1993 Third Year
It had been 6 weeks since Hermione's birthday and the incident of the near kiss had happened.
Hermione had convinced herself that it was a mistake, a moment of confusion after a day of sweet gestures from Draco, the wonderful gift, a romantic setting and their proximity, she figured all of that combined had led her to believe she wanted to kiss him.
Since her birthday she had acted as though the incident hadn't happened, she had promised herself that she wouldn't let it affect their friendship and had continued to see Draco just as frequently, but she never mentioned it again, and neither did he.
He had made a promise of his own, which was to show her that he hadn't meant to reject her that night on the lake, but when he saw her the following night, he sensed that maybe she had regretted it after all, and so he continued as she did, as though nothing had happened.
On the morning of Halloween, there was a hum of glee spread across the castle as that particular festive season was a favourite amongst witches, wizards and even muggles. This day was also special for the third year students, as this meant their first trip to Hogsmeade.
Hermione stood in front of the mirror in her dorm, glancing over her casual attire once more, debating on whether or not to wear a thicker coat, before she grabbed her bag and left her room, heading downstairs to meet her friends in the common room.
"Maybe you could get McGonagall to sign it? Surely she would understand the situation you're in?" Hermione heard Ron say as she entered the common room.
"I don't know mate, it says parent or guardian." Harry responded. Hermione moved closer to her friends and watched as Harry folded up the unsigned Hogsmeade permission slip he held in his hand before shoving it into the back pocket of his jeans, finally placing both hands in his front pockets.
"I agree with Ron, there is no harm in asking her." Hermione added, he turned to his friend and gave her a lopsided smile before leading the way out of the common room.
"Aren't you guys coming?" Ron paused to ask his brothers, Fred and George.
"Later, we'll meet you there." George answered.
"Got some errands to run first." Fred wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at his younger brother before turning back to George who was eyeing a large piece of parchment in his hands.
Harry, Ron and Hermione made their way towards the courtyard where the rest of the third year students gathered and waited for Professor McGonagall to join them outside.
"It's not as warm as I'd expected it to be." Hermione commented as she pulled her thick cardigan tighter around her. Harry looked towards Ron who was wearing a large coat on top of his jumper, bouncing his eyes between the coat and Hermione. Ron scowled and looked down at his coat before he averted his eyes and shrugged nonchalantly. Harry rolled his eyes and looked back to Hermione who was smirking to herself, at least he'd tried.
"Students, gather round." McGonagall's voice called out.
"Before you leave for your trip to Hogsmeade, I would like to remind everybody that this is a privilege that can just as easily be taken away from you if there are any rule breaking, that goes for both during and outside of lessons. Now, you were all given a permission slip to be signed by a parent or guardian before the summer holidays and I expect to see those slips before you leave, those without will not be going. Those of you who will be going to Hogsmeade today, I hope you enjoy yourself."
One by one the students lined up to handover their permissions slips before they wandered off in groups to Hogsmead. Hermione lingered behind with her Harry and Ron, her excitement beginning to bubble to the surface.
"Professor McGonagall." Harry called when the mass of students had spursed.
"I was wondering if you could sign my permission slip, you see-" he started, but was stopped by McGonagall as she held up her hand with a glum expression on her face.
"Potter, I'm sorry, but it has to be signed by a parent or a guardian, as I am neither, I'm afraid you cannot go." She said quietly before patting him on the shoulder and heading back into the castle.
Harry turned towards his friends and shoved his hands back in his pockets, forcing a smile to his face before he spoke.
"Go ahead. I'll be fine, I'll catch up on some studying whilst you're gone."
"Don't study too hard, I'll help you with your Charms essay when we get back." Hermione said with a sympathetic tone to her voice.
Harry waved his friends off before they headed towards the rest of the crowd, both looking back on him once more until he was no longer in view. Hermione couldn't help but feel guilty for leaving her friend behind, but she couldn't push down her excitement any longer.
"Where are we going to first!?" She all but squealed at Ron.
