Chapter 16

She moved closer to Draco who was still staring and smiled," I really am happy Draco, I am exactly where I belong; I belong right here with you." Then she closed the remaining distance between them and kissed him softly; and this kiss was definitely not part of their act.

The kiss was short and sweet and it stunned Draco. He didn't know where this was coming from; there had been some attraction between them but he hadn't thought that Hermione would be ready for anything more. He wasn't sure that she meant what she had said; 'I belong right here with you', these words had sounded so right but now he wasn't sure that Hermione actually felt that way. He didn't want to be a rebound for the girl whom he had genuinely started to like.

He looked in her eyes which were staring at his and thought that he wanted this but said," Am I your rebound on Weasley?"

This brought Hermione out of her daze and she backed away as if she had been slapped. Draco saw the immediate hurt in her eyes that had been caused by his blunt words. Hermione turned to move away but Draco caught her hand and made her turn towards him. Hermione kept her eyes on the floor waiting for him to speak.

Draco sighed and said, "Don't get me wrong Hermione, but I really don't want to be just a rebound. I have always admired you and living with you has made me see that you are an amazing person. I think what you feel right now is not real because you are just recovering from a breakup and you think this might help. In some time you may realize that I am not what you want and it will ruin our friendship. You are intelligent; somewhere in your heart you know I am right."

Hermione finally looked at him and cursed herself for making the wrong move; Draco had said that he admired her, 'admired her', and not 'liked her'. She had been wrong in assuming that he was interested in her, she had completely forgotten that he had a mystery dream girl. She didn't want to spoil their new budding friendship so she said, "Maybe you are right, I wasn't thinking; let's forget this ever happened, it was a mistake. If you don't feel comfortable we can cancel the reservations and we can break our deal."

Draco wasn't sure that he liked where this conversation was going, he said, "We are going for lunch and the deal is still on. I am not losing the chance of seeing the weasel suffer."

Hermione gave him a weak smile and said, "Well then, the reservations are for the next hour so let's get ready or we'll be late. I have to dress up to impress."

Draco chuckled," Well mam I'll be at your door in exactly one hour."

They went to their own rooms and Hermione went through her clothes looking for a dress that would blow everyone's mind, especially Draco's. Even though she had told him that it was a mistake and she hadn't been thinking, she had already thought about it and now that Draco didn't feel the way she felt she wanted to show him what he was missing. It was childish and stupid, but a girl is never good at taking rejections.

She tried on various outfits; a beige colored silk top with a deep back with a black short skirt, a purple tube dress, red blouse with a white straight fit pant. She was confused as to what would look best; she wanted to look glamorous but not overdone. She ended up wearing a royal blue off shoulder dress that came down till mid thigh. It fit her like a glove and made her look classy as well as sexy. She didn't have time for an elaborate hairdo so she combed her hair to one side keeping one shoulder completely bare. With just a hint of makeup and her black peep toe stilettos, she was good to go.

She was doing some last minute touch ups when there was a knock on her door, she snatched her clutch and ran to the door and opened it; there stood the dashing Draco Malfoy wearing a black suit looking like a runway model. She took a calming breath to keep herself from swooning; 'why can't he be interested in me' she thought.

When Hermione had appeared at her door Draco had been mesmerized; he always thought that she was beautiful but today she looked breathtaking. She was not wearing any accessory except her diamond earrings but still she was almost shining. The bare skin of her shoulder was tempting Draco to touch her but he had to behave today so he took a deep breath and smiled," You look beautiful as always, every man will be jealous that you are on my arm."

He offered her his arm and she giggled and accepted; in each other's arms they apparated outside 'The Hayatt'. Flashes went off from all sides, it seemed like the whole magical paparazzi was there. Hermione moved to whisper in Draco's ear, " I told you so."

Draco laughed at Hermione's enthusiasm and held her against his body and posed. The reporters bombarded them with several questions at the same time.

"Since how long have you been together?"

"How did two arch enemies end up together?"

"Is it true that you both have moved in together?"

"Was everything that the daily prophet wrote true?"

"Is it true that The Golden trio is broken?"

