"What happened?" Draco asked as Ella, Albus and Scorpius approached them.
"I managed to charm them all but I wasn't first," Ella said. "We think Albus might have come second but we're sure Sarah came first!"
"Sarah came first after her panic attack? Fantastic!" Hermione said. "So now you'll all get a points placing based on your position and any other skills you showed."
"It was really hard!" Albus said. Harry, Celia and Neville were now approaching and Harry smiled at Hermione before surprising her by speaking directly to Draco.
"That coughing fit was hilarious but it worked! Sarah got the message and then came first! We think Albus may have got second place," he said.
"It's good that I can act well then," Draco answered, perfectly civilly.
"The Durmstrang pupils are very focused and methodical but they lacked finesse," Neville summarised the competition and Hermione smiled at him affectionately. "Beuxbatons are very quick so Hogwarts did really well to have so many pupils at the top - what a great start!" Neville seemed buoyant and he grabbed Hermione into a bear hug that made her giggle. As she straightened her cape she noticed that Draco and Ella were both staring at her and this made her giggle again.
Draco gave a decisive nod of his head. "We're going to win this - I have a feeling."
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
Hermione was debating over a croissant or toast when she heard a voice, close to her ear that made her jump. Her tray wobbled dangerously and her tea spilt over it.
"The pain au chocolat are delicious."
She didn't have to turn to know exactly who the voice belonged to. Draco stepped around her, taking her place in the queue. She purposely chose a piece of toast, ignoring his advice before following him along the line. At the end of the counter, Draco turned round and surveyed the room.
"Where would you like to sit?" he asked and Hermione stared at him. Where would she like to sit?
"What do you mean?" she asked.
Draco turned to her and frowned. "It's a simple enough question, Grange...Professor Granger, " he corrected himself. "Shall we sit by the window or over in the corner?"
"We?" Hermione asked, surprised that he was presuming they would eat breakfast together.
"Oh - I get it," Draco nodded his understanding. "You were going to sit with Longbottom, weren't you?"
"Errrr..."
"Fine - see you later." Draco walked off towards a window table, leaving Hermione staring after him.
"Excuse me, could I squeeze past?" One of the Durmstrang Professors asked from behind her and Hermione jumped out of his way, apologizing. She turned to look at Neville, who was just draining the last drop of his tea and then she turned back to Draco who had taken a seat and was gazing out of the window. She made a decision and the next moment she was standing by Draco who looked up at her.
"Can I join you?" she asked.
"Please yourself."
Hermione sat down, wishing she hadn't bothered to come over. She busied herself with pouring her tea and buttering her toast, all the time conscious of Draco sitting across from her.
"What time do they announce the points?" Draco broke the silence. Hermione raised her eyes to him. How did he switch from obnoxious to casual so quickly?
"Straight after breakfast and then we can pack to leave for Durmstrang," she grunted. She made a show of looking around the room. "Shall I move tables? There are plenty of spare ones."
Draco raised one eyebrow. "No - why?"
"You didn't seem exactly pleased to have me join you."
"You can sit where you like."
Hermione sighed at his awkward attitude and she took her annoyance out on her piece of toast, attacking it viciously. The empty table to her left looked very inviting indeed.
Draco spoke again but this time he leant forward and lowered his voice. "You can sit where you like," he repeated, quietly, "but I like you sitting right here."
Hermione stopped with her toast half way to her mouth and stared at him incredulously. He met her gaze for a moment before shrugging and taking an elegant sip of his tea. Hermione put her toast back on her plate.
"They invented the word contradiction for you, didn't they?" she asked.
"They invented the word gorgeous for me actually," Draco answered in his usual arrogant manner. "As for contradiction - I just say it as I see it."
"I don't know why I even came over here..." Hermione said, almost to herself.
"I don't know why you did either."
"You asked me to!"
"No, I most definitely did not ask you to," Draco said.
"Yes you did! At the counter you asked where I wanted to sit."
"Yes I did but when you made it obvious that you wanted to be bored to death by Mr Exciting I left you to it."
"Mr Exciting! That's charming isn't it?" Hermione huffed at him but she knew he was right. He hadn't actually asked her to come over - that had been her decision.
"Remind me to not say anything nice to you again...it seems to have got me into trouble!" Draco said with a twist of his lips and Hermione couldn't help but let herself give a small smile at his sarcasm. She looked down at her plate to hide her amusement but she could feel his eyes on her. When she met his gaze again he was smirking, his grey eyes watching her intently.
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
Hermione sat nervously with the rest of the Hogwart's entourage. Strangely, she found herself sitting in the middle of Draco and Harry, neither of whom seemed to pay any attention to the weirdness of them all sitting happily together. The elderly wizard judges seemed to take a ridiculous amount of time to sort the rolls of parchment in front of them and Hermione fidgeted, mirroring the movements of her pupils on the row in front. Draco turned and glared at her and she glared back defiantly. He turned away but then turned straight back again with a slight smirk.
"Nervous Granger?"
"Professor Granger," Hermione corrected him, nodding towards the students.
"They're behaving better than you are," Draco pointed out and Hermione narrowed her eyes at him again.
"Sshh! They'll hear you!"
Draco smirked and turned back to the scene in front of them. Professor Wayburn stood and the room fell into silence. Neville leant forward from the row behind where he was sitting with Celia and spoke in Hermione's ear.
"Cross everything," he whispered.
"Can't you save the whispering sweet nothings until afterwards?" Draco commented and Hermione pulled a face at him.
"Good Morning everyone," Professor Wayburn said, his voice surprisingly forceful for someone so small. "It was a very healthy start to the competition yesterday with some very good performances. We have now decided the places and points based on how quickly, accurately and skilfully each charm was performed. I shall announce the top five in reverse order."
"In fifteenth place - Elladora Malfoy," Ella mumbled from in front of them and Hermione tapped her on the shoulder and shook her head. She glanced over at Draco who's lips were twisted as he looked down at his daughter.
Professor Wayburn spoke again. "In joint fifth place were Bernhard Ryback - Durmstrang and Claudette Jolie - Beuxbatons, both with 6 points." There was loud applause and cheering and Professor Wayburn let it quieten down before he continued. "In fourth place was Juliette Panache - Beuxbatons with 7 points. In third place was Scorpius Malfoy - Hogwarts with 8 points..."Their section of the crowd erupted loudly and Hermione smiled widely at Draco and patted him on the arm without really thinking about what she was doing. Scorpius was grinning his head off in the row in front. "Runner up was Albus Potter - with 10 points, which is an excellent first round score, Albus."
Harry was on his feet cheering loudly and Hermione clapped her hands above her head. Albus had his head lowered shyly but Hermione could see his face beaming. Draco, who was sat directly behind Albus, leant forward and patted him several times on the shoulder and Hermione watched with interest. Whatever else she might think of Draco, he was very fair and very kind to all the children.
"To round off a very good start for Hogwarts the overall winner of the Charms test is Sarah Mulligan, also Hogwarts with 11 points. Sarah had a rough start but she pulled herself together and performed brilliantly. Very well done, Sarah."
Hermione was now on her feet as everyone around her rose up and cheered. She felt very emotional about their excellent start to the competition and the euphoria from everyone around her was exhilarating. She felt herself being pulled into an enthusiastic hug and assumed for a moment that it was Harry. She then realised that Harry was on the other side of her and with astonishment it dawned on her that the person hugging her in celebration was Draco. She hugged him back awkwardly but it didn't feel unpleasant to be this close to him - it actually felt quite nice.
So, little hints of what's to come in this chapter - plenty more hurdles to jump yet though. x