He laughed at her whilst shaking his head, admiring her grin and the thick curls that bounced as she did with excitement. It was moments like this when he realised how infectious her smile could be.
"Wherever you want." He told her, which only made her smile grow wider. The pair joined up with the rest of their Gryffindor friends and followed them as Filch led the way.
Hermione looked around wide eyed at everything she passed on her route, seeing yet another side to Hogwarts she had never experienced before. Her eyes moved around the woodland that surrounded them, between two trees she spotted the lake, not realising how large the lake was and how far out it stretched, part of which branched off and drew relatively close to Hogsmeade.
As she wondered idly through the woods, her eyes remained on the lake, unable to draw them away as her mind flashed back to the night of her birthday and the incident she'd tried so hard to forget.
"How could I be so stupid?" Hermione whispered out loud as she entered the Gryffindor common room after having just left Draco in their secret room.
She paced around the common room, back and forth between the fire and the table she'd used so many times for studying, trying to shake the feeling of embarrassment out of her head.
"How could I have thought he wanted to be anything more than friends?" She asked herself another question whilst shaking her head.
After a few moments of pacing, she turned to the stars and headed to her dorm room, ready to put the day behind her.
Entering the room as quietly as possible, she changed into her pyjamas and climbed into her bed, her thoughts still racing about the near kiss.
Tossing and turning, unable to switch her mind off, she eventually sighed in defeat and lay in her 4 poster bed, looking up at the ceiling, counting each beam to distract herself.
'One, two, three, four...'
She glanced out of the window beside her bed and stared at the moon that was beaming through, lighting up the entire dorm. Within no time her mind went back to Draco and the effect the moon had on his eyes, she pictured clear as day the grey pools merging with silver shining down on her. Shaking her head once more in attempts to get the image of his eyes looking down on her beside the lake out of her head, she then pulled the duvet up, tightening it around herself.
'Five, six, seven, eight…'
Once more her mind flicked back to lake, the robe he'd wrapped around them both, the warmth she felt despite the chill that lingered around them. The realisation that she never felt more safe than she did in his presence, more so in his arms.
'Nine, ten, eleven, twelve…'
The look on his face as she drew nearer to him, as she pulled him closer to her by his shirt, his panicked expression that cut through her.
She groaned once more as a wave of embarrassment washed over her.
'What would this mean for our friendship?' She thought, her stomach turning at the idea of losing her close friend for a second time.
He had made her birthday such a special occasion, he'd given her the best gift she had ever received and possibly ever would, he knew her inside out and she wasn't prepared to lose that over a silly crush she thought she had.
In that moment she made the decision to put the whole thing behind her. Instead of dwelling on the clear mistake she had made, she decided the best way to move past it, would be to pretend it never happened.
'Tomorrow is a new day, everything will go back to normal, it doesn't even need to be mentioned.' She told herself before rolling over one more time and finally feeling herself drifting off.
~X~
The following day went by like any other ordinary day. She went to class as normal, spent her free time with Harry and Ron, listening to them argue over Quidditch, before Ron declared war and decided a game of Wizards chess was the only reasonable way to decide whos team was the best.
Evening drew closer Hermione's stomach flipped more rapidly with each passing minute. Finally, Harry and Ron took themselves off to bed, Hermione followed them up the stairs to her own room before she did a U-turn and came back down the stairs, leaving the empty common room behind her.
She arrived outside her secret room and hesitated for a moment, unsure as to whether or not she was capable of pretending like she hadn't tried to kiss him just short of 24 hours ago.
'Get a grip Hermione.' She mumbled before entering their room.
She imagined that seeing him for the first time today, outside of lessons, away from friends, was going to be incredibly awkward and uncomfortable for her. However, upon entering their secret room, she was presented with the sight of him sitting at their window seat with his legs stretched out and a book in his hands.
He lifted his head up from his book and greeted her with a small smile and in that moment, she forgot about her nerves and any awkwardness she was feeling. Instead, she instantly felt calm and at ease, even if he didn't fancy her, he was still one of her bestfriends.
