Draco knocked on the president of Zabini Inc.'s door, and opened it when he heard a friendly "Come in!". When Blaise saw who it was, he was faintly surprised. "Aren't you supposed to be working, Draco?" Draco looked at Blaise sheepishly. "Well, erm…can I talk to you about something, Blaise? You're my best friend, and I need to talk to someone about something-" Blaise sighed. "Draco, you're my best friend too, but I don't have the time to talk about your personal problems, I'm a busy guy, Draco. Can we talk about this later after work?" Draco sighed. "Fine. Promise? After work, okay, Blaise?" Blaise nodded, and Draco left, shutting the door behind him.
Blaise sank in his chair, thinking. What the hell was wrong with Draco? He had never seen him so confused, and he hated to push Draco away, but he had to work first. Blaise tried to forget about Draco and started to examine important documents, somehow involving raccoons.
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Draco exited Blaise's office, disappointed. That hadn't gone well. Well, he just had to wait until work was over, then he could talk about his feelings with Blaise. After all, it wasn't normal to be attracted to a Muggleborn, not to mention your archenemy for years. He knew it seemed like he was making a big deal out of it, but he was just so…bewildered. And what was with that whole Hailey thing? He didn't even like babies!
Draco collapsed in his chair, and tried his best to work for the rest of the day.
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Hermione exited the Three Broomsticks, done working for the day. She Apparated to her apartment building. She entered her apartment, and was met by Ginny. "Hi Ginny," she said tiredly. "Hi, Hermione. Here's Hailey." "Oh. Right. Thanks Ginny. I'll see you around." "Yeah…I guess."
Ginny exited Hermione's apartment, confused. Hermione seemed more…drained than usual. Ginny shook her head. It was definitely stress from work. Who wouldn't be stressed when you had to pour drinks, clean glasses, and fight off the men around the clock? But Hermione had never been like that. Hermione was usually in control. What had gotten into her?
Ginny shrugged. If Ginny Weasly was good at anything, it would be in finding out the truth.
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Draco and Blaise sat in a luxurious restaurant, The Green Serpent, for dinner, and to discuss what Draco was so flustered about. Blaise ordered their dinner ad got right down to business. "Okay Draco, let's get to the point. What the fuck is wrong with you?" Draco seemed surprised at Blaise's straightforwardness, but quickly recovered. "Blaise…it's about…" a blush tainted Draco's cheeks, and Blaise's eyes widened. "This is about a girl, isn't it? You're finally in love, aren't you-" "I'm not in love, far from it! Let me finish! Okay. Blaise, I seem to be experiencing this funny feeling every time I interact with this girl! I swear, my stomach does little flips, and I feel really-" "Woah, woah, Draco! Calm down! Let me get this straight. You are really attracted to some girl. That's it?" Draco realized how stupid it sounded. "Well…yeah…but, the reason I'm acting all funny is because I'm not used to it at all, I don't know what to do!" "Wait, where did you meet this girl?" "The Three Broomsticks, and she has a kid, and-." "She does?" "Yeah. A two month year old baby." "Do you know what she does for a living?" "She's the barmaid." "Draco, you're attracted to a barmaid?" "Yeah…but it's not only that I am not familiar with these feelings, there's something else! She's not just anybody, Blaise! She's…she's…" Blaise leaned forward. "She's who?" Draco gulped, and when Blaise heard his voice, it was less than a whisper, it was barely audible.
"Hermione Granger."
"WHAT!"
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Hermione carried Hailey in her arms, and rocked her back and forth, feeding her and thinking about how she had treated Ginny. She had been rather rude, and now she was beginning to feel sorry. She didn't mean to be that rude with Ginny, it's just that there are certain things…certain people…occupying her thoughts at the moment. Hermione looked at Hailey lovingly, who looked like she was about to fall asleep. Hermione kissed Hailey's forehead and put Hailey in her crib.
Hermione climbed into bed, and lay there for hours, thinking. Why was she so attracted to Malfoy? Why did he have to be so damn sexy? Merlin, if only Ron knew. He would go ballistic, not that he cared at the moment. Ginny had called Hermione, and talked to her about making Ron enter REHAB, and Hermione agreed that it would be good for Ron. Ron really needed to get over Harry's death and his drinking problem. Back to Malfoy, why was he so hot? She always saw him as the spoilt, immature ferret boy who pissed her off during her whole stay at Hogwarts. But now…now, he was…gorgeous…
Hermione, snap out of it. This is Malfoy you're thinking about. What would Harry say?
Hermione groaned.
What would Harry say? Would he understand? Hermione sobered. She still hadn't gotten over Harry's death. He had always been a dear, dear friend of hers, and he was always more understanding than Ron. But would he have accepted this?
Hermione shook her head. Why was she making such a big fuss out of this? So what if she was attracted to…Malfoy? It wasn't that big of a deal. People were attracted to people all the time. But why did she feel like just attraction to Malfoy was forbidden?
Hermione pondered this for a while. Why did she feel so restricted? Why did she feel like she was betraying everyone? It was just a little crush! Then she realized. Harry. She had to let Harry go. And if she let Harry go, maybe she would stop feeling like he was watching her all the time, allowing her to do nothing but hate Malfoy! Hermione smiled. Perfect solution! She would get started soon.
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"WHAT! Draco, are you out of your fucking mind? Hermione Granger? She's…she's the Hogwart's bookworm, the geek, the-" "Barmaid." "…barmaid, fine…muggleborn, mudblood-" "Blaise!" "What? I'm simply pointing out what she is! Why are you attracted to her anyway?" "You think I know? She's was an ugly, filthy, Mudblood when we were children, and now that we've grown up, she just has to turn hot! I don't know!" "Draco, you have some major issues. Why don't we take a look at this "hot Mudblood" right now?" But she isn't working anymore! It's almost midnight." "Well, tomorrow, at lunch break, we'll pay her a little visit." "Why!" "I want to see these…so called changes myself."
