One muggle and one wizard club later, they were all more than a little bit tipsy as they waited in line to get into the last bar. They all had rather long lists of men, and not one could remember most of the names. They had been a sensation in both clubs, as it wasn't often that twenty pretty girls descended on a place and tried to work their way through the entire male population.
"And, did you see that old guy she had to dance with?" Beth laughed with the group as one of the girls groaned in memory.
"Yeah, but at least he wasn't a groper like the guy you danced with at the first club."
Ginny and Hermione fell into each other laughing as they entered the last club. Club Wizzaro was one of the hottest spots in Manhattan. From the outside it looked like an abandoned warehouse to most muggles. But, wizards, and those muggles with The Sight could see a very happening New York City club. The décor was 1980's American and the music ranged from the 50s to current top 40 hits. The mix of muggle and magical was shown not only in the people and the music, but also in the decorations. It was one of the few places where both sides could relax, have fun, be accepted and enjoy freely being who they were.
Hermione had already had two more drinks and added 15 more names to her list when she and Snoop headed to the bar to cool down. The crush of bodies made it hard to be heard, but they continued their conversation as best as possible.
"Any good prospects?"
Hermione rolled her eyes and laughed, "Oh please. We aren't here for me. This is your night, remember?"
"Yeah, but it wouldn't hurt for you to keep your eyes open. You never know who you might meet. Your very next dance could be 'the one'."
"Yeah, right, with my past luck, he'll be a very drunk muggle with a I-wanna-lay-a-witch thing going on. No, thank you. I don't need some slobbering idiot all over me the rest of the night." Hermione laughed and tried to get the attention of the bartender.
It took a few minutes, but soon she and Snoop both had new drinks and were about to head back to the dance floor to join the group. Unfortunately, an unexpected shift in the crowd and an elbow later, and Hermione found herself wearing both drinks down the front of her sparkly blue top. She screeched as the ice slid down her chest.
"Cold! Cold! Cold!" Hermione chanted as she danced in place and tried to shake the drinks from her shirt.
"Oh my goodness Mione! I am so sorry. Crap, where's a wand when you need one?! Let me get some napkins."
But, before Snoop could get even a foot away, they heard a very sexy, low, accented voice say, "Allow me, ladies."
With a flick of his wand, the drinks disappeared as if it they had never been. Snoop thanked the man in front of them and said she would get them new drinks. She drifted back to the bar and never noticed how still Hermione had gone.
Upon hearing that voice, Hermione's breath had left her body. She barely registered the noise of the club, much less her friend stammering and leaving, as she let her eyes slowly slide up the long, lean body in front of her. Disbelief showed on her face as her eyes took in the narrow chin, perfect lips, aristocratic nose, halo of almost white hair, and finally the startling eyes, such a strange shade of blue, they almost appeared grey.
She saw the telltale smirk just before he leaned in to say in her ear, "Hello, Granger. Long time, no see, huh?"
As their eyes met once more, his cologne enveloped her senses and she heard herself say in a voice she didn't recognize, "Malfoy?"
A smile the likes of which she had never seen on his face appeared. But, it was the sudden darkening of his eyes that captivated her. Wait! Did I just shiver over Malfoy?! Huh? Well, did I? No, I most certainly did not! Well, I did, but it was NOT a shiver of desire. Desire?! Where the heck did that come from? Man, his eyes are so smoky looking. Did they always do that? It's so se…I WAS NOT going to say sexy. I wasn't. I was going to say sickening. Yeah, that's it. Were his lips always so…STOP it Hermione! He's a jerk and a coward, remember? I mean he wasn't a Death Eater or anything, but his family wasn't loyal to anyone or anything but themselves. He could have at least tried to…to…to what? Yeah, to what? He was a 17 year old kid. What was he supposed to do? Fight his whole family and Voldemort? Well, we did. Harry did. But, we had each other and The Order, who did Draco really have? WAIT! Did I just call him…no, I most certainly did not! And, why is he looking at my lips? No, he's looking lower...at my…No way! Should I stand a little straighter or would that be too obvious? And, why do I care?! I should be slapping his face. But, it's so nice looking. He really has grown up nicely…HERMIONE, get a grip! She didn't know how long she would have stood there transfixed had Snoop not reappeared by her side.
"Wow. Thanks again, Cutie. I can't believe that happened. Can we buy you a drink?" she smiled up at him.
"No, thank you. It was my pleasure," he replied casually, as his eyes bounced back and forth between the two pretty women.
Hermione finally came to her senses and stiffened. "Okay. Well, um, thanks. Bye!" she said as she grabbed Snoop's hand and made to take off.
"Mione!" her friend admonished. "Forgive my friend, she doesn't get out much," she laughed.
