Disclaimer: Pretend that this part exist in every other chapters. No, I do not own it. (Cries!)

And then I dash out of the shop with the book and my bag held tightly in my hands. Once outside, I Disapparated to the entrance of the Three Broomsticks to find Harry and Ron entering the bar together.

Whew, I'm not too late after all.

Chapter 2: This Is Not Happening!

02-01 (1502 hrs)

Plopping down onto my bed, I am all whacked emotionally. Why must boys do those sort of things in front of so many people? I mean, even if they don't find it embarrassing, spare a thought for the girl (me!). Ii just doesn't feel right to have all the public's eyes on me and, not to forget, him!

Ronald Weasley will have hell to pay once I get back all of my lost energy. You see, I got so embarrassed in the Three Broomsticks that I flushed till I felt that the heat from my face was radiating to other corners of the place.

This is what happened earlier on:

Harry and Ron entered the bar together while I tailed them (I wanted to surprise/scare them. Okay, I know it is quite childish). Once they finished ordering their Firewhiskey, I was about to spring onto them and give them each a big bear hug when I heard Ron saying this:

"... I don't know. I thought I could get her to shine the spotlight on 'Mione (I have to make this very clear: I have long forbiddened Ron to call me that! Is it really that troublesome for him to call me 'Hermione'? Must he go follow his baby sister with 'cute name-calling'?), just to make sure that everyone's attention would be on her... Harry, do you seriously think that she'll accept me? I mean, what if she doesn't like all this? She might just give me a hex in the face like what she did to Goyle when he confessed his love for her in Hogwarts!" Ron sounded so much like he was about to suffer from a nervous breakdown.

Harry, bewildered by Ron's speech, said, "Ron, don't compare yourself to Goyle. No matter what you do, you'll never be as ahem as him!"

I left the place immediately after Harry's comment. I was blushing like mad, even without Ron doing all that funny stuff to me!

I need not hear, or worse, experience more.

It is not that I do not like Ron, I love him as much as I do Harry! He has been a great friend to me for all these years. It is just that that sort of chemistry is absent between us... Forget it, I know there is no sense in such explanations.

Well, anyway, I rang Harry on his WNMobile to tell him that I would not be meeting them today. I could hear a really loud 'What?!' in the background (no doubt it was Ron) but didn't say anything about it (neither did Harry exactly, though he was practically screaming at Ron to shut him up).

02-01 (1934 hrs)

My favourite hangout at home (aside from my small, cosy library) has always been the bathroom. I love my bathtub.

After putting on my robes, I step out of the humid bathroom and into my library where a pile of new books are waiting for me. I cannot wait till I flip open the wonderful Cursive Charms: Curios.

There. Cursive Charms: Curios is now safely tucked under my arm as I make my way back into my bedroom to read. I store books in my library and read them on my bed. It is quite strange, but I can concentrate the most only when I am in the comfort of my own bed.

Having positioned my head onto the stack of plump pillows and rested my wand on the nightstand, I flipped open the rather enormous book. Thanks to the compression charm or I would have to drag the book back from Flourish and Blotts.

Oh, I have to check its price before I do any damage to it, though it is not like I would but just in ca- EIGHTY GALLEONS?! (That's four hundred pounds for my parents!)

Why, the previous books in the series cost only half this price! And this is Malfoy's book... I can feel the pressure to take really good care of this lest he finds some creases here and there and accuse me of abusing his book... or anything bad like that. Ugh.

I am still going to read it despite the immense pressure. My love for books can overcome just about anything.

Later On (0252 hrs)

I am not going to sleep untill I am done with this... Gosh, just three hundred and seventy eight pages to go, I can make it!

Even Later On (0513 hrs)

Yay! Ten more pages to my beauty sleep!

Oops! Something just fell out...

What is this...? Book review by Malfoy? A note? Love letter? I won't be surprised - Malfoy can look so attractive sometimes (as in, when he does not move or talk) that it is very probable for him to receive enough love letters from admirers to keep, frame, or even just use as bookmarks...

On the note scribbled: Meet me at 10 pm, this coming Saturday, The Lenviosa Restaurant.

The note is kind of odd. I mean its contents. Why would he keep a note like this in a book worth EIGHTY GALLEONS?

Ah, I am not thinking so much now - I have to finish the book!

But then... could the note be for me? Judging by the newness of the piece of parchment, I can easily conclude that the chances of the note being meant for me are quite high.

