Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, much to my displeasure, isn't mine.
Notes: This is my first fic, and I must admit I picked a rather… tough ship to begin with. Just stick with me & review! Criticisms and flames welcome, as is flattery. ;) Oh, and this fic is around Hermione's seventh year, though I'd like to ask all of you to ignore the happenings in HBP. Thanks.
He watched her.
There was something about her that made her quite captivating. He couldn't put his finger on it, however, and much to his displeasure and personal embarrassment, he found himself watching her frequently without noticing until a sniveling student like Longbottom snapped him out of his reverie.
Each time this had happened, he had sneered and deducted points from Gryffindor before stalking down each row of desks, peering into students' cauldrons and making snide remarks, if saying anything at all. But every time he came to hers, he found nothing astray, and silently moved on.
Sometimes he would spend hours on end trying to figure out why he acted this way towards her, and often got lost in thought until a potion went askew. Cursing, he would damn himself and start all over again.
It was entirely pointless and unprofessional to spend so much time thinking about a student, especially one of the dream team. Despite being Potter's friend, however, he was glad to see they hadn't yet completely corrupted her with things such as Quidditch. There was still a steady glint of determination in her eyes, and it only seemed to strengthen as weeks went by, and he made all the more snide remarks to the three.
On one such occasion, he'd found her whispering directions to Longbottom out of the corner of her mouth. Sneering, he'd stalked over to the desk which currently was being used by the dream team, plus Neville.
"Detention, Miss Granger," He'd said silkily, "tonight. My office, seven o' clock," he turned to leave as the bell rang, "sharp."
He could hear Potter and Weasley's stifled anger as he entered into his private quarters, and sank down onto an emerald green couch. Now what had he done? He'd given the girl detention and now would be staring at her even more.
Glaring to nothing in particular, he got up and grabbed a bottle of Firewhisky, downing half of it with one gulp. Loosening his grasp on the bottle, he set it down with a clink on the shelf next to him, and sighed.
&&&
"I can't believe the bloody git gave you detention!" Ron swore as they walked down the corridor towards the great hall for lunch.
"Ron!" Hermione scolded him, looking albeit flushed as some first years jumped at the sudden outburst from the redhead.
Harry nodded his agreement with Ron, but noticed Hermione's shrug of uncertainty.
"What?" He asked as they pushed through the doors and made their way towards the Gryffindor table, "You don't think you deserved it, do you?"
Hermione bit her lip as she sank into a seat opposite them.
"Well," She began slowly, taking a sip of pumpkin juice, "It's not as if I'm not guilty though, is it?" She scrunched her face, but continued, "I mean, I was helping Neville. Though I don't know why Professor Snape didn't give him detention. And we have stolen from his stores before."
Ron, though his mouth was full to the bursting with food, shot a nasty look towards where Snape was sitting with Dumbledore eating lunch. "Stall ah giot fo." He mumbled.
"Come again?" Hermione gave him a disgusted glance as she cut her meat and lifted it to her mouth with a more dignified manner.
"I said," Ron paused, swallowing briefly, "He's still a git, though." He then went back to eating like a pig, as if it were a contest between him and the entire table on who could eat the most in the shortest time.
Harry nodded his agreement, his mouth full, and not wanting to risk getting scolded by Hermione if he opened it and tried to talk. After chewing thoughtfully for a moment and swallowing, he raised his green eyes to her chocolate ones.
"You're going to go, aren't you?" He asked, in an almost accusatory manner, raising an eyebrow at her.
Hermione sighed exasperatedly. "Yes," she said forcefully, "of course I'm going to go. If I don't, I'll only get another detention, and it will probably be a far bit nastier than whatever he has planned for me tonight, and I expect even that's going to be ghastly."
She set her fork down, took a sip from her goblet, and extracted herself from the table.
"Now," she said, in a tone that left no space for comments or defiance, "I'm going to go the library, or am I not allowed to go there, either?" She picked up her books and briskly walked off, her annoyance at them fading a bit as she got farther away.
"Git." Ron mumbled, and Harry only sighed, and went back to his meal.
End notes: Okay, so that was the first chapter! Hope you all liked it, though it isn't very lengthy and dramatic. Trust me, I like a good, thorough story so if you just stick around for the ride, I promise you'll be impressed. Hopefully, anyway. ;) Like I said at the beginning, flames/criticisms/flattery are all welcome, so please do so. Also, if you'd favor a poor girl, tell me what you did/didn't like, and what you'd like to see happen/like to see more of. Thanks!