A/n: Just a little story I cooked up when I listened to the song, that's quoted. Enjoy
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the character in this story, nor do I own the rights to the song. I only own the imagination that when into the story.
"…This is why a common knowledge of Arithmancy is needed when going into the field of magical medicine."
'Finally' Hermione thought with a sigh as she finished dotting her 'i's and crossing her 't's. 'It's way too hot to be doing work'
Indeed it was hot, one of those muggy, humid days where no one wanted to do anything. Even Professor Vector seemed more inclined to stare into space than teach.
Raising her arms above her head in a stretch, Hermione yawned and looked around at her classmates. Quite a few of them were dozing including Ron next to her, who snored quietly with every intake of breath. Sally-Ann Perkins ('Quiet girl' She mused, 'but hard-working usually') was playing with her quill, head resting on one hand, staring mutely ahead. Two Ravenclaws ('Jake and Adam' she tutted) were making paper airplanes and enchanting them to crash land in people's hair. One flew past her and she flicked her wand at it causing it to about face and shoot back at Jake.
Hermione quirked her lip in amusement as Jake tried to dodge the incoming plane.
But the smile died on her lips as she spotted the boy behind Jake. The boy who fights constantly with her friends. The one who makes her life a living hell, in so many ways. The Slytherin who stole her heart.
Draco Malfoy
Even his name sent shivers through her body. She gulped quietly transfixed by the Adonis bent over his parchment, brow furrowed in concentration, before he laid his quill down, rocking back in his seat, face impassive. Then he noticed her staring.
'Uh oh' Hermione thought, mind panicking at being caught, heart thudding ominously in her chest. Her oceanic eyes betrayed her for all but a moment, before the well practiced mask of stone and hate slipped on her face.
Malfoy raised an eyebrow at the witch before his eyes also hardened and he mouthed the dreaded "Mudblood".
Hermione snarled at the injustice of the comment, eyes burning with fury. She turned away, furious. 'I'm as good as anyone here. Better even. My parents don't have anything to do with it.'
Her hands clenched and unclenched in her anger and heartache. 'Why can't he see that!' Her heart wailed.
"Now class, if we have a look at the notes we have just taken regarding the number 7…" Professor Vector's voice cut through Hermione's angry stupor. Wiping a hand across her brow, she molded her face into the mask of attentiveness she wore in class, shaking Ron awake as she did so.
"I didn't do it!"
Ron's head shot up at Hermione's touch, innocence plastered on his face.
"Oh you fool" Hermione giggled and rolled her eyes at her friend. "Its only me, you should listen to this."
Ron yawned and muttered "You woke me up for work?"
Sending him a glare, Hermione re-focused her attention on the professor who was in the middle of explaining the faults in ancient Chinese wizards beliefs about the number 7 and thus their faults in using it.
Wrapping up, Professor Vector stood up motioning for his students to do the same. They did so looking bewildered at each other. Once they were all standing Vector magicked the desks away and they gathered in a circle on the floor.
"Students, sit down." He instructed, plonking down on the floor himself. "We are going to do an exercise that will hopefully expand your understanding of Arithmancy. It does however require complete focus for the exercise to work, so it's best to pay attention." He stared pointedly at Ron, who gave his best I-Don't-Know-What-You-Are-Talking-About look.
The Professor flicked his wand, conjuring a large plain black 7 into the center of the circle where it oscillated slowly above their heads.
"Class we are trying to feel the aura, or magic behind the number. Close your eyes if you think it will help you focus, otherwise concentrate on the number and let your mind go blank as if meditating. If you do it correctly you should begin to see, no feel the magical energy."
I heard my teacher say
Its time to concentrate
I've got numbers here in my book
Ron winked at Hermione and whispered, "Don't know what he's on about, me, not pay attention?"
She laughed softly before steadying herself with a deep breath. She started to focus on the floating object when she noticed a pair of pale blue eyes situated directly across the circle from where she was sitting.
