Disclaimer: Don't sue me, I'm poor.
Dedicated to ReWritten-string-of-stories, who did the same for me.
000
"Okay, you're going to need jeans, a few shirts, definitely new shoes…" Hermione said, looking condescendingly at Draco's dress shoes.
"Once again, Granger, you show your complete ignorance in matters of taste. These shoes are custom made, they cost-"
"Oh shut up, Malfoy." Said Hermione, annoyed with his arrogance. "Come on."
The two of them walked into Acquaint and Hermione looked around with a smile on her face. She'd never been much into fashion as a general rule, but she'd always loved this store.
"Okay, the men's section is over there, let's go." She pointed and motioned to the left side of the store.
"Granger, I don't need your help to shop. Run along, I'll come find you when I'm done." Draco said in a lofty manner.
This ought to be rich…
If Draco thought he could put together a muggle outfit on his own, more power to him. He was setting himself up for ridicule. She hoped he knew that.
"Fine." She said indifferently. "I'll be off that way." And with that she strolled quickly off to browse the women's section. As girly as it was, she loved to try on clothes, as long as no one saw her in them. And as long as they weren't too fancy.
A well-dressed employee came to her to ask her if she was finding everything okay. Hermione said she was and that if she needed anything she'd let Beth- that was her name – know.
-
Draco sighed in relief as Hermione traipsed off to her side of the store. The last thing he wanted was her incessant commentary on every single thing he looked at. He was perfectly capable of deciding for himself what he would buy.
He went to the jeans section first and started pulling things in his waist size of the shelf. A man came up to Draco and asked him if he needed any help. Draco considered telling the man to sod off, but decided he could probably save some time by telling the man his measurements.
"And how tall are you?" The man asked.
"6'2''." Draco replied promptly.
The man's nametag said 'Luke.' Draco didn't have a problem with that name.
Luke asked him specifically what he was looking for and Draco told him he needed something casual, but that he didn't know what to look for. Luke grabbed several different styles of jeans and shirts and handed them to Draco, then told him where the fitting rooms were located.
About half an hour later Draco had decided what he wanted, based on what looked good on him, which was of course everything. He ended up narrowing his selections down to the ones he thought Hermione would stare at him over.
He grinned confidently as he walked over to the women's side of the store in search of her.
"Granger." He called out.
"Yeah." She responded in a lout voice from the women's fitting rooms.
Figures she'd be back there trying on clothes when she didn't even need them. Girls…
"Let's get a move on." He called, shoving down the strong curiosity to see what she was trying on.
About ten seconds later Hermione came out from behind the corner with a small heap of clothes over her arm.
"Let's go." She said, staring at him impatiently.
"I just said that…" He muttered irritably.
He followed her up to the register and tossed his selections (three pairs of jeans and five shirts in various styles) onto the counter. It was then that he realized he couldn't pay for muggle clothing in galleons.
As Hermione laid her own picks on top of Draco's he spoke.
"Wait a minute, forget it Granger." He said, shaking his head.
"What?" She said quizzically.
Draco heard a beeping noise every time the clerk picked up an article of clothing and ran it until a red light. "There's no way I'm letting you pay for this."
Hermione rolled her eyes at him and pulled a card out of her pocket and handed it to the clerk. Was that how muggles paid for things, with a card?
"Oh please, Malfoy. Get off your high horse. I don't mind paying." She said dismissingly.
"No way, Granger!" He said, scowling at her. More than anything Draco hated feeling like he owed someone something.
"If it bothers you that much you can pay me back later." She sounded annoyed, but firm, so Draco gave up and decided to grumble instead.
"It comes to 477.48." The cashier said, handing Hermione back her card.
"What?" Draco exclaimed incredulously. He had no problem with spending a lot of money on…anything. But even he knew that 447.48 was pretty steep.
"Pounds, Malfoy, not galleons." She muttered so that the cashier wouldn't hear her.
"How much is that in galleons?" He insisted.
"Its about 95." She answered.
"Oh." He said, relaxing a little. That was a little more understandable.
"Is it alright if he uses your fitting room to change?" Hermione asked the cashier.
"Of course, miss." The man replied pleasantly.
Draco seized this opportunity cleverly. "No, Granger. If I'm changer, you're changing. I don't want to walk around muggle London with you in those rags."
Hermione glared coldly at him. The truth was that Hermione looked fine the way she was, better that fine actually. Her clothes were simple and tasteful, and they fit her well. But Draco wanted very much to see the things she'd purchased on her.
