It all happened so fast.
She and Ginny we rushing down a busy corridor giggling at some inappropriate joke. Another sudden burst of laughter caused Ginny to stop abruptly and double over. Hermione ran smack into the back of her friend. One second she was walking, and the next she was falling. Or so she thought. She shielded her head as she prepared to hit the stone floor, but the impact never came.
Instead, two strong arms wrapped around her. As she slowly moved her arms away from her head, she turned to look at how close she'd come. She then turned the other way and found herself staring into grey eyes. She let out a shaky breath as he stared back.
"Careful, Granger. It wouldn't look good on my part if you were injured and I just so happened to be around, would it?" Draco asked.
Hermione noticed that there was no malice in his voice as he continued to hold her. She couldn't stop staring at him, and he just stared back.
"Hey, Mione. We better get going, yea?" Ginny interrupted nervously.
Hermione jerked her head towards her friend; she almost forgot that they were in the middle of a crowded corridor. No one seemed to notice them though. She moved her hands to Draco's biceps, and gave them a good squeeze as she pulled herself up. That got her an eyebrow raise in return.
"Right, Ginny, we should be going. Thanks for, uh, catching me Malfoy," Hermione said as she barely looked him in the eye. Her cheeks were slightly heated still from his slight acknowledgement of her grabbing him.
Draco tipped his head without another word and blended back into the traffic of students in the corridor. Hermione watched him until his white blond hair disappeared from sight. She let out another shaky breath as the tension she felt left her body.
Hermione and Ginny went on their way without speaking. Ginny didn't want to bring up the clear tension between her best friend and their former enemy. Hermione didn't want to blurt out something stupid about what just happened.
They made it to the Gryffindor common room and joined others gathered by the fire.
"What has you looking all nervous, Mione?" Ron asked as he glanced up at the two from his game of chess.
"Yea, Mione, what is going on with you?" Ginny asked with a smirk on her face.
The emphasis in her voice caused everyone around them to look at her. The eyes of Harry, Ginny, Ron, Neville, Lavender, and Parvati all looked at her expectantly. Hermione's mouth opened and closed as she tried to think of something to say.
"I think I'm going to be sick, see you all later," Hermione blurted out as she rushed to stairs to head to her shared room.
All six of her friends had confused expressions on their face as she ran off and slammed the door to her room. Parvati decided to go after her to make sure she was all right.
"Ahem," Ginny interrupted, "I'll take over from here. We were walking down a corridor on our way here and she tripped, but before she could fall properly Malfoy caught her. She just stared at him until I told her we needed to get going, and she's been like that since."
"So what, she's got a crush on Malfoy like almost every girl in this school has! That's not a big deal," Lavender said matter of factly. That got her disgusted looks from Harry and Ron. She just shrugged her shoulders, unwilling to take her comment back.
When Parvati returned, the only information she had to offer was that Hermione had been sick and now she has a stomach ache.
ooOOooOOoo
As Draco walked away from Hermione and her red-headed friend in the corridor, he let out a strangled sigh. Why couldn't he stop staring back at her? Couldn't he have come up with something better to say in the moment? He could ask himself all the questions he wanted, but he knew what that feeling in his stomach was.
It had made him sick at first; he threw up what little he had eaten that day. Then, he was left with a dull aching in his stomach. The only thing to truly make it go away was way out of reach for him.
Instead of brooding over his misfortune, he does the only thing he can do. He approached Professor Snape and explained his situation. Without much hesitation, Snape agrees to brew the potion he needs, and he even agrees to make an extra batch.
Back in is room, he takes a quick swallow of the potion, and the ache in his stomach subsides. He lets out a tense breath and wills his shoulders to relax. With a quick flick of his wand he vanished the extra batch of potion and a note to a certain Gryffindor's bedside table. He then gets comfortable in his bed and allows sleep claim him.
ooOOooOOoo
Hermione wakes up earlier than usual due to the strange aching in her stomach. She notices a bottle beside her bed with a note. Reaching for the bottle and bringing it to sit in her lap, she reads the attached note.
