Our Private Nights by elix-j
Summary: Sugar Quills & Butterbeer by the Great Lake :)
Disclaimer: All characters owned by J.K. Rowling...
Hermione bit the end of her Sugar Quill before crumpling the piece of parchment and throwing it at the back of her head.
She let out a frustrated groan and buried her head in between her hands. Somehow she was having trouble completing Snape's essay that was due this coming Monday. And somehow, she had forgotten about it until tonight which isn't normally her. And since when had she started buying Sugar Quills?
She smiled despite the state she was in... It must have been Ron's and Harry's influence. And it was probably because of them that she was under of this stress! A frown crossed her face and she stared at the blank parchment again.
She began to suck her Sugar Quill again, unwrapping it carefully as a part of it was being eaten by Hermione. Hermione found herself looking out at the night sky, staring at the cloudless night and dreamily gazing at the stars twinkling. She sighed and stared at the parchment again.
There was no way she could rest without completing the essay that night. As she continued gazing while finishing her Sugar Quill, Hermione let out a small smile.
Inspiration struck and excitedly, she capped her ink bottle, stuck a real writing quill behind her ear, rolled her spare parchments and gathered her Potion books. Dumping it all into her bag (together with a pack of Sugar Quills) Hermione put on her cloak and quietly made her way out the Gryffindor common room.
Being Prefect, Hermione knew the habits of the old castle at the back of her hand. As quiet as a mouse, she made her way quietly out the castle, crossed Hagrid's hut and headed towards the Lake.
The Lake had a magnificent view of the sky especially at night. Besides the quiet and peaceful atmosphere, Hermione found great comfort just by sitting by the lake, thinking incoherent thoughts as she watched the soft ripples made in the water. Sometimes, there were other people sitting by the lake, just studying or revising work but that didn't bother her a lot. She was contented-it was just her and the lake. It was as though both of them shared a secret between themselves.
People might think that this girl has gone mental, wandering the outdoor of the Hogwarts castle in the middle of the night. However, not one thought of danger had crossed her mind. Even if it did, Hermione could easily knock on Hagrid's door should she need any help.
Laying her cloak on the ground, Hermione sat on it, arranging her Potions books and stuff neatly. She whispered "Lumos" and her wand was instantly lit up. After propping it against a book, Hermione flipped through a Potions book she had borrowed from the library while unwrapping another Sugar Quill.
After reading halfway through a chapter, Hermione couldn't help but feel an aura of insecurity surrounding her. She pushed her imagination aside and tried concentrating on her work.
She couldn't help but hear someone flipping through a book quickly and the noise seemed to be coming behind her. Hermione was afraid to turn around. Her heart skipped a beat when an angry growl could be heard followed by more flipping of pages. She frowned.
It must be a student, she thought to herself and cautiously peeped around the other corner of the tree she was leaning on.
A shine caught her eye and she stepped back when a pair of gleaming eyes blinked in the dark.
"Who's there?" a firm voice sounded and a beam of light was being shone directly at her face. She covered her face with her hands and turned away quickly.
"Turn that off, my eyes hurt," Hermione whispered in the dark and retrieved her own wand.
"How am I suppose to see then?" the voice demanded. Hermione squinted her eyes at her unexpected company and came face to face with her fellow Prefect, the Prince of Slytherin.
"What are you doing here Malfoy?" Hermione asked in a shrill voice.
"I'm obviously revising Granger," Draco answered and gestured towards his stuff.
"Revising? Revising what?" Hermione asked and peered closer. There was his Transfiguration book being opened to a chapter far ahead than the one recently covered. Hermione raised her eyebrows as Draco hastily closed the book and tucking it behind him.
"None of your business," he said.
"There isn't a test coming up right?" Hermione asked in a panicky voice.
"No, there isn't, now I'd really appreciate it if you could leave me alone," Draco answered impatiently, crossing his arms across his chest.
"Ooh are you trying how to-," Hermione asked, her voice becoming excited when she caught sight of the equipment he was using.
"Yes, Granger," Draco gritted his teeth angrily. Fascinated, Hermione shifted her supplies so she was sitting nearer to him in the darkness, "What the hell are you doing?" Malfoy asked, his eyes opening wide as Hermione sat and watched him, while sucking on her Sugar Quill.
"Go on," she said simply, watching him intently.
He looked at her stubbornly and his eyes focused keenly on the candy she was holding to her mouth, "What's that you're eating?" he asked after a while. She blinked, unexpected by his question and looked at her Sugar Quill.
"Oh, it's a kind of candy. Sugar Quills," Hermione stated absentmindedly gesturing towards the packet and continued watching Malfoy, waiting for him to start.
Malfoy looked at her in disgust. He cleared his throat and muttered a spell, flicking his wand as he did so. Hermione leaned in closer as a shower of pink sparks glittered out of the wand. Nothing happened.
"It's not perfected yet," Draco said in a low voice, turning away from Hermione's face.
"Oh, never mind then. These kinds of spells are meant to be difficult to cast," Hermione shrugged. Grabbing her own wand, she took a long look at Draco's Transfiguration book, her eyebrows knitting together and a determined look set on her face.
"Let me try," she couldn't help but grin.
"No, how can I be sure you wouldn't do any damage to it? It took me a long time to find this stupid bird!" Draco said angrily, shielding the little white dove in his hands gently and protectively.
Hermione scowled, "Besides beating you in every Transfiguration test, I am also the top student of our year." She shot him a haughty look.
"The latter remains to be seen," Draco sneered.
Silence fell between them for a moment and Hermione couldn't bottle up her excitement over a spell any longer. It was like an itch begging to be scratched.
"Malfoy just let me try, will you?" Hermione asked him as nicely as possible.
"You'll kill the bird!"
