"Do you have something that says 'I am sorry about your broken nose'?" A pretty brunette asked before she had even entered the little flower shop. Her nose red and her hair were wild like she had jogged over to the shop. The owner of the shop didn't even look up from the counter before speaking.

"Weasel crashed his broom again? "

"If you could just give me bloody flowers, Malfoy, I will be on my way." The woman snapped.

"Tsk tsk! That's not how you console your boyfriend Granger. Flowers mean nothing if you don't pair them with sweet talk. Better yet give him a kiss. That would take the pain away. Works every time and costs nothing." The owner drawled following his statement with a wink.

"Will you already give me my flowers? They are not for Ron. I kinda punched someone and Harry insisted I apologize. Since I am not apologizing for punching them, this is the next best thing"

"Pick anything you want sweetheart. It's on the house if they aren't for Weasel. I will throw in extra dandelion for the poor nose."

Hermione Granger huffed but accepted the flowers nevertheless. It was strange, having such a normal interaction with Malfoy. Even though they weren't close, they still got on pretty well. Ever since he had started his flower shop next door to her book shop they had started a civil relationship.

Draco Malfoy watched as the Brunette left his shop. It was kind of nice having her next door. After the war, everything had changed. Once everyone had discovered he didn't have an option in the war, they had gone easier on him. He still had to spend a year in Azkaban for his crimes and still had to wear a monitor that bound his magic but he was a better person. He had left all his toxic beliefs and toxic personality back in prison and started his life anew. He had purchased a little shop in the small muggle town and chosen the mundane business.

"Welcome to the Bookworm's Bakery, how can I.. Malfoy, what are you doing here?"

"My my! Is that how you greet a new person in your shop?" Malfoy chuckled but continued nevertheless.

"My mother is not well and I am going to meet her at the manor. Since she enjoys romantic books, I was wondering if you have any recommendations from the fantasy section!"

"Still not sure how she will take to muggle books?" Hermione taunted but he accepted it graciously.

"I don't think she will understand the appeal of sending 'x' 'o' 'x' 'o's to someone. I would rather stick to the fantasy genre for now!"

"If you say so!" She nodded and led him towards the big shelf in the back.

"Take anything you like! Harry will ring you up." She smiled and turned to leave.

"Granger, which one is your favorite? "

"I love to read muggle fairy tales. Surely they wouldn't interest your mother" She answered and left him to browse the shelf.

Half an hour later the satisfied blond left the shop with two books, one for him and another for his mother.

"What says 'Oh hello there, I don't really like you but I need your good opinion'?" The owner of the flower shop jumped at the sound of a ringing bell.

"Granger, I thought you were already on good terms with Weasel's family."

When an arched eyebrow and tapping of her left foot were his only response, he dejectedly pushed aside his book."At least tell me what the occasion is so I can pick flowers accordingly."

"Uhh. There is an inspection of Harry's Bakery today and the inspector sees me as a health violation. I don't know what I have done to her to get such scorn but we do need her approval."

"Flattery does get you everywhere. A nice tactic I must admit. Didn't peg you for a flatterer Granger" The blonde laughed and handed her the bouquet he had prepared.

"Hey, is that Agatha Christie? I didn't know you read Muggle Mystery novels, Malfoy." Hermione was side-tracked when she saw the book on the counter.

"Oh! I picked it up the other day. I was reading The Martian and then there was mention of this. I didn't know what or who it was so I searched and ended up reading this. It does have some good plots."

"Why were you reading The Martian?"

"Because a customer said something about me living on Mars." Draco's ears tinged pink as he explained.

Hermione laughed a little at that. Who knew Malfoy was so easily distracted? But it was nice to be able to chat about books with someone.
"If you like Herculus Priot, you should read Sherlock Holmes. He is one brilliant man. I have a few books at my shop if you want." Hermione recommended as she paid for her flowers.

"Nice advertisement for your shop! Granger." He called out to her retreating figure.

Their interactions didn't have the venomous bite anymore.

