It's a Mystery, Granger

Chapter 10

Walking into her flat thirty minutes before she was supposed to go out with Malfoy, Hermione had no energy. Her feet dragged as she walked across the carpeted floor and she considered sending Malfoy an owl to cancel. Unfortunately, he had likely already made reservations somewhere and she didn't want to make him change his plans at the last minute, so she went up to her bedroom to find something she could wear.

She was standing in front of her closet, still in her work clothes, when someone knocked on her door. Blinking quickly, she realised she'd completely stared off into space and lost all time to get ready.

"Coming!" she yelled, running out of her room. She raced across the living room and pulled open the door, an apology already falling from her lips. "I'm so sorry, Malfoy. I meant to get ready and then I just lost time staring at my closet and I swear I can be dressed in five minutes, but I'll probably be a mess—"

"Is everything good, Granger?" Malfoy asked, raising a worried eyebrow and interrupting her.

He was dressed in casual dress robes much to Hermione's surprise and he held a small arrangement of flowers and a bag of kneazle treats. When he saw her staring at the treats, he held them out uselessly.

"For Crookshanks. Figured I should get him dinner too."

"You got—Oh, okay," Hermione said in astonishment, taking the treats and the flowers. She called Crookshanks, but the kneazle was already brushing up against Malfoy's legs. "I'll go get dressed, then. Here, you can feed him while you wait. He—Watch out for his claws. He likes to swat at his food sometimes."

Malfoy nodded and crouched down to feed Crookshanks. Hermione set the flowers on her dining room table, transfiguring a vase to put them in before running back upstairs.

Basing her own attire off of Malfoy's casual dress robes, she grabbed a nice blouse and slacks. She didn't bother putting her work clothes back in the closet neatly. She was already pressed for time, so she used her wand to move them from her floor to her bed and quickly braided back her hair. Grabbing a pair of heels, she flew down the stairs, practically jumping from the fifth stair down.

"I'm ready," she announced, slipping on her shoes and summoning her cloak. "Again, I'm so sorry. There was—We figured out who broke into the vault and it wasn't who I thought so Harry and I stayed late but—Nevermind."

"You solved the case?" Malfoy asked, standing up after dumping the rest of the kneazle treats in front of Crookshanks.

Hermione frowned.

"Don't give him all of them," she said, ignoring his question. "He'll get sick."

"Who was it?"

Hermione pressed her lips together and stared at Malfoy, not sure if she wanted to tell him before hearing from Ron himself.

"I—don't want to think about it," she decided. Rather the press for an answer, Malfoy nodded.

"Alright," he agreed. He held out his arm and Hermione took it without reluctance. "Are we still alright for dinner? If you want to take the night, that's fine."

"No, dinner is fine," she assured him. She gave him a tight smile and said, "Just, maybe no talk about the case, okay?"

"Sure thing, Granger," Malfoy said, placing one hand over hers on his arm. "Hold on tight."

A second later, she felt the familiar pull of apparation and the uncomfortable swirling that accompanied side along apparation. It took a couple of seconds for her to reorientate herself after they landed, but Malfoy didn't tug away until he was sure she was steady on her feet.