I hope I don't mess up too much with all the time jumps. There you go, another chapter. A long one, since its been quite a long time since I last wrote.
So what?
***Today
So he'd missed his bus the day before, and that had been the cause of all the unfortunate happenings of that day. But it hadn't been his fault, he was sure about that.
It had been Blaise's fault. Not his. He wanted to be clear on that point. It had all started with the celebration of Blaise's raise two nights ago, when he had been dragged along to the Wicked Wonders, where he'd had too many firewhiskeys.
Thank Merlin today he'd had a good night's sleep, because today he had to take the bus. Just to prove her that it hadn't been on purpose. He had charmed his wand to wake him up earlier tan normal, and even charmed it twice, just to make sure. He was not going to miss the bus, not today.
As he had seen on his mother's pensive, the firewhiskey had definately done wonders to him. He still growled at the recollection of two nights ago.
*** Two days ago
"So, I was the other day with Nott. Did you know he proposed? At some fancy restaurant in front of at least 70 people. They say he was stuttering so much he had to repeat it thrice!"
They had been going over all their fellow house Hogwarts acquaintances for the last hour and had taken a sip of their glass for each one that had already committed.
Draco knew it was not normal for him to be still single. Of course, his name didn't have the best of the reputation, but he could make up for it in gold.
"Draco, what have you been up to recently? Haven't seen you around much. Does a certain witch have something to do with it?"
Blaise's question had been entirely innocent. Of course no one knew about Granger and himself. Granger and himself? He groaned at how easily it had come to him.
But having drunk a bit too much, Draco hesitated in his answer, and that was enough for Blaise. His eyes sparkled in anticipation.
"So there is a witch! Daphne said you hadn't answered her recent letters and she was worried. And for what I see, there is a reason for it!" Blaise grinned triumphantly.
Granger had definitely nothing to do with Draco's recent 'forgetfullness' at answering the owls Daphne had sent. She had done it herself, stalking him everyday and talking about pureblood offspring.
"She has nothing to do with it" It had slipped. Blaise raised his eyebrows. "Salazar's bones, Blaise, I promise. Daphne was jus tiring me…" he motioned with his hand and rolled his eyes. "Daphne is too…"
"too…"
"Right! Yes, that's it, she is to right for me" he said, taking another sip of his drink. "But she is just the opposite. She…" he lowered his head into his hands. "Merlin, I'm talking as if she were my girlfriend or something. And I just talked to her a few times" another sip, a longer one. "I mean, I can't even stand her! But she just sits there, and… and…gah!"
Why was he even saying that? It had just been a few encounters. And not even planned! So he had been tired of his routine (that's one of the reasons he decided to try the muggle bus) and she just added a bit of… life? To his life. Scratch that. He nodded his head furiously, trying to get her out of it.
"Whoa, mate. Who's gotten you so worked up?" Draco looked at his friend in the eye and realised what he'd said and how he was behaving.
"Forget it. Damn you and your firewhiskeys" he banged the glass against the table, leaving a few galleons too. "I'm leaving".
"Hey, HEY! Draco! What…" but he left before he could finish the sentence.
As he apparated into his apartment, he landed in the sofa and fell into a troubled sleep.
***Today
He looked at his image in the mirror. At least today he wasn't looking as hungover as yersteday. He tried a smile, but it was too forced.
He collected his papers from his desk. He'd taken more reports home tan usual. She had messed his day up too much.
***Yesterday
His head was still hurting when Matilda told him he had a visitor. He couldn't ask the visitor to come into his office; he shared office with four other wizards.
"Take him to meeting room number four" He said without raising his head from his papers and without asking who it was. He had been waiting for Percy Weasley's visit all week, so he assumed it was him. Matilda hadn't corrected him; she knew it was better not to do so when he wasn't in the mood.
He opened the door and froze as soon as he saw who was waiting for him. His mind went blank as she stood up clumsily from her chair, straightening her already straight trousers.
His body and brain wouldn't react –mainly due to yesterday's party-, and he couldn't help but stare.
"What…what are you doing here?" He barely whispered, totally confused. He eyed the papers she had brought with her and that were now on the table of the meeting room. He looked at her again
"I… there is a financial matter I'd like to discuss," she said timidly, without looking at him directly.
Since when did she come to discuss financial matters? It was normally her colleague, Hannah, who did so. Furthermore, she didn't talk with him, but with Mathias, who was much more lenient with financial mistakes.
"Is there something wrong with that?" He started to hear a bossy tone under that question, which he was sure, if he didn't answer, would lead to another fight.
"Excuse me… this is just unexpected. Please take a seat."
So What?
So what if she had decided to get interested in financial matters? And there he was, saying it was unexpected. Of course it was unexpected. Hannah had been surprised, to say the least. So had Tom, their boss, but he wasn't able to say no to the most promising witch of his department.
***Today
But today was a new day, she had decided. She had brushed her hair half a dozen times (just a bit more than normally) and cursed it thrice (just as normal). With a last look in the mirror, she left.
She couldn't miss the bus today. It would mean yesterday's embarrassments and uncomfortable silences had been for nothing.
***Yesterday
"Excuse me… this is just unexpected. Please take a seat."
"Right. So I have compared the real financial results of the project to the estimated ones, and I see there is a great deviation regarding income." She said.
She saw him blink a few times before moving towards his chair, pulling it backwards and sitting down. She contemplated this mysterious man as she did so. Why hadn't he turned up at the bus this morning? Had it been because of their small fight the day before? It had been nagging her all morning until she had decided to come by and ask him. Ask him for financial matters, of course.
