Harry Potter would pay. Mark his words, he would pay. He would pay
for ruining all the plans that had been so carefully formulated. He would
pay for sending his father to prison. He would pay for not dying the day
his was supposed to.
Draco Malfoy was fuming at the thought of having to go back to school the next day and seeing him. Not just him, but the entire do-good, never get caught, loved by the Headmaster, Gryffindor crew. At the end of last semester, Potter and his friends had sent Lucius Malfoy to Azkaban, and Draco wasn't exactly a "forgive and forget" type of person. He was still furious and would be until his family name was cleared and his father's pride restored.
He had creating a plan all summer to bring the Golden Boy down. Tomorrow would be the day he began to carry it out. For five years Draco had tried to taunt Harry to raise his temper, but nothing he did ever worked to the extreme he wanted it to. This year he would try something different. To his knowledge, the only thing that made Harry mad was when his friends were teased or put into danger. Hermione and Ron would be the victims this year.
As he lay down to bed that night he couldn't help the smirk that spread across his features. Harry Potter would pay.
-=-=-=-
Several hundred miles away Hermione Granger was going through her packing checklist one final time at the Burrow. She smoothed out the wrinkles in her new school robe and placed it carefully atop her spell books in the trunk. Closing the lid with a loud thud, she got up to go see how her friends are coming along. If there was one thing she had learned over the years it was that boys hated to pack, would avoid it until absolutely necessary, and then forget half of what they needed to bring.
When she entered Ron's bedroom, she quickly had to duck to avoid being hit in the head by a flying spell book.
"Oops! Sorry 'Mione. Didn't know you were there." Said a muffled voice from behind Ron's bed. A head with brilliant red hair emerged with his arms full of heavy books. He tossed them into a trunk nearby and stood up. "Are you already done packing?"
"Yes Ron. I don't wait until the day before we have to leave to get everything done. If you had listened to me and-"
"Tried to put a few of my things in the trunk every week then I wouldn't have this problem." Ron answered, doing his best to imitate her voice. "I know, you've told us every day since you got here. We'll be fine. Mum can always owl us anything we forget anyway."
"Fine, but I'm not taking the blame if you get there and don't have enough socks to last you through the first week!" She crossed her arms over her chest and turned her back to him, ending the conversation. On the other side of the room was Harry, who was carefully wrapping his broom in paper for the train ride.
"And how is your packing coming Harry?" She asked and peered over his shoulder and into a nearly empty trunk. With a loud sigh of annoyance she said between clenched teeth, "you're both impossible," and exited the room.
"What's got her so upset?" Ron grunted and threw the last of his ink wells on top of his robes. "We do this every year and she's never gotten mad before."
"I don't know, girls are just like that I guess." Harry placed the broom inside with his supplies. "I'm going to go see what's wrong. Don't you come to, I think she'd throw a fit if we both stopped packing. I'll be back in a little bit."
Ron nodded in agreement and began to try and neaten what had been so haphazardly thrown into the trunk. Standing up, Harry brushed off the dust on his pants and made his way down stairs and into the room Hermione was sharing with Ginny for the summer. Knocking twice, he peeked his head in to see Hermione rummaging through her trunk again and Ginny reading on her bed.
"Hey Gin, do you think you could give us a minute?" He asked. The small redhead nodded and snapped her book shut, exiting the room without so much as a hello.
"Hermione?" He said carefully, closing the door and taking a few steps closer to where she sat on the floor. He knelt next to her. "Don't be mad, please? Come on. We do this every year. We just don't like to pack as much as you do." Her shoulders heaved in another sigh and she looked sideways at him.
"I know; I don't know why I got so upset. I suppose it's just the stress of going back and knowing this is my last year to prove that I have what it takes to be Head Girl, and everything just built up and I took it out on you two." She said in one breath. A single tear rolled down her cheek, but she quickly brushed it away.
"Hermione, none of the other girls are even in your league for the position. You don't have anything to worry about." He placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder and stood up. He reached his hand down and took her hand, pulling her up as well. "All right, so I need to go finish packing for tomorrow. Me and Ron will come see you when we're done, okay?"
"Harry, wait-"Hermione said suddenly. He stopped on his way towards the door and raised an eyebrow at her. In four quick strides she was standing before him again. "It's just, I've wanted to do this all summer and I don't know when the next chance I'll get be so-"
He was taken aback as she quickly raised herself onto her tip-toes and pushed her lips against his. Staring at her with wide eyes he murmured, "Hermione, what are we doing?"
"I'm not sure."
"But we don't do this. We've never kissed before."
"There's a first time for everything."
"This doesn't feel weird for you?"
"No."
"It doesn't for me either." With that final statement, Harry closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around her waist, effectively pulling her closer. He kissed her back fully, completely, giving back as much as she was giving him. With one final brushing of her lips over his, Hermione pulled away.
"I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me. I've just wanted to do that for so long. Please don't hate me." Harry smiled at her and shook his head.
"I could never hate you." He pulled her into a hug, relishing in the sweet smell of her perfume. "I really should get back to Ron though, he'll be wondering what's keeping me so long."
"Ron! Oh Merlin," Hermione exclaimed. "Harry, we can't tell Ron. There's no way he would be okay with this. Let's just, keep it to ourselves for a little while. Until we're sure that it really might be something."
"You don't think he'll be madder if he finds out that we've kept something from him?" Harry said uncertainly. "I suppose you're right though; you always are. All right, I won't say a word. Goodnight 'Mione."
"Goodnight Harry."
Outside the door Ginny was ecstatic with silent laughter.
-=-=-=-
The next morning was alive with activity. When the Weasleys arrived at the train station they were already running ten minutes behind schedule and had returned to the Burrow twice already to retrieve forgotten items. The group ran towards the Hogwarts Express, throwing their bags onboard and jumping on with seconds to spare before the train pulled out of the station.
"Bye Mum! We'll see you at Christmas!" Ginny called and they all waved from the small doorway. "All right, let's all get out of the hall."
The emptiest compartment they could find was occupied solely by Luna Lovegood. While Hermione and Ron protested quietly about riding with her, Harry and Ginny had sat down before they could have anything else to say in the matter. Luna seemed lost in her magazine and didn't acknowledge their presence for several minutes. She looked up with a while and twirled one of her long blond curls with the tip of her wand.
"Hello Ronald, Ginny, Harry, Hermione." She said to each of them respectively. "I'm quite thrilled to be going back to school. My father said they've gotten an actual vampire to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts this year! Won't that be exciting?"
They all nodded politely, knowing that Mr. Lovegood was known for his falsely exaggerated stories. Hermione pulled a large textbook out of her bag and immersed herself within its pages as Ginny sat looking bored and the boys discussed Quidditch. It was starting out to be a very ordinary year.
Draco had boarded the train well before the Gryffindors and was currently residing in his sparsely occupied compartment. Crabbe and Goyle had gone off to look for the snack cart and Pansy had fallen asleep on the opposing seat. Draco was bored out of his mind. With a sigh and one final glance towards the sleeping blonde, he stood from his seat and exited the room. Potter and his friends had to be around here somewhere.
Hermione looked up from her book to see Draco smugly leaning against the door frame. He was silently observing the inhabitants of the compartment, and no one else had noticed his arrival. With a sigh, she closed the book and narrowed her eyes.
"What do you want Malfoy?" She said icily. He smirked at her and raised an very blonde eyebrow.
"Nothing more than the pleasure of your company Mudblood. You know it wouldn't be a proper school year if I didn't start it off with my favorite Gryffindors at Hogwarts." They all shifted uncomfortably as he grinned.
"Your sarcasm isn't appreciated Malfoy." Ron growled and rolled up his sleeves, revealing newly defined muscle from a summer of playing constant Quidditch. The amused look on Draco's face faltered slightly, and he uncrossed his arms.
