A/N: Thank you for all the great reviews! Somebody pointed out to me that this wouldn't be too bad as the rating "T," so I've changed it. Recommend to friends, please! :)
::First Flashback::
"You did not have to hit me," groaned Draco, clutching his nose. Watterson was helping him apply some sort of ointment on it.
"You did not have to lunge at me like that," mumbled Hermione, her face red. She hadn't really meant to hit him, but her basic instincts(?) had told her to do so. She felt a little bad as she saw him suffer like that. "Does it hurt a lot?" she asked cautiously.
Draco smirked. "Wanna kiss it and make it all better?"
"I'm supposed to be the younger and immature one, as you always say," Hermione said sarcastically, but she could not help but feel warmness return to her cheeks as he mentioned the word 'kiss'. As she watched him apply the medicine on his nose, Hermione felt a bit faint. Maybe it was the strong citrus scent of the ointment that made her feel a bit dizzy...then...
"Oh my Merlin, are you alright?" cried Hermione, gasping.
"I'm fine," muttered Draco. He was clutching his right hand, which was badly bruised. The lift had somehow malfunctioned and had shut its door on his hand, and now the two of them sat in the elevator, not knowing what to do as it stayed stuck between the third and the fourth floor of Mr. And Mrs. Granger's apartment.
Hermione was miserable. "It's all my fault," she cried. "It was a stupid idea to come here."
"Well, I was going to see your parents one way or another," Draco replied. He hissed as the pain stung his hand once more. "Don't you have that thing you always carry around? For simple injuries?"
"Oh, yes! I do!" cried Hermione, leaping for her purse. She took out a small bottle of orange-colored ointment and opened it. Sweet citrus smell filled the elevator as she applied the medicine on to his bruised hand. She smiled in relief as she observed his face turn calmer.
"That's so much better," he sighed. He got up. "Alright. Now what?"
"We're pretty much stuck," muttered Hermione, "is there a spell...I can't think right now..."
"Hey, it's gonna be alright, okay?" Draco said comfortingly, helping her up. He held her close as he began to think fast about what spell to use. Then, Hermione began to laugh.
"What's so funny?" he asked, confused.
"Well...it's just that couples get stuck in lifts in movies and television shows, and they..." she trailed off, her face pink.
"They what?" he pressed on, more interested than ever. He could pretty much guess what she was thinking by the color of her cheeks, however. He laughed and kissed her on her lips, and she kissed back, and then...
"Is she okay?" asked Draco's voice urgently.
"I do believe she just fainted, sire," was the butler's reply. Hermione fluttered her eyes open.
"Huh?" she said.
"Oh, Hermione!" cried Draco, "are you okay?"
"What happened?" she asked, confused.
"You fainted."
"Oh."
She realized right away that Draco had not been swindled, after all. But whether or not she wanted to admit this to him, she wasn't too sure.
Why had she been so sick and worried when Malfoy hurt his hand? And...kiss him? But now she had to admit...he was a good kisser...
ooo
"Mr. Watterson? Where are you going?" asked Hermione. She had never seen the butler leave the house, and now that he was heading for the door, the curiosity got the better of her.
"We're out of a few items, ma'am. I will be going to Diagon Alley to do some shopping," he replied gracefully.
"Oh, I'll go with you!" called Hermione, jumping off the couch.
"Very well, ma'am," said Watterson, and together they headed out.
ooo
"It sure is hot out here today," said Hermione, walking in the streets of Diagon Alley, "do you ever change out of that butler suit?"
"I am perfectly fine, ma'am," said Watterson. While he bought some vegetables, she took a look around. She had been there only a day ago, but she was always happy to be there.
"Hermione!"
She turned. The boys she had met yesterday were running towards her. Jeremy in particular looked exceptionally glad to see her, for some reason.
"What a pleasant surprise!" he cried.
"It's a surprise alright," snickered Charlie, "we were waiting here since-"
"-shut up, Charlie," said Jeremy, glaring at his friend before turning back to Hermione with a smile on his face. "How are you, Hermione?"
"I'm good," she replied, "just out shopping. You?"
"I...had to pick up some stuff," said Jeremy, red-faced. He didn't have anything in his hands, however.
