Disclaimer: Of course, these lovely characters do not belong to me. I do borrow them for my idea.

Thank you to all of you kind followers and the reviews. I do think that you will enjoy this one.

Happy Easter

Babbling and pointing out

May 2006

"Draco…", she trailed off, without ever starting her question, when she noticed him going stiff using his first name. He finally looked up from his drawings and measurements when she didn't say anything else.

"My mother should really teach you that you can't address people just to be silent."

"I'm sure she'll add it to the list." She hoped there wasn't a real list, but Narcissa had surely declared her a project when it came to social gatherings.

"What did you need?" His eyes wandered to her own scrolls and books. She had started extensive research on mind-altering spells. Ginny had rightly pointed out that she was too involved in the topic to make research count, but it was still a matter of the heart and Draco generally caught onto things that were based on her personal experience rather than research.

Her question, however, had nothing to do with her research. Her mind hadn't been on that for most of the afternoon. Instead, she kept glancing at the full box of food that she had meant as lunch for him. Steak and fries, a bottle of butterbeer. Other than a few bites of steak everything was untouched.

"Granger, would you do me the honors of telling me, what you wanted to ask?" His face showed the hinge of annoyance, causing her to blush. He raised an eyebrow, before putting his quill down and leaning back in his chair.

They were in the cottage. A large table was set in the living space, giving him room to adjust the floorplans and oversee the work on the building, while she used up the rest of the space for books and scrolls on her research. At first, she had simply come along to voice her opinion. They had soon realized that he didn't always need her there, but once she started visiting less frequently, she always happened to be absent, when he actually did need her to make a decision. So, she had brought her research here and studied her own work, whenever he let the house progress without her input.

She finally sighed and leaned back as well: "You didn't even touch most of the food."

His lips formed an understanding ahh before he eyed the meal once again. She hadn't started her actual question though, so he remained silent, eyes going back to her.

"I just don't understand. You ordered this exact meal at the Leaky Cauldron, but you haven't really touched either one of them."

"I told you, fries are not my favorite."

"Why order it then?" It had been his choice the first time she witnessed him with the meal. He remained silent, as he grabbed one of the fries and gently squished it together between two fingers until the skin broke open.

"Experience has shown that the kitchens at certain restaurants run out of the things I try to order." Her mouth opened and closed as she was comprehending his words. "I figured since she had not said anything about your order being out that Ms. Abbott wouldn't be as bold as claiming that there was only one steak or a handful of fries left."

He dropped the fry back into the box, before shutting it. "While had I ordered a different meal the kitchen would have lacked a few of the important ingredients."

She watched as he picked his quill back up. Her mind was still racing. Of course, they had that conversation about Hannah postponing serving him at all, but it seemed like a terrible thing that he wouldn't even get the food he enjoyed. Her complaining about the restricted ministry that she never really had to enter seemed exaggerated now that she knew he didn't even receive food at a restaurant.

"I don't really enjoy fries or butterbeer." This seemed to be his conclusion as he leaned back over his plans.

"You didn't eat the steak either. You should probably give me the whole list in case I try to bring you lunch again."

"Steak is fine, the cook at the Leaky Cauldron just doesn't know how to prepare it properly."

"Snob."

He raised an eyebrow as he looked back up at her. "If that's what I need to be to get a decent steak, I'll be a snob."

"The steak tastes fine. I would understand if there weren't stasis charms, but it tastes like it's freshly made."

"You obviously never had a decent steak."

She huffed at him. Not everyone had the money to buy the best animal, cut out the best piece and have the best cook prepare it. But Malfoy had already returned to his calculations, before starting to murmur a couple of charms that were starting the next steps on the interior design.

Her eyes went to the box with food before she sighed again and stared at her research once more. She wouldn't get much more done, as her mind was raising through the little, she knew about the laws that had been passed against discrimination. It had been one of the main political goals after the war to stop these tendencies in the wizarding world, but it was clear that wasn't working.

There were Narcissa's friends still seeing her as something lower due to her upbringing. But then there were also her friends who treated Malfoy like scum. And then there were places like the ministry or any workplace that simply disregarded qualified applications, due to long past experiences. Nothing had changed in the wake of change.

"I'm heading back to the Manor." She shut her books, levitating them back to the pile. Before she collected her quill and a few scrolls she might want later.

"Dead end?" He glanced up.

"Missing literature." He rolled his eyes since she had already relocated everything from the Malfoy library remotely related to her research either to her room or the cottage. The thing was she didn't want books of memory altering. She needed books on magical law.

He gave her a nod before she walked out to leave. He knew where to find her and that's what he did hours later.

"You need to get dressed."

"I'm sorry, did I run around naked again?" She glanced down at her sweater over a pair of jeans. It was almost too warm for this outfit, but she was going for comfort and that it was.

"I'm taking you out for dinner."

"I already told Roks my thoughts for tonight."

"And I asked Roks earlier this afternoon to nod it off and save it for tomorrow."

She finally put her book down, staring at him.

"I believe Roks also prepared a proper outfit."

Her stare met his eyes now, as hers narrowed to find out what he was trying to accomplish. He wasn't planning on telling her that much was clear.

"Our reservation is a seven. I'll meet you at the fireplace." With that, he turned to leave. She wanted to protest but couldn't come up with what exactly she was trying to protest. When the library door closed behind him, she huffed and called for Roks to confirm what Malfoy had just told her. The elf was very apologetic, referring to the fact that Master Malfoy's word ranked over Miss Hermione's.

The elf helped her relocate the newly collected books to her room for further studying and then made sure she really did wear the outfit he had picked. With a few charms to her curls and approval of Roks, she made her way back down to the fireplace, to find Malfoy.

