Chapter 8 of I Work for You
Summary: Draco hires Hermione to be his 'wife' so his boss will approve of their deal. Only, Draco didn't expect to fall in love with Hermione. DM/HG. This fanfiction is based on the movie Borrowed Hearts.
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. This fanfiction is also based on the movie Borrowed Hearts. I do not own that, either.
Recap from Chapter 7:
Draco looked at his watch again, and stated, "She's now twenty minutes late."
"Oh, so now you're counting?" asked a voice.
Draco looked up, and gasped.
It was an angel.
Chapter 8:
No, it was even more incredible than an angel was.
It was … Hermione.
And she was beautiful.
She was going ice-skating, yes, but what she was wearing was beautiful.
She was wearing some sort of clothing … a tank top, and outside of it was a jacket made of transparent material. She was wearing flared jeans, and her hair was half up, half down.
Draco smiled, and walked over to the bottom of the staircase.
Hermione rolled her eyes, and walked down quite quickly, and latched herself onto Draco's outstretched arm.
She winked at Percy, and said, "Come on!"
Draco blinked, and followed Hermione out the door. He turned around and beckoned to Percy, "Come on!"
The three went into Draco's limousine and they sat down.
Hermione sat next to Draco, and Percy sat facing Draco.
"So," said Draco, breaking the silence once the Muggle car had started moving.
"Yeah, so…" croaked Percy.
Hermione said nothing, but stared out the window.
Finally, she cleared her voice and said, "Where are we going?"
Draco smiled mysteriously.
"You'll see," he said.
"Whatever," muttered Hermione under her breath.
The limousine stopped in front of a restaurant that was on a mountain over-looking the ocean. The limousine driver held the door open for Hermione, and she stepped out, thanking him.
"Dang, Draco! This is wear we're eating dinner?" she asked.
Draco smiled. "Yep!" he exclaimed, happy that Hermione was shocked.
"No!" protested Hermione.
Both Draco and Percy's head snapped to Hermione.
"What?" they asked, feeling shocked that she did not want to eat at such a fancy and delicious restaurant.
"I … uh … I can't!" she said.
"Why?" asked Draco.
"Because … I can't pay for it!" said Hermione in a rush, blushing.
Draco laughed a deep, throaty laugh.
"Hermione! I don't require for you to pay for it!" said Draco.
"Then who will?" she asked.
"You know, for a smart girl like you who was Head Girl, you sure are thick!" Draco said, teasing Hermione.
Hermione turned as red as a tomato.
"Draco Malfoy! You shut your big mouth!"
Draco rolled his eyes, and pulled Hermione to the restaurant.
"Come on! We're going in," he announced.
Hermione let herself be pulled away, but she turned her head back.
"What about Percy?" she asked.
Draco shrugged.
"He said he didn't want to join us."
Hermione nodded.
"Oh," she simply said.
Draco nodded his head and pulled her into the restaurant called Gourmet Restaurante Fantasia.
Hermione couldn't believe that she was going to go into such a fancy restaurant. As she stepped up to the door, one of the door openers opened up the door for her, and she smiled.
"This is going to be one great night!" she thought to herself.
Inside the restaurant, the lights were dim, and on each table, sat a candle.
Draco and Hermione approached the waitress who was supposed to sit them down at a table.
Draco leaned his head ever so slightly, and whispered a few hushed words in the waitress's ear.
Draco leaned his head back, and Hermione glared at him.
"What was that all about?" Hermione asked once the waitress went to do whatever Draco told her to do just a few minutes ago.
Draco pretended to look innocent, "I don't know what you're talking about!" he said.
Hermione glared again at Draco, before looking away into the restaurants.
"Your table is ready, Mr. Malfoy," said a voice.
Hermione looked up into the face of the same waitress as before. She followed Draco grudgingly, as he followed the waitress.
Not looking carefully at where she was going, she suddenly crashed into the back of Draco's back.
"Ow!" he gasped. "Watch where you're going! What are you trying to do, hurt me?" he asked.
Hermione blinked her eyes innocently at him, as she sat down in the chair pulled back for her by the waitress.
"I don't know what you're talking about!" she said.
Draco pouted. "Stop using the words I just said!"
Hermione decided to ignore his comment, and she began looking around.
"Wow!" she gasped.
They were in the exact middle of the restaurant, and nobody was around them.
"Are we the only ones here?" asked Hermione in a whisper.
Draco bent down his ear.
"WHAT?" he shouted.
Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Are we the only ones here?" she repeated.
Draco laughed and shook his head.
"No! There are more people in the restaurant. It's only that I rented out this room all to ourselves."
"What?"
"Yeah…"
"That must have cost a fortune!" said Hermione.
Draco smirked, "I can afford it, unlike some people."
Right away, as the words came out of his mouth, he realized he said the wrong thing.
"Hermione…"
Hermione shook her head.
"Forget it!" she said.
