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The sounds of the bar were louder than usual tonight. The drink she'd been nursing for the better part of an hour was mostly watered down by her now melted ice, not that it was even worth the couple gallons she'd spent on it. The french fries she'd stolen from Theo's plate had been soggy. Her stool creaked whenever she moved, and for some unearthly reason she'd been moving a lot tonight. Her pants felt too tight, her sweater made her too hot but if she took it off she was too cold. The lights were too dim. Everything felt different to Hermione and overall it just wasn't shaping up to be a good night.
And that didn't even include the fact that a certain someone wasn't around to keep her company.
Normally the group's Friday night get-togethers were one of the better parts of her week. Draco, Theo, Harry, Ron, and herself would all meet in the Ministry atrium and floo together to this small hole in the wall bar Blaise had found a year ago. They'd meet up with him, Ginny, and Pansy and chat about their week, get tipsy, or occasionally drunk, and overall just have fun and relax as the oddball group of friends they had become.
But tonight Draco was absent. He was visiting his mother in France all of this week and while Hermione hadn't thought anything of it when he'd told her last Tuesday, she now found herself feeling a bit lonely without him.
Most of the others in the group were paired up or oftentimes would find someone from the bar to entertain and sometimes even go home with. Hermione had never liked hookup culture and normally relied on Draco to keep her company. He was, for all intents and purposes, her best friend.
"Psst." Ginny whispered as she nudged Hermione's arm with her elbow, breaking the witch from her thoughts.
Hermione looked up at Ginny to find her subtly motion toward the front of the bar.
There was Draco, standing awkwardly in the doorway. He looked sullen, she noticed, something he often did when he saw his mother. Their relationship had been stained ever since Lucious had died three years prior and Hermione knew it weighed heavy on Draco.
She watched as the blonde sighed to himself and continued to look around the bar with a sad look in his eyes, like a puppy behind a glass door while its owners left for work.
She sat up straight in her seat and lifted her hand up past her head in a small wave she hoped would catch his eye. Harry, who had been sitting across from her, turned to see who or what Hermione was waving at and spotted Draco as well.
With a loud laugh the Boy Who Lived stood and waved both his arms above his head.
"Oye! Malfoy! Over here!"
The table laughed at his very drunk antics but all joined in as they waved to Draco.
His eyes lit up some when he saw the group and began to make his way around the other bar patrons and over to the table. When he was close enough to look past Harry and Theo, who had also stood up to wave and greet their friend, and saw her sitting there smiling shyly at him, did his eyes light up even more.
"Welcome back." Blaise drawled as he pushed a full drink across the table and towards Hermione.
She turned to look at Blaise, who only raised his eyebrows at her and motioned to look behind her. She turned back and there he was. Draco stood beside her, his shoulders more relaxed than they had been when he was in the doorway.
Hermione smiled up at him and he smiled back, the kind of smile that was really just the corner of his mouth tipping up slightly.
Before she could speak he had reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a small brown bag and handed it to her.
"What's this?" She unrolled the top of the bag and looked inside.
"Sugar quills." He replied, maneuvering around her to find a free stool to pull up.
He sat down and scooted closer, his knee pressed lightly into her thigh. "I know they're your favorite. They're different flavors, at least ones I've never seen here at Diagon or even Weasley's. Thought I'd pick you up some."
When she didn't respond, he shrugged almost as if to belittle his gift and quickly turned towards the table. He reached for his drink and happily acknowledged the rest of the group. They chatted loudly with him, asking about his week, and retelling all the excitement of their own.
Hermione bit the corner of her lip as she looked down at the bag in her hands. Sugar quills were her favorite. Slowly she reached inside and pulled a rather pale looking pink one out and popped the end of the quill into her mouth. Raspberry.
Theo made a loud laugh as he clapped Draco on the back. When he caught Hermione's eye the brunette simply raised a brown and smiled cheekily at her.
She raised a brow back but continued to suck on the quill. Ginny nudged her again and gave Hermione a similar look to Theo’s.
Finally she turned back to Draco. He smiled at her again, one where both the corners of his lips turned upwards and whispered, "You're welcome."