Her breath hitched and her body seized up. 'Why did he have to sit across from me' she groaned, knowing her concentration would waiver after this.
They stared at each other openly for ages. When the intensity became too much for Hermione and she snapped her eyes shut in a pitiful attempt to start the exercise assigned.
Pausing her wringing hands, she forced herself to calm down and relax. 'There now isn't that better' she sighed soothingly to herself, and refocused on the task at hand.
She began to feel detached from her body. She was totally in tune with her surroundings- she could have heard the methodical breathing of her classmates, the draft rustling the tapestries; even the twittering on the mice living in the cupboard if she wanted to. However she didn't hear any of this, so focused she was on trying to sense the aura.
'Almost' she pleaded with herself, straining. 'Almost, Not quite…Nearly…Not' Her body deflated with her disappointment. She sighed and relaxed. Suddenly she saw it. 'Oh my' she exclaimed bedazzled by the shine given off. 'Looks rather like a firecracker' she mused, reaching to touch the falling golden sparks.
Just as one speck of gold hit her outstretched finger, those pale blue eyes, the ones that had haunted her dreams for a good part of the year, shattered the aura.
Such was her shock and horror at the appearance Hermione barely contained a scream. Eyes shot open, hand clutched at her chest she struggled to regain her breath. Staring fearfully ahead, she panted to herself ' It's ok, it's all right, that was just your subconscious. He cannot read your mind.' But staring ahead, she wasn't so sure.
The alleged mind reader in question had at the same moment as the freaked-out witch looked across the circle and their eyes locked.
But
all I think about
Would like to shout it out
That you're the boy inside my heart
To Hermione the world disappeared and she could have sworn angels appeared next to him exclaiming to the world with their trumpet and harps, the perfection that was Draco. 'You got it bad girlfriend' She smiled to herself at the perfect imitation of Ginny.
She realized she hadn't smiled internally as intended when she saw the bemused expression on Draco's face, but instead of panicking she just held the smile a little longer, before turning to her sleeping companion.
"OI! Git!" she exclaimed laughing slightly
"Not now, mum" he mumbled
Hermione twitched her lip in though and brought a finger to her jaw. She grinned evilly as a though struck her. She coughed slightly "Hem Hem"
Ron burst awake, his hand gripping his wand a little tightly, terror clearly present on his face as he turned to face the inhumane toad woman.
"Damn Hermione! I still have nightmares about that woman. Do you want to give me a stroke?"
She just laughed good-naturedly. "Your not supposed to be sleeping. This is an important exercise."
Ron rolled his eyes. "You say that every lesson, besides class is over." He clambered to his feet and grabbed his books, face lighting up. "That means its Dinner" bouncing slightly like a hyperactive child.
Hermione shook her head and scoffed. "Always thinking through your stomach"
She too grabbed her books and hurried after her lanky friend. She lost him for a moment when the class merged with the gaggle of students heading for the Great Hall but soon spotted his trademark fire red hair poking above the sea of heads. She tried to move towards him, but found her rather slight build prevented her from breaking through the tide. In a desperate move to try and catch his retreating figure, she dove for the sleeve of his robes but alas, he was too far away and she ended up falling down on her knees, cursing.
"That's right Granger," a snobbish drawl spoke from above, "Mudbloods belong at my feet. So glad you finally learned"
She didn't need to look up to know that voice, but she did so anyways. Draco Malfoy smirked down at her, aristocratically poised so he looked patronizingly upon her form.
She couldn't believe his arrogance and prejudice against muggles. She climbed to her feet, clutching her bag to her chest like a shield; perhaps to protect her from her feelings towards the Slytherin prince, but her eyes showed no fear, not even malice, just pity and sadness.
"I'm no worse than you, Malfoy," she said sighing like someone fighting a losing battle, but she held his mocking gaze with no hesitation.
