Summary: Someone should really clean up the dungeons. You never know when you might trip and fall into the arms of the least expected person in the world. DM/HG
A/N: Yeah I know, the idea's probably cliche, but hey, this is my version of it! ;) Enjoy, and please review!!
Third Trip's the Charm
"Hermione, can I see your notes on Muggle remedies again, I need to see whether..." Ron Weasley's voice trailed off into an incoherent mumble as he attempted to draw one of Hermione Granger's sheets of parchments from her hands.
"Ronald!" she exclaimed at once, as his gesture sent everything she had been carrying, books, parchment and whatnot, cascading helplessly to the floor, and tumbling down the mucky staircase to the dungeons.
"I'm sorry!" he gasped, bending down at once to retrieve some of the parchment that had fortunately escaped the deadly fall. Harry Potter followed suit, while Hermione, immediately forgetting about the Potions test that was mere minutes away, hurried down the staircase to recover the rest of her possessions.
Towards the bottom, however, her foot slipped on a particularly slimy step, and she stumbled forward with a scream.
Which was cut short when a hand shot out and grabbed her torso.
It took her a good three seconds to recover from her shock. "Oh, thank you!" she breathed, instinctively grasping the strange arm around her stomach. "I'm sorry, I should've watched where I was going... I-" She screamed again as the arm suddenly flung her backwards and, somehow, onto her feet.
"Yes, you should have," said a familiar face, regarding her with a look of utter contempt.
She gasped as she tried to steady herself. "Malfoy?"
The pale, platinum-haired boy peered at his arm, then shook it as if of dust. "You creased my robes, Granger," he snapped.
She was still too shocked to reply with a snappy remark. "Uh... um..." she stuttered.
He cocked an eyebrow, and his eyes slowly traveled from her face to the books and pieces of parchment strewn at the bottom of the staircase. "Not quite your day, eh, Granger?" he said with that all-too-familiar smirk. He waved a careless hand over his shoulder. "Let's go," he commanded to his comrades, and with one last, curious glance, he brushed past her.
"Hermione, are you okay?" asked Harry in a concerned tone. "What happened?" He looked in Malfoy's direction, and scowled. "What did that slimeball do?"
Hermione blinked, and then shook her head in disbelief. "He... er... saved me."
"What?" exclaimed Ron, rushing down the staircase with a handful of parchment and books, and promptly slipping on the last step. "WOAH!"
Harry reflexively grabbed his friend's wrist at once and steadied him.
"Someone should really clean up down here," muttered Hermione, eyeing the pale head that just disappeared around a corner.
oOo
"That test was torture," moaned Ron, rubbing his forehead with the palm of his hand. "Whoever invented that stupid energy... wotsitsname potion, should be hexed."
"Energy Revivifying Potion," corrected Hermione wearily, "I have to check my answer for that, and for that insecticide tonic question." She patted the lone book in her hands, 'Asiatic Anti-Venoms'. "And I have to agree, that test was harder than I thought it would be."
Harry shot her an incredulous look. "And I suppose that had nothing to do with the fact that you finished five minutes before everyone else did," he said dryly.
"Yes it does," replied Hermione, slightly miffed. "I usually finish ten minutes before everyone else."
Harry let out a tired laugh. "Ah, my back's killing me..."
"It's my neck that's killing me," moaned Ron, tilting his head upwards. "Hey, Harry, do you think we can get off Transfiguration for this? I mean, them Hufflepuffs can manage fine without us!"
Hermione didn't hear Harry's reply, however, for at that moment she spotted a shock of white-blond hair moving in a direction opposite them; the test had completely flushed out the incident of her fall from her mind, but now it was creeping back in like a remnant of a dream of sorts.
She hadn't thanked him, she suddenly realized. I have to, she decided, it's only proper.
"What did you say, Hermione?" Ron's voice broke into her thoughts.
"Um..." she began, watching the pale head that was moving away fast. "I'll be right back."
She pushed her way through the bustling crowd of students, mumbling an 'excuse me' here and there, until she could plainly see Malfoy's lean back, and the flexing of his smooth jaw as he conversed with Gregory Goyle beside him.
She halted in her tracks, hesitating. She was about to thank the sworn rival of her best friend; her own rival as well, in fact. Was that really proper? He did save me, she thought, and so, with a decisive nod, she hurried towards him and called out his name. "Malfoy!"
He ceased his conversation and twisted his head around...
Just as her foot tripped over a loose stone in the floor. She screamed as she toppled forward with arms flailing.
And for the second time that day, she found herself in Draco Malfoy's arms. This time, they were completely wrapped around her waist.
"Finally falling for me, Granger?" he said smugly, his face just inches away from hers. She stared into his piercing gray eyes for a shocked moment, before wrenching herself free from his grip.
