Author's Note: Finally! I promised that I was going to update sooner, but I kind of lost track of time... Hehe? I found a book that I just got sort of obsessed with it. And I'm a slow reader so... Anyway, I'd really like to know what you think of my story so far. I know the characters are slightly out of character- okay, more than slightly- but I'm not perfect. Far from it, actually.
Disclaimer: For Merlin's sake, I don't own Harry Potter. I'm frickin' Asian, not English!
Chapter Four:
Stuck
Draco Malfoy was confused. A bit weirded out, too. When he awoke that morning, the day after his last confrontation with Hermione, it had seemed like a normal day. He got out of bed unenthusiastically, took a nice warm shower, brushed his teeth, combed his hair, got dressed in some smart robes, and apparated to his company.
That's when things started to get weird.
As he was walking to the double doors of the building, two male employees of his walked out. Upon spotting him, they swerved in his direction and gave him an impressed "Congratulations!", then moved on after clapping him on the back. The second he was in the building, he noticed immediately the change in atmosphere. People pointed at him not-so-subtly, whispering in hushed voices undoubtedly about him. Some guys even wolf-whistled when he came into sight. Plus, he was pretty sure he heard a yell of, "Malfoy, you lucky bastard!"
He could be wrong, though.
When he got to his office, he greeted his secretary, Sarah, with a curt nod of acknowledgement. Instead of getting the usual shy smile in return, the woman let out a small sob and ran away.
Yes, Draco was very confused indeed.
Now, as he sat alone in his office, he found himself wondering just what the hell was going on. What was wrong with everyone today? What had he done to get random congratulations? Why was he a lucky bastard (besides obvious reasons)? And why did his secretary just run away from him like that?
Not that it was the first time she had ever run away from him. However, it was the first time she had done so with tears running down her face. Usually she just has that nervous expression on her beet-red face.
He had that effect on women.
Except Granger, his mind so helpfully supplied.
'Not now!' he scolded, mentally slapping himself. His eyebrows furrowed, when he was interrupted by a surprise visit from his best mate.
"Hey, Drake," Blaise said in mock-urgency, to which Draco diligently ignored.
"Hey, Drake," he tried again, silence as his only answer.
"Drake! Drake!"
"What the bloody hell do you want, Zabini?" Draco snapped.
"Did you read the Daily Prophet this morning?"
"No. I was in a hurry this morning. Why? Did they write something that isn't a bunch of gossip trash and is actually relevant to me?"
"Why don't you read it and find out?" Blaise suggested with a smirk, whipping out a copy of the gossip rag, causing Draco to raise a suspicious eyebrow.
That Zabini was up to something.
Draco read the Prophet silently, expecting some half-arsed crap about Saint Potter, only to find that that wasn't what that Skeeter woman was up to after all. "Is that bloody woman everywhere!"
"Ah, so it did happen. You know, I don't understand why you're so worked up about this. Luna and I agreed that you two make just the loveliest couple," Blaise flashed a self-satisfied smirk.
"Shut up, Blaise! You were there when I decided to go to Granger's workplace to piss her off, not make a move! Must you always be so damn annoying?"
"It's part of my job description," he replied as if it were obvious. "But, honestly, you didn't have to go there. You could have easily just forgotten the other day even happened. Better yet, you could have ignored her completely that day. Instead, you followed her. I think you do like her."
"You know I've been stressed out lately, Blaise," Draco said with a sigh, "What with Astoria Greengrass practically stalking me, the company losing one of its biggest associates, and the fact that I'm expected at that big 'important' social gathering where I'll have to kiss up to those fat, pompous, arrogant company owners!"
"So you'll have to kiss up to a bunch of you's?"
"No, that's where you are wrong, Zabini. I have the body of a Greek God, okay? Those apes have the body of Mount Olympus."
"Do you realize you just said that your body lives on top of those apes'?"
"I did not say that."
"But you implied it."
"I have no idea what you mean."
"Fine, Draco, keep lying to yourself. Besides, we have gotten way off topic. We were talking about your sudden interest in Granger."
"Like I said, I was stressed. I needed a distraction from it all, and she just so happened to be there at the most opportune time. I'm nearly a hundred percent sure that that's the only reason Granger allowed herself to be in my presence too. We were two people who needed some time away from reality, choosing to do so together- solidifying the idea that none of it was real. Me and Granger spending a day together is the furthest thing from real you can possibly get- effectively saving us from each of our own personal hells we call our lives," Draco explained.