"Yup. We're pickin' up," snickered Charlie.
Girls' voices echoed from down the street. "Jeremy! Jeremy!" Two teenage girls were running towards them, apparently looking very excited. Jeremy sighed indignantly. Charlie waved at the girls.
They were similar in height, but one was fit while the other was downright too skinny. The skinnier one had short black hair with bangs and was dressed in a blue tank top and jeans. She had a pointy nose and a rather large mouth, which she used now to give Jeremy a big smile.
The other girl was, no doubt, much prettier than her. She had long blond hair that was slightly curly, big blue eyes, and was dressed in a layered top and short jeans. She was also nicely tanned. "Hi, Jeremy," she said breathlessly, as she had been running.
"Hi, Pia," said Jeremy, uninterested. He even seemed annoyed as he nodded at the skinnier girl. "Hi, Leanne."
"Hi, Jeremy," giggled Leanne, her voice highly flirtatious. She was winking and kept on touching Jeremy's arm, and he looked embarrassed.
"Who is this?" asked Pia. Her voice was a bit demanding as she nudged her head at Hermione.
"This is Hermione," said Jeremy. "Hermione, these are my friends from school. Pia Reynolds and Leanne Valenzuela."
"Pleasure to meet you," said Hermione, smiling at the girls. The girls didn't smile back.
"How old are you?" asked Leanne.
"She's twenty-five," replied Charlie for her, and Leanne smirked and Pia did a small sigh of relief that sounded almost like a scoff.
"Hey, Jeremy, do you wanna come and get ice-cream with us?" asked Pia sweetly, completely ignoring Hermione.
"Do you want to come, Hermione?" asked Jeremy, with a hint of hope in his voice.
"No, you guys go and have fun. I have to get back." She threw a glance at where Mr. Watterson was gracefully trying to haggle down the price of fresh pumpkin juice. "I'll see you around!"
"Wait!" called Jeremy. Hermione turned. "Could I...have your number? Or owl address..."
Hermione shrugged and wrote down the Malfoy Manor phone number on a piece of parchment he handed her. She didn't notice the girls gawking in horror or Jeremy smiling delightedly as he safely put the parchment in his pocket.
ooo
Draco arrived home a few minutes after Hermione and Mr. Watterson got back.
"Did you remember anything?" was the first thing he said as soon as he laid his eyes on Hermione.
She blushed as she remembered the flashback to the elevator, but she shook her head no. He sighed. "I guess...hmm...maybe we could go to America-"
"-why?" asked Hermione, confused.
"We went to Las Vegas for our honeymoon," he explained, "good memories were made there." He smirked. "So...wanna go?"
Hermione had always wanted to visit America, but it was a bit sudden. "Huh?"
"We could go this weekend, if you want," Draco said, sitting down on the couch. "I can book it right now."
"Well, I don't know..."
ooo
Jeremy lay in his bed, clutching onto a piece of parchment. It bugged him that he had told her he was in seventh year. Technically, he graduated about a month ago. What if she thinks of him as a child? He's an adult now. He doesn't go to Hogwarts. Maybe that would be a good thing to call about. Hmm...
No, it was too weak. What could he call about?
The phone rang. He picked it up eagerly even though he remembered that he hadn't given her his number.
"Hello?" he said as huskily as possible.
"Hi, Jeremy," said Pia's voice.
"Oh, hi, Pia," he said, disappointed. She caught that.
"You don't sound too happy to hear from me," said Pia, "what's up?"
"Nothing. What do you want?" he asked, annoyed.
"I was just wondering if you want to hang out tomorrow," she said.
"Is Charlie in?"
"Um, no..." she said slowly, "and before you ask, neither is Leanne."
"Is T.J coming then?" he asked.
"No, no...I meant, just the two of us," she explained, growing a bit exasperated.
Oh.
"Like...on a date?" he asked slowly.
She laughed a little. "Something like that."
There was a bit of silence.
"Look, Pia...I'm not interested," he said.
Some stunned silence.
"Oh."
"Yeah...sorry." The parchment Hermione had given him...he looked down at it lovingly.
"So...you like someone else?" she asked bravely.
