All Characters belong to JKR
Chapter 10 –Friends:
"Oh, yes, we're very good friends now, aren't we, Hermione?" he asked sarcastically, her back to him.
"Friends?" she asked, turning again to face him. "If you say so, I mean, if that's what you think we are, well of course, we're friends."
She walked back in the library, still talking. He followed her back in the room, so he could hear what she was saying. "I guess I misinterpreted some things." She started to sit back in the chair at the desk, but he pulled it away from her before she could sit. He pulled on it so hard that it toppled over. She looked at him strangely. "Why did you do that?"
"Tell me what you misinterpreted," Draco asked seriously.
She frowned and said, "Well, we did go out on that date, although, it turned out all wrong, and we spent yesterday afternoon together, which wasn't all bad, and you visited me in the hospital all those days, and we've even kissed a few times, I know, nothing romantic or passionate, but they were more than friendly kisses. I've never kissed Harry like that. I thought we were starting to have a budding relationship."
He was bowled over by her honesty. Her face turned scarlet. Apparently, her honesty shocked her as well. She was now blushing and she turned away from him quickly. "Budding relationship?" Draco asked, "That sounds odd." She turned back toward him, and she looked hurt. Damn, Draco thought, what an idiot he was.
"Yes, that does sound odd. You and I could never have a relationship. I don't even have my magic anymore," she said evenly. She was now fully composed, and she picked up the chair, and sat back down. She opened the top desk drawer, but he pulled on the chair, which had wheels, and he pulled her away from the desk. He slammed the drawer shut.
"Your magic will come back, so don't even mention that again. That doesn't matter to me. In addition, the fact that we might have a relationship was not what I meant was odd. I just meant the term, 'budding relationship', sounded odd. I'm sorry, but sometimes I'm very uncouth. My mother would be ashamed," Draco said. He put both his hands on the arms of the chair and kneeled down so he was even with her.
"No, I understand, really," Hermione said softly, "I should have known better. I know you said you didn't even recall this incident, but two years ago, when I saw you at that nightclub, Marcus had just told me the week before that you and I should get together, so I saw you, and thought, why not? I walked up to you, and was going to say hello, so I smiled my nicest smile, and waved, but you saw me, frowned, and walked out. I should have known that you didn't really want to be more than friends."
"Granger, stop," he said.
She put one hand on his hand, and said, "Its fine, Draco, we can just be friends. I have to admit, that incident in the nightclub hurt my feelings, but I've moved on, and I'm just so aghast that I've once again misread the signs. I must be making this very hard on you. I don't want you to be uncomfortable. I am so sorry. We can be friends, if I haven't mucked things up too much, that is."
"Goodness, Granger, are you finally done talking?" Draco asked. He stood back up. She started to get out of the chair, but he actually pushed her back in the seat, and pulled the chair closer to him. He put one leg on the wheels, and leaned back down, trapping her in the confines of the chair, with his hands once again on the arms of the chair.
"Yes, I'm done," she said quickly. She was offended.
He looked her directly in the eyes and said, "I thought you would never shut up."
"Coming from the man who doesn't know the meaning of the words, shut up," Hermione said, mocking him.
He put his nose almost directly in front of hers, and said, "Finished?"
She sat as far back in the chair as she could, crossed her arms, and shut her mouth tightly, so he would know she was ready to shut up. She finally put her hand up, indicating for him to continue to speak.
"For a smart girl, you are so incredibly obtuse." He stood back up, and once again, she tried to make her escape. This time, he grabbed her around the waist, sat in the chair, and pulled her on his lap.
"Let me talk, then you can leave, okay?" he said. His arms loosened, but remained around her body. She turned so she was sitting with her legs to the side, so she could face him as he spoke. He liked having her on his lap. He said, "You didn't misinterpret anything, Hermione. I thought my feelings for you overshadowed your feelings for me, so I was guarded with my emotions. That night two years ago, in the nightclub, which I barely recall," he lied, "was just my pattern of putting up walls, before people knock them down. I thought I made it clear to you the other day when I said I didn't want you at the house, because I didn't want you in danger, spelled out clearly that I was beginning to harbor deep feelings for you." He did not know what else to say.
