Prompt: Draco and Hermione go back to Hogwarts for their 8th year. Both stay for the holidays. They end up playing a game together. Include "I told you so."
Disclaimer: Of course, I don't own Harry Potter, I'm just playing with JKR's amazing creations.
"Granger," said a voice from the portrait-hole entrance, a voice Hermione would recognize anywhere. "Granger," he repeated.
Sighing, she finally looked up from her game of scrabble. "What do you want, Malfoy?"
In the portrait-hole, flung wide open, stood Malfoy. A year earlier, even six months earlier, she would've been enraged, seeing a Slytherin, Draco Malfoy, of all Slytherins, standing in the portrait-hole entrance of the Gryffindor common room.
He stepped into the room, the portrait closing softly behind him. "I have nothing to do."
Striding over to the armchair she was sitting in, he leaned on the armrest. "I never thought Hogwarts would be so boring when it's empty. Everybody's gone home for the holidays." He sighed dramatically. "Except you and me, Granger. We're the only ones left."
"If I'm correct, there are two Hufflepuffs and three Ravenclaws staying as well," replied Hermione, turning back to her scrabble game. "I thought an only-child was supposed to be good at amusing himself."
"I always had a bunch of house elves to play with, and some of Father's or Mother's friends were always there, usually with their children," said Malfoy, standing up.
"If you say so." Hermione shrugged, still focusing on her scrabble. "'C', 'M', 'A'," she mumbled, shifting the tiles around with one finger.
Malfoy leaned over the back of the armchair, coming uncomfortably close. Hermione froze, muscles tensing. Remnants of the war.
"Sorry, sorry," muttered Malfoy. He came around the side of the armchair. Picking up the three tiles Hermione had been mulling over, he arranged them quickly around an 'E', spelling 'camel'.
Hermione grumbled under her breath, a bit annoyed at Malfoy's interference. "Don't play with my tiles. Get your own." But she left 'camel' where it was.
"Is that an invitation to play, Miss Granger?" said Malfoy.
"It's not like you have anything better to do, do you?"
"I have plenty of things to do," said Malfoy, mock outraged.
"Of course." Hermione humoured him. "If you want to play, this is the muggle version."
"I don't know that there's a muggle and wizard version of scrabble," said Malfoy.
"Are spells allowed in scrabble?" asked Hermione, determined to prove him wrong.
"If they're in any of the Standard Books of Spells, or you can perform them when you're challenged."
"Because a muggle version would have spells," said Hermione sarcastically. "I told you so."
Malfoy pulled up another chair, and sat down across from Hermione, ignoring her last comment.
"Are we going to play?" he asked instead.
Hermione handed him the black cloth bag of scrabble tiles. "Do you want a rack?"
"Yes." He picked out nine tiles, and set them on the rack Hermione had just given him.
He looked around the board, and finally set down a few tiles.
"Would a muggle know that?" asked Hermione, when Malfoy set down 'snitch'.
He frowned, and then sighed annoyedly. He took back the tiles. "We both know what a snitch is, though."
"Most muggles doesn't know what a snitch is, so we aren't going to use it."
"I did not sign up for 'pretend to be a muggle'," grumbled Malfoy.
"I don't need you to play, you can just leave," said Hermione, placing down her tiles.
Malfoy ignored her again. He looked closely from the board to his rack and back again. Finally he set down two tiles next to an 'F'.
'Fin'
A/N: I think there is definitely a bit of... *waves hands vaguely* flirtiness going on between the two... yup, I have now made 'flirtiness' a word - though autocorrect disagrees with me. I do love a bit of dramione.