"Are you still friends with Harry potter or this friendship ended with the end of your relation with Ronald Weasley? Has Draco Malfoy replaced everyone? Is it the money that has attracted you to this death eater?

Silence reigned after the last question; the question was rude and invasive and everyone was scared of Hermione's reaction. Hermione turned towards the nosy male reporter who had asked the last question with a look that said 'run if you want to live' and then she said in an ice cold voice, "Not that I wish to answer your stupid question, but someone has got to educate a poor lad like you, so listen to me very clearly, Yes I am still friends with Harry Potter and that will never change. We have been through worse together and I know we'll come out of this unscathed. Draco Malfoy hasn't replaced anyone, he has just created his own special place in my life."

Hermione moved out of Draco's arm and marched towards the now pale reporter, she stood directly in front of him in an intimidating fashion and said, "To answer your last and the most stupidest question, I have millions of dollars in my own name; I don't need his money. And don't think for a second that I forgot the deatheater comment; Draco fought beside the order in the war, went against everything he knew, went against his own father while you hid your sorry arse just so that you could survive the war. He worked for the light side knowing that he could be killed at any moment, what did you do to help create a world where we live now? If he's a deatheater, then you must be voldemort. One more word about him and I'll hex you to the next century."

Draco was touched by Hermione's passionate words and was now a little concerned for the reporter who looked like he would pass out if Hermione uttered even one more word. He stood behind Hermione and wrapped an arm around her waist so that she wouldn't do anything rash. Hermione gave one last cold look to the now mumbling reporter and then turned in Draco's arms.

Draco whispered in Hermione's ears, " Thank you for defending my honor."

Hermione smiled, "Anytime."

Draco looked at the media and it looked like they were waiting with baited breath for something to happen, then he realized what they wanted and smiled," I think they want us to kiss."

Hermione looked in his eyes and smiled," Lets not keep the crowd waiting."

Their lips met in a passionate kiss, Hermione's hands found Draco's hair and Draco's hands moved across her back and waist. The media went wild and clicked photographs like there was no tomorrow. Draco then dipped Hermione and gave her a sweet peck that made her laugh. It was enough media attention for them and they moved inside the restaurant. The owner rushed towards Hermione and apologized," Miss Granger, I have no idea how the paparazzi got here, I am so sorry for the inconvenience it caused you."

Even though Hermione knew that the owner had himself informed the media, she let it slide as it had only helped them. They moved to the dining area where a table had been reserved for them. Everyone stared as Hermione granger and Draco Malfoy sat across each other and gave their order.

Hermione chuckled," we gave them quite a show; we are front news tomorrow."

Draco smiled," As I said before, it was very slytherin of you."

They ate their lunch being aware that everyone paid more attention to them rather than their own food. They had finished their main course and had just ordered dessert when Marcus flint walked in with some foreign quidditch players. He made his way towards their table with a huge grin on his face and said out loud, "How's my favorite couple?"

Every eye in the room was on them and Marcus knew that, he was just adding fuel to the gossip. Draco chuckled while Hermione winked at his comment. Draco stood and hugged his buddy while Hermione pecked him on the cheek. They got an extra chair and settled down. Marcus whispered, "I think you both are doing an excellent job, everyone is staring at you, that's how I noticed you both were here."

Hermione giggled, "We are pretty good at it and as someone just told me, I have acquired some impressive slytherin traits."

Marcus looked at Draco who just smiled and said, "A slytherin calling you slytherin is biggest honor you can get Hermione."

Draco nodded and Hermione just laughed, "You guys take school houses so seriously; it's childish."

Marcus sniffed as if insulted, "Only a Gryffindor can say that; you just lost your slytherin points."

All of them laughed at that and then Marcus excused himself and went off to join his quidditch friends. Hermione and Draco were in middle of their desert when then they both heard a familiar laugh, they both turned to see Narcissa exiting one of the private booths along with two other ladies. Draco waved at her to get her attention and she excused herself from her friends and joined them on their table. She kissed both of them on the cheek as a greeting and then said, "How is my favorite couple? I am a little hurt that I had to learn about it through the gossip mill and not from you both."

Hermione whispered, "If it had been true, you would have been told first hand. This is just an act to teach Ron a lesson, nothing more."

