A/N: Hey everyone! Hope you guys liked the last chapter. So Hermione and Draco are together. Well, they are almost together, they just need to work on a few things and heal themselves before they get together. Was this too much of a slow burn? Read the A/N at the end to find out when the next chapter will be out. On with the chapter! 

Next day.......

"Good morning, Potter." Draco greeted as soon as he saw him standing in front of the joint office, probably waiting for him.

A shocked Harry blinked at him.

"Who are you?" The Boy Who Lived asked him.

"Are you crazy, Potter?" Draco asked him. "You can't recognise the man in front of you? The famous Draco Malfoy?"

As Draco tried to unlock his office, Harry grabbed his arm and pointed his wand at his neck.

"I don't trust you." The Chosen One muttered. "Tell me, who actually made Draco Malfoy a ferret and when?"

"Do you really have to ask me that knowing that I hate it, Potter?"

"Answer the question, you imposter."

"Fine fine." Draco sighed. "Barty Crouch Jr who was in the form of Mad-eye Moody, had made me a ferret, and in our fourth year."

"And what annoying dialogue did Draco Malfoy say after that?"

"My father will hear about this." He grumbled.

Satisfied, Harry removed his wand from his neck, and allowed him to unlock the door. "Good, you are really Draco Lucius Malfoy."

But as Harry moved to enter the office, Draco stopped him. "How do I know that you are the real Harry Potter?"

"Oh come on, don't you trust me? Your best friend?"

"No." Draco smirked.

Harry rolled his eyes, knowing perfectly well that the blond man knew who he was, and was just trying to irritate him.

"Okay, so tell me, who made Mini Potter no.1 a Quidditch fan, and of which team?" Draco asked him. 

"You, who else?" Harry grumbled. "The great blond ferret made James a fan, no, crazy fan of Tutshill Tornados, much to Ginny's dismay."

"Hmm you are really the Boy Who Has the Worst Hair ever." Draco smirked, and allowed Harry to enter his office.

"I thought according to you, Hermione has the worst hair, Draco?"

Harry noticed the way Draco's eyes lit up at the mention of Hermione.

"Well I guess you two could compete in a competition of having worst hair, and would get the first position." Draco said thoughtfully. "But since Granger has a bird's nest as her hair, I guess she will win."

"Wow, insulting the witch you love? Nice, Draco, way to go."

Harry noticed how Draco didn't deny the fact that he loved Hermione.

"Anyways, why did you have to assume that I was an imposter, Potter?" Draco sat down in chair. "Wait, that rhymes. Imposter Potter."

"You have the worst sense of humour." Harry rolled his eyes. "Well how can I not assume that you were an imposter? You just greeted me good morning, which you never do."

"I recall doing that two years ago."

"You get my point." Harry shrugged. "So pray tell me, what made the cold hearted, or wait, softy Draco Malfoy greet his most favourite best friend?"

"Most favourite?" Draco raised his eyebrows at him. "You are my least favorite friend, Potter, that is, if I could even consider you a friend. And what do you mean what made me do that? You do know that Hermione has regained her memories?"

"Yeah yeah." He nodded. "In case you have forgotten, everyone else, including me, came to visit Hermione yesterday. And I am very happy about that, but it's not news to me."

"Yeah but we both had a good talk yesterday."

"And?"

"What do you mean 'and'?"

"Oh come on, Draco." Harry rolled his eyes at him. "Don't take me for a fool-"

"I have considered you a fool since I met you when we were eleven, and my opinion hasn't changed, Potter."

"-and I have been your friend for almost a decade now." Harry ignored his comment. "I know you enough-"

"You don't know me, Potter. I am the most intriguing mystery in this world, and not to mention, cunning."

"You forgot boastful and idiot." Harry muttered. "So, as I was saying, I know you enough to know that it is not the only reason you are practically dancing with joy."

"I am not dancing with joy." Draco hissed. "But yes, you are right, for the first time in your life, that is. But the reason has to do with Granger."

"Oh did you propose to her and she said yes? When is the wedding?"

"Slow down, Potter." Draco drawled. "We aren't even dating, why will I propose to her? I am just happy that she doesn't hate me."

"Wait." Harry stared at him. "You told her everything? About the obliviation too?"

"I did." He nodded. "I just couldn't hide it from her anymore. Thankfully, she doesn't hate me even after all of that."

"I think she would understand about the obliviation. While it was wrong, it did save her life, so she can't be fully angry with you."

But that's not all he did, Draco thought. He fought with her, and called her a killer too, even though he knew the truth, and made her cry.

But he didn't tell Harry about it, knowing fully well that he would tell Ginny, and the rest of their friends, and kill him as well for hurting Hermione.

"I had accepted her to act cold towards me, even ignore me, as I would have deserved." Draco sighed. "But she was just as forgiving as usual. She did say that she needed time, but she still loves me."

"That's good." He smiled at his friend. "And what about you? Do you love Hermione?"

