"Sugar mice," Hermione said. The gargoyle turned and the spiral staircase to the Headmistresses office appeared. Hermione and Malfoy began making their way up.
"What did the note say again?" He asked her for the tenth time.
"I've already told you 'Miss Granger, please can you and Mr Malfoy come to my office as early as it is possible for you both. Professor McGonagall.' It hasn't changed from five minutes ago," She replied, rolling her eyes. A second-year had brought her the note less than ten minutes ago in Potions.
"What does she want though?" He said, running his hands through his hair. Hermione watched as each strand fell back into place.
"Granger...any ideas?" He said, making her realise she was just staring at him.
"Oh, no - it's probably just some Head duties or something," They reached the top of the staircase and were facing a large wooden door.
"It sounded important...but if it's important surely she wouldn't just send a note?" Malfoy carried on speculating.
"Malfoy - would you shut up? We'll find out in a minute, so calm down," She shook her head exasperated and knocked three times.
"Come in," She heard McGonagall's voice from inside. Malfoy pushed open the heavy door and they walked in. The office seemed smaller than Hermione remembered...or maybe she was just bigger. She looked around, the floor to ceiling bookcase catching her eye. Malfoy gave her a tug when she stopped to gawk at it. They walked up the steps to see the Headmistress sat behind a large wooden desk.
"Miss Granger, Mr Malfoy - glad you could both make it," She greeted them with a curt nod, and gestured for them to sit down, which they did so.
"I'll get straight to the point," McGonagall carried on "As you are probably aware, today is the third-year's first visit to Hogsmeade and they are usually accompanied by myself and several other teachers. Unfortunately I have many things that need urgently attending to, and Professor Flitwick is currently not feeling very well..." Hermione had seen the Charms teacher running through the corridors earlier looking rather green.
"As no other teachers are available, it has fallen to you as Head Boy and Head Girl - " Hermione gave Malfoy a smug look, which McGonagall seemed not to notice " - to take the responsibility of escorting the students to Hogsmeade. Is this a problem for either of you?"
They both shook their heads.
"Good. The third-years shall be gathering in the North Courtyard in fifteen minutes, so I suggest you go down now and wait for them,"
"Yes Headmistress," Hermione and Malfoy said in chorus. They stood up, and made their way towards the door, when McGonagall called to them.
"I don't need to remind you that you will be representing the school..." She looked Malfoy up and down "That means nothing less than impeccable behaviour,"
/
The third-years were so excited they didn't even realise there weren't any teachers around, and they were so loud that none of them heard Hermione calling.
"Okay everyone!" She yelled, but no-one seemed to notice.
"Listen up!" She tried again, but with no luck. She turned to Malfoy helplessly, he just sighed.
"SHUT IT!" He shouted over the din. The students were instantly silent, even Hermione stood next to him jumped a bit.
"Right, we're in charge today, so you'll do exactly as we say...and just remember we can give out punishments just as quickly as the teachers can, so you'll do as we say," he threatened. Hermione thought she almost heard one of the kids actually gulp.
"Malfoy - that's not really true," She said to him quietly.
"Yeah, but they don't know that," He whispered back, winking. Her stomach flipped and she felt her cheeks heat up.
"Ermm, I don't really know what to do now Granger..." He murmured to her, and Hermione took charge.
"Okay everyone - follow me!" She called out to the group. "You can bring up the rear," She said to Malfoy who raised an eyebrow at her.
"Just make sure no-one gets left behind, okay?" She said, and marched her way to the front of the group.
/
They finally reached Hogsmeade and Hermione told the third-years where they were allowed to go, and when to meet them back by the bridge. They ran off, dispersing quickly into groups, and Hermione and Malfoy spent the first few hours following groups round the different shops and giving students directions to different places.
"Remember the first time we came here in our third-year?" Hermione said to Malfoy as they wandered through Zonko's Joke Shop.
"Yeah...it seems as though it was a lifetime ago," He replied. "You know what, this is boring, do you want to go somewhere else?" He asked her.
She hesitated "Actually...there is a bookstore down the road and I wondered if they had...you know what never mind..." She trailed off, but Malfoy was already making his way to the door.
"You probably won't like it - I'll just be looking at books," She said to him, as he held the door open for her, letting the cold breeze sweep through the shop.
"Trust me - anything is better than this," he replied.
/
She wandered round the store for almost half an hour, browsing at the different books, occasionally asking Malfoy to get ones down that she couldn't reach. Every now and then she looked at him through the corner of her eye, worried that he was about to complain about being bored, but he looked just as eager to look at the books as she was. He'd look over her shoulder to see what she was looking at, and he even grabbed one himself, grinning as he read the first few pages. Eventually Hermione decided which ones to buy and went over to the counter, paid for them, happy to find out they could be delivered to Hogwarts so she didn't have to carry them all the way back to the castle.
