You Can't Help Who You Love

Hermione Granger

I never thought I was pretty enough for modeling. I guess Narcissa proved me wrong, huh? She told me I was gorgeous… and she said something else that disturbed me greatly. She said, "As a mother, I wish Draco would marry you, and not that horrid Elizabeth woman."

Where do these people get these crazy ideas! It must run in the family… first Stella, then her grandmother!

----

Going to Hogsmeade with Harry was a nice break from work. We walked around the shops and talked for a long time.

"How's your love life, Harry?" I asked playfully when we sat down in a café for lunch. "You already know all about mine."

He smiled. "Nonexistent."

"Really?" I was surprised. Witch Weekly named him "Most Eligible Bachelor" for this year.

He nodded.

"Hermione!" I turned my head to see Narcissa Malfoy entering the café. "I got the pictures developed! They're adorable." She gushed, handing me a large envelope. "You'll have to do this again… and we'll talk about your designs!"

I smiled, thanked her, and took the envelope. She ran off and left me with a very confused Harry.

"I did a modeling shoot for her a few days ago." I said slowly.

Harry started choking on his sandwich. "What?" I asked. "Am I really that ugly?"

"Stop fishing for compliments, 'Moine. Let's look at those pictures."

I opened the envelope part way. "No, wait! I want to look at them first. That way, if they're horrid, I can burn them before anyone else sees them."

"Come on." He whined. "I'm sure they're lovely."

I gave in and tore open the envelope. The first picture was of me and Malfoy. I didn't remember taking it. We were back to back, laughing… oh. "That was a candid shot." I explained.

"You mean you were laughing like that and she just came and took the picture? She didn't bark orders at you?"

"Um... no." I said reluctantly.

Harry looked at me. "You love him, don't you?" He asked softly.

"What?" I exclaimed a little bit louder than necessary. "I don't… no!"

"You do." Harry said plainly. "I can tell by that picture alone, 'Moine."

"Harry! I don't love him! I don't even like him!" I said defensively. "We were laughing at something he said."

"Well, what was it, then?" Harry challenged.

"I think he wanted it to be a secret." I said slowly.

"If you don'teven like him, you wouldn't care about his feelings." Harry pointed out.

"Actually, I would, because that's just how I am, you know." I defended. "But fine, you win. He told me that he used to get pulled out of school to go to modeling shoots."

Harry started laughing uncontrollably. "I told you it was funny." I gloated.

"But you still care for him, 'Moine. I can see it in these pictures and in your eyes. Even if it was acting… something inside you actually cares."

His words stung the air. I relaxed my features. For once, I was dumbfounded… and I had absolutely no come back. That's because he's right. My brain thought subconsciously.

I slid down my chair in defeat. Love? No, love was what I had felt with Ron. Love was the desire to marry the person you're dating, and love wasn't something I associated with Malfoy.

"Harry, 'love' and Malfoy should never be in the same sentence!" I paused. "Unless, of course, your sentence sounds like 'I don't love Malfoy.' That's the only exception."

"'Moine, you're nervous. You babble when you're nervous."

"Babbling? Who's babbling? Certainly not me! I'm not nervous! I've got nothing to be nervous about, after all. I don't love Malfoy—in fact, I don't love anyone at all… at the moment, anyway. Nope, I never loved him, never will, either." I stopped, covering my mouth with my hands. I was babbling.

Harry chuckled. "Hermione, it's okay." He said with a smile. "You can't help who you love."

"But Harry! I don't love him! I DON'T!" I didn't realize I was standing. Everyone in the café turned to look at me. I sat down quickly. "Why are you doing this to me?" I hissed across the table.

"Doing what?" He asked incredulously.

"Toying with my emotions like this! You're making me second-guess myself! Do you want me to fall in love with him or something?"

"No!" He said quickly. "Though it would be quite ironic. And I'd love to see Ron's face…"

I got up from the table. "I'll see you later." I said bitterly. "I have a little girl at home who wants to learn to sew. The muggle way, mind you."

"Wait, 'Moine, you sew?"

I never answered him.

----

"No, Stella! Stop!" Stella was pretty much a hopeless case. "That's the needle! Don't touch it!"

"YEOUCH!" She wailed. Too late.

"I warned you!" I scolded.

"Okay, I get it… you don't touch the needle." She said. I nodded.

"Now, this is the pedal. You step on it lightly and the needle moves up and down." I slid a piece of fabric into the machine and let her try. "Whoa! Slow down!" She was going a million miles an hour! I thought about her driving a muggle car and winced.

"Better?" She asked, as her stitches slowed down.

"Perfect!" I praised. "I'll be right back. Don't hurt yourself."

I walked out of the room to give Malfoy the pictures. I'd almost forgotten about them. I threw the envelope down on his desk and raced out of the room. "I ran into your mum in Hogsmeade." I said on my way out.

"Wait, let's look at them." He said, reaching for the stack.

"Can't stay—left Stella alone… needle…"

He gave me a look but I didn't give him a chance to talk. I ran down the halls back to my room.

"Look, Hermione!" Stella held up the fabric. She managed to turn a scrap piece of cotton into a little drawstring bag.

I dropped my jaw. "How did you do that?"

She shrugged. "Next I want to make clothes!"

"You're well on your way." I admitted. She went from a disaster to a seamstress! "I have a proposition for you." I said slowly. "The wedding is in two months, roughly." She made a face, which I ignored. "If we work together, I think you can make your dress yourself."

She smiled widely. "Really?"

I nodded. "We'll pick out fabric tomorrow."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" She leapt up from the ground and hugged me.

I smiled, and walked out of the room. I wondered what Luna was doing. "Granger?" I looked at the doorway. "What are you doing?" I gulped when I saw the angry look on Malfoy's face.

Author's Note: Uh oh. Sorry for the cliffhanger… but it's important! Thanks for all of your reviews… I love it when my mailbox is so full!

NEXT CHAPTER SPOILER: The next chapter is in Draco's POV. He FINALLY admits that he loves Hermione! I can't make things too perfect, though, so there will be a lot of emotional and internal struggles. I'll post it really soon, promise!

YOUR REVIEWS ANSWERED:
Stressed Out: As much as I like the business problem where Hermione helps idea, I can't really fit it in anywhere. I was originally thinking to have that more towards the beginning, but I decided not to include it. Besides, people already comment that this sounds like a movie called Au Pair, so when I looked it up, I decided not to have any obvious similarities! The summary I read said that she's his intern and nanny and she solves a business problem and wins his heart. I'm not going to do that!

Sayaku-chan: Thanks for getting what I was trying to put across! I wanted her to sound like an eccentric! And about your last part; you got what you wanted, I hope!

BlondestBrunette: I didn't post this anywhere else, and I'm not plagiarizing, so I'm not sure where you read this. Maybe you read something similar…?

GinnyBeth: That made me laugh! I hope you liked this chapter!

Noise: Well, I didn't really include a business side of her. You can interpret that question however you want.

Invisible2u: Aw, thanks! That's one of the best compliments a writer can get.

And to everyone else who said they loved it: THANKS!