Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Hermione Granger

Word Count: 1107 words

Setting: bookstore!au; muggle!au

"Um, Miss? The store is closing in five minutes." He put the pile of misplaced books into the circle of his other arm while he reached over through the empty slot in the World Politics shelf. His fingers only managed to graze the girl's shoulder before she was startled and jerked away, her book nearly falling from her hands.

Draco cursed, curling his hand into a fist, "Shit! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you-"

"Sorry! I didn't hear you." Her cheeks were getting pink as she waved the book, with her fingers stuck in the end as a bookmark. "I'm nearly done with this."

His brow wrinkled. He was already overtiming for thirty minutes, and he was late for the dinner with his parents. It was in one of those smart restaurants, and he was in a hurry to get his pressed suit from the dry cleaners. But he sighed, "It's fine. I will clock out first and wait for you to finish."

She smiled, her front teeth scratching her lower lip. "Thanks. Thanks so much."

Draco nodded once, put the books he was going to re-stack on the empty shelf, and headed to the back of the store to get his things. He would just have to arrive earlier the next morning to put them back in place. It was fine. He understood how she didn't want to leave that book behind. It was a good book, a new best-seller about how future foreign politics would be moulding the international system, and he had finished a copy in one setting a few days ago.

By the time he put on his leather jacket, donned his backpack and shut the office door behind him, the girl was nowhere in sight. The book- her book- was back on the new-comer seat, and the pile under it straightened. His eyebrow went up: she could have said good-bye.

"Hey, a little help here?" The girl's voice came from the back of his head and Draco turned to witness her on the top of the stepping stool, her arm stretched as far as it could, trying to put Hellen of Troy, A Biography into its place.

The way her long legs were resting on the tip of her toes and a hint of midriff was exposed from her sweater had him going up to her and grinning: "Is the view nice up there?"

She huffed and stood back on the heels of her feet. "I know I'm short, but I'm trying to put your pile of books back, so please do help me. It's the last one."

Draco suddenly didn't think of any reason to be in a hurry; he rested his arms on the support of the stool. "I didn't know you had the store memorised enough to know which belongs where."

"It's basic genre-sorting." She replied dismissively, a finger brushing along the spine of the mythology book, "This is my favorite genre, so I'm pretty familiar with the usual types of books stores are selling."

Draco wanted to laugh out loud at how serious she was sounding, how her smooth forehead had crinkled up as she appraised the synopsis of the book on its back, and how he was certain he didn't have to double-check if everything was back into their place. "Your favorite is greek mythology and its biographies? I would have thought Austen or something with cats in it."

"I loves cats, but I won't necessary want to spend time reading about them." The girl decided that he wasn't going to help any time soon, and she sat down with the book in her lap. "And what's wrong with Greek gods and goddesses?"

"Nothing. I think I know why, and I have a hunch." Draco rested his jaw on his folding hands over the railing. The girl's bushy hair brushed against his sleeves as she twisted her body sideways to retort, "Oh, really? Let's hear it, then."

"You are either named after a goddess, or you are interested in picking name for a potential cat as your new pet."

Her eyes seemed to twinkle under the lights, and they were brown and then they were bronze with flicks of amber. "Name. Not exactly qualified, but close. And no, I'm not getting a cat anytime soon."

"Ah-ha. So I'm right on the first account. Consequently, you should give me your name as my reward."

"You give me yours first." Her hand was resting against his, and he didn't think she noticed that she was leaning closer, and he couldn't find the will to back away. "And don't tell me it's Sparta, because I will laugh."

"Do you think I would still be here talking to you if my name is Sparta? No offence to anyone who is named after the guy. I am feeling sorry for him." She pressed her lips together with her fingers to fight back a laugh, and he wished that she didn't.

"Draco. I'm Draco."

"Like the constellation? That's… that's pretty. And it kind of suits your hair." She pointed, and then put her fingers back over her mouth.

Draco run a hand consciously over his head. He didn't really liked his hair, but no hair dye ever really set well with his stupid pale complexion. "Thanks, I guess… Miss Stalling Until He Forgets To Ask Your Name."

Now she couldn't stop herself from laughing and Draco couldn't stop himself from staring at the apples of her cheeks and how her cheekbones stood out when she grinned. "… It's Hermione. Mystical but not yet a goddess."

Her wild hair, the bow of her mouth, the freckles on her cheeks, her slim jawline- her name suited her like nothing else in comparison. She was mystical to him, because she had stayed to re-shelf the books he was going to, proud and a bit snooty in the way he found it amusing because it was directed from her love for books, breathed through books not many actually would read through and she liked the abomination of his hair. "Well, you are. To me, that is."

Hermione covered the lower half of her face with the book still in her hands."How many times did you use that on a girl?" That arch of her eyebrow could be a reflection of his own, which made him grin even harder.

"Well, I've never meet anyone would is named Hermione. So rest assured, you are the only one." His eyes fastened onto hers, grey and brown, unwavering, like the shell over a pearl, protecting the most vulnerable yet treasurable object against the crashing waves of the ocean.

A/N: When you have to go through otp prompts to find fluffy drabble lines, you really need to sort out your priorities.