She blew her large brown curls out of her face like her favourite character did when she was mad. When Hermione blew her hair it never had the same effect she imagined it would. She was lying down on her bed scribbling a review of a new book she read. Hermione kept a journal that she would write everything in. The journal contained topics that ranged from her day to her goals for the future. It had been at least three years her parents had given the journal to her on her seventh birthday. The journal's days were coming to an end and Hermione decided that she wasn't going to continue after this one had finished.
Hermione remembered something from earlier that day, something from a very cheesy movie her mother was watching on television. Hermione quickly scribbled into the page titled 'Goals for my Future'. She jotted down a few simple words. "Bring someone from the wrong side to the good side"
Hermione Granger and Harry Potter stared at their best friend Ron Weasely in disgust. He mumbled something about Snape with his mouth full of the roasted chicken and rice that was once on his plate. Hermione wrinkled her nose and looked away as a bit of the chicken and rice fell out of his mouth. She knew Ron loved food more than anything and sometimes she found it amusing however it had a limit.
She glanced around the familiar room and faces. She felt at peace somehow knowing she was back at Hogwarts. She didn't know why she always felt like this but she didn't mind it because she loved the old castle. Bloody hell she loved everything about the ancient school and what it had to offer. She loved the subjects they taught, the professors, the students – excluding the Slytherins of course, the ghosts, the adventures, anything and everything that was in it. She looked at the faces she longed to see over the course of the summer. The Patil twins sat with Lavender laughing and giggling as they looked over at the Ravenclaw Quidditch coach who smirked at them. Neville, she noticed, sent a shy smile towards Luna Lovegood. Hermione raised her eyebrow at Neville who looked down quickly as his cheeks turned pink. The students laughed and smiled at each other except for one face she knew all too well.
Draco Malfoy sat at the Slytherin table along with Blaise and Pansy. He wasn't paying attention to what either one of them was saying. He was too drowned in his thoughts to pay attention. People around him were upset about the summer being over however he was glad he left his home. He couldn't stand being there any longer. Not after what he had witnessed and been through at the Manor over the past two months. He still had the occasional nightmares that haunted him for days and nights. He ruffled his hair not caring about messing up the gel he had spent twenty minutes on earlier during the day. He hated everything about the bloody castle but anything was better than the Manor at this point. He lifted his gaze up from his untouched plate to meet a pair of brown eyes he knew all too well.
Hermione didn't look away. It's not that she didn't want to, it's that she couldn't. She noticed something in those grey eyes, something other than the hatred towards her. He didn't even have his usual scowl on his pale face. His hair was messy across his head, a few strands of white blonde hair lying softly against his forehead. His tie loosely hung around his neck and the sleeves of his white collar shirt were pulled up to his elbows as he sat there staring back at her. She didn't know what it was but something had changed. Something had changed about Draco Malfoy and she didn't know what.
Draco looked at her closely. She was no longer the bushy haired beaver with buck teeth who tagged along with Potter and that Weasel-bee. She changed over the summer. Her bushy brown hair was now tamed, thank Merlin, and fell in soft curls against her shoulders, her brown eyes had that usual twinkle to them as they stared him down, and she was still as petite as she was before. Draco's brain finally took in what he just thought to himself. Did he just? He did. He was thinking of the bloody muggle in a different way compared to before. Don't get him wrong he wasn't starting to feel mushier towards her; he just wasn't in the mood to deal with his arrogant pureblood side. He felt like an open book as she watched him, her eyes showing the hundreds of questions she thought of asking but didn't have the guts to. Bloody hell if he didn't look away soon he was afraid she might do something stupid like she usually did. Like come up to him and ask if he was okay. Thankfully Pothead tapped her shoulder making her break their eye contact.
It's a bloody strange night, Draco thought.
Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger looked at each other without jumping out to kill each other. Instead they seemed to share something. Something unknown. Something neither of them was aware of. But one man didn't dare miss it.
