A/N: My first final is done! Let's celebrate with a new chapter :D enjoy everyone~ Hope this makes up for the teaser in chapter 3 ;)
"Long time no see." Draco cleared his throat.
She could only stare at him, door half open, her mouth possibly agape. "Are you gonna let me in, Granger?" His head was slightly bowed. She shook her head, as though snapping herself from a dream. "Yes, of course. Come in." She motioned him inside with her hand and closed the door behind him. "You can go ahead and sit on the couch if you'd like." He nodded and moved into the living room. "I hope I'm not intruding," he said, resting his arms on his knees, "But I was just in the neighborhood. I figured I'd come say hi." Hermione sat on the couch and handed him a glass of water. "To my not-friend." He added awkwardly and took a sip of water. "You realize you're in the muggle world, right Draco?" she asked. He stared at the glass of water in his hands. "I've always fancied a trip. And it was long overdue." "You've never been before?" He shook his head. "I was kind of hoping you could show me around." He said. Hermione suddenly became aware of how perfectly straight she was sitting. Had she been like that the whole time? She slouched a bit. "I don't really get out much. But I guess we could walk around London if that interests you?" her voice got high towards the end of the sentence, even though she hadn't intended it to come out as a question. Draco shrugged. "It's all new to me." Hermione nodded. "Ok. Great. We'll do that then."
They saw everything. She took him to Piccadilly Square, bought him a poppy, saw Big Ben and nearly got run over crossing the street. "Do people actually get on that thing?" he said, pointing to the London Eye. Hermione looked from him to the wheel and nodded her head. "Can we do that?" His face broke into a smile as he looked at her. "Oh," her voice got a bit shaky, "No, you don't want to do that. The line is so long and there's a separate line just for tickets and the view isn't that great." She scrunched up her features, trying to sound convincing. "Tourist trap, really." She added awkwardly. "I think I still want to go." He said, leaning back to get a good view. He nudged her with his shoulder, "Come on I'll pay for your ticket." She looked at him. "Oh I couldn't ask that." She said. "Fine," he shrugged, "I won't pay for you. But let's go."
About a half hour later Hermione found herself in the queue to buy tickets for the London Eye. "This is crazy." He said, pointing to a pamphlet he had picked up. "This thing is so tall! Muggles really are something." She perked up at hearing that. "Yeah. It's hard to believe they built all these things without magic." She smiled. "Tsh. Yeah." He shook his head with what Hermione believed to be disbelief.
As luck would have it, there were virtually no lines that day, and so in no time at all Hermione was stepping onto the contraption she knew would end her life. She sat square in the middle, straight as ever, hands on her lap. Draco sat next to her. "Oh, don't mind me, you go on the edge." She told him. "This thing looks pretty safe you know, no need to be scared." He said. "I'm not scared," she snapped, "it's been a long day. My legs are tired." Draco gave her a face but got up anyway. He went over to the glass, hands in his pockets. As they got higher and higher Hermione's breathing got more and more jagged. "You can close your eyes." He seemed to have come out of nowhere. "Then I'd miss everything. I'm fine." She assured him. "Come on." He pulled her elbow gently. "No, Draco, really." "Come on," he nudged her a bit more and she was up on her feet. He brought her right up against the glass. "Draco." Her legs were beginning to shake and she felt light headed. Her palms were sweating like crazy. "Don't look down," he told her, "Just look out." She took a deep breath and did as she was told. What she saw was incredible. Close to one of the most beautiful things she'd ever seen. The sky was clear so she could see far beyond the city. "Muggles sure are something." He said under his breath. She smiled. "Yeah. They are."
After a quick dinner, they found themselves at a park near Hermione's house. "The eye was something. It wasn't so bad, was it? I was scared you might pass out." She laughed. "I wasn't that bad." "Hermione." He looked at her, "You were shaking." She rolled her eyes. "Fine, so maybe I'm a little afraid of heights." "A little?" she nudged him. "A lot. Whatever." He laughed. "Well you were very courageous. Super Gryffindor of you." Again she rolled her eyes.
Draco stopped walking suddenly. She stopped too. "This kind of feels like when we first started talking." She looked around, the park did resemble the gardens they had walked through the night of the ball. The crickets were chirping, the moon was showing and the trees rustled like whispers in the wind. "Yeah I guess it does." She agreed, smiling. They continued in silence for a bit, enjoying the scenery of the park. But Hermione had a little voice in the back of her mind that wouldn't leave her alone, and after a few more steps, she couldn't contain it any longer.
