­Awkward Confrontations

"Shit!" Hermione exclaimed. The moment she walked through the gorgeous glass doors of her hotel, all of the contents in one of the bags that she was carrying fell to the floor through a hole in the bottom of the bag. Tossing her purse onto a wooden bench nearby, Hermione dropped to the floor and began scooping up her purchases. Will, meanwhile, was howling with laughter.

"Shut up." Hermione growled, cautiously trying to gather the pieces of a broken perfume bottle.

"Please, mademoiselle." The French doorman said. "Allow me to clean all zis up for you."

Hermione stopped attempting to clean and dropped her hands into her lap helplessly. "All right, then." She stood up – glaring at Will for not helping her – and walked towards the elevator, pushing the button for admittance. Will was still laughing.

"Are you an idiot?" Hermione demanded, frustrated by her embarrassing moment. She seemed to be easily frustrated a lot these days.

"Hey, I didn't just split my bag in the lobby." Will laughed, stepping into the open elevator.

"Because I did it on purpose." Hermione shot back sarcastically, following Will into the elevator.

Will pushed the button to the seventh floor, still chuckling quietly to himself.

"Shit." Hermione muttered. "My purse."

"What about your purse?" Will asked.

"I left it in the damn lobby." Hermione replied.

Will snorted. "Idiot."

"Fuck you." Hermione shot back irritably. The elevator doors slid open to reveal the seventh floor. "I'll be right back." Hermione informed, hitting a button and descending back down to the lobby.

Will laughed. "What an idiot." He reached his hand into his pocket and began fishing around for the key to the room while still walking towards it. A broken sneakoscope, some Pepper Imps, a condom, and something undistinguishable. But no key. "Damn it." Will muttered. He looked up, and to his surprise he noticed a familiar head of blond hair slouched against a wall across from his and Hermione's room.

"Bob?" Will exclaimed.

Draco Malfoy looked up, completely shocked to see Will standing there. "Hey, Will." He sighed.

"Stocking me now, eh?" Will asked, grinning jokingly. "I didn't know you were staying here! Lose your key, too?"

"Sure." Draco answered in a tone that clearly said he wanted Will to leave. But Will was too thick to hear it. He was just noticing how messy Draco's hair actually was, as well as the lipstick smeared across his mouth.

"Dude!" Will grinned, knowingly. "You so got lucky!"

Draco glared at him as though he were stupid before suddenly realizing that he must have lipstick on his face. He quickly wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, attempting to clean himself up.

"Let's go for a drink." Will suggested. "Before my roommate gets back. She can get kind of bitchy at times."

Draco was about to say that he was busy, but then the thought occurred to him that it was possible he could be waiting there for Hermione all night. Besides, a drink sounded really good at the moment.

"Sure." Draco agreed, taking Will's extended hand and allowing him to pull him up. They walked towards the elevators, Draco becoming excited. The elevators were so fun! He pushed the button, then waited expectantly. There were two elevators, one on the left and one on the right. It was fun trying to guess which one would come first. The moment Draco guessed left, the right lift opened up. Feeling a bit disappointed, Draco stepped into the elevator with Will in tow.

Bing! The elevator doors shut and Draco and Will began descending down to the lobby.

Bing! The elevator doors from the remaining lift slid open on the seventh floor just as the other closed. Hermione stepped out, purse and revived packages in hand. She walked to her room, unlocked the door and stepped inside.

"Will?" She called. No answer. Must have finally scared him off, Hermione thought to herself. She giggled. About time.

………………………..

Will and Draco sat themselves down in a small, private booth, both with a beer in hand.

"So, what do you think of France?" Will asked, attempting to make conversation.

"It sucks." Draco answered, chugging his beer.

"No way!" Will exclaimed. "France kicks ass! I've been up in good old England, okay? Trust me, Paris is way better."

"How do you know I'm from England?" Draco asked.

"Lucky guess." Will answered, grinning. "I mean, the accent doesn't give it away at all."

