Draco was unsure of what to make of Hermione after their conversation. He had expected her to still be the Gryffindor Princess that was uptight, assuming and judgmental. He expected her to invade his personal space and question his comings and goings, but it was actually him that wanted to know more.
She was proving to be a quiet and polite roommate, but she was still frustrating in a completely unexpected way. He hated how she was never around; he wanted to push her buttons and make her blush.
He blamed it on his upbringing and pride, certain that he just loved making such an intelligent woman react to him in an incensed and unprofessional manner, but he knew it was more.
He craved her presence and her soft voice, but she kept avoiding him. He knew that she didn't know what to make of him and that she was confused by his kindness and polite nature, so he decided to up the ante one morning.
He waited in his room quietly with his ear pressed to the door. He would never allow a soul to know this, but he waited for more than a respectable amount of time. Once he heard the soft padding of her sleepy feet, he got ready to strike.
He waited until she walked to their shared bathroom, waited to hear the shower start and waited to hear the squeak of the shower curtain being opened and shut.
A huge grin spread across his face as he snuck over to the bathroom, tossing off his shirt to just leave him in his pajama pants. He knew she liked him shirtless because she always blushed when he walked around without his top, and he planned on using it to his full advantage.
Quickly schooling a neutral expression to his face, he silently opened the bathroom door and stepped into the steamy room. He walked up to the counter and grabbed his toothbrush, purposefully knocking a cup on the counter to alert Hermione of his presence. He wanted to make sure she knew he was there, so that she was hot and bothered, but not actually offended. He wanted to frazzle her, not assault her.
He grinned and held back a laugh as he heard her yelp and slip slightly in the shower. He heard a number of bottles fall to the ground and he waited for her to right herself.
"Is everything alright in there, Princess?" He asked calmly, as if his presence in the bathroom was nothing unusual. He forced himself to not think of her soaping herself up, and focus primarily on rattling her prim exterior.
"Wuh-wuh-what are you doing in here?!" She stuttered, trying to find something to cover herself and cursing the towel rack that hung on the back of the door, decidedly close to her intruder.
"I need to brush my teeth and wash my face. I do wake up this gorgeous, but sometimes I need to clean myself up a little bit. You know, general hygiene and all that." He grimaced at his ridiculous excuse, but tried to maintain a confident facade. He needed to make her see him as a sexual option before he could make her see him romantically.
He realized in that moment what he wanted. He didn't just want to bother her, although he definitely did enjoy ruffling her feathers, but he wanted her. Just her. He wanted to be the one making her laugh, hear about her day and comfort her. She was an intelligent, strong and beautiful woman and he wanted her to make him feel the way she had made him feel that day after class again. She made him feel as if he could be a better man, and she made him want to try.
He happily washed his face and began brushing his teeth, when she made a move he could never have expected.
She had been washing herself and thinking of how to escape her roommate or stun him, but she recognized how to beat him. How to really mess with his smugness.
She stepped out of the shower, fully nude and flicked her hair over her shoulder. She confidently made eye contact with him in the mirror, his toothbrush hanging out of his mouth and his face dumbstruck.
Walking up to him, she reached past him and grabbed a towel from the rack. She toweled off her hair and smiled mischievously at him in the mirror, making no move to cover herself.
"Is everything alright there, Malfoy? You've got some toothpaste dribbling down your cheek."
She walked out of the bathroom, her head held high, proud that she had rendered the great Draco Malfoy speechless.
Hermione led the Fourth Years through their Tuesday class, watching the pairs duel and practice shield charms. She weaved through the classroom, giving instruction when needed and assessed which students needed supplementary training.
Draco sat at the desk in front of the classroom, grading essays from the first few weeks and adding notes for their students' future essays. He looked up occasionally but avoided watching Hermione, as he had yet to form a plan of attack when it came to seducing her.
He knew it would have to be slow, otherwise she would reject his sincerity. But he also knew he couldn't be too distant, because she would forget about him and someone else might swoop in. He needed to be firm and dominant, as she easily dominated all of the men in her life and wrapped them around her fingers. He couldn't be too dominant though, because she would see him as misogynistic and rude.
She was a complex and intelligent woman, and he knew that making her his would be no simple task.