All characters belong to JKR

Chapter 3: Truth:

Thursday evening Hermione spent hours doing nothing but walk around the massive resort. It was a beautiful place. She didn't know where Draco Malfoy was staying this weekend, or what hotel he was thinking of buying as an investment, but she would have to tell him that she thought this place would be the perfect place for him to invest his money. Not that it mattered if she approved or not, but since she worked for him now, she would merely say that she found that it would be a sound investment.

The next day she woke up very late, a bit after noon, and she went to the beach to spend the rest of the day. She was nervous about tonight and wanted to try to relax before her date, so she spread out a blanket on the sand, took off her sandals, put her legs out in front of her and she tilted her head to the sky. She smiled as she felt the warm sun on her face. She leaned back on her arms; her face still pointed to the sky, and sighed a sigh of satisfaction. The new Hermione Granger was going to relax and have a bloody fabulous time here. She should have brought a bathing suit, and then she could have properly sunbathed. She would have to buy one at one of the shops.

She was suddenly aware that a shadow was cast over her body. She figured a cloud must have been blocking the sun. She would patiently wait for it to move. She leaned back again, and finally lay down completely. Eyes still closed, she waited, and waited, and waited, for the sun to return to her face. Finally, she opened her eyes.

A smiling, stupid, Draco Malfoy was blocking the sun!

She glared up at him, and said, "Get out of my sun, Malfoy."

"Oh, am I in your sun? I didn't know the sun belonged to you these days," he said.

She sat up and leaned back to look at him, her weight on one arm. He sat beside her. She said, "Why are you here?"

"I told you I was coming to a resort to check on making it an investment."

"You never said it was this resort," she rebounded.

"Oh didn't I? It must have slipped my mind," he said. He reached over for some sand, and let it fall through his fingers. Hermione stared at him. He had on lightweight twill trousers, a short sleeve white shirt, and sandals. She had never seen him look so carefree and casual.

No sooner had she had that thought when another one crossed her mind. He was staying at this resort, which meant he would find out that she wasn't in a wedding, and worst of all, he might find out that she had a blind date. She would never hear the end of it.

She would just have to avoid him all weekend. It was a large resort. She tilted her head back to the sun and said, "Leave my blanket." She knew she sounded rude, but in reality, she was a bit blustered and she didn't know what else to say.

Instead of listening to her, as if he ever would, he stretched out his long legs beside her. He tilted his head back, mimicking her body. She opened her eyes and looked over at him.

"You're going to get sunburn, you know," she chastised.

"No, I don't think I will."

"You're so pale. Almost like death warmed over," she said with a laugh. He opened one eye, squinted at her and his mouth formed a tight line.

"Death warmed over," he repeated. "I see that the humidity does wonders for your hair." He laughed.

She couldn't help but smile a bit. Her hair was curler, and she didn't care. She feigned a pout and said, "Maybe the new Hermione should cut it all off, like a pixie cut."

"Don't you dare." He turned to her suddenly.

She seemed stunned that he would act so outraged by her statement, and said, "I'll do whatever I want with my hair, Malfoy."

"Read your employment contract. You can't have short hair. Section three, paragraph four, and line sixty-two."

She laughed and said, "You're making this entire thing up, but when I get back, I'll read this employment contract you keep mentioning."

They were quiet for a while. Hermione sat up and looked out toward the sea. He remained beside her. She placed her right hand on the blanket at the same moment that he placed his left hand beside it. Their fingers touched. She didn't want to be the first to pull away, and apparently neither did he. His little finger started moving back and forth on hers. She turned to look at him. He was smiling, but still staring out at the sea.

Finally, he asked, "When's the wedding."

"Before you go any further, I'm going to be truthful to you." She took his hand, since it was so close to hers. He looked down at their hands, back to her face, and smiled so she would continue. She had a fleeting moment when she really was going to tell him the truth, but she had a sinking suspicion that he had already guessed the truth, which made her angry.

She said, "Here's the truth: you're a complete and utter prat. It pains me to say as much, but someone needs to tell you." She let go of his hand, stood up, pulled on her blanket, which caused him to roll over and off it, shook the sand off, (and right on him) tucked it under her arm, grabbed her sandals and walked away. He watched her hips swing back and forth as she strolled away.

He called out, "Does that mean the wedding's tonight or tomorrow?" She turned, gave him a rude hand gesture, and continued to walk away. If he could have seen her face, he would have seen that she was smiling.

If she had turned around, she would have seen that so was he.