"Have it your way then. I'll see you during class, unfortunately." With a final sneer he slid the door of their compartment shut and returned to his own. Apparently getting on Ron's nerves wouldn't be an option this year if he fancied remaining unbruised. Hermione would be his only option to get to Harry.
-=-=-=-
Hermione awoke the next morning and stared at the canopy over her bed. She could tell without even glancing at the clock that she had risen to early, but she was far too awake to go back to sleep. Careful not to wake the other girls in her down, she opened her hangings and crept out of the room. At least no one will be in the showers this early. She thought as she climbed the stairs to the Prefects bathroom. The large room was completely empty; even the mermaid hanging on the far wall was sleeping. Stripping out of her dressing gown, she welcomed the warm spray of the shower.
She turned off the faucet and wrapped one of the large Hogwarts embossed towels around her. After dressing into her starched school uniform, she toweled her hair off and walked towards the door. For the second time in two days she met the icy grey eyes of Draco Malfoy.
"Looks like I'm not the only one who knows how to take advantage of an early morning shower." He smirked at her before pushing past and disappearing into one of the many shower cubicles. Hermione shuddered away from him and exited the room as quickly as she could, anxious to get away from his concentrated stare. How long had he been standing there watching her? Hermione had the feeling she didn't want to know.
Once back inside her dorm room, she quietly rummaged through her trunk until she found the book she had been looking for. Crawling back within her hangings, she felt at ease again in the solitude of her own bed. Draco had always been one to make her uneasy and constantly on her toes, but this was the first time they had ever had a one on one meeting. She scolded herself for feeling that she had to rely on Harry and Ron for protection against him. Pulling out a Muggle pen, she flipped to the next vacant page in her book and began to write.
Why is it that every time I'm around him I freeze? I know he holds nothing over me, he can't do anything to me at school, yet I still find myself nearly unable to speak in his presence. He's overbearingly cold and empty. This morning when I saw him, I saw no emotion in his eyes, only myself reflected in them. It's almost as if he's hollow. But no one can be all bad, right? There must be some good in him somewhere.
The rest of her roommates began to wake up as the sun filtered into the room. She quickly shut the little book and pushed it under her pillow, out of eyesight from the other girls. It was nearly time to meet Harry and Ron in the common room, so Hermione smoothed the few wrinkles out of her skirt and slipped on her new black shoes.
Naturally, the boys weren't there when she arrived. Setting down her book bag, Hermione fell into one of the plush armchairs around the room and rested while she waited. Waking up early was taking is toll on her energy. She had fallen asleep by the time they came downstairs.
-=-=-=-
Draco toweled himself dry and pulled on his school uniform. Seeing her squirm like that gave him a grim satisfaction. He smiled to himself as he put his tie around his neck, pulling the knot so that it fit comfortably. She was making this far too easy for him. If she continued to act like a frightened mouse all year, he would have no problems bringing them all down.
With a self satisfied smile plastered on his face, he ran his hands through his still damp hair. His first class of the day was Potions with the Gryffindors, and he would have his next chance to further his plan.
Hermione was already there with Harry and Ron when Draco arrived. The three were sitting at a long table near the back of the room. Slowly, he silently took the seat behind her. Placing his bag under his chair, he took the parchment and ink out that they would surely need for the lesson. Just because it was their first day back didn't mean that Snape didn't have a lesson planned for them. They never took it easy in this class. On the contrary, since it was the first day, Snape probably had something exceptionally hard for them.
From his position he could stare at her the entire class. Everyone hates the feeling of being watched. Without a doubt, before the end of Potions, he would have started to get under Hermione's skin, but that was only the beginning. By the time Draco was through Hermione would be an empty shell. Low self-esteem, paranoid, and most of all afraid. Yes, that was Draco's plan, and Draco's plans never fell through.
-=-=-=-
The day had passed by slowly for Hermione. She had the eerie feeling of someone's eyes on her all day. The small hairs on the back of her neck had been standing up for hours. She needed some time alone to relax. Excusing herself from the Great Hall, she grabbed her back and retreated to the library.
Once she was in her sanctuary, Hermione relaxed into her favorite chair and took her journal out of her book bag. Removing the pen from her pocket, she let her words flow again. The blank page was soon filled with her delicate scrawl and empty space gave way to incomplete thoughts and sentence fragments.
Today was just one of those days. One of those days where you think it'll never end, and then when it does you wonder where all the time went. I knew today would be different, I could have told you that the minute I woke up. Something about today was special. I still haven't figured out what exactly that is. All day I've felt out of place, like someone didn't think I belong here. I just wish I knew who and why. It's unnerving to be under such scrutiny. Tomorrow will be better.
Again, she felt those eyes. Somehow she knew they were the same ones that had followed her all day long. She closed the book and turned around to find - nothing. The only thing behind her was a book shelf, just as it had always been. However, the hairs on the back of her neck and her beating heart didn't listen to her brain when it told them that she was fine. Her pulse was steadily increasing. Grabbing her bag, she fled the library. Behind the bookshelf, Draco smiled.
This went on for a week. Each time Hermione would panic and flee from the room and Draco would relish in his victory, but he knew he couldn't get under her skin unless she knew exactly who was making her feel such anxiety every day. Today would be the day he reveled himself.
She was already there when he arrived. Immediately when his eyes locked on to her back, he could see her tense up. He took a sit several tables behind her and watched. If Draco had learned anything at all about Hermione Granger over the past week, it was that she was not a creature of habit. He had never seen her do the same thing in the library two days in a row. Some days she would come in and write in a mysterious little book, some days she would read paperback Muggle books, and some days she just sat and did nothing at all. Everyday she left him wondering what he was in store for the next day.
Nearly an hour later she started to leave. Throwing her hair over her shoulder, Hermione turned around and saw him. The color drained from her cheeks and her brown eyes nearly doubled in size. She blindly grabbed for her bag and quickly left the room. She didn't know why he made her so nervous or why he made her freeze with just a stare, but he did. And she didn't like it.
Draco, however, loved the affect that just his presence was having on her. He felt somewhat empowered by the position of fear he held. The next day when she arrived in the library he was already seated at the table he had occupied the previous afternoon.
She was determined not to run away. With a deep intake of breath, she walked by his table and took a seat a few tables away. No matter how hard she tried to concentrate, all she could feel were those eyes watching her as she took out her pen, as she began to write in her book, it was too much for her to bear. She replaced the book into her bag and took out a novel she had brought from home. Maybe a bit of reading would distract her. Even the words on the page couldn't distract her. Giving up, she put the novel back and got up. She took one last look around the room and locked eyes with Draco. For the life of her she couldn't move. She hated the way that as she stood there frozen a small grin started to spread across his face. She hated it and loved it. Hated that he enjoyed her discomfort, but loved that he was actually happy. A smile on Draco Malfoy's face was a rarity, and that she had caused it brought her a feeling of accomplishment.
Hermione snapped out of her thoughts and realized that she had probably been staring at him for some time. By now his grin had become the smirk that can become synonymous with him persona. She gathered her things and left, not trusting herself to stay much longer. Only once she was outside the room did she finally exhale. This year had started out to be very interesting. The only thing she had looked forward to all way was that in an hour she would meet Harry by the lake for a walk.
Harry and she hadn't had a chance alone to talk since the day before they left for school. Ron or someone else from their class was constantly hanging around and preventing the two from solitude. They had arranged to meet tonight by telling everyone that Hermione was going to help him with a Potions essay, something they knew no one else would tag along with.
She had less than an hour now to get ready. Once alone inside her dorm, she striped off her school uniform and pulled on some more comfortable clothing. She had just enough time to pull her hair back into a plait and check what little make up she had on in the mirror before it was time to start the long walk down to the lake. As usual, she had arrived before him. Making herself as comfortable as she could on a rock, she sat down and waited. Harry was only a few minutes late.
