Hermione jumped at her persistently ringing alarm clock, in annoyance. It
had to be a crime to be awake at 6:30 on a Saturday morning.
Clambering out of bed, she absentmindedly pulled on a pair of jeans and a
woolen jumper. She then sat on the edge of her four-poster bed to pull on
her woolly socks and a pair of shoes.
Roughly pulling her bushy hair into a messy ponytail, Hermione bent down and pulled out the chest from underneath the bed. Opening the creaky door of the chest, she hefted out two of her text books; Transfiguration and Care of Magical Creatures. She was unsure exactly what Malfoy wished to be tutored on, but figured these two subjects would be a good enough place to start.
With her heavy books hugged to her chest, Hermione quietly tip-toed out of her room and into the Gryffindor common room.
She had just reached the exit when a voice sounded behind her. "Hermione? What are you doing up so early?" mumbled the sleepy voice. Hermione turned to see Seamus Flannagan, standing by one of the staircases in his blue pyjamas, wearily wiping his eyes.
"Um. I'm just heading off to the library, for a bit of a study." Said a flustered Hermione. She hugged her books closer to her chest and prayed fervently that Seamus would accept her explanation without any qualms.
"Oh. Right, well I'm just going to get a drink and pop back into bed. Have fun, um, studying." Seamus mumbled as he turned away from Hermione.
Hermione breathed a great sigh of relief, and then raced out of the common room.
~*~
It was a frigid morning and Hermione's footsteps rang through the deserted corridors. Through the large windows, Hermione could see the dawning sun, slant rays of light across the Hogwarts grounds. Large droplets of rain began to pelt down heavily. Her step quickened and then she roughly pushed at the door which led out to the grounds. Her hold on her books tightened and she bolted towards the forbidden forest.
Looking past the fat droplets of rain steadily falling, she could see a lone figure standing by a tall tree. Sheer hatred filled her, at the thought of Malfoy having her diary, and she slowed her pace, just a tad, in defiance. But her bushy hair was beginning to curl and frizz in the rain, so she hurriedly took cover under the same tall tree, which Malfoy stood under.
"I hope you don't expect me to teach you in the rain." Hermione muttered angrily.
Draco turned to look at Hermione, and a rough breeze swept past them, causing his black cloak to billow behind him. He reached into the folds of his cloak and pulled out his wand.
Hermione felt a slight ripple of fear, and took a few steps backwards. But Malfoy merely pointed the wand into the air, murmuring "Shadeamentus." This caused a clear sheet to appear above them, shading them from the downpour.
In a quick movement, he unbuckled the clasp at his throat, slipped off his cloak and placed it gently on the ground.
Hermione noted in surprise that Malfoy was wearing muggle clothing. A simple pair of jeans and a black turtleneck jumper.
"Well, let's get started. There's a lot we need to cover." Malfoy said solemnly as he seated himself on his cloak and looked up at Hermione expectantly. Slightly flustered, Hermione sat herself next to him and put down her heavy textbooks.
"I thought we'd start with Transfiguration."
"Fine."
Feeling a bit disorientated as Malfoy's deep blue eyes peered steadily at her; she opened her Transfiguration book and muttered something incoherently about parchment and quills.
Malfoy rolled his eyes at her, then put his hand in the air and said "Accio Parchment, Accio Quill" A quiet whistling sound could be heard as a scroll of parchment and a green self-inking quill, flew through the trees of the forbidden forest and landed in Malfoy's out-stretched hand.
With another quick glance at Malfoy, Hermione delved deep into her book. "Over the previous years we have worked on transforming living objects into inanimate objects. This year we are working on turning non-living objects into animated and semi-living objects. The theory behind this is quite complicated so you should probably be taking down some intensive notes."
With his parchment and quill in his hand, Malfoy raised an eyebrow at her.
"Right, well. The basic spell will consist of at least one of three base words. These are Miserum, Viderus, and Hominem. Each has to be used in a certain context. Miserum is to be used alone, only when you wish to transform objects which are smaller then your hand. Viderus should be used in order to give the transformed object movement. Hominem is essential for larger objects. These three words can be used in conjunction with each other in order to accomplish different things."
Hermione went into great depth on the theories of Transfiguration as Malfoy sat, silently taking down notes. This continued for sometime, until Hermione concluded her lecture. "And finally one must ensure that the wand is held at a 45 degree angle from the arm, with a forceful swish to ensure complete accuracy for the spell."
Hermione snapped the heavy tome shut and watched Draco scribble down the last of his notes. "Now I want you to recite the key points of the theory." Hermione said sharply. Draco looked up at Hermione then dropped his quill and parchment to the ground. Then Hermione sat transfixed as Malfoy began to recite everything he had just learnt, without once looking down at his notes.
Hermione hadn't realized her mouth was hanging open until Malfoy reached towards her and pushed her lower jaw gently, closing her gaping mouth.
"Contrary to popular belief, I'm not completely stupid." He then picked up his scroll of parchment and quill and began tugging at the cloak underneath Hermione. "Thanks for the lesson today. You have a great way of explaining things, so people actually understand them."
Hermione hastily stood up and off the cloak, then bent down to pick up her books. She straightened herself again, intending to ask Malfoy about the return of her diary, only to see he had already begun striding away. He had tossed his cloak carelessly over his shoulders and holding his parchment and quill in one hand, he lifted the other in a mock salute. "Same time next week, Granger."
Hermione watched Malfoy walk out of the forbidden forest, quietly stunned. The studious qualities Malfoy had just shown amazed her. Once Malfoy was out of sight, Hermione looked down at her watch and was startled to see that they had spent four hours in the Forbidden Forest.
