Archive of Our Own

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Cover art by the incredible Flyora

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 After all this time, after all these years, he still knew exactly how to get under her skin. And if she was honest with herself, he had never left. She had never been able to get rid of him, a wound that continued to fester, a wound that she couldn’t close.  Or one that she refused to close. She wouldn't let him close enough to hurt her again - it wasn't an option, there was no room for any of that anymore, she was standing on her own two feet, and she'd show him she'd moved on, even if it was a lie.  But, if he wanted a reaction, she was absolutely going to give him one. She had been expecting it of course, a tantrum of sorts, and she would remind him that she was the one who put him where he was today. She still held power in this world, and she would remind him of such a fact. As she stormed down the shiny black tiles like a woman on a mission, they all looked.  Every Ministry employee that had been witness to the epic rise of the current Minister, was now about to witness his reckoning at her hands, a saviour within her own right - standing up for what was right.  They all saw and knew, they all respected her. They all fucking knew that it had all been down to her - his recent election to Minister, his first successful acts through the Wizengamot. It had all been because of her.  Her blood status, her intelligence, her reputation. All of them knew he wouldn't have made it without her at his side, except bloody him. He would continue to value his pride over everything and it infuriated her to her very core. It infuriated her so much that he would go as far as to throw everything they had worked for away, everything they had done, everything they had sacrificed, to just pull her back in for this constant game of cat and mouse they continued to play. Well today, she would be a little more cat and a little less mouse, regardless of who he was. She couldn't falter for a second, she couldn't let him get in her head but she'd be damned if all her work and the failure of her relationship would be for fuck all - no, it wasn't an option.  She turned the corner and saw Elise sat primly at her desk adjacent to his office door, that poor woman had put up with him for too long like she had. Hermione made a note to bargain for a raise for the saint that was Elise Hardman, Muggleborn secretary to the Minister for Magic. “Oh, Miss Granger! He’s asked not to be-” Well, not such a shocking statement, the fucking coward.  “Does he have anyone with him?” Sorry Elise, no time for politeness now.  “Well, no, but-” at the secretary’s response, Hermione stormed ahead, hand extended out toward the handle of his office, intending to rain down hellfire. Her fierce pace never trembled or hesitated for a single moment, a temporary paralysis curse on the tip of her tongue, should the aging saint dare to cross her. “Miss Granger, please!” She flung open the door and charged in, stoically aware of the footsteps of the little old lady struggling to keep up behind her. She felt terrible but equally, she had a point to make.  In all honesty, if one of the fascist groups that intended to kill him managed to infiltrate the Ministry, Elise wouldn’t be able to stop it, she wouldn’t stand a chance in a duel. But she was sweet. Experienced. Not a threat to his marriage. And knew when to turn a blind eye, as it were. “I’m sorry, Sir, I tried to explain-” “That’s quite alright, Elise. Clear my schedule for the next hour please, while I deal with Miss Granger here.” His voice filled her senses as he stood there, his gaze flitting between her and Elise, leaning against his desk like the ultimate man of power. 
So the smug bastard was expecting her, clearly.
 She heard the retreating footsteps of his secretary and the door shut, a silent and wandless charm further locking it, sealing her demise - a demise she had been hurtling toward for the last year since she gave her soul over to the devil. 
Fuck.
 Perhaps she wasn't prepared enough for this, to face him again, to even think she could take him on.   She took him in, his tailored suit perfectly chiseled to his body, a dark charcoal grey - almost black, with a perfectly pressed white shirt. A look to make even the most innocent party question whether they would want to cross him, an angel in a devil’s disguise - at least he would have you believe such a thing.  He made her feel like a criminal, to view him how she was and desire him so much knowing he didn't, or couldn't, belong to her. But she was already on borrowed time, and if he was going to hell, she'd willingly follow. Now, it was the usual battle of who would show their hand first, she hated it but she loved it at the same time.  A small tug down on the cuff of his shirt, a fiddle to his solid silver cufflink, the unhook of his top suit jacket button holding it together - his tells would always be second nature to her by now. He looked ready for a fight, but as she stood there and really took him in, she started to wonder who would actually come out of this unscathed. If these walls could talk, they would spill a chorus of deceit and passion. She often disappointed herself at how much she enjoyed it all - the chase, the game, the complete wrongness of everything they did. But she also found that the thrill and the euphoric high of it all far exceeded the shame she used to feel. That was long gone. She accepted that she was a terrible person now. And so was he. And they would do terrible, unspeakable things together, to each other. Or at least they used to. Until she walked away from it all and him a month ago. Until she turned her entire world on it's axis and tried to do the right fucking thing for a change... 
∞∞∞
  The Ministry was quiet as she walked along the empty corridor to his office, she’d left her shoes in her office and walked on the tiles barefoot - a sense of melancholy surrounding her on what she was about to do.  
Her team were out celebrating a recent triumph at The Leaky - one she no doubt procured, and he would be at home with his wife, where a husband should be. 
 
It was only her with her thoughts to obsess over - only she felt the impending doom of everything they had done if she stayed. She had to do this, for both their sakes. 
 
She opened the door to his office, feeling the plush carpet on her toes for the last time as she walked toward his desk. She placed the piece of parchment down and stared at it intently - the piece of parchment that would break his heart and strike an anger in him so great, it would undoubtedly make them enemies once again - and she didn't want to be around for the fallout. 
 
She held back the flood of tears that threatened to spill from her eyes, hating herself for the decision but hating herself more for allowing herself to fall into his arms in the first place - crestfallen that this was the only way out. 
 ∞∞∞ And now? “So, let me guess, you’ve barged in here because of the marriage law I’ve put into motion today…” Suddenly it dawned on her, she had played right into his hands, she'd become predictable to a fault.  He knew she’d show up. He knew she wouldn’t be able to ignore this one. He had cast his net right out and she had willingly gone to take a bite. He’d riled her up just the way he liked and she had let him, because for him she would always be weak. “Or maybe you’ve come here for something else…” 
Fuck fuck fuck.
 His silky voice continued to infiltrate her right down to her core when she felt that familiar flutter he used to drag out of her so often, once upon a time. Her body instantly betrayed her mind whenever he spoke or looked at her with such intensity. It was subtle at first, until it wasn’t and she often found she would make a mess of the pretty underwear she had carefully selected every day just for him, all because of him and that voice, because of what he would say to her, because of what he would tell her to do him, or do to herself for his pleasure. She froze on the spot as he pushed off his desk and began stalking his way toward her, a predator approaching its prey and she had absolutely no defences left - she never did when it came to him. He knew her inside and out by now, and it had only taken one time. Just that one time that she was vulnerable, weak and she had stupidly let him in, against her better judgment, against her moral compass. Somehow the line had begun to blur along the way for both of them, where he had become something more, where he had become something he shouldn’t - when she had become his. She took in a breath and tried to steady the thumping in her heart, the urge to just run at him, to run straight into his arms was overwhelming. It had taken every single ounce of strength within her to walk away from him twenty-six days ago. And it had only taken twenty-six days for him to get her back exactly where he wanted her it would seem - how could she not have seen it? Or maybe he was right, maybe she did come here for something else. Maybe she came here for what they both knew only he could give her. Maybe she couldn’t get him out of her head. Maybe she thought of him every day she was apart from him. Thinking about what legislation he had signed off without needing her approval. Thinking about what diplomatic choices he had to make for the Wizarding government. Thinking about how tight his crisp shirt would go when he crossed his arms in thought. Thinking about when she would catch the growing tent in his trousers whenever she wore a particular skirt during the many nights they worked so closely together. Thinking about how the last time she had been in this office with him, he laid her down on that desk and spread her legs impossibly wide, just so he could taste her. Thinking about how he would taste on her own tongue after being separated from each other because of their normal lives and respectable other halves. Thinking about how the last time she had spoken to him, he told her he was falling in love with her, irrevocably so. And thinking about how she had walked away from him in the next breath - leaving him standing there, unable to say that there was a very real possibility that she was already so in love with him, and had been for a very long time.  But she said nothing, and left - a dull goodbye for what she thought was a love so epic.  Him, the Minister for Magic, a Pureblood, a married man - in love with her, his former Head of Muggle and Magical Relations, a Muggleborn, and now separated woman.  The power they held between them spanning two worlds was definitively epic in itself. But it was a fucking mess. And now she was back here, playing right into his hands again, diving head first back into that same enslaving mess, because she was a masochist.   Because when it came to him, she was at his mercy in every sense of the word, and apparently he knew it too. He had promised her the world, once, and she had fallen for it, he promised her forever - when forever wasn't his to give.  She knew this would only end in more pain for the both of them, because how else could an illicit affair end? “Well?” 
Well indeed.
 “That barbaric law-” she started. “The marriage law signed off by all members of parliament, both magical and muggle? Yes, I’m aware of it... Miss Granger.” His eyes danced all over her, looking at her from bottom to top - appraising her, setting her alight from within with every blink of his eyes, making her feel alive again.  Because only he had that effect on her. Neither relationship with Ron or Harry managed to pull out anything close to what she felt for him at this very moment - and it was intoxicating.    Now, he stood a foot away from her, his expensive tailored suit jacket left open - leaving his tight torso wrapped in his crisp Oxford on full display to her, or rather for her, seducing her the way he knew how.  Another inhale, another exhale. Christ, why couldn’t she breathe?  “There is no way they would have-” her hands balled into fists at the side of her as she tried to get her words out, feeling everything become more clouded the longer she was in his presence.  “I assure you they did, and as it stands, it’s now a matter for the Ministry to worry about, of which you are no longer a part of. So I’ll ask again, why are you here?” He was too close, they were too close. What had she done, this was a mistake. She felt like she was suffocating, she felt him in her very bones - he was everywhere.  She slowly began retreating backwards in her steps, matching his ones advancing on her, she couldn’t be any closer, any closer and they would- “You know why you’re here, Granger.”  Okay, she was so fucked. Her back met the wall, he had intimidated her to such a degree she had backtracked fifteen steps, and now he had her caged in, nowhere to go, no one to help. She needed to remember why she had come here, her initial thoughts when she saw the Daily Prophet announcing the marriage law, and ultimately - her concern for his run and everything she had given up for this, everything she had given up for him. He braced his arm against the wall above her, leaning in as she drew up the courage to get her point across. Or at least try to. “It’s political suicide. Your right hand should never have let you deliver this, you’ll never get re-elected now.” Her chest was heaving as she felt the warmth of his body ghost hers every time her chest exhaled, his body perfectly eclipsed hers - it always had. “My right hand decided to leave her job, effective immediately, might I add, with no one to fill her role. My right hand, you speak of, abandoned me when I needed her.” Abandoned him?  “And my left hand has been too busy trying to keep-” “I didn’t aband-” as she began to speak, he slammed his palm against the wall next to her face, startling her - her eyes going wide at the display.  “You fucking did.” His voice dropped to a menacing tone. “How could you do that to me? How was it so easy for you to walk away from us? From me?”  Her heart shattered at his words, he was so hurt, that much was obvious to her.  He had never lost control around her before, not once - this is what she had done, what she had reduced him to, she had brought him to his knees. The Wizarding World’s most powerful man, begging for love from someone lesser than him. And it was the hardest pill she ever had to swallow. She drew in another shaky breath as his body pressed flush against her, threatening to ruin her.  “I am done, I told you I was done, we’re over.” “We’re not over, we aren’t ever going to be over, I am never going to be over you, Granger.” His eyes bored into her but the more she stared at him, the more she saw the fragile shields he'd put in place start to perish.  “Your time as Minister will be over if you aren't careful and all you’re worried about is getting your mistress back?” “How many times do I need to tell you to never call yourself that?” His hands came up and cradled her face, delicately as a lover should - her own defences slowly started to crumble to a pile of rubble as short bursts of air left him. “Come back to me, forgive me, I love you.” “Please stop, I can’t do this- I can’t-” She pushed at his chest weakly, a symbol to say no when her heart screamed for the very opposite. Now she felt him again, she didn't know if she would ever be able to stop, she didn’t know if she was strong enough to walk away again. “I can’t keep being the one who doesn’t get to have you, I can’t keep breaking my own heart because we foolishly decided to open this door and not think of anyone else, I can’t keep pretending that I deserve you.” She gasped out under his sombre gaze, her fragile emotions betraying her at every turn as she teetered on the edge of sanity. “You think you don’t deserve me? Jesus Christ, you stupid fucking woman,” he rested his forehead against hers and closed his eyes, wrinkling his nose as he battled any internal demons he harboured - he looked in pain. “Listen to me, I am not and will not, ever, be worthy of you. There is nothing I can do in this lifetime, even in this position, that would ever let me be capable of earning you.” His face was only mere centimetres from her now, his lips threatening to ghost over hers every time he uttered a holy syllable. “But you can bet, all the fucking galleons in my vaults, that I will not ever give you up, it’s not an option, do you understand me?” Another centimeter and he brought his entire body impossibly closer. “You are mine, Hermione Granger.” “No, no I’m not, you are married.” She tried to shake her head as the very words she spoke tasted like ash in her mouth - ash from the field of lies they had spread to get to this point. “Then I’ll divorce her, I’ll find a way. I belong only to you, please, just wait for me.”  She couldn’t take it, her heart ached so painfully at what he was saying, never ending sweet nothings from his perfect mouth. Her eyes filled with tears as he continued to touch her face, her neck, her hair - he was grabbing at anything he could to just feel her. He was the love of her life, there wasn’t any doubt of it. But he was also someone else’s. She could never say it out loud, saying it would only make it that much more difficult - he had shown her a love she didn't think would be capable with anyone else. She wasn’t sure what was worse, the fact she knew the feeling of such a love now or the fear of never feeling it again.  Her heart only belonged to him, and it always would.  “What do you want from me?” She managed to sob out on a whisper, despairing as the seconds in his embrace ticked on to further torture her.  She caught the pain in his eyes, the tears being held back as he felt it too - the impossible feeling of having a soulmate that wasn't meant to be.  “I want you to feel what I feel, to suffocate under the weight of all the fucking guilt. I want it to consume you inside and out, until every single drop of it is drowning you, until you can’t breathe from the weight of it all. And I want to be the one to hold you under it, forever, the same way you’ve held me under. Because I’m not alive without you, do you understand me?” And then instantly, his mouth was on hers, stealing every breath she dared to give over. Pouring every plea and every prayer into his kiss as he worshipped her mouth over and over. But she returned his affection in equal desperation, grabbing at the lapels of his suit to try and pull him into her even closer if she could - to mould his body to hers, gripping his hair to pull his mouth into hers as her tongue danced with his. It was legendary - it always had been with them, and it would be her undoing. Their dancing was killing her softly, a death she would welcome and embrace like an old friend - if it meant she could survive on her own again, if it meant her heart didn't beat for him.  She felt herself unravelling further at every touch of his fingers against her hips, lifting and pressing her against him and rubbing against his hardness until- “Malfoy, I think we need-” Suddenly the door swung open next to where they were pressed against each other, caught in an embrace they could never be found in - as Theodore Nott’s crystal blue eyes landed on them, witnessing what he would undoubtedly consider, the greatest betrayal of this century. 
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   This impossible scenario they both agreed could never happen, was now playing out before her very eyes, as the other third of their unstoppable trio discovered what they had tried so hard to hide from the world over the last year.