"Hey." He greeted her awkwardly and scuffed the toe of his oversized sneakers on the dirt. He seemed to be avoiding looking directly at her. Instead choosing to glance at her, then at the sky, then at her, and then at the lake, and so forth.
"Hi." She smiled at him and climbed down off the rock to stand next to him. Wordlessly, they began to walk around the lake. It wasn't until they had gone halfway around that Hermione finally said something.
"So how has Quidditch been going?" She asked, cursing herself that she didn't have anything more interesting to talk about with him.
"Good, we have tryouts next week, have to replace Katie and Angelina. I think Ginny's going to try out for Chaser, so we'll see how she does. Ron will probably freak if she makes it on the team." They both laughed nervously. "So how about you, what have you been doing after dinner? I haven't seen you in the Common Room with everyone else."
"Oh, you know me. Going to the library. I could never do my homework around all those people; it was just too noisy." For some reason she couldn't bring herself to tell him about Draco's new stalking ability. She would rather keep that to herself. She knew that Harry would tell Ron and that the two would blow the entire thing completely out of proportion, and she had convinced herself that it was better if no one knew at all.
"Typical Hermione." Harry said with a smile and glanced sideways at her. She felt a blush rise to her cheeks as he did so. "There's nothing you'd rather do with your time than homework that's not due for another week?"
"No, there are things I would like more. I just don't like waiting until the last minute and not being able to finish everything."
"So if you had no homework, what would you want to be doing?"
"Taking a walk outside with you." She said honestly, blushing for a second time. Harry stopped walking and stared at her. She lifted her brown eyes to meet his. Unlike Draco's, Harry's eyes showed all of his emotions. She could tell exactly what he was feeling just by looking into them. Right now he was feeling happy, and the corners of his eyes turned up in an un- shown smile. He leaned down slightly and kissed her. For a moment she let her lips linger on his and then pulled away.
"Harry, it's getting late. We should probably go back to the castle now." He looked a bit troubled but agreed with her anyway and they began the trek back to school. Neither of them said another word. When they reached the large oak doors, they each went their own separate ways, Harry to the Common Room and Hermione to the library.
She couldn't explain exactly why her heart began to beat faster the closer she got to the room. She blamed it on nerves, and the knowledge that he would be there waiting for her. Taking a deep breath, she entered the library. Their eyes immediately locked the moment she opened the door. He was at a different table than the one he had occupied the previous evening, closer to her own. She sat down and took out her novel. Even though she knew he was watching her, his stare was less prevalent than it had been in the past, almost as if she was becoming immune to it. She could still feel his eyes focus on the back of her head, but she ignored it.
Becoming immersed in the novel, she didn't even notice as Draco stood up and moved one table closer. Neither did she realize when he did it a second time, nor a third. By the time she had finished reading about other people's happy endings and looked up, he was sitting directly behind her. Startled, she dropped her book and nearly fell over in her chair. She caught herself on the table at the last minute, hoping he hadn't noticed her clumsiness. Instead of ridiculing her, he simply reached down and picked up her book. He carefully studied the cover for a few moments before handing it back to it.
"I didn't peg you as someone to read trashy Muggle romance novels Granger." He said with the inevitable smirk. She quickly took the book from him, their hands brushing for only a second. His skin was as cold as his personality. He felt like ice.
"Thank you." She said quietly and put the novel back in her bag. She slung the strap over her shoulder as she stood up and pushed in her chair.
"I guess I'll see you tomorrow then. Same time, same place." He still hadn't risen from his chair, so for the first time in his life he was actually looking up to her.
"Right." She muttered quietly. "Sure, tomorrow." Without wasting any more time, she quickly evacuated the library, leaving a very amused Draco in her absence.
Once outside, Hermione leaned against the door and breathed a sigh of relief. Tomorrow she would face his scrutiny again, but she kept asking herself why she was doing this. Why not just avoid the library if she knew he would be there? But she didn't know the answer. Trudging back to the dormitory, she pulled out her journal and began to write.
I don't know why I'm putting myself through all of this. It would be so easy to just read in the dorm, but no. I have to go to the library. It's torture, sitting so close to him, but it's nice to be noticed. I guess I just like the attention and don't care where I get it. Harry's still pretending I don't exist, and Ron is, well, being Ron. Draco - She paused and crossed out his name - MALFOY has been the only one looking at me all month.
Parvati and Lavender entered the room giggling and Hermione carefully concealed her book under her pillow, pretending she had been studying. They smiled at her before disappearing into the bathroom. After making sure her journal was still carefully hidden, she curled up on her bed and drifted off to sleep.
-=-=-=-
The next week continued much as the previous ones had. Hermione would go to the library, spend silent time with Draco, and then he would intimidate her into leaving. Every day it became harder and harder for her to stay away from there. She couldn't deny the fact that she was attracted to him, even if he was a Malfoy. After all, who wouldn't be? He had grown into one of the most attractive men in her year. He may be cold towards her, but no one could deny that he wasn't handsome. Anyone would have liked to have his attention for so long.
However, even though Harry had been avoiding her, she felt guilty that she was wasting all of her time waiting for her next encounter with the Slytherin. One morning, about a month after school had begun, Hermione resolved to avoid the library at all costs. She needed to concentrate on her studies, not unattainable blonde sex gods. That afternoon instead of going to the library she sat on the Quidditch stands and reviewed her Transfiguration notes. As much as she didn't want to admit it, studying outside was much nicer than inside a dusty room.
She looked up and shielded her eyes against the glaring August sun. Harry and the rest of the Gryffindor team were flying about twenty feet above her. She searched half heartedly for the snitch, but never having the passion for finding it that Harry did, she soon lost interest and returned to her book.
An hour and a half later they were finished practicing. The heat of the sun had faded as it retreated into darkness and gave way to the moon. With just enough light to see, Hermione walked back to the castle alone.
-=-=-=-
For three days Draco had sat alone in the library, and for three days she hadn't shown up. The only contact they had was a chance meeting of eyes in the Great Hall or during a class. That was no way to get under her skin. Although he reveled in the fact that he had intimidated her enough to drive her away, he knew that wouldn't help in the long run. No, he had to do something drastic. And what was better to make someone afraid than blackmail? To do that he needed to get a hold of her little diary.
The plan was simple, find out the Gryffindor password (no doubt he could get Longbottom to let that slip), slip into her dorm room, and take it. It sounded easy enough, and it began easy enough. As he had suspected, Neville had written down the password and stuck it into his book bag. It was just a simple act of slight of hand to take the note unnoticed.
The following night he did just that. After everyone had gone to sleep, even the night owls who refused to do their homework until the last possible second, he snuck through the portrait hole and into the dimly lit Gryffindor common room. Two students had fallen asleep while writing an essay in the corner of the room, but he knew he would move too quietly to awaken them. Moving like a whisper on the breeze, he crept up the girls staircase and into the sixth year dorm.
It wasn't hard to tell which bed was hers. Only one out of the three was well-kept or neat at all. The other two were completely covered in clothes that he was sure the girls's parents would have a heart attack if they knew their daughters possessed them.
Her trunk opened silently, due to the well tended hinges. After pushing around several large textbooks and some spare robes, he found what he had been looking for. A small, leather bound journal filled with Hermione's delicate scrawl. He knew without opening it that it was what he had been searching for. Slipping it into his pocket, he closed the trunk and swept out of the room.
Hermione opened her eyes just in time to see an unmistakably blonde head vanish from the room.
-=-=-=-
The minute Draco's eyes fell upon her most recent entry he cursed himself for reading such a personal item.
He has a cold handsomeness about him, Malfoy. I don't know what it is about him, but he's immensely interesting. I find my mind wandering to him during class, when I'm at the library... I know I need to avoid him, nothing good follows him anywhere, but I can't help it.
