Matched

The List

Hermione sat on the floor in front of her balcony, staring out into the slowly brightening sky. A steaming cup of coffee rested by her knee and Crookshanks was purring in her lap while Archimedes snoozed on the top of her bookshelf.

She needed to review the case again, there was something about all the clues that made her have the nagging feeling she'd missed something obvious. But instead, other thoughts were intruding. Thoughts of jewel green eyes and messy black hair.

Hermione scratched Crookshanks leisurely under his chin while blindly staring down at the street below. People were already busily on their to various destinations even so early on the weekend.

Not thinking about someone was much much harder when that someone seemed to be permanently attached to you or just within reach.

Someone who lived one floor below you.

Someone who worked in the same building.

Someone who was your partner and kept you strategizing with them in a teeny (it was decently sized) conference room where all one could smell was their aftershave.

Hermione tapped her quill thoughtfully on an inkpot. Most problems were pen problems, but occasionally she ran into quill problems. Harry was definitely a quill problem. Not that he was a problem. He was...

Something.

What exactly though? Hermione was still having trouble piecing together how she went from not knowing Harry Potter three months ago, to missing him whenever he wasn't with her. Mornings like this used to be her favorite. Quiet and begging to be filled with work. Except now, there was the niggling thought in the back of her mind that wondered what Harry was doing right now.

Was he awake? Or perhaps he was still asleep, his face buried in his pillow and his black hair wild. Hermione could picture every line of him, the curve of his biceps as he hugged his pillow. The line of his spine and the muscles of his back.

A small shiver worked through her as her mental image grew more and more detailed. It was absolutely mental how much of her focus he took up. To the point where her day literally became grayer when he wasn't with her. Color and excitement seeped into her world in direct correlation to Harry's proximity.

So what was it about Harry that made her world so much more vibrant and intriguing when he was near? Hermione dipped her quill into her inkpot. "It's not the sex, Crookshanks although that is something to mention."

Crookshanks stared at her with an impatient expression since Hermione had paused her petting to write on the parchment in front of her.

Harry Potter:

Smart.

"I don't value sexual prowess more than brains," Hermione said primly to Crookshanks. "Even when we first met and Harry was lying about his name it was obvious he was smart. Like a sneaky sort of cunning..." Hermione trailed off thinking about the way Harry had looked in the cab that first night, the way the light had made his green eyes glimmer. Shaking her head, she bent down to list her next item.

2. Charming

"Honestly, he's way too charming. It's an unfair advantage." She muttered pressing her quill down harder than she needed. "How will I manage to be mad at someone that charming, it's going to be so frustrating."

Hermione paused looking down at her meager list. Harry was smart and charming? Surely that wasn't all it took to make her lose her head. "Viktor was also smart you know."