Hermione
It's been a week, and Hermione nor Draco have gotten anywhere, the MACUSA team has been stubborn and aren't listening to reason
Twice has it happened that Draco stormed out of the conference room
The MACUSA team has been playing dirty, using their pasts, especially Draco's, against their case
Draco had just stormed out of the room once again, Hermione hot on his tail
"Malfoy...Malfoy...Draco!" Hermione yelled, he spun on the heels of his feet and looked at Hermione, she reached him quickly and dragged him into their temporary office
"You have got to stop doing that!" Hermione yelled
"Th-"
"They are using your past against you, I get it, but you storming out of there like a little boy who was just told no is not helping our case!" Hermione yelled
"They are making me look like a cruel man who will at any second summon you-know-who again! who doesn't care about anyone, who want to see muggle-borns, to see you, in danger!"
It took him a moment to register what he had said, he had practically confessed that he truly worried about her on a deeper level
Hermione slowly walked up to him, standing less than a foot apart she had to crane her neck up in order to look at him
"Draco...this is what they want you to do, Draco you need to calm down" Hermione whispered softly to him
"But..."
"Draco...those things that they say about you, they're in the past, show them how far you've gotten, that you are no longer that boy, but one of the best the best workers from the ministry" she whispered to him, somewhere along the way she put her hands on his cheeks, she felt the faint stubble against her hands
He sighed and nodded, he was focusing on the warmth of her hands against his cheeks, he hoped that the red tint on his cheeks she mistook from anger
Unfortunately, she didn't and she ended up blushing along with him, she smiled at him
"You, Draco Malfoy, are an extraordinary person, a brilliant wizard and an amazing person, don't let anyone ever tell you otherwise, who you become is up to you, nobody else"
She hoped he would listen to her words, that he would understand how much she cares for him, that she has seen the drastic changes
"You're an amazing...friend"
Well...that hurt us, didn't it?
Hermione smiled at him, she nodded and stepped away from him, she walked towards the conference office again, not hearing the sigh of defeat coming from Draco
Hermione wasn't paying attention to where she going and crashed into someone, they put their hands on her waist and she looked up and was greeted by a man with green eyes, his skin was a suntan brown, his hair black and messy, Hermione would be lying if she said he wasn't attractive
"I-I-I'm sorry" Hermione stuttered while she blushed red
"No problem, Hermione Granger, isn't it?" He asked, his American accent made Hermione blush even more
"Yes, and you are?"
"Finn Wilson, I'm an Auror here in MACUSA" he introduced himself
They shook hands
"I'm sorry for walking into you, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going?" She told him
"A penny for your thought?" He asked her
Hermione smiled brightly at him
"It's nothing, don't worry yourself," Hermione told him
"Now I'm curious as to what has a beautiful witch, like yourself out of sorts"
Hermione blushed
"I'm busy on a case that has become difficult" Hermione explained
"Care to tell me more? Over dinner, I'm suggesting"
No! No! No! Think about Draco! Think of him, Hermione!
He called us his friend, he doesn't feel that way
B-
No, I'm done waiting
"I'm saying at the Noble Nimbus hotel, tonight?" Hermione asked
"Perfect, I'll pick you up at seven" Finn confirmed it
He winked at her and walked away, she smiled and walked her way, she arrived to the door of the conference room and took a deep breath
Come on Hermione, you can do this
Okay
She opened the doors and entered, she prepared herself for whatever the team had planned this time
—/:/—
Draco
Draco had heard the conversation, he felt like his heart was shattering into a million pieces
A...date?
Hermione is going on a...date?
All he wanted to do at that moment was run to Hermione and tell her everything he felt for her, that she wasn't just a friend for him, not anymore, she was the one who had his heart, and he didn't want her to be with anyone else if it wasn't him
"Why did I call her a friend?" He whispered softly
You are an idiot! This is the second time you let her go!
Go after her! Now!
He took a step forward
What if I tell her and ruin everything? What if...
What if she feels the same way about you? What if she wants to be with you? What if she...
She doesn't, she doesn't feel the same way about me as I feel about her
Why? Why do you say that? She probably does Draco
She doesn't, if she did she would never agree to that date, she wouldn't ever
You did call her a friend, maybe she's just confused
Draco wanted to ruin their friendship, he wanted to take that extra step with her
She was everything he wants, but she's also everything he can't ever have to himself
She was good, so good, an amazing woman, a beautiful woman, a smart woman, she was perfect, so perfect and he...was the opposite, he was selfish, he would ruin her, ruin everything that made Hermione, well, Hermione, he couldn't
He wouldn't, even if it meant he could never have her in his life anything but his friend
"Am I interrupting anything?" Someone asked from the door, he looked up and saw a man there
"Who are you?" He asked
"I'm Finn, Finn Wilson, I'm an Auror here at MACUSA" Finn introduced himself to Draco
Finn Wilson, the same bastard that's trying to steal Hermione
Draco put his lips in a thin line, he needed to play his cards right
"Malfoy, Draco Malfoy" Draco said
"You're Hermione's partner, for the case?" Finn asked
He's an idiot, why would Hermione Granger
go out with him, he's not smart enough for her
Draco nodded, he didn't trust his voice and what he would say, he had a vocabulary that would put Theo's to an absolute pathetic shame
"I'm going out with her tonight," Finn told Draco
Draco fumed
"Are you?" Draco willed himself to ask
"Yeah, hey is it true?" Finn asked
"Is what true?"
"That she's good, what do you people say, 'shag'? We had someone here a few weeks ago, Cormac McLaggen, and he was boasting about shagging Hermione Granger, he said that if you ever had an opportunity, you should hit that" Finn smirked
that's it, I'm going to jail for murder
"Hermione Granger is a lady, Cormac McLaggen is a pig that has a dick three sizes too small," Draco said
"He said Hermione had a guard puppy," Finn told him, smirking at his behavior
Draco walked up to Finn and took him by the collar of his jacket, Draco was slightly taller than him, he made the auror stand on the tips of his feet
"Listen here, if I hear that if in any way you hurt Hermione, I will not hesitate to hurt you, if you're going to be with Hermione, you will treat her with respect and with dignity, and not like some slag" Draco threatened
"you can't hurt me Malfoy, you're under a lot of restrictions here at MACUSA, we know who you are," Finn said
It took all of Draco's will power not to plummet this auror to death, he shoved him back roughly and glared at the auror, the Auror smirked and let Draco alone with is thoughts once again