The Checkout Chick

Chapter Four

"Hi, how are you?" Hermione asked politely as she began to serve an elderly woman who was buying a lot of fruit and vegetables. Apart from meat, Hermione hated scanning the fruit and vegetables. Although it was not because she did not like them, it was because it took forver to type in the code and weigh them. Such a slow process that usually got both the customer and the Checkout operator fustrated.

Hermione heard the old woman mutter something as she piled the bags of fruit and vegetables into her trolley. Hermione's face went slightly pink. She knew the elderly woman was muttering something about her.

Hermione disliked people so impatient. It was not like it was her fault that she took so long with the codes. She could not possibly know all of them off by heart and she had to figure it out doing a handy magical spell she had come up with.

"That's ten galleons and five sickles." the elderly woman paid with cash. Hermione placed them in the till and the woman took off, muttering more things under her breath. Hermione gave her a dirty look although she knew she could not see her.

She glanced at the Service Desk. She spotted Dan serving somebody. He looked like he was concentrating hard. She smiled at him. He turned, feeling her eyes on him. He gave her a wink and a smile before returning his attention to the customer.

Hermione grinned broadly. She checked her watch. Only half an hour left for that shift and then she would be going on her first date with Dan. They were going out to dinner at a fancy restraunt open in Diagon Alley.

She heard the conveyor belt move and looked to see a pile of meat getting stacked onto it. She groaned quietly. She looked up to the custom and threw her head back when she saw who it was.

"Not you again! Don't you ever give up with whatever you're trying to do?" Hermione asked angrily as Draco Malfoy grinned at her.

"Malfoy's don't give up. Besides, this is so much fun." he continued to pile the meat on the belt. He had filled it already.

"Well aren't you going to start scanning? I have to put more on." He gave her his trademark smirk. She leaned over slightly to look at his trolley. It was full of meat. She felt like being sick. So many dead animals! So much meat and blood.

She glanced at the meat first up. It was the steaks. 'Good, I can do these ones. As long as there's no...'

"Chicken your favourite." Malfoy held up some chickens before placing them onto the steaks she had been about to scan.

Hermione let out a fustrated cry. She did not have to put up with Malfoy's taunting. He knew she hated meat and had purposefully filled a trolley with it to annoy her. This amazed her. He had gone to great lengths to make her job a living hell. Meat was not cheap either. But then again, he was rich and could afford to throw money around.

"Are you actually going to eat this meat Malfoy?" Hermione asked with a glare, "You'll get fat you know."

Draco gave a short laugh, "No I'm going to just throw it away. I don't eat meat very much." he shrugged, "Well come on."

Hermione's mouth was open in disgust. He was going to throw so much money away just so he could annoy her. "You should use your money on useful things. Like giving to a charity."

Draco raised an eyebrow, "Now where would the fun be in that? Besides using it for this is useful. I get to piss you off and watch you face your worst fear." He laughed. His laugh caught Hermione's heart. It was a real laugh, not one of his sniggers. He was really laughing and really enjoying himself.

Hermione had to smile. This whole thing really was funny. Malfoy buying a trolley full of meat to annoy her. Draco watched her smile. He had made her smile! His heart jumped into his throat. 'Not again.' he thought. He found himself soaking in all her attractive qualities.

She reached out for the chicken and without his help she picked it up and scanned it and placed it in the bag. Proud of ehrself she went for the next one. Draco watched her without saying a thing. He was proud of her. He really was. She was facing her fear. He respected her. If only he could be more like her and face his worst fear...his father.

Just as she had finally started to overcome her fear, some of the blood from the liver in a bag squirted onto her shirt. She gasped, dropping the bag onto the ground. She had animal blood on her! She felt sick. She looked up at Draco who was staring at her, waiting for her reaction. Her sight went hazy and she began to see double.

Without thinking, his ran round to her side of the counter and caught her just as she collapsed. She felt so small in his arms. He looked around, what could he do now? Luckily, Dan had seen the whole episode and had come rushing to his girlfriend's side.

