Six Disconcerting Little Clues
Oct. 22nd, 2010 11:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
starduchessTitle: Six Disconcerting Little Clues
Author: starduchess
Pairing: Draco/Hermione
Word count: 444
Rating: G
Warnings: none
Written for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
dramione_awards Special Challenge Flash Fiction category
Prompt chosen: "There are very few human beings who receive the truth, complete and staggering, by instant illumination. Most of them acquire it fragment by fragment, on a small scale, by successive developments, cellularly, like a laborious mosaic." -- Anais Nin
The first disconcerting clue Draco noticed about Hermione was an odd little shift in her eyes. He would say something particularly clever--by his estimation anyway--and her eyes would unfocus for an instant before she flung a good retort back in his face. He thought it was her method of contemplating attacks.
The second disconcerting clue he noticed was her perfume, a dark musk with cinnamon and gardenia, heavy and cloying, but most striking was that she only wore it around him. If he caught her out unexpectedly, she had a clean scent. He swore she did it to drive him nutters.
The third disconcerting clue was the notes she left all over his desk. Whenever he would return from being out at lunch or a meeting, there would be a plethora of dictations strewn about like flower petals. He assumed she did this to all her friends, so it was confusing when he looked in Potter's and Weasley's offices and none were to be found.
The fourth clue--and this is where it really got strange--was the books slowly accumulating around her flat when she would invite him to tea. Of course, she was an avid reader, but the titles grew suspicious. History of Culture. Etiquette at Its Finest. Pure-blood Family Names: A Genealogy. He was sure there was a conspiracy somewhere.
The fifth was all the little bits of food with which she plied him. They ranged the gamut from little rice crackers topped with pickled fish eggs to dessert pudding so runny that he was sure it had never seen an oven. She claimed that variety was the spice of life, but as she served the gillyweed and asphodel salad, he was absolutely certain she was attempting to poison him.
The sixth and latest clue came as little touches: brushes of fingertips on his arm, bumps with her knee, claps on his shoulder for a job well-done. He couldn't stand the familiarity, but she paid no mind to his scathing looks and in-drawn breaths.
When she gave him the first peck on the cheek, he growled his frustration.
"What is all this, Hermione?"
"I was hoping to entice you into dating me," she said simply.
Draco stared at her. He thought back over the pieces, and suddenly it all fell into place. She liked him! The feeling was more disconcerting as a whole than it had in its individual parts. He wasn't sure what to make of all this, but his Slytherin nature decided to take advantage of and embrace the opportunity.
"Alright, I will. Shall I escort you to dinner at eight?"
She nodded, eyes alight with elation.
-
Author: starduchess
Pairing: Draco/Hermione
Word count: 444
Rating: G
Warnings: none
Written for
dramione_awards Special Challenge Flash Fiction category Prompt chosen: "There are very few human beings who receive the truth, complete and staggering, by instant illumination. Most of them acquire it fragment by fragment, on a small scale, by successive developments, cellularly, like a laborious mosaic." -- Anais Nin
The first disconcerting clue Draco noticed about Hermione was an odd little shift in her eyes. He would say something particularly clever--by his estimation anyway--and her eyes would unfocus for an instant before she flung a good retort back in his face. He thought it was her method of contemplating attacks.
The second disconcerting clue he noticed was her perfume, a dark musk with cinnamon and gardenia, heavy and cloying, but most striking was that she only wore it around him. If he caught her out unexpectedly, she had a clean scent. He swore she did it to drive him nutters.
The third disconcerting clue was the notes she left all over his desk. Whenever he would return from being out at lunch or a meeting, there would be a plethora of dictations strewn about like flower petals. He assumed she did this to all her friends, so it was confusing when he looked in Potter's and Weasley's offices and none were to be found.
The fourth clue--and this is where it really got strange--was the books slowly accumulating around her flat when she would invite him to tea. Of course, she was an avid reader, but the titles grew suspicious. History of Culture. Etiquette at Its Finest. Pure-blood Family Names: A Genealogy. He was sure there was a conspiracy somewhere.
The fifth was all the little bits of food with which she plied him. They ranged the gamut from little rice crackers topped with pickled fish eggs to dessert pudding so runny that he was sure it had never seen an oven. She claimed that variety was the spice of life, but as she served the gillyweed and asphodel salad, he was absolutely certain she was attempting to poison him.
The sixth and latest clue came as little touches: brushes of fingertips on his arm, bumps with her knee, claps on his shoulder for a job well-done. He couldn't stand the familiarity, but she paid no mind to his scathing looks and in-drawn breaths.
When she gave him the first peck on the cheek, he growled his frustration.
"What is all this, Hermione?"
"I was hoping to entice you into dating me," she said simply.
Draco stared at her. He thought back over the pieces, and suddenly it all fell into place. She liked him! The feeling was more disconcerting as a whole than it had in its individual parts. He wasn't sure what to make of all this, but his Slytherin nature decided to take advantage of and embrace the opportunity.
"Alright, I will. Shall I escort you to dinner at eight?"
She nodded, eyes alight with elation.
-