It was their fourth year at Hogwarts and Draco looked at Hermione across the classroom. He loved the way she raised an eyebrow to answer a question. Or to question an answer…..
'So, what does a boggart do?" Professor Lupin asked. No one, not even Hermione raised their hand. Until 'Potty', as Draco called him, did.
"They transfigure into something that scares you professor, for instance, for Ron, it would be a spider" Harry said. Ron shoved him with his elbow.
"Harry, you are absolutely correct. Now today I am going to teach you how to get rid of one" he said leading the students over to the cupboard.
"In here is a boggart" he said, "Anyone who would like to give this a go?" no one answered, " Well, I pick Neville then" the Professor smiled. "The boggart will find the thing that its opponent is most afraid of and turn into it".
"How do we overturn it then Professor?" Seamus asked.
"Well. A boggart's weakness is laughter. So you think of the funniest thing you can and the boggart has no choice but to turn into it. But you have to cast the spell first…" the Professor warned.
"What's the spell then Professor?" Dean asked.
"I'm glad you asked…. It's Ridikulus" said Professor Lupin, "Try it with me" the whole class pretended to cast Ridikulus.
"Ok, your turn Neville" Lupin smiled. Neville nodded timidly.
"This should be good" Draco mumbled under his breath. Lupin opened the cupboard door and… Professor Snape walked out.
"Ridikulus!" shouted Neville, Snape's clothes changed, he ended up wearing a pink dress and a fur coat with a feather hat and handbag. Harry swore he would never see Professor Snape the same way again.
"My god, that was the worst class ever!" Draco moaned.
"Get over yourself Malfoy, it was awesome!" Ron said.
"Whatever Weasel" Draco muttered. Ron launched at him.
"Ron, he isn't worth it!"Hermione said as Harry held him back. She walked up to Draco.
"Leave us alone Malfoy" she warned.
"What are you gonna do Mudblood" he wished he never said it after he did. Hermione punched him in the face, really hard.
"That felt good" Hermione said smiling.
"I suppose I deserved that" Draco said sheepishly as the trio walked off.
"No you didn't!" Goyle protested.
"I did. I'm going back to the common room" Draco said and sulked off.
Hermione woke up at 2am in the library.
"Oh, I must have fallen asleep!" she moaned to herself, packed up her books and walked out of there. Walking in the halls was dangerous with creatures of all sorts walking the castle. As she turned around the corner she got the fright of her life by Draco Malfoy leaning against the wall.
"Up at this time Granger? Don't you know it's dangerous for girls out here?"
"I could ask you the same thing…." She said, inward joke.
"Well, I'm not a girl…" Draco said. Hermione faked a shocked face. He took a step towards her. She stepped back.
"I won't bite" he said. She laughed snidely. He took another step, she took another one back. This went on for a while until Hermione was against a wall.
"No closer!" she warned and readied her wand.
"Expelliarmus" Draco muttered under his breath. Hermione's wand flew over the other side of the hallway. Suddenly, to Hermione's surprise, he latched his lips onto hers. She was stunned, confused but also she felt a spark inside her, a slight spark between her and Draco. After a while they broke apart.
"Thank you Hermione" he said and sprinted to the Slytherin dorms. Hermione grabbed her wand and ran all the way to the Gryffindor dorms. She lay in bed thinking about what had just happened. How did this happen? How did she feel about it? Why did she feel so good after it?
At breakfast Hermione sat in the middle of Harry and Ron. She thought she loved Ron, but her emotions were all mixed up. Now she had a few feelings, or muffins as she called them, for Draco.
"What's up Hermione?" Ron asked.
"Yes, just a little confused" she said lightly. Harry thought she sounded like Luna.
In charms Draco sat across from Hermione who was sitting next to Luna across from Harry and Ron. Draco winked at her and she blushed slightly. A note came from him: Meet me outside the library at midnight tonight. 3 Draco. She smiled at him and nodded. Harry saw what the note said. He thought it was suspicious, I know what I'll do, I will follow her. See what's going on then won't I. He was worried for Hermione. What Draco could do could be horrible.
That night Hermione had to open up to somebody. But she didn't know who…. Ginny!
"Hey Ginny, can we talk, in private?" Hermione quizzed the Gryffindor girl.
"Yeah, sure" Ginny got up and followed Hermione into the girls dorm. Hermione checked whether there was someone in there.
"What's up?" Ginny asked.
"Well, I think I like someone. But I don't think anyone will believe me, or like me. Please don't be mad" Hermione begged.
