Chapter 17: No

Be able to decline a date so gracefully that the person isn't embarrassed that he or she asked. - Marilyn vos Savant


Summer was finally gracing London with its elusive presence. The sun was out, the clouds were fluffy, and it was lovely and green at Lincoln's Inn Fields.

A white paper bag swung from Hermione's fingers as she strolled along looking for a spot to sit. She had just grabbed a quick coffee with a friend from Central St Martins who was now working for Topshop (and had incredibly short lunch breaks), and her rumbling stomach was looking forward to eating her sandwich.

Swiveling her gaze about, she spied a suspiciously familiar mop of blond hair above a crisp white shirt, with the sleeves rolled up to reveal pale forearms. The head turned sideways and there was no mistaking the high cheekbones and the straight nose. She thought about turning around and walking the other way - he had been acting a bit distant since that time he bought her the red velvet cookie - but Hermione had never been a fan of eating alone when she had the option.

Squaring her shoulders, she called out, "Malfoy!"

He twisted around and gave her a small smirk. "Granger."

The grass crunched under her ballet flats as she walked towards him. "Mind if I joined?"

He swept his hand in a welcoming gesture. "Please, sit down."

"Thanks," she said with a somewhat cautious smile, making herself comfortable opposite him. She unloaded her sandwich and muesli yogurt next to his coffee and half-eaten panini.

"So, what brings you to Muggle London, Malfoy?" she asked conversationally, folding her legs neatly and smoothing her dress out.

"Business. Some wizarding lawyers are based around here," he replied and took a bite of his panini.

"Ah I see. Needed to draw up more contracts for unsuspecting new hires?"

He smirked as he chewed. "No, actually. It's for a merger."

Her interest piqued, but she caught herself before she probed him for more answers. It was confidential after all, she would assume. But, darn it, it was a sunny day, and she felt like chatting, even with Malfoy, so she went ahead and asked, "What merger? I don't remember seeing anything in the papers recently."

"It's still in the pipelines, obviously."

"Tell me about it," she said, unwrapping her sandwich.

Malfoy arched an eyebrow at her. "Alright, as long as you don't go mouthing to the papers."

"Aren't you aware of the fact that I'm not really in love with the papers right now? Why do you think I hang out in Muggle London so much?" As an afterthought, she added half-jokingly, "They haven't stopped hounding me since you ousted me."

He actually chuckled at that. "I heard it hasn't served you that badly at all, Granger. Stop moaning."

Hermione nodded. "True. Orders have gone through the roof. I'll have to hire a couple of assistants soon."

"Need any help with the hiring? I know the best headhunters in the business."

She shook her head. "No thanks, I prefer looking myself."

"I'm sure if you posted an ad in the paper right now, thousands of people will show up at your door by dinner time," he drawled sarcastically.

"Why thank you, I'll take that eye roll as a compliment," she replied, smiling despite herself.

He grinned. "I see you're finally fluent at reading my body language."

"An eye roll is technically not body language," she retorted. "But since you have your jacket off and you're sitting with your legs crossed at the ankles on the grass instead of a throne made of ice, I deduce that you're feeling quite at ease today. So, tell me about the merger."

Malfoy huffed. "You're not going to give up are you?" At her head shake, he held up his hands in surrender. "Fine, fine, I'll tell you. I'm buying a restaurant."

Hermione furrowed her brows, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ears as a breeze blew past. "A restaurant?"

"Don't look so perplexed, Granger. And yes, a restaurant. It's where you sit down and have a nice meal with a glass of wine. It's called Le Garçon."

"Le Garçon? Isn't that a Muggle restaurant?" She mused, and before long it dawned on her. "Oh no, it's Ron's favourite restaurant! He's going to have a fit when he finds out."

"My ultimate goal in life - annoying the Weasel," declared Malfoy, curling his lips into a deliberately evil smile.

She shot him a disapproving glare. "Why a restaurant, though?"

