Chapter 1
There were things in life that Hermione Granger would never admit to anyone, even her best friends. She had been convinced she wasn't going to live past the age of eighteen, and she was okay with that. She had accepted her death as fact. She knew Harry and Ginny were going to break up long before either of them did. She absolutely despised when her friends played with her curls. Those were all things that she kept to herself for the sake of the status quo. But, she thought as she chewed on her quill during a boring and redundant Ministry meeting, she would spill all of that as long as she never had to admit that Draco Malfoy was hot.
Her teenage rebellion had caused her to be attracted to him in a time when she also wished him dead. The danger, the forbiddenness, the absolute chaos that would erupt from the two of them ever being polite to each other, much less anything more. It had reeled her in and remained her dark secret for years. After the horrors of war, the acknowledgment of what he had done, he should have been ugly to her now. She shouldn't be able to get past their history.
She shouldn't.
But yet.
When she had taken a job at the Ministry after the war ended, she didn't think anything of it. It seemed like the natural next step in her life. She worked her way up in the Improper Use of Magic office, while she was no 'Chosen One', she was the Golden Girl, and it didn't take her long to spearhead the department. It helped that her boss, the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, was the 'Chosen One' himself. The position was hers as soon as she expressed interest in it. Hermione had just turned thirty, and she had her career in the palm of her hand.
What she hadn't seen coming, however, was Draco Malfoy being offered a position as an Auror instead of serving time in Azkaban. He had spent ten long years being on the shortest leash imaginable while also being at the beck and call of the Ministry. He didn't get time off. He pursued the most dangerous criminals; he was expendable. Everyone thought that the second his mandatory time was up, he would disappear. Off to live life however he wanted with the luxury of the Malfoy fortune that he had been allowed to keep but given limited access to until his ten year contract expired.
That was not what happened. What had happened was so bizarre that Hermione had casted a full diagnostics spell on Harry to make sure he wasn't under the influence of anything. But no. Harry was very much himself when, the moment Malfoy lost the leash, Harry offered him his former position as Head Auror. Hermione wanted to cast a diagnostics on Malfoy when he accepted. She refrained, of course. But just barely.
Now she endured monthly meetings with all the office heads of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. They were mostly boring. Except for when Malfoy stood up in his crisp, black three-piece suit and delivered information from the Auror department. His presence was so demanding that everyone paid attention. Some more than others, Hermione included in that group. Sometimes, the meeting would go on so long that Malfoy would take off his jacket and roll up his sleeves. He didn't do it often, because it showed off part of his Dark mark, but Hermione practically salivated whenever she saw his forearms. The things he could do to -
"Granger." Her eyes snapped up from where they had been trailing over the covered forearms in question and met the steely gray eyes staring back at her, a hint of a smirk teasing at his lips. If you weren't as accustomed to Malfoy's facial features as Hermione was, you wouldn't even notice it was there.
"Uhh, yes?" she asked after removing the quill from her mouth and sitting up a little straighter. This wasn't good. What had she missed?
"Your report," he responded, and Hermione noticed he had already moved back to his own chair. Her eyes had followed his every movement, but she had missed her usual que to stand up.
"Right, of course." She cleared her throat, shuffled her papers, and moved to the front of the room. With a flip of a switch, she was back in professional mode. Just like she always did, she never let her gaze flicker to Malfoy.
----
As soon as the meeting was over, Hermione escaped to her office, shutting the door behind her and plopping down in her comfy office chair. She allowed herself exactly one minute to freak out over Malfoy smirking in her direction, letting her mind run wild. When time was up, she let out a deep breath and got to work, pushing the pretty pureblood out of her head.
---
The thing was, her and Malfoy were cordial. After Harry had named him as his replacement, the two of them seemed almost like they were... friends. It took awhile for Hermione to get the truth, but apparently Malfoy and Harry had had a lot of talks over the years. In the beginning, those talks usually ended in fighting. Smashed glasses and a temporary ban from the local pub everyone went to after work. But as they pushed themselves to get some kind of closure, the fighting stopped. Instead of just getting drinks to hash out their differences for the sake of the department, they started getting drinks as friends. Once that change happened, once the office knew that Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy respected each other, Malfoy started acknowledging her presence.
Hermione nearly broke out in hives the first time Malfoy nodded to her in passing. Her school girl crush had gotten more ridiculous, and while Harry might have decided to be friends with Malfoy, Hermione didn't think that was ever going to be a possibility for her. Not unless she learned to control her face.
As long as it was kept to friendly nods in the elevator or hallway, Hermione was fine. She had learned to keep her emotions in check a long time ago. When you were on the run with two teenage boys who followed emotion over logic, someone had to be the sensible one. But beings friends with Malfoy? Holding a conversation and trying not to let her lustful thoughts appear on her face? She wasn't there yet.
---
The work day was finally over, but Hermione stayed at her desk. She was usually the last to leave every day, always finishing up a last minute project of some kind. But today, she had knocked out everything she needed to as a much needed distraction to the earlier meeting. So now it felt like she was just staying at work because it was her routine. She flipped through the few files on her desk, double-checking that everything was in order. When it was clear that there was no work that could distract her any longer, she pushed away from her chair and left her office.
The second the door closed behind her, she felt eyes burning into her skin. She glanced up and met the stare ahead on, barely containing a gasp when she locked eyes with Malfoy. He gave her a simple raised eyebrow, as if asking what exactly she was doing. It was odd for her to be leaving at this time, but she didn't think anyone else realized that. Apparently, Malfoy did.
Hermione gave him a brief nod, waved her wand in the direction of her office door to lock it, and then headed toward the elevator without a second glance at the Head Auror. Twice in one day she had managed to, accidentally, catch his attention. The worst part was, she had no one to talk to about it. She couldn't share drinks with Ginny and ramble on about how it was unfair for him to be so hot. She couldn't make Harry uncomfortable with thinly veiled innuendos directed at his friend. She couldn't even get reassurance from Luna that maybe if she just talked to Malfoy, those dirty thoughts could become a reality.
So instead, she Flooed home to her empty apartment, collapsed on the couch, and groaned loudly. It was stupid. So stupid. It wasn't like she liked Malfoy. God no. She could just appreciate the package. Not that she wanted to think about his package! That's not what she -
Ugh.
Without anything better to do, she grabbed her cellphone and opened an app. For the most part, Hermione Granger had slipped fully into the wizarding world. After being crowned the Golden Girl, most people wouldn't be caught dead implying that she was anything less because of her blood. She hadn't meant to distance herself from her Muggle upbringing, but now, at thirty years old, she had been involved in the magical world for way longer than she was a part of the Muggle world.
But when she was bored and home alone, TikTok was there.
Feeling like she deserved it, Hermione Summoned herself a glass of whiskey and then began to scroll. It was mind numbing and let her escape the inevitable loneliness that she had been feeling for some time. She loved the funny videos, especially the ones that reminded her of something Harry and Ron would do. It made her nostalgic for a simple life that they all could have had. But she also loved the drama filled ones. Where people were spilling all of the tea about people she didn't know and would never meet. They were intriguing and made her feel a part of something.
It wasn't until a few hours and a couple glasses later that an idea hit her. Maybe she couldn't talk to her friends about Malfoy, but that didn't mean she couldn't have others commiserate with her. Then maybe she would get over this stupid little crush and move on with her life.
Maybe.