DRACO
The feeling of power overwhelmed him once he saw Hermione's face fall. She had seemed so feisty and proud of herself for standing up to him, but a few sharp words from his mouth had broken that sense of pride that she had felt in the moment. Something in him had made him glance downwards, and noticed that her chest was heaving. Feeling disgusted, he had brought his eyes back to her face, catching sight of her pink, wet lips, before travelling back towards her eyes. She had stopped breathing for a moment, and he watched as her eyes started to water before closing. His heart fluttered for a second and sank as he watched a single tear fall from her eye. Confusion enveloped his brain as he watched her, and felt shocked when he watched his wand arm drop from her throat and his other hand slowly rise of its own accord towards her face. He was moments away from wiping the tear from her cheek and realised what it was he was doing. Dropping his hand, he quickly turned and took a few steps away from her, facing the mermaid's window, Something in him willed him to turn back to her, to apologise for his harsh words, whilst his brain screamed at him. She's a mudblood. Mudblood's and Purebloods do not mix. What would your father think? A quick shake of his head reminded him of his place, and he looked towards his right shoulder, choosing what he later would come to realise was the wrong path. "Get out." he spat, closing his eyes. The lack of sleep was apparently getting to him. Otherwise, why would he sympathise for Hermione Granger?
Draco had stayed stood in that position for a long time after she had fled the room, contemplating his feelings. Part of him had felt guilty for speaking to her in such a way, after all, he had interrupted her. She had done nothing wrong; she had defended herself from her childhood bully. He had wanted to follow her, apologize for his words, but he knew deep down that she wouldn't accept the apology. Hell, he wouldn't had it have been the other way around. Clearing his mind, he walked towards the bath, allowing time for it to re-fill before he had stepped in. Forty minutes had passed, and Hermione's sad face had refused to exit his mind. Hoping a change of scenery would allow him to forget their encounter, he had decided to return to the dungeons. No-one would bother him at this time in the morning, hell, hopefully no-one would even be awake.
"Where've you been Draaaco?" Pansy had purred, fluttering her eyelashes as Draco had entered the common room. She was lying across one of the green leather sofas in the centre of the room. The Slytherin common room was ridiculously cold, even with the fireplace burning away. Why on earth would Salazar choose the dungeons for Merlin's Sake. It was perfectly acceptable in Summer; being underground had helped with the sweltering heat, yet between October and March it was unbearable. It felt like the room was surrounded with Dementors; there was no way to keep warm, even warming charms would only hold and 30 minutes.
He had rolled his eyes at the girl lounging on the sofa, watching him with lust-filled eyes. "Where I've been is none of your concern Parkinson." he said, heading towards the staircase that would lead him towards the dorm rooms. Pansy stood, skipping to follow him, and sensing her behind him, he stopped on the spot, forcing her to bump into his back. He narrowed his eyes and turned back towards her with a dark glare. Pansy's face dropped to a pale white when she had seen his expression before giving him a pleading look. "I-I-I'm sorry Draco, I didn't mean-"
"Leave me alone Pansy. I don't want your company. Go follow Theo, i'm sure he would LOVE your attention" he drawled boringly, showing his disinterest in her before turning once again and leaving the room. Pansy stood there shellshocked; Draco had never turned her down before.
Draco threw the door to the dormitory open with a loud bang. The grandfather clock against the wall showed that it was six thirty, meaning that the occupants of the room were due to wake up. A groan came from behind one of the six curtain-covered beds, and a magical shimmer appeared, indicating a muffled charm had been cast. Walking over to his bed, Draco stripped off his silk black loungewear and changed into his uniform, before falling backwards onto the bad and placing his hands behind his head. Waiting for the other boys to rise was held decidingly less risk than returning to the common room. He had tried to indicate to Pansy that he wanted to be left alone, yet her stubborn and clingy behaviour would knowingly win through, and being followed by his bit-on-the-side was not something he wished to deal with at this time in the morning; He would probably make it up to her by calling her for a quick fuck later in the week.
Crabbe and Goyle were the last ones to rise, as usual, and rather than waiting for them to get ready, Draco followed Theo and Blaise down to breakfast. The Slytherin first years noticed the boys walking through the common room heading towards the door and jumped up to follow them, afraid that losing sight of their Prefect would equal them getting lost around the castle.
The great hall was mostly quiet and currently resided of the other first years and some prefects. Keeping his eyes away from the Gryffindor table as to avoid catching Granger's gaze, he directed the Slytherins towards the head of their table, ignoring the "Thankyou Mr Malfoy"'s that were being sent his way. He chose to sit on the bench facing the wall, with Theo and Blaise sitting opposite him. Within minutes, Crabbe and Goyle entered the hall and sat either side of him, their large builds making Draco feel protected, yet small, at the same time. A bowl of porridge