A few days later Bookworm's Bakery had a visitor.

"Good Morning Malfoy. What brings you here today?" Harry Potter asked in a neutral voice.

"I was just wondering if you passed the inspection or do I have to find another bakery as a recommendation to my clients."

Harry laughed and clapped Draco on the shoulder, a friendly gesture neither of them had expected.
"Your flowers did their magic. Hermione mentioned you will stop by for some Arthur Cannon Doyle books. She has them stacked in the corner, her favorites on the top, sorted alphabetically."

Draco bit back a question about where she was and went to browse a neat stack of books in the corner. A few minutes later he left the bookshop strangely disappointed.

"Roses are in the right corner, Lilies and orchids in the left corner. Carnetians behind them and we are out of Gerberas and Gardenias." The owner listed without looking up when the door opened.

"That's the first time. You spoke before I could even ask you." The familiar voice echoed through the shop.

"Oww" The owner looked up when someone smacked his head. "What do you want, Granger? Can't a wizard read his book without interruption?"

"Harry told me you stopped by earlier. But you didn't take any of them. So I decided to come here and give these to you personally. Didn't you like the ones I had picked?" She trailed off and dropped a few books on the counter.

"Oh. There were so many of them and I wasn't sure which one to pick in case there was a chronological order. I thought I would drop by later and discuss it with you before I picked my next read. I still have a few Agatha Christie novels in my tbr pile." He perked up immediately when he had realized Hermione's reason for the visit.

"Really? Which one is your favorite so far? Did you read the Ms. Murphy series as well?"

The question served as the icebreaker and they delved into a winded discussion about merits and plot-holes and writing style. The conversation flowed freely between them, neither of them realizing how much time had passed. Both of them jumped when Hermione's mobile buzzed.

"Shite. I am running late. It was Ginny. I have a date tomorrow and I need to go shopping for the dress. Catch you later." Hermione said casually and ran out of the store.

Draco sighed and went back to his book only to put it down in a few minutes. He had suddenly lost interest in the book. Did Granger have to bail on him after such a riveting conversation? Now all he could think about was plot holes he had missed previously and how he had re-read the series to make sure he would have something to discuss next time.

It was one of the rare quiet afternoons in the Halloween season for Draco Malfoy. He couldn't comprehend why muggles want to decorate for a spooky holiday with flowers, but he was happy with the business. He had just sent out a big delivery for a restaurant when the bell rang again.

"Hello, Granger. I haven't seen you around here for a while. Busy with the new Boyfriend?" He asked when he saw her entering the shop.

Her eyebrows scrunched together in confusion and she swore. "Merlin. I forgot about my boyfriend. I completely forgot him."

"What do you mean you forgot him?" Draco asked, curious as to what had caused the brunette to panic.

"I forgot him. I forgot I went on a date with someone and then I forgot to text him. I was just so busy with work and the new expansion of the Bakery. I forgot I was dating him."

"So, you ghosted your boyfriend?" Draco asked incredulously, happy at leverage on Hermione.

"I didn't mean to ghost him. I just didn't realize I hadn't talked with him in a while. Now it's been a month since we last talked and I am too embarrassed to get in touch with him." She replied, blushing furiously.

"Too bad you can't just send him flowers and apologize." He said, trying to keep his laughter in check.

"I am glad my problems give you business ideas. At least one of us could benefit from it." She grumbled and this time Draco laughed.

"I make do with what I can. Come on, I just finished the next installment of 'Wizard's Voyage in Time'. It is a good one. Nothing like a good read to cheer you up." He laughed and they went on discussing their latest reads, Hermione's ex completely out of their minds.

"NO DRACO. STOP IT. I MEAN IT. STOP IT NOW!"

Harry was alarmed when he heard Hermione's loud voice. While he knew Malfoy was a changed man and had grown closer to his best friend, it was hard to get rid of old habits. Somehow over the course of the last few months, Hermione and Draco had formed an unlikely friendship.

