PERFECT IMPERFECTIONS

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the Harry Potter universe, even though I dream of it being mine every night and probably will for the rest of my days.

Now that we've got all that cleared up… on to the story-…

….

'Salazar save me, I think I'm in love.'

Hermione sighed morosely as her lap was unceremoniously occupied by a very male blond head that belonged to her former classmate, childhood nemesis and now a drastically reformed Unspeakable partner – Draco Malfoy.

'That's lovely, Draco, but I would be much happier if you wouldn't violate my personal bubble and remove yourself from my person.'

Said blond lifted his blond head from where it lay cradled into her lap and fixed her with a wounded look. 'I tell you I am in love and that's all you have to say to me? You do know that I've just endured a life-changing realization, the likes of which I may never recover from, and my ickle heart is likely to be broken into a billion little bleeding pieces, don't you? And you think that's lovely. You're cruel, Granger, I hope you know that. You wound me with your lack of concern.'

Hermione reluctantly put down her very gripping crime thriller novel down and turned her undivided attention to the snarky blond who was peering sulkily up at her.

'Oh, alright, fine! Tell me all about this lovely girl of yours.'

With a very satisfied smirk, Draco then proceeded to chew her ears out with a rather tiresome list of all the dazzling qualities of his mystery woman… how she was the most brilliant, stunning, gorgeously graceful woman there ever was to inhabit the earth and how he could never be able to call her his own because she was just so unattainable… all punctuated with a nauseatingly dreamy look in those stormy grey eyes of his. Hermione nodded along, pretending she heard everything he was saying, not really bothered with his lady. She knew that if the woman managed to get this sort of a reaction from Draco Malfoy, bad boy extraordinaire, then she wasn't really worth it. He would get over her soon enough once the novelty of her 'beyond your reach' characteristic had been accomplished and tossed aside.

She was brought out of her reverie when his Malfoy family ring became painfully entangled in her curly tresses, the oblivious blond still continuing to gesticulate his arms wildly to further prove his point. Her muffled 'ow' bringing him to his senses, which might not have been all that benefitting, given the way he cheekily yanked his arm free with a victorious cry, pulling the ring free and taking with it a few mutilated strands of hair. To his credit, he did look extremely sheepish at her pained expression and with a murmured half-arsed apology after she stood up, he helpfully attempted to smooth out the wrinkles in her skirt until she swatted his arms away.

'Anyway, I've decided to woo the lucky lady and that's where you come in, Granger.'

'Pardon?' she looked adorably confused, her eyebrows creasing together and her little button nose wrinkling a bit to further highlight the small smattering of freckles sprinkled over her nose and cheeks.

'I need your help. You know, because I'm out of practice and all.'

'Draco…' Hermione sighed, retrieving her novel, shrugging on her favourite coat and fidgeting with her handbag, not daring to meet his eyes, knowing she would be completely lost if she caught sight of the genuine smile full of trust he seemed to wear only for her. 'Are you sure I'm supposed to help you? Don't you want to go to someone more suitable to handle this type of situation… Blaise, maybe?'

Draco snorted dismissively. 'Of course, you're the perfect one to help me. Blaise is great with the ladies, I know, but he is not a clever and resourceful woman, last time I checked. I'd say that give you a rather large advantage, don't you?'

Hermione took a deep, fortifying breath and was preparing to deny him and stand her ground against his impossibly irresistible persona when the little bugger dropped the bombshell. The winning card he always played to get his way and that had the uncanny capacity to turn her into a mushy puddle of goo.

'Besides, after everything that has happened, you're sort of the only real friend I've got here and if it wasn't for you, then…'

She felt him shrug beside her, his unspoken 'I would be very alone' hanging like a looming storm above her head. She turned to catch his wide, earnest grey gaze that pleaded with her ever so softly and the sad sort of smile that pulled at the corners of his mouth and she let out a defeated sigh. Only the way Draco beamed told her she'd done the right thing.

