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Hermione chewed the inside of her cheek as she looked out the window at the baggage handlers chucking luggage into the cargo hold. One more reason she only brought carry-on: those employees were paid to do a job quickly and efficiently, not carefully — and not always accurately. Turning her attention to the cabin, she picked at her cuticles as the remaining passengers stow their bags in the overhead bins and find their seats.
It was a small plane with a single aisle, the economy class having two seats on either side. A flight attendant said it was a full flight but the seat next to her was still empty. Maybe she’d get lucky and not have to make awkward small talk with a stranger wearing too much cologne… or someone who takes their shoes off…
Rubbing her arms, Hermione adjusted the air control above her and wondered what was holding them up. No one had boarded the plane in several minutes — she checked her watch — and it was their scheduled departure time. For lack of anything better to do, she pulled the Sky Mall out of the seatback pocket in front of her and flipped through its crinkled pages.
A few minutes later, a young man in a sharp pilot’s uniform strode down the narrow carpeted aisle, eyes scanning the seat numbers. He stopped at Hermione’s row and offered her a toothy grin and a wink before plopping down in the seat next to her then shoved his carry-on bag under the seat in front of him.
Damn, he was cute; soft, steel-grey eyes and blonde fringe peeked out from under his pilot's cap. She cast a sidelong glance at his left hand — no ring. A cute and single pilot was sitting next to her for a three-hour flight. Holding her breath, Hermione wracked her brain for something cool to say but the flight attendants began their pre-flight safety lesson before she could come up with anything.
As the plane moved onto the runway, the pilot turned to her and said, “I’m Draco, what’s your name?”