Hermione Granger woke up in a bed that wasn't hers. That didn't concern so much. The fact that the person she was sharing the bed with was hogging all the blankets did, however. She blinked sleepily until Draco Malfoy's pale face slid into focus. She smiled and flipped over so her back was to the blonde, feeling his arms tighten around her waist. Bright green luminescent numbers were in her face and she stared until she could see them clearly. Nine-oh-two was staring at her mockingly.

She screamed, wrestling to get out of bed. She was having a difficult time as she kept getting tangled in the bed sheets and Draco had automatically tightened his hold at the scream. "Draco, let me go!" Draco raised his head sleepily and blinked at her uncomprehendingly. "Letgoletgoletgo!" In his sleep induced haze, he let go of her and buried his head in the pillows.

He jerked upright in the bed, abruptly realizing that his brunette bedmate was leaving. "Whoa, hold on. Where're you goin'?" he asked, following her out of the bedroom and into the living room where her bag was.

She opened her bag and pulled out a knee length, dark purple skirt, a flowery blouse, and dark robes. "I have work! Draco, I was supposed to be there at six!"

Draco watched as she dressed quickly, briefly admiring her figure before she chucked the Quidditch jersey, one of his old ones, that she had previously been wearing in his face. "You've been late before-"

"No, I can't be late today!" she cried in despair, pulling out a brush and attempting to pull it through her hair, "I was supposed to be promoted today!"

Draco grabbed her wand out of her bag and handed it to her as the brush became stuck. She quickly waved it above her head, using some wordless spell that all girls seemed to know and that Draco would never find out. Her hair became untangled, the brush falling to the floor with a clatter. "But… but love, I had something planned for today!"

Hermione snorted, shoving all her remaining items back into her bag. "Plans. You. Sure."

The blonde glared at her. "Yes. Plans. Me. Is that so hard to imagine?"

"Yes," Hermione said immediately. She winced and turned to look at him. She smiled cajolingly and placed one hand on the side of his face and the other on his chest. "Oh, listen, it's alright! I don't stay with you for your planning skills, anyway."

Draco huffed indignantly. "Fine. Forget what I had planned. Whatever."

Hermione sighed and turned around, zipping up her bag. "Draco…" She turned when she heard his footsteps, finding him stomping back to the bedroom and slamming the door. She groaned in irritation and marched over to the door. Finding it locked, and discovering herself not motivated enough to retrieve her wand, she pounded on the door. "Draco, don't do this!"

"Go to work!"

"Draco!"

Silence.

"Draco, I don't have time for this!"

Silence.

Hermione screeched in frustration and kicked the door. "Quit being such a pansy!" She kicked it once more before stomping angrily across the living room and grabbing her wand. "Fine! Cry yourself to sleep or something!" With a loud crack, she Apparated to work.

Of course, she never did excel at Apparating while under stress. Once she realized that the reason she couldn't see was because she was in a closet, she flailed blindly for the door, moving awkwardly because her foot was stuck on something.

"Oh for Merlin's sake," the brunette grumbles. Her hands finally found a door knob and she twisted it, leaning heavily on the door. The door flew open and she spilled out into the hallway.

Her robes were all tangled and she struggled to straighten them out while simultaneously trying to remove the bucket from her foot. She groaned and gave up after a few frustrating minutes, standing up and making her way through the halls of the Ministry of Magic. She tried to look as dignified as she possibly could, ignoring the odd looks she was receiving.

Thud. Click. Thud. Click.

Hermione passed a clock and her eyes widened; her pace quickening.

Thudclickthudclickthudclick.

She suddenly tripped, the bucket having sent her off balance. She hit the floor and screeched in aggravation, frantically pulling at the bucket. "I don't even have big feet!" she cried, "Who makes buckets this bloody small?!"

"Miss Granger?" Hermione stopped, looking up to see her boss standing next to her.

She smiled weakly at him. "Oh… hey Mr. Carnell." The brunette quickly stood up, ignoring the raised eyebrow at the noise the bucket made. "Listen, about that promotion-"

Mr. Carnell bristled, pulling himself up to his full height. "It's been given already," he said pompously, "To Miss Parkinson." Now both eyes were raised in amusement. "I'm sorry Miss Granger, but-"

"Pansy?!" Hermione shrieked, "You're joking, right? Head of Magical-Muggle Communications and Cooperation's is a very important position!"

