It was the annual New Year's Eve party at the Healers Ward of St. Mungo's and Hermione Jean Granger was once again, dateless. The party wasn't even grand or heavily themed and yet she felt sick as she watched her co-workers go all "couple-y" with a date or with one another. It's not that she's against it, no, she just can't understand why she can't have the same kind of fun when she's practically the most hardworking employee in the building!
Well, apparently, my life sucks; she raised a shot of firewhiskey at the two interns who've started snogging in front of her and downed it all in one drink.
Ever since her break-up with the now famous Quidditch player, Ronald Weasley, Hermione never really had been in a long term relationship. It was either the guy was too boring for her liking or he's too preoccupied looking at her chest than at her face. She even had the unfortunate event of dating one of Harry Potter's fan club officers and she knew instantly he was only after her fame and status at the wizarding world. It was a sad story indeed and although Ron still had feelings for her a few years after they've separated, she knew they were better off as friends.
"Well, if it isn't Healer Granger standing all alone by the refreshment table. I see that you have no date?" A man said as he stood at the empty spot next to her. Just by the heavy –yet wonderful—smell of him, she easily recognized who he was.
Drinking another shot, she replied "Well, I see that you have no date as well. Guess your charm seems to fail you more often these days. It must be because of your age."
"That—was harsh and offending, but I'll just pretend I didn't hear that because you look extra pretty tonight."
Hermione snorted and took another drink. This time she took an extra one for the dateless man beside her.
"Thank you" he said with a mocking bow. "So, it seems like Healer Carter from third floor failed to impress you with his abundant knowledge with plants and trees. Mind you, he reminds me a lot of Longbottom."
"Please, Neville is way better that Steve and yes, he wasn't impressive –at all."
"Ah. Was it the length or the girth?"
"The what?" Hermione looked at him confused.
Flashing an amused and teasing smile, the man replied "You know, his magic wand."
"His what? I don't understand. Are we talking about—"she trailed off when it suddenly dawned on her what he meant. She hit him on his arm and said "Ugh! You disgust me! We didn't even—get there."
"Well, if it was me, I'm pretty sure you would've been satisfied." He smirked sexily at her and kept their eye contact as he drank his drink.
"You know what; I don't really understand where you get that enormous confidence of yours. You're no panty-dropper and I'm pretty sure you're magic wand isn't that satisfactory as you claim it to be."
Placing a hand over his heart as if to show he was shocked, the man addressed the annoyed brunette in front of him. "First of all, I don't call it my magic wand. I prefer–power drill. Second, I wouldn't be called the Slytherin Sex-god if I didn't live up to the name, now would I Granger?"
With an exasperated sigh and a roll of her eyes, Hermione replied "Just shut up Malfoy and finish your drink". And then she took another shot of firewhiskey to numb her growing headache.
Draco Malfoy, the heartless bigot who tortured and made her and her friends' life at Hogwarts miserable, was the last person on earth Hermione thought she would strike a friendship with. It started when they were still both interns and being the Gryffindor she was, she gave him a chance to redeem himself. Surprisingly, he didn't fail her and slowly, the Malfoy name began to rise in the wizarding world again. Draco dedicated his life to become a brilliant healer so that he can pay for his previous mistakes and that of his family.
Hermione looked at Draco as they stood side by side at the refreshment table. Sure he was called the Slytherin Sex-god when they were younger, but she never really thought of him in that way. Who am I kidding? I've thought of him as the Slytherin Sex-god countless of ways! Malfoy was the epitome of the bad boy image every girl dreams of and if it weren't for his awful and overly sized ego, she would've given it a thought to actually consider him as a boyfriend. He was smart, outrageously gorgeous and filthy rich. What more could you ask for? He's even probably the only person in the planet who can toss back witty remarks at her whenever they would banter like an old married couple—wait—scratch the married couple part. They're definitely not in that kind of relationship.
"You know it's rude to stare at people Granger." Draco said suddenly that pulled Hermione out her trance. She immediately looked away from him and awkwardly cleared her throat.
"What are you saying? I wasn't staring" she took a new drink from the table and tried her best not to look too nervous.
Chuckling to himself, Draco replied "Whatever you say, Granger, whatever you say. You know, if you're going to lie, might as well—hold on, is that Madison and—and—what's his face?" He pointed at the two interns Hermione saw snogging earlier.
