Stealthily, she moved out of the covers, glancing every now and then at Malfoy whose white furry body moved up and down rhythmically according to his breathing. Unfortunately, Hermione's right foot got stuck in the blanket and she almost fell off the bed had she not caught herself in time. As a result of this, she landed back onto the bed, causing it to jiggle almost violently.
A white furry head perked up at this and looked at Hermione, almost accusingly. Hermione paused her efforts in untangling her foot from the bed and grinned at Malfoy sheepishly.
"Sorry, go back to sleep," she said apologetically.
Malfoy simply looked at her with eyes that were so narrowed that only grey slits remained and he turned his nose up in the air before positioning his head on his paw, shutting his eyes completely.
Not a morning person then, Hermione noted.
Overlooking the fact that Malfoy decided to share the bed in the middle of the night, she started to get ready for work, remembering to put some human snacks in Malfoy's dish and leaving the telly on for when he wakes up.
He sounds more like a husband than a cat right now, her mind supplied treacherously.
Glancing around her flat and making sure she didn't forget anything for herself and for Malfoy, she put up the wards and Apparated directly into the Ministry's atrium.
Working in the Department of International Magical Cooperation, in the International Magical Office of Law, there really wasn't anything much to look forward to, Hermione mused. It was just reports after reports and paperwork after paperwork, and many legal terms that Hermione memorized easily, given her exceptional brain.
When she met Ron and Harry for lunch at the Ministry cafeteria, however, she would much prefer to hear them relay stories about their missions because they were infinitely more thrilling than "leaving school just to write more essays", as Ron had less-than-elegantly put it.
"So," Ron began, tearing open the plastic wrappings off his alien-looking sandwich. It looked like a complicated concoction of a truck of cheese, bacon, pickles and strawberry jam. It kind of reminded Hermione of something that got run over by a car, she mused.
Both she and Harry watched Ron's sandwich with a cross between fascination and befuddlement as a large portion of it disappeared into Ron's mouth.
"So?" Hermione asked, taking a bite of her own more delicate-looking tuna sandwich.
"How's Malfoy the pussy?" Ron said with a grin, making Harry choke on his orange juice, send sprays of it all over the table and causing Hermione to thump him on the back repeatedly and rub soothing circles.
"Thanks, 'Mione," Harry said hoarsely, before laughing and throwing Ron's ball of plastic wrapping back at him, "You timed that, you wanker."
Ron laughed, "I wanted to see how you would react if I said it while you were drinking."
"But yeah, how is that going?" Harry asked, turning to Hermione.
"It's been okay."
They both slumped with defeat and disappointment for a bit before shrugging.
"What? What were you two expecting, actually?" Her eyes narrowed, looking at the both of them suspiciously.
"Nothing, just didn't imagine Malfoy to be the complacent type," Harry admitted.
"Well, you would be complacent too if you were turned into a cat, unable to talk and do anything that you please," Hermione huffed, "And that's very mean, making fun of him like that."
"Oh come off it, Hermione," Ron rolled his eyes, "It's just a joke."
"Speaking of him, have you managed to contact the Potioners about the cure yet?"
"Yeah we went to see them today and told them of the situation. One of them might come over to get a sample of Malfoy's hair – fur, to be exact, so they could start on their research," Harry answered.
"I see," Hermione nodded.
"What does Malfoy do?" Ron asked curiously. "I mean he doesn't go meowing in the middle of the night like some rabid cat or tear your curtains into pieces, right? So what does he do exactly?"
"I'm not entirely sure what he does when he disappears, but he eats human food instead of cat food, he ate at my dinner table with me last night, and he watches the streets from the balcony, and …" She paused, perhaps she should conveniently leave out the little fact that Malfoy actually slept behind her neck last night.
"And?" Ron pressed.
"And he ignores me most of the time, just like his usual self," Hermione said briskly, taking another bite of her sandwich.
"Well, Malfoy sounds like a boring cat," Harry grinned.
No, not really. I wonder what he's doing right now.
Throughout the remainder of the day, Hermione found herself constantly thinking about Malfoy, what he could possibly be up to and also realized that she could not wait to get home and see Malfoy.
The cat, of course. The cat. Not Malfoy.
But Malfoy IS the cat, her mind taunted.
"Shut up," she growled at nobody in particular, scribbling furiously in her office, trying to ignore the strange bubble of excitement forming in her stomach.
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She arrived back home with an almost inaudible 'pop' and went to hang her coat, all the while keeping an open eye for any signs of Malfoy.
He wasn't in the balcony, though, and Hermione secretly hoped that he didn't fall over and die – despite the fact that cats would always, always land on their feet and that she only lived on the second floor.
But what if a car decided to drive by, and Malfoy fell over and got run over by it?