She said, "Why didn't you just say, 'Hey, Hermione, I'm beginning to like you, and I don't want to see you hurt, so please stay away from the house'."
"Would that have worked?" he asked sincerely.
She grinned and said, "I would have still ignored you about coming to the house, but I would have at least known how you felt about me. I wouldn't have thought my feelings were one-sided."
"That would have been simpler, wouldn't it?" he asked. "But I'm more complex than that, and so are you."
Hermione put her hand on his face and said, "You are not that complex, you're just a man, and your emotions are like a barren wasteland."
"That's not particularly nice, or true," he said.
"I just meant you can't help yourself," she said.
"You know what, I need you to shut up for a minute again, I'm thinking," he said.
"Before I shut up, may I make a suggestion?" she asked.
He rolled his eyes and said, "Be quick."
"Why do I have to be quick?" she asked.
"Oh shut up already," he said. "I want to give you a proper kiss, and to do that you need to shut your mouth. Well, you can open it after I kiss you, but start with it closed."
She pushed on his shoulders and said, "Okay, that was going to be my suggestion, that we finally have a proper kiss, so that's a bit unexpected that we both were thinking of the same thing, but you know what, I think when you and I finally kiss, a real kiss, like a goodnight kiss, it should be more spontaneous. It shouldn't be with you starting by telling me to shut up, because you want to kiss me, or me saying, hey I have a suggestion, let's kiss."
Draco gave her a dirty look, and pushed her off his lap. She landed on the floor. He stood over her and said, "I don't even think I want to be your friend now, let alone develop our budding relationship. You're too aggravating." He walked over to the door, and she stayed on the floor, mulling over what he said. When she stood back up, he was still standing in the doorway.
"What do you want, my dear friend?" Hermione asked. She sat back down on the chair.
"Let's go on a proper date," he said.
"No, the moment's gone. We have past the point of no return. We are just friends now," she stated. She had a slight smile on her face.
He turned to leave for the last time, he hoped, and she said, "Come to my flat tonight at seven."
He leaned back in the door, "Why would I even consider coming to your flat tonight at seven?"
"For our date," she said matter of fact.
"I agree to this date, and you'll get your surprise kiss, sometime, somewhere, when you least expect it. Yes, tonight, I will probably, most likely, undoubtedly, most certainly, kiss you, Hermione." He raised one eyebrow. He was throwing down the gauntlet.
"I'll look forward to it," she promised. She pretended to go back to work, but she was biting her bottom lip.
He leaped back in the room, and in only four strides, turned the chair back around, and with his face next to hers, he said, "Yes, you will look forward to it, and I look forward to our date. I'm so glad we had this little talk, and put everything out in the open. I'll go out and help the Weasleys now. I'll see you tonight." He stood back up, put his finger on her nose, and then leaned down and kissed her parted lips ever so soft. "Just a preview," he said. He turned around and left the room with the largest smile on his face.
She twirled around in the chair, with a smile just as large.
Draco was going to knock on Hermione's door exactly one minute after seven. He didn't want to appear eager. The fact that he arrived eight minutes early, and had been standing around outside her door, eagerly waiting for one minute after, did not mean he wanted her to know he was eager. To be early was garish, and to be on time, commonplace, so Draco Malfoy was going to knock on her door one minute after 7:00 pm.
Hermione opened the door and said, "Are you ever going to knock on my door? You've been out there forever now; I was beginning to wonder when you were going to knock. I thought perhaps you had changed your mind, and you were contemplating whether to stay. I thought I would finally just open the door for you."
