Of Libraries and Love.

Nine. Being with Grangie.

"I am not hiding anything, Draco. It's just that my previous break-up was, um, difficult, so I am not looking for anything right now," she said softly.

"Why was it difficult? Did he do something to you?"

"No, not at all, quite the opposite actually. He was a darling and we had it good. Then something happened and I decided to break up with him. But, fuck that, alright? I didn't meet you to talk about my love life, okay? Let's talk about something fun!" she said changing smiling at him.

"Alright, what do you want to talk about?" 

"Um, do you know this book on the history of magical forces in Muggle wars of the 19th and 20th centuries?"

"You had me at history, Grangie," he grinned and started a long conversation that both of them obviously enjoying talking about things other people would have found boring. After their lunch and discussion, Draco suggested they go take a tour of the university. He did have an ulterior motive behind this. He wanted to let her know that he had changed, maybe making her like him more than she did. Did she even like him though? He had been kind of an arse at Hogwarts except for their last year, and maybe she just pitied him and that was why she accepted his offer. Oh fuck, he was such a fool.

"Draco?" she called out. She was a few feet away and he realized that he had stopped while musing about whether or not Hermione Granger liked him or not.

"Sorry, I was a bit distracted, let's go," he said and tugged her on her hand, pulling him towards his college building.

"Talk about mental," she muttered behind him, letting him lead her to their destination. Only a minute or two later, did he realize that he was still holding on to her hand and let go with a cough and a slight blush. He showed her his classrooms, the library, and all the other interesting parts of his university.

"Did you like it?" he asked her while they were sitting in the university grounds at the end of their tour.

"Yes, I did, thanks a lot for showing me around. Although I am surprised you know so much about architecture," she said lying down on her back.

"Believe it or not, I did take a few classes on it in my first year. I was confused between architecture and medicine." That was in Germany when he was confused about what to major in, so he ended up with a variety of random subjects.

"Seriously?"

"Yup, it was very interesting, but then I liked psychology better so I didn't pursue either of those," he replied.

"Wow, that is amazing," she said looking at him. "You are a bigger nerd than I thought you were."

"I am flattered that Hermione Granger finds me amazing," he grinned.

"Ha ha," she said throwing some leaves and dirt at him.

"Eesh, Hermione, thanks for ruining my shirt," he said wiping off imaginary dirt off him.

"Don't be a drama queen, it was nothing. Although, I don't why you are so dressed for university," she said looking at his clothes with interest. He was wearing a quite fancy shirt and he knew he had worn it only for her. But, of course, he didn't tell her that.

"Um, I dress like that every day," he lied.
"Bullshit," she said sitting up. "Oh, wait, did you dress like this to impress me, Draco?" She was now laughing so loudly that it was impossible to even think of a lie.

"Please, Grangie," he said with less annoyance than he had intended. "I told you, I dress this good every day."

"Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night," she smirked.

"Merlin, you are such a Slytherin," he said smiling at her.

"I guess you lot are rubbing on me," she said. "C'mon, let's get out of here."

"Where do you want to go?"

"Oh, everyone's meeting at the Leaky as usual. Didn't you know about this?"

"Um, no," he said tugging his hair from the back. He was growing out his blonde hair, not cutting or dyeing it anymore. That was the reason he didn't visit the Manor anymore, his mother was constantly threatening to cut his hair off.

"The gang meets at the Leaky twice a week."

"Okay," he said still sitting on the ground.

"Are you going to stand or not?" she asked impatiently.

"Am I invited?"

"Don't be daft, Draco, of course you are. Why wouldn't you be?"

"I can think of only a dozen reasons at the moment," he said looking at her. She looked at him, examining his face like it had something written on it and then kicked him hard.

"OW! FUCK!"

"Stand up, Draco, you are wasting my time," she said walking away from him backwards.

"Okay," he stood up and smiled at her. "But, I must tell you that you are walking in the wrong direction. The apparition point is inside that building," he pointed at one of the university buildings.

"Oh, who said we are going to apparate? I brought my car," she smirked. Something about her look told Draco that he was in for a very, very tough (but gorgeous) ride. 

Love,
M.