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"Presenting…"
Hermione held her breath and smiled.
"Mr. and Mrs. Harry Potter!"
Boisterous cheers and lively applaud quickly followed as Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley, now Potter, entered the magnificently arranged tent for their reception.
Hermione was the first to greet the newlyweds and was closely followed by Ron Weasley. She gave Harry a friendly kiss on the cheek after she had shouted, "Congratulations!" in order to be heard over the catcalls for the boy-who-lived and his wife. Then she gave Ginny a hug and held her friend at arm's length to say, "I'm so happy for you!"
Ginny squealed a "thank you!" before giving Hermione another bone-crushing hug. Hermione gave an airy laugh once she let her go and excused herself from the hoards of people lining up to personally greet the couple to get herself a drink and find a place to seat herself; preferably a dark corner where she could hide and bask in her self-pity and jealousy.
Unfortunately, no seat quite fit the description. Then again, she could always opt for a seat near the wedding cake, suppose, she could just eat away her self–pity and jealousy…
Ok, that was a joke.
Hermione smiled at the pair. It didn't matter what she felt though cause it wasn't about her. It was about Harry and Ginny, her dear friends. The truth was their love was so blatant for each other despite the challenges it took to get to this point in their lives that Hermione could only marvel.
Which is exactly why it made her a little sad to know that she was one of the few, if not the only person, amongst her peers that wasn't married or in a relationship. The twinge of self-pity and jealousy she felt earlier stemmed from the doubt of her ever finding a match in life. She loved her friends, the lot of them, but it was getting quite tiring to be the only one without a partner in their outings or weekly pub gatherings. She could feel her friends' pitying gazes upon her back every time she would stand to leave, very much alone and it was wearing her down.
She approached the seat next to the wedding cake warily and sat. She glanced around to make sure no one occupied the seat first by checking for valuables then she scanned the other seats. The only other occupant of the table was a stout man, mid-fifties, she guessed, with a crooked nose that reminded her oddly of Professor Snape, her potions teacher from Hogwarts.
Only fatter.
With slightly more wrinkles. (What could she say, Snape was a bat, but he was a bat that aged quite well)
And of course, the signature Red, Weasley hair.
A red–haired Snape, how utterly revolting.
To solidify the thought, Hermione shuddered.
Her musings were interrupted when someone placed a hand on her shoulder. She tensed, but when she looked up and was met with Ron's familiar, baby blue eyes, she relaxed.
Never failed to charm the ladies, that one.
"What's a pretty lady like you doing in a lonely place right here?"
Hermione laughed. "Now, now sir, who said I was alone?" She nodded her head towards the crooked-nosed gentleman who was now slumped over on his chair with his hands resting on his bulging stomach, his shoulders slowly rising and falling with every heavy breath he took.
Red-haired Snape was fast asleep and snoring up a storm.
Now it was Ron's turn to laugh as he took a seat beside her. "Ah, I see."
There was a moment of silence between the two friends who, together, eyed their long-time, best friend as he gave his wife an affectionate kiss on her hand. But Ron sensed there was something bothering the lovely lady – whom he considered his second sister – beside him that he could almost feel her loneliness inside himself as well. He didn't know how this intuition came to be. Perhaps it came with knowing each other for so long – thirteen years of friendship, they were now twenty-four, Hermione, twenty-five – and experiencing potentially life-threatening events together during the span of their friendship.
He turned his gaze towards Hermione and put a hand on her shoulder. "You alright?"
Hermione faced him and saw the genuine concern in his eyes that she had to smile. "Of course I'm alright Ron. What gave you the impression I wasn't?"
"Oh, I dunno. Maybe it was the way you were looking at the cake, with a mad glint in your eye." He teased and she hit him playfully on the shoulder. "Shut up!" She exclaimed with such poor authority that Ron just laughed at her again. But she sobered up when asked her once more, with such seriousness it scared her a bit. She didn't really want him to see right through her at the moment.
"No Hermione, really, what's bothering you?"