"Muggles are amazing. They achieve so much more that the wizarding world with so much less. You laugh" she accused as Draco quirked an eyebrow, looking very much like he was about to laugh, "But you couldn't live without magic. You'd be lost without your wand. You've never known anything but magic all your life; it would be like losing a leg. I doubt I could live without my wand and for most of my life I thought magic was a fairytale. You now nothing about muggles or how they live, yet you ridicule them. Your so blinded by prejudice and misguided hate, you never bothered to learn anything about them. So how could you possible claim all the things you do? When you have not a shred of evidence to prove you speak the truth."
She looked evenly at the boy. "You can't dispute what I've said can you? You know it's the truth." Hermione shook her head at his silence and turned away. She called over her shoulder.
"Muggles lost this kind of prejudice centuries ago. Guess that makes them better."
Hermione walked away, tear threatening to fall due to emotion, but she stopped at the sound of Draco's voice.
"Pretty words" he mocked "But your still a Mudblood"
She couldn't take it, she sent one heart-broken look back at him and she bolted, twin rivers streaming down her face. She flew down the now empty hallways, her footsteps echoing hollowly back off the slate walls, laughing back at her causing the distraught girl to only run faster.
She tore past the Great Hall, her sharp mind computing that by the amount of noise emitting from behind the massive doors that most people were inside and undoubtedly Harry and Ron would notice her absence but not for a good while yet. Even so, she didn't slow in her flight. Instead she flew through the doors to the outside and continued to fly across the ground
Eventually fatigue caught up to her and she sagged against a tree, before sliding down its trunk to rest knees-to-chest at the base, gasps and sobs emitting from her prone form, bag forgotten at her side.
I wonder if someday you will come to me and say
Some of those words I keep on hearing in my mind
Unbidden snippets of her dreams and fantasies came with the wind that ruffled her hair sending strands dancing across her back as she clung to her knees
The faint touch of strong arms, whispers of sweet promises and murmurs of love, the sharp scents of musk and peppermint swirled around her, as she finally raised her head one final tear trickling down her cheek
"It will never happen" she said forcefully, dispelling the phantoms as she swiped the tear off and rose to head back to the castle
I'm writing down the words
That's filling up my world
Your name is spinning 'round in my head
I wait outside the school
I guess that I'm a fool
But I just need to look in your eyes
Rather than return inside and face numerous question about her disheveled appearance and her uncommon tardiness, she sat down on the steps in the dusk light.
She shivered slightly in the breeze, as she pulled a leather bound book out of her bag, but it wasn't cold.
Taking her wand from her robe, she traced the faded pentagram on the cover and mumbled an incantation. The book slowly creaked open and she leafed through the pages, smiling occasionally as she remembered a particular memory with clarity. Once she reached the end she closed the cover, whispered a word and it opened once more.
She did this five times, once for each of her years at Hogwarts. She closed the book, a contented smile on her face as she leaned back and remembered her previous years.
She opened it a final time, continuing with her reminiscing, skimming its contents. About a quarter of the way through, she pauses and all traces of cheer or laughter faded, replaced with a hopeless sadness.
She smiled ruefully and she stroked the page, wincing as it cut her, but internally smiling at the irony. She heaved a heavy sigh and flipped to the end quill materializing in preparation for use.
The scuff of a shoe and the rustling of a person shifting positions alerted her to another's presence. She looked up startled, quickly clutching the book to her chest, hiding its contents.
Her shock didn't fade when she noticed who it was, "How long have you been there?" she demanded, snapping the book shut.
"Since you sat down." He drawled, emotions hidden behind those infernal pale eyes. He lent against the wall behind her, arms crossed lazily across his chest.
A slight furrow appeared between her eyes. "He must have watched me for nearly half an hour" she thought frowning. Her lips unconsciously mouthed the obvious question; "why?" but she shook her head and tiredly asked, "What do you want with me Malfoy?" Come to tease me some more about my parentage? Or perhaps my friends? Go ahead, I'm right here waiting" she absently traced the symbol on her book waiting for the string of hurtful words she knew was to come.
"I want to know what's wrong with you" he stated, not moving an inch, eyes still staring at her.