"You know I do, Potter."

"Great. And what about the guilt you were feeling?" Harry asked. "Is it still there? And it's okay, you know? It's okay if it is still there, I am not going to make fun of that."

"The guilt will always be there." Draco whispered. "Just like I would always Astoria. Just because I love Granger, doesn't mean I will forget my relationship with Astoria. I just..... I think I have made my decision. I know I need to move on, but I guess I will only feel sure about it when I have a talk with Astoria."

"Didn't you had that talk with her yesterday?"

"Yeah well but just as I had started that topic, a certain idiot's patronus interrupted me." Draco glared at him. "I also need to talk with her about the Healing Potion. I know that it wasn't my fault that I didn't realise about the potion then, but I still need the confirmation from Astoria."

"It's perfectly fine." Harry nodded. "Okay, so we will have to try to get the permission for using Veritaserum from the Wizengamot today." 

"Do you think they will give us the permission?"

"I hope so. But I also know that the Wizengamot takes usually more than a few hours to give the permission. But considering this is a serious matter, I think they should give it to us."

"So until then we can't do anything?" Draco asked and when Harry shook his head, he continued, "How about we discuss something with Kingsley?"

"And what exactly do you want to discuss with him?"

"I want to ask him if he could make a separate department for Interrogators and also, make the position of the Head Investigator and Interrogator which will be open to everyone, and I mean everyone." Draco grinned at him.

Harry stared at him for a couple of seconds and then chuckled as he realised why the blond man wanted to ask Kingsley that.

"The things people do for love." Harry muttered.

Fortunately, when the two wizards talked with Kingsley about it, he seemed enthusiastic about that approach, and it turned out that he had been thinking along the same lines ever since Mini Hogwarts had been attacked. 

According to the Minister, the only reason Mini Hogwarts had been attacked was because the Aurors weren't able to notice Death Eater activities around it, or even Death Eaters lurking around because they were busy interrogating the fake death eaters, and so, they weren't available for watch duty.

So, he decided to make a separate department for the Interrogators, so that the Aurors wouldn't have to spend their time doing something which some other professionals could do as well.

As for the job of Head Investigator and Interrogator being available for everyone, Kingsley frowned as he told them that it might be against some of the Ministry rules, but he will try his best to do that as well.

As the two wizards returned to Draco's office, they saw Robards waiting there for them.

"So you two know how we tried to get the permission for using Veritaserum from the Wizengamot today?" He asked them.

They nodded, getting impatient with the suspense Robards was creating.

"Guess what? We have been given permission." The Head Auror grinned at them.

Although the once arch enemies were happy by listening to this, they were also shocked, for they had to wait two weeks to get permission to use Veritaserum earlier, and now? They didn't even have to wait a whole day.

"That's good." Draco nodded. "But how did that exactly happen, Robards? What convinced them to give us permission this soon?"

"Not what, but who."

"I think I know who this 'who' is." Harry whispered to Draco. "Well two witches to be specific."

"You will be happy to know that your mother helped us to get permission, Auror Malfoy." Robards told a shocked Draco. "She and the Headmistress Minerva McGonagall, who are both the owners of Mini Hogwarts, helped us."

"Not that I am not happy about this," Draco started, recovering from his shock, "But how did they help us? And why did the Wizengamot even listen to them?"

"You do know that your mother is a force to be reckoned with right, Auror Malfoy?" Robards chuckled.

"And McGonagall too." Harry nodded.

"I do know that." Draco nodded. "She literally lied to the noseless Voldy Moody's face, she's fearless, and her best friend McGonagall too."

"Wait." Robards blinked at him. "Your mother and McGonagall are best friends?"

"Right, I forgot that it wasn't actually known to the whole Wizarding World." Draco scratched the back of his neck. "And I would appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone else. Okay, back to my question, how did my mother and McGonagall convince the Wizengamot? And why were they allowed to be a part of it, because the last time we needed permission, they weren't included in it?"

"They had to be included because they are the owners of Mini Hogwarts." Robards answered. "And the majority of the members of the Wizengamot are pure bloods, and you know the influence Narcissa has on them. She also told them how giving us a permission faster will benefit them. So, here we are. And, now I want you two to go and interrogate the Death Eaters."

"We will talk with you later." Harry and Draco answered and exited the office, taking the bottles of Veritaserum from the cupboard on their way to the Ministry cells.

"Who do you think we should start with first?" Harry asked him, eyeing the vials in his hand. 

"Antonin Dolohov."

"Why?" He asked the blond Auror. "Why not Roger? I thought you will be eager to get him punished for the way he treated Hermione almost three years ago? I know I am."

"Don't get me wrong, Potter, I would love to see that man behind the bars properly, but....." Draco sighed. "I don't think he deserves to be punished that harshly."

"Are you kidding me?" Harry's jaw dropped. "I thought you of all people would understand why we need to do this. Don't you remember how he tortured Hermione? Or how he attacked Mini Hogwarts?"

