Wednesday

Hermione stepped out of the flames the next morning to be greeted by Draco Malfoy standing next to a tray of drinks.

"Good Morning Granger." He was wearing a pale blue shirt today which she though matched his eyes rather well and a similar pair of cream chinos as yesterday. He looked rather large leaning against the wall and seemed even larger as she stepped closer to him.

"Good Morning." She said. "How are you?"

"Good. And yourself?"

"Fine, yes." She pressed, not knowing if it was acceptable to broach the subject. "Did you have a good time with your friend?" She didn't know why she wanted to know but she did. She had seen the Daily Prophet headline this morning already; 'Malfoy's romantic dinner with De-Lightful DeLotte.'

"Not as much as I was expecting actually." He said with a passive face.

"Oh." She didn't even know why she bothered asking. Maybe it was because she was sat alone last night with no one but Crookshanks to keep her company while he was out drinking and laughing… and Merlin knows what with a friend.

"How was yours?"

"It was fine. I read." And he nodded approvingly at her.

"My Mother has organised this." He waved his hand to the drinks beside him.

"Please tell her thank you. You really don't have to bring us drinks and food." As she struggled to find her next sentence the roar of the fireplace made her jump as her team started filling into the entrance hall.

"She likes doing it. And if I told her not to she would do it anyway." He said as he pulled himself off the wall.

"Okay. Well… we best make a start. Thank you again. Feel free to come down later. I'll show you how far we've got." And she walked away from him feeling silly, like she had just asked him on a date. She just wanted to show him what they were doing in case he was interested. And she found she didn't hate the few conversations they had been having.

.x.

The morning went quickly and Malfoy took her up on the offer of coming to see what they had done at around 11. She had shown him round the grounds and they had watched as the teams used their wands to filter the water from the pond over the affected areas to help the venom work its magic. They had come to a stop next to a large patch of the already watered shrunken domes. She reached down and tugged some free from its root. The pink dome on top was replaced with harsh black spines that were concealed by the soil.

"It's such an odd animal. It looks like one thing above ground, but when you look at the roots its completely different. What may show on the surface isn't what it is underneath. It's fascinating." She lifted it up close to her face and took a better look.

"You can attribute that to many things in life it seems." He said passively looking at the shrivelled mess in her hand.

"Like what?' She inquired.

"Humans." He countered

"Magical or non-magical?"

"Both."

"In what way?" her eyebrows knitted.

"People only show their surface, only show what they want, but it isn't always who they are underneath."

"That sounds absurd."

"Why?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest and turning directly towards her.

"Well why would they not just be themselves?"

"Many reasons. Peer pressure, the desire to succeed or more sinister reasons of course."

"Why would they bother masking themselves?"

"That's a great question Granger. Would you want everyone knowing exactly who you are?" He cocked his eyebrow.

"I am already exactly who I am." She countered with a defiant air.

"I don't believe that."

Her face flushed. "Why?"

"Everyone has a part of themselves they want to keep secretive."

She thought about it for a moment. It was partly right she supposed. "That must be exhausting." A niggling tinging feeling in the back of her mind was telling her this wasn't just a general conversation anymore.

"That's Human Nature Granger."

"Well it isn't for me."

"Really?" he looked at her like she was joking. "You're telling me," he stepped towards her, "that you are everything you are right now? That you would be upfront about anything if I asked you? And you would be happy me knowing every intimate detail that runs through your mind?"

She looked into his eyes then down to his lips, he was goading her into a debate. His arms were still crossed over his chest and she could see in detail how toned him arms were under his shirt and something dropped in her stomach.

"I suppose not. However, I always try to be as open and honest as possible. Yes, there are things none of us wants anyone else to know." She looked to his bottom lip as he ran his tongue across it, "But it's not human nature, it's just a natural instinct." She said dropping the dirty mass and wiping her hands on the leg of her overall. She gave him a curious look. "Self-preservation. It doesn't mean you have to pretend to be someone else."

He stood looking at her for what seemed like forever. She searched his grey eyes for a hint of acceptance and she thought she saw his head move closer to her face. A split second later he cocked his eyebrow and gave a small smile.

"Thank you, for the intelligent answer." He nodded, turned and walked away from her while she was left feeling confused.

She thought for a moment he was going to lean in even closer. An image of him leaning down and placing a soft kiss on her lips repeated itself in her mind and a tingle ran through her body. He was right in many ways. She would not want him knowing what was running through her mind right now. Nor would she want anyone else knowing. It was a slip up on her part. Her thoughts running away with her because she hadn't been near a man, been with a man for some time. She turned her thoughts to the weekend and the long awaited night out with Ginny, in the hope she wouldn't cancel. If she was longing after Malfoy she really needed to find herself a distraction.