I ought to tell him, she thought. And for a moment, she considered it. But her eyes wavered to that of the lovely couple seated in the front of the room and she smiled softly. This day wasn't about her after all.
"Perhaps another time."
She looked over his shoulder and told him, "Go back to your wife, Ron." with a wave of her hand. Then she teasingly added, "We wouldn't want to give her any ideas about our secret love affair. Wouldn't want to be discovered!" She joked.
At first she thought Ron wouldn't let it go, but he chuckled and turned around on his seat so he could get a view of his wife, Luna Lovegood. He gave her a sultry wink in which she blushed then returned to the conversation before her. He sighed happily and gave Hermione a lopsided grin fit for a love struck fool.
She shook her head.
"Go back to your wife." She commanded again together with a knowing look and Ron happily obliged but not before asking, "Won't you sit with us? We still have room for one, you know."
Hermione chanced a glance behind him at the table where he sat, and grimaced when she saw it filled with couples. "No thanks." She shrugged nonchalantly, "I think I'll stay here, by the cake. Besides, I should like to better acquaint myself with Red-haired Snape over here. Get to know the family and all."
"Red-haired Snape?" Ron's eyes widened in confusion, and he turned to look at the man.
She nodded, "He's from your side of the family, isn't he? Red hair and freckles. I called him that cause he resembled Snape but–"
"With red hair."
"Exactly."
"And fatter. More wrinkles too."
"That's exactly what I thought! See, we were friends for a reason."
"Best friends." Ron corrected. Then he scratched his head. "You know, I don't actually know who the hell he is…"
"Oh?" Hermione looked at the unknown man thoughtfully, "Well it's always good to make new friends."
Ron shook his head amusedly at her, "Hermione Granger, you are so very strange…"
"Yes," she smiled brightly, "but it's for that very reason I keep you all entertained."
He nodded in agreement. "Hmm, and so very true."
So with a kiss on her forehead and a parting wink, Ron returned to his table where he greeted his wife with a loving kiss at the corner of her mouth. Hermione sighed with delight, and perhaps a little more jealousy. She surveyed the room with slight contempt for it seemed she was the only single person in attendance.
Well, her and Red-haired Snape.
Hermione shuddered again; the sight of him truly was revolting.
She crossed her arms in front of her chest and returned to gazing longingly at the cake. Perhaps, I could still eat my self-pity and jealousy away after all, she thought with a ravenous lick of her lips.
"You're not thinking what I think you're thinking now, are you, Granger?" Drawled a smooth voice.
Hermione stiffened and glanced behind her. "Depends. What exactly are you thinking I'm thinking, Malfoy?"
He chuckled amusedly before taking a seat beside her and replying, "Oh you know," and he raised his eyebrows, "You're ogling that cake for dear life, Granger. I see the way you look at it, slowly stripping it down, piece by piece before finally taking a lovely bite out of each and every one. Each delightful taste is a space in your heart filled. Only momentarily, of course."
Hermione turned away from him so he could not see her blush. Seven years later and he could still make her blush.
"But seriously, you can't just sit here, wallowing morbidly. What would Scarhead say? Surely he'd blame it on me and have my head on a silver platter to serve for his dessert." He said in all seriousness.
She gave him a pointed look and replied quite crossly, "Malfoy, if Harry had your head on a silver platter, you do know it'll be on my silver platter to serve as my dessert, right?"
He had to laugh at that one and she found herself smiling quite a bit at her own little quip as well. Hearing him laugh again after such a long time took her back to all those years ago. That night in the Heads Common Room when he had caught her staring and he declared…
Yes, well, that was in the past, she thought quickly. And there was no use bringing it up now.
"So what have you been up to Granger, old girl? Heard you're brewing up a storm in the Ministry."
"Yes, I work in the Department for Care of Magical Creatures. Though, try as I might, not enough people really want to back me up in my betterment-of-the-house-elves cause. Come to think of it, not enough house elves are backing me up for their betterment. Though I can't imagine why, it is for their benefit!"
