Cruel Intentions

Hermione



Draco was all alone, looking relaxed as he walked into a booth, and causally sat down.



He glanced around the shop, presumably looking for a waitress to take his order, when he spotted me looking at him.



He lifted an eyebrow at me, so I smiled and waved, embarrassed at having been caught staring.



He rose from the booth and started to head in my direction with all of his charming Malfoy swagger in place.



Oh dear, I thought to myself, why is he coming over here? Oh Merlin, he still looks handsome even after all these years. Why is he coming over here?



Pathetically, I was one of those females who grew nervous, and turned into stuttering buffoons at the close proximity to men who were considered hot, sexy, or handsome.



Despite Draco\'s awful disposition while we studied at Hogwarts, everyone there could still see that he was a very attractive young boy.



His pureblood mannerisms and snobbery back then sickened me to no end, but he was no longer that haughty, foul, evil little cockroach from school who taunted me mercilessly .



He was very liked at the moment, having worked hard to restore the Malfoy legacy to its former glory.



He had made numerous donations over the years to charitable events, and associations that were much needed after the war.



Draco went as far as to help out in the rebuilding of Hogwarts every day, while construction was taking place, even though his presence at the time was met with scorn and anger.



What really tipped the scales in Malfoy\'s name, was when he gave a candid interview with Rita Skeeter, informing readers, that he had presented his house elves with clothes and had employed them with proper pay and benefits.



There was even a picture added to the story of his house elf Tinky, which was added to the article. Tinky was wearing a multi colored tutu, a pearl necklace, and was shyly waving at the camera.



Malfoy currently ran his family\'s business dealings, since his father was sent to Azkaban for war crimes in connection with being a Death Eater, and he would remain there for the rest of his life.



Occasionally, Draco would come into the bookshop with his son Scorpius, to purchase school books for the start of term, or to buy random reading material. Over time, we grew more comfortable talking with each other and moving on from the past.



"Fancy meeting you here, Granger," he said as he looked around, "Are you alone?"



"Yes. Ginny had to leave early from her visit, leaving me here by myself. And it\'s Weasley, for the hundredth time Draco." I sighed playfully.



"You\'re welcome to sit down and join me if you\'d like," I told him, gesturing to the chair across from me.



He sat down, smiling. "Thanks, Granger. I just stepped out of the office for a quick breather. Sorry, but old habits die hard;\'Weasley\' just doesn\'t quite feel right."



Meanwhile, the waitress returned to take Draco\'s order, giving me the chance to secretly check him out without him being the wiser.



The waitress disappeared and quickly returned with Draco\'s tea, since the shop wasn\'t too busy with customers at the moment.



"So," he begins.



"So," I returned with a flirty smile.



It had been semi-awkward between us, since the first time Malfoy walked into the bookshop many years ago, holding his adorable-then toddler.



I had helped him pick out nursery rhymes, and bedtime stories that he could read to help put his son to sleep.



The air around us always felt charged when we were together, something completely different to anything I had ever experienced before.



Not once had I gotten this tingling sensation inside of me when I was around my husband, not even when we were dating. The feeling was new to me.



It was more of a comfort that I felt with Ron, rather than the strong attraction I felt when Draco was around me.



Draco dressed just as impeccably as he always did, dressed in black, designer robes that accentuated his platinum blond hair.



One thing was for certain: he had aged extremely well, growing taller, and gaining muscle that filled him out in all the right places.



He was a playboy and, despite his older age, was a sought-after bachelor by witches everywhere, single or not, from what I had heard.



He\'d been single since the untimely death of his beloved wife Astoria Greengrass, who he had married just six months after finishing at Hogwarts.



She passed away, three years after their son was born, to a Muggle disease that could not be cured. Draco, I heard, had sought the best Mediwitches and Mediwizards to treat her, but to no avail. He spent years mourning the loss of her, but soon he needed the distraction from his loneliness- the kind of distraction that only another woman could offer him.



His picture adorned many covers of Witch Weekly with a new girl practically every week.



"So, Granger… you\'re looking a bit tense. Anything I can do for you, to help you relax?"



"Excuse me? What\'s that supposed to mean?" I was confused, and a little bit offended, if I did say to myself.



" I\'ve seen that look before-usually from women who have been married for about a decade or so. I trust that\'s how long you\'ve been married now, right?" he asked cheekily.



My brain could not come up with a proper response, so I simply let my mouth hang open spluttering incoherently.



He chuckled. " Im only fooling with you Granger. Drink your tea. Honestly, I was just trying to get a laugh out of you."



I felt foolish for not realising that Draco was just having a laugh.



"Well, behave, will you? Were in public, for Merlin\'s sake. What if someone overheard us?" My cheeks were flushed, and heated up at my embarrassment.



We drank our tea slowly, savoring the staple drink, and each others company.



"Scorpius is interested in some books he says that surprisingly, Hogwarts doesn\'t have in their library. Do you think you can help me out and get them for me? His propensity to constantly be reading could rivals even yours, Granger. I will of course take care of all your expenses to acquire them."



"Sure. Just let me know the tittles of the books he needs, or any certain fields of study he\'s interested in, and I\'ll began right away."



He looked at me and smiled, making me get flustered again for absolutely no reason.



I felt like a complete idiot, and so out of my element trying to flirt and sound professional at the same time.



I needed to remain calm and collected. I was pretty certain that Draco turned all women into blubbering idiots with just a smile or smirk, and he knew it as well.



The smell of him wasn\'t helping, either; he smelled so fresh and clean, so masculine, with a hint of soap, and it made me want to lean in and take a good, long whiff.



"I will get Scorpius to owl me a list, and then if it\'s okay with you, we could meet up and discuss them over dinner perhaps?" he asked, biting his lower lip and looked sultry.



"That\'s not necessary," I laughed, "You can just owl me the list as soon as Scorpius sends it back to you."



I may have imagined the look of disappointment on his face. He had absolutely no reason to be let down at not being able to have dinner with me-right? That wouldn\'t be proper at any rate. Married women didn\'t have dinner with other men-did they?



"Alright. I have to be getting back to the office." He looked at his pocket watch.



"I have a meeting I\'ve got to get to. I\'ll be in touch, Granger."



He stood up, took my hand and kissed the back of it, bidding me farewell- as well as sending my heart rate beating frantically out of my chest- before releasing it and walking away.



I fought off the elation I felt for being treated like a proper lady, and I looked around nonchalantly; nobody in the shop seemed to be paying any attention to our discussion or our farewell.



He actually kissed my hand, like those gentlemen from the movies I used to watch with my mum. My mum and I would eat popcorn, and watch chick flicks films all night, discussing how romantic, and chivalrous the men in the films were.



Ron had never kissed my hand once the whole time we had been together, and he definitely wasn\'t chivalrous-he was far from it.



Draco was certainly very skilled with the ladies, and he evidently knew how to get one frazzled with nothing but a bloody kiss on the hand.



For Heaven\'s sake, Hermione, it was just a kiss on the hand, nothing more. Calm down, I whispered to myself.



Noting the time, I also left the shop to go to work, and get my mind out of the gutter.



I needed to finish entering new books into our system, and calm down my poor racing heart.