Disclaimer: Yeah, Harry Potter is owned by the brilliant mind and being of JK Rowling.
Slouched unceremoniously and un-lady-like on the leather seat at the corner of that random restaurant her companion chose, Hermione looked outside the window. Squeaky carriages passed. Strangers walked and bustled by. The faint drizzle continued throughout the minutes they were inside the extravagantly decorated building.
She gave out a sigh.
"Surely I'm not that of a bore," that very masculine voice said.
She turned her gaze to the man in front of her. Blond hair, grey eyes, a knowing smirk. Nothing much has changed with his appearance ever since graduation other than the faint stubble he had. She thought that, once, she was disgusted with the unshaved facial hair that men her age kept. They just oozed with lack of hygiene. Seeing this man now, it looked quite attractive. Sexy even.
She almost jumped off her skin when someone cleared his throat.
"Sorry, what?" She said, cheeks flushed for being caught openly gawking at him.
"I am not that of a bore," Draco repeated. "Am I?" he drawled.
She blinked repeatedly, avoiding his gaze as she felt heat creeping up her face once more. "Well, how do you expect me to answer with that question?"
She practically heard his smirk grow wider. "I miss that smart mouth of yours, honestly speaking," he told her.
Her head jerked back to him, a fine brow arched up. "You do now?" She challenged.
He shrugged, that irritatingly teasing smirk still in place as he raised his cup to his lips. "So how's it been after graduation?" He casually asked after a sip of his tea.
"Oh so we're getting all chummy now, aren't we, Malfoy?" she asked back, a very Slytherin smile playing on her lips.
"Well, it wouldn't hurt if we would try being more," he waved a hand, seemingly in thought of the proper term. "Civil with one another," he finished.
"I don't know, Malfoy," she began, fully intending to annoy him even for a bit. Brown orbs fixed to the piece of cake she was poking with her fork. For old time's sake, she told herself. The occasional banter wouldn't hurt now, anyway. "Your whole being just screams nefariousness. Would you care to enlighten me of the perks, if any, I would receive if I were to be of your acquaintance?"
The Malfoy heir gave her a boyish grin to which her heart involuntarily jumped to. Seriously, this man has never been this good-looking before, hasn't he? Godric, a few minutes more under his gaze and she would combust! She shook her head to clear her embarrassing thoughts.
"Are you certain that you're alright, Granger? It seems to me that you've been distracted for the past ten minutes," he told her, an expression Hermione did not recognize crossing his face.
"Yes, I'm fairly well," she all but squeaked. "Do go on," she urged.
Draco stared at her for a moment before leaning back to his seat. "Well, for starters," he said, placing his hands on the table, palms up. "I've heard that you've been promoted as the Assistant Head in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."
"And that is significant, because?" the brunette frankly said.
"I can feel from the aura that emanates from your dreary soul how the people around you brings you to disappointment for their lack of intellect," he said with a smile.
Her brows furrowed. I seriously cannot see where this conversation is leading to. "So," she began. "Your point is?" she said slowly.
"Tell me I'm right," he pressed.
She drew in a breath, "Okay, you're right." Which, in truth, he was.
"I would like to offer a remedy to the insufferable excuse of a staff the Department has," he offered confidently.
Her eyebrow shot up before she thought of doing it. "By my talking to you?" she leaned in.
Draco earnestly nodded, and Hermione threw her head back to laugh.
"Seriously, Malfoy,"" she said breathlessly, stifling another wave of giggles while wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. "What are you on?"
"You."
She froze. "What?"
He smiled once more and spoke of their former topic like nothing happened. "So, would you accept my proposition of our association?" giving her an expectant look.
"Wait," she raised a hand up, as if to make a point. "I am seriously not following the flow of this conversation, to tell you the truth."
"I am seriously frustrated with that, too, Granger," he quipped which earned him a deathly glare. "I can see how their depressing IQ levels are affecting yours as well."
A pale finger suddenly appeared before him, wagging. "Now, look here, Malfoy," he heard her say with a warning voice.
He bit the urge to roll his eyes because of this woman's sheer exasperation. "I was just kidding, Granger," he said resolutely, clasping her hand to gently set it away. And once again she froze.
Interesting.
He let his eyes linger on their joined hands for a few seconds and purposely ran his thumb against her soft skin before slowly letting go. And as he did, she drew her hand quickly, as if burned. Her eyes wide with a mixture of things he cannot comprehend but he sure as hell liked.
"I was just kidding, Granger," he spoke. "But kidding aside, I know how distressing it is how a bunch of rather incompetent bimbos also known as our staff can affect our working progress and our attitudes as a whole."
"Our?" The former Gryffindor princess repeated, proving how keen she is still.
