He stared at the contraption in front of him.
Muggles. Were. Weird.
There was no other explanation for it.
He tentatively put a finger on the panel that was parallel to the coffee table.
"It's only a laptop! It won't bite you!" Granger called from the kitchen, pulling a bottle of wine from the rack and grabbing two glasses.
He eyed the bright panel that she had referred to as the screen with a curious suspicion, then peered over the top of it as Granger came back into the lounge, removing her heels while bracing herself against the wall, sighing contentedly as she felt those delicate calves he so admired relax, her toes spreading slightly into the plushness of the carpet. He watched her roll her neck and shoulders, her eyes closed, mouth slightly open.
Merlin he wanted to do things to that ivory neck.
His eyes drifted down and he noted she had removed her jacket. She stopped her stretching and came over to the coffee table, leaning across it to check his progress.
The delicate silk of her blouse fell away with ease.
Sweet Merlin, she was going to kill him.
"You haven't even loaded Google" she complained, exasperated, coming around the coffee table, using her leg to gently nudge him.
"Budge up then!" she huffed and he glared up at her as he moved further along the sofa.
She placed the wine and the glasses on the table next to the laptop, and her fingers set to work tapping and clicking.
"Right, you just type in here what you need to look up, so we want 'Hotels' 'Paris' and then hit enter. See!" she pointed to the screen without looking at him "it then gives you a list of hotels in Paris. Ok…." her eyes narrowed as she checked through the list "Central Paris would probably be best, we can take an International Portkey, or we could go by Eurostar?" she turned to him, her eyebrow raised questioningly.
"I think not" he muttered, scowling.
"No…" she considered it a moment "you are probably right, it would be quicker to just head straight to the French Ministry."
She continued tapping. "Harry said there isnt a lot in the budget…."
"I will pay" he cut her off.
She turned and stared at him.
"It's for the case, the Ministry will cover it, we just have to go for somewhere affordable"
"I am not staying anywhere less than 5 Star, Granger, so I will cover it" he smirked at her.
Hermione scowled at him
"Is it really necessary to be arrogant.."
"It's not arrogance.."
"Yes it is…"
"Granger. The best way to ensure we have privacy, that we maintain security, and that we can work on the case, is to go for a 5 Star Hotel which will have access to a business center or at the very least a fax machine because you know very well we can't use Owls in muggle areas. And Potter said keep a low profile. No wizard hotels"
She huffed her resignation to his logic. He had a point, but she hated it when he outsmarted her like that.
"Fine." She muttered, tapping away. "Here's the list" she turned the laptop towards him and showed him how to scroll down.
"Pick one, I'm going to make a sandwich, I'm starving" she said getting up.
He looked through the list.
"Grand Hôtel du Palais Royal" he called to her. "What do I do to book it?"
He heard a crash from the kitchen.
"Granger? Are you alright?" he rushed to the kitchen.
"I'm fine!" she waved him away "Just dropped a plate, that's all."
He bent down to pick up the pieces while she retrieved the little pan and brush to clearing up the debris.
"You know it would be easier.."
"Don't!" she stated.
"What?" he chuckled "You don't know what I was going to say!"
"I know very well what you were going to say Malfoy and you know very well what my opinion on the matter is!" she huffed, dropping the contents of the pan into the bin.
"They make life easier though!" he stated, going back to the sofa.
"Its not a matter I care to discuss" she sternly told him.
He put his hands up in surrender and sat back down.
She stood in the doorway, an uncertain look on her face.
"Anyway about this hotel…"
"We aren't staying there." she muttered
"What? Why not? Looks quite nice" he carefully scrolled down in the way she had shown him
"We are not going there." she folded her arms across her chest.
He stared at her a moment.
"Are you going to tell me why?" he asked her slowly, holding her eyes.
"No" she muttered, looking away. "Pick another"
He looked back at the screen.
"Hôtel de Vendôme?" he suggested, clicking on the website like she had shown him to.
"Veto!" she called from the kitchen.
"Err, how to I get back to that list?" he wasn't sure what he had done, but the screen was now black. He clicked furiously at different buttons, growing exasperated. He considered hexing the damn thing.
"Oh for crying out loud!" she padded back to the sofa "like this!" she cried, moving her hand over the part where she had told him to scroll, his eyes following her instructions. He was getting the hang of this. Slowly. Maybe he wouldn't need to hex it after all.
She stood next to him, waiting for a third option. He scrolled down the list, scrutinising the little pictures.
"Le Meurice Hotel?" he suggested, looking up at her, his steely gaze meeting her warm hazel eyes.
She considered this for a moment, looking away from his prying eyes, trying to recall distant memories.
"Yes that one" she quietly muttered, her brow now formed into a deep frown.
"Sure?" he checked, his finger poised over the keys.
"Yes that one is fine" she quietly answered.
Something was off with her about this and he couldn't work out what, but he sensed there was no point pressing it.
"Two rooms" she whispered.
He looked up at her.
"Wouldnt it be better to have a suite?" he asked
She opened her mouth to protest.
"Suites have more than one room, Granger" he quietly told her, knowing what she was about to say.
"Whatever you want Malfoy" she replied, almost inaudible.
Merlin, she had no idea what he wanted.