TITLE: Faking It

PART: 4/?

RATING: R

SUMMARY: Draco is on the run from the police when he is accused of murder. A chance encounter with Hermione is the only thing that saves him. Posing as her bookish boyfriend with the help of some glamour the pair find they have more in common than they would ever believe and it's only a matter of time before real feelings develop in a game of pretend.

DISCLAIMER: I disclaim

AN: Ek! Sorry about the lack of updates. Things have been sorta chaotic recently but I promise I'm gonna try to keep this thing updated.

AN2: Yeah I know the slang more American than British but I just butcher the language every time I attempt to write with it so just suspend your disbelief when it comes to their speech.



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And if we go down

We go down together

Best friends means

Well best friends means

And I've got a 20 dollar bill

That says you're up late starting

Fist fights versus fences in your backyard

Wearing your black eye like a badge of honor

Soaking in sympathy

From friends who never loved you

Nearly half as much as me


~There's No "I" in Team~ Taking Back Sunday~



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'Best Friends.' Draco examined the picture in it's glittery novelty frame, the endearment spelled out in neon letters across the top.

Granger flashing her buck-toothed, pre-orthodontia smile at the camera, her slight frame sandwiched between grinning preteen versions of Weasley and the high and exulted Harry Potter; a saccharine memory forever captured in that photograph, the one picture of the many on display on Hermione's dresser that lay face down, the subjects of the photo smiling down at the vanished dresser top. Her returned the frame to it's down turned position among the others, Potter's tousled black hair and trademark glasses conspicuously missing from each.

A self satisfied smirk played across his face as he exited the orderly, Potter-free room. That "all for one, one for all", "friendship is everything", touchy-feely bullshit Gryfindor's dream team preached through their rule at Hogwarts hadn't held out in the real world. The close bond the trio flaunted couldn't withstand an incident of heartbreak. Their shattered friendship validated Draco's every insult from their years as classmates, it was possibly the best news he had heard in a very long while.

"You better not have been pawing through my drawers," Hermione accused, her wet clothes exchanged for a pair of sweats with the logo of her college up one leg and a rumpled white tank top. She sat at the small dinette, the can of soda she had purchased earlier sitting in front of her.

"Yes Granger, I'm sorry I couldn't control myself," Draco shot sarcastically, "In fact I've nabbed a few of your panties for later." Hermione's pursed lips indicated her complete disinterest in his attempts at humor. "Nice place," he commended weakly, sliding into the seat across from her. Hermione shifted uncomfortably in her seat, as the intimacy of their situation struck her, Draco sitting barely a foot away, his head inclined towards her.

"Alright," she said, sitting back in her chair to put sufficient distance between them, "Catch me up."

A small puddle was collecting under Draco's chair, his still wet clothes dripping onto the white tile floor. Hermione eyed him expectantly, her gaze falling on his hands which were clasped loosely together on the table top. She noticed a red-brown smear stark against the white of the dress shirt and reached out to examine it more closely. Draco balled the end of his sleeve up in his hand, drawing back reflexively. Hermione withdrew her hand but a guarded cast came over her features.

"What about yourself Granger?" he asked, his hands now concealed under the table. "I'm sure you must've done something of interest since graduation."

Hermione simply stared blankly at him, silently informing him of her total lack of trust in him and his intentions.

"Please," he sneered, "You don't expect me to air my dirty laundry without you doing the same?"

"And I'm sure yours is positively filthy," she finally replied, her eyes skipping over the white line of scar tissue starting at his collarbone and disappearing under the neck of his shirt and the smaller scar bisecting one blonde eyebrow.

Draco smiled cryptically, satisfied that her curiosity was sufficiently piqued. "I ask again," he said, settling back in his chair, "How've you been keeping yourself these past few years?"

Hermione twisted a stray curl around her fingers and continued to stare at her blonde guest in stoic silence.

"Alright," Draco said amiably, "I'll guess then." he looked to her for permission and receiving no order to stop her began his appraisal. "You're a student," he said, nodding towards the college issue sweats, "stubbornly single, female roommate, obsesses over a long standing grudge with a certain ex-boyfriend..."

"Get out!" Hermione ordered leaping to her feet.

"...very touchy in regards to said obsession..."

"Out. Now." She reached across the small table and attempted to push Draco off his chair, hoping to hasten his exit.

"...prone to sudden attempts at violence with little or no provocation..." Draco continued, a grin splitting his handsome face as Hermione glared at him from across the table.

"Leave," she ground out.

"So you are single than?" he asked, a look of mock attentiveness only enraging Hermione further.

"I swear if you don't leave right now I'm dialing the police and having them cart you off."

