That evening, before going to meet Draco, Hermione found herself contemplating on what to wear.
'Too dressy...too formal...to revealing...' she muttered, as she sifted through her closet. Finally, she chose on a dark pink v-neck dress that clung to her hips and waist. She quickly slipped into it, and after a quick touch of eye-shadow, eye-liner and lip gloss, she used a charm to straighten her hair, and clipped it up in a knot high at the back of her head, with a few strands hanging down. Then, she grabbed a matching pink silk handbag, slipped into a pair of heels, and apparated to the restaurant where she was supposed to meet Draco.
She found Draco waiting for her by the door. He was dressed in a black suit that made him seem even paler. His blonde hair was neatly oiled and combed back. Hermione wrinkled her nose in disgust...she couldn't understand what Draco liked so much about oiled hair.
'Hello,' she said crisply, walking up to him. In return, he just nodded his head. They walked into the building and took the elevator to the top floor. It was a revolving restaurant that overlooked the beach and the sea. Draco had booked a table for two next to the glass, so that when Hermione sat down she had a clear view of the dark waves, and glimmering lights of ships far into sea.
At that minute, a waiter in a white jacket walked up to them.
'May I help you?' he asked, politely, in a voice highly accented with French.
'Fillet mignon, please,' Draco said, curtly. 'And a bottle of champagne,'
It was obvious that Draco visited the Restaurant regularly, for the waiter said, 'Ah, the usual, Mr. Malfoy. And for this charming young woman?'
It was evident that the waiter thought that Hermione was Draco's date. Both of them colored, and Hermione quickly said, 'I'd like a grilled chicken dish, please. And a bottle of wine.'
'Of course,' the waiter said, smoothly. 'I shall be back in a moment.'
He glided away with their order.
Hermione settled back in her chair, and felt an intense gaze on her. She turned and saw that Draco's icy gaze was fixed on her.
'What?" she asked, irritably.
'Nothing,' he replied, coldly, but refused to take his gaze of her. She began to feel flustered.
'Quite staring at me,' she said, abruptly.
Malfoy smirked. It had been three not-so-long years since she had seen his infamous smirk and Hermione suddenly welt very weary realizing that she was going to get a liberal dose of it for the rest of her life.
'Okay, tell me something, Malfoy,' she spat, "if you're so against this whole absurd plan of Fudge's, why didn't you agree with him?'
'Because I don't want to get sacked,' Draco snapped. 'I happen to enjoy my job very much.'
'What do you do?' Hermione asked, curiously.
'Part of the Quidditch Department. Help in organizing the games. And it's an awesome job, if you leave out the part of seeing Potters face on almost every poster,'
Hermione suppressed a smile. It gave her a lot of satisfaction to know that Malfoy had to work with people who were constantly yin awe of Harry, who had joined England's team as Seeker last year.
'So what's it like to know that all your colleagues think very highly of Harry?" she asked, spitefully.
'They don't think very highly of Potter,' Draco said, lying through his teeth. 'They just...happen to feel...that...he is an above average Quidditch player...'
'Ah,' Hermione said, detecting a lie and making sure that Draco knew about it. 'That's all is it. I'm so sure,'
Draco looked annoyed. He poured out a glass of water for himself and took a long swig.
'So anyway,' he said, 'what do you do in the ministry?'
'I fashion enchanted jewelry,' Hermione said coldly.
'Oh,' Draco remarked, looking uninterested. 'Fascinating.'
At that minute, the waiter arrived with the food.
'So, what are you doing to try and get out of this stupid marriage?' Hermione asked, sipping her drink.
Draco looked up and shrugged his shoulders.
'Nothing.'
'Nothing!' she gasped.
'What is there to do? Nothing. So that's what I'm doing. Nothing.'
'As in, Nothing?" she asked, dubiously.
'Nothing.'
'Is something wrong sir?" the waiter asked, coming up.
Draco and Hermione looked at each other and smiled for the first time.
'Nothing.' They said, together.
