Train Ride
Disclaimer: Don't own anything relates to Harry Potter
Her hair waving around her, and her heels hitting the stone-cold floor of the platform, she quickly ran to the train, holding her briefcase tightly in her hand. Clambering on board, she gave a sigh of relief. Panting slightly, she quickly glanced at her reflection and saw that her suit had ridden-up as she had been running. She pulled it down slightly, and tugged at her short skirt. Pulling her hair back into a messy bun, she shrugged, and decided to sit down.
Another long day of work, she thought wearily, climbing up the stairs to the business class section of the double-decker train (the perks of working at such a large company). She reminded herself that she couldn't be too tired, seeing as she had come in late this morning.
She was supposed to be showing around a new intern, who apparently was already quite 'high-up' in the social circles surrounding the life of a lawyer, so her being late, according the CEO, was a 'big disgrace towards the company, and an opportunity missed to meet a charming young-man'. She wasn't really bothered, she was just happy she had managed to get to work, and it had been the first time in three years she had not arrived exactly at nine o'clock.
Her journey was long, and when she got to her usual seat she pulled out her book, Life of Pi. Flicking it open, Hermione closed her eyes and tried to relax. Working at such a large international law firm exhausted her. She hardly ever had holidays, and there were only three excuses she could use, honeymoon, maternal leave or a doctor's note, neither of which she could easily get away with.
Not that she didn't love her work; she just found it hard to find time for herself. She thought back to her leisured life at Hogwarts, where she found time to juggle working and boys...well more like one boy. She rolled her eyes as she remembered that the last time she had dated, was back in seventh year, with the one and only, Ronald Weasley. The last time she had seen him was at his wedding, along with Harry, Ginny and many other friends. Before that, was the reunion. Hermione hadn't stayed long, she was, and would forever remain, the rather shy and quiet type. Parties weren't her idea of fun, so for most of the evening she had subtly blended in, ignoring the few who took notice of her.
She continued along this vein of thought, when all of a sudden, she heard a banging from the carriage beneath her.
Flicking his sleek, blonde hair back, Draco Malfoy entered the train, just as it was about to leave. That was his style. Smirking at the passengers, he proceeded to the top floor. He had recently joined a new company (as the last one didn't pay enough), but the lady who was supposed to show him the ropes this morning hadn't arrived on time. Women, he thought to himself.
Looking around for a seat, he found one opposite a girl, wearing a skirt, and deeply fascinated in a book. He looked at her reflection in the window, and studied her face. He somehow recognized her. He sat down, and she didn't say anything, not even look up at him. He kept gazing at her, trying to remember where he knew her from.
"Excuse me," she asked courteously, "is there a problem?"
"No, no," he smirked, "I just thought I knew you."
"Not likely," she replied, thinking back to her days at Hogwarts, and the slim chances that he would have gone there. But now that she looked at him, she did find herself wandering if she maybe knew him too.
"How long you on the train for?" he asked, trying to get them to keep up the conversation.
"An hour," she said. She didn't particularly want to continue the conversation, but she knew that it would be rude not to ask him. "And what about you?"
"The same for me, well a bit more I suppose," he said, "excuse me for one moment," he added, as his phone started ringing.
Hermione looked back at her book, but couldn't focus on the words. She wasn't one to eavesdrop, but she couldn't seem to block out his words, they were so familiar to her.
"Yes, I just got on the train," he said, sounding slightly put off, "Yeah, dinner at eight, I'll be there," the women on the phone kept screeching, and he rolled his eyes, which made Hermione smile slightly. He saw her expression, and gave her a small smile.
"Yes, yes, bye now!" and with that he hung-up.
"Wife?" Hermione asked, with slight disappointment, he was quite good looking.
"No! Merl—I mean, God no!" he said hurriedly, "If that women becomes my wife," he sighed, making it sound more dramatic.
"Is she your girlfriend then?" Hermione asked. She was always interested in other people's relationships, seeing as she scarcely ever had any of her own.
"Well, she is a friend, who happens to be a girl," he said, "and you? Have anyone waiting for you at home?"
