Chapter Three: Loving Thoughts
A/N: Part of this chapter is a parody of episode 1, series 1 of an Australian comedy, Kath and Kim. If you have not watched this program, I highly recommend it! Also, This is definitely a Ron and Hermione fan fiction :). I hope the last section of chapter two was comprehendible!
Draco Malfoy awoke early the following morning in his dormitory. He had had a strange dream about a currant bun. Naturally, his dreams of late had been fitful and frightening; usually concerning You-Know-Who and the Vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Requirement. So you can understand why this dream had been most abnormal and curious. He sat up and wrapped his arms around himself; it was freezing cold. It was the middle of December and some filthy elf had forgotten to light the fire. He pulled back his green four poster curtains and glared at the hearth as though expecting to catch the culprit elf. He did however, see a cupcake. He walked over to the hearth and picked it up curiously. He sniffed it; it smelled good enough to eat. He glanced over at Crabbe who had not closed the curtains around his bed; he was lying on his back, his large mouth opened wide as he snored. Malfoy let out an audible 'ha'. The muffin obviously belonged to that oaf. He took a large and spiteful bite while staring at his friend; Crabbe definitely didn't need any more cake, thought Malfoy as he returned to his bed to finish the muffin.
Meanwhile, Ron had awoken early to finish his Transfiguration essay so he could have at least part of his Sunday free to spend leisurely. He sat down at the small table in the corner of the common room and looked down at his essay wearily. He raised his head to stare, bleary eyed at the expanse of table in front of him and noticed that someone had pressed too hard on their parchment with their quill and etched into the soft wood of the table. Ron turned his chair to inspect the handwriting and found that it was Hermione's. He expected the content to have something to do with Transfiguration and began to read the small amount of text greedily. However he was mistaken; the few words etched into the wood seemed to be an excerpt from a diary of some sort.
"Sometimes I don't understand why I feel the way I do. How could I when the object of my affection is so..."
These words interested Ron immensely. Who could Hermione be talking about? A familiar thought floated across his early morning mind and caused him to shake his red head violently. The truth was that he was afraid; he had never been very successful when it came to expressing how he felt, and he was sickeningly scared of the possible result of making this particular, recurring thought audible. Ron was brought out of his reverie by the sudden arrival of Harry in the common room. Tousle-haired and rubbing his eyes, Harry spotted, with blurry eyes the red hair and gangly body of his best friend sitting at the small table they had been seated around the previous evening. Harry slumped in a chair beside Ron and replaced his glasses. Ron quickly hid Hermione's writing with his essay and turned to look at Harry.
"Why did you get up so early Harry? I thought you said you'd finished your essay?"
"Yeah, I have. But I wanted to tell you about Dobby's visit last night."
Harry went on to explain to Ron about Dobby's problem with Winky and how he was trying to cheer up Malfoy. Ron was only half listening; he couldn't stop thinking about who Hermione had been writing about in her diary.
"So I'm going to keep an eye on Malfoy; I want to see what Dobby plans to do to help him; and knowing Dobby's way of trying to 'help' people, it could be interesting," Harry concluded with a smile.
Ron knew Harry was recounting the events of their second year. Dobby hadn't exactly been helpful; unless you classify almost getting them expelled and setting a rogue bludger on Harry at a Quidditch match helpful that is.
Harry let Ron finish his essay while he went to get dressed. He met Hermione on the stairs on the way back into the common room. She appeared to have calmed down after the previous night and had Crookshanks under her arm. She and Harry made their way back to Ron's table to find him hurriedly scrawling the last few lines of his essay.
"I hope your not rushing that Ron," said Hermione sternly.
"Ah no, I'm not rushing," replied Ron as he concentrated on his last line, feeling his ears heating at the sound of Hermione's voice.
"Ron, I-," Hermione began.
"Come on, let's go to breakfast," said Ron hurriedly, avoiding Hermione's eye.
Later that morning, Harry, Hermione and Ron, muffled in their warm cloaks, trudged through the thin layer of snow blanketing the grass in the grounds on their way to visit Hagrid. He had sent them a scrawly note with the owl post at breakfast asking them to pay him a visit.
Meanwhile, Draco Malfoy had something extremely unusual on his mind, or someone extremely unusual. And that person was Hermione Granger. He didn't know what had come over him, but he couldn't stop thinking about her. How beautiful she had looked at the Yule Ball the previous year and her amazing intelligence. Their mouths had fallen open as though they'd just seen the biggest tart in the world after he had suddenly blurted out that he loved her while the three were dressing for breakfast in the dormitory.
"I have to see her!" Malfoy cried dramatically.
"Uh, I don't get it Malfoy. What?" Crabbe questioned.
"You know her you idiot. The beautiful witch in Gryffindor who has unwisely chosen to befriend Potty and Weasley," Malfoy replied, his eyes glazed over, a rapt expression on his face.
"Malfoy, I'm sorry for this but…"
Goyle pounded Malfoy over the head in an attempt to bring Malfoy to his senses.
When Malfoy had proclaimed his love of Hermione to the other Slytherin sixth years, Pansy Parkinson was hysterical.
"What?!" she screeched upon hearing the news. "I can't believe it! What is wrong with you Draco? Why?"
Malfoy simply shook his head and gazed into the distance dreamily.
"This is sickening," said Pansy poisonously. "She will never even dream of fancying you anyway Malfoy. I've seen the way she looks at that pathetic Weasley."
Malfoy sat bolt upright in his seat. "No," he gasped. "I know that she doesn't like Weasley; you're wrong Parkinson."
"Well you'll never find out the truth; what are you going to do, stalk the girl or something?"
Malfoy addressed the idea seriously. "I can't do that, a desperate Slytherin is not a good look."
"What's wrong with looking desperate?" Crabbe ventured.
Malfoy stared at Crabbe, as though considering his statement.
"No…,"he said quietly. "No, I'm not going to follow Hermione…But Crabbe and Goyle are."
"Huh?" Crabbe and Goyle uttered thickly.
"You heard me you oafs; you are going to follow her and make sure that Weasley doesn't get in the way."
"Are you crazy Malfoy?" Pansy screeched maniacally.
Ignoring her comment, Draco stated with a familiar expression of smugness, "Ah…Crabbe and Goyle…you can make them carry out your every bidding and also, they make you look good just by comparison."