Hermione was having a terrible day.

Crookshanks had woken her up by desperately scratching her arm for food (even when his bowl was full of dry kibble, he wanted canned food, the greedy bastard) at five in the morning.

Then she had burnt her own toast. How did one even burn toast when they were using an electrical toaster?!

On her way to Flourish and Blotts, she had tried to buy breakfast. At the last minute, she had called out to the lady that she preferred sunny side-up eggs rather than scrambled eggs, causing the lady to drop said eggs, making smashed raw eggs. Which was not, in fact, what either of them wanted.

Hermione had been shouted at for being a nuisance and chased out of the little shop, still hungry.

When she reached the store, she found that there was a new shipment of Ultide's Guides.

She was stuffing the books as unceremoniously as possible into their places on the shelves when a voice interrupted her.

"Coffee, Granger?"

"I AM NOT IN THE MOOD TO ARGUE WITH YOU ABOUT POISON OR FETCHING COFFEE," she snapped, and shoved particularly hard.

The shelf rocked precariously, and they both leaped to steady it.

"Calm down," he muttered, glaring disapprovingly at her.

She went back to her stuffing without a word.

Finally, Hermione was done, and felt more defeated than anything.

On the desk, she found a cup of tea next to the book she had left there.

Scrawled on it in messy handwriting was,

'not coffee since you're already bloody keyed up.

also not poison.

may or may not be warm depending on when you finish destroying the shelf.'

It was completely cold, but Hermione still felt warm.

x

The situation was dire.

All three watched with serious expressions.

A move was made.

A single intake of breath, shocked and terrified.

"Checkmate!" Ron declared.

Harry buried his head in his hands. "Not again."

Draco tried his best to pretend he had not been holding his breath, nor had he ground his teeth in frustration, nor had he been rooting for Potter (the underdog, you see). Of course, there was not much else he could pretend to be doing (ever since the pair had started their game, Draco had become unusually interested in the cash register, as it was near their table).

He reckoned that if Potter had moved his knight to E5 disaster could have been averted, and he could not help but share his opinion. He muttered this to Granger while Potter and Weasley were arguing.

"Not you too," she groaned.

x

Granger had worn a thick skirt that day, given that winter was coming and the air was cooling. It was a very appropriate length (just seven inches above the back of her knee) (no, Draco had not been staring for that long – seven was just an estimate! Honest!), and she wore it with an appropriate jumper over an appropriate shirt.

It was, however, still a skirt.

From where he sat at a desk reading (it was a particularly slow day), Draco could see her reaching up for a book. Granger was tip-toeing, one hand on a lower shelf and another stretching as high as she could.

Her raised arm pulled up her appropriate jumper and her appropriate shirt and her appropriate skirt.

More and more of her thighs were showing. And as much as Draco hated it, he could see pale, smooth, soft skin. Then she hopped, and despite how appropriate her clothing was, he caught a glimpse of her pale, smooth, soft waist.

I want to touch her.

The desire washed over him so strongly that he had stood and covered the distance between them in a few quick strides.

Then he was handing her the book and staring at the floor and snapping at her. "For Merlin's sake, just get a stool next time."

"… thanks," Hermione said slowly, surprised at his sudden appearance and irritation.

And stop bloody wearing skirts.

x

Draco was arranging the display at the front of the shop, when the all-too-familiar bell that signifying a customer's entrance rang. He ignored it, and continued stacking books in what he hoped was a fashionable manner.

"Excuse me," piped up a small voice.

Sounds like a snobby kid, he thought maliciously, have fun, Granger.

"Excuse me."

Oh, great. Why is he talking to me? "Go ask the nice lady for help," Draco said, not turning around.

"Excuse me, mister," the child insisted again.

Where the hell is Granger?!

"Mister, I want to get good at chess."

"Be good at."

"Pardon?"

"You want to be good at chess, not get good at," Draco sneered, finally looking at the boy.

He was not deterred. "Mister, I want to be good at chess."

"You can't be any good at it just by reading a book," Draco snapped. How annoying.

"I know. I will read a book and then play chess and then be good at it."

"Fine, I'll find you a bloody chess book. What do you know already?"

"You shouldn't swear, mister," the boy said primly, "and I know the rules."

Draco glared. "Do you know what en passant is?"