He was dressed to impress. A black suit, expensive, a tie matching her blue dress. She held her breath. Was this a date? It felt like a date. She let the breath go, approaching him. This couldn't be a date. They were barely friends. There had never been interest in a date.

"I see Roks did succeed in a few points." He smirked. "I suggest for us to go through the floo together since they don't recognize you at the restaurant."

She gave him a flat nod.

He reached for the floo powder before holding out his arm for her to grasp. They stepped into the fireplace and he called out the address for an exclusive restaurant.

The staff of course seemed to know he was coming and took them right to their table. Most tables here were exclusive with quite a bit of distance to others. Plenty of objects made it hard to even see who was seated there and Hermione noticed that privacy charms must be in place as well, as she couldn't hear what was being said as they walked by.

At their table, the waiter stepped back respectfully, as Draco pulled out a chair. She stepped to the other side of the table, ready to sit there when she caught his amused look between her and the chair he had pulled out.

"I take it, having a chair pulled out for you, is not something you are used to."

She blushed. She actually blushed and wanted to disappear. Her eyes went to the waiter, who either really didn't hear them, or had the decency to not look amused. She stepped back towards Malfoy and attempted to sit, as he pushed the chair in. No, Ron and Harry did not make the habit of doing this.

"Sorry." He laughed, before sitting opposite her.

"I'm sorry, I suppose I should have told you what I was trying to do." He smirked at her, before becoming more serious, when he noticed her discomfort. "Really, it's my fault. My body just goes into formal training mode when I enter places like this. You wouldn't do that, since you didn't grow up in the same environment."

She swallowed. Her eyes wandering around the restaurant, although she wasn't able to see much, due to charms and furniture. She took a breath.

"I have taken the liberty of ordering ahead of time to ensure the best quality of our meal."

She rolled her eyes, as she looked back at him. Hermione still wasn't sure, how she had ended up here and why this felt so much like a date, while she had never been asked out. She kneaded her hands in her lap, as the waiter approached them with elegant glasses of water.

"I'm in the process of proofing that you don't need to be a snob to not enjoy the Leaky Cauldron steak if you can have one of these."

"Ahhh." The waiter proceeded to hand them menus.

"You may order whatever soup or salad and dessert you would like though."

"I'm not that hungry, so let's start with the steak and see what room is left for dessert."

He gave an approving nod, before handing his menu back to the waiter. There was no question in this restaurant that Draco would be served properly. But Hermione suspected that the attention was based on his vault only. The same waiter would have probably acted differently if he worked for Hannah. Another note for her new research on discrimination against others.

"You do enjoy wine, right?" He glanced over to her, after exchanging a few quiet words with the waiter. She gave a soft nod before he continued what appeared to be their orders. She watched but couldn't pick up much in the quiet mumbling between the men. Irritation rose in her, like an instinct. She had never liked for others to make her decisions and this seemed like one of those situations where men just thought they knew better.

The waiter left, giving Hermione a chance to throw a glare at Malfoy. This was not the kind of dinner she liked to be thrown into without warning and while he might think he was treating her particularly nice, she disagreed.

"I can order my own wine, you know?"

He gave an exaggerated sigh, before sipping from his water. Apparently, he wasn't in the mood for fighting since he just shrugged her off.

"I do know that. It's simply not the proper etiquette here."

"Well, it should be." She spat back.

"Can we fight over this later?"

"Afraid I ruin your reputation?"

"A little yes. I would like the little bit that's left to remain intact."

That stunned her to silence. She certainly did not expect those words and so she focused on glaring at him, as she sorted through the many sorts. Unlike in the Leaky Cauldron they were not kept waiting for very long. The waiter reappeared with the wine, at first only giving Malfoy a taste. Her companion did have the decency to ask for her to be able to get a taste as well, while he professionally analyzed the wine.

"Taste fantastic to me, I'll take it." He gave a nod at the waiter, before glancing at Hermione. "Miss Granger, if it's not to your taste, there are a few other recommendations."

She was taken aback by his use of her last name and had to hold back on another roll of her eyes before she shook her head.

"This one is great."

It took her a couple of glasses of the wine, as well as the taste of a truly divine steak before she finally loosened up. She hated to admit that he had been right about the quality of the meat. They did end up finding a few conversation pieces that got them through the evening. Of course, the cottage was always a go-to, but he also shared about a project that Bianchi had proposed to him. It would take him out of the country for most of the week, but he would be home for the weekends to keep working on her house. She was surprised when he offered to decline Bianchi's project simply to finish hers first and rapidly shook her head. He should prioritize her over his career.

She did end up ordering an assortment of mousses for her dessert, which tasted as divine as her steak and she wondered if she could ever eat at her regulars again without judging the quality of the food. Malfoy had been right about not being a snob to prefer this level of food.

After he appeared out of the floo behind her, he even walked her up to her room. It felt odd, but he was still talking about their latest topic, her research on memory charms and so she pushed the thought aside, that he "walked her home."

They stood at her door when he finished his thoughts and while it would have been her turn to give thoughts on memory charms, she blurted out what had been on her mind this entire night.

"Was this a date?" He stared for a moment, before pushing his hands in his pockets and plastering a neutral smile to his face.

"No, this was me pointing out where you had gone wrong in your babbling about steak." Her smile was honest, and yet there was disappointment spreading within her and she swallowed. It would have been a nice date. She wasn't sure what else to say to that, suddenly embarrassed by her outburst. Why couldn't she have just said something about the effects of a specific charm she had studied. Her cheeks heated up and she turned towards the door.

"Well, thanks for the enlightenment. I'm not sure I can ever eat anywhere else again. I guess I'm a snob too."

He laughed, before beginning to turn.

"Have a good night. I'll see you after your shift tomorrow."