"Yes," he said, matter-of-factly. "Our," he repeated slowly, emphasizing the word for her.
The woman became silent, as if weighing her decisions of leaving or not for he speaks nothing but riddles. He stared at her back, observing how she pursed her thin, pink lips, obviously in thought. And as she has gone over her mind palace of some sort, he took the opportunity to study her more.
Pale complexion but with a hint of pink across her cheeks that were lightly dusted with freckles. A small nose that twitched once quite adorably as she searched her mind further. Brown orbs that looked like melted chocolate. And her curls, those that seemed to explode because of their unruliness were now tamed. And pleasantly so.
He has seen her figure when he bumped into her a while ago. And by golly, if he only knew that she had that body that was buried under the unfashionable layers of robes they once wore as uniforms, he would've considered her as a prospect during their years in Hogwarts. Regardless of her blood purity.
Or lack thereof.
He quickly dismissed such a foul idea. Such a foul idea, indeed. Why, he happened to be a changed man, after all.
He was brought out from his reverie when he heard her gasp.
"You!" Hermione exclaimed, a finger pointing at him rather impolitely which Draco ignored. "You're the other Assistant Head that the Senior Head was talking about when I was introduced to the others!"
Draco, though uncharacteristic of him, Hermione thought, beamed at her once more. "Nice to meet you, too, Miss Granger."
There was a pause. And then some.
"Do close that pretty mouth of yours, it's rather unattractive, really," he half-joked. And close her mouth she did, with a small frown though.
He breathed out before starting once more, "Seeing that the complexity are dealt with, would you think that my idea of having us being co-workers and friends be beneficial for us especially that we are unfortunate enough to be surrounded by amateurish people? You know, to let off steam by spending time with someone with the brain and the wit that could match up to one another?"
Hermione took a moment to consider his offer. To think about it, he does have a point. Her first two weeks of her being the Assistant Head was literally mind-numbing. The first week could be stressful for it would be her adjustment phase, and it should be enough. She's Hermione Granger for Merlin's sake! But the second week came and passed, and the frustration it brought her was, well, frustrating for the very least. And it shouldn't be that way. It wasn't normal. She loves working, heck, working might even be her middle name at times. And it came to her realization as she strolled along the cobbled path of Diagon Alley that the problem wasn't her workload and her work per se.
But it was her co-workers—her fellow Assistant Heads and the ones below them. They were inefficient, and quite honestly, it seems that either they're not sure of what they are doing, or they're just a whole bunch of lazy bums 'working' in a place where work ethics should be perfect. It was suffocating. And it feels like poison for they all but affect her performance. She wanted challenge, it was the whole point of her promotion—for her, that is-but not that kind of challenge.
The offer of his is all but irresistible. Draco Malfoy was intellectual. He has a sense of humor, no matter how light or dark it may be. Surely, he has something to offer that could free her from the stress that seems to envelop her very being.
Yes, it is alluring. His intelligence. His witty comebacks. His sensual lips. His eyes that seems so magnetizing.
Grey eyes that were twinkling with interest and amusement, interest and amusement that were directed to her.
Stiff of embarrassment as she was caught gawking at him once again, she cleared her throat. "Well," Hermione began, patting her hair as if to fix it. "Your proposition seem to be interesting."
His smile grew wider. "I suppose it is, isn't it, Granger?"
The woman was not looking at him. He tilted his head. "Granger?" he softly called.
"H-Huh?" she said, the redness blooming in her cheeks again.
"Do you really believe that we would benefit from my suggestion?" he asked, his goal, solely to enthrall her as she does to him.
"Certainly," she whispered as his gaze locked with hers.
"Brilliant," his voice caressed, his eyes watching hers as they observed his lips.
"Captivating."
She slowly nodded, obviously magnetized by him.
He slowly smiled at her. "Perfect!" he said, clapping his hands together to Hermione's surprise and to his utter gladness.
A moment's pause and she drew in a steadying breath. "Well then," she made to stand up. "I guess we'll see each other on Monday then." She gave him a small nod and turned.
He quickly caught her hand, "Granger."
She looked at him, "Yes?"
"When are you free this coming week?"
She tilted her head in thought. And she finally blurted out, "Draco Malfoy, are you asking me out?"
He gave her hand a squeeze as he smile his boyish smile once more and said, "Well it was the whole point of our whole conversation after all."
Her eyes widened with surprise, unbelieving. "You spent two hours just to coax me to have a date with you?"
He made a face, which she noted was quite adorable, and replied, "Well, in a nutshell, yes."
A shaky breath was taken, and a tens silence came between them.
"How…" The brunette slowly shook her head as if in disbelief, keeping her eyes to the man in front of her, "How very sweet of you."
The two shared a smile then.
And I guess, you know what happened next.