It was just one of those normal days for Hermione Jean Granger as she sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Normal meaning she was up at least an hour before everyone else and eager to learn something new. She rolled out of the bed and hurriedly got herself ready for another long day of classes. At least today's classes were most of her favorites.
As she sat downstairs and ate breakfast, Hermione's eyes trailed around the great hall, seeing who else was down here so far. There were a few Ravenclaws chatting animatedly over at their own table, along with a few Hufflepuffs sitting at their table as well. Lavender was the only other Gryffindor here so far, and she really didn't care much for the girl. Her honey brown eyes traveled to the last table, landing on none other then Draco Malfoy and his friend Blaise Zabini. Sighing, she finished eating her breakfast and decided to head to Potions early.
The room was empty when she got there, making her wonder what time it was to begin with. Potions was nowhere near her favorite subject, but it was rather easy. Pulling out her essay that they had had to do, she read over it, carefully tapping misspelled words with her wand and watching them fix themselves. She thought nothing of the door opening until she heard someone sit in a seat on the other side of the room with a loud sigh that actually startled her. Her gaze turned towards the source of the noise to discover it was none other than the Draco Malfoy. He was never this early to class, and she could say that honestly. Narrowing her eyes, she turned back towards her essay and set her wand down after finishing fixing it.
Having felt her eyes on him, Draco turned to look at Hermione. "Forget to do your homework, Granger?" he asked snidely. Hermione turned towards him and frowned slightly befoe replying. "No, actually. I was rereading my finished essay. Why does it matter to you?" she retorted. He shrugged and pulled out his own essay. "I can't exactly have you beating me in my best class, now can I?" he said. Hermione shook her head and turned back to her essay as more people filtered into the room.
That class was pretty uneventful, aside from the apparent competition in air between her and Malfoy. She actually found the competition a bit thrilling, which was very much unlike her. The rest of the day was just as boring, if not more so. Sitting down at the table for dinner, she talked to Harry, rather than watching Ron and Lavender make out. The sight was rather sickening, and she ended up leaving halfway through dinner because of it.
Sitting on the front steps of the school, she held her face in her hands wearily, biting back the choked sob that was stuck in the back of her throat. The hot tears that trailed down her cheeks had become normal over the past month or so, and nobody but Harry knew she even felt this way. Or so she thought. Because on his way back from a trip to the Forbidden Forest to talk to Snape in private, Draco had spotted her and was now hiding nearby and listening to her cry.
It used to be that he liked causing her pain, or seeing her hurt like this. But Draco had changed over the summer, changed in a way that not many people knew about or suspected. He had become nicer, especially after seeing what the Death Eaters were truly like. How badly he wanted out of it didn't matter, because he was stuck for life now, lest he be branded a traitor and killed on the spot. Snape was the only Death Eater that knew how he felt about it, seeing as how he felt the same way. Draco had a feeling there was more to it than that, but as to what, he had no clue.
Watching Hermione cry, he felt a twang of guilt for the way he had treated her previously. She was one of the brightest witches of their age, as well as a person. And after seeing what the Death Eaters were really about, he felt bad for her. But did he feel bad enough to go help her? Before he realized it, he was walking towards her with a determined look on his face. He sat beside her and looked at her for a minute before reaching over and patting her shoulder awkwardly.
She jumped upon feeling a hand on her shoulder and looked at him, distrust obvious on her face. He wanted to cringe at the hatred in her eyes, but Malfoys didn't cringe at the glance of another person. Well...most didn't.
"What do you want? Come to make fun of ol' mudblood Granger as she sits and cries?" she spat, wiping tears off of her face with the sleeve of her shirt.
Draco sighed and looked away. He should have expected that, especially since he had been such a bloody prick to her all those years before. What was he supposed to say to that but the truth. But what exactly was the truth?
"I'm not here to make fun of you. I want to....wow this sounds weird, even in my head. I want to know what's wrong....and maybe help," he said, the last bit more quiet then the rest of it.