"Harper. They've been at it before you came here to disturb me in my peaceful bubble." She spread out her arms and drew an imaginary bubble around her.
Draco winced when he saw Harper push Madison against the wall. "I reckon they're drunk?"
"They probably are. Those two are at each other's throat ever since they started their internship! Besides, everybody else seems to be tipsy already. Look over there at Senior Hastings." Hermione tilted her head towards a man in his mid-forties talking to plant at one corner of the room.
The blonde laughed heartily beside her and she couldn't help but smile. "Well, I'm not drunk –that I can assure you."
"You'd better be because if you are, this bubble", Hermione drew her imaginary bubble again, "will be a shield charm that will keep you from going anywhere near me."
An awkward silence fell between them and Hermione felt her ears go hot. She turned to look at Draco and was surprised when he moved a bit closer to her. His tall height seemed to intimidate her for a moment.
"You know you don't want that Granger" Draco said in an almost whisper as he brought his face close to hers. "If I remember correctly, we get along pretty well when we're drunk."
A small blush crept at Hermione's cheeks and she instantly walked to the other side of the refreshment table. Laughing, Draco followed after her.
"Are you blushing?" he asked teasingly.
She tried to move away but Draco blocked her this time.
"You are blushing! Merlin's beard, Hermione Granger is blushing for me."
"Will you please stop?" Hermione said annoyingly. "How can I not blush when you keep on reminding me—that?!"
"How can I not when Madison and Harper over there are in the same position we were in 5 years ago?!"
An intern, who was then getting a drink from the table, heard what Draco have just said and she loudly gasped in surprise. Healer Granger and Healer Malfoy were often joked about to have some unresolved sexual tension by the other healers and it was said to be the reason behind their love-hate relationship. Now that she's heard such a revelation, the joke was no longer a joke but a big fat fact.
The two looked at her and she immediately muttered an apology and left.
"Of all interns, it had to be Sweeting. Do you know how much of a gossip she is?" Hermione said defeated as she and Draco looked at Sweeting, the intern, run away from them. She placed a hand on her forehead and sighed heavily.
"Please, Sweeting is not a threat. Besides, what I said was true."
"Fine, but we weren't like that."
Draco brought his face close to Hermione once more and asked, "Are you sure Hermione? Are you really sure?"
And Hermione just gulped as she remembered her first New Year's Eve party with Draco Malfoy.
Hermione walked nervously as she entered the fully decorated function room of St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. Fellow interns, respectable healers and a few of the Senior Staff were already there for it was their New Year's Eve party and was themed Greek Mythology. Everyone was welcome to bring with them a date but since Hermione have long separated with Ron for almost 10 months now, she came to the party alone sporting a Helen of Troy look.
Oh how she hated herself for letting Ginny Weasley talk her into wearing the dress she was in. Yes, it was simple and very Greek in fashion, but it was a bit provoking in her opinion.
"Hermione! Stop whining! You're supposed to be Helen of Troy for Merlin's sake. It's just right that you provoke men's imagination with what you wear. Besides, you did start a war with your beauty."
Hermione closed her eyes in half mortification as she replayed Ginny's words. If she knew any better, her friend had a hidden agenda and that was to have her date some bloke after the party.
Ugh. I should have just stuck to my three headed dog costume. She opened her eyes and went on to enjoy the party.
Time ticked by and Hermione felt herself getting bored. She had talked and mingled for hours and even entertained a few invites on the dance floor. Soon, she found herself nursing a pretty glass of Mojito at one corner while she watched people dance to a familiar muggle song. Suddenly, a tall figure bumped into her and her drink fell on the floor.
"Bloody hell, I'm so sorry." The man apologized and magically cleaned the mess he made.
"Oh, it's alright" Hermione replied. "It's just a drink and besides I didn't get—Wait, I'm sorry, I take that back. It's definitely not alright" she snapped when the man turned out to be no other than Draco Malfoy.
Slightly appalled by her change in attitude, Draco answered back "Well then, I take back my apology as well."
"What? You can't do that. You spilled my drink!"
"It was an accident!"
"It doesn't matter!"
"And why is that? Why should I be an exemption?"
Furious, Hermione just glared at him for she was out of words. If it was another person, she would've surely just let it go. But since Malfoy had been a complete arse to her that week, she couldn't help but be angry. He was an exemption because she wanted him to suffer.