Cissa gave her a disbelieving look and turned to Draco for some explanation, he sighed and whispered, "She is right mother; we have a deal and anyways its fun."

Cissa lost some of her excitement and whined, "But you both look so good together and you looked so happy together. You seemed like a perfect couple in new love."

Hermione choked a little and then said," What can I say, we both are good actors." She hadn't even remembered that they had to pretend, it was easy for her to enjoy with Draco.

Cissa looked a little disappointed but then she cheered up and asked, "How is your breakup party coming along?"

Draco gave her a disapproving look like the one given to a child when he's being naughty, Hermione laughed at Draco's expression then said, "I completely forgot about it, a lot has happened since I last talked to you, Harry is not talking to me, I have to visit the weasleys today and explain everything to them, I am working from home for a week so that I don't have to see Ron; I am not sure I have the time to plan it."

Narcissa thought for a minute then said, "Well I can throw a party for you, you just have to tell me how many people will come and I'll take care of the when and where."

Hermione smiled, "You'll do that for me; thank you so much Cissa. I badly need a break and I'd really like to party."

Cissa clapped her hands like an excited child and said, "How about the day after tomorrow and we can go shopping tomorrow if you are free. We need a special dress for a special occasion."

Draco snorted and both women turned to look at his pouting self. Narcissa tutted," Stop being a baby Draco; you are just mad because it's a girls night out and you are not allowed. You will miss out on a lot of fun."

Draco snorted, "As if I want to be a part of anything so stupid."

Hermione laughed at their childish banter and wondered how similar both were. Narcissa turned her attention towards Hermione and said, "Owl me with the timings for tomorrow, bring along some friends if you want to. Now I'll beg your leave, my friends are waiting. Good to see you both again." With that she was gone leaving Draco and Hermione to finish their lunch date.

They flooed back to their apartment where Hermione changed and then went off to meet Ginny in Luna's restaurant. Draco had the whole evening to himself so he owled all his friends to come over to see a quidditch match. In half an hour Theo, Adrian, Marcus and Blaise were sitting on the couch with a firewhiskey in their hands enjoying the quidditch match while poking fun at each other. After the match the topic of discussion shifted to the previous day and the girls.

Adrian said, "That's a bunch of good looking friends Granger has."

Blaise chuckled, "I'll have to agree on that; if they step on the streets together, there'll be a line of boys swooning on their feet."

Adrian glanced at Theo then winked at Draco and said, "I was thinking about asking one of them out."

Everyone including Theo stared at him waiting for the name of the girl, Adrian then said, "Maybe Tracey will be interested in grabbing a dinner sometime."

Theo quickly mumbled, "I don't think Tracey is your type, you should ask someone else out."

Draco covered his mouth to stop from laughing, he knew Adrian was trying to get a confession out of Theo who was very shy. Adrian smiled, "Naa… I think she might be my type. She is beautiful anyway so it won't be a waste of time."

Theo panicked and said, "No, ask someone else; Padma Patil looked interested in you."

Draco couldn't control himself and started laughing, Adrian followed his lead while the others stared at them as if they had gone mad. Adrian controlled himself and said, "Go ahead and ask Tracey out before someone else does; I have my eyes set on the Patil twin."

Theo threw a cushion at Adrian's face and then said, "You didn't have to do that, I was going to ask her out anyway."

Blaise chucked and said, "In like 10 years maybe."

Draco smiled then said, "Well then, Blaise has Luna, Theo is going after Tracey and Pucey has his eyes on Padma; Marcus what about you, any girl caught your fancy?"

Marcus laughed, "Well I'll have to wait a while to ask her out. Mine is not going to be easy, that's for sure. Hey I hope you don't mind man, I am planning to ask Hermione out."

Well that wasn't what Draco had expected to hear and he sure as hell was not pleased.

A/n: I am very sorry about the delay. A lot has been going on in my life; won the college elections so I am now part of the student council. That's a lot of work so the updates won't be regular. Got my first tattoo:D, my sister's name on my left arm. Loved your response to the last chapter, keep the reviews coming.

Hope you like this chapter, please read and review.

Love

Ash