It had been a week since Draco had last seen Granger. And its been 7 days of vigilantly looking at the door anytime it was swung open. He spent more time than ever at the cafe hoping that she'd walk in one day. He walked by her house every other day of that week, on the off chance he'd catch even just a glimpse of her. He didn't recall feeling this way ever. It must be the thrill of the game. Yes, that's right, he convinced himself. It's psychological. His mind drifted to a memory.

Narcissa Malfoy was holding a silver tray of apple tarts. She walked away from little six year old Draco and put them on top of a tall onyx counter.

"You cannot eat the tarts, Draco."

He remembered the feeling of hunger he felt upon being deprived of them. They seemed more delectable than ever, buttery pastry and tart cinnamon apples sounded like heaven to him right now.

Hermione was playing a game by depriving him of her company, and he did not like to be told no.

Draco got up, buttoned his jacket and swiftly apparated to Hermione's doorstep. He knew she had wards to alert her of visitors so he waited. 30 seconds later he decided to rap aggressively at her door. No answer. This annoyed him slightly. Where is this witch. Suddenly it dawned on him that it is a Monday and not everyone had the luxury of being a billionaire heir who could do work at his own time. He smirked and apparated again, this time, to Theodore Nott's office.

Theo looked up from his desk when he heard the crack. Not a lot of people had license to apparate to his office.

"Draco?" Theo averts his gaze back to his paperwork and continues to read.

"I need you to do something for me, it concerns Granger." Draco leans against the wall next to Theo's desk.

At the mention of Granger's name, Theo leans against his chair, smirks and quirks an eyebrow, "and what about Granger?"

Draco scoffs at him, "where does she work?"

Theo leans into his desk and asks in a mocking tone, "and why do you wanna know?"

As a consequence, Theo receives a glare from Draco who told him where to shove it and get on with the information.

Theo laughs before he finally gives in, "she works at a research lab, here's the address." He slides the paper towards Draco, but when he goes to grab it, he withholds it for a second and grins, "the price of this information is information back. I wanna know details of whatever this development is."

Draco scoffs at him, takes the paper, mumbles a thanks and apparates away.

Hermione's wards had alerted her of a visitor at her doorstep. She was quite puzzled as she was at work, and wasn't expecting anyone. Oh well, she thought, if it's anything pressing they'll find her.

A half hour flies by, as Hermione had her nose buried in her work. She hardly hears her secretary announcing a visitor as she mindlessly gestures for them to be ushered in. It was only when she caught a glimpse of a tall blonde did she did a double take.

Find her he did.

She scans her calendar, her finger stopping at today's date, frowning. "You don't have an appointment with me today. Can I help you with something, Malfoy?"

He's leaning against the door, "is that what I have to do now, make an appointment?"

"What do you mean?" Her brows furrowing in confusion.

Malfoy crosses the distance between the door and her desk to reach over and grab her calendar. He plucks a quill from her quill jar and writes in elegant cursive;

coffee @ The Same Page 7:00am

His silver eyes pierce hers as he says, "that's tomorrow. Don't forget."

With that, he walks out of the door, his bergamot and peppermint scent hanging in the air as Hermione pondered what the hell was all that about. She stares at his handwriting as the realization of what it was dawned on her. Her cheeks flushed at the thought, and her secretary who popped in was quick to point her blush out.

Hermione tried to distract herself with work and it worked. She managed to remove that tall blonde git from her thoughts until 5pm that evening. As soon as her work hours ended, she grabs a handful of Floo powder, entered her fireplace and erupted into green flames.

Seconds later, she is walking into an elegant living room with a green velvet couch, a black bricked fireplace and tall almond coloured walls surrounding her.

The tapping of heels from around the corner, alerted her of the homeowner's arrival, and in walked a raven haired woman in a sleek cream blouse and brown trousers.

"Hermione!" The witch immediately went for an embrace.

"Hey Pans," Hermione greeted as she returned her hug. They sat down on her green velvet couch as Pansy summoned a couple of martini glasses and a shaker. Dark brown liquid poured out and Hermione's nose caught the scent of espresso. Pansy picks up her glass and takes a sip, "so what's new? I haven't seen you in a while."

Her friendship with Pansy was definitely odd, and one that not a lot of people knew about. They had met a few months after the Battle at Hogwarts and Pansy had seemed like a changed person. Tragedy rocked her to her core and she had tried to apologize and get on the road of making amends. Gone was the person who wanted to hand in Harry to the Dark Lord and was replaced by a damaged woman who was trying to heal. The person in front of her now had come a long way and they had seen each other quite frequently after that first encounter.

"I know, I'm sorry for not meeting you sooner. I've just had a lot on my mind and I've been feeling alone after the break up. I felt as though all my friends might take Ron's side, considering most of them are related to him, after all."

Pansy frowned at the brunette, "I'm not a Weasley."

"I know, I know, I'm sorry. The only person I've really seen since is Ginny, despite being her brother, she's one of my best friends and she wants to be there for me too. And I'm here now, despite my delay."