Malfoy shook his head. "Haven't you gotten it into your supposedly know-it-all skull, my beloved Granger?" She bristled at the 'beloved' part. He made it sound like she was a clueless toddler despite it being an endearing term, "House elves actually like to serve people. That's how they're programmed and there's nothing you can do to change that."
She huffed. "Yes well, it couldn't hurt to try. At least I was able to pass that bill wherein house elves have the choice to work for employers now and are not to self-harm."
At that she beamed and Malfoy chuckled at her. "Oh, really?"
When he chuckled, Hermione immediately suspected something was up. She regarded him suspiciously.
"This law also states that it is mandatory for all families with house elves to free them and if they are still willing to work so be it." She took a breath and recited, as if she were in school again, "According to section one, paragraph one of the Magical Creatures' Bill of Rights, house elves in every household are to be freed through the giving of clothes by the employer to the house elf. If the house elf willingly chooses to continue working for their current employer, the house elf is then entitled to salary and vacation leave which is to be granted by the employer."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "And you are an employer, which means that this is something you should know, which means this is something you should adhere to, which means you have house elves to be freed."
He smirked. "And if they're not?"
"Not? Not? That means you're breaking the law!" She poked him in the chest. "Well?"
"Well what?" He replied haughtily.
"Are you doing as the law commands?"
He flicked a piece of lint from his shoulder (which was a total lie, she suspected, for he never would allow such filth unto his body. There wasn't even a wrinkle in sight!) then turned to her with a look of supreme smugness on his face saying, "Wouldn't you like to know?"
Outraged, she started poking him again (quite painfully, in fact) that he grabbed the wayward finger and held her hand to his chest.
"You wound me, do you know that? In the most terrible ways! Your finger alone holds quite a punch."
"Oh don't be such a pansy!" And she poked his chest again for good measure. Before he could retort with utmost indignation, someone spoke.
"Did somebody say Pansy?"
They both turned to the sound of the voice and there she was.
"Hello Darlings!" Pansy declared her entrance by grabbing Draco's cheeks and pecking them thrice then subsequently doing the same to Hermione.
"Pansy, always not a pleasure." Said Malfoy dryly as he stood, wiping the smudge of lipstick he was sure Pansy purposely left on his cheek just to irritate him.
"Draco, always such the non-charmer." She replied with equal lack of fervor.
"Pansy," Hermione said fondly.
At the greeting, Pansy shot her a dazzling smile and gripped her hand, forcing her to stand as well. "Hermione dear, I've a proposal for you!"
Hermione's own smile dropped instantly and she groaned at the word 'proposal.'
It never bode well for her, after all.
Pansy was a colleague of hers in the DCMC, which shocked her at first. Hermione didn't know her to be such a supporter of house-elves but apparently Pansy was practically raised by them, her parents being too busy climbing up the social ladder to bother taking care of their only child (at which Pansy would often exclaim, "Thank goodness they only sired one child, Merlin knows they couldn't take care of one, what more, well, more?"). As a result, Pansy cared deeply for their well being, as they were her constant companions throughout childhood.
The result of Pansy being an only child though (and being raised without human or children interaction early on) was that she tended to meddle into everyone's lives that she cared about, in an effort to miraculously impact their lives. This included Hermione, whom she had taken an instant liking to when she witnessed her passion for elfish welfare.
Unfortunately, making a 'miraculous impact' in Pansy's world meant she would not stop until she found Hermione's one true love through a series of very tedious, very painful blind dates. At her fifth, disastrous attempt to match make, Hermione was certain Pansy took the meaning of 'blind dates' literally and picked her dates from her address book by, 'pointing to the east, pointing to the west and pointing to the one that she liked best' all with her eyes blindfolded.
Hermione for the most part, didn't mind being considered one of Pansy's closest friends and vice versa. But – and she'd suffer through so many of these things, even if prior to each one she told herself it was the absolute last – she knew enough to confidently say that each time her dear friend approached her with a 'proposal' she was set up for doom.