02-03 Saturday Night (2257 hrs)

I have decided to not go for that dinner at The Lenviosa Restaurant. For goodness sake, I do not even know where it is! And, I am not looking forward to a dinner with an ex-ferret chewing on its - his food opposite me. I would much rather laze around my neat apartment, thank you.

Why did he want to dine with me anyway? I can just have my dinner... I guess I have to make it a supper, look at the time!

Okay, now, macaroni or spaghetti? Hmm... They are both the same, actually, but I still see the need to decide on which to cook and eat. It is my stomach that the food will be going into, mind you.

Bang! Swish!

I jump with a start and look at the open window.

Ah.

I hate this big reckless fellow. Can't all owls stop acting so Pigwidgeon-ish?

Luckily it did not topple any of my things or I will personally make sure he goes home naked. No, I am not so violent all the time.

Standing at least a few metres distance from it, I immediately recognise it as one of the rarest species of owls (got the info from a book, obviously). Yet it can act so clumsily sometimes.

I approach it with big, cautious steps. The owl is standing there, as still as a statue, proudly holding out one of its scaly legs and probably expecting me to get it off him quickly. I untied the letter from the outstretched leg and read the envelope: To Miss H. Granger.

Hmm... Then, I tear away the obstructing envelope and unfold the piece of yellowing parchment.

Ms Granger,

I am pleased to inform you that you are offered a position in my company which has been left vacant for the past few days.

If you do not mind, please kindly report to my office in the Majix Enterprise Headquarter at 9 am tomorrow. This letter will turn into a Portkey that will take you to the entrance to my office, the next day, at 8.55 am sharp.

Best Wishes,

Draco Malfoy
Director
Majix Enterprise

P.S. I am pretty sure that you are done with the book.

Ha! My heart nearly skipped a beat when I saw that that the letter was practically screaming at me, 'I'm a job offer!' But the organ nearly went on strike when I saw the signature of the infamous Draco Malfoy, owner of the book, at the end of the letter.

This is not happening!

A job offer. I thought I was never going to see this type of letter anymore after having rejected ninety-nine percent of the companies thoughout the magic world out of my freakish attitude. Needless to say, I would never expect Malfoy to be the sender of such a letter.

The weird thing here is that he had not specified the job I might be undertaking in the near future. Hmm, but no matter what, I will be there for the interview by nine am.

An interview with Malfoy. A job in Majix. Cool or boo?

Um, we shall see.

Maybe I shall reflect on how I got myself into the current situation.

In the past, I did not accept the jobs other companies offered me because I just was not keen on them! I mean, I like books, potions, arithmetics, Aurors, charms, adventures with Harry and Ron and things like that. BUT that does not equal to me being interested in being a librarian, potionologist, arithmetician, Auror, charms master, adventurer...

I really did just stick my head into the clouds after receiving so many letters offering me all kinds of possiblities. I took my time to choose, which eventually led to me being very, extremely picky and if one thing does not agree with me in the offer, the letter went straight to the pile to address a Rejection letter to. It really did not feel like I would run out of choices any time.

But of course, now I learn that I was wrong. After all, I do not own the world.

Fortunately, I still have some financial support from my parents. I can, and I will, only rely on them... but it cannot be for long anyways.

So far, from what I've heard, Majix does magazines and many other things. I shall just try my luck there.

My only hope is that Malfoy will be kinder to me tomorrow.

Sleep tight tonight, Hermione.

Next Day (0849 hrs)

I awoke with a start and reached for my alarm clock. I thought I was going to scream and smash the piece of plastic-and-metal into pieces.

But I did not. My vocal cords could not work properly so early in the morning. Plus, the clock is magically built into my nightstand and I cannot possibly just lift my nightstand up in a moment of dread.

NO!

I tumbled off the bed and landed with a loud thud on the cold, hard floor and sped to the bathroom.

After my oral hygiene had been taken care of, I rushed to my closet and pulled out the set of robes I had prepared specially for the day. It is always good to prepare things beforehand; you won't know when you would stupidly wake up late for an important event.

Everything was done so hastily as I got up late. Even I was confused with what I was doing.

I was about to take out the letter that was on my dressing table when I had a good (read: bad) look at my pathetically styled hair. Comb will not be of any use in this case. My hair will just destroy the pretty comb (the teeth of it might get stuck in the severely entangled hair).

Sigh.

