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Fantastic Women and How to Win Their Hearts

Ch. 2

"Spinners End!" Draco shouted clearly as he threw the floo powder down.

"When I gave you access to my floo I was under the impression that you would, at the very least, use some modicum of manners and owl me beforehand." Severus Snape drawled as Draco stepped into his living room.

"Hello to you too, Godfather." Draco replied sarcastically.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of your sudden and slightly unwelcome presence?" Severus was not having a good day. His most recent experiment was not going over so well. He was still trying to work on a cure for the most severe side effects of the Cruciatus Curse.

"Well I can see you're in a right mood, but no matter. I require your assistance; your discreet assistance." Draco was beginning to get nervous.

Severus eyed his Godson; curious as to what he would need his help with. Draco knew he could trust him with anything. During his schooling he and Draco were close. Until of course the war started coming to fruition. The oncoming war put a strain on his relationships with Malfoys. He wanted to help them, but they were too afraid to go against the Dark Lord and his followers. He didn't want to reveal his position right away, until he knew that they would be willing to defect. It wasn't until Draco had been forced to receive the dark mark and then immediately given the impossible task of killing Albus Dumbledore. Albus and Severus devised a plan to help Draco and by extension Lucius and Narcissa. Lucius and Draco became spies for the order and Narcissa went into hiding. The Dark Lord and his followers were under the impression that she had been kidnapped by the Order and held for questioning. Severus preferred not to think about what happened after that, and usually liked to skip ahead to after he and the Malfoy's were exonerated for their crimes.

Severus was broken out of his daze by the sound of several books unceremoniously dropped on his coffee table. Severus picked up one of the books and immediately realized that these were muggle books.

"Is this for a case you are working on?" Severus questioned.

"No. These are for Hermione. Or they were for her."

"May I ask why they are in front of me?"

Draco sighed dramatically and ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm in love with her."

"Obviously," drawled Severus, "Did you just become aware of this yourself?"

Draco's eyes snapped to Severus, "Of course I've known, and what do you mean 'obviously'?"

"I've noticed. Don't worry; no one is nearly as observant as I am. Your secret is safe." Severus waved at Draco to take a seat. The boy was going to wear a whole through his carpet if he kept up his worried pacing.

"Well I've told Ginny. I asked for help. I want Hermione to fall for me. I'm…I'm too afraid to just out right tell her. Ginny said I should show interest in the things Hermione is interested in. So I got her books. Rare muggle books. Next thing I know she's yelling at me and I haven't a clue as to what I did wrong."

Severus looked at his godson sitting down with his head in hands and immediately recognized himself in a similar situation. He remembered what it was like to lose Lily's friendship. To lose the only women he ever loved to a terrible mistake. He remembered how it felt to mess up so terribly that it ruined something so important to him. But Draco wasn't like him. Draco didn't lash out at Hermione like he would have years ago at Hogwarts. Draco didn't lash out in anger like he did to Lily. In fact Draco couldn't even figure out what he did to gain Hermione's ire.

Severus began to look through the books and immediately understood what happened. He inwardly scoffed. That dunderhead didn't even understand what he bought. Of course a girl like Hermione would be offended by these books. She probably thought he was being an arse and telling her what he thought women should be doing.

"Draco, I'm sure your heart was in the right place, but you should have asked about these books beforehand or at least looked at these books. These are books written during the women suffrage movement. While many muggles believed women should have equal rights, there were also many that fought against that idea. Many people thought that a woman's place was at home: taking care of her kids, household, and husband. Women back then were subservient to men and had very little rights. These are books written by Jean-Jacque Rousseau and former British Prime Minister Herbert Asquith. They both were against equality for women. There is even a book about how becoming a better woman, complete with recipes. And you…." Severus sentence was cut short.

"And I gave those books to Hermione Bloody Granger." Draco groaned.

"Indeed." Severus had to admit that he was slightly amused.

"Bloody hell! How do I fix this?" Draco asked, almost to himself.

"Apologize Draco. Tell her you didn't understand the significance of the books you purchased."

"I still want to make up for the lousy gift. Should I get her something safe? Like jewelry?"

"Miss Granger has never been the materialistic sort. Why not make her something?"

"Do you honestly expect me to make her something? What am I supposed to do? Knit her something Weasley style?" Draco sneered, resembling the spoiled prat he was at Hogwarts."

"For someone so intelligent, you can really be thick sometimes Draco. I seem to recall you owning a few of those Weasley sweaters yourself. Think Draco. What do you excel at? What have I personally taught you?"

"Potions." Draco deadpanned, "You want me to give her a love potion? For Merlin's sake Severus! I don't want to trick her."

Severus smacked him upside the head, "I'm going to try and ignore the fact you said that because you're behaving exceptionally moronic due to your lovesick condition. Make a potion specifically for her; something practical that she can use."

Realization dawned on Draco and he nearly ran for the fireplace, "Thank you Severus."

With a renewed sense of confidence, Draco flooed home and began to work on his present for Hermione. He worked all night, and even took a sick day to work in his personal potions lab. It took him longer than he expected, but he finished his potion. He was incredibly nervous to face Hermione, but he decided to owl her. Draco asked her to meet him at the Leaky Cauldron for dinner.

Draco sat in a slightly more secluded corner of the Leaky Cauldron in order to give them some privacy. He was also a little afraid she may start yelling at him again and didn't want too many witnesses. He saw Hermione before she saw him, she looked beautiful. He was content to just watch her as she looked around the pub for him. He was more than a little disappointed when Hermione didn't smile immediately after spotting him. She had the same determined look on her face, which she usually reserved for testifying against criminals. As she made her way over Draco began to panic and worried that she was going to tell him off again.

Instead, she sat down with a tight smile on her face, "Hello Draco."

