Ta-da!
Draco was sitting in one of his favourite classes, and yet he wanted it to end quickly. He had been like this since morning, fidgety and distracted. He had figured out very early in the day that the reason for this distraction was Hermione Granger. It had been more than a week since he had gone over to the Burrow and suggested to show her around the university. He hadn't seen or heard from her after that, giving up all hope on her accepting his offer. But, surprisingly, she had sent him an owl last night, asking if he could kindly bless her with his pleasant company (her words). He might have jumped and squealed when he read her letter. And just five minutes ago, she had texted him saying that she was waiting outside his college building, and he didn't know how he was going to survive the next seven minutes in class. By the end, he was so eager that he dashed out of the classroom without saying goodbye to his professor and classmates. He made a mental note to apologize or explain his behaviour the next time he saw them. He ran down the stairs, slowing down only when he reached the entrance door. He didn't want Hermione to know how much he liked her. He spotted her outside the doors, dressed in a casual white dress, talking to someone on her phone. She looked up at him and hung up as he walked up to her.
"Hey, Grangie," he said smiling.
"Why do you look so flushed?" she asked him.
"Um, I am, I am a bit cold," he said. Shit.
"I know England is a cold place, but it is September, don't be ridiculous. Tell me what happened, did your teacher teach an extremely important topic?" she grinned.
"Oh, yes, I cannot wait to tell you all about my classes," he said. "Do you want to eat first? I am a bit hungry."
"Sure, whatever you want," she said. They walked to a small restaurant nearby, occupying a table near a window facing the street.
"How are you? I thought you were going to ditch me," he told her while she examined the menu. She was adorable when she was being decisive.
"Oh, I completely forgot about it, I was so busy with classes and work. I am sorry," she pouted looking at him.
"It's alright," he said waving his hand as though he had not thought about it every minute. "I am glad you came after all."
"You thought I was going to bail on you, Malfoy?" she fake gasped and then laughed loudly.
"You are crazy, Grangie," he said signalling for the waiter to take their order. Both of them placed their order and sat in comfortable silence after that. He looked at her, taking in her presence, aware of the fact that she was aware of him staring/acting like a creep.
"How are your courses?" she asked turning to look at him. He cleared his throat and pretended he had not been looking at her all this while.
"Oh, it is great, I am learning so much. And some of my professors are just fucking brilliant. You should come for some of my lectures, they might just help you with your healer training," he explained enthusiastically.
"That's wonderful, I am glad you are enjoying it. I might just join you one day," she replied. "What about your classmates? Did you make any new friends? Perhaps even a girlfriend, yeah?" she smirked. He knew she was just pulling his leg but he still hated that question.
"No, I did not get a new girlfriend. I did, however, make a few friends. They are all from different majors, though," he said sipping on his wine. "What about you? Do you have a new boyfriend? Is it an Italian this time? Or a Russian again?"
"Shut up, you arse, I don't have a new boyfriend. If I did, you would have read about it by now," she said avoiding his eyes.
"Something tells me you have hidden your boyfriends from the press before," he coaxed her into telling him whatever she was hiding.
"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.