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“I told him there is no fucking way this is going to work. How is it possible to take that as please come down to my office, and drown it in rose petals ?“ Hermione huffed in annoyance and took a large sip of white wine.
Her anger was met with Katie's all knowing smirk, but her friend stayed silent and took a sip from her own glass.
“What?"
“Are you sure you didn’t like it? At least just a tiny bit? He is an attractive man after all, and you have to admit all these rose petals are romantic.“
Rolling her eyes, Hermione reached for her glass of wine again . “That might have been romantic in the eighteenth century. Just because his family certainly are, it doesn’t mean we are all stuck there!“
The knowing smile still on her lips Katie replied knowingly, “If you say so.“
“Malfoy!“
Pinching the bridge of her nose, Hermione could already feel a headache that was starting to bloom. She had just entered her office and instead of a mass of rose petals, she had been greeted by a really huge, like really, really huge plush teddy bear sitting on her desk chair.
“You bellowed Granger?“
Closing her eyes for a split second and drawing a deep breath Hermione pointed to the teddy bear. “What is this?“
Malfoy looked entirely too comfortable leaning in the door frame with that damn grin etched into his features.
“Obviously, this is a teddy bear.“ He somehow looked proud, as though he had achieved something.
Steeling her nerves, and praying to whomever was willing to listen, to give her the some form of strength to not murder him, Hermione asked, “And why, for Godric’s sake, is it sitting in my chair?“
Hermione wasn’t sure if she was imagining it, but she could swear there was a flash of uncertainty in his eyes for a second.
“I believe it’s how men in your world apologize.“
Trying really hard not to laugh out loud, Hermione took the teddy bear and placed it on one of the cabinets in her office, before she took a seat at her desk. “Take this piece of advice Malfoy, don’t use trashy romance movies as research material and, if you would be so kind to leave, I would like to work now.“
Katie lifted an eyebrow as she recognized the oversized bear later on that morning. Hermione stayed unbothered by Malfoy for the following days and, although she would never admit it out loud, she wondered if that was it.
It was a Friday as she came back in after lunch and something was off. Hermione couldn’t put her finger on what was different and then she recognized the small, simple box on her desk. She let her bag fall to the floor and carefully unwrapped the thin tissue paper to find her favorite chocolate inside. Unwillingly, a smile snuck on to her lips. Damn it! He was getting better.
The rest of the day, Hermione found it hard to focus on the work in front of her. Doubts found their way into her thoughts. She remembered the way she felt with him . She wasn’t quite sure anymore, why she had been so sure that it wasn’t going to work. Shaking the unpleasant thoughts from her mind, Hermione left the office precisely at five o'clock that evening, for the first time in months.
On the following day, she once again discovered a small box on her desk as she came in to work. This time however, it contained a selection of her favorite sugar quills. Hermione suppressed another smile that kept tugging at her lips. Hermione was torn between feeling appreciative at his attempts to apologise and anger that he just would not stop. Picking up the sweets, she marched to Malfoy's office, without knocking. With an accusing gesture, she held the box up in front of her.
“There is no getting rid of you, is there?“
Malfoy’s face was already showing signs of victory, if the look in his silver eyes was anything to go by.
“You’re stuck with me love.“
Blowing out a breath, Hermione sighed. “Fine. But we are going to do this right this time. Meet me at eight in the Leaky and don't forget to wear something nice."