I have a declaration! (Please don't hold me to this because I am likely to not achieve my goals, but...) I'm going to try and post something everything three days. Whether it be this, Adventurous Living or Colavalore, I'll try my best to post regularly (ish. Sorry if it fails).

Anyway, here's the next instalment!

Situation Number Two
It's the only chance for you
It's controlled by denizens of hate

-Jack Johnson

That had not been going well.

Hermione prided herself on her ability to read people, and she knew fake interest when she saw it. From the first few minutes of their conversation she could tell it wouldn't end the way she hoped, but what she didn't expect was to see the kind stranger from the book shop strolling over liked he owned the place.

Which, now that she recognised the connection, she guessed he must do. How she didn't realise that all those weeks ago she didn't know. She'd been preparing for this gathering for months, researching who would be there, the various guest backers and applicants. Draco was hardly a common name, so she didn't know why she didn't put two and two together. But now everything seemed to be falling into place in her head.

Although he did seem awfully nice in comparison to his parents who had just dismissed her as quickly as the Parkinson's did.

She followed the Malfoys with her eyes as they walked away, trying not to let her disheartenment show on her face.

"I'll work on them"

She looked back at Draco to see him wearing a subtly sheepish expression.

"They're not always the easiest to intrigue" he said.

She chuckled, "It looks that way, thank you though"

He nodded.

This whole situation seemed a little surreal to Hermione. Having only spoken to him for a few minutes those weeks ago, she didn't know any better and had imagined him to be just a simple bookworm, similar to her. He had seemed friendly and obviously had a good taste in pastimes.

Those things haven't changed, but over time since they met he had popped into her mind a little. As people do, she had assumed a few things about his life, but there was now a whole other side to his experience she hadn't expected and she was taking a second to reconcile them.

She watched as Draco lifted his arm out to a passing staff worker and familiarly picked up two flutes of Champagne off of their tray before holding one out to Hermione.

"Can I get you a drink?" He asked with a small smirk.

She answered him with a smile of her own, taking the offered glass, "I'd love one."

They both took a sip of the, unsurprisingly incredible, Chamagne and were silent for a beat before Hermione broke it.

"So you're a Malfoy?"

A chuckle escaped him, "Yeah"

"Somehow I didn't expect it" She said, and he raised an eyebrow in responce.

"Did I not seem the type?"

She took a second to think about how she would form her responce and he smirked.

"It's okay" He said, "I know the reputation".

She felt a little bad, but it didn't make it any less true.

"Yeah" she admitted, "you do have the hair though. And it's not like there are many Draco's around so I should probably have made the connection".

"I guess I must have been too distracting at the time" he said with humour in his eyes.

Hermione snorted. "That must have been it".

There was another moment of silence, but it was fairly comfortable so Hermione took a moment to consider everything. This new kind of relationship they were forming felt natural to her, she wasn't sure if they were friends yet, or if their new position in terms of work made them potentially collegues; but whatever it was, she found that it felt fun and if she was being honest with herself, quite exciting.

It had been a long time since Hermione had really made any new close friends. She went to school with a group of others who had now become like family to her, but this was different. It was new, but also contained a new kind of flirty edge which she didn't even have when she had tried dating Ron a couple of years ago.

"So you're an activist?" Draco said, breaking through her thoughts and mirroring her earlier question.

"Yeah" She replied.

He smirked, "You know, somehow I did expect it."

She laughed. "Yeah, I've been told I'm quite obvious about it".

He thought for a second. "I think that's good" He said genuinely, "It's a point of view not just a job"

"Exactly!" She said.

"So you weren't just meeting with Blaise to hook up that time?" He joked.

"No!" she laughed, almost chocking on the champagne she was trying to sip.

She went to say more but was distracted by a man who was watching her from across the room behind Draco. He stood in a tailored suit, leaning elegantly against a wall as if it were built just for him to lean against. He had dark skin and black hair which was cut short, suiting him perfectly. He met her eyes and continued watching unashamed.

Blaise Zabini himself.

She lifted an eyebrow as if asking him what he was looking at. He smirked before looking pointedly at Draco and lifting an eyebrow at his back.

She shot him a look of confusion before looking back over at Draco.

"Speak of the devil" She said.

He turned around and Hermione could see the overly exaggerated eyeroll he made as he saw who it was. He turned back to Hermione and smirked.

"Blaise." He paused in mild confusion, "I actually have no idea what he's doing here. He said he wasn't coming".

She chuckled, "That's odd".

"Indeed, I should go figure that out. I'll see you again if you're still around later".

She nodded, glad that Draco didn't invite her along, she was still fuming a little bit after Blaise's dismissal of her the week before.

Draco turned away and made his way the across the floor, leaving her to continue on her own.

"You two looked awfully chummy" Blaise said when he arrived.

Draco ignored him.

"Why are you here?" He said.

"Why am I here? That's awfully rude of you, you'd think a best friend wouldn't need a reason to come visit"

Draco rolled his eyes but couldn't help the humour that filled the expression.

"You know what I mean" he said, "Why did you come this evening, you're neither a backer nor an applicant... Who did you come to see?"

Blaise made an innocent expression, one that was clearly false and he obviously aware of that.

Draco sighed in feigned exasperation. "Not important, I guess."

Blaise nodded, "You're right, it's not. But you know what is?"