Mr. Carnell crossed his arms. "I'm well aware of that Miss-"

"Pansy can't even spell cooperation!"

"I'm quite sure she-"

"She hates Muggles! Are you completely out of-"

"Do not raise you voice to-"

"DON'T INTERRUPT ME!" Hermione screamed, finally grabbing the attention of every witch, wizard, and magical creature within earshot, "I HAVE A BLEEDING BUCKET ON MY FOOT, MY BOYFRIEND IS ACTING LIKE A PETULANT CHILD, AND YOU HAVE GIVEN MY PROMOTION TO A PREDJUDICE COW!"

The brunette was gesturing wildly, shouting at her boss, and stomping her feet. Well, her bucket, at least. She was determined, this pompous man was going to hear her and understand her and rip that promotion away from Pansy Parkinson and give it to who it rightfully belongs-

Hermione Granger, valedictorian of her class at Hogwarts, stood in shocked disbelief outside of the Ministry of Magic telephone booth. "Fired?" She shook her head, as if to shake the very word from her mind. She began to walk, vaguely aware of the bucket still attached to her foot.

She sat down on a bench when she came to one. "That's it," she whispered to herself, earning her a few curious stares, "I quit magic. I'm done. I'm going to be a Muggle. Again. No more Apparating, just driving and-" A car suddenly rushed by, completely in disregard for the speed limit that was so plainly posted. The car caught a shallow puddle, spraying up a wave of dirty water. Hermione stood up in a fury, drenched in street water. "That's it! I hate Muggles! I'm starting an anti-Muggle campaign!" she cried ridiculously.

"Hermione?" The enraged brunette turned, spotting a dark, familiar face. Blaise Zabini was approximately twenty feet away, staring at her in a bemused fashion. "Hermione, love… you have a bucket on your foot."

Hermione glared dangerously. "Do you want me to murder you?" she asked.

Blaise raised an eyebrow and meandered closer, "Well… have you tried removing the bucket?"

Hermione tilted her head mockingly. "Oh no Blaise, I rather enjoy having a bucket on my foot. I'm thinking of starting a trend."

Blaise finally made it next to her, peering down at the bucket. "Well that won't work. Yellow is totally not your color." Blaise held his hands up in surrender as Hermione reached for her wand. "Okay, but I thought you'd want to know… there's a frog in your bucket."

Hermione looked down at the bucket, screaming shrilly as she saw the rather large frog staring back up at her. She made to go kick her foot out, only to find it filled with water from the car and too heavy to move. "GET IT OFF MY FOOT!" she screamed at her dark skinned friend.

"The bucket or the frog?"

Hermione simply started screaming in response, thoroughly making a spectacle of herself. Blaise jumped in surprise and got down to his knees, reaching into the bucket and drawing out the frog. He pushed it teasingly towards her dace, hastily placing it on the ground when she smacked him in the back of the head. He then rolled up both of his sleeves and reached into the muddy water, wiggling her foot about and finally sliding it out with a pop and a sloshing noise.

Hermione squealed in delight at her freed foot and she twirled in a circle. Blaise stood and she threw her arms around him, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou! She twirled in another circle. "The day is finally looking up-whoa!" Tripping over the yellow bucket that she had just rid herself of, she went sailing off the curb, into the puddle, landing funny on her wrist and clipping her chin on the ground.

Blaise was silent, not wanting to set her off again. She stood slowly, cradling her left wrist to her body, with a large, ugly scrape across her chin, and she turned to face him. They stood there for a moment, until Hermione lurched to the side, a look of surprise on her face, as her heel snapped. Seeing the broken heel seemed to finally unhinge her, for she hung her head and started crying loudly. Blaise seemed horrified and unsure of what to do. He ushered her out of the puddle, awkwardly patting her on the back, which only proved to upset her further.

"Let's, uh, let's get you home, eh?"

"Draco!" Blaise entered the apartment, guiding a sobbing Hermione before him with two firmly planted hands on her shoulders. "Draco, come look who I found," he sang.

Draco peered out of the kitchen curiously. "Is it another mime?" he asked, "He was a funny bugger…" He trailed off at the sight of Hermione. Drenched in water, tilting precariously to the side, and crying ferociously, with Blaise standing awkwardly behind her. "What's this then?"

At that, Hermione only cried harder and, if possible, louder. Blaise jumped in surprise yet again and pushed her gently towards the blonde. "Right then, not the time for me to be sticking around for tea," he said quickly, nodding at Draco, "Cheers, mate." And with a loud crack, Blaise Apparated away.

