A/N: Hey, guys! This is my first fanfic, I'm really excited. Please leave concrit if you like.
Chapter One
"She's bloody chirpy these days, isn't she?" I heard Ron say as we walked through the courtyard on our way to the great hall for lunch. The days had gotten warmer, but the icy wind was still cutting at our cheeks as Ron and I hurried across the grey courtyard. We were running late, and most of the other students were already in the hall. I couldn't help but notice how haunting the emptiness of the courtyard was. I could see one or two people who had chosen to fall behind slightly before lunch had started; there was a small Ravenclaw girl who couldn't have been older than 12, picking up a telescope which she had dropped in her scurry to get to the great hall, and a tall and lanky girl from Hufflepuff who Harry knew was a prefect in the seventh year. Harry had been so distracted by the eeriness of the deserted scene that he had not heard Ron speak.
"Sorry, who are we talking about?" said Harry absent-mindedly, while gazing into the small fountain in the centre of the courtyard as they passed it, the surface of the water had a veneer of thin ice, one of the last remaining traces of winter, creating what looked like a solidified mist encasing the clear liquid.
"Hermione, she's been all bubbly." said Ron.
"I don't know about bubbly, Ron. She's just a little more light-hearted than usual," I said coolly.
"Well, she better cut it out. It's beginning to get on my nerves," muttered Ron.
Really, I had only noticed her new behavior because of how it contrasted against my own. Hermione was still her usual self, answering question fully and correctly, except the way she did so was different. Instead of using her confident, of-course-I'm-right-go-look-in-the-damn-textbook tone when answering questions, she had taken a more casual quality, as though she was talking about the weather to an acquaintance. She also spent a lot more time in the library, and getting her tasks done at an unholy speed.
I was completely different. Because the Quidditch season was in full swing, the Gryffindor team was training incessantly, and it was taking toll on my school work. We trained every evening, and we got up early on Saturdays for extra training. I was beginning to fall behind with my homework and the assignments due. OWLs were meant to be tough, and they just added to the enormous worry pressing on my shoulders. Hermione's unsettling new promptness was really beginning to get on my nerves too.
I hadn't even registered that we had already entered the hall. Ron and I had walked in silence the rest of the way through the school. We darted directly to the Gryffindor table, and sat down on either side of Hermione, who was flipping though a copy of some or other book about curses put on Egyptian tombs, if I were to judge by the strange illustrations I saw at a glance as I seated myself next to her.
"You already eaten, Hermione?" I asked casually.
"Mhm," she said, not looking up from her books, "what took you two so long?" she asked impatiently.
"Got held up by Snape for 'random inspection'" said Ron, making small movements with his fingers to indicate the quote of the term 'random inspection.
"He was just looking for a bloody reason to hound us. My tie was on just fine." I said coldly.
"Whatever, ready for the Quidditch match, you two?" said Hermione nonchalantly
'Hermione, the next one is between Hufflepuff and Slytherin," said Ron, looking annoyed.
"Oh" said Hermione, looking up from her book for the first time. "Right, sorry, I got a little confused." She looked embarrassed. "Anyway, I have to be back at the library. See you two next lesson." Before we could even begin to protest, she had gotten up and left the table.
We sat in silence for a few minutes as we dished ourselves some food and began to eat.
I looked up from my rice across a few tables. There was a group of Slytherin girls giggling like idiots about a joke the boy they were centered around had just made. I moved my head to my left slightly so I could get a better look. The boy they were circled around had fair blonde hair and an angular face. I squinted. Malfoy? Since when was Malfoy a ladies man? He looked like he was enjoying the attention, but as I looked closer (which I did, at great effort, thanks) I could see that he didn't look like he really like the people. They seemed like they were just space fillers to him, there wasn't even one who he seemed to have singled out to be fonder of than the rest. Not even Pansy. And that girl hangs around him like a little puppy, makes me a little queasy, to be totally honest. Oh well, that seems like a guarantee that I won't have to see him snogging in the passages, and therefore Filch doesn't have to worry about being forced to clean up vomit. The whole world is a better place, don't you think?
I think Ron also noticed the attention Malfoy was getting. He had stopped eating and looked unimpressed, but at the same time he looked envious.
"Lucky bastard," I heard Ron mutter to no one in particular.
"Oh please, Ron, he doesn't even like any of those girls," I said
"How would you know?" he snapped
"I've been taking lessons from Hermione on how to read emotions and all that crap," I said coolly. "In fact, based on my extensive studies, I think Malfoy is pretty deep in the closet at the moment."
The pumpkin Ron had just taken a sip from went spurting out of his mouth and nose. I thought he was under the impression that I was serious, but after a millisecond I registered he was laughing. And I began to laugh too, because of how ridiculous the situation. My best friend was covered in pumpkin juice, falling over himself laughing at my calculations about the romantic orientation of a guy who's been our enemy from the very first day.