There was a short, steady knock on the office door before it pushed open. Hermione looked up briefly to see Draco slip in and close the door behind himself.
With a small nod of acknowledgment Hermione went back to finishing her thought, quill scratching quickly over the parchment. She had plans to leave early today to meet her parents for dinner and needed to get at least the main part of her new proposal finished before then. Thankfully, Draco was kind enough not to interrupt her when he saw she was mid-thought; the spilled inkwell on her desk must have been the give away.
After a few moments Hermione set her quill down and looked up at Draco. He was still standing by the door and for some odd reason he had an umbrella in hand.
She tilted her head and motioned to the umbrella.
"It's raining.” He answered, his eyes not meeting hers. Instead he fiddled with the strap on the handle.
“Thank you?”
"The floo's acting up. Not sure if you know but there's an apparition port about three blocks down.” Finally he looked up at her. “Take my umbrella."
Hermione watched as he leaned the umbrella against the wall by her coat rack.
In the past few years they had been friends, Hermione had learned one very important thing about Draco: he did not like to share.
They had both been only children, and to some extent Hermione understood. There were certain things she had that she would never share. But after discovering she was a witch and wanting so desperately to fit in at Hogwarts, Hermione found herself giving up things to be accepted. As a result, her childhood selfishness was something she grew out of and grew out of quickly.
Draco on the other hand never needed to give up anything to fit in. He was born a pureblood and if he wanted friends he could simply bribe them. His belongings always remained his, even into his adult years.
The first time Hermione had witnessed his unwillingness to share was a few months into their eight year at Hogwarts. The two had been paired up at the start of the year as part of a ‘rehabilitation program’ the Ministry was running. “This is a time to learn and grow and become the truest versions of yourselves and the best way to do that is to make new friends.”
Of course, the two butted heads at first, but after their third full week of detention they had decided to forgive and forget. It was only a day or two after said truce in potions class that Hermione had realized she’d forgotten her cauldron. She knew Draco always kept a spare in his bag and went about grabbing it to use.
Hermione had never seen someone move so fast. One minute he was halfway across the room gathering ingredients and the next he was by her side, pulling his cauldron away from her and gawking at her wildly. She had simply glared at him and went to reach back for the cauldron, telling him she needed it. He’d only pulled it back, yelled at her about not touching his things, and as an act of pure spite confringo’d the cauldron before going back to gathering ingredients.
Hermione looked him up and down. “Are you sure? I mean if the port is only three blocks away I’m sure I can run fast enough there. I’d have to apparate home first and change but I’m pretty sure there’s an apparition port close to the restaurant. Oh shoot, no we’re meeting in muggle London.” Hermione rested her elbow on her desk and dropped her head into her open palm. “I know I have an umbrella at home? Or do I? Maybe I lent it to Theo? I should go ask–”
“No.” Draco cut her off. “It’s fine. You can use mine. I know dinner with your parents is important. I don’t want you to be late or worse wet when you show up.”
With a nod Draco turned and opened her office door. As he began to slip back out he paused and turned back to Hermione, clearing his throat in the process.
“Have a lovely evening Granger.”
"Here."
Draco was hovering in front of her, his body bobbing up and down as he held out his hand. His hair was windswept from the flying he’d done the past few hours. Parts that he normally kept slicked back either hung down in his eyes or stuck to his cheek and neck.
He was so close she could smell the cold air and sweat on him. So close she could almost feel his hot breath on her face as he tried to steady his breathing.
Nervously Hermione reached out and took the small golden snitch from him and held it lightly in her hands.
He laughed, deep and playful. "It won’t bite you. Just be careful or it'll fly off."
Hermione looked up at him and smiled. Her eyes and nose wrinkled as she laughed. "I’ll be careful. Thank you Malfoy."
Draco nodded before he pulled up in the handle of his broom and flew off back towards the quidditch pitch.
"What's that all about?" Pansy asked as Hermione sat back down next to her.
"Oh! We were talking about the match the other day at lunch. I told him I've never actually held a snitch before." She turned over the ball in her hands.
Pansy raised a brow and went back to filing her nails, “And so he just had to make sure he won the match so he could give it to you?”