"I invest in whatever makes an outstanding return, and this place has incredibly high turnover for a place so small. And they want to grow, it's been completely private so far so they need a backer. It's a win-win situation," he finished by lifting his coffee cup and mouthed "cheers", before taking a long drink.

"Interesting. I didn't realise wizarding companies can buy up Muggle companies."

"There's a mechanism in place and laws, of course, but it can be done," he explained. "It's complex, with the Statute of Secrecy and all, which is why I'm here looking for a good lawyer today."

"Is this your first Muggle merger?"

He nodded. "It's a learning curve. But it is a good business opportunity. The Pound is expected to strengthen a good deal against the Galleon in the next few years, so now is the time to act."

Hermione couldn't help the bark of laughter at his seriousness. "Look at you, the business mogul."

He winked. "I'm not the richest wizard for nothing."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Of course. Richest wizard, the most eligible bachelor, for how many years straight now?"

"I didn't think you read Witch Weekly."

"I don't," she insisted. "But Ginny does, she's addicted to it. So tell me, does your PR agent get a bonus every time you win a magazine award?"

"Believe it or not I don't have PR, I do it myself," he boasted jokingly, puffing up his chest and turning his nose up.

She humoured him with a slow, sarcastic applause. "Maybe you can do some marketing for my business then."

"I thought I already was," he said, finishing his panini with a huge bite. "All my dates have been wearing your dresses and the papers have been loving it."

She cocked her head to one side. "Oh, I didn't realise that was for my benefit."

He shrugged. "They're nice dresses. I like my dates to look nice."

She smiled. "Thank you. That's really nice of you to say. And for buying my dresses, even though they're not for yourself. I should start a loyalty scheme just for you."

"And what do I get as a loyal customer?"

"Hmmm, let's see. A free dress after you buy ten?"

He jutted out his bottom lip as if in consideration, then nodded. "That's fair. How many have I bought so far?"

"Let's see," she dragged the words out, brushing her palms on the warm grass. "There's the green one, the ball gown, the skanky one -" at which Malfoy snorted. "- I'd say nine."

"Alright then," he said, leaning back on his elbows. "I'll buy the tenth dress for the charity auction I'm attending next week."

"Okay. And the free dress?"

He looked at her square in the eyes, and said smoothly, "I'm getting it for you."

Hermione frowned, confused. "What?"

"So you can wear it when I take you out for dinner."

Her first instinct was to burst out laughing, which she did. But the offended scowl on his face stopped her. Her eyes widened and she stuttered awkwardly, "Um, you- you're serious?"

He nodded. "Yes."

Hermione was glad she had her sunglasses to hide behind, or he'd clearly see the panic in her eyes right now. Was he asking her out? On a date? Merlin's beard was this the last position she thought she'd ever be in.

"You're taking an awful long time to reply," remarked Malfoy dryly.

"I"m sorry," she blurted out. "But uh I'm just thinking... no. Thanks, but no thanks, I mean."

He blinked, as she just spoke to him in Portuguese. The facade came back into place quickly though, and he shrugged casually, turning away to look somewhere into the distance. "No problem, I'll just save the dress for someone else then."

She couldn't help the frown that creased her brow, but she quickly smoothened it out. That was exactly why she wouldn't have dinner with Malfoy. Ever. She didn't need to be one of his interchangeable dinner dates. Arsehole.

She forced a tight-lipped smile. "That might be best. I don't think I'll look nice in one of my own dresses anyway."

He frowned, looking at her as if confused, but said nothing.

The silence was painfully obvious after the continuous flow of conversation they had shared, and Hermione finished the rest of her sandwich quietly.

Picking up his coffee and his empty panini wrap, Malfoy got onto his feet gracefully, and nodded at her. "I'll see you later, Granger."

He turned around to leave, and her eyes naturally gravitating upwards towards his... "Malfoy, wait!"

He stopped and half turned. "Yes, Granger?"

