Author's Note: Ok, just so you are warned: This is sort of a filler chapter. Sort of, because it has some funny parts (or at least I think so) and some good interaction (even though they might be a little out of character) and emotional insight (as I haven't really expanded on the Draco side of the equation yet). So it's not as bad as most. It was a nice chapter for me to write. And it's an actual -intentional- filler chapter. Gasp! I know. An intentional filler chapter, you ask? Yes, surprising but true. But I have a reason. I wanted to get away from the plot for a short while and take a breather, as the next few chapters will be full of plot advances.
So many to thank... Jadoreorli, pretendingtobesane, blackxrose (Oh-no! Grr! Stupid computer. That happened to me on my old piece of crap laptop. _ My apologies, girl. Well hopefully my chapter can console you. Well, the chapter and to quote you 'cookehz'!!), shedraconis, Dark Queen Rhyet, sweet_77_thang, zingy, Til death due us part, tungak, Cinammon, apple, Amanda (Thank you. It makes –me- smile to hear that you smiled. And you didn't write too much!), and ProudMudblood. I think that was the longest A/N on record.
Oh! Sorry for doing this, but if you have any free time would you check out my original stuff at Fictionpress. Link is on my profile.
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Chapter Six: Writing the Rules
Hermione and Draco planned on meeting again at The Blue Note to sort out the… details before they set off to her parents' house. Hermione was stuck at work, finally getting to the paperwork that she had been putting off. She sent an owl to Draco telling him that she couldn't meet him at The Blue Note so he should stop by her flat at around seven-thirty.
When seven rolled around, Hermione decided that she should better get going. She apparated to her flat, and then changed into something more comfortable. After pulling on her favorite pair of jeans and a nice turtleneck sweater, she went into the kitchen to put on a kettle of tea.
After she had the teakettle settled on the burner she heard a knocking at her door. She walked over and opened it finding Draco standing there with his hands in his pockets, letting his silver eyes travel lazily from her head to her toe.
"Come in." She said, retreating to the kitchen, "Sorry about the carry over, I had a mountain of things to do at the office."
"It's quite alright," He replied in a businesslike tone, following her in towards her kitchen, "Anyways, I figured that since we are you know 'together' I probably should see your flat. You know for reference." The teakettle sounded, filling the room with a delightful whistle, signaling Hermione to move it off the hot burner, which she did.
She turned, finding him casually leaning against the doorframe, and asked if he wanted a cup of tea. He nodded and leisurely moved over towards the kitchen table and took a seat. He languidly glanced around the room, taking in the new surroundings. Her flat was cozy enough, eclectic really. Nothing really matched, but everything seemed to fit. Although he had never really given any thought to it before he assumed her home would be rather modern, with sleek and clean lines as she was, or so he assumed, a no-nonsense girl.
And then he looked over at Hermione. If someone had told him that one day he would have to be her faux boyfriend back when he was in Hogwarts, he would have hexed them without a second thought. But now he was facing that reality. He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard her speak.
"Well, I suppose I should say a few things before we start." She said as she opened the top cupboard, and then moved to the bottom cabinet, opening that as well. "You see, when I said Christmas Party, I didn't mean that it was just one day. It's actually about a week. We arrive the day before Christmas Eve and leave the day after New Year's." She said while stepping up on the inside ledge of the bottom cabinet to gain the few inches needed to reach the teacups.
Draco was so amused by her way of retrieving the teacups that he didn't seem bothered by this new information. She set them both down on the counter and closed both doors.
"Um, what else?" She said absentmindedly, and then headed over towards the refrigerator. She carefully climbed up onto the countertop to reach the jar of teabags that she kept on top of the freezer; retrieved two then hopped back down. "Oh, were staying at my parents' house." She put one teabag in each cup and then poured water in each before she brought them over to the table.
Hermione then simply retrieved the milk and sugar and was about to set them on the table when she caught a glimpse of Draco's trademark grin.
"What?" She asked genuinely.
"What, no daring, death defying maneuver to get the milk and sugar?" He asked, making her blush with embarrassment. She tried to cover it with a smile.
"No," She paused, setting down what was in her hands, "And if I ever hear you making fun of me because I'm too short to reach things in my kitchen, I'll have to jinx you." His grin widened. He wasn't sure why, but he noticed that his snide remarks were slowly being replaced by playful teasing. And he wasn't dreading this at all.
"So, anything else I need to know?"
"I think it's time to set down the ground rules." She decided as she took the seat opposite of him. She took hold of her mug, forming her hands around it for warmth, and inhaled the steam.
"Ground Rules. Okay. Shoot." He said, and took a sip of his tea.
"Number one." She said slowly, making sure he knew how important this rule was. "Now you have to understand that the entire believability of our relationship depends on this."
"Alright." He said, ready for what she had to say. "Go ahead."
She paused then said, "I take my tea with two sugars."
"Are you serious?"
"Quite." She reassured him. "Maybe you should give it a whirl. I can assess." He gave her a look that was a combination of disbelief and sarcasm that could mean nothing other that this-is-rule-number-one? But he did as told and spooned in two sugars and stirred it to help it dissolve.
"Good?" He asked and she nodded. "Well as helpful as that was, I was thinking we could go over some of the details. You know, how long we've been seeing each other. How we met. What we like to do together. Well, I mean what we like to do together that we can tell your folks about." He wagged his eyebrows suggestively.
"You are repulsive." She chastised. Then realized that he was right, well except for the last implication. "Well, no sense lying. We knew each other in school and met recently through work."
"Not very romantic."
"I didn't think Malfoys were romantic." She defended herself, and then moved on,
"Well, you kept owling, saying you wanted to talk about work… but you really just wanted to see me."
"And although you wouldn't admit it, you were ecstatic when I asked to see you again." Draco added a new rather self-important detail to the story.
"And the rest…" Hermione started, letting Draco finish.
"Is history."
()()()()()()()()()()
Hermione and Draco owled each other constantly; Draco asking things like what to pack and Hermione telling him little quirky things about her and her family that he should know if he was her boyfriend.
At many, well almost every, point she kept wondering why Draco was being so… so… civil. And that question always made her think of why he was doing this for her. Why was he going along with things so calmly?
It couldn't just be the blackmail, because they both knew he had enough money to buy out the paper and write his own bloody article.
And then she would wonder what he would think of her to be lying to her parents like that. Well, of course, he probably didn't have a good relationship with his parents. He probably lied to them all the time, well, while they were living anyway.
She shrugged that unpleasant thought away. And decided that, yes, it must be because of the blackmail.
When Hermione had suggested the plan to Draco, his obvious motive would be to save his company from blackmail, but deep down he knew it was more than that. Sure, escaping Pansy for the holidays was an added bonus, but he knew why he was going along with it.
He wanted the one thing he never had. Family. Draco never had a happy Christmas. There was never a twinkling Christmas tree in his house, never any holiday stockings, there were never any carols playing.
And his future wasn't really looking much brighter. Sure, he had the attention of countless women. But did any of them really matter? No. He decided that a while ago. He had his work. But he knew that wouldn't substitute for what he was missing. He had really given up on all of it.
The world was cruel. But he couldn't blame it. He was cruel, and he realized his sins too late. He was terribly lonely. He had always been, and it looked as if that was how he would always be.
But right now he had a chance at happiness. That's why he was helping Hermione. He wanted to be a part of that, even if it was only for a week...
...even if it wasn't real.