"Stay…?" Hermione stammered.

Wait. Pull it together Hermione. Malfoy was making her weak and she didn't like it. I mean, come on. Malfoy? REALLY Hermione?

She sighed and said, "No, I'm sure you wouldn't want to eat lunch with a MUDBLOOD." When she said mudblood he flinched and sighed. "

Malfoy I need to go." She remarked coldly.

"About that name…" he started.

"No Malfoy, I don't want to hear it. I'm sick and tired of you being a prat and strutting around like you own everything just because you're a pureblood and your family has got money. Please leave me alone, I've had a bad enough week and I really don't need you making it worse."

She dropped her head and began crying. At this point, Draco just sat there and looked at her with nervous eyes. What is with this woman?! I'm trying to be nice and she just starts crying. The second time today she's gotten upset.

"Granger…all I was going to say is I apologize for being so rotten to you in school. I'm not expecting you to forgive me, but I want you to know that I'm sorry. Hermione stopped crying and looked at him, puzzled.

"Malfoy I'm so sorry for crying, I don't even know what's gotten into me. I haven't been doing well all week."

He chuckled. Women. "Why don't you sit down? We can talk about it if you'd like." He suggested cautiously.

"Is this some kind of joke?" she asked suspiciously.

"No. I promise."

Hermione sighed. "Alright."

Surprisingly, Hermione had a wonderful time with Draco. He was funny and sweet, and his smirk had changed from an ignorant-brat smirk to a handsome-flirty smirk. He told her jokes and teased her lightly causing her to blush excessively, and Hermione hadn't remembered a time that she had laughed this hard in the past few months. Draco enjoyed it just as much, and he was happy to see her again, giggling and cackling like a hyena. After he had cheered her up a bit, she began to speak of her troubles, and she got extremely personal without realizing it.

"So what's been troubling you this week, darling?" he asked her with his Draco charm.

Hermione glared at him, then softened her look. "Well… it's a long story."

"I've got time." Draco said. She sighed. "It's kind of personal, Malfoy, so I don't know if you want to hear about it."

He smirked and said "Ohhh is this about you and Weasley?"

"How did you know." She chuckled. He grinned at her expectantly, "Begin when you're ready."

"Fine. Well he's just been different lately. I don't know. Everyone says he's so sweet and nice and funny. He's Ron. The middle child that everyone pushes aside. Actually, he's quite pushy and aggressive. He's always yelling at me, lecturing me because I have too many books around, or the kitchen isn't clean, or my dress isn't tight enough."

Malfoy's eye brows went up, but he kept quiet, wanting her to feel comfortable.

"He's just a nightmare to live with. Period. I have no freedom, he doesn't trust me, and we're supposed to get married. I mean he hasn't proposed yet, but I know he will soon because his mother wants him to." She sighed.

Malfoy gazed at her, in so much pain, desperate for freedom. He could relate to her with his father. His father was always on him about things, and a drove him insane.

"Finally, he-"she stopped abruptly. "Never mind." She said quickly, looking away.

"No tell me!" Draco said instantly.

"No Malfoy it's too… personal." Malfoys eyes widened and his face turned bright red with anger. Pushy and aggressive? "He's forcing himself on you isn't he." Malfoy growled through gritted teeth.

Hermione looked at him as if he had just killed someone. "How-did-you-know-"she stuttered.

"IM GOING TO KILL HIM. IM GOING TO BEAT HIM SO BADLY THAT HE'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO STAND UP AGAIN!" Malfoy bellowed.

"Malfoy sit down and take a deep breath." Hermione hissed, since he'd attracted a bunch of attention to their table. "Why do you even care?" she questioned.

Because it's you, Hermione. He sighed and said "It's just inappropriate."

"He's only done it once… and it wasn't awful. I guess I didn't protest enough. Let's change the subject, please?"

They began to talk about work, politics, music, and more. The pair were thoroughly enjoying themselves, and Hermione's color returned to her face (a little more than normal, actually) and Draco's smile returned. Draco had noticed that Hermione kept getting up for more food. A salad, a sandwich, a donut, a candy bar.

"So what, are you pregnant?" he joked due to her appetite and emotional behavior.

Hermione nearly spit her tea out. "How dare you!" she snapped, slamming her drink down. "WOAH Granger, relax, I was only joking!"

"Oh." Hermione said, embarrassed. "Actually, I'd better go, I wonder what time it is." She checked her watch. "THREE THIRTY?" she screeched "I was supposed to be at the office two hours ago! I'm sorry Malfoy, but I have to go." She said as she pulled out money to pay him back (he'd gotten up and got her more food earlier).

"Nah Granger, I got this, just go back to work." He smiled at her.

"Are you sure?" she asked concerned. "Yeah, just go." He said considerately.

"Thank you, Draco." She said and kissed him on the cheek. "Bye!" she called. He blushed and yelled, "Hey Granger, I had fun."