Previously
Adrian narrowed his eyes and snapped, "Are you two dating or something?"
Draco's eyes took a predatory gleam, "I think we are more than dating."
"What are you doing?" Hermione whispered in his ear.
"Saving you. Please don't hex me for this," He whispered back, before leaning down and capturing her lips in a kiss.
Present
Hermione hadn't expected the kiss.
Furthermore, she hadn't expected to enjoy the kiss as much as she did.
Draco Malfoy, while a smarmy git, was a fabulous kisser. She felt the butterflies rise in her stomach as Draco's lips moved gently over hers. He seemed to be holding back, trying not to scare her, yet the kiss felt so passionate.
Completely forgetting where she was and whom she was talking to, Hermione wrapped her arms around Draco's neck in an attempt to get him to deepen the kiss.
His hands tapped her side in an attempt to get her to calm down. Reluctantly, Draco pulled away from Hermione's delicious lips. Who knew the mudblood could kiss like that?
He observed her closed eyes and slight smile for a moment. She hadn't hexed him yet which was a good thing but he wasn't prepared for her reaction. Her hand wrapped around Draco's waist and she opened her eyes to smile at him. "Darling, you really mustn't do that in public. Whenever you're around, I seem to forget myself," Hermione stated, pulling herself even closer to Draco's body.
Draco looked up at Pucey and caught the barely masked fury hidden in his eyes. He knew he would have to watch himself from now on but it was worth it.
"Well, I'll leave you two alone but Hermione, I will be sending you an owl about visitation rights for my son. I plan on seeing him and there is nothing you or Malfoy can do to stop me," Adrian spat out before spinning around and stomping back up the road.
As soon as he was out of sight, Hermione dropped her arms from Draco's waist. He flinched and waited for the curse to come. Nothing happened. He opened his eyes and found her looking at him curiously.
"What?" He asked. When she didn't respond, he started to get annoyed, "I know I'm good looking but Granger, you aren't really my type. Now can you stop looking at me?"
All Hermione did was shrug.
Draco Malfoy did not appreciate being toyed with and this bint was getting on his last nerve. Screw Luna's bet, he was just going to ignore her forever.
"Why did you do it?" She finally asked, curious as to why the Slytherin Prince would come to the know-it-all bookworms aid.
Draco was at a loss for words. How could he explain the situation to her in a way that wouldn't scare the shit out of her? She took his silence to be an unwillingness to answer her question and started to get defensive.
"You don't have to tell me but I just want to know why you attacked me with your lips in front of Adrian. It didn't mean anything and we can just forget about it. I know I didn't feel anything but I just want to know why you did it," Hermione rambled on.
Draco cut her off by placing a finger on her lips. "Please shut up, Granger. I will be happy to tell you but not here in the middle of street. When is your lunch break?"
"At 11 but-" Draco cut her off again.
"Please, Granger, this is something that needs to be talked about in private and not in the middle of the bloody street. I'll swing by your shop at 11 and we can talk about this over lunch but for now, please just forget about this. And if you run into Pucey, make up an excuse to get away from him."
Sighing, Hermione agreed to his request. She really wasn't in the mood for another fight and was already running late as it was. "Fine, Malfoy, I'll see you at 11."
He watched her as she turned around and continued to walk down the street. The bint really did have a fine backside. Being Draco Malfoy, he couldn't resist one more barb.
"OY, Granger," he shouted down the street, "don't deny that you loved every moment of the kiss, Darling."
The darling part was added on just to piss her off. He chuckled as he jumped out of the way of a stinging hex she sent his way. She was such an easy target.
Hermione walked back to her bookshop in a bit of a daze. Draco Malfoy had kissed her. And she had enjoyed it? Merlin, what was her life coming to.
Too distracted to think clearly and be of any help to potential customers this morning, Hermione put up the closed sign and went to the floo. Throwing power into the grate, Hermione stuck her head in, making sure to not breathe in the fumes and called out "Zabini Manor, Luna's sitting room."
After a moment, Luna appeared in front of her, pulling up a small cushioned stool.
"Hello, Hermione. I'm sorry it took so long but I had to grab my stool. The baby is making it difficult to sit on anything else. But it's not just the baby, I think there are some snufflesprouts lurking about too-"
Rolling her eyes, Hermione said, "Luna, i don't care about snufflesprouts. I am having a bit of a freak out and I desperately need you opinion."
Luna trailed off, briefly wondering if this had anything to do with Draco. She valued Hermione's freindship and didn't want her to find out about the bet just yet. Plus, Hermione wasn't usually one to freak out.