She was set up, period!
"Please Pansy, please, please please, not another blind date! I told you, it was the absolute last time when you set me up with Flint!"
"Oh but Hermione, this is the one!I just know it!"
"The last time you said 'this is the one' you set me up with Pucey and the ponce drank too much liquor and threw up on me!"
Pansy looked properly abashed. "Yes well, admittedly, that was an oversight. But I couldn't have seen his drinking problem from miles away! Besides, not every date I've set you up with has been bad!"
"Really? Would you like to bet on it?" Hermione glared at her and placed her hands at her hips. "Right then, let's start from the beginning. The first time you set me up, it was with Nott who was so introverted that we barely exchanged two words – 'hello' and 'goodbye'! Then the second time around it was with Zabini who now was so extroverted that he did nothing but talk! About himself! Then, my personal favorite," she continued in sarcastic tones, "the time with Berrow, who was nothing but a creep and stared at my chest the entire night–"
"Well, your cleavage is quite something Hermione–"
"I was wearing a turtleneck!"
"Ok!" Pansy raised her hands in defeat. "So I made a few mistakes…"
"FEW?"
Pansy ignored this. "But," and she raised her big, round eyes to Hermione in a effort to disarm her, "I just want to make a miraculous impact in your life!"
Hermione though, was having none of it. "The only thing miraculous here, Pansy, is your atrocious taste in the men you set me up with!"
"But Hermione, I just don't want you to be alone!" And she looked so sincere that all the vexation left Hermione completely. This time, Pansy's big, round eyes were giving her the look she so very much hated, the look that she felt said that Pansy pitied her when deep down she knew her friend was just concerned for her.
Just as Hermione was to give her begrudging consent, a throat cleared and both girls jumped at the sound.
Malfoy, she thought, bewilderingly. She had forgotten he was there.
Why was he still there?
"She won't be alone."
Pansy scoffed. "Of course she won't." She turned to Hermione. "I saw that look of yours and I know you were about to say yes, even if it was grudgingly." She took Hermione's right hand and tugged gently. "Come along then, Warrington is waiting."
Hermione turned to bid Draco a relieved farewell by raising her free hand but was prevented from doing so by his own hand catching hers.
"I mean, she won't be alone, because she will be with me."
"Pardon?" Both girls asked, both with looks of befuddlement on their faces though Pansy's revealed her curiosity more while Hermione seemed to be on the verge of asphyxiation.
"Hermione darling, are you quite all right?" Pansy whispered with barely concealed amusement.
"I will be Granger's escort for the remainder of the evening." Draco continued, with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.
At first, Pansy was hesitant. But, she saw the way Draco looked at Hermione and, well, could it be but…?
It seemed there was only one way for her to find out and without a second's thought she let go of Hermione's hand.
"Well then–"
At that moment, Hermione's own hand, the hand previously in Pansy's grip, shot out to hold hers again and she mumbled, in harried tones, "Pansy, wait–"
Pansy smirked and tapped a finger to her chin, "What was it you said about my, atrocious taste in the men I set you up with?"
"N-no, that? I, I was just pulling your leg–"
Pansy gently pried Hermione's hands from her own and shot a brief look at Draco, who looked mildly concerned for Hermione.
"Granger, if you're really not well–"
"Nonsense," Pansy said, "Hermione's quite all right. Aren't you?"
Hermione shook her head just as Pansy nodded. "Yes, I see you're in perfectly capable hands." She eyed Draco with much approval while he eyed both girls interestedly.
"Pansy…" Hermione pleaded in a whisper, one last time.
She merely winked, and disappeared with a delicate wave, a "Ta, darling!" and a sashay of her hips.
Incorrigible witch, she thought, but her good friend nonetheless.
Hermione expelled a breath.
"I didn't know you were such good friends with Pansy."
She whirled around to face him, her guard up and her expression wary, with good reason.
As evidenced by her earlier blush, seven years may have passed but the presence of a certain Draco Malfoy still had the ability to turn her brain into mush and get her body reacting in non-Hermione ways.
