Disclaimer: I don't own HP.

He felt her before he even opened his eyes. When he woke up in the middle of the night because of his thirst, he immediately had felt the weight pressed against his side. Heat radiated off her at the dozens and he could feel the puffs of air she let out with each breath on the side of his neck. Her arm was across his chest, brushing against his hipbone and one of her legs was wedged between his. He honestly didn't know how he ended up on his back or how Granger had wrapped herself around him like a koala bear but all he could really think about right now was trying to not think about how good she felt against him. She was all curves and long legs and was so soft that he struggled to not shove her on her back and wrap himself around her. But those were weird thoughts, thoughts that should never enter his mind because they make him feel things that he doesn't want to feel. He sighed into the cool air and looked at Granger, who furrowed her eyebrows lightly in her sleep.

He wordlessly summoned a cold water bottle to him from the fridge and carefully extracted himself from Granger as he swallowed it down. As he sighed in relief and tried to erase the unwelcome thoughts about Granger that always seem to pop up randomly. They didn't even begin when they were assigned this stupid excuse of a mission. He had caught himself thinking about her at work plenty of times but he honestly didn't even know why. Okay maybe he did but he didn't particularly like it.

He would hear her name and suddenly his attention was more rapt. Whenever she walked by his desk or even in the same room as him, his eyes would find her immediately but he would turn away at the fear of him being caught. By her or Theo or Blaise or anyone in the entire department. The woman infuriated him nearly every minute they spend together. She never just goes along with what he says, she always just picks and argues and fights and he was tired of it. So tired. He had to admit back at the department they didn't even talk much let alone argue but they always would end up bickering somehow if left alone long enough. The thought of Granger and the energy she sucks out of him had him closing his eyes, accidentally letting the deep breaths of Granger lull him back to sleep.

When he woke up again hours later, he ignored that Granger was still plastered against him. However, this time around she ended up with her head on his chest and a hand right over his heart. He quietly snorted at the irony. There she was last night getting all fussy because he teased her about snuggling and here she was holding him like he was her pet. He could practically imagine the blush that would come over her cheeks if she was caught like this. That would be so entertaining to watch.

At a glance that the clock on his side dresser he realized there was no point in going back to sleep so he pushed himself off the bed, not really caring whether he woke Granger up or not. He shuffled into the bathroom and winced as he smelt the horrible state the inside of his mouth was in. He immediately reached for his toothbrush and began to brush it vigorously when he heard the door open up behind him. Granger's bushy head appeared a few seconds later.

He glanced at her from the mirror and inwardly laughed at how she looked straight out of bed. The woman honestly looked like she just risen up from the dead. She didn't even say anything when she saw him in the bathroom as she entered; she squinted for a few seconds then grunted in thanks as he stepped aside for her. Looking at the situation in hindsight, he knew it would look domestic.

He looked at the two of them in the mirror, brushing their teeth still in their sleepwear and their faces looking so sleepy. It wasn't something he liked thinking about but he would sometimes look at how they act inside the house with each other and it was extremely weird to realize it. He wasn't sure if she had caught it either but he sure as hell wasn't going to point it out. Draco made sure that Granger wasn't in his way then spat out the foam and rinsed out his mouth with water. He wet his face and grabbed a bar of soap and turned it around in his hands and began to scrub his face with the suds, making sure to not get any near his eyes. Once Granger had finished he washed the soap and dried his face off with a towel that was hung against the wall. He decided not to point out how she looked and just returned to the bedroom gathering his clothes for the new day. Joy.

Hermione didn't really sleep to well. She went to bed annoyed as hell, woke up in the middle of the night to see to realize she had somehow ended up around Malfoy again and then fucking dreamed about the git to top it all off. She washed her face vigorously and glared at the shut door that contained one Draco Malfoy who was steadily creeping into her sanity. She wasn't like this one bit.

She spent her day working on her project, writing up the questions and types of women to watch out for. At the very least she needs to single out women who look they might have had sex before. So she wrote and revised and decided that there is honestly only a couple of ways to ask this question to sound friendly and not perverted. She tapped her index finger against the corner of her mouth and closed her final draft of her questions. She wonders if she was overthinking the questions. Well, either way she needs to get women to spill their guts whether it be awkward or not she didn't care. Okay she did but this was really irritating her. Once it was her lunch break, she walked straight over to Nicole and put her weight on the corner of her desk.