Draco lifted his scarred eyebrow, the skeptical gesture illustrating just how threatened he felt by her claim. "I know where the door is luv, don't strain yourself," he soothed, reaching out to grasp her arm, lowering it to her side as she had been pointing it in the direction of the front door for a good 10 minutes.

Hermione jerked away, her hands clenched into fists, painted black nails digging into her palms. "I did not invite you back here for you to ridicule my personal life because you have no bloody idea what you are talking about and the last thing I want is the respect of a conceited ass such as yourself."

"Defensive too," Draco observed, "speaks volumes about your self esteem."

"Get out," Hermione said a third time, stomping a sock clad foot for emphasis.

"Look, I'm sorry!" Draco yelled, "I need your help Granger, I do. It's just old habits die hard." A pleading edge twisted his cultured tone into something that seemed almost sincere.

Hermione slowly lowered back into her chair, a forced calmness settling over her delicate features. "Fine," she said shortly.

"Fine?" Draco asked uneasily, not sure how long this calm would last.

"I'm listening," she snapped, "Not because you deserve the chance but because I don't think I'm endowed with the strength to physically remove you from my apartment." Draco laughed nodded, an understanding gesture of truce and some of the tension was relieved from the room that had been singing with it only moments before.

"So what is it you do now Mr. Malfoy?" Hermione asked, mockingly.

"Muggle/Wizard relations," Draco replied, ignoring the taunting inflection as it was preferable to silence or the polar opposite, both of which she had already demonstrated in their short conversation. "I'm the Ministry's chief ambassador."

"And why would a Malfoy lower himself to such a common position as cavorting with muggles and mudbloods?" Hermione asked, genuinely intrigued.

Draco only shrugged, any verbal reply halted by the ringing of the phone. Hermione got up and swung herself up to a seat on the kitchen counter before picking up the phone. "Hello?"

"'Mione?" the frantic voice on the other end demanded. Hermione winced, Lavender's shill greeting reminding her that she was missing class, a very un-'Mione like move. "Where the hell are you?!" Lavender continued, her concern quickly dissipating, replaced by confused irritation.

"Home apparently," Hermione replied blandly, keeping her eyes trained steadily on Draco, watching for any suspicious movement.

"Don't be a smart-ass 'Mione, it isn't attractive." Lavender warned.

Hermione sighed, Draco's sudden interest in her collection of refrigerator magnets boring her and Lavender's sisterly concern grating on her already frazzled nerves. "The car died," she explained tiredly, having to think back to identify te genesis of the odd series of events which lect Draco Malfoy spelling out obscene messages on her fridge with colorful plastic magnets.

"You could've called me," Lavender pouted, her friends well-being having been assured she was free to bitch about the hour she spent worrying. "Or Oliver," she added, "he could've picked you up."

"I tried," Hermione replied briskly, "Look Lav, I'm sorry, it's just been a throughly hellish morning but it's over now and I'm fine."

"Especially," Lavender continued, the whining edge fading, an excitement Hermione had grown to identify as accompanying a particularly interesting item of gossip taking it's place. "When there's a murderer roaming the streets." she finished dramatically. A smile tugged at Hermione's mouth, as she wondered what minor infraction Lavender had twisted this time. Such an explosive headline was sure to be followed by an exaggerated story with Lavender's own trademark embellishments. The last time Hermione had been warned against a deranged killer Oliver had unintentionally mowed over a crow on his way to work.

"It happened last night," Lavender narrated, inserting a dramatic pause to allow Hermione to process this before dropping her intended bomb, "and we know him!"

Well this was new, Hermione admitted, caught momentarily off-guard, "Him? The..."

"Killer!" Lavender inserted excitedly. "He went to school with us!"

Hermione's stomach dropped, icy fingers of dread crawling up her spine as apprehension began to dawn on her.

In a sense she already knew the answer before the she spoke the question, her gaze fixed with an almost morbid intensity on the now clearly visible stain on her visitor's sleeve. He surveyed his literary efforts on the fridge, blonde hair falling over his devastatingly handsome visage as he functioned blissfully unaware of the sudden attention being paid him. "Who?"

Lavender's voice dropped several decibels, more for dramatic effect than the actual need for secrecy but Hermione heard the name as if she had screamed it, "It was Draco. Draco Malfoy."



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TBC! Yes ok a little corny but I needed a dramatic break point so there ya go. Lol Review review review please please please.


Thanks so much 2 all my reviewers!!!! That would b: jazzylady, nissy padfoot, befuzzeled, Tsuki9, DracoLegolasOliver r sexy, Draco Amant, Blanche Dubois, Bambi, Areida, Vivi, guycrzyesp4orli, and the-true-cat!!!! Thanks so much you guys!


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