It was so unfair that he still looked as good as he did after all this time! It was so much easier to avoid him if he wasn't so attractive. Even if they were only twenty-four, how she wished his hairline would start receding already or perhaps wrinkles would appear all over his face, just so he wouldn't affect her so.
But that was not the case. His hair still looked an organized mess, falling in a way that made her want to run her hands all over it. He had the same pointy nose she found appealing, his jaw remained sharp and by the way his dress shirt was clinging to his torso, she could tell he was still very much in shape and even more filled out in the shoulders and chest area. Then there were his eyes, his cold and gray eyes, a stormy sea in their good days and positively mercurial during their bad days.
…and still her favorite part about him.
She narrowed her eyes at herself.
Traitorous, traitorous mind. Treacherous, two-timing body!
"And I thought you were."
Finally, she turned to face him and saw him holding out the chair for her. She took a seat and ignored the fact that her heart started racing at the gentlemanly gesture.
"What gave you that impression?"
He pushed her chair in and reclaimed his seat next to hers.
"Well, it's just… in school…"
He raised an eyebrow as if to say, 'do go on'.
"You two seemed really close. She was always near you, you included her in your group, she was always sitting next to you in the Great Hall and in classes, you even took her to the Yule ball. In fact, I heard you were dating each other up until fifth year and…"
She trailed off at the look on his face, one of pure amusement and astonishment even, his chin propped up on a closed fist.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"I never knew you cared about, much less noticed me at all."
She blushed (indeed, she did that a lot when she was around him – she attributed it to some Malfoy bug) to the roots of her hair and huffed, trying to reclaim some dignity by retorting, "I don't! It's just that, living with a person for a year, you get to know things. Plus, I have great attention to detail!"
"Fine then, name the girl Terry Boot last dated when we were at Hogwarts."
"Trick question, Terry Boot was dating but not a girl. He was dating Michael Corner at the time."
Draco stared at her, clearly impressed. "Cor, Granger. I'll give you that one." He nodded and inwardly she sighed with relief. "Fair enough, Pansy and I dated very briefly in fourth year but, it didn't really work out."
"Why?"
He visibly cringed. "She was more of a sister to me and I her brother so ultimately it would have felt like incest." But then, the sparkle in his eye returned. "But do go on, tell me more about what you've noticed about me."
She narrowed her eyes, "It takes you three hours to get ready in the morning because you like to take time to style your hair, which makes no sense to me because it always looks a mess!"
"I was going for a just-had-sex-look, still am! It's a big hit with the ladies, you know." He waggled his eyebrows at her. She ignored this.
"Marmalade and peanut butter is your favorite snack, which is disgusting by the way–"
"How would you know, you never tried it!" She glared at him further and continued.
"You have more skin care products than any girl I know–"
"Hey, great skin is not a joke."
"You like to leave your shoes out by the portrait hole cause you don't like wearing them in your room–"
"I think that's perfectly reasonable, you can never know what you've stepped on."
"Your shoes are on you the entire time you walk, of course you know what you've stepped on!"
"Anything else I should know?"
"You snore."
At that, he raised an accusing finger at her and said, "I do not!"
For the first time in the evening, it was Hermione's turn to smirk. "Oh, the silencing spells I had to put up just so I wouldn't hear you…"
Draco glared at her. "I don't believe you, you're lying and you're doing this to purposely annoy me."
She laughed. "Suit yourself, Malfoy. But just remember, it's you who doesn't hear yourself when you sleep. But I did." And she flicked his nose for good measure.
He looked at her wryly. "How mature of you, Granger."
"I know. It's so hard to be the only grown-up in the table." She replied with mock grievance. "But maybe I don't want to be mature." He turned his entire body towards her and raised a disbelieving eyebrow.
"What! Is that so hard to believe?"
"Have you met yourself? Do you know who you are?"
"Yes and yes and, I think that's the problem."
