Hello! This chapter is much longer than usual (okay it's longer by like . 400 words but haha). Not edited, feel free to point out errors so I can fix it :-). I hope you'll enjoy this chapter.
Draco showed an incredible amount of self-control over the next few weeks. Hermione wondered if he ended up finding someone else to play with, but realized that was impossible since:
1. She fully doubts that he knew how to connect with other players,
2. They still played at night, especially since Malfoy recently figured out how to charm the app into giving Wizard-related questions from time to time. ("You have an unfair advantage, how was I supposed to know who Peppa Pig is?"). Despite that, they've been sleeping very early lately, as opposed to their usual all-nighter. (As early as 12 am gets, they suppose.)
3. After a few months of getting to know Malfoy (directly and indirectly), she realized that this boy is actually kind of, chill. The only time he ever gets intense is whenever Harry or Ron would be there. Must be a trigger.
Now that she thought about it, why did they hate one another? It has always been that way, Malfoy has always picked on their trio but she never understood why he targeted the two boys. She knew that Malfoy disliked her for being a muggle, but his recent actions show otherwise. It was almost as if he was starting to show interest in actually learning about muggles and their world. Maybe the game is getting to his head.
She knows that she doesn't hate Malfoy, because why hate on someone when you can educate them? Although it would make a rather awkward and difficult conversation, she had to tell him that calling someone a mudblood was bad because of the negative connotations attached to it, not because being a mudblood is a bad thing. Maybe it was naive of her to believe that maybe Malfoy grew up, and maybe they could have a mature conversation about this, but since when did believing in the goodness of someone else become a bad thing?
Besides, he had been so kind to her lately, and they definitely weren't twelve anymore. If she can let go of the name calling (that was probably caused by him growing up in a household where these beliefs were internalized), he can surely let go of his childhood grudges.
Shaking her head, she willed her brain to stop uncovering layers and overthinking. She didn't feel like doing something that serious right now.
Just be kind, Granger. She told herself.
Go with the flow.
The flow brought her to the courtyard. There were a couple of students studying and talking around the area. She spotted the back of Malfoy's head. He was with Blaise and a couple of other Slytherins, obviously engaged in a light-hearted conversation based on the eruption of laughter she heard from time-to-time.
Who knew Malfoy was such a comedian. Maybe they're just being nice. She let out a smile and continued to walk through the courtyard.
"Hermione!" Turning around, she looked for the source of the voice. Her eyes settled on Padma Patil, a Ravenclaw who was also in the same elective as her.
She walked towards her and gave a polite hello, eventually sitting down on the spot Padma patted.
or should I say..Patil-ed. Hah! Malfoy's not the only comedian here!
They were positioned in a small study area under a tree, and it looked like Padma was working on their muggle-item paper. I need a better name for that project, Hermione thought.
"Are you working on the Project?" The Gryffindor asked. Patil nodded.
"I'm glad that I saw you, because I really need help with chapter one." She proceeded to explain her problem, and that's when Hermione noticed something very important.
"Padma, where is your partner?" That sentence obviously hit the hammer for the Ravenclaw, because her entire mood shifted.
"You're right, Miss Granger. Where is my partner?" She asked, eyes unnaturally larger. There was obviously trouble in paradise, she knew it was horrible to think this way, but she was so thankful Malfoy wasn't the type to slack off and hot potato projects to partners.
"I see," was the only thing Hermione could say.
"I got paired up with Parker Atkins," she said, with a tone full of malice.
Hermione never worked with Parker Atkins, and based on all of the horror stories she heard from the grape-vine, she was thankful for dodging that bullet.
"He's off again doing Merlin-knows-what," Padma said with a sign. Hermione ended up assisting the girl in order to distract her, and eventually the work in front of them was forgotten, talk of muggle television was soon replaced by idle chatter.
Hermione felt a sudden buzz from her bag, she instantly knew what it was (unless someone smuggled a bee into her bag). Padma was still talking about her summer trip to Palawan, and didn't even notice the Gryffindor reach into her bag and secretly look at her phone. Looking around, she tried to spot Malfoy but couldn't.
Draco: Replacing me, Granger?
She did her best to type a reply with one hand awkwardly crammed inside her bag.
Hermione: Yes, you can take Parker Atkins.
She got a reply a few seconds later.
Draco: :(
She unexpectedly let out a laugh, and Padma, still engrossed in her story about the gigantic whale, let out a laugh, thinking that Hermione was listening.
