Chapter One of I Work for You:
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters regarding Harry Potter.
Summary: Draco hires Hermione to be his wife for a couple of months to impress his boss. Will this act turn into love between them? Or will things get way beyond worse? Based on the movie "Borrowed Hearts."
Hermione Granger danced around the store, humming to herself as she bustled around in her work. She came across the yearbook section in the store where she worked at, and she smiled a happy smile. Taking a black one with a picture of a trio on the cover, she opened it up to a random page.
Looking at it, she smiled as the memories resurfaced. She felt as if she was back in school once again.
After graduating from Hogwarts, she had decided to work in the bookstore, Flourish and Blotts. She still had a passion for books, and only enjoyed them more and more as each day passed by. Her thirst for knowledge was apparent, as customers would come up to talk to her about certain books.
Harry Potter, one of Hermione's best friends, was now an Auror. He had married Ginny Weasley, Hermione's other best friend and they had two twins, Lily Potter and James Potter Jr. They were now two years old, and though both were cute, they were still very mischievous.
Hermione's other best friend, Ronald Weasley, brother of Ginny, was in Romania, helping Charlie with the dragons. He had married Lavender, and had one son, Derek Weasley, who was also two years old.
It seemed as if all of her friends had already developed their love lives, and were settling down.
Hermione couldn't help feel a bit jealous as she thought of her own nonexistent love life. Sure, she had the occasional date with the man whom she would meet while discussing a book, or sipping coffee in the nearest Mooncoin.
She knew that she was decent looking. She caught a glimpse of her own face in the mirror that was hung up on the wall, and she smiled at her reflection. She now had sleek brown hair; she thought the frizzy hair was too much to handle. She had a nice figure, and was always dressed in outstanding clothes.
The door suddenly slammed, and Hermione snapped out of her reverie. She blinked her two beautiful chocolate brown eyes, and realized that it was almost time to close the shop.
Oh, how she looked forward to going home! She smiled a wry smile. She lived in an apartment by herself, in a quiet, but pretty neighborhood. She was friends with all of her neighbors, and enjoyed talking to them every so often.
She locked up the store, before heading home.
Draco Malfoy, after graduating from Hogwarts, had become an Auror, just like Harry; however, Draco was the Head Auror. He was very busy in his job, and found that he rarely had time for a love life. He thought of himself as a workaholic, and not a romantic type of guy.
Pansy Parkinson, his former girlfriend, had married Goyle, and was off in a better place. He had lost touch of his parents, and found that he wanted to keep it that way. His father had moved away, probably searching for his 'master'.
After his seventh year, Voldemort had fought the Light side, and just when it seemed that the Light side was about to win, Voldemort somehow got away. He was somewhere on Earth, but nowhere near the wizarding world. Draco had moved to the Light side, after Severus Snape had convinced Draco that Voldemort was the true enemy, not Muggle-borns.
Seeing so many people die, Draco made up his mind that he was going to be an Auror and help catch dementors, protect other wizards and witches, and somehow right the wrong he had done.
His boss was Percy Weasley, who was also an Auror.
"Draco!"
Draco turned, and saw Percy, who had just entered the study of the Malfoy Manor, which he had inherited after his parents had moved away.
"Hey Percy, how's it going?" he asked, not really waiting for an answer.
"Listen, I just had a talk with Cornelius Fudge, and I heard that he wants to visit you," Percy told Draco carefully.
"What? Why?" Draco asked, "I thought he went to the Bahamas for vacation after the seventh year!"
"Well, you know that he has been gone for some time. Now he wants to find a person worthy for his job, so he can retire. So he's now looking for a new Minister of Magic. I talked to him, and well, he decided to come live with you for a couple of months."
Draco's eyes widened, "Uh, okay. So what's up?"
Percy smiled a smile too bright, "Well, you see … he is now a 'family man' and wants somebody to take over his job after he retires. The man he chooses to take over should be happily married."
"What?" yelled Draco, "But I'm not married. And I don't think that I ever will be. At least not for a long time now!"
"Yes, so now we have to find you a pretend wife for a couple of months," Percy said, walking with Draco towards the living room.
"How am I to find a wife?" asked Draco, bewildered.
"That's where I come in!" announced Percy.
