Hermione was sitting on her bed in a fit of laughter watching Ginny's impersonation of Ernie Macmillan.
"Honestly," Ginny laughed. "He's a bigger snob than Zabini!"
"I don't entirely mind him, he's funny without meaning to be," she remarked.
Suddenly there was a loud thump against the glass startling the two girls.
Ginny jumped out of bed. "It's an owl," she said going toward the window. Hermione watched as a Great grey owl flew in and perched itself on her bedside table. Seeing that it had a small white envelope in its talons Ginny reached out to take it.
"Ouch!" she hissed, flinching. "Damn bird pecked me!"
Before Hermione could ask if she was alright, the owl had swooped up, dropped the envelope onto her lap and flew back out the window without so much as asking for a treat. The envelope itself was blank, but Hermione could feel something inside. Ginny watched her open it with tentative hands. Her brow furrowed as she pulled out a piece of jewellery.
"It's a bracelet," said Hermione looking a little vexed. At that moment Parvati and Lavender walked in, giggling to themselves, most likely about a boy.
"What's that?" Lavender exclaimed with amusement.
Parvati grinned. "It's gorgeous," she said reaching to take it from Hermione.. "Give it here, let's have a look."
But as soon as the bracelet touched her skin, she released a loud yelp.
"Hermione, what the hell, that thing just burnt me!"
"Who sent it to you?" demanded Ginny.
"I wouldn't know, the envelope wasn't addressed," she muttered bewildered as she bent down to pick up the bracelet, which had fallen to the floor. On closer observation, Hermione discerned that it was primarily a thin gold chain with a small gold coin attached to it. "It's got a coin charm," she said softly.
Without giving it much thought, Hermione began to put it on but saw that he had no clasp.
"Don't!" interjected Parvati. "Remember what happened to Katie Bell!"
'She's right," added Ginny. "It could be dangerous."
But before anyone could say anything more, the bracelet encircled her wrist on its own and clasped shut.
All three girls stood gaping over Hermione, waiting for some dark curse to take hold of her.
"Nothing's happening," she shrugged holding up her wrist. The coin glinted, catching the light. It was such a beautiful bracelet, Hermione had never seen anything quite like it.
"Oh," Lavender sighed, sounding relieved with an underlying tone of disappointment. After fifteen minutes of arguing about who had sent it to her, and why, the Gryffindor girls went to their individual beds to sleep.
The next morning Lavender announced, quite loudly over breakfast, that the bracelet must be a gift from Victor Krum. Who else, she claimed, would have given her such a lavish gift?
Draco had arrived a little early for his last study session with Granger. He couldn't let the little Mudblood think he was an imbecile so he'd written the drafts carefully. In fact, he'd read them over so tediously that they were practically ready to be handed in. If this was just another year at Hogwarts' he wouldn't be in a position to need her bloody help, these things normally came so easily to him. Instead, he'd been expending most of his energy reflecting on the different ways he could kill Dumbledore or the different ways he would be killed.
He was in the middle of going over his essay once more when she swept in, banging the door closed. He glanced up at her and then back down to the parchment.
"I don't think we have much to go over, it's pretty much done." He was met with stony silence. Glancing up again, he found that she was suddenly standing right in front of him, her hands on her hips, her eyes raging.
"Just what the hell is this?" she asked, jutting out her wrist with the gold coin dangling beneath.
"It's a bracelet," Draco replied looking at her like she was rather dim-witted.
"I know what it is, Malfoy! I mean, just what the hell were you thinking? You can imagine my surprise while in the shower the coin became hot and there was a message: today, not tomorrow. You can't just send me a bracelet by owl!"
"How else was I supposed to tell you when to meet, march up to the Gryffindor tower and ask to see you?"
"That's another thing, you can't just demand to meet whenever you want—"
"Oh please," he sneered, dismissing it entirely. "Like you have better things to do."
She clasped her hands in front of her face as if in prayer and breathing deeply she regarded him.
"Everyone has been pressing me to tell them who gave me such a beautiful and expensive bracelet. Ron thinks it's a gift from Viktor Krum!"
The corner of Draco's lip lifted as he slumped back into his chair crossing his arms over his chest. "Poor, poor Weasley," he smirked. "Can't even afford new robes let alone a gold bracelet. It must be killing him. I wonder, " he drawled leaning forward. "Does he know you were slagging it with the Bulgarian? Maybe he thinks the bracelet is a form of payment."
Her mouth fell open and it was almost comical until...
"You foul, loathsome, evil little cockroach!" she shouted, her wand drawn. Draco having anticipated her reaction had his out too, a gleam of satisfaction in his eyes. As much fun as a duel seemed he thought it would be best avoided.
"Alright then Granger, I'll make this easy for you," he offered, lowering his wand and placing it on the table. He was fairly certain she'd never hex him while he was unarmed. Stretching his arm out, palm open, he said, "Just give it back."
"No," she said without skipping a beat.
His eyes flashed. "No?"
"Think of it as a form of payment," she said with a teasing smile.
Draco's cheeks reddened at the innuendo. She was savouring his discomfort and he didn't like it one bit.
"Then let's sit down and finish the work," he grumbled. "I don't want to have to look at your bushy head any longer than I already have to."
A few minutes later Granger was seated calmly reading over the answer to the essay questions. Draco felt restless waiting for her to finish. Could the witch read any slower?
After what seemed like a long time, she pronounced, "It's perfect!" And she was smiling. "Really, I would hand it in, as is."
He bit the inside of his cheek, his eyes dancing over her face, and he didn't know why but it just slipped out.
"So you like the bracelet?"
She glanced away and began arranging the parchments.
"It's like the protean-charmed coins you charmed last year, except I embellished a little," Draco continued. Stop talking. Stop talking. "If anyone else tries to take it—"
"I know," she interjected. "Parvati tried. It's impressive magic."
Blushing, Draco realized there was no reason for him to still be sitting in this room with her. He began to gather his things which took him mere seconds and then he was standing up.
"Where do you think you're going?" she said with reproach.
"We're done here, aren't we?"
She flushed, and in a small voice said, "You said you'd teach me the bird charm... you promised."
He blinked. "Oh right... okay."
"Okay," she echoed, sounding surprised and anxious all at once. She stood, taking her wand out of her robes.
He dropped his bag and took out his.
"Watch closely," said Draco. He pointed his wand up and with a murmur so soft he said, "Avis Luteus," his hand weaving and sweeping.
"The spell is A-vis Lu-te-us," he repeated.
"Avis Luteus," she muttered. "Avis Luteus. Ok."
She raised her wand and tried to perform the spell. She tried several times but she was still unable to conjure anything.
"It's not working," she huffed in frustration.
"Your wand movement is all wrong. Relax your wrist," he sighed. "No, like this."
He stood behind her and covered her wand hand with his.
"Say the spell," he breathed.
"Avis Luteus," she whispered while his hand guided hers in a sinuous gesture. Slowly, seemingly out of thin air, sprays of golden-yellow dust appeared, dancing in mid-air, till they clustered together to form the shape of a yellow bird.
"That's it... you have it," whispered Draco. She was watching mesmerized as more birds took shape and began to fly in circles overhead. He was impressed by how quickly she learned the spell.
He swallowed, feeling the heat of her on him. He could smell gardenias in her hair and that's when it hit him...
Releasing her hand, he stepped back. There was a sick knot in his stomach and he tasted bile rise up his throat.
She turned back and beamed at him.