Hermione looked over at her friend and rolled her eyes. “He’s a good player. He was going to win regardless. If Harry had won I’m sure he would have done the same thing.”
“Did you tell Harry you wanted to hold a snitch? Yesterday, or in the, oh I don’t know ten plus years you’ve known him.” Pansy asked, a haughty tone in her voice.
She rolled her eyes again and looked away, focusing all her attention on the snitch.
It was smaller than she’d thought. Granted, she knew it was small, between seeing Harry and Ron with one over the years at Hogwarts, but holding it was different than just seeing it. It wasn’t as smooth as she’d thought it would be or even as shiny. The gold was dull and covered in faint scratches and scuff marks from years of use.
As she turned over the snitch it began to vibrate in her hands, eliciting a small gasp from Hermione. As the vibrating continued and the intensity of its vibrations grew, Hermione struggled to keep it in her hands. Draco had said not to let it go but now that that match was over it would really fly off again? Curiosity got the better of her and Hermione opened her hand up and let it go.
For a few minutes it swirled around her head, buzzing almost playfully in her ears before it froze and zipped off towards the sky.
Hermione gasped again, louder this time and turned towards Pansy, her mouth agape. The darker haired witch just laughed at her. Turning back towards the direction the snitch had flew, Hermione jumped up.
“Malfoy!” She called. He didn’t look over right away so she yelled again. “Malfoy!”
The player Draco had been talking with pushed at his shoulder and finally he turned towards her. “I’m sorry! It got away!”
She could see him laugh to himself before he flipped his broom up and off his shoulder and mounted it.
Draco kicked off the ground and flew over to her. He mimicked the snitch, flying in circles around Hermione. “Merlin Granger, I told you to be careful.” He chastised playfully.
“I didn’t think it would fly away so fast.” She huffed and crossed her arms. “Pansy back me up here. You were just as surprised, right?”
“Oh no, don’t bring me into this.” Pansy said, holding her hands up in mock defense.
Draco came back to hovering in front of Hermione. “And what do I get if I catch the snitch a second time?”
“Ah-“ Hermione reached out and weaved her hand in front of his face in an attempt to shoo him away.
With her guard down, Draco reached out, grabbed her hand, and pulled her towards him. Frantic, Hermione began to stumble and fall and in an attempt to save herself she reached out with her free hand to grab onto the closest thing to her which just so happened to be Draco’s broom.
The broom tilted some from Hermione's unsteady grasp but Draco held firm and after a minute she regained her balance.
“Come with me to get it?” He tugged her towards the broom again, gentler this time.
“Malfoy!” Hermione squealed as she tried to wiggle her arm from his grasp and step away. “There is no way I’m getting on that thing!”
He laughed. “Oh come on, you don’t think I’ll let you fall do you?” He let go of her arm and covered his heart with his hand. “You wound me.”
Hermione pulled both her arms close to her chest and looked away. Her cheeks felt hot as she listened to him laugh at her. He knew she was terrified of flying, how could he be so mean? Hermione huffed to herself and continued to look away.
“Alright alright.” Draco pushed down on the broom and circled Hermione one more time before flying off and up into the sky.
“What a brute.” Hermione whispered as she sat back down next to Pansy. This time she began to gather up her things, stuffing her scarf and books into her bag so by the time Draco returned she would be long gone.
But as she continued to hastily stuff her bag, Hermione couldn’t help but look up at Draco as he circled the pitch looking for the snitch again for her.
There was a loud tapping at her window that caused Hermione to drop her book as the sound startled her. The faint outline of an owl flew past her large bay window followed by another loud tap.
It was late and she wasn’t expecting mail at this time of night. Still the owl was relentless and tapped a third time. Hermione sighed and set her book down before she crawled out from under her blanket cocoon on the couch and made her way over to the window.
As she unlatched the lock and pushed the window open the large brown owl flew in and circled above her cooing loudly. He circled the room again, as he looked for a spot to drop off whatever he was set out to deliver, before he settled on the center of the room. With a happy hoot a small white and brown box fell from his talons. As the box dropped the air around her filled with magic, a faint zap sounded, and the once small box expanded three times its size before it floated safely and softly to the ground.