"You know… that was actually kind of deep," Blaise commented through his shock. Who could blame him, though? Draco Malfoy, being deep, not complimenting himself for once?
Unheard of.
"I have my moments. Granted, they're probably once every blue moon, but they do happen. You know, we really should stop getting off topic so much."
"Oh, yeah, you're right," Blaise conceded, "…Er… What were we talking about?"
"I believe it had something to do with my nonexistent relationship with Hermione Know-It-All Granger that your miniscule little deranged brain seems to have convinced itself is true. Well, your mind and the rest of the idiotic Wizarding World's minds. Seriously, what are you people on?"
"'What are we on?' What does that mean?"
"I'm actually not completely sure… I heard a couple of muggles use it during my trips through the Muggle World. From what I gathered, it's an expression used when someone suggests something utterly insane. I could be wrong, though. I just felt that it would be an appropriate thing to say to my situation. Anyway, I just thought I'd tell you what I plan on doing to the Prophet for these ridiculous articles they keep on writing about me and Granger."
"Oh, and what is that?" Blaise raised an eyebrow, honestly curious as to what Draco could have thought of. He didn't think Draco would be stupid enough to-
"I'm going to sue them," he answered simply, Blaise's eyes bugging out.
"Sue them? Are you an idiot! That won't help you at all!"
"Sure it will!" Draco exclaimed, wondering what had suddenly gotten into his friend. "I sue them blind, get them to stop writing anything at all about me, embarrass them completely, and get the sweet pleasure of laughing in their faces. Where exactly does this not benefit me?"
"Uh, the part where you make people believe the rumors even more?" Blaise said slowly, as if he were talking to an idiot. Thinking about it, he might as well be.
"What are you talking about, Zabini?" Now Draco was even more confused than earlier. He hated all this confusion. Just when he thought he was beginning to understand just what the hell was going on in the world, he gets even more lost.
"Mate, if you suddenly sue the Prophet after they wrote about you and Granger when you never attempted the same when they had the same articles about you and Greengrass, people are going to think you're being defensive. You're only giving people more proof that what they are reading is true." Blaise watched in satisfaction as Draco slowly processed his words, horror dawning on his face as he realized the truth behind them.
Draco paled dramatically, "Well what am I supposed to do?"
"Obviously, suing is out of the question. So is publicly denying it- that would have the same effect as suing… I suppose you could pay the Prophet off, but that may arise some suspicion. Buying out the Prophet would only give other newspapers the chance to write about you with their biggest competitor out of the way…" Blaise furrowed his eyebrows in frustration, "I guess the only thing you can do is wait it out and hope for the best."
"Wait it out and hope for the best?" Draco asked incredulously, "That's all you can possibly think of?"
"Well, it's the safest possible route that hopefully won't backfire on you," Blaise replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "You might want to stay away from Granger without making it seem like you're avoiding her. If you start acting weirder than usual, they might think you ended your relationship because everyone found out. Just go on like normal and hope you never encounter Granger again."
"We had already planned for that, but it's nice to know that you agree. So, Step One: Stay away from Hermione Granger."
A few days after Hermione and Draco had separated for good, Hermione found herself throwing away yet another copy of the Daily Prophet. She hadn't even spared it a glance this time. She knew it was probably about her and the Ferret, anyway- in other words, the Wizarding World's most talked about "couple" as of now. Why anyone would want to read this trash to know about the happenings of her and Malfoy's "relationship" was beyond her, but maybe that was just because she was more sane than the rest of the world.
But that's just a guess.
Thought it did make sense. After all, the last article was about how she and Malfoy must have been secretly meeting since after the first one, claiming that since they wouldn't deny the relationship, they were trying to hide it. They had accounts from multiple witnesses- most of them probably connected to Malfoy seeing as how she cut most of her ties there- that stated how they weren't acting any different from before the discovery of their relationship, so it wasn't likely that they had broken up. It was a plausible theory, she supposed, if the thought of her dating Malfoy didn't make her want to throw up what was left of her meals from the past two weeks.
Here comes the urge again- she really needed to stop thinking about this.