"Um...I don't really feel like talking about it."
"Alright, then," said Pia, "I'll...see you later."
"Alright, Pia," he said. After she had hung up he hung up as well. He had pretty much guessed Pia liked him, and he had thought she was rather attractive before, with the blond hair and everything, she only looked like a child to him now. Charlie had told him he was crazy, but he didn't care. His heart was devoted to another person, and she was a woman, not a girl.
"It's just that I'm not man enough to call her up yet," he muttered.
ooo
"Let's go," Draco said, taking a little ornate book from the table and flipping through it. "I'm sure I have the booking number here somewhere..."
The moment his hand touched the telephone, it rang. He picked it up.
"Hello?" he said. "Oh, hi, Nana!"
Hermione froze. The Big M had called.
"We're doing fine, of course. Oh, no, she's right here," he said. He handed the phone to Hermione, who frantically shook her head no. She reluctantly took it, glaring at his gleeful face.
"Hello?"
"Hermione!" said Big M, "how are you, dear?"
"I'm great," she replied nervously.
"Any signs?"
"Uh..."
"Is she asking for signs?" asked Draco, enjoying this situation tremendously.
"Well?" Big M pressed on.
"Not yet," Hermione muttered.
Draco fell back laughing. "Yet?" Gasping for air he pressed the speaker button so he could hear the conversation as well.
"What do you mean, not yet? Have you worked on it a lot lately?" rang Big M's voice, loud and clear.
Draco stifled his laughter by putting a fist in his mouth.
"Well..." said Hermione, glaring at him.
"We've been working on it, Nana," he called out after controlling his laughter, "we work on it day and night. In fact, you just interrupted us in the middle of it."
Hermione's eyes widened. "Hey!" she cried, aghast.
"No worry to be embarrassed, my dear," came Big M's voice, which was now much more pleasant, "go on and get back to it. I will call back later." And with that she hung up.
"Shall we get back to it, Hermione?" smirked Draco. Hermione gave him a sharp glare.
"What do you think you're doing?" she snapped, "I can't believe you did that!"
"Did what? You?" he droned.
"What?" she said, confused.
"You." he said, smirking.
"Me? Do I what?"
"Nevermind," laughed Draco. "Keep doing that. I think it's cute."
ooo
She took a deep breath. She had to admit it. She was falling for him- no, she had already fallen for him – and there was nothing she could do to avoid that feeling.
Never in her life did she ever think she would confess attraction to Draco Malfoy. But she had to do it, or the tension would kill her. Perhaps he would just turn her down – what was she thinking, of course he'll turn her down – and she'd just give up. Or...maybe he wouldn't turn her down. It was he who kissed her...and he did that twice.
The doors of the Great hall opened. Malfoy, closely followed by Goyle and Crabbe. How she resented those two! She walked up bravely nevertheless.
"Granger," nodded Malfoy, his tone amused. Goyle and Crabbe stared at each other, their expressions confused, frustrated, and amused all at once.
"Malfoy," she nodded. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"
"...sure," he said finally. He nudged at his friends to go on ahead, and he walked out of the hall, followed by Hermione. She had resented this kind of arrogant air he carried around him, but- perhaps she was under a spell or something – she could not help but admire it now.
"What is it?" he asked when they got to an isolated corner.
"Well..." she said, staring down at her shoes, "I..."
He didn't press her to go on. He remained silent. She shut her eyes.
"I don't know what you did...because I hated you..." she began. Her cheeks were unbearably hot. "I...like you."
"You do?" he said, his voice calm.
"I...it's like you made me yours..." she suddenly felt a bit irritated. "This better not be one of your stupid tricks, Malfoy."
He laughed.
"I didn't do anything," he said, chuckling.
"This isn't funny!" she snapped. Somehow, this confession wasn't how she expected it to be. He found it funny. She felt embarrassed. This was a stupid idea. Oh Merlin...
She felt his fingers on her chin and looked up. He was impossibly close, and he was leaning down. His lips pressed against hers, but not for very long. He pulled away almost instantly.
"See you around, kiddo," he winked. "Work on the kissing bit and I might consider it."
Then he walked off, leaving Hermione dazed.