"You got grass on your... you know."

He raised an eyebrow as if asking if she'd been looking at his arse and she flushed. He petted away the green tufts and half-smiled at her, then walked away through the throngs of picnickers.


"You said what?!"

They were on Ron's little balcony that overlooked a communal garden, crowded around a small round table with four glasses of chilled rosé sitting on top. The fact that Ginny and Harry hadn't even settled on a date for the wedding didn't deter Ron from going into a frenzy of cooking and testing dishes for the reception.

"I said no," repeated Hermione around a mouthful of salmon mousse tartlet.

"You said no?! Are you crazy, Hermione Jean Granger?!"

"Who said no?" chimed in Harry, who had nipped into the kitchen to get another bottle.

"Hermione," answered Ginny, incredulity highlighting every feature of her face.

"What to?" asked Ron, re-appearing with a fresh plate of more fancy finger food.

"Malfoy asked her out for dinner and she said no!"

"Ginny!" gasped Hermione, reaching over to pinch her lightly on the arm. "That was uncalled for!"

She brushed Hermione's hand away and tsked. "Oh, relax, I told them that you snogged."

Ron made a face as he sat down. "Blugh! Thanks Gin, hearing about it once was enough. So gross."

Harry laughed and pulled his chair closer to the table. "Wow, he actually asked you out on a date?"

Hermione shrugged, in what she hoped was a nonchalant manner. "I don't even know if it was meant to be a date. He said dinner. Could be a friendly dinner I guess?"

Ron, who had meanwhile stuffed his face with the remaining tartlets, pointed out sagely. "'Mione, you do realise that no guy asks a girl out for dinner unless it's a date."

"For your mother's sake, Ron, chew before you speak!" snapped Hermione. "And it doesn't matter! I said no. Can we please talk about something else?"

Ginny snorted. "I'd say yes, and I'm engaged." At Harry's hurt puppy look, she rolled her eyes and kissed him soundly on the mouth. "Oh come off it, Potter, it's not like he asked me!"

"Right, can we shut up for a moment and try this batch now?" cut in Ron impatiently, stacking the fresh plate on top of the empty one. "We have here seared foie gras and avocado sushi, savoury cheese mini cupcakes and lasagna cubes."

"Well, there's nothing here I can eat except for the cupcakes!" complained Hermione, picking up one and made a face. "And it's made out of cheese?"

Ron seemed to grumble "vegetarian" under his breath, and said loudly, "Fine, fine, more vegetarian options on the menu then."

"Mmmmm. This is really good, Ron," complimented Ginny, who had just tried the sushi. "So, Hermione. How exactly did you say no to Malfoy?"

"I think I said - thanks, but no thanks."

She frowned when the three collectively winced and made noises that sounded like "ouch".

"That's harsh, 'Mione," commented Harry with a swig of rosé.

She nearly choked on the cupcake. "Harsh? It's Draco 'evil with a capital E' Malfoy. He can go out with anyone else in the world. As if he would ask me out if he didn't have a hidden and twisted agenda."

"Do you know how hard it is for a guy to work up the courage to ask a girl out?" asked Ron, seemingly having ignored everything she just said.

So she rolled her eyes. "It's Malfoy. I'm pretty sure he's had way too much practice."

"At the end of the day, he's just a guy Hermione," replied Ron, and both Harry and Ginny muttered in agreement.

Hermione couldn't help but stare, mouth open, at her childhood friends. "Are you guys seriously telling me off for turning him down?"

"Well, not exactly," said Ron, holding his thumb and index finger together as if to pin down his point. "I say bravo, 'Mione. But as a guy, I feel for him."

Ginny piped up. "But why did you turn him down anyway? You snogged him, you're obviously attracted to him."

"Gin, have you already forgotten what he did to me?"

"Yeah, but what has he done for you after? He's more than made up for it if you asked me."

Hermione pursed her lips. "Maybe it's a PR ploy. A heroic act thing."

