A/N: Wow, I am so sorry for taking so long to update! Life kind of just…ran away from me I guess. Anyway, here's chapter 4; it's post-war Dramione but not really in any way romantic…well I hope you enjoy it and please don't forget to review!

AWKWARDNESS

Chapter 4

The war was finally over and now that Lord Voldemort was gone…Hermione Granger had absolutely no idea what to do. Harry was married to Ginny, so they were perfectly happy; Ron was getting married to Lavender Brown (that annoying cow), so Hermione was the only one of the three war heroes who was still alone.

Now that helping Harry stay alive and defeating Voldemort was no longer part of her life, Hermione had no idea who she was without that. Well, she still had an idea-all she knew was that she still loved books and quills and parchment. But now that she'd graduated from Hogwarts, and Voldemort was dead, she had no purpose for books or quills or parchment anymore.

But every Sunday, she still took the day off from her job at Tomes and Scrolls in Hogsmeade and curled up in a corner with a dusty old book. Sundays were familiar and comforting, the only thing that hadn't changed in her lonely life.

Then one Sunday someone else invaded her quiet peace.

"Listen, I'm looking for a book," said a familiar voice, from the front of the store.

"I'm afraid I'm busy," replied Faber, the old man who worked at the counter. "But you could try my assistant. She's off today but she'll probably be reading in the back corner."

"All right, thank you," answered the voice, and with a jolt Hermione realized it was none other than the evil ferret himself, Draco Malfoy. And he was about to ask her for help.

Hermione immediately jumped up from her spot in the corner and grabbed her things. Winding her way through the bookshelves, she tried her best to get out of the maze of the store before Malfoy could see her. Then she rounded a corner and…

She ran straight into Malfoy and dropped her things. "Oh, I'm sorry," he said, not realizing it was her. He stooped and picked up her books and handed them to her. "Here you go…Granger? Is that you?"

Hermione slowly looked up. "I…yes, well…I mean, maybe…possibly…no. No, it's not me," she finished feebly.

"Right," answered Malfoy. "What…uh, what're you doing here?" he asked awkwardly.

"I, well, I sort of work here."

There was a long, stretching silence during which Hermione wanted very badly to sprint around Malfoy and dash out the door; but unfortunately the space between the piles and piles of books was narrow and Malfoy was taking up most of it, and the two of them were about six inches apart.

Then Malfoy decided to continue talking. "Oh! You're the assistant he was talking about," he said, jerking his thumb in the general direction of the front of the store and accidentally taking out a stack of books about the care of flobberworms.

The stack teetered, unsure of whether to fall or stay still, and then it collapsed, nearly burying both Hermione and Malfoy. "Oh, stupid bloody books," mumbled Malfoy, doing his best to right them but instead simply upsetting them even more.

"I'll do it," said Hermione, and she waved her wand. The books restacked themselves neatly, organized in alphabetical order.

"Right…" said Malfoy. "Magic…that's a good idea."

"So!" they both said simultaneously to fill the silence, then stopped.

"Oh, you go first," said Malfoy.

"No, it's fine, you can," replied Hermione.

"Oh, well I was just going to…to ask you how you are doing, you know, how everything is."

Hermione gave him a strange look, as if to ask him why he cared. "Everything's going just bloody great, you know. That's why I'm working in a bookstore."

Malfoy suddenly regretted asking the question very much.

"Do you…ah, do you mind?" asked Hermione, motioning for him to move and let her free from the extraordinarily awkward situation.

"Oh, right, I'm sorry," he said, as if it had just occurred to him that it might be slightly uncomfortable being jammed up against him.

He stepped aside, upending another row of books.

Hermione ran as fast as she possibly could to get away from Malfoy.

Then he yelled after, "Oi! Granger!"

She sighed and stopped. "What, Malfoy?"

"D'you…d'you want to go on a date? With me? Tonight?"

Hermione almost laughed at that.

"I'll pick you up at eight!"

She shook her head. "All right, Malfoy."

And then, she ran out the door.

A/N: Sorry if you don't like Dramione :P But if you do, here you go! I hope you liked that, and please don't forget to review! They make my day (and they make me update faster)