"I will try… who is it?"
"Well, it's Draco….."
"Draco Malfoy?"
"The very same…." Hermione let her head droop, "I don't understand how, but he seems to like me too. He kissed me on my way back from the library yesterday!"
"Well, he is kind of cute behind the evilness of his devil soul" Ginny commented, "You do know that Ron would go absolutely nuts if he found out about this? He really likes you!" Ginny covered her mouth when she said that. No one but her and Harry were supposed to know, even thought it was obvious to the sane. Hermione just stared her. Ron like her? No way in hell!
It was 11:50 at night and Harry was sitting in the common room with the invisibility cloak on waiting for Hermione. Exactly 5 minutes later she walked past. He followed her quietly, down the corridors all the way to the library. He saw Draco standing there. He smiled at her, and she smiled back.
"Hi, Hermione" he said.
"Draco" she said lightly. They walked towards each other until their lips were practically touching, then they touched. Harry almost gasped, blowing his cover. He ran the opposite way, back to the Gryffindor dorms.
"Ron! Ron! Guess what I just saw!"
"Go away!"
"I just saw Draco and Hermione kissing!" Harry said. It got Ron's attention but he didn't react. He just lay there. He was going to kill Malfoy when he saw him.
"Harry! Harry wake up!"Seamus yelled in his ear, startling Harry, "There's a fist fight in the great hall! Between Ron and Draco!" That got Harry's attention. He sprinted down there in his robes and burst in to see Draco on the floor over powered by Ron who was smashing his face in. He noticed Hermione wasn't over there.
"Ron! What are you doing?" Harry yelled trying to drag Ron away.
"Beating up Malfoy!"
"Stating the bloody obvious!" yelled Draco.
"Ron, just come over here. He isn't worth it!" Harry said. Just then Hermione walked in with Professor Dumbledore. Everyone went silent immediately.
"What is going on here?" Dumbledore inquired.
"Ron was beating up Draco" Hermione explained.
"Draco?" Ron said quietly. She had never called him Draco before. She rushed over to Draco. He had a broken nose and a fractured jaw.
"What were you thinking Ronald!" she yelled. Ron was seriously confused.
"I told you mate, they were kissing last night" Harry said. Ron felt like an idiot, not because he beat up Malfoy, he had that coming, but because he had just lost his chance with Hermione.
"Miss. Granger, assist Draco to the hospital wing, everyone else sit down. Enjoy your breakfast" Dumbledore said. Hermione nodded and helped Draco up to his feet.
"Can't we go?" Blaise inquired, Dumbledore held up his hand.
"Just eat your breakfast" he said.
"Are you ok?" Hermione required once out of the great hall.
"Yeah" he said. Hermione kissed him lightly.
"You'll be fine, Madam Pomfrey is very good at this" Hermione said.
"Thank you" Draco said greatfully.
"You're worth it" Hermione said. Now she was confused, had she really just said that?
"Thankyou" Draco said gratefully.
"She called him Draco!" Ron said sitting down shocked. He had just been given a whole terms detention for beating up Malfoy, "Now I will receive a howler from mum again" he sighed.
"Don't be so glum Ron, it's not as bad as stealing a car and crashing it into a tree that bashed it up into piece's and almost killed you" Luna said dreamily as she walked past.
"You weren't even here that year!" Ron said.
"It was all over the quibbler" she said.
"Yeah, that's Ron, he's extremely famous!" said Fred jokingly as he walked past.
"Oi!" Ron said.
"What? You're as big headed as you seem!" George said. Ginny smirked. Ron hit her lightly.
Madame Pomfrey looked at Draco's jaw.
"Well, as you know, repairing bones is quite easy. Drink this" she said handing Draco a glass of foul looking, brown, gluggy liquid. Draco thought it looked like poo, or worse, Weasel's poo. He screwed his nose up at the thought, and the smell. But he wanted to prove himself to Hermione, so, he skulled it. He screwed up his face, it tasted like he imagined poo to taste. DISGUSTING!
"Hahaha, Draco" Hermione smiled and kissed his head.
"It's absolutely horrid!" he said to Madame Pomfrey.
"Nothing in here tastes like pumpkin juice Malfoy" she said sourly, "You will stay overnight. I trust you have classes to go to Ms. Granger" she said looking at Hermione sternly.
"Yes. Thank you Madame Pomfrey. Bye Draco" she said walking out of there.
Hermione walked into charms to be pounced on by Blaise.
