It had been fifteen minutes.
Hermione Granger was sitting at the window booth, irritably tapping her foot, as she waited for her knuckleheaded boyfriend, Ronald Weasley.
This waiting for Ron thing was not really new, but it was getting frustrating. He was always late. To everything. She didn't know what she'd gotten into with this relationship.
Scratch that. She definitely knew what she would be getting into with him; she'd known him for seven years after all. But it was comfortable…wasn't it? Convenient. Hermione being in a relationship with Ron who was her best friend. Ron's sister was dating Hermione's other best friend, Harry, so it was so convenient.
It was so messed up.
She still remembered the day they had officially become a couple; he'd been considerate for once and asked about her and had gotten her flowers for her birthday and instead of thanking him like a normal person would, she'd jumped him. Luckily for her, he'd admitted to her that he liked her too and thus began their 'whirlwind' romance.
And now two years in, she was regretting it, and he was forgetting it.
The waitress, a petite blonde whose tag read Jeanine came to her table for the second time that evening and asked politely, "Are you ready to order ma'am?"
She sighed and shook her head, "I'm sorry, it's just my…boyfriend, he's late, and I would like to order with him. Thank you."
Jeanine nodded and gave a small sympathetic smile, "Of course ma'am. Please do not hesitate to call me when you would like to order."
It had been thirty minutes now, with no sign of Ron whatsoever.
He was probably busy, she reasoned. He'd recently been recruited for the community soccer team, and they'd been demanding more and more time from him to catch up. He must've forgotten about their date with all the stress. It sounded reasonable, and yet, she knew it didn't excuse his actions. He could've at least set an alarm to remind himself.
But then, who was she kidding, this was Ron. He would probably forget to set the alarm itself. She sighed exasperatedly.
She hated the looks she was getting. It had been forty minutes now, and Jeanine had approached her once more and offered her a milkshake, on the house. She'd been grateful for the server and reminded herself to tip her before she left.
People were shooting her sympathetic looks, and there was only so much of this she could take before she either threw a fit and screamed at them to mind their own business, or broke down crying.
Just when she had had enough with the staring and the commiserative eyes and whispers, she stood up to leave, somebody knocked into her, grabbing onto her shoulder before she fell over.
She blinked off the dizziness and looked up to give whoever it was a piece of her frustrated, tired, and emotional mind, and froze.
He was gorgeous. And he was grinning down at her.
Blond, and almost a foot taller than her, he looked like Adonis. He was wearing a midnight blue suit and was holding flowers: gardenias, from the look of it.
His mouth was moving, she realized. He was saying something.
She shook her head before focusing on what was coming out of that gorgeous mouth.
"Hey, babe, you okay?" he asked loudly.
Babe? What-
"Excu—" she started to reprimand him for the endearment and the bumping into her when he cut her off, again speaking too loud. Almost as if he wanted other people to overhear him.
"Sorry, I'm so late, love. Traffic is absolute bollocks right now. But I did get you these!" He extended the gardenias to her and stepped closer before murmuring under his breath, "Hey, I'm Draco Malfoy. Just go with it, yeah? Whoever didn't bother to show up is a jerk." Then he smiled that award-winning smile again before gently directing her towards her seat. Still slightly puzzled she took the bouquet from him and turned to pull out her chair.
He beat her to it though; in an adorably gentlemanly gesture, he pulled out the chair for her, before settling down on his own. All the while, Hermione remained speechless, not knowing what exactly she wanted to say.
"What—"
"I was watching you for the past twenty minutes and you looked like you needed some company. I'm sorry if I'm not exactly quality material, but, well, it's what you get at moment's notice." He grinned and shrugged. He had a wonderful voice: all deep and smooth without being too heavy. Her brain had obviously short-circuited because the first thing she said was, "You're awfully dressed up for a date you didn't know about till ten minutes ago."
He laughed, a genuine, full-bellied laugh, which had her smiling too. Although she wasn't exactly sure why she was smiling yet; until it suddenly clicked.