Hermione looked at him, not sure whether her ears had deceived her. Had THE Draco Malfoy just said he might want to help her with whatever was wrong? She bit her lip and looked down at her shoes, not having the slightest clue what to say until Harry's voice rang through her head. "How do I know you aren't trying to trick me or get something out of me that you can use as blackmail?" she asked, turning the full weight of those honey brown eyes on him. Locking his silver eyes onto her brown ones, he gave a slight smile. "Don't you trust me?" he asked jokingly, glad to see a small smile cross her lips. "No really though, I do want to know what's wrong. I'll....tell you some of my secrets if you tell me some of yours," he said.
She nodded and scooted closer to him because of the cold. Having never fathomed it being this cold, she hadn't stopped by the dorm to get her jacket or cloak. He nervously wrapped an arm around her shoulder as she told him what was wrong, and the two exchanged secrets on the front steps of the castle. By the time they both went back in to go to their dorms, they both felt like they had made a new ally, if not friend.
Two weeks later, Hermione was once more in the Potions classroom early, with him as her only companion. Harry and Ron knew about their little conversations, and though Ron was still very much against it, he had realized he couldn't do anything to change her mind. The class before, the professor had paired them up as partners for a potion, though neither minded in the least. The only reason they acted like they hated each other was because they didn't want the whole school knowing about them.
Later after dinner, they once more got together, only they were up in the Astronomy Tower this time. They'd come up her once or twice before, but more often than not, they went to the Room of Requirement to sit and talk. Sitting and talking to him like normal, Hermione was surprised when she listened to the way he said her name quietly. It made her heart skip a beat every time. There was no way that she liked Draco Malfoy. It just couldn't be possible. But there it was again as he said her name, trying to get her attention. Feeling her cheeks turn a light pink, she was glad she had enough of a tan to cover it up.
Draco looked at Hermione as she seemed to space out of what he was saying. He really wanted to tell her what he felt, about these meetings, about their friendship, about everything. Calling her name softly, he wondered if she even heard him. But she looked at him, with the slightest hint of a blush, and he knew she had. Pushing some loose hair out of her face, he leaned forward and placed one hand on the side of her face, cupping it.
"What would you do if I kissed you?" he asked, his lips a mere inch from hers.
She squirmed slightly at his touch and looked into his silver eyes with her honey brown ones, unsure what to say. Had he read her mind, or did he feel the same way as she did. Oh god, what would Ron and Harry say? Harry would obviously be more understanding as he always was, but Ron....Ron would throw a fit if he found out. That alone made her smile at the blond in front of her.
"Mmm, why don't you find out for yourself?" she teased lightly, hoping he didn't pull away or something.
Draco was uncertain about it for a minute before smiling himself. Well, she hadn't exactly said no. And if she didn't like him, or thought he was just messing with her, she'd probably slap him. Again. He thought about it for only a moment more before laying a gentle kiss on her lips, and then another one and another one. Pulling away with his eyes still closed, he opened them slowly and looked at her nervously.
Hermione felt like she was on cloud nine and smiled at him, pulling him back towards her for another kiss before smiling up at him. For even sitting, he was still taller than her. She didn't know how else to voice her enjoyment, so she sat there in silence, one hand holding his hand to her face while her eyes lay closed and her other hand lay in her lap. Feeling herself be pulled towards him, she let him wrap his arms around her and hold her close.
The next day, everyone in the school knew about their secret relationship. Well, not so secret anymore, but they liked it. Now the only thing they had to worry about was Draco's father or Voldemort finding out, and whether or not Harry was ready to face the Dark Lord. In other words, their lives were back to normal, with the exception of their more exuberant happiness.
People were jealous, oh yes. They were jealous of someone they had never expected to be jealous of for this particular reason. They were jealous of Hermione Granger, because she had what they wanted, and it was going to be that way for a while from the looks of it.