"What's your plan, exactly? You can't expect somebody to come waltzing into my house now, can you?" asked Draco.
"Calm down, man!" barked Percy jokingly.
"Good evening, Master Draco," said Draco's butler, Benjamin, walking into the living room.
"It is, isn't it? Could you tell Anita to get me a lemon tea?" he asked.
"Okay," Ben said, bowing his head, "And Mr. Weasly, would you like anything?" asked Ben.
"Ah, coffee please. With a little sugar and lots of milk," said Percy, smiling at the thought of some hot coffee.
Benjamin smiled and left the room, leaving Percy and Draco to sit down.
"So, here's the plan…" said Percy.
Hermione had not yet had her apparating, so she had to walk across town to get to her apartment. It had begun to snow, and she was not even half way home.
"No!" she cried. "Why in the world does it have to snow right now?"
Right after she said that, rain began to fall, followed by thunder and lightning.
Hermione tried the best she could do to dodge the rain, as she ran towards the nearest house. She threw herself on the front door, and not knowing that it was unlocked, she fell into the house.
"Now, who do you know that is single? After all she sho-"
Percy was cut by the sound of a door opening, followed by a loud thump on the ground.
"What the?" asked Draco.
The two ran towards the front door, and saw a young woman on the floor.
She had gotten up and was brushing the snow from her clothing.
"Sorry," she cried, "I was just trying to get away from the rain. I didn't know that the door was opened, and I accidentally fell in. I'll be leaving now," she finished.
The whole time she was talking, her eyes were on the floor, and not on anybody else.
She had turned around when…
"Wait!" cried Percy.
"Yes?" she asked with her eyes still on the door handle.
"Uh, listen. We'll make you a deal. We really need a favor right now," said Percy, a bit too desperately.
"We do?" asked Draco, raising up his eyebrows.
"Quiet! You see, Draco here is in a tough situation."
At the sound of the name 'Draco' Hermione gasped quietly.
"He needs somebody to be his wife for a couple of months."
"And so?" asked Hermione.
"Well, you just came into his house and dirtied his floor and everything!" Percy exclaimed.
"I'm sorry! But there is no way that I'm agreeing to your deal," she cried.
"Well, how about he pay you?" Percy suggested.
"Now wait a minute!" cried Draco, "I never agreed to that!"
"Oh hush! We only need her for two months. We'll give her three hundred galleons for each month," he said.
"No," said Hermione, "But I'm not the type of person to do these kinds of stuff."
"How about five hundred?" offered Percy.
Hermione bit her lip. One thousand galleons was a lot of money. She could really use that. Working at Flourish and Blotts, Hermione usually barely managed to pay the bills in time.
"Sophie!" cried Draco.
The maid appeared at the doorway.
"Yes, Master Draco?" she asked.
"Please take this young woman up to the guest room, and clean her up. And put some warmer clothes on her!" ordered Draco.
"Yes, Master Draco," Sophie said, beckoning Hermione to follow her.
She led Hermione upstairs, and Hermione was careful not to make eye contact with Draco or Percy. She knew that if either one saw her, he'd probably not want Hermione to take the 'job'.
Draco didn't like Hermione, and the two had never mended their 'friendship' before Hogwarts ended. Sure, both were Head Boy and Head Girl, but their conversations were always tight and quick.
Percy was still over protective of Hermione. He had always thought of her as a little sister, even though he was in an argument with his family.
Hermione breathed a sigh of relief when she entered the guest room.
"Why don't you take a bath first, Ms…?" asked the maid.
"Hermione. Hermione Granger," Hermione supplied.
"Hermione," said Sophie.
"Thank you. I think a warm bath would be nice," said Hermione.
"Your clothes are outside on your bed, and I'll call you when it's time for dinner," explained Sophie.
Hermione gave the maid a smile of gratitude, before the maid left the room.
Hermione undressed and filled the bathtub with water. She poured in the soap, Strawberry Bubbles, and settled into the tub.
She couldn't believe Draco would do a rash thing like that. Then again, she never knew he would switch to the light side, either. He didn't even know who she was, and yet he was willing to 'wed' her!
She had not seen Malfoy since they had graduated.
She had known that he was an Auror, and a very good one, but she would have thought that he was already married.