Draco protested, "But…"
"Look, I actually thought you were going to be a nice guy today, but … I guess I was wrong," she said with a sigh, looking very disappointed.
Draco sighed, "I'm sorry Hermione."
Whatever Draco had said, he had said it to soft.
"What?" asked Hermione.
"I said I'm sorry!" he replied, through gritted teeth.
Hermione shrugged her shoulders, "Whatever."
Draco winced, and sat back against his chair.
A waiter appeared at the table, handing each of them a menu, and pouring a glass of red wine for the both of them.
A few minutes later…"Are you ready to order?" asked a voice.
Hermione looked up into the waitress's face, and she said, "I'll have the … uh…"
Draco rolled his eyes and said smoothly to the waitress some words in French. The waitress nodded took the menu from Draco and out of Hermione's hands before walking away.
Hermione frowned.
"I didn't order yet!" she said.
"I ordered for you," Draco said, nonchalantly.
Hermione asked, "What did you order?"
Draco smiled, "You'll see. It could be snails…"
Hermione rolled her eyes, and said, "Snails. I know how to say snails in French. Escargot!"
Draco nodded, "Wow! I'm so impressed."
"So seriously," said Hermione. "What did you order?"
Draco's eyes widened.
"You'll see in a minute!" Draco said.
Hermione sighed in frustration and said, "Fine. I give up!"
Draco smiled and said, "Funny. I knew you would!"
A couple of minutes passed in silence, and the two both sat wondering what the other was thinking about…Suddenly, a whiff of a wonderful aroma caught Hermione's nose, and she breathed in deeply.
"Mm!" she thought.
A plate was set down in front of her, and she looked down to see herself staring at … chicken.
"Wow! Chicken can smell this good?" she thought to herself.
Draco chuckled to herself, as he watched her face change from a very angry face to a wonderfully intrigued face, and then to a face in bewilderment, and happiness.
Oh, was it fun to trick Hermione.
After eating a heavenly dinner, Hermione and Draco got up, and left the restaurant.
Surprisingly, Percy was sitting outside on top of the limousine, waiting for Draco and Hermione.
"About time!" said Percy.
Draco smiled, "Hey! The dinner took a long time to eat!" he said.
Percy nodded, "Right. And you didn't save me any leftovers?" he asked.
Draco just rolled his eyes at him, before getting into the limousine.
"This is dumb!" protested Hermione, "Tell me where we're going!"
Draco shook his finger at her, and said, "No! We all can't know everything!"
Hermione groaned, "You guys are so lame!"
Draco and Percy looked at each other, before laughing. "But that's why you love us both so much!" they squealed in mock delight.
Hermione could only gawk and say, "Okay…"
The car pulled up to a stop, and Hermione hurriedly got out of the car, not noticing that the man driving the car was at the door too, accidentally knocking over the man.
"Oops! I'm so sorry!" she said.
Draco started laughing, and pretty soon he was holding onto his sides.
Hermione threw a glare at him, before bending over to help the man up.
"Are you all right?" she asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
After being reassured that the man was fine, the three of them – Hermione, Draco, and Percy – walked into the building.
Draco opened the door, like a gentleman, for Hermione and Percy, and let all of them in.
There was a cold blast of air that hit them, and Hermione frowned.
"Are we going ice skating?" she asked.
Draco nodded, "Yep!"
Hermione said, "Oh."
Draco noticed her face fall down at the word ice-skating, and he quickly asked, "Is it all right?"
Hermione nodded, "It's fine."
The three of them went inside, Percy immediately leaving the pair alone, after spotting some girls, and wanting to talk to them.
Hermione looked around.
It was all right, but what she really wanted to do was ice skate in an open place.
Perhaps the park, or somewhere, where there was a lot of people and it was frosty and chilly, with snow falling down.
"Well, you can't have everything!" thought Hermione to herself.
Draco had tried to make this night special, and she would do her best to enjoy it.
Thirty minutes later, Draco noticed that Hermione was really not being herself.
Taking her by the elbow, he found a secluded bench, and they sat down.
"What's really wrong?" asked Draco.
Hermione sighed, knowing that she couldn't lie to him.
"Look, I really appreciate all this," she said.
"But…" said Draco.
"But I … I want to go ice skating in the outdoors. Not in a building like this."
Draco nodded, "So why didn't you tell me earlier?"
Hermione sighed again.
"I didn't want you to feel bad."
Draco rolled his eyes, "Who cares if I feel bad? This night was supposed to be something special for you. Not for me."
Hermione looked up into Draco's voice, and asked, "Can we go somewhere else?" in a small voice.
Draco chuckled, "Come on!"
He stood up, and offered his hand to her, pulling her up, also.
Hermione nodded gratefully at him, before the two went to find Percy.
Hermione and Draco were yet again in the limousine, only this time Percy was not there.
The car stopped, and Hermione, remembering the previous hour, let the limousine driver open the door.
She stepped out, and this time she smiled a true smile. She ran out to the edge of the ice skating rink. It was full of people … well half filled.