She walked further into the room, taking off her robe and shoes, and climbed on top of the window seat and over his legs to sit opposite him as he put down his book.
"Hey." She said softly.
"Hey." He responded hesitantly.
"What're you reading?" She asked, looking out of the window to avoid his gaze.
He waited for a moment, trying to read her, trying to figure out what was going on inside that head of hers. After a short while when she still hadn't heard a response, her eyes flicked towards him and immediately he stuttered a response.
"Darkness Falls."
"Again?" She asked, turning to him and regretting it instantly as his eyes stared intently at her, causing her to shift slightly in her seat.
"It is my favourite."
"I haven't read that since first year. I don't think I ever asked but is there a prequel?"
Draco shook his head in response, still confused by her casualness. He had expected her to be nervous, rambling on or even blushing in a way she does so easily, but for the first time he couldn't figure out what she was feeling.
"Okay, well in that case, as it's been such a long time since I've read it, read it to me." She told him and shuffled down further into a more comfortable position, propping a cushion behind her head before looking back at him.
His movements were delayed as he picked up the book once more and turned back to the beginning.
'Perhaps she made a mistake, maybe she regrets it.' He thought to himself, before he cleared his throat and started to read.
Like any other night they spent together, Draco read for hours before Hermione fell asleep. He placed the book down gently and draped a blanket over the pair of them before he too drifted off.
'If she wants to pretend it never happened, then I'll oblige.' Was the last thing he thought to himself before he eventually fell asleep.
"Earth to Hermione." Ron's voice broke through her daydream and she could see clearly now they had arrived at Hogsmeade and Ron was stood in front of her, waving his hand in front of her face.
"Sorry, I completely spaced out."
"I could see that. The group is going to Zonko's, do you want to go there or somewhere else?" Ron asked, still looking mildly concerned at her.
"Zonko's sounds good to me." She smiled and headed towards the rest of the group, Ron following closely behind, eyeing his friend suspiciously.
~X~
After a few hours of exploring everything Hogsmeade had to offer, Hermione followed as the group of Gryffindors ventured into The Three Broomsticks, one by one sitting around a table together, showing one another their purchases from the day.
Hermione glanced around the room, watching as her classmates chatted and laughed together whilst sharing their new items. Her eyes landed on the table in the far corner where Draco sat with the rest of his Slytherin friends.
From where she sat she had the advantage of being able to watch the table with it being overly obvious what she was doing, and so she sat and observed.
Blaise sat at the end of the table, leaning into Pansy, listening intently to her every word, it was clear to Hermione that Blaise liked her but the feelings weren't reciprocated. As all the while he stared at her, her eyes would dart to only Draco as she showed him the contents of her shopping bag.
She moved along the table to Crabbe and Goyle who were stuffing their faces with some of The Three Broomsticks finest pub grub, her nose scrunched slightly as she watched gravy drip down Goyle's chin, averting her eyes at the site, they landed back on Draco.
A pang of jealousy ran through her as she watched Pansy rest her arm on Draco's, laughing at something he had said.
'That's the fakest laugh I've ever heard.' She thought to herself. Scowling at the site before her. Once more she moved her eyes along when finally they landed on Theo's, who were staring back at her.
Startled and embarrassed that she had been caught out watching the Slytherin table, she shifted in her seat and fumbled around with her bag of treats.
"You ok Mione? You're a little red." Ron asked as she dropped her new quill on the floor, he quickly leaned down to pick it up and pass it to her.
"I'm fine, just a little warm. Infact, I think I'm going to head back up to the castle now, I told Harry I'd help him with his assignment."
"You just want to use your new stationary." Ron said with a smirk.
"You caught me out, that's exactly what I wanted to do." She lied, smiling down at him as she stood up from the table, Ron began to stand also, before she held out her hand to stop him.
"It's fine I can walk back myself, don't worry about it, stay longer with everyone." She told him, and he didn't argue with her, only nodded in agreement and turned back to the group of Gryffindor's.
Hermione was waved off by her friends as she made her way to the exit. Once she stepped outside she was hit with a harsh breeze, reminding herself of the regret she had earlier in not bringing warmer clothes.
