Disclaimer: I do not own the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. This story is purely fictional. Names, places, events, etc. are either products of the author's imagination or are used in a fictional manner.
Of course it's Potter. It always is. The blonde thought bitterly, not that the female occupant knew that, or even his friend for that matter.
He watched as she bit her lip with obvious hesitation up until she smiled softly. What could they even be talking about for her to look like that?
"I know I said this to Pansy before, but green does not suit you too." Blaise remarked without looking at him. The nonchalant remark irked him, making him turn to his friend.
"What?" His tone biting.
The Italian, however, remained unbothered. "Green does not suit you, Draco, and when did you start wearing your heart on your sleeve?" This annoyed the blonde more. "You're becoming too easy to read for me, or perhaps this only happens when a certain brunette is with us?"
"Going out with wonderboy?" Draco couldn't help but ask bitterly as soon as Hermione ended the call. The way that came out of his mouth sounded so wrong that he wanted to take it back. Where did that even come from?
"For dinner, yes." She pocketed her phone with a confused look. "Is there something wrong?"
"Don't mind the brat. We'll leave you to get ready then, Bella. Give me a call if you need any help sorting."
"I'm staying. This is my house too." The Malfoy heir protested as he was being dragged away but Blaise was having none of it so after giving the curly-haired brunette a quick kiss on the cheek, he forcefully pulled his best mate along.
"What the hell is your problem?!" Draco snarled as soon as they were out. He pulled his arm back and glared at his friend.
"What is your problem? You're acting like a jealous boyfriend, Draco, and you're not!" Blaise glared back.
"I just don't see what's so special about Potter in the first place! Everyone seems to fall at his feet."
"Everyone falls for your feet, Draco. You're just bothered by the fact that Hermione would obviously drop anything when your cousin calls her."
"Don't call him that! He's not my cousin!" It annoyed the blonde whenever someone refers to Potter and him as cousins, which they're not. They merely attend family functions at the same time.
"I honestly don't know what's wrong with you. Do you like Hermione?"
"No! Are you mad?!" He immediately denied, looking around to see if anyone heard. "You can't say that out loud! What if someone hears you!" He added in a harsh whisper.
Ignoring his friend's dramatics, Blaise continued. "If you don't, then pull yourself together. Stop acting like some lovesick boy before word gets out to your father."
Together, the two went back to Slytherin house and Draco was forced to put a certain brunette girl at the back of his mind, lest Pansy notices and makes another big deal about it.
"There you two are!" Daphne exclaimed when the two boys entered. "Hurry up and look through the catalogue. We need to look for something to wear for the ball before all the good ones are taken."
"We always have our formalwears customized, Daph." Blaise stated with confusion lacing his tone.
"I don't see why we have to do this now." Draco complained but still, he went over to where his friends were huddled over couture magazines.
"Jéan Pelletier will be fully booked soon. He can only take six more orders. If we don't get those, we can kiss our showstopper attires goodbye." Pansy argued without taking her eyes off of the page where the famous Pelletier's winter collection was.
"There's still Vivianne Mercier." Blaise pointed out. If Jéan Pelletier was famous for his designs, Vivianne Mercier's pieces were legendary. Guaranteed that each of her work only has three pieces available in the entire work.
"I just got off with my mother's secretary. Vivianne won't be accepting any more orders. Something about a VIP client she had to focus on." Daphne looked over to Draco. "Unless..."
"Who could be more VIP than the Malfoys?" The blonde asked arrogantly. He pulled out his mobile and dialed his mother's number.
"Yes, Draco, dear? I'm very busy at the moment." His mother greeted after the third ring. "Is there anything you need."
"Can you call Vivianne Mercier's office and set us up a meeting with her? We need suits and gowns for this year's Yule ball." He shot a smirk at his friends.
"I already called her office earlier this week." That placed a confident grin on Draco's face. "Vivianne won't be accepting anymore orders. Her staff told me she's working on a VIP client."
His face immediately fell. "What?!"
"Draco! Where are your manners?!" Narcissa easily scolded. "Why don't you call Jéan's office?"
The blonde looked over to where Daphne sat with her phone pressed on her ear before replying to his mother. "Daphne's on the line but he's only accepting six more orders."
"I really don't understand why you're only taking care of this just now." His mother exasperated. "I have to go. I have a meeting in ten minutes with Japanese investors. I'll see you this holiday break."
Before he could react, his mother dropped the call, causing him to look at his phone in disbelief. Did his mother actually hang up on him?
"Don't worry. I got us the last Pelletier slots." Daphne said excitedly followed by a squeal.
"I'm still curious who the Mercier VIP client is." Theo stated as he lent back in his seat. "They must be bloody rich for Vivianne to accommodate them exclusively."
"Or highly prominent for that matter." Daphne added.
"Please." Pansy scoffed without looking at them. "If we're only talking about wealth and prominence, Narcissa could've secured a slot even on such short notice."