He didn't finish the rest, he didn't need to see any more. Clearly he had given her a false impression by following her, or at least not the one he had meant to give her. A thousand instances of taunting and watching her flashed before his eyes. He say her grow up in his mind. Become a pretty girl from the plain, buck toothed bookworm she had once been. Her hair became smoother and curly, and her face and body grew into that of a woman.
Everything began to fell into place. Why exactly he had singled her out besides Ron, why he choose to follow her, why she was the one he stayed up late into the night devising plans of demise about, and why he never carried them out. So much of his time had been focused simply on her over the years. Not just on taunting her, but on thinking about her, dreaming about her, just her. True, in the past most of the time and dreams were spent in ridicule, but this year something had changed. The tides had turned, shifted. Everything was in a new light. Taking out a pen and parchment, he sat at his desk and began to write.
To Hermione Granger (Potter and Weasley bugger off if you're reading this)
I'm not going to tell you who exactly I am, not yet. If you recognize this handwriting then you already know. You'll find out in due time, don't worry about that. I would prefer it, however, if you read this out of spying eyes. I'm not comfortable with sharing what I'm about to confess with the entire student body of Hogwarts quite yet.
I suppose I'll start off by telling you that I have your journal. I'm sorry for taking it, really, but some good did come out of it. By reading your thoughts I was able to come to a conclusion I had never thought possible, and that is that I don't hate you. I know that right now you're probably feeling rather insulted, and I apologize deeply for that. It was never my intention. What I mean by that I don't hate you, is that what I mistook for hate for so long, is actually a deep interest in you. You're a mystery to me, and I'm drawn to you despite what I know I shouldn't be doing.
I'll apologize once again, I know this is sudden, but I've actually taken time to notice you this year. You seem different than you once did, more mature and less violent towards certain people. I'm probably wrong in thinking that you've accepted me, but I can hope that it's true.
If you're curious at all in knowing who I am (even though you're clever enough to have figured it out by now) or just want your journal back, I'll be waiting by the edge of the Forbidden Forrest at 11:00 PM tomorrow night. If you don't come, I'll leave the book behind the pumpkin patch for you to retrieve on your own time. I hope to see you tomorrow night.
Until then-
He left the letter unsigned and summoned his owl to him.
"Take this to Hermione Granger, she's a fifth year Gryffindor. You should know where that tower is. If there are no windows, then wait until tomorrow at breakfast." He stroked the silky black feathers and lifted his arm so that the eagle owl flew out the open window. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he left the owlery feeling relieved and anxious.
He knew that she wouldn't have a doubt in her mind that he was the one who had written the letter, but he couldn't decide exactly what she would feel when she read it. From her journal he assumed she would be somewhat happy, but he had never understood the female mind. That night was a very restless one.
-=-=-=-
The next morning he watched in terror as his owl, Adonis, flew to the Gryffindor table. Quickly gathering his things, he bolted from the Great Hall with sudden urgency. He knew that he couldn't stand to see her read that.
Harry looked up from his plate as the loud clang came from the direction of Slytherin. Malfoy's plate had clattered to his floor while he rushed out of the room. "Wonder what that was all about." He didn't have time for an answer, however, before a large black owl swooped in front of him and landed before Hermione. Giving a sigh, he put down his toast. Clearly the world was full of distractions keeping him from finishing his breakfast. "What's that then?"
"I don't know, just a second. I wasn't expecting anything." She untied the parchment from the owls leg and gave it the crust from her half finished toast. "It's a letter from... my parents." She said quickly, after she had read through the first few lines. "I need to go, I think I left a book up in the dorms. See you in Transfiguration." Harry and Ron shrugged and carried on their previous conversation comparing the Cannons and the Hornets as Hermione quickly went to the first empty classroom she found.
It didn't take long for her to finish the letter, but she read over it several times. Of course she knew immediately who had written it. She had memorized the way his hands moved as he formed his letters over the years, and his script was unmistakable. Already her mind was formulating a plan so that she would be able to go the next night. Harry and Ron would have practice, so she didn't need to give them an excuse, and no one else in her house would care if she left. It looked as though there would be no complications. She began counting down the minutes.
-=-=-=-
For a day and a half both Hermione and Draco nervously anticipated what would happen at eleven-o-clock. Hermione's heart seemed to beat faster with every pulsing second as she almost constantly watched the clock, and Draco fretted over the smallest imaginable things. Finally, right as they were both about to go insane from waiting, the time came for their secret night meeting.
Hermione, as usual, was early. Draco could see her from a distance off by the small flicker of light emitted from the tip of her wand. He tightly clutched her journal in one hand, and stuffed the other into his pocket. His nerves were starting to get the better of him, he could feel it. His arms were shaking and he was already breathing faster. The pounding of his heart felt almost as though it would surely beat through his chest.
She had her back to him, and he approached her without a sound. For several minutes he stood behind her, not wanting to sound his arrival, until at last she turned around. The sight of him startled her, and she didn't speak. The two simply stood and stared, each trying to make sense of what was going on. Here they were, Gryffindor and Slytherin, good and evil, dark and light, and yet somehow each of them felt strangely complete.
Now was the time for him to act. He flipped the journal open to a marked page and began to read aloud. "He has a cold handsomeness about him, Malfoy. I don't know what it is about him, but he's immensely interesting. I find my mind wandering to him during class, when I'm at the library... I know I need to avoid him, nothing good follows him anywhere, but I can't help it." He finished quietly and shut the book again, holding it out for her to take.
She couldn't, wouldn't, shouldn't say anything. She didn't trust her voice, or what she was formulating in her head as a response. Her thoughts ranged from an enraged lecture on taking other people's private things to confessions that everything she had written was true. Instead she chose to say nothing. Instead she chose to act.
With a sudden burst of the legendary Gryffindor courage, she stepped forward and, closing the distance between them, urgently pressed her lips against his. Her hands clung desperately to the front of his robes, and her mouth was frantic over his, but he remained stationary, frozen in shock.
After the initial surprise was over, his cold exterior faded. His hands worked together and pulled her up against him, and they both lost themselves because it was the most soul-shattering thing either of them had ever experienced. Because it was more than just a kiss, it was an everything. Because it shouldn't be happening, but it was. It was completely wrong and completely right, and was too much to handle but still just not enough.
At that moment it didn't matter that they were completely opposite. It didn't matter that their friends and families would possibly take them captive if they ever found out. It didn't matter.
Nothing else mattered because at that moment Draco's mouth opened to hers and suddenly his tongue was in her mouth, and her lips felt like velvet again his. There was nothing either of them could have done to stop it. Six years of built up tension was released in a matter of minutes filled with dueling tongues and crashing teeth. In a flurry of movement, everything finally seemed to be resolved.
They sat together in the aftermath, still soaking in the amazing epiphany of events. Neither of them had said a word, because no words needed to be said. Everything had fallen into place... except one thing.
"Hermione," he felt it right to call her by her first name now, "what is Harry going to think about all this?" It was a touchy subject, he knew, but it needed to be covered.
"What do you mean?" She asked carefully. She and Harry had kept their relationship a secret. No one else knew about it, right?
"I practically stalked you for two months, and you think I didn't pick up on anything?" She could feel him smile into the skin on her neck.
"Well... Harry's been avoiding me since school started. I guess you couldn't really call it a relationship. I had been planning on calling it off anyway. I don't need awkwardness when it comes to him. It will probably come as a relief." She sighed and leaned against him, breathing in his scent. "What about your father; what will he say?"
Draco took a minute to ponder this and then, turning her so that he could look her in the eyes, he smirked and replied, "what he doesn't know won't hurt him."
