Chapter 2: In Which Hermione Gets an Unexpected Request
Hermione woke early and tossed on some comfy clothes. Today looked to be another day of exhilarating research at the Library and she wanted to get as much work done as was humanly possible before going to meet her friends for lunch. Taking only enough time to grab a cup of coffee Hermione walked the four and a half blocks from her flat to her current place of work. She had worked until very late the night before and, since she planned to return first thing, hadn't bothered to return any of it to its proper place. She called a quick hello to the woman behind the counter and headed to her corner.
Within minutes Hermione was so thoroughly engrossed in her work that she was entirely unaware of her surroundings. This is why she didn't notice the tall blonde man watching her from another table, not even when he walked over and sat beside her.
"Hello Hermione."
Hermione jumped and whirled to face the speaker. "Draco?" she gasped, "Draco Malfoy?"
He laughed, "Hello."
Hermione couldn't help but notice that his laugh held none of it' usually cruelty, in fact it actually sounded genuine. "What are you doing here?" she asked, still reeling from the shock of being spoken to civilly by a Malfoy.
He smiled, "I need to ask you a gigantic favor, and Colin said I could find you here."
Now Hermione was really shocked and more than a little suspicious. "What can I do for you Draco?" she asked, trying to keep the suspicion out of her voice, and succeeding very nicely.
"I don't know exactly how to say this, so I'll just tell you straight out." Draco said, without a trace of the old cockiness she had once hated. "I have had this huge thing for Harry since seventh year, and since you're such great friend with him I thought maybe you could reintroduce us. You know, tell him how much I've changed, put in a good word as they say." He paused, "So what do you think?"
Hermione mentally shook her head, it was only ten am and already this was the weirdest day in her entire existence. Draco bloody Malfoy had a crush on Harry, and he wanted HER to set them up. The entire world had gone bloody mad she decided. Now all that she had to figure out was how to get Malfoy to leave so she could get some more work done. "Well Draco," she said slowly her mind forming a plan. "I'm actually going to see Harry today, so why don't you come talk to me some time . later. and we can talk more then." She smiled at him, "I'm right in the middle of an important research assignment, so if that's alright with you I'm going to return to my work."
"Alright then," Draco said with a nod. "I'll come back some time next week, and take you out for lunch so we can chat without your work being so obviously distracting." He rose and gave her a slight bow, "You haven't change a bit. That you." With that he turned and walked away.
Hermione laughed to herself, who would have thought Malfoy would turn out like that. Her work soon pushed all thoughts of Draco Malfoy from her mind and before she knew it a beep from her watch told her it was time to meet her friends for lunch. She stood, stuffed her papers into her handbag and walked quickly to her apartment, still fully absorbed in her case.
At her apartment she took a few moments to change into a somewhat cute outfit, and to run a brush through her hair, not because it did any good, but because it made her feel just a little more put together. She cast a spell on her cutest shoes to make them more wearable, and aparated to the restaurant. She was early as always, but they had reservations under her name, so she proceeded to the table to wait for the rest of her party.
Much to Hermione's surprise there was already someone at the table the waiter brought her to. "Hello." She said, sitting across from the man who she had never seen before in her entire life. "I don't mean to be rude but, who are you?"
The man smiled, showing a flash of yellowish teeth that made Hermione want to gag, they looked like they hadn't been brushed in years. "My name's Henry Platt, your friend Ron said that you had agreed to this." He shook his head, "I suppose he only said that so I would agree."
Hermione stared at him, completely baffled. He wasn't making nay sense, obviously Ron was somehow involved in this scheme, but other than that she didn't have a clue. "I'm sorry Henry. I don't have the slightest idea what you're talking about. Could you start at the beginning?" Hermione knew she was speaking to him like she would an irritating client, but if she was going to extract proper revenge from Ronald Weasley; she had to know exactly what he had told this poor man.
"You friend, Ronald Weasley, asked me if I would go on a blind date with a friend of his." Henry began. He still sounded a little unsure so Hermione tried to look as receptive as she could without giving any wrong impressions. "Well I'm single at the moment, and he said that his friend, you, were exceptionally smart and that we would have loads to talk about. He's a nice guy and he seemed to really want this, so I said yes." He shrugged a little helplessly. "I don't really know what to say."
