Disclaimer: I wish I owned Harry Potter. Yum, Harry, Ron, Dean, and last but certainly not least, Draco Malfoy!

Ch. 38

Arriving at Staunton's, the largest mall in all of London that happened to be located conveniently close to my house –thirty minutes or less on the freeway – I found a spot and parked the car. There was a moment of anticipated silence, since the radio had been turned off a long time ago. It had been necessary; otherwise I would've crashed the car! Apparently, Draco and I became a little too rowdy when music was involved.

Draco took out his wand and undid his seatbelt –which was rather humorous to watch – before turning and staring expectantly at me. I smiled.

"Welcome to Staunton's!" I exclaimed, and Draco's eyebrows rose at my excitement. I didn't blame him. Anyone else wouldn't have been as excited – but then again they didn't have a wizard to show around, now did they?

"Now when we go in, you might be slightly overwhelmed. It's about twice the size of Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade put together."

Well it was true. The mall was three stories tall with about 250 plus stores. It was mind blowing, and you could find practically anything Muggle desirable.

Draco scoffed quietly, although his eyes shone mischievously. It was odd. Or was it? I suppose not. Draco always had an air of rebelliousness about him. "Relax, will you? I can handle it."

I only nodded and checked my wristwatch. It was noon exactly.

"Well in that case, let's get going."

VVVVV

From the moment we entered the mall, Draco began to scan his surroundings. I could see it in his eyes, a look often similar to the one he kept back at Hogwarts for things that plagued his interest. Now that I thought of it, he often looked at me that way when I spoke.

As we walked, I explained what certain things were when Draco needed me to. It was more of the people he was interested in than the décor of the stores. So far, he had only asked me to explain a bicycle from a sports store, and a large game screen from a video game venue. We walked on in comfortable silence until I came to a halt.

"What's wrong?" Draco asked, stopping slightly ahead of me.

"I haven't been to Dillard's in forever!" I exclaimed, and I heard Draco scoff behind me. We were standing in front of one of the largest department stores in the building, with walls made of clear, sparkling glass. White, glossy, faceless mannequins stood proudly in the front, showing clearly behind the glass, each one towering over the people that walked past. As I observed the clothes that they had on, I heard Draco step up beside me.

"What is this, some type of frilly, girlish store?" He asked, and there was only a small trace of sarcasm in his voice. I turned to him. Draco was watching the people inside curiously, and although he had sounded uncertain, he was obviously impressed by the grandeur of the store.

"Well, there may be a little bit of that," I admitted, laughing. I grasped his hand, watching Draco look down at our entwined fingers. I could've sworn I saw him smile. Happily, I pulled him into the store.

"If it bothers you so much, we can go to the Men's department first."

Draco smirked. "I'm surprised they have one in here."

Brushing him off, I began to look for the Men's department, our hands still lightly linked. "Let's get you out of that suit, shall we?"

Draco's smirk grew larger, and I felt his thumb brush playfully across my palm. "Oh? Want a replay of this morning, do you Granger?" He asked mischievously.

I squeezed his hand harder than needed and took pride as Draco hissed harshly, muttering obscenities as we made our way up the escalator.

"Shut it, Malfoy."

VVVVV

Muggle stores weren't so bad, I realized, as much as I didn't want to admit it. Admitting it meant that Hermione was right.

I was having fun.

Scratch that.

I was having an amusing time.

"Can I help you?" I heard suddenly, midway through Hermione's lengthy explanation of the second floor of the department store. A pretty, golden haired girl had approached us. She worked here, I noted as I observed the shiny, platinum plated name tag that rested on the breast of her fitted black polo. My eyes shot up at once to the petite girls face, so that I wouldn't be caught staring at her chest. I smirked inwardly.

'As if I could help it.'

Was it really my fault that the girl was well endowed?

"Is there anything in particular that you're looking for today?" She asked, and I caught onto her thick, distinguishable accent.

Hm. Irish.

I caught her gaze, and she graced me with a brilliant smile, before turning back to Hermione.

"Actually, we were just looking around –"

"But maybe you could help us find the Men's department?" I spoke up, my eyes scanning her body lazily before meeting her eyes again. They were green.

"Sure!" She smiled, and before I could say another word to her, she had turned around and started to lead us to the Men's section. Out of the corner of my eye, I could've sworn I saw Hermione scowl softly. Ignoring it, I brought my eyes back to the girl in front of me, with waist length golden hair and a fabulous arse. It really was a shame she was Muggle, I mused silently to myself as Hermione's hand began to slowly slip out of mine.