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Hermione left her apartment for work once she had said goodbye to Hailey and to make sure she was safe with Ginny. She made her way to the Three Broomsticks as usual. She had to admit, she was getting tired of the routine. Same old routine of preparing for work, same old routine of pouring drinks, same old routine of fighting off perverted assholes. Hermione sighed as the morning crowd came in. And again, she did the same things over and over. When there was no one left at the bar, Hermione poured herself some beer. She deserved it didn't she? She looked at her watch and discovered it was already 12:30 in the afternoon, and that was when Malfoy came in.
Hermione's breath hitched, and she realized he had brought one of his friends along. Hermione looked closer at Malfoy's companion, and she realized this was Blaise Zabini, a Slytherin back in Hogwarts, not to mention a well respected businessman. She recalled Malfoy's words. "I work for Zabini Inc…" So that meant Zabini was his boss. Hermione suddenly turned pissed at Malfoy. He had just brought one of the most well respected businessmen in the Wizarding World, and he was going to embarrass her!
Malfoy, as she suspected, started leading the way towards the bar, and to spite him, she turned away and started to wipe glasses. She heard a voice behind her. "Erm…Granger? Can my friend and I have beers?" Hermione carried on wiping glasses. "Granger…Hello….Earth to-" Hermione turned around and poured the beers wordlessly. She slid the beers to Draco and Blaise, and attended to a man that just came in. While she was attending to the customer, and heard them talking. "Why are you attracted to her Draco?" Hermione's ears perked up at this. "She seems pretty stingy to me." Malfoy was attracted to her? She grinned, but she covered it up. She confronted Blaise heatedly. "Zabini, I am not stingy, only around Malfoy and his friends. But I guess, you being more successful than I, you have the right to comment, especially when it's about a Mudblood, don't you, Mr. Zabini?" Blaise looked at her blankly for a second. "Uhh…" "Five sickles, Mr. Zabini. You too, Malfoy." "We aren't done." "Oh, well in that case, I'll leave you too it." And with that, Hermione started wiping glasses.
She heard them talking again, this time quieter than before. "She has a sharp tongue, Draco. I think I like her. Feisty, that one." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Draco blush, just like her. Malfoy liked her back! She took the liberty of smiling. He liked her he liked her he like her- "Granger, another two beers." She did as she was told, and slid the beers to them, scowling. "Haven't you heard of the word "please", Malfoy? I guess not." She turned away, and heard Blaise excusing himself to go to the bathroom. She sensed Draco staring annoyingly at the back of her head, and she faced him.
"Why are you being a bitch, Granger?" "I'm not trying to be a bitch! I was just thinking you would like have privacy with your boss." "Oh, please, Granger. We both know that wouldn't stop you. You would have pissed us both off until we left." "True. Speaking of which, when are you leaving, Malfoy?" He didn't answer. "Granger, really. Why are you being difficult?" "I'm always difficult with you, Malfoy, bent on pissing the hell out of you. And besides, the only reason you brought Zabini, one of the most successful wizards in the world, here was to embarrass me, and make me feel inferior." "Is this what this is about! Your assumption is really, really, wrong. Can't I have a drink at the bar of The Three Broomsticks with an old friend anymore?" Now it was her turn not to answer. "And Granger, please do me a favor and be nicer to my boss. He might fire me." "Why the hell would he fire you? I'm the one treating you guys like shit!" "He just might-" "Nonsense, Malfoy. Utter nonsense." And with that, she turned away, and Blaise got back from the bathroom. He slid a galleon towards Hermione, and Draco got up as well. "Well, we must be off. Pleasure seeing you again, Granger." "Yeah. Right. Whatever."
And they left.
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"Well, Draco, she's a hard case to crack." Draco looked at Blaise, frustrated. "She's never like that. You know why she was like that? Because she thought I had brought you there to make her feel like shit! Why is everything I do wrong?" "Draco, not everything you do is wrong! Where did you get that idea? Anyway, I like her. She's very entertaining. She would be good company. Now I understand why you're attracted to her. She's decent looking now as well ." "She's more than decent looking! She's…never mind. Let's get back to work. And they vanished from the street with a pop.
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Hermione got into her apartment, and found Ginny there. She broke into a smile. "GINNY! Give Hailey to me…thanks… Okay, I have something really, really important to tell you! Sit!" Ginny did as she was told, surprised at Hermione's behavior. "Uh….okay. Ginny, well, first off all, I'd like to apologize for being a bit off lately." Ginny grinned. "Thanks, Hermione." "Okay, but the reason I've been off is because I've been thinking about this guy-" Ginny snapped to full attention. "You're attracted to a guy? Who? Where's he from? How hot is he-" "Umm…Ginny? When I tell you, do you promise not to scream?" Ginny looked bewildered, but she nodded. "Okay." Hermione took a deep breath. "Draco Malfoy." Ginny's eyes widened in shock. "What? Did you just say-" "Yeah…" "Why didn't you tell me this before? Hermione! We need to give you a makeover! First we have to start with your hair-" "You mean you aren't mad at me?" "God, no! Come on, we have to fix you. Get up, Hermione and call a housekeeper. We're going out." "But-" "No buts, Hermione Granger! Do it, NOW!" Hermione nodded and hurriedly got up and called her neighbor, Mrs.Bradburry to take care of Hailey.
And so started off to the nearest beauty salon.
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A/N: Ahh, another chapter finished. Anyway, I completed this chapter in advance because I won't be able to update from January 14-20. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and keep sending in those reviews!
