The Bachelorette 4
A/N: It's been a busy week for me! I had our school cross country, and I was pretty happy with my result. And also, I'm going over to Wellington for 3 days next week. -grins at this- So the next update might be delayed, if not at all.
I'm pretty happy with the way this story is shaping up, if you have any suggestions feel free to tell me! I can only strive to get better.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Nope, nothing at all. -sniffs-
Anyway, on with the story.
XxX
Hermione felt altogether quite repulsed at the thought of Malfoy kissing her. She drew herself away abruptly, and busied herself with greeting all the other bachelors. Feeling rather overwhelmed with everything that was going on, she hung on to the host Eric for support.
Malfoy, on the other hand, was feverishly thinking of other ways in which he could intimidate his fellow competitors, although he looked as cool and collected on the outside as always. If only he could still remember some things - nice things, mind you - about her when they both attended Hogwarts.?
Then Malfoy saw that Hermione was getting ready to say a speech to everyone, and looked across the room at her expectantly.
"I wish to say to I am looking forward to get to know all of you here," she began in her clear, ringing voice. "I entered this show to find my soul mate, and that is what I will be looking for in each and every man." She almost cringed at the corniness of her, 'finding a soul mate'.
Hermione paused and seemed to look each man in the eye before continuing. In reality she was contemplating the contract of the show, and she knew that she would have to make the best first impression to survive the show. "I will have a private talk with every one of you before the night has passed, and I hope to get to know you all better by then."
At this, Erik ushered Hermione out the corridor and into a room. He then came out and began talking to one of the men. After a few seconds, the man nodded and headed towards the room in which Malfoy knew that Hermione was waiting in.
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Hermione sat down on the couch gingerly, not wanting to wrinkle the magnificent dress. A man stepped through the door and introduced himself as Philip. He sat on the couch across Hermione and started to tell her about himself. Philip was nervous and Hermione felt quite tense in his presence. Finally the 10 minutes were over, and he bent over and kissed her hand.
As he left the room, she thought that the least she could have done would be to not string him along, as she felt no connection with him. Philip would definitely not be getting a rose from her tonight.
The next man who entered was a total hunk, and it seemed like nothing more to him at first. His name was Jose and although Hermione was quite stunned by his brisk sort of manner, she warmed up to his quirky personality pretty quickly.
While he departed the room, she couldn't stop herself from smiling a little. This could be quite fun, she thought. Feeling quite gracious, she
looked up in anticipation for the next man.
He looked rather familiar, and when he introduce himself Hermione instantly remembered that he was Marcus Belby, a fellow member of the Slug Club in which she was a member of in the fateful sixth year. Marcus was incredibly easy to talk to, and when he left the room Hermione could not have felt more at ease.
Hermione could hear another set of footsteps echoing outside the corridor in which the room was situated in. She leaned back on the couch and awaited the next man.
Malfoy stepped through the doorway. Hermione immediately went on alert mode, not wanting to be outsmarted by the ferret, of all people. She could feel his intense grey eyes on her, and looked up reluctantly.
"Evening, Gr- Hermione," Malfoy heard himself saying casually, whilst inwardly cringing at the thought of having to be constantly civil with her. "I trust you have had a good day so far." Even if she looks quite hot, I'm still cringing, he thought in his subconscious.
"Yes I have," Hermione said in a forced voice. This conversation was getting politer by the second.
She hadn't really noticed how handsome he had gotten over the years, how his pale complexion looked positively glowing, and his shoulders had widened. Then she realized what she was thinking and quickly banished the thought.
Then there was an uncomfortable silence, apart from the constant tick tocking from the grandfather clock in the room. Both Hermione and Malfoy refused to make the first move, but after what felt like an eternity Malfoy cleared his throat and took up the initiative to speak.
"So what brings you to the show?" he enquired with a smirk. "Don't tell me that the know-it-all from all these years ago has become desperate for a man?"
At this Hermione felt her face harden - she had far from wanted to be reminded of Viktor. That jerk, she thought rather angrily.
"Well I would have thought that a Malfoy wouldn't have lowered himself to try to win the heart of a mudblood, as you so emphasized on during our schooling years at Hogwarts," she retorted heatedly, all the while keeping a civil expression on her face.
Hermione got almost no reaction from him, but thought she saw his eyes flicker slightly at her mention of 'trying to win her heart'. However he
replied almost instantly, with a tone of utter supremacy.
"It seems like I touched on something that, shall we say, you felt uncomfortable about before? A certain, quidditch player I presume?" Malfoy
examined Hermione closely after this, wanting to get a reaction out of her. After all, she was not as adept at hiding emotions as he was. Years of
practice had not gone by wasted. Although a part of him warned against the taunting, he couldn't help but continue. It was just too much fun.
