Hermione Granger walked carelessly among the halls of Hogwarts, her face and unruly, brown hair hidden behind a book; Hogwarts,aHistory. She had been in the library nearly all day, reading for both educational purposes and pleasure, when she was finally kicked out by Madam Pince, the school librarian. "It's almost after hours, Miss Granger," Madam Pince had said to Hermione. "It's time to get up to your common room."
Hermione continued to walk distractedly toward Gryffindor Tower when all of a sudden she hit something soft, but firm, and fell back onto her butt with an, "Oomph."
"Watch where you're going, you filthy mudblood!" Draco Malfoy shouted.
Hermione looked up suddenly, eyes widened in surprise. She was just about to apologize until she realized just who had spoken and what exactly they had said. Hermione furrowed her brow in anger. "Shut up, Malfoy. You realize you have eyes too, you know. Well, maybe you wouldn't notice that while your head's so far up your own arse." Hermione pulled herself up, dusting off her school robes.
"Oh, that's rich, coming from the president of Potter's fan club, herself. Ever thought of taking a break from being his little brown-nosing groupie? I think you still got a little poo on your nose from having your head so far up his arse." Draco retorted with a scowl, glaring at her with his steely, grey eyes.
"Green isn't very becoming on you, Malfoy, even if you are a Slytherin." Hermione said.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean, Granger?" growled Malfoy.
"It means that you're jealous of Harry. You're jealous of Harry Potter, and you always have been."
"Please," scoffed Draco. "I wouldn't be jealous of Potter if he were the most powerful wizard alive andhad all the money in the world.
"That would be all you care about." Hermione rolled her eyes.
"What?" asked Draco impatiently.
"Money; Power.There ismore to life, you know."
It was Draco's turn to roll his eyes now. "I would ask you what those things are, but I'm afraid I don't care to continue on with this conversation any longer. Your words bore me, mudblood." Draco walked away, making sure to step on her book as he went, his black robes fluttering behind him with each stride.
Hermione watched as Malfoy and his white-blond hair disappeared around the corner, a frown etched into her face. He was such a prat.
She bent to grab her favorite book and stuffed it carelessly into her bag, then turned to continue on towards Gryffindor Tower. It wasn't until she had reached the portrait of the Fat Lady that Hermione realized Malfoy had been going in the complete opposite direction of Slytherin Dungeon. Oh well, it was no business of hers. With a shrug, Hermione muttered the password to the Fat Lady and entered through the portrait hole. If Malfoy was up to something, then he deserved to get caught.
Draco Malfoy, who had never been fond of that disgusting little mudblood, wiped his robes off in revulsion, trying to rid them of any muggle disease that that filthy witch could possibly be harboring.
The fact that Hermione had been out in the corridors even a mere minute after it was time to be in bed, or at least in the Gryffindor common room, was a shock to Draco. As long as he had gone to the same school as that…witch he had known her to always follow the rules. Well, that is, if you didn't count all the times that Granger, Potty, and Weasel had been caught parading around Hogwarts trying to save the sodding day. Malfoy couldn't wait 'til the day came that those annoying little twits got what was coming to them.
Malfoy cringed. The thought of them and their pestering ways of sticking their filthy noses into everything that didn't concernthem came to the very surface of Draco's mind. The "oh-so-amazing" golden trio was definitely going to be getting a piece of their own. And Draco knew exactly how it was going to play out…
Hermione stepped eagerly into the common room. Having been in the library all day, she hadn't gotten a chance to really spend time with her boyfriend, Ronald Weasley, who had been busy practicing Quidditch with their best friend Harry. As a matter of fact, she hadn't seen much of Ron in the past couple of days due to stupid Quidditch practices and her copious workload.
Hermione rushed up the stairs to the girl's dormitory and hurried over to her wardrobe to change into her pajamas. She glanced around the room to make sure no one was looking her way—as she was very shy when it came to changing in front of others—and noted that all the girls were very much sound asleep. Except—
She stared into the darkness over at the bed next to hers and realized, with a frown, that Lavender Brown's bed was empty.
Hermione threw on her pajamas, quickly braided her hair, and began bounding down the steps back to the common room, all the while wondering where Lavender could be, and hoping that she wasn't hurt or sick.
Just as she was about to make her way across the room toward the boy's dormitory—where Ron was surely waiting for her arrival—Hermione saw movement out of the corner of her eye. The common room was dimly lit, the fire in the fireplace slowly dwindling into mere ashes. There was a moving form on one of the couches in the corner of the room, and it looked, Hermione thought unsurely, like a person thrashing wildly in their sleep. She walked closer toward the flailing figure and noted, upon closer inspection, that it was not one person, but two entangled bodies, doing much more than sleeping. Hermione blushed with embarrassment and backed away slowly from the entwined lovers, trying to make a quiet, and quick, getaway without them noticing her. However, in Hermione's rush to escape, she ended up tripping backwards and landing, for the second time that night, on her butt.