"Keep dreaming, Malfoy!" she spat, backing away and blushing furiously, not just at his remark, but at the fact that she had tripped in full view of her classmates, especially those of Slytherin, who were, she could visibly see, snickering at her. She silently thanked the heavens that she had at least saved herself the humiliation of scouring the floor for her things, which she had managed to stuff into her bag as soon as the Potions test had ended, save for 'Asiatic Anti-Venoms', which now lay on the floor at Malfoy's feet. He picked it up with one fluid motion.
"What did I tell you, Goyle?" he drawled, nudging his burly companion with the book. "Girls can't keep their hands off me." He gazed at Hermione with a roguish grin. "Even filthy ones. I believe you had something to say to me?"
Hermione scowled at him. "I was going to thank you for catching me earlier... and catching me now, I suppose, but you know what, I change my mind. You don't deserve my thanks."
"What does she mean, you caught her earlier?" demanded Pansy Parksinson, suddenly materializing at Malfoy's side.
His face pulled into a tight frown, his eyes not leaving Hermione's. "Useless Mudblood just got in my way, is all."
"Take that back, Malfoy!" yelled a sudden familiar voice, and Hermione whirled around to see Ron and Harry with their wands out, directly pointing at Malfoy's chest.
"No, leave him, both of you," she said at once, walking up to them and grasping either of their arms. "He's not worth it. Come on..." she pulled them around, "we're going to be late for Transfiguration."
"You owe me two, Granger!" called out Malfoy with a laugh.
"Two?" repeated Ron suspiciously, as they made their way outside. "Why two?"
Hermione sighed. "I tripped, again, and he saved me... again."
Harry shook his head in a disapproving manner. "You'd better not make it a habit, Hermione."
She crossed her arms in annoyance. "It's not my fault the dungeon's such a hazardous place."
oOo
Transfiguration was the last subject of the day, so, like all such subjects, it seemed to stretch out into a perpetual lesson, clawing at a snail's pace to that hour when all mental exhaustion built up from the morning until then and all knowledge of a heavy burden of several assignments burst upon you like an unsuspecting tidal wave. Precisely twenty-one minutes before that fateful hour, Hermione released a large yawn into her hands.
Today's lesson was particularly uninteresting, even in her opinion. Professor McGonagall was explaining the impossibility of transfiguring human beings into inanimate objects, something Hermione had long since known. She sighed and let her mind wander, for once.
The fall.
She blushed at once at the sudden recollection of the embarrassing incident. Why did I go after him? she silently groaned. She shook her head, trying to rid the image of laughing faces from her mind, and in its place fell the Potions test. She had found it relatively easy in truth, except for that question about the insecticide tonic whose answer she had been unsure of at the beginning. It was in her...
"My 'Asiatic Anti-Venoms' book!" she gasped. "Where..."
It was in Malfoy's possession, she suddenly recalled with a sinking feeling.
"Miss Granger, is anything the matter?" asked Professor McGonagall curiously.
"I just realized I forgot a book in the dungeons, Professor! Might I go fetch it?" How exactly, is the problem, thought Hermione.
"Can't it wait, Miss Granger?"
"I..." Hermione heaved a sigh, unable to think of an excuse. "Yes, it can, Professor. Sorry for disrupting the class." She straightened herself, and caught Harry's gaze on her.
Do you want us to come? he mouthed, motioning to Ron beside him with a jerk of his head.
No, I'm alright, she mouthed back. With her luck today, she might just find herself in the middle of yet another embarrassing incident, and the last thing she needed was to have her closest friends witness it.
oOo
In her frenzied rush to get to the dungeons, Hermione nearly slipped on that grimy staircase she had slipped only two hours before. "Honestly!" she gasped, after her feet had managed to touch the solid floor of the dungeons, "someone really should wipe the mess down here! It's an inadvertent danger to students!"
She composed herself with a deep intake of breath, and proceeded to search the place for Malfoy. "How I'm going to find him here, I have no clue..." she muttered to herself, scanning the damp, torch-lit hallways, which were, to her relief, not empty; even at the late afternoon hour, there were many Slytherin students strolling about.
She rounded a corner, deciding to make her way to the Potions classroom first. "Worse comes to worst," she told herself, "I'll just have to ask it from him during dinner..." She shuddered at the thought. "Or, maybe not..."
"Granger?" called out a voice suddenly from behind.
She whirled around, and released a relieved sigh. "Malfoy."
"Thought it was you," he said nonchalantly, his pale face coming into full view. "I'd recognize that bushy head of yours anywhere."
Hermione crossed her arms irritably, but before she could snap back at him, her eyes fell on the single leather-bound book in his hand, and she gasped. "That's my book!"