Hermione fought the urge to slap Malfoy. How dare he try to humiliate her on the very first night of the show? She brushed a few tendrils of hair that had obscured her face away, and looked across to Malfoy. She felt something click inside her and all the feelings of hatred and annoyance towards him from all those years ago come back.
"I think that will be all tonight, Malfoy," Hermione had said in a cold and emotionless voice. "I will be seeing you at the next rose ceremony."
Malfoy had not seemed surprised at the least, and stood up as per custom, and went to kiss her hand. Hermione could not resist acting like he was invisible, and refused to draw her hand, or even acknowledge he was there.
At last he stepped out of the room, and Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. He had muddled up and nearly cracked the image she had so painstakingly tried to preserve after Viktor broke her heart.
The next man that had talked to her was so very boring Hermione had to remind herself to include a few well placed comments into the one-sided
conversation. When he finally kissed her hand and left, she let loose a gigantic yawn and felt worse for the wear.
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The rest of the evening passed by in a blur, and only a select few of the men really stood out to Hermione. This elimination isn't going to be as
hard as I thought it would be, she mused.
Hermione had a clear idea of the men that she was going to give a rose to, and the men that would be better off with someone other than her.
She would make Malfoy stay, if only to torture him. After all, the first date with the Pegagriffs would be too good to miss. The only thing she was looking forward to was the look on his face when he had to ride one of them.
XxX
As the men gathered themselves in the main lounge room in the Bachelorette building, Eric went to get the Bachelorette.
There was a small stand in the middle of the room, and on it was a gold plated dish that held 8 freshly cut, blood red roses. Each of the men
glanced nervously at the dish of roses, remembering that they could go tonight. Malfoy was a slight bit worried. If he did have to leave
in the first rose ceremony, that would be an utter disgrace to Malfoy Inc. He really had to up his game, and not insult Hermione as muchthe next time round if he survived tonight.
As Erik reentered the room with Hermione, all the men ceased to move. All eyes were on her as she began to speak.
"I would like to thank you all again for coming along to the show, and it's been great to get to know all of you a little tonight." Hermione
paused, smiling dazzlingly around at them all, to make a good final impression on some. "However there are 15 of you, and only 8 roses. It is a tough choice for me to make, because I know in my heart that all of you are wonderful men, and that you will find that special someone for you. Maybe I am not the special someone for those of you who do not get a rose tonight."
Hermione made sure that she looked slightly pained at that statement, although she really didn't have a difficult decision to make tonight.
Erik now spoke up. "When the Bachelorette calls your name out, would you please walk towards her and receive your rose." He stepped back and nodded at Hermione. "You may begin."
Hermione picked up the first rose gingerly, and began the rose ceremony.
"Nick.
"Jose.
"Chris.
"Marcus.
"Sean.
"Felix.
"Jordan."
There was one more rose left on the plate. Now Erik stepped back up once again. "Gentlemen, there is only one more rose for tonight."
Hermione picked up the final rose. She looked at the 8 remaining men. Finally she spoke the last word. Now I've done it.
"Draco."
As he went to get his rose, Malfoy could not help feeling relieved. The tension just before the rose was so thick, that even he had felt a little
nervous. Hermione's fingers had fumbled when she put his rose into the collar buttonhole (?), and he had felt them brush by his neck. Goosebumps rose at her touch, and Malfoy made sure to give her a convincing smile before concealing his slight shudder. She really is quite the catch now, he thought.
Once Malfoy kissed Hermione on the cheek again, for the sake of the cameras, Erik addressed the remaining men without roses. "For those of you who did not get a rose, take a moment to say your goodbyes."
The buzz of conversation faded away as Hermione finished saying her goodbyes, she picked up a glass of sparkling champagne. She held it out in a toast, and each of the men who received roses toasted around her glass.
"To one step closer to finding the man of my dreams,' Hermione said, because that was what she felt was right for the occasion.
XxX
Chapter 4 finished! Wow, this story is actually moving along nicely. Anyway I'd like to say another big thank you to everyone who has reviewed, and I hope you have enjoyed this chapter, even if I did take a little longer to update.
I do no planning at all for this fic, so be prepared for some kind of weird writing coming from me, since I just got over writers block.
-There is going to be little or no reference to the war in this fic.
-Hermione is keeping Draco purely so she can torture him on the first date, and thank you for all the suggestions that have been sent.
Due to something I heard from a friend we apparently are not allowed to reply to reviews in chapters ." I want everyone to know that I appreciate (and read) each and every review, and just because I do not reply (because I don't think Im allowed) that doesn't mean you should stop the feedback. If I put in random notes like the two above, it means Im discreetly answering some of the questions that my reviewers have asked.
And last but not least, please click the button that says REVIEW!
Until next time!
((reposted on the 21st of August 2005))