Disclaimer: Nope, not mine. I'm not a Heron shipper, thank you very much.
A/N: My response to the "My sin, My virtue" challenge from cosmopolitan, here's the link to it: http://talk.portkey.org/index.php?showtopic=26784 Hope you will enjoy, and as usual if you read, please review, ok? Thanks! Oh, by the way, I think this could be considered a collection of one shots, everyone focusing on a different sin/virtue. Just so you know and aren't disappointed by the lack of continuity between the chapters, lol. Also, the chapters will feature a virtue, and then the opposing sin in the following chapter.
Thanks to my beta Gingercat!
The Seven Virtues And The Seven Sins
Chapter Twelve: Pride
Hermione Granger was exiting her office at St. Mungo's hospital, to get a cup of coffee and start her day like always, when she met her co-worker just steps outside her door.
"Malfoy, you're late" she chided him. After the war, probably propelled by the fact they had saved his life, Draco Malfoy had changed his ways, and while still not overly fond of Muggles and Muggleborns, he had learned to be civil to Harry and his friends.
At first, it had taken quite a while for Harry and Ron to accept him, but due to Hermione's insistence, they did. Now the ferret was part of their group of friends just like Luna and Ginny.
"I'm never late, Granger. Nor am I early. A Malfoy arrives exactly when he wants to" he drawled as he fell into step by her side.
Rolling her eyes good naturedly, Hermione slightly nudged him. "Are you ever going to step down from that pedestal you built for yourself?" she teased him. "You're only human, just like everyone else"
"I am?" he asked, feigning shock. She laughed, handing him his mug of hot dark liquid.
"I'll see you in a hour in my office, we need to plan a new course of treatment for Mr. Tenterfill because the one we are using now is not working well enough" she reminded him, before she walked away down the hall.
Malfoy quickly finished his coffee and then got to work.
--
Planning a new method of treatment took away most of their morning. Hermione asked him if he was interested in grabbing a bite together. The blonde agreed, so they headed to the cafeteria and after grabbing a plate of chicken salad each, they sat down at a table.
"So, what is it that you see in Potter?" Malfoy asked her, referring to the fact she and Harry had recently hooked up. It had been quite the talk among their circle of friends, not for the fact per se, but mostly because everyone couldn't fathom why they didn't hook up earlier. "After all, I'm far better looking than Scarhead" he said, giving her his best charming smile.
She tossed a chip at him. "Keep doing that, and Ginny will hear about it, and then she will chop off that thing you have between your legs" she admonished him with a smile.
He smirked. "That would be a rare opportunity for you, eh? To see the equipment of a real man, not that toy Potter has"
Hermione scoffed. "Like you know how he's equipped down there" she said after taking a sip of her pumpkin juice. "But if you really want to know, he's definitely not a toy"
Draco leaned closer, and whispered into her ear. "Nobody is better hung than a Malfoy, remember that" then with a suggestive wriggling of his brows he left her there, speechless at the amount of pride he still carried around at being a Malfoy.
She guessed it was so hardly engrained into him that he would never truly get rid of it. But after all, as Ginny liked to say, it was part of who he was, so they had all learned to accept it, as long as he didn't let it go too much to his head, and that didn't seem to be the case.
Ginny knew how to handle him anyway.
Shaking her head with an amused smile, she quickly finished her lunch, and then went back to her office to finish for the day. She had some patients to check on, and that should take her a couple hours at max, then she would go home to get ready.
Tonight, the six of them were meeting at a restaurant in Muggle London. She wondered how would Ron and Malfoy fare there, but since they had agreed to go, she hoped they would behave.
Admittedly, she was more worried about Ron, the redhead had always managed to make a mess whenever they went together to the Muggle world. Malfoy instead always had a certain elegance about him, even in an environment he wasn't overly familiar with. But she wasn't going to tell him that, lest she encourage that inflated ego of his.
--
That night, dinner was a pleasant experience, and Luna managed to keep Ron under control. The redhead didn't slip about talking of the Wizarding World amongst Muggles, nor did he make a fool of himself when things didn't work the way he was used to, namely the plates didn't keep filling themselves until you told them to stop like in many Wizarding restaurants.
But what surprised Hermione the most was seeing Draco nervous. She wanted to tease him about it, because really, a Malfoy nervous was something unheard of, but she reckoned if he was that way he had a good reason for it. He had always been the perfect example of an overconfident person, so to render him like this something must be up, and something big.
Her reasoning proved right later that night, namely during dessert. As she was leaning into Harry, Draco suddenly got on one knee, and proposed to Ginny. The redhead girl sat speechless for a moment before jumping into her boyfriend's arms and kissing him soundly on the lips.
Seeing Draco's relieved face once they parted, Hermione knew then that if there was someone on Earth able to turn Draco Malfoy into a humble person that was Ginny Weasley.
Although, she probably wouldn't want to do it, seeing how in love she was with the current Draco, even with his huge pride and even bigger ego.
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