The Inevitable

Chapter 6 - Early Morning Exploits

Hermione awoke the next morning hoping and praying she was in her bed in the girls dormitories. Once her eyes opened, she sighed loudly staring up at the black canopy hanging above the bed.

"Not a dream..." she mumbled pulling the covers off of her body. She rubbed her eyes in frustration. Standing to her feet, she stretched her arms above her head. She can't deny how good it felt sleeping on the overly fancy sheets. The guest room was just as gorgeous as the room she had seen yesterday. However, the color scheme here seemed to be darker colors. Greys, blacks, and whites filled the room. Grabbing her skirt from the chair she threw her clothes on last night, she quickly dressed in her uniform. "I might need to borrow some clothes from future me...but first, coffee."

Making her way to the door she buttoned her shirt. She decided to leave the top few buttons undone. It's not like she would be needing her tie today. She tried to remember her steps from yesterday and made her way down the stairs. Looking from door to door, she finally found her way to the kitchen. Walking in, she froze staring at the man standing in front of her. Draco Malfoy stood at the island, mug in hand, and shirtless. She gulped hard, the sight taking her by surprise. His hair was disheveled from his sleep while his pants hung low on his hips.

"Granger, have you hit your head or something? Why are you staring at me?" Draco asked giving her a strange look. Hermione cleared her throat and walked to the side of the island he stood on. She ignored the sound of grogginess coating his voice and stopped beside him. Grabbing the cup from his hands, she sniffed the contents. Smelling the wonderful scent of fresh coffee, she took a sip. "Did you just steal my coffee?"

"Now that's a question I can answer," she mumbled before taking another sip.

"What?" He asked growing even more confused. Hermione blushed and turned away from him.

"Nothing." She walked around to the small dining table. She sat down trying to ignore the man in the room. If she was honest with herself, the reaction she had to seeing him this morning was absolutely atrocious. She was appalled at herself. Why in the world would she freeze at that sight? Hearing the sound of water she turned her head to see Draco filling up a kettle. She raised her brows at him.

"You stole my coffee," he complained placing the kettle on the stove. She watched his hands as he got the pieces to the drip coffee maker. She recognized it from a trip to her grandmothers house years ago.

"You have a muggle made drip coffee maker?" She spoke still confused.

"What are you talking about? This is just my grandmothers coffee maker...it's the only way I can have coffee here since my parents don't agree with muggles. Can't exactly buy an espresso machine now can we?" Draco still had his back to her, but it was as if her eyebrows had gone into her hairline.

"How do you know what an espresso machine is?" She couldn't deny the curiosity. Draco sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Do you always ask so many questions at seven in the morning?" Hermione let a small smile slip onto her face, but quickly hid it as he turned around. She sipped on the warm coffee to distract herself from looking in his direction.

"Is that what time it is? I couldn't tell," she mumbled into her cup. She glanced out the window next to the table catching sight of the sun softly glowing behind the trees. The window was floor to ceiling with a rounded top. She couldn't help but gaze in wonderment at its beauty. It was as wide as the table and let in the perfect amount of light. The vast amount of land sitting before her was beautiful...waking up and sitting to this every morning did have an appeal.

"Yeah I've been up since four...I didn't sleep very well." She heard him say grabbing the kettle from the stove once it started to whistle. She watched his hands move to the coffee maker. She would never say it out loud, but his hands moved delicately as if handling the most fragile piece of glass. When he turned around to lean against the counter, he caught her eyes. Hermione gulped again and turned back to the window. Draco noticed the red tinge against her cheeks.