She was enervated at how naturally elegance came to him. Swift movements, all synchronized and without a hint of doubt. Not even as he pulled a lock of platinum hair behind his ear.
"Just give me a moment to check it out."
Without asking, he bent forward to get her parchments. She crossed her arms defensively. He'd see it soon enough, if he checked her detailed and precise notes. That was not fair.
He started rummaging through her parchments, scanned the document a few times moving his eyes quickly across the page. She noticed a tired look to his face and wondered what was the cause.
"I see," she waited, "from what I gather, and taking into account I am not the Lead Arthimatist in this project" he paused and she blushed, having known that perfectly well, "your main problem is that you didn't receive the expected funds from the Ministry or from private donors as expected"
It had taken her an hour, at least, to figure it out. How had he done it so quickly? It must have been her notes. Yes, definitely.
"That's what I thought too," She said, taking back her notes. " I have been revising how the calculation was made, and well… the expected funds were based on a recent project regarding homeless cats."
He snorted dramatically. "So you're saying 60% of your income is based on the pity people have on cats?"
That superiority of his!
"It's not pity, its love! I've had Crookshanks with me since I was 13 and he's been nothing but a great support in times of need!" She said, getting closer to him.
And just then he started laughing. Not a small, polite laugh, but a truthful laugh that filled up the whole room.
"I should have known," she said angrily as she started to collect the parchments on the table. She was starting to feel hot and embarrassed. How could she have thought he'd be angry at her for their… misunderstanding the day before? There she was, trying to be polite, and he was just laughing at her, without compassion.
She wanted to leave, so she grabbed the remaining of her things and reached for the handle of the door. But a hand grabbed hers. It was surprisingly warm.
"Sorry Granger. It didn't come out right. I didn't mean it that way." From his tone and his look, she knew he was deadly serious in his apology. Although a glint of emotion remained in his eyes. "Its just I haven't been raised to…" he brushed his hair away from his troubled look "to appreciate other beings rather than purebloods. And this situation…" he motioned between them "its just the cherry to my day".
She snorted.
"I mean it. My comment was unthoughtful." He paused. "I really hope your cat lives a long and healthy life." There it was, his smirk. But it wasn't that bad this time; at least it came with an apology and she could sense it was just to release tension.
She sat down and took out her parchments again.
So What?
So he'd laughed at the absurdity of the situation. She, Hermione Granger, defending a cat in front of infamous Draco Malfoy. It had been ages since a laugh had come out so easily from his throat.
But of course she had to take it badly. He could, however, understand her. They were both so stubborn and defensive against each other it was bound to happen every time they talked. He was surprised it hadn't happed until then.
The rest of the meeting had run smoothly, him laying out her options, and she nodding and pointing out some arguments in favour or against them. In the end, they had –surprisingly- reached useful conclusions.
When they were shaking hands, he could see she wanted to ask him something. And he knew what it was. But it had been her who had started their semi-fight (or whatever) the day before, so it had to be her who had to raise the topic. But she kept her mouth shut and just muttered a 'see you soon'.
As soon as she left, he let out a breath he was holding and cursed Blaise again.
The rest of the day, even though he took a Pepper-up potion, he just couldn't concentrate in his work.
He left for home early and took a long shower.
***Today
She'd be there. He knew she would. So he just breathed deeply and entered the bus.
It was more crowded than usually, so it took him at least the double of time to get to her than it normally would.
"Good morning, Malfoy" she said, looking up from her book.
"Good morning, Granger" he replied smoothly.
"I spoke to Harry yesterday"
Of course she wouldn't waste a day. He could see her eyes gleaming, and he didn't know if he felt scared or intrigued.
"He'll be hosting a fundraising party for the project," she said proudly.
Poor Potter. From what he'd read in the papers and heard around the Ministry The Boy Who Lived to Kill all Evil was quite reluctant to celebrations and any other matters if he was the centre of them. It must have taken Granger quite a bit to convince him. Still, Potter had always had a soft spot when it came to her.
He saw she was looking at him inquisitively, still waiting for an answer.
"Congratulations are in order, then," he said sincerely "I'm sure it's going to be a great party."
"You won't come? After all, it was your idea."
Uh-huh. That was a dangerous question. If someone was less prone to the spotlight than Potter, that was Draco Malfoy. So he gave her a lie. Well, there was a little truth in it.
"Granger, you know I'm not welcome in these type of parties. Big bad ex-Death Eater Draco Malfoy." He smirked. "Although in this case, I'm sure no-one would object to receiving my family's money" Or what's left of it, at least.
The bus stopped, and looking around, Draco suddenly remembered it was time to get down.
"See you, Granger," he said, turning around, his coat moving dramatically behind him.
"Malfoy, wait!" She got up and held his forearm. He noticed how tight she held him. "Show them. Show them you're not as bad as everybody thinks".
He had to get down now or he'd miss his daily walk to the Ministry. Damn her and her chocolate eyes.
She kept talking "just… just help me plan it" she paused, "I'm really busy and I need help with…what are the laws regarding fundraising and donations".
It was a lie, and they both knew it. But it had been some time since someone had asked him for help without them having to.
He nodded, because he just didn't know how to answer.
"Same time, same place?" She ventured, blushing a bit.
He nodded again, and without wanting to think too much about it (if he'd had more time, he was sure he'd back down) he left the bus.
He saw her gather her things clumsily and follow him out. So now they also shared a stop? He groaned, a small smile trying to reach his lips.
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