Disclaimer: Not Mine!
Chapter 2, A Savior…Kinda
"Thank-you, but really I insist on paying my own way."
"No really you're just to pretty ma'am! It's on me, order whatever you want."
She looked at the tall stockbroker. She hated when guys got all macho about paying for everything, but decided to overlook it and just let him pay. This is what Harry would want! For you to just move on…
"I'll take an Apple Martini, thank-you." The bartender rushed to fulfill hers and other orders while Scott told her about his favorite vacation. So far this date was turning out to be a dud. Really he just didn't have what she wanted. He had 2 huge things. Estate and an EGO of course!
"Look! Over there! Is that Jerry from NASDAQ? Hermione! Is that really Jerry?"
She turned her head from watching the bar and looked at him, quickly informing him that she had no idea who the HELL Jerry was. She was just going to finish her drink and go home.
She picked up the tiny glass that was brimming to the edge with liquid and was about to take a sip when a strong hand grabbed her forearm. Preventing her from moving the glass, but never letting a drop of the alcohol drop from the rim. She looked up into the face of the owner of the hand that held onto her arm and gasped.
He leaned into her and whispered: "You're a witch for God's Sake Granger! Look at what that damn muggle did to your drink before you consume it!" His voice was sharp and irritated.
Scott's eyes fell on him and to sum up the gist of it in nicer words he said, "piss off."
"Granger just leave! This muggle was going to date-rape you! Let me handle the little fucker."
"I do NOT have a little fuc-" But Hermione cut Scott off and stared into the cold grey depths of his eyes. "I may still be Granger, but I haven't always been and secondly I AM a muggle!" And with that she dumped the drink into the lap of Scott and rushed out of the classy bar and headed home.
Back at the bar though, Draco wasn't quite done with whoever the hell Scott was. "Give me her number you little fuck." He growled at Scott. But he soon laughed at the terrified look that Scott gave him as he quickly jotted down her number for him. Draco grabbed the cocktail napkin and as he walked out the door into the winter's biting wind, said something under his breath. A girly scream soon escaped the door right before it closed. Draco gave the smirk he was famous for and continued towards a pay phone.
The subway. What a dismal way to travel. But Hermione took it anyway. It gave her time to read or do a quick cross-word puzzle. But never did she use the 20 minute ride to ponder her life. She wouldn't break down in public. No she had a perfectly good house for that. Tonight though she found it increasingly difficult. Soon she stopped caring about 37 down and more about what could have been her fate if Malfoy hadn't stepped in. How in the world did muggle women protect themselves from jerks? She'd have to look it up…but more importantly what was Malfoy doing in an upscale muggle bar? She'd tried to escape every memory of that-that world, yet it always seemed to catch up with her.
Tomorrow she'd have her weekly lunch with the Weasley's. Just what she didn't need. She loved them all, but since Harry…it doesn't matter she thought to herself. She only wished that she had the courage to let Ron go. She had no right when she knew that she didn't need to marry him. He should go to Lavender or perhaps Gabrielle. It was awkward enough when they hugged. Imagine her having to kiss him or have sex with him. Her hus-no her best friend. She was alone now and he didn't deserve what he got from her.
She was quickly jolted out of her thoughts though. It was her stop. Now she had to go home and face Samantha and her never-ending questions. At least John was gone tonight. She scurried through the dark station and headed the couple of streets to her and her room-mate's house. She quickly got out her key and stepped inside, obviously anxious to just feel muggle again.
She loved that little house. Ok, so it wasn't exactly little for three people, but it was more of the intimate feeling she had here. She owned a piece of it and therefore it reflecting some of her. The lavish furnishings always made her wary though. She wasn't able to just lie down in the Formal Living Room. She'd have to go to her floor to do that. The first floor was Sam's, and this was how Sam liked her floor.
Hermione heard the clicking of heels making their way toward her and looked up just in time to see the girl lunge at her. "Oh, honey! You've only been gone an hour! What happened?" Hermione almost laughed at the poor girl. "I'm fine, really, Sam, the guy was just a bigger jerk than I'd thought. Where're you going by the way? You didn't just get dressed up for me did you?" The sarcasm at the end of it made Sam smile. "You caught me! Shawn is taking me out tonight. I think it's THE night. You know, the big proposal night? He's taking me to that fancy Italian restaurant downtown!"
Hermione had guessed as much. She felt incredibly underdressed in her cream pencil skirt (whose slit went very high in the back) and her tight cream blazer. Sam had gone all out in her Greek goddess style baby-doll dress. Not wanting to keep her friend, she quickly said good-bye and escorted her forcefully out the door.
With the door shut she slumped to the floor and slowly took her killer heels off. Sure she had memorized the spell to make them perfectly comfortable, wait! What was she thinking? Spell? She knew no such thing. She hurried up to her third floor and immediately stripped down to her bra and underwear. She couldn't wait to get the smell of Scott's cologne off of her. She walked out of her "foyer" and into her living room. She stopped short of herself causing her to almost fall when a yelp escaped her throat.
Draco Malfoy was standing there with a strange expression on his face. She wasn't quite sure she liked it. "Sorry," he began sheepishly (Malfoy being sheepish?)"I couldn't figure out the telephone thing." Now she gawked openly at him. Then she felt her heater turn on and the heat spread over her body. Then she went into a fit.
"Who the HELL do you think you are? This is my house! How'd you even get in? Did you apparate or floo in through John's fireplace, because God knows you didn't get through mine!" Then the most important thing hit her. She was standing in her undergarments. She walked up to Malfoy defiantly and held out her hand. "Your coat please." He shrugged off his sports jacket and handed it to her. She slipped it on and it barely came halfway down her butt. She flushed and glared at him. He had a lot of explaining to do as far as she was concerned.
"Honestly, Granger, a simple thank-you was all that I wanted. But if you felt stripping for me was necessary, then all you had to do was tell me." The tone of this voice only further annoyed Hermione.
"What do you want Malfoy?" He looked at her with an appraising look and snapped his head up to meet her infuriated eyes.
"Where's Potter and Weasley? Do they know that you're going out with jerks in a muggle bar? Which would really make sense, but I thought you where loyal to the two idiots." Her eyes sparked. Literally, the magic, which she of course did NOT have, was flowing angrily through her entire body. Draco took a cautious step back from her.
"You stuck-up arsehole! How dare you speak about Harry to me? He was my life, and you took him away from me!" And with that final declaration she lost it. The magic in her veins was boiling over. Draco was suddenly thrown against her exposed brick wall with such a force that a loud crack was heard. Hermione gasped. That wasn't supposed to happen. She ran over to him and tried to awaken him. It didn't work, he was barely even breathing.
She ran to her room and flew into her closet. After throwing almost every pair of shoes out into her room (which was quite a significant number) she came running out with that detested piece of wood.
She quickly ran over to him and flopped him over onto his back. With a barely audible whisper his shirt disappeared and then she appraised what her anger had done. His spine was distorted. He could be paralyzed if she didn't come up with the right spell in a matter of minutes. But don't underestimate our girl. She was a healer after the war for two years. She knew how to fix this. Hermione closed her eyes and summoned the spell.
A shock went through Malfoy's body and he soon was rolling over on his own accord. His eyes flickered open with a dazed look on his eyes. "You're pretty." Was all his said and then he fell into a slumber.
Hermione collapsed after the use of her uncontrolled magic and then the exhaustion from fixing his fractured back.