Was she always this tactless? So much for appearing debonair. "I'm sorry. I hadn't changed my mind; I just didn't want to appear too eager." There, Draco could be truthful, too. He took a deep breath. Why was he nervous? This was their second date, not their first. He looked at her closely, and realized that deception would never work with a woman like her. Best always to be truthful.
"Oh, that's alright. I've been ready for over an hour, obsessing over every little detail," she admitted, opening the door wider for him to enter.
"I didn't know if we were going out, or staying in, so I hope I'm dressed okay," Draco said, motioning to his outfit. He had on black slacks and a bright blue button up silk shirt.
"You look wonderful and we're staying in, if that's fine with you." She walked over to the kitchen area. She had on a blue skirt, and a white thin blouse, with a white camisole underneath.
"You look very pretty," he said wistfully. "What's on the agenda?"
She handed him a piece of paper. He said, "Seriously, Hermione, this better not be an agenda."
She laughed, hoping he was joking, and said, "It's a menu. We're ordering take out and I've rented a couple of movies. You decide what you want, and I'll call in the order. I decided we should just do something very Muggle and mundane, since I'm more Muggle now than magical."
"Oh, goodness, Muggle and mundane? After the movie, are we going to do your laundry as well?" he asked, looking over the menu. She threw a cork from the wine at his head. "Why do you always resort to violence?" he asked.
"Because, we aren't doing my laundry!" she laughed.
"But I got all dressed up. I want to do your laundry," he joked.
"Yes, and I told you that you looked nice, but we are not doing my laundry. I'm not ready for you to see my intimate apparel. Besides, you didn't dress for the masses did you? You dressed up for me." Hermione took the menu from his hand, hit him over the head with it, and then went over to the phone to order some Italian food.
As she was talking on the phone, he came up behind her and whispered in her ear, "I did dress for the masses, and if you get to see me as well, lucky you. I need to remind you that you got all dressed up, too." He kissed her neck. She hunched her shoulders and hung up the phone. He then whispered, "I wouldn't mind seeing your intimate apparel."
"No intimate apparel today and I didn't get dressed up to do laundry," she smiled, as she leaned her head back to look at him. "I actually got dressed up just for you."
He put his hand softly down the sleeve of her blouse, feeling the silky material against his fingertips. He said, "You did a ruddy good job of dressing up, but I'm just saying, if you need to undress, for us to do laundry, I understand." He kissed her neck again, his hand finding hers and holding it. She leaned her back against his front. His other hand came around to hold her waist. Her blouse was soft, and so was her skin. He wondered if the rest of her was as soft as her neck. He was patient, so he could wait to find out the answer to that question.
She stepped away from him and said, "Shall we eat here at the table, or over in front of the telly?" She grabbed the plates, and said, "Grab the wine, will you?"
She walked over to the coffee table, and put their plates down. He said, "I guess we can eat in front of the television, since that's where you're leading me."
She laughed.
"Since your flat is so enormous, it's probably just as well to eat here," he said, sitting on the couch, "I might get lost, as there are so many rooms."
"Don't make fun of my flat," she said, pouring them both some wine and sitting down beside him. "If you continue to have a laugh at my flat, you may never get your goodnight kiss," she reminded.
"I'm in charge of the kiss this evening, so I'll decide the who, what, where and when," he reminded her.
"I hope I'm at least the who," she responded.
"You are in the top three," he said. She frowned at him.
They continued to drink their wine and Draco said, "Don't drink too much; I wouldn't want you to have another headache tonight."
"My head is fine," she said. He put his hand on the left side of her head, his fingers deep in her beautiful hair. That simple touch caused a tingling in her entire body.
"It seems to be okay, tonight," he agreed. He just wanted an excuse to touch her.
There was a knock at the door. She stood to answer, and he took her hand, and said, "Don't answer, please. I don't want anything to interrupt our date tonight, and knowing our luck, it's probably a mad scientist selling door to door cursed books."
"It's our food," she said.
"Oh, well, answer the door, but come back quickly," he said. She stepped to the door and thought to herself that it couldn't possibly be quick enough.