"I know, it was so funny! You should've seen Parvati's face! Actually, I can make the same face right now, because we are identical, so you can technically see it if you wanted to," She said, picking up her books and packing her things.
Hermione just smiled and started helping her with her stuff, when everything was safely inside, they made their way to their respective classes.
"See you around Hermione! Thank you for listening to me, this project is driving me crazy!" She said.
Hermione has never met a girl that talked that much, but she was also a girl that read too much, maybe that's why she liked her.
A wave of students flooded into the halls, all of them trying to make it to their next class on time. She spotted Ron and Mason walking the opposite way. Catching Ron's eye, she gave a little wave, which was later reciprocated with a (she dare-say), rather graceful wave.
"Guess the dance lessons are paying off," she muttered.
It was a beautiful Tuesday morning. Light snow poured from the outside, but the Great Hall was still warm as ever.
"I feel like it's been weeks since I got to talk to you guys, like really talk," Harry said, reaching for his glass of pumpkin juice.
Ron nodded in agreement. "We've been bombarded with school work," He added.
"How's Dance, Ron?" Hermione asked, genuinely interested.
"I noticed your avant-garde wave earlier." She added, taking a bite from her toast.
"Thank you, I've been practicing. It's part of the routine Coach Wendiberg crafted," He replied. Snickers were heard from the neighboring Gryffindors. Ron rolled his eyes, "Please forgive me for actually enjoying my elective!" He said, his voice much louder.
"Coach?" Harry asked, stifling a laugh. Ron huffed and mumbled something the other two didn't catch.
"How about you Harry? How's History?" Harry let out a groan. He proceeded to rant about his elective, claiming that the only good thing about the subject was "Role Play Day".
"I didn't peg you as a Role Play person Harry," Ron mused. The neighboring Gryffindors overhead this statement and decided to join in.
"Are you guys talking about Role Playing?" Lee Jordan asked, clearly amused.
"Yeah, Harry said he enjoyed it," Ron said, reaching for Hermione's last piece of toast. Hermione shot him a glare, causing him to retract his hand.
"It's not what you think." Harry retorted. Straightening his back, he began to explain Role Play Day.
"Yes, it's basically Roleplaying. We get to pick a random historical figure and we have to act like them the entire period," He said. Hermione found it very interesting, she suddenly remembered Malfoy. That git is quite good at Magical History, having beat her by two points just last night.
"Kinky," Ron said, earning a high five from Lee Jordan.
"Shut up Jazz hands," Harry shot back.
"Thank you, that's honestly very flattering," Ron replied.
"It wasn't meant to be a compliment," Harry grumbled.
Hermione and the others laughed at the exchange.
"How about you Mione?" Harry asked, trying to change the subject.
It worked, because of course Hermione would love to have the chance to talk about her academics. So of course the other Gryffindors would take this time to slowly turn away and started their own conversation. It was too early to listen to Hermione talk about a boring paper.
"Well, we have to write a paper about any muggle object. It's quite interesting, Mal—" Hermione was interrupted by a buzz from her bag. She glanced at it and turned around, but there was no sign of the only person who could have sent her something.
"So anyway, we're revising chapter four already and we're way ahead of everyone else," she proudly said.
"What's your paper about exactly?" Ron asked.
It was as if the universe did not want to hear about Hermione's project. Before the witch could open her mouth to respond, a parliament of owls swooped into the Great Hall.
Packages, letters, and the like dropped from the air and landed on its respective recipient. One of them was Ron, who immediately got distracted because after weeks of waiting, his copy of this month's Quidditch Monthly was finally in his grasp.
Harry and the rest of the Gryffindors were also waiting for the said copy, so all of the attention was now fixated on the magazine.
Hermione huffed and returned to her meal. She reached for her fork and noticed a letter right next to it.
There was no signature at the back, but she knew who sent it anyway.
Hello. Check your cellphone. - D
She opened her bag and secretly looked at her phone. She glanced up and checked if the boys were still engrossed in the stupid magazine (they were). Unlocking the phone, she read the single text Malfoy sent her a few minutes ago.
Hello. Check your letter.
She frowned at the message. He's so weird.
Turning around, she tried to look for the said weirdo.
She spotted the top of his head. He met her gaze and gave her a thumbs up. Hermione quirked a brow, wondering what it meant.
Another buzz emitted from her bag, she checked it once again and was greeted by a notification.
Battle of the Brains: Draco Malfoy beat your score!
Damn it, Malfoy!