The girl's name tag said "Claire".

VVVVV

The blonde girl had taken her sweet time leading us to the Men's department, I'd noticed.

I'd also noticed that she quite liked Draco, seeing as she had talked to him the whole way there. Somehow, I had ended up a few paces behind them. Draco had also long let go of my hand.

As much as I despised myself for admitting it…it bothered me.

But why? I had no claim on him! He wasn't my boyfriend, or my lover, or even my…crush?

Draco was a friend. Just a friend!

Nothing more.

Granted, we had shared our amount of heated, passionate kisses. Did I value them? Probably. But they had been an experiment! They meant nothing! All of the times that he had made sly compliments towards me – those hadn't meant anything? Draco was a playful person when he wanted to be. He also a sarcastic, narcissistic prat.

But why couldn't I just say that I liked all of those things about him? As difficult as he could be, I wouldn't want him any other way.

Brushing these thoughts away as I had done countless times before –each time promising to return to them – I walked behind Draco and the pretty girl.

What was he doing wrong? Nothing! Harmlessly flirting with a Muggle girl!

No big deal.

"So this is the Men's section," the girl exclaimed cheerfully, gesturing to the large sectionals of men's clothing in front of us. Immediately, I saw Draco's eyes find the suits section.

"If you need anything, just let me know, I'll be at that register over there." The blonde said smiling, more to Draco than to me. He smirked back.

"Thank you."

"Yeah, thanks," I added, trying to be polite, although my thanks had been awfully terse The girl just nodded and smiled before making her way over to a large, modern looking customer service desk.

Draco watched her walk away before turning back to me.

"Oof", He smirked, sighing. Draco winked at me and I rolled my eyes.

"Merlin, can't you go anywhere without attracting someone of the female kind?" I sighed exasperatedly.

Draco laughed softly. "No, not really", he smirked cockily, and I hit his shoulder.

"You know, sometimes your cockiness makes you less attractive." I blurted out, and as soon as I had, I knew I had made a mistake. Draco's lips curved upwards slyly.

"You think I'm attractive?" He murmured, busying himself by sifting through numerous amounts expensive suits. I thanked Merlin he hadn't been holding my hand as I wiped them on my jeans.

"Stop fishing for compliments", I retorted, and Draco shook his head.

"I don't need to." He mused, picking out a suit that he liked. It was coal black with silver cufflinks. It was then I remembered I had banned him from buying anything besides casual Muggle wear, and attempted to take it from him. Draco raised it high over his head, and I collided against him, struggling on my tiptoes.

"That's because you can get them from girls like that." I muttered as I tried to snatch the suit away. Draco only held it higher and looked over to where my eyes had landed on the pretty blonde cashier. He turned back to me, his steely eyes darkening as he narrowed them at me. We were surrounded by racks of clothes, and suddenly, there was a dead silence. Somewhere off in the distance I heard women laughing as they walked past.

"Claire?" He asked deliberately. So that was her name.

"Whatever."

"You're jealous." Draco stated, and I dropped down on the balls of my feet. My heart thudded against my chest. What the hell was wrong with me?

"Nonsense!" I scoffed. "That's absolutely ridiculous –"

Before I could turn around, Draco grabbed my arm.

"Hermione." He said quietly, and all of the defiance that had traced my face vanished. I didn't know what to expect, but all I knew was that Draco was still standing very close.

"How's everything coming along?" Claire's voice came from somewhere behind the many racks of clothing.

Draco's eyes snapped up immediately, and I nearly jumped back. What if Claire hadn't interrupted? I couldn't help but wonder if Draco would've kissed me or not…I tried to ignore the thought along with the unmistakable upsetting pang in my chest. Draco released my arm and cleared his throat before responding.

"Everything's fine, thank you."

"No problem!" Claire chirped back, before there was silence again.

Draco faced me once more, his face vacant of emotion. Suddenly, he grinned, and it was as if nothing had ever happened. He had obviously dismissed the little moment that we had just shared, just as he had this morning, and although I felt a loss for it, I was nothing less but thankful.

"You can choose the rest of my clothing if you let me buy this suit." Draco challenged, motioning for me to touch the suit. I did as he instructed, running a hand over the dark, silken fabric. It was soft, and cool. I fingered the silver cufflinks for a moment, before sighing stubbornly.

"Fine." I smiled ruefully. "You can buy the silly little suit. But this means that I get to make you buy plaid, jeans, and t shirts."

Draco winced theatrically. "I see you're trying your best to make me look like Potter."