"No, I –"

"Then you don't know the rules."

The boy soldiered on, undaunted. "Then what is en passant?"

"It's a special capture that the pawn can use, when…"

The rest was lost to Hermione, who had been watching the exchange, and she was convinced that Malfoy had just thrown out a random French term to confuse the poor boy. Nevertheless, she saw an amusing similarity between them, and quickly got out the chess board.

"… do you understand?"

"A bit. So if I move my pawn –"

"No," Malfoy interrupted, "you have to do it on the very next turn."

"Why don't you show him?" Hermione asked suddenly, smiling brightly and pointing at the chess board.

Draco whipped around and looked at her, eyes narrowing in suspicion. "Where did you come from?"

"Doesn't matter."

"… fine. Come here, boy."

o

Two hours later, the bell rung again, and a frantic woman burst into the store. She went right up to Hermione. "I'm sorry, but my son may have come in here a while back – he's this tall, and –"

"Yes, he's right here," Hermione grinned, and led the woman to where the boy and Malfoy were sat at the board. "But I think they're in the middle of a game right now, do you mind waiting?"

"Oh! How long will they take?"

"Typically, Malfoy wins in just a few moves, but then they go over it for a while and he explains some strategies, so it takes a while longer."

"That's fine, I suppose. I'm just relieved I've found him, I could use a bit of a rest to catch my breath. But what a nice young man!"

"Uhm, yes, I suppose you could say so…"

o

Three games and a cup of tea later, the boy and his mother finally bid the store farewell. The boy promised to return and Draco assured him that he should not, saying that he would not talk to someone so terrible at chess again. Regardless, the boy said that he "better have the board prepared". Draco snorted.

"See, that wasn't so bad," Hermione said, grinning.

"Are you joking? Those were the most boring games I've played in my life."

o

The next Tuesday, he was back. And the Tuesday after that. And after that. And after that.

Hermione regularly prepared tea for them both, and always agreed with Malfoy that it was "a complete and utter waste of time". Which he said every time.

x

He felt like shit.

"Are you sure you don't want me to help you get home?"

"Granger, it's just a cold, and I'm not a baby."

"Well… if you say so."

The small smile she gave him was enough to make him want to call her back and keep her prisoner.

x

"Malfoy."

"What." He didn't even look up.

"I suggest you start grovelling now."

"And why might that be?"

"I've found your stash," she declared triumphantly.

"… stash of what?" He peered at her over his book.

"You really want me to say it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Your stash of chick flicks."

"That's probably yours, Granger."

"They are not!" she snapped. "Anyway, you'd better go return them to the shelves. A customer was looking for a copy, and I think you've got some of the last ones."

"I would, if I knew where they were. I told you, stupid, it's not mine."

"Well, we're the only ones who work here! It's not mine so it can't possibly belong to anyone else –"

She stopped, mouth still open.

He met her gaze with a similarly terrified one.

They said it together, in a low whisper of horror.

"… Ponneth Jr."

x

Hermione watched as a slightly (fine, very) sexy witch sauntered into the shop, managing to make the tinkling of the bell compliment her somehow. She sidled right up to Malfoy, who had been stacking some books and now looked slightly annoyed (much to Hermione's guilty pleasure). She took out a piece of paper, and showed it to him. His eyebrows furrowed, and then he shook his head.

She said something, and leaned rather lower than was required, while Malfoy started nodding very quickly, with an eager look on his face. A surly expression crossed her sultry features for just a moment, almost too short to be recognizable, before she plastered on the same smile she had come in with.

Hermione narrowed her eyes at the stranger as she approached her. When she did, she whispered, "got him to sign a petition for bananas! Boys can never resist my charms," with a wink, and then walked out the door.

When she had left, Hermione walked up to where Malfoy was standing on a stool again and storing books. "The banana petition? Really?" she asked, scowling just thinking about it.

"What're you going on about? That was my cousin," he replied, trying to reach a book on one of the lower shelves.

Hermione passed it to him, and he nodded his thanks, before looking up again to find a place for it. "Oh? What did she want?"

"Asked me to be her date for some gala."

"And?"

"I said no, of course," Malfoy said, seemingly getting irritated.

"Then what did she say after that?"

"She asked if I wanted her to leave. You're nosy, Granger. Sod off."

