Author's Note:
This area is intentionally left blank.
Hermione woke up with a start the next morning. She had been having an embarrassingly vivid dream featuring the one and only Draco Malfoy. She looked over to see if Draco had seen anything. Draco was still asleep, and judging by the tent he was pitching in his pyjama bottoms, he was having a similar dream. Hermione blushed and looked away, wondering if she was the subject of his dream like he had been the subject of hers.
She got up and walked to the bathroom for her morning shower. She would have liked to "take care of business", so to speak, but she wouldn't with Draco in the next room. So she simply followed her normal routine of showering and then getting in some studying before classes. She still didn't know how she was going to get Draco to realize that she was interested in him as more of a friend. She had literally zero experience with flirting, other than what had occurred yesterday on their trip to Hogsmeade. Of course, she new about the general concept, but was afraid that whatever conscious attempt she made to flirt with Draco would be heavy-handed and apparent.
As she cast a drying charm on her hair (sometimes she just couldn't be arsed to towel-dry it) and went to the bedroom to grab her Ancient Runes homework, the thought crossed her mind about asking Lavender or Parvati for tips, but she immediately dismissed this notion. They would probably be willing or even enthusiastic tutors, but they would probably ask about the guy in question (somehow prying the information from her no matter how much she tried to avoid it) and spread it around the school. She could ask Ginny, but Ginny had never needed to flirt; guys were attracted to her without Ginny so much as lifting a finger. Unfortunately, Hermione didn't have that advantage. She sighed and tried to refocus on the runic translation in front of her.
* * *
While Hermione was pondering this, Draco was mulling over similar questions while taking his shower. He had never had problems getting a girl before; he was handsome and charming when he wanted to be, and Slytherin girls seemed to thrive off the verbal abuse he had been so eager to dole out. Hermione was different. She seemed impervious to his charms, and he had no idea how to proceed from this point.
As he was toweling off, he got an idea. It was a bit extreme, but then again, it would take extreme measures for Hermione to notice him. He wrapped the towel around his lower half, then nonchalantly walked into the den, where Hermione was evidently doing some homework. She looked up and seemed prepared to give her usual morning greeting, but upon seeing Draco's state of dress (or rather, undress), she blushed and her mouth fell agape. She recovered quickly, though, and began admonishing Draco for being so immodest. "We might be friends, Malfoy, but that doesn't give you license to walk around half-naked around our dorm. What would Dumbledore think if he walked in on us with you in nothing but a towel?"
"I just wanted to ask you if I could borrow your shampoo, seeing as mine has run out, but if you're going to be so prudish I'll just have to deal with greasy hair for today." This, of course, was a blatant falsity, and he would have to vanish his current shampoo so as not to arouse suspicion, but he had done what he had set out to do; plant ideas in Hermione's head.
As he walked back to the bathroom, Hermione said sweetly, "Of course you can use mine, but didn't you have a half-full bottle just yesterday?"
Draco stopped his tracks. He'd been caught. Damn. "I'm, uh, talking about my other bottle of shampoo. Anyway, I'll just use yours, thanks a bunch," he responded before running quickly back into the bathroom. Draco realized another flaw in his poorly-thought-out plan: Hermione thought he still had to take his shower, which meant he would have to stay in here for at least another fifteen minutes.
Well, it did give him time to accomplish a few other necessary things, he thought as he remembered the state in which he had woken up this morning.
* * *
Hermione still couldn't focus on her runic translations. This was bad because Ancient Runes was only thirty minutes away and Hermione had never, ever missed an assignment. Ever. The word "late" wasn't even in her lexicon.
But the vision of Draco's chiseled abs and broad chest would not leave her mind, no matter how hard she tried to focus on the glyphs and signs in front of her. Throughout her Hogwarts career she had prided herself on being (mostly) unmoved by the allure of the opposite sex, but it seemed like that was changing. Malfoy's desperately transparent attempt to show off his body had worked.
With a sigh Hermione gave up the homework as a lost cause and went down to get some breakfast. She needed advice and she knew exactly where to get it.
Ten minutes later, she was sitting at a desolate end of the Gryffindor table, talking to none other then Neville Longbottom.
"Why are you asking me for romantic advice?"
"Because, Neville, you always seem so conscientious and aware of other's feelings."
"I still don't think I'm the best person to ask. Why not ask Harry?" Neville asked.
Hermione glared down the Gryffindor table, where Harry and Ron were chatting animatedly about one trivial topic or another. "He's not the most socially accomplished guy out there, if you know what I mean."
"I know what you mean, but aren't I just as socially inept as he is?" Neville rebutted, sounding confused.
"Whatever," Hermione said dismissively, becoming slightly irked by Neville's reluctance and self-doubt. The point is, even though you don't always know the right thing to say, you never say the wrong thing. So how would you tell somebody you were fond of them? Romantically?"
"I would just say it. Assuming I had the balls to do it in the first place. If you're pretty sure he likes you back, you could probably get away with kissing him too. It depends."
"So, just go in for a kiss, that's what you suggest. Wow, I feel like my life has turned into one of those cheesy romance movies," Hermione said, cradling her head in her hands.
"Movie? What's a movie?"
"Never mind."
* * *
Ancient runes was difficult. Herbology was harder. By the time Arithmancy rolled around, Hermione just wanted to get it over with. It was worse that Draco was sitting next to her for two of those classes, looking completely relaxed. Why would he be stressed, anyway? He had always been perfectly content to let girls come to him, and had probably never had a girl-related stressor in his his life.
"Shouldn't you be taking notes?" Draco hissed, unnoticed by the notoriously oblivious Professor Vector.
"Oh. Yeah," Hermione said, cheeks reddening with embarrassment. Not only was she neglecting her homework, now she was neglecting notes as well. The sooner this thing, whatever it was, was resolved, the sooner she would be able to get back to focusing on her studies. That is, if she wasn't spending every waking second snogging Draco...
Hermione gave her head a little shake and tried to pay attention.
* * *
Draco knew why Hermione wasn't taking notes. He had enough experience with the fairer sex to know when a girl was attracted to him. It had been somewhat unclear before today, but now with Hermione being uncharacteristically listless and prone to staring at him when she thought he wasn't looking, it was quite obvious.
He was going to do something about it. Draco Malfoy, man of action, had never been the passive type.
After class, Hermione ran off to the library, although how she would ever get any studying done in her current mindset, Draco didn't know. He didn't complain, however; her absence would give him the time to prepare everything for tonight. The plan was already solidified in his mind. He was going to sweep Hermione off her feet.
Author's notes:
Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter up, thanks for your patience. I'm just writing this as I go along so I had to figure out a good way to move forward with the story.