He lifted the book and opened it, casually flipping the pages. "Oh, is it?" he whispered, raising an eyebrow. "Dear me, Granger, you've written more notes on it than the author himself."
She pursed her lips together. "Give it back, please," she said in a neutral tone.
"Give me one good reason to."
"Because you're nice today," she said with a slight smug smile.
He frowned. "I beg your pardon?" he hissed through clenched teeth.
"You're nice today, because you caught me twice now, and if that doesn't say you're nice, I don't know what does."
"I am not nice, Granger."
"Keep telling yourself that," she said with a shrug. "Now, if you please..." She held out an outstretched hand towards him and jerked her fingers in a beckoning manner.
"Do you think I'd give it to you after you insulted me like that?" he remarked, snapping the book shut.
"I complimented you, Malfoy," corrected Hermione, rolling her eyes. "Besides, what do you achieve from keeping my book for yourself, really?"
"Other than the satisfaction of knowing I have a precious something of yours, nothing really," he said with a smirk.
"Oh Merlin, you are so childish," she sighed. "Where were you going with my book anyway?"
The smirk vanished from his face, and he seemed to stiffen. "Not that it's any of your business, Mudblood, but I was going to the Slytherin common room."
She stared at him suspiciously. "There's nothing down this corridor except the Potions classrooms." A sudden idea occurred to her, and she grinned. "You were going to give my book to Professor Snape, weren't you? You are nice!"
"For the last time, Granger, I am not nice!" he snapped. "I'll prove it to you by walking away this instant, with your book!"
In a flash Hermione whipped out her wand. "Accio book!" she cried, and 'Asiatic Anti-Venoms' flew out of Malfoy's hand and into her outstretched one. "Thanks a lot, Malfoy!" she grinned, proceeding to stride past him.
And her triumphant moment was shot to pieces when the sole of her shoe snagged a protruding stone in the floor.
Before she could lose her balance completely, however, a hand grabbed her shoulder roughly and pulled her back. She slammed painfully against a wall.
A wall that was Draco Malfoy's chest.
"You're amazingly clumsy, do you know that?" he whispered into her ear.
She flushed at the warmth of his breath on her skin, and she tugged herself away from him. "Someone should really clean up down here!" she said furiously, refusing to meet his eyes. "I'm complaining to Dumbledore!" She walked away from Malfoy as fast and as carefully as she could -which proved to be quite a difficult task- making her way towards the staircase that led out of the dungeons. Unfortunately, Malfoy was hot on her tail.
"I think you're attracted to me, Granger!" he said loudly.
"Just because I tripped when you were around doesn't mean I'm attracted to you!" she exclaimed, increasing her pace.
"Oh it does, Granger!" He suddenly appeared at her side, but she did not slow down in the least. "Three times? I think that's a little too farfetched for coincidence. I say you planned on falling for me!"
When they reached the staircase, Hermione finally halted. "You are such an arrogant prick!" she exclaimed. "I tripped by accident. You just happened to be there! And who're you accusing of being attracted? You were the one who caught me! I should be saying you're attracted to me!"
"Please, Granger," he said, waving a hand dismissively, "I was acting purely on my Seeker reflexes."
Hermione let a little cry of exasperation. "Ugh! Just leave me alone, Malfoy! Go bang your abnormally inflated head on a wall or something!"
"No," said Malfoy with a grin, skipping a few steps up the staircase, "I'm going to badger you about this all the way to wherever you're going. So, as I was saying, you - AAARGH!"
Hermione gasped as she saw Malfoy's foot slip on a particular step, and his body suddenly loom over her like an approaching tree. Acting purely on instinct, she held out her arms and braced for the impact.
Bang!
"Look who's falling for who now," she said smugly, gazing down at the tousled mess of blond hair underneath her chin.
"Get off me!" he spat, scrambling to his feet. His face was tinged pink, much to Hermione's delight.
"Do you know the saying 'third time's the charm'?" she asked casually. "Well, I fell three times already. Looks like the tables have turned."
"Shut it, Mudblood," he snapped, adjusting his robes savagely. "Someone needs to clean up down here..." he added in a husky tone, shooting a dirty look at the staircase.
"Told you," she said cheerfully. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have work to do." She bounced by him, and made her way carefully up the staircase. "Oh, by the way," she said, pausing and looking over her shoulder at him, "you're welcome."
He scowled up at her, his cheeks still visibly pink. She turned away, not caring whether he replied or not, when a grunt-like noise made her look back at him again.
"You're welcome, too," he mumbled hoarsely.
She stared at him for a moment, before breaking out into a grin. He gazed back at her expressionlessly, and then the corners of his mouth upturned into a slight smile, if not a smirk. Satisfied, she whirled around and made her way up the rest of the staircase.
Maybe the dungeon wasn't such a hazardous place after all.