The leaky cauldron was packed for such a dingy night drearily dropping small pinches of water into waiting puddles on the brick streets. The dim cast of street lights was barely noticed through the grit stuck along the painted glass windows shutting the chill of the night out from its doors and clutches. His tall frame carried numbly through the back walkway just below the stairs, arrogantly holding his nose in the air, his cloak dangling round the bend of his arm held loosely along his waist as he cocked his head lightly to the side to observe Blaise watching something with feigned interest through the raven fringe that had fallen over his face.

It wasn't the first time he'd seen a guitar, strapped loosely in the lap of the lengthy brunette whose skirt had ridden up mid thigh as she leaned forward in her chair. Cerulean depths took in the dark curls resting lightly down the blades of her shoulders, the curve of her back to the sun kissed exposure of her legs. "Come on, Hermione…it's funny. Do it," The dazing glances swallowed down quickly as his sight snatched onto the unmistakable red head who looked far past sober just to the left of who he had now had the unfortunate realization was Gryffindor princess, Hermione Granger. Draco wished he felt anything but surprise when she turned her head from side to side to check for any glance of what he assumed was for someone who would object to whatever it was she was about to do but all Draco could find was the shock to how light her expressions were. Her laugher was simple and sweet, her cheeks holding a bronzed shimmer to the swell, her chocolate eyes lifted with laughter and smiles. Hermione Granger looked beautiful…if you liked that simplicity in your women that is.

"Ok ok…but seriously, Ron will kill me if he hears it." That was one of the Patil twins, right? He'd never noticed a friendship between the lot that was around the table but then again he never really took an interest in observing Granger from the shadows of a rundown pub before. Luna, Parvarti, Ginny, and Lavender Brown all moved to cross their hearts with a single digit as Hermione sighed back in the wooden chair. Tossing her hair back over her shoulder, she moved her hands to positions along the instrument that she seemed to find fitting. She motioned to begin what was keeping the twittering girls on the edge of their seat, and Draco, not that he'd ever admit it, but she simply dropped her head with a laugh falling from her lips. It took another three minutes of prompting from the Weaslette before she mumbled a few OK's and began to strum out a slightly heightened beat almost lost in the bustle of clanking glasses.

She wasn't nervous like he'd always pegged her to be in public, swaying lightly to the sound she was emitting but she kept it quiet like she was keeping the secret to herself. Her eyes were fixated on her fingers moving accordingly down the strings along the neck of the guitar in her lap, turning her head up to no one particular at the table as she starting singing. She was actually singing in the middle of the Leaky Cauldron…Draco cocked a smirk onto the side of his mouth at the humor of her embarrassment but she was none the wiser, and from what it looked, none too concerned.

"State the obvious; I didn't get my perfect fantasy. Realize that you love yourself more than you could ever love me." Hermione nodded her head under the sassy beat and Ginny covering her mouth to stop herself from laughing. It was a stupid song they'd accidently heard some ridiculous muggle singing over the radio the week she'd come to visit Hermione in muggle London at her parent's flat but with a few adjustments…it was the perfect break up song. "So go and tell your friends that I'm obsessive and crazy. That's fine…I'll tell mine you're gay..." Draco chucked out loud at the thought of Weasley ever listening to the bitter words coming out of her mouth. She sung it rather well but the sting and hurt he imagined would come along with her song seemed far to light and past tense and for reasons unexplained, it cause a twinge of jealousy to creep up and irritate the very core of his bones. "By the way…I hate that stupid old…uh," Hermione paused momentarily trying to reconstruct the words back in her head into the scribbles Ginny made the first time they'd heard it, "Oh, right! I hate that stupid old firebolt you don't know how to fly! Every schoolgirl heart break was really barely lying. So watch me strike a match on all my wasted time. As far as I'm concerned you're just another picture to burn!"

"Seems Weasley couldn't seal the deal, no?" Blaise drawled the words out slowly, his head turned to watch Draco's rather mused expression towards the scene before them.

"She sounds like a banshee," Draco rolled his eyes as he found his arms folding over his chest, the dark fabric of his cloak trapping between them.

"I think she's great. If you look past the blood and all." His indifference caused Draco's head to snap towards him. He'd been on this kick about Granger all summer and quite frankly Draco was just tired of the images he was placing in his head.

"You know I can't do that."

"No, I know your father wouldn't let you do that but considering that Lucius is safely locked away I'm not sure why you keep falling back on that excuse."

"I am not making excuses, Zambini."

"Yes because staring at Granger through the shadows has nothing to do with the fact that you secretly want her and just won't admit the fact that it's never going to happen."

"There's no time for tears, I'm just sitting her planning my revenge. There's nothing stopping me from going out with all of the Slytherins!" The words had barely left her mouth when Blaise nudged into Draco's bicep with his elbows, his eyebrows raised high at Draco's deep scowl and lowered sneer. "If you come around saying sorry to me, I'll let Malfoy show you how sorry you'll be!"

The dark and light kings of Slytherin snapped their heads towards the group of girls laughing into hysterics at the table just through the opening they were resting beneath. The one person that could truly get beneath Weasley's skin was him? Was that it?

"So watch me strike a match on all my wasted time. As far as I'm concerned you're just another picture to burn."