Hermione turned her head to follow the owl as it flew back out the window without waiting for her to respond. With a shrug, she turned back to the living room with hopes to find out who had sent her package well past ten at night only to find a large bouquet of wite flowers on top of her coffee table.
Another zap sounded and out from the bouquet a letter floated over toward Hermione.
‘I’m sorry. Work is frustrating right now and mother is being relentless about her upcoming holiday. Not that any of that is an excuse. I know better and I still acted like a right prat to you Granger and I’m sorry. Which doesn’t even begin to cut it. So in Malfoy fashion I sent over a gift as well. A grand gesture and token of my apologies. And yes, I know you don’t like flowers for special occasions but this isn’t a special occasion. This is me apologizing to you and hoping they make you hate me a little less come Monday. - D.M.’
Hermione made her way over to the bouquet and ran her fingers over the soft petals gently. The scent of fresh flowers filled the room as she began to pick the flowers apart. She plucked flowers and fillers with plans to arrange a smaller bouquet in the vase to put in her room. Smiling to herself, she brought the flowers she picked close to her face and let herself have a small private minute of complete and utter happiness.
Hermione stands in his half open door way, warm coffee cup in hand. Draco hadn’t realized she was there yet, and if he had he hadn’t acknowledged her. She closes her eyes and breathes in quietly through her nose, an attempt to steady herself before she interrupts him. Before she would step forward, break his concentration, offer him the coffee, and change everything. When she opens her eyes Hermione takes a minute to simply watch him.
His desk is just as cluttered and messy, if not messier than hers. His hair had a little flip at the front from where he’d pushed his bangs back and out of his face throughout the day. His lips were tinted red and slightly chapped from where he’d bitten it in concentration or even confusion, gnawing at it absentmindedly as he thought through his work.
His longer fingers typed rhythmically on the old and vastly outdated typewriter he insisted on using. “All Malfoy men are experienced with their hands, Granger. A typewriter is child’s play. Besides, I don't make nearly as many mistakes as you do.” Of course, he had been lying. Draco made his fair share of mistakes. His mind always seemed to work faster than his hands could keep up and more often than not he would type up his reports only to go over them in red ink, adding in pieces he’d missed or fixing mistakes. In fact, Hermione was certain the large pile of papers on the floor to his left were all his trashed drafts from this week alone.
His glasses slipped down the slope of his nose and with a frustrated sigh Draco pulled his hands away from his typewriter and sat up straighter, clearly frustrated. He reached up to adjust his frames and it’s then, out of the corner of his eye, that he saw her. His head snapped up quickly, unsure of exactly how long Hermione had been there.
Draco’s gaze is locked on her and she can feel him as he looks her up and down, taking her in. Her work bag slung over her shoulder, stuffed full of files she planned to take home and work on. Her jacket nestled in the crook of her arm. The top half of her hair pulled back and away from her face, tucked up into a bun on the top of head, secured by a large claw clip.
It’s clear that Draco wasn’t expecting her. Still, she’s here now and there is no turning back.
“I know you work late on Tuesdays.” Hermione said with a soft smile. She made an awkward motion to the cup and took a shaky step toward him, “Thought this might help make the night go by a little smoother.”
When she was close enough to put the coffee on his desk she could feel him still watching her, almost more intently than before. The need to fill the silence bubbles within her. A question about his work, a comment on his outfit, the state of his office, or even the coffee itself. Maybe a joke or even an awkward laugh would be enough. Something to stop everything from suddenly feeling like it’s falling apart.
What if all she’d thought had been something was really all just made up in her head. That the soft smiles, the lingering touches, the closeness was just Draco being comfortable and at ease in their friendship. Was he like this with Theo? Or Pansy? Even Ron probably.
Hermione is still bent forward, her hand still wrapped around the cup, and with as much courage as she can muster finally looks up to meet his gaze. She blushes and her breath catches as she watches the sullen and tired expression on his face soften. His eyes appear so calm and relaxed, and a smile she’s never seen before, one so full of ease and happiness, creeps onto his face slowly.
The tips of their fingers brush ever so slightly as he reaches for the cup to pull it toward himself.
“Thank you, Hermione.”