"I won't I swear! Just trust me will you?" Hermione sounded like she was begging. She couldn't help it; she had wanted to try that spell for a long time.
"You're really desperate aren't you?" an evil grin formed on Draco's face. Hermione admitted defeat and scowled. It disappeared at once when Draco gingerly dropped the pristine white dove onto the ground as it flapped around in his hands.
Muttering the spell under her breath, Hermione closed her eyes in determination, opening them once again, and flicking her wand in a wide stroke before tapping the bird once. The pink sparks surrounded the bird and it evolved slowly until-
A single red rose appeared on the ground.
Hermione sat back in the shadows a satisfied smile on her face, "What do you need it for anyway?"
"Mother's birthday is coming up," Draco said in a strained voice, leaning his back against the tree trunk, watching Hermione with a tired expression.
"So?"
"This is her birthday present, you Gryffindork!"
"Why don't you buy her something from Hogsmeade?" Hermione pressed on.
"I did, I just felt like doing something extra for her this year," Malfoy said, his voice becoming soft. Hermione couldn't suppress a grin. Wow, to think that a rich brat like Malfoy would impress his mother with magic. She sighed.
"It's beautiful," Hermione said dreamily and Malfoy shot her a quizzical look. She caught herself just in time, "I mean, this is a beautiful spell."
"You think she'll love it?" Draco asked uncertainly. "You're a girl, you should know," he added, scratching his neck suddenly.
Hermione didn't bother hiding her sincerity despite being who he was, "I think it's really sincere... and sweet." She held the rose in her hands and fingered the velvety petals tenderly, handling it with fragility as though afraid it might break any moment. It had a unique fragrance to it, Hermione thought as she took in the smell.
"One problem, I must learn how to perfect it," Malfoy sighed exasperatedly and took the rose from her hands. He reversed the spell and he flicked it again, copying Hermione's actions.
Closing his eyes, he tried to imagine his mother's expression when receiving the present. A smile flickered threateningly on his stony face and when he opened his eyes again, giving the wand a flick, the rose appeared again. He let out a relieved smile, reversing the spell again.
They lapsed into silence. Hermione tried concentrating on her essay while Draco casually leaned against the tree stroking the little white dove in his hand, staring at the full moon.
The sounds of Hermione's scratchy quill and the soft purring of the bird echoed in the darkness as they sat together in silence. Then, Hermione could hear a hollow popping sound emitted from her companion.
Hermione looked up and found Malfoy enjoying the Sugar Quill. She shook her head and chuckled to herself.
"Where did you get this?" Draco asked, keeping the dove in the cage.
"Honeydukes," she answered without looking up. By the tone of his voice, Hermione could tell he liked it, "let me warn you though, it's rather addictive."
"Mmhmm," Draco hummed.
Silence enveloped them again.
Draco turned to her and read what she had written on the parchment. He wrinkled his forehead.
"Uses and the Elaboration of Dragon Blood," he muttered. Skimming through her points quickly, Draco spotted her missing point.
He glanced towards Hermione who was aimlessly searching for the last point in her Potions textbook.
He took the book from her hand and flipped to the correct page before handing it back to her.
"Thanks," Hermione beamed at him.
After copying the last point from the book, Hermione let the ink dry before rolling the three pieces of parchment properly and placing it carefully into her bag. Keeping her stationery, she joined Draco staring at the moon.
"Do you come here often?" Draco asked after a while, stroking the sleeping bird in his lap.
"In the daytime, yes, to complete homework and do revision because the Gryffindor Common Room is extremely noisy and the Girls Dormitory well, it can get distracting... what about you?" Hermione asked, randomly counting stars in the sky.
"Oh I come here all the time," he answered lazily, "to relax."
"It can really peaceful at times over here," Hermione replied.
"There's no one to monitor your every move."
"Or anyone making fun of you," she looked sharply at Malfoy.
"Or pretending to be someone you're not."
"Or anyone calling you names," again, she shot a glare in his direction.
"It's just you-"
"-the moon-"
"-and the lake," Draco finished, a rare peaceful smile escaping his face.
"I wouldn't expect you to appreciate nature, Malfoy," Hermione said in wonder, returning the smile, "Neither would I expect you to like Sugar Quills."
Draco wanted to laugh but he merely said, "There are a lot of things you don't know about me, Granger."
With that, he pulled two bottles of rich Butterbeer from his bag and handed one to her. She accepted without further questions, relishing the warm feeling of hot liquid washing her throat.
"You're a great pretender, Malfoy. You put on great facades back in the castle," Hermione drawled, the beverage making her feel flushed and warm, "one minute you're this malicious Slytherin, the next you're some good guy."
"Some good guy who enjoys sitting in the moonlight, drinking Butterbeer and eating Sugar Quills... with a Mudblood," he added with a smirk.
"I can't even go anywhere without you calling me Mudblood, can I?"
Hermione felt anger rushing through her body. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at the moon angrily. Then his words finally sank in and she gave him a puzzled glance before looking down embarrassedly again.
"Oh," she said meekly, and Draco chuckled.
After 5 minutes of silence, Hermione cleared her throat and stood up, putting on her cloak. She took her bag and slung it over her shoulder.
"I should probably get going," she said. Draco looked up and gave a small nod.
"Same time tomorrow?" he asked her.
"We'll see," Hermione gave him a real smile.
"And Granger," he looked up again and stood up. His cheeks had gone pink.
"Malfoy?" Hermione's voice went soft when Malfoy stepped closer to her. He licked his lips and stared at the ground.
"Can I keep the packet of Sugar Quills?" his face showed a boyish smile. Hermione wanted to ruffle his hair and quickly controlled herself. He looks just like a lttle kid, Hermione laughed to herself.
"Of course," she answered.
A/N: PlEaSe don't leave without a review!!! Boo hoo!!!