Instantly, Hermione regretted renting a flat in Muggle London.
Well, shit.
Just then, her ears caught the distant sound of music. It was a cheerful, jazzy kind of music coming from the living room. She crept to the doorway, and she suddenly could not stop the grin from forming on her face.
Malfoy was seated directly in front of the telly, captivated by the lovely colours and motion. Apparently, Disney's Aristocats was playing and it was currently showing the scene where all the cats were singing and dancing to jazz music – the song was called 'Everybody Wants to Be a Cat', if Hermione recalled correctly.
And Malfoy's tail was tapping and swishing according to the rhythm of the music, head following every movement on the telly.
Leaning against the doorway, Hermione crossed her arms and was still grinning, "Didn't know you liked jazz, Malfoy."
Malfoy's head turned towards her, looking very pleasant at that very moment. Had he been human, Hermione had a feeling that that would be like Malfoy turning to give her a small smile. His head turned back to the telly and Hermione left him alone, proceeding to busy herself with dinner.
Almost an hour later, Malfoy came prancing into the kitchen looking like he was the king of the world and proceeded to groom himself while waiting for food to get ready.
Just like the night before, he jumped onto the table, where Hermione had laid a plate for him. She had scooped a good amount of dinner unto his plate before grabbing some juice from the refrigerator.
Surprisingly, Malfoy waited until she got her own portion of dinner and seated herself opposite himself before he started on his dinner. Hermione was impressed by this. Looks like Malfoy didn't forget his manners, even in cat form.
"Do you like cereals, Malfoy?" Hermione asked, and Malfoy looked up at her. A rough, masculine meow came from the general direction of his mouth and Hermione almost gaped.
That was the first time she ever heard Malfoy meow. The absurdity of all it made her laugh and she dropped her fork before clapping in amusement. She almost teared up at the adorability of it all as well as the strangeness of it all, but she tried to get herself under control immediately after spotting that demonic look come back to mar Malfoy's beautiful cat features again.
He threw her a dirty look, snarled at her and continued biting at his dinner pugnaciously.
"Aww, come on, Malfoy," she said, "I'm sorry, it was just …"
Malfoy ignored her and continued gnawing.
She reached out to touch his ear, expecting him to back away and possibly claw her fingers off her hand, but he didn't. He only paused in his eating for a split second before continuing.
Hermione took this as an encouragement, so she began carding her fingers through the soft fur of his head, careful not to disrupt his dinner.
Malfoy felt heavenly beneath her fingers and somehow admiring how soft his fur made her calmer, happier and even content at that moment. So was Malfoy, if the fact that he actually paused eating his dinner to duck his face and nudge Hermione's hand were anything to go by. Hermione grinned in response, and continued her ministrations – her very enjoyable ministrations.
She considered commenting on the situation with something like, "You should let me touch you more often," but she decided against it. One reason being that it sounded so very wrong, and she didn't want to explain her seemingly double entendre and the other being that Malfoy would probably realize what he was allowing her to do and snap out of it, deciding to never let her come near him again.
After long moments of scratching the fur beneath Malfoy's chin (his eyes were shut blissfully), she finally decided to stop and continue with her dinner.
"So, back to the question … do you like cereals? Since you're probably never ever going to meow again, just blink once if it's a yes, and twice if it's a no, alright?" Hermione suggested, "That would make communication between us easier."
Malfoy watched her for a jiffy before blinking once.
"Alright, that's settled then. I'll leave some cereal for you in your dish in case you get hungry while I'm at work."
And then they finished dinner in silence.
Hermione began to clear the plates and began washing the dishes while Malfoy began grooming himself, again. Seeing that, Hermione rolled her eyes. Honestly, how many times does he have to groom himself? Probably the same amount of times as when he's human.
Mid-washing, she felt her wards shift a little and made a soft, whooshing sound.
Hermione frowned. The shifting and the whooshing sound signified the presence of a witch or a wizard right in front of her door, but she didn't know who it was. If it were Ron and Harry, they would have just Apparated into her house without any warning (kind of rude, really. What if she was walking around the house naked?).
She continued to feel the presence with her magic and she continued to watch her front door, before the sound of her doorbell echoed throughout her house. Malfoy stopped making himself pretty at the moment and watched the door as well.
Maybe it was one of the Potioners, coming to collect samples from Malfoy.
"Be right there!" she called out.
Hermione quickly wiped her hands with the kitchen towel and walked towards her front door, Malfoy trailing behind her, tail standing.
She didn't bother taking her wand, because the wards didn't alert her to anything hostile. And even if it were something or someone dangerous, the wards would fully protect her before she Summoned her wand.
If all else failed, she could always toss Malfoy onto the person's face before grabbing her wand.
Twisting the knob in her hand, she pulled the door open.
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So handsome.