"He has a fractured jaw and broken nose. He will be back tomorrow Professor" she said handing Flitwick a late slip.
"Lucky Granger, very lucky. Take your place with Potter" he said. Hermione hurried over to Harry.
"Is he alright?" Harry asked even thought he didn't care. Hermione could sense the carelessness.
"Well, since you're so eager" she said sarcastically, "he has a broken nose and a fractured jaw. No thanks to Ronald of course" she said looking over at her Gryffindor 'friend'. He was looking at her weirdly. His new partner, as ordered by Flitwick, was Luna Lovegood. The weird one. He didn't like her. At all.
At lunch time in the great hall Hermione went to sit down next to Harry.
"Sorry, that seat is reserved" Ron said snidely.
"For who?"
"No one Hermione. He's just being silly. Sit down" Harry said kindly and Hermione sat down. She didn't say anything just smiled at Harry weakly. Harry smiled back.
"Hermione, why do you even like Malfoy?" Ron asked.
"For your information Ronald, Draco isn't that mean. He's actually being nicer to me than you are!" she hissed. Ron held his hands up in defeat but Hermione had looked down and was eating her lunch. Harry just looked at Ron.
"What did I do now?" Ron asked.
"Ron, just shut up" Hermione snapped, "You always manage to ruin everything" she said, picking up her books and storming out of the great hall leaving Harry stuck between two friends…. Again!
"Ron, why can't you just be happy for her? She has found someone she loves" Harry said. Ginny came over and rubbed Harry's back trying to calm him down. It seemed to work, but Ron was really mad.
"Join her side why don't you?" he said.
"He's not joining any sides Ron! Can't you see that?"
"So now you're a mind reader?"
"No Ron, I'm not. But you need to get over yourself and just let Hermione be happy" Ginny snapped. They now had to go back to classes, Ron wasn't talking to Harry. Neither was Hermione. He didn't understand why Hermione wasn't talking to him, he wasn't taking sides.
In Potions Harry was at a table by himself until Hermione finally decided to move from Ron's table.
"Hermione, why won't you talk to me? I'm not taking sides, but you deserve to be happy. And if you find that in Malfoy, then I'm happy for you" he said kindly.
"I wish Ron could just be happy for me, just one time. It was bad enough with Viktor, but now he's just being a control freak" she said.
"Just quietly, I think he's jealous that your going out with Ma- I mean Draco, instead of him" Harry said.
"Well, he has to get over it" she said looking at the instruction booklet, "Ok, four beetles".
"My book says four crushed beetles" Harry said.
"Your books wrong. Look at all the writing all over it" Hermione said. Harry shrugged his shoulders and kept making the potion.
In the Gryffindor common room Dean walked in.
"Hey" he said to Harry as he plunked down beside him.
"Hey. Where have you been?" Harry asked looking up from his study.
"Well… I was with this girl right. Well, she sat next to me in the library, and well, I got to know her….. very well" he said. Harry slumped his head slightly laughing.
"What's her name?"
"Ally. She's in Slytherin, but she should be in Gryfindor. She is way to good in…. well… you know" Dean said. Harry laughed, he never knew anyone, except for Dean, to have sex on the first un-official, accidental, library date. How and where did they manage to pull it off….. he didn't want to know he decided shaking his head.
"So, what are you studying?"
"I'm not studying. Well, I was. Charms. But Hermione just went upstairs so I have quit" Harry said sheepishly. This time it was Dean's turn to shake his head.
"Hermione and Ron?" Dean asked, wondering if they had reconciled. But he already knew the answer.
"No, he won't apologize, he's too proud. And Hermione doesn't know why he won't apologize. They always end up in these situations! Now I am stuck between the two of them, again!" Harry said, frustrated. He didn't know that Ron was listening into the conversation from the stairs.
"So, you saying I'm predictable?" Ron said walking down the stairs, red ears and his fists ready to punch.
"No mate, I'm not. I'm saying that you need to sort this out with Hermione!"
"I will make it easy for you, it's me, or her" Ron said.
"You're being unreasonable" Hermione said walking down the stairs swiftly.
"Am I Hermione? Cause from where I see it, you're the one going out with Malfoy" Ron said, "Harry. Me or her?"
"This is stupid Ron! I am not choosing between the two of you!" he yelled then laughed because Hermione and Ron were standing beside each other in the exact same position.
"What the fuck is so funny?" Ron said. Harry stopped laughing, he wished that they had started, but they didn't. Harry didn't bother to answer just walked up the stairs. Ginny, who had come down to see what all the yelling was about, followed Harry up the stairs again.
