A/N: So my birthday was yesterday (8/18), and I decided to write this fluffy little one-shot as a gift to myself.
Reading and reviewing would be greatly appreciated! Please and thank you!
Also, for anyone interested, I listened to I Really Like You by Carly Rae Jepsen on repeat while I wrote this!
~JAS
She was only meant to stop inside the bookshop for a few short minutes. She had promised herself that she would take no longer than ten minutes to get the book she was looking for then leave, but she had gotten… distracted. No, shocked into silence was a better way to describe it. She never – ever in a million years – would have expected to have seen him here, at a Muggle bookstore no less! Alright, she had to give him the benefit of the doubt. It had been years since she had seen him, and even longer since she had actually spoken to the man.
She hadn't noticed his hair as she walked into the store. Or maybe she did and just chose to ignore it? After all, Malfoy couldn't possibly be the only person in existence to have hair that blond. She didn't see him until they literally bumped into each other, causing a curl to escape its confines and fall in front of her eyes. Now, here they both were, standing awkwardly as she unashamedly gaped at him.
"Granger, you seem to have a bit of a… ah… problem there." He gestured towards the curl that had fallen. Quickly she tucked it back inside her ponytail, muttering out a quiet thank you as she did so.
"Long time no see Malfoy." She said conversationally after she had finished fiddling about with her hair.
"Same to you Granger. I haven't even seen you in the Daily Prophet recently. No kittens in need of saving?"
"Sadly no, the Muggle fire department grew tired of me stealing their Lime Light."
She was amazed that her little joke drew a semi-smile onto his face.
With the ice successfully broken, they launched into a conversation. They discussed anything and everything that came to mind. She also found out a lot about the man in front of her. She learned that his family had started a business in the Muggle world, since their name in the Wizarding one had been tarnished, and they were thriving. She learned that for four years after the war he moved to France where he met and seriously dated a Muggle girl. She learned that he was actually quite clever and could be nice when he wanted to be. She learned that he didn't like to discuss his parents. She learned that he loved his friends and adored his godchildren (He was the Godfather of three kids: Ophelia Aurelius Nott, Zephrey Horatio Nott, and Claudia Miranda Zabini). She learned that he loved Muggle London.
In return to the things he told her, she revealed some things about herself. She told him about her studies, about how she couldn't seem to find one hing to study and how she finally managed to stick to one career (curse-breaking). She told him that while she loved the Wizarding world, but how she also loved how tame and quiet her Muggle life was. When he asked about her parents, he learned that she didn't like to talk about hers either. He learned that even though she was insanely happy for her friends, she was jealous of them for having families (he knew this even though she never voiced it out-loud, it was the look on her face that gave it away). She told him that in the eight years after the war she had seriously dated three men, and none of them had ended well.
When she added that her break up with Ron Weasley completely obliterated any faith and trust she had in him, he replied with: "You deserve better than the dimwit anyhow."
She had laughed and jokingly asked, "And who do you think I deserve? Someone as debonair as you?"
The laughter was short-lived when she noticed his heated gaze.
Now they were stuck in another awkward situation, a situation in which Hermione had not found herself in a long time. A situation in which she felt inexplicably attracted to a man she just met. Or re-met.
Semantics.
It was a situation in which she could tell that he wanted to kiss her, but was too scared of any repercussions.
It was a situation where she found herself ready to snog a bloke against a book shelf, in a public place to boot! She hadn't felt this… this… need since she had first dated Oliver Wood, but even then she couldn't recall it ever being as strong as this.
She became suddenly aware of how close they were. Her heart started to pound in her chest, she was almost afraid he'd hear it trying to break free. They were so close she could feel the rapid puffs of air coming from his nose. She was close enough to the buttons of his shirt to pop open each one without any strain at all. She was close enough to wrap her arms around his pale neck and kiss him senseless.
They were standing there – for who knows how long – each silently debating on what to do, when the moment was ruined by a rather rude person pushing their way between them, saying only, " 'scuse me," after he had already walked through.
Alas, the moment was ruined.
She whipped her head around to glare at the man's back, and realized that it was Jacob – an employee of the bookstore who had been trying to get her to go out with him for months.
"He's obviously jealous, he's been keeping an eye on us this whole time."
The sudden sound of his voice made her head snap up to look him. Unfortunately this caused another curl to fall out of place.
She huffed as it fell in front of her eyes.
"Granger, you really need to learn keep your hair under control. I'm afraid it's becoming untamable." She felt her face get hot with… Anger? Embarrassment? Or maybe with the way his voice washed over her… maybe it was lust? She looked up at his face (prepared to glare and reply with some snarky comment about how his ego was too big to fit through the door) and was caught off guard by the intense look in his eyes. His eyes flicked back from her eyes to the curl several times before she saw movement from his hand.
She sucked in her breath as she realized his hand was moving up towards her face, pausing in mid-air next to her cheek. She looked into his eyes and watched as a war of emotions took place. She realized he was… scared? Nervous? Whatever it was, he need encouragement, and she was nothing, if not a believer in positive reinforcement. She nodded her head slightly, silently telling him that it was okay to move the strand of hair. She saw his body visibly relax at this.
She shivered as his hand brushed her cheek lightly in the process of pushing the hair back, but he didn't stop there. Oh no, Draco Malfoy then went on to cup her cheek, to which Hermione responded with a quiet – yet equally as mortifying as it would be loudly – "Meep."
Her eyes widened in horror.
Oh Merlin. That had just come out of her mouth. Dear God, she had made a weird noise in front of Draco Malfoy!
She backed away and looked down, hearing his hand hit his leg as it fell. She stared at his shoes while he stared at her (she could feel his eyes on her). They stood like this, for Merlin knows how long, before he cleared his throat.
Abruptly, she looked up into the eyes of the man that she felt an almost instant connection with, despite having not seen him in about eight years.
"Well, Granger... It was nice catching up with you and everything." She felt tingles cover her body, merely at the sound of his voice. She barely managed to choke out a response without embarrassing herself again.
"You too, Malfoy... You too." He nodded slightly and turned around almost mechanically. She watched as he walked away, picking up random things as he went, looking almost reluctant to be leaving their conversation. She felt a rush of courage, she couldn't let this man walk away. This was something she felt she had to do, she had to stop him from leaving this store, and she didn't know when she would ever see this man again.
"Malfoy, wait!" She blushed as many of the customers glared at her, but smiled in relief when Malfoy turned around with an inquisitive eyebrow raised.
"Malfoy, what if-" she blushed again as she realized she was practically yelling across the store. She took quick steps towards him until he was in front of her once again.
"Malfoy, would you like to- to have me with coffee?" She watched, mortified as he burst out laughing at her slip-up.
"That's not at all what I meant. I meant to ask-"
"Granger, I know what you meant, and yes I'd love to."
"Oh, great. That's great. I know a place down the road. Its Muggle though. That's okay, right?"
"That sounds great, perfect." He put a hand on her lower back and ushered her towards the exit.
"Just lead the way." Together they walked, their hands briefly brushing against the others as they talked. She fought down a blush, but it was hard when he kept looking at her with that grin. To herself she thought that maybe - just maybe - this could turn into something quite wonderful.