"All the more reason to be curious, right?" Theo shrugged. "Where have you two been? Left me with two girls pestering me to choose between silk and chiffon."
"You two have been running off to who knows where quite frequently these past weeks." Pansy closed the catalogue she was holding before finally looking up at her two male friends. "I've also noticed how Granger is missing from the dorms whenever you're not around, Draco."
"So?" He scoffed. Draco Malfoy is skilled in deflecting questions and a master of a nonchalant attitude. "I'm not her watcher, Pans."
"You better not be, alright. You must not be caught in photographs as well or else you can kiss your noveu riche girlfriend goodbye."
"She's not my girlfriend." He argued.
"Well, she certainly isn't your boyfriend either, is she?" Their friends laughed but Pansy and Draco remained looking at each other. There was a bite in her tone, an underlying meaning that Draco caught on to.
It was a threat. Pansy knew where he ran off to every time. A warning to not get too close unless he wanted Lucius to find out and ruin everything for him and Granger.
Draco laid in bed with his arms crossed at the back of his head. He needed to reevaluate himself and it's taking up too much of his precious time. He turned to look at his digital clock and he saw how the numbers changed.
It was officially twelve midnight.
His roommates are long asleep but there he laid, wide awake and bothered about Pansy's silent warning. He knew he shouldn't be bothered but he was growing fond of Granger's presence. He didn't want her gone from his life. She gives it a certain something and he likes it.
All his life, Draco was groomed to be the perfect heir. He was sent to the best boarding school in the UK, was hired the best private teachers during the summer, informed of his roles and duties as the only Malfoy heir to their empire. Draco Malfoy simply cannot mess up. His parents were lenient with him now as they want him to enjoy the high school experience, however, he still had to be mindful of things he does. For example, he can be seen with anyone, but he cannot be photographed with just any girl. She had to come from a prominent family. Someone with a legacy to back them up. So far, people only see him hang around Daphne and Pansy, and papers eventually stopped documenting his obviously boring and private life.
Once that had happened, his fun began. He had Pansy to keep them in line anyway. She can control the papers with her mother's vast connections as a socialite. That explains why no one hounds Draco anymore. Pansy already sorted that one out.
Deciding that he couldn't sleep, not with thoughts keeping his mind awake, Draco headed down to kitchen to make himself some tea. He wanted sleep and only tea can give him that.
"Why are you still up?"
"Bloody hell, Granger!" He exclaimed with a hand to his chest when he saw Hermione slumped on the corner and going through boxes. "It's midnight. What are you doing?"
"Isn't it obvious? I'm sorting through these boxes." She sarcastically replied without looking at Draco. "The event for the orphanage is less than two weeks away and I still have a lot to do."
"Why don't you ask Saint Potter's help then?" He couldn't help but bitterly remark. Draco leant back on the doorframe to watch her sort.
Some strands of her hair had already escaped the confines of her bun and were framing her face. She also had glasses perched on her nose. Draco didn't know she wore glasses. It looked good on her. She bit her lip as she focused on the task at hand. He never thought someone could look so cute doing that.
"Instead of staring, you could help me sort these out." Granger said, gesturing to the boxes in front of her.
"Again, why not ask Saint Potter?" He asked but still pushed himself off the doorway to walk towards the brunette.
"Just sort the items according to their types. That box is for snacks, the one beside it is for condiments and ingredients used for cooking and baking." She instructed. "I'll work on the rest."
"What time did you get back from dinner? I got back here around nine and Abbott said you weren't back yet."
Draco regretted it the moment those words came out. The question caused the brunette girl to stop what she was doing and look at him in confusion. "You asked for me? Why?"
"B-blaise..." He cleared his throat. "Blaise wanted me to check on you."
"Oh." He let out a quiet breath of relief when she resumed what she was doing. "I got back around ten. Harry and I were caught up with the Weasleys earlier."
Draco didn't ask anymore questions. The fact that he knew what time she got back was enough. More importantly, she's back safely and soundly. He couldn't ask for more.
They finished sorting through the boxes at around two in the morning. Hermione was the first to retreat to her room, claiming she had things to do later and that she was knackered. As usual, Draco was left watching her retreating form. It was only when she was out of sight did he return back to his senses.
"Bloody hell, I need that tea."
A/N: Hi everyone! Here's an update! Sorry for the late post. I've been caught up with work and org works. This is like a Draco POV since I've been trying to show his side of the story. Leave a review and tell me which days you think I should commit to. I've been working on more chapters so that I can I post updates while classes are on-going. How are classes for you, by the way?
For those coming here from my first Dramione story In Time, please be patient with updates in that fic since I'm currently having a writer's block, thus, I am currently working on this one first. Don't worry, I won't leave my first Dramione fic hanging. Follow and/or favorite this story to be notified whenever I post an update.
All the love,
Sam xo