"Seems she's bested you yet again, Draco. She's not making excuses…" His tone was dripping with sarcasm, daring his next move on the chess board just like everything else that mixed inside their friendship. They only worked because they were complete and total opposites. Black and white, good and evil per say, words and fist, light and dark. Gruffly Draco shoved his cloak into Blaise's chest, replacing the scowl he wore so well with a rather sophisticated smile slipping onto Draco's mouth before he righted his proper posture. "Burn, burn, burn baby burn," her notes were still filling his ears as he stepped out of the dark chamber that was formerly donning every depth of his face and round through the few tables that laid between them.

Hermione was the only one oblivious to his entrance, her friends watching him with a lean backwards in their chairs. Disgustingly handsome but truly evil. It always left a mixture of waves when he passed through the crowds. Fawning girls drooling over themselves and sickened distaste smeared a crossed the faces of those who believed they knew a thing or word about him. Both were seated directly in front of the woman that he was currently placing a palm down along the back of her chair back. The song stopped cold, her hand slapping down to stop the tune as she jumped minutely in her chair at the sound of his velvet drawl purring in her ear, "Care to have a chat, Granger?"

The finely polished wood of her guitar slumped loosely in her grip as she angled her body in the slightest to face none other than Draco Malfoy, her face paling with embarrassment. There he was in the flesh after months of being the tabloids primary suspect for stalking since his father's recent imprisonment in Azkaban and his ending help for the ministry with the destruction of Voldemort and he still stood there like he hadn't a care in the world. He may have 'fought the good fight' but he was far from pure in her eyes. Merlin…how much did he hear? He probably thought she was just another one of those stupid third years throwing themselves at his feet. She'd admit it; Draco Malfoy had a rather appealing physical quality about him. Tall, lithe, well toned, athletic, well educated, well spoken to anyone he found worthy, aristocratic features, shockingly blonde hair, porcelain skin, and unbelievably bright eyes…but he was still an evil little ferret. He was still mildly bent over her chair, his face lingering closely to her own as she sat without words. Draco's free hand opened up in some sort of diplomatic gesture to the space he'd just emerged from, "Shall we?"

He really wasn't giving her an option was he? Her fingers nearly trembled as she stood away from his stare, placing the guitar down on the scarred remains of the table top before her. Normally she would have blown him off, ignored whatever game he was using her as a ploy in but he'd just called her out moments after she'd sang out his name in the back of the Leaky Cauldron just rummaging with people. She reminded herself to thoroughly kill Ginny after this was over.

Draco's stare may have left her blushing cheeks but they still hung against the pastel blue of her skirt inching higher as she stood only to fall back down to its proper length. With her hands held together in front of her body, and a short wide eyed glance to her friends, she bravely found the pace to walk quickly back through the dark under cast of the stair case. She moved through the near emptiness of the space, her hips moving with a soft sway as she stepped towards the lantern hanging off center in the back of the run. Draco suddenly found himself annoyed that her skirt wasn't shorter and he reminded himself to viciously murder Blaise when this was all over. Once again, the images he'd placed in his head seemed all too much to cope with. What the hell was he doing?

"What do you want, Malfoy? I'm in the middle of something."

"So I saw, singing about yours truly." With his arms still folded dully over the wall of his chest, Hermione moved to mimic his pose, locking her arms over her chest with a rap of her fingers softly along the curve of her upper arm. "Do you have to be so arrogant all the time? That song was about Ronald and I simply used you as an added sting."

Draco shrugged absently at the statement, lifting one hand with a roll of his wrist in the air, "and I simply used you to piss him off considering he watched you walk into the dark with the big bad wolf."

She had been so careful to keep an eye on Ron and Harry over at the ledge of the bar! How had she missed that? For as much as she felt her temper rising that he'd exploit her words into his own personal gain, not that she was surprised, all she could do was narrow her eyes up against him, pursing her full lips at his very sight, "Sod off, Malfoy."

"Love to but I'm amused now. Meet me here tomorrow."

"Oh, yes, I'd love to, Malfoy but I'm busy doing…anything else. Like washing my cat. Yes, I'd rather wash my cat then go on a date with a Death Eater." Draco almost appeared shocked that she'd declined, or perhaps the fact that she'd just publically called him a Death Eater, but he never truly expected her to. Well, he never truly expected to ask her and he certainly hadn't planned on asking her like this. "You may be a slimy git but I'm not going out on a date with you just so you can throw it in Ronald's face. That's beneath even you, Malfoy."

"You could be too," Her hand drew back and slashed forward with a quick snap of her wrist but his hand was quicker, gripping hold of the slender bone to stop her fingers from crashing down against his cheek, "One date, Granger."

"No," she attempted to tug her wrist from his grip but he had yet to release his hold on her, stepping forward in the shadowed depths that much closer to her body. She would have loved to step back in retreat had that pesky wall not been in the way, "One. Date."

"Fine! One sodding date! So help me Merlin if you are doing this as some kind of sick prank or to use this to hurt my friends or myself in anyway shape of form…I'll castrate you." Hermione had managed to dislodge her hand, rubbing her wrist defensively despite the lack of soreness in the very spot. "Relax, Granger. It's just a date."

Yeah, because anything with Malfoy was just anything. Hermione watched him wearily as she began to step past him, head turning over her shoulder as he turned to face her almost fleeting body. "One date. Seven thirty." He didn't bother to wait for a response and he wondered if this was how she normally responded to someone asking to take her out but knowing Granger for what he did, he wouldn't have doubted it. She had made her way back to her table, sitting rigidly in her seat with a group of heads leaning in closely to her. The particular red head without knowledge of his involvement was suddenly making his way towards her spot on the floor as Blaise stepped forward with his hands held outright, "You're welcome."

"You know I really hate you, right?"

"Absolutely."