"You are not understanding what I am saying, Potter-"

"You are behaving in this delusional way, Draco-"

"Shut up." Draco glared at him. "The only reason Carl Roger did all of this is because he thinks Granger killed his brother-"

"That is supposed to be a secret, Draco." Harry hissed. "How can you go around saying it casually?"

"Potter, I am not dense like you. I know how to wandlessly and non verbally put Muffliato around us before we started talking." Draco rolled his eyes at him. "As I was saying, Roger did that to avenge his brother. But you yourself told me that Dolohov is actually responsible for Roger's brother's death because he had imperiused him to act like a Death Eater, and Granger killed him while protecting herself and two muggles. The actual culprit here is Dolohov, not Roger."

"So do you think that Roger should be set free?"

"Of course not." The ex Slytherin shook his head. "He should be punished, because he did use unforgiveables and also attacked Mini Hogwarts. But Potter, he did this just for his brother. He did his because he wanted to bring justice to his brother, and unfortunately, it meant to kill Granger for him. I am not justifying what he did was right, because it wasn't. But tell me one thing, Potter, wasn't the revenge the only thing you felt when...... When Bellatrix had killed Sirius?"

"It was." Harry swallowed, knowing that the blond was not bringing the topic of Sirius to rile him up.

"That's what happened with Carl Roger as well." Draco whispered, squeezing Harry's shoulder. "He wanted revenge and so he tried everything to get it. While he deserves prison, I think he needs to know the truth first and then maybe we can convince the Wizengamot that instead of giving him the Dementor's Kiss or Life Imprisonment, he should be given a few years in the prison, probation for at least three years when he is released, and then restricted use of magic for a few more years."

"I agree with that." Harry nodded. "But I still don't understand why we have to interrogate Dolohov first?"

"Do I really have to explain everything to you, Potter?" Draco rolled his eyes.

"You might have to about this one." Harry looked sheepishly at him.

"Fine." Draco sighed. "Do you think Roger will believe that Dolohov is actually behind everything? No. We first have to get Dolohov to reveal everything, and then show that recording to Roger."

"And then Roger will finally co-operate with us." Harry sighed, looking at Draco who nodded at his comment. 

Together, the two once enemies entered the Ministry cells, both being nervous as hell, but also determined. 

As the two Aurors had expected, Antonin Dolohov didn't answer their questions at first, nor did he react to their threats.

Sighing, Draco took the vial from his pocket and forced him to drink it. And since they had figured out to first make Dolohov himself tell the whole story rather than asking him questions, the blond man simply pointed his wand around them and muttered a spell to make a recording of this whole thing.

Dolohov had escaped from the Battle of Hogwarts when Harry had cast Expelliarmus at Voldemort.

Unlike other Death Eaters, who had been confident that Voldemort would win the duel, Dolohov knew that it wasn't possible, because the Dark Lord had already been weak due to the destruction of his horcruxes. But that didn't mean he wasn't angry when the Dark side had been defeated.

Rather than attacking straight after the Battle, Dolohov thought of laying low for a file, so that he wouldn't get caught, and when the right time came, he would be ready to attack.

Though he still tried to attack Hogsmeade a few times, and even kill muggle borns and people who associated with them. But he had to stop them soon as he didn't want to get caught. 

But that didn't stop him from using Imperius Curse on an innocent man and making him act like a Death Eater to try and get information from Hogwarts.

The opportunity came when Dolohov met Carl Roger in a muggle pub six years after the Battle, in 2004. 

Carl had been plotting revenge on Hermione that time, for killing his brother, and Dolohov was more than eager and ready to help him, when he had seen her photo tucked inside Carl's jacket, and gave him the information about the Muggle Born witch that he required.

Unfortunately, it was then that Dolohov realised the person he had imperioused in 1999, was none other than Carl Roger's brother, when he had been shown his photo in the pub.

Dolohov started to get up from there, fearing Carl wouldn't leave him, but then he discovered that Carl actually didn't have any idea that his brother had been Imperioused.

For him, Hermione Granger was guilty for killing his brother and she would pay the price.

Dolohov tried making Carl join the small Death Eaters club he had made with the remaining Death Eaters, but Carl was not at all interested in the Dark stuff, for he was against Blood purity.

Dolohov thought that was it. It was the first and last time he would meet Carl.

On the contrary, Carl sent him an owl three days later, asking for his help.

Dolohov came up with the plan of Carl pretending to work in the Ministry, and making Hermione like him and then using a date as a trap to get his revenge later.

He also gave Carl a book of Dark spells, and despite the fact that Carl was against this stuff, he found some particular spells useful.

Sectumsempra and Vulnera Sanentur for example.

Turns out that Voldemort had made Snape tell him why Draco had been almost killed during his sixth year during a private meeting and Dolohov happened to eavesdrop on that conversation, so he knew all about the spell that Snape invented, and it's counter spell.

Until Carl got to know about it, the only people alive who knew those spells were Harry, Draco and Dolohov.

