Chapter Five

Draco spent the next three weeks both in and out of class, trying to get Hermione to pay attention, tear her walls down just a bit, and let him in. But she was stubborn. Almost as stubborn as he was. And so far, there had been no improvement. Hermione kept her hair down as if it were a curtain between them during class. When he'd walk towards her outside of class, in one of the hallways or courtyards, she'd turn and walk the other way. Vincent and Gregory were relentless. Draco was starting to think that desperate times called for desperate measures. None of the previous things he'd tried had worked. It was time for something different. Something not even Hermione could see coming, or say no to.

Hermione awoke one morning just the same as usual. She ran a hairbrush through the ratsnest of her hair. She brushed her teeth. She picked out, and put on, her outfit for the day. As she stood in front of the full-length mirror, she couldn't help but smile and feel mildly unstoppable. Her outfit looked cute - not just a mismatch of what she could find - and she'd even bothered to put on a little bit of makeup. She felt good. Nothing was going to go wrong today. Nothing would stand in her way.

Oh how wrong she was.

Someone was standing in her way. Quite literally in her way, actually. As Hermione opened the door of her dormitory to head out to class, Draco was standing right there. He glanced up when she opened the door. Hermione let out an exp aspirated groan. He was relentless. He'd spent the past few weeks trying to get on her good side for goodness knew what reason! Part of her wondered if he did truly feel bad for his sour behavior that first dinner. But the other part of her was starting to know him all too well by now. He was up to something. And he wasn't going to let her alone until he'd gotten what he wanted.

"You really are impossible, you know that right?" Hermione folded her arms across her chest. Draco peered up at her from behind his blonde bangs. Why did he have to be so attractive but his behavior so foul? Hermione raised an eyebrow, waiting for some sort of explanation as to why he'd been camped out right outside of her door. It had better be a good one too. She had no more patience for his nonsense.

Draco wet his lips and rested his hand against the door frame, blocking her in, "I was just wondering if you'd like to grab a coffee. My treat."

"I have class," Hermione adjusted her messenger bag onto her shoulder, "and so do you."

"I can skip."

"Of course you can," another eye roll, "Can you kindly move out of my way?"

"'Fraid not," a smirk played at his lips, "Not until you agree to get coffee with me anyway."

"This is trespassing, you know," Hermione shook her head, "I could call security."

"And they'd call my father and it'd be your ass on the line, hon - not mine."

Hermione cringed. He'd taken to calling her 'hon' about the second week of his annoying attempts at getting her to show him a little attention. The first time he had said it caused little goosebumps to prickle at the back of her neck. She'd briskly brushed past him, trying to outwardly ignore the nickname as much as she possibly could. But she couldn't ignore the butterflies in her stomach. No guy had ever called her a term of endearment before. But she'd tried unsuccessfully to remind herself that this was Draco Malfoy and any terms of endearment were tainted with ulterior motives.

Half way through the second week, she'd been walking to the dining hall, nose in a book, when he'd come up behind her and casually swung his arm over her should. A week before, she would have jerked out from underneath his touch, called him out on his behavior, and moved on. But she hadn't done any of that. Instead, she'd stayed frozen under the weight of his arm casually swung over her. He'd rattled on about how her nose permanently resided in books, and Hermione had continued to read - or at least pretended to.

Now, week three, he was standing outside of her dormitory - refusing to let her pass. The cogs turned inside her head as Hermione tried to make sense of his behavior. If he had some ulterior motives, wouldn't he have grown bored by this point? After all, it had been three weeks. Three very long, strange weeks. And he wasn't giving up. Anything, he'd gotten worse.

Draco raised an eyebrow, drumming his fingers on the door frame. She couldn't say no. Not this time. He could almost hear the wheels turning in her head. Two front teeth rested ponderingly on her bottom lip. Was she finally breaking? Had he finally worn her down enough? Was this really it? He could feel it. He was winning. And then he would start on phase two - getting her to fall in love with him. And then would be phase three - he'd crush her, break her heart, and she'd leave Kingswright for good. It was a fool proof plan. He'd known that all along. He had just needed to be a little patient.

"I have pepper spray," Hermione threatened, "And your crotch is in perfect vicinity of my foot..."

"Thinking about my crotch, Granger?" Draco moistened his lips again, "Interesting. I mean...I was going to ask you to coffee. But if you want..."

"Oh shut up, you vile little roach!" Hermione tried to make a break for it. She tried to rush past him but he was quicker, and soon he dodged in front to block her escape, "Are you kidding me!"

"You're going to cave to me eventually," Draco chuckled, "it's just a matter of time."

"What do you want from me?"

"Coffee."

"For now," Hermione scoffed.

"Just coffee. I promise," Draco tried his best to sound as genuine as he possibly good. He'd become an excellent liar over the years.

"Tell me why."

"Why what?" Draco asked.

"Why you're making such an effort to get me to hang out with you."

"Because," Draco sighed, "I was an asshole to you and I'm hoping to make it up to you."

"Why were you so mean?" Hermione asked, softening slightly.

"Because Kingswright has never let in students without ties or background with the school. You were an outsider and I...I was angry about that. But I'm sorry and I want to treat you to coffee and to just talk. If that's alright with you."

"Alright with me?" Hermione rolled her eyes again, "You aren't giving me much of a choice."

"So you'll let me buy you a coffee?" Draco's face lit up slightly and Hermione couldn't help but smile. He looked so excited about something as simple as going for coffee.

"Fine," she caved, "But don't think this means anything. I still think you're a slimy, slithering cad."

Draco grinned as Hermione shut the door behind her. He casually threw his arm over her shoulders again and said, "Let's just see if I can't change your mind."