"Okay well the questions seem to be a little of a bust." she said casually, "I have a couple of ways to just ask them without sounding completely awkward and perverted."

Nicole looked up from her work and swept hair away from her eyes, "Well that couldn't be helped."

Hermione nodded, "so this is what I have so far." She raised a finger, "one is: hello, my name is Hermione I am a writer for Cosmo magazine and I was assigned to gather the most embarrassing sexual stories of the women of London. I was hoping you would like to share your unforgettable story?"

And two: " do you have an interesting yet embarrassing sexual experience you would like to share with other woman on UK Cosmo? If so please answer my questions because I'm seriously desperate and I will get fired if nobody takes pity on me." She finished with a purposeful look towards Nicole who was just laughing in her chair.

"Hermione it sounds like you're trying to sell something."

She sighed, "This is stupid. It really shouldn't be hard to ask women about sex right?"

"Well... it depends on how we bring about the question. We need to be looking like women that are friendly and trustable."

"And how do we do that exactly?" she asked.

Nicole grinned, "We act like ourselves of course." She flipped her long curly hair over her shoulder, "who can say no to this face?" She batted her eyelashes at Hermione who barked out a laugh.

"Well how about that guy-", Hermione retorted with an amused smirk

"Don't talk about it." Nicole said with her head shaking side to side. "Bad memories Hermione. Bad memories."

"Let's go eat then we can brainstorm tomorrow. You're off right?" Nicole asked as she grabbed her bag from underneath her desk.

Hermione nodded in affirmation, "Yeah which is weird considering I've only worked a day and a half so far."

Nicole rose from her seat and gave her serious stare, "Never question these godsends Hermione."

" Got it." she smiled," did you want to meet up somewhere?"

Nicole bit her lip in thought, "well there is this cute little bookstore right by here. The owners aren't fussy about people talking or working so I think it would be a good place to brainstorm."

Hermione grinned at the thought of a bookstore. "Great idea."

Nicole answered with a nonchalant shrug and an exaggerated voice," I try"

Hermione snorted in return and they walked beside each other to another grab some lunch.

The day didn't start off so bad. The children didn't seem as bad as they were yesterday he thought. Or maybe they were and he was quickly getting used to their behavior. They worked and played and he began to loosen up a litte more. Not because of the glare that Denise kept sending him when the children weren't looking. He began to soften his glares and tried to not flinch when they touched him. He considers this major progress. And yet Denise doesn't seem to be satisfied.

"Draco. You're acting a little ridiculous."

He wanted to scoff but he held himself back. "Really? And here I thought that things were getting to become more enjoy full."

She rolled her eyes at his sarcastic tone, "Really Draco just try to at least not look like you're physically pained to be around them.", she looked at him with stern eyes, "No matter how much you think that they won't give up, they will ignore you soon enough and I would rather have my classroom not be completely awkward and uncomfortable for the kids, okay?"

He stopped himself from squirming guiltily. But he lowered his eyes to look at the floor. Of course he knew that he was being stand offish and the children might not like it but he did not like getting a lecture. Especially when he was the one that was wrong in the lecture.

He knew that she was right, even though he didn't want to admit it. But how is he even supposed to enjoy work when he hates all things that these children do?

"Draco," Denise said softly, "I just need you to not make the kids think you hate them okay? You're going to be here for the entire year. I think you should get used to things sooner rather than later."

Compared to the entire year a few months seemed like nothing now. He sighed and looked at her, "Alright. I'll try to be less mean and friendlier."

Denise smiled, "Thank you. And who knows maybe you'll actually end up liking them."

That wasn't really going to happen but he decided to shut his mouth and instead gave her a dubious nod. He could tell that Denise enjoyed her job and the kids so insulting the children wasn't a very bright thing to do right now.

"Okay well thank you for cooperating. I know it's only the second day but I need you to know what I think."

