AN: This was written as a gift for N0xentra over on DeviantART. Also, Harry Potter characters belong to J.K. Rowling, I simply play with them.
Influenced by David Archuleta's song Crush.
hr
At the start of their sixth year, Draco caught sight of someone he was certain that he had never seen before. But he had to have seen her before. Hogwarts didn't get transfers. Did they?
Her softly flowing hair. The curves of her body. The way her hips swayed when she walked made him stare. Who could this young woman be? He must know!
As he watched her enter the Great Hall, his jaw dropped as she went and sat at the Gryffindor table. A Gryffindor captured his interest? That was unheard of. Unspeakable even. He would simply have to forget about her.
All I ever think about is you.
You got me hypnotized.
So mesmerized.
And I've just got to know.
Who was he kidding? Draco couldn't get her out his mind. He would have to introduce himself. So what if she's Gryffindor? So what if she's friends with Potty and the Weasel? Although, she reminds him of that annoying Know-It-All bookworm… Nah. That couldn't be her.
Draco finally got a name to his mystery woman. Hermione. So it was her! She really changed over the summer!
In fact, he couldn't really find it in himself to hate her anymore. None of Father's spouted shit made sense anymore anyways.
How could Hermione be a Mudblood and still beat him in every class? How was it that she mastered spells before he did? Those questions and more began to make Draco think. The more he thought, the more he realized just how wrong his father is.
Thinking things over, Draco came to the conclusion that Hermione still very much hated him (she had every reason to!) and would not take kindly to him fancying her.
With that thought in mind, Draco spent the remainder of his sixth year studying Hermione.
He watched her so he might know what she was passionate about; things that were her favorite and things that she hated.
By year's end, Draco knew that Hermione had a love of strawberries and lollipops, a dislike of bananas and curry and was very passionate about the treatment of animals.
She also had a natural talent for potion making, which Draco found intriguing as he himself had a talent for potion making. This could come in handy later, so Draco filed the information away for future use.
All I ever think about is you.
You got me hypnotized.
So mesmerized.
Just before summer break, an idea came to Draco on how he might begin to convince Hermione of his new intentions.
A special ball is held for seventh years only on Halloween. And as always, it is a masquerade; the perfect cover for Draco to get close to Hermione without her knowledge.
Confident in his plan, Draco boards the Hogwarts Express to take him home to Malfoy Manor for the summer.