Soo here's chapter 12! I'm really excited to share it with you because I like how it turned out to look like. Hope you like it too, enjoy:)
Chapter 12
She was walking towards the Entrance Hall, trying to breathe deeply to calm her racing heart. She didn't even know why she was so nervous – this was just like going out with Ron and Harry. But you aren't putting on tight dark blue robes if you're going out with them, are you? a tiny voice in her head spoke up. She tried to not pay attention to it but it was right. She had put on her sporty set of robes which hugged her frame perfectly. But Blaise had told her to dress so she would be able to run around – she was only following his advice. Pulling her cloak tighter around herself, she continued on, trying to ignore the nagging voice in her head; it was now stuck on the same word – friends. Hermione shook her head when she got to the Entrance Hall and saw Pansy waiting for her. Walking over she couldn't help but notice how good Pansy looked in her deep purple robes that looked like they were made for athletics.
"Looking good there, Granger" the Slytherin greeted her pleasantly.
"You too" Hermione returned the compliment. "You're going to freeze without a cloak though."
"Don't you worry about me" Pansy waved a hand briefly. "Are you ready for the best Halloween day you'll ever have?"
"I've been attacked by a troll on that day, Parkinson, you better mean what you're saying" Hermione smiled confidently. Pansy mirrored her smile.
"You just watch."
The two of them managed to get past Filch and his usual probing with the Secrecy Sensor quite quickly("Point that thing at me and I'll make sure Madam Pomfrey will have to get it out of you using magic!" "Pansy!"), and made their way towards Hogsmeade. Hermione was following Pansy's lead, looking at her and admiring the fact that her side profile seemed to look so perfect: the short raven-coloured hair that was tucked behind a ear; almost black eye with just a drop of dark green; her small, slightly upturned nose; the lips that were just perfectly-shaped; her proud chin – always pointing up. Hermione realized she was staring just in time – Pansy turned to her and she promptly looked ahead.
"Okay there, Granger?" she asked. "You're quiet."
"I was just watching out. Wouldn't want to trip" Hermione smiled, internally wondering at how quickly and smoothly she had just told a lie.
"Yeah, this path is a little rocky but we'll be there soon."
"This path?" Hermione asked, looking around for the first time since they had left the castle grounds. Or she had thought they'd left them. "But we're still on the grounds. That's not the way to Hogsmeade."
"You don't say, Granger" Pansy said sarcastically. "Walking to Hogsmeade would be boring, I thought I'd test how adventurous you are."
The raven-haired girl nodded ahead and Hermione looked in the direction she was pointing. Just a hundred feet away she could see the dark outlines of the trees on the edge of the Forbidden forest. She smirked.
"Not very original. Been in there."
"Oh, I know" Pansy smirked, too. "I also know how you flew to London on a Thestral."
The colour drained from Hermione's face.
"I am NOT flying" she said firmly. "You are so not going to make me fly. Don't snicker at me like that, Parkinson, I'm NOT flying."
"Ohh, come onnnnnn" Pansy whined mockingly. "Is the big brave Gryffindor afraid of making a few circles around the castle on a Thestral?"
Oh, how she knew where to shoot. Her words got straight through Hermione's defenses and hit her pride. She sighed and smiled, trying to control her reckless self.
"That's not going to work" she announced.
"No?" Pansy asked.
"No."
"Shame. I really wanted to see the girl who's been breaking school rules since year one with Potter and Weasley. Guess she's not here anymore, though" the Slytherin said, faking a disappointed voice.
"Where are the damned winged horses?" Hermione gritted out.
"Just by the trees" Pansy answered innocently. Hermione rolled her eyes and strode over to the edge of the Forest where she saw two Thestrals casually munching on a large piece of meat.
"Are we getting on now, or are we going to wait for them to finish eating" Hermione asked slightly timidly, her courage fading away little by little the more she stood next to the creatures themselves.
"No, they're ready whenever we are. But do I sense hesitation...?"
"Don't be stupid" Hermione said and walked to the smaller animal.
"Let's get on then" Pansy said but didn't move. Hermione was aware of that so she tried to sit on the Thestral's back as expertly as she could but lost her balance when she tried to straddle it. She thought she was going to fall spectacularly(much to Pansy's amuse, no doubt) but two delicate hands grabbed her waist and stopped her just before she hit the ground and helped her get up.
"It's easier if you push yourself up to sit sideways, then hold its mane and straddle it" the girl explained, still holding her close. "Try it now, I'll be here to help."
