Draco Malfoy stared at Hermione. His stormy gray eyes sad as he watched her read. "You're not the cleverest witch in the world Granger." He mumbled so softly he was hardly speaking. "Because you don't know how much I love you."
He wasn't sure when he first loved her but he had noticed her from the start. First it was her beauty that drew him in, even as an eleven year old she'd had a certain brightness that he had never seen on anyone growing up. But then, in class, she amazed him with her immense knowledge of the wizarding world despite being a muggleborn. From that moment he began to see her as an intellectual equal. Someone who he could talk philosophy with and about anything and everything under the sun without feeling inferior or like he had to hide or downplay his intelligence.
Throughout their years at Hogwarts, they had been nearly equal in grades, each always trying to one up the other. The more time he spent competing with her though, more of her beauty revealed itself to him. As she grew, so did her outer beauty. Though he admitted she had certainly become an attractive woman, more beautiful to him than her outward appearance, was her mind. It was quick and clever, always looking for a solution to every problem and had the capacity to remember spells, facts and tidbits from it seemed every book she had ever read. She was also just naturally smart and perceptive. So perceptive in fact, that he was surprised she hadn't figured out that he had feelings for her. Granted, he had hidden them pretty well, but he couldn't always push them away completely.
However he had never pursued her, because he knew his father would not, could not ever accept her because of her blood status. Outwardly he still acted as if that mattered to him but truthfully, if he was honest with himself….she had changed his opinion on that long ago. He admired her from afar all these years until now. The war had softened his father's views and perhaps he could actually have her.
So, everyday he had come to the public wizarding library and watched her, trying to work up the courage to talk to her. He sighed, his stormy gray eyes wistful. Chocolate brown hair fell into her face and she brushed it away pushing it back behind her ear with hands small and slender with beautiful long fingers to match.
He was sitting at a table a little ways away pretending to read, but in truth he didn't even know the title of the book. It was only to keep up appearance. He had just grabbed the first book he'd seen in the section near her and sat down.
A chair scraping back caught his attention, and he looked up to see Hermione walking towards him. He gulped, his eyes going back to his book, pulling it closer to hide his face.
"Ferret."
He blinked. "Granger." He tipped his head and quickly looked back at his book.
"What brings you to the library?" She asks
"Studying." he says quickly.
Hermione raises an eyebrow. "One, you know we left Hogwarts right? And two, you're reading The Care and Keeping of Blast Ended Skrewts?"
"Ah...Yes. I-I thought maybe I needed to...ah learn about them then maybe I wouldn't hate them so much."
Hermione's eyebrow creeped higher. "Really? So you've been coming to the library every day to read about Blast ended Skrewts?"
"So, what brings you here?" He asks, trying to deflect her question.
"Just a bit of light reading. You didn't answer my question."
Merlin...I forgot just how perceptive she is. "Uh Yes?"
"Right...see you later Ferret." She says and walks off heading towards a bookshelf in the back.
"Wait! Granger!" He calls out, suddenly.
She turns around. "What do you want Malfoy?"
"Come get a butterbeer with me." He blurts out before he can even think or stop himself. I can't believe I did that...that was a bit amazing….Why did I do that? What the bloody hell was I thinking?