Draco grinned a weak smile. Will was an idiot. "So, you're here with a girl?" Draco inquired, changing the subject back over to Will.

"Yup." Will answered, grinning proudly. "Like I said, she can be a bit bitchy. But she's still hot, so I'm not complaining."

"Girlfriend?" Draco asked.

"Nah. I just met her a little while ago." Will explained. "She looks a lot nicer than she acts, I can tell you that."

"Got her in the sac yet?" Draco asked, taking a swig of his beer.

"Ha!" Will cried. "You try getting her in the sac. If you get within two feet of her she'll bite your damn head off."

Draco grinned inside, thinking of Hermione. Will's lady sounded just like her. Except eventually Hermione allowed Draco to get within two feet of her. And then he blew it.

"I could get her." Draco said cockily.

"I doubt it." Will replied. "This girl is totally anti-sex. She seems to have no interest in me, either. For all I know, she could be gay. I mean, what other reason is there to refuse the Will?" He grinned his cheesy grin.

The fresh alcohol seemed to be flowing through Draco's body as he grinned at the thought of such a fun and interesting challenge.

"I suppose we'll see." Draco replied. "When do I get to meet her?"

Will shrugged. "Now, if you want. She should be up in the apartment."

"Awesome." Draco replied. "Let's go." The put their empty beer bottles down and left the hotel bar, both anxious about Will's roommate's reaction to Draco. They rode the elevator to the seventh floor, then stepped out together. Draco followed Will down the corridor, his eyes prepared to burn a hole through room 714 until he could see whether Hermione was home or not.

Suddenly, Will stopped outside of room 714. Not expecting this, Draco crashed into Will. What the hell?

"This is it." Will laughed, reaching for the handle. The door was locked.

It can't be, Draco thought to himself. No way in hell.

"Yo, woman!" Will hollered, trying to sound impressive and superior to his roommate.

"Fuck you!" A girl cried from inside the room.

Her voice, Draco thought, instantly going weak in the knees. That's her voice.

Footsteps could be heard walking towards the door. She was coming. Draco wanted to run. He wasn't ready. This was going too fast. But he would see her beautiful face in a few short seconds. Perhaps that is what kept him rooted to the spot without being able to move a muscle.

The door swung open. Hermione stood framed in the doorway, both hands on her hips with an irritable expression on her face. She glared angrily at Will, and yet Draco couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked. In fact, he'd never seen her look as good as she did at that moment. Then it hit him. How stupid of him not to have realized it before! He couldn't have kicked himself in his ass. He loved her. Draco was in love with Hermione. It was not just a hopeless, school crush anymore. It was love. Stupid, complicating, amazing love. And it terrified him to the bone.

"Can't you just go away and leave me alone for two seconds and give me at least a bit of time to myself?" Hermione snapped, glaring at Will. "Seriously, I just want to-" Hermione stopped dead in mid-sentence. She had just noticed the boy standing next to Will. The flicker of blond hair. The mysterious, captivating gray eyes. Draco Malfoy.

Draco smirked to cover up his brief moment of realization. His smirk, Hermione thought. Just like old times.

"Hermione, this is Bob. Bob, Hermione." Will introduced, indicating the two shocked and confused people in his presence. What a thick dumbass. He didn't even feel the tension.

Silence. No one seemed to know what to say.

Will nudged Draco in his ribs. "Say hello!" He whispered out of the corner of his mouth.

Snapping back to reality, Draco realized the situation. This was the moment he'd been waiting for since Hermione stormed out of the Great Hall that evening in November. She was actually here, in his presence. This was the moment.

"Hi." Draco finally said. He extended a hand towards Hermione. "I'm Bob Smith."

Hermione's lower lip trembled. She did not even think to ask why he was calling himself Bob Smith. She hesitated for a moment before taking Draco's hand with her own trembling one and shaking it.

"Hello. I'm Hermione Granger."