章節 23: Playing the Game
Blaise poured Draco another glass as the other man continued to speak, finally finishing as he said,
"...Mate, what do I do?"
Blaise grinned at the sight of his best mate confused about a girl. Draco had rambled for the past thirty or forty minutes about how he wanted to be with Hermione but wasn't sure whether she felt the same.
"Honestly? Just go for it, mate. I doubt she'll turn you down,' he winked,' and even if she does, worst comes to worst you break off contact and just fire her, or wait until she quits."
"I don't want to take that risk! Even if the two of us can't be a thing I don't want to lose her. She's a huge benefit professionally, efficient and doesn't lose her cool."
"Look, if you don't take the risk you'll never chance being with her. You know that."
Draco sighed, realizing his friend wasn't wrong, and ran a hand through his hair.
"...Pans, what do I do? I do really want to give it a try... but I can't! There's no way he reciprocates what I feel! And I don't want to be fired, either. The pay is great and so are my colleagues. as in they're not blood supremacists or sexist."
She frowned miserably and sat back onto the sofa. Pansy smiled sympathetically. Astoria had to attend a corporate meeting so it was just the two of them in Hermione's bright and airy apartment.
"I mean, if I were you I'd wait a couple of weeks, flirt a little, be more open, you know? See if he's going to make the first move and watch his reactions. You can base your next move based on his actions. That way you can create the foundation for your next move based on what signals he's sending out."
Hermione thought about it. When it came down to the lowest layer on the dating complications tower, Pansy's plan seemed like the most logical course of action. That way, she would know to make a move forward based on his reactions to her flirtatious behaviour. She grinned.
"Pans, you're a genius. How do you come up with this stuff?"
Pansy smirked. "I've played the game for a long time, Granger." Her expression changed to business mode. "Now let's check out that closet of yours, and I'll pick out something for you tomorrow..."
***
Hermione rubbed her eyes blearily and stretched slowly as she woke up. She rolled over and saw that her alarm had worked; it was 6:30 in the morning and she had a lot to do. Kicking off the covers that entangled her legs, she walked languidly to the washroom before untangling her hair, brushing her teeth and pulling her hair up into a ponytail, a few strands on the side.
The outfit hanging on her closet door was one that Pansy had chosen; Hermione had snorted when the other girl had pulled it from the 'Ginny bought this for me' section that Hermione had created. There would be no way she would've picked this out for herself.
It was a navy skirt with similarly-coloured stockings and a white, button-down blouse with a matching cardigan. The skirt wasn't showy; it fell pretty close to her knees but any movement that involved bending over would cause material to tighten; she made a mental note to be careful about that. It really was the grown-up woman take on the classic schoolgirl look, but Pansy had said that... What was it that had she said?
Right. She had said, f.
Hermione hadn't quite shared that opinion, but she sighed and pulled the outfit on anyways, pulling the stockings up to her hips and the skirt to her waist, leaving a few buttons at the top undone. Pansy had also insisted on choosing her makeup for the day, leaving Hermione staring at a bright red lipstick and a bronze eyeshadow.
She looked at herself one last time in the mirror before locking up and hurrying to a small café down the street and buying a croissant and coffee before furtively glancing up and down the street, ducking into an alleyway and Apparating to work earlier than usual (so she could eat her croissant get her morning workload done.).
***
Draco sighed as he opened the building and flicked the light switch, the lights blinking on before illuminating the lobby. He made his way to the elevator, about to authorize the trip to the nearly non-accessible floor when a quiet behind him made him whirl around to see Hermione appear out of the blue.
She smiled gratefully as he held the elevator for her, quickening the of her heels on the marble floor. She sighed dramatically as the door closed and brushed the strands out of her eyes before taking a sip of her coffee. Malfoy grinned at the scent of it.
"Morning coffee?"
Hermione smiled. "Couldn't live without it."
The blonde smirked. "Addicted, are you?"
Hermione smirked a Slytherin-grade smirk, good enough to match his own. "Aren't most people?"
"You got me there. I have two shots of espresso waiting for me on my desk."
Hermione laughed, music to Draco's ears. "Well, there you go."
The elevator glided smoothly up to the top and the duo nearly missed the that cued their exit, they were so caught up in casual conversation. Draco noticed that she seemed more... Free? More open, less shy and she had started to lose the look of over-professionalism about her. It made her seem more of a happy, buoyant person. He frowned, hoping that it wasn't an act. Even despite their history, he didn't want her to have to pretend around him.
***
Hermione bit into the croissant gratefully and smiled at the buttery taste, reminiscent of the summer of their second year when her parents had taken her to France. She scratched a few notes on a piece of paper, and was just about to get up to submit the contract to Draco when he knocked on her door. Hermione put the croissant down and smiled, handing the contract to him.
His heartbeat skipped one as she brushed her fingers against his, and he coughed before starting.
"Erm.. Hermione.." The girl's heart jolted as her name spilled from his lips. "I noticed that you're a lot.. erm... happier, I supposed, and I wanted to let you know, that, ah... " How to phrase this? "Please don't feel as though you need to act in the office, and that I am always available if you need to talk about something."
Hermione's heart melted a bit from the show of kindness. She brushed the hair out of her eyes impatiently and smiled, happiness beaming through.
"I greatly appreciate the concern Mr. Malfoy, but honestly I've never felt better. I think that Ron sending me letters actually served a purpose- and that purpose was to tell him that he's a bastard." Hermione clapped her hands over her mouth; she hadn't meant to say that but she had gotten carried away. Draco leaned over and gently pried her hands away, meeting her eyes with his own of molten silver.
"It's okay." He chuckled. "I understand."
His fingers lingered a little longer on her cheeks than he had intended, but Hermione didn't seem to mind as he tucked a stray curl behind her ear to keep it out of her way. She couldn't help the blush that blossomed on her cheeks though.
He couldn't help himself. She looked so adorable, and he ended up blurting the words out before his mind could say
"Can I take you out to lunch?"
***
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