Draco opened his mouth to give a witty response – something along the lines of how her and maturity were like Potter's sight without his eyeglasses, indistinguishable – when the emcee of the reception chose that moment to announce the arrival of dinner.
Waiters appeared out of nowhere and served the three occupants of the enormous table their meals. For the first time, Draco noticed there were more than two people in the table than he and Hermione were staying at.
"Granger, who is that?"
"That's Red-haired Snape."
Draco stared at her, then at Red-haired Snape, then her, and Red-haired Snape before bursting into raucous laughter.
Hermione cracked a smile and tried to suppress her own laughter. It wasn't that she found Red-haired Snape funnier than the last time she had looked at him, she was over the resemblance. It was just that she had never seen Malfoy look so unguarded as he did now, all smile lines and relaxed posture.
I suppose he gets it too, she thought.
"What?" He asked when she continued to stare at him in amazement.
She shook her head, "Nothing. Nothing at all."
He gave her a peculiar look and before he could question her further she asked just to distract him, "So where do you work, Malfoy?"
He took a drink before answering then said, "Mm see well, that all depends."
"Depends? On what?"
"On what happens tonight, of course!"
A little cautiously, she questioned, "And what will happen tonight?"
He smiled mischievously. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
She scowled. Wouldn't you like to know? She thought mockingly in her head. She was beginning to hate that line.
He noticed her temperament and merely smiled just to aggravate her more. The remainder of their meal was spent with the sound of silverware clanging against plates as they ate in the absence of verbal conversation; though their actions told a different story. Draco endeavored to bring Hermione out of her sullen mood and amuse her by periodically flinging peas at Red-haired Snape who, miraculously, managed to remain asleep the entire time. She tried to be disapproving but lost it when one of the peas landed in the hole of his bellybutton through his dress shirt.
"10 points to Slytherin for Chaser Malfoy's stunning shot!"
Hermione stifled her laughter long enough to speak. "Chaser? I thought you were a Seeker through and through? You're certainly built for it."
Draco's eyes sparkled. "Noticing my build now Granger? Though I shouldn't be surprised, you always were eye raping me."
Hermione groaned and hid her face behind her hands to mask the blush that threatened to spill all over her cheeks. "For the last time Malfoy, there was no eye raping going on!"
"Besides," He went on, deciding to save her the embarrassment. For now. "I'll only be a Seeker if you're on the team. Cause you'd definitely be a Keeper."
Hermione was once more consumed in a fit of giggles. "Gods Malfoy, is this how you pick girls up? That's pitiful! They actually fall for that sort of stuff?"
Offended, he ignored this and went on with another topic. "We never did finish our earlier conversation."
"Which one, the one of Red-haired Snape? The questionable status of your house elves – which you haven't answered by the way – or, Merlin forbid, more about you you conceited man–"
"Actually, I meant the one about you."
"Me?"
"Yeah, and I quote, 'Yes and yes and I think that's the problem.' End quote. Ringing any bells?"
Astonished, she gaped at him with wide eyes and replied, "You heard that?"
"I know you're used to your morons not paying attention to you–"
"Harry and Ron aren't morons!"
"–but I was and I heard it loud and clear. Now, I believe we should further expound on this topic of your self-esteem, if only these damn servants would stop interrupting us!"
Said "servants" once again appeared out of nowhere to clear their table of their plates and replace them with their dessert dishes and accompanying cutlery.
Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Seriously Malfoy, only you of all people would call these decent people servants. Honestly, would it kill you to address another person like they were actually another human being like you?"
"How would we keep the peasants in line then? Heavens, no," he shuddered. "Too much effort, they might stage a rebellion."
"You're incorrigible!"
"And you have low self-esteem!"
She stared at him with her mouth agape and suddenly felt highly insulted by this comment. In hindsight, it wasn't really all that offensive (beats being called a Mudblood any day) but she realized then that she forgot how much of a prat Malfoy could be because she was actually enjoying his company.
But that comment reminded her of exactly whom she was with and she made to leave when he grabbed a hold of her hand. She glared at him and tried to shake him off but he held firm.