As it turned out, Carl's plan failed when Draco unexpectedly came to rescue Hermione.

Knowing that Harry and Draco would definitely keep an eye on Carl and the Death Eaters that were there with him from then on, Dolohov advised him to stay underground.

Three years later, when Mini Hogwarts was opened, Dolohov got another opportunity. 

When Carl had asked him why he needed information about Mini Hogwarts, not that he had had a problem sneaking in the Ministry file room and getting the required file, Dolohov said that hw was going to attack Mini Hogwarts.

The reason? Revenge.

Dolohov wanted revenge on every family which had turned away from the Dark side and whose members had in one way or the other helped to catch the Dark Wizards.

So, he decided to start with the Malfoys.

After everything had been planned, Dolohov imperiused a few innocent people and made them look like Death Eaters, triggered the wards himself so that the fake death eaters would get caught, and by the time the Aurors will realise they were fake, they would be ready to attack Mini Hogwarts.

He had earlier planned on holding the children hostages, and would only release them when he would get his hands on the Malfoys, and the other families.

Carl, however, had a different approach. He made sure the fake Death Eaters escaped on the day they had planned to attack, which meant that Harry and Draco, being the top Aurors of the Ministry, won't be able to come and rescue Hermione when he captures her.

Dolohov didn't have a problem as long as he got his revenge on the Malfoys.

But of course, Hermione Granger had to ruin their plans by unexpectedly arriving there.

At the end of the interrogation, Harry had to stop Draco from punching Dolohov.

Not that the Boy Who Lived didn't want to do that himself, of course. But the fact that Kingsley was watching the Interrogation from outside, stopped him.

After five minutes, Draco had calmed down, and the two Aurors then went on to interrogate Carl Roger.

As Draco had predicted, the recording helped them to get his confession.

Carl said the same things Dolohov had said, but he just added that he had been at the end of Hogsmeade, which connected to a forest, when he heard a scream.

When he ran in the direction of the scream, he saw Hermione casting a spell at his brother which killed him, and the muggle born witch running away from there.

After Harry had told him that Dolohov was actually responsible for that, Carl's eyes widened. 

He broke down and told them everything, from the way he had run away from his home in 1999 to get revenge, and how he had to hide still 2004 as he didn't know where Hermione was. 

He even told them where the Death Eaters used to meet, and how he had been able to get inside the Ministry without disturbing the wards.

As the two Aurors exited the Ministry cells, after interrogating all the Death Eaters, Draco turned to Harry. "I know what I said about Roger's punishment earlier, but don't you think he would make a good Auror? Or maybe an Investigator as well?"

"You might be onto something there." Harry grinned at him. "Roger's definitely talented, and we can use his skills in the Auror Department. Maybe we can talk about this to Robards and Kingsley?"

"Of course. We can mention this at the trial as well." The blond Auror nodded as they headed towards Robards' office. "Perhaps when Roger finishes his prison time, we can ask him if he wants to become an Auror."

The two continue talking about Roger's skills until they reached the Head Auror's office, where they found both Robards and Kingsley waiting for them.

As they had talked, the two told them how Carl Roger had managed to break inside the Ministry file room, and how they can use his skills.

Eventually, they even managed to convince the Head Auror and Minister of Magic to let Carl become an Auror after he finishes his prison time, if he wants to, and also to make this approach in the Wizengamot as well. 

-------

Few days later.......

"Take it slow, Granger." Draco tutted as he supported Hermione as she walked towards the stairs. "Hold it still, Granger."

"I am." She exclaimed.

Draco simply shook his head, placed his other arm under his knees as his one arm was placed around her waist, and picked her up.

"Easy with the wobbling." He sighed. "Keep your feet still."

"They are." She rolled her eyes as she wrapped her arms around his neck as he started climbing up the stairs.

"But you aren't. You are dancing on the board like a clown-"

"I am not even standing on a board, Draco-"

"Hang on tight." He grinned at her. "Also, I heard this dancing on the board dialogue somewhere and I liked it, so I will say it whenever I want to."

"And pray tell, where did you hear this dialogue?"

"On the felly tone."

"Firstly, it's called a telephone, and it is actually not even a telephone, it is actually called a mobile."

"Whatever." Draco answered. "Saw a video of a bloke and girl skating on a skateboard and the guy was saying this to the girl."

"You finally understood how to use your mobile for anything other than making calls and sending messages?" Hermione gasped. "Oh I am so proud of you, Draco."

"Shut up." He grumbled. "Honestly, you and Potter are the same. Getting excited and then mocking me for saying muggle things correctly. I hate you both."

"No, you don't." She grinned at him. "You don't hate me. How can you hate your best friend of nine years?"

"Fine." He rolled his eyes. "I don't hate you. But I still hate Potter, and I always will."

"And you don't hate Harry either." Hermione ignored his comment. "I recall you two shaking your hands nine years ago." 

