In this month, he had discovered just how much of his own happiness was directly caused by her. Before they'd entered their relationship, Draco had been utterly miserable, branded a villain and blacklisted in the Wizarding community, but all of that had changed after Hermione had chosen to give him a chance. The first time he'd laughed after the War had been with her. They had been working together to restructure the grand arch of the doors of the Great Hall, and she had made a silly joke about keeping a Gryffindor in suspense. He wasn't sure if it was the exhaustion, or the strain of his charmwork, or his pure incredulity that Hermione Granger was telling him jokes, but he had laughed harder than the quip actually warranted. Before long, her own hesitant giggles emerged to join his loud chuckles, and the two of them had ended up gripping their sides and struggling to catch their breath. Once the laughter had finally subsided, Draco had tossed out a line about being so tired that he could use an espresso patronum, and they'd doubled over once again. That was how they'd spent the rest of the day, trying to outdo one another with corny puns and childish pickup lines. When they'd finally gotten through their amusement enough to actually restore the grandeur of the Hall, he had turned to her with a curious expression on his face. She seemed completely taken aback when he'd asked her to join him for dinner that evening, but her shock quickly melted into slow flirtatiousness as she'd agreed and given his arm a gentle squeeze as they left the castle.