Quite the Catch

MarcusxHermione; DracoxLuna

Rated T

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or its characters from the franchise. That honor belongs to JK Rowling

Quite the Catch

Chapter 10

Adrian Pucey had wondered what his old friend Marcus Flint wanted to meet him for, especially since they had just seen each other three days prior. But it wasn't as if he was going to ignore a friend's letter or request to meet. Not to mention, he got a sense of urgency in the letter that he just couldn't figure out. So here he was waiting at the pub called The Hanged Man, waiting for his older Quidditch captain and friend where he was told to meet him. He had ordered two steins of ale for them to have by the time Marcus finally walked into the pub.

Waving a hand he called, "Oi, Marcus!"

Marcus looked over towards him and nodded before making his way towards him, the man soon dropping down into the seat across from him. Once he was comfortable, he greeted the other wizard saying, "Adrian, hello mate. How have you been?"

"I've been alright, just getting back to work now that it's picking up again at Gringotts." Adrian worked as a Curse-Breaker in Gringotts and was good at his job, and the goblins appreciated his work as well.

A waitress brought their steins over to them and they tapped them together before taking swigs of the ale. After swallowing his mouthful, Adrain looked at the older wizard and asked, "Alright, so why'd you ask me here?"

Marcus took another swig of his own ale before saying, "Well, it's about Hermoine."

Adrian raised an eyebrow in question. "What about her?"

"We've contacted each other and even met up a few days ago, spent the whole day together. We caught up on each other's' lives and just had a good time, you know. But…" A slight blush appeared on Marcus's cheeks. "…but seeing her again, it made me realize that I like her, a lot. I think I even had a crush on her back at Hogwarts."

"That was obvious." At the look Marcus gave him, Adrian elaborated. "It was kind of obvious that you unknowingly held a torch for her back in Hogwarts. You talked about her enough after you two became friends, and every time you did you'd relax and smile. Not to mention I'd find you looking over at the Gryffindor Table a lot at mealtimes trying to seek her out, and then you wouldn't look away from her for a long while."

The black haired male then smirked at his friend. "And even after you left and Hermione and I would spend as much time together as possible, she'd ask about you and would tell me that the best time she ever had spent with you the year prior was the night of the Yule Ball. Something obviously changed that night between you two and neither of you seemed to realize it."

Marcus ducked his head and cleared his throat, suddenly feeling very embarrassed. Grabbing his stein, he took three gulps of ale before shaking his head. "I suppose so, but I didn't know I liked her back then. I guess I suspected it, but it was easier to just ignore it. But I've worried about her during the whole war and just seeing her again smiling and happy, it made me realize I want to see her like that all the time, and be the one to make her happy. I think…I think I might possibly have a chance with her, but I'm not sure. What do you think, Adrian?"

Deciding to pick with him, Adrian answered, "Not a chance in hell."

As Marcus's dark grey eyes widened considerably, a sudden panicked expression on his face, Adrian quickly said, "Joking, just joking. I'm just yanking your chain, mate."

"Pucey, you git," Marcus said in reply, glaring at his friend.

"Sorry, sorry. But really, I think you actually do have a chance with Hermione. You've just got to show her that you really want to be with her and show her that you care. You know, show her that you pay attention to her. If I were you, I'd start out by taking her out on a date; even a small one would be alright. Just enough to keep her interested and wanting to go on another one. I'm sure after that you guys will figure everything out on your own."

Marcus weighed what Adrian said to him in his mind for a moment. Show Hermione that he cared…he could do that. And taking her out on a date wouldn't be too hard so long as he played up to her interests as a good start. But he wondered what he could do? Hermione was way out of his league as far as he was concerned, so he would really have to impress her. Then again, she was already his friend and seemed to like him for who he was, so perhaps things would go well with whatever he planned. But he had to get the witch to agree to a date with him first.

Nodding his head, he looked at his best friend and said, "Alright, I can do that. Thanks for talking with me, Adrian. I know you probably weren't expecting to be talking about this, but I really appreciate you hearing me out."

Adrian waved off the wizard's words. "It's fine, mate. Besides, I've always thought you two would be good for one another. Hermione is quite the catch now, after all. Now all you've got to do is prove me right and send me a gift thanking me for helping you win your girl."

Dark grey eyes rolled while Adrian chuckled, Marcus shaking his head in response. Adrian was his best friend and he loved him, but sometimes he could be a complete tosser. Even so, he was grateful to him for hearing him out and giving him encouragement to ask Hermione out on a date. Now all he had to do was ask her.

Hermione stormed into her room, slamming the door behind her and putting the Locking Spell on the door and even throwing up wards to keep anyone from coming inside. As soon as she did that, she stood heaving for a moment before she burst into tears. Stupid Ron, she couldn't help but think as she cried.

Ron had been on her case about her meeting Marcus the other day—after he had reverted back from being part ass—and it had come to a bit of a head today. He just couldn't accept that she and Marcus were friends and had been since Hogwarts without him ever knowing, or accept the fact that once again, some man was showing interest in her. She kept saying that she and Marcus were just friends and reconnecting, but it did nothing to ease his ire. Ron had insulted her, Marcus, their friendship that he knew absolutely nothing about, and even accused her of having been spreading her legs for him back in school and was doing so again and letting him use her. And no matter how much she defended herself and Marcus, nothing she said was good enough for the bastard redhead. She was done arguing with him, because she knew it was pointless in the end. Ron felt he had some sort of claim on her, but didn't really want her, but refused anyone else to want her and she want them, no matter if it was platonic or not. And even though her relationship with Marcus was completely platonic, she found herself wanting more with him, something that Ron had picked up on and was attacking her with. He was on some sort of mission to make her feel undesirable, and she was afraid that he would succeed where she had proven others wrong.

