"Ok, so here is what you're going to do. You are going to send her flowers with a note that says something romantic like 'Granger, you are my Galleon in my pocket' or like 'Know what's on the menu? Me-n-u.'"
"Those. Are. Absolutely. Terrible. I should not be asking you what to write on a card. You did, after all, send Scarhead that terrible Valentine's poem."
"I was trying to be nice! He hadn't received any Valentines cards. So, you know," Ginny lopsidedly shrugs.
"So you sent him a terrible poem? To be nice? Oh, that's wonderful! It was a pity Valentine's card!" Draco doubles over laughing and Ginny stares at him with a distinctly Molly glare.
"Are you done? If we can get back on track please!"
Draco wipes his eyes and balls a fist over his mouth. He nods but his shoulders still shake with barely suppressed laughter.
"Oh get out of here and get her flowers!"
Finding a flower shop was easy.
Finding the right kind of flowers to send to Hermione was hard. He didn't even know what kind of flower she liked. So Draco settled on a rather massive bouquet of Stargazer lilies in a delicate glass vase to be magically delivered to her desk on Tuesday morning, the day they were due back from their short holiday.
He made sure to get there first and placed the card on her desk. The flowers would pop into existence as soon as she opened the card.
Hermione bustled into their shared office off the side of the lab. She smiles warmly at Draco and drops off a paper cup with tea and is about to drop her bag on her desk when she notices the card propped up with her name spelled in neat cursive.
She glances up discreetly at Draco thru her eyelashes and reads the card.
"Your face
is a piece of music
mute
as the wind
Yet I hear it
from afar, not forgetting
even without seeing
and I follow, by heart
the sigh of this ah-
more torn
blind and alone"
Armando Freitas Filho
Hermione gasped lightly as a bouquet of Stargazer lilies in a delicate glass vase appeared before her on her desk. They were absolutely beautiful.
Draco smiles down at his desk hearing her gasp of surprise. Looking up he eyes the flowers and Hermione's expression pleased that he got it right.
"Secret admirer, Granger?" he drawled, as he leaned back in his chair.
"Yes, it appears so," Hermione absently answered and reached a hand to touch them. Gently fingering the petals, she felt her hand begin to itch and burn, forming angry splotches of color to bloom all over her hand. Jumping up from his desk, Draco made his way around to Hermione, concerned.
"What happened?"
Hermione held up her unaffected hand when Draco reached to touch her.
"No, no don't touch! I don't want to spread it to you!"
"Spread what to me?"
Hermione gestures to her hand, "This rash. It seems I only get it when I am exposed to plants that have been treated with Potter's Pots."
Draco stared at her with slightly raised brows.
"The magical weed repellent?"
Draco blinks and then scowls.
Of course, even after Hogwarts, Potter screws up everything.
Potter's Pots was not a product made by Harry but the manufacturer asked for permission to use with his last name and image. Harry's only stipulation was that part of the proceeds go to charity, to which that developer gladly agreed. Ad campaigns in the Daily Prophet depicted colorful images of a Harry Potter stamping out weed versions of Voldemort and his forces.
"I was helping Neville with his garden over the holiday and I forgot my gardening gloves. Neville tried to let me borrow his but I declined. Turns out I should have because I ended up with this rash," Hermione, using her unaffected hand, carefully pulls her wand from it's holster and casts a mild cooling charm, before accio-ing a medical wrap from her bag. She spelled it to go around her affected hand and sighed in relief, the cooling charm helping the painful areas of the rash. Grabbing her quill, she began to write a note to their supervisor.
"When Neville grabbed my hand to help me it transferred to him, sort of like very aggressive Poison Ivy," she continues absently as she sends the memo off.
Hermione turns back around to her desk, points her wand at the flowers and banishes them. While her back was turned, Draco's expression is despondent. He hadn't accounted for the flowers to be practically doused in a product that Hermione was allergic to. Draco schools his features back into one of concern and gestures to her desk.
"Do you need help with anything?"
Hermione shakes her head, "No I've got it from here, Draco. I need to go home though. I don't want to pass it along. I have some topical cream that St. Mungos gave me, should be gone within the day. I'll see you tomorrow."
Turning back to her desk she magically levitates her belongs in front of her and turns to leave.
"It's such a shame though, they were very pretty flowers and would look lovely in my flat."
"Yeah, a shame…," Draco drawls, staring at the spot where his gift once sat.
Hermione smiles softly and leaves a scowling Draco in her wake.
By the end of the day, Draco had broken at least five quills, temporarily closed down one flower shop until they made sure none of their flowers were covered in Potter's Pots, and made a tour of Hogwarts students very uncomfortable in the lift. They got off five floors early.
"Alright, so, flowers weren't her thing."
Draco had once again taken refuge in Ginny's flat she shared with Luna. Scowling fiercely, he takes a bite of the biscuit in his hand; the sound of his hostile chewing the only noise.
"I didn't even know people could become allergic to magical bug repellant."
'Yeah, neither did I. Trust Granger to be the unique one."
Ginny taps her chin thoughtfully, a wicked grin spreading on her face.
"Well… at least she's not allergic to ferrets."
"Do you think he knows that I know that he sent me flowers?"
Luna hums as she swishes her wand absently.
"No, but I'm sure he'll figure it out. It's hard to miss all the Humdingers being all… humdingery around you two."
Hermione looks at Luna in bemusement.
"You made that up didn't you."
"A magician never reveals his secrets, Hermione," Luna grinned serenely as she tucks her wand behind her ear, "there, all done."
Hermione smiles and flexes her now carefully wrapped hand.
"Thank you, Luna."
Luna hums again and looks over her shoulder, "Happy, to help on both requests. I must say though, they really are something."
Hermione looks behind her at the bouquet of Stargazer lilies sitting in the afternoon sun. She smiles softly.
"Yes, they certainly are."
