,,So Hermione Granger goes into a pub, at night and unaccompanied? Now that's something I never thought possible" Draco whispered to himself, smirking.

Things just got a lot more interesting.

Looks like I'll satisfy my curiosity and escape my boredom.

Draco closed in on the window and looked inside. He saw Hermione at the bar, ordering a drink and drinking it bottoms up. Draco's eyebrows shot up in shock.

I didn't know she could drink like that, he thought, half impressed.

Then all of a sudden, a different thought made his brows furrow. Somehow, the image of Hermione Granger, in a pub, gulping down drinks seemed wrong and ... unnatural. It made him shift uncomfortably in his spot. He'd been right in suspecting something was amiss today.

Without thinking much about it, Draco went inside and found a more private table, from where he could watch Hermione without being seen by her. Meanwhile, Hermione was at her second drink and, by the time Draco had taken a sit, she had gulped it down as fast as she did the first one.

They spent half an hour in this manner, one of them in plain view, the other in the shadows. Draco had eventually ordered a drink as well, avoiding Hermione's eyes by signaling someone from the bar and receiving the glass of firewiskey right at his table. He was watching attentively as Hermione took down what was now her fifth drink. He noticed her body swaying a little, leaning against the bar for more support.

Luckily she's sitting on a chair, otherwise she'd have collapsed by now. What in Merlin's name has happened to have THE Hermione Granger in a mood like this?

Draco was deep in thought, sipping his drink elegantly, when his eyes caught movement on the right side of the bar. There, a group of men were just ordering a row of drinks, talking loudly and laughing. Draco shot them a look of disgust. He never liked men who made fool of themselves in a bar by being too loud or those who drank too much firewiskey to even remember what species they were from. The movement his eyes had caught was that of a young man, not older than twenty-five, breaking away from the noisy group and making his way towards Hermione. His advancement was slow, due to the fact that he was holding drinks in each one of his hands, the liquid swaying dangerously as he avoided people along his way.

When the young man finally reached Hermione, she was just raising her hand, signaling the bartender.

,,Another one, please Tom" Draco heard her yell at the old bartender .

,,Allow me, miss" the stranger said, quickly placing one of the drinks in front of Hermione, smiling widely at her.

Hermione looked at him, then at the drinks, eyes slightly out of focus.

,,Allow you what exactly?" she asked him, still eyeing the drink he had placed in front of her.

,,Allow me to offer you this drink" the young man said, slightly disconcerted by Hermione's response but recovering quickly. ,,You seemed like you needed one and I wanted to have the pleasure to assist you'', he said pleasantly, giving her a charming smile.

Draco saw the man taking a sit next to her, a tad too close in his opinion. He let a huff into his glass, frowning at the image. Looking intently at the scene unfolding in front of him, he took another sip of firewiskey to clear his throat, curiosity and annoyance battling inside him. If he were honest to himself, he couldn't say for sure if he was amused or bothered by Hermione's apparent laxed attitude towards a stranger. One thing was true though, he was definitely feeling something because he immediately took a big gulp from his glass, almost emptying it.

The stranger had just touched Hermione's arm and, for some reason, Draco felt like cursing the guy senseless. For an instant he felt taken by surprise by his own thoughts.

What in Salazar's name is happening to me? I should be thoroughly amused by all this. Granger in a bar, drinking her mind away. But why am I not amused? Do I feel that bored?

He shook his head, gripping the glass slightly tighter between his fingers.

There's one thing to follow her into a bar out of curiosity and another thing entirely to feel bothered by a stupid git, making a move on her.

Draco's musings were soon interrupted by Hermione's sharp, but rather slurred voice.

,,I kindly ask you to remove your hand" she was saying to the guy.

She made a hasty move to shake his hand away from her back, where it was resting rather intimately.

Draco let out an annoyed snort, raising his glass to his mouth.

,,Of course Granger would be polite to people, even in this type of situations. Bloody fool! She never showed me the same courtesy, though" he grumbled to himself.

What happened next almost made him feel sorry for the poor bloke who had the misfortune to deal with a tipsy Hermione Granger.

,,I said remove your bloody arm, you foul git!" Hermione shouted, sending a curse at the guy so fast that no one really saw what happened.

The next moment, though, everyone who was close enough could see the guy on the floor, holding onto his bleeding nose, while also sporting a black eye.

Draco blinked and looked at Hermione, bewildered by the scene. She was now standing, swaying slightly, while holding her wand firmly with one hand and a glass with her other one.