Spelling my hair to make it not so bushy took a good five minutes. The only lucky thing that I am experiencing now is that I am just on time for the activation of the Portkey.

I grab my handbag and the book before picking up the Portkey-letter.

As I am being transported to my destination, I cannot help but think that I should not have stayed up last night practising all the speech-making things for the interview. I really should not have.

Hermione, you just have to stop being such a perfectionist.

Majix Enterprise HQ

"Good morning, young lady. Do you have an appointment with Mr Malfoy?" A plump middle-aged lady asks sweetly once she sees me. She looks so much like Professor McGonagall. Only that this lady's version is a bit shorter than and not as bony as McGonagall.

"Um, I think so." I respond nervously. I cannot help but get tensed up in front of her. I mean, I cannot shake off the feeling of her being the old Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts and me still being the Head Girl. It creeps me out and makes me so uptight.

Hogwarts will never leave me!

"Okay. What's your name, dear?" The lady asks again as she peers into her ultra-sized hardcover notebook.

"Hermione Granger, Madam." I reply. My eyes are wandering from the rubbish bin (I had a hard time identifying it as a rubbish bin, it looks like just another piece of stylish ornament) to the ceiling and every where else, due to my discomfort of being in such a grand lobby.

"Ah. Hermione Granger, huh? Your appointment with Mr Malfoy will be from nine to ten. It'll be an interview, right?" The kind lady questions, this time, bringing a smile onto her thin lips. I don't know why, but she seems to be more concerned about the interview than I am. I can tell, from her amused tone, that she treats this like it is one of the newest craze in town or something. When it is not. Not a newest craze in town that is. It is just a job interview, isn't it? Isn't it!

"Yeah, I guess." I answer and look at my watch. One minute to nine. I was about to ask her if I could go in for the interview when she beats me to it and leads the way.

I follow her silently to a very heavy-looking oak-coloured door where I am told to wait. Then, she left with a swish of her cloak.

Nine am already.

A soft click emits from the thick door, announcing the appearance of the man. Ah... Punctuality is always important in the eyes of businessmen.

"Hello." Malfoy greets in a friendly tone (one that you would never hear him use with me in the old Hogwarts days).

I smile politely in return as I am afraid that whatever that comes out of my mouth will be a set of embarrassing nonsense due to my nerves.

But I guess he isn't too happy with my unenthusiastic response as his eyes dim slightly and he turns around to lead me to his table. "Sit." He commands.

"Um, Mr Malfoy, I was thinking about the job that you're offering me. You didn't specify it in the letter, so I'd be glad if you would..." I stop. I realise that he isn't listening to me, so what's the point of continuing with my pointless talk?

"Doesn't your hair look very much like before." Malfoy comments after my pause. He must have been waiting for me to stop since the moment I spoke, that git! "I thought its condition has improved when I saw you at Flourish and Blotts but maybe it was just due to the lighting at that place... a rather run-down bookshop, don't you think?" I just know that he will never change.

He will keep picking out all of your bad points and scream them out at you. Right in your face. And he won't leave my favourite shop alone either. He will never change on the inside. Not now, not tomorrow, not forever.

"Well..." I am lost for words. What can I say, 'Oh, you're so damn right'?

I don't know why I found him good-looking in the past. A git like him - good-looking? Girls' gossips just went deeper into me than I would ever admit.

Malfoy chuckles. "I'm sorry."

He said he is sorry.

"I was just kidding with you."

He said he was kidding with me.

"Please don't take it to heart."

He asked me to not take it to heart.

I know you think it stupid for me to echo. But I am now emotionally unstable. The cause for this mental disorder is the word 'sorry'. That word, when came out of an arrogant bastard's mouth, can bring about some very damaging effects.

I guess I was gaping at him, because seconds later, I find myself choking on a fly (or not a fly, but I just choked). I cough when I choke on something as does everyone...

And you won't believe what I did next.

A/N: I know this is really a bad sucky bad sucky chapter, but this is the product of rushing. DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME! Hahah... Well, I'm sorry again that I'll NOT be able to update any of my works until 20th October, maybe. Still, I'll not forget this story and reward readers with a better chapter. By the way, the chapter is meant to be longer than this but I figured that I can't go any further without failing my papers for the next day. So, this is all I can fork out for now. Try to enjoy, will you please?

Smile,
LD.
'Replies to My Dearest Reviewers' deleted.