"That was only because we were drunk, Granger." Draco reminded her. "And also because you forced me to. The things I do for you, Granger."

"You are a good man, Draco Malfoy." She smiled at him, knowing how constantly he doubted himself and his actions, something he had been doing ever since he told her everything that day at St Mungo's. "Don't let anyone tell you otherwise, even your own mind."

"My mind is definitely controlled by my mother." Draco muttered under his breath.

Finally, they reached her bedroom and Draco gently laid her down on the bed, sitting down next to her when she asked him to.

"Draco?" She took his hand in hers. "I want you to give me my memories back."

"Granger." He sighed. "It's not that I don't want to. But you have just been discharged today, and giving you your memories back will interfere with your healing-"

"Draco." She cut him off. "I have been discharged today because the Healer declared me fully healed. And I have told you that I have been having those flashbacks of our memories, I just didn't know they were real. I can handle them, Draco, please."

"You need to rest, Granger. Healer's orders, remember?"

"I know."Hermione rolled her eyes at him. "You have been fussing over me ever since we left St Mungo's. You didn't even allow me to walk on my own."

"Hey you did walk all the way from the doorway to the stairs." Draco mentioned.

"Yeah but you were still supporting me then, weren't you?" She asked. "And you even carried me upstairs."

"Are you sure?" He uncertainly looked at her, ignoring her comment. "Are you sure you want me to give them now?"

"I need them back, Draco." She answered. "I need my memories back."

Draco nodded, telling her to close her eyes and pointed his wand at her, clutching her hand tighter as he gave her the memories back.

A few minutes later, she opened her eyes and looked at the man in front of her. Nothing felt different, except for the fact that she now looked at her best friend in a different way.

The man sitting in front of her was not just her best friend. He was also her ex boyfriend, if you would consider Draco removing her memories as their break up.

Despite knowing that they had once been together, it didn't feel real to her until now.

Draco looked at her with sad eyes and slowly got up from the bed. She tried reaching for his hand once again but he pulled it away.

"You need time." He muttered.

"Just one question." She stopped him. "We were good, weren't we? I know I have my memories back, but still...... I just want to know-"

"We were good." Draco interrupted her. "We were...... Amazing, even. And really happy too. Even if it was a secret relationship, we didn't have any problems or any major issues."

"Do you think we can talk about it sometime?" Hermione fiddled with her fingers. 

"Not right now, no." Draco sighed. "I need to do something right now. Maybe later?"

Without waiting for an answer, he walked towards the door, with his eyes still on her and paused just as he reached it. "Try not to hate me, Granger."

Hermione would have thought he said that in a playful way if she didn't hear him saying, "But I won't blame you if you did," in a low voice just as he exited her room. 

-------

"I gave Granger her memories back." Draco blurted out as soon as he entered the portrait room.

"Okay?" Astoria raised her eyebrows at him.

"I did it before coming here."

"That's good." She smiled at him.

"Why aren't you reacting?"

"Excuse me?" She blinked at him. "Do I like a potion to you so that I would react?"

"No need to be rude." He rolled his eyes at her. "I just wanted to know why you weren't reacting to what I said."

"I did react, Draco." This time she rolled her eyes at him. "I said okay and then I said that it was good and I even smiled at you. Are you sure someone is not using Imperius Curse on you right now?"

"Obviously not." He crossed his arms in front of her.

"Then why are you behaving like an idiot?"

"How is asking why you aren't reacting behaving like an idiot, Tori?"

"Why do you want me to react?" She exclaimed.

"Because I just told you something." He shrugged.

"You tell me things all the time, Draco." She rolled her eyes again at him. "And if smiling doesn't come under the definition of reacting in your dictionary and then pray tell me, how am I supposed to react to this?"

"I don't know, you are supposed to shout at me, I guess?"

"And why will I shout at you?" She crossed her arms in front of her.

"I thought you would be angry at me because I gave her the memories back." Draco sheepishly admitted.

"And why is that?"

"Because now she remembers that she loved me."

"Draco." Astoria sighed. "I thought we had made it clear that she loves you and that you love her as well. What is wrong with loving your best friend?"

"But now I am not just her best friend, you know?" Draco looked down at the floor. "She remembers that I am her ex boyfriend too. And I...... I love her, but I don't know how to explain to her that I can't be with her."

"Are we doing this again?"

When he said nothing, she sighed. "Come here, Draco. Don't just stand at the doorway."

Draco reluctantly walked forwards until he reached her portrait and stood in front of it. Still, he stood silently. 

"Draco." Astoria started. "Please tell me why you think you can't be with her."

"Because of guilt." He whispered. "I-I just feel so guilty, Tori, even if you told me to move on. And ever since Granger has woken up, she has looked at me with everything except anger or perhaps hate. And I feel guilty that I have hurt her but she is not reacting like that because she doesn't want to hurt me."

"Did you ask her why she was not angry at you?"

Draco shook his head.

