Chapter 10

Finally the boys had gone up to bed! Hermione breathed a sigh of relief, slamming her book shut. She uncrossed her legs and jumped up.

On the way outside the common room she ran into…was his name Hooper? Geoffrey Hooper and a few other Gryffindors were heading back in for the night. They looked at her in surprise as she headed outside the portrait.

"Hey, it's past curfew, Granger!" A puzzled Hooper said.

She just winked as she passed him. A third year girl in the group rolled her eyes as Hooper tripped.

Hermione giggled when she was out of sight. No, she wasn't worried about following the rules, like the old Granger! It's a testament to how boring the old Hermione was, that those Gryffindors would be so surprised!

She wanted to go outside! She found herself somewhat obsessed with it; she didn't like how confined she felt indoors.

She also wouldn't mind stumbling across another Slytherin party…although it was only Thursday…but they had had a party on a Wednesday.

Why didn't the Gryffindors throw awesome parties? Oh, wait…maybe they did. Old Hermione wouldn't know about any of that, would she?

Hermione was nearly to the exit when she heard the footsteps.

"Ms. Granger?" Asked a familiar sharp voice.

Crap.

Crap crap crap.

She just couldn't catch a break!

***

Hermione woke up. It was very slow in coming; she didn't want to wake up. As she felt consciousness coming, she tried to will herself back to her dream. She couldn't remember her dream now…it had started bad but gotten much better. But it wouldn't come back: She was awake.

She groaned as she stretched. She knew she should feel sore, but of course she didn't. Just numb. As usual in this crap-hole…

It was then that she noticed the noise. A gentle breathing, coming from outside. She peered out of her frame and was utterly stunned.

There sat Draco Malfoy, several books strewn around him. On his lap was an open book, so it looked as if he had fallen asleep reading.

In the hall.

Asleep.

What the hell?

"Malfoy?" Hermione questioned in a soft voice. Should she wake him up? She had no concept of time here: It could still be Thursday, or it could be Friday morning. She had no way of knowing.

In any case, he was going to be sore.

Why was he here? He had actually found books to help her? And more than that, he had stayed up late trying to find an answer…

She was touched. Really, it was too much from anyone, but from Draco Malfoy? This was a complete 180. She was touched, but confused.

She was beginning to see him in a different light. It helped that in his sleep he couldn't open his big mouth.

She smiled.

Yeah, he could be a jerk, but right now he just looked sweet.

He made a small noise and jerked his head up, only to have it fall back down against his chest again. He groaned a little, opening his eyes just the slightest bit.

"Uhhhh…what time is it?" He asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

Oh, she had woken him up. He was a light sleeper.

"I…I don't know, Malfoy." She said gently.

His head snapped up. Hmm…now he realized where he was. His head whipped around, taking in all the books around him. The one on his lap slid off.

He blushed, looking up at her. "This isn't what it looks like! I just…I must have been hit with a petrificus totallis as I dumped this crap here for you."

"Wow. That was lame."

"What?"

Oh. She hadn't meant to say that out loud. She just stared at Draco, willing her face to look innocent.

He glared her way, but couldn't stop his lips from curling upwards. He barked out a quick laugh. "Dammit, Granger! I should just stop trying, huh? I can't seem to be myself around you."

"Meaning you can't be a total dick around me?" She camped her hands over her mouth.

Damn it.

Outside voice VS Inside voice. Need to work on that.

He laughed, shaking his head.

He stood up slowly, stretching his back.

Hermione couldn't help but watch the shape his body made as he stretched. Wait, what? Thank god she had kept that thought in her head, where it belongs.

She shook her head. What was she thinking? It must just be because he was being so nice to her for some reason…or because he was the only person she had seen in two days. There was just no justifying her noticing Draco's body, for crying out loud…although he was tall, and slim, built like a seeker…his legs were long and slender….stop it!

She sat down and made a point of staring at her knee's, her face slightly pink.

"Hey, so…I was looking through some books…what exactly happened? Can you tell me in detail what you did to get yourself in this mess?"

Hermione frowned, looking up. "I haven't the foggiest what I did wrong…but I suppose I can't really read through the books myself, huh? Let's see…I started with the potion, of course…"

Hermione proceeded to go through the details of her experiment. Draco scrambled to follow along in one of the books, the one he had had on his lap.

"And then I said the words…"

"And you pronounced them properly?"

"Of course I did!"

"Yeah…of course, you're Hermione-know-it-all-Granger, afterall."

She frowned. Then sighed. "Yeah, I guess that's right. Though I can't say I 'know it all' about making portraits, I had to do something wrong…"

Draco shook his head. "Maybe it was sabotaged. It seems like you did everything like your supposed too…hmmm…" He continued to read the page he was looking at. "Ok, well, it does have a warning listed afterwards…"

"Huh. Great place for a warning."

"Yeah, I know. Anyways, it's nothing important. Everyone knows this, anyways."

"Hmm? Everyone knows? What is it?"

He looked up, meeting her eyes. "Well, just that you never paint yourself. But that would just be egocentric; no one ever does that. It's common wizard knowledge that it's bad luck. Well, bad-magic, more like it."

Hermione stared, open-mouthed. She managed to control herself enough to ask, "And what, exactly, would happen if one did try to paint oneself?"

"I haven't heard of it happening, since everyone knows about the rule…"

"I didn't know about it."

Draco seemed distracted, looking up from the book again. "Hmm?"

"I said, I didn't know about it."

Draco's eyes widened a bit. "You actually mean you…you actually…wow, for a smart chick, you can be really, really stupid sometimes. And kinda full of yourself, too."

Hermione would have come back with "and you're one to talk," but she was feeling like he might be right, at that moment. Just maybe.