For all of her planning and fear of what would happen if they were ever caught, Theodore Nott stumbling in on their mountain of deceit was most definitely not among the top possibilities of her worry - it hadn’t even played a factor.

Nevertheless, this was now her very stark reality, as she stood locked in the arms of the married man she was impossibly in love with, staring into the eyes of the man who she wished hadn’t been the one to open that fucking door.

His eyes would always be telling, he couldn’t help it. Theodore Nott played a very good game to the rest of the world - ruthless, cunning, egomaniac, powerful. But to her, in private, he was just her best friend.

Her best friend who let down his guard and opened the door to show human emotion whenever he was in her presence, which was a very rare phenomenon when it came to him.

Her best friend who never turned his back on her, when the rest of the world did, as she shocked it by pursuing a romantic relationship with none other than Harry Potter.

Her best friend who was now watching her betray him in the worst way imaginable, by keeping a secret so detrimental, it threatened to burn their entire world away.

A world they had built on secrets in the very first place.

“Theo-” Draco started, his tone small and unbecoming of the powerful man he was.

“Don’t,” Theo spat out, clearly taken off guard by the scene in front of him. “I can see you’ve been... otherwise engaged, so I’m assuming you are completely unaware of the category one shit storm that’s about to hit us.”

Theo’s eyes were fixed on her, anger seeping into her soul just from his look - and she could fucking feel it all over her, sinking into her pores, dancing along her flesh, it was clear he hated her now.

“I don’t know-”

“They’ve called for a vote of no confidence in your position, Malfoy. They think your recent methods, your recent decisions are unsavoury and apolitical for a Pureblood.” Theo said with an air of disappointment to him, something she hadn’t heard in a long time, especially not directed at the man above them in the food chain.

Hermione arched her brow at Theo as Draco took two steps back from her, creating a distance much more appropriate and believable for their positions now. But it left her feeling cold and isolated, like an outsider.

“Brilliant. So what do we do now?” Malfoy asked, clearly taking the advantage of having both people that had been instrumental in obtaining his seat of power in the same room, once again.

“You tell me, you’re leading the charge on this, are you not? I told you to wait-”

“It’s the right thing to merge the magical and muggle worlds, Theo. I’ve said that from the beginning, this was always on the agenda.”

“But you’re taking their freewill and choice away by proposing that marriage law.” She dared to cut in, as if everything that had transpired the last month didn’t happen, as if she had never left them - like everything was back to normal. Before she fell in love with someone she was never meant to, of course.

“That wasn’t my intention, Granger, and you know it.” Draco turned his head as he addressed her, tipping a small smirk in her direction as he did so. She could tell he was enjoying himself, he was enjoying having her back in this capacity.

She heard Theo scoff at their exchange from across the way and her stomach started doing somersaults, making her remember the situation she was in. Reminding her that she was as small as she felt in this scenario, she couldn’t pretend to hold herself in high regard with Theo - not now he knew what was happening with her and Draco.

That was the power Draco Malfoy held, he could often make her forget that they had an audience, he could often make her feel like they were the only two people in the room. And that was where her downfall had begun all those months ago.

“Who put the motion to the Wizengamot, Theo?” Malfoy turned to face Theo, back to business as usual, completely unphased that he had just been seen kissing a woman who was not his wife. 
“Oh you’ll love this,” Theo paused for effect, letting the seconds roll on as his eyes lit up with fury. “Cormac.”

“WHAT!” She found herself shouting at the same time Malfoy did, the volume from them both mirroring their shock and surprise equal to each other.

Cormac McLaggen betraying their firm of trust was also not on her bingo card for the year, but she always had a feeling he was only loyal to himself, not Malfoy’s vision for a better world.

He was a slippery little shit, and they all knew it. But his political prowess was something she had admired, once upon a time. And they all thought he could be controlled, kept in line - clearly, on this occasion, she had been wrong.

“Yeah, like I said, you’ve been otherwise engaged to notice your little puppy has gone rogue.” Theo continued, still pushing the boundaries of how much attitude he could get away with, poking the bear.

“Theo, this is not the time.”

“When is the time, Hermione? When someone other than me walks in and sees whatever the fuck I just saw?” His tone was beyond cold now, and he was looking more put out by the second.

She stared at him, and Theo stared back - disgust and hatred marring his face as he did so. She had nothing to say back to that, because deep down, she knew he was right.

“I’m going to fucking kill McLaggen.” Draco growled at the side of them, breaking them both out of the stare down they were having with each other. His anger increasing to a simmering rage, God help anyone that would cross him now.

“Let’s not say that while you’re still Minister.” She said as she placed her hand on his arm, to try and calm the impending storm that was about to explode inside of him. She knew him better than anyone now, and vice versa.

She had to try and fix this, to get him back on track - to be the Minister she knew he could be.

“Theo, get me a list of every current member that holds a seat on the Wizengamot.”

Theo’s jaw dropped open, looking incredulous at the request that she had just made of him. She wasn’t helping matters it would seem as an awkward silence continued to roll around the Minister’s office, the three of them standing triangular in a face off.

“Give her what she asked for, Theo, now.” A support of her request from his commander-in-chief, something he wouldn’t be able to ignore.

Draco’s backing had her receiving another scoff from Theo, each one a further dagger to her heart. The disappointment was rolling off him in waves and it was all her fault.

“Yes, Sir.” Theo drawled out as Malfoy turned and headed back to his desk.

“Theo, wait-” she pleaded, stopping him before his hand reached the door handle.

“You know, for how intelligent you are, I never thought you’d turn out to be just another whore.” 
Another dagger to her chest.

“You honestly never knew?” She asked quietly, afraid of what the answer was going to be.

Suddenly realisation hit her, Theo never had an inkling of what had been happening right in front of him all this time. On some level, she thought he must have had his suspicions, some thought at the back of his brain telling him that the two people he trusted the most in this world were keeping something dangerous from him.

But no, they had succeeded in keeping it under wraps. So not only was he hurt by her betrayal, he was embarrassed it had slipped past him entirely.

Theo took three steps towards her and glared menacingly.

“I never knew that when I asked you to help me make a Minister, you’d end up fucking your way to the top, no. Try to protect your soul, Hermione, if you still have one, it’s futile, but you should still try.”

∞∞∞

1 year ago…

“I owe you big time for this one.”

“He isn’t going to want to know what I think, Theo.”

“He’s changed, he’s different now. A man of the people.”

“Don’t make me laugh, someone that called me a Mudblood is not a man of the fucking people.”

“Just thirty minutes of your time, that’s all I’m asking for, if it’s still a no then fine.”

“Alright, thirty. But only because I love Neville, not you.”

“Keep trying to convince yourself of that, one day it might be true.”

Theo winked at her as he left her side to walk ahead and disappear into the crowd, leaving her to take it all in.

She walked into the vast hall, the bustle of all his campaign people all around her, his initial banners dotted all around the stained glass windows. If anyone was lost, there would be no question of who ran things around here.

She heard his voice bellowing out ahead, he was pacing in front of the rows of the people standing before him. Every second or so, she caught a flash of his platinum blonde hair past all the various heads before her.

“There’s no way to sugar coat it, we got our backsides handed to us by McLaggen, so does anyone have any great ideas? I think people don’t know where I stand, the problem is-”

“Your marriage.” She immediately regretted speaking the words, the sea of people that had been hiding her, now parted - leaving a clear line directly to him. Well, in for a penny, in for a pound, she supposed.

“It looks like you don’t screw your wife, which would be fine except that family values matter to Wizarding folk, especially Purebloods, it’s why they vote for who they vote for and since Cormac and his wife are now expecting, that puts him ahead of you.” She stepped forward towards where he was frozen, his eyes hot on her approach like she was stalking a harmed animal. “So, your marriage, whatever the truth may be, from the outside it looks cold, distant, dead. Speaking of, where is your wife?”

She looked around at the staffers, everyone staring at her with their mouths open in shock. Perhaps she was coming across as too harsh. But the truth hurts in all cases.

“People want to like who they’re voting for, people have to want to invite you into their home for dinner and right now, you and your wife are standing in their doorway, three feet apart, not looking at each other and letting a draught in. That’s why you lost the preliminaries, and that’s why you’ll lose the main vote too.”

Malfoy stood there, seething with rage at her truthfulness, his jaw tensed as he absorbed everything she had just said - in front of the thirty people he currently employed to sell his powerful image.

He crossed his arms in front of him, pumping his chest up in a defensive display and it gave her a small thrill. Theo had said to let bygones be bygones, and she had - but it was healthy to be a little bit petty every now and then.

“Everyone, I’m sure introductions aren't entirely necessary, but this is Hermione Granger.” Malfoy said, addressing the room with a fake smile, as the disdain rolled off the tip of his tongue.

She had gotten under his skin, good. He needed to be humble if he was going to win this.

Before she had a chance to have a conversation with the hopeful new Minister candidate, she was accosted by a few of his staff - they were all seemingly star struck that she was there. And so was she, truth be told.

After a few hellos with the rabble, she made her way into the corridor, hoping to find some trace of Theo or Malfoy - until she overheard it for herself.

“Get rid of her.”

“Oh she’s great isn’t she, it’s refreshing, the best political advisor you could hope for-”

“Fire her immediately.”

“Because she said what every staffer on your campaign was afraid to say?”

“Theo, get rid of her. Now.”

She turned the corner and stopped in the doorway to Theo’s office and watched as they realised she had heard every single fucking word.

“I’ll charge my hotel to the campaign, don’t worry, I wasn’t here long enough to do any real damage on the mini bar in the room either. Best of luck, Malfoy.”

Hermione turned on her heel and walked out, leaving the two men to converse with each other.

“You know, let’s be clear about something, I run a sausage factory.” Theo said, sighing as he sat back down in his chair.

“Which makes me what, sausage?”

“Handsome, capable, qualified, smart, idealistic and energetic sausage.” Theo replied, as he picked up his pen and started to write on the paper in front of him as Malfoy stood there, just watching him.

“The electing worthy speeches and baby kissing, that's all you.The nitty gritty back alley sniping, that’s all me. It’s filthy and thankless and it’s my hallelujah heroin and reason to breathe but you, you don’t have half the stomach for it so you go to Granger right now and make nice with her, because you will not be Minister without that woman. Get her back, or you can find yourself another sausage maker.” Theo delivered, not glancing up at the future Minister for Magic once.

—------------------------

Malfoy took Theo’s words in and left the office immediately, he ran down the corridor to catch up with her.

“Granger! Granger, wait!” She could hear his footsteps and then he was in front of her.

“Look, I apologise for firing you.”

“Why?” She asked looking up into his grey eyes, wondering if they had always been that silky colour.

“Why did I apologise?”

“Why did you fire me? I had a job, a paying job, from which I took a leave of absence as a favour to Theo because I am good. No, I’m not just good, I’m the best. I would eat, breathe and live Draco Malfoy every single second of every single day, you would be lucky to have me.”

Malfoy took a step towards her as she continued speaking.

“Just because you don’t like hearing the truth about your marriage or yourself-”

“I loved hearing what you had to say, I agree with every word.” His voice was thick and sultry, it filled her head and made her delirious for a moment. “And you're right, I would be lucky to have you, Granger.”

She stood there toe to toe with Draco Malfoy, as she realised he was heaving in bursts of air as much as she was. His eyes were intently fixed on hers, and then they dropped a fraction lower to glance at her lips.

She felt her chest brush against his front as her breath caught on the sensation, so did his  - why were they standing so closely?

And then it hit her.

“This is why you fired me?”

In the next breath he seemed to have remembered himself and stepped back from her, his eyes simmering with something she wasn’t sure of.

“Can we just-” Malfoy started.

“Go back in there and work?”

“Okay.” They both said it in unison as they turned away from each other and headed in separate directions down the corridor.

—---------------------------------------------------

A few days later, Hermione had her feet firmly planted in the political storm she was gearing up to lead for none other than Draco Lucius Malfoy. Her and Theo had Malfoy and his wife look over their extensive agenda, and they were on board, of course. It was just a case to deliver on it and reap the rewards later.

Now, she was stood at the side of a Ministry fundraiser - one rare to be out in the sunshine for a change, but this was the whole point, to be more down to earth. This would win it for him, swaying the seats in her favour. Or rather, his favour.

Just a shame the leader of the opposition had to attend it also.

She took out her phone and started dialling.

“Hello?”

“Pansy? I can hear banging, oh God, what are you doing?”

“Channelling female rage, it’s healthy.”
 
“Not in my apartment, it's not.”

“You’ll love the renovations, don’t worry. So, are you pro Pureblood yet?”

“He’s got…” Hermione paused as she watched Malfoy hand a balloon to a little girl, an odd warmth spreading in her stomach as she witnessed the small act. “Something I can work with.”

“I just can’t believe you took a job for Draco Malfoy.”

“No, I took a job for Theo, there’s a difference.”

“Sure there is. Oh, gotta go, more stuff has just been delivered.”

“Pansy, get out of my house, go touch grass or something.”

“Oh please, I’m not crazy or deranged, I’m just divorced. Anyway, get back to work. Love you.”

“Okay, love you, bye.”

Hermione hung up just as Theo came and stood at her side, they watched on as the two crowds were mingling in front of them, just as she had predicted - all brought together by Draco Malfoy it would seem.

“Our boy is good, you’d never be able to tell he’s ready to rip McLaggen’s throat out.” Theo said as she looked on at Malfoy, taking in the stripped back version of him she wasn’t sure existed before. 
 
“If only he were that good at faking it with his wife, we wouldn’t be losing.” She muttered under her breath, looking over at Astoria Malfoy standing ten feet away from her husband.

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------

For all of Hermione’s day dreaming in her final year about what she would end up doing with her life, she never imagined she would be sat in a room with Draco Malfoy and his wife, schooling them on marriage etiquette. But fourteen years later, here they all were - flanked by Theo, luckily, but she intended to let him break the news to the gentle couple and lead the charge on this one.

She imagined having the Muggleborn advisor tell you and your wife you needed to be nicer to each other wouldn’t go down particularly well in this scenario, so she was happy to take a back seat. For a change.

“I’m sorry, you cancelled all of our appearances for the next two days?” Mrs Malfoy asked them, her face frozen between surprise and irritation.

“Yes, we did.”