Hermione smiled fondly. "yes, Ron can be such a prat, but be sure he'll pay for this. Now why don't we just enjoy this wonderful food that will go on my dear "friend's" tab." The smile turned wicked as she looked for the most expensive thing on the menu.
~
Hermione arrived home exhausted that evening, Henry had been nice enough, but they had absolutely nothing in common except they both thought Ron was a prat for setting them up like he had. Also, his un-kept teeth had disgusted her to the point where she couldn't look at him below the hairline. She slipped the key in the lock and turned it twice around. The heavy oak door swung open easily, revealing her cozy living room, and the hall that led to her bedroom. Too tired to actually do anything Hermione summoned a bottle of white wine and a glass and sat in the semi darkness, sipping and thinking.
Hermione felt as if she had just drifted to sleep when there was a loud knocking at her front door. She opened her eyes slowly, surprised to see she was still in her favorite armchair rather than in her bed, and even more surprised to see brilliant sunshine streaming through her windows. "I'm coming!" she yelled as the person at the door knocked again. "Hold your horses," she muttered, performing a quick de-wrinkling spell on her rumpled cloths. She wiped the sleep form her eyes and opened her front door.
"Good afternoon." Draco Malfoy said with a broad grin, pushing past her and settling himself on her couch. "Have you thought about my request yet?" he asked.
"A little," she admitted, returning to her chair. "I think I might be able to pull one thing off, but if that doesn't work I'm through. Got it?" she blinked, surprised at what she had just said. But it was true, she did have an inkling of what she could do, and if it worked she would be free from any more horrible blind dates, at least for a while. From what she could gather from Henry Platt she assumed Harry had masterminded the plan, and asked Ron to find the guy, so she needed revenge on them both. And there was no batter way to do it then to aid their mortal enemy.
_______________________________________________________
A/N: This story is just sort of writing itself at this point. I'm not sure if that's good or not! I just hope you're enjoying reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! :D as usual: PLEASE REVIEW!!
Hermione woke early and tossed on some comfy clothes. Today looked to be another day of exhilarating research at the Library and she wanted to get as much work done as was humanly possible before going to meet her friends for lunch. Taking only enough time to grab a cup of coffee Hermione walked the four and a half blocks from her flat to her current place of work. She had worked until very late the night before and, since she planned to return first thing, hadn't bothered to return any of it to its proper place. She called a quick hello to the woman behind the counter and headed to her corner.
Within minutes Hermione was so thoroughly engrossed in her work that she was entirely unaware of her surroundings. This is why she didn't notice the tall blonde man watching her from another table, not even when he walked over and sat beside her.
"Hello Hermione."
Hermione jumped and whirled to face the speaker. "Draco?" she gasped, "Draco Malfoy?"
He laughed, "Hello."
Hermione couldn't help but notice that his laugh held none of it' usually cruelty, in fact it actually sounded genuine. "What are you doing here?" she asked, still reeling from the shock of being spoken to civilly by a Malfoy.
He smiled, "I need to ask you a gigantic favor, and Colin said I could find you here."
Now Hermione was really shocked and more than a little suspicious. "What can I do for you Draco?" she asked, trying to keep the suspicion out of her voice, and succeeding very nicely.
"I don't know exactly how to say this, so I'll just tell you straight out." Draco said, without a trace of the old cockiness she had once hated. "I have had this huge thing for Harry since seventh year, and since you're such great friend with him I thought maybe you could reintroduce us. You know, tell him how much I've changed, put in a good word as they say." He paused, "So what do you think?"
Hermione mentally shook her head, it was only ten am and already this was the weirdest day in her entire existence. Draco bloody Malfoy had a crush on Harry, and he wanted HER to set them up. The entire world had gone bloody mad she decided. Now all that she had to figure out was how to get Malfoy to leave so she could get some more work done. "Well Draco," she said slowly her mind forming a plan. "I'm actually going to see Harry today, so why don't you come talk to me some time . later. and we can talk more then." She smiled at him, "I'm right in the middle of an important research assignment, so if that's alright with you I'm going to return to my work."