With a start, the pair that just seconds before were lost to the world in each other, untangled their bodies and jumped up in bewilderment. Hermione looked up in horror.
"Hermione!" It was Ron, a disheveled, and horrified, Lavender beside him. "It's not…it…we weren't—"
"Save it, Ron." Hermione managed to speak through her painful struggle of fighting back tears. Don't, Hermione told herself, don't let him see you cry.
"I promise it's not what it looks like. You see…Lavender, she was choking, and I…I…" Ron stammered on but all Hermione could focus on was not letting the tears well up into her eyes. She would be damned if she let him see her cry like that. She was not going to cry over this stupid, infuriating…PRAT.
"I…I have to go. Excuse me." Hermione turned to leave. Sticking around here would be guaranteeing Ron, and Lavender, a front-row seat to Hermione's emotional unraveling.
"Wait, Hermione." Ron grabbed Hermione's arm. "Please, let me explain."
Hermione whirled around, and through clenched teeth said, "Let. Me. Go. Ronald."
"But…Hermione…I love—"
"Don't! Don't you dare say those words to me. You do not get to say that! Not anymore." Hermione yanked her arm from Ron's grip and whipped around, swinging the portrait open. She stepped through and slammed the portrait shut with finality, leaving behind her the very first boy she'd ever loved, and her now tattered heart that she had given him long ago.
There was one thing Hermione was certain of as she marched quickly onward through the halls with no inkling of her destination. She would never let herself fall for another boy, ever again.
Why wouldn't this bloody thing work? Draco had been working on this Vanishing Cabinet for what seemed like hours now and he had yet to fix it. Draco could just imagine having to inform the Dark Lord of his utter incompetence and not being able to get the job done. What a spiffing time that would be.
Draco exhaled loudly in frustration. No. He would not fail the Dark Lord. This is what he had been waiting for all along, after all. He had been chosenby the Dark Lord himself. He would not dishonor the Malfoy name.
As much as Draco wanted to finish fixing the Vanishing Cabinet that night, he could hardly keep his eyes open any longer. He closed the door to the Cabinet and began making his away across the Room of Requirement, with every intention of heading to his dormitory and passing out. Just as he reached for the door, however, it swung open, revealing behind it a sniffling, blubbering blur that knocked into him with such force he stumbled backwards, landing him on his back.
"Bloody hell!" Draco exclaimed with a huff of breath. This was the second time that night that he had been slammed into by some random—
Draco's thoughts were interrupted by the sight set before him.
"Oh Merlin, I'm so sorry." The figure on top of Draco spoke with a voice laced with sorrow. Upon opening his eyes, Draco had been greeted with a very puffy-eyed Hermione Granger. He felt a sudden pang of sadness pull at his heart for her. She looked so…dejected. It was as if all the happiness had been sucked from her life; a victim after a dementor attack. Draco snapped back to reality. This was Hermione he was referring to; 1/3 of the sodding golden trio. There was no room for pity at a time like this. Especially for the likes of her.
Draco quickly flung his arms away from her waist (he didn't know when or why he had even put them there), pushed her off him, and stood rather abruptly.
"What the hell, Granger? Are you making this a new hobby of yours, running into people? Or am I your personal target?"
Hermione righted herself and sniffed, wiping the remnants of tears off her cheek. "I said I was sorry."
Draco had expected quick, witty insults to fly at him, but Hermione's voice was dull and lifeless. He looked at her warily. Something was definitely wrong.
"S'matter, Granger? Find out Weasley's been snogging a house elf behind your back or something?" Draco hadn't meant to cheer her up, but something sparked in Hermione's eyes, if only fleetingly.
"Something like that," said Hermione. She smirked half-heartedly then turned to leave.
Draco, not able to fight his curiosity, said, "I'm sorry, what? Are you implying Weasley was snogging a house elf?"
Hermione sighed and said, "Just forget it, Malfoy." She grabbed the handle to the door and pulled, attempting to open it, but to no avail. "What the…"
Draco sauntered over to the door. "You're such a girl. Move." Draco pulled at the door, tugging full forcedly, but the door would not budge. He pulled out his wand and pointed it at the door. "Alohomora." The door remained shut.
"Oh, you're probably doing it wrong. Give me that." Hermione yanked Draco's wand from his hand, having left hers back in the girl's dormitory in her school robes. "Alohomora!" She glared at the door, willing it to open, but still the door remained tightly shut. Hermione's jaw dropped slightly. She was clearly unused to spells not working for her.
"You have got to be bloody joking me." Draco banged his fist against the door in frustration. "How is this even possible?"
Draco couldn't believe it. Could he, Draco Lucius Malfoy, really be stuck in this bloody room with…Hermione Granger?