She answered his rare, unguarded smile with one of her own, as she cleared away the remnants of her lunch with a quick banishing spell and began to walk out of the library they spent almost all of their lunch breaks in, pausing only to throw a pointed look at him when she realised he hadn't moved from his place.

'Lead the way, Romeo.'

Draco bounced up to her side, throwing an arm around her shoulder and squeezing affectionately. He led her through the crowds and into the small café just around the corner which was one of their very frequent haunts. Once inside, his face took on a pinched sort of look that she'd always mistaken for arrogance, but in reality, was a mask he put on to hide his true feelings. This knowledge had been hard earned, through weeks of working together in the Department of Mysteries, having to stay up late into the night, more often than not. While he had been extremely standoffish in the beginning, she'd slowly, but surely managed to break through the hard layers of his armour.

The war had been taxing on everyone, no matter which side they'd fought for, and Draco hadn't been immune to it. They'd shared shockingly personal stories during those late hours and their indifference had given way to a tentative friendship before solidifying into a deep bond of something characterised by respect, admiration and devoted trust. Hermione could now honestly call Draco one of her closest friends, given the amount of time they spent in each other's company, occasionally accompanied by Harry and Ron. As for Draco, Hermione was truly the only closest friend with whom he could be himself and not worry about how he was portraying the image of Malfoys or Slytherins or any of that nonsense.

Steering Hermione through the café, he gave her a sharp but subtle pinch and nodded towards the buxom blonde standing behind the cash register, a bored expression adorning her face. Hermione bit back a groan. Leave it to Draco to fall for that particular witch.

Astoria Greengrass. She was the epitome of a spoiled pureblood princess. With her clichéd attractive appearance of sleek blond hair, bright blue eyes, full pouting lips and curvaceous body coupled with a full bank account, she was picture perfect twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. A union with a Greengrass would mean an immediate ascension into the lifestyle he'd had to abandon, consisting of huge galleons to throw around, regal balls and parties and tasteful designer garments - a return to glory, if you will.

The very thought made Hermione sick.

Hermione smoothly slid into one of the booths at the back of the café that had a brilliant view of Draco's current romantic interest while also being a sort of private enclosure, ensuring no one would overhear them. Still, she cast a non-verbal Muffliato, not wanting to take a chance.

She had seen their interactions before, which usually consisted of him giving her a firm, almost cold, nod and she reacting with a barely acknowledging gesture, her eyes skimming over the heads of the other males that frequented the place. That day was no different.

Draco let out a little wistful sigh, audible only to Hermione, and she turned to catch the glazed, star-struck expression on the pointy, chiselled face she knew since she had been eleven.

'That went well.' She pointed out drily, at which Draco glowered.

'Shut it.'

'Have you ever even spoken to her before?' Hermione questioned, looking dubiously at him.

'Yes, I have!' Draco bit out defensively. 'She's the younger sister of Daphne Greengrass and all the Slytherin blokes used to tease and hex her for fun.'

Hermione raised a sardonic eyebrow at him. 'Right… and have you spoken to her since school?'

'Not yet.' He crossed his arms defensively over his chest at her disbelieving smirk. 'I'm working on it and besides, I told you I needed your help, didn't I?'

'Yes, and I agreed. But really, Draco? Astoria Greengrass? Could you have chosen anyone more…?'

'Amazing, brilliant, lovely?'

'Self-centred?'

Draco scowled at that and tightened his arms across his chest, but wisely chose to keep his mouth shut, after all, it wouldn't do to anger the one person who could help him in this case, even though he wanted so much to tell Hermione that she was wrong, that Astoria was the best person to suitably match him. Never let it be said that he isn't a true Slytherin.

'Forget it, Draco,' Hermione waved her arm about dismissively. 'I said I'll help you and I will. Just give me until tomorrow to come up with a game plan.'

Draco's face brightened as he leaned forward and planted a brief kiss on her temple before moving to his side of the table. Hermione surreptitiously blinked away the stinging in her eyes, cleared her clogged throat, pushed down the swelling in her heart and buried her feelings into the deep recesses of her heart.