As she made her way back towards the castle, her arms folded into her tightly holding onto what little warmth she had left, her mind wandered once more to Draco. Seeing how close Pansy was with him in The Three Broomsticks had made her feel uncomfortable, and yet, she didn't have any right to feel that way.
They weren't together, they weren't a couple, they were just friends, the facts made her no less jealous of the Slytherin she'd recently nicknamed pug-face.
Hermione lay across the sofa in the secret room, her head rested on Draco's lap as she flicked through her book on Charms. Draco absentmindedly played with a thick curl that strayed from her bun, twirling it found in his fingers whilst he held his potions book in the other hand.
She had reached a block in concentration, unable to retain any new information from the book, she found herself skimming over the words several times but the result was still the same, nothing would go in. With a heavy sigh she laid down her book on the floor beside her and rested her hands on her stomach, looking up at the ceiling.
"What's the matter?" Draco asked, his eyes never leaving his page.
"I'm just struggling to concentrate." She sighed.
He closed his book and placed it on the table beside him, turning his attention to the girl that rested beside him, her head so comfortably on his lap. Switching hands so that he still held a curl between his fingers, he moved the other to rest along the back of the sofa.
"And why is that?" He asked, looking down at the crease in her brow.
"I'm not sure." She answered truthfully. "Talk to me, tell me something new."
"Like what?" He chuckled.
"I don't know. Tell me about your friends, you never talk about them."
Draco shifted in his seat, feeling uncomfortable about the topic. Hermione's head moved slightly as his legs did, her eyes flicked to look up at him, and still no answer came.
"I know they don't like me, you don't have to talk about that part. I just want to know why you're friends with these people."
"There's not a lot to it really. My friendships are very different to yours. Yours are based around bonding and loyalty, mine are through family connections. I met Blaze when I was around 5ish, his mother and mine were friends and when she used to come over she would bring Blaise. A few years later my father expanded his company, wanting to introduce an element of law, where he met Theo's father, from then on when they used to have meetings he would bring his son, which is how I met Theo. Pansy's father works with mine at the ministry, he'd told mine that one day Pansy and I would be married, so naturally she believed him, it's bullshit really. Grabbe and Goyle have been friends since they were in nappies, I know my father works with theirs now but I'm not sure how they met, I just know they started coming to parties and events we threw and eventually we became friends. Finally Daphne, well, I met her here." He finished on a long breath.
Hermione's head nodded throughout, listening to what little backstory he gave on each friend, if she was honest with herself, she would admit that she had stopped listening the second he had mentioned Pansy's fathers intentions for them both.
"Why's it bullshit?"
"Excuse me?" Draco asked, startled by her casual use of profanity, it sounded so strange coming from her.
"You said that Pansy's dad wanted you to be married one day, then you said it was bullshit, why?"
"Oh. Well… because I'm not interested. She's not my type."
"So you don't plan to make her your future wife then?"
"I think I'm just a tad young to be thinking about that, don't you? But no. I have no intention of marrying her."
"What about dating her?"
"Hermione I said she isn't my type, I'm not interested."
This time she only nodded in response, she could hear the irritation in his voice, so she decided not to push the matter further. She had asked and learnt enough.
"What about you, what makes your friends so special?"
"I didn't have friends before this place. I was a bit of a loner in school and because of that, I never really made friends, I was always the strange kid with her head in books that weird things always seemed to happen around and then I came here and… well, here I was treated differently because of my blood." This made Draco wince, but she ignored it and continued. "It's strange really, I hadn't expected to become friends with them, after all they had made fun of me. But they came back for me, they came looking for me despite the fact that the troll could've killed them and they protected me. Since then they've been like family, and Rons is like a second to my own. They're all so nice and treat me like I'm one of their own and I like that. Our friendship is something that will never change, only grown stronger I imagine."
Draco listened to her detailed reasoning behind her friendship with Harry and Ron, two people he would never be friends with. He understood why she was friends with them, he just didn't like it.