“The first face off is in two weeks, we can’t miss two days of campaigning.” Malfoy continued in place of his wife, finally taking the lead.

“The face off is a small fork in this big road, it’ll be fine.” Theo replied softly, hesitant not to wake the sleeping dragon in the Malfoy couple.

“I have a Magical Beasts fundraiser tomorrow, I can’t possibly cancel it.” Astoria tried again.

“That’s why I cancelled it for you, Mrs Malfoy.” Hermione replied, sternly. Well, so much for her taking a back seat.

“Maybe I’m dense, but I don’t actually know what you want from us.” Astoria was the pinnacle of elegance, sat there primly, as she attempted to deliver blow after blow without even breaking a sweat.

“First off, I’d like you to actually talk to each other.”

“We talk all the time, Miss Granger.” Still such politeness from the future Minister’s wife - Hermione wondered if there was ever a time that Astoria Malfoy would just crack and explode, whether the weight of being perfect ever dragged the immovable Mrs Malfoy down like it had pulled her down so many times before over the years.

“Not to each other. You talk at each other. Planned events, Ministry meetings - but you barely look at each other.” Hermione gritted out, again delivering truth that would hurt.

“Fine, add a couple of events to the schedule where we are together and they can capture us talking to each other.” Malfoy interjected, his gaze locking with hers as he sat next to his wife.

“That won’t do it. You two need to be a couple, a believable, loving, dedicated couple that are capable of running the Wizarding world. Or you might as well throw it in right now and we can all go home.” Theo said finally, as they all sat there watching each other.

Awkward silence followed and nobody knew where to look.

“Why don’t Theo and I give you two a moment.” She said as they both got up and retreated out of the room, sensing an explosion was imminent. And they were right. The moment they closed the door behind them, all hell broke loose.

“Why are you fighting this, Tori, this is exactly what you wanted - all eyes on you.”

“You are the one running for Minister, not me.”

“Oh please, like you’re not running for First Lady, you’re dying to hold that title. You’ve already been picking out the fucking stationary for your new position.”

“Okay, there it is. I’m the ambitious monster, I’m the iron lady, I have done everything for you. I have sacrificed my entire life for you. There is not a single thing in my life that I haven’t done for you-”

“I have never asked you to do any of that-”

“And all I get in return is this growing resentment!”

“It’s not resentment, this is just not what I signed up for!”

Theo and Hermione looked gone out at each other with their ears pressed against the door, hearing the exchange play out in the room beyond it.

“And you think it’s what I signed up for? To be miserable every bloody day? Oh, how wonderful it really is to be the great Mrs Malfoy - honestly, what a privilege.”

“Look, you clearly want me to be Minister as much as I do, so you better start sucking it up and start acting like our marriage isn’t completely fucking dead.”

They stepped away from the door having heard enough and Hermione began pacing whilst Theo sat down. Another glance with Theo and his face said exactly what she was thinking.

“This is why they don’t talk to each other.” Theo whispered as he pointed to the closed door that held forbidden reaches of no man’s land.

“We really have our work cut out. Two days isn’t going to be enough.” Hermione said as she sat down next to him.

“Maybe we could get a therapy healer in?”

“No, it would get leaked and the campaign would be over. We need to sort it in house. Give them the couple of days to cool off.”

“Why don’t you speak to her, you know, female to female.”

“Me? That’s the worst idea you've ever had.”

“I don’t think it is, I think you should at least consider it.”

“And in what way can I help the situation?”

“Tell her you understand how she feels, to be overshadowed by the man you’re unwillingly tied to.”

“Harry does not overshadow me.” The lie tasted bitter as she spoke it.

“But you do relate to being unwillingly tied to him, though.”
 
She fell right into his trap and they both knew it.

“Enough, Theo.”

—----------------------------------

Later that evening, she was in and out of every room at campaign headquarters - checking that none of her staff were still there before she locked up the residence for the day.

She was completely rattled by Theo’s line of questioning, even though it was entirely true - it was still hard hearing it out loud. What Theo had said stayed with her the rest of the day, she had been irritable, unsociable - basically, she had been an utter bitch.

All she wanted to do was sink into a bottle of wine and forget what awaited her at home.

When she opened the door of the final room, however, fate had a different idea for her altogether.

“Oh, Miss Granger, I was just-” Astoria Malfoy sat there, with mascara tracks running down her face and a bottle of whiskey, not Firewhiskey, real Muggle whiskey. Quite unbecoming for a lady of her stature, not that she was in a position to judge her by any means.

“I’m sorry, Mrs Malfoy, I didn’t realise anyone would still be here. I’ll leave you be.” She replied, not wanting to interrupt her any further or impose on her private time.

“No, please don’t.” Astoria said, much quicker than Hermione would ever have expected. “Would you like a drink?”

Hermione’s heart stuttered for a moment, it was clear Astoria was in a form of distress and just wanted to talk. But she couldn’t get involved, she needed to remain impartial. Friendships and relationships had no place in this race, be seen and not heard - and never be relatable.

“I shouldn’t, we have a long day tomorrow.”

“All the more reason then, I insist.” Astoria pushed the bottle towards her, an invitation for the start of her inner destruction.

“Okay, thank you.” Hermione said as she sat down opposite the less than perfect Mrs Malfoy.

“I want you to know how grateful we are for your assistance, Miss Granger.”

“Hermione. Please, call me Hermione.”

“We are grateful, Hermione. I just hope you don’t take any push back personally. It’s just been difficult, I’m adjusting. We’re both adjusting.” A swig from the bottle before she pushed it over in Hermione’s direction.

“Of course, Mrs Malfoy.”
 
“Astoria. I think we’re beyond formalities at this stage since you know everything about me.”

“Of course, Astoria.” A swig of her own, before she handed it back to the sad brunette across from her.

They sat in comfortable silence for a few moments, clearly both welcoming it after the draining few days the campaign had taken on them.

“I did love him once, you know. But somewhere along the way, the longing stares and butterflies just disappeared, leaving no trace behind. And now here we are, on the precipice of history. Well, he is, at least. I just need to smile and look pretty.” Astoria said as she tucked her brown hair behind her ear, before she went to take another sip. “I’m sorry, I’ve had too much to drink, ignore anything I’m saying.”

“Astoria, can I speak frankly?”

“I feel you’re going to anyway.”
 
Hermione took the bottle from her and took a steady gulp, her face twisting from the bitter aftertaste - invoking a small smile on the Mrs Malfoy crying in front of her.

“We’re women, Astoria, we’ll only ever be footnotes on the side of history because of what's between our legs, that’s just the way of the world. But only you can decide how big your footnote will be. So, make it worthy of all the fucking paragraphs you can.”

She wondered if she had overstepped her place and whether her directness would bring her job into question, but she knew she didn’t need to worry as she caught the way Astoria’s eyes lit up at her response.

“I think we’re going to be friends for a long time, Hermione.”

∞∞∞

Hermione could feel her heart practically beat outside of her chest as she watched Theo walk away from her and out of Malfoy’s office, but she had only a second to grieve her friendship with him before the First Lady came bounding in next.

“Hermione, oh thank God, are you back?” Astoria rushed her immediately, throwing her arms around her neck in a tight embrace. “I knew you’d come back to us.”

“Hey, Tori.” Hermione returned her grip, feeling that sinking feeling return in the pit of her stomach, the one she hadn’t missed since leaving the fray a month ago.

“I’m so happy you’re back.”

“Well, I’m not officially back, but I’ll stick around for a little bit until all this with McLaggen gets smoothed out.”

“That traitorous, backstabbing bastard. I thought he was meant to be a Gryffindor, like you?” Hermione swallowed, feeling that rising guilt drag itself up to sit on her chest and laugh at her, she felt the bile gather at the back of her throat from the words of the wife of her lover.

If only Astoria knew what she was really like, maybe that would paint McLaggen in a much nicer light after all.

She felt it all when she looked at Astoria, the awful feeling of betrayal, the feeling of being evil - because that’s exactly what she was. What else could anyone describe what Hermione had done to Astoria, the sweet woman who had done nothing to deserve anything of what she had done behind her back.

“Did you need something, Tori?” Malfoy asked from across the room, clearly in tune with how Hermione must be feeling and wanting to relieve it.

“No, darling, I just came to speak to you about something but it can wait until you’ve put this fire out. At least we have Hermione back though, the only good result from all of this bloody nonsense.”

“Indeed. Well, I need to speak to Granger about strategy, if you don’t mind?” He extended his arm out as he crossed the space, a smooth invite for her to be the dutiful wife and vacate their presence.

“Of course, I’ll leave you both to fight the good fight, as always.” Astoria hugged Hermione once more, speaking softly into her hair. “So wonderful to see you, love. We must do lunch soon, okay?”

“I’d like that, Tori.” Another dagger to her soul as Astoria smiled at her. Hermione wanted to hate her, but she couldn’t - Astoria Malfoy was the very best of them.

“See you later, darling.”

As the First Lady closed the door behind her, the suited blonde Slytherin was back on her within an instant, wrapping her in his strong arms, his hands wandering all over her body.

“Now, Granger, where were we?”

“You cannot be serious right now.” She felt herself falling under his spell once again and had to stop it.

“Deadly serious, actually.”

“Do you not realise we have bigger problems to worry about at this point in time?” She gasped out on a whimper as he began kissing her neck, finding that spot he always gravitated to whenever he wanted to undo her.

“I’ll obliterate McLaggen into dust, I’m not worried about it.”

“And what about Theo?” She was panting now, pushing at his arms encasing her where they stood, where anyone could stumble on them again. 
“He’ll be fine, he doesn’t know what he saw.”

“He’s not ten, he knows exactly what he saw.”

“It’s not going to change anything, Granger.”

“But what if it changes everything?” She questioned sternly, stopping him in his tracks as he stood to his full height.

“That brilliant mind of yours isn’t going to switch off anytime soon is it?” He tucked her hair behind her ear, ghosting his entire hand across her cheek as he did so.

He had always been so possessive in nature, but she knew the signs of when he was claiming her as his. And her heart hurt at the thought of the unsteady waters that were about to drown them once again.

“I should go. This was a mistake.” She started to pull away just as he yanked her back by her wrists, holding her flush to him.

“You can’t abandon me again, Granger.” Her body slotted against his perfectly once more - like it was made only for him as he dared to bring his mouth down to hers again, “I just-”  “I need you to say it, just once, forget what’s happening around us, forget what could happen tomorrow,” he brought his hands up to cradle her face, like he was memorising it, “say you’ll wait for me, say you’re still mine.” “I’ll always be yours, that’s the problem.” She took him in and held her hands against his, to just take a minute with him, before they had to put their masks back on. She peeled his hands off her face and stepped back. “Schedule a meeting in the morning with all of your advisors, I’ll attend and help get the situation back under control for you.”

“Hermione, I-” he looked like he had the whole world on his shoulders, like he had so much more to say to her in that moment but clearly thought better of it. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Mr Minister.”

Hermione walked away from him once more, but at least it was mutual this time - it wasn’t a secret. She found her legs had carried her down to Theo’s office, clearly her subconscious wasn’t entirely satisfied with the level of pain she was in so far, it needed to be fed so much more.

His door was wide open, she stood there for a moment, watching him work vigorously - out of rage or the sheer will to conquer, she wasn’t sure.

She knocked on the wood three times making him look up.

“Can we talk, Theo?”

“What’s there to talk about, the weather? Oh yes, quite dreary but then what can one expect for an April afternoon in London. Or perhaps the latest headline Skeeter printed about your ex-” 
“Theo-”

“Or maybe, you’d like to talk about the fact you have been lying to everyone for God knows how long but most of all, you’ve been lying to me.” He spat out with a firm smile plastered on his face.

“I’m sorry, Theo.” She said meekly, as the rivers of tears threatened to spill out and all down her face.

“No, you’re not. You’re sorry you got caught, you’re not sorry for the situation at all.”

“I wanted to tell you.” 
“Did you really? Alright then, tell me, when did it start?”

“Theo, I-” she stuttered on her words, and if she told one person, that was it. It was real, it was out there for the whole world to judge her on. For her to carry that scarlet letter of being the other woman. “I can’t.”

“So you don’t want to tell me, what a surprise.”

“Theo, please-”

He shot up and walked round his desk, shoving a piece of paper into her hands.

“If you don’t want to tell me, here’s the Wizengamot list you requested, and Malfoy has just this moment sent out calendar invites for a debrief first thing, so I assume I’ll see you then,” then he turned back to his desk, “but if there’s nothing else, please leave my office.”

She stood there watching him sit back down as he opened up his laptop, not sparing her a second glance.

“You and I aren’t friends anymore, Hermione. Don’t come here again.”

And there it was, the final dagger, planted firmly in her chest by Theodore Nott. He was putting her in the dark, something she never thought he’d be able to do. But then she wasn’t innocent in all this, she deserved to be in the dark, she deserved to be on her own for what she had done and she knew it deep down.

She’s almost certain she felt her heart break at his words.

Everything was a complete fucking mess, and she was at the centre of it all. The universe didn’t just rain down on her, it poured. And she deserved it all.

As she climbed the stairs to her apartment, she was sure she had blanked out the rest of the day between leaving Theo’s office to now. She just wanted to drop to her knees the moment she entered her place, to shut the world out and block everything she was feeling before it killed her.

But fate had other ideas.

As she turned the corner for her floor, there he stood by her door - broad and stocky since the last time she had seen him several months ago, but she’d never mistake his dark, shaggy hair.

He started to turn as he heard the sound of her heels on approach, and her heart sank at the sight of him once more.

“Hey, you.” He said as his eyes met hers.