"No one knows it's him, other than you. Witch Weekly have been trying for weeks to find out who's behind the leak but to no avail," argued Ginny.

"I have a distinct feeling that you guys are defending him."

Harry shook his head and reached across the table to pat her hand. "We're not defending him, we just think that maybe you should go out on a date with him."

"But it's Malfoy!"

"You know, if you've got offers for dating piling in, that would be a valid argument," teased Ron, which earned him a slap on the back of his head.

"When was the last time you went out with anyone Mione?" asked Ginny.

"An embarrassingly long time ago," she admitted.

"Then go on the bloody date. It's not like he's asking you to marry him."

"Then you can say no," declared Ron. "Might as well get a free dinner in the meantime."

Harry nodded. "Totally. I wonder what a millionaire eats for dinner."

"What's the point though? It's not like he'll start going out with me. He's a complete commitment phobe."

"Ha!" exclaimed Ginny, shoving a finger in Hermione's face. "I get it! You're scared that if you went out with him you'll fall in love with him!"

Hermione scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous, Gin! I mean, when I said no, he just turned around and said he'll take someone else instead."

Spreading his hands out in a gesture that could only mean duh, Ron asked, "What did you expect him to do? Kiss your feet and grovel?"

"Well, no, but... would've been nice if he tried harder."

All three chorused. "Women."

"Hey!"

"Look, it was meant to provoke jealousy, and it worked," said Harry.

A short silence fell upon them as they all sipped their wine.

"This is actually nice, we haven't talked about relationships for a while," commented Ginny.

"That's because 'Mione and I are too busy for meaningless dating and you two are getting hitched."

Harry chuckled. "Ha! How bloody boring will our talks be when all of us are married."

"Okay, guys, so what am I supposed to do?" cut in Hermione.

Putting her glass down emphatically, Ginny asked, "Answer me this. Do you find him attractive?"

"Yes."

Ron and Harry both fake gasped, and she blushed.

"Do you want to shag him?"

"Ginny!"

"I'll take it as a yes then. Then go have a dinner with him. If you're lucky he might sleep with you."

"But he's not going to ask again now."

"Of course not. You go ask him."

Hermione nearly dropped her glass. "What?!"

"Least you could do after you were so rude to him," reasoned Harry.

"I wasn't rude!" she insisted. As much as she hated to admit it, her palms were getting sweaty with panic, and there was nothing she wanted to do more than to tickle Ginny until that smug grin slid off her face.

Ron wiggled his eyebrows. "Come on, don't chicken out now, 'Mione."

With a withering look at her friends, she sighed, slammed her palms on the table and stood up in determination. "Fine. I'll go. Wish me luck."

While she was wrapped up in Harry and Ginny's arms and amidst wishes of good luck, Ron dashed into the kitchen. "No don't go yet! You have to try this first..."


The espresso machine whirred and purred as Draco stood next to it, poring over the first draft of the contract he picked up at Chancery Lane earlier that afternoon.

You know, before Hermione Granger barged in on his lunch at the park.

The strong black coffee trickled leisurely into the espresso cup and he hummed contently at the aroma. He needed to get through this dead weight of boring legal jargon tonight and he would be needing more than one espresso.

Downing it in one go, he replaced the cup on the machine and restarted it for another.

Draco frowned at the niggling voice at the back of his head. Thanks, but no thanks. He didn't know what madness drove him to ask Granger out for a dinner. No, that was a lie, he knew exactly why. It had been building up for a while now, and today he decided to go for it.

Well, look where it got him. Kicked in the balls, figuratively.

With a loud sigh, he fell heavily onto the sofa. It was a freaking warm night, and he leaned over to grab his wand to open the windows. Propping his feet up on the coffee table, he rolled the legs of his pajamas bottoms up to his knees, plopped the binded document on his thighs and started reading.

