopped Draco to make sure his slate gray suit was not askew in any way, shape, or form. "I told the sorting hat I preferred brute force over emotional manipulation." He chuckled as she slowly walked behind him before straightening out the fabric of the jacket over his shoulders. "All right, off you go them."

Ginny gave a light push forward and he took a deep breath before sliding open the door. The cinnamon scent that the manor always held was the first thing to assault him before the warmth that instantly thawed out the slight chill from outside. The first thing Draco spotted when he came in was Lucius chatting up Arthur and Molly Weasley who were visiting the manor for the first time. Lucius had decided on a black and grey pinstripe suit for the party that evening. It was in every way muggle fashion and Lucius' therapist insisted it was him giving into his fears of losing his good looks as he aged to the point the formerly proud wizard resorted to dressing like a muggle. Lucius argued he was in the process of reinventing himself to the public as he will be allowed to make day trips out again- thanks to Hermione of course.

"Draco, Draco!" Teddy called his name as he ran up to his cousin. "Can I start now?" Several of the guests had looked over at Draco and eight year old Teddy, making Draco's nerves twice as bad. He wanted a small party, just from knowing that he was inviting the poker group and the whole Weasley lot, he knew it was not possible. After the war, he hated being the center of attention- which was why he was having Teddy do most of the 'dirty work for him.'

"Teddy what have I told you about running in people's homes?" Ginny had her hands on her hips, not pleased with how her step-son was behaving.

"That I should never do it, even if they do have more than enough space." It was obvious he had had this conversation before and an invasive thought entered Draco's head: Will we have the same talks with our children?

Draco nearly slapped himself. She has to say yes first. Draco bent down so he was eye level with Teddy before handing him the deck of cards. "LIke we rehearsed, right?"

Teddy beamed and his embarrassment of being scolded was forgotten. Slowly, Teddy's hair shifted from the pale brown he often kept it in, to a vibrant pink- the same color Hermione recalled his mother, Tonks, being fond of. "Right." Teddy ran off, causing Ginny to huff before walking off, yelling for everyone to pay attention to him. "May I have everyone's attention, please?" Draco saw Hermione walking towards the middle of the room to crowd around Teddy, but he gently grabbed her arm to stop her. "Gather around, come on."

Hermione looked amazing in the glittering dress she chose for the night. It was black and silver- to match his suit- and it had long sleeves but was a completely off shoulder dress. The back of it was low enough to dip into the small of her back before turning into a moderately sized bow with that had what was technically considered a cape to be hanging from it. "Where were you? I thought we were going to have to change this from Lucius' freedom party to a search party." While she was joking, he knew that she had been slightly annoyed when she had not been able to find him earlier. Instead of apologizing with words, he kissed her. It was a small kiss, but still passionate and when he pulled away, he could see that all the tension in her face from being upset had disappeared.

"I was with mum, but follow me." He grabbed her hand and pulled her to the front of the group of guests, right beside Blaise and a very pregnant Astoria. He pulled her to stand in front of him before wrapping an arm around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder.

As seven year old Thodore Lupin performed magic trick after magic trick, some involving different color cloths and a top hat, Draco focused on the feel of Hermione in his arms. He had wanted her, he got her, and he could not believe that writing 'one luxurious date with Draco Malfoy' on a piece of parchment in a poker game he intentionally lost is what got him here. For the longest time he considered himself an idiot, but he was happy his one stroke of genius landed him here.

"And for my next trick, I will need a helper!" Teddy called out as Harry brought a chair to the middle of the floor where Teddy was standing. Teddy pulled the deck of cards Draco had handed him earlier as several people in the audience raised their hands, but Teddy walked up to Hermione and grabbed hers- even though she didn't raise her hand at all.

Draco laughed as Hermione started to protest before he leaned in to whisper in her ear. "Come on, aunt 'Mione, don't embarrass your nephew." Hermione thew a glare through her face framing curls when Draco used what Teddy called her, before approaching the seat in the middle of the room.

Blaise leaned over to Draco and whispered so Hermione couldn't hear him. "I hope you know I bought a pensive to save this."

"Shhh," but Draco couldn't help but grin as his anxiousness temporarily gave way to excitement.

"Pick a card, any card." Teddy wasn't the greatest magician, but he was passable for his age. Draco wasn't looking for a genuine magician anyway, he wanted family involved for the proposal to further cement that any ill feelings from the past were long gone. Not just for Hermione, but for everyone present.