"Malfoy, I wasn't planning on actually wearing these clothes." She said, shaking her head.
"Well then why did you buy them?" He replied dubiously.
"Well, I was going to eventu-…fine." She muttered. And with that she walked off to change and Draco did the same, chuckling to himself as he went.
Five minutes later he emerged from the fitting rooms to find Hermione already waiting for him. He caught sight of her and suppressed a grin. Hip clinging jeans, and a long, off the shoulder V-neck in a flattering shade of green- she looked fantastic.
He cleared his throat and said, "That's a bit better. At least now you don't look like a vagrant, or worse, a Weasley."
He expected her to take the bait, but she appeared to have not even heard him. Her face was flushed and her eyes were slightly glazed over as she looked at him. He grinned smugly. It would seem that he'd succeeded in picking out clothes that would push her buttons.
"Come on, Granger. As understandable as staring at me is, it's rather unbecoming." That did the trick. She rolled her eyes and turned away to march out of the store.
-
Hermione had honestly expected him to walk up to the resisted with something resembling a muumuu, like she'd seen a man trying to pose as a muggle wear at the Quidditch World Cup. It turned out he had at least some fashion sense, though how much remained to be seen. When she'd told him to go change it was more out of sheer curiosity than any true distaste at the clothing he was wearing. Honestly, he looked quite dashing in his dress clothes.
When he emerged from the fitting room, Hermione had to stop her jaw from literally hitting the floor. If she'd thought that putting him in muggle clothes would make him less attractive, she couldn't have been more delusional. He now looked like a Gap model instead of a GQ model. Sand blasted jeans, and a black polo shirt over a white T-shirt. The shirt was tight enough through the chest to show off his pecs and the jeans were just the right shape- fitting through the hips and thighs and looser from the knees down.
He said something to her but she wasn't listening. She was too preoccupied by the way his pale skin and hair were even more pronounced against the black of his shirt, which was short sleeved and very adept at showing off his perfectly sculpted biceps. Hermione was getting more and more annoyed with herself ever time she forgot herself and found him attractive. It was even worse when she was obvious about it. It just made it that much easier for him to pick apart her anger, not to mention how much it stroked his ego- as if it needed any more stroking.
She finally realized what he was saying to her and rolled her eyes at his arrogance. Really, he could go above and beyond the call of presumptuous. What was worse, he was right. She was staring, and it was unbecoming.
-
It was entirely too much fun to tease Hermione. She almost always rose to the occasion. Draco considered himself to be a fairly clever individual. One thing he'd always been able to say about Hermione was that she had a tongue as sharp as his. So it really did make his day when he could disarm her, make her so angry or irritated she couldn't come up with some sharp, witty reply to whatever he was handing her.
She must have known that it was all a game to him, but if she did she ignored the fact. Draco wondered if she'd ever realize he was doing things just get a rise out of her. He hoped she wouldn't, that might mean the end of his fun.
As the two of them left the muggle clothing shop Draco couldn't wipe the smile off his face. Was this what it was like to be happy? Even Draco knew that taking pleasure in Hermione's disconcertion was slightly twisted, but it was a start…. and he didn't really want to see the girl he loved unhappy, he just liked to see her face flush red.
"So, where to now?" He said pleasantly. He wondered if she was going to snap at him, but she didn't. She just fished around her person and pulled out the sheet of paper her father had given her.
"Er…" But before she could say anything, Draco cut her off.
"I'm hungry. I want lunch." He said simply.
Hermione tapped her foot impatiently. "Then why did you ask me?"
Draco waved his hand nonchalantly. "I just realized I'm hungry."
Hermione considered for a moment and then admitted, "Actually I am too. Do you like seafood?"
It was very unHermione-like to ask his opinion, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
"Love sea food." He answered, nodding.
"Okay, then we're going to Joe's."
"Lead the way." Draco said, and Hermione looked at him suspiciously before telling him the address of her favorite seafood joint.
000
Okay, this is a short chapter. I'm very sorry for the wait. My keyboard broke a few days ago so I haven't been able to finish or post it until now, when I finally broke down. I've been looking for an ergonomic keyboard like the one that broke but I can't spend the money on one right now. So today I caved in and went to get a used one for 3 bucks to tide me over. So again, sorry about the wait on the chapter.
The next one should be up a lot more quickly. And thanks for all the reviews, especially to those of you who review every chapter. You rock!
As always, I love feedback. Makes me feel appreciated. hint ;)
Amanda