"Sorry, Mike, I'm just not interested."

"Draco, you can't honestly mean that."

"No, I do. I really do. It's not me, it's you. You're just… not the one I want," Draco said, with a perfected air of seriousness. "You aren't good enough for me." He patted the brunette's shoulder sympathetically and then walked away without looking back.

The blonde met with his longtime friend at the corner.

"Honestly, Draco, you could drive someone to suicide."

"'Mione, it's not my fault the blokes who pursue me are not up to par. You should feel sorry for me; after all, I have to deal with them. Tragic, really."

Hermione shook her head. "I don't know why I am friends with such an egotistical bastard."

"Language, 'Mione." Draco grinned. "It may be true, but don't insult me. You're my friend because who wouldn't want to be friends with me?"

"Why do I even bother?" Hermione muttered, keeping her eyes in front of her as they walked.

"Because you love me," replied Draco. "And because you love me, you're going to help me. I had an epiphany."

"Oh?"

"I have decided I'm no longer going to play this game anymore. I want a boyfriend. I want the Best Boyfriend Ever."

"You practically dated everyone in this neighborhood who is gay, bi, or bi-curious and you didn't get past the two week mark, if even that, with any of them."

"Your point?"

"I'm getting to that." Hermione rolled her eyes. "If you want to find who you are looking for, make a list."

"A list?"

"Yes, a list. As I was saying, you dated everyone who came your way and you couldn't be bothered to get to know any single one of them. If you want a relationship, you have to know what you want." Hermione glanced over her shoulder to make sure Draco was listening.

"And Draco, if a boy who comes your way and does not meet your standards, just say no. Then you won't be breaking all these fragile hopeful hearts. It's a sad thing when the area reeks of depression. Filter your prospects. But Draco, do be careful, remember that perfect people don't exist. Don't set yourself up to end up alone. When I say list I mean-"

"I know what you mean, 'Mione, thanks. You forget though, you are perfect. So, there's hope yet," Draco said as they came to a stop in front of Hermione's house. "I'll see you tomorrow, and bring muscle for the move."

Hermione nodded. "I suppose that you think you are perfect as well."

"Ah, a mind reader too." Draco smiled and kissed Hermione's cheek. "Now go on, it's getting cold."

Hermione laughed and hugged her long time friend. She waved as she walked up the three steps to her house.

Draco waited till she was inside before he turned back in the direction of his own apartment, two blocks away.

Tomorrow he'll be moving into Hermione's house since her roommate, Ginny, the redhead, moved out. He had never gotten along with the girl, and he had celebrated the day when he heard that she would be leaving.

Draco smiled the rest of the way home.

It wasn't until he was ready for bed that he remembered Hermione's idea about making a list. He walked to his desk and was about to grab a scratch pad, but then decided that a list for a future boyfriend warranted something better than the same type of paper he would write his grocery list on. Then he recalled something perfect. He reached on his shelf and pulled down an unused composition book. It was one of those journal type notebooks that people would buy for no real reason other than the idea that you'd use it for something one day, and because it was so darn pretty that you needed it.

Hermione said list, but Draco thought the composition book would be far more efficient to write in. Plus, it was green, his favorite shade of green. A dark green composition book, how perfect and necessary is that?

Draco opened it to the first page.

In his extravagant handwriting, he wrote:

Best Boyfriend Ever

And then he wrote the first thought that came to mind:

1. Perfect

He looked at what he wrote and sighed as he recalled Hermione's words. This was going to be harder than he thought. He crossed out what he had and added a choice word, and traced over it a couple of times.

1. Nearly Perfect

Now that is doable, Draco thought. He turned off the lights and promptly fell asleep.

TBC

ccc

AN: Due to formatting issues, this will be slightly different than what is posted on livejournal/Ao3