Draco instantly opened his arms, which Hermione ran in to, burying her face in his chest. He considered that he was doing a good job thus far, as he had managed to not let himself cringe at whatever Hermione was dripping all over the floor and now plastering on to him. The Slytherin rubbed soothing circles on her back until she stopped crying and looked up at him. "This," she began, sniffling, "Has been the worst day ever."

Draco's hands ran up Hermione's arms and to her face, where he thumbed away her tear tracks. He looked unsure, biting his lip, his eyes dancing around her face. "I think I know what could make it better," he said hesitantly.

Hermione sighed and turned away from him, crossing her arms. "Sex is not going to make this day any better," she said stubbornly.

"That's not quite what I was thinking." The brunette turned back around to face him, gasping as she found him down on one knee and looking extremely nervous. "I… well, I was going to do this the wizarding way, but I figured you'd prefer this…" he trailed off, unsure, "And, well, I looked into it, meaning Potter informed me, and it's really nothing I can't do, and it's for you and if you want to do this the Muggle way-" Draco's eyes widened fractionally and he rushed, tripping over his words, "I mean, if you want to do it at all! I'm not going to force you or anything." Draco prattled on, seemingly unaware that he was babbling. Hermione's eyes welled up as she realized what he was trying to get to.

Without warning, Hermione swooped down, capturing Draco in a passionate kiss. Draco fell backwards in shock, bringing Hermione down with him. She broke the kiss and looked down at him. "I'd love to," she whispered.

Draco's eyes lit up. "I haven't asked the question yet," he whispered back.

Hermione smiled and kissed him again. "I figured I'd cut to the chase before you babbled yourself to oblivion and forgot the question."

Draco smiled brightly and rolled them over abruptly, leaning up on his elbows on either side of her body. "Good on you, pet," he said. He looked into her eyes, reveling in the chocolaty brown depths. "I love you, y'know," he said seriously.

Hermione smiled slightly. "Hence the proposal."

Six loud cracks sounded and Hermione and Draco looked to their side incredulously. Harry, Ron, Ginny, Blaise, Fred, and George were all staring at them. "Um, hello," Draco greeted awkwardly.

"You did it, right?" Ginny asked in excitement, "Did you do it?" Fred and George looked equally excited, but Harry and Ron looked glum.

Ron scoffed at his younger sister. "They were obviously just about to have sex, Ginny, that's all." His eyes dulled and he scratched the back of his head. "It worries me that I just said that and felt relieved."

"Don't be ridiculous, Ronnie," Fred said.

"They both still have their clothes on," George piped in.

"As much as I enjoy these little get together," Draco said loudly, regaining the attention to the newly engaged couple, "What the bloody hell are you doing here?"

"Well, apparently, owing everyone money," Ron said in irritation.

"Except for Harry," Blaise pointed out, earning himself a glare from the Boy-Who-Lived himself, "Harry bet that he wouldn't ask for another month."

"Whoa, hold on," Hermione called out, still trapped underneath Draco, "You bet on Draco asking me to marry him?"

"Well, we did. Ronniekins got oddly specific. He said that Malfoy would try to stop you from going to work, you would inadvertently insult him, and he would throw a hissy fit," George said, raising an eyebrow.

"It was an odd bet," Fred added, Ginny nodding in agreement.

Hermione giggled. "Did you all take this bet?" They all nodded, looking smug with themselves. "Hm. Well, you lose." At their taken aback looks, she explained. "That happened this morning."

"Now that you've found out what you wanted, can you all piss off?" Draco asked, "We were sort of in the middle of something."

"Magic or Muggle?"

"Right knee of left?"

"Chocolate or vanilla?" Ron earned himself a noise of irritation from Ginny and identical peculiar looks from Fred and George. "That cake."

"When's the wedding?"

"Leave!" The shouted command from both Draco and Hermione had Harry and Ron immediately Apparating out of these. Blaise paused just long enough to wink at his friend before he too left. Ginny disappeared in a fit of giggles while Fred and George bowed deeply and flashed them identical grins before Hermione and Draco were left alone once more.

Draco sighed irritably and dropped his head to Hermione's shoulder. "Bloody Gryffindors," he muttered.

"Blaise was there, too."

"Bloody Blaise."

"I love you."

Intense gray met warm brown. "Yeah." He nodded. "Hence the acceptance."