Thoughts

As Hermione looked at the pale face of the blonde boy sitting across in the great hall, cuddling up to Pansy, she felt a pang of envy, and, also, confusion. Why was she feeling a tingle, every time Pansy ruffled his platinum-blonde hair? What secrets was he hiding? And most importantly, what lied under those evil smirks and taunts? Ever since he entered the great hall on his sixth year, Hermione noticed a slight change in the boy. It was like he'd grown up, but also become more childish. He seemed more nervous now, more anxious, as if he were waiting for something to jump out at him any second. Just, why?
Hermione could never recall a boy that made her this confused. Every time Harry insulted him, she'd wanted to defend him, but then bit back her lip, not wanting to side with her enemy. She didn't even know if he was her enemy! She didn't know why she'd felt this way. After all, everyone knew that she had punched him. And almost hexed him. And that he called her a 'mudblood'. And now, he had gone and winked at her. WINKED! MALFOY! AT HER! Whatever it was, she didn't like it. She intended to put a stopper in it as soon as possible. Come on, Hermione, what is wrong with you? Show some self-respect! Sigh.
She brushed away the feelings, shaking her head. She took out a book. Reading always made her feelings go away. The book's title was 'Hogwarts, A History.' Great! She always found some new information every time she re-read it. She flipped to page 342, where she found the founders of hogwarts. Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, Salazar Slytherin. Salazar Slytherin. Hmmm...AAARGH,no! There she was, thinking about him again. Didn't she realize that he was her enemy? WIth his arrogant, slicked-back blonde hair, and evil attitude, he was just like a mini Lucius Malfoy. Except cuter-no! Hermione slammed the book down in rage. She'd better get to the common room before she blew things up.
"Hermione? Won't you eat?" It was the voice of Ronald Weasley. She ignored him, and spe past to the common room. She didn't know why she was acting this way. All she knew was that she needed a place to vent out her frustrations. "Mione?" That voice called again. Hermione stopped in her tracks. She glanced at Ron, with his long, lanky, slender figure - What was happening to her? Why was she suddenly observing every boy she met. Sighing, she continued walking until she reached the portrait of the fat lady. "Pumpkin Pasties." she said, and the portrait opened up. She climbed inside. So did Ron. "What happened?" Ron asked. "Nothing." said Hermione. "I-I-I just wasn't hungry." An idea stuck her mind. "You know, abuse of house-elves and such."
Ron sighed. "Are you STILL on about spew-Sorry, I meant S.P.E.W? I thought you gave up on that after fourth year." Hermione looked miffed. "Well, I didn't." It technically wasn't a lie. She never actually gave it up, she just stopped recruiting members for a while. If only she could tell Ron the real reason! Hermione went through the portrait stairs, took the stairs, and went to the library.

Draco leaned on Pansy's shoulder, allowing her to stroke his hair. He secretly shot a glance at the bushy-haired mudblood, who was staring at him too. Draco pretended not to notice, but secretly he was smirking. So that Mudblood does care for me after all, he thought. When that thought came to him, he brushed it away. HE was used to people staring at him; many girls thought he was quite a charmer, and many boys thought he was cool. He winked at the muggle, who instantly turned around, although he did see a bit of red in her cheeks. He smirked. Pansy looked at him. "Who are you staring at?" she demanded, eyeing every girl in the great hall suspiciously. "No one, Panse." Pansy eyed him warily, but soon continued to stroke his hair. She was so easy to convince! But Draco knew he had to tell her someday that he wasn't interested in her, just not now.
He watched as Hermione picked up her book bag, and walked out of the hall, soon followed with that Weasley boy. They thought their life was so hard. They didn't know anything about a hard life. With his new mission, and Voldemort after him, and his father in Azkaban...No, he had to keep it together. He was Draco Malfoy, the most popular Slytherin. He would ruin his reputation if he admitted to being scared. Putting a brave smile on his face (Gryffindor, traits? His father, no, mother wasn't going to like it), he spoke up. "I'm going back to the common room. Want to come?" Everyone nodded, and started clearing out.
When the group got distracted, he headed for the library. He wanted to do some 'research', okay, he wanted to go see if there were any books about Dumbledore. To...do his mission...he needed full insight on Dumbledore's life. Draco chose a book that looked brief and to-the-point, and headed to the reading area. He had already caught up on his homework yesterday, so now he had a free period to do whatever he wanted. But he almost groaned when he saw Granger girl sitting there. Even though she had finally...ahem...stared at him, he still hated her. That pathetic mudblood! He cleared his throat, and Granger looked up quickly. Draco noticed she was immersed in a book called Romeo and Juliet. Bleh. Probably some stupid muggle author. Like Draco even cared.

Small Talk

Hermione sighed. "What do you want, Malfoy?"
"I want you to leave. This is my area." Draco demanded.
Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Getting a bit cocky, aren't you?"
Draco smirked. "Since when wasn't I cocky?"
"Fair point."

"But I'm still not leaving.
"Fine then, have it your way." Draco plopped down beside her.
Hermione shifted, looking uncomfortable. "So."
"So."
There was akward silence for a long while.
"Um...who's Romeo?"
"Wait-what?" Hermione looked up, startled. Brown eyes met gray.
"That stupid muggle book you're reading. Who's Romeo, or Juliet?"
"Oh." Hermione grinned. "First of all, it's NOT stupid. And second of all, how'd you know it was written by a muggle?"
Draco scoffed. "I actually know all wizard authors in history, and there was no.." Draco studied the book cover for moment. "Wilhem Shakespere. In history." He finished.
"William Shakespeare. What are wizard authors?"
Draco gasped in mock horror. "Call the cops! Hermione Granger doesn't know something!"
"Heh. Very funny."
"You're right I am."
"I'm just not going to reply to that."
"You just did."
"Grrr... Anyway, you didn't answer my question. Wizard authors?" Hermione prompted.
"Oh right...there is Bathilda Bagshot, Miranda Goshawk, Newt Scamander, C. , J.R. ..."
"C. and Tolkien are WIZARDS?" Hermione was surprised. She'd read Lord of the rings and Chronicles of Narnia many times, but she'd never thought the authors were wizards. Although she supposed that DID make sense.."
"Yeah, didn't you know?"
"No."
Draco feigned mock horror again. "Hermione Granger doesn't-"
"Yeah, Yeah, I get it." They both looked at each other and laughed. As cold eyes met soft ones yet again, they both realized something very important.
Pansy or Ron were NOT going to be happy.

(A/N: Should I make a part two?)
(A.A/N: Requests are open!)