Chapter 1

Hermione's steps faltered at the entrance to the gallery. She couldn't believe she was attending Draco Malfoy's first art exhibit, voluntarily.

Large steel pillars bisected the room, lifting her eyes to the vaulted ceiling and large skylights above. The thin light of evening trickled into the gallery, tinting the paintings blue. The gallery was maze like, paintings hung on temporary walls which seemed to have been constructed at random.

Hermione felt the back of her neck. It was moist from the crowded tube. She did her best to smooth her hair with her hands and straightening her skirt, moved into the room.

The gallery was busy, but the high ceilings made the voices echo back making the crowd seem as if it was much bigger. She tried to scan the paintings between the heads of the moving crowd. Noting a few familiar faces in the industry she nodded and smiled, but tried to keep her pace so she would not be held up.

Hermione was not happy to be here. After a long day of work, her boss Sirius Black, had requested that she attend this showcase of some little known artist. He said he was meant to go himself, as some favour for a distant relative, but he had another appointment. Unfortunately, this little known artist happened to be Malfoy, her main rival at college and scourge of most of the female population of London for the past twenty something years.

Unlike Malfoy, she'd had to abandon her dreams of forging a career in the art world. While it was a stroke of luck to land a job at Black and Sons Gallery, one of the most prestigious contemporary galleries in London, it stung to be at the show of one of her peers. Even if the gallery was situated in a backstreet loft with painted chip wood as walls.

Distractedly, Hermione hurried to a gap in the crowds by a large painting on the back wall.

The canvas was a squat rectangle that confused the eye; too long to be a square, but too short to be a regular rectangle. The picture was a portrait of a nude woman haloed by pastel coloured flowers, leaves and vines. Delicate brush strokes locked the woman's face into the picture, as Malfoy had been caressing the canvas as well as painting it. The woman's expression was one of pleasure, eye lids heavy and lips parted as if sighing.

Hermione found her gaze concentrating on the woman's slender neck and collar bones, the lines of her body were so beautifully smooth and fervidly depicted.

"What do you think?"

Hermione started at the voice, lost in the painting. She turned, a smile already plastered to her lips. Her smile faltered on seeing who was there. The man behind her was tall, long blond hair dripping down his shoulders falling in dishevelled waves. His face was angular, made of hard lines and jagged cheekbones.

Draco Malfoy.

Hermione felt the blush crawl up her face, embarrassed to have been caught gazing at his picture, particularly a picture of a women obviously in the throws of passion. Knowing his reputation probably his passion.

"She was a beautiful creature," Malfoy said, a sly grin playing around his lips.

"One of your conquests I suppose?" Hermione jibed.

"Maybe Granger." He gave a low chuckle. "What brings you to my little artistic showcase? I don't remember your name being on the guest list."

"My boss asked me to attend on his behalf," she explained. She could still feel the blush lingering on her cheeks.

"And who do you work for, Granger?"

Hermione wordlessly passed him a business card. She took a great delight in seeing Malfoy's eyes widen as he read the name of the gallery she worked for.

"Black and Sons Gallery," Draco read out.

He gave a low whistle. "Well Granger, I underestimated you. In college, I always presumed you'd work for an insignificant gallery that only took on art that looked like it had been spewed on."

Hermione clenched her fists. She would not rise to the bait. She was a professional art agent now.

"You were wrong."

"My, you have changed," he drawled. "Well, only in some ways." His grey eyes cast a long look over her, hovering on her frizzed hair and crumpled blouse.

Hermione sighed through her teeth, making a hissing noise.

"Your technique has improved," she said, trying to be civil and nodded at portrait in front of them.

"Oh, it has Granger. It has," Draco agreed, his voice husky and suggestive.

"You're still such a ferret Malfoy!"

His eyes flashed, like thunder over a stormy sea.

"Granger I am many things: to some a god, to others merely the most pleasurable night of their lives. But one thing I am not is a ferret. Goodness knows how that ridiculous nickname got started in college."

Hermione smiled. She knew, she was the one to come up with it.

"How are you liking my show?

"Good to see you've been branching out in your subject matter since college," she commented, her eyes rolling over the nude paintings.

"What can I say Granger, I don't have to look far for material," he winked.

"The flowers are nice."

"Other parts of the painting are nice too. I enjoyed painting them greatly."

"You are still a letch Malfoy."

"As are you Granger. I saw the way you were looking at the painting, you couldn't take your eyes off her," he quietly muttered.