"Why did you come here?" she asked. He looked surprise at the break in silence and faced her. "I told you, I've always wanted to see the muggle world." She shook her head. "That's not what I meant." He leaned into her a bit, "What do you mean?" "You didn't talk to me. For a long time. We always have these really long breaks. And I know this isn't conventional, and that's it's not exactly supposed to be, but I think at this point we're going to have to admit to ourselves that we're kind of sort of friends." She looked at him, somewhat confused, unsure if her words had come out correctly, "Do you know what I mean?" Draco nodded but turned his attention back to the path ahead of them, and put his hands back in his jacket pockets. "I see what you're saying." He said finally.
Hermione sighed. "I guess I just want to know why you ignored me. And why you won me the stuffed animal. It seemed like you didn't want to. But maybe you did. I'm just…confused. And that's new, for me." She tried to laugh but it came out choked.
She noticed how tense Draco had gotten as she spoke, and regretted mentioning the subject at all. "I just felt like I got too close. Like that story where the boy flies too close to the sun, and his wings melt off. I could feel my walls melting, and I didn't like it. I'm not good at keeping my guard down." Hermione licked and bit her lips, suddenly very uncomfortable. "It's ok to be vulnerable every once in a while." She tried. He glanced down at her. "I suppose you're right." He said. The silence after that was killing Hermione. She wanted to talk about something, anything to change the atmosphere that now surrounded them. But suddenly Draco spoke up again. "It wasn't just that. The vulnerable thing. Obviously, because I'm here right?" he shook his head, trying to collect his thoughts. "I just don't think someone like me is good for someone like you to be around." "A muggle-born you mean?" she said, trying to understand him. Draco shook his head fiercely. "No. Not like that. I meant someone who's a jerk. Like me." He took a shaky breath, "I guess I don't think I'm good enough for you."
Hermione couldn't breathe. "Draco," she began slowly. "Friendships always start off a bit slow. Ours more so than others, but we're getting there." She smiled and nudged him. "It's ok, I can handle myself. You've proven yourself to not be so jerky so far." Draco cleared his throat. "Ha." He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. "The thing is, friendship wasn't exactly what I was going for when I came over here." Hermione stopped walking. "What are you saying." Draco groaned and spun around, looking at the sky. "Please don't make me spell it out, Granger."
She shook her head, her brow furrowed. "Draco, you're not doing me any favors by staying away. What, did you think me so naïve that you'd just come over here and I'd fall head over heels in love with you?" It wasn't until she had said it out loud that Hermione realized how harsh her words sounded. "I mean I do like you, I just, we're hardly friends. I don't even know your favorite color," Her words were fast and mumbled. "Orange." He said. "What?" "My favorite color. It's orange." He said again.
Hermione opened her mouth but nothing came out, she shut it with her lips pressed together tightly. Draco looked around and out into the park. "Oh man. I should not have come here." She put her hand on his shoulder. "I'm glad you did." She gave a weak smile. "Please don't patronize me." He said, shaking his head. "I mean that most genuinely Draco." She said, recoiling and crossing her arms on her chest. "I just…" He looked at her, his eyes flashing hope.
For the first time in a long time, they locked eyes. And she could feel herself scanning his face, trying to come up with words so they wouldn't have to hang on the silence any longer. "I think we just need to go slow. Not that we haven't been moving slow, just a more consistent type of slow."
Draco buried his hands in his coat pockets and nodded at the ground. Suddenly his head shot up. "I have to get going soon." He told her. Hermione's stomach lurched. Just as he was beginning to open up, she had pushed him away. "It's not so late yet. It's not like you have to catch a plane anywhere." She tried to smile. Draco made a face. "What's a plane?" "Um.." Hermione shook her head and mentioned it didn't matter. "It's not because of anything. I just have a family trip. We go every year. And I leave tomorrow." "Oh." Hermione nodded, putting her own hands in her coat pockets. They resumed walking.
He bumped into her playfully. "I had fun today Granger." She smiled and nudged him back. "Glad to hear it Draco." "I suppose I could send a letter," he cleared his throat, "Or a few. You know, to bridge the gap like you said." She looked up at him and nodded, "Sure, that'd be great. How long will you be gone for?" she asked. "About a month or so." He told her. Hermione exhaled. "That's a long time." "It's not so bad." He shrugged. "Ok then Mr. Malfoy," she said, sticking out her hand, as though to give a handshake, "We'll write letters, agreed?" He took her hand and nodded. "Agreed."