"Oh, I think I know what this is about" Draco said suddenly. He eyed Hermione curiously and laughed out loud when he figured out that his suspicions were correct. "C'mon Granger, don't be mad just because Senior Smith favored me over you! What can I do? I'm brilliant."
Hermione placed her arms across her chest and bitterly replied "Well, she only favored you because you kept on flirting with her." He was about to laugh again but decided not to when she shot him back another glare. "But you know what really pisses me off? It's the fact that you had to rub it to my face every single bloody day this week. And why is that Malfoy? Finally had the chance to beat me at something since we graduated from Hogwarts?"
"No and Yes. No, I wasn't flirting with her –she was flirting with me. And yes, I finally beat you at something because—don't be offended—but you're not really good at charming women."
Catching the hint of humour at his last remark, the brunette rolled her eyes and smiled a little. She can't believe he actually admitted that she's always beaten him.
"Like I would want to be good at that. Fine, I accept your apology –again."
Draco smiled and replied "Now that's settled, let me go get you another drink."
As the night went on and it came closer to midnight, everyone at party started to become really drunk. The dancing got wilder with more skin ship than what is preferable and people just seemed to have a world of their own. The same could be said to Draco and Hermione, who were just by the refreshment table drinking and commenting on other people's costume.
They were laughing at one fellow intern who was dressed up as Cupid.
"Oh Salazar Slytherin, I think—I think I might piss on my pants!" Draco said in between laughs as he held onto the nearby table for support. Hermione was right beside him, clutching her belly and laughing hard at their latest victim. Vincent Posen, also known as Fat Vince, was an overweight intern who happened to wear some sort of diaper costume and a sling full of heart arrows to accompany his heart shaped bow.
"He—he looks like he's ready to pose for—for a Valentine Card!" Hermione replied as the two of them tried to refrain from laughing. After two failed attempts, they were finally able to breathe normally.
"Poor Cupid, too bad he didn't get his charms from you." Draco teased and then drank the remaining contents of his glass before he took a new one.
Confused, Hermione asked "Huh? What do you mean?"
"I mean, you must be dressed up as Aphrodite right? Because you look absolutely stunning."
Instead of feeling embarrassed, the brunette just laughed and corrected him by saying "I believe you are mistaken good sir, I'm not Aphrodite but the one and only, Helen of Troy."
"Ah, the face who launched a thousand ships. Indeed, indeed."
Hermione curtsied and thanked the blonde man for his compliment. "How about you? Who are you supposed to be? Percy Jackson?" and then she laughed at her own joke. Draco, having no idea about the muggle novel Percy Jackson, decided to ignore that bit and went on humouring Helen of Troy.
"Well I'm Eros of course, the god of love-slash-desire. I'm sure Fat Vince made a poor representation of my Roman counterpart, Cupid, but it doesn't matter because I know you'll like my version more." He winked suggestively but only received a laugh in return.
"Please, there's nothing desirable or erotic in the way you look at all."
All of a sudden, Hermione stopped laughing when Draco pushed down the upper portion of his male Greek dress. The material pooled at his waist and revealed a well-toned torso with the perfect set of abs. Under the influence of alcohol, Hermione dropped her drink and touched Draco's abs with interest.
Oh dear Wizard God, what have I done to witness such perfection?
"Perfection? Why, thank you Granger" Draco replied with a smirk. Instantly, Hermione removed her hands when she realized what she has done.
"You—you heard that?"
"Uh-huh"
"Bloody Hell"
Completely mortified at her out of character display, Hermione buried her face in her hands and attempted to run away. Never in her life had she done such a thing and worst, she did it to Malfoy! It was a good thing though that Draco thought it was amusing and he stopped her from leaving. He pulled her hands down at her side and gently lifted up her chin so he can look at her face to face.
"I'm so very deeply sorry, Draco."
"C'mon, you're drunk. You acted on instinct so it's fine."
"How can that be fine? I totally invaded your personal space! I just touched your perfect abs—"
"I appreciate your compliment but it's really nothing to worry about—"
"—and I didn't even ask for permission!—"
"—I don't mind, really—"
"—and look at this mess! I made a mess! My drink is all over the place and I harassed you! I—"
"—you didn't harass me! Would you stop? I said it was fine—"
"—can't believe it! How can it be fine? How can you be fine? I'm sorry, I'm really really so—"
Warm soft lips pressed onto Hermione's and she immediately shut up. To say she was stunned was the biggest understatement to describe her current situation. She stood rooted in her position and stared at the blonde man who just kissed her.