Hermione pulled the blanket around her shoulders tighter. She couldn't sleep, the minute she would close her eyes his face would pop up into her mind and takeover. She loathed seeing his sad eyes, and lost looking expression. She didn't know what to do. She had never seen Malfoy in this type of state. Never. He always had that over-confident look on his face, the annoying smirk on his lips, white blonde hair gelled to perfection, his stupid walk as his little puppies trailing after him. She remembered seeing him in the hallways bullying the younger children. She also remembered the several times she would get into arguments and fights with him because of that. But she knew something was different. Something that she wanted to find out but would end up staying a mystery to her. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, eventually.
Draco rushed down the staircase that just so happened to change its direction while he was running down them. He cursed loudly as he fell down on his bottom. He quickly got back up and started to run down the hall to his class that started less than twenty minutes ago. He took a minute behind the door to catch his breath before opening the door with too much force causing it to bang into the wall.
Hermione jumped slightly as the classroom door banged open. She turned around to see who it was and wasn't at all shocked to see Malfoy standing there looking smug. His face was back to looking over-confident, the smirk was back and so was the hair gel. Maybe yesterday meant nothing, he was probably just tired or something, she thought.
"Mr. Malfoy a little early aren't you?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"Slept in Professor, it won't happen again." He answered smirking at the Slytherin girls sitting in the corner. Oh yeah he definitely didn't change
"There are no more seats left Mr. Malfoy so please join Miss. Granger up front." she said returning back to her table.
Draco cursed silently and made his way to the table where Granger sat. He dropped his bag down on the ground beside her chair before taking a seat beside her. He noticed her scoot her chair a bit to her left so she wasn't close to him. Out of everyone in this stupid class he was stuck beside smart-ass Granger. This was going to be a long year. Unless McGonagall decided to change the seating plan which only had a zero point zero one percent out of one hundred. But still one should never give up on something they believe will happen. Or at least that's what his mother told him when he was five.
Hermione silently cursed herself for not coming to class soon enough. If she had arrived just two seconds early than she could've been sitting with Luna however Peeves had decided to prank her, once again, resulting in her running late. When Harry caught her attention he mouthed a sorry. Merlin Harry, you don't have to apologize for everything, Hermione thought. But to him she simply smiled what else could she have done anyway?
Draco flinched slightly when the muggle's hand shot up in the air to answer the question asked. He sat at the table for the next few minutes of the class transforming a glass into a cat, then a rat, followed by a blue jay. Granger had already transformed her damn cup into ten different animals. That overachiever always pissed him off. Since day one when she raised her hand to answer Binn's question about the Wizarding World.
Class was dismissed all too soon in Hermione's opinion. She loved this class and every other class she took. She sighed mentally and bent to pick up her brown shoulder bag when her head hit the hard head of Malfoy.
"Ow!"
"Ouch"
Pulling away quickly they stared at each other, not like the previous evening, this time it more like a death stare. Stares so dark that could kill if they were able to. Hermione rubbed her forehead, as did Draco.
"Granger if we're gonna be sitting with each other the whole year than you better watch yourself and not get in my way." He said in a harsh tone while pulling up his bag.
"We wouldn't be in this situation if you didn't come in late. You could've sat with those stupid Slytherin friends of yours." Hermione stated pulling her bag up as well.
"Trust me they are not as stupid as Pot Head and Weasel-bee" he laughed.
"Malfoy!" she said sternly. She had a remarkable resemblance to McGonagall at this point.
"Yes Granger?" he mocked
"Five points from Slytherin" she walked out the classroom before Malfoy could say anything else. She heard him yell "That's not fair. I'll get you back!"
Hermione rolled her eyes and made her way to the dungeons.
Hermione yawned loudly as she smacked the potions textbook closed. It hadn't even been a week since school had started and already she had piles of homework due the next week; a potions essay about Baruffio's Brain Elixir, another essay for Transfiguration, homework questions from three other classes and also reading at least one hundred pages in each class. Hermione loved it. All summer she had wanted piles of homework to drown herself in and not give a care about the world, especially since she and everyone else had finally overcome such dark forces. Well not exactly. Voldemort was still out there somewhere and it made her worry constantly every night. Harry seemed to be more stressed as the days passed by and she wished there was something she could do to help but he wasn't telling her what it was. She decided to give him some time and eventually he'd tell her. He always does.