He nodded mutely and waited for her to leave back to her desk when he finally let out a sigh. So be nice to the students? Interact and look like he wasn't really in fear of what they might do to him? He could do that. Brilliantly even. But the fact that he had lunch to prepare didn't completely hurt. With a glance at the clock, he learned that he had twenty minutes to get his shit together and be the happiest fucking man in the world for those trolls. He took a bite of his spaghetti that he packed for himself and began to strategize how the next few hours would go.

When the children came back in, he put on a smile and welcomed them back. Just like he had seen Denise does the day before. Some of the children gave him odd looks while others just smiled back and went straight to their cubbies to put their lunchboxes away. Once everyone had entered he gave Denise a look that said "better?"

She responded with a nod and went to the front of the classroom to talk about what the next activity would be when he felt a pair of eyes on him. He glanced around and caught a girl a pair of blue eyes staring straight at him. His lips twitched up into a small smile at the blatant staring and felt his smile grow wider when the little girls eyes widen then promptly looked away. He looked back at Denise, vaguely listening to her take about coins and their values for the next few minutes when he felt eyes on him again. He didn't turn around this time, hoping the girl would look away soon enough. When she hadn't fifteen seconds later, he glanced at her but by then she had looked away. He shook his head and stood straighter when he saw Denise going to her desk to grab a stack of papers. He walked over to her, "Here give me some. I'll help pass them out."

Denise smiled, "Thank you. That lecture sure set you straight huh?"

It sure did. Somehow he was positive that Shacklebolt would somehow find out what his behavior was like and he really could do without getting assigned dumb cases in punishment just because he didn't cooperate Denise's rules.

"As an arrow." He replied back and extended his hand out to grab the papers but Denise snatched them back at the last minute.

"Don't think I didn't notice your little staring contest with Jenny."

His eyebrows rose. "You mean the thing with looking away as soon as I looked back at her?"

Denise smirked, "Yes. It was amusing to watch. Hopefully she wasn't too distracted by your handsome face."

He looked at her in worry. And he was pretty sure that she was being sarcastic when she called him handsome.

"What are you talking about?" he asked in confusion. "Why would she be distracted by my face?"

Denise sighed and thrusted the stack of papers to his chest and sighed forlornly, "Men."

He opened his mouth to reply but was immediately shoved so he just gave Denise a glare over his shoulder and began to walk towards the right side of the class. He was so glad that the children sat in tables of four because if he had to crouch down to give every child a piece of paper he surely would leave this mission with a messed up spine. He smiled lightly and said you're welcomes to the thank you's he got. At least they were polite when it came to this. When he began walking over to the last table, he was met three different pair of eyes looking at him.

"Hello ladies." he said with a smile, "here is your assignment." He handed the last remaining four to the girl near his elbow.

"Thank you." said one of the girls shyly. She was the one that was looking at him earlier he realized.

"You're welcome Jenny", he replied back with a smile and began to walk away but looked over his shoulder when he heard whispers. All he saw was a blushing Jenny being whispered to by her friends. He looked over at Denise who was already watching the scene with a huge grin on her face.

He walked over to her and looked at her in confirmation. "Was that…?"

Denise snorted and tapped his cheek condescendingly, "Look someone has a crush on you."

He shoved her hand away and felt his eyes widen slightly in realization. He then cut his gaze to Denise when she began to snicker.

She shrugged at his look, "What? I think it's adorable."

He sighed and laid his forehead against the wall, "I thought we were in fear of them hating me?"

Denise side-eyed him and hummed, "Well we don't have to worry about that one."

He closed his eyes and murmured, "Guess not."

"Try to not look so depressed at the thought."

Well how the hell was he supposed to feel? He didn't really feel comfortable with the thought of a four year old holding affection for him.

Denise shook her head at the look on his face. It probably showed what he thought about her words.

"Just don't encourage it" well obviously, "and act friendly like I said before."

Ha! Being friendly. Look where that got him. It got him a suitor, that he particularly didn't want, but he wasn't that much of an asshole to hurt the girls' feelings. Because if he did he was certain he would have a knife plunged deep into his heart by Denise. He was sure of it.