"I am afraid to say this, my love, but you are not a seer." She chuckled. "You may have predicted that Harry had Ginny as his girlfriend in second year, but you should leave these complicated things to professionals."

"It is not funny." He grumbled, despite the fact that he was trying hard not to smile at her comment.

"You can never fool me with your emotions, Draco Malfoy." Astoria said in a sing song voice, but then, she turned serious. "Unless you talk to her about this, I can't help you, Draco. It is Hermione's feelings and emotions, and I don't know what she is going through right now, Draco, but I can definitely tell you that she doesn't hate you."

"She knows why you did all that stuff." She continued. "You told her everything, Draco. You did all that for her. And you told her that she was a killer because you didn't want to hurt me by being with her. How can she hate you after seeing how selfless of a man you are?"

"Astoria that- wait." Draco narrowed his eyes at her. "That reminds me, Granger mentioned that you told her that I know everything about the letter."

She smiled sheepishly at him.

"Why did you have to do that, Tori?" He pinched the bridge of his nose. "I told you not to tell her, then why?"

"Because it was the right thing to do." Astoria answered. "Your happiness matters a lot to me, Draco, and I knew that you will get your happiness with Hermione. I wasn't just going to stand by and do nothing while you ruin your happiness. I may not be there anymore, but I still want you to be happy."

"I wish you were here." Draco whispered. "And it is all my fault that you aren't. I should have realised about the Healing Potion when the Healer told me that you had touched Venomous Tentacula. I could have saved you, Tori! And I failed."

"You have never failed me, my love, and I know you will never do so either." She smiled softly at him. "Besides, if it is anyone's fault, then it is mine. I should have told you about the blood curse, or I shouldn't have forbidden Hermione from doing so. If I had done either of that, then there would have been no reason for me to go to that Potions' shop that day. So please stop blaming yourself."

"Why didn't you ever tell me though?" He looked down at his feet. "Didn't you trust me even that much to tell me?"

"It wasn't like that, Draco." She shook her head sadly. "If there is anyone I trust the most in this world, then it is you. I think I just didn't want to worry yo. If I had told you, then I know that you would have done everything in your power to get a cure, and I didn't want you to just leave everything else for me."

"Turns out that there actually was a cure, which belongs to me." He muttered.

"I have made a lot of mistakes, haven't I?" She let out a humourless chuckle. "First, I didn't tell you. And then I even made Daphne Athy's godmother without consulting you. I love Daphne, and I know she is an amazing godmother, but I know how much you wanted Hermione to be that. I have disappointed you a lot, haven't I?"

"Don't you dare." He narrowed his eyes at her and lifted his hand up, and rested  it on her cheek, as if to wipe the tears that trickled down her cheeks. "Don't you dare blame yourself for anything. I know that Granger had asked you not to make her godmother because at that time, she was only here for the programme and was going to leave as soon as it finished."

When Astoria looked at him with a shocked face, he chuckled. "What? You thought only you were rubbish at keeping secrets? Mind you, Granger has been my best friend for nine years now, so she can't hide anything from me."

"Except about the blood curse." She whispered, her eyes downcast.

"Tori, look at me, please." When she did, Draco continued, "Please don't blame yourself over that, love. I am not angry at you. Hell, I can never be angry at you, even if you turn my hair yellow."

"I did turn your hair yellow once, though." Astoria weakly chuckled.

"Trust you to mess with my perfect hair." He smiled fondly at her. "You are not allowed to blame yourself for any of these, you understand? You did what you thought was right at that time. If I don't blame you, then why are you blaming yourself?"

"Don't you think that applies to you as well?" She asked. "If I don't blame you for anything, then why do you do that? Why do you feel guilty, Draco?"

"I don't want to disappoint you." He leaned forward and rested his forehead on hers. "I don't want to hurt you."

"Oh, love." Astoria sighed. She turned around for a second, picked something from the couch and faced him again. "Tell me what this is."

"It is a photo of us and Athy." He answered. "Where did you get that from?"

"It just magically appeared here." She smiled widely at him. "One of the many magics of this room, you know? My point is, this single picture represents my whole world. You and Athy are my everything, Draco, and will always be. I loved my life with you, and if given the choice to come back and do something different, I would never choose that. Even if you weren't an option, my choice will always be you, Draco. You were my priority, and will always be."

"Even Salazar doesn't know how much I love you, Tori." Draco closed his eyes and leant back, opening his eyes after a few moments and tears fell down from them.

"You can never disappoint me, Draco Lucius Malfoy, do you hear me? And I swear, if you say that one more time, I won't hesitate to call Narcissa here and tell her to hex you."

"As if she would listen to you."

"She likes me more than you, Draco." Astoria smirked at him.

"She likes everyone more than me." He rolled his eyes. "Promise me you won't be hurt or disappointed? That you won't regre this decision?"

"Promise." She answered. "It is time to close this chapter of your life, and open a new one, Draco. I am letting you go, and you have to do the same." Her voice broke in the end.

He just nodded. 