Hermione blushed and sent a silent thanks to Merlin that Pansy was behind her. She looked at the Thestral.
"Okay." She managed to do it, following the other girl's instructions. When she was ready she looked down at Pansy and grinned. "I did it!"
"Good job on that. Let me get on mine."
Hermione was pretty scared but also excited. Flying definitely wasn't her thing but something about doing it with Pansy made it sound ten times better. When she heard her friend commanding her Thestral to go, she did the same without hesitation, knowing it would be fun. At first, she did clench the Thestral's mane really hard. But after the first circle they did she felt freer and her grip slackened slightly.
"Alright, Granger?" Pansy's voice came from her right. She looked at her and saw the Slytherin flying close to her.
"Not bad" she said.
"Want to go down and take a break? Then we can go to Hogsmeade if you want."
Hermione was on the verge of saying yes but then had a sudden, wild idea.
"Sure" she said slowly. "Yes, sounds great, let's go."
The Slytherin nodded and directed her Thestral to the ground. Hermione's Thestral made to follow with the same speed but she whispered to the animal: "No, no. Go slower. I've got an idea." It seemed that Thestrals really were smart because it slowed down and started circling the trees, gradually sinking. When Hermione saw Pansy was already dismounting, she whispered again: "Right. When I tell you, you'll fly off to the Shrieking Shack, okay?" The animal nodded slowly. "Perfect" Hermione said. "When you drop me off there you can come back and finish your meal" she added, seeing the Thestral's eyes dropping to the big chunk of meat its friend was now biting off.
"Come on, Granger" Pansy called. "You did really good, you can let him land faster."
"Yes, yes" Hermione called back. She then whispered to the Thestral "You ready?" and when it nodded, she said "Okay... Go!"
It shot up into the sky and she had to grip its mane tighter so she wouldn't slide off it but it was worth it: she could hear Pansy's shocked shriek.
"Granger! Granger, what are you doing? Get back down here!"
"Catch me if you can!" Hermione yelled back then spurred on her Thestral. "Come on, I have to be there first."
It seemed to understand again because its wings began beating faster and the speed increased. It felt like only a few minutes had passed and the animal leaned forward and prepared to land. Hermione hadn't checked whether Pansy was coming so she slid off the Thestral's back even before its feet had touched the ground in the Shrieking Shack's yard.
"Big thanks to you," she patted him hurriedly, "you can go now."
As she watched it fly away she saw Pansy's silhouette in the sky and quickly ran to the front door of the building and waved her wand. It opened before her and closed the moment she walked in. Remembering her third year, she ran up the stairs, straight into the bedroom Sirius had dragged Ron in when he had wanted to surprise them. She hid in the shadows behind the door, just as he had done and waited. Barely a minute had passed and she heard the front door open and close again.
"That was a good one, Granger, I'll give you that" Pansy's voice carried up the stairs. "But I know you're here so there's no use hiding."
Hermione didn't know whether Pansy had been inside the building before but wanted to laugh out loud at this. She was totally going to make it hard for her friend to find her. And since Pansy had wanted to scare her, she'd return the favour.
"Don't feel like talking, I see. Well, I'll have to find you then. You won't like it when I do!" Pansy called again. Hermione shivered slightly – she was used to such words being thrown at her by Death Eaters, but then she reminded herself that Pansy wasn't trying to kill her. She gave herself a shake and tried to hear what was happening downstairs. Pansy seemed to be walking around. Allowing herself a sigh, she started playing with her wand. This was going to be a long wait if the other girl was going to search every nook in the Shrieking Shack. Just when she thought she was going to wait forever Pansy's voice sounded again and scared her, almost making her gasp.
"You know, I know how to use a Homenum Revelio charm. But I just think I should play fair, let you have your fun." She laughed and Hermione had a sudden urge to go and laugh with her but then the laughter ceased and she heard the stairs creaking. Pansy was coming. "You're not downstairs then. Good, it would have been boring."
Hermione heard the Slytherin's movements. She was coming closer.
"Hiding in the bedroom, are we, Granger?" Pansy asked suddenly and jumped inside, looking around. Hermione knew she wouldn't see her in the shadows yet, but if she decided to check...
Pansy moved towards the bed, however, and Hermione smiled. Any moment now, just let her go a bit closer to the big four-poster, she thought.
"Hiding under the bed is so old-fashioned, Granger" Pansy said and Hermione practically heard her smirk. She smirked too, and jumped out of the shadows, lunging at Pansy. She caught her waist from behind and the two of them fell onto the bed. "AAARGH!" the Slytherin shrieked.
