1 Final Countdown

"Ms. Granger?" A quiet voice said.

"Yes, Melody?" Hermione Granger answered as she looked up from her desk.

"It's time to go home," the receptionist fresh from Hogwarts explained.

"Is it 7 already?" Hermione asked rhetorically as she looked at her clock on the wall. "Well I guess it is, thank you Melody," she said before beginning to pack up her things.

"Of course," Melody replied and began to walk out then paused half way out the door. "Um, Ms. Granger?" She asked meekly turning back around.

"What is it?" Hermione asked patiently.

"Your ex-husband is at the front waiting for you again," the receptionist informed her.

"Ron," Hermione sighed tiredly.

Her and Ron Weasley were married two years after graduating Hogwarts and for a little over two years, they decided to separate. They were officially divorced by the end of that year, making them technically married for three years.

They both discovered they were too different, they wanted different things and that wasn't going to change...well at least Hermione realized that wasn't going to change. Ron kept trying to convince her they should try again even a year later, which is why the divorce took so long.

He started out sending her flowers after she told him no the first few times. But then he began to wait for her to get out of work so they could talk, like he is in this situation.

"Do you want me to tell him to bugger off?" Melody suggested.

"Thank you, but I'm just going to go out the back," Hermione said.

"Ok," the black haired witch said looking back out the window where she first spotted him. "He'll get it eventually and before you know it you'll find someone you'll be happy with," she added with a nod.

"Yeah, I hope so," Hermione said wishfully as she went to look out the same window, only to see the familiar red hair of her ex-husband.

"Well I know so, your timer hadn't gone off yet right?" Melody mentioned.

It was true, even through everything she's been through and all the major life events she's experienced, her timer was still ticking. When she was still with Ron, Hermione began to believe it would be when they had their first child, but now she wasn't sure.

Hermione glanced at her timer longingly, what could it be? She gasped, the timer was so almost up!

"What is it?" The receptionist questioned. But Hermione couldn't talk, she just showed her the timer excitedly.

"Oh my gosh! You better get going then!" Melody said happily.

"Yes yes, of course! Uh bye Melody!" Hermione grabbed her bag and headed down to the back exit of the Ministry of Magic.

She watched the numbers count down on her wrist as she walked down the road opposite of where Ron Weasley was. She watched as the numbers got lower, 5...4...3...

In her excitement, she wasn't watching where she was going and ran into something, or someone. This person was holding something and upon impact, it shattered and spilled some liquid on her.

"Shit!" Hermione heard the unknown man exclaim.

"Oh no, I'm so sorr-" she began to apologize but she was cut short.

She had looked up to find that the stranger was also covered in the substance and that that person was none other than, Draco Malfoy. He has kept his head low when it came to the press since the war other than for his thriving potions business.

"Malfoy," Hermione says a bit cautious, eyeing him up and down both in surprise and caution.

He turned his gaze to her and surprise spread across his face. Apparently Draco wasn't expecting her as much as she wasn't expecting him.

"H-Hermione?" Draco said in disbelief.

"Yes," she confirmed.

"Well I'll be damned, I haven't seen you since graduation," Draco said in pleasant surprise.

"It has been a long time," Hermione said a bit confused about his pleasant tone.

"How's adult life been treating you?" Draco asked genuinely curious.

"Oh it's been well I suppose but um I actually have an appointment in a moment," she answered trying to leave.

"Oh," Draco said a little disappointed. "Well it's nice to see you again," he added.

"Likewise, have a nice day," Hermione said to be polite before she continued on her walk back home.

Draco turns around and begins walking in the direction he was previously going before pausing a few steps later.

"What was I doing?" He asked himself out loud.

He looks around before noticing the purple liquid spilled all over himself. Looking around at the ground where him and Hermione were just standing, he saw it was splashed all over the both of them. What was that? He wondered before remembering.

The potion!

He was carrying a potion him and his business partner, Blaise Zabini, had begun to develop so that they could start to test it and make it better. It undoubtedly has a lot of things wrong with it and he had just splashed it all over himself and Hermione Granger.

After processing what had just occurred, he began running in the direction Hermione had just gone. He had to tell her.

"Hermione!" He called out as soon as he saw her walking along.

He saw her tense and put her hand near a pocket that undoubtedly holds her wand before turning to see who it was. But she didn't get to see who was coming at her before he grabbed her arm unintentionally rough.

At that moment, the both of them felt some sort of electricity flow through their entire bodies. It was like nothing either of them had ever felt before and it left them shaken.

"Let go of me!" Hermione insisted as she shoved his arm away and without another word, she apparated back to her home.

"Dammit!" He cursed loudly in the empty street.

As soon as Hermione apparated in her home, she locked her door and made sure all her windows were shut and secure. What the hell was that all about? She Wondered furiously. That whole scene left her feeling very anxious and shaken but she tried to calm herself down the best that she could.

"It's ok, Hermione. Everything's fine. Just sit down and read a book for awhile, maybe turn on the television too for background noise," she said trying to sooth herself.

So she turned on the television to a random channel before going to her bookshelf and grabbing a book she's been reading recently. She got curled up in a blanket on the couch with a view of the door and tv before beginning to read.

Eventually she had stayed there reading long enough that she was absorbed in the story. Everything else seemed not to matter to Hermione as her eyes graced the pages. As the night drew longer, Hermione's eyes became heavy and she fell asleep.