Disclaimer: I don't own any of this. It all belongs to JK. Rowling…. Lucky.
A/N: I would like to thank everyone who left comments on the last chapter. Really guys, thanks a lot. It really helps. I swear. I know I didn't really talk about Ron, but I promise I'll explain everything soon. And it mostly follows the books (except the epilogue in the seventh book, and a few other things). Mostly I wrote that they went back and finished their seventh year. Like I said, I'll explain everything as it comes up. Alright. Here we go.
Chapter Two: A Hit and Run
With Ginny dragging her, quite literally, down the sidewalk of a busy London street, Hermione tried to convince her friend once again that perhaps going out wasn't such a great idea.
"What if I see him," Hermione said trying to free her hand from the red head's tight grip, "and her. Oh god Gin, I would just die".
"Relax Hermione," Ginny exclaimed rolling her chocolate eyes for affect "why in the world would they be in a muggle Japanese restaurant. Justin doesn't even care for Japanese food if I remember right".
"Well he didn't care for cheaters either Gin. I guess times change."
Times had changed quite dramatically in the years following the war. Harry had of course beaten Voldemort, everyone believed that he could. With everyone's help he had overthrown the darkest wizard of all time, and then married the love of his live. Ginny. Hermione's best friend. Hermione thought back to a time when Harry and Ron had been her best friends. 'The golden trio' she thought with a snort 'oh how times have changed'. Though her and Harry were still very close, she didn't think her and Ron would ever be best friends again. Not after how he had treated her. Yes, times had definitely changed.
Hermione was soon brought out of her thoughts as they came upon the entrance of the restaurant and she walked into what felt like a brick wall, falling to the ground with an ungraceful thud. A wall she noticed from her current position on the ground, which was quite muscular, with a tight gray sweater, and extremely shiny black shoes. Still lying on the ground, she slowly let her eyes travel from the shoes, to the sweater, and finally to the face. The face that seemed slightly familiar. Gorgeous, but familiar. Her eyes traced over the man's pale face settling for a moment on his worried eyes. Silver pools narrowed a little in concern, one perfect white eyebrow arched for affect.
"Are you okay?" the man said slowly lowering his hand towards her.
"Uh. Yeah thanks," Hermione said not taking her eyes of his as she gripped his hand with hers.
With a small pull Hermione was suddenly on her feet, and her head immediately started throbbing. The man looked at Hermione holding her head, and raked a hand through his white-blonde hair. "Maybe you should get your head looked at, you whacked it pretty hard on the ground".
Hermione blushed a little under his concerned gaze. "I'm sure I'll be okay. My friend's a medi-witch, she can take care of me. Thanks again though".
And without another word, the man nodded and followed his dark haired friend into the restaurant. Behind her, Hermione heard a low whistle. "Mmm hmm", Ginny said with a smirk on her face, "He was pretty sexy"
"Yeah," Hermione whispered her voice a little hoarse "he sure was".
Ginny smirked, a curious look on her face, "Yep, but I wonder why Draco Malfoy is in Muggle London?"
And once again Hermione Jane Granger felt as if she had hit a brick wall.
---
Draco had been standing in line for the "hottest new restaurant in London" (as Blaise put it), when someone ran into him, falling quite hard on the concrete.
'Great', Draco thought with a groan, slowly turning around to see who it was, 'why do I always get slammed into when I'm in London?"
Looking down he saw a woman laying spread eagle on the ground. Though her brown and blonde hair was partially covering her face, he could see she was obviously quite pretty. Maybe his day was turning around after all. He watched her lift a small hand to wipe the hair from her eyes, and noticed her eyes were quite lovely as well. Honey eyes with little swirls of chocolate around the middle. There was something about her face, something quite familiar. He studied her face, trying to remember if they had met, until he noticed something. She was checking him out, all the while muttering something about bloody brick walls. He watched as her eyes slowly traced his body, starting at his feet and finally settling on his eyes. They locked eyes for a moment until he finally reached out a hand and helped her up. Watching the woman wince in pain, he mentioned she might need to seek medical attention. She then pointed at her red haired friend but Draco didn't even hear what she said. A wave of realization washed over him. This woman he knew for sure. Little Ginny Weasley. Draco had seen her about six months ago when he was rushed to St. Mungo's with a broken arm. Bloody hell, if that was Weasley, then that had to make this lovely brunette…. Granger. Suddenly he realized why he was so drawn to her eyes, and his mind shot back to five years before when the two had shared a passionate kiss outside the Great Hall. A kiss he had never forgotten, but could never relive.