She found Malfoy lingering by the door.
"Are you ready to go?" He said to her. She nodded in reply and they stepped outside into the cold. As they did Hermione realised that it had started lightly snowing since they had gone into the bookstore. She stuffed her hands into her coat pockets as they made their way down the street; snowflakes falling cold and white on to her hair.
"It's a bit early for snow isn't it?" She said to Malfoy, but he wasn't listening. She looked over at him and realised he was staring at the snow in awe. He no longer looked like the young man he had become, but like a little boy seeing snow for the first time. Hermione couldn't help but laugh, she had never seen anyone look at snow falling with such a magical amazement.
Malfoy heard her giggling and turned to her "What?"
"You know, you're full of surprises Malfoy," She said.
"What do you mean?" As Hermione thought about her answer, she realised that he was different in more ways than she had first thought.
"I've always know you were clever, but for someone whose main priority is, well..."
"Is what? Voldemort?" He said angrily, his mood changing suddenly.
"Yes Malfoy, don't pretend it isn't the truth," Hermione replied, her own temper building.
He grabbed her arm and pulled her into a short alleyway.
"That's still how you think about me?" For some reason her low opinion of him hurt more than he cared to admit. How could he make her see that he wasn't just another one of Voldemort's Death Eaters? Maybe if he just told he the truth...
"I thought that you'd...maybe that I'd somehow...you know Granger, you're not like anyone I've ever known. And for some unimaginable reason I feel as though I can be myself around you. It's as though when I'm with you I finally seem to be able to let go of everyone's preconceived ideas of me, and actually be Draco," He finished his speech.
It didn't quite come out the way he had hoped, but before he could take it back, without any warning Hermione stood up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips against his. He pulled away and took a step back, dumbfounded.
"What was that?" He asked in shock. Hermione was humiliated, she had acted before her brain had processed the thought, and now he was standing there looking at her as though she was crazy. She put her hand to her lips.
"I don't know why I did that Malfoy. Just...just forget it. I'm sorry, alright? I just thought..." Fixing her eyes on her shoes, she had never been so stupid or embarrassed.
"Granger..."
"Look, please forget it, I'm an idiot, don't tell anyone, please-"
"Hermione, calm down," She stared at him in surprise. That was the first time he had ever said her name.
"You've never called me Hermione before," Her gaze trailed back down to the floor.
"Well it is your name," He replied, putting his hands on her cheeks, forcing her to look straight into his eyes.
"Hermione...don't worry, I'll forget about it...as long as you don't forget this," He leaned down towards her, and holding her face in his hands, he kissed her properly.
Suddenly everything was right. The world shifted under their feet; the two worlds colliding the same way their lips had, and all the missing puzzle pieces finally fit into place. It was infinite and thunderous and dazzling. And yet all at the same time it was soft, and quiet and gentle. He held her so delicately, it was almost as if there was a danger of her shattering. Her lips parted under his and her hands found their way into his hair. He wrapped his arms around her waist, practically lifting her off the ground.
When they finally parted, neither could understand what had just happened. Hermione's mind was clouded over, unsure of anyway to respond to what had just happened between them.
Malfoy simply stared at her. And in that moment realised he had never seen anyone look more beautiful. Her eyes were dancing with light bouncing off the freshly fallen snow, and her cheeks were red - whether it was from the cold, or from the kiss he had no clue, but he didn't care. Reaching down he tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear, feeling her slightly shiver under his cold touch. He brushed her cheek before bringing his hand back down to his side, causing her to blush even more.
"Malfoy I- " Her voice was shaky, but he interrupted her before she could finish.
"Don't say that,"
She looked at him perplexed "What?"
"Call me Draco - please," He said quietly.
"Okay Draco..." He smiled, liking the way it sounded coming from her lips "Did you...why did you do that?" She asked him, breathlessly.
"There's something here Hermione," He gestured the space between them, but he wasn't really sure himself why he had kissed her. "I mean, it was okay wasn't it?" He said, suddenly uncertain of himself.
"Oh crap," She said loudly.
"What?" He was shocked by her reply, had he made a mistake in kissing her? But she had kissed him first - which meant she must have wanted him to.
Hermione suddenly realised her mistake "No, no...not you. We're supposed to be meeting the students back at the bridge any minute," She let out a breathy laugh.
"Oh good...because 'crap' is the last thing I expect to hear after a kiss from Draco Malfoy," He replied with a smirk.
"Come on - we have to go," She said, trying not to grin too widely. She turned around, making her way back towards the main street.
"Hermione, wait," He caught her arm, spinning her round. He took a step towards her and ever so slowly he leant down and placed the lightest of kisses on her lips, causing his heart to relive the sensation all over again. She smiled timidly, and he laced his fingers through hers.
"Come on, let's go,"