Loving Him Was Red

Chapter One

      Hermione Granger sat at the bar, the tumbler of fire whiskey in her hand forgotten; she was pouring over the draft for her latest article piece for The Prophet, her editor's comments annoying her more and more as she reached the end of the parchment. She pushed the article away from her, frowning in disgust as she swallowed the last of her firewhiskey. The bell above the door gave a small tinkle, and she looked up expecting to see Harry and Ginny, but frowned when it was a brown haired wizard she didn't recognize. She sighed, running her hands through her own hair, the frown becoming deeper as she looked at her ends. Thanks to the rage induced fit of a younger witch, she was now sporting a darker hair color than she was used to; she hadn't the time nor the patience to change the color back, and left it the dark brown, almost black color it had been for close to a month. Looking at her watch for the fourth time that night, she grabbed her bag and stuffed her belongings inside, giving up on waiting for her friends to show up. "A firewhiskey, please." The voice was deep, smooth, with a slight edge to it. She looked to her left, and noticed the brown haired wizard that had entered the bar earlier. He looked back, a smirk on his face. His hair was different, and his usual air of cockiness was missing, but just as sure as his eyes were an icy blue, Hermione knew she was staring into the eyes of her former school mate, the boy who tortured her for years. 

      "Draco Malfoy," he said, extending his hand towards her. She was confused, but took his hand in hers and shook. 

      "I know," she replied coolly. His smirk became a little more pronounced, and he took his hand back, placing it on the other side of his glass.

     "So what's your name?" He asked after a beat of silence. Hermione became more confused, before realizing with a jolt he didn't recognize her; her darker hair color, paired with the fact that she had started using a muggle anti frizz product that helped defined her curls made her look like a totally different person than the usual bushy haired witch Malfoy was used to teasing. 

     "Alexa," she replied without a moments hesitation. He nodded his head once, before taking a drink from his glass. 

      "I can be sure you never went to Hogwarts, I would have remembered a face as pretty as yours. So Beauxbatons, am I correct?" She nodded her own head in response not trusting her voice to not completely betray her. "What are you doing so far from France, then, Alexa?" His eyes lazily scanned her, making Hermione blush; she had filled out more in the last few years they had been out of school, so Hermione knew for certain where his eyes lingered the longest.

      "Work," she answered simply. 

     He stayed silent for a moment, before giving her a half smile. "Work. Where we spend most of our time, with so little to show for it, wouldn't you say?" she shook her head in the negative. 

     "I don't know what type of work you might do, Mr. Malfoy, but I happen to enjoy my work." He gave her an amused look before speaking next.

      "My father is Mr. Malfoy, please, call me Draco." 

      "I wouldn't-" 

   "Please, I insist," he interrupted. "We're far too young to be addressing each other by such, anyways. Leave that to our elders." Hermione bit the inside of her mouth, hard enough to taste blood. She immediately released, and responded. 

    "Fine, Draco then." he smiled, a full smile this time, and Hermione felt herself becoming annoyed once again. Even after all these years, he still knew how to push her buttons, even if he didn't know he was pushing her buttons. Now she partly understood why Draco had been named the most eligible bachelor in London, both wizard and muggle world alike; he had a way with words.