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Chapter 4

November turned into December and Granger spent the entire time bursting into tears any time she saw Weasley and Brown. I was so sick of it that I wanted to break up the couple.

The night before Slughorn's Christmas Party, I decided to kill two birds with one stone: I was going to cheer up and, at the same time, seduce Granger. Granted, my mission was getting easier to complete with every passing day, but I knew it wouldn't be complete until the Mudblood stopped crying over Weasel.

I was waiting in front of the Fat Lady portrait after dinner. I had sent Potter in to tell Granger to come out. She came out a few minutes later dressed in her pajamas: short white shorts and a white tank top.

I offered her my arm with a winning smile. She looked at me and raised her eyebrows.

"Andrew, it's late." She said.

"I know." I said, rolling my eyes. "C'mon."

She took my arm and I walked us towards the Grand Staircase. She shivered and I looked down at her, concealing my annoyance. It's the middle of December and she's dressed in skimpy clothes. And she calls herself the Smartest Witch of Our Age. I mentally scoffed.

Wordlessly, I stopped and removed her hand from my arm. I took off my black cloak and held it out from her to put it on. Granger placed it on, and then I offered my arm again.

"Where are we going?" Granger asked as she accepted my arm.

"You'll see." My eyes glinted mischievously.

"We're going to get caught." Granger said with a frown.

"Excuse me? Who goes around with her two friends and stays out late doing dangerous things?" I asked smiling.

Granger squirmed, knowing that I was right.

"If you came with us, you wouldn't be able to say that." Granger said.

"No thanks, I don't do dangerous things. I'm a Slytherin, remember? I'm all for self-preservation." I joked.

Granger laughed as we walked outside. The snow was slowly drifting to the earth. It was a Romantic author's dream and the perfect scenery for my conquest of Granger's heart.

My arm dropped and my hand griped hers. I smiled to her as I pulled her to the Quidditch pitch. I made her wait outside while I went in the changing rooms.

The expression on her face was completely worth the fact that I was out with a Mudblood.

"No." She said, her brown eyes wide, staring at the broom I was holding. "I hate flying."

"You can fight a bunch of Death Eaters, and yet you're scared of flying." I sighed dramatically with a joking smile. "I'll never understand Gryffindors."

"I didn't even fight." Granger said quietly.

"Really?" I asked as I stepped closer to her and dropped my voice an octave. "Because, from what I heard, you risk your life to save Harry's. I count that as fighting."

I heard her breath catch as she realized how close I was to her. She was staring up at me, snowflakes softly landing on her face. I smiled down at her and raised my hand to brush back a stray curl.

"Do you trust me?" I asked softly, my fingers skimming the surface of her cheek.

"No, you're a Slytherin." She laughed as she pushed me.

I stumbled back, reaching out to grab her to steady myself, but succeeding in only dragging us down into the snow. We were laughing like idiots. I looked over at Granger and she was smiling at me.

"C'mon, let's go flying." I said, jumping to my feet and pulling her up with me.

She made a face. "I'm not sure I'm up for this."

"You won't fall; I won't let that happen." I said.

"If you do, I'm going to haunt you." Granger said with a smile.

"Only if I happen to go into the library." I smiled back at her.

I picked up the broom and held it while Granger got on. Then I sat down behind her and grabbed the front of the broom. Her back was pressed into my front.

"Now, grab the broom right under my hands." I whispered in her ear. She did so, her fingers touching my hand. "Ready?"

"Andrew, I'm not so sure." Granger said, starting to sound hysterical.

"Hermione." I growled, warning her to my impatience. "Everything is going to be fine."

I pushed off the ground and we started to float up. Granger cried and backed into me, turning her head into my chest, her eyes shut.

"Hermione, open your eyes please." I said gently.

Granger opened her eyes and returned back to the position she started in. I flew us up higher. She looked at the ground, squeaked, and nearly fell off the broom. My left hand let go of the broom and my arm wrapped around her waist, holding her steady.

"I've got you." I said in her ear.

She relaxed and leaned her head back on my shoulder. I flew us up to where we were higher than Gryffindor Tower. Then I let us hover.

"Look." I said, indicating to the scene in front of us.

Granger gasped as she saw the flickering lights that were skating across the Black Lake and racing down the path to Hogsmeade.

"What is it?" Granger asked, breathless.

"They're nymphs." I answered.

"No, what are they really?" Granger asked.

"So logical, Hermione, can't you believe in myths for once?" I teased.

"Are they really nymphs, Andrew?" Granger asked in a disbelieving voice.

"Yes. They're migrating." I said.

"Are you lying?" Granger asked.

"Would I lie to you?" I asked.

"Well, there was that time that you told me if my hand was bigger than my face, I had cancer." Granger said.

I started laughing. "It's not my fault that you fell for that!"

"They're gone!" Granger exclaimed suddenly.

"I told you, they're migrating." I said, smiling.

"So, can we land now?" Granger asked, hopefully.

"Yes, yes." I said, rolling my eyes.

I tilted the broom down and we went down to the ground. When we landed, I put the broom up, and then offer Granger my arm. She accepted and we started lazily walking to the castle.

"So, do you want to be my date to Slughorn's party?" I asked.

"Really?" Granger asked, a little hope creeping into her voice. I nodded. "Okay, sounds like fun."

"What's the color of your dress?" I asked casually.

"A pale pink." Granger answered.

I mentally cringed at the thought of wearing a pink tie, but, on the outside, I smiled.

"Should I get you a corsage?" I asked.

"No, that's for prom." She replied.

"Prom?" I repeated confused.

"It's a Muggle thing." She said, waving her hand dismissively.

"Tell me about it." I said.

She looked at me in surprise. Obviously, people do not ask her to talk about Muggle things often. We reached the doors of the castle and I could tell she was thinking about how to start telling me about this prom thing.

She opened her mouth to speak, but then I stopped suddenly and she crashed into me. I quickly turned around and threw the hood of the cloak she was wearing over her head, obscuring her face.

"Well, well, what do we 'ave 'ere?" Filch asked from behind me.

I winked at Granger, assuring her that everything would be fine. I turned around to face the filthy caretaker. He was holding up a lantern and looking at us like we were a giant Christmas present.

"Mr. Filch, look! Peeves is drowning Mrs. Norris!" I exclaimed, pointing at nothing behind him.

Filch whipped around as I grabbed Granger's hand and pulled her in the opposite direction. Filch yelled at us once he realized that I had lied. I pulled Granger and we ran up to Gryffindor Tower, easily losing Filch.

We stopped running when reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. We looked at each other and started laughing like idiots.

"I . . . can't . . . believe . . . he . . . fell . . . for that . . ." Granger said between laughs.

"Filch . . . idiot . . ." I laughed, doubled over.

We laughed some more, and then slowly stopped. We stared at each other, hands still held together.

"I'll pick you up tomorrow at seven thirty, alright?" I asked.

"Alright." She said smiling before she went into the Gryffindor Common Room, still wearing my cloak.

The minute she was out of sight, I started frantically wiping the front of my robes in an attempt to get the Mudblood off of me.

Father better be proud of me and I better get rewarded greatly for this.