She looked around the library and found it awfully quiet. She looked out the window and noticed the sun that was once high in the sky was nowhere to be seen. How long have I been in here? She wondered. She packed up her belongings in her brown shoulder bag and tucked in her chair before she left. The library candles weren't on except one or two. Madam Pince was nowhere to be seen either. Hermione was halfway across the library before she heard a sound, more like a voice. A boy's voice.
"No, don't!"
Hermione stopped dead in her tracks and listened to voice. "Don't do this please!" She turned towards the voice. She didn't know why she was going towards the voice but she was. Deep down she knew this wasn't going to end well. Didn't curiosity kill the cat? She heard the boy yell for help right before she turned the corner and noticed a head of white blonde hair.
Malfoy had his head on the table with his potions textbook open and papers scrambled all over the wooden table. He moved his head around uncomfortably and mumbled something Hermione couldn't really put in place. She moved hesitantly towards him as he started to call for help and scream no. He was having a nightmare obviously but what about? Should I wake him up? No, he'd probably yell at me and call me a stalker making me regret waking him up from the nightmare.
"Malfoy?" she called. He stirred uncomfortably again. "Malfoy wake up" He wasn't moving. Why wasn't he moving? Hermione reached over and shook him slightly "Wake up Malfoy."
He jumped up making her slightly jump as well. "Where-? Granger?"
Hermione pulled away from him "Uh, you were having a nightmare so I woke you up."
He looked up at her; his grey eyes looked at her closely "Are you stalking me Granger?" he regained his posture and smirked at her.
I knew it. I knew it. I should never have helped him. I should've let him suffer in his stupid nightmare. "No I wasn't stalking you Malfoy."
"Then what are you doing here?" He crossed his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow.
"Homework. See you tomorrow morning." She walked away leaving him alone.
She had reached the door when she heard him call out "Granger!"
She stopped and turned around facing him.
"At least make an attempt of trying to brush your hair tomorrow morning." he smirked.
Hermione felt anger rise in her and making her want to go and punch him in the face just like last time. Why did she bother helping him? She turned around quickly and walked out the library.
Draco sat in the green sofa staring at the fire ahead. The nightmare had been so vivid it was horrifying. He had witnessed it once in front of his eyes but now he witnessed it again in his dreams. Watching the young girl being murdered was his biggest nightmare. He tried to act tough on that day in the Manor but he couldn't bear to watch it. He wasn't made for this. He was raised in a dark, violent home but shockingly he didn't turn out as a dark and violent child that should've been raised. He hated this feeling. The feeling of guilt, he should've stopped them from killing her. But he didn't.
He didn't because he couldn't.
He was a coward, he didn't have guts, he didn't have any courage to stand up and fight against the Dark Lord and his followers. If Pothead were there he would've saved the girl. He would've saved her from the pain, the agony, the terror of the last seconds of her life. He hit the hard wooden table beside him. Another reason to hate the great Lord Potty- Head. He took a deep breath and felt himself allowing sleep to take over.
Hermione glanced over at the Slytherin table from the corner of her eye. He wasn't there. Something about what happened last night in the library bothered her. Sure the ferret had made a stupid remark about her but he was trying to cover up something. Something that scared him. She knew he was scared. His eyes would always disagree with what came out of his mouth. She remembered the fear she sensed in them the second before she punched him. He knew what was coming and he was scared.
"Hermione?" Harry's voice pulled her out of her thoughts "You alright? Why do you keep looking over at the Slytherin table?"
Hermione quickly readjusted herself. However the minute she turned to face Harry the doors banged loudly against the wall. Merlin, this boy just seemed to be full of dramatic entries since school started. Malfoy stood there for a split second as everyone turned to see who was behind the dramatic entrance. He looked…well not Malfoy like. Defiantly not Malfoy like. His shirt was untucked; his cloak falling off his shoulder, his hair wasn't even gelled to perfection. Papers were peeking out of every opening of his bag. Hermione noticed that there were circles underneath his eyes. Did he sleep last night after the incident in the library? Merlin she was worrying about Malfoy! Snap out of it Hermione this is Malfoy you are worrying about.