Those eyes settled on Hermione again and she felt a blush rise on her cheeks. But, before she could defend herself, a guy interrupted them all to say, "Hey, aren't you two part of the bridal party that's supposed to dance with every guy here?"
"That's us," Snoop said with a wide smile. "And, what's your name?"
"Bill, muggle lawyer and witch lover," he bowed dramatically and comically before them.
Draco stiffened a little as he watched Hermione smile and laugh at the guy that had taken her eyes off of him. He stood beside her and barely registered the flirting going on around him. He hadn't planned to go out that night at all. But, Blaise, his best friend and flat mate for the past 4 years had convinced him to go out to celebrate their new futures. Both had graduated from USWU, the United States Wizarding University, that morning and needed to blow off steam. Draco would have been happier in a smaller, more cozy bar, Blaise always wanted to party big. It was like he had to make up for all the time they had spent keeping to themselves and worrying as teens.
He had only been in the bar about ten minutes and had already lost Blaise to a small group of laughing, flirting women. Draco had planned to aim for the bar and wait it out, but his heart had slammed into his throat when he heard that voice.
It can't be! Hermio…Granger?! Here? What's she doing here in the US? Damn, she looks even better now than she did four years ago. And, those legs…wow. I should leave before she notices me and hexes the crap out of me. No, you stopped running remember? Coming here was your new start. A chance to finally be your own person. Maybe she'll see the real me now, and not the scared, little hurtful boy that I was. Yeah, right. And, Potter will be Best Man at my wedding someday. Okay, seriously she needs to stop hopping up and down like that. Those things are going to bounce out of her shirt. Not that that would be a bad thing. Heh heh heh Okay, Draco, stop it. Get out of here before she sees you. Okay, must stop staring and find Blaise. Time to go.
But, instead of listening to his brain he turned just enough to face a giggling, dripping wet Hermione Granger. The one and only woman to ever set his blood to boil. In anger, envy and in lust. The first he was sure she was well aware of, as he'd taken most of his childhood anger, aggression and pain out on her and her friends. But, the other two, he was positive she would have laughed herself silly over, if she had known. Why would she believe the hateful boy he had been would ever have wanted anything she had, much less everything she was? Despite his better intentions he had stepped forward.
He brain snapped back into focus as he heard, "..getting married tomorrow night."
"Well, then allow me one dance with the bride-to-be," the guy said and took Snoop's hand.
Draco prayed Hermione had not seen the momentary panic on his face when he had thought it was her, nor the immediate relief when the guy took Snoop's hand. He glanced down into her eyes and saw them staring back at him in shock. She had.
He blurted out the first things that came to mind. "Snoop, what a strange name." 'Seriously, that's the best you could come up with? Smooth, man!'
Hermione saw him actually wince and her eyes widened further as she realized that she wasn't the only uncomfortable one.
"Um, well, that's not really her name," she smiled a little. But, then she straightened and challenged, "What are you doing here, Malfoy?"
Before he could answer, they were once again interrupted. This time by Beth.
"Mione!" she yelled over the crowd. "We were waiting for you to…Oh my. Hello, there. Aren't you a tall, sexy beast!" Then she seemed to realize he was standing with her friend and grinned at Hermione. "Well, young lady, when I tell you to go find yourself a winner, boy, do you ever! Are you a model hot stuff?"
Draco laughed self-deprecatingly at himself and with the blonde with the dancer's body in front of him, "Uh, no, but thanks."
She whipped around and faced her friend, "Mione, now no forgetting the rules, did he ask you to dance?" Then before Hermione could answer, she turned to Draco, "Did you? 'Cause she's not allowed to say no to any man tonight."
Hermione realized how that must have sounded and squeaked, "Beth!"
Beth laughed, "Oh jeez, calm down! I meant no to dancing! Of course, maybe you can persuade her to do other things later, model boy."
Hermione prayed the floor would open up and swallow her then and there. Beth was still chattering on about them dancing together, and filling Draco in on what their night entailed. There was no graceful way out of the situation and Hermione couldn't bring herself, even after all this time, to be outright rude to him for no reason. She tried to think of ways to get away from the two of them.
"Beth, maybe he doesn't want to dan…"
But, she got the biggest shock of the night so far when he took her hand and said, "The Granger I know would never break the rules. Shall we?"
Hermione let herself be dragged onto the dance floor and with a moment of hesitation pulled into Draco's arms. Billy Joel's "Uptown Girls" blared around them and she let herself enjoy it a moment before her brain intruded.
"How on earth did this happen?" she wondered unknowingly out loud.
Draco smiled down at her and laughed, "So, you are speaking to me?"
He watched those intelligent brown eyes focus on his face and felt his gut twist. The music changed to a slower song from the early 90's and neither seemed to think about it as they stepped closer to one another and continued to dance.