She looked around her and realized the rain had stopped, and so she ran quickly out of the forest towards the halls of Hogwarts. "Maybe Malfoy isn't that bad. Surely someone who is this dedicated to learning can't be purely evil."
Roughly pulling her bushy hair into a messy ponytail, Hermione bent down and pulled out the chest from underneath the bed. Opening the creaky door of the chest, she hefted out two of her text books; Transfiguration and Care of Magical Creatures. She was unsure exactly what Malfoy wished to be tutored on, but figured these two subjects would be a good enough place to start.
With her heavy books hugged to her chest, Hermione quietly tip-toed out of her room and into the Gryffindor common room.
She had just reached the exit when a voice sounded behind her. "Hermione? What are you doing up so early?" mumbled the sleepy voice. Hermione turned to see Seamus Flannagan, standing by one of the staircases in his blue pyjamas, wearily wiping his eyes.
"Um. I'm just heading off to the library, for a bit of a study." Said a flustered Hermione. She hugged her books closer to her chest and prayed fervently that Seamus would accept her explanation without any qualms.
"Oh. Right, well I'm just going to get a drink and pop back into bed. Have fun, um, studying." Seamus mumbled as he turned away from Hermione.
Hermione breathed a great sigh of relief, and then raced out of the common room.
~*~
It was a frigid morning and Hermione's footsteps rang through the deserted corridors. Through the large windows, Hermione could see the dawning sun, slant rays of light across the Hogwarts grounds. Large droplets of rain began to pelt down heavily. Her step quickened and then she roughly pushed at the door which led out to the grounds. Her hold on her books tightened and she bolted towards the forbidden forest.
Looking past the fat droplets of rain steadily falling, she could see a lone figure standing by a tall tree. Sheer hatred filled her, at the thought of Malfoy having her diary, and she slowed her pace, just a tad, in defiance. But her bushy hair was beginning to curl and frizz in the rain, so she hurriedly took cover under the same tall tree, which Malfoy stood under.
"I hope you don't expect me to teach you in the rain." Hermione muttered angrily.
Draco turned to look at Hermione, and a rough breeze swept past them, causing his black cloak to billow behind him. He reached into the folds of his cloak and pulled out his wand.
Hermione felt a slight ripple of fear, and took a few steps backwards. But Malfoy merely pointed the wand into the air, murmuring "Shadeamentus." This caused a clear sheet to appear above them, shading them from the downpour.
In a quick movement, he unbuckled the clasp at his throat, slipped off his cloak and placed it gently on the ground.
Hermione noted in surprise that Malfoy was wearing muggle clothing. A simple pair of jeans and a black turtleneck jumper.
"Well, let's get started. There's a lot we need to cover." Malfoy said solemnly as he seated himself on his cloak and looked up at Hermione expectantly. Slightly flustered, Hermione sat herself next to him and put down her heavy textbooks.
"I thought we'd start with Transfiguration."
"Fine."
Feeling a bit disorientated as Malfoy's deep blue eyes peered steadily at her; she opened her Transfiguration book and muttered something incoherently about parchment and quills.
Malfoy rolled his eyes at her, then put his hand in the air and said "Accio Parchment, Accio Quill" A quiet whistling sound could be heard as a scroll of parchment and a green self-inking quill, flew through the trees of the forbidden forest and landed in Malfoy's out-stretched hand.
With another quick glance at Malfoy, Hermione delved deep into her book. "Over the previous years we have worked on transforming living objects into inanimate objects. This year we are working on turning non-living objects into animated and semi-living objects. The theory behind this is quite complicated so you should probably be taking down some intensive notes."
With his parchment and quill in his hand, Malfoy raised an eyebrow at her.
"Right, well. The basic spell will consist of at least one of three base words. These are Miserum, Viderus, and Hominem. Each has to be used in a certain context. Miserum is to be used alone, only when you wish to transform objects which are smaller then your hand. Viderus should be used in order to give the transformed object movement. Hominem is essential for larger objects. These three words can be used in conjunction with each other in order to accomplish different things."
Hermione went into great depth on the theories of Transfiguration as Malfoy sat, silently taking down notes. This continued for sometime, until Hermione concluded her lecture. "And finally one must ensure that the wand is held at a 45 degree angle from the arm, with a forceful swish to ensure complete accuracy for the spell."
Hermione snapped the heavy tome shut and watched Draco scribble down the last of his notes. "Now I want you to recite the key points of the theory." Hermione said sharply. Draco looked up at Hermione then dropped his quill and parchment to the ground. Then Hermione sat transfixed as Malfoy began to recite everything he had just learnt, without once looking down at his notes.
Hermione hadn't realized her mouth was hanging open until Malfoy reached towards her and pushed her lower jaw gently, closing her gaping mouth.
"Contrary to popular belief, I'm not completely stupid." He then picked up his scroll of parchment and quill and began tugging at the cloak underneath Hermione. "Thanks for the lesson today. You have a great way of explaining things, so people actually understand them."
Hermione hastily stood up and off the cloak, then bent down to pick up her books. She straightened herself again, intending to ask Malfoy about the return of her diary, only to see he had already begun striding away. He had tossed his cloak carelessly over his shoulders and holding his parchment and quill in one hand, he lifted the other in a mock salute. "Same time next week, Granger."
Hermione watched Malfoy walk out of the forbidden forest, quietly stunned. The studious qualities Malfoy had just shown amazed her. Once Malfoy was out of sight, Hermione looked down at her watch and was startled to see that they had spent four hours in the Forbidden Forest.
She looked around her and realized the rain had stopped, and so she ran quickly out of the forest towards the halls of Hogwarts. "Maybe Malfoy isn't that bad. Surely someone who is this dedicated to learning can't be purely evil."