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Abundance of Feelings- Chapter Two: Scrambled Eggs

Hermione started making her way down the stairs leading into the entrance hall. She was flocked by a group of friends, intent on doing everything they could to find out who her secret admirer was. Although she had no idea what they were going to do- for some reason, they kept their ideas to themselves for the time being.

As she turned the corner, a pair of girls passed by her. The one closest to her, a Hufflepuff by the look of the badge on her robes, stuck out her foot. Hermione had no time to yell- her head would hit the cold, stone floor in mere moments. She braced herself, waiting for the impact.

It never came. Instead, a pair of warm arms surrounded her, supporting her petite frame. She opened her eyes to see the stair inches away from her face.

"You alright there?" a voice asked. It was unfamiliar, but strong and masculine. She was righted on her feet, and lifted her head to gaze up at a scowling Joshua.

"Um, yeah," she managed.

Joshua turned to look at the two girls. "Don't ever," he growled, "do that again. You do and I'll kill you." The full intensity of his glare made them run away with fright, scared of the transfer student. Only when they were gone did he turn back to Hermione. "Well then," he said cheerfully. "That's a nice start to your Monday."

"Yeah," she laughed nervously. "But thanks for that."

"No need to thank me," he replied, the smile evaporating from his face. "They only did that because of me. It was my fault, and I'm sorry."

"What are you talking about?" Hermione said, confused.

"They're jealous." He said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Of what?"

"Jealous that I like you," he grinned. Her mouth dropped open. 'Just who is this guy?' she thought, amazed. 'He must be foreign, who confesses in the first sentences they speak to a person?!'

"Ahm, I'm flattered, Joshua," she said. "Wow."

"Yep," he said, pecking her on the cheek. Her friends, whom Hermione had forgotten were there, squealed loudly. "Now, let's go get some breakfast, shall we?" He led the stunned girl down the stairs, making sure she didn't trip. "Oh, and Hermione?" he asked.

"Y-yes?" she replied, still shocked.

"You can call me Josh."

-x-

Draco hurried down the stairs, debating whether or not to slide down the banister. He was starving, and wanted to get to breakfast quick. He also wanted to see Hermione. Today, he hoped, was going to be a good day, despite the notion he'd had earlier that morning. Every Monday, the Gryffindors and Syltherins had joined Transfiguration classes, and he sat somewhere near the unknowing girl.

Voices wafted up from below- the chatter of a group of girls, obviously very excited by something. And there, in front of them- Hermione! Draco stopped and watched the girl, amused by the look of exasperation on her face. Amused, that is, until, two passing girls tripped her!

'Those bas-' he started, unintentionally taking a step down. Another thing happened then- that new student, Joshua or whatever his name was, caught Hermione before she could fall. The girls scampered away, and later passed by Draco. (He glared at them icily.) Conversation was heard, the pair discussing what happened. And then it turned to... feelings?!

'What? This guy likes her too?' Draco thought angrily. 'I can't believe this! I'll have to beat him, I'll have to- And then Joshua did something that made him stop thinking. Stop breathing even, if only for a moment. He kissed her.

Seconds later the group was gone, but Draco was still reliving that last scene. 'I hate him,' he thought, 'even if he is a Syltherin! I don't care if I'm a prefect, that guy's gonna be sorry he ever laid eyes on her.'

-x-

Most of breakfast has passed by unintentionally, if you don't count how Joshua- 'Josh,' Hermione corrected herself mentally, had walked her to her seat and then winked at her again. Thankfully Harry and Ron hadn't been around to see that yet. Who knows what they'd have done. 'Ron would have probably tried to strangle him. But on second thought, maybe the food would be of more importance...?' she thought as she watched them scarf down all the food within their reach.

Gathering her books, she got up from the bench, her mind on her next class. Boys could never distract her for too long, especially when it came to her studies. However, it seemed Josh was persistent...

"Hey Hermione, walk with me to Transfiguration?" he asked innocently. "I'm not quite sure where it is..."

"Sure," she said. Only now did Harry and Ron look up and notice the transfer beside her.

"Hey, wait for us 'Mione," Ron said, gulping down a large serving of scrambled eggs.

"It's okay, you too are obviously hungry," Hermione said, a hint of disgust evident in her voice. 

She would never understand the eating habits of teenage boys.

"Yeah, don't worry boys," Josh said. "I'm not going to let anyone kidnap her on the way to class. See you later. C'mon, lets head off, Hermione." And with that, he grabbed her free hand and pulled her out of the enormous room.

Her two best friends stared after them. "There's something I don't like about him," Harry said slowly. "It just doesn't seem quite right."

"Mhmm," Ron agreed, shoveling another forkful of eggs into his mouth.

-x-

'This is going perfectly,' Josh thought. 'These idiots won't know what hit them.' He smiled fondly at a laughing Hermione, completely oblivious to his devious nature. 'All except for her. She'll know soon enough.'

Author's Note: Um, yeah, there's chapter two for ya. I was surprised at all the reviews and alerts I got for this story- thank you very much. Just to let you know, I don't usually put chapters up this quick, but I had some time today. So enjoy, and if anyone has any suggestions of what they'd like to happen in the story, please be sure to let me know!

One more thing- I know that not much happened in this chapter, but I hope you will continue to support me. Thank you!

Sienna-shirou