Draco smiled, seeing Hermione happy.
The two of them paid and got a pair of ice skates.
After wearing the shoes, they stumbled into the rink.
Hermione could ice skate pretty well, but Draco was no expert.
Hermione laughed, and pulled Draco along as she glided on the ice skating rink.
The stars were twinkling merrily, along with the bright yellow moon.
There were sounds of children laughing, and the chatter of the adults.
The sky was pitch black, and the ice skating rink, in the middle of a park was lit brightly with lanterns.
Hermione gleefully laughed as she pulled a stumbling Draco.
"I thought you knew how to ice skate!" grinned Hermione.
Draco scowled at her, and said, "Of course not. It's my first time."
Hermione smiled, and said, "Do you want me to teach you?"
Draco, fed up with Hermione being better at him in another thing said, "No! I can teach myself."
Hermione was taken aback by the snap from Draco.
She had thought the night was going on rather well.
Shrugging, she dropped Draco's arm, and went into the middle of the crowd.
There, she started ice-skating. She loved ice-skating. It was a great sport, and she could still remember when she learned it.
She was five years old, and her mom took her outside of the house.
Outside, there was a big piece of ice and there, Hermione's mom had taught her how to ice skate.
Suddenly, a hand snapped Hermione out of her daydream.
"Excuse me ma'am. I see that you're pretty darn good in ice skating."
Hermione looked up to see an elderly man smiling at her.
"Thank you," she said, blushing.
"We're going to have an ice-skating competition here in a few minutes, and I was wondering if you would like to join. You look like you could win the competition. The winner receives a trophy, and a prize of 100 galleons," he explained.
Hermione blinked in surprise.
She had not known that this rink was full of wizards and witches. Shrugging, she agreed to join.
"Ladies and gentlemen! May I please have your attention?" boomed a loud voice through the speakers surrounding the rink.
"It is now time for the ice-skating competition. We have 4 contestants. They are Hannah Jordan, Megan Brown, Sharon Adams, and Hermione Granger. Please give them some applause!" said the announcer over the loudspeaker.
The audience had gotten all out of the rink, and was sitting comfortably in the bleachers.
Draco had found an empty seat next to a few elderly women, and he sat down wondering where Hermione was.
Suddenly, he heard Hermione's name being called.
"Hermione's competing?" he asked himself, feeling shocked.
He gave a small laugh, and leaned back onto the bleachers.
"This ought to be good."
One by one the three contestants went, excluding Hermione.
She watched, fascinated, as they skated. They obviously were professional, because they all had a routine.
Hermione felt her stomach begin to fill with butterflies.
Then, the announcer said the dreaded two words.
"Hermione Granger."
Hermione nervously went onto the rink. The whole place was silent, and she was sure everybody could hear her heart beat nervously.
There was no music, no sound, but Hermione could hear her own beat and thus, she started to skate.
"Dang! She's good!" thought Draco.
He watched as she jumped and leapt into the air. She looked graceful, and completely at ease. He could see her skate with her eyes closed.
For five minutes, his hands were tightly clamped together. It was only in the end, when Hermione gave a low bow that he realized he was praying for her.
"Why do I want her to win?" he asked himself.
"Duh! She's my wife…" said a voice in his head.
The announcer's voice was then heard again.
"The four ladies gave an excellent performance! I want to thank all four of them. Good job! Now the winner of the competition is…"
"… Ms. Hermione Granger!"
The crowd leapt up to their feet and roared and clapped.
Draco found himself standing up and cheering for his 'wife' also.
He climbed out of the bleachers, still wearing his skates, and walked slowly towards Hermione.
She was skating into the middle of the rink, where a man was holding a big shining silver trophy, and a sack that had 100 galleons.
Draco found his feet moving to his own accord, and he found himself approaching Hermione.
He didn't know where he was going, until all of a sudden, he was flat on his face.
"Ow!" he groaned.
The people laughed uproariously, and Hermione looked over, and saw Draco with his face on the ice.
"Oh!" she said, gliding over to him, and picking him up off of the floor.
"Are you all right?" she asked
Draco nodded his head curtly, and when he found the audience laughing still, he groaned.
"Is it that funny?" he asked.
Hermione, with her shoulders shaking, joined in.
Draco growled, "Why you," and he bent down.
Hermione's eyes widened and then closed.
Within seconds, she found herself being kissed by Draco Malfoy. They broke apart, and blushed. Everybody was "oohing and ahhing" over the couple.
Hermione rolled her eyes, and pulled Draco over to the car.
"Let's go!" she said.
Draco took the trophy and money out of her hands, and they went into the car.
"I had a really good time tonight!" said Hermione.
Draco nodded, "Yeah, me too."
"Thanks," Hermione said, shyly, before giving him a peck on the lips.
She then fell asleep on Draco's chest, and Draco wondered, "My! You are full of surprises, aren't you?"
Author's Note: Yay, review!