Chapter 4
A few weeks had passed since the 'deal' between Hermione and Draco and true to his word, Draco had not mentioned the J word again. Hermione though was starting to feel the strain of having to do both hers and Draco's homework. Of course Draco was completely oblivious to everything.
Hermione found herself sitting at the café again working on yet another one of her long essays. This one was one of hers though so she couldn't really complain, which she did with knobs on when it came to doing Draco's homework.
Just two months to go, two months to go, she consoled herself continuously.
"Mi! I need you!" Came a shout from behind her.
Turning round, she found Lucy making her way towards her through the crowded café. She braced herself for whatever was coming. Knowing Lucy it was something to do with Blaise. And sure enough Lucy started the sentence with:
"Blaise has asked me out but I'm way too nervous to go by myself. You know what happened last time. I can't make a fool out of myself again Mi. Please please please will you come too?" she asked pleading.
"What? No. Don't be silly. This is your chance to be alone together. Plus I wouldn't want to be a third wheel," Hermione said hoping to get her friend to see sense.
"I'll tell Blaise to ask one of his friends along. Please Mi. Please! Don't let me make a fool out of myself. I need you! If you do this for me I swear I will never ask you to do anything else for me again. Please Mi. I'm begging," she said clasping her hands in front of her chest and giving Hermione puppy dog eyes. She knew that Hermione could not refuse when she did that.
"Fine," she said caving and making Lucy squeal with happiness.
"Thank you thank you thank you!" she gushed. "Now, I need to go and find Blaise so that he can arrange his friend," she said and walked out of the cafe leaving Hermione feeling completely defeated.
At 8 o'clock Hermione was sitting in a booth with Lucy at Olive Garden, a restaurant that was located near their campus. After Lucy had told Blaise that Hermione would be coming too tonight, she had expected him to get pouty and maybe even sulk. But this just proved how little she knew Blaise. He was a real sport and didn't complain once. He even seemed happy about Hermione coming. He had pecked Lucy lightly on the cheek and went to find a friend who would be available to come tonight. Neither of the two girls knew who was coming with him.
"There he is!" Lucy exclaimed. Hermione didn't need the sharp poke in her ribs to realize that Blaise had come. But to her utter dismay, the person that he had brought with him was, of course, Draco.
She kept her groan to herself not wanting to ruin the night for her obviously overexcited friend.
"Hey ladies. How's it going?" Blaise said cheerfully. Hermione and Lucy rose from their seats and Blaise gave Lucy a quick peck on the cheek and waved to Hermione. Draco stood behind Blaise shuffling his feet. But not in a "I'm nervous" kind of way. More like "I'm bored." Hermione instantly felt annoyed with him for his attitude but yet again decided not to say anything so as to not ruin Lucy's night.
"Erm..ladies this is Draco. I think you both know him," Blaise said gesturing to Draco who waved politely at both girls. Lucy nodded enthusiastically, her lips pulled into a massive smile, never actually taking her eyes off of Blaise.
"I think we should sit down now," Hermione said making a joke. Laughing, everyone slid into the booth but to Hermione's dismay, she was stuck next to Draco.
"So I'm kind of surprised to see you here alone Draco. Aren't you going out with Cindy?" Lucy asked trying to make conversation.
"Yeah. She has a big test tomorrow so I didn't really ask her. I don't want her to feel obligated to go out, you know?" he asked.
Hermione was shocked with his response but kept her face impassive. Lucy nodded and smiled at him. Blaise quickly jumped in to grab Lucy's attention.
"So what have you been up to?" he asked.
"Oh not much. I was..." she said and promptly started talking about all of the assignments that she had received and how she was trying to cope with the work load.
If there was one thing that Hermione knew, it was that work/school were not topics to be talked about during a date. It just made you look like a bookworm. Having been called that numerous times, mostly by the person sitting on her left, Hermione knew exactly what a bookworm was and made it her mission in life to prevent her friend from ever being tagged as one.
"Oh Lucy, what was that film that we watched the other night? The one with that chatroom?" Hermione asked hoping she wasn't too rude by interrupting.
"Oh my god. That film was incredible," and she went into a minute by minute explanation of the film to Blaise. Hermione smiled smugly to herself. Draco instantly noticed this and leaned down to whisper in her ear,
"Good move Granger. She would have bored him senseless otherwise," he said smugly.
"I don't know what you mean Malfoy," she whispered back making sure to not be heard by the other two.
"Oh come on. You and I both know that topics like school and homework and all that shit is just boring to listen to. Doesn't matter who it is listening."
She turned to look at him, finding him really close to her from having just whispered into her ear. For the first time ever, she found herself looking straight into his eyes. They were silver but had a light blue tinge around the edges. He had incredibly long eyelashes for a boy. A scent like that of lemons and chocolate was coming from him and it was slowly intoxicating Hermione's senses. She quickly forgot her train of thought and blankly stared at Draco.
"What's wrong?" he asked actually looking a bit concerned.
Hermione quickly shook her head and said quietly "nothing." Draco continued to look at her with a confused expression but then shaking his own head he turned back to contemplating his menu. For some reason Hermione felt a bit flustered.
Dinner passed quickly. Strangely enough, Hermione found Draco easy to talk to and even found herself laughing at his Snape impersonation. When they all finished eating, Blaise suggested that they go to The Mansion, a club not far from the restaurant. Draco readily agreed and both boys stood, Blaise staring hopefully at Hermione and Lucy. The two girls shared a look and when Hermione saw the pleading look in Lucy's eyes, she couldn't say no to her and stood up picking her bag up and saying: "Alright. Let's go."