"Family hey, so you don't picture yourself ever being with either of them?" He asked hesitantly.
"Ron and Harry? No, goodness no. I suppose I'm as disinterested in them romantically as you claim to be about Pansy." She teased. He scowled at her as she smirked up at him.
"Well then you really mustn't be interested if you feel the same as me."
"Mmm." She said with a hint of sarcasm, he'd had enough.
He moved his hands quickly to her sides and began tickling her, she wailed around on the sofa kicking and laughing, screaming for him to stop, eventually he did. She sat up, catching her breath, holding onto her aching ribs, a smile still spread across her face as she looked to her side at him.
He shook his head at her before pulling her back down to resume her earlier position, but instead of continuing to talk, he picked up his book. She lay on his lap, staring up at him through her lashes as she watched him read, slowly feeling her eyes becoming heavier until she drifted off to sleep.
'If he really felt that way, why was he so close to her back in The Three Broomsticks?' She thought you herself.
Hermione felt a branch snap beneath her feet, her foot twisted unnaturally causing her to fall to the floor, scraping her hands in the process.
The contents of her bag had started to spill onto the ground, before she had a chance to reach for any of her things, she found somebody had beaten her to it.
Draco stood before her, holding out his hand for her to take, whilst holding her bag in the other. As Hermione took his hand she flinched, her hands still sore from her fall. He flipped them over to get a better look, small scratches lay red raw on her palms. At the sight of this he reached into his pocket, pulled out his wand and muttered an incantation. Although she didn't hear the spell he had cast, she felt the effects of it immediately as the scratches began to fade into nothingness and the pin lessened.
"Thankyou." She said quietly, taking the bag from his hand.
"In a world of your own was you?" He asked, his smirk evident across his lips.
"So it would seem. I feel a little out of sorts today."
"Mmm, I can see. I shouted you a couple of times, thought you were ignoring me. Then you fell over and I realised you were ignoring your surroundings in general."
She bowed her head down slightly, feeling a blush began to appear on her cheeks, embarrassed at her clumsiness.
"I have something for you." He said, moving swiftly on.
He reached inside a bag of his own and pulled out a hat that had been folded in half. She eyed the hat suspiciously, as though it was going to have some hidden joke inside, but nothing about it screamed that it wasn't genuine.
"You shivered the entire way here and you're practically hugging yourself now. Clearly there isn't a single gentleman amongst your friends otherwise they would have offered you their coat. This hat is charmed to keep the entire body of the person wearing it a comfortable temperature at all times through the cold seasons." He explained. Unfolding the hat he moved closer to her and stopped just a few feet away before he placed the hat on her head and pulled the ear flaps down slightly.
"Perfect." He said softly before looking down into her eyes. If there was ever a perfect moment for him to show her he didn't mean to reject her all those weeks ago. Now was that moment, however he wasn't sure if it was what she wanted any more.
"Now you can keep my body warm even when you're not around." She whispered, struggling to concentrate as his hands remained at the side of her face, holding onto her hat.
"I wasn't aware I kept your body warm when I am around."
Suddenly what she had just said repeated in her head and she felt an overwhelming wave of embarrassment wash over her.
"I just meant - with the fire - and the blankets - and when I fall asleep on you - not that - I mean I didn't mean- "
"Hermione relax, I know what you meant I was just teasing you." He laughed, her cheeks the shade of the house she represented.
"Always happy to keep your body warm." He shifted his hands to lift up the bottom of her chin and winked at her before he left, heading back to The Three Broomsticks.
Hermione remained frozen to the spot, unable to process what had just happened. There was no mistake this time, he was definitely flirting, and she definitely enjoyed it.
Author Note
Hey everyone!
I should have said this before my last update but I completely forgot, I just wanted to get it posted.
I apologise for the late update, it's taken me a while to get back into it and find some inspiration, I have all these ideas for random significant moments throughout the years but I just couldn't figure out what to write in between all though things!
However, I'm getting back into it now and I hope you're all still enjoying the story, feel free to tell me otherwise!