I laughed before dragging Draco to the nearest rack of shirts. Despite the intensity of the moment we had just shared, it was easy to fall back into our normal behavior. Perhaps that was what I valued most about Draco after all.

VVVVV

After making me pick out six shirts, three pairs of jeans, a pair of sneakers, two jackets, and a beanie, Hermione had insisted that we go to the Juniors (which apparently means teen girls) section, so that she could pick out a few things for herself.

Regardless, you could still say that I was having "fun", especially since I could watch pretty girls float in and out of the section. More than ten of them had waved at me already, and to my pleasured surprise, I saw Hermione scowl slightly more than once as she sifted through the clothing racks.

So here I was, Draco Malfoy, Heir to the Malfoy inheritance, Slytherin "Prince" and or "Sex God", standing in a Muggle department store, wearing dark grey jeans, and a red plaid shirt. At least I had managed to insist on keeping my dress shoes on.

Glancing at Hermione, I wondered what type of clothing she would buy. Without a doubt in my mind, I knew she would probably end up buying some type of sweater, and a button down shirt. She had always been simple when it came to clothing. However, she seemed to be extra intent on finding a dress, since her parents were apparently planning on taking us out to dinner sometime this week. At least I would get to put my brand new suit to use.

I was snapped out of my reverie at a small tap on my shoulder. Looking down, I saw that Claire stood beside me, smiling.

"I see you've found everything quite alright." She smiled, gesturing to my attire. I grinned a little.

"I guess so. Thanks for helping."

"I didn't." Claire smirked. For some reason, the girl's facial expressions reminded me of my own. "So, are you from around here?" She asked.

"I go to school in Italy," I answered curtly, and the lie spilled out of my mouth smoothly. Claire's dark blonde eyebrows rose impressively. A wry smile coated her glossed lips.

"Oh, I get it. Visiting the girlfriend?" She asked, and I nearly choked.

"What?" I spluttered, my relaxed visage nearly disappearing. Claire's eyes went over to Hermione, and I followed them. She was still sorting through racks of dresses with a concentrated expression on her face. Claire turned back to face me, looking smug.

"You mean she's not your girlfriend?"

"No! No, of course not!" I nearly sputtered. "We're just…friends…good friends."

I looked at Hermione again. She was fading farther and farther away into the racks of clothing, and I wondered why Claire's questions had to be so goddamn unnerving. Claire shrugged.

"Could've fooled me."

I paused for a moment, and shut my mouth. I didn't know how to respond to that. I wasn't stupid. I could understand why Claire had said that. What I didn't know was what I would end up saying if I opened my mouth.

Seeing that I had nothing to say, Claire continued.

"Don't get me wrong, girls and guys can be close friends. But you two just seem so…it's kind of indescribable actually, the way you two look at each other. I suppose its just massive amounts of chemistry."

My heart thudded my chest, and for some reason, I felt a strange surge of affection for the girl. Claire's words seemed…genuine. I wondered what she would've said if I had told her I was spending the week at Hermione's house. I wanted to thank her, but all the same, I didn't know what for. I nodded and gave a small smile to show my gratitude in wordless thanks. I cleared my throat.

"So, you're Irish right? What are you doing working in downtown London?" I asked curiously. Claire was young, but probably a little older than me. Claire laughed a chirpy, melodic sound.

"I want to be a model", she replied casually, but I could tell that it meant a lot to her. Her eyes shone as she spoke about it. "But Ireland doesn't have as many options as London does, so my sister and I decided to make the big move."

"Your sister? Is she as pretty as you?" I asked shamelessly, and Claire laughed again.

"You're too much."

I shrugged proudly. I had almost completely forgotten about Hermione. She had disappeared by now, too far off to even see the top of her bushy head. What was taking her so long?

"So how are your parents dealing with you being so far away from home? After all, London can be a pretty overwhelming place when you're without family."

As soon as I had finished my sentence, I knew something was wrong. Claire had gone oddly quiet. She wasn't even looking at me, and her smile had vanished.

"My parents passed away a few years ago." She said quietly. There was a moment of silence, until I spoke up.

"I understand. My father…–"

Well he was dead to me, anyways.

"I'm sorry." Claire murmured.

"Don't be." I said, and I could barely contain the harshness in my words.

Claire looked up at me again, curiously, but before she could say anything, I heard another voice.

"I think I've found it."

Looking away from Claire, my eyes came into contact with another girl that had taken me a second later than usual to realize. Hermione stood in front of us, in an extremely flattering ruby red dress. It was fitting in all the right places, with a bit of frill that didn't overdo the simplicity of the dress. Needless to say, Hermione looked stunning. There was a few moments of surprised silence, and Hermione shifted uncertainly.