Hermione ran her fingers gently through her TAMED hair (oh how she loved saying that), loving how they just slid through it easily. That makeover Ginny had forced her into was definitely worth it.
Even if she hadn't thought so at first.
It was amazing, though. She had only agreed to have that makeover as long as they went to a muggle salon, since there would always be people whispering behind her back in the Wizarding World- before it used to be because of her War Hero/ Golden Trio status, now it was her supposed future Hermione Malfoy status. After a few hours in a muggle salon, the muggles were able to accomplish what no wizard would have ever been able to achieve: they tamed her hair. Her hair. That bush of a mess that she called hair was finally straightened, sleek, and most importantly, not what it used to be. She'll be honest, she did love her hair before- it was different, it set her apart from everyone else, and it defined her. But, she could only deal with having that heavy nest sat at the top of her head for so long.
It was starting to hurt her neck, really.
Contently, Hermione slipped on a pair of comfortable jeans, a form-fitting white t-shirt, and a black leather jacket. It wasn't something she would usually wear, but that was sort of what she was aiming for. It might throw any curious wizards off. Putting on a pair of sunglasses and a pair of black heels, she walked out of her flat, cursing Ginny when she stumbled a bit.
Merlin she hated heels. The only reason she would ever wear such hazardous monstrosities- besides the Yule Ball- was because she needed to get used to them for Ginny and Harry's wedding. The wedding she was going to alone, now…
"Stupid git," she muttered to herself bitterly. As she went off on another rant about Ron- which, surprisingly, was her first in days- she realized something very important that she had neglected to do.
She still hadn't told Ginny and Harry.
"Mother-" she cut herself off when she noticed a pair of old women sitting on a bench nearby, possibly able to hear her as she walked passed, "will love her birthday present I got for her!" Hermione added a happy clap of her hands, acting as if she was just so excited that she was talking to herself.
It was safer than swearing in front of old women that would probably beat her with their impossibly heavy bags if they heard her.
Back to the issue- she'll need to tell Harry and Ginny soon. Or at least Harry, then he could tell Ginny. After all, Ginny had one hell of a temper and Harry was pretty much the only one that could calm her down. Hermione may have gotten to be very close friends with Ginny these last six years, but she wasn't even close to that level. So, Harry was the only person who would be able to tell Ginny the news of Hermione and Ron's breakup without losing any limbs. Or, at least, without losing any important limbs…
Hermione stopped in her tracks, "Where was I going, again?" She really needed to work on her habit of getting lost in thought when she had errands. She tended to do that a lot. On the bright side, at least she doesn't read while walking anymore.
She learned that lesson the hard way.
Oh yes, she was going to the muggle mall to find a wedding present! She knew that since everyone invited to the wedding was a wizard, she'd have an easier time finding something in the Muggle World. Besides, Ginny seemed to have inherited her dad's bizarre obsession with the Muggle World. Just, not quite to the point Arthur was.
Hermione continued on her walk, swerving to the direction of the mall when she realized she was headed the wrong way. Finally, she was able to see the Westfield London Shopping Centre and she picked up the speed, evading other passersby. Entering through one of the double doors, she smiled at the sight. Sure, she wasn't much of a mall person, but she couldn't deny that it was an amazing mall. Which was probably why it was always so crowded.
After looking around for awhile and finding nothing, Hermione headed to the elevators. Usually, she'd take the stairs, but she was wearing high heels. She did not have a death wish, no matter what people said about her and the rest of the Golden Trio.
The elevator, surprisingly, only had one other occupant. She didn't look at him, most of her attention focused on her aching feet. "Second floor, please," she said politely, seeing as how he stood right in front of the buttons. The man spun around quickly at her voice, confusing her, "Granger!" he yelled in disbelief.
Her head snapped at the voice. Crap, she knew that voice. "Malfoy!" she cried when her brown eyes met familiar cold, grey-blue ones. As their eyes met, concurrently, they swore lowly, "Damn." The second the word slipped through their lips, the elevator came to a sudden stop, the lights flickering off.
They were stuck.
AN: Oh yes, sort of cliche 'stuck in elevator' thing. I just thought it would be fun. Besides, it wouldn't be much of a Dramione if they managed to stay away from each other like they planned. Also, I'm hoping for some bonding for next chapter. And i guess it will have some, what's the word? Oh yeah, 'fluff'. There's something to look forward to for you readers.