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In the Moonlight
Night and day have always been known as opposites. Day is when the sun shines, when innocent fun is had, when children feel safe from their nightmares. Night creates fear, mystery, and thoughts better not pondered about.
Draco didn't realize when it started, perhaps at the Yule Ball. The night Hermione glistened like a crystal as she danced with Viktor Krum. That night Pansy grew jealous, and Malfoy smirked as she stormed off, obviously mad at the muggle-born's surpassing beauty. Draco laughed, trying to think of the way his date would in return, try to make Granger jealous. It was then that he realized, astonished, that the confident, know-it-all, decent-looking (just decent, he thought to himself) Hermione Granger had nothing to be jealous about.
What could Pansy do? Study to surpass her in knowledge? That would never happen. Flirt with many boys? Hermione Granger, a Gryffindor, would not be jealous of Slytherin boys, especially not as long as she had Viktor Krum. And this particular night of the Yule Ball, Pansy was inferior in beauty too.
After such realization he had a notably harder time sleeping at night. He wondered that, if Hermione had nothing to be jealous of, was she not perfect? Every night he shook his head at this thought, until eventually he was stumbling over "Granger" almost uttering "Hermione".
Then the time came when night was no longer safe. He could not speak her name to his fellow Slytherins, for her name would always come out "Hermione" and never in the hate-filled tone he meant to use. He could not trust his thoughts, for if they wandered to her he would think things he was taught never to think about Mudbloods.
Finally, anytime Draco sat in the Slytherin common room, he spaced off, wondering if Hermione was really perfect. (He had submitted to calling her Hermione in his mind now, it was too troublesome not to.) Most of the time he'd then be asked (because he's so popular you know) what was on his mind. Once he had unconsciously said "Hermion...nothing!" before quickly disappearing to bed.
Being alone seemed the only way to keep all of his forbidden thoughts to himself. If no one talked to him, he wouldn't blurt anything out, and everything would stay a simple, dreadful, dirty little secret. Draco Malfoy was slowly coming to believe that Hermione Granger was perfect.
During the day he could keep his mouth shut well enough, so he was only truly lonely at night. He'd lay awake for hours, fidgeting and full of energy. Eventually he began to walk about the castle at night to calm his mind. After a few close calls with Filch and Mrs. Norris, he was an expert at avoiding detection by means of secret passages, (he had stumbled upon a few.) Draco found himself enjoying the castle more and more each night as he made many discoveries. There were many things that he didn't know about Hogwarts.
But mysterious things happen at night.
Hermione rushed from the library toward the Gryffindor common room, fear flowing through her veins. "How could I be so stupid not to look up at the time," she muttered to herself, furious she'd been reading for so long. She began running faster with each step. She turned a corner and collided with something hard.
Draco recovered quicker than Hermione after the crash. He blinked a few times before he registered who was in front of him. For just a moment he saw her, unconscious on the floor, moonlight from a window covering her face. Draco gasped.
"Decent looking" wouldn't be sufficient to describe her appearance; "Beautiful" or "Perfect" might have done justice. For in the pale blue light, the curves in her face were smooth as glass and her long eyelashes showed why she would never need makeup.
But it took only a moment for her eyes to flutter open. Hermione remained dazed for a moment before coming to.
"Are you alright, Hermione?" Draco said as he stood up, brushing dirt from his robes and extending a hand.
Hermione reached the hand offered to her and got up. "Fine. Thank y…" Hermione stopped. She now stood face-to-face with the infamous Draco Malfoy.
There was a moment of utter shock. "Wh-what did you say?" She asked, confused.
Draco's cheeks tinted red before he let go of her hand. "Nothing!" He took off in the opposite direction, wanting to put as much distance from her as possible.
Oh, yes. Mysterious things happened in the moonlight. Draco Malfoy was forced to think things he could never reveal he felt during the day.
Hermione Granger was perfect.
I'm updating this story chapter by chapter.