This man sitting opposite her was saving her from embarrassment, in an endearingly valiant gesture.
He extended his hand across the table and gently clasped hers. She raised an eyebrow, and he murmured in reply, "Well, me extending my hand for a handshake to introduce myself is probably going to look odd, so this is the best I can do, at the moment."
She nodded and smiled slightly, squeezing his hand lightly before saying, "I'm Hermione. Hermione Granger. Thank you."
"I may say indeed, thou art Hermione. Or rather, thou art she in thy not chiding, for she was as tender as infancy and grace."
Her jaw dropped open. This guy was classy as fuck apparently, and quick. He'd just quoted the Shakespearean play she was named after at her.
"You...are an interesting person, Mr Malfoy."
"In a good way or a bad way?" He shrugged, "Either way, you ARE interested in me." He winked at her.
And he was a genuinely good flirt.
Before she could say anything in response, Jeanine came over to the table, smiling widely, like she'd seen a gold mine.
"What can I get you lovebirds?" she asked, winking at Hermione and narrowing her eyes at Draco Obviously Jeanine was assuming Draco was her boyfriend and judging him for his tardiness.
"Well, since I have upset Hermione, by being so unacceptably late, I think we should let her order."
Plastering on a fake smile that didn't feel all that fake she asked him, "You don't mind me ordering for you, honey?"
His eyes widened slightly before he gave a confident smirk and said, "Go right ahead, sweetheart. You know my favourites anyway."
"That I do. Jeanine, can we have a chicken fettuccine alfredo for me and an escargot a la bourguignonne for Draco? He has quite the interesting taste, you see," she giggled.
Draco's smirk grew wider and he remained silent until Jeanine walked away. Then he leaned forward across the table and said, "You are a right vixen, Miss Granger."
"You don't know the half of it, Mr Malfoy."
They both grinned at each other, falling into easy conversation, talking about their jobs. It turned out that she knew Draco Malfoy. Or at least, knew of him. He was the newest in the long illustrious line of Malfoys, and set to take over the Malfoy Enterprises within the year. Draco had been taking a breather from all the drama that came with the corporate world when he noticed Hermione sitting at the window. He'd waited for ten minutes, waiting for someone to approach and when no one did, and she got up to leave, had seized the opportunity. And saved her from public embarrassment.
"My knight in shining armour!" she sighed dramatically.
"I am at your beck and call, my lady."
"Are you now? Although you might need to change out of that pinstripe blue suit and get into actual armour, you know, to stay in character. No wait, the glare along with your hair, it'll be too much."
He laughed loudly, "You're funny, Hermione. I honestly haven't had so much fun since I was a kid. Between meetings and negotiating companies over brunch, I've never had the time to..."
"Let loose? I know what that feels like. I am actually not like…this, you know. So free, even with Ron—"
As his hand gripped hers and squeezed, her breath caught.
"Uh-uh, we promised not to talk about the arsehole of a boyfriend you have, didn't we, Hermione?"
"We did."
He intertwined his warm, long fingers with hers. Her eyes widened at their joined hands, and she looked up at his face.
She'd never seen such beautiful grey eyes, with blue specks floating in the dark storm clouds, staring at her, right into her soul.
They just stared at each other, lost, in the moment, and each other. It should not have been possible, they'd met just moments ago, and yet, they were both enthralled, with each other, and with the version of themselves, they became with each other.
She'd never felt like this, never, even with Ron. Speaking of Ron.
Hermione was the first to break out of the stare. She blushed fiercely and gently pulled her hand away, resuming eating. Realizing what he'd done, Draco moved back in his chair, slightly pink in the face himself.
They both started, "So..."
She let out a light giggle that was completely uncharacteristic of her before gesturing for him to continue.
"So, you fancy yourself some dessert?"
She shrugged, "I do have a sweet tooth."
"And what are you craving today, my lady?" he asked, smiling lightly.
