Disclaimer: I own nothing but a crazy obsession with Draco Malfoy. Problem? I hope not.
A/N: Okay, so I am a horrible, terrible person for starting a new story AGAIN. This one has been niggling in the back of my mind since last week. And I won't be updating very often anymore, because Term 4 of school has just started up again. And homework and study is crazy. But, I promise this one is only short. I hope it will be under ten chapters… But who knows? For now, enjoy.
Smitty.
The blonde shifted in his sleep, disturbed by the rustling of fabric and the intense beam of sunlight that radiated through the window of his two-story house. His roommate, a crazy brunette with a mass of untamable curls towered over him and his eyelids fluttered open delicately.
"What, Hermione? Why do you wake me up this early?" he grunted, irritation seeping into his sleepy, and husky voice.
"Early? Dear Lord, Draco." she sighed. "It's five o'clock, in the evening."
"Damn." he elongated the monosyllable, as his arm rose to cover his brow. A pretty woman dressed in a silky, black dress that was modest but alluring came into focus. A small smile grace her delicate features and he smiled.
She got up and headed to the kitchen to retrieve a hangover potion, and to avoid melting at his crooked and incredibly endearing smile.
"What happened last night?" she asked, concern in her eyes - even though he couldn't see.
"Nothing, the usual. She asked me a few things about out relationship," Hermione's heart sank into her stomach, "and then we got into a bit of a fight. I went to the bar with Blaise. Then she found me - Ginny told her where Blaise and I had gone - and apologised. Then we made up."
Hermione knew exactly what he meant by that.
"Ah."
Turning around, with the intentions of returning to the lounge where he had collapsed, she was surprised to step into a large, muscular wall of some sort.
Opening her eyes, she came face to face – well, face to chest – with the cause of her heartache. Inhaling deeply, and having a hard time trying to stop her knees from buckling at the scent of his expensive cologne, she took a large step back and held the vial of purple liquid in front of his face.
He chuckled. "You know, Hermione, I never seem to get used to how short you are."
Slapping his chest with as much force as she could muster – which obviously wasn't much, as he didn't even flinch – she side-stepped him and meandered up the stairs.
"Where are you going, now?" She turned to see him leaning against the banister, a curious expression on his Adonis, god-like, perfect features. She had to catch herself, for she knew if she admired him for too long, he would catch on.
And that was the thing she was most afraid of in the world – not Voldemort and not even Bellatrix Lestrange. Him catching on to her feelings, her love for him.
"Upstairs." she smiled cheekily. "Where else?"
"For what?"
"Uh, shoes…" she lifted her bare foot off the stairs and waved it around the air.
"Well, don't let me hold you back. Oh, are you singing tonight?'
"I would never let you hold me back, Drakey…" she used his least favourite nickname – given to him by his high-school girlfriend, Pansy Parkinson – and giggled when he shuddered. "And it's Saturday, is it not? Yes? Then, I am singing."
Hermione had discovered a love of singing after a night of drunken karaoke at the Leaky Cauldron. She then took up a regular and well-paying job at a bar not far from where Draco and herself lived, singing every night except Sundays. Draco had never seen her perform, and she knew that tonight was his office's annual Christmas party so, without a doubt, it would be no different from any other Saturday that she spent singing on a dark stage without a familiar face in the audience.
"Good. Well, go on! Shoo…." he laughed goofily. "Get it? Shoo? As in shoe?"
Hermione gave a half-hearted laugh and shook her head as she climbed the remaining few stairs and disappeared into her bedroom.
Draco waited on the lounge, downed the potion in one foul swoop, and when she emerged five minutes later looking gorgeous – as she always did, according to Draco – with the pair of black shoes he had bought her for her 23rd birthday, he winked and said, "Looking good, Granger…"
"Seedy, Malfoy." she replied with a wink of her own. "Now, let's go. I have to be there in five minutes."
Grabbing his extended arm, she felt the familiar pull at her navel, and a few seconds later she arrived with a sharp crack outside her work.
She turned to face Draco, and kissed his cheek. "See you after work?"
"8:30, yes?"
She nodded in the affirmative and he smiled and disappeared with another tell-tale crack.
She sighed heavily and trudged into the bar, preparing for another night of singing.
Draco appeared in the alley way beside Hermione's work, and quickly tapped his head twice with his wand. Feeling the familiar trickle of the disillusionment charm running down his spine, he crept from the alley and walked confidently through the doors of the popular bar, but not before ensuring that no-one was watching.
Sitting down in a chair in the very far corner of the relaxation and entertainment area, he surveyed his surroundings with disinterest. He couldn't help but feel that he would rather be at his work's Christmas party instead of here, but he decided that, since he had never seen Hermione perform, he would surprise her by watching her show.
Suddenly, Hermione walked silently on to the stage and glanced at the audience before her. She smiled and announced her first set of songs for the evening, and smiled at the guitarist seated on a stool behind her, signaling she was ready to begin.
Two more sets of songs began and ended, and, thinking that the show was over, Draco was just about to remove his invisibility charm, when Hermione walked up to the microphone and began to speak.
"Okay, now we have a new section. I will be singing a few songs of my choice, and then we will have some audience suggestions. Rightio." she smiled. "This one is my favourite song, and it has a lot of relevance to my life right now. So I hope you enjoy it – this is On My Own from Les Miserables."
And then she began to sing.