“Harry?” 
-----------------------------------------------

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

---------------------------------------------
 She stood at the sidebar in her kitchen, wondering what had led her to this very moment - here she was, opening a bottle of her favourite vintage wine while her childhood best friend and ex, sat waiting for her in the next room.  The fucking universe just loved to shit all over her, apparently. She reached for two glasses from the top shelf and took a deep breath in. Being around Harry now, ever since she entangled herself with Malfoy, made her feel on edge - like she was waiting for some unknowing karmic penny to drop and the world she knew would just explode all around her.  Harry was now the Head of the Auror department, and whilst falling in love with another man wasn’t breaking any magical law, she had done much worse since Malfoy had rooted himself deep within her soul. She knew she had to be careful around him, she was sure he could sniff out a liar and a cheat when he needed to, but whether Harry suspected that of her, she couldn't be sure. But after everything she had done, she still felt like a criminal all the same. She walked back into the livingroom and found him sprawled out on her cream sofa, resting his head back, entirely at ease. That was the thing about Harry, he always managed to make her feel small even in her own space. No one should be that at home in anyone else’s property, especially not one they hadn’t inhabited for months.  She stomped her way over and sat next to him, making sure to put as much distance between them as she could, shoving the wine bottle down with a thump to bring his attention back to why he was actually here.  “Wine?” She asked as she held the bottle up and his green eyes met hers instantly, making her feel almost uneasy.  “Sure. I’m off the clock now,” he began shuffling around on the sofa, turning his body to face her head on. “So, how have you been?” “Oh we are not doing the small talk crap.” She started pouring the wine out, giving herself a much larger glass than his - given the day’s circumstances.  “You don’t seem surprised to see me.”  “I’m never surprised when it comes to you anymore, Harry,” she sighed out, feeling her patience slowly tumble towards its limit. “You either show up at the most inopportune time or right when I need you.” “And which one is it tonight?” He asked as he took a sip, his eyes dancing with something over the rim of the delicate crystal glass as he watched her intently.  “I’m still trying to decide.” She replied thoughtfully and honestly. “Alright, well, maybe I can help sway your decision.” He put his glass down in front of him and moved to advance on her, but she held her arm out against his firm chest - a definitive sign to stop any thought he was having.  “Did you really think that coming here tonight would have me falling back into bed with you? I hate to break it to you, Harry, but that will not be on the menu tonight.” She wasn’t unsafe, she knew that, but she was still exercising her free will. She didn’t love him, so why would she make her life infinitely harder by opening that door again - even she wasn’t that stupid.  “Fuck, Hermione. What happened between us?” He raked his hand through his hair, and then down the stubble growing on his face. It suited him, she couldn’t deny it.  The years had definitely been kind to Harry Potter’s appearance, his devilish looks being one of the reasons she had done the unthinkable and fell into bed with him in the first place - sealing her tarnished name from then on.  “A lot. And also nothing at all. Is this why you’ve come here?” She answered him completely emotionless, entirely strung out from the day. “No, I just thought-“ he started shaking his head, “I thought with you not working at the Ministry anymore, we’d get back on track.” “That wasn’t the problem with us, you just thought it was.” “Really? You’re going to stand there and lie to my face and tell me your job didn’t ruin us?” Harry asked, his voice starting to pick up in frustration with her lack of caring. “We were ruined to begin with, Harry.” “Why do you always do this? I don’t know what I did to deserve this from you, all I’ve ever done is love you.” His eyes pleaded with her, silently begging for her to take him back and make it all better.  But she just couldn’t, she was a stranger to him now - she was a stranger to herself.  “Harry, the last thing I need right now is to validate or serve your ego. If there is nothing important, I’ve had a long day and I need to sleep.” She stood and walked to the door of her apartment, already knowing Harry would follow her and understand that she was done with the conversation. She opened the door wide, an invitation for him to walk straight through it and back out of her life again - but he hesitated as he crossed the threshold. “I’ll always love you, Hermione.” He had nothing left to lose it would seem, as he laid everything out before her. What was one more dagger to add to her cracking soul? “Goodnight, Harry.” She closed the door on him without a second glance, fully comfortable knowing she’d be going to Hell anyway for everything she had ever done up to this point alongside treating Harry poorly, so she didn’t give it any further thought.

—-------------------------------------------------------

Walking through the Atrium the next morning gave Hermione a thrill she hadn’t felt since she quit, and she had missed it beyond belief. The power she held, it was clear on everyone's faces as they witnessed her walk confidently across the tiles and towards the lifts.  She entered a lift that housed a few employees, and once they had all clocked who had entered the same space as them, they all promptly vacated it. She didn't expect the treatment of course, but it was telling of everything she had accomplished within those walls so far.  It was only after she closed the lift gate and selected the floor she needed that the swirling pit of dread and despair began to rear its ugly head within her stomach. The thought of facing Theo and seeing the hatred on his face again made her feel violently sick.  But, an evil thought within her knew that he wouldn’t out her for fear of outing himself and what they had done - it shouldn’t have given her a form of comfort, but she had a job to do now. So the less she was threatened by Theo, the better for the both of them until they could move past this.  A savage way of thinking, but she hadn’t done what she had without knowing the risk in the first place.  Now, here she was again, about to enter the snake pit or the lion’s den - her den. She swung open the door to Malfoy’s office and was met with multiple people running around clutching various file packs, getting organised ready for the debrief.  She crossed the space and headed towards the married blonde and his wife stood at the head of the room. That all knowing guilty feeling flowing within her like a disease anytime she saw Astoria.  It would have been easier for Astoria to have been what she and the rest of the Wizarding world had expected of the current Mrs Malfoy - a complete bitch. But she was anything but, her kindness and understanding towards Hermione knew no bounds. So, the fact Hermione had fucked her husband six ways to Sunday, naturally it ground down on her conscience every hour of every day.

It was inescapable, and it was dragging her deeper and deeper under the murky waters of the guilt that surrounded her. And she felt like she was suffocating from it.  Of course she had tried to escape him multiple times just to save herself, but he always ended up dragging her back in. This was her reality now, and she had to accept it.  She took in his state of dress, a navy suit with a tailored Oxford - she caught the platinum tie pin she had given him when he was voted in as Minister and her heart jumped at seeing the accessory. Malfoy’s eyes tore from his wifes to her as she approached them, and she couldn’t help the warmth spread inside of her as he fixed his silver irises to her body immediately. “Good morning, Granger,” “Good morning, Mr Minister.” She tried to reply in a professional tone, especially since he was in the company of his wife - but she suspected he knew exactly what he was doing to her, he always did. “Hi, Hermione, so good to see you again.” Astoria said as she moved to embrace her, she had so many daggers plunged into her soul now, there was no use in counting them anymore.  “Hey, Tori.” She couldn’t help it, the comfort and friendship Astoria gave her willingly had made her feel safe, when she was anything but and she didn’t deserve an ounce of it.  She knew one day she would have to sacrifice a Malfoy, but honestly, she wasn’t sure which one she could live without. She was a traitor to each of them, and that thought plagued her the most.  As she pulled away from Astoria’s hug she caught Theo making his approach to them, she also caught him rolling his eyes at their exchange because in Theo’s eyes, nothing she did would be genuine now.  She stepped away from Astoria and walked towards Theo, already dreading the venom that he dared to spew at her.  “I used to think this was the greatest job in the world. But perhaps shovelling Hippogriff shit should have been my career path.” He drawled out, looking incredibly bored with the mornings events already. *Nice to see you too, Theo.”  “Is it?” He said callously as he crossed his arms across his chest. It was her turn to roll her eyes at him now, if he wanted to play the game, she was the best contender for it - something she would remind him of, if she needed to.  “You lead the way, Hermione.” Malfoy said behind her, motioning for Hermione to take the seat to his right - his right hand, as it were. A large oval table had been transfigured in place of the seating area in the Minister’s office, or rather his newly appointed war room now.  This earnt her a fresh scoff from Theo as he took the seat opposite her, demoted once again to being Draco Malfoy’s left hand it would seem. “Everyone, we need to review our options moving forward,” she announced to the group of people that Malfoy seemed to trust the most as they moved to take their seats around the table. A couple of faces she recognised, but there were some she was unfamiliar with. Or perhaps she had just been too consumed with having Draco inside of her at any opportunity they could, that she just didn’t pay enough attention to her daily role. “Cormac McLaggen, the Deputy Minister has motioned for a vote of no confidence in Mr Malfoy’s seat to the Wizengamot.” She continued, as murmurs from the group began to stir, their faces contorting in shock and scandal. “I know, this is a shocking move and entirely unprecedented, it would appear. It’s also the first time such an occurrence has happened within the Ministry so presently, I need a small team to assess the Minister’s sway over the public.” She turned her attention to two young males and a girl she knew as Hannah. “You three,” “Yes, Miss Granger?” Hannah asked as she focused on her. Hermione had always known her to be hardworking and polite, and perhaps far too innocent to be placed in this world.  “Hi Hannah, please scan all the chatter surrounding the Deputy Minister’s motion, I want to know the reception to him making the move but more importantly, I need to know how the public is responding to it and what the thoughts are on Minister Malfoy’s current seat.”  “Right away, Miss Granger.” The three interns promptly stood from their seats and we’re straight out the office, she knew she liked Hannah, she was always impressed with her efficiency.  “Currently, the Wizengamot has not accepted the motion nor responded.” Hermione continued to address the rest of the room, stoically aware of the cool eyes that continued to rake all over her body as she spoke. Malfoy was shameless, and she was sure it wouldn’t be going unnoticed. “Hopefully it’s buried under all the paperwork from Azkaban,” the Minister grumbled at the side of her.  “That will only buy us time for so long, Mr Minister,” she said as she faced him once again.  She heard the door open behind her and spun around to see delicate Elise frantically marching towards them all, her perfectly coiffed hair becoming more frazzled by the second. “I’m sorry, Sir, I wasn’t aware of what the protocol is for-” and then Elise was cut off rudely, by the piece of shit they all now hated. “Good morning, everyone. Ah, Granger, good to have you back. What have I missed?” Cormac declared as he strolled forward in their direction, heading straight to where she stood in front of the Minister.  “How fucking dare you show your face here.” She heard Theo shout across the table. “Oh come on Nott, we’re all friends here,” Cormac continued to goad, further casting his line out to ensure Theo or even Draco would take the bait. “No, no, we are not friends, you snivelling wretch, I have tea with friends, sometimes I share my extensive book collection with my friends or send them cookies. What ‘friends’ do not do, Cormac, is blind side their team like you have done.” Theo bit out, coming around to stand opposite McLaggen.  “Enough. What do you want, Cormac?” “I’ve merely come to work, Mr Minister. Just because I’m making headway for a better magical world doesn't mean I’ll abandon my post as your Deputy now.” “You’ve got to be kidding, you expect me to still work with you after this?” Malfoy stepped forward, going toe to toe with Cormac, a macho display of testosterone and it threatened to make her head spin.  “Well I’m not resigning, so unless you’re firing me?” “Oh you're fired alright. Tell him, Draco.” Theo replied, stepping forward at the side of Malfoy, like the ever loyal lap dog he was proving to be.  But the silence rolled all around them, leaving everyone glancing at each other looking at the other for what to do next, waiting for the words of their commander-in-chief before any of them acted upon impulse. “I tell you what, you carry on with your little meeting. I’ll be in my office taking care of some real issues. You know where to find me, sir .” Cormac spun around on his heel and marched straight back out of the door he had just made his grand entrance through.  “He can’t do that, can he do that?” Malfoy turned to her as he whispered the question.  “I don’t know, but he has.” She mumbled, low enough for only their ears to hear.  She wasn’t sure if they had any grounds to dismiss Cormac, or whether it would even be ethical to do so if it wasn’t of his own volition. Perhaps she had underestimated him all this time, a silent assassin from the get go that had flown under their radar since the beginning, scheming his way up and out - especially for him to seemingly check them on this fucked up chessboard they all manned.  But she wouldn’t be going down without a fight, it wasn’t an option, she had sacrificed too much for it all to fall down now. She wouldn’t let Draco fall down, no fucking way.  “Who let him in? It was you, wasn’t it?” Theo shouted, stalking his way over to Elise as the chaos erupted all around her.  “I’m sorry, sir, I-” Elise tried to squeak out, forever the frail old lady she had come to know and be fond of. “Get out, you’re fired.” Theo delivered, she had to do something to get the situation back under control, to get him back under control. “Elise, you are not fired,” Hermione quickly said as she scrambled over to where Theo was intimidating the loyal and aging secretary, eager to calm the tone. “Elise, you are fired.” Theo repeated, his resolve remaining stern whilst countering Hermione’s say but she was sure he was doing it out of stubbornness now, like the petulant child she knew him to be. “Theo!” Draco shouted out from behind them amongst the chatter, and only then did she see the tensing of Theo’s shoulder’s diminish as he stood over Elise.  “Fine, Elise, you’re not fired. But I don’t want to see you for the rest of the day,” he mumbled as he turned away from Elise and faced her once more, his face contorting with anger and frustration.  “I need the room please. Theo, Granger - you stay.” The Minister ordered, and she watched everyone oblige it immediately as they all began pouring out the room. She looked back at poor Elise and saw her shaking back as she retreated with the rest of them. She spun back to face Malfoy and saw Astoria approach him with an expression that she would never want to be on the receiving end of. Whatever happened next, it wasn’t going to be good. “Tori-” she tried to reason before Astoria could act, but she was too late.   “You are letting Cormac McLaggen bulldoze his way all over everything we have spent over the last decade working for!” Astoria raged at Malfoy, as she stood watching it play out next to Theo.  “I am not, I am trying to work out the best thing to do in all this-” Draco said as he face hardened at Astoria.  “You need to fire him and go grovel to the Wizengamot-” “I won’t grovel to anyone- “Why not?” “Because I’m not pathetic like you, Astoria.” The blow he delivered was definitive and dismissive. But it disgusted her more than anything that he could speak to his wife like that above anyone else.  “Malfoy!” Hermione fumed at him, showing some of the loyalty she held for his wife.  She watched Astoria’s eyes well up, as they threatened to flood her beautiful face and ruin the perfect make up she had no doubt spent hours applying, all in solidarity to support her husband at every turn.  “No, Hermione, it’s fine. Please just sort this.” Astoria murmured before she was turning and walking in the opposite direction.  “Tori, I didn’t mean-” Draco tried to reason, but Astoria was already gone and out the door.  And then it was the three of them, the unstoppable trio - entirely broken and on its arse due to recent events. It was all a bloody mess.  “Well, I think I’m going to go cool off in my office.” Theo said awkwardly, not sparing her a second look as he followed Astoria’s path and abandoned the wreckage.  Malfoy just stood there, looking at the closed door, his fists balling as his chest rose and fell quickly - another explosion nearing on the horizon. “You were completely out of line with her.” Hermione dared to state, keeping a safe distance from his orbit. She didn’t want to be pulled in by him, or by what they felt for each other when everything was at stake right now - but importantly, she didn’t want to be a hypocrite in the form of a mistress reprimanding the husband. “She shouldn’t try to control me then,” he pouted, his strop further threatening to boil over. “She’s not doing anything of the sort, she is your wife!” It was defensive, she couldn't avoid it, there was no other way to make him see sense other than cold hard truth. “Of all the people to tell me, you don’t think I fucking know that?” Draco raged as he faced her, her breath catching as he shouted it. She shook her head at his words stepping back from him. “No, Granger, wait,” she heard him as she picked up her bag and headed for the same door everyone else had used in the last five minutes, “I’m sorry-” “Sort it out, Malfoy, before you push everyone else away, including me.”   
—------------------------------------------------
  It was pitch black outside as she heard her phone ring for what felt like the millionth time that day since she stormed out of the Minister’s office earlier that morning. She didn’t even need to check the name that would come up on the screen to know it would be Draco Malfoy, calling her to beg her forgiveness, calling her to say how he’d make it up to her, calling her to tell her more sweet nothings.  But her patience had grown thin over the last couple of days, there was only so much a person could put up with and tolerate between it all, and she was at the very center of it. The common denominator in all the shit that surrounded them all, it made her feel violently ill.  She had come home immediately, rid herself of the pretty outfit she had put on for him - like she always had much to her dismay, and just put on an oversized t-shirt and cardigan. She needed the feel of something soft that replicated the feel of a hug because she was ready to cry.  She sat there on her sofa all day. She didn’t even care that it was the least productive she had ever been in her thirty-two years on this earth or the fact she had cancelled her lunch plans with Pansy, she just needed to take the time for herself. To sieve through her thoughts, to think about what could possibly come next - to wait for the anticipated outpouring of bollocks that the universe was undoubtedly just waiting to shower onto her.  And then she heard someone knock at her door, because the universe just couldn’t leave her alone for one night, could it? She willed herself to just ignore it, to pretend she hadn’t heard it - but the knocks came again.  Hermione huffed herself over to the door and opened it - she didn’t know what she was expecting, but having the Minister for Magic standing on her doorstep for the first time was absolutely not a possibility.  “Hi,” he breathed out, towering over her, still in his navy suit from the day's events - and he looked broken. He looked as tired as she was of all of this. “What are you doing here?” She asked as crossed her arms over her chest, hoping it would give off some form of strength to send him back to his wife, but she could feel herself already starting to buckle just from the gaze of him.  “I wanted to apologise, and you weren’t taking my calls-” “Yes, it’s called ignoring someone when they’ve pissed you off,” she spat out. “I know, I’m sorry.”  “No, you don’t get to show up here and think I’ll just-” she could feel the tears forming, her hard face quickly betraying how she really felt as she tried her best to not crumble before him, “that I’ll just-” “I know, love, just come here.” He pushed his way through the doorway, closing the door behind him and wrapped her up in his arms, she could feel every muscle on him further tensing all over her and she never wanted him to let go. “You can’t be here, Draco,” she whispered into his chest, her voice further muffled by the tight embrace he held her in. The warmth of his body cocooning her, giving her what she had craved since she stepped across the threshold earlier.  “I can. You’re what I need right now, Hermione,” he told her quietly, his chin resting on the stop of her head. “And what about what I need?” She couldn’t look at him, one look into his eyes and she’d break. “Tell me, love,” he pulled back from her slightly and brought his hands up to around her neck, placing his thumbs under her chin tilting her face up to look at him. “Tell me what you need.” “I can’t, it would be crossing the line,” she whimpered out, she daren’t ever say what she truly longed for, because it could never happen - not without destroying everything they had worked for. “It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve done that,” he chuckled out as she rolled her eyes at the terrible timing of his joke, “look, I just want to spend time with you, fuck everything going on at the Ministry, fuck everything with Theo and Astoria, let’s just sit down and talk, okay?” She stared at him for what felt like the longest time, just the two of them with no one else around to witness or judge their interaction - and she needed it more than anything else at that point in time.  She nodded her head at him lightly and walked over to the sitting area where she had camped up for the day - looking around to check there wasn’t some mess she needed to quickly hide, she didn’t know why she was so nervous.  He was only the love of her life, but he was witnessing her in the most vulnerable state she had ever allowed him to see - he tore through any armour and walls she’d tried to put up and she was displayed completely bare now. And that thought left a terror in her she hadn’t felt in some time.  He took off his navy suit jacket, tossed it on the side of the cream armchair next to the matching sofa and began rolling his sleeves up. If she didn’t think she’d burst into tears at any moment, she’d climb him like a tree that second.  The way his forearms tensed under any movement did things to her but seeing his Dark Mark displayed, no matter how faint it had become over the years, had unlocked something else in her entirely.  She remembered the first time he had shown it to her in a hot and heavy moment they were trying to steal for themselves, but it opened a door to a side of him she hadn’t witnessed before, one that seemed too tender and truthful for the great Draco Malfoy to ever be capable of. But he continued to surprise her.  She watched as he sat down on her sofa and patted the space next to him. She smirked at how down to earth the simple gesture was, and how it looked so good on him.  She moved to sit down, but at the opposite end of the sofa he was sat. “You don’t have to sit so far away from me, Hermione.” “I do, because I don’t trust myself with you anymore.” She laughed out. “I promise, I’m not here for that, well actually,” then a cheeky smirk crossed his face and he winked at her, she playfully threw a pillow at him and mocked shock at his dig. “Hey! I’m kidding, just come here, please?” She couldn’t resist it, the soft tone calling out to her and the way he opened his arms and legs for her to crawl into the space. So she did. And it felt so right as she sat across him, her head against his chest and her legs crossed out. She had forgotten this kind of peace, the kind that only he could give her.  “Tell me about your day,” he whispered into her hair, his thumb rubbing circles on her thigh.  “Draco-” she started, the pain increasing as the seconds ticked further on.  “Just pretend, please,” he continued to plead. “But it’s not real.” She replied, even though she wished it could be so much. Just the idyllic image of the two of them together, being the couple they both longed to be, just like all the romantic films she had seen all those times before. But this wasn’t a film, and it wasn’t real. “Just pretend it is, just pretend that we’re a normal people. You need it as much as I do right now,” he spoke the truth, she knew it in her heart.  “I remember this tie,” she stroked down the silky silver fabric as it lay in front of her.  “Hmm, I remember you stealing it,” she felt his smile against her as he pulled at his neck with one hand, pulling the tie loose as he did so to take it off, “now it’s my favourite.”
“Why?” “Because it was the first thing you ever gave me.”