"Harry"
"Not now Ginny"
"But, Harry"
"I said not now" Harry said. Ginny kissed him, a deep kiss, with meaning. Not like one Harry had ever had before.
"Ready now?" she asked after they broke apart. Harry told her everything.
"God my brothers a bastard" she sighed miserably.
"I'm glad you didn't turn out like him" Harry said.
"Me too!" she said turning into her dorm, "Night" she said.
"Night" he said walking up the stairs to his room.
"Ron you idiot!" Hermione yelled.
"Stop it! Stop it you two!" Lavender yelled, "Some of us are trying to study! Hi Ron" she waved.
"Sorry. Ron you idiot!" she hissed at him.
"Better" Lavender said like she was critiquing a ballet competition. Hermione felt like slapping her across the face.
"How am I the idiot?" Ron hissed back at Hermione both walking up the stairs together.
"Making Harry choose between us! He can be both of our friends if he wants to! I am still the same person, just dating someone. If you can believe it, which you never can because you can't see past yourself! For once, I feel like someone likes me, for me!" Hermione hissed back leaving Ron stuck in his tracks as she turned into her dorm which she shared with Ginny for some reason.
"Hermione?" Ginny rushed over to her best friend's bed on which Hermione had just flopped onto.
"Your brother is an idiot. No offence to you" she said.
"I know" Ginny said flopping down on her bed next to Hermione's, "He always has been. He will never change".
The next morning Hermione was watching the doors in the great hall anxiously for any signs of Draco. Suddenly, the doors opened and Draco walked in slowly. All of Slytherin rushed over to him but he managed to catch Hermione's eye and flashed a smile at her. She smiled and waved back to him. Unfortunately for her, Pansy Parkinson saw.
After breakfast Hermione and Draco caught up. She didn't get the chance to come see him, she didn't need to anyway.
"How are you?" she asked.
"Still a bit sore, but I shall live" he said.
"You player" she said kissing him lightly. He kissed back.
"Is that Malfoy and Granger?" she heard people whisper as they walked past. They broke apart and they walked off to class together. When they got there Pansy was waiting. When Draco walked over to his other friends leaving Hermione by herself, she walked over to her.
"I don't know what Weasley did to my Draco, but you had better stay away from him! He's mine!"
"What is he Pansy? You're fuck buddy?" Hermione said.
"I bet you haven't even fucked yet have you" Pansy remarked. Hermione didn't have a comeback.
"I thought so. You are so pathetic Granger. Draco could never, ever like you more than me!" Pansy hissed as Professor Slughorn let them into the classroom. Hermione didn't know that Draco and Pansy were, you know, fuck buddies.
"Mione, come over here" Draco called. She walked over. Pansy walked over.
"Granger, that's my spot" she said.
"Not anymore Pansy" Draco said, "Reserved for Hermione here" he smiled rudely. She walked off in a huffy mood and sat next to Ron, much to her disgust.
"Meet me after school hours in the prefects bathroom" Draco said at the end of the lesson. Hermione nodded. She knew what was coming. But did she actually want this? Was she ready? Why was she doubting herself like this? It was annoying her so much.
"Where's Hermione?" Ron asked after school hours.
"Why do you care? You guys are fighting anyways" Ginny said leaning into Harry's arms.
"I don't, it's just" he stormed up to his room. Ginny sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Draco" Hermione said as she walked into the prefects bathroom.
"Hermione?" he asked walking into view. She walked up to him.
"Are you ready?" he breathed. Her neck tingled from his warm breath. She nodded and they walked into a stall. Draco was very smart with the time he chose, no one went into the prefect bathroom at this time. He let his hands traverse Hermione's body. She didn't mind, she loved Draco. She felt so alive, for some reason.
It was past 10 pm when Hermione walked into her dorm.
"Where have you been Miss. Granger?" Ginny asked smiling. She knew that look, she had seen this look on many a girl who had just had sex.
"Well" Hermione started.
"I know where you've been. The prefects bathroom, probably with Draco Malfoy, and probably to lose your virginity" Ginny said.
"Have you…." Hermione started.
"No I'm still waiting. But congratulations" she said.
"How did you?"
"It's written all over your face" she said. The girls said their goodnights and went to bed.
The start of a new me. No more taking crap from Ron anymore. I am Hermione Jean Granger, girlfriend of Draco Malfoy, and the schools smartest student. No more virgin nerd. Now I am beautiful, sophisticate, and intelligent. A new me.