Fire

HP is not mine.

****************

She pulled the book off the shelf high above her head and then frowned when she saw it was the wrong one. She shoved it back onto the shelf, inadvertently pushing the books on the other side off the shelf and onto the unsuspecting occupant of that aisle. A loud shout of pain met her ears, and her hand flew to her mouth as she realized what had happened. She peered around the corner and her eyes were met with the sight of long blond hair, and a pale hand rubbing the head of the owner of all that beautiful, long, blond hair. She gasped with recognition and he turned at the soft sound.

“Miss Granger, I should have known. Taking revenge for all those years of me chasing after you and your friends by dropping books on my head. Not the best revenge if I do say so,” said Lucius Malfoy, who was as gorgeous as ever, just as arrogant, and stood before her in all his pureblood glory.

“Naturally, you would assume any action taken on you would be planned and entirely personal; it couldn’t possibly be accidental, now could it?” she sniped back. “I apologize for knocking the books on your head, it really was an accident.” With a wave of her wand, the books righted themselves and flew back onto the shelves in the correct order. She turned to walk away and was stopped by a strong hand on her arm.

“I apologize for my earlier comment. It was meant as sarcasm, but I don’t think that was obvious. So I apologize.”

“Wow, the great Lucius Malfoy humbles himself to apologize to the bushy haired know-it-all Mudblood. Is the world ending? Are pigs flying? Is there ice in hell?”

“Believe what you will,” he said with a swish of his robe and a click of his cane as he turned and walked away.

She stood still, a gobsmacked expression on her face. She had heard that he had changed since the war. She had seen the effect that the strain had on him that day in the Great Hall, and he must have been affected when Narcissa died so suddenly, but for him to truly and sincerely be changed was difficult for her to wrap her bushy head around. She knew that Draco had changed a lot. They worked together and had become cordial acquaintances if not friends. He was no longer the petulant prat he used to be. He had grown and matured, most likely due to the sights he was forced to witness and the acts he was forced to commit. If Draco could change, why couldn’t Lucius?

***********

A stack of papers dropped on her desk. She grimaced in annoyance and looked up into the smirking face of Draco Malfoy.

“I’ve always wanted to do that,” he chuckled.

“Here to annoy me yet again, Malfoy?” she asked, sarcasm dripping from her every word.

“Of course, you know it’s my favorite pastime, right after Potty and Weasel baiting. But I do have a purpose for being here, and no, it’s not to treat your eyes to my sexy body and model features. I found someone who is perfect for you. I am setting you up on a date. All you have to do is try to look pretty and show up. Shouldn’t be too hard, at least the showing up part shouldn’t be. The looking pretty thing might be more difficult.” He ducked the paperweight she chucked at his head. “Hey, hey, save the fire for the date. He likes his women feisty.”

“Why would I let you set me up?” she asked.

“Because believe it or not, I actually see you as a friend and I want to see you happy. Ever since that asshole Weasel treated you like that, you have been avoiding any type of romantic entanglement. I want to change that. So ta-da!” he said with a flourish.

She grimaced at the reminder of her past relationship. Contrary to popular belief, she had not had a crush on Ron. She had fallen for his older brother long before. Charlie was the mysterious, dangerous, older brother who worked with dragons. That should have tipped her off, but it didn’t. On their year anniversary, she had Apparated to Romania to surprise him on the reserve, only she was the one surprised when she walked into his room and found him in bed and in another woman. Needless to say, she had ended it then, and hadn’t seen anyone since.

She sighed with resignation and gave a subtle and slight nod that Draco would have missed if he hadn’t been looking.

“Yes!” he shouted with excitement. “You won’t regret this, I promise.”

“Why do I feel like I will?” she pondered to herself as he ran out the door.

*************

Thanks to sirsevchick for betaing it.

Please review and let me know what you think.