∞∞∞
  
11 months ago…
  
Today was the day, the first interaction ever with the Muggle Prime Minister and it would be in front of the world. She prayed to God that the last month had prepared him enough to not crash and burn and send them all down a slippery slope as she watched the Muggles exchange pleasantries with her team. 
 
And then she saw her Pureblood candidate cross the space over to her, naturally gravitating towards her as he seemed to do now, unlike before when he avoided her like the plague. 
 
Her eyes roved all over him, and he looked perfect, except-
 
“You can’t wear that tie, it’ll be too distracting in the interview.” She said with a smile, careful not to speak too loudly in fear of sounding ridiculous to anyone around them, but only she knew how important it was that he had everything on his side for this first meeting, the first ever in history. 
 
Malfoy looked at her perplexed, looking down at the brightly patterned tie and then back at her face.
 
“Alright, I’ll just transfigure it.” He shrugged and started to take out his wand as she pushed at his wrist stopping the movement, inadvertently bringing them in closer proximity.
 
“You will not, not if you want the Prime Minister standing over there to think you’re flaunting your magic and can’t live without it.” Hermione continued to smile ear to ear and then pulled the advisor walking past where they stood, “James, can I have your tie please?” 
 
Draco watched her with apt humour, but was more impressed that James had obliged her without question, handing her the silver tie before he carried on his way again. 
 
“Thank you,” she whispered after James and then refocused her attention on Malfoy once more. “Here, let me.” She raised her arms up, almost stretching as she loosened the monstrosity hanging around his neck and replaced it with the stolen tie. 
 
“So, have you decided who you’re voting for yet?” He muttered as he looked down at her, their bodies brushing against each other every so often accidentally. 
 
“I’m apolitical.” She gave a small smirk at the statement and he scoffed at her response.
 
“You don’t sleep, you steal ties off random men for me, you’re killing yourself every day to get me elected and I don’t even have your vote?” He raised a brow at her. 
 
“Well, you’ll just have to earn it.” She tightened the knot up and let her hand fall down his chest, intending to smooth out the fabric of the tie but she knew she had let her hand linger against him far longer than it needed to.
 
“Looks like I’ll have to try harder to get your attention, then.” He returned her smirk with his own and her breath caught at the action.
 
“Malfoy, Astoria has just arrived. Shall we get this show on the road if the PM is good?” Theo interrupted, breaking their trance and returning them back to the room full of people watching them.
 
“I’ll sort it, Nott.” He said as he nodded at her. 
 
She watched Malfoy walk over to his Muggle counterparts, shaking the hands of them all until finally standing next to his wife, seemingly sharing a joke between the group.
 
“They’re not bad.” Theo whispered to her as they watched the interaction unfold. 
 
“But they’re still not touching.” Her eyes watched as the Malfoys still gave a somewhat cold stance as always.

—------------------------------------------------------

A couple of days later they found themselves at another public event on a sunny May afternoon, when Theo came jogging over to her with a mouthful of wafer cone.
 
“I can’t believe you convinced him to do this.” He swallowed as they watched the Malfoys interact with various members of the public around them.
 
“It’s serving ice cream, it’s hardly laborious, Theo.” 
 
They were standing in front of a recently opened ice cream shop in Diagon Alley, good publicity for the shop and even better publicity for the hopeful new Minister and his campaign. 
 
“Can you imagine old Lucy turning in his grave at the sight?” Theo asked on another mouthful of wafer, clearly enjoying the treat and his trail of thought.
 
“I can actually. And it brings me such joy.” She laughed as they both stopped and gasped at what they saw before them. 
 
Astoria had lifted an ice cream for Malfoy to try, but had accidentally got it on his chin instead. They watched, jaws open, just waiting for Astoria to touch her husband, to show an act of intimacy they had been begging them for over the last month. 
 
“Oh wipe it off, come on,” Hermione whispered, gripping onto Theo’s arm as they looked at the couple, hooked on every second that passed between them.
 
“She’s not going to wipe it,” Theo sang out in a playful tone. 
 
But then Astoria did it, she raised her hand to his face and wiped the errant cream from her husband’s mouth and chin, giving a display of a happily married couple - much to the surrounding public’s joy. 
 
“There we go, would you look at that.” Hermione said as she watched the interaction, the smile on her face quickly dying as she felt a knot twist deep inside of her that she was sure shouldn’t be there, or had no place being there.

—-------------------------------------------------------

Later that night, the team all retreated back to Headquarters to regroup after a long day of campaigning. All the days seemed to blend into one, and this had become her new normal. She rarely felt guilty for leaving Harry to spend his nights alone, he was an Auror after all and understood the need to work long hours where needed. Atleast, that’s what she’d told herself. 
 
“I’m a bit superstitious so I’m not going to give any victory speeches until tomorrow night when everyone has voted after the rally, but for now, I just really want to say thank you. It’s all you guys.” Malfoy announced out to the room and they all erupted into cheers as various bottle corks popped. 
 
They hadn’t won anything yet, not by a long shot, but they were in a much better position than they were a month ago - and it seemed his entire staff seemed to echo that sentiment. 
 
“Hermione Granger, I don’t know how you did it.” 
 
“If we’re passing out credit, Malfoy, you and Astoria deserve most of it. You two seem to be doing much better,” she said with an air of jealousy that shocked even herself, but tried to cover it with a sip of her wine, praying to God that the married man in front of her didn’t read too much into it. 
 
He said nothing for a moment, and simply just watched her, his eyes alight with something that threatened to take her breath away. 
 
“I think you underestimate how good of a politician I am.”
 
She felt her heart skip a beat at his words, but before she could even hope to open that very terrible door they both knew should stay firmly locked, Theo rushed over with bright red cheeks, indicating he was more flustered than usual. 
 
“We’re not going to win the rally,” Theo puffed out, anger bubbling just beneath the surface as he approached them. 
 
“What are you talking about, the polls have us up by-” Malfoy started to ask, just as confused as she was. 
 
“It’s not going to be enough. Cormac has won this one.” Theo continued to grit out. 
 
“Fine. He’s won this one. But we aren’t out of the race yet.” Hermione shrugged, gripping her wine glass tightly. 
 
“You’re awfully confident considering we have no cards left to play.”
 
“You’ve known me for years, Mr Malfoy. I always have cards left to play.” She replied, taking another sip, never taking her eyes from his.

—---------------------------------------------------

The weekend had been long for her and non eventful, so when the following Monday rolled around, she was eager to get back to work. Excited in fact. She couldn’t remember the last time she found herself looking forward to work, but here she was. 
 
Today’s agenda was introducing the future Minister for Magic to Muggle technology, starting with a laptop - something that would advance their campaign strategy greatly and give them an edge over Cormac’s campaign, she hoped anyway. 
 
“There’s patterns of ones and zeros just waiting to be looked at.” She pointed at the screen as he watched her move her way around it. 
 
“This is mind blowing,” he exclaimed in a childlike way, she thought it was somewhat cute and then quickly reprimanded herself for thinking such a ridiculous notion about her boss, for all intents and purposes. 
 
“Get used to it, Mr Malfoy. Muggle technology is a wonderful thing. Speaking of…” She reached into her bag and pulled out a phone, handing it over to him.
 
“What’s this?” He asked her as his eyes went wide at the metal object being placed into his hand.
 
“A phone.” She smiled at his gawking of the foreign object. “Trust me, it’ll give you an edge over Cormac if you can contact the Muggle politicians and governments on equal ground.” 
 
“How do I-” he tried to get it to do something.
 
“Swipe, see?” As she swiped up, it opened up his contacts list that she had compiled in preparation. She wanted to make his introduction to modern technology as easy as possible, to not overwhelm him. 
 
“And where is your number? If I needed to get hold of you for something.”
 
His question took her off guard and she froze at the directness of it. 
 
“One of your aides can get me quickly, don’t worry,” she assured him, not wanting to read too much into the gesture.
 
“It’d be a much more productive outlet if I just had a direct line to you,” she looked at him with a hopeful expression then, “being my advisor and all.” He finished. 
 
“You’re right, here,” she pressed her number in and passed the phone back, watching him add the contact under her surname. “You forgot my first name.” 
 
“No, I didn’t,” he replied as his eyes lingered on her one more time before they were pulled apart in opposite directions once more.

—-------------------------------------------------------

A few nights later found the Malfoy campaign facing its most difficult challenge to date, an all out face-off debate between the hopeful candidates taking public questions on why they should be voted in as the next Minister for Magic, televised and witnessed for both worlds as arranged by herself - again, to give Malfoy the edge he needed over Cormac.
 
And so far, he had obliterated any question to him, but then so had McLaggen, much to all their dismay.
 
“We have a magical obligation, we should exercise that as much as we can to further develop magical and muggle worlds. For instance, I don’t see the harm in using magic to further accelerate housing for families. Unless of course, Mr Malfoy wants to open up his fancy manor for amnesty.” Cormac slyly fished for the masses to witness, waiting for a response from his opponent.
 
“Once I occupy the Ministry, of course Malfoy Manor could be reviewed for such an act. About time it got some proper use.” He delivered to a chorus of cheers and applause, but no one was clapping harder for him than her. 
 
“Next question is for Mr Malfoy. Your marriage has received a lot of attention during this primary campaign, and still criticism remains amongst voters. What do you have to say to that?” The speaker at the podium asked as the crowds went deadly silent, eagerly anticipating his answer to what was quite a scandalous question, no doubt.
 