….

'Are you sure about this?'

'Positive.'

'No, really. Are you sure you're sure about this plan of yours?'

'Why, Draco, are you doubting my ability to come up with a legitimate plan?'

Ever the Slytherin, Draco valued his skin far too much and settled for biting back the sharp retort that had come up to his tongue and shook his head at the witch seated before him.

The next day had found them seated in the same spot as the previous afternoon, as Hermione filled him in on her master plan that had Draco doubting her sanity with each word she spoke, judging by the borderline horrified expression he sported.

Hermione sighed impatiently and quickly snatched Draco's face with her hands in a firm grip, bringing their faces close together, locking her eyes onto his. The boy, well, man really, was so shocked by the positions her actions brought them into, that he promptly shut his mouth and stared gob-smacked at her.

'Draco?'

'Yes?' when normally, Draco's squeaky voice would have had her in a mirth induced hysteria, today, all she could think about was how stormy his eyes looked as she marvelled at the flecks of silver that swirled in his orbs.

'You're acting like a right ponce. You know that right?' She cut off his indignant reply with a 'Get off your arse, go over there and treat her like she is the scum at the bottom of your shoe. All you need to do is channelize your old Hogwarts persona and do something the old Draco would have had no trouble doing.'

'Yeah, well, the old Draco would never have thought to do this, but it doesn't mean it isn't worth doing.' He muttered the last bit under his breath, throwing her a strange look from beneath his fringe, before he continued loud enough for her to clearly hear him. 'Right, well then, wish me luck.'

'Go get 'em, tiger!' Hermione whispered as she nudged him in the direction of the blonde who was totally oblivious to Draco's existence, making sure that she wouldn't miss even a little of the action that would soon take place.

…

'Well, I reckon it's safe to say that you've got her attention now, Draco.'

Draco grinned cheekily as he stole a handful of French fries from Hermione's plate. 'That I have. Although, I'm not entirely convinced I've got it in the positive way. For all I know, she could bloody hate my guts and wish me dead. I did humiliate her thoroughly in here, didn't I? '

'Although, I have to admit, I did enjoy your 'I never forget anybody, but in your case, I'll be glad to make an exception, Greengrasss'.' Hermione stifled a giggle at this, before turning serious once again. 'Don't you trust me at all, Draco?'

'You know I do, Granger.' Draco squeezed her hand in reassurance. 'Strange, isn't it?'

Hermione hummed in agreement. She did know. If someone had gone up to the sixteen year old Hermione and told her that one day she would consider Draco Malfoy as one of her closest friends and that he, in turn, would trust her completely, she would more likely have dragged the person to St. Mungo's herself.

She was abruptly brought out of her reverie by a very familiar mockingly pained groan from Draco which could mean only one thing. An excited squeal exited her lips as she enthusiastically waved over the two figures that had just entered the café, pulling their coats tighter around themselves. She launched herself at them once they were in hugging distance and squeezed them tight enough that their faces turned purple owing to the lack of oxygen to their lungs. Once they were free from her embrace, they responded in kind, greeting her eagerly by lifting her up in tight hugs and ruffling her hair fondly. Once she was back down on her two feet, she plonked herself beside Draco as the two males seated themselves across from them, nodding tersely at the blond.

'Potter, Weasley.' Draco acknowledged them with stiff nods as Hermione rolled her eyes beside him. The three wizards liked to pretend that they were merely tolerating each other for her sake, but the truth was that once they'd gotten past their petty house rivalry and other insignificant grievances a few years ago, they made a pretty solid team, having a lot of things in common, and often liked to gang up on her to suit their preferences. Like choosing to go to a Quidditch match as opposed to her suggestion of a museum. They were really more closer than any of them would care to admit. She smiled slightly at the sizing up of each other that they were doing before Draco broke the silence with one of his snarky comments.