'Oh god,' Draco thought a knot suddenly forming in his chest, 'I have to get out of here'. Without another word Draco rushed into the restaurant behind a snickering Blaise Zabini.
"You know who that was right?" Blaise said behind his hand, trying to hide his laughter.
"Yeah," was the only reply Draco could muster, "Bloody Granger".
And then, on cue, the two women passed them on the way to their table. Hermione with a slight blush gracing her face, and Ginny with a smirk that would put most Slytherin to shame. Draco couldn't help but stare as she walked away. Such a nice bum.
"Sorry mate, but I don't think they sell that on the menu. You could try and order it but she might be upset". Blaise said all this with a small smirk on his face, and Draco wanted nothing more than to slap it off.
Why was Granger suddenly so attractive? Why couldn't she have stayed the bushy haired know-it-all he had grown to ignore? Then again, Hermione had always been beautiful, even in school. She had just chosen to hide it under huge mounds of hair, baggy clothes, and huge stacks of books. It wasn't until their seventh year that Draco really began to notice how lovely Hermione truly was. Being head boy and girl meant they would spend a lot of time together. At first, Draco had been repulsed. The thought of spending time with a mudblood was highly unappealing, and he told her this everyday for the first month. Then something extremely odd happened.
Flashback…
"You know Granger, I could send one owl to my father and have you replaced as head girl. Imagine how upset he was when we found out I would have to share a common room with a MUDBLOOD" Draco drawled with a disgusted sneer on his face, "Your germs are everywhere. It's disgusting."
Then it happened. Instead of the usual yelling that would follow one of Draco's demeaning statements, she laughed. Hermione had the audacity to laugh and shake her head at his antics. He glared at her from across the common room.
"You think you have it bad?" Hermione said laughing at him from across the room, "Imagine living with you. You hog the bathroom for two hours every bloody morning, yet look the same as when you woke up. You leave your nasty socks in the common room floor and let your disgusting Slytherin friends hang out in here, as if you're the only one living here. You're an egotistical jerk and quite disgusting."
She wrinkled her nose as if he was something disgusting, and then began to walk towards him, finally backing Draco against the wall. Standing on her tiptoes, she leaned forward so their noses were centimeters apart.
"When Crabbe and Goyle decide to drop by for one of their nice little chats I can actually feel my IQ dropping, and don't even get me started on Zabini, he's almost as disgusting as you are. Both of you walk around this school as if you own it, with a different whore on your arm each week."
She continued to lean closer and suddenly their noses were touching. Her eyes were intoxicating. Suddenly her eyes glazed over in what Draco could only guess was hurt. He wanted so badly to force his lips on hers and take her as his own. Her eyes narrowed, and she finally pulled her face back a few inches away from his.
"I may be a mudblood," she spat the word at him, "but I will never be as low as you and your deatheater friends. So sod off Malfoy."
And with that she quickly turned and ran up the stairs, a final slam of her door letting him know the conversation was over. It was at that moment Draco Malfoy realized Hermione Granger was no longer the shy little bookworm she use to be…..
----
Draco's mind was quickly pulled to the present by his best friend tapping his fork on the table quite loudly. He couldn't help but be worried as he realized Blaise's eyes were unfocused and his smirk had suddenly become a full-blown grin.
"So Draco," Blaise finally said looking into his friends eyes with a plastic smile, "do you still need a date to that quidditch banquet?"
Already knowing what his best friend was thinking, Draco began to shake his head. Being the seeker for the Wellington Wasps meant he must attend the annual banquet for all professional quidditch teams. The last three years he had taken his ex-fiancée Pansy Parkinson, but as they had broken up almost a year ago, she would not attend this year. He was considering not going, but his manager (Blaise) assured him that he HAD to go.