“I think that a lot gets lost in translation between real life and what everyone else sees in papers or in footage. You can’t capture a decade of marriage in a single photograph, magical or muggle. I know what the whispers are, but the most honest thing that I can tell you about myself is that,” he paused and looked away briefly, until his eyes sought out hers, “I am a man in love,” he said the words with so much meaning behind them, while his gaze continued to bore into her, “with an incredible woman.”
 
And again, the thousands of people that surrounded them clapped and cheered at the answer, including his wife standing several meters away from her. But she was completely frozen in time, a million things rushing through her head - all of them entirely forbidden. 
 
It had only taken another thirty minutes to finish the successful debate before she found herself in a lift, escorting her candidate to the campaign floor of where they were all staying. 
 
Since they had left the stage and walked the small minute to the lift to take them to their destination, not a single word had been said by them, yet the air was so heavily thick with everything they hadn’t said to each other as the lift doors finally closed.
 
Her heart was racing as she fought not to look at him, but her body ached to just breathe the same air as the married man standing next to her.

And then she caught it, he side stepped in her direction the smallest amount, bringing him that ever bit closer to her.   
Before she knew it, she found herself doing the same, careful not to make it obvious in case this was all really in her head.
 
But he did it again, and again, until he was standing right next to her. 
 
In the space of seconds, so many outcomes and possibilities had played out in her head - and she longed to act on all of them, to stumble all the way into the sin they were both playing on the edge of. 
 
She could feel his nearing proximity, his aura continuing to infect her senses as she tried to control her breathing, but her breath fully caught the moment she felt their fingertips brush against each other lightly, so lightly that she could have missed it if she wasn’t so aware of the man standing with her. 
 
But before she could turn to him, and let him take her breath away for an entirely different reason, the lift doors suddenly opened with a ding.
 
“There’s our man!” Theo shouted, drawing all attention from every person around him to Malfoy as he stepped into the corridor to cheers and congratulations for a job well done. 
 
But she held back, letting him have the moment he had worked so hard for, letting him walk away from her. 
 
The lift doors started to close, but before they could shut fully, he looked back at her through the sea of people, his face saying a thousand things she only wished he could. 
 
And then he was gone, in the blink of an eye, and she could finally breathe again.
 
“Bloody hell.”

—-------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning had the entire campaign staff scrambling to get back into a rhythm, the majority of them slow and tired after drinking well into the early hours, meanwhile her lack of sleep was merely down to reliving all the longing glances Malfoy had thrown her way and cross analysing every single one of them.
 
“I need the latest poll numbers for yesterday's debate - and I needed them an hour ago.” She called out to the bustling crowd around her. “People, focus, we are on the cusp of falling down a very large mountain, someone get me those numbers, I won’t ask again!”
 
She was pouring through various bits of paper laid out in front of her when she felt his presence just to the side of her. 
 
“Good morning,” he murmured to her hesitantly.
 
“Good morning Mr Malfoy, did you need something?” She replied nonchalantly, never lifting her eyes from the task at hand in front of her.
 
“No, no I just-“
 
“Good. Excuse me.” She moved to walk away to the next group but she felt a gentle tug on her wrist, she looked all around her to see if anyone was watching before she looked at Malfoy and watched him subtly tilt his head to follow him out to the side corridor. 
 
Before she knew it, he moved her against the wall by the closed door and she initially welcomed the silence the abandoned corridor brought, before an overwhelming sense of fear strangled her at the thought she was about to make the worst decision of her life.
 
“I’m married, I’m running for Minister-” Malfoy gasped out, his face was one of hurt that she hadn’t been privy to before. 
 
“I know-“
 
“I can’t-“ he tried again. 
 
“I don’t want you to-” she tried to reassure them both.
 
“I just want to stand here with you, for one minute. I don’t want to go back in there, I don’t want to go back in there and have to talk or think. For one minute, let's just pretend I’m not a candidate and you’re not my campaign manager, let’s just pretend that there’s no history there and it’s just us. Just stay with me, please, for one minute.” His eyes spoke the words before his mouth did, and she was powerless to stop the next ones leaving hers.
 
“One minute.” She whispered. 
 
And there they were, stuck in time for one minute while the world carried on around them, while they only had each other’s eyes to fall into. Every intake of breath led her chest to graze his, each touch igniting a spark within them.  It was the most intimate moment of her life. 
 
The door opening brought the world crashing back down as Astoria appeared in the doorway, unphased by witnessing the closeness her husband had with his campaign manager, for which Hermione was entirely grateful for. 
 
“Oh, Hermione, there you are, you’ve really got to look at what they’re having me wear next, it’s utterly hideous.” 
 
Hermione followed Astoria and closed the door, leaving Malfoy out in the cold on his own.

—---------------------------------------------

The next day had them all at their wits end and found everyone occupying campaign headquarters far more often than they should, but no one seemed to notice the shift. But ever since her private moment with the married man she worked for, she had managed to successfully avoid him citing work obligations.
 
Until she was walking down one of the back halls looking for a quiet room to pull strategy together when she heard Astoria’s high shrill from the next room, catching the end of what she’d assumed was another nasty argument between the Malfoys. 
 
“But most of all, I’m grateful the Healers never found the reason for a lack of a pregnancy because being tied to a Malfoy for the rest of my Godforsaken life would be a fate worse than death.”
 
Hermione’s jaw dropped open as Mrs Malfoy delivered her final blow, before she heard the clacks of her stilettos indicating Astoria had left. 
 
She went to turn in the opposite direction when the floorboard beneath her creaked and gave her position away, forcing her to turn the corner into the room to assure Malfoy it was only her that had heard the altercation and not a passerby.  
 
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to overhear. Are you okay, if you both need to take a break from the campaign, I’m sure we could-” she rambled out, awkwardly aware of what had transpired between them less than 24 hours and what was now playing out between him and his wife. 
 
“It’s fine, she’s had ten appearances in three days so she’s just overtired from all of this, but then she thrives on being the political animal she’s become.” He spat out callously on her approach as he sat on a small sofa to the side.  
 
“I’m sorry I-”
 
“Please, don’t. Don’t be nice to me. I’m sitting here complaining about my wife, which is sleazy and low and not fair to you and the oldest trick in the book.” He looked in pain, like the entire world was threatening to fall onto him at any moment, and her heart broke for him. 
 
“Still, I imagine it’s difficult for you.” She imagined she had played a part in his troubles, and wanted to comfort him, in a professional capacity to support her candidate - she told herself as she sat on the sofa next to him. 
 
He exhaled as he extended his head back against the top of the sofa. 
 
“The only thing that is difficult is looking in the mirror most mornings and just wondering, how did I actually get here?” He sighed, sounding completely resigned.
 
“Why didn’t you come back into my life sooner?” He continued but spoke in a much lower tone, causing her to turn her head as he did so. “And realising, how much of a coward I was to marry her and not wait for you to show up in my life again.”
 
And there it was, the worst possible outcome she could have imagined was now playing out in front of her very eyes, but she couldn’t act surprised - she had been the catalyst for all of it, and she hated herself for it. 
 
“Malfoy-”
 
“For God sake, we are so beyond the Malfoy crap. Just say my name.” He turned his head towards her and she felt herself flush at the demand. 
 
“That’s crossing the line, it would be inappropriate.” She whispered.
 
“Then let’s be inappropriate.” His mouth lifted into a small smirk. “Say my name.”
 
Her heart was doing somersaults inside of her chest as she contemplated what saying the word could mean, she wouldn't do it. She couldn’t condemn them both to this, as much as she wanted it, as much as she wanted him. But before her brain could catch up to her mouth, she sealed their fate. 
 
“Draco.”
 
At uttering his given name, she felt his hand find hers and her unravelling began.
  
∞∞∞
  “You need to get back to the Manor before Astoria wakes.” She didn’t want to say the words, but she had no choice and it cut through her like a dagger.  “I imagined your place a thousand times, I like it, it’s very you.” “Well, living alone has its perks, I suppose.” She chuckled softly. “I should go.” He sighed out.  “You should go.” “One minute?” She felt her heart crack open at the question, it was another stolen moment in time that they weren’t supposed to have. But fuck the universe. “One minute.”  Draco held her there in his arms as she wished for a thousand different lives where they never found each other again, the pain of not having the other was too great to bear for either of them. She let her tears flow as she felt them roll down her cheeks while she burrowed herself further into the man she loved more than anything. And she felt his pain as he tried to keep it in, but it rolled off him in waves. It must have been longer than a minute that they sat there, it felt like an eternity had passed between them before they both stood and she helped him put on his suit jacket. She stared up into his eyes as a thousand more words were silently said, yet unspoken.  “Goodbye, Hermione.” “Goodbye, Mr Minister.” 
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***Please do not reuse or repost this art without proper credit as it has been commissioned especially for this fic***

