Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter series or the characters, all credit goes to JK Rowling
Summary: What happens if, hypothetically speaking, I buy this book for myself expecting to read a good book with an equally good plot twist but when I reach said plot twist I read it with disappointment and all that excitement I built up within myself slowly drains because you built up the plot twist too much?" She asked playfully with a small smirk. MUGGLE AU featuring Draco as a bookseller and Hermione as a customer.
She was here again. He tried not to notice but she always was here. In this bookshop. Every Saturday. At exactly ten o'clock in the morning. As he stood by bookshelves, stacking books his mind went back to the day he first saw her, when she came into the bookshop for the first time, her bushy brown hair barely constrained in the bobble she tied at the top of her head, he could see it from the corner of his eye. He thinks that's what intrigued him from the beginning, the fact that everything about her was so pristine and neat from her clothes to the way she held herself, graceful and high, but her hair was always so wild and messy, no matter how much she tried to tame it it would seem.
He had been working in this bookshop for a year now, needing the money so that he could buy a new car because no matter how many times he went to the gym and preached about being fit and healthy, he seriously hated walking to places far away. Now, however, it wasn't about money, it was about her. He loved seeing her in the bookshop, her face portraying interest over the books as she focused all her attention on the blurbs. He hadn't seen anyone as fascinated in books as she was.
As he put the last book on the bookshelf he heard a voice call out softly.
"Excuse me?"
He turned to discover that the voice was hers, she had a shy smile on her face as she approached him and he felt his heart rise a bit. "Hi, I was just wondering... I'm trying to look for a book for my friend,it's her birthday soon but I have no idea what type of book to get her, we have different taste you see." She gave a nervous smile "I was hoping you could recommend a book for me please?" She stppf awkwardly, a small smile on her face and her eyes crinkled slightly in what he assumed was nervousness. He guessed that she hated approaching people she didn't know.
He smiled assuredly, in the hope that he could ease the nervousness and awkwardness out of her. "Of course" He said. "What type of books does your friend like?"
"Well drama, horror and thriller, them types of genres really. I'd say something like... The picture of Dorian Gray or The Lovely Bones" She replied as they walked around the bookshop.
"Ah, The Picture of Dorian Gray, I've read the book about... three, four times." He said as he guided her to a section of the bookshop labelled 'Horrors and Thrillers'
"It is a good book I agree, I loved the ending. I thought it was a bit obvious that Dorian would die if he stabbed the portrait but I didn't expect him to turn into an old man when he died! The process of him transforming into soulless monster was amazing too!" She gushed, her eyes bright and wide with excitement and he felt himself smile at her passion for books.
"I agree, I guess that the story really tells the reader that beauty can also be ugly and that perfection can be imperfection. That even people who are perfect or beautiful can also have flaws and an ugliness within, I suppose it also says that the heart is the real beauty, because without it, Dorian became crazed and tainted with madness" He looked at the books carefully, oblivious to the woman's smile as she gazed at him. He pulled out a book from the bookshelf. "Carrie by Stephen King, would your friend like that?"
"She's already read and watched it, I'd rather buy her a book that she's never read before." She replied, also browsing the books interestedly.
He reached up to grab a book from the top shelf. "How about this?" He asked, showing her the book. "Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk. It's really good, they also made a film out of it" He said helpfully.
She gazed at the book thoughtfully, then turned it to read the blurb out loud. "'Every weekend, in basements and parking lots across the country, young men with good white-collar jobs and absent fathers take off their shoes and shirts and fight each other barehanded for as long as they have to. Then they go back to those jobs with blackened eyes and loosened teeth and the sense that they can handle anything.'" She scrunched up her nose and looked at the book, unsure. "I don't know... It doesn't sound very good" she said apologetically.
"Oh it's good trust me, has everything you need inside. Violence, drugs, insomniacs" He smiled cheekily and she laughs. "Seriously though, it's so much more better than it sounds. It's really complex, messed up and quite intriguing. With a plot twist too, you can't get anything better than that!" He nodded wisely.
She laughed again, "I still don't know, is it an obvious plot twist? I don't want to give her a book that has an obvious twist, it does cause a major let down" she spread her arms out a little to emphasis the word major.
"Oh it's a very discreet journey towards the twist, I myself didn't expect it, it really shocks you as well because you kinda realise how obvious the twist is, the author puts these really subtle hits to show what the twist is but you still never realise it." He grinned.
"Ooh, well you've built the twist up too much. What happens if, hypothetically speaking, I buy this book for myself expecting to read a good book with an equally good plot twist but when I reach said plot twist I read it with disappointment and all that excitement I built up within myself slowly drains because you built up the plot twist too much?" She asked playfully with a small smirk.
He grinned at her and decided to play along, loving the fact that she was just as enjoyable, if not more, as he hoped she would be. "Well then I, hypothetically speaking of course, would apologise sincerely from the bottom of my heart."
She laughed and gave a big grin, enjoying this interaction as much as he did. "Well I think I'll buy the book and read it myself and then decide on whether or not I'll give this book to my friend for her birthday, depending of course on whether the twist and the whole contents of the book of course is as good as you say it is." She said primly and walked to the counter.
"And if it isn't as good as I say it is?" He asked, following her.
She turned her head to him, one eyebrow arched. "Well you can grovel" she said mock pompously.
He laughed and went to the counter, as she paid him for the book she said "Thank you for the help..." she trailed off.
"Draco" He finished her sentence for her. "Draco Malfoy. And you?"
She smiled prettily at him. "Hermione Granger."
A/N: Although this isn't the first fanfiction I've written, I really feel like this is a new start for writing for me, so it really would mean a lot to me if you could review this story please? This was intended to be a series of one-shots between Hermione and Draco ranging from different types of AUs such as a dystopian world and Hermione being in slytherin and Draco being in Gryffindor. I'm still not opposed to that idea so if anyone has any types of oneshots they'd like to read just message me or write a review please! :)
I didn't want to write either of their names in the fanfiction until they introduced each other, at first I didn't know why, I guess it would be slightly awkward for me if I kept referring to Draco as Draco, especially since it was kind of in his P.O.V I suppose in a way it make sit more personal if the names weren't mentioned? Unless that sounds really weird I don't know, the reason Hermione's name wasn't mentioned was because Draco didn't know her name until the end as I mentioned before. I also didn't want to say what the plot twist of fight club is in case people who read this story were interested in watching/reading it and then I go and spoil it, which really isn't fair at all.
Also if you didn't guess already, the friend of Hermione's was Ginny.