Chapter 1
“I Can’t believe you are actually thinking about going over there to try and get Malfoy to take you home.”
Ginny looked shocked at Hermione’s idea. “I mean, honestly, why him? I get wanting to get back out there after everything, but really, an ex-death eater? No, him being an ex-death eater isn’t even the worst thing! Do you not remember how he treated you and what he called you? I mean, seriously, Hermione, what are you thinking?”
“Gin, it’s really not a big deal. It’s only sex. And YES, I do remember how he treated me. That’s why he would be a great shag. Think about how good the hate sex would be with him. Ron was just boring. I want excitement for once.”
Ginny grimaced at the mention of Ron in association with sex. “I would appreciate it if you didn’t talk about my brother’s sex life.”
“Yeah? Well, I would appreciate a silencing charm or two being thrown up in the house when you and Harry decide to go at it like animals almost every night, but here we are.” Hermione has made up her mind at this point. She’s going over there, offering Malfoy a drink and taking him home. Or letting him take her home doesn’t matter as long as she ends up in a bed with him before the night is over.
“I’m doing this; you cannot talk me out of it.”
“Okay, fine. But please just be careful.”
Hermione nodded and got up to make her way over to him. She threw one last sentence over her shoulder while walking away. “Oh, and don’t tell Harry,” she pleaded with her best friend, only getting an eye roll in return.
Making her way over to the bar where he was standing, she kept repeating, “It’s just sex. I can do this.” to herself. As she got closer, doubt started to set in. She cannot do this. Where did all the courage that she had while talking to Ginny go? This is Malfoy, for goddess sake. He’s unnaturally hot, yes, but he’s also a complete prat. How would she even start this conversation with him? Would he even believe her when she told him she wanted to sleep with him? They have been civil for the past two years since he became an Auror and works closely with Harry. However, being civil with someone does not mean that they would want to sleep with you. Hermione is only a few steps away from Malfoy, so this is her last chance to back out, but she pushes forward.
As she reaches the bar, she stands beside Malfoy and orders a drink. The bartender makes her way over to her to take Hermione’s order. After the bartender turns away to make Hermione’s drink, she turns her body toward Malfoy.
“Malfoy, can I get you anything?” She tries her best to give him a smile as she sits down on the stool beside him, but she is so nervous she doesn’t know what her face actually looks like. “What’s the catch, Granger?”
“No catch. I’m just trying to be nice. You should try it sometime.” Hermione instantly regrets her last sentence. She came over here to flirt with him, but all she could muster up was the ability to make a mean comment, which didn’t seem to affect him.
He smirked at her as he responded. “You’re right. I should try it sometime.” He directed his following sentence at the bartender, making her way back over to hand Hermione her drink. “Put that on my tab.”
“Thank you,” she replied quietly.
“Oh? No swotty remarks, Granger? I’m shocked.”
“I told you I’m trying out being nice to you. How am I doing so far?” Gods, is this her idea of flirting? She never had to try with Ron. Everyone just assumed they should be together, so there was no reason to try with him. But obviously, she needed the practice because this wasn’t going well.
“I give you a solid six out of ten. You could do better, Miss Brightest Witch of our age.” He is so much better at this than Hermione. The half-smile on his face makes it seem as though he is flirting back. He was second in their class, so he should be able to pick up on the fact that she is attempting to flirt with him even if she is doing a terrible job.
“Okay, how about some small talk? How are your cases going?” She asked him after taking a sip of her drink.
“Now you are trying to get me to discuss confidential cases I’m working on for the DLME? Granger, come on, I told you you could do better.” He’s not serious. He knows that Harry talks about cases with her all the time, and she is sure that she has helped Harry solve some instances when he was stuck.
“Malfoy, I’m trying to flirt with you. And obviously, I’m doing a terrible job, so im just going to go back to my table and try to forget that this ever happened. This was a terrible idea. See you around.” Hermione goes to stand up, but he puts a hand on her arm to stop her.
“Im aware, Granger. You weren’t doing too bad; I was just trying to rile you up.” He stopped before continuing on. “I’m curious why you were trying to flirt with me. What happened to the weasel?”
“Oh, um, we broke up a while ago. Just trying something different, I guess.”
“Trying something different would be dating Potter, not attempting to flirt with me at a bar,” Hermione scowled at the idea of her ever dating Harry.
“Please, you know Harry and Ginny are happily together. You’re invited to their wedding in a few months. And plus, I said different, not another one of my best friends.”
“Okay, then why flirt with me? What are you getting out of it, Granger?” He knows that she wants to sleep with him. He’s going to make her say it, isn’t he?
“Do I really need to say it?” Hermione asked with a frown.
“Yes, I think you do.” Over the past few minutes, they had moved closer to each other, so when she moved her leg, their knees knocked on each other. Hermione leaned closer and whispered her answer to him. “Malfoy, do you want to get out of here?”
“Hmm, and where would we be going, Ms. Granger?” he whispered back, leaning in closer.
“Yours, mine, an alleyway, it doesn’t matter.” Her voice became breathy as she spoke.
“An alleyway, Interesting. And what would we be doing in said alleyway?”
“Malfoy, do you want to fuck me or not?” she could tell that she shocked him by saying it out loud by the breathy groan that came out of his mouth.
“There’s the bravery I was looking for, little lion.” He stood up and reached for her hand. She took it as she stood up to follow behind him.
As they started to walk away, she stopped him. “Wait, I need to pay my tab.”
“They will put it on mine, don’t worry.” She still wasn’t moving, and he sighed. “I usually pay mine at the end of the month and give them enough money so they don’t worry about it if I don’t close out every night.”
“I almost forgot for a moment that you were stupid rich.” She laughed out a breath as they began to walk towards the door.
“Why aren’t we going to the floo?”
“You said an alleyway, did you not?” She scoffed at his response. “Malfoy, obviously, I was not serious about shagging you in an alleyway.”
“Really, I didn’t notice.” He hummed as he continued walking
“Ha ha, Malfoy. Seriously, where are we going?” She pulled on his hand to pull him back to her.
“To an alleyway, Granger. Catch up. My flat is just down the street.” She sighed in relief that he wasn’t actually planning on taking her to an alleyway. “Okay, lead the way.”