Hello all! Sorry for the lack of updates again :( I became super busy and traveled a lot, and then lost motivation. But, I found it again! So yay! I made this chapter super long, just for you. Enjoy!

Also, J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter.

Chapter 10: The Unexpected Admission

"What the..."

The Nutcracker had just begun, and Draco had spotted the first male performer. Turning to Hermione, he whispered, "Granger, what in Merlin's name is he wearing? You can see everything!"

"He's wearing tights, Malfoy. I know it doesn't leave a lot to the imagination, but he's still fully clothed. Just watch. Don't focus on that, focus on the music and the dancing."

He was silent for a moment before turning back to her again. "I don't know if I can do this. I can feel my manliness being drained away, bit by bit."

"Oh hush, men come to see this performed all the time. Quit complaining."

"Fine, I'll complain to Amelia."

"Yes, and that will be a real winner for her, because you know how much she hates The Nutcracker." Hermione gave a satisfied sigh as Draco faced forward again with a huff of indignation. However, she noticed when it got to the part where the Christmas tree grew, he began to look interested. When the performance ended, he even stood up with the rest of the audience as they applauded.

"Alright, I admit, once you got past the tights, it was pretty good." Hermione smiled at his admission. "Not that you'd know, since you were looking at me the majority of the evening," he mentioned accusingly.

Hermione rolled her eyes, thankful that the dim lighting hid the blush she felt creeping into her cheeks. "I was seeing your reaction to the ballet, Malfoy. I've seen this every year since I was a little girl. I wanted to know what you thought of it. It is my job, after all, to make sure you are finding muggle things that you like." She spotted Amelia heading over to them, having gone to the ladies' room. "Speaking of muggle things you like..."

Amelia took Draco's arm when she arrived. "Thank you so much for inviting me along! I haven't been to see it in years. What did you think, Draco?"

"It was fantastic, I didn't know what I'd been missing all these years." Hermione gave a small snort at his response, which, thankfully, Amelia didn't notice.

"Are you two at all hungry? I thought we could grab a bite to eat," Hermione suggested.

They ended up at a modern looking bistro that had been giving off an amazing smell as they walked by, inviting them in. Draco ordered a steak, and Hermione ordered pasta. They both watched in amusement as Amelia ordered a house salad with oil and balsamic, and proceeded to pick at it sparingly when it was brought out.

"I'm on a diet," She explained at their amused looks. "No carbs after 8."

"Poor you," said Hermione through a mouth-full of pasta. Draco shrugged and stabbed his fork into the rosemary potatoes that had come with his steak. Once they were finished, Hermione ordered a slice of cheesecake for herself and watched Amelia's longing face out of the corner of her eye as she savored each bite. The smirk on Draco's face told her how much he was aware of her taunting.

Walking was a bit of a struggle for Hermione, and she began to regret how much she had eaten. Opting for a taxi rather than just walking to the nearest station, Hermione chose the front seat so as to allow Draco and Amelia to have a bit more time together in the back seat. She could hear them chatting away amiably, and every few minutes, Amelia's high pitched giggle at something that must of have been outrageously funny. It began to be a bit grating on Hermione's nerves, and she was relieved when their apartment building came into view.

"It was so nice to meet you, Hermione," gushed Amelia when they arrived on their floor.

"Likewise," She returned with a smile, shaking Amelia's outstretched hand. "Ma-Draco," she corrected herself for the hundredth time that night, "goodnight. I'll see you soon."

He made a movement to shake her hand too, but must have realized how odd that might look to someone who thought they were cousins. Instead, to her horror, he opted for a strange and awkward side-hug. Their first ever hug. And hopefully our last, she thought. "Goodnight to you too, Cousin." He smirked slightly, and he and Amelia headed in the direction of their apartments while Hermione went down the opposite hall to her own.

She unlocked her door and made her way to the bathroom to get ready for bed. As she went through her nightly routine, she wondered what Amelia and Draco were doing. Had he asked to see her again, one-on-one? Maybe he had even given her a tentative goodnight kiss. She realized he didn't have much time until his meeting with Mr. Thompkins, so he really did need to move quickly. There was no doubt in her mind that Amelia would love to have Draco call her his girlfriend, and would have no objections to the label being applied as early as date number one or two.

Will she be joining us on all of our outings now? With a start, she realized that they may not even have any outings now. With a muggle girlfriend, Draco didn't need to learn to love the rest of the muggle world in order to impress Mr. Thompkins.

Relief. That's what she expected to feel upon this realization. Instead, she felt a little bit sad. Lonely, even. With the move to muggle London, she'd lost touch with most of her friends besides Ginny. She knew she had plans to meet up with her other friends, but in between those far and few times, she was alone. Or with Malfoy... How much time had she been spending with him? She calculated, and came up with a number of hours that almost rivaled a part-time job. And if I'm being honest, I've been enjoying myself, she admitted.

If Boots were here, I wouldn't be feeling this way, she thought miserably. The bookstore hadn't gotten back to her yet, but it hadn't been that long since she'd given them her application. It would be the perfect distraction. She made her way to her bedroom and settled into her covers, grabbing a book to read before she fell asleep. 15 minutes went by, and she began to feel drowsy, when suddenly, her phone rang. It was almost eleven, she saw by her alarm clock's soft glowing numbers, and she wondered who would have the audacity to call this late.