,,Now, if you don't want a broken skull to go with that face, I'd advise you to leave me alone" she told the guy threateningly just as he managed to scramble to his feet.

The guy's friends just noticed what was happening and were coming towards their pal and Hermione. At this point, Draco decided it was best to intervene. Who knows what hell would break loose if he were to leave Hermione to her own devices.

And everyone thinks I'm dangerous. They clearly haven't seen Granger drunk.

He got up, finished his remaining firewiskey and went for the bar. He could see Hermione was barely able to stand straight but she was shooting ferocious looks at the bleeding guy and his friends, now closing in on her. Just as they were about to reach her, Draco placed himself in front of Hermione, still holding onto his empty glass.

,,I think the lady has made herself quite clear on the matter" Draco drawled, his trademark Malfoy smirk in place.

Draco felt a slight shiver down his spine. He just realized that in that moment he felt more like himself than he had in months. A small voice in his mind told him he should thank Hermione for it, but he tried hard to ignore it. Instead, he focused on the group of people in front of him.

He emphasized his words by placing the empty glass he was holding on the bar, with a rather loud thump. Other people in the bar also started to notice them. Some even recognized Draco and he saw them pointing their fingers at him, whispering among themselves.

The group of men seemed unwilling to leave at first, but Draco shot them a menacing, icy cold look, hoping to make his point without having to raise his wand. That, and people's whispers regarding Draco's status as a Death Eater seemed to do the trick. The group quickly made up their minds to leave, collecting their pal and leaving the bar in a hurry.

,,Smart choice" Draco said in a low voice, watching them scurrying away through the door.

With a sigh, Draco turned to Hermione. He took the glass from her hand and placed in on the bar, then reached for her arm.

,,Let's go, Granger" he said gruffly.

,,Oh buzz off, Malfoy" she snapped at him, jerkin her arm away from him. ,,Who do you think you are to come here and ruin my fun night out?"

Hermione was fuming. She was having a relaxing time, away from everything and HE had to show up and ruin everything. With a loud, shacky huff, she scuttled onto the bar chair, trying to reach the drink Draco had taken from her. But Draco was faster. He grabbed the glass and held it out of her reach.

,,Fun night out? Is that what you call... whatever this is?" he asked incredulously, eyes wide, gesturing towards the door. ,,Is seeking a bar brawl your idea of fun nowadays?" he sneered at her.

,,What do you know of fun, Malfoy? Isn't your idea of fun tormenting people who are weaker than you?" she sneered back at him, eyes trying to focus on his face.

,,For one thing, I know MY idea of fun doesn't involve getting drunk and cursing people who flirt with me"

At that Hermione snorted, trying again to reach the glass but Draco was careful to move it still further away from her. She let out a huff of annoyance, stopping for a second to catch her breath and stare at the man in front of her.

,,I didn't just curse him. If you really want to know, I might have also punched him, It's all a bit fuzzy so I can't recall for sure" she said, waving a hand, almost touching Draco's arm.

Draco noticed her drunken speech was getting more noticeable.

That's one too many drinks for the know-it-all, he thought, a small smile almost forming on his face.

He stared at Hermione intently. For some unknown reason, seeing her like this amused him, but in a different way than it had used to. While they were at school, he found it amusing to make fun of her hair, teeth, personality, choice in friends and of her parentage. He had real fun teasing her and felt good watching her reactions. It always gave him satisfaction to see the look in her eyes whenever he would say something mean to her, but now, remembering all that, all the pain he had seen in her eyes, made him feel ashamed. The feeling washed over him like a cold wave, giving him goosebumps.

Being so absorbed in his own thoughts, made Draco lose track of Hermione's movements. Seeing him distracted, Hermione jumped and took the glass he was holding. That snapped him back to reality, he watched her drink half the glass at once, before she placed it on the bar between them.

,,Much better" she said with a satisfied grin.

,,Fine! Get dead drunk for all I care!" Draco said, shaking his head.

,,Don't need your permission to do that, Malfoy" she told him with a scowl.

That's true enough. She doesn't need permission to do anything, this witch, he thought, gazing at her openly.

He felt intrigued by her actions, as well as her person. In that instant he realized he didn't know anything about her, or at least he didn't know enough to make out her character. What he'd seen in school might not have been all there was to this Hermione Granger, or perhaps the person she'd become was more complex than her past self.