The night air was cold against Hermione's skin as she and Malfoy made their way across the school's grounds toward the greenhouses where they had their Herbology lessons. The Invisibility Cloak, whilst helpful, did nothing for warmth, just like being crammed under it with Malfoy did nothing for comfort. Although, if she was being honest with herself, Hermione rather enjoyed the feel of being all pressed up to Malfoy's broad, muscular back. She immediately chastised herself. She would not have inappropriate thoughts about Malfoy. He was a huge git- he called her Mudblood, he hexed her with beaver teeth, he made her life unpleasant whenever he could. But an annoying little voice in the back of brain reminded her about how he hadn't done any of that stuff for ages, reminded her about how he'd actually been polite, and on occasion, even friendly!
Hermione took a deep breath, filling her lungs with the chill night air. She mentally shook herself, clearing all thoughts of Malfoy and his friendliness from her head. She needed to focus. They were on a mission. She looked around her and noted with surprise that they had arrived at Greenhouse Two. Malfoy took out his wand, pointed it at the door, and whispered "alohomora!" They both breathed a sigh of relief when they heard the lock click, and watched the door swing open with a faint groan.
They both stepped inside and shucked off the Cloak, letting it fall to the floor. It was even colder in here than it had been outside. Hermione shivered, hugging herself.
"Are you cold?" Malfoy asked.
"A bit, yeah. I was too stupid to put a jumper on," Hermione said ruefully.
"Here," Malfoy said, untangling his green and silver Slytherin scarf from around his neck and holding it out to her, "Take this. I've got a jumper on; I don't need it."
Hermione was so shocked at Malfoy's uncharacteristic generosity that she took the scarf without an argument. "Thank you, Draco," she said in a surprised voice.
"That's the first time." Draco mused.
"The first time what?" Hermione asked, perplexed.
"The first time you've called me Draco. You usually just call me Malfoy."
Hermione blushed. She hadn't meant to slip up, but Malfoy's kindness in offering his scarf, as if he cared whether or not she was cold, had caught her off guard. "Sorry," she said, embarrassed. "I can just call you Malfoy if you'd like."
"No, I like Draco. Nobody ever calls me that anymore. It's nice to hear my name."
There was a silence. Not an awkward one, but a peaceful one, as they stood there among the Mandrakes and the Knotgrass, bathed in the gentle light of the full moon, stretching out until Hermione remembered they had come there with a job to do. She turned away from Draco, whose pale features were washed out by the moonlight, turning his blonde hair paper-white, and headed toward the wooden door at the back of the greenhouse. Draco shook himself out of his reverie and followed her. They gently pushed the door open and got to work searching for the fluxweed.
Professor Sprout had all sorts of different plants in here, some incredibly rare. Hermione desperately wanted to take a closer look, but she knew that they had to get what they needed and get out of there as soon as possible. She was just examining a plant with silver-looking leaves when Draco whispered "over here!"
Hermione made her way over to where Draco was and pulled out the shears she'd brought along. The fluxweed was an odd looking plant, kind of like Muggle shallots, only a bright red colour with little white leaves running up the sides.
"How much do we need?" she asked Draco.
"Three stalks, including the leaves," he answered.
Hermione took the shears and snipped off three stalks from the back of the thick bunch of fluxweed. She was confident that Professor Sprout wouldn't notice the difference. She stuck both the fluxweed and the shears in the pocket of her robes and turned to face Draco.
"How did you know about this place, anyway?" she asked him.
Draco gave a naughty-boy kind of grin. "I'm a Slytherin," he said. "How did the Sorting Hat put it? Those cunning folk use any means to achieve their ends. I needed fluxweed, and I was prepared to do some exploring to find it. I also know where to find the powdered horn of a bicorn and shredded skin of boomslang when the time comes."
"Will it involve more sneaking around and late-night meetings like this one?" Hermione asked.
Draco dropped her a wink. "Of course. Now, we'd better head back to the castle. I'm not too mad about the idea of Professor Sprout catching us when she comes down here to do her midnight plant-watering."
Hermione laughed. She headed back into the main part of the greenhouse with Draco and picked up the Cloak. "This time, try not to walk so slowly in front of me!" she joked as she pulled the cloak over both of them. They headed back into the night, pausing to lock the door of the greenhouse behind them. Together, they made their way back into the castle and stopped at the Astronomy Tower. There they pulled the cloak off themselves and stared at each other in silence. This time, it was awkward. How did you say goodbye to somebody who was your mortal enemy not two weeks ago after having an adrenaline-filled night of sneaking around together, held together by a tentative friendship?
Draco was the one to break the silence. "Well, that was fun. See you in Potions, I guess?"
"Yeah," Hermione said.
He moved toward her suddenly, and locked her in a hug that she immediately returned. It was brief, but in those few moments, she could appreciate how he was the perfect height for her, his chin resting atop her head as he held her, her face pressed against his chest, where she could hear the steady beat of his heart and smell everything that was Draco; a spicy scent, like cinnamon mixed with cloves, mixed with soap and that pleasant boy smell that made her feel safe and happy. When he stepped back, he seemed as surprised as she.
"Good night, Draco, "she said.
"Good night, Hermione," he replied.
She turned around and headed off to the Gryffindor common room. As she was getting into her pyjamas, she noticed she still wore Draco's scarf. She decided to leave it on. It was cold, she told herself, and the scarf was comfortable. She curled up in bed, with her face pressed up against the scarf, and fell asleep breathing in the remains of the Draco smell that still clung to the green material.
So what did you guys think? Please feel free to review with suggestions! I have some ideas for the next chapters, but I don't want to give it all away yet! xoxo