The smell hit him as soon as he walked into the Great Hall. He looked around at the tables to see if it was coming from the food on the table, but it wasn't. He carefully sniffed the air; he didn't want to draw attention to himself by looking like an idiot. The smell was coming from… "ugh" he groaned, the Gryffindor table. Despite wanting to find the source of the apple smell he wasn't going over there. He tried to push the thought of the delicious green apple, out of his mind. He tried to forget the way he loved the crunching sound when he bit into it, the way its juice would quench his thirst as he ate it. He squeezed his eyes shut cursing himself for letting himself get excited over a piece of fruit, "get a hold of yourself Draco!" he whispered to himself. Blaise shot him a concerned glance, but Draco told him that he was fine. Grabbing a piece of toast Draco excused himself from the Great Hall.
Once in the hallway, he could still smell the apple. He groaned, looking around to see which bloody Gryffindor it was who smelled like his beloved apples. To his shock and surprise to even him, delight it was the bushy haired know it all, except her hair today wasn't bushy. In fact, her hair was rather lovely; it had a soft wave that cascaded down over her shoulders, pulled back only by a clip. He shook his head; he was annoyed that she of all people smelled like his favorite smell.
"Why do you smell like that?" he shouted at her, causing her to turn suddenly. She frowned at the source of the outburst. "Smell like what Malfoy?"
"Like the an apple you annoying bint. You know it is my favorite scent, and here you are reaking all over the castle spreading the smell of green apple" he walked closer to her, which turned into a mistake the smell was intoxicating.
She raised her eyebrows at him "first of all, how would I know it was your favorite scent? We're not friends remember! Second of all I didn't think the smell of my new shampoo was that strong, Harry and Ron didn't even notice that I changed it."
"Not strong? I could smell it the second I entered the great hall! Your friends are gormless! How could they not notice that you smell different? Like you said, we aren't friends, and I noticed." The conversation was taking a turn that Draco hadn't expected.
"Well, you must have this weird super nose when it comes to apples. Besides my friends aren't gormless. They are…" Hermione paused, Malfoy was right how could her friends not notice her hair being different.
"They are daft and only care about themselves. Sorry to break that to you, however, you are going to need to change your shampoo" Draco said definitely.
"You can't tell me to change my shampoo! I happen to like the smell, and it makes my hair not so bushy. So sorry to break it to you, I'm not changing it!" she crossed her arms, this is a move that Ron and Harry learned that meant her decision was final.
Draco had witnessed this move over the last six years that they were in school he knew what it meant he just didn't care. "You are changing it; I can't be distracted even more by you now that you are smelling like green apples."
Her body slouched for a moment "distracted even more by me? What does that mean?"
Draco stood up straighter "uh… how you think you are so damn perfect with your good grades and being friends with Saint Potter" he hoped that she believed what he was saying.
She didn't.
They stared at each other for what felt like eons until she sighed and said calmly "I apologize that my new shampoo gets you all bothered, but I am not changing it."
Draco glared at her for an extra moment then he too sighed "well then I guess you'll see me hanging around you more often now. That won't bother you will it?" he gave a tiny smirk as a challenge to her.
She gave him a small smirk "not at all. Now I'm off to Charms" she turned to walk down the hallway. Draco grabbed her elbow "we have that together, I'll walk with you."
"You just want to smell my shampoo, you weirdo" she laughed.
"guilty" he chuckled.
As they walked it begun a friendship of two unlikely people.