Blaise instantly grabbed Lucy's hand and started pulling her out the door leaving Draco and Hermione behind. Due to the crowdedness of the restaurant, and the kerfuffle that all the waiters were making while taking the orders of the various tables, Hermione find it a little difficult to walk. She constantly kept getting banged into by waiters, or their trays. It wasn't until she felt Draco's hand on the small of her back that she managed to walk out without getting a concussion.
"Thanks," she said avoiding his eyes when they stepped outside.
"No problem. They would have knocked you out if I hadn't stepped in," he said laughing. Hermione rolled her eyes at him and turned to see Blaise and Lucy leaning against the railing chatting easily. They quickly made their way over to them and Blaise flagged a taxi for them. They didn't want to apparate because it was a muggle club. It was safer to go by taxi.
Ten minutes later, they stepped out of the taxi. They all stood at the door of the club, waiting for Draco who was paying the driver. He quickly made his way over stuffing his hands in his pockets as he walked towards them. He smiled when he reached them and for the first time, Hermione noticed the dimple that he had on his left cheek. Just on the left. It gave his face a sweet and childish look. She found herself smiling back.
They made their way in and quickly grabbed an empty booth. After asking them what they wanted to drink, Blaise and Draco walked to the bar to get the drinks. Lucy quickly turned towards Hermione grabbing her arm in a painful vice.
"Mi, I think I'm in love," she gushed.
"How is it going?" Hermione asked excited.
"Brilliant. Oh my god! I have never been able to talk about the stuff that I talk about with him with anyone," she said with a far away expression on her face. Hermione turned and hugged her.
"I'm so happy for you," she said squeezing hard.
"I'm happy for you too," Lucy said. Confused Hermione pulled out of the hug.
"What?"
"You and Draco. He couldn't keep his eyes off you all night. And I noticed you were pretty engrossed in him as well," she said winking at Hermione.
"Don't be silly," Hermione said quickly. Too quickly thought Lucy. After giving her a strange look and noticing the lads walking back towards their booth with the drinks, Lucy decided to let her friend off the hook.
"Oh sorry. I must have not been watching carefully enough," she said. Hermione blushed furiously thinking about what she had said.
"Miss me?" Blaise asked sliding in next to Lucy which left Draco again to sit next to Hermione. Lucy giggled and took a sip of her drink. Draco handed Hermione her Pina Colada and took a sip of his own beer. Once again, Blaise and Lucy became engrossed in each other.
"So.." Draco said nodding in time to the music. Not knowing what to say, Hermione just looked at him. He turned to look at her as well and that was when he noticed that Hermione Granger wasn't as buck-toothed and bushy haired as she used to be in Hogwarts. She was in fact quite pretty. He found himself looking into her eyes. They were brown but dark like the dark chocolate that you can only eat in small amounts because it makes you feel sick after too much. Her hair looked soft and he wanted to touch it. Suddenly he realised what he was doing and shook his head quickly and took a large swig of his beer.
"Do you want to dance?" Blaise asked Lucy. She didn't even bother to answer. Just stood up, grabbed his hand and pulled him onto the dance floor where they started dancing like maniacs. Left alone at the table, Hermione and Draco started feeling very awkward.
"They look happy don't they?" Hermione asked watching Blaise twirl Lucy around the dance floor and Lucy giggling madly.
"She better not hurt him," Draco said also watching them.
"Why would she hurt him?"
"Don't be fooled by his 'gruff exterior'. He's my best friend and I know how his mind works. And I know what can hurt him and what can destroy him. Lucy seems like a nice girl. I just hope she's not like Linda."
"Linda?"
"Yes. Linda. The last time Blaise was this loved up was when he was with Linda 2 years ago. They had been together for 6 months and he was in the clouds. During summer, he stayed round my house for a week and when he went back he decided to surprise her. He found her in bed with Marcus Flint," he turned to look at Hermione when she gasped.
"Remember him do you?" Draco asked. Upon her nod, he continued. "Yeah. Well. He claimed that he was one of Blaises best friends but didn't stop from banging his bird. Blaise was distraught. Of course he ended it with Linda right on the spot. But I was left to pick up his pieces. No-one knew how he was torn apart inside. I know it sounds stupid and cliché but it's the truth. He never let anyone know how Linda ruined him and he would kill me if he knew that I told you," he said earning a small smile from Hermione. "Just please. Make sure that your friend doesn't hurt him. Otherwise she will have me to answer to," he said giving Hermione a pointed look. She regarded him with a new found respect. It seemed that when Draco Malfoy cared, he cared properly. She saw the possessive look in his eye when he spoke about his best friend and she also heard the protective tone in his voice and she knew that if Draco cared about someone, he would do anything and everything in his power to protect them. It made her see him with a lot more respect.
She nodded and smiled at him and said, "Don't worry Draco. I'll make sure of it."
He turned to look at her and smiled. "Thanks," he said. "So tell me Granger, how's the handsome, rugged Jake?" he asked teasing her and nudging her with his shoulder. She blushed furiously and giggled all the while thinking maybe there's more to Draco Malfoy than meets the eye.
Hey everyone! So here's chapter 4..I hope you enjoy this one..It's one of my favorites..so now on to the thank yous..Thank you all who have added me to your alert lists and favourite lists you're all fab! and thank you to all who have reviewed! keep them coming my lovely readers! Enjoy chapter 4 xxxxxx
