I Learned Your Pulse

"It's a date."

She glanced down at her chest, on which the chain supported the mass of energy that bounced off of her breasts as it swung from the movement of her stading. She touched it gently, steadying it, and realized he'd been staring where she had, too. She flushed red all the way down to where he was looking; seeing the coloration, he too turned red and looked away awkwardly.

"Now it's awkward," she muttered.

There was a moment of silence, and then they all heard a voice.

"Miss Granger!"

A small House Elf was running up the hallway, looking terrified of whatever was behind her, her voice squeaking almsot too high to hear. She stepped out of the closet and around Draco quickly, brushing her chest area into his; they both turned even more crimson with embarrassment. The elf, having almost reached them, tripped over her own lengthy feet and splayed across the floor. Hermione, seeing this, reacted at once and went to help; but Draco was already there, helping the animal up carefully.

"Are you alright?" he asked the elf seriously, and Hermione's jaw dropped.

"Yessir," said the elf, glancing behind her fearfully.

"What's making you run?" he asked the elf, his voice grave, looking directly into the huge glassy orbs that commanded the outsized head. Hermione was stunned that he was showing this level or respect to a House Elf.

She looked scared of answering. "I don't know who he is," she cried. "He... he said..."

And the elf started hyperventilating. Pitying the poor thing, Hermione once again started forward to comfort it, but Draco had gathered it into his arms, and was whispering things into its ear. Hermione froze, her joints locked in place. Draco was... cuddling... a House Elf, of all things! Her eyes bugged out of her head.

"Now then," said Draco to the elf, his vocie grave, "What is your name?"

"Bubbles," squeaked the elf in answer.

"Bubbles," said Draco, nodding his aknowledgement of the name. "What did this man look like?"

Bubbles shook her head. "Bubbles does not know," she answered. "He grabbed Bubbles from behind and made her carry the note to Miss Granger."

Draco pondered this for a moment. "May I see the note?" he asked Bubbles politely.

Bubbles hesitated. "He said for Bubbles to give it only to Miss Granger."

Draco held out his hand. "Please give me the note, Bubbles," he said sternly. Hermione's heart was beating out of control. He was being so caring towards the elf...

Bubbles placed the note in his hand. He took one look of the writing, made a disgusted face, took out his wand and lit it on fire. It burned to ash in a second. Hermione's star thrummed calmly, no matter how fast her heart went now - she'd felt it skip when Draco had read the note, but now it was normal. However, she was angry - the note had been meant for her, after all, and she had no idea what it said.

"Did you read the note, Bubbles?" Draco asked her, his voice barely above a whisper.

The elf shook her head. "He told Bubbles not to."

Draco thought for a moment, and then nodded. "Thank you, Bubbles. Do you need anything else?"

Her anger died down at the kindness in his voice.

She shook her head. "May I go back to the kitchen, Mister Malfoy?"

Draco nor Hermione were surprised that the elf knew who he was. "If you wish," he said, giving the elf a pat on the head and a smile before it scurried off.

"You... Draco..."

Hermione was speechless, and Draco seemed slightly confused by her exression and tone. "What?"

"You... were nice... to an elf..."

"Well, yeah," now he was bemused. "It's an elf, but that doesn't make it bad. Different, yes. Not bad. They're still people, in a way -"

"But you used to treat them like vermin," she said, completely mystified.

He smiled sadly. "I used to treat you like vermin," he pointed out.

And as their eyes met, her heart skipped a beat, but the star's beating picked up immensely.

And then she began to understand.

"Draco," she said slowly, "Why does this heart beat so often with mine, but just now..." she trailed off, unsure how to finish the sentence and knowing he understood the point.

She waited while his eyes flashed from scene to scene, and finally settled on something she couldn't make out. "Come with me to Hogsmeade," he said.

"Why?" she was surprised.

"You need a date," he said, "And the papers can hardly say we're dating. We've hated each other for seven years."

Hermione smirked a smirk that seemed to make him proud. "Oh, yes they can," she disagreed. "Shakespare would've loved us as a couple."

Draco seemed a bit confused. "So, you're thinking we're both going to die?"

She laughed outright, clutching her stomach and bending over in mirth. "No," she gasped finally, "I meant, since we're from opposite sides, he'd have automatically said, 'Forbidden Love!' "

"Really?" he was amused, and his eyes danced with laughter. "Well, would the papers say the same thing?"

She thought for a moment, her laughter dying down. "Probably," she admitted.

His eyes glinted with wicked fun. "Let's give them something to talk about."

Her stomach and the star gave a lurch. "Are you... asking me... on a date?"

He raised his hands in the air as a sign of surrender. "Just as friends," he said - and for some reason, her stomach drooped, and her face fell. "But we'll screw the papers."

"Oh," she said. "Okay."

He raised an eyebrow at her disappointed tone. "We could go as a borderline-couple," he said quietly.

"And still borderline-friends?" she demanded, for some reason afraid of the thought of going out with none other than the boy who'd made her school days miserable.

He nodded.

"Alright then." She squared her shoulders. "It's a date."

Her stomach was tying itself in knots and her star was pounding.

He beamed at her like the sun, happy for reasons she couldn't understand. "It's a date... Beaver," he added.

She beamed back at the nickname hed used not tauntingly nor offensively, but in a friendly, open kind of way. "Ferret."