Once again she was surprised and she turned to look at him "What?"
"Your acting strange," he pointed out, hands ticking off ideas, "You don't want to fight, your always have that sad look on your face whenever I enter a room, you stare at me in class, Merlin you even smiled at me in Arithmancy before, Your skipping dinner," he paused, eyes clouded in thought for a moment. "I don't think in the six years I've known you to voluntarily skip anything including flying lessons. And you've been crying" he accused pointing a finger at her.
"Well crying is a natural reaction when someone gets hurt." Hermione stated rolling her eyes, packing her book away.
"Not for you. I've never seen you cry. Or even have signs of it before. And I've looked. Believe me I've tried to get you to cry. What I said earlier was nothing. You've had worse yelled at you before, so why would you go off crying after that?" The hard calculating look was still on his face as if he couldn't for the life of him work her out.
She just shook her head. He certainly was being a bit clueless, despite his obvious abilities at observance. "Don't worry, I'm fine. Why do you care anyways?" she asked standing and shouldering her bag.
"Because this Granger is no fun," he practically pouted.
She just raised an eyebrow at him
"She doesn't fight back when I tease her. She doesn't insult me, instead she uses logic. I mean, come on, logical reasons? Where is the sport in that? How am I supposed to reach my daily quota of tortured souls if I don't even win the arguments?" He said this seriously, but Hermione suspected he was joking. "Besides you've puzzled me and I don't like not knowing an answer any more than you do."
She turned away, head down. "You wouldn't understand. You wouldn't want to understand." She began walking inside
"Try me. Come on, anyone would think you don't trust me" he smirked at her halted back
His words struck a cord and she stood there realizing the surreal conversation she had been having. He was being civil, no more than that he was acting as if he was a friend. And he had noticed a change in her where her real friends had not. She rubbed her neck, and dropped her bag, decision made. Perhaps it was the surrealism, or maybe she was sick of hiding it.
I close my eyes and give you a kiss
She turned around and strode purposefully towards him, stopping directly in front of him about a foot away. Her eyes held something almost wishful as they looked into his. Then she reached a hand up and cupped his cheek and closed the distance between them.
It was a simple kiss, one of innocence and hope. Feather-light her lips caressed his for a moment, before she broke the contact and stared at his shoes.
"Some things weren't meant to be understood" she half smiled and walking into the castle picking up her bag as she went, leaving realization to dawn on Draco in her wake.
Still I wish upon a star
And I wonder where you are
In my dreams you're here besides me, never far
Thinking maybe, maybe not
But I think of you a lot
Cause you the boy inside my heart
It was late. Far too late for a student to be out of bed. And yet Miss I-Never-Purposely-Break-Any-Rules Granger was at this moment sitting on a windowsill in the astronomy tower.
She sighed and looked up to the stars as if they would have the answers to her inner turmoil. Questions virtually oozed out of her pores as she sat restlessly.
A shooting star blazed across the sky. She closed her eyes reciting
"Starlight Starbright
wishing star I see tonight
I wish I may, I wish I might
Have the wish I wish tonight"
She sat still for a moment then swung her legs out into the night air, eyes still closed, mouth uttering her silent wish.
A silent breeze arose, rustling her skirt and bringing with it, those tortuous phantoms. Imaginary arms encircle her waist and she could almost feel the heat on her back. Musk and peppermint filled her senses so strongly she could almost taste them. She bowed her head passively wanting to submit to the fairytale but knowing it wasn't real.
Then she felt a calloused hand on her chin, raising it and a soft voice commanding "Open your eyes, Hermione" She did and gasped, dumbfounded.
Draco closed her jaw with a finger and smirked at her expression before silencing the on-coming question with a searing kiss.
The song is called 'Boy inside my heart' and was performed by Nikki Webster. I thought it a perfect D/Hr songfic when I heard it.
Any grammatical errors found would be greatly appreciated, as well as any writing points. Flames are very welcome.
Later Mwah
Angelkisses