She sighed, and began to relax as the bubble bath calmed down the chaotic event that had just happened.
Hermione had to admit that Draco had indeed turned into a mighty fine young man.
He was still the same boy she had known, except now he was taller, his hair a paler shade of blonde, and he was more muscular. His gray eyes still had the same hard, intense look to them, except that they now contained knowledge and depth, probably from the battle between the Light and Dark side.
She let her mind wander to why Draco was still single, and she soon began to fall into a very comfortable daydream.
"Do you have any idea who that girl is?" asked Draco.
"Um, nope. Drat," said Percy, smacking his forehead, "I should have asked, huh?"
"Uh, duh!" said Draco, giving Percy a slap on the back of his head.
"What if I don't like her? What if she's not pretty? What if she's not nice?" asked Draco.
"Ah! Stop it with these what ifs! I'm sure you'll like her just fine!" he cried.
"Remind me again what happened the last time you were sure of something?" asked Draco, glaring at Percy.
Percy gave an embarrassed smile and said, "Well, Draco, I'm sure this will work out."
Draco rolled his eyes, "You better be!"
Hermione, finished with the bath, got out of the bathtub and reached for the light blue terry cloth robe that was hanging on the clothes hanger.
She dried herself off, and walked out into the bedroom.
She glanced down at the dress that Sophie had picked out for her.
"Wow!" she gasped, "Pretty!"
It was pale pink, made out of silk, and it had a very low neckline. It had thin straps, and a bow that tied in the back. The skirt of the dress flowed down elegantly.
Hermione put it on, and found that it was her perfect size. It fit her waistline just right, and flowed down past her ankles. It had little rhinestones on the bottom right of the dress, and shone when light hit down upon it.
She knew that if she had wanted to buy this dress, she'd probably have to save up about three months worth of paychecks before she had enough money to purchase it.
Hermione rummaged through the cabinet of the bathroom, and found a blow dryer for her hair.
"Who would have thought that Draco Malfoy, a Pureblood, would use these things?" Hermione thought to herself.
She turned it on, and dried her hair. Within minutes, her hair was dry.
She supposed she could have charmed her hair dry, but she always thought that blow-drying it made her hair look thicker.
Hermione looked under the sink one more time, and saw a make up bag. She took it out, and removed a pale pink lipstick as well as a light peach blush.
After several of minutes later, she was finished, and she decided to look around the guest room, seeing as how Sophie had not called her down yet.
The room was really big, and she could probably fit her little apartment into it.
The room contained a wide screen television, with a DVD and VCR player. Next to the television was an impressive sound system, with her own boom box that could play CD's as well as broadcast the radio. By another wall, there was a flat screen computer and a large desk, which the computer was resting on. There was an inviting king-sized bed next to the other wall with large fluffy pillows.
Suddenly she gasped. She could not believe her eyes. Her eyes had fallen upon a gigantic bookshelf, which stretched across a whole wall. Each shelf was filled with books. She walked towards it, and gingerly fingered a book. She pulled it out, and saw that it was one of her favorite books, Hogwarts, A History. Hermione smiled fondly. She missed Hogwarts a lot.
"Ms. Hermione?" a voice broke into her deep thoughts.
Hermione turned her head.
"Sophie! Hello," she said, smiling warmly at the young girl.
"Dinner is served," Sophie said, smiling uncertainly back. She was not used to people being so kind to her.
"Okay. Thank you. I'll be right out."
Hermione followed Candice outside to the staircase.
"Well, it's now or never!" she thought to herself.
"Master Draco," said Benjamin, "Dinner is ready."
"Ah! Thank you, Ben," Draco said, nodding at the butler.
"Where's the girl?" asked Percy.
A voice interrupted their conversation.
"Master Draco, here she is," said Sophie in her soft voice.
Draco turned his head and saw Sophie.
"Thank you, Sophie. You may be excused."
She stepped out of his way, and Draco saw a pretty brown haired girl that was standing behind Sophie.
She may have changed her hairstyle and her clothes could be different, but there was no way that Draco would ever forget her.
He gasped.
"Hermione!" he breathed.
Author's Note: Please read and review. I'm going back and editing my chapters. Hope you enjoy.