Hermione left work that day realizing one thing: that she might just be one of the worst cosmopolitan writers yet. She didn't want to be dramatic or anything but yeah it was true. The truth was out there and she couldn't care less because she was tired of this project already. Yes it has only been two days but dear Merlin those two days weren't giving her any push into finishing this project. She was praying that on Friday things go well and she would find some women that would like to share. She hugged her coat closer together and walked faster to an empty alley way. She wanted to go home and just sleep. Even though it was only four thirty in the afternoon. The wind was sending her cold air and she was in heels and hungry and oh god Malfoy better have a plate of hot food waiting for her at home or she would kill him tonight. She sighed in relief as she found her alley empty then glanced around as a precaution then apparated near her house. Once she took her last step over the stairs, she heard a door open behind her and closed her eyes in resignation because she knew who it was.

"Hermione!" Amelia exclaimed, " dear I haven't seen you in weeks!"

It was only a week but Hermione bit her tongue. "Amelia, how are you?" she said with a smile as she turned around. She walked forwards to the woman and was promptly hugged.

"Me?" said Amelia flippantly, "Same old thing. Look at you, all fancy clothes and whatnot. How was work?"

She really didn't want to talk about work at home. "It was great." she lied, "it's a very interesting job."

Amelia smiled, "and what is it exactly that you do?"

Dear god. Must she answer this question? She really didn't want to. But Amelia was looking at her expectedly so she answered.

"I work as a writer." she said casually. Hopefully it wouldn't make any more questions arise,

"Really? Are you a novelist? I hear there is this craze about erotica, do you write those kinds of things? ", asked Amelia slyly.

And there her cheeks go heating up.

Hermione coughed and shook her head, "No not really. Just a little job at a magazine."

Amelia nodded, "Well that's great. See I've always wanted to be a writer myself but you know never got around to doing it."

Her and the rest of the world. "Well what did you think writing about?"

Amelia waved her hands dismissively, "Oh I was just playing Hermione. I love reading more than I like writing." Amelia looked at her with a smile, "Anyways I've been meaning to invite you and that husband of yours for dinner but I could never catch you two."

Thank god for that. If she sees Amelia more than once a week, Hermione would build up a complex.

"Really? I'm so sorry, we've just been busy with work and unpacking." She smiled apologetically.

Amelia shook her head, "Not to worry dear. I know how life is. Well I'm inviting you two over tonight and I absolutely will not take no for an answer."

Hermione saw the unwavering determination in the woman's eyes and she knew that all hope was lost. She really was like Mrs. Weasley.

"Of course we'll come over. What time should we come by?" she asked with a strained smile. She wonders how Malfoy is going to take the news.

"Come over around six." Amelia replied back.

Hermione nodded, "Okay. Thank you so much for the invitation."

Amelia patted her arm, "Oh honey you're always welcome in our home." No matter how many embarrassing things Amelia did to Hermione, she was still so nice.

"We can chat about that mysterious job of yours! Oh, and that devilishly handsome husband of yours." Amelia said with a wink as she walked back inside her home.

A nice woman that was definitely going to give her a complex.

She sighed and turned the keys inside the lock to her door and went inside. That woman was something else. After she took off her shoes she called out, "Malfoy!"

She heard a grunt from the bedroom and rolled her eyes at the noise.

"Malfoy", she said as she opened the door, "We have dinner with Amelia at six okay?"

"What?" said a muffled voice from underneath the pillow. Malfoy was on his stomach on top of the sheets with his work clothes still on. He was so fucking lazy.

"We're having dinner with Amelia tonight." she repeated as she walked over to the bed and yanked the pillow off his head.

"Why?" he asked in confusion.

She sighed and admitted, "She caught me off guard."

"She tends to do that.", he said. Probably remembering their first meeting with the woman.

She nodded in agreement she sat on the bed with her legs stretched out in front of her.

He glanced at her and said sternly, "Prepare yourself Granger."

She looked at him and smirked, "I could say the same for you. She was asking about you earlier."

He raised an eyebrow, "Was she now?"

"Yes, she was calling you devilishly handsome and wanted to know what goes on behind closed doors." She tried to not remember the suggestive look in Amelia's eyes.

"She said that?" he asked with wider eyes.