"Go and talk with Hermione now, before I start crying again." She weakly chuckled. "And you should stop crying as well, you don't want to prove to Harry that you are a softy, right?"

Draco chuckled and leant forward once more. "One last kiss before I turn the page of the new chapter?"

Astoria nodded and leant forward as Draco placed his lips on hers, feeling as if they were really together instead of just pretending.

She pulled back a few seconds later. "I will always love you, Draco, more than you can ever imagine."

"And you will always have a place in my heart and life, love." Draco smiled at her. "Nobody can ever take your place in my life, I hope you know that."

Astoria nodded and watched him as he moved towards the door. "I will always love you, Tori. Forever and ever?"

"Forever and ever." She said just before he left the room, closing the door behind him.

"Take care of Draco and Athy, Hermione." Astoria whispered. "For me."

----------

"So, where do you want to start?" Draco asked as he sat down next to Hermione on the couch.

"How about you tell me when exactly you decided to obliviate me?" She asked him back.

They had just finished having dinner an hour ago and when Hermione had asked him if they could talk about their relationship, Draco had told her that they would after he put Athy to sleep.

So after he had managed to persuade an angry and irritated Athy, as she wanted to play with her dragon and ferret soft toys for a few more minutes, to sleep, Draco had taken a calming drought and came back downstairs.

Before he could start, Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. "Did you take a calming drought, Draco?"

"How did you know about that?"

"Brightest Witch of my Age, remember?" She smirked at him.

"Can you not remind me of that?" He groaned. "It was torture enough to be reminded of that silly and stupid fact every day during our eighth year."

"I smell jealousy somewhere." Hermione pretended to sniffle around and then lean towards him. "Ah ha! The smell was coming from here."

"I am not jealous." He grumbled. "Malfoys are never jealous. I am never jealous."

"That sounds like something you have said a lot because it seems well practiced." She commented. "But I remember you being jealous of Harry when we were younger."

"Oh please." He snorted. "Me? Jealous? Of Harry stupid oblivious idiot careless crazy Potter? Never."

"That's a lot of adjectives." Hermione blinked at him. "But it is at least better than the stupid names you come up with." 

"You mean like Saint Potter, the Boy who cannot comb his hair ever, Mini Potter number one and two, Potterette, Granger Danger?"

"Exactly." She scrunched up her nose at him. "And also- wait, when did you come up with Granger Danger?"

"I think when you used violence on a poor innocent boy." He nodded with thought. "Oh yes, it was then."

"Oh please." She rolled her eyes at him. "You were hardly innocent. You tried to get Buckbeak executed."

"That was done by my father." He muttered. "He wanted to get that Hippogriff executed when I told him what had happened."

"Oh." She looked sheepishly at him. She had forgotten about this little fact he had told her in their eighth year. "Well yeah but you still faked your injury."

"Bloody chicken almost killed me." Draco grumbled, remembering the moment he had offended that Hippogriff in his third year.

"It was a scratch, Draco!" She exclaimed. "Just a scratch."

"Right." He nodded. "It was Potter who had almost killed me in sixth year. I am wondering if I should press charges for that."

"You want to press charges for something that happened ten years ago?" She gaped at him.

"Well yeah." He shrugged. "He may be the Chosen One but I am also the great Draco Malfoy, Brightest Wizard of my Age."

She was just about to retort when she realised something. "Stop changing the topic, and I know you have taken the Calming Drought. I can see the effect taking place with the goofy way you are acting."

"I had to take it." He admitted. "I broke down and had a panic attack the last time I saw the memories and discussed our relationship in front of Blaise, Theo and Potter."

"If you don't want to, or you aren't ready, we don't have to have this talk right now, Draco."

"I should be the one saying that to you." He chuckled. "But it is okay. I know we have to do this. Right, you asked me when I decided to obliviate you. It happened when I saw the news in the Daily Prophet of a wizard and his muggle born fiancée being killed. I was just so scared after seeing that news, Granger. My father had already told me what the Death Eaters planned to do but I didn't believe him until I saw that news."

"I thought there wasn't any other way." Draco continued. "I knew you wouldn't listen to me if I told you and....... I couldn't take that risk. I didn't care about me, I swear, I have been tortured, threatened, and almost killed before. But you? I had already seen you get tortured once and I didn't do anything to stop him. But when I got the chance to either keep you safe or happy, at least I thought you were happy with me, I chose to keep you safe. You may hate me for this, Granger, but your safety matters the most to me. I knew you could be happy without me, after all, I never deserved you." 

"I can't hate you for trying your best to save me, Draco." Hermione placed a hand on his arm and squeezed it. "I think in any other situation I would have been really angry at you, but I am not right now. Well, I am not angry at you, I am angry at the situation. I think in a way, I understand why you did it. After all, I obliviated my parents too, right? I chose to keep them safe instead of being honest, and I would do it again too, no matter how angry they will be at me."

"I am glad you don't hate me." He admitted. "Do you want to know anything else?"