"All right," she said happily, then passed him another book, "and here you go."

He looked at her as she walked away, a puzzled frown on his face. "Weird."

x

"You mean we get the day off?"

"Yes, yes, the both of you. Now, shoo!"

They did.

Outside the door, they looked at each other.

"Feels funny," Hermione said, "having time after not having any for so many weeks."

"Yeah, it does."

"So. Want get some lunch?"

"All right," he replied, surprised.

"You're paying."

"I should've known," he mused while they walked.

o

"Wow," Hermione said happily, "it's been a while since I had ice cream."

"This isn't lunch," Draco complained, looking around at the… frilly interior of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor.

They bought their ice cream, her, vanilla with coffee, and him, mint chocolate, and sat down at one of the many tables looking out at Diagon Alley.

"I never thought you were the mint chocolate type," Hermione said.

"There's a mint chocolate type?" he asked sarcastically, taking a spoonful of it. It wasn't lunch, but he had to admit it was good.

She shrugged in reply. "Anyway, you never really told me why you've got to work."

"I told mother I don't have time for her parties."

"And she made you work because of that?"

"It was phrased differently, at the time," he smirked.

"Right. Well, you've gotten better."

Draco was slightly offended. "What, exactly, are you implying?"

"It's not that bad working with you now," she said with a laugh.

"Yes, well, you're still as horrible."

"And hence having ice cream with me?"

o

Despite the fact that neither asked the other, they mutually agreed to spend the rest of the day together (after much unnecessary reasoning, during which they both tried to make it clear that they didn't want to, it would just be for the good of mankind, indeed. "It's too short of a notice to just go home," "of course, and everyone would be busy," "yeah, definitely, there's no point," "it would save everyone trouble if we just hung around here," "so it's settled?" "settled.").

They mainly wandered around aimlessly, browsing random shops, and making snide comments about odd things, most of them quite rude. After a while, Hermione felt rather uncultured, and so insisted that they go to the Scribbulus Everchanging Inks, for her to buy another quill.

"How would that culture you?" Draco asked her incredulously.

"It just will."

"Why do you need a new one?" he asked, changing the topic as they entered the shop.

"Lost it at the store a while back," she said sadly.

Noticing her change in tone, he asked, "Was it special?"

"Huh? Oh, it was a gift from my mother, when she accepted that I was a 'real witch'."

"Oh. Well. It's fine now, since you're replacing it, isn't it?"

"No," she snapped suddenly, "it's called sentimental value."

"It's just a quill," he retorted, bristling.

"To you, since you've got pretty much no feelings."

He glared at her. "Are you sure about that?"

"Positive," she sniffed.

He left, as always, without a word.

And now she was bored, too. Brilliant.

x

He had made sure to check that Potty and Weasel weren't anywhere in the shop. Then, he'd found her, cross-legged and pondering over a book.

"Granger."

She looked up. "Yes?"

He tossed the quill gently onto her lap.

"What's – oh, my gosh. Where did you find it?" she asked, beaming.

"The corner," he said, trying to act cool, but failing since it was clear he was elated.

And also slightly insane. For being elated.

He cleared his throat. "I'm… er… sorry. For what I said."

"Oh! It's all right, Malfoy. I didn't really mean it when I said what I did, either…" Hermione bit her lip, trailing off awkwardly and fidgeting with her quill and smiling nervously at the floor. She very well knew that Malfoy was, in fact, astonishingly capable of being nice – even pleasant, sometimes – but she was definitely not used to having him so… direct about it.

Draco, on the other hand, was staring at her.

She'ssodifferentit'ssostrangeIdon'tknowhowtodealwithherhangont hat'srubbishItalktoherallthetime !MerlinwhydoesGrangerhavetobi teherlipit'sadorableshe'sadorablewhenshetalksaboutth ebooksshelikesandsheischewin gitnowIneedtodosomethingbefo reI –

"I do have feelings. Want me to prove it to you?" he asked impulsively, with a rakish grin.

"Come off it, I already said I didn't–mmph."

He broke the kiss, just long enough to tell her,

"I've got feelings for you."

x x

an; So! I just edited this story. I moved around a lot of scenes. Added a whole bunch more. It's about twice as long now. I hope you enjoy the new additions. Let me know what you think. I do hope you enjoyed it!