Hermione Granger was severely annoyed. She had been minding her own business writing an extra- credit essay for Professor McGonagall in the library, and Draco Malfoy was ruining her concentration with his excessively loud quill.
"Please be quiet," she said cordially. His quill stopped.
"I'm not saying anything," he informed her.
"Your quill is quite loud," she responded.
"As is yours." This caused Hermione to pause.
"Right. But I was here first."
"Which means you've had more than enough time to finish your work."
Hermione pursed her lips in irritation. "I dislike you."
"Well, I don't like you, either," he smirked.
"You're annoying."
"You're a teacher's pet."
"You're arrogant."
"You're a bookworm."
"That isn't a bad thing, whereas being arrogant is."
"You see? You're a nerd. You just gave me a lesson when it wasn't warranted."
"It was warranted," she insisted, "you seemed to think reading was a bad thing."
"Well, thank you for setting that straight." By now, a genuine smile was playing upon his lips. "Though I still find you intolerable."
"I still find you loathsome." Hermione pulled her book up higher so as to hide her grin.
"Your hair is strange."
"You're abnormally pale."
"You have no friends." Draco knew it was untrue, but it seemed like a good thing to say.
"Your friends are insufferable."
"While that may or may not be true, the fact remains that your friends, not that they exist, are bizarre."
"Being bizarre is a good thing," Hermione said airily. "Who wants to be normal?"
"Normal people."
"People like you?"
"People like me don't have to answer questions directed to them by people like you."
"People like you are nitwits," Hermione smirked.
"People like you are bothersome."
The two sat in silence for a few minutes, absorbed in their work. Finally Hermione stood, rolling her parchment (seventy- two and a quarter inches long, thank you very much) and collecting her quills.
"Well then," she said, "I'll see you at dinner?"
"As always," Malfoy responded, standing up to give a her a chaste kiss.
Hermione left the library smiling, her thoughts absorbed with just how strangely wonderful her relationship with Draco Malfoy was.