THE LEGEND OF THE 12 LETTERS
A/N: This is the next chapter...
Disclaimer: The Plot is mine!
Chapter Eleven: The Seventh Letter
Hermione sat on the couch while reading the new book she was interested in, "The Life of a brave man: Godric Gryffindor". She had borrowed it in the library before leaving so she could continue reading everything. She might find some more inspiration in the other pages. After all, it was Godric Gryffindor's life, she might learn the exact way of being brave.
She was halfway the book when the portrait of the Common Room opened. She looked up and saw Malfoy levitating -to her surprise- a large pile of books. He walked past the couch where Hermione sat and then straight to the staircase and to his room. After a couple of minutes, he went out and then slumped on the couch across Hermione. He closed his eyes and massaged his own forehead. He looked stressed...
"Uh, Malfoy?" Hermione started.
"Hm?" Malfoy replied, still closing his eyes.
"Where did you get those books?" she asked.
"Library..." he replied simply.
She placed a marker on her page and closed the book she was reading. She sat on the couch and studied the tired face of Malfoy. "What are those for?" she asked more.
"Reading..." he replied shortly.
She rolled her eyes, "Of course they are for reading, but what are you reading about? And what are they for, the schoolyear's almost up. You can't do anything anymore, you're stuck in second place." she said blandly.
"Not your business..." he answered shortly again.
She huffed at his short answers and crossed her arms. "Nice conversation, Malfoy..." she said sarcastically.
"Please," he said exasperately. He opened his eyes and sighed, "I'm tired, Granger. Let's just get to the point and talk about the Graduation plans. I've got to do something else tonight." he almost begged.
She frowned at him. He looked back exhaustingly and then her stare softened. "Fine," she sighed.
"Thanks..." he said.
"So," she leaned to the table. "Tomorrow, we're going to talk with Professor McGonagall and Flitwick for the decorations. Then for the music suggestions, I already talked with Professor Dumbledore and asked his permission if we can use muggle songs," Malfoy's head snapped up and his mouth gaped in disbelief. "and he said 'yes'. I asked for an mp3 player and Professor Dumbledore said it will be ready tomorrow. As for the food, I think you should take care of it."
"I have no idea what an empithree player is..."
"It's a muggle stuff,"
"Obviously..." he rolled his eyes.
She gave him a sharp look then continued explaining. "It's a device used to play music."
He nodded without interest. "Okay, if you say so..."
"So, what are you going to suggest for the food?"
He shrugged, "Pudding..."
Her jaw dropped, "Pudding?" she echoed in disbelief.
"Yeah, and sausage too, I love sausage. Merlin knows when was the last time I ate sausage." he said a bit dreamily.
"Do you mean, Merlin knows when was the last time you ate your meal?" she said bitterly. "And speaking of meal, you skipped again." she crossed her arms.
He rolled his eyes, "Oh for god's sake, not again..."
"If you don't skip your meals, I wouldn't be ranting about it." she scolded.
"I was in the library, okay?" he cried exasperately, throwing his hands in the air.
"The whole time you skipped your meals?"
He rolled his eyes yet again and sighed in irritation, "Get over it, will you?"
"No," she said stubbornly. "I will not get over it until I see you in the Great Hall again, sitting in your seat in between Zabini and your 'girlfriend' Parkinson while pigging your pudding and sausages and then get choked by it secretly before drinking your goblet of pumpkin juice in one gulp."
His brows knitted together. "First of all, Parkinson is not my girlfriend. Second, how the fuck did you know about my usual embarrassing meal scenes?"
She froze. She didn't realize she was enumerating his 'usual embarrassing meal scenes' she could observe at times. "I-I..." she stammered, blushing furiously.
His amused and confused face pulled into his infamous arrogant smirk, "Ha, been staring at me when I can't notice, are you?"
She blushed more, "No!" she denied.
He nodded, "Uhuh?" still smirking wide.
"D-Don't you dare change the subject, you prat!"
He chuckled. "If I didn't know any better, Granger, I'll say you really do fancy me."
"I DON'T FANCY YOU!" she bellowed in embarrassment.
Malfoy laughed at her childish behavior. "Fine, if you say so." he said, still smirking.
She glared at him and then cleared her throat. "Back to the topic, what other 'proper' food can you suggest? I'm entrusting the food selection to you because between the two of us, you are the first class and a pureblood."
"But I'm not fond of food, just pudding and sausage."
She sighed again and scratched her head, "What can you do, then?"
He shrugged casually, "Many things..."
"To help in the preparations, particularly..."
For the nth time, he shrugged. "I can follow your lead."
For the nth time also, she sighed. "Fine, let's talk this over tomorrow. I'm expecting you to help me in the song selection too."
He simply nodded. "So, is the meeting adjourned?"
"I guess so..."
Malfoy stood and just when he was about to step on the first flight, Hermione stopped him. "Wait," she said. He turned and saw her pick something on the floor. She raised her hand and showed him two different parchments.
"Letters... The owls probably found the room empty when they sent this." she looked at the letters in her hand. One was addressed to her and the other one was for Malfoy.
"You got a mail, Malfoy."
Malfoy frowned and walked to her. He looked at the letters in her hand and glared at the one addressed to him. "When will that ParkinBitch stop sending me letters?" he growled. "I already told her to stop yet she kept acting like she had no idea what I'm talking about." he grabbed the letter for him.
"Why don't you just appreciate her efforts, Malfoy?" Hermione said.
He scoffed, "No way. How about you, have you appreciated your letters yet?"
With a glum expression, Hermione nodded. "Yeah... they're fascinating..." she half-lied. (The letters were truly fascinating but the sender -Justin- is not)
Malfoy grinned. "Good. You finally opened your eyes."
She looked at him seriously, "How about you, when are you going to open your eyes?"
He was taken aback but composed himself quickly. "Maybe never..." he said.
Hermione just nodded slowly, but Malfoy noticed something in her expression. She kind of looked depressed and disappointed and sad and all other synonyms. She was not still on about defending Parkinson, was she? Malfoy thought.
"Okay, Granger. I gotta go... Goodnight." he said, before pocketing the letter and walking to his room.
She followed his movements with her eyes and sighed heavily when he vanished inside his door.
She looked at the letter in her hand and opened it.
Dear Hermione,
I hope you know you complete my day.
She smiled after reading but her happiness eventually faded.
'If this was just someone else...' she thought. She sighed in resignation and climbed to her room to rest as well. She lay on her bed and stared at the ceiling silently. She rolled to her side and once again, came face-to-face with the green handkerchief that had been sleeping beside her for nights.
She caressed the cloth, 'I can't remember when I started seeing your owner in a different way... What I know is that I suddenly don't despise him... that much...'
She folded the parchment and placed it in her bedside table.
She closed her eyes, 'Can I just complete your day instead?' was the last thing she thought about before drifting off to sleep.
A/N: Um, what do you think? And please REVIEW!
