Wishing You Were Here
Chapter 1
Hermione clutched her books close to her as she roamed around the corridors. These two are constantly gone, Hermione thought to herself. Harry and Ron were nowhere in sight.
As she tried to slide past other students, Hermione bumped into Draco Malfoy. The most wicked, sinful person in the school. At least, in Hermione's mind at the time he was. "Sorry," Hermione mumbled faintly, trying to disregard his stare. His piercing blue eyes made her feel like she was always being scolded.
She attempted to walk away as quickly as she could, but Draco had put his hand on her shoulder, forcing her to turn around. "Dropped this," He told her, holding out a book called Secrets of the Darkest Art by Owle Bullock. Hermione tried to take the book back, but Draco kept his hold firm. "You read this stuff?" He asked, staring her in the eye.
Hermione, for a split second, was admiring his gorgeousness. His eyes were dreamy, not scolding. His hair was perfectly slick. And he looked at her like he actually wanted to have a conversation. "It was in the library and was the one of the only books I hadn't read. I thought I'd give it a chance," Hermione replied after awhile. Draco nodded and let go of the book.
"For a moment, I thought you were going to ask for my autograph," Draco said with a grin. Hermione blushed and looked at her feet. "Sorry about that. Long day," She replied. Draco looked around him, as if to check nobody was around. Yet, there were many students running through the halls and bumping into people that if you ever wanted to share a secret out in the corridor, it would spread like the flu.
"Well," Draco started. "Why don't you come with me?" He began to walk down the hall. Hermione was longing to follow him, but didn't know if she should trust him after the names he had called her beforehand. But she trailed behind him anyways.
Draco brought Hermione into a small classroom that was under construction for the time being. Hermione had only been in there once for studying. There were huge cloths over tables and pieces of wood lying on the ground. It was more like an unfinished project than a work in progress. Draco's voice snapped Hermione back to the issue. "My grades have been going down a bit," He admitted. "I sort of need a tutor. Up for the lucky job?" Hermione observed him for quite awhile. Should she trust a boy who had made fun of her since the moment she arrived at the school?
"Deal."
"Fantastic."
"When do we start?" Hermione asked, sitting on a table in the room. Draco looked around as if he were trying to locate his calendar. He sat down next to her. Their arms brushed for a second, which made Hermione, for some odd reason, have chills go down her spine. "How about tomorrow?" Draco asked. Hermione nodded. "Works for me. Meet you at the library at 11:00 tomorrow morning?" She questioned. Draco had gotten up and grabbed onto the door handle. He looked back at Hermione and beamed. "Nothing could stop me," He said cheerfully. And with that, he left the classroom.
He seems pretty excited to be tutored, Hermione thought to herself. She took her books in hand yet again and exited the room. She glanced to her left to see Draco walking around a corner, grinning. For some odd reason, this made Hermione joyful. She made her way back to the Gryffindor common room, spoke the password, and entered. She sat down on the couch and started her studies.
"Ha!" Shouted a voice from the corner of the room. "I win, yet again." Hermione looked over her shoulder. It was Ron, playing Wizard Chess with Harry. Harry stared at the board. "No way," Harry retorted. "You win every time!" He searched along the board for some sign that Harry won instead. Ron looked at Hermione and beamed. "Hey," Ron said, putting up his hand and waving.
Hermione waved back. Harry's eyes were fixed on the board so instead of looking up and saying hi, he waved sideways to Hermione. She heard footsteps and glanced at the stairs. Ginny appeared at the steps. "Haven't seen you all day," Ginny said, grinning at Hermione. Ginny sat down on the couch next to her. Hermione smiled at her. She didn't exactly want to say that Draco had held her up for most of the time. "Just been busy today." She said instead.
Ginny looked over at Ron and Harry. "You two, get over here." She ordered. This was the one time Harry looked up. Both Ron and Harry made their way to Ginny and Hermione. They took a seat in two different chairs. "Tomorrow is the weekend. I was thinking us 4 could make a trip to Hogsmeade? Maybe around 10:45 tomorrow morning?" Ginny asked. Harry and Ron nodded and smiled while Hermione glanced at the ground, the grin washing off her face.
"What's that look for, 'Mione?" Harry asked. Hermione played with her hands. "I've got to tutor some student…maybe afterward? Around 12:30 maybe?" She suggested. Ginny and Harry shook their head. "We can't," Harry replied. "Quidditch practice," Ginny nodded in agreement. Ron glanced at Hermione. "I've got to study. I was going to go to the library." He said gloomily. Hermione frowned. "Well, maybe Sunday?" She suggested again. The other three shrugged. "Don't know," They all said at once.
"Well," Hermione said. "Maybe we can discuss the plan at dinner tonight. But for now, I've got to study." And with that, Ginny went upstairs and Ron and Harry played another match of Wizard Chess. Hermione studied after that for about an hour until it was 6:30. Harry got up from his seat and shouted, "Ginny! We've got to go to dinner now." Ginny peaked over the edge of the stairs along with Parvati Patil. "Coming," Ginny replied, making her way down the stairs. When she got there, Harry put his arm around her and they left the common room.
Ron chose to walk with Hermione to the Great Hall for their meal. When they arrived, a couple other students were already eating at the tables, including Draco Malfoy. Hermione glanced up and saw Draco staring at her thoughtfully. She sat down at the Gryffindor table, but kept eye contact with him. Ginny noticed where she was looking. "Hermione…?"
Ginny looked at Draco. Her jaw dropped. Draco quickly looked away and started talking to Goyle. Ginny gazed at Hermione. She mouthed the words: "Him?" Hermione shrugged and waved her hand, as if to wave off the subject. She started eating. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ginny staring at the table in shock. Harry shoved Ginny lightly on the arm. He swallowed his food before speaking. "You alright?" He asked. Ginny shook her head as if coming out of a trance. She looked at Harry and smiled. "Alright." They then shared a kiss, making Hermione look down and take another bite of food.
After some time, Hermione glanced upward toward the Slytherin table, for some reason longing for Draco's smile. Instead, she received the back of his head. He seemed to be looking at Pansy Parkinson, and they were fighting. Pansy's eyes filled up with tears. She got up out of her seat and left the Great Hall. Hermione looked back at Draco to see that he was staring at his feet and wasn't eating. Hermione thought about going over there and asking what happened. Who do you think you are? Hermione asked herself. Draco may have invited you to tutor him for a practical joke. You can't just invade on his life out of nowhere. Idiot.
When she finished her meal, Hermione walked with Ginny back to the common room. They made their way into the girls' dorm and changed before going to bed. After changing, the two sat down on their beds. "So…" Ginny started, smiling a little. "What's your relationship with Malfoy?" Hermione shook her head. She blushed a little. "There's no 'relationship'. I'm just going to help tutor Draco tomorrow at the library. Nothing big, really." She replied hotly. Ginny shrugged. "I don't know about that," She said with a grin, lying back onto her own bed.
Hermione hugged her knees and stared at the ground. She wasn't sure if what she was feeling for Draco was more than friendship, but it was definitely some type of affection for him. Hermione lay down on her bed, got under the covers, and listened to the owls hoot outside. She began to doze off.