When she didn't move or even utter a single word, Draco started to apologize instead of her.
"I'm so sorry Granger. I didn't mean—"
Hermione moved closer and pressed a finger on his lips to shut him up.
"Do you think you could—um—would you mind—trying that again?"
The surprise in Draco's face was undeniable and yet he complied with Hermione's request. He lowered his face once more and kissed her gently before cupping her face with his hands. Slowly, Hermione ran her hands up on his arms to his shoulders while Draco moved his down to her waist. Several minutes later, the two of them pulled back and awkwardly bid each other farewell.
"You know what, you are so full of yourself" Hermione declared half mortified, half embarrassed. "So what if we snogged that one time? I—"
"That one time? Ha! You must be kidding me if you forgot the New Year's party after that! We were inseparable!"
"Fine, a couple of times then. Are you happy now?"
"Ecstatic. Go on, continue with your excuse" Draco made a gesture with his hands as if he was encouraging the brunette to continue with her ramblings. She was about to explain herself once more but was cut off when he made another comment.
"And also, don't forget that one time when we almost—"he paused and scanned the room before pointing at one corner, "—there. But we were so wasted we couldn't continue". He smirked teasingly at her but was only met by one of her deadly glares.
Hermione took a shot without removing eye contact and spitefully said "Ugh, I hate you"
"You know you don't mean that"
"How can you say that? Why do keep on saying that? Wait—are you using Legilimency on me?" Hermione immediately checked but felt no foreign intrusions in her mind.
Draco just laughed and shook his head to show his amusement. He placed his unfinished drink on the table and placed his hands on the back pocket of his pants.
"Seriously Granger, I don't need to use Legilimency on you just to know whether you hate me or not. It's pretty obvious"
"What's obvious? That you and I hate each other? Ha. Earth to you Malfoy, we've hated each other since Hogwarts" She took another glass of alcohol from the table but Draco stopped her from doing so. Instead, he pulled her out to the terrace where there was no one else but just the two of them.
"What are you doing?" Hermione said as she pulled her arm away from Draco.
"No, what are you doing? I should be the one asking you that! We hate each other? Really? Is that really all I am to you?" The blonde paced in front of her while he ran a hand through his hair. He doesn't exactly know what made him to do it but all he's aware of is that burning feeling in his chest – like he's going to drown or something.
"I—Malfoy, wait—"
"All the coffee breaks we've had, late night dinners, hospital library – what else do I have to do to make you notice it?"
Notice what? Hermione was now really really confused. What is it that she has done to make Draco Malfoy so annoyed? I mean, he was just teasing her earlier, didn't he? All she said was that they hated each other. Of course it was just a joke and she—wait.
"Are you – are you saying that—that you like me?"
Hermione felt her heart skip a beat when Draco's face changed from annoyed to surprised. Hermione felt her heart skip a beat when Draco's face changed from annoyed to surprised. He does like her! Now she feels really stupid for not noticing it - so much for being the brightest witch of her age. All the teasing made sense now and yes, Draco may have an overly sized ego, but that was what makes him, him. Who is she kidding; deep inside Hermione knew that she really likes him too.
Instead of answering back, the blonde turned his back and chose to walk a few steps away. She laughed at his sudden awkwardness.
She laughed at his sudden awkwardness.
"You do like me! C'mon Draco, don't walk away from me" she teased as she walked towards him. He refused to face her but Hermione held onto his arms to stop him from moving away.
"Are you going to stop laughing now?"
Hermione started to laugh again but stopped when she saw Draco roll his eyes.
"Yes, I'm going to stop" she replied with a smile.
"Good"
Before the brunette could even reply, Draco's lips met hers as the folks inside the room started counting down to 10. But Hermione suddenly pulled back and asked, "You're not drunk are you?"
Draco just laughed and replied "Who said I have to be drunk just to kiss you?"
And the two of them started to kiss each other once more as the colourful fireworks were displayed across the night sky.
"Finally! Told you those two fancy each other. Now, let's see if Harper and Madison follow their footsteps", Senior Hastings chuckled and went on to dance with his new green leafy friend.
A re-post for the New Year's!