Hello Mudblood - DISCONTINUED

Understanding

Hermione stood at the register and furiously scribbled on a piece of parchment. She could barely keep her mind occupied, seeing as she kept constantly thinking about how Draco sodding Malfoy was in her shop loading books onto the shelves. So she did the next best thing she could and came up with ideas for new books and activities she could hold for avid readers like herself.

All the while, she couldn’t help but every 10 minutes or so she peeked past the books and watch Malfoy as he did the job she assigned him. She kept telling herself over and over and over again not to but she just couldn’t help it. He looked incredibly sexy with his collar askew and his sleeves rolled up. Not to mention his blonde hair was a mess and his muscles were straining due to the heaviness of the books.

But it’s not like she noticed.

Hermione was watching him now and she almost had a heart attack when she saw his shirt lift to reveal a very defined and toned stomach.

“God damn, I’m so glad I got this job.”

Hermione jumped almost 10 feet into the air at the sound of a voice.

“Bloody hell, Anna!” Hermione yelped. She hadn’t even noticed Anna come in and stand next to her. “You can’t just sneak up on someone like that!”

Anna gave her a wolfish grin, “I didn’t, I said your name like ten times and you still didn’t hear me.”

Hermione felt her cheeks heat up at being discovered. She didn’t realize it was that obvious.

“Don’t worry,” Anna said, leaning over to whisper in Hermione’s ear, “I would have been doing the same thing.”

She whipped around the counter and Hermione watched as she walked down the aisle where Malfoy was working. Hermione had to physically stop herself from going over there just to get in the way of Anna talking to Malfoy. Instead, she went back to writing furiously on her parchment. Only a few minutes of hearing the infuriating sound of Anna and Malfoy laughing, the bell above her front door sounded.

She watched as Joey entered quickly out of the cold. His cheeks were red and he began to shed his cloak to hang it up when Hermione greeted him.

“Good morning, Joey,” she said sending him a small smile.

He returned the smile and rubbed his hands together to warm them up; “Morning, Hermione.”

“I would get started on the coffee; Mrs. Todd is going to be here soon for her morning browse.”

“That bloody woman,” he said fondly and Hermione laughed.

Joey started to make his way to the café part of the shop but stopped abruptly at the sound of laughter. Hermione’s heart sped up as she awaited Joey’s reaction.

He stopped cold and turned to look down the aisle in which Anna and Malfoy stood. His hands curled into fist and his face and neck turned a furious shade of red. Hermione knew she had to make things bearable between the two men, because if she didn’t her shop would reduce to chaos.

“Joey,” Hermione called softly. He slowly dragged his eyes away from the aisle and turned to look at Hermione. His blue eyes were bright in anger and leftover anguish. Hermione gave him a gentle look and nodded her head towards the café.

“I would put on the coffee soon.”

Joey merely looked at her, stone faced and red, before he nodded curtly and strode away. Hermione sighed in relief, glad he hadn’t started anything.

With a shaky breath, Hermione placed her quill down and wiped her clammy hands on her jeans before stepping away from the corner and walked towards the voices. As she walked she felt her shoulders getting heavier and heavier. Joey and Malfoy would have to face each other sooner or later.

She had a strong feeling that Malfoy would have no idea about the death of Joey’s father was on the elder Malfoy’s hands. Hermione figured Lucius did not keep track of every man he had killed during his time with the Dark Lord.

Hermione approached the two and immediately felt awkward. Anna was casually leaning against the left shelf with her foot up and knee out with her arms crossed. Her gaze was a flirtatious smile sent up at Malfoy who was on one of the ladders, shelving new novels. Malfoy wore his infamous smirk as he looked down on the American witch. She seemed completely unfazed by his relatively cold demeanor and it almost acted intrigued by it. Hermione hoped Anna was not the type of witch to that had to “fix a broken wizard.”

Hermione cleared her throat as best she could, for it was quite dry. Both their eyes snapped towards her; Malfoy assessed her with a blank stare whereas Anna gave her a bright smile.

“Sorry, Hermione,” Anna said, sounding far from apologetic, “I was just getting to know my new fellow employee.” She began to waggle her eye brows and take glances at Malfoy’s bum as he began to descend the ladder.

Hermione rolled her eyes, “Anna, stop staring at his bum and go help Joe start up the café.”

Anna gave out a huge belly laugh, having no shame in being put on the spot. She turned to Malfoy who, during this encounter, had just stood and watched with a smirk on his face. He knew the American had been checking him out, and he had no problem encouraging it.

Anna sent Malfoy an air kiss before turning away and gliding towards Hermione to leave the aisle. Before she went though, she stopped and whispered in Hermione’s ear; “He could use a lioness, I think.”

Hermione felt the blood rush to her cheeks as her eyes widened at Anna’s remark. “Anna!”

Anna just gave a final laugh and strode away from them.

As Hermione continued to splutter in utter horror, Malfoy watched her in fascination, wishing he could have heard what the blonde had said to her.

Hermione collected herself and looked Malfoy deeply in the eye.

“There’s something you need to know before you can meet some of the other employees.”

Malfoy raised an eyebrow at her firm tone. He placed the books he had in his hands back in the box and turned his full attention to Hermione, crossing his toned arms over his chest.

“And what is it that I have to know?” He spoke calmly.

Hermione heaved a deep breath before explaining.

“Joey’s father was among one of the many murders that your father was charged with after the war. Since his father died he’s had a bit of an… obsession with getting revenge for his father by getting to you. He has yet to do anything so far a-and I honestly believe he won’t do anything rash but you just… never know what people will do to get revenge.”

Hermione looked up at Malfoy to see his reaction and saw something that surprised her. Malfoy looked almost understanding in that moment.

He began to nod his head, softly at first then with more force.

“I understand,” Malfoy began, running a hand through his hair and then down his face. “I’ll be careful and watch my back but, I’ll do my hardest not to be a wanker towards him. No need for me to fuel his anger even more.”

Hermione’s mouth dropped open in shock. She had expected a snarky comment or a roll of the eyes, something other than complete understanding and control of the situation. But, quickly, she closed her mouth, not wanting Malfoy to see her shock. She straightened her shoulders and nodded curtly at Malfoy.

“Well, that’s great. Hopefully everything will go well this next month.”

He nodded in response and turned away from her and back to the box of books. Hermione stood there awkwardly as he went back to shelving without another word. She was ready to say something else when the bell for the door chimed, signaling someone new had arrived.

She turned on her heels without another word or glance towards Malfoy and went to see who had arrived.

(A/N: Hi everyone! So so sorry for such a long wait, again, things have just been insane. Hope you enjoy this update!)