"Brownie and ice cream?" she suggested.
"That is so generic. It's like asking for pepperoni whenever you buy pizza," he commented, leaning back in his chair. His jacket opened wider, revealing a neatly pressed white shirt, which she could see through. The only thing going through her mind was something about very fine lines.
Struggling to gather her composure, she retorted, "You asked me. What do you suggest then?"
"Let's try blueberry cheesecake with lemon gelato."
"Mmmm. Sounds scrumptious, Let's."
they ordered and then talked a little more until their dessert arrived. He was really intelligent, she realized.
"You're a business consultant working for the government. You're intelligent and hardworking and, honestly, from what you have described, you're not exploiting your true potential nor are you receiving due credit for what you have contributed. You are destined for great things Miss Granger," Draco said, smiling wide when she blushed.
Hermione shyly tucked a stray curl behind her ear, "Thank you; it means a lot. But, I don't know how long I'll be working. In fact, Ron, he doesn't exactly approve—"
"I may sound rude for cutting in and for saying what I am about to say, so forgive me beforehand. Fuck him. From what I've seen of his…behaviour, I can tell you one thing Hermione, he doesn't deserve you. And anyway, no matter how good or perfect a person is, you don't sacrifice your dreams for them."
Hermione should have been mad at him, but she wasn't. He was right, wasn't he? Her life, it wasn't all about Ron. It was about her too. She had to think about herself. For herself.
Draco gently placed his hand over hers, "I don't think I need to convince you, and I know you are intelligent enough to understand your worth. However, before you realize it and capitalize on it, I would like to."
Her brows furrowed in confusion, "I'm sorry, I don't understand."
"Work for me, as my financial consultant. I can pay you ten times what you're getting now, but better than that, I can provide you with better resources and challenges for you to test your expertise and exercise your skill set, which I know is what you want."
Hermione was dumbfounded. Did he just ask her to work for him? The Draco Malfoy? At Malfoy Enterprises?
"I—"
"Don't rush, take your time and think about it. Ah, here's dessert."
Jeanine came back, with their blueberry cheesecake and lemon gelato. Only one plate? Were they going to share? That was rather intimate.
"We—"
"Have to keep up appearances, don't we?"
"You keep interrupting me," she frowned slightly.
"Call it being in sync." He winked again.
She smiled a little at his flirtation. Her emotions were still all over the place, and she shook her head, trying to clear it. They shared the cheesecake, which he insisted on feeding her.
Hermione was blushing like mad now.
Being a practical person, Hermione knew what she was feeling. She was attracted to Draco. She also knew it was wrong, she still had a boyfriend after all. But that didn't stop her from feeling the way she was.
After finishing dessert, they got up to leave. Draco insisted on paying for their meal, promising her that she could pay 'next time'. They were walking down the street, not talking, but Hermione felt oddly comfortable in the silence.
She kept comparing him to Ron, and obviously, Draco was coming out on top with each comparison. It probably wasn't fair of her, but she'd had an emotional evening. Draco was sweet, charming, funny, and kind, especially considering that he swooped in to save her tonight.
And that job offer, what was that? Did he mean it?
She had decided. Maybe she should take a chance.
"Draco…"
He looked up questioningly.
"About that job offer, were you—"
"Serious about it? I was. There will be a few kinks to work out, what with introducing you into the company so suddenly, but, we'll figure it out. That is if you are interested. I don't want to talk out of turn—"
"You're not, Draco. I…I would like to accept."
"You will?"
He looked so astonished it was adorable. She bit her lip trying to hold in her grin. .
"I would like the job. It sounds like a wonderful opportunity."
"That's great! Oh my god, I can't believe—"
She laughed openly now, her happiness breaking through. He started laughing too.
"We need to celebrate, let's get a drink?"
Any other time, Hermione would have declined politely. This time, she didn't. They both walked to the Mayflower Pub, down the street from the restaurant they were just at.
They sat down at the bar and ordered. The barman placed two whiskeys in front of them.