That was the first thought that came to Hermione's mind when she opened the door to the visitor. And it took her a mere few seconds to recognize who that handsome face belonged to. Or … who belonged to that handsome face? Whatever, her brain wasn't working properly at the moment.
"Oliver Wood?" she said disbelievingly, eyeing the fit man standing right in front of her, who was sporting the most charming smile.
He was wearing a black button-down shirt and dark blue jeans, a pair of Converse covering his feet. He looked like every bit of a teenage girl's fantasy and then some.
Hermione vaguely remembered girls in her year whispering indecent things about his lips and his behind and his arms and everything – including naughty allusions about his last name – as well as extremely cheesy things like "he truly is what sweet dreams are made of!"
"Hermione Granger," he grinned, holding out his hand. "Hello there."
"Hi!" Hermione said a little too excitedly and rushed to shake his warm, masculine hand.
Come on. Every girl in Hogwarts had a crush on him when he was a young boy. Now he was a Quidditch Star and a handsome man, Hermione didn't think that it would be any different.
"What – what are you doing here?" Hermione asked.
"Well, I just rented the apartment next to yours, actually," he still had that grin on.
"Oh yeah … yeah, that one's been vacant for quite a while," Hermione said uselessly.
Oliver Wood raised his eyebrow in amusement before answering, "I know."
Shit. Fuck. Very smooth, Hermione.
"But why here?" Hermione teased, recovering quickly, "You're a Quidditch star, aren't you? Surely you can choose anywhere in the world."
"That's exactly why," Oliver answered, "I wanted somewhere simple and quiet, and looks like this is it. I knew and felt that someone magical stayed here as well but I didn't know it was you."
"I see," she smiled. "What have you been up to besides Quid – oh shit, where are my manners? Would you like to come in?"
Rude AND currently experiencing verbal diarrhoea, Hermione berated herself.
"I would love to," he smiled a magnificent, blinding smile and Hermione melted. Which part of her melted, she didn't want to ponder. "But I don't think your cat likes me."
He pointed behind her and true enough, Malfoy was there – sitting and watching the exchange between Oliver and Hermione with narrowed, demonic eyes, a dark and dangerous vibe surrounding him.
"Oh, no, he's just like that," Hermione insisted, "He's a very special cat. He's got a fascinating personality of his own. Unlike any other cats I've ever met, to be honest."
"I can tell," he nodded, looking at Malfoy in amusement, "What's his name?"
Draco Malfoy.
"Dra -" Hermione caught herself in time and thought of the first thing her eyes locked on – which was the third button on Oliver's black shirt (so sexy). "Buttons."
"Buttons?"
"Yes, his name is Buttons," Hermione repeated, casting a glance at Malfoy, who was still watching Oliver threateningly, his tail flicking dangerously.
"Quite an expectedly adorable name for something so ominous, don't you think?" he laughed, his Scottish accent making Hermione practically melt into the doorway to amalgamate with the wall. Hermione laughed in response, standing up properly.
"No, I would love to come in, but I'm afraid that I have to go say hi to the other tenants as well," he offered. "I'll come by one of these days when I'm not too busy moving everything in. Maybe for tea."
"Oh, definitely," Hermione beamed brightly.
"Promise," he winked at Hermione and took a step back, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he did so, "Bye, Hermione Granger." Then he took one hand out and waved behind her, "And bye, Buttons!"
An angry hiss came from behind Hermione and she rolled her eyes.
"Bye," she smiled, and he strutted off. Hermione watched him for a few moments before shutting the door.
"Well, that was interesting," she giggled, feeling very giddy for some reason, "Don't you think?"
Malfoy rolled his eyes lazily at her before slinking off, arse high in the air.
Hermione shrugged and finished washing the plates and then ritualistically changing into her pyjamas and jumping onto the sofa for some telly. Malfoy joined her this time, sitting next to her and didn't mind at all when Hermione began petting him, almost lulling him to sleep.
When the movie was over, and Malfoy was asleep next to her, she got up and switched off the telly. Malfoy woke up at this and followed her into the bedroom.
Hermione came back from the bathroom after brushing her teeth, thinking about her unexpected meeting with Oliver Wood earlier on and couldn't stop a grin from breaking out across her face.
She sighed almost happily, at the fact that she had just met her teenage crush again and that he was currently her neighbour … which would mean that she would definitely be seeing a lot of him.
Malfoy, of course, was watching her throughout her entire inner ramblings and was shooting judgemental looks at her the whole time.
"What?" she demanded, hands on her hips.
He ignored her and turned his head away from her before resting it on his paw.
Git.
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When Hermione awoke the next morning, she smiled.
For that familiar softness and warmth had parked itself at the back of her neck, again.
TBC!
Read and review, please! Heehee.