Chapter Six
Miss Me
September
"Hermione."
The said girl was currently staring at the Slytherin's table in the Great Hall. It had been a week since the school started and yet, there was no sign of the great Draco Malfoy.
Nothing.
Not even his shadow, or a word from him. Not even the professors knew why he was not here. Not even his fellow housemates. No one.
"Hermione!"
For the past days that she had been here were the worst. She felt so guilty, and that guilt was slowly creeping inside her. It made her worry. It made her worry for him.
What if he drowned while swimming? Or the airplane he was riding exploded? Or what if a shark ate him? Or what if the people in that island seize him because of his handsomeness?
What was she thinking?
Her schoolmates weren't helping, either. Talks about him were filling the hallways, the classrooms, the library, the Great Hall, and even in her dorm. Well of course, he was famous. That was a given.
"HERMIONE GRANGER!" Ginny shouted in her ears.
She was startled by her. It made her jump from her seat- literally. She immediately whipped her head to look at Ginny- only to find the whole Gryffindor table looking at her curiously. She should have known that Ginny inherited Molly's loud voice.
Harry and Ron were trying their best to look seriously. Well, they were failing miserably.
"What?" She asked the red-haired girl.
Ginny looked at her disapprovingly. "I called you three times already. I was about to hit your head, when thankfully, you finally noticed me."
"I'm sorry. I-I was just thinking of something." She reasoned out, avoiding her eyes.
"While looking at his table. Nice."
Hermione slapped her forehead with her right hand. "That obvious?" She whispered to Ginny.
"Yes."
October
A month had passed. It was now in the midst of October. And guess what? There's still no sign from him.
She was almost convinced that he wouldn't be attending Hogwarts anymore. Perhaps, he transferred. It had been a month. It made sense.
But still, she couldn't help but feel like- she couldn't explain. She couldn't eat properly. She couldn't sleep. She focused on her studies more just to take her mind off of him.
Talks about him were slowing going down. It was as if he never existed. How could someone just disappear like that? And what more, how could everyone just forget someone just like that?
"Hermione."
She looked up, only to find Adrian Pucey smiling down at her.
"Hey." She smiled back. He sat beside her on the ground. They were currently on the school grounds, overlooking the lake. It was in the afternoon, and the wind was blowing her hair slightly.
Adrian and she had been on great terms since the end of September when they were paired in a class. She found that he was easy to talk to and warm. He was handsome and tall. But nothing compared to him.
Wait! Why was she even thinking of that? She shooked her head internally. She wasn't in love with Draco Malfoy. She. Was. Not.
Period.
"So- I was thinking if you'd-" Adrian said.
But then, Hermione felt a cold chill running up to her spine. It was as if someone was looking at her? She wasn't sure. She looked behind her.
Nothing.
She looked a t her left and found Blaise Zabini looking at the two of them intently.
Blaise met her eyes and cocked his head to the side, as if examining her. He was like this since the school year started. Two weeks after the school started to be précised.
It wasn't in a romantic-I-like-you-so-much-crush way. It wasn't anything like that. It was as if-
It was as if he was guarding her.
Call her paranoid, but that was what she really felt.
Blaise started walking towards them.
"Hermione, are you listening?" Adrian asked.
She blinked and looked at him sheepishly. "I'm sorry- what was that again?"
He smiled in understanding and continued. "I was just asking you if you had any plans this Friday night. Maybe we could-" Again, he didn't finish his sentence.
"There you are, Ad!" Blaise called loudly.
Adrian looked at Blaise with an irritation in his eyes. "Blaise."
"Oh hey, Hermione! What are you doing with this kind of guy? You should stay away from him or someone might get really, really mad." Blaise said in a voice that said he was just joking. But his eyes- they were really serious when he was saying that although he was smiling.
"What the hell, Blaise!" Adrian said and punched his shoulder lightly.
Blaise chuckled and pulled Adrian. "Let's go mate."
"But I'm still talking to her."
"No. Talk to me, instead. I miss you!" Blaise said while the two of them walked.