She shook her head and smiled before claiming him as her own again. His once fast-beating heart felt as though it had quite possibly stopped beating all together, but he didn't care. What a way it was to go.
Draco Malfoy was fuming at the thought of having to go back to school the next day and seeing him. Not just him, but the entire do-good, never get caught, loved by the Headmaster, Gryffindor crew. At the end of last semester, Potter and his friends had sent Lucius Malfoy to Azkaban, and Draco wasn't exactly a "forgive and forget" type of person. He was still furious and would be until his family name was cleared and his father's pride restored.
He had creating a plan all summer to bring the Golden Boy down. Tomorrow would be the day he began to carry it out. For five years Draco had tried to taunt Harry to raise his temper, but nothing he did ever worked to the extreme he wanted it to. This year he would try something different. To his knowledge, the only thing that made Harry mad was when his friends were teased or put into danger. Hermione and Ron would be the victims this year.
As he lay down to bed that night he couldn't help the smirk that spread across his features. Harry Potter would pay.
-=-=-=-
Several hundred miles away Hermione Granger was going through her packing checklist one final time at the Burrow. She smoothed out the wrinkles in her new school robe and placed it carefully atop her spell books in the trunk. Closing the lid with a loud thud, she got up to go see how her friends are coming along. If there was one thing she had learned over the years it was that boys hated to pack, would avoid it until absolutely necessary, and then forget half of what they needed to bring.
When she entered Ron's bedroom, she quickly had to duck to avoid being hit in the head by a flying spell book.
"Oops! Sorry 'Mione. Didn't know you were there." Said a muffled voice from behind Ron's bed. A head with brilliant red hair emerged with his arms full of heavy books. He tossed them into a trunk nearby and stood up. "Are you already done packing?"
"Yes Ron. I don't wait until the day before we have to leave to get everything done. If you had listened to me and-"
"Tried to put a few of my things in the trunk every week then I wouldn't have this problem." Ron answered, doing his best to imitate her voice. "I know, you've told us every day since you got here. We'll be fine. Mum can always owl us anything we forget anyway."
"Fine, but I'm not taking the blame if you get there and don't have enough socks to last you through the first week!" She crossed her arms over her chest and turned her back to him, ending the conversation. On the other side of the room was Harry, who was carefully wrapping his broom in paper for the train ride.
"And how is your packing coming Harry?" She asked and peered over his shoulder and into a nearly empty trunk. With a loud sigh of annoyance she said between clenched teeth, "you're both impossible," and exited the room.
"What's got her so upset?" Ron grunted and threw the last of his ink wells on top of his robes. "We do this every year and she's never gotten mad before."
"I don't know, girls are just like that I guess." Harry placed the broom inside with his supplies. "I'm going to go see what's wrong. Don't you come to, I think she'd throw a fit if we both stopped packing. I'll be back in a little bit."
Ron nodded in agreement and began to try and neaten what had been so haphazardly thrown into the trunk. Standing up, Harry brushed off the dust on his pants and made his way down stairs and into the room Hermione was sharing with Ginny for the summer. Knocking twice, he peeked his head in to see Hermione rummaging through her trunk again and Ginny reading on her bed.
"Hey Gin, do you think you could give us a minute?" He asked. The small redhead nodded and snapped her book shut, exiting the room without so much as a hello.
"Hermione?" He said carefully, closing the door and taking a few steps closer to where she sat on the floor. He knelt next to her. "Don't be mad, please? Come on. We do this every year. We just don't like to pack as much as you do." Her shoulders heaved in another sigh and she looked sideways at him.
"I know; I don't know why I got so upset. I suppose it's just the stress of going back and knowing this is my last year to prove that I have what it takes to be Head Girl, and everything just built up and I took it out on you two." She said in one breath. A single tear rolled down her cheek, but she quickly brushed it away.
"Hermione, none of the other girls are even in your league for the position. You don't have anything to worry about." He placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder and stood up. He reached his hand down and took her hand, pulling her up as well. "All right, so I need to go finish packing for tomorrow. Me and Ron will come see you when we're done, okay?"
"Harry, wait-"Hermione said suddenly. He stopped on his way towards the door and raised an eyebrow at her. In four quick strides she was standing before him again. "It's just, I've wanted to do this all summer and I don't know when the next chance I'll get be so-"
He was taken aback as she quickly raised herself onto her tip-toes and pushed her lips against his. Staring at her with wide eyes he murmured, "Hermione, what are we doing?"
"I'm not sure."
"But we don't do this. We've never kissed before."
"There's a first time for everything."
"This doesn't feel weird for you?"
"No."
"It doesn't for me either." With that final statement, Harry closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around her waist, effectively pulling her closer. He kissed her back fully, completely, giving back as much as she was giving him. With one final brushing of her lips over his, Hermione pulled away.
"I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me. I've just wanted to do that for so long. Please don't hate me." Harry smiled at her and shook his head.
"I could never hate you." He pulled her into a hug, relishing in the sweet smell of her perfume. "I really should get back to Ron though, he'll be wondering what's keeping me so long."
"Ron! Oh Merlin," Hermione exclaimed. "Harry, we can't tell Ron. There's no way he would be okay with this. Let's just, keep it to ourselves for a little while. Until we're sure that it really might be something."
"You don't think he'll be madder if he finds out that we've kept something from him?" Harry said uncertainly. "I suppose you're right though; you always are. All right, I won't say a word. Goodnight 'Mione."
"Goodnight Harry."
Outside the door Ginny was ecstatic with silent laughter.
-=-=-=-
The next morning was alive with activity. When the Weasleys arrived at the train station they were already running ten minutes behind schedule and had returned to the Burrow twice already to retrieve forgotten items. The group ran towards the Hogwarts Express, throwing their bags onboard and jumping on with seconds to spare before the train pulled out of the station.
"Bye Mum! We'll see you at Christmas!" Ginny called and they all waved from the small doorway. "All right, let's all get out of the hall."
The emptiest compartment they could find was occupied solely by Luna Lovegood. While Hermione and Ron protested quietly about riding with her, Harry and Ginny had sat down before they could have anything else to say in the matter. Luna seemed lost in her magazine and didn't acknowledge their presence for several minutes. She looked up with a while and twirled one of her long blond curls with the tip of her wand.
"Hello Ronald, Ginny, Harry, Hermione." She said to each of them respectively. "I'm quite thrilled to be going back to school. My father said they've gotten an actual vampire to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts this year! Won't that be exciting?"
They all nodded politely, knowing that Mr. Lovegood was known for his falsely exaggerated stories. Hermione pulled a large textbook out of her bag and immersed herself within its pages as Ginny sat looking bored and the boys discussed Quidditch. It was starting out to be a very ordinary year.
Draco had boarded the train well before the Gryffindors and was currently residing in his sparsely occupied compartment. Crabbe and Goyle had gone off to look for the snack cart and Pansy had fallen asleep on the opposing seat. Draco was bored out of his mind. With a sigh and one final glance towards the sleeping blonde, he stood from his seat and exited the room. Potter and his friends had to be around here somewhere.
Hermione looked up from her book to see Draco smugly leaning against the door frame. He was silently observing the inhabitants of the compartment, and no one else had noticed his arrival. With a sigh, she closed the book and narrowed her eyes.
"What do you want Malfoy?" She said icily. He smirked at her and raised an very blonde eyebrow.
"Nothing more than the pleasure of your company Mudblood. You know it wouldn't be a proper school year if I didn't start it off with my favorite Gryffindors at Hogwarts." They all shifted uncomfortably as he grinned.
"Your sarcasm isn't appreciated Malfoy." Ron growled and rolled up his sleeves, revealing newly defined muscle from a summer of playing constant Quidditch. The amused look on Draco's face faltered slightly, and he uncrossed his arms.