"I just have one question. Would you do it again? If you had to, that is."

"I will." He answered immediately. "I won't change anything. I may have loved you, Granger, but I won't change my time with Astoria for anything. She was my rock, and frankly, I would have lost myself after you left if it wasn't for her. And she gave me Athy, my little princess."

"This just makes me even prouder of you, you know?" She smiled softly at him. "I am proud of the man you have become, Draco, and I know the credit goes to Astoria."

"Does this change things?" Draco asked after a few seconds. "You remembering everything, I mean?"

"Do you want it to?" She asked. "Do you want to give us another shot?"

"If we do that, then I want to make something clear. I am in love with you, Granger, but I will also love Astoria forever. Just because I will be with you, doesn't mean I will forget her. She will always have a place in my heart and my life."

"I understand that." She squeezed his hand again. "I don't expect otherwise. I don't want to replace Astoria, Draco, and I never will."

"Then I don't have any problem." He whispered. "I was against moving on, but Astoria made me think otherwise. I need to move on, I have to move on. Opening a new chapter of my life, according to her." 

"She's a smart woman." Hermione commented and Draco nodded. "Draco, if we are going to be together, then can we wait a little while? It's just that we both have hurt each other, and I think we need to heal and forgive each other completely before we get in a relationship."

"I agree." Draco nodded. "We should do this at our pace. We should adjust to our routine as best friends first and then we can think about dating."

Hermione nodded and slid closer to him as he wrapped an arm around his shoulder. As she rested her head on his shoulder, she thought how wonderful it felt to be in love.

---------

"Happy birthday, Granger." Draco yelled as he dropped a mug full of cold water on his best friend's face.

"Draco!" Hermione exclaimed as she quickly woke up and saw him standing near her with a stupid grin on his face. "The hell is wrong with you? It's not even my birthday."

"But you do have a belated birthday party today." He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the bathroom. "There is a box inside with a dress I have bought for you, along with shoes. Go and get dressed for the party. I'll see you downstairs."

Without giving her a chance to reply, Draco left the room. Hermione huffed at his retreating form and entered the bathroom.

She kept muttering about stupid blonde ferrets as she opened the box but gasped as she looked at the dress. It was simply magnificent.

It was a purple coloured, off shoulder, knee length dress with little diamonds making up the belt area. It was a dress they had seen in a shop a few days ago before their kiss, but Hermione had refused to buy it when she saw the ridiculous price.

But since when has Draco Malfoy ever listened to her?

Along with it, was a pair of silver heels, already charmed with a cushioning spell so her feet wouldn't hurt. Smiling at the thoughtfulness of her best friend, Hermione took a shower and got dressed.

Draco's jaw dropped as Hermione slowly came down the stairs. "You look stunning."

She blushed at his comment before she complimented him because he looked as good looking as always.

"Where is the party?" She asked looking around in the empty living room.

"A party will be waiting for you when we come back here. Come on, my mother will have my head if I mess this up."

"Wait, Narcissa is in this plan too?"

"Everyone is." He answered. "And she and the others will be planning a party for you here." He grabbed her hand. "And now, we are off to Paris."

Before she could even react to it, he apparated them to the French capital.

Despite being shocked at first, Hermione enjoyed their outing at Paris, visiting different museums and monuments and having lunch at a famous café.

As they sat down on a bench in the garden in front of the Eiffel Tower, Draco took out a small document from his jacket pocket and enlarged it to its original size. "Take a look at this."

Hermione's eyes widened as she went through the document. "But how is this possible?"

"Took a little convincing but eventually Kingsley agreed." He answered. "I am not asking you to choose this, because I know you have already signed the contract of the Australian Ministry of Magic, but it's an alternative."

"And it is similar to the job of Head Investigator and Interrogator of Australian Ministry?"

"Of course." Draco smiled at her. "I made sure you get everything that comes under it if you sign it. So, what do you want to do?"

"Did I ever tell you I permanently left my job at the Australian Ministry?" She smirked at him.

"Are you serious?" His jaw dropped once again.

"I did it while I was in St Mungo's." She answered. "Adam visited with my parents when you had gone to the Manor and he convinced me to stay here. And even told me that he would take care of the contract. So I am no longer an Auror for the Australian Ministry."

"Does that mean you will take this job-"

"And stay here permanently? Of course." She conjured a quill and quickly signed it, watching it as it vanished and probably appeared in front of Kingsley at the Ministry. "Thank you so much for this, Draco."

She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him tightly as he hugged her back.

"No, Granger." He kissed her forehead. "Thank you." 

A/N: That's it for this chapter. It was 8000+ words. Hope you guys liked it. IMPORTANT QUESTION: Do you guys want an epilogue? Also, they have finally agreed to be together. Random question: Something you don't like about Draco? Answer in the comments below. Vote, comment and please share my story. Reviews are always appreciated. Thank you! 

Next chapter on 4/4/21(Sunday). 

Until next time.