"She fainted, I did nothing." Draco said quickly and Dan nodded, "Yeah I know. Here give her to me. I'll put her in the back. She'll wake up soon."

Draco nodded hesitantly. He did not want to give Hermione to him. He felt unsure about Dan. He had seemed like a nice when he had met him but now...he didn't know. There was just something there. Something strangely like distrust.

He placed her in the arms of Dan who picked her up and kissed her on the cheek. Draco's heart sunk in his chest. So Hermione was with this Dan guy. He felt something evil crawl up inside him. It was dangerous, a very dangerous feeling. Jealousy...that was what it was. Jealousy.

"I'll serve you in a minute. Just wait here." Dan said, walking off with Hermione in his arms. Draco nodded, looking at all the meat on the belt sadly. He felt ashamed at himself. It was his fault that Hermione had collapsed. He should not have bought that liver. It was going too far.

'A few chickens would have done. Why did I have to get so much? Idiot!' he told himself off, leaning against the checkout.

Dan was back in one munite flat. "How is she?" Draco inquired. Dan gave him a small smile, "She'll be right."

He continued where Hermione left off. He was much faster at scanning things than Hermione was. 'She wasn't built for labour work.' Draco thought. He knew what he thought was right. She was so smart at school. Better than him in everything since first year. Even Potions.

"So are you two going out?" Draco asked, doing his very best to control his temper and his tone so that he would not sound jealous although he could not remember a time when he felt more out of control.

Dan grinned, "Yeah started going out yesterday. We were going to go out on our first date tonight. Guess that'll have to wait."

Draco nodded. He hated this Dan guy. He had not done anything to him. But he hated him. He hated him more than he hated Potter. What made Dan so special? Why did Hermione like him so much? He was nice, so what? What was so good about nice guys? Nothing!

"Good thing though." Dan commented, with a smirk so alike his own that it caught him in surprise.

"Good? How so?" Draco asked, confused to what he meant. As far as he was concerned, a girl passing out before a first date was not something 'good'.

"I had a date with Victoria, my girl friend of three years. Hot thing she it too. Long blonde hair, sexiest legs I've ever seen and eyes as green as a cat's. Sound hot?" Dan grinned, Draco's mouth dropped open and Dan thought it was because of his description of Victoria.

There it was! The thing that had made Draco feel uncomfortable about Dan's nice character. He knew it! He knew there was no such thing as the 'nice guy'. He was cheating on Hermione and she had no idea. He was torn between elation and hatred. Elation because he could tell her that her boyfriend was a cheat and that she would think better of him because he had told her. Hatred because of the obvious, she had fallen for a cheat. Someone who would have broken her heart without any care for her feelings.

"Don't tell Hermione though, yeah? She's a sweet thing and well...I couldn't help but ask her out. She told me she had only gone out with a guy once. I felt sorry for her and she was looking so hot. We were at a nightclub." Dan explained as though that his excuse made perfect sense.

Draco nodded, "I won't tell." he said aloud. 'Not...' he thought with a smile.

Dan grinned, "Thanks mate. Here's your meat. You can have it for free."

Draco shrugged. It made no difference to him. The meat was going straight into the bin anyway. He wheeled the trolley outside and began to pile the meat into a bin.

'How on earth am I going to tell her?' Draco thought. He knew she would not believe him at first, but maybe after awhile she would. 'I'd have to get her alone...Time to start planning.'

He threw the last bag of meat into the bin and left the trolley next to it as he walked down the cobbled path and disappeared to the Malfoy Manor as he did so.

A/N – How was that chapter? Hope you are all liking it. Does everybody hate Dan now? Poor Hermione with the meat though yeah? That was something I got from an experience I had. One day I'd been serving this person and yep, I got some of the blood on my shirt. Luckily I did not faint. But it was disgusting! Anyways, review if you have the time! Love Sara4Harry xox