She decided to walk along the boardwalk, and visit some of the boutiques. Perhaps she could find something to wear tonight. She had already brought a new dress with her, but she was vacillating between wearing her new dress and getting a different one.

She walked into the first dress shop she saw, and as soon as she entered she heard the bell above the door ring again, and in walked Malfoy. Hermione almost grimaced. If she could see her own face, she was sure that would describe her expression exactly. She smiled at the woman behind the counter, who hadn't even bothered to greet her. Instead, the woman was wasting all of her smiles on Draco. Hermione rolled her eyes and went to the nearest dress rack.

"May I help you, Sir?" the woman asked.

"Just looking, thank you," Draco said back.

Hermione cleared her throat and said, "You may help me. Do you have this in the next size up?" She held up a silver dress, with an empire waist, and little white roses on the bodice. She thought that since she had to wear a white rose in her hair, it might look nice.

The woman turned slightly to Hermione and said, "We don't have your size."

Hermione now glowered at the woman, (again, she had no mirror, but she knew that she was glowering) and Hermione said, "I didn't ask that. I asked if you had the next size bigger."

The woman turned back and said, "No."

"You don't even know what size I'm holding up," Hermione complained.

The woman turned back to Draco and said, "Are you looking for your wife, Sir, or perhaps something for your girlfriend?" She sidled close to him and placed her hand on his arm.

Hermione sighed loudly this time and placed the dress back on the rack. Draco walked away from the woman's arm and said, "I was actually only in here because my wife dragged me in with her, but since you apparently aren't in the mood to help her, we'll go somewhere else."

Hermione looked up at him expectantly. She wondered what he was up to, and she was also curious as to what the woman would say in response. He walked over to her, winked and said, "Come on, sweetheart, let's go somewhere where the Malfoy name means something."

He put his arm around Hermione. She was surprised and didn't know what to do or say, however, as soon as the woman heard the name, 'Malfoy' she said, "I apologize, Mr. Malfoy. Let me go see if I have that size for you, Mrs. Malfoy."

The woman left the showroom and Hermione laughed. Draco leaned against the counter, looked at his nails, and said, "See, I'm good for something."

"She'll know we aren't married if I buy it and she sees the name Granger on my card," Hermione reasoned.

Draco waved his hand and without looking up at her he said, "I'll buy it for you, to replace your pretty jumper."

Hermione cocked her head to the side, and when she didn't say anything, he looked up at her again. "What?" he asked.

"You can't buy me an expensive dress," she reasoned. "You're my boss, and it wouldn't be seemly."

"Seemly? Only old women say that word. Seemly." Draco walked around her and said, "Besides, look at your employment contract. It states that I can buy you things and it doesn't matter if it's seemly."

"You're a nutter," she said with a laugh. "I really can't wait to read this contract I don't even recall signing, which says that I can't have short hair and you get to call me names, and buy me things."

The woman walked from the back room and said, "Here we are, Madam. Shall I help you try it on?"

"I think I can handle it." Hermione took the dress and went into the dressing room. She had just slipped it on when she saw Draco's feet by the curtain. She really hoped he wouldn't open the curtain. She turned around and said, "Don't come in, Malfoy."

"Why, do you look ugly in the dress?" he asked.

"Ugh," Hermione answered.

"Is that Muggle for yes?" he asked. He looked at the sales woman and said, "My wife is Muggle born and I'm forever misunderstanding her simple little Muggle words."

Hermione reached out from the dressing room and pulled him inside. He was stunned. She said, "Don't tell people things like that."

He didn't hear a word she had just said. He was staring at her. She looked so pretty. On her, the dress looked more lilac than silver, almost as lilac as the jumper she had on yesterday at work. The material shimmered. The dress was short, so it showed a lot of leg. It was tight across the top, and the square neckline showed enough cleavage to be provocative, but not trashy. The empire waist seemed to suit her small frame, too.

He shook the cobwebs from his brain, as she turned to look at herself in the mirror. He made eye contact with her reflection and he said, "You must get that dress. You'll put everyone else at the wedding, including the bride, to shame."

Hermione looked down, disappointed. He didn't know what he had said to upset her, but he reached out for her, thought better of it, and as he lowered his hand he said, "What did I say?"

She turned around to face him and said, "Here's the thing, Malfoy…I really am going to be honest with you this time. I'm not going to a wedding."

"Oh?" He leaned forward in the small dressing room, and placed his right arm between her and the mirror, resting his hand on the wall behind her head. She pressed her back against the side of the dressing room, because he was so close.