'Leave it to the Witless Wonders to gate crash what would have been a very pleasant lunch. Couldn't you have come some other day? Say maybe on the 30th of February next year?'

Choosing to ignore the petulant male who was squished in close to Hermione's side, Harry turned to face her expectantly. 'So, 'Mione, what has been going on with you? I hope we haven't interrupted something.' Harry eyed the two of them with a suggestive look that had Hermione's cheeks reddening to an alarming shade.

Draco shot the raven-haired male a dark and brooding look and opened his mouth to retort nastily but was cut off by Hermione. 'Of course not, Harry. We were just playing matchmaker. Okay, I was playing matchmaker.'

'For yourselves?' Questioned Ron, as he muttered 'about time too' just enough for Harry and Draco to hear, the former of which snickered and the latter turned a faint pink.

Hermione raised a questioning eyebrow at Ron, as she said with an air of teasing mystery, 'Not ours, Ronald, Draco's. Draco fancies someone who is in this very place at the moment.'

'Granger, can we not do this?' Draco, if possible, frowned harder, and was promptly ignored by the bushy-haired brunette beside him.

Ron choked on the butter beer that had just arrived while Harry's green eyes widened behind his wire-rimmed glasses.

'Honestly, Granger, did you have to-'

'Wait! Malfoy, you went to Hermione for love advice? Has hell frozen over or something and nobody bothered to tell me?' Ron asked incredulously.

Draco started to shake his head and reply but Hermione cut across him as she stiffened in her seat. 'And what, pray tell, Ronald, is so unbelievable that Draco came to me for help?'

'Well, Hermione, you're just… you.' He ended lamely before taking a deep breath and leaning across the table to look closely into her eyes as he spoke with a mild and gentle tone one would use to disclose something to a dim-witted child. 'I mean, when was the last time you went on a date? Or even met a guy, really. You're not like other girls, Hermione, no offense. You're not very approachable. The Ministry's Annual Winter Ball is coming up and do you mean to tell me that you have a date for it? Do you see what I'm getting at, 'Mione?'

Hermione's left eye twitched with suppressed rage that she managed to get into control. 'No, Ronald, I'm afraid I don't see what you're getting at. Do elaborate.'

'Um, I…I mean, well…' Ron looked helplessly at Harry and Draco, who had averted their eyes and were determinedly avoiding looking at either Ron or Hermione. Draco deigned enough to mutter a 'smooth, Weasel' under his breath.

'So, quintessentially, you're saying that I'm some genderless, hermaphrodite automaton, is that it? Hermione's calm, cool tone of voice was betrayed by the bright flush of her cheeks and flaring of her nose.

Ron's brow furrowed in bewilderment as he tried to ascertain the meaning of her sentence. Oblivious to Harry and Draco's warning glances, Ron continued. 'What's a otto-ma-tun, 'Mione?'

Hermione, however, chose to ignore Ron's momentary lapse in judgement, as her eyes blazed with a promise of proving him utterly and undoubtedly wrong. She untied her neatly tied bun and ran her fingers through her curly tresses to mess them up a bit, popped open the first two buttons of her blouse so that her attire remained borderline modest and removed her work robes and threw them at a flabbergasted Draco. Shooting Ron an icy glare and a sneer that would give Draco a run for his galleons, she walked over to a group of men huddled together near the opposite side of the café with a 'I'll give you approachable, Weasley, and if I don't have a date for the stupid ball today, you can start calling me anti-social' at Ron's shocked face.

Draco eyed Hermione with narrowed eyes as she began conversing with a brown-haired muscular twit, laying a gentle hand on his toned arm, and glowered darkly as she let out a mesmerizing tinkle of laughter at something or other that he'd said while wrapping his arms around her slender waist. Turning his rage at the one responsible for this situation, he launched himself at a defenceless Ronald and had to be held back by Harry. 'You brainless oaf! Look at what you've done! Was it so damn freaking hard to keep that mouth of yours shut?'