"Hello Hermione. Thank you for agreeing to meet me for dinner." Draco sighed inwardly. He was relieved that this could go better than he expected.

Not one to beat around the bush, Hermione replied, "Why weren't you at work today?"

"I had some personal matters to take care of. But that isn't why I asked you to dinner. I wanted to apologize to you Hermione. I truly didn't understand the content of the books that I gave you. Not that that excuses anything, because I should have known better. I don't think I could ever forgive myself if I ever really hurt you again or did something that was so unforgiveable it ruins our friendship." Draco was rambling at his point. He looked up to see Hermione with a small, yet genuine smile on her lips.

"I accept your apology Draco. Honestly, I shouldn't have reacted the way I did. I was annoyed sure, but you didn't deserve that reaction. Do you forgive me?" Hermione seemed embarrassed by her behavior. Draco could see that she was worrying her lip and wanted nothing more than to reach across the table and soothe her bottom lip. He shook his head not wanting to focus any more on her tempting mouth.

"Well I can't say I wasn't surprised by your reaction, but an apology isn't necessary. I wanted to make up for such a terrible gift, so I made you something" Draco took a vial out of his pockets and handed it to Hermione. The liquid was a beautiful golden yellow that reminded her of the sunflowers. "It's for your hair. Your always commenting on how long it takes to fix it every morning and how much you don't like using Sleekeazy's. It's a conditioner and should make your hair more manageable but still keep the curls." By the end of the explanation Draco felt he sounded like a damn hairdresser. What in Merlin's saggy balls was happening to him?

Hermione was smiling, watching the potion in the vial swirl in an almost iridescent manner. He decided he could care less how he sounded, as long as she smiled like that. He was glad he added a little bit of the coloring so the potion would look as pleasing as it did.

"Thank you Draco. I can't believe you went through so much trouble for me. I admit I was a little offended at first, but I really appreciate all the thought that went into this. I can't wait to use this." Hermione was genuinely excited.

Yup, Draco was well and truly a sap now.

The next day at work:

Hermione was late. Hermione was never late. Draco sat in his office pretending to be reading a report, instead wondering what could have happened to her. He asked Harry and Ron, but neither of them had seen her. He was shaken from his thoughts when the door to his office was thrown open and a very angry, very blond Hermione stormed in wand in hand. Harry and Ron hot on her heels, trying to prevent whatever might happen or assist, Draco couldn't really tell.

Before Harry and The Weasel could cross the threshold to his office Hermione had already slammed the door, warded it and threw up a silencing charm. A testament to how brilliant and powerful she truly was. He was bloody terrified.

"Err…" Draco attempted to start.

Hermione flicked her wand, silenced him and began around the office trying to calm herself.

"I don't know what exactly you thought you were doing. I am doing my best to not jump to conclusions and give you the benefit of the doubt. But you are going to fix it. You are going to tell me exactly what ingredients you used, and how to reverse it. I've tried everything I could think of. I even owled Fred and George thinking they might have had a hand in this, but they have no clue." She was trying not to cry he could see. He felt like an utter arse. "I'm blond Draco! This doesn't look good on me! It seems to be impervious to a glamour as well!" She was more frustrated than anything.

When Hermione noticed his mouth moving but no words coming out she quickly remembered what she had done and unsilenced him. Draco approached her cautiously not wanting to push his luck. "I'm sorry Hermione, I had no idea your hair would turn blond. You have to know that was never my intention."

Hermione sighed heavily as she slumped down in one of the chairs. "I know," She groaned. "I just look absolutely ridiculous."

"I have to look over my notes and see where I went wrong. I'll owl Severus as well." Draco said apologetically.

Hermione huffed petulantly, "Fine, but I'm going home. There isn't anything to pressing here and I might as well try and figure out how to fix this. Owl me as soon as you figure it out."

And just as quickly as she stormed in, Hermione was out of his office. Draco couldn't believe how much he bollocksed this up. He had to go to his flat and grab his notes and the extra vials of conditioning potion he made. He sighed and decided he would need to floo his godfather again. He was really hoping this wasn't going to be a recurring thing. Severus was never going to let him forget this mistake. Draco was personally tutored by arguably the best Potion Master alive.

"Honestly Draco, I thought I taught you better than this." Severus couldn't say he was upset. He actually couldn't wait to see what the little chit looked like blond. He may actually crack a smile. "You deviated from your own arithmancy equations to add a bit of color? Then you proceeded to give her the untested potion? Did I get all the key information?"

"Yes," Draco ground out. He didn't much appreciate being treated like a first year, "Professor."

"You will do well to remember that you came to me for help in solving your mistake. Do not behave in such a adolescent manner towards me, or you may be forced to seek the help of the Weasley twins." Severus raised an eyebrow as he sneered at Draco.

Draco shuttered at the thought. The Weasley twins were infamous in their abilities to create and reverse creative spells, potions, charms, etc. He did not want to have to go to them, he may be forced to be a test subject in exchange for their help. "I apologize for my tone. I'm a bit frustrated with the situation.

"Very well; I have some business to attend to and then I will take a look at your notes and run some tests on the potion. Go do whatever it is you were planning to do and I will owl you with my results." Severus left no room for misunderstanding that this was a dismissal. Draco thanked his Godfather and headed back to the Ministry of Magic.

The rest of the day passed slowly for Draco. He could only hope that he or Severus would find something that could help Hermione.

AN: I want to end this chapter by saying that I'm not a writer. I just had an idea and I wanted to see it written. I also want to mention that each chapter will be based on various pieces of advice that Draco gets from different characters. The first chapter was Ginny and this chapter was Severus. Suggestions and ideas welcomed! I have most of the chapters/pieces of advice figured out but I'm still working on others. Thank you for reading!