"What's going on?" Luna asked curiously.
"Malfoy kissed me. Today in the street. He just kissed me."
Luna made her eyes widen, "Lucius Malfoy kissed you? I really didn't think he would do something-"
"Oh Merlin, no. Not Lucius, Draco. Draco kissed me," Hermione gagged just thinking about possibly locking lips with the elder Malfoy.
"Oh," Luna drawled, "let's make sure to use his name from now on as to not cause further confusion."
Hermione narrowed her eyes at Luna, suspiciously but continued, "Adrian stopped me in the street and before I knew it, Draco had come up behind me eluded that we were dating and sleeping together and then kissed me."
'Interesting' thought Luna. Draco really wasn't wasting any time and she felt that it would serve him well if she were to push Hermione in the right direction.
"Did you like the kiss?" Luna asked.
Eyes glazing over slightly as she remembered the feel of being in his arms, Hermione was woken out of her revery by Luna's chuckle.
"Oh, you don't have to answer that because the answer is written all over your face."
Hermione had the decency to blush slightly as she stated, "Luna, it doesn't matter if I liked it. This is Draco Malfoy we are talking about. Pureblood who won't waste time with a muggleborn. I think he just wanted to make Adrian angry."
Luna leaned closer to the flames of the floo call, "Hermione, you know that Adrian could decide to claim Declan as his heir at any point in time, effectively taking him away from you completely, unless you were to marry him. But once he marries Lavender and has a legitimate child with her, he will decide to make that child his heir and forget about Declan. In the meantime, it wouldn't hurt to be seen with some powerful Purebloods. It may send the message that it won't be so easy to take Declan away from you. If Draco wants to get close to you and seems interested in you, it wouldn't hurt to let him in."
'The truth hurt sometimes,' Hermione thought. Luna hadn't meant to hurt Hermione with her words about Declan being illegitimate but it was still the truth. Luna had definitely given her something to think about.
"Thanks, Luna," Hermione said, offering her friend a small smile as she disconnected the floo call. She definitely had some thinking to do before her meeting with Draco at 11.
At precisely 11 o'clock, Draco was walking into A Quiet Corner. A bell jingled as he walked through the door. Surprised at the sound, he turned and looked up at the door frame. To his surprise, there was an actual bell that was set up to ring every time someone entered the shop. While a ringing charm could have been used, Granger had gone out of her way to make her shop more homely and comfortable.
"It's something muggles use," a voice stated from behind him. He turned around to find the small blond from the other day. She must be Granger's assistant or hired help.
"Where's Granger?" He asked, not really caring for propriety at the moment.
"My name's Anna. What's your name?" The small blond asked.
Draco examined the girl and realized she had to have just graduated from Hogwarts because she barely looked old enough to hold a job.
"Oh Malfoy, you're here. Anna, why didn't you come tell me?" Hermione asked as she walked out of the back room.
"I thought you were still busy looking over the papers that just arrived and I wanted to meet this fine gentlemen," Anna smiled at her boss.
Draco held back the urge to scoff and Granger just rolled her eyes. Anna look from her boss to the stranger standing by the door and asked, "Where are you two heading?"
"Not that it is any of your business but we are going out to lunch," Draco sneered at the girl. There was something about her that rubbed him the wrong way.
"See you in an hour or so, Anna," Hermione called out, grabbing her coat from the rack by the door and steered Draco out into the street. Once they were outside, she admonished him, "You didn't have to be so rude to the girl. She was only curious about you."
"There's something about her that rubs me the wrong way plus she's nosy," Draco complained causing Granger to laugh.
"Malfoy, she's a 17 year old girl and you are a handsome Auror. Of course, she's going to be curious," Hermione laughed.
Draco smirked at her, "So you think I'm handsome?"
Rolling her eyes, Granger steered him into a little café just down the block from her store. "Of course, I think you are handsome, Malfoy. You're an arrogant bastard but no one can deny that you aren't handsome."
Once they were seated and had placed their orders, both ordering a baguette and coffee, Draco decided to start his tale. He had spent all morning coming up with plausible ways to tell her the truth without telling her the complete truth.
"What do you know about blood laws, Granger?" he asked, taking a sip of his coffee.
"I know almost everything about them. What are you looking for specifically?" she replied. Her answer didn't come off as arrogant as it sounded. He realized that she probably did know almost everything about the law.
"Specifically regarding child custody cases," he continued.
