Chapter 4:

The week after

Hermione avoided Malfoy as best as she could all week. Fortunately he seemed to do the same thing to her. The humiliation on their first day was still strong, and Hermione couldn't help but feel disgust whenever she passed Malfoy in the hallway. He had seen her in her panties! And that was all she had worn! Imagine he had come in three minutes before... Hermione shivered by the thought of it.

"Everything all right?"
"Hm?" Hermione was dragged out of her thoughts by the sound of Ron's voice. He had a look of concern in his eyes and scrambled eggs hanging out of the corner of his mouth. Hermione had to smile at this, as it looked so ridiculous. Nevertheless, she was still angry with him for the incident in Charms. It had cost her the larges humiliation so far, apart from the curse in fourth year, which had made her teeth grow all the way down to her knees. It did have a positive side, though. They had been a bit too long all her life, almost like horse-teeth, so when Madam Pomfrey shrank them, Hermione made sure she didn't stop until they were the size of normal teeth.

"Everything's fine," she lied. She hadn't told anyone what had happened in the bathroom, and Ron wasn't going to be the first to know!
"OK, then." Ron didn't seem too convinced, but he turned back to his breakfast all the same, just as the post owls arrived.

It was Saturday and their first day off. It would have been a lovely opportunity to walk around the grounds, something Hermione desperately wanted to do to clean her head, but the weather gods wanted it differently. The rain was poring down non-stop, and she was forced to stay inside the castle. As she had nothing better to do, she decided to do some of the homework she had left. It would keep her mind off of certain things. After shovel down the remainder of her toast she rose and left the table with a polite 'good by' to the boys. "What was that all about?" she heard Ron's voice asking, but she continued to walk, ignoring it.

She seated herself in the Gryffindor common room, since she had developed a dislike for the Head's one, with her potions book, numbers of quills and parchment and ink. They had an essay on the Draught of living Death due on Friday, and Hermione had 5 inches left to write. It shouldn't take too long, but it would be good to be done so she could start on her Ancient Rune essay, which was due on next Monday. She had to translate some incredible complicated runes and explain their meaning and use among other things. It would surly take some time to do. She also had a book to read due on the upcoming Tuesday, though she had only 50 pages left to read.

While Hermione was buried in her homework, Draco Malfoy was sitting in his own common room, trying the best he could to push the sight of Granger in her panties to the back of his brain. Or even better: all the way out! He felt filthy and dirty just for seeing it! Was it actually that difficult to lock the door? How thick could you get!? Every normal person would lock the door on instinct if there was a risk that anyone would come in. But Granger? Nooo. He sighed just as Crabbe and Goyle entered the room. They had been let out of the hospital wing late in the evening on the day of the accident, and were now back in their usual state.

"Everything all right?" they asked at the same time. They jerked down on the sofa opposite of Draco and glared at him stupidly. He put his head in his hands and thought "God, leave me alone, please!" He felt like being alone right now, not hanging with these two idiots. It was their first day off, the first day he could really sit down and think. All week had been packed with school and homework; he hadn't had the time to think of anything else. Except from when he past her in the hallways. He always had to look away, he couldn't face her. Not that he would lay eyes on her in any case, she was a mudblood! But he had to admit that this was a different matter. He actually had to look away on purpose instead of just pretend she was thin air... God, he hated her!

Unable to sit still any longer Draco got up and walked quickly out of the common room. He started passing the corridors, no special target in mind. Just when he turned a corner on the 5th floor he bumped into something soft, which uttered the word 'OUCH!' Draco – who was lost in his own little world – was taken by surprise, lost his balance and fell on top of this soft thing. Swearing, he hastily rolled over to see what, or who, it was. On the floor beside him half lay, half sat a beautiful dark headed Ravenclaw girl.
"Watch it, will you!" he spat before he dragged himself up and left. 'Sorry' was not a word he took in his mouth unless he spoke to his parents.

"Well well. I see you have started attacking 5th year girls now." Blaise Zabini, a Slytherin boy in Draco's year, was standing a few feet ahead of him, a humorous grind on his face. Apparently he had witnessed the whole scene and found it absolutely hilarious.
"Shut up." snarled Draco.
"Oh, Draco, come on! It was just a stupid girl, nothing to get all upset about. Geez man!" Blaise said rolling his eyes. Draco looked at him for a couple of seconds, then shrugged and headed down the corridor. Blaise hurried after. "What time is it?"
"11.30," said Draco after a quick peek at his watch. He was surprised that it was that late, walking along the corridors had indeed given time wings to fly on!

At noon Hermione had finished both her potions essay and her book. Satisfied with her work she decided to take a well-earned break. She went up to her dorm with her equipment before returning to the common room. It was quite full thus the bad weather, so she quickly scanned it to locate the people inside. Her eyes fell on Ginny, who had just climbed through the portrait hole. She felt relieved she saw someone she knew, and besides, she hadn't talked to her at all during this week.

"Ginny!" Hermione had to yell to drown the noise of all the chattering students and hurried over to her.
"Hi, Hermione," said Ginny smiling. "How are you?"
"I'm fine, thanks," answered Hermione. "I was wondering if you wanted to go for a walk. You know," she said with a shrug, "to catch up." Ginny didn't mind, and the two girls made their way through the mass of people and climbed out of the portrait hole. The hallway was practically empty.
"It's a pity the weather's so bad. I'd prefer to be outside," said Ginny moody. Hermione couldn't have agreed more. It was really depressing.

"So how's your studies going?" Ginny asked Hermione.
"Good, I suppose," she answered thoughtful. "I have a huge Ancient Rune essay which has to be done by next Monday, but I just can't bear to start on it! It's so unlike me..." At this Ginny started to laugh, and soon after Hermione followed. She wasn't sure why it was so funny, but for some reason it was! She fell to the ground, shaking with laughter, hoping no one was watching. At the same time Ginny had to lean against the wall to prevent herself from doing exactly the same. The whole situation was so absurd that it made the girls laugh even more.

"Hermione!" gasped Ginny after what seemed like hours. They both sat on the floor with their backs against the wall. Hermione hadn't laughed like that in ages. It felt so wonderful, so liberating.
"Mhm?" she said panting. Ginny breathed slowly in and out to control herself. "Want to go to the library?" she said. "You know," she added with a grin, "just to go somewhere." Standing up, they continued down the hallway, talking.

Suddenly they heard voices coming form around the corner. Still in a giggling-mood, Ginny tugged Hermione by the arm and dragged her through an open door. Settling themselves behind it, the girls peered out as the voices drew nearer.

"...told her I wouldn't, and she started to cry. Can you imagine!"

"It's Malfoy," whispered Ginny. Hermione didn't answer. She was very grateful she was in here instead of out there...

"So what did you do?" said another voice.
"Well, nothing," Malfoy's voice spoke. "And then she ran away..."

The voices faded away and were replaced by a heavy silence. Hermione wondered what that was all about. Probably Pansy Parkinson or something, she remembered seeing the two of them together. They were probably dating or something. The thought made her giggle. They deserved each other. One just as unappetizing as the other! This lead her to the bathroom-episode. She wondered whether she should tell Ginny about it, or if she should leave it. After thinking about it she decided that Ginny wouldn't tell anyone. It would be safe.