"Maybe bring Gin for a girl's night sometime this weekend, I haven't seen her in a hot second as well. Anyways, update me, what's going on in your life now?"

Hermione twirled her martini glass around her fingers, "actually, it's about Malfoy."

Pansy furrowed her eyebrows, "Draco? Is he being a prat?"

"Well, not exactly," she looked up to see Pansy's confused eyes staring at her. "He's been around a lot recently." Nervously, Hermione began filling her in on Draco Malfoy.

"That's why I wanted to get your thoughts on the matter, you being one of his friends from school and all."

"Hermione Granger, you breaking your silence with me to talk about a boy, and Draco Malfoy no less," she brings her hand over to her heart, "you wound me."

Hermione blushes, "no it's not like that!" She proceeds to deny but then, "Oh god I feel like a shallow air head. I had just done the same thing with Ginny the other day." She buries her face into her elbows.

Pansy laughs and touches her shoulder, "I'm just messing with you, I recall all our conversations about dumb little boys in one hand. I'm just surprised that one is about Draco."

"Yeah well, me too. I don't know where this is coming from and why he's everywhere all of a sudden, and why I'm actually attracted to him."

Pansy crosses her arms and smirks at that admission, "well well well"

Hermione brings her martini glass to her lips and lets the dark liquid flow down the hatch. She sets it down, and is automatically refilled. "God, I know. I'm seeing him tomorrow. I think it's his way of asking for a casual date. Right?"

"Well, it's more than anything I got for sure. Draco Malfoy is not really a romantic and he typically kept every girl he was with at a distance." Pansy paused, then laughed, "well, emotionally at least."

Hermione groaned, she hated having had him in her bed on not even a first date. She felt like one of the slags from Muggle clubs who bed a guy after being bought a drink. Not that there's anything wrong with that if that's what made them happy but it wasn't Hermione. It took months for her to let Ron see her shirtless with her bra on. She didn't understand how she had let Malfoy see all of her in just a night.

Pansy filled her in on what Malfoy was like as a person, thankfully not in bed. She didn't need the image of her friend pinned underneath Malfoy in her head. They talk about Pansy's own romantic life. She had started seeing a muggle born witch and she's keeping it private. There were two taboos in that situation, after all. They then decide to set a girls night date, Friday at 8:30. Hermione floos to her own home and cracks open a history book, deliberately avoiding the romance novel she had started. She had no need of replacing the main character's love interest with a certain tall, handsome, smug looking, wall leaning, suit wearing blonde.

The next day, Hermione found herself staring at the mirror with piles of clothes on the floor. She finally decided on a top. She didn't want to seem like she was preparing too much or trying too hard, but still wanted to look good. She opted for a black long sleeve, a light tan trench coat. It was starting to get cold. She looked at her watch, 6:42. She put on her black Chelsea boots and headed out. She still liked to dress in her muggle clothes, she was more comfortable in them and she preferred the fashion.

She arrived at the cafe to see Malfoy at his usual table. He was wearing a dark crewneck sweater and grey trousers. At the sound of her footsteps, he looked up from his book and she watched as his eyes slowly took her in. His lips twitched into a small smile as he took a sip of his coffee.

"Just in time, Granger," he says as he looks to his side where an employee gently lowered a cup of cappuccino onto the table.

"You know, I consider it a red flag when my date orders for me." The words were out of her mouth before she realized what she had just said. It was too late. Malfoy looked smug and had a playful glint in his eyes.

"Your date huh?" He leaned in from across the table.

She looks away and drinks her cappuccino, "that's not what I meant."

He chuckles, "this isn't a date, Granger."

Embarrassment slowly creeps into her as she keeps drinking her cappuccino just to have something to do. She could feel Malfoy's gaze on her and his smug smirk plastered on his face.

"Maybe by Weasley standards, it's a date. If you go out with me on Friday night, I'll show you what a real date is."

Hermione lowered her cup and meets his eyes, his expression slightly guarded. She could see a little bit of hope in them, waiting for her response. She smirks, it was her turn.

"No."

She watched as his guard goes all the way up and his smirk falls into a flat line.

"Why not."

"I have plans." Hermione simply says.

"With who?"

"None of your business, Malfoy."

He is clearly annoyed at this point, "with Weasley?"

"Why yes," she wasn't technically lying. She was going to be with a Weasley, she just didn't specify which one.

Malfoy reaches over and grabs her chin from across the table and makes her look at him, "what are you doing here with me then, Granger?"

"I could ask you the same thing, Malfoy."

He groans, runs his hand through his hair. He gets up and watches as a few strands of his usually perfect hair fall into his face, framing it beautifully. "You are infuriating."

She gets up with him. "So are you. I have no idea what you want with me."

He takes a couples steps closer to her, looks at her and doesn't break his gaze. He was only inches away and she had to look up as he was towering over her. "You know what."

Hermione was silent, she didn't know what to say but before she could formulate a response, Malfoy had walked out. Again.

Bergamot and peppermint filled the air around Hermione. Again.