"No," she sighed.
"That surprises me," he said suggestively, making Hermione blanch slightly. No-one had ever remarked on her appearance so blatantly. She did quite appreciate the comment though. Smiling awkwardly, she nodded.
"So, did you say you did have a girlfriend?" She asked questioningly, as in fact he hadn't really answered her properly last time.
"No, I like to think I'm single," he said.
"Oh," she responded.
An awkward silence followed, as they both wanted to say something, but what exactly, they couldn't think of. Hermione didn't want to keep asking question's (as she was told that she often did that when talking to guys) and Draco didn't want to seem too obvious in his ways.
"So what do you do?" he finally asked. He was genuinely interested in her; there was a certain 'aura' around her, which intrigued him. He didn't want to see her go without at leave without finding out her name.
"Do?" she asked, "Oh right, I work as a lawyer."
"Same!" he said enthusiastically "where did you study?"
"Oh I took this random course thing," she said offhandedly, trying to change the subject.
"Oh, I studied at Harvard," he said arrogantly, even though he was lying. If he was going to make an impression, he thought, better make it a good one.
"Wow," Hermione breathed, "I always wanted to go there."
"So why didn't you?" he asked, "not smart enough?" he laughed jokingly.
"In actual fact," she said rather huffily, "I beat the guy who I was constantly fighting to get better grades at," and was dying to add, who was also a jerk just like you can be.
Draco could feel her tensing up, so he just let it be. Neither knew they were talking about each other.
"So, can I get you a drink?" he offered, as the lady serving beverages came by.
Slightly hesitantly, Hermione nodded, and took some sparkling water. Glad to have a reason not to say anything, she began to drink. She glanced at her watch, and saw she had a mere two minutes left on the train.
Draco, watching her, noticed her looking at the time, and he realized he only had two minutes to try and get her to give him some kind of address, so that they could talk again. He couldn't let her go.
"So, what do you do in your spare time?" he asked.
"I read," she said, biting her lip, and looking away.
"And that's it?" he laughed, "Surely you do something else?"
"My work is very time consuming," she said, trying to sound briskly authoritative.
"I see," Draco said. Normally, he would have never really gone for a girl who was so...frozen as this one. She was in a shell, hiding herself away from the rest of the world. But he saw her potential.
Meeting someone for the first time also allowed him to build a new imago for himself. For most of his life had always been around people who knew him as the arrogant prat he was. But here was his chance, to become a totally different person, and make an impression on her. A new start.
But as soon as he started fantasizing his new life, he could feel the train rumble to a stop, and the girl stand up.
"Wait!" he called, "My name's Draco Malfoy!" he shouted at her.
Hermione's eyes widened. He face turned from the blushing pink to a pale white, and she dropped her briefcase. The papers flew everywhere, and she scrambled to pick them up before the train would pass her stop. Hurrying out of the train, she glanced back at him. Was this really the Draco Malfoy whom she happily been talking—more like flirting—with seconds ago?
Back on the train.
Confused, he sat back down on his chair, and wondered why she had reacted so strangely to him. Sighing disappointedly, he spotted one of her fallen pieces of paper.
Picking it up he read,
To Miss Hermione Granger,
The next day, Hermione woke up early. She was excited, and nervous. Would she see Draco again today? Would he know it was her? Did he maybe like her? She smiled happily, but then remembered she was thinking this about Draco Malfoy. Reality hit her, hard. She decided that today, maybe she wouldn't go on the train. She couldn't face the embarrassment, and she didn't have the courage to talk to him as easily as she had yesterday.
What she didn't know, was that Draco had been hoping that he would see her again, and that they could talk things through. He wanted to keep contact, and he was heartbroken when he realized that she wasn't going to turn up. Maybe she had freaked out, he sighed. He got out of the train, and made his way to the office where he was going to work.
He reached the door at exactly the same time as someone else.
And that person was Hermione.
A/N: Hey everyone! Just a little one-shot I wrote! Was in the mood, y'know what I mean? Lol ;-) Please tell me what you think :-)
xx