Ron's whimpered 'I didn't think she would go to some other bloke… It was s'pposed to be you' rang in Draco's ears all day, so much so that by the end of his working shift, he could hardly recount the productive work he'd done that day.

That was also the day he asked Astoria Greengrass to the Ministry's Annual Winter Ball with a heavy heart and flashing eyes.

….

Draco Malfoy gracefully twirled Astoria around the dance floor under the sparkling fairy lights. Together, both of them represented everything the society placed high value in… beauty, elegance and wealth. They were the embodiment of perfect…

Draco's mind however was not in the Ball, but with one frizzy-haired brunette who his eyes searched tirelessly, but couldn't find anywhere. He wondered briefly if she had come to the ball at all before dismissing that thought from his mind. Of course, she'd have come. She might be snuggled into a corner somewhere with that brainless twit from the café who had become her date for this very event.

It was something he'd learnt the hard way, while trying to convince Hermione to join him for lunch only to have that man whisk her away with a 'Hey, gorgeous. Ready for some quick lunch before we go shopping for your dress for the ball?'

The mere thought had his insides clenching in barely concealed distaste before he skilfully schooled his features to look coolly indifferent and amused at the same time.

As his eyes continued their involuntary quest to seek those warm chocolate-brown orbs swirling with caramel, he found them fixed unblinking onto his own. He allowed himself a tiny respite from the nauseating conversation Greengrass had engaged him into as his eyes wandered the length of her, eyeing with immense pride the floor-length simple lace covered lilac gown that she wore, fitted perfectly to accentuate her womanly curves, her hair pulled up in a sophisticated up do that had her looking like a freaking princess.

He flashed her a dazzling smile, which she returned with a weak, tentative one, before making her way onto the balcony overlooking the ethereal backdrop of the bustling city and the horizon merging with the dark sky. Ending his dance, he let his date be dragged into another before he traced Hermione's steps and walked out onto the balcony only to find the man who was supposed to be her date playing tonsil-hockey with some other bimbo.

Rage boiling inside him at a steady rate, he set about searching for Hermione, confused about whether to tell her or not and then feeling triumph for which he had no cause. He found her at last, sitting on a park bench and enjoying the gentle breeze that fluttered across her smooth cheeks.

'Your… your date.' He said, unsure about how he should go about telling her that while she was waiting here for him to probably get her a glass of wine or something, he was up there, snogging some daft tramp. 'Well, I found him sucking some chit's face.'

He figured being brutally honest was the best way to go and only received a tinkle of sweet laughter from her, her eyes creasing with mirth.

'Oh, Draco.' She said, when he scratched awkwardly at the back of his neck. 'Do you mean Mike? Well, he's not my date, Draco. He never was. And the woman you probably found him with is his fiancé, Monica. Whatever made you think he was my date?'

Now feeling thoroughly embarrassed, he just shrugged. 'You would have lunch with him every day and then he took you dress shopping for the ball, so…' he trailed off, no=w feeling more idiotic than ever.

Hermione dimpled at him. She pulled him down to sit beside her on the bench and placed a small kiss on his cheek. 'I had lunch with him every day, because I figured you would want to have it with Astoria. As for the dress, I didn't go with him alone, Monica was there too.'

'Oh.'

'Oh is right. As for my date for the ball, well, the one man I wanted to go with was already taken… so I figured I might as well come by myself.'

'And who might this man be?'

Draco wasn't prepared for the blush that spread across her cheeks, but he was even more unprepared for what she said just after. 'One blond-haired, snotty Unspeakable partner of mine.'

Quickly overcoming his shock, his face morphed into a wide grin. 'Well, I'm glad, because the feeling's mutual.'

Saying thus, he captured her lips in a gentle kiss that blew her away and had her melting into him. She wrapped her arms delicately around his neck as she snuggled closer into him.

'Good.' She said when they resurfaced for lack of oxygen. 'Our perfect imperfection is one of a kind, I'd say.'

….

So, guys, that's it! Hope you enjoyed it.

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Love,

Quilldragon23746.