Mr. Malfoy and I

Draco's eyes fluttered open, the sun shining directly into his eyes. He tried to sit up, but found he was extremely sore, and he groaned at his efforts. That was when he realized he wasn't in his apartment, and the memories from last night flooded back to him.

"Shit." he hissed, flopping back onto the couch with a hand over his eyes.

Then, he sighed and looked around the living room. Hermione was there, sitting in an arm chair. She was slumped low into the chair and her head was hanging to the side, supported only by her shoulder.

She really is pretty, Draco mused to himself, not gorgeous, but certainly pretty.

He tried to sit up more, but a sharp pang went through his side and he collapsed back onto the couch with a grunt. He groaned again, trying to be more quiet - Hermione had helped him a great deal last night, after all - but when he looked back up at her, her eyes were already struggling to open.

She sniffed and straightened in her chair before she realized Draco was there on her couch. It was rather amusing for Draco to watch the emotions play across her face. First shock, then anger, then recognition, then dread, then acceptance. And then a smile.

"Good morning. Feeling sore, I presume?" she guessed, standing.

He watched her as she walked into the kitchen. "No, not at all." he grunted, painfully forcing himself into a sitting position.

She snorted as she pulled out the eggs and a bowl. The eggs started cracking, pouring and throwing themselves away when Hermione flicked her wand and then she turned to the bacon. Draco noticed that this seemed like a routine thing. He looked around the living room once again and noticed that things were still missing - he was guessing she either still hadn't moved some things or she was going to fill in the empty spaces later.

"Homey." he noted, slowly standing up.

He looked down at his chest and examined his wounds from last night. He knew the long one from his shoulder to halfway down his chest would leave a scar, but the rest looked like they would heal over time. He'd only been hit by that curse once before - all thanks to Wonder Boy Potter - and it hurt like hell, so he was not very excited that the Death Eaters were clued in on it.

She glanced at him. "Thanks. It's not finished yet, though - I still have to move some things from my old apartment, and I'll have to do it the Muggle way, for obvious reasons."

"You mean, actually bringing them here in an automobile and carrying them up the stairs by hand?" he asked in mock horror, his eyebrows raised as he shuffled into the kitchen. He felt the muscles in his chest and back tighten in protest, but he ignored them.

She chuckled. "Yeah. I bet that's frightening for you."

The eggs that were now done scrambling themselves tossed its mass onto a plate before gliding over to Draco. He frowned at it appreciatively, then looked at Hermione, who was using a contraption called a 'mickeywave' - he had to read 'Muggle Inventions for Dummies' before he moved into a Muggle flat - to heat up the bacon.

"I like your mick-ey-wave." Draco said, pronouncing 'mickeywave' very clearly. (Although, he bet she couldn't hear him anyway, considering his mouth was full of scrambled eggs.)

She turned to him with her eyebrows raised and her mouth open in shocked amusement. "My what?"

"Your mickeywave." he repeated distractedly, stuffing more food in his mouth.

She forced herself not to smile and nodded in recognition. "Right. Um, Draco, it's a microwave. Not a mickeywave."

But he wasn't really paying attention. He looked at her in awe. "You just called me Draco." he realized.

She frowned. "Well, yeah. I only call you Malfoy when I'm mad at you. I've grown up." she explained, smirking at the last bit.

He raised an eyebrow, forking some more eggs in his mouth defiantly. "Fine, Hermione. I was just saying - it sounded weird."

"It sounds weird when you say my name." she pointed out, grabbing the bacon out from the microwave.

"It feels weird saying your name - Hermione," he agreed, "Can I have some of that bacon, Hermione?"

"Quit it." she warned him, handing him two pieces.

He smiled, looking down at his plate. Then, he swallowed as the memories came crashing down again from last night.

"Thank you, again. For helping me." he said quietly, not meeting her eyes.

She didn't answer for a long time. "You can stay here, Draco, if you'd like. If someone's looking for you, they wouldn't suspect you to be living with Hermione Granger." she joked half-heartedly.

"No. I couldn't do that to you. Sworn enemies or not, no one wants to go through what I'm forced to." he muttered, saying more than he'd meant to.

"Draco," Hermione said, agitated, and walked forward to the bar he was sitting at. "I'm friends with Harry Potter. I lived through years of constant, never-ending danger and fear. I think I can handle it."

Draco was relieved she wasn't asking what the hell happened the night before, and he suddenly felt extremely grateful for her. The thought made him uneasy, so he pushed it away.

He studied her for a long moment, contemplating her offer. Sure, she had a point, but he didn't think she realized what she was getting herself into - pretty much the same thing she'd been getting into with Potter. Maybe on a smaller scale, but still.

He sighed, shaking his head. "I don't know, Gran - er, Hermione." he said, clumsily correcting himself.

She nodded, grabbed his plate and started rinsing it off in the sink. "You can move into the guest bedroom. It's down the hall, across form the bathroom. Mine's next to it, if you need me."

XXX

Draco brought only his clothing back into Hermione's place and took care of putting his flat back up for sale. (After cleaning it, of course.) Two days after, Draco finally got around to folding clothes into the drawrs. The last two days had been filled with either moping around by himself while Hermione was at work or bickering with her. Luckily, it was Saturday and Hermione was home, so that morning, while he was mulling over what he'd gotten himself into once again, Hermione appeared in the doorway.

"You know, maybe showing yourself is a good idea," Hermione mused, "That way, if you went missing or something, people would know about it."

He frowned, throwing a folded shirt into its designated drawr. "How would they know?"

"Have you seen the Daily Prophet lately?" she asked dryly, "They practically stalk Harry, Ron and I. I'm sure you'd be no different - you're well known, too."

