"Hermione!" Ron whispers. He nudges me, interrupting my note taking. I turn my head slightly to look at him, his scruffy red hair is collapsing into his eyes, he points to me then to his chest. Ah, he wants us to partner up for the class practical. I suppose that's good, that way I can take control of the potions and get a good mark. I nod, smiling at him and his face lights up. Just as I finish my notes Professor Snape stands at the front of the class.
"The Draught of Peace," he announces simply, he glides from one side of the room to the other, "drink it and you will be relieved of anxiety. Perhaps it would be better to drink it before one embarks on making the complex potion itself." He smiles half-heartedly at his mildly humorous comment, and then turns sharply to the class. "You shall be in pairs. I will call out your name and your partner's name." My eyes widen in shock and disappointment, Ron's however, widen in the realisation he will have to work for his grade. I listen as Snape marries off each student and become more hopeful as Harry, Ron and I are left till last. Maybe he'll put us in a three? How wrong was I.
"Harry, Ron." Snape looks around the room; Ron and Harry are exchanging wide smiles, "and finally, Hermione and Draco." I look to the back of the room to see a pale face, equally as distressed as mine. "You have three days to practise and perfect the potion, I expect equal input." Snape stresses the word equal; I slump into my chair, unhappily. Draco Malfoy. All this time I'd manage to escape working with him and in the fifth year this happens, something so primary-school-esque! How degrading, in multiple ways, of course.
The class is dismissed and I begrudgingly make my way over to Draco. He is standing with Crabbe and Goyle, all mumbling over their partners I presume. Draco looks to the window when I approach him.
"I suppose we better get this over with, Granger." He remarks, not making eye contact with me. I hum in agreement; I'm not going to give into his petulance. Our class do not have any more sessions today, so we have plenty of time to work.
"Shall we say the library this afternoon at four?" I ask, gritting my teeth.
I see Crabbe nod his head towards the door.
"I don't think we should stress ourselves," he laughs, "tomorrow at four sounds more like it."
I stand wide-eyed as he walks away from me with those two idiots. Ron and Harry stand beside me.
"Don't worry about him," Harry says, patting my shoulder. "He'll come around." I scrunch my fists in anger. This is not how I am going to let my OWL mark fall. I storm away from the guys and down the corridor to Draco.
"Draco!" I call after them, I am close enough for him to hear me but he is ignoring me. "Hey Draco!" I say louder. He stops and turns round, Crabbe and Goyle roll their eyes in detest. Draco raises an eyebrow, waiting for me to speak.
"We're going the library now." I say, trying to sound threatening. Draco's face settles and a small, very small, smile plays on his lips. My eyes drift up towards his nose, then his eyes: they're softly staring right at me. I stir a bit, feeling my cheeks flushing at his absent response.
"Okay then." He says calmly, "Crabbe, Goyle." He nods at them and they tamely turn and walk away. I stand panicking slightly at his sudden change of attitude.
"G-Great," I force a smile, I must remain calm. "So shall we go the library?"
He looks at quizzically at me. I grip my books tightly.
"Sure," he says, "then to the potions practise room, right?"
"Yeah, yes, sure." I stumble idly over my words. What am I doing? He's completely thrown me off track with his crazy attitude. I was so geared up for a fight and now I have my own way, I have all this anger and no way to get rid of it. Breathe, I tell myself.
On a blissfully sunny Friday afternoon it would be obvious that the library was empty. I felt a twang of guilt run through me as Draco made his way to the potions section. No, I tell myself, I can't let him get away with it, I'd be here on my own otherwise, and that would not be meeting the marking criteria.
Draco is scanning over the books, walking slowly down the isle; he drops his bag and robes quietly to one side. He rolls up his sleeves, exposing his sleek arms, the forearm muscle protruding slightly. His fingers trace silently over the books in front of him. I rush over to aid his searching; he probably doesn't know which book belongs where. Draco turns to me and reaches his arms towards my shoulder, my breath is held and I can feel my heart speeding up. Am I okay with this? What is he going to-
He gently lifts my bag strap off my shoulder and slips it over his own.
"Ah," he murmurs softly, "It was as heavy as I thought," I exhale as quietly as possible, what was I thinking? As if Draco would have done anything like that. "I'll carry it for you for now." He says, his eyes shooting back to the books. Is he embarrassed? This is so out of character for him but I can't help but stifle a small grin. I'm glad he's going along with the project; at least he isn't being crude or cruel to me.
"The potions book is just over-" I being to help him but Draco's hand lifts up and instantly pulls out the correct book as if he knew it were there all along. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his wand.
"Accio Draught of Peace." He mumbles, the book flips open and the correct section appears in front of us. His grey eyes are shining as he looks up to see my impressed, yet equally as surprised face. "Shall we go to the potion room then?"
Walking through the corridors with no bag felt so liberating. I couldn't help but feel mean on Draco for lugging about my bag as well as his, yet his bag probably contained few pieces of paper and a quill.
"Draco," I said shyly, he looked at me, "I don't mind carrying my bag, honestly its fine." He rolled his eyes and pushed my arm away gently.
"Girls." He scoffed. I scrunched my nose in dislike. I knew it wouldn't last.
We arrived at the potions practise room and Draco turned the lock three times and the door swung open effortlessly. I looked at him, yet again in disbelief, how did he know how to open the practise room? As far as I was aware Snape only taught me how to, because, obviously, I was the only one who used it.
Draco confidently walked over to the corner bench and began to re-open the book in order to find the ingredients list. I followed, dazed, over to the bench and sat on the stool. He found the spell and put the book beside me.
"We have the book, we have the room, we also have two more days after tomorrow. Is this enough work for today?" Draco asks cheekily. My heart sinks, it was all an attempt to get me off his back. Annoyed at my own petty disappointment I purse my lips and shrug in agreement.
"I suppose for you it is." I nod. He stares at me for a long moment, as if he is angry. He picks up his bag and swings it on his shoulder.
"Fine." He says, beginning to storm out of the room.
"What?" I snap, rushing to catch him, I grab his arm. He turns around, his grey eyes sharp and focused. Forcefully he wraps one arm around my lower back, pushing himself towards me, the other hand wraps around my neck seizing my hair. I exhale a little too loudly and favourably than expected. He pushes me against the wall and I, to my own surprise, comply more than Happily. For one second we stare at each other, as if consenting to the irrepressible. Then he leans in and kisses me, I wrap my arms around his waist pulling him closer to me. I feel Draco's fingers stroke the side of my back and his gentle pulling of my hair. My throat moans slightly in appreciation, to which he slams his hand on the wall, resting it flat out on level with my shoulder. A deep groan rises from his throat as I put one hand around his neck. Instantly, as if we both realise what we've done, what we've started. We stop suddenly. I pull away and he steps back rapidly, almost bumping into the bench behind him.
We stare at each other in silence.