She didn't know how long she had been in her room crying, wanting to get a handle on her emotions and trying to give herself pep-talks, telling herself that what Ron said wasn't true and didn't matter. By the time she finally did, she had been lying on her bed for an hour, now berating herself for getting so upset over what Ron thought. She didn't really care what he thought of her dating anyone, but maybe deep down she still valued his friendship and was wanting some support from him because they had been friends for so long. But Ron, it seemed that them dating briefly had ruined any chances of them being friends again and he was attacking her for the failure of their relationship (his fault, not hers).

"Get a hold of yourself, Hermione," she told herself as she sat up and wiped the rest of her tears away. "You're better than this. Stop letting what he says get to you, especially when you know it isn't true."

Getting off her bed, she walked to the adjoining bathroom and to the sink, running some cool water and splashing her face with it. Taking a fluffy towel, she dried her face before looking at herself in the mirror, taking notice that the puffiness around her eyes from crying was beginning to reduce from the cool water being splashed on her face.

A tapping on the window caught her attention, and she left the bathroom and walked over to the window. Seeing an owl, she opened the window and allowed it to sit on the windowsill, the bird handing her the letter held in its beak. She took it and looked at it, smiling as she recognized Marcus's handwriting. Quickly, she opened the letter and began reading it, her smiling growing on her face as she began to blush heavily. By the time she had finished reading the letter, Hermione felt light and giddy, and she couldn't help but let out an excited giggle. Marcus had just asked her out on a date! Not a meet up, a real date!

Rushing to find a piece of parchment and a quill, Hermione couldn't keep the smile off her face at the prospect of going on a date with Marcus. It made her wonder when he started fancying her, whether it started back in school or after them reconnecting, but she supposed it didn't matter. He clearly did if he was asking her out on a date and she just knew she was going to accept.

Draco stood inside of Flourish and Blotts, searching through the Potions section for a book to help him with his studies. He had only been in the shop for about five minutes and he could already feel the heated stares of hatred and vicious whispers reaching his ears about him. He honestly didn't want to linger, he just wanted to get his book and get out. Unfortunately, he was looking for a specific edition that he just couldn't seem to find, and he was too proud to ask the shop owner for help considering he had glared at him the moment he stepped inside. But the sooner he found the book, the sooner he could pay for it and leave.

A small, feminine hand reached out from behind him and plucked a book off a shelf before a light, dreamy voice spoke saying, "Hello, Draco Malfoy."

Turning his head, Draco was surprised to see Luna Lovegood standing behind him, giving him her usual sweet, serene smile. The last time he had seen her, she had been a prisoner in his home. Seeing her now, he felt awkward and thus simply nodded in response before saying, "Lovegood."

"It is just like the star spirits said, we are meeting once again."

Remembering her saying something along those lines back in his Sixth Year, he blinked before saying, "But we've already met again before, back during…well, you know."

"Yes, but I don't think that was what they meant. Anyway, it is good to see you again. You are looking better, much more relaxed now."

Draco shrugged, supposing that he probably did. He had practically stopped taking care of himself when he had been forced to take the Dark Mark and carry out the heavy task of murdering Dumbledore for the Dark Lord, and it only got worse when he rose to power. But if Lovegood thought he looked better, then perhaps he did, if only a little. However, he still felt a bit like a shell of himself.

Luna looked at Draco for a moment before asking, "Would you like to go have lunch?"

The blond male looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Lunch? Are you sure you want to be seen with me in public?"

"I'm not one to hold grudges, and I knew you didn't truly believe in anything you were doing. That, and I don't care what people think of me. Only the ones that truly matter are those that I care about. But you look like you could do with some relaxing. So, lunch?"

Draco wasn't sure how to answer. He supposed he could, but he didn't know Lovegood that well and didn't want things to be awkward. But he also got the feeling Lovegood wouldn't make it awkward, considering how easy going she was. He supposed he could spare some more time having lunch since she was offering. Perhaps then he could see what made her such a good friend to Potter, as she had been the only one to not turn her back on him back in school when shite hit the fan (other than Granger and Longbottom, of course).

Before he knew it, Draco was saying, "Sure, I suppose I can spare some time for lunch. I just need to find the book I'm looking for first."

Luna simply smiled and handed him the book she had taken from the shelves, Draco's grey eyes widening in surprise when he realized it was the book he had been searching for. Taking it from her he said, "Thank you."

"You're welcome. I'll wait for you outside," Luna said before turning and walking away, her long dirty blonde hair seeming to float behind her as she left the shop.

Draco didn't realize he was staring after her until the shop door closed behind her. Blinking, he shook his head and headed to the counter to pay for the book, ignoring the man behind the counter grumbling about having a Malfoy in the store. Instead, he chose to look out the window to the dreamy witch waiting patiently for him outside, suddenly finding himself looking forward to lunch.