"Let go of me!"
"Where are you going?"
She tugged once more and glared at him harder. "Away from you."
He tugged back, "Don't be silly, I didn't know your self-esteem was that low, now we really do need to talk."
"Argh! This is exactly why I want to leave. You have no filter, whatsoever. I can't believe ladies far and wide brag of your charms when it is so obvious you have none–"
"Well, to be fair, one has to be a lady to fall for my charms–"
"What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Just sit back down, you silly bint!"
"No! I'd rather spend a night in a pit full of snakes than spend another second with you!"
"You're in luck sweetheart cause you're looking at the king of the snakes himself."
"Gods, you are such an ass–"
"And you're being a prissy bitch. Just sit down!"
"No."
"You're causing a scene, you wouldn't want to do that in the wedding of your best friend, would you?"
At that, she momentarily ceased her struggle and looked around her. Indeed, the occupants of their neighboring tables noticed the commotion she was making and she had to fight a blush. Her gaze travelled from then to that of Malfoy's face and it was then she caught his smirk.
She frowned heavily, the bastard was manipulating her and she was falling for it! If she caused any more of a scene, surely Ron would notice and it would only be a matter of time before Harry would too and that would mean taking time away from their wives just to concern themselves with her silly little tantrum.
Malfoy's smirk widened as he saw the realization seeped into her eyes and she wanted to smack his face silly because she knew that he knew that she knew, she now had no choice but to comply. She glared at him harder as she took a seat, praying to the Gods may be that her gaze would be strong enough to make Malfoy disintegrate into nothing but ashes.
Alas, it did not go to her favor, as most of the things that night were wont to not do.
"Atta girl." He said patting the hand that he held in his own. He apparently hadn't let go. As he looked down at their clasped hands, it was out of the blue that he said, "You have pretty fingers."
She blinked. "Pardon?"
He smiled something charming and replied, "You heard me."
"No, I don't think I quite did. Unless you said that I had pretty fingers."
"That's exactly what I said."
She blinked some more. "You're crazy."
He tapped her nose, so reminiscent of that time in the common room during their seventh year, and said "And you're adorable Granger. You really do have pretty fingers."
"Uh, no." She shook her head at the strange feeling of déjà vu. "I had the habit of popping them during my years in Hogwarts and they've grown stubby because of it. Ron and Harry used to say that no one would want to marry me, all cause the stubbiness would get in the way of me being able to hold a wand and 'please my man' or some other rubbish they'd spout off from the top of those dirty little heads of theirs."
Draco chuckled, "Those idiots are wrong, you of all people should know that." He brought her fingers to his lips, lightly kissing each knuckle. She gulped.
What is happening? This is not real, she fervently thought.
He leaned in closer, gazing heatedly into her eyes as he said, "Because, I'll marry you, if you'll recall."
She did not bother attempting to stop the rush of blood to her face, that comment coupled with the close proximity of his lips to her own and the waft of his perfume that reached her nose had rendered her into a complete speechless mess.
Suddenly, the intensity of his stare melted into mirth as he reclined in his chair, his expression screaming smugness. "I suppose you are a lady after all because that, Granger, is how I charm the ladies over. You just fell for it."
She spluttered, finally, albeit still in a decidedly flustered manner, regaining a bit of her senses. "I did not!"
He scoffed. "Oh please. Pupils dilated, pulse racing, breath coming in in short gasps, you had all the signs of attraction. Admit it, after all these years you still find me attractive!"
"I hardly call looming over someone else's face 'attractive.' And besides," she glanced at their still clasp hands, "How could I not be immobilized, I'm not the one letting go, am I?"
Over the course of their trip back to reality, she endeavored to be free of his grip yet each attempt ended in failure until she simply had to stop trying.
"Your point?" He drawled.
"I'm not the only one with an attraction here."
"Ha! So you do admit it?" Then he flashed her one of his positively sinful grins, indicating just how oh-so-pleased he was.