At first, she had invented hilarious excuses to go over and get flowers. (According to Harry 'Sorry my cat broke your lamp' won the award for the lamest one but Ron thought it was 'I hate you but alas I can't be mean to you' bouquet she had bought for Ron's ex-girlfriend). How Malfoy had never figured out Hermione's crush on him was a mystery to him. However, her quest for meaningless and passive-aggressive flower shopping had stopped before their intervention.

These days her lunch breaks were spent in the flower shop, (Draco is all alone Harry! You can always eat with Ginny.) she always needed to drop books at his shop (Flower shops are great places to advertise romantic books, Harry! People who visit it often are in love and sucker for romance) and Harry swore she stole pastries for their secret book club. If it wasn't Hermione visiting his shop, Malfoy would come over for ridiculous reasons. He would march in with a big flower arrangement because he didn't want them to go out of business due to the bad taste of owners (Who decorates a Bakery/Bookshop with flower arrangements?); picking up books for his mother or Pansy (who was dating Ron of all people and was a regular visitor to get her own books) or Theo ( Did he even read? Whenever he visited, he didn't even glance at bookshelves. He was more interested in gossip about Ron and Pansy. Harry had a bet going on with Ginny about what was Theo's interest in the relationship, he was leaning towards Theo wanted to buy Ron's flat while Ginny swore it was because of some bet between Slytherins).

But Harry was not going to burst their Happy bubble. If it made his friend happy, he was ready to play along with their excuses. But if Malfoy hurt her in any way, he would be in trouble. And Hermione's shrieks didn't bode well for Malfoy's future.

But Harry's all dark thoughts vanished when he peeked into the neighboring shop. Hermione was sitting on the counter facing Malfoy. He was leaning back into his chair and trying to keep a straight face and failing miserably. Hermione was shaking with laughter, a carefree sound Harry loved. Malfoy stared at Hermione the same way Harry looked at Ginny, full of awe and adoration. It was their private moment and Harry felt bad intruding on the scene. But neither of them had realized they were not alone.

"Okay I have one more" Draco spoke up after a minute of silence.

"Who did the wizard marry?"

"His ghoul-friend!"

Hermione groaned but laughed and Malfoy's eyes lit up.

"What do you get when you cross a Ravenclaw with the infirmary?"

"Ill-literacy"

This time Hermione leaned forward and flicked his forehead.

"Draco, I said stop!"

Harry smiled and closed the door behind him but he could still hear Hermione's laughter ringing around the shop. If these two didn't get together soon, he was going to enlist Weasley family help.

Their shared lunchtimes had somehow given away to their shared dinner time. On many occasions, they just ordered take-out from a nearby place and spent their evenings in the shop talking into the night. Sometimes it was accompanied by wine and meaningful conversations which would shed some light on their personalities. For instance,

"Hermione, you do know flowers are not for passive-aggressive interactions, right?" One day Draco asked her while sipping wine.
"You can't just give them flowers instead of confronting them. I mean sending get-well-soon flowers is one thing but sending a flower every fifteen-minute to a hospitalized person just to remind them why they are hospitalized is not healthy."

Hermione, being a mature witch, hadn't argued with his logic and had stuck out her tongue at him. However, it turned the conversation towards why he had opened the flower shop.

"I am Malfoy. I love making money by commercializing people's emotions. What's the best way to exploit people's feelings other than overpriced flowers?" He had joked but then he had turned serious.
"Gardening with my mother was one of the activities I had loved when I was a child. She loves flowers and I inherited that love. I think if I surround myself with such innocent beauty, I might be able to regain some of it. It was just a good way to start. Surrounding myself with happy memories and happy people whose hearts were filled with so much love. It just feels right."

And sometimes it was accompanied with whiskey, crisps, and really bad conversations which would spiral into a laughing fit and wash away the stress of the day.

"The human body is 70% water. So we are basically just cucumbers with anxiety" Hermione had declared one night, suddenly solemn after her fourth drink and sharing her bad date experience with Draco.