She let out a breath, "Well she was rather suggestive about the behind the closed doors thing but she did call you handsome."

Instead of smirking arrogantly at the word like she thought he would, he grimaced like he had a bad taste in his mouth. She decided to not mention it.

"Well either way we have to face her so let's just try to survive okay?" she said calmly.

"Yeah", he nodded, "try not to blush so much this time."

She smacked him with a pillow and walked over to her closet to change her clothes. She grabbed a well-worn pair of jeans and a black V-neck long sleeve. Hopefully that would be thick enough to not catch a drift in the room. She unbuttoned her coat and hung it up then began to unbutton her blouse when she heard a cough. Right. Malfoy. She almost forgot that he was in the room.

"Do you mind closing your eyes?" she asked politely. She really did not want to walk to the bathroom when she was already undressing.

She looked at him rubbing his jaw in thought, " Actually-"

She growled at him then he rolled his eyes before letting them slip shut. She made sure they were shut two times before she finished unbuttoning her blouse. She put on her long sleeve then unbuttoned her pants and hung them as well. She turned to the side to grab the jeans she left on the chair when she saw Malfoy from the corner of her eye. She turned fully around and glared at the man who was pretending to have his eyes closed.

"You little git!" she yelled, "I told you to close your eyes!"

He completely ignored her and smirked with his eyes closed, "Nice arse Granger."

She was shaking. And blushing. But mostly shaking with anger or embarrassment she wasn't sure just yet but what she did know is that she wanted to punch Malfoy.

"Out!" she screamed.

He peeked one eye open and he glanced at her bare legs before finally reaching her eyes.

He shook his head, "I don't think I will." He folded his arms behind his head and opened both eyes, "I'd rather stay here for the show."

She looked at him, glaring at the eyes that were unashamedly staring at her legs once again. What the hell.

She grabbed her jeans and walked to the door and flung it open, "I hate you."

She slammed the door shut and she swore she heard Malfoy laugh under his breath.

She put on her jeans in the living room and tried not to feel mortified at what had just happened. He just saw here completely in her undergarments. And all she had seen was his bare chest. That wasn't fair at all. But it was a nice chest. Off topic. She glared at her bedroom door. Then closed her eyes as the words he said played over again in her head. He complimented her. But she will disregard that because he totally just invaded her privacy.

Which she stupidly didn't protect very well. But he complimented you said a voice in her head. Yes he did. And she did feel her heart thump harder at his words but that was nobody else's business but her own. She glanced at the clock hung up on her wall and realized she head only an hour to calm down before she had to go to Amelia's and play the role of a loving wife. She landed on her back as she flopped onto the sofa with a quiet groan. Oh how Ginny would laugh.

When they knocked on the door to Amelia's house at six thirty, Hermione did not dare look at Malfoy. She didn't even look at him when left the bedroom; she just rose up and yanked open the door resisting the urge to slam it on his face. When Amelia opened the door the woman's eyes were bright with happiness, "Right on time!"

Hermione smiled, "Well we didn't want to disappoint."

"Aren't you sweet." said Amelia with a smile. She looked over at Malfoy, "haven't seen you in a long time young man."

She could practically see Malfoy grinning sheepishly from behind her, "I apologize. Work keeping me busy."

She looked at him with amused eyes, "As you say." Hermione already heard the unsaid, "Amongst other things" in her mind. She has completely invaded Hermione's mind.

When Amelia widened the door to let her and Malfoy in, she felt his hands on the small of her back and she instinctively felt goose bumps all over her body. She walked faster when Amelia's back was still turned to shut the door,

She glanced around at the decorated home, "You have a lovely home." It suited her completely. It had the whole grandmother vibe going on. If such a thing even existed.

"Thank you. It's not much but I love it dearly." Amelia said with a fond smile as she looked around.

"Oh! My husband Jeffery could not make it to dinner sadly. Hopefully you two will get to meet him soon enough.''

Hermione smiled in return and didn't ask why. If her husband was anything like Amelia, Hermione wasn't completely sure she did want to meet the man. As they walked closer to the kitchen the delicious smell hit her suddenly and her stomach growled immediately.

She felt her cheeks heat in embarrassment.