"Have it your way then. I'll see you during class, unfortunately." With a final sneer he slid the door of their compartment shut and returned to his own. Apparently getting on Ron's nerves wouldn't be an option this year if he fancied remaining unbruised. Hermione would be his only option to get to Harry.
-=-=-=-
Hermione awoke the next morning and stared at the canopy over her bed. She could tell without even glancing at the clock that she had risen to early, but she was far too awake to go back to sleep. Careful not to wake the other girls in her down, she opened her hangings and crept out of the room. At least no one will be in the showers this early. She thought as she climbed the stairs to the Prefects bathroom. The large room was completely empty; even the mermaid hanging on the far wall was sleeping. Stripping out of her dressing gown, she welcomed the warm spray of the shower.
She turned off the faucet and wrapped one of the large Hogwarts embossed towels around her. After dressing into her starched school uniform, she toweled her hair off and walked towards the door. For the second time in two days she met the icy grey eyes of Draco Malfoy.
"Looks like I'm not the only one who knows how to take advantage of an early morning shower." He smirked at her before pushing past and disappearing into one of the many shower cubicles. Hermione shuddered away from him and exited the room as quickly as she could, anxious to get away from his concentrated stare. How long had he been standing there watching her? Hermione had the feeling she didn't want to know.
Once back inside her dorm room, she quietly rummaged through her trunk until she found the book she had been looking for. Crawling back within her hangings, she felt at ease again in the solitude of her own bed. Draco had always been one to make her uneasy and constantly on her toes, but this was the first time they had ever had a one on one meeting. She scolded herself for feeling that she had to rely on Harry and Ron for protection against him. Pulling out a Muggle pen, she flipped to the next vacant page in her book and began to write.
Why is it that every time I'm around him I freeze? I know he holds nothing over me, he can't do anything to me at school, yet I still find myself nearly unable to speak in his presence. He's overbearingly cold and empty. This morning when I saw him, I saw no emotion in his eyes, only myself reflected in them. It's almost as if he's hollow. But no one can be all bad, right? There must be some good in him somewhere.
The rest of her roommates began to wake up as the sun filtered into the room. She quickly shut the little book and pushed it under her pillow, out of eyesight from the other girls. It was nearly time to meet Harry and Ron in the common room, so Hermione smoothed the few wrinkles out of her skirt and slipped on her new black shoes.
Naturally, the boys weren't there when she arrived. Setting down her book bag, Hermione fell into one of the plush armchairs around the room and rested while she waited. Waking up early was taking is toll on her energy. She had fallen asleep by the time they came downstairs.
-=-=-=-
Draco toweled himself dry and pulled on his school uniform. Seeing her squirm like that gave him a grim satisfaction. He smiled to himself as he put his tie around his neck, pulling the knot so that it fit comfortably. She was making this far too easy for him. If she continued to act like a frightened mouse all year, he would have no problems bringing them all down.
With a self satisfied smile plastered on his face, he ran his hands through his still damp hair. His first class of the day was Potions with the Gryffindors, and he would have his next chance to further his plan.
Hermione was already there with Harry and Ron when Draco arrived. The three were sitting at a long table near the back of the room. Slowly, he silently took the seat behind her. Placing his bag under his chair, he took the parchment and ink out that they would surely need for the lesson. Just because it was their first day back didn't mean that Snape didn't have a lesson planned for them. They never took it easy in this class. On the contrary, since it was the first day, Snape probably had something exceptionally hard for them.
From his position he could stare at her the entire class. Everyone hates the feeling of being watched. Without a doubt, before the end of Potions, he would have started to get under Hermione's skin, but that was only the beginning. By the time Draco was through Hermione would be an empty shell. Low self-esteem, paranoid, and most of all afraid. Yes, that was Draco's plan, and Draco's plans never fell through.
-=-=-=-
The day had passed by slowly for Hermione. She had the eerie feeling of someone's eyes on her all day. The small hairs on the back of her neck had been standing up for hours. She needed some time alone to relax. Excusing herself from the Great Hall, she grabbed her back and retreated to the library.
Once she was in her sanctuary, Hermione relaxed into her favorite chair and took her journal out of her book bag. Removing the pen from her pocket, she let her words flow again. The blank page was soon filled with her delicate scrawl and empty space gave way to incomplete thoughts and sentence fragments.
Today was just one of those days. One of those days where you think it'll never end, and then when it does you wonder where all the time went. I knew today would be different, I could have told you that the minute I woke up. Something about today was special. I still haven't figured out what exactly that is. All day I've felt out of place, like someone didn't think I belong here. I just wish I knew who and why. It's unnerving to be under such scrutiny. Tomorrow will be better.
Again, she felt those eyes. Somehow she knew they were the same ones that had followed her all day long. She closed the book and turned around to find - nothing. The only thing behind her was a book shelf, just as it had always been. However, the hairs on the back of her neck and her beating heart didn't listen to her brain when it told them that she was fine. Her pulse was steadily increasing. Grabbing her bag, she fled the library. Behind the bookshelf, Draco smiled.
This went on for a week. Each time Hermione would panic and flee from the room and Draco would relish in his victory, but he knew he couldn't get under her skin unless she knew exactly who was making her feel such anxiety every day. Today would be the day he reveled himself.
She was already there when he arrived. Immediately when his eyes locked on to her back, he could see her tense up. He took a sit several tables behind her and watched. If Draco had learned anything at all about Hermione Granger over the past week, it was that she was not a creature of habit. He had never seen her do the same thing in the library two days in a row. Some days she would come in and write in a mysterious little book, some days she would read paperback Muggle books, and some days she just sat and did nothing at all. Everyday she left him wondering what he was in store for the next day.
Nearly an hour later she started to leave. Throwing her hair over her shoulder, Hermione turned around and saw him. The color drained from her cheeks and her brown eyes nearly doubled in size. She blindly grabbed for her bag and quickly left the room. She didn't know why he made her so nervous or why he made her freeze with just a stare, but he did. And she didn't like it.
Draco, however, loved the affect that just his presence was having on her. He felt somewhat empowered by the position of fear he held. The next day when she arrived in the library he was already seated at the table he had occupied the previous afternoon.
She was determined not to run away. With a deep intake of breath, she walked by his table and took a seat a few tables away. No matter how hard she tried to concentrate, all she could feel were those eyes watching her as she took out her pen, as she began to write in her book, it was too much for her to bear. She replaced the book into her bag and took out a novel she had brought from home. Maybe a bit of reading would distract her. Even the words on the page couldn't distract her. Giving up, she put the novel back and got up. She took one last look around the room and locked eyes with Draco. For the life of her she couldn't move. She hated the way that as she stood there frozen a small grin started to spread across his face. She hated it and loved it. Hated that he enjoyed her discomfort, but loved that he was actually happy. A smile on Draco Malfoy's face was a rarity, and that she had caused it brought her a feeling of accomplishment.
Hermione snapped out of her thoughts and realized that she had probably been staring at him for some time. By now his grin had become the smirk that can become synonymous with him persona. She gathered her things and left, not trusting herself to stay much longer. Only once she was outside the room did she finally exhale. This year had started out to be very interesting. The only thing she had looked forward to all way was that in an hour she would meet Harry by the lake for a walk.
Harry and she hadn't had a chance alone to talk since the day before they left for school. Ron or someone else from their class was constantly hanging around and preventing the two from solitude. They had arranged to meet tonight by telling everyone that Hermione was going to help him with a Potions essay, something they knew no one else would tag along with.
She had less than an hour now to get ready. Once alone inside her dorm, she striped off her school uniform and pulled on some more comfortable clothing. She had just enough time to pull her hair back into a plait and check what little make up she had on in the mirror before it was time to start the long walk down to the lake. As usual, she had arrived before him. Making herself as comfortable as she could on a rock, she sat down and waited. Harry was only a few minutes late.