"I know that if parents aren't married then it is up to the mother to decide what rights the father has to the child. The father can sue for custody but rarely do they win," Hermione answered, pausing to thank the waiter as he delivered their meals.
Draco shook his head, "Hermione, you are thinking of muggle laws. Here in the wizarding world things are a bit different, especially regarding purebloods and their children. Don't look at me like that."
The look she gave Draco when he mentioned it being different for purebloods could have scared other men senseless but he was Draco Malfoy and he was not scared of Hermione Granger. Well, not yet, at least.
"I know things have changed since the war ended but Granger, you have to remember that this world was built on the foundations of purebloods. The founding laws of the nation might be the only things that haven't changed," Draco continued on with his explanation, baguette forgotten.
Hermione took another sip of her coffee, stating, "But this doesn't answer the question as to why you kissed me."
"Bloody woman," Draco growled underneath his breath. Speaking up more, he exclaimed, "I'm getting there, Granger. Just hold your bloody horses. Now listen carefully, when a pureblood has a child with a man or woman they are not married to, said pureblood is entitled to take custody of that child to raise them in a proper manner. Its something called 'Pureblood Right'. We've already talked about this but from the way Pucey was talking this morning, I wouldn't be surprised if you get an owl soon saying he wants partial custody. Before you know it, he'll show up at your place and just take Declan and there is nothing you will be able to do about it."
Hermione's face drained of all color and Draco realized that might not have been the best way to tell her. He quickly continued on, "but there is a way to stop Adrian from taking custody of Declan. You need to find another Pureblood to express interest in you and your child. If they ask you to marry them or adopt Declan, than Adrian's Pureblood Right will be terminated forever."
"Who am I going to find, Draco?" she whispered, despair evident in her voice. He realized he was watching a woman who had resigned herself to the fact that she had no options.
"Surely, Weasel-bee would-"
Hermione shook her head, "Ron hasn't talked to me in years and would probably give Declan to Pucey just to spite me."
Damn, he had been hoping that one of her friends could come through for her. "Don't you know anyone else?"
"Draco, I'm a single unwed mother with a child. Who wants to date that? Especially when I'm a mudblood and my child is a half-blood."
"Well, you might not need to marry the person. I don't know what Pucey is like now but he might get scared off by another Pureblood expressing interest in you," Draco mused.
"Would you do it?" Hermione asked in a very quiet voice.
Draco's head snapped up. "Would I do what?"
"Would you express interest in me publicly? I mean, it can only be until I find out for certain what Pucey is thinking but I could really use your help here, Draco."
It was a close to begging as Hermione Granger would ever get. And it couldn't have worked out more perfectly for Draco. Now he could fulfill Luna's stupid wager and get to piss off Pucey at the same time. It truly was the perfect plan. And he couldn't be blamed for manipulating her feelings because she was the one who had come up with the arrangement.
"I mean you don't have to but-"
"Hermione, shut up," Draco drawled, interrupting her inane rambling. She looked up at him with hopeful brown eyes. "Yes, I'll help you. I think we need to keep up the charade we gave to Pucey. Pretending that we've been dating in secret for a while and have just now decided to come out. We can tell Luna, Blaise, and Potter the truth because they won't believe us but no one else can know the truth."
"Agreed," Hermione whispered, "what do we tell Declan?"
Draco paused, "I think we should tell him that we are dating. If you would like, we really can go the French Malfoy estate this weekend and spend some quality time getting to know one another and to get our background story squared away."
"I like the sound of that," Hermione answered. Looking at her watch, she realized she had been there for almost an hour and needed to get back. "Care to walk me back to the shop? We can give Anna a big show to go tell people about."
Draco smirked at her as he held out his hand. He helped her up from the table, and then wrapped his larger hand around her smaller one. It unnerved him how perfectly they fit together.
"How very Slytherin of you, darling."
Swinging their hands slightly, she smirked back at him, "You'd be surprised what kind of trouble I used to get into, Malfoy."
"Draco, you should call me Draco and I'll call you Hermione."
Soon they were back at her shop. Draco pulled her to a stop in front of the glass doors, in plain view of Anna, and wrapped his other arm around her. Placing a gentle kiss on her lips, he whispered, "Look for my owl, darling."
Hermione pressed her lips to his again quickly before pulling away and entering the store.
Oh yes, this was going to be perfect. Letting someone like Draco into help her had more than a few benefits.
AN: Quick thank you to everyone who has favorited or followed this story. I'd love to hear what was your favorite part of the chapter in a review!