"Alright then," Draco said with a nod. "I'll come back some time next week, and take you out for lunch so we can chat without your work being so obviously distracting." He rose and gave her a slight bow, "You haven't change a bit. That you." With that he turned and walked away.
Hermione laughed to herself, who would have thought Malfoy would turn out like that. Her work soon pushed all thoughts of Draco Malfoy from her mind and before she knew it a beep from her watch told her it was time to meet her friends for lunch. She stood, stuffed her papers into her handbag and walked quickly to her apartment, still fully absorbed in her case.
At her apartment she took a few moments to change into a somewhat cute outfit, and to run a brush through her hair, not because it did any good, but because it made her feel just a little more put together. She cast a spell on her cutest shoes to make them more wearable, and aparated to the restaurant. She was early as always, but they had reservations under her name, so she proceeded to the table to wait for the rest of her party.
Much to Hermione's surprise there was already someone at the table the waiter brought her to. "Hello." She said, sitting across from the man who she had never seen before in her entire life. "I don't mean to be rude but, who are you?"
The man smiled, showing a flash of yellowish teeth that made Hermione want to gag, they looked like they hadn't been brushed in years. "My name's Henry Platt, your friend Ron said that you had agreed to this." He shook his head, "I suppose he only said that so I would agree."
Hermione stared at him, completely baffled. He wasn't making nay sense, obviously Ron was somehow involved in this scheme, but other than that she didn't have a clue. "I'm sorry Henry. I don't have the slightest idea what you're talking about. Could you start at the beginning?" Hermione knew she was speaking to him like she would an irritating client, but if she was going to extract proper revenge from Ronald Weasley; she had to know exactly what he had told this poor man.
"You friend, Ronald Weasley, asked me if I would go on a blind date with a friend of his." Henry began. He still sounded a little unsure so Hermione tried to look as receptive as she could without giving any wrong impressions. "Well I'm single at the moment, and he said that his friend, you, were exceptionally smart and that we would have loads to talk about. He's a nice guy and he seemed to really want this, so I said yes." He shrugged a little helplessly. "I don't really know what to say."
Hermione smiled fondly. "yes, Ron can be such a prat, but be sure he'll pay for this. Now why don't we just enjoy this wonderful food that will go on my dear "friend's" tab." The smile turned wicked as she looked for the most expensive thing on the menu.
~
Hermione arrived home exhausted that evening, Henry had been nice enough, but they had absolutely nothing in common except they both thought Ron was a prat for setting them up like he had. Also, his un-kept teeth had disgusted her to the point where she couldn't look at him below the hairline. She slipped the key in the lock and turned it twice around. The heavy oak door swung open easily, revealing her cozy living room, and the hall that led to her bedroom. Too tired to actually do anything Hermione summoned a bottle of white wine and a glass and sat in the semi darkness, sipping and thinking.
Hermione felt as if she had just drifted to sleep when there was a loud knocking at her front door. She opened her eyes slowly, surprised to see she was still in her favorite armchair rather than in her bed, and even more surprised to see brilliant sunshine streaming through her windows. "I'm coming!" she yelled as the person at the door knocked again. "Hold your horses," she muttered, performing a quick de-wrinkling spell on her rumpled cloths. She wiped the sleep form her eyes and opened her front door.
"Good afternoon." Draco Malfoy said with a broad grin, pushing past her and settling himself on her couch. "Have you thought about my request yet?" he asked.
"A little," she admitted, returning to her chair. "I think I might be able to pull one thing off, but if that doesn't work I'm through. Got it?" she blinked, surprised at what she had just said. But it was true, she did have an inkling of what she could do, and if it worked she would be free from any more horrible blind dates, at least for a while. From what she could gather from Henry Platt she assumed Harry had masterminded the plan, and asked Ron to find the guy, so she needed revenge on them both. And there was no batter way to do it then to aid their mortal enemy.
_______________________________________________________
A/N: This story is just sort of writing itself at this point. I'm not sure if that's good or not! I just hope you're enjoying reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! :D as usual: PLEASE REVIEW!!