Love and Other Misfortunes

Chapter 6

Hermione burned through her memos at record speed. By the time her clock indicated lunch, she was almost done for the day. She ignored it and pressed on, completing requests that weren't due until the end of next week.

Eventually she started feeling rather light-headed. Right. She'd skipped breakfast in the hopes of getting the jump on her productivity before Malfoy arrived. Standing up, she walked to the door of her office, then froze and dropped her head against the frame with a sigh.

She just didn't even know where to start with unraveling the scene in her office.

First off, there was Theo, who had kissed her. It had been—nice. Although there hadn't been the spark she would have expected. It had been quite surprising. He hadn't really seemed like the type to just kiss a girl without asking.

Had she overlooked some sign? She didn't think she had. And then, he hadn't seemed at all surprised when Malfoy hoisted him into the air. When he'd said he was interested in her, it hadn't even been directed at her. Like, the whole thing had been a performance directed toward Malfoy and Hermione had simply been a prop.

Her stomach twisted slightly at the thought.

Then there was Malfoy. Who'd barged into her office while she was "meeting" with a coworker and interrupted their kiss in a spectacular fashion. Who had been angrier than she had ever seen, and had an utterly horrified expression on his face when he asked if she liked Theo.

In the midst of it she had interpreted it as horror at his friend dating her, but in retrospect that didn't seem quite right. He had seemed more focused on the idea of her liking Theo than the reverse.

Could Malfoy possibly like her? Hermione nearly laughed aloud at the thought. No. And even if he did, it didn't explain the extent of his reaction.

There was something she was missing. She just wasn't sure what it could be. She wished there were someone should could talk to about it, unfortunately many of her friends were so busy it was hard to find time to have a serious conversation with them.

She gnawed at her lip. Maybe she could make a firecall to Ginny after James went to bed.

She dismissed the idea. Calling Ginny about a boy problem seemed so trivial. And Ginny would be convinced the situation was related to the gossip surrounding Malfoy eating with her in the cafeteria, and it was just...

Hermione sighed and rubbed her temples.

Reaching for the doorknob she froze again.

Malfoy was on the other side of the door. She could practically feel him. She didn't know how to interact with him at the moment. She turned, tempted to turn around and go back to her desk, when a wave of hunger hit her.

She should eat. She wished she had snacks stashed in her office, Ron had eaten them all the last time he and Harry had visited. She had meant to replenish them, but she'd forgotten.

Just as she was turning back to the door again for the second time she heard Parvati's voice from the bauble.

"Pansy Parkinson here to see you."

Hermione hurried over to her desk. She'd completely forgotten about her scheduled interview.

"Send her in," she called.

A moment later Pansy walked in.

"Afternoon, Granger."

"Hullo, Pansy."

"What is Draco doing sitting outside your office?" Pansy asked, raising an eyebrow.

Hermione rolled her eyes.