"Hey." He greeted her awkwardly and scuffed the toe of his oversized sneakers on the dirt. He seemed to be avoiding looking directly at her. Instead choosing to glance at her, then at the sky, then at her, and then at the lake, and so forth.
"Hi." She smiled at him and climbed down off the rock to stand next to him. Wordlessly, they began to walk around the lake. It wasn't until they had gone halfway around that Hermione finally said something.
"So how has Quidditch been going?" She asked, cursing herself that she didn't have anything more interesting to talk about with him.
"Good, we have tryouts next week, have to replace Katie and Angelina. I think Ginny's going to try out for Chaser, so we'll see how she does. Ron will probably freak if she makes it on the team." They both laughed nervously. "So how about you, what have you been doing after dinner? I haven't seen you in the Common Room with everyone else."
"Oh, you know me. Going to the library. I could never do my homework around all those people; it was just too noisy." For some reason she couldn't bring herself to tell him about Draco's new stalking ability. She would rather keep that to herself. She knew that Harry would tell Ron and that the two would blow the entire thing completely out of proportion, and she had convinced herself that it was better if no one knew at all.
"Typical Hermione." Harry said with a smile and glanced sideways at her. She felt a blush rise to her cheeks as he did so. "There's nothing you'd rather do with your time than homework that's not due for another week?"
"No, there are things I would like more. I just don't like waiting until the last minute and not being able to finish everything."
"So if you had no homework, what would you want to be doing?"
"Taking a walk outside with you." She said honestly, blushing for a second time. Harry stopped walking and stared at her. She lifted her brown eyes to meet his. Unlike Draco's, Harry's eyes showed all of his emotions. She could tell exactly what he was feeling just by looking into them. Right now he was feeling happy, and the corners of his eyes turned up in an un- shown smile. He leaned down slightly and kissed her. For a moment she let her lips linger on his and then pulled away.
"Harry, it's getting late. We should probably go back to the castle now." He looked a bit troubled but agreed with her anyway and they began the trek back to school. Neither of them said another word. When they reached the large oak doors, they each went their own separate ways, Harry to the Common Room and Hermione to the library.
She couldn't explain exactly why her heart began to beat faster the closer she got to the room. She blamed it on nerves, and the knowledge that he would be there waiting for her. Taking a deep breath, she entered the library. Their eyes immediately locked the moment she opened the door. He was at a different table than the one he had occupied the previous evening, closer to her own. She sat down and took out her novel. Even though she knew he was watching her, his stare was less prevalent than it had been in the past, almost as if she was becoming immune to it. She could still feel his eyes focus on the back of her head, but she ignored it.
Becoming immersed in the novel, she didn't even notice as Draco stood up and moved one table closer. Neither did she realize when he did it a second time, nor a third. By the time she had finished reading about other people's happy endings and looked up, he was sitting directly behind her. Startled, she dropped her book and nearly fell over in her chair. She caught herself on the table at the last minute, hoping he hadn't noticed her clumsiness. Instead of ridiculing her, he simply reached down and picked up her book. He carefully studied the cover for a few moments before handing it back to it.
"I didn't peg you as someone to read trashy Muggle romance novels Granger." He said with the inevitable smirk. She quickly took the book from him, their hands brushing for only a second. His skin was as cold as his personality. He felt like ice.
"Thank you." She said quietly and put the novel back in her bag. She slung the strap over her shoulder as she stood up and pushed in her chair.
"I guess I'll see you tomorrow then. Same time, same place." He still hadn't risen from his chair, so for the first time in his life he was actually looking up to her.
"Right." She muttered quietly. "Sure, tomorrow." Without wasting any more time, she quickly evacuated the library, leaving a very amused Draco in her absence.
Once outside, Hermione leaned against the door and breathed a sigh of relief. Tomorrow she would face his scrutiny again, but she kept asking herself why she was doing this. Why not just avoid the library if she knew he would be there? But she didn't know the answer. Trudging back to the dormitory, she pulled out her journal and began to write.
I don't know why I'm putting myself through all of this. It would be so easy to just read in the dorm, but no. I have to go to the library. It's torture, sitting so close to him, but it's nice to be noticed. I guess I just like the attention and don't care where I get it. Harry's still pretending I don't exist, and Ron is, well, being Ron. Draco - She paused and crossed out his name - MALFOY has been the only one looking at me all month.
Parvati and Lavender entered the room giggling and Hermione carefully concealed her book under her pillow, pretending she had been studying. They smiled at her before disappearing into the bathroom. After making sure her journal was still carefully hidden, she curled up on her bed and drifted off to sleep.
-=-=-=-
The next week continued much as the previous ones had. Hermione would go to the library, spend silent time with Draco, and then he would intimidate her into leaving. Every day it became harder and harder for her to stay away from there. She couldn't deny the fact that she was attracted to him, even if he was a Malfoy. After all, who wouldn't be? He had grown into one of the most attractive men in her year. He may be cold towards her, but no one could deny that he wasn't handsome. Anyone would have liked to have his attention for so long.
However, even though Harry had been avoiding her, she felt guilty that she was wasting all of her time waiting for her next encounter with the Slytherin. One morning, about a month after school had begun, Hermione resolved to avoid the library at all costs. She needed to concentrate on her studies, not unattainable blonde sex gods. That afternoon instead of going to the library she sat on the Quidditch stands and reviewed her Transfiguration notes. As much as she didn't want to admit it, studying outside was much nicer than inside a dusty room.
She looked up and shielded her eyes against the glaring August sun. Harry and the rest of the Gryffindor team were flying about twenty feet above her. She searched half heartedly for the snitch, but never having the passion for finding it that Harry did, she soon lost interest and returned to her book.
An hour and a half later they were finished practicing. The heat of the sun had faded as it retreated into darkness and gave way to the moon. With just enough light to see, Hermione walked back to the castle alone.
-=-=-=-
For three days Draco had sat alone in the library, and for three days she hadn't shown up. The only contact they had was a chance meeting of eyes in the Great Hall or during a class. That was no way to get under her skin. Although he reveled in the fact that he had intimidated her enough to drive her away, he knew that wouldn't help in the long run. No, he had to do something drastic. And what was better to make someone afraid than blackmail? To do that he needed to get a hold of her little diary.
The plan was simple, find out the Gryffindor password (no doubt he could get Longbottom to let that slip), slip into her dorm room, and take it. It sounded easy enough, and it began easy enough. As he had suspected, Neville had written down the password and stuck it into his book bag. It was just a simple act of slight of hand to take the note unnoticed.
The following night he did just that. After everyone had gone to sleep, even the night owls who refused to do their homework until the last possible second, he snuck through the portrait hole and into the dimly lit Gryffindor common room. Two students had fallen asleep while writing an essay in the corner of the room, but he knew he would move too quietly to awaken them. Moving like a whisper on the breeze, he crept up the girls staircase and into the sixth year dorm.
It wasn't hard to tell which bed was hers. Only one out of the three was well-kept or neat at all. The other two were completely covered in clothes that he was sure the girls's parents would have a heart attack if they knew their daughters possessed them.
Her trunk opened silently, due to the well tended hinges. After pushing around several large textbooks and some spare robes, he found what he had been looking for. A small, leather bound journal filled with Hermione's delicate scrawl. He knew without opening it that it was what he had been searching for. Slipping it into his pocket, he closed the trunk and swept out of the room.
Hermione opened her eyes just in time to see an unmistakably blonde head vanish from the room.
-=-=-=-
The minute Draco's eyes fell upon her most recent entry he cursed himself for reading such a personal item.
He has a cold handsomeness about him, Malfoy. I don't know what it is about him, but he's immensely interesting. I find my mind wandering to him during class, when I'm at the library... I know I need to avoid him, nothing good follows him anywhere, but I can't help it.