"No, Blaise-"

"Yes! You both look very familiar with each other, that must have been quite a conversation"

Draco made the mistake of explaining himself. "No" he said, "We actually met a few weeks ago."

"Is that so?" Blaise looked particularly smug, he didn't even have to make any insinuations, it was as if his humour buzzed in the air around them.

"Oh, shut up"

Blaise let out a full laugh.

"I'm not wrong though"

It was at that moment that Draco looked back over at Hermione to see her talking to someone else.

The stranger was a little taller than Hermione and had light brown hair which lay stylishly dishevelled on his head. He had a lean frame, his arms and legs fairly slim, standing confidently and attentively as he spoke to Hermione.

She herself looked happy, speaking with a genuine enthusiasm and a flattered blush warming her cheeks.

Draco watched as they both laughed at a joke one of them had said, the stranger breifly laying his hand on Hermione's shoulder to punctuate what he was saying.

Blaise's elbow nudged Draco in his stomach and he looked back with a scowl.

"Make sure you don't burn a hole through in his back" His friend laughed "I don't think Hermione would appreciate it".

Draco glared at him

"Just stop."

She spoke with him for the rest of the evening.

His name was Michael Withersby, and while Hermione had found out a little about him before that evening as he was on the guest list, she hadn't thought he was likely to talk to her. From whats he could find, he seemed more interested in the entrepreneurial than the charitable aspects of the evening; but she guessed she must have assumed wrong because he hadn't left her for even a moment since he came over.

He was extremely friendly, something which Hermione found a little startling at the beginning, but she came to the conclusion that this was just how he was. She wasn't a particularly tactile person, but there was something so flattering about the way he acted that she found herself enjoying being in his company; especially as he was also a financial backer and seemed to be interested in her charity.

He was almost interesting enough to stop her looking over in Draco's direction every so often.

Almost.

"... close friend of mine, and his school was like that." Micheal was saying, "It was quite rural, you know, they usually are, aren't they? It really didn't help him much, he's naturally bright though so he managed to get through okay, but some of his friends weren't so successful."

Hermione nodded, "I've heard so many stories just like that in areas where the schools just aren't up to scratch. The students can't afford better and the schools can't afford to better provide for them, so they all flounder because of it."

"Exactly" He said in response. "You know, I really think you're on the right page with all of this. Can I have your number so we can discuss this more?"

Finally, Hermione thought, a backer who is actually interested in helping.

She typed her work number into his phone and they finally parted ways as he was called elsewhere by an associate.

She breathed a sigh of relief that this whole event had actually done something good for her job. She couldn't wait to get out of the place, she was exhausted.

The breeze was cool against her skin as she waited for her lift outside the Manor.

While she had been inside the sky had quickly darkened and the stars had come out, looking so much more vibrant here in the countryside than they did in the city.

Hermione blew out of her mouth to see the whiteness of her breath in the winter air and chuckled at the childish simplicity of it. The sound of the remaining hubbub in the ballroom and the hum of the champagne she had drunk floated around her mind as the wind prickled her skin; she enjoyed the feeling of it all, a soothing ending to a tiring evening.

An approaching set of footfalls could be heard walking towards her from behind and she turned around to see Draco walking up to her, a smart black coat covering his suit and keeping him warm.

She smiled at him as he approached.

"Hey" she said moderately quietly, as if speaking too loudly would disrupt the peace she had been feeling.

"Hi" He replied in the same tone, "you're waiting for someone?"

"Yeah, a friend is coming to pick me up." Aware of how strange that was in this sort of company, she went on to explain herself. "I never know how these sorts of things are going to go, you know. It's easier than a hire."

He nodded. His eyes looked a little unfocused as if he were thinking something through, so she waited for a moment, giving him time to work it out.

After a few seconds he seemed to have got everything in order.

"What I said to my mother earlier, I know we hadn't discussed it at all before then, but I'm pretty sure I can work on them."

She was a little surprised. "Oh, that's lovely of you, but you don't have to, I mean, just because we're..."

Friends?

Were they though? They had only had two conversations so she guessed they weren't. She decided to backtrack. "I'd appreciate that, thank you".

He nodded, "You're welcome."

He paused before beginning again. "So, in case I can get something done about that" He said, looking into her eyes fairly pointedly "could I have your number?"

He had asked for her number. Somehow it felt different to her. It felt like there was a different dynamic when he asked it to when Michael said such similar words earlier that. It felt like a whole other meaning was laid underneath it.

Not one she disliked either.

She forced herself to speak so that she didn't wait too long while her thoughts whirled.

"Yes, sure, yeah" She said, taking the phone that he was passing to her. She internally cringed as she felt her face flame a little.

Draco's lips curled slightly as she started typing, he must have noticed.

After a second she passed it back, her number written under the name Hermione Granger.

As he pocketed the phone they remained standing there quietly, suddenly at a loss for something to say. But they were saved from the silence as a car drove up to where she stood.

A head of ginger hair could be seen through the open window as George Weasley spoke loudly in a particularly awful imitation of a cockney accent.

"One cab for Hermione Granger!"

She laughed, looking through to the back of the car to see a few other familiar faces waiting for her.

"My friends are here" she said to Draco, indicating a little awkwardly to the car as a loud round of laughs come from the back as someone said something amusing.

Draco smiled, "So they are. I'll see you some other time".

She nodded before getting into the warm car and setting off towards the burrow where she was staying the night, leaving Draco alone in the cold.

Let me know what you think!

Blessings xox