Slow minutes trickled by, and he was starting to sweat. With an impatient growl, he tugged his t-shirt over his head and flung it onto the floor after rubbing his slightly damp chest with it.

Halfway through the Merger Agreement, a knock on his door sent him jumping out of his skin. He glanced at the clock. Who the fuck would come knocking at one in the morning?

He groaned inwardly at the thought that it was one of his booty calls. But his wand, which was charmed to glow blue if any of his casual affairs were around, lied there harmlessly. He sighed and got up. Must be Blaise getting cold feet, with the wedding only two weeks away...

"Why are you always half naked when you answer the door?"

Draco stared. How this woman always managed to catch him off guard was beyond him. Making a quick recovery, he flexed for good measure and retorted, "Because you always knock after midnight."

He felt one of his pant legs fall back down to his ankle, but it would have been too awkward to bend over and roll it up again. So he just stood there, one pant leg up and one down, not sure what to say.

Granger wasn't making it easier either. He noticed that she was wearing the same modest sundress she had on this afternoon, but with a cardigan on top. She was chewing her bottom lip and staring at the door frame.

"What's up, Granger?" he said at long last through gritted teeth.

Her eyes snapped to attention, and let go of her bottom lip, which was now red and gently swollen. "Um, before, you know, at the park...?" she trailed off, tilting her head to one side.

Great, she had to bring it up again.

"What about it?" he asked, keeping his voice disinterested, but the back of his neck prickled with what felt alarmingly like embarrassment.

And Malfoys were never embarrassed.

After a short pause, Granger blurted out. "Do you want to go to dinner with me?"

He was pretty sure his eyebrows went above his hairline. Well, that he didn't expected. He more or less croaked, "What... now?"

She smiled prettily, seemingly reassured by his less than suave answer. "Yes, I know a place."

"A place that's open at 1 in the morning?" he asked, teasingly skeptical.

"Yes, Malfoy," she replied with an eye roll. "Now go put some clothes on before I change my mind."

His lips twitched as he opened the door wide. "Come on in. I won't be two seconds."

His feet wanted to run, or at least power walk very rapidly towards his bedroom, but he managed to keep a steady swag until he walked through the door. Closing it behind him, he crossed the room in seconds and threw the wardrobe doors open to look for something to wear.

Granger asked him out. Him. This was un-fucking-believable. He allowed himself a macho air punch and and threw in a jig for good measure before digging deep into his clothes. Right, what the fuck were you meant to wear to a dinner at 1 am?

Two minutes later, his reflection in the mirror, wearing a thin blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up and black jeans, winked cheekily at him and gave him two thumbs up. "I'd lick you right up if I were her, mate. Have fun!"

Granger was looking out of the floor-to-ceiling window when he came back into the living room, her small hands pressed up against the surface, staring at the lights below. She was leaning so close that he could see her eyelashes brush against the glass.

Then she spotted his reflection and she turned around with a smile. "Ready?"

He nodded and said, "Yes."

But, if Granger had made him cross his black heart and hope to die, what he really meant was... Sweet Merlin Jesus Christ Mary Mother of God - YES.


A/N: I updated in 10 days! I hope you're happy about this! I had to type up a chapter before all the packing and moving gets in the way. Quite a conversational piece this time - I loved writing the scene with the four of them - but rest assured there will be more action in the next chapter! And just a short note, I realise that there are no lawyers in the books, but for the purpose of this story let's assume there are.

By the way, I just found out that this story has gotten over 108,000 views! This is absolutely mind-blowing, thank you so much for being awesome, readers! And just to try something new,I'm going to send a sneak preview of the next chapter to everyone who reviews. Guest reviewers, try to leave an email address so you guys don't miss out!

I am also considering finding a beta or two, and I have no idea how I get around doing that. But if you're interested and are an experienced Dramione shipper, please get in touch and we'll see if we can work something out!

I can't wait to finish the next chapter - it will be the chapter you've all been waiting for! As always, thanks for reading :)