"For your stomach ache. A sip every few hours should be enough."
No signature, and she didn't even recognize the handwriting. As she took a sip, she made a mental note to profusely thank whoever left this for her. Her stomach ache immediately went away, and she figured she might as well get a little more sleep while she could.
When she finally willed herself to make an appearance at breakfast, everyone seemed to notice she seemed to be feeling better.
"Feeling all right then, Mione?" Ron questioned with a slight smile. Hermione smiled back at him.
Of course it was Ron that had sent her that potion. She knew he liked her, but he was too afraid to make ever make a move. Baby steps she told herself; he'd get there soon enough, right? After spending so much time with him over the years, she had begun to develop a slight crush on him. She continued to smile to herself.
"Yea, feeling just all right, thanks Ron," she said as she patted his hand across the table, "the potion really helped." He slightly blushed at her action as Harry looked on questioningly.
ooOOooOOoo
A few days later, Hermione had a lot of questions. This stomach ache was proving not to be normal. She continued to take the potion, but was beginning to run out. Why hadn't the dull pain subsided completely? She wasn't sick, she was sure of it.
"I have a theory, but I don't think you would like it," Ginny offered up. Hermione quirked an eyebrow at her friend sitting on the edge of her bed.
"Well get on with it Ginny, a theory is better than nothing" Hermione said urgently. Ginny took a deep breath before speaking.
"Ok. So this weird ache started right after Malfoy caught you, right?" Hermione nodded, urging her to continue. "I would say that is a pretty significant event" Ginny said with a slightly higher pitch in her voice.
"Oh, Merlin," Hermione said as shock spread across her face, "this can't be happening."
"We've both read that book, Mione. DO you think he knows what's going on?" Ginny questioned.
"What are the odds he's read up on soulmates? What boy is really into that kind of thing?" Hermione offered up.
She would have to find a way to sort this out before things got carried away.
ooOOooOOoo
It wasn't unusual to find Hermione in the library on Friday night. Catching up on homework was one of her favorite past times. She'd taken her sip of potion around thirty minutes ago, and she was ready to do some research for a Charms essay.
That was until the aching in her stomach returned with a vengeance. No longer was it a dull pain, it was downright painful. It wasn't enough to make her sick again, but there was no way for her to ignore it. She stared down at the textbook she was holding and attempting to take calming breaths. Someone clearing their throat behind her caught her attention.
She turned in her chair and was once again staring into Draco Malfoy's eyes.
"Granger, lovely finding you here on a Friday night," he spoke with a slight smirk gracing his face.
"Malfoy, to what do I owe the pleasure?" she asked stiffly. She noticed that he seemed a little to calm to be affected like she was. His smirk turned into an outright smile as he chuckled.
"You look a bit uncomfortable, stomach ache?" He questioned. Hermione's eyes widened as he continued to smile at her.
"Do you- how do you-," she stuttered as she fought to find her voice.
Malfoy gracefully sat down right across from her. She followed him with her eyes and stared at him with her might slightly parted in shock.
"Do I know what? That we're soulmates?" He asked in an even voice. All Hermione could do was let out a small gasp. "Of course I know, love," He said nonchalantly as he opened a textbook and began reading.
"How can you be so calm about this? Are you even in pain like I am?" She asked in a hurried whisper.
"Of course. I've just had years of practice hiding emotions and pain," he said waving a dismissive hand. "The pain should be dulling now, is it?"
Hermione took a minute to assess herself. He was right, her stomach felt absolutely fine now.
"I assume you know more about this topic than I do?" she questioned hopefully. He smiled a little and nodded his head. "Okay, well. First things first, is being near each other the only way to stop that nagging pain?"
"Unfortunately yes, the potion I sent you usually works, but our connections seems to be… stronger. We're burning right through it, and the more time we spend apart the worse the pain will be." That wasn't the answer she was hoping for.
"So what you're saying is.." she paused.
"What I'm saying, Granger, is that our magic has acknowledged that we've found each other. We'll be spending a lot of time together if either us wish to live comfortably."
"Right. Spending more time together. Should be fun," she said nervously.