"I have a date tonight."

"Oh," he said, leaning back toward the other side, and removing his arm. He felt deflated.

"A blind date."

"Ohhh…" he drew out. He smiled, crossed his arms, and leaned his shoulder against the mirror. Well, this changed things a bit. She didn't really have a real date, then, did she? A blind date wasn't a real date. He wasn't sure why the prospect of her having a date upset him so much, and then the thought that it was only a blind date made him so giddy with joy, but those were his feelings, and he couldn't deny them if he tried.

"Are you going to make fun of me, or tell me that there are no blind dates allowed in my employment contract?" she asked.

He reached toward her and felt the translucent material of the small-capped sleeve of her dress. He said, "You look pretty, and your date is very lucky, and I must buy that for you."

She looked down at herself, then back in the mirror. He leaned away from the mirror again and he looked at her in the mirror. She said, "It's expensive."

"I have lots of money."

"It wouldn't be right."

"Since when did that stop you from doing things?"

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, that's an assessment about my character, not yours." He smiled at her. She turned to face him.

"I should say no."

"But you want to say yes."

"But I want to say yes," she agreed. However, she wouldn't. New Hermione or not, she wouldn't let him buy her this dress. She smiled at him again and said, "You know what, thank you, but I brought a nice dress for my date, so I'll just wear it." She tried to push him out of the dressing room. Her hands pressed on his chest, and he was amused, because he barely budged.

He said, "Shall I help you with the zipper?"

"I'll get it," she said slowly. He pushed against her hands, she was soon up against the mirror, and he was looming back over her.

"Shall I help you with anything?" he asked steadily.

She looked up at him forever, her hands still on his chest. She felt more than confused. What was this? Why was he acting like this? What did he want? What did she want? She had a date tonight. He was her boss.

"Granger, are you still here with me?" he asked, as he snapped his fingers in front of her face.

"I'm just thinking," she said. She lowered her hands from his chest. He didn't like that. He liked her touching him.

"Don't think too hard. Just live. Isn't that what the new Hermione would do? Wouldn't she live? Wouldn't she accept a pretty dress from an old friend?"

Hermione looked down and said, "You were never my friend, Malfoy."

He looked down, tried to catch her eye, and when she wouldn't look at him, he placed his hand under her chin. He raised it slowly, and she felt as if she was shaking all over with some sort of anticipation, just from his innocent touch.

"I could be your friend now, Granger." He wanted to kiss her. She was probably going to say something like, 'but you're my boss ,' and he would not only not be able to kiss her, but he might find himself without a new employee, because she would probably quit. When she didn't respond he said, "Well, you look nice anyway, so at least buy it for yourself." He rubbed his thumb back and forth on her chin twice, leaned forward, forgot that he had decided not to kiss her, leaned back, and then smiled. "Have a nice date tonight."

He walked out of the dressing room and up to the sales counter. He leaned forward and said, "If my wife decides not to get that dress, then I want to get it for her. Charge it to my room; it's the penthouse, at Serpent Cove Resort. Draco Malfoy. Have it delivered to the room."

"Yes, sir."

Hermione waited until she heard the bell over the door ring, which meant that Malfoy had left, before she walked out of the dressing room. She handed the dress back to the woman and said, "I think I'll pass today, but thank you."

The woman took the dress from Hermione, and after she left, she boxed it up and called a courier to deliver it to Draco's room.

Hermione walked by herself all the way down the boardwalk, and then back again. She had a lot to think about, one of them being Draco Malfoy. He was so different than he was in school, but then again, that was a good thing. He was a bastard in school. She almost wished that she didn't work for him. But if she didn't work for him, she probably would never have met him again.

She went back to the resort and asked the desk clerk to have a white rose delivered to her room by five.

"Just a single rose, Miss?"

"Yes."

"Would you rather us deliver it somewhere for you?" the man asked.

"No, it's for me. It's for my hair, for tonight. I have a blind date, and my date will recognize me by a white rose in my hair, and I'll recognize him by a white rose in his boutonniere."

"How romantic," the man said with a smile. "I'll have it delivered immediately."

Hermione walked up the stairs to her third floor suite. The man asked his fellow desk clerk to be sure to get a white rose to Miss Granger's room by five. Draco Malfoy, who was in a chair facing the lobby, had heard the entire exchanged, and he merely smiled. Then he stopped the man and asked him to have a white rose delivered to the penthouse, too.