He snorted. "Not for the best reasons."

"But if you were seen with me . . . ?" she trailed off, her eyebrows raised.

He raised his eyebrows back, pausing in sorting his clothing. "As in, a couple?"

"Well, I wouldn't go that far, Malfoy," she said, pursing her lips, "but we could just pretend to be friends."

He smirked. "Not bad, Granger, but then my little stalkers would know where I lived."

"You're sure they'd try attacking you when there's someone else around?"

"Not exactly, but - "

"Then it's better than sneaking around, isn't it?"

He raised an eyebrow. "I suppose so. . . ."

"And you could get a job, maybe."

"Don't get too crazy, Granger." he snorted, returning to sorting his clothes.

"Well, you can't just expect my hospitality forever." she pointed out with a testy look at him.

He glanced at her. "Right. I'll look into a job offer I saw at a bookstore yesterday."

"A bookstore?" she repeated.

"Yes, a bookstore." he sighed, feeling a wave of teasing coming.

She paused, holding back laughter. "Alright, then. We'll go out later this afternoon."

"So soon?" he asked as she walked down the hall.

"What's the point in waiting?" she inquired over her shoulder.

XXX

"What - how - why - what is this?"

Hermione and Draco were walking innocently along Diagon Alley when they were ambushed, and it was by the two people Hermione had been trying to avoid with this whole siuation. She closed her eyes in dread before turning around, Draco reluctantly following suit.

Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley stood there, gaping at the two. But Hermione knew it was not a good gape - it was a very bad gape.

"Uh, hi, Harry, Ron." Hermione stuttered, instinctively sliding one step away from Draco.

They continued to throw death glares at her. Well, it was more of Ron threw death glares at Draco while Harry threw death glares at her. It was almost like they'd planned this out. Hermione frowned.

"We were just . . . taking a stroll." Draco explained, failing miserably at innocence.

This was a big problem. Harry and Ron couldn't find out about Draco's situation - she didn't even know about it, for Melrin's sake - because it was too risky.

"What is this?" Ron asked again hastily, waving his arms at the two of them.

"Erm, well, Draco and I . . . we're . . . " Hermione couldn't get the word 'friends' out. It was too much. She wouldn't be able to see them again. They'd disown her. Kidnap her. Totally and completely ex-communicate -

"We're a couple." Draco finished, sliding over to her and putting a hand around her waist.

Hermione stood stock-still for a moment, but she knew she had to play off it, or they were dead. She forced a big smile and patted his shoulder a little too hard.

"Yes. Draco and I are . . . dating. We're a couple." she agreed.

Harry and Ron continued to gape.

"Hermione?" Harry asked in a slightly-too-nonchalant voice, "Could we, uh, talk to you alone for a moment?"

"Of course." she said with clenched teeth through her smile.

She shot her best death glare at Draco before following Harry and Ron across the street and into a large clothing store. She braced herself for the torrent that was an angry Harry and Ron, and -

"What the bloody hell are you thinking?"

"Are you insane?"

"Malfoy, Hermione? Malfoy?"

"Ronald, hold on just a moment -" she tried, but -

"You've completely lost your mind, haven't you?"

"Alright, let me just - "

"Maybe we should just kill him." Ron suggested to Harry.

"Or just kidnap her and refuse to let them see each other."

"Or - "

"OKAY, I HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY!" she yelled, and many people glanced over at her, alarmed. She gave them a fleeting smile, which they grimaced and looked away from. "Alright," she tried again quietly, blowing hair out of her face. "I am . . . dating Draco, whether you like it or not. You have not right to tell me who I can and cannot fancy, understand? And don't forget it, or I will unleash my . . . womanly fury onto you. Yeah?"

They stood, shocked. Harry and Ron seemed to be doing a lot of gaping lately.

"Hermione, we're just trying to help," Harry finally offered, "I mean, it's not like you have the best taste in men - "

"Hey!" Ron protested.

"And you have no room to talk, Ronald Weasley, after what you did to me, you toerag!" Hermione blurted loudly, scowling. Only after she realized what she said did her face slip into shock, almost mimicking Ron's. Harry looked torn between surprise and amusement.

"So, there," she finished breathlessly, backing out of the store. "I'll see you later, Harry, feel free to come by my flat anytime . . just know that Draco's living there," she said that last part a bit rushed and refused to flinch at their newly angered expressions. "And Ronald . . . I just - really don't want to see you anytime soon," she admitted, then, before she walked out the door, she gave them a curt wave. "Right. Bye, then."

She walked out of the shop, and found a group photographers waiting for her. She sighed and ignored them and their questions.

"Did you, Harry and Ron get into a row, Hermione?" one lady asked as if they were personal friends.

"Is this the end of the Golden Trio's friendship?"

"Is it true you and Draco Malfoy are dating?"

Hermione stopped abruptly and turned to the voice. A stout man stood there, suddenly meek, glasses that were too small for his face perched on his nose. He shuffled his feet under Hermione's gaze as she contemplated his question.

"Yes," she finally answered, "Yes, we're a couple, Mr. Malfoy and I."

There was a silence.

Then, another bout of questions erupted and Hermione stood there, her eyes wide. Then, someone tugged her hand and she saw Draco there, grinning falsely at the photographers. He dragged her along the sidewalk, but the photographers followed.

Hermione smiled her fakest smile at Draco. "I am feeling so much hate for you right now." she muttered.

"Oh, darling, I love you, too." he said loudly, and the photographers erupted once more.

Hermione tightened her hand around his into a death grip. "I will kill you, Malfoy."

He just laughed and put his arm around her shoudlers, seeming very at ease with all the uneasy things happening in his life.