They tried to talk but the loud boisterous yelling of a group of men next to them drowned out their conversation.
Draco placed a hand on her arm and gently pulled her close before speaking in her ear, "Maybe we should go somewhere quieter?"
Hermione simply nodded and gestured for him to follow her. She led him to the back of the bar, looking for an empty booth.
Unfortunately, they were all occupied. Hermione's eyes narrowed when she spotted a redheaded man and a blonde, snogging the lights out of each other.
She was about to turn back and give them their privacy, when she realized that she recognized the redhead. How could she not? It was the same red hair she saw every morning: Ron.
She froze, she didn't quite know what she was going to do, before her mouth was forming the words, "Ron?"
Ron jerked his head back, from the blonde and stared at Hermione, his eyes wide and slightly scared,"'Mione? Wh-What are you—"
"YOU CHEAT!"
Draco caught up to her, "Hermione, are you—"
"YOU FUCKING ARSEHOLE!"
Her throat clogged up. She couldn't stay there any longer, and she ran out of the bar, past Draco.
She caught herself outside around the corner from the pub, crying too hard to figure out where she was. She leaned against the brick wall behind her and slid down until she was sitting. How could Ron do this to her? Two years of relationship down the drain, just like that. She knew she was probably in the wrong herself, having enjoyed herself with Draco the whole evening and admitting, to herself, that she was attracted to him. But, at least, that had been in her head. What Ron had done, was doing, it was betrayal. Betrayal that burnt in her chest.
He was supposed to be her friend. Her best friend. Why would he do this? She held the back of her hand to her mouth in an attempt to keep her sobs from spilling forth.
She didn't know how long she sat there, just crying her heart out onto the pavement.
She was wiping her tears, deciding whether to get up and go punch that...that arsehole or just run all the way home, when she felt an arm on her shoulder.
Draco. In all the drama, she'd almost forgotten about him. She leaned into his side, sniffling quietly.
"Its alright, Hermione, cry it all out."
Burrowing deeper into his side, he smelled nice, homely, even, she shook her head and mumbled, "Completely tapped out."
He rubbed her back silently for a few more minutes, lost in thought. She slowly pulled back, rubbing her eyes.
"Come on, Hermione, let's get you home."
She frantically shook her head, still looking at the ground, "No. I don't want to see him. I'll go to Harry or..or Luna."
"Why don't you come with me?" he blurted out suddenly.
"What?"
"Come with me. I mean, to my apartment. I have a guest room and everything, and you can stay there as long you like—"
"I don't want t-to impose."
"You're not. Believe me, you'll not be imposing. I live alone anyway and though I met you just three hours ago, everything seems so familiar, you know? Like I belong here. I know I sound creepy, and it's probably the most horrible time to be saying this but—"
She didn't know what came over her. Maybe it was because she was feeling so broken and Draco was being so sweet to her, being everything she needed, or maybe because everything he said, it all hit her somewhere deep within her, or maybe he smelt so familiar, so much like what home felt, should feel like, that she couldn't think anymore.
She leaned forward and kissed him.
For the first few seconds he didn't respond, his lips stiff and cold against hers and the reality of the situation sunk in. She pulled back mortified, the apology ready on her tongue.
"I'm so sorry, I don't—"
He pulled her close, impossibly close and cupped her cheek gently. She closed her eyes and leaned into his hand. Home.
She thought he was going to kiss her when he whispered, "Hermione, are you sure? You've just—"
"I'm sure. God, I'm sure. I think—" her voice dropped lower, and he wouldn't have been able to hear her if he hadn't been so close, "I think I have always been waiting for you."
Draco needed no more convincing. He kissed her hard, molding his lips, perfectly, with hers.
Somewhere in her brain she felt a jigsaw piece falling into place, like something broken finally fixing itself.
He pulled back, eyes still closed, smiling widely, said, "I am so glad you waited that long before deciding to leave."
"What could I do, you were worth the wait."