"Gotcha" Hermione laughed. "I got youuuuu!"
"DAMN IT GRANGER! ARE YOU TRYING TO GIVE ME A HEART ATTACK?" Pansy snapped loudly, clutching her chest. Hermione continued to laugh, rolling off her. "It's not funy!" the Slytherin snapped grumpily which only made Hermione laugh harder. "Stop laughing, Granger" Pansy tried to sound threatening but failed, starting to crack up. She finaly gave up on being angry and laughed with Hermione. The brunette laughed harder, seeing that, and rolled again without knowing how close she was to the edge of the bed. She started falling and grabbed Pansy's hand in an attempt to stop herself. This didn't go as planned and they both ended up on the floor, laughing harder than ever. At some point they managed to stop, but one look at each other had them starting all over. Finally, Hermione succeeded in drawing a breath, and leaned on the foot of the bed, clutching her sides. Pansy calmed down too, and they just sat there, wiping tears off their faces.
"I can't remember the last time anyone made me laugh until my stomach hurt" Pansy said finally.
"Glad to be the one to bring the feeling back" Hermione said.
"Yeah, well it's been a long time since someone scared me like that, too."
"So you had a good time?"
"Oh yeah, definitely. You?"
"One of the best days I've had lately" Hermione said.
"Glad for that."
"I do feel quite hungry though."
"You read my mind, Granger" Pansy said. "I just have to ask, did you enjoy yourself, really? I mean, I know you don't like flying so..."
"Oh no, it was great" Hermione smiled. "Only time I've flown on a Thestral I was scared and we were in a hurry. Today with you... it was just different."
Pansy smiled too but Hermione continued.
"I should totally do it again with Ron and Harry, they didn't quite like it last time but they should see how nice it is."
The brunette took a moment to imagine the fun they were going to have doing it and didn't notice the shadow that passed over the other girl's face.
"Oh yeah, you should totally do it. Can we go now, I'm dying to see what's for lunch."
"Okay" Hermione said and hurried to get up because Pansy was already at the door. They walked back downstairs and she had an idea. "Hey, we're going to the school now then?"
"Yes, why" Pansy asked.
"I know a shortcut to the grounds, want to take it?"
"Lead the way" the raven-haired girl said impassively.
Hermione showed her the hidden tunnel. Pansy didn't seem that impressed and their way to the castle was silent and somehow awkward. The brunette thought Pansy was tired so she didn't push her to talk. When they entered the Entrance Hall, Pansy turned to the right.
"Hey, where are you going? Weren't you hungry?" Hermione asked.
"No, I remembered I have to speak to René about something. See you around."
The raven-haired girl was gone before Hermione could formulate any form of response. The brunette walked into the Great Hall confused and a little sad, thinking what she had done to offend her friend. Little did she know what things were going through Pansy's head at the moment.
Pansy herself was pacing around the Slytherin Common room in front of three boys who were looking at her questioningly.
"Didn't you turn us down just a few days ago, saying you had plans for today?" Theo asked.
"You were supposed to be with Granger today, what happened?" Blaise questioned her too.
"I was with Granger" Pansy said briefly. "But I still have the afternoon free, so if you want to go to Hogsmeade, let's go."
"We're in" Theo agreed at once. "Just the four of us having fun, it's going to be great."
"Yeah, you two go on, Pansy and I will catch up in a minute" Draco said. The boys exited quickly, knowing there were certain things Pansy and Draco shared with no one but each other. "What happened with Mia?" he continued when the door closed.
"Nothing, we just finished earlier than expected" Pansy shrugged.
"Hey, I know you. Something's wrong so tell me what."
She looked around, even though she knew they were alone, and sighed.
"Nothing happened."
"Come on, Pansy, I kn-"
"Nothing happened" she repeated firmly. "I seemed to think something could happen. I don't even know why I thought that, nothing could ever happen between me and her."
"Whoa, wait, if you're saying what I think you are-"
"It doesn't matter."
"Yes, it does! I can-"
"No" Pansy cut him off. "You won't tell a soul about this, least of all Granger. She's not even lesbian, and even if she was, she definitely doesn't like me so it stays between us, all right?"
"Okay" Draco said without hesitation. He wasn't going to let anything stand in the way of his friendship with Pansy. "Let's go then, the Hog's Head is waiting for us."
Pansy nodded and led the way out. Draco followed slowly, looking at her back, wondering just how much his friend had fallen for Hermione Granger and what she would do to forget her.