Adrian was pushing Blaise away from him, but Blaise had his hand around Adrian. Hermione would have laughed but then, what he said intrigue her.
It was not the first time that Blaise interrupted them.
And something was off- that, she was sure.
November
Hermione walked towards her next class. It was Arithmancy. It was her favorite subject. Why? Because in her life full of inconsistency, numbers were the only thing she could control.
She felt weird today, really. She couldn't exactly point out why but-it seemed like something would happened today. She just got that feeling.
"Hermione!" The two boys of her life ran up to her and put their arms around her, and kissed her cheeks.
She laughed and put her arms around them while walking. "You look so beautiful today!" Harry said.
She blushed. She still wasn't used to their daily compliments of her. "Thank you."
"Your bun suits you." Ron said, looking at her pulled up hair.
She just smiled at them. These two guys were her brothers she never had. They just knew how to make her feel so special.
The trio reached her classroom and they dropped her there.
"We'll pick you up after your class, Hermione." Harry said while giving her school bag.
"Don't leave. Wait for us, okay?' Ron said, giving her her books.
Ron and Harry had all the same schedules. Well, they were inseparable.
"Yes, fathers!" Hermione said while laughing.
Overprotective friends they were. Well, since when?
Since the last war when she was taken by Greyback. The boys were anxious and mad. And you don't want to see them mad.
Hermione entered the room, and sat in front of the class. She laid out her things in front of her neatly and waited for the teacher while reading her book.
She was in the middle of her reading when the whole class stopped talking at once.
'It must be the professor.' Hermione said to herself.
But then, the professor walked in five minutes after the whole class stopped talking.
Why? Maybe Professor Vector was delayed?
Still, she did not turn her head to look at her classmates. Let them be.
"Class, today we are going to have a quiz!" He said excitedly.
Groans shortly followed after he said that. She guessed that those students did not expect that. But she was always prepared!
"50 items!" He said as a follow-up.
The class cheered. Well, at least it wasn't 100 items, right?
"Two points each!"
Nothing.
Nothing could be heard.
"You broke my heart, Professor Vector." Lavander Brown said.
50 minutes after…
"Is anyone done?" Professor asked.
What kind of quiz was this?! Hermione was off to the question number fifty. She was almost done-
"I am."
Hermione suddenly stopped writing. That voice-
Was that him?
Was that really him? He was back? After two months, he was back?
She did not want to turn around. Maybe her imagination was playing with her again.
"Very good, Mr. Malfoy! To say that you've missed school for two months, you're catching up very well!"
Professor Vector only confirmed what her mind had been telling her.
He was back.
Draco Malfoy was back.
The class had ended and she still did not get up. She was pretending to clean her desk, but the truth was that, she did not want to bump into him. She waited until everyone was gone. She did not dare turn her head to be sure. Instead, she listened to the fading sounds of their chatter.
She took a deep breath, pulled her shoulder bag, turned her head to the back, and was about to stand up when-
There he was. Sitting in his chair in a graceful manner. His legs were stretched before him, his arms folded neatly in his chest. His sleeves rolled up to his elbows, his tie was loosened. And he looked so damn handsome even though his face was expressionless.
She thought he was gone. Oh Merlin, she was so wrong. So, so wrong.
He looked directly in her eyes and smirked.
"Miss me?" He said in his velvet voice.
Boom. Hermione was so dead.
A/N: There we go, as promised. Christmas break! Yeey! I should have written this last night but then, we had a dance party in school. The exams were finally done! I do hope I passed. XD And well, I'm so happy that I want to share this to you! Mehee J I was so happy when the school paper was released. This is the first year that I started writing on our school paper. I'm so glad that I passed the entrance test there. :D This all happened on December 21, 2012. Best day! :"" Our school had a countdown until 12:00 am to December 22 and after it reached 0, the students all screamed XD I had a blast yesterday :""" I'm so happy that a private school sometimes know how to have fun ^_^
XOXO
Patricia Daniella