"I'm sorry, but you never answered my question, Malfoy. What are you doing here?" But, before he could answer, her other questions bubbled out, "And, why are you being so nice to me? What do you want? Where have you been all this time? Why do you look so damn yummy?" Then realizing what she had said she closed her eyes and let her head fall forward in embarrassment, "And, why am I such an idiot?"
Draco barked a laugh at her barrage of questions and then smiled devilishly at her discomfort. "Well, Hermione, let's see. Celebrating my college graduation. Because you're letting me. Nothing…yet. At USWU studying forensics. 'Cause my parents were pretty people. And," he paused to out his hand under her chin to lift her eyes to his, "unless you've had a lobotomy in the last four years, you could never be an idiot."
He had felt her shiver slightly and almost groaned. Is she cold? Or, was it because I touched her face? Or said her name? Let's try the name again. "So, Hermione, my turn. What are you doing here in the US? Who are these women you're with? What have you been doing for the past four years? And, uh, why haven't you hexed me to oblivion for touching you?"
"What do you mean, yet?" was all she could think to say.
"Huh?"
She stopped dancing and looked up at him, "You said you didn't want anything, yet. What did you mean yet?"
I've never met a woman like you and now that I have found you again, I won't let you go. So, what I want is forever. No, Draco, not a good idea. Okay, how about, a few dates and let's see how the wedding plans go from there? Wanna try again 'Oh so smooth one? You. Better!' "I was kidding," was what actually came out.
"Oh," she answered and began swaying again to the music. Am I seriously dancing with Draco Malfoy? Dancing with Draco Malfoy in a club in the US. And, he's being nice to me?! Why exactly am I dancing with him? Why haven't I hexed him? Even if he does smell delicious and look amazing. And, man his arms are unbelievable! I guess he still plays Quidditch. I never thought he would be this warm, I mean he always looked so cold. Oh my goodness, those lips. Could they be more perfect for kissing? Whoa, girl! What the heck are you thinking?! Stop that! This is Draco Malfoy. The Draco Malfoy! The bane of your existence. Then, why am I still dancing with him? Because it feels too good to stop and you know it, sister.
Draco smiled as he watched the many emotions flit across her expressive face. That had always been the problem with Gryffindors, they wore their hearts on their sleeves for all to see. And, Hermione had always been the worst liar of them all. The only person who had every believed any of her farfetched cover up stories was that lump Neville Longbottom. But, of course he had been so in awe of her that he would have believed her if she had said Hogwarts was located on the moon. Draco laughed to himself in memory.
"So, you didn't answer my questions, Hermione," he interrupted her thoughts. He was beginning to like that small twist in his stomach each time her eyes touched him.
"I'm sorry. What?" she asked.
"What are you doing here in the US? I mean, I get the bridal party thing, but why are you over here?"
Hermione decided to go with the flow for a while and enjoy the feeling of being held so close. "Well, actually I just graduated from AMU," she laughed.
"Still rivals then," he smirked down at her.
"There it is. You are really Draco Malfoy?!" she said. Then with a slight blush continued, "I mean, I thought that smirk was gone for good."
When he laughed and gave her a quick wink, she tried to control her breathing and kept up with her explanation, "My friend and roommate, Snoop, who's real name is Georgina, is getting married tomorrow to…"
"Weasley!?" he jumped in.
"How did you know?" she asked in amazement.
"No, coming this way," he laughed. Then, "Wait, she's marrying Weasley?!"
Before he could get an answer several voices erupted around them.
"Mione, there you are!"
"Still dancing with the hunk?"
"Did you feel him up?"
"Check out that butt!"
"When do I get my turn?"
"Draco Malfoy?! What fresh hell is this?!"
The last was said loudly enough to be heard over the din and he cringed at the sound of disgust in Ginny's voice. All nineteen pairs of eyes turned on him, as the only ones he cared about slid away from his.
Snoop stopped laughing and looked worriedly at Hermione, "Mione? Where do I know that name? Malfoy…Malfoy..Wait! Tell me that's not…"
With a sigh, Hermione stepped back and answered, "Ladies, Draco Malfoy. Drac, uh, Mal um, uh, my friends."
Beth finally found her tongue, "That asshole kid from your high school?!"
"The same," sniffed Ginny. "And, what did he do to you to make you dance with him, Hermione?"
As wands slowly starting to appear around him, Draco stepped back a little more from Hermione, "Uh, maybe I should, um…"
Before he could finish his sentence, Blaise bounded out of the crowd, "Draco, my man, you found the party! These beautiful ladies need us to dance with each and every…Ginny Weasley?! Hermione?! What the hell?"
"How about we take this somewhere else?" Draco sighed heavily.
Hermione was shaky, confused and getting more embarrassed by the moment. People were starting to stare and she just wanted to disappear. Without thinking Hermione blurted out, "How about we go to my place, it's closest."