Ch. 1 For those without eyes

Hermione was splayed out across her plaid sofa, eating chocolates in her comfiest, if perhaps not her most stylish, outfit. She was wearing a black hoodie, and black sweatpants that were several sizes too big, complete with non-matching bunny slippers. Actually, it made her feel a bit like a ninja (obviously not including the slippers), but had kept this slightly abnormal thought to herself. Her hair was up in a messy bun, and in desperate need of a wash. She took a bite out of one of the chocolates. An exclamation of "Eww, Turkish delight", was heard, and she promptly put the half eaten chocolate back in the box, her hand now searching for the next chocolatey victim.

"Er, Hermione? Don't you think that's a bit disgusting? You couldn't have put it into the bin which is just a few feet away? And no offence, but you're kind of turning into a slob" came the voice of Ginny, one of Hermione's best friends.

"So what if I am? I don't have to impress anyone anymore. No more schmoozing with the 'high society', having to be nice to people who are completely overbearing, constantly saying 'Oh, yes…the muggle', as if it's a dirty word, judging me on my parentage. I can't believe that after all this time, purebloods still hang onto their ridiculous notions. Thank goodness I don't have to put up with that anymore."

"What are you on about? Name three people that said that to you."

"Well, er, they might not have said it out loud exactly, but I know what was going through their minds, and its despicable that they maintain these prejudices!"

"Oh, I see. You suddenly gained psychic abilities at some point in the past six months, yet you only decided to complain about it to me now. Never mind, I can't be bothered to argue over something as trivial as this, which you know only exists in that paranoid section of your brain. What I was going to say was that there's a difference between having a bit of comfort time and turning into the next half ton woman".

"Yeah, well, its nothing in comparison to how Draco looks is it? He's just a blonde version of Eamonn Holmes now, which is completely fine by me".

"Who's Eamonn Holmes?"

"Don't worry about it. Let's just say that he's not the most attractive man in the world".

"Actually, Draco is now the complete opposite".

"What? The last time I saw him, he could rival Free Willy in terms of weight!"

"When was the last time you saw him? Well, he must have been working out a lot because, frankly, he looks good. Actually he looks mega drop dead gorgeous. Excellent specimen of mankind. I just saw him at the coffee shop down the road, if you don't believe me".

Hermione ran out the door, completely forgetting that she was in the outfit labelled as 'Must-Only-Be-Worn-At-Home-When-No-One-Is-Going-To-See-You-And-You-Are-Definitely-Not-Going-Out'. She wanted to see Draco for herself, and couldn't quite take Ginny's word for it that he was once again a 'buff-ting'. Mind and body racing, she headed towards the coffee shop that stood on the corner of the street. It was painted green on the outside, with a comfy décor inside, and she used to spent many an afternoon here. With Draco. She reached the window, and caught a glimpse of the blond hair that she knew so well. There was no mistaking him. She could see that his body was extremely defined now, perhaps more muscled than when they had been together. Not that she had been with him for his body. It occurred to her that it had never been this busy at Express Espresso before. Around the coffee shop, she could see girls giggling, attempting to attract his attention, and he was doing nothing to dissuade them. In fact, he seemed to be encouraging them. Her eyes were drawn back to him once again, and perhaps he had felt her gaze for he made a movement as if to look in her direction. She quickly ducked out of sight and leant against the brick wall of the coffee shop. She hadn't realised her breathing was so out of control. She wiped her sweaty palms on her tracksuit bottoms, only for her panic levels to increase as she became aware that she was still wearing her 'Do-Not-Let-Anyone-With-Eyes-See-You-In-This' outfit, and prayed that he hadn't seen her. She left as quickly as her bunny slippers would allow her, running back to her flat. Hermione opened the door, slightly out of breath, to see that Ginny had now taken residence on the sofa, eating her chocolates.

"So, did you see him then?"

"Oh, god, Ginny. Draco is…he's …there were all these girls there fawning over him, it was disgusting! And well…its not allowed! It goes against all the rules! Ginny, he's prettier than me!

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