"Draco! Darling!" A shrill and horribly familiar voice shouted.

Hermione whipped her head round to see Rita Skeeter, a snake in human form, flouncing over. Her lurid blond curls bouncing with each step of her heeled shoes and waving her long nailed hands in the air.

"Such an awful pleasure to see you Rita," Draco said. Giving Hermione a pained look as he accepted a kiss from Rita, his jaw brushing against her bulbous one.

"And you Draco! I see you've met Miss Granger," Rita said nastily, eyeing Hermione like a chipped nail.

"Yes," Draco interrupted before Hermione could reply, "Hermione was invited here as my personal guest. We're old college chums, go back years."

Rita's smile faltered, but just for a second.

Hermione goggled at Malfoy. It must be a real testament to how much Draco disliked Rita that he was sticking up for her, for her!

"I hope, Rita, that I will be seeing a nice spread of my work in your paper." Draco said, raising his eyebrows and giving Rita a charming smile. Well, Hermione would have said charming if she hadn't seen him pull that smile out every time he was late for a lecture in college. Malfoy certainly knew how to be appealing when he wanted to be.

"'Course Draco," Rita smiled like a crocodile, "but my readers will want a bit of a personal touch to the story. How is your love life these days? Still breaking a different heart each morning? Everyone loves a rebel Draco."

"I have to find new inspiration for my work Rita."

"I can't imagine you finding that with Miss Granger for company," Rita said, throwing back her head laughing, her gold and yellow teeth gnashing.

"On the contrary Rita," Malfoy replied, his eyes a frosty silver, "Miss Granger has many charming features and assets many would want to put on paper."

Rita's smile cracked, and a hateful expression took over her features.

"If you will excuse us Rita," and before Hermione could protest, Malfoy was steering her away. His hand grasping her elbow firmly but not in a painful manner.

Nodding at familiar faces, he skirted her around the crowd till they reached a quieter painting. At the painting he stopped, it was another of a woman, but unlike the previous painting, the colours were bold hues of red and gold. The woman was, amazingly, clothed in lose cloth and seemed to be dancing. However, Malfoy had cut her partner from the scene, leaving the woman alone with her arms poised and the fabric of her dress fluttering around her. Hermione felt that the painting was on pause, as if the music would start up once more and the woman start to rhythmically move again.

"Granger, you're going to take me on as a client," Draco stated, taking hold of her other arm caging her in his grip.

"What?" Hermione asked, genuinely sure she had misheard him. Since the altercation with Rita his change in manner was startling.

"A client at Black and Sons Gallery."

"I'm not going to take you on as a client!" Hermione scoffed.

"Why not Granger," he said. His tone was silky, like the sound of fine cloth running through your hands. "You know there has always been something between us."

"That won't work on me," she answered flatly.

"Ok, I admit that was pushing it." He shrugged, "But pushing against beautiful women is what I do best Granger."

"Not that either."

"Damn it, I forgot that trying to flirt with you was like flirting with a slug. Actually, I think I'd get more luck with the slug."

"You'd make a lovely couple. You're certainly as slippery," Hermione said.

"I can think of someone I would rather form a partnership with," he said, his voice low and almost a whisper.

Hermione suddenly became very aware of Malfoy's proximity to her. The heat of his body, the feel of his hands holding her arms.

"Malfoy, I am not going to be your manager! You would be an awful client to handle."

He frowned at her, but pivoted so they were facing his painting. He moved closer to her, so that with his height, they would both be looking at the painting from the same vantage point.

"Granger," his mouth was a hairs breath from her ear, "how does my work make you feel?"

Hermione could suddenly see herself as the woman in the painting: the beat of the music coursing through her blood, causing her muscles to bunch for the next dance move. Her hand outstretched for her partner's, sure in the fact the he would lead her every move.

"I need to know," he softly spoke. Hermione imagined that she could hear a small plea in his voice.

"Alive, Draco. They make me feel alive," she admitted, breaking eye contact and looking down at where his hands held her.

The spell was broken.

Malfoy let her arms go and he hastily stepped back, like he'd received an electric shock.

"Good," he said, facing her again, "I'll call your office in the morning to discuss a contract."

His pupils were large and dark, like the colour of the ocean depths and just as fathomless.

"We'll see Malfoy," Hermione said, managing to keep her voice level.

Before he could reply she swiftly turned, and retraced her steps to the gallery's entrance. She fancied she could feel his grey eyes on her all the way.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or it's Characters.