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 “Neville wants to adopt a squib baby,” Theo announced, as he floundered into Draco’s office, the morning sun burning its way through the panes of glass that surrounded him, as he sat there and contemplated his ever growing complicated situation. He was conflicted, he had everything he was supposed to want, but then, he also didn’t. The job, the title, the marriage - what was the point of it all, if he couldn’t be truly happy. And he was certain the only thing that could actually make him happy was Hermione. In what world would that ever be accepted now that he held the position he did, and in what scenario would she ever come out of any of this unscathed, after being torn apart before for the same circumstances previously. He remembered reading about the precarious situation she had found herself in before she joined his campaign, but the scandal of it all wasn’t what shocked him, it was how she had taken the brunt of it, above any of them. Of course, that was the way of the world they occupied, the woman would always have the blame placed upon them but in reality, he knew it had been down to Potter to make the move and corrupt her in the first place. He knew because he had done the same fucking thing, he had repeated the same cycle and placed her in the firing line once more. But he’d be damned if he would ever let her be dragged like Potter had. Some part of him wondered what had led Hermione to start up her relationship with Potter in the first place, whilst they were still with their respective partners - but he absolutely understood how Harry had come to fall for her, because Draco himself was entirely weak to the enigma that was Hermione Granger too. She had an ability to pull you into her orbit, a place where you could only dream to be worthy of receiving the smallest bit of attention from her, until he too managed to corrupt her good nature and kind heart, until he had made her fall in love with him, against her better judgment. Now, he had made her a whore once more. And that ate away at him every single day. He had so many regrets about it. But since he had felt the love of Hermione Granger, he knew it would be impossible to ever return to a life without it. She was the missing colour in his otherwise dull painting - all these years of Pureblood legacy, and all it had took was a Muggleborn witch to make him see that every belief he was taught over the years, was complete and utter bollocks. “That's good,” he said lightly, trying to look like he was entirely focused on the papers in front of him and not on the woman he shouldn’t be thinking about, as Theo sat in the chair opposite his desk. “It is, it is very good but I’ve been fighting him on it, I've given every excuse under the sun of why it is absolutely really not a good idea. Bad ideas are not something I like to toy with. Very much like the terrible idea that was last night, of course,” Theo continued to drone on, drumming his fingers along the oiled wood as Draco felt his eyes hot on him. “Last night?” “Yep, last night. When I went looking for the Minister for Magic and found out that he was at his girlfriend’s house.” Draco closed his eyes and sighed at Theo’s response. In truth, he was tired - so fucking tired of having to answer to anyone at this point and more so, tired of facing scrutiny for any movement he now made. “And here it comes, ‘Theo the perfect’,” he replied as he threw his pen on the desk between them and levelled his friend’s stare. “You tell me to go to war with Cormac, that you need your best soldier on the front line for this, while you do what? Spend the night with her, are you out of your fucking mind?” “Alright-“ “No, no, I’m curious, did you throw stones at her window? Did she let down her hair?” Theo goaded, as he started to stand and lean over Draco’s desk to show some form of authority in a pathetic display of energy. “Theo-“ “What kind of fucked up fairytale did I miss this time? Because the one of you becoming Minister for Magic just to get laid by Hermione Granger is really starting to bore me.” Draco was up on his feet too at that, Theo had neither the comprehension nor the want to even try to understand what they had become to each other. But then he supposed, how could Theo understand, when Draco didn’t even know himself. Or rather, whether Hermione would even have him.  “Get out of my fucking office.” Theo ignored the command remained steadfast, standing off against him like the stubborn shit he was. “What you did last night was stupid and reckless and a big slap around the face for everything I’ve done for you,” Theo snapped out, his eyes going impossibly wide with anger. “Do you want to know what I’ve done to put you in this office, the lengths I have gone to, the things I have done, how dirty and unclean my hands really are-” “I am sick of you saying you put me here, I put me here. I got myself elected and I have put myself at the head of the Magical world,” Draco seethed back, not standing for the audacity dripping from Theo a second longer. “You were just a sad little rich boy with a terrific head of hair and a very questionable tattoo on his arm. You never stood a fucking chance on your own.” Theo delivered a blow like no other, and Draco knew on some level it held more than a thread of truth to it, because they both knew he never stood a chance, not until her. Draco buttoned his waist coat and walked from around his desk, moving to stand toe to toe with Theo. He wanted the level of what he was about to say to really sink in and hit home, because he was done explaining himself to anyone. “I’m sorry that the girl you hired, the girl you mentored, the girl you brought in to save the day, fell in love with me. That must really eat away at you.” Draco gritted out, his voice lowering to a dark tone as his words ricocheted around the office. And there it was, an equally fatal blow dealt and peaked by the current Minister for Magic. “You don’t deserve this position, Malfoy.” “And yet, here I fucking am-” “Sir!” Elise, the ever shining white flag, was bounding through the door and frantically marching towards the two men, locked in a face off with each other. “What is it, Elise?” Draco drawled out, his gaze never leaving Theo’s, as he appeared to be shaking, his anger bubbling away just beneath the surface it would seem. “It’s the Wizengamot, Mr Minister, they’re discussing Mr McLaggen’s motion,” the old secretary replied, nervousness wracking through her tiny frame as she spoke. Both Theo and Draco turned and faced Elise at that, realisation hitting them that they would need to call a truce on this particular battle and jump back into the war that united them in the first place. “Get her here,” Draco heard Theo say from the side of him. 
---—--------------------------------------------
 After receiving a text that she was needed, she hectically made her way into the Ministry. Whatever lines continued to be blurred between her and Draco, she needed to get her head back in the game and ready herself for whatever wave Cormac decided to unleash on them next.The night before had left her with more unanswered questions, not that she needed anything adding to the growing number she tortured herself with already. But she felt lost, held in an impossible prison where not even the truth could set her free at this point - a cage was still a cage, after all. The earth had a bitter feeling to it now, and she had made that life for herself, she knew that - yet she couldn’t help but feel an ounce of pity for her predicament and wondered when she would need to pull the trigger on it, to set them both free. She turned the corner for the Minister’s office and saw Theo leaning against the doorframe, as his eyes locked onto her approach immediately. She took a deep breath in, dragging forth any strength she could in preparation for what would be another deliverance of spite from Theo, but it never came. “You know, before I brought you on board, the odds for Malfoy to become Minister were ninety to one,” he smirked out, a soft look in his eyes. “You should have put money down,” Hermione replied, looking at her friend curiously, wondering where the conversation would go next. “I should have done a lot of things,” Theo said thoughtfully, crossing his arms over his chest. “Do you think we can do it again, the impossible?” She glanced over Theo’s shoulder to see the man they would both do anything for, to see him continue to inspire a room full of people to fight for him, knowing he was drowning on the inside every day just like she was, and it hurt her heart. “Or we go down trying,” she said, looking back at Theo, exchanging a glance that only they knew what meaning it held, a glance they had exchanged with each other only once before when they made the same vow to put him into power, except now, it was for him to keep it. Theo led the way into Malfoy’s office and Hermione followed closely behind, seemingly uniting the powerful dynamic duo that would wage this war to protect their Minister for Magic from any scum that threatened to overthrow him. That scum being Cormac McLaggen. She saw Draco sat at his desk, speaking with another advice as he glanced over at her sitting with a group of interns making calls and sending charmed notes. A small tilt to his head said everything he needed to say, his appreciation, his thanks, his love. He needed to be strong, and she knew she contributed to that. Theo sat opposite her, awaiting her lead in where she would attack first, as she picked up the phone and started dialling. An hour later, their team had exhausted most routes speaking to various members of both the Magical and Muggle worlds to get a handle on the situation, before it blew up any further. “You will eat your words for the rest of your days, Graham-” Theo’s venomous tactic of playing hardball was never ending as she rolled her eyes at him.“I can’t exactly promise you that the Minister will do that unless you get me your exact points-” she overheard an advisor state, trying to reaffirm their position. “No, no, that’s not what the Minister will do-” another turn of her head to what the intern sat with Theo was stating. “Well that’s fine, we can switch from frenemies to enemies, you ungrateful son of a bitch!” Theo slammed the handset down in front of them and then shrugged at Hermione, like he wasn’t aware of what her look was reprimanding him for. But it felt good, the fact her and Theo were back fighting on the same side, for however long the alliance could last, made her feel normal again. It was what they were best at, fighting together. But she also knew they were both good at fighting each other. And she knew that familiar setting would soon return, when Theo was back to not getting exactly what he wanted again, which was his control over the Minister for Magic. “Everyone?” She heard Draco bellow out among the crowded room, over the multitude of people still running round in the political sandstorm that was now his office.“EVERYONE!” They all paid attention to that, and she smirked inside at witnessing the power he held. “Leave the room, Theo and Granger, stay,” everyone began filtering out until her and Theo walked over to Draco leaning against his desk. “Catch me up,” “Cormac’s making the rounds, the Wizengamot are wall to wall with this, he has their full attention,” Theo began, a pink tinge dusting his cheeks indicating he was slightly flustered from arguing with no end of people on the other side of any call he had just made. “He really is bringing out the big guns Mr Minister, we’ll need a statement from you in the Atrium, preferably with Astoria by your side,” she cut in, further affirming the severity of what Theo was stating. “That won’t be an option at the moment, she’s indisposed.” His deep voice came out, threatening to undo her like it had so many times before. “Indisposed?” “She’s not well, a Healer is going to her today but for now, she’s out of anything in public.”Theo looked at Hermione at Malfoy’s response, and she couldn’t hide both the concern and worry etched on her face for her friend, or rather, for the wife of the man she was sleeping with. It may have been bizarre to others, but Hermione really did care for Astoria and she was sure a part of her always would. Making Hermione’s delicate situation with her husband all the more abhorrent. “Fine, you and me, in the Atrium, accuse him of breaking every Wizarding law we fucking can,” Theo said, stepping forward with an evil glint in his eyes, which meant he was about to create a shit show on a magnified scale. “I’m not lying, Theo,” Draco shook his head, dismissing the thought. “Anyway a cover up is always worse than the truth.” “And we don’t have enough truth yet, until the Wizengamot fully accept the motion, we aren’t going to know what we need to fight them on.” Hermione sighed, looking between both the men stood before her, “I’m sending you to the Muggle world, put the PM at ease, it’ll buy us some time.” “It’ll make it look like he’s running from this, Granger.” “It’ll make him look like a leader. It’ll show no matter what is happening in the Ministry, the Muggle agenda is still at the forefront of his mind.” She turned away from Theo and focused back on the broody blonde. “We need you business as usual, focused on what’s important to both the Wizarding and Muggle worlds. Wave at any reporters, remember not to dodge them, show them you are still working. We’ll let that image speak for itself until we figure out what Cormac is up to.” “I never thought it’d be one of our own trying to snake us.” “It will be fine, I’ll handle it,” she whispered, trying to console the man in front of her and she grazed his arm, but really, a feeling of unease was flowing all through her. She didn’t know how this was going to turn out, or who would survive it. But when you play the game, you play to win, or you just burn up. There’s no middle ground, and Hermione Granger always played to win. “Keep me updated?” Draco stepped into her, disregarding whether Theo was there or not as he brought his hand up to brush under her chin. A tender moment that should never be witnessed by anyone that wasn’t them. “Of course,” He leant his head down and let his lips ghost over hers briefly, and for a moment, time stopped. There was no one else that mattered, it was only them. Her heart beating as one with his own. And everything was right in the world. But it was a fool’s dream, one that had no business even crossing her mind, except the universe loved to personally torture her constantly. 
---—------------------------------------------
 A few minutes later, Hermione left Draco and Theo and their advisors to carry out her own reconnaissance, which is how she found herself stalking the various archways in the Atrium, just waiting for the opportune time to play her hand. Cormac was playing up to the public just how she predicted, and how she had advised Malfoy to do - he really was turning out to be quite the political animal she never expected, and the thought made her worry. Here he was, the ever dutiful Deputy Minister just waiting in the wings for his time to shine, humbly advising any and all press that the motion isn’t about him or his professional relationship with Malfoy, but about the people of the Wizarding world - and she wanted to gag at the perfect line he was quoting each time. She saw McLaggen finish his latest interview and followed his departure from the group, staying in the shadows to not draw any attention to herself, as she slipped into the male bathroom just behind his entry. As she walked in, she locked the door behind her - not a great look if anyone caught her in any type of situation with Cormac, but she hadn’t got to where she was without taking a little risk every now and then.  She heard the water pouring from the tap and turned the corner to see McLaggen staring straight at her through the mirror, as he let the water coat his hands. As if the liquid could somehow absolve the unlimited number of sins he had no doubt committed.  “I’m surprised you made it through all the reporters out there, I’ve lost count of the amount of interviews I’ve given now,” he smirked at her, his pupils hot on her own. “I know you didn’t come in here to use the men’s room.” She said nothing in response, she just simply stood and glared at him, clutching at the wand in her pocket just in case he had the balls to blindside her at any moment, but not even Cormac McLaggen was that stupid. “Oh, unless you did… Well, can’t say I’ve never thought about having a quick tumble with you but I had thought of a better backdrop-” “I wouldn’t touch you if you were the last bloke on earth. You’re a traitor,” she spat out, but still kept her distance from him. “Yes I am, and what are you?” He asked as he reached for the towel across from him, still watching her with interest in the mirror ahead of him.  “You think none of us noticed the late nights and the stolen whispers during meetings,” he chuckled. “I paid attention, Granger.” Her heart was racing as she tried to calm her nerves, to steady her breathing, to not give any reaction to the truth he had stated - but there was no way he could know, not when Theo had been none the wiser the entire time. “You’re an adulterer,” he continued, as her thoughts began to scatter. “So while we’re dishing out the judgments, here’s what I see…” He flipped himself around to face her head on, an evil snark sparkling on his face as he did so. “He took advantage of you, he took advantage of the whole Wizarding world, just to get ahead. I don’t want to go after you, so just help me take him down. Get your revenge, all those promises he made? He’ll never deliver, he’ll never leave his wife for you-” “I have no idea what you’re talking about, but your grip on reality really is damaged, Cormac. What’s happened to you?” At her question, the smirk dropped from his face and she had a feeling she was witnessing the real McLaggen now. He had hidden himself in plain sight, right under their noses all this time. The lion that was really the rat, a warning she'd heard already once before. “It should have been me, I was meant to be Minister, not that fucking criminal,” he stalked forward two steps, “that fucking Death Eater.” “Be careful, Cormac, this is a fight you’re not ready for,” the threat had two meanings as it left her mouth, but in truth, she could admit he had frightened her a fraction. “Fucking try me, Granger,” Cormac glowered as he stalked his way past her and out of the bathroom door with ease, dismantling her locking charm swiftly.  It wasn’t until the door closed shut behind him that she felt herself take a breath again. And it wasn't until that very moment, that Hermione realised that Cormac McLaggen may actually be a threat to them after all. 
—--------------------------------------------------------------
 After her run in with Cormac, Hermione immediately made her way back to Malfoy’s office, intending to debrief him on what had just happened. She was definitely shaken, so when she opened the office door, and saw Theo still in his presence, she didn’t care - she went straight to Draco and fell into his arms, regardless of what Theo thought about them or not. Draco was her home, he was her only source of comfort in the world and even then, she had to pick and choose her moments of when she could show that. So after the confrontation in the bathroom, naturally, all she wanted was him. As she relived the conversation to both the men, and she felt Draco’s grip on her tighten the more she spoke. “Did he touch you?” Draco said as he held her face, entirely unbothered whether Theo thought it was appropriate to hold her that way or not. “No, I’m fine,” she lied, when in reality, it was another chess move she now had to think about and prepare for. McLaggen was a ticking time bomb, waiting to blow up their entire world at any moment it would seem. “I’ll fucking kill him for this-”“So what do we do?” Theo interjected, watching the two of them embrace and clearly wanting to steer the conversation back to the matter at hand. And who could blame him? “I don’t think we can do anything at this stage, all we can do is wait it out,” Hermione said softy, stepping away from the Minister and taking a more appropriate stance for her position. “We can’t do that, we don’t know how hard the Wizengamot are going to go on him, they weren’t exactly the warmest when he took office in the first place,” Theo replied casually, business as usual. “I could resign,” she heard him say the words before she snapped her head in Draco’s direction, her face a picture of shock and disbelief, “this whole thing is a circus that’s going to go on for months, maybe more.” “I’ll wear it around my neck until they push me out, my hands will be tied and I will be miserable- well, more miserable than what I already am,” he chuckled, “let’s bite the bullet and end it now.” Malfoy was serious, although his face seemed neutral, she saw the pain that laid beneath the surface that he was burying low. “And then what?” Theo’s scoffed, as he stood watching unimpressed. “We go off and be regular people, Theo.” Draco shrugged nonchalantly. “You can’t be a regular person!” Theo shouted back holding his hands up. “We-” he stammered, “we can’t-” the panicked look at her and then back to the Minister they had created made her heart sink.“We’re not-” Theo tried, continuing to shake his head while she was stood frozen on the spot, watching it unfold before her. “You’re thinking of some pipe dream of ending up with her!” “So what if I am? So what if I finally do the one thing I want to do for the first time in my life?” Draco kept his tone level but his eyes gleamed dangerously, and her heart jumped at the implication of her being the only thing the most powerful man in the world wanted. But she daren’t say anything for fear of setting Theo off into another spiral of hate aimed at her, which was entirely valid given most recent events and how they played out up to now. “No-” Theo frantically exclaimed, taking a step back. “No, no, I can’t let you do this, I can’t go off and have a normal life now, not after what I’ve done-” “Theo! Give me a minute,” she interrupted, her panicked tone drawing his attention back to her before he continued saying something they both knew he shouldn’t. Theo’s face looked at her pleadingly, begging her to fix this - it had become his life, and he had given every piece of himself in order to get them all to this moment. They all had, but for Theo it meant something so much more. She watched him leave the office and turned back to look at Draco, but he didn’t seem upset, he just looked entirely at peace - something she hadn’t seen on him in such a long time. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered as she moved closer to him. “I’m not, not even remotely,” and he said it with such conviction. “A man who isn’t Minister has options, a man who isn’t Minister can divorce his wife,” he began, looking down at her as he stepped into her. “Malfoy-” “A man who isn’t Minister can have a life, a life he wants, the life he’s always wanted, with the woman he loves,” he brought his hands up to her and tilted her face up to his, his mouth dancing on the edge of hers. “We can’t, someone might walk in,” she gasped out, only clutching at the wrists that held her, pulling him closer to her instead of pushing him away. “I don’t care anymore, Hermione,” and then he crashed his lips into her, kissing her deeply and tangling his tongue with hers over and over, like they were the only two people in the world. He said everything he needed to with that kiss, until nothing more needed to be said. 
—-------------------------------------------
 After she watched Draco Floo off to the Muggle world to take care of what he needed to there, she made her way down to Theo’s office. She understood the disappointment she would be faced with, but hoped she could make Theo realise what Draco truly wanted. It was a testament to him to have all the power in the world but still want to give it up, just for his own happiness - and that was a real legacy to leave. She knocked twice, gently, waiting for any invitation to come from behind the door. But it never did, so she pushed the door open anyway. Theo was sat at his desk, a decanter of whiskey set in the middle of it alongside a crystal glass making a beeline for his mouth, and she was sure it wasn't the first sip he’d had. She walked over to the small drinks trolley and plucked an empty glass from it, before moving over to the desk to sit down opposite Theo. Holding her glass out towards him, she watched a small smile lift on his face as he poured two fingers worth of whiskey for her. As they sat watching each other, she looked him over - it was obvious he had been running his hands through his curls, they were no longer perfectly coiled on his head but instead sat floppy and frizzy, which was entirely unbecoming of Theodore Nott. Minutes of silence had passed between the pair, it was both comfortable and not, but they needed it, they both needed the quiet air to surround them just to sort through their thoughts without anything else being added to the ever growing pile of shit. It wasn't until they had both finished their drinks and she held her glass out again for a top up, that gave an invitation for him to go first. So he did. “I don't doubt that he could do it, you know, live the normal life he’s always wanted,” Theo muttered as they both watched the amber liquid fill their glasses, “walk the dog, mow the lawn, a simple life, a happy life,” he pushed a glass towards her as she listened, “for most people it’s fine, it’s all they need, it’s enough to satisfy them,” she knew the next part was about to hurt her, so she took a breath and braced herself for the truth Theo was about to deliver. “But for him it’s a waste of talent, of potential. That man was born to be a leader, he was born to do this, anything less would diminish him and deprive the Wizarding world,” it rumbled from his chest, and she knew it was a fact they both agreed on. Theo took another sip, his eyes still watching her as he did so, and she knew she wasn’t going to like what was going to come next. “Some men aren’t meant to be happy, Granger, they’re meant to be great.” She felt her eyes begin to collect with tears and the blood began to rush to her cheeks. “I’m not being a bastard to you out of choice, but even you must know, deep down, how long can this really last?” Another dagger from Theo’s words. “I tried to remain impartial to this and I failed, that’s on me. But you can’t do this, you can’t have him. You can’t be selfish, not after what we’ve done. We don’t get to have normal,” Theo said it with an air of sadness to it, but she wasn’t sure who he truly was sad for. Up until now, that was the greatest dagger that had been plunged into her. Because Theo was right, and she knew it deep down, however selfish he intended the blow to be, it didn’t make it any less true. “Normal is overrated,” she whispered back, as she felt her heart crack and shatter repeatedly, because it’s all she ever wanted, but she couldn’t have it. Not anymore. Dreaming of that normal life with Draco was the worst of her bad habits, but then, love blinded every person it could sink it’s rotten teeth into, and she wasn’t immune to it. She wiped the errant tear that had dared itself to fall from her eye, and knocked back her remaining whiskey, her armour firmly back into place until she could work the problem through - if she could at all. “Alright, get your team in order, we need ammunition, you dig deep. Pull anything from the crevices of Cormac’s seedy past that we can use. But keep it above board,Theo.” He just nodded in response, his silence was all that was needed to know he had won this round, and they both knew it. 
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 After spending the day under Hermione’s orders to calm the Muggle Prime Minister, he’d finally succeeded but was feeling empty from carrying the torch of the on going battle to be Minister for Magic. At what point would anything just happen the way it was supposed to for him. He needed her, he needed Hermione.

