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Chapter 3: The First Encounter
Hermione opened the front door of Malfoy Manor. "I guess I'll be putting this stuff away," she thought. She walked into the kitchen and took out the food and put it up. "Hmm, I wonder if Draco, no, Mr. Malfoy, wants me to put away his shirts? Well I will anyway." Draco's room was on the third floor of the house, in a hallway lined with doors on which the words "Lucius' Room," Narcissa's Room," "Guest Room #1," and "Guest Bathroom" were engraved. She stopped at the door the said "Draco's Room." "I suppose that this is his room." She jiggled the doorknob. "Hmm, not locked?" Slowly, she opened the door. "Wow!" She gasped. Inside was a huge four-poster bed surrounded by green, black, and silver curtains. A tall armoire stood in one corner and a vanity table in the other. The wall across from the door had three bookshelves on it. Hermione walked over the shelves. She read "A Rise to Power," "Great Wizards of the Middle Ages," "Dark Arts: A Guide." "What an extensive collection," she thought sarcastically.
She walked over to the armoire and opened it. Stacks of t-shirts and boxers lay neatly inside. After opening her bag, she placed the new shirts on top of the old. Then, she closed the armoire and turned around. On the desk, across the room, lay a letter. "No harm can come from me looking at it, can there?" She thought. In curlicue letters, Draco's name was written on the front. She opened the envelope.
All of a sudden, the door opened. Draco walked in. He turned to her.
"Granger! What the hell are you doing snooping in my room?"
"I wasn't snooping, Mr. Malfoy. I was simply placing your new shirts in their place."
"Oh, really? And that requires reading my mail?"
"No, I was just curious."
"Well, you won't be so curious once you're fired, will you?"
"You can't fire me! I— ugh!" Draco had slapped her.
"Don't you EVER tell me what I can and can't do, Granger! You've no control over me!"
Hermione had tears in her eyes from the pain. "I'm sorry, Mr. Malfoy."
"You had better be sorry, you filthy mudblood. Remember who your boss is."
Hermione gasped at the word 'mudblood.' She started to cry.
Draco softened a bit. "Oh, God, Hermione. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I just have a lot of stress right now."
She was still crying.
He was getting desperate. "Please, Hermione, don't cry! I won't fire you."
She was still crying.
"What can I do to make it up to you?"
She looked up. "Give me a raise?"
He hugged her. "Of course, whatever you want."
Hermione looked shocked. Draco had just hugged her! What was with him?
"What is with me?" Draco thought.