"No!" Draco said continuing to shake his head, "I know what you're going to say Blaise and no. I'm not going with Granger... No way Blaise."
"Listen Draco," Blaise had a plan, and that scared Draco quite a bit, "just go for it. Rumor has it she's recently become single and quite a successful fashion writer for Witches Weekly. Also, quite a few people fancy she'll be the next fashion editor. Not to mention she's bloody brilliant, and beautiful."
Draco studied his friend's face, a small smirk gracing his pale face. "Since when are you an expert on Hermione Granger?"
"Well," at this Blaise seemed to falter for a second, but soon regained his composure, "My new lady friend Camille happens to be her personal assistant."
"You mean your latest shag?" the blonde asked with a smirk.
"Speaking of shags," his dark haired best friend said avoiding the question altogether, "you know a girl on the rebound is always willing to shag nice guys like ourselves, and Hermione Granger is definitely on the rebound."
This idea was almost too much to turn down. Granger was beautiful. Looking across the restaurant Draco finally located the brunette across the restaurant. Her head was thrown back as she laughed, her eyes gleaming in happiness, and her tan skin glowing under the dim lighting. Watching her laugh, Draco knew what he had to do.
"Fine," he said raking his hands through his hair with a sigh, "I'll go with Granger. Set it up manager."
-----
Walking past Malfoy and Zabini's table was highly uncomfortable for Hermione. She could feel both men's gaze on her but held her head high and walked past with all the Gryffindor courage she could muster. When she and Ginny were finally at their table, Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. Watching Ginny try to situate her six month pregnant stomach behind the table comfortably gave Hermione a quick shot of jealousy.
'That should be me,' she thought with tears welling in her eyes, 'Why did Justin have to ruin everything?'
"Come on Herms," her ginger-haired friend said with a pleading look in her eyes, "We're here to get happy… So get happy. Don't make me get hormonal. I've been carrying this little kick boxer in here for six months. Turns out she likes to use my bladder as a punching bag".
So that's exactly what they did. They spent the next thirty minutes thinking back on the happier times they had shared, and the times they would share in the future. In a few months baby Lily would arrive and the Potter's life would be changed forever. The two women shared a laugh as they thought back to the birth of James and how frantic Harry had been while waiting in the waiting room of St. Mungo's. He had paced back and forth for hours waiting for his first born to arrive, and when the time finally came he had jumped into the air screaming at the top of his lungs. Harry then hugged everyone in the waiting room, including those who weren't there for Ginny, and began handing out cigars.
At this Hermione burst out laughing, throwing her head back unable to control her giggles. It was then that her eyes met Malfoy's from across the restaurant. She was unable to control herself from staring. She then watched as Zabini seemed to say something that upset Malfoy. He raked his hands through his gorgeous blonde hair, sending a chill down Hermione's spine. How was it possible for him to turn her on from across an entire restaurant?
It wasn't until Ginny began tapping her fingernails against the hardwood table that Hermione was brought back to earth. The two then began talking about the upcoming Professional Quidditch Banquet. It was Harry's first year as seeker for Puddlemere United, and he had to attend. Ginny wasn't that excited about wearing dress robes to the event as she would be nine months pregnant by then, but was ready to meet some of her favorite pro players.
The two women were so engrossed in their conversation of sexy quidditch players, that they didn't notice as a dark haired wizard walked up to their table. Blaise Zabini was a man on a mission as he walked to their table. He had matchmaking to do.
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A/N: So…. What do y'all think? Hmmm? Comment are always appreciated.
Thanks to:
Emschmem- I'm glad you liked the answering machine. Haha. It's my favorite.
Kk1999- thanks. I appreciate it a lot.
Nangini- Glad you like it. Hope you like the new chapter
Wasu- Thanks so much. Hope you like the new chapter too.
Vinwinz- Thanks. Haha. Yeah sorry. I had Zabini but I guess when I was doing word check it changed it. Oops. Thanks for pointing it out.