That grin should be against the law, she wanted to say but she also didn't want to encourage him. Instead, and trying not to fall for any of his moves again, she concentrated on their hands and noticed him playing with her finger, giving her hand an experimental squeeze and touch as she desperately tried to ignore just how tingly it made her feel on the inside.
As tough as Hermione was, she was still a single woman who was, as evidenced numerous times in their recent interaction, not entirely unsusceptible to Draco Malfoy's looks and charms. She must have been some kind of masochist because half the time, he wasn't even pleasant to her!
Now, she devoted the entirety of her existence to knowing the truth of things and this thing, this man of the Draco variety was something she simply couldn't comprehend, how is it that one moment, he could infuriate her then turn her insides into jelly in the next? This man was certainly her kryptonite and she certainly didn't appreciate not understanding why.
Before she could further delve into this complexity, she was snapped out of her musings when he proclaimed, "I meant what I said, Granger. I have every intention of marrying you."
Well, when he went around saying things like that, it was no wonder she was reduced to a girly mess each time they had a close encounter.
Thinking him to be tricking her once again, she decided not to take anything he said from there on at face value and simply rolled her eyes.
"And here I thought I was marrying you." She remarked sarcastically.
His grin widened. "Glad you're warming up to the idea."
She made to smack him when he announced, "Oh look, Harry and Ginny are about to cut the cake!"
She turned and saw that indeed, her best friends were near the cake and were about to do the whole ceremonial cutting of the cake then feigning-feeding-it-to-each-other-cause-everyone-k nows-we're-going-to-dump-it-to-the-other's-face. Ginny was quick to duck Harry's attempt though so it was only him who ended up with a face full of icing and cake.
The audience, including Hermione, let out a hearty laugh and Ginny, already regretful (or you know, at least pretending it) proceeded to wipe Harry of the mess on his face and gave him a kiss on the cheek. When the couple returned to their seats, it was then everyone was served their own slice of cake.
"Ah, a red velvet cake for a red haired wife and his red haired in-laws." He announced, poking his cake around.
"You don't like red velvet?"
"As a matter of fact I don't. It's colored chocolate! Might as well go for the real chocolate then. Why, do you like red velvet?"
Hermione, ever the opportunist, saw a chance to antagonize him and so gave a wicked smile.
"Actually, I do like it." She stated, using her fork to cut a big slice of her piece and lifting it near her mouth as if she was going to bite it, "But I think I like it better when it's on your face!"
At the last minute, she flicked the piece of cake and it landed right smack in the middle of Draco's face. There was a beat of silence before Hermione burst into laughter.
"Are you sure you don't like red velvet, Malfoy?" She gasped out in the middle of her fit, "Because I have to say, it looks positively scrumptious on you!"
Draco, until now, remained utterly silent but Hermione was laughing so hard that she probably wouldn't hear him if he said anything.
This was also probably why she didn't see it coming when he dumped his cake on her head.
Instantly, her cackling died.
"Well, now who looks scrumptious? You look simply ravishing pet."
She screeched, "MALFOY!"
He smirked and she thought, Stupid, stupid man.
A/N: I know, it's been a long time but I seriously hate this part. I can't get the story to follow the path I have envisioned for it, ugh, and it was getting way too long hence, the splitting of chapter 2 into parts. Believe it or not, I finished chapter 3 before this but chapter 2 just kept giving me problems.
Anyway, I think I made good progress, this is approximately 4,000 words more than the first chapter so, yaaaay! Big leap! Though, still not my best work. *sigh* Sorry guys. :(
And I'm sorry for the delay guys. I'll have Chapter 2, Part II up as soon as possible.
Also, sorry for the plethora of grammar errors. Was too lazy to read over it for like, the millionth time. Please, just point out the glaring ones and I'll get on them ASAP as well.
A very warm thank you to each and every one of you who reviewed, followed and even favorited my story on the basis of the first chapter! I love you guys, seriously, you have to know that.
Just as well, thank you for your patience and thank you for your time! Stay tuned for the next instalment of The Proposal! :)