"Hello?" She didn't bother to hide the annoyance she was feeling.

"Wow, someone's got a broomstick up their ass," said a familiar, drawling voice on the other end.

Amelia was looking up at him with hopeful eyes. He really wanted to just shake her hand as Hermione had done, and go into his apartment, but he had a plan to stick to.

"So, maybe we can do this again sometime? Just the two of us," He said, with a flash of his teeth in a winning grin.

"I'd love to! I had such a nice time. She unlocked her apartment door and invited him in for a moment. Draco hesitantly shuffled in, and she left him in the living room to get something in her kitchen. When she returned, she handed him a slip of paper. "Here's my number, so give me a call sometime."

Taking the slip in one hand, he leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on her cheek. "I will. Goodnight, Amelia."

"Goodnight!" She called brightly after him as he walked out the door.

Back in his apartment, Draco let Boots out of his room where he had locked the cat earlier that evening. There were several scratch marks on the door, and Draco wished he had a wand to protect and fix it. Grabbing the last beer from his fridge, he settled onto his couch with Boots and turned on the T.V. He barely noticed what he was watching, however. His mind was on Amelia, his soon-to-be muggle girlfriend, if things went well.

If things had been different, Amelia was not really the type of girl he'd have chosen to date. She was pretty, which was a definite "must" for him, but she wasn't very smart. After dating Pansy, he'd told himself he would never date someone he couldn't have a decent conversation with. All he had really been able to do with her was snog -but of course he wasn't going to complain about that. Other than lacking some intelligence, Amelia was quite pleasant though. He'd enjoyed her company far more than he'd been expecting from their brief encounters in the elevator. Dating her would be bearable.

A restaurant commercial came on the television, and Draco nearly snorted his beer remembering how Hermione had teased Amelia with the cheesecake. An idea came to him that made the prospect of dating Amelia even more bearable. Setting down his drink, he got up and began searching for his phone. As he heard Hermione's phone ring on the other end, it dawned on him that she was probably in bed by now, and would be annoyed. Sure enough, she answered in a curt tone.

"Wow, someone's got a broomstick up their ass," he joked.

"Shut up, Malfoy. Do you know what time it is?"

"Yes," he said, glancing at his wrist watch. "It's 10:56. And I know you can't have fallen asleep yet. I was just in your very awake presence 30 minutes ago."

There was a sigh on her end of the phone, and Draco chuckled softly to himself. "It's common courtesy, Malfoy. I would think that would be obvious, even to a non-muggle. So, what has given you cause to call me so late?"

"Two things, the first being of extreme importance."

"Ok?"

He paused a moment, letting her wonder what he was going to say. "Do they use magic to make the tree grow in The Nutcracker?"

"That's what you're dying to know? Wow." She was laughing at him softly. "No, no magic is used. It's a prop, they raise it up from out of the floor."

"Ah..I see."

"What was the other thing?"

"Oh, I was just wondering, what are we doing next?"

"What do you mean? You asked Amelia on a date, correct?"

Draco nodded, then realized that he wasn't making a floo call, and said, "Yeah, she gave me her number. I guess I'm supposed to call her and set things up?"

"Yes, and you normally shouldn't call the day after a first date, but, I think in this case you should because of our deadline. She's crazy about you already, so I'm sure she won't mind."

"Why shouldn't a guy call the next day?"

"It's a muggle thing. Some people say it makes you seem too eager. It's an unwritten rule. Tends to scare girls off."

"Meow"

"What was that?" Asked Hermione, in a strange tone. Boots was rubbing Draco's legs and meowing now, probably because he hadn't been fed yet. Draco sprinted down the hall and closed the door.

"Um, the T.V. is having a cat food commercial."

"Oh..." she said, sounding a bit deflated. "It just sounded so much like Boots, sorry. I miss him so much..."

Guilt washed over Draco, and he stumbled over a thousand things to say in his mind, before awkwardly changing the subject. "Anyways, I was wondering what we're doing next, after my date with Amelia. Like, where are we going?"

"Draco, you don't need me anymore. Dating Amelia should be enough for Mr. Thompkins."

"Of course I need you, Hermione." Even he was surprised by how sappy the admission sounded. He hadn't meant it like that at all, and it definitely hadn't sounded sappy when he'd been thinking about it a few minutes ago before he called. He searched his mind quickly for the least-romantic sounding reason. "I-I make mistakes all the time over muggle things. Like, how I didn't even know what ice-skating is. What's she going to think of me if that happens too much?" And it's going to be torturous to spend so much time with her if you're not there to make me laugh and smile. He shook his head. Yes, way too sappy sounding, she'd get the wrong impression.

"I guess you're right," She admitted.

"Maybe we can alternate dates and hang-outs. That way, with you there to cushion my ignorance of the muggle world, it won't seem so bad."

"That sounds like a good plan," she agreed readily. He heard her stifle a yawn on her end.

"Alright, I'll let you get some sleep. Call me tomorrow?"

"Yes, and I'll make sure it's early, since I know you love to sleep in. Vengeance shall be mine." Her grin was audible, and he himself was grinning widely as they said goodbye.

As he settled into bed with Boots, he wished his conversations with Amelia could be even half as entertaining.

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