He didn't finish the rest, he didn't need to see any more. Clearly he had given her a false impression by following her, or at least not the one he had meant to give her. A thousand instances of taunting and watching her flashed before his eyes. He say her grow up in his mind. Become a pretty girl from the plain, buck toothed bookworm she had once been. Her hair became smoother and curly, and her face and body grew into that of a woman.
Everything began to fell into place. Why exactly he had singled her out besides Ron, why he choose to follow her, why she was the one he stayed up late into the night devising plans of demise about, and why he never carried them out. So much of his time had been focused simply on her over the years. Not just on taunting her, but on thinking about her, dreaming about her, just her. True, in the past most of the time and dreams were spent in ridicule, but this year something had changed. The tides had turned, shifted. Everything was in a new light. Taking out a pen and parchment, he sat at his desk and began to write.
To Hermione Granger (Potter and Weasley bugger off if you're reading this)
I'm not going to tell you who exactly I am, not yet. If you recognize this handwriting then you already know. You'll find out in due time, don't worry about that. I would prefer it, however, if you read this out of spying eyes. I'm not comfortable with sharing what I'm about to confess with the entire student body of Hogwarts quite yet.
I suppose I'll start off by telling you that I have your journal. I'm sorry for taking it, really, but some good did come out of it. By reading your thoughts I was able to come to a conclusion I had never thought possible, and that is that I don't hate you. I know that right now you're probably feeling rather insulted, and I apologize deeply for that. It was never my intention. What I mean by that I don't hate you, is that what I mistook for hate for so long, is actually a deep interest in you. You're a mystery to me, and I'm drawn to you despite what I know I shouldn't be doing.
I'll apologize once again, I know this is sudden, but I've actually taken time to notice you this year. You seem different than you once did, more mature and less violent towards certain people. I'm probably wrong in thinking that you've accepted me, but I can hope that it's true.
If you're curious at all in knowing who I am (even though you're clever enough to have figured it out by now) or just want your journal back, I'll be waiting by the edge of the Forbidden Forrest at 11:00 PM tomorrow night. If you don't come, I'll leave the book behind the pumpkin patch for you to retrieve on your own time. I hope to see you tomorrow night.
Until then-
He left the letter unsigned and summoned his owl to him.
"Take this to Hermione Granger, she's a fifth year Gryffindor. You should know where that tower is. If there are no windows, then wait until tomorrow at breakfast." He stroked the silky black feathers and lifted his arm so that the eagle owl flew out the open window. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he left the owlery feeling relieved and anxious.
He knew that she wouldn't have a doubt in her mind that he was the one who had written the letter, but he couldn't decide exactly what she would feel when she read it. From her journal he assumed she would be somewhat happy, but he had never understood the female mind. That night was a very restless one.
-=-=-=-
The next morning he watched in terror as his owl, Adonis, flew to the Gryffindor table. Quickly gathering his things, he bolted from the Great Hall with sudden urgency. He knew that he couldn't stand to see her read that.
Harry looked up from his plate as the loud clang came from the direction of Slytherin. Malfoy's plate had clattered to his floor while he rushed out of the room. "Wonder what that was all about." He didn't have time for an answer, however, before a large black owl swooped in front of him and landed before Hermione. Giving a sigh, he put down his toast. Clearly the world was full of distractions keeping him from finishing his breakfast. "What's that then?"
"I don't know, just a second. I wasn't expecting anything." She untied the parchment from the owls leg and gave it the crust from her half finished toast. "It's a letter from... my parents." She said quickly, after she had read through the first few lines. "I need to go, I think I left a book up in the dorms. See you in Transfiguration." Harry and Ron shrugged and carried on their previous conversation comparing the Cannons and the Hornets as Hermione quickly went to the first empty classroom she found.
It didn't take long for her to finish the letter, but she read over it several times. Of course she knew immediately who had written it. She had memorized the way his hands moved as he formed his letters over the years, and his script was unmistakable. Already her mind was formulating a plan so that she would be able to go the next night. Harry and Ron would have practice, so she didn't need to give them an excuse, and no one else in her house would care if she left. It looked as though there would be no complications. She began counting down the minutes.
-=-=-=-
For a day and a half both Hermione and Draco nervously anticipated what would happen at eleven-o-clock. Hermione's heart seemed to beat faster with every pulsing second as she almost constantly watched the clock, and Draco fretted over the smallest imaginable things. Finally, right as they were both about to go insane from waiting, the time came for their secret night meeting.
Hermione, as usual, was early. Draco could see her from a distance off by the small flicker of light emitted from the tip of her wand. He tightly clutched her journal in one hand, and stuffed the other into his pocket. His nerves were starting to get the better of him, he could feel it. His arms were shaking and he was already breathing faster. The pounding of his heart felt almost as though it would surely beat through his chest.
She had her back to him, and he approached her without a sound. For several minutes he stood behind her, not wanting to sound his arrival, until at last she turned around. The sight of him startled her, and she didn't speak. The two simply stood and stared, each trying to make sense of what was going on. Here they were, Gryffindor and Slytherin, good and evil, dark and light, and yet somehow each of them felt strangely complete.
Now was the time for him to act. He flipped the journal open to a marked page and began to read aloud. "He has a cold handsomeness about him, Malfoy. I don't know what it is about him, but he's immensely interesting. I find my mind wandering to him during class, when I'm at the library... I know I need to avoid him, nothing good follows him anywhere, but I can't help it." He finished quietly and shut the book again, holding it out for her to take.
She couldn't, wouldn't, shouldn't say anything. She didn't trust her voice, or what she was formulating in her head as a response. Her thoughts ranged from an enraged lecture on taking other people's private things to confessions that everything she had written was true. Instead she chose to say nothing. Instead she chose to act.
With a sudden burst of the legendary Gryffindor courage, she stepped forward and, closing the distance between them, urgently pressed her lips against his. Her hands clung desperately to the front of his robes, and her mouth was frantic over his, but he remained stationary, frozen in shock.
After the initial surprise was over, his cold exterior faded. His hands worked together and pulled her up against him, and they both lost themselves because it was the most soul-shattering thing either of them had ever experienced. Because it was more than just a kiss, it was an everything. Because it shouldn't be happening, but it was. It was completely wrong and completely right, and was too much to handle but still just not enough.
At that moment it didn't matter that they were completely opposite. It didn't matter that their friends and families would possibly take them captive if they ever found out. It didn't matter.
Nothing else mattered because at that moment Draco's mouth opened to hers and suddenly his tongue was in her mouth, and her lips felt like velvet again his. There was nothing either of them could have done to stop it. Six years of built up tension was released in a matter of minutes filled with dueling tongues and crashing teeth. In a flurry of movement, everything finally seemed to be resolved.
They sat together in the aftermath, still soaking in the amazing epiphany of events. Neither of them had said a word, because no words needed to be said. Everything had fallen into place... except one thing.
"Hermione," he felt it right to call her by her first name now, "what is Harry going to think about all this?" It was a touchy subject, he knew, but it needed to be covered.
"What do you mean?" She asked carefully. She and Harry had kept their relationship a secret. No one else knew about it, right?
"I practically stalked you for two months, and you think I didn't pick up on anything?" She could feel him smile into the skin on her neck.
"Well... Harry's been avoiding me since school started. I guess you couldn't really call it a relationship. I had been planning on calling it off anyway. I don't need awkwardness when it comes to him. It will probably come as a relief." She sighed and leaned against him, breathing in his scent. "What about your father; what will he say?"
Draco took a minute to ponder this and then, turning her so that he could look her in the eyes, he smirked and replied, "what he doesn't know won't hurt him."
She shook her head and smiled before claiming him as her own again. His once fast-beating heart felt as though it had quite possibly stopped beating all together, but he didn't care. What a way it was to go.