Amelia laughed and directed them to the kitchen table.
"I made some baked macaroni and cheese." she glanced at the two of them, "I hope you two don't dislike it."

Hermione shook her head and grinned happily, "I love baked mac and cheese. Its only like heaven on earth." If there was some baked and cheese involved Hermione thinks she can make it through.

Amelia clapped her hands, "Well that's fantastic. I just turned the oven off, so let's let it cool for a few minutes then we can dig in."

Hermione was having trouble to not let her mouth water at the thought. God she was starving. She heard Amelia chatting with Malfoy about something that had him moving his eyes around the room a lot but she just tuned them out, counting the minutes until she got some food. Amelia already had grilled her enough for centuries, Malfoy could deal.

Exactly five minutes later, Amelia stood up and put on mittens and grabbed the container that held the food by the edges and set it down on the middle of the counter. Hermione hoped her eyes didn't give her away how hungry she was but she heard a snort from Malfoy that told her her hopes were futile. Once Amelia gave the okay, Hermione cut herself a huge helping and held back a small contented sigh when the food warmed her mouth.

"Amelia this is delicious!" she said with appreciative look at Amelia. No matter how much the woman embarrassed her, she was a damn skilled cook.

Amelia looked pleased and gave her a smile, "Thank you my dear."

She nodded her head at the thanks and took another bite at the food. It was really good. She snuck a peak at Malfoy who was chewing his food at the moment. He probably won't want to admit it but she knew he was enjoying the food. Amelia provided small talk, asking about their lives then suddenly asked, "So when are you two planning on having children?" Amelia looked at them with curiosity.

Hermione choked on her food, it really couldn't be prevented. Soon enough she felt Malfoy pat her back and she gave a nod of thanks without looking at him then took a large sip of her water. She definitely wasn't going to answer the question, so she'll just leave it to Malfoy. Let him try to figure a way out of this.

He cleared his throat and said, "Well we were thinking of waiting. We want to have a stable income, employment and home until we bring another person into this world."

Amelia nodded in agreement but nevertheless she poked on the subject, "Well how long of a wait? Surely before Hermione is thirty." Amelia sounded scandalized at the assumption; obviously having a child at thirty wasn't something she encouraged. Well Hermione really didn't care at the moment. She didn't even have a steady boyfriend right now so having a child seems like a slim possibility. She wouldn't mind, actually she would love having children but it doesn't seem all too probable right now. She took her time most of her food when she decided to add her two cents.

She gave Amelia a nonchalant shrug, "I guess we'll see how things go and if they're good then there will be a child in the future. I just want to focus on what is going on in my life right now, not what could happen."

Amelia looked ready to argue but Malfoy cut her off.

"Thank you so much for dinner Amelia", he said with a charming smile, "it was incredibly delicious I must say. But I'm afraid that Hermione and I had plans after dinner." He sounded apologetic but she knew how good of an actor he could be.

Amelia didn't look too happy at Malfoy's words but she sighed in resignation anyway, "Well that is to be expected." She looked at them sternly, "I do expect to see more of you two though. Come over for dinner once in a while."

She looked so earnest that Hermione felt herself nodding. Damn. Amelia packed them some extra food in Tupperware and handed it over to Malfoy. She then scooted them towards the door and said,
"Well thank you for coming. I hope you to have fun!"

Hermione opened her mouth to say thank you again but was promptly shooed out by Amelia and outside her closed door seconds later. She shut her mouth and barely glanced at Malfoy's baffled expression when she began walking towards their door.

She unlocked the door and took off her shoes when she got inside. She turned on the light and gasped when she saw a body sitting on her sofa. A body that she knew all too well unfortunately.

"We have a problem," said Kingsley with a serious tone.

She hated her life.

A/N: Thank you for the reviews and follows! Which have grown crazily btw. So yeah a little twist into the story, got some advice recently form chaasan about adding a little spice so boom there ya go.

and i know people want some more sexy times going on between the two but i want them to not totally jump into it. kinda slow build but i hope you guys stick through it! it will happen!

oh i know that Crookshanks has completely disappeared from the story, i'll bring him back in sometime soon haha.

If anybody has suggestions or questions please review! Thanks:D