Hermione, being true to her straight forward nature, picked a card that was in the middle. "Hold on to that card aunt 'Mione, don't let me see it!" She laughed along with several others. Teddy was adorable and Draco was grateful that the crowd of people were willing to humor the amateur, but adorable act. Draco had tried to teach Teddy different ways to shuffle cards, but Teddy's hands weren't large enough to do most of them without the support of a table. Draco just told Teddy to mix the cards up however was easiest and Teddy did- he cut the deck into different groups and mixed up the group of cards. It wasn't effective at shuffling the cards, but it was acceptable for the act as he had not dropped a single one. "All right, put the card back in." Hermione slipped the card near the top of the stack and waited as Teddy shuffled some more. Teddy then fanned out the cards as far as he could before holding them out to Hermione again. "Pick a card and tell me if it was the one you had before."

Hermione stared in thought at the cards, trying to find the one that was hers, not confident in Teddy's trick. The room became silent before Ginny broke the silence. "Just pick a card! My little magician knows what he's doing!" A laughter ran threw the crowd and Hermione blushed as she picked a card towards the end of the fan.

"Is it the card you picked before- and be honest!" Those who were close to Hermione laughed again, knowing she was liable to lie to a child so she didn't hurt their feelings. Hermione gave a nervous laugh herself after seeing that it was in fact not the card she had before.

"No, I'm sorr-"

SNAP!

The card exploded in her hand and Hermione put her other hand over her chest as she doubled over in surprised laughter from being scared. There were muffled snorts coming from lap until she regained control of herself. Everyone waited for Hermione look at the card again, but it was Teddy who was the most impatient. He had been eager to deliver the surprise to his aunt was as impatient as any other toddler. "So was that the card you picked?"

Hermione wiped a tear from her eyes. "No, it's not..." She squinted as she read the card that now said 'Will you marry me?'

She looked up at Draco who had started to walk towards her. The nervousness came back tenfold and he couldn't feel his legs as he sank to one knee in front of her. He withdrew the small velvet box from his jacket pocket and opened it with shaky hands. Already she had a hand to her mouth and was starting to have large, happy tears race down her cheeks.

"From the day I met you, Hermione Jean Granger, you were all I could see. First, because of the unruly lion's mane you had called hair-" A laugh ran through the crowd, and Draco didn't need to look around to know that it was from the Hogwarts alumni. "Then it was because of that blasted periwinkle dress you wore to the Yule call. I realized then that you weren't just the wittiest victim that I could pick on at Hogwarts, but also the prettiest. When you first arrived to the manor to take my father to poker, I knew that you were meant to be in my life. I didn't know if it was just to be the faithful, honest friend I had always envied Harry and Ron for or if It was to be something more. I can promise that ever since then, I hoped for it to be more- and still do."

Draco's voice started to shake, but he was able to calm himself after taking a moment to look into her brown eyes and feel their connection. Their love. It was the moment he needed that he needed to finish strongly. Draco realized then that Ginny was right- he was worthy and he had nothing to worry about. When he spoke again his voice no longer shook as he knew what the answer would be.

"Will you do me the honor of being my wife, Hermione?"

Hermione covered her face with the card and her free hand as she nodded, completely overwhelmed and moved to tears. Everyone cheered around them and she could feel people start to approach them. Hermione quickly regained control of herself and wiped at her face before allowing Draco to slip the intricate silver ring with diamonds and emeralds embedded in it. "Slytherin colors? Does this mean I'm the Slytherin Princess now?"

Draco gave a nervous laugh before standing and pulling him up to her feet. He gave her another quick kiss before burying his face in her curls when he hugged her. "If you don't like it, I picked out six other heirlooms you can switch it out for-"

"Six?!" She laughed into his chest as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I like giving you a choice."

"Is that what we're calling your indecisiveness now? And don't try to deny it- I haven't forgotten the time you bought every wizard candy in existence-"

Draco threw his head back in laughter before looking down at her, love filling his gaze to the brim. "Has anyone ever told you, that you're infuriating?"

"Infuriating? I thought I was witty and gorgeous. Although, I suppose some bloke who gave me this ring has mentioned it once or twice." Hermione pilled her left hand back into view to look at it. She knew she should be addressing the people around her, but she was completely floored Draco. "I love you."

He kissed her forehead before pulling away, preparing to step out of their own little world to accept the congratulations waiting to be thrown at them. "I love you, too."

A/N: So this has been sitting in my folder for a few month and I finally was able to end it. Please review and let me know how I did as I put A LOT of research for a fleeting idea I decided to run with.