"So what if I accidentally messed up my date? Cucumbers do that. At least I didn't throw away my guts like a sea-cucumber. So that's good, right? I am not a sea-cucumber yet. Basic normal cucumber with extra anxiety."

"Excuse you, with the amount of salt and firewhiskey I consume, I'm more like an anxiety pickle. I am a pickle who is always in a pickle." Draco had proclaimed. Even in his drunken state, he was aware of his crush on the war heroine. She was witty and intelligent and brave. How easy it was to like her and perhaps love her. She made it easy to talk with her. It didn't matter what the topic was, she had something to share. He loved the way she would sprout facts out of nowhere, how her hair crackle when she was upset and that little dimple when she smiled. He really liked that dimple and her eyes. It was easy to forget his own villainous role in her story when she smiled at him or with him. As long as she was smiling, he would not complain. He knew chances of her smiling with him were rare. She was a princess and he was not the prince charming. He was in a pickle because he was not supposed to fall in love with a princess.

"I want you to be my pickle in a pickle" Hermione had whispered in low tones so Draco wouldn't hear. He was a changed man. The selfish bully from her school days had all but disappeared. He had grown into a kind and caring man albeit with a bad sense of humor. He had captured Hermione's heart long ago. He was a dutiful son and a good friend. He provided her with genuine camaraderie. He was honest and wasn't afraid to tell her off if she was wrong. She yearned for companionship with him, something permanent but she knew her thoughts were unrequited. He was not one for romantic entanglements and Hermione didn't want to mess up their friendship. But she could always admire him while trying to not fall in love with him.

" Hey, how do you say ' I think I have a crush on you and want to ask you out but not sure if you will say yes. So, I am sending you flowers instead'?"

The owner just smiled at the brunette and handed her a beautiful bouquet. The one he had readied to send her today.

He looked at her retreating figure and shook himself. Princesses like her always are meant for heroes, not someone like him. It didn't matter how much he wanted to give her the red rose he had hidden in his coat pocket and ask her on a date tonight. She already had someone on her mind and he was not going to stand in a way of her happiness.

A few minutes later the bell rang again.

"Huh, I thought I had seen everything! But it is the first time I am delivering flowers to a flower shop owner!" The delivery man commented as he delivered a bouquet to Draco. The exact same one Hermione had purchased with a card and a box of chocolates.

'Malfoy, if you don't ask her out on a date tonight, we will prank the hell out of you!'

HP and RW

P.S. it's a box of her favorite chocolates.

Go get her before she spends the day doing inventory.

Draco's eyes shone with unshed tears. She liked him. It was him all along. He hurried home to pick out her favorite wine and a blanket.

The Bookworm's bakery was empty on Valentine's day.

Hermione was in the back doing inventory. She had picked up the courage to send Draco flowers and tell him how she felt. She had decided to spend the evening with something she loved, something other than Draco.

"Do you recommend any book I can gift my crush tonight?" A soft voice spoke from the doorway.
"She loves fairy tales but she has quite a collection of them already. I would like something akin to a fairy-tale retelling. Both of us will start a new story tonight."

Hermione froze at the voice and looked at the doorway. There stood Draco with a box of chocolates and red wine. She ran towards him and hugged him tightly. He was really there; he was in her shop with her on Valentine's day. He softly brushed her tears away. Tears she didn't know she had cried.

"There is a book I could recommend." She replied, her voice shaky.
"But I can recommend an even better gift. Actually, the florist next door suggested it to me."

"Ahh. He seems like a wise man. What was it?" Draco played along. A big smile spread on his face.

Hermione pulled away from the hug and looked into his eyes.

"A kiss takes away all the pain. It's free of cost and works Every time"

"I couldn't agree more." He murmured before softly kissing her on the lips.

A/N: I am not a big fan of Dramione but this just felt right! Draco dealing with Hermione's passive-aggressiveness!

Hope you liked it! Not my best work but hey I am coming out of writer's block! It's been a year since I wrote anything!