As he started walking everyone returned to their conversations except for one person. The muggle. Draco didn't dare make eye contact. He could feel her eyes on him as he walked over to where Blaise sat. Blaise acknowledged his friend's presence by nodding his head before continuing his conversation with one of the players from the Slytherin Quidditch team. He sat down glumly beside his only friend and stared at the food.
Something was bothering Malfoy and Hermione Granger knew it. Sure they weren't the best of friends but they practically grew up together. Over the years Hermione had noticed a few things like when he's thinking his eyebrows will crease together while muttering words to himself or when he's nervous, usually before a big Quidditch game, his thumbs will fidget and when he's under stress he sits with a hand under his chin looking nowhere in particular which he was doing right now.
Why wasn't she looking away? Draco shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. Merlin, did she really think that he wouldn't notice? But why was Draco feeling anxious with her eyes on him? He never felt this way when she looked at him before. But it's different now, she witnessed him having a nightmare the previous night and knowing her she was probably worried even though he was her enemy.
That's it, he decided, he was going to look up and make it awkward for her. Lifting his head upward and shifting his gaze to the Gryffindor table he met a pair of brown eyes. Needless to say these eyes didn't belong to Granger because instead of hatred there was lust. Never in a million years would Granger look at him with lust filled eyes.
Lavander Brown was gawking at him and from what it looked like from where he sat she was drooling. Disgusting. What did I do to deserve this? Curse my good looks.
Hermione glanced between the love, lust filled eyes of Lavender and the sickened facial expression held by Malfoy. Hermione couldn't keep the laughter inside her any longer. She had witnessed him lifting his head up only to be blessed with the lovely, drooling face of Lavender. Hermione burst out laughing making Harry jump from beside her. He looked over at her as she continued laughing. A couple Gryffindor students who close by looked over and maybe even some students from the other tables too but Hermione couldn't stop laughing. It was all because of the expression on Malfoy's face.
Her laugh made him avert his eyes from Brown's dull, lust filled eyes in a fraction of a second. The muggle laughed as if she had just witnessed something remarkably funny. Her idiot friends looked at her with confused faces. Draco rolled his eyes, of course she isn't laughing over what they said. When Granger laughed it made Draco wanted to smile. Just the tiniest bit. Not a lot, just a bit like a pinch of salt that's how much.
Did I just think that? I did not just want to smile because of the muggle did I? No of course I didn't.
"Hermione what's so funny?" Harry asked
"Nothing Harry, I just remembered something" Hermione answered laughing "Carry on with your Quidditch techniques I'll calm down in a second"
Harry smiled at her and went back to finishing his conversation with Ron about their upcoming Quidditch game and which methods they should use. Hermione's laughter finally died down a bit. She giggled as she looked up her Potions textbook and met a pair of grey eyes.
Why is Draco Malfoy staring into my soul? She thought
Her laughter died down completely by now. Was there a staring competition going on between them that Hermione wasn't aware of? He hadn't even blinked once since she looked up. Hermione glanced around herself awkwardly to make sure it wasn't her he was staring so long at.
She looked around her. Everyone was chit chatting with their friends, scrambling to finish the last bit of an assignment or eating without even coming up for air, like what Ronald was doing right now. Merlin when would this boy learn to eat like a human?
Nope. It was Hermione. Malfoy was looking at Hermione and she had no idea how to react. Was there something on her face? She subconsciously touched her face. Her face was as smooth and clean as it felt when she washed it that morning and she didn't recall having any zit or pimple on her face either. When she looked back at him the corners of his mouth were up a very tiny bit.
Wait.
Hold up.
Was Draco Malfoy smiling at Hermione Granger?
Hermione's eyes widened. No. That isn't possible. No way was Malfoy smiling at her. Even if it was the smallest smile she had ever seen. Malfoy shook his head, more to himself than her, before grabbed his bag and getting up to leave.
As he walked by Gryffindor table he looked over at Granger. I don't think Granger has ever looked so confused in her entire life. Draco smirked to himself as he walked towards the door. Why did Granger's laugh and confusion just brighten his day?