Draco turned his phone off and locked it in the drawer of his desk before making his way out of the dusty study he had been occupying. Entirely guilty, but necessary, until he could put everything into motion for him and Hermione, because he refused to be without her now. It wasn’t an option, he finally had an out, and he was going to jump at the chance to leave this world behind. “Tilly?” The loyal house elf appeared just outside the study door with a pop, complete with a white bow on her head with matching frilled apron. Tilly had taken care of him since he could remember, so when he lost both of his parents, they had grown a dependency on each other. Something that would have probably made his father sick at the sight. “Yes, sir?” She squeaked as he knealt down to her level. “Did the Healer come to see Mrs Malfoy?” He asked quietly. “Oh yes, sir, he did,” Tilly replied, then the little elf began clapping her hands. The action confused Draco but she had always been a little odd, he supposed. “Is she alright?” “Oh, the Mrs is more than alright, sir,” as the elf responded, she cupped his face with a wide smile on her face. Somehow Tilly always managed to thaw his cool exterior, no matter the circumstances, and it warmed his heart every time. “Okay good, that will be all.” He patted the elf on her head and she disappeared with another pop, as quickly as she was summoned. Draco continued to walk through the bare Manor, passing by the spaces where portraits once adorned the walls. After his mother passed, he took down every single Malfoy portrait, not wanting to look at the prejudice he grew up with any longer. He burnt every single one of them on the Manor grounds the day he buried Narcissa, he had decided to let the Pureblood ideals die with the last of his line that believed them, and that felt just fine with him. As he walked up the stairs, he contemplated letting the Manor go to another - he knew it wouldn’t be a space Hermione would want to inhabit after everything. A thought crossed his mind that perhaps his soon to be former wife would want to take it on for herself and her status, surely the prospect of Malfoy Manor would be a sweetener for her to give him a divorce quietly.  But he would cross that bridge when he got to it. He pushed open the door to Astoria’s quarters and strolled inside, but she wasnt in the seating area. “Astoria?” He called out into the vast open space and heard a jumble of glass bottles in the next room. “I'm in here!” He followed her voice through the passageway to her bedroom, to see the ensuite bathroom door was cast ajar with her shadow moving around, so he made his way to it. “How was today?” He asked Astoria from the doorway, as she stood in front of the bathroom mirror, various jars and ointments out on the vanity side in front of her, as she stared at her own reflection. He had always thought Astoria was pretty on some level, and he had tried to love her, once. But he always had a feeling there was someone else out there for him, someone that matched him more on his level. Someone that was made specifically for him. And he’d never imagined in his wildest dreams, that it would have been Hermione Granger. But it was, and she was everything to him. Initially, he had no intentions of falling in love with Hermione, but it had been too easy not to. He was certain there was a higher power at play, pulling them together across the elements. She was the other half of him, and he couldn’t live without her now, he was too selfish to even try. He despised himself for having an affair in the very first place, and he really tried his hardest, but she had seen him, really seen him. And that was the most anyone had done in a long time. From there, he was powerless to stop the spell between them. It had been an inevitable greed he continued to take. But for how wrong it all was, he wouldn’t change a single moment of it, he would have still chosen her at every opportunity over Astoria. She just couldn’t hold a candle to Hermione. And he couldn’t pretend otherwise any longer. “Oh, it was fine.” “What did the Healer say?” He pressed, eager to lay the seed, to test the waters to see how bad the fallout of his impending decision would be. “Everything is fine, Draco. Actually, it’s more than fine,” Astoria said in a giddy tone, as she turned to face him, a grin on her face from ear to ear that he hadn’t seen on her in years. She moved closer to where Draco was stood and picked up her wand, she began moving it in delicate and intricate strokes, casting a spell on herself that conjured the brightest golden hue above her. It was like a network of golden clouds, all connected and seemingly alive, sending sparks of electricity to the other. He stared at it in awe, and then an overwhelming fear filled his chest, threatening to cut off the oxygen that filled his lungs and gave him life. “What is that?” He whispered, but he was certain he knew what the answer would be. And then, Astoria uttered the most fatal two words he could have ever imagined. “A baby.” “What?” He’d heard her loud and perfectly clear, but that didn’t stop the response leaving his mouth. A mixture of disbelief and despair lacing his tone, and he hated himself for it. “I’m pregnant, Draco.” His mouth dropped open at the confirmation, and his world began to spin on its axis. “No, that-” he looked at the bright light hovering above her again, before his denial came over him once more. “You can’t be, we haven’t had sex in months-” “We did, not too long ago if you remember,” Astoria breathed out, her voice barely above a whisper, “you came home, entirely drunk and completely beside yourself,” she took another step forward, and he’s sure he saw the smallest smirk ghost her face as she spoke, “about a month ago, around the time Hermione resigned, I believe.”  
∞∞∞
  
5 Weeks Ago…
 
“Elise, can you send a memo out to Mr Nott and Miss Granger about the meeting with MACUSA first thing tomorrow please?” Draco called out to Elise who was flitting around his office, preparing it for the next day ahead.
 
“Of course, Mr Minister,” she replied as she moved the chairs back to their designated place around his conference table.
 
He set to tidying his desk to appear organised, at least as much as the Minister for Magic should be, before his Head of Magical and Muggle Relations reprimanded him for his messiness. In truth, some days he just left it a mess for that extra bit of attention from her. He knew it was wrong, but he loved how flustered she’d get trying to keep everything on his desk in it’s rightful place, every time he bent her over it and slowly pushed into her, the feel of her clenching down on him over and over again, as she struggled to not crumple the vital documents on it.
 
“What’s this?” He asked Elise, waving an envelope that had snuck it’s way on there.
 
He glanced at the front of it and immediately recognised Hermione’s handwriting, smiling to himself at what she could possibly have put in written form, for his eyes only.
 
“Nevermind, that will be all, thank you, Elise.” He ground out, hoping his loyal secretary would take the hint that he wanted privacy - luckily for him, she took the prompt straight away and immediately left his office.
 
He took his phone out of his pocket and started to type out a text to her…

Draco stared at his phone confused for a moment, unsure of why the message wouldn’t send. He made a mental note to ask Hermione about it when she arrived at work shortly.
 
He opened the envelope and began reading her delicate scribbles, before a different feeling over took him entirely…

“No,-” Draco exclaimed in shock, as he screwed the paper up in haste to grip his phone once more…

“Fucking piece of shit!” He threw the phone at the wall, his anger causing it to shatter into a hundred tiny pieces. His chest rose and fell as he gasped in air, his eyes darted over to the cowardly letter she had left him. Because that's what she was, a coward. Draco started to rip the letter into shreds, immediately wishing he hadn't incase it was the last form of contact he'd ever receive from her. 
 
He replayed every conversation from the day they had just done, his mind a wasteland for trying to find the reason as to why she had done this. But he couldn't come up with anything. 
 
She'd just abandoned him, left him to fend for himself. She had built him up, made him believe all those things she whispered to him late at night, when she clearly never believed it herself. Then the feeling of betryal he felt started to turn to anger. 
 
He couldn't feel or think clearly, there was just an imposter noise inside his head - a noise in the voice of Hermione fucking Granger that taunted and teased him, and it had broken him. 
 
She had broken him. 
 
He marched over to his drinks trolley and pour himself a glass of whiskey, he needed to drown her out.
 
A few hours, and a whole bottle of whiskey later, he had managed to Floo back to the Manor with the help of Elise speaking the address into the green hearth far more clearly than he could have ever mustered. He'd landed with a thud into the cold entrance way, and was reminded of how alone he truly was now. All because of her.
 
He dragged himself up the stairs and stumbled down the hallway, making a break for one of the many doors in the corridor when he fell through it, less than gracefully. 
 
“Christ, Draco!” Astoria screamed, clearly not expecting her husband to fall into her quarters this late. “You scared me!”
 
“I-” Draco lifted himself onto his knees, bracing himself up as he tried to speak, looking at the woman that hadn't left him. “I’m sorry.”
 
“What’s wrong?” The concern was evident on Astoria's face as she pulled her husband up to stand, propping him up against one of the posts at the end of her bed. 
 
“I’m just sorry, for everything,” he gasped out, rubbing one of his hands across his face.
 
“It’s just a little spat, it doesn’t matter,” she said softly, reaching her hand up to brush the hair from his eyes as her gaze lingered on him. 
 “It does, I haven’t been treating you right, and you deserve better,” he said on a sob before he focused his eyes on her, his tears were on the precipice of falling and showing him for what he really was. “I’m broken, Tori.” 
She stepped into him then and just held him, wrapping her arms around his waist, looking up at him. 
 
“What do you need?”
 
It was a question he couldn't answer honestly, so he gave the next best response. 
 
“Just make it go away, please, I can't-” he clung at her face, wishing it would morph into the one he truly needed. But she didn't. But at least this face was here. At least she didn't leave him. 
 
Astoria hesitantly stood up onto her toes and lingered her mouth over Dracos for several seconds, as she watched a small tear drop down onto his cheek. She reached up and wiped it away, tugging at her robe with her other hand.
 
It was an invitation, a means to make it all go away for him - and he reluctantly accepted it, as he pushed her robe from her shoulders, watching it pool at the floor.
 
Before he can think through his actions, he's moved to lay on her bed, watching his wife climb on top of him, and he watches on as she unbuckled his belt to release his hard cock. 
 
“Shh, I’m here,” she whispered as she wrapped her hands around his shaft, pumping it up and down. 
 
It's not right, she's not the one he wants, but he needs to drown her out. He needs to stop the poison that is Hermione Granger.
  
∞∞∞
  Draco's head swam from reliving the memory, reliving the night he fucked his wife and spilled his cum into her, wishing it was another woman.  “Are you okay, Draco? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Astoria's on her knees in front of him once more, her worry becoming more apparent on her face the more the seconds tick on.  “I’m fine,” he wasn't fine, “I’m just-” he took another breath, trying and failing to steady his thoughts. “I wasn’t expecting this, that’s all. “This is good for us. Finally, we can continue the Malfoy line and reaffirm your position as Minister,” Astoria chimed in gleefully, and the response had him recoiling like the snake he is.  “Jesus christ, is that all you think about? How certain situations can heighten our influence?” Draco stands on his feet instantly, wanting to escape the scenrio he has made for himself. “This isn’t the time to think about what this can do for us, it’s a fucking baby, Astoria!” “I know it’s a baby, but that isn’t the part you’re mad about though, is it?” Astoria uttered quietly, her tone dropping to a cold one he hadn't experienced before. “What are you on about?” “It’s because it’ll stop all your little plans,” she continued to spit out.  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he spits out as he turned on his heel, retreating straight out of her presence. Out of fear, or worry, he isn't sure. But he needed to escape.  “Where are you going?” “I need to fucking sleep, Hopefully I don't wake back up to this bloody nightmare!”
 
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 The next morning has Draco's mind spinning, he left the Manor early to ensure he wouldn't have yet another face off with his wife and sought out santuary in his office. But no amount of quiet could silence the raging screaming that his head was making.  “Good morning, Mr Minister,” At Hermione's soft voice, he looked up to see her enter his office, and he's sure he could die right there. The way she looked at him, and he was about to rip her heart into shreds. The thought made his stomach twist inside of him. “You look like you haven’t slept,” she went on, after he gave her no response.  “I haven’t really,” he hadn't at all, but he was certain that much was obvious by the current state of him.  “Want to tell me what’s on your mind?” Draco stood up and made his way over to the tall glass separating his office and his very real need to jump to his death. And then he felt her tiny arms wrap around him from behind. He couldn't help it, he clutched at her hands enveloping him, wanting to feel her soft skin take away the pain that clashed inside his chest.  “I’ve been thinking,” her hopeful tone made him cringe internally, he didn't deserve her and now, he definitely never would. “I can get you out of this with a gleaming political career ahead of you, I reckon in six months we can be free,” he felt her smile into his back, and he wanted to scoop her up to never let her go. He sighed at her words and turned his body round as she held her arms firm in a barrier around his torso. Now, he looked down at her beautiful face, the face he never wanted to live without. But, he was certain he would have to.  “I’ll wait for you, Draco,” he held her face as she spoke, the pain in his eyes perfectly matching the hope in hers, “then we can finally be together-” “Stop, just-” he cut her off, his heart couldn't listen to her waste one more syllable on him, “stop.” “What’s wrong?” Everything was wrong, nothing would ever be right again, he thought.  “I can’t resign,” he whispered, watching the confusion cross her perfect face as he said it, “I can’t leave Astoria,” the next words tasted like ash in his mouth, but he still couldn't bring himself to say it, “she’s-” “Oh god, she’s ill isn’t she?” Hermione's face contorted into panic, his selfless love forever worrying about everyone else around her.  “Not exactly,” he flet his cheeks warm instantly, “before I tell you, I need you to know how much you mean to me.” “You’re scaring me, Draco,” her voice trembled now.  This was it. He was standing on the cliff edge, and he was about to plummet all the way down. “Fuck-” he couldn’t feel his heart, “I’m sorry,” he was certain it had stopped beating. “I’m so fucking sorry,” he felt a tear leave his eye as he finally admitted it out loud, “she’s pregnant, Hermione.” 
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