A/N: Drabble written for The Houses Competition Year 10 round 5.

Prompt(s): [Object] Valentine's Day/Anniversary – Flowers

Hermione's Valentine's Day

It was just another regular, grey Tuesday when Hermione Granger arrived at work until she opened her office door at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. It was not how she'd left it yesterday. Instead, she found at least a dozen chocolate boxes, a handful of bouquets of sweet-smelling roses that filled her office with a mesmerising scent, and someone had even ordered a sunshine spell to brighten her office with the sensation of stepping into warm sunlight. Standing still in the doorway of her office, she saw that all gifts were in the Valentine's edition. Hermione Granger heard footsteps behind her and saw in her periphery vision that her assistant, Annabelle, was making her way over.

"It's a lot, isn't it?" she asked while taking in a deep breath to smell everything.

"Yes, but I don't understand why!" Hermione hastened to say.

Annabelle raised her eyebrows. "Because of your interview with Witch Weekly."

"I'm sorry?" Hermione asked, surprised.

"A few months ago, you were interviewed by Witch Weekly; do you remember?" Annabelle's calm voice asked in a motherly tone.

"Yes," Hermione remembered the interview with Padma Patil about how and what she was doing now.

"In that interview, they asked you about your job, your life, your habits, and your views on certain things."

"Right," Hermione agreed slowly.

"They also asked you why you were still single. You answered that many men were insecure about approaching you as you are so famous. So, Ms. Patil asked you what they could do about it. You answered that you love a meet-cute, where you meet each other in a natural way that makes that person stand out. Or just simply a nice letter or bouquet on Valentine's Day."

"Okay." Hermione could not remember saying this, but she agreed with her own past words.

"So, now it's February the 14th and everyone sends me letters and roses?"

"Yes."

"I see. Well, given the number of bouquets and chocolates, I would've expected at least one letter."

Her assistant grinned; she was amused. "They are still being checked by security. Don't worry; you have plenty of letters. The shocked mailman informed me this morning of the number of external letters you have received. Do you want to know how many?"

Hermione gulped. "Do I?"

Annabelle laughed and answered, "164."

Hermione exhaled loudly. "I am so glad that my home address is secret."

Laughing again, Annabelle left Hermione's side, "I can imagine."

"You know what?" Hermione said, "I think I'll work from home today. I'm afraid people will even show up here at my office now." Hermione shuddered at the thought.

"Alright, I'll keep you updated with the instant contact parchment," Annabelle said and left with an official salute.

When Hermione arrived back home, she was happy to see that her home was still how she'd left it half an hour ago and made herself a cup of tea before getting to her home-brought paperwork.

After working for about three hours, it was a few minutes before twelve, and she decided to see what she would have for lunch when the doorbell rang.

Sighing, she opened the front door.

It was Draco, with a bouquet filled with lilies.

"Hermione, I've just been by your office and your assistant informed me that you would be working from home today. Given the chaos of Valentine's gifts and love declarations that found their way to your office, I cannot blame you."

He smiled in a goofy manner that Hermione had barely seen since the start of their friendship a few months ago. Draco had completely turned his life around the past years, working for St. Mungo's as an experimental potioneer, donating to charities, and apologising to the Golden Trio under the influence of Veritaserum, which had been all his idea.

"But why are you here now? With that." She pointed to the bouquet of lilies in his hands and had a strange feeling that he was going to profess his love for her or something.

Draco smiled awkwardly now, and suddenly Hermione realised that she'd never seen him this insecure before.

"I am not going to profess my undying love for you. I am not going to claim I have been in love with you ever since meeting you because your teeth were huge and there is no way I could be into that," he joked with so much humour in his voice that Hermione's shocked face slowly turned into a huge smile. She shook her head, smiling as she was amused by his words.

"That's something for you to say, pale-y!" she retorted happily.

Draco, who'd been going a lot more outside since he'd broken the contact with his parents and all pureblood supremacists, was less pale now, but he laughed a little too.

"Anyway," Draco continued, "Over the last months that we have been meeting each other, I have enjoyed your company. I find your intelligence superbly attractive, your perseverance is praiseworthy and your passion incredibly sexy. Your humour is mwah," Hermione huffed indignantly while he continued, "but your body is also exquisitely wonderful. So, shortly put, I see a lot of potential in you, and us together too. I've been paying attention for the past few years, and I know that you hate roses and love lilies. I know that you don't like to receive chocolates as you cannot help yourself when you have any sweets in your home, except for liquorice which you dislike passionately. So having said all this and handing you the bouquet," he handed her the lilies, "will you go on a date with me?"

Hermione looked at him. She smelled her second-favourite smell, after spearmint toothpaste, which was the smell of lilies and nodded.

"I see potential in you, too. The way you have protected Blaise and to get him safely back to Ginny…" Hermione broke off and Draco smiled.

"So, tonight? I have made reservations at 18:00, is that alright?"

"Perfect," she answered while smelling the lovely lilies.