Hermione stared at Draco with wide eyes, a completely shocked expression plastered across her face. She was looking at the wizard, like he sprouted a few extra heads, like he was Fluffy incarnate, guarding a trap door. Never in a million years would she have ever entertained the thought of the words "Hermione, go out with me." escaping the pureblood's mouth.
The witch was completely speechless, struggling to process the Slytherin's ludicrous proposition. She felt like a data software, that was having difficulties processing words. The phrase. "Does not compute." sprang to her mind.
Malfoy and her were like oil and water, polar opposites like Heaven and Earth.
He was brought up in wizarding society, a well-groomed pureblood, the cream of the crop. She was raised in the non-magical world, an ignorant muggleborn, who never even dared hope magic was real, until Professor McGonagall visited her family, and told her all about Hogwarts.
They were sorted into rival Houses.
Draco a sly, ambitious Slytherin, and Hermione a fierce, and loyal Gryffindor.
Throughout the years they exchanged more insults than there were apples in an orchard. They snarked at each other at every given opportunity, most of the time recycling the 'oldies', as they were running out of inspired impertinence.
She stood up for him at his trial, but she did that out of a strong sense of justice, that she would have done for anyone else, had they been in the young Malfoy heir's position.
Hermione valued loyalty, and when it really counted, in the middle of a dangerous and sticky situation, he covered for them, instead of handing them over to the enemy on a silver platter. She will always be grateful for that, even if everything went pear-shaped shortly after that, and even to this day she relived everything in minute detail in her nightmares.
She shook herself out of her reverie, and glanced at Malfoy. He was silently watching her, getting both paler, and more and more flustered the longer she kept quiet. Her eyes trailed over his every feature, her mind analyzing the information it received.
The years had been kind to the wizard. He grew up to be an extremely aesthetically pleasing man. His face was slightly chiseled, with a strongly defined jaw. He had a straight nose, and pale, well-shaped eyebrows. His eyes were like liquid silver, the steely orbs shining like a pair of glazed pearls. Straight blonde hair fell haphazardly over the mirrors of his soul, and caressed the nape of his neck.
His alabaster skin was literally flawless. The man could have been a poster boy for skin care products. If she was not aware that he was a pureblood, and that it was impossible, she would have accused him of being Photoshopped. But it was highly unlikely that a pureblood wizard living in the magical world even knew about muggle computer softwares, not to mention the absurdity of Photoshopping a living, breathing being.
There were certain fundamental principles, that even Magic needed to follow.
"Hermione?" Draco asked.
She rubbed the spot between her eyebrows to soothe herself, and took a deep breath. "Why?" She asked incredulously.
Malfoy stared at her blankly. "Hm?"
"Why the flying feathers would you ask me out?" She echoed with a disbelieving look in her eyes.
"Well," He began, but Hermione jumped up from the arm of the sofa and started pacing back and forth.
"What on earth could have possibly possessed you to set forth such a preposterous idea?" She asked, pausing to glance at him.
"Granger-" Draco tried to explain himself, in vain.
"I mean, it's a completely ludicrous thought!" She mumbled with tints of red flushing her cheeks.
"Granger," The wizard groaned, trying to get a word in edgewise.
"Of all the crazy, comical, outlandish-" She ranted at him.
"Hermione," Malfoy chimed, trying to get her attention.
"-fantastical, farcical, foolish," She continued with listing adjectives from her vast vocabulary.
"Hermione-" The Slytherin wizard called out desperately, getting more and more frustrated with the tiny witch. Her rich tresses were flying around her face as she was gesturing wildly in the middle of her shocked harangue.
"-incongruous, nonsensical, whimsical concepts!" She muttered, and suddenly whirled around, getting close and personal with Malfoy. "Are you barmy?" She asked.
He blinked. "I-" She did not let him speak though.
"Is that it? Have you lost your marbles?" She asked, her gaze turning softer in concern.
Draco pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned. "Hermione,"
"Did the Sobering Potion malfunction?" She asked with a worry laced voice. "I mean, it was on the shelf of my potion storage for a while now-" She bit her lip thoughtfully." I made sure to check if the liquid expired yet, but it smelled like it should have."
Malfoy just stared at her with sheer incredulity. He had absolutely no idea that Granger blabbered so much when she was caught off guard. He smiled inwardly, realizing that the reason she was talking a mile a minute was because she was flustered. The delicious scarlet hue adorning her cheeks was another indicator that she was not indifferent to his notion, no matter how foolish, incongruous, or outlandish she claimed it to be.
He raked his eyes over her, and studied the witch. She was still as tiny, as she was when he last saw her. She barely reached his shoulders. He smirked to himself. He found her height, or lack thereof, absolutely endearing.
Her hair seemed to have tamed to some extent, but it was still as lush as ever, her silky curls angling in every direction. Her honey coloured eyes faded into striking amber, and when she glanced at him, he was staring into liquid gold. Her gaze was almost hypnotic, and he felt as though she was ascertaining the secrets of his very soul.
Her ivory skin had a warm glow, and he expressly enjoyed noticing the tiny freckles that dotted her, here and there. As she was frantically waving her arms around, he noticed a small tattoo scribbled across the pulse point of her left wrist. He was not able to make out what it depicted, but he made sure to tuck that information away at the back of his mind for later.
He was startled when she stepped closer to him, gently pressing her right palm against his forehead, and caressing her fingertips across his cheek, humming to herself.
"You don't seem to have a fever." She stated after a few moments.
"Hermione," He rasped, his voice trembling a bit from her closeness.
"Is this a trick then?" She asked accusingly, pulling her hands back. "Is your ego wounded that another Slytherin mmmff-" She was muffled mid sentence, as Draco's lips crushed against hers tenderly, his arms pulling her flush against his firm chest, cutting off her senseless mumbling quite effectively so.
Malfoy's world turned upside-down the moment the stunned witch returned the caress, tentatively peppering small kisses on his lips, trembling as he deepened the kiss, his tongue seeking entrance. It was like a jolt of electricity struck them, as their tongues engaged in a sensual waltz. They melted into each other, and unbeknownst to them, Magic responded to their union.
A warm golden glow sparked from their joined embrace, slowly engulfing the couple in a brilliant shower of light. Soft magical bell chimes tinkled subtly in a most beautiful arrangement, delighting in the occasion.
When they broke apart for air, both of them had a dazed look in their eyes, and they fell in a heap of tangled limbs on the settee, losing consciousness.
A/N: I know this is short, but it felt like the proper place to end the chapter. I like the intrigue. What on earth is going on here? You may or may not guess correctly, but if there is one thing I will say is that no, they aren't going to wake up magically married to each other. Not my style, but the happenstance might be similar.
To make it clear, all they shared was a kiss. When I re-read it, I realized it could have been interpreted otherwise, but nope.
Thank you for reading, and I would like to especially thank you for the reviews, they make my day!