"Well? What do you think?" She asked me, but strangely, I still couldn't talk. Claire giggled beside me.

"The poor boy doesn't have words. You look gorgeous!"

Hermione beamed. "Thank you. I'll be back!" She exclaimed happily, before going off to change again. As soon as she had gone, Claire turned to me with a comically suspicious expression on her face.

"What?" I snapped.

"Oh, nothing. You should've just admitted that you had a thing for her in the first place!"

I spluttered again, sneering at Claire. "I don't."

"Someone's in denial", Claire retorted in a sing song voice. Taking a deep breath, I crossed my arms. Why did this have to bother me so much?

"I care about her. I'm not in love with her."

Claire shook her head. "You think I can't tell that? You might not be in love with her, but you certainly have a bit more going for her than just "caring" about her."

As annoying as Claire's assumptions were, I knew they were correct. But Hermione and I…we were complicated people. Our "relationship" or friendship, or whatever it was –was complicated.

"And if I did? What then?" I sighed, rolling my eyes. I couldn't believe the words that were coming out of my mouth. Claire shrugged.

"I don't know. I guess you'd have to be ready to fully admit it to yourself first."

I decided that it would be better to stay quiet. Unfortunately, Claire was persistent.

"Does she like you?"

I scoffed. "Everybody likes me."

Claire giggled again. Did she think I was kidding? Perhaps it was because she had never been, or would never go to Hogwarts and witness it for herself.

"Perhaps that's true, but there's always that one girl that doesn't immediately fall for the arrogant, handsomest, most popular guy in school." Claire reminded me. I didn't need her to, because I was already laughing quietly to myself at how right she didn't realize she was, and at the irony of her statement. Hermione had never, ever given in to the popular option of liking me, as all of her female classmates had…and even some guys.

While thinking it over, I heard Hermione's voice again. "Draco! Are you ready to leave?" She asked from the cashier's desk not too far away. I nodded, and turned to say goodbye to Claire while Hermione paid for her things.

"Well it was nice talking to you…and thanks for the advice." I admitted, but Claire just smiled.

"No problem. It was nice talking to you too… –?"

"Draco", I interjected, extending my hand to her.

"Draco", she repeated, and I could tell she thought my name was strange. "Is that Italian?"

"Yes." I lied. Claire nodded, laughing slightly, and I graced her with a smile before I began to walk away. I was only a few paces away from her before she called out to me again.

"Hey, Draco?"

I turned back to her, wondering what she would say. A smile had returned to her face again. "Good luck with her. And who knows, maybe I'll see you around here again?"

I grinned after a moment, considering her words. "Yeah, maybe."

With that, I turned to get back to Hermione again. Good luck with her? Yeah. After those words, I was sure I would need all the help I could get.

VVVVV

Hello lovelies! I'm sorry I haven't updated sooner, I've been meaning to, but I was having computer issues, and then the server went down for nearly a week and I couldnt post! So sorry loves, and I hope none of you have chosen to abandon this story, you guys' feedback means so much to me :) ...anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! It was quite fun to write, especially Claire and Draco's little heart to heart session and Draco and Hermione's little suit fight. Claire was originally supposed to be just some girl that Draco found attractive and someone for Hermione to be jealous of during their little shopping date, but she turned into so much more! I kind of love her now, actually. Draco is well on his way to his "big realization" about how he feels for Hermione! And if you guys are interested, here are some facts for this chapter!

I imagine Claire looking like a blonde Miranda Kerr, (A Victoria's Secrets model, look her up, she's gorgeous!)

Hermione's red dress is actually the one that she wore in Deathly Hallows for Fleur and Bill's wedding.

Draco's Muggle outfits will mostly be inspired by Tom Felton's clothing choices. Hopefully this gives you a better view to what he'll be wearing during his week with Hermione.

I also have some questions for you!

Who do you think will be the first to admit they like each other? Draco or Hermione, and why do you think so?

Will Claire ever be mentioned again?

What do you think will happen with Dramione's "experiments?"

What about Dean?

Will Hermione reconcile with Ron any time soon?

That's it folks! Remember, you don't have to answer all of the questions, I would love you forever if you did, but if you answer just one or however many its fine! I want to make this story as interactive as possible; it would be great to hear everyone's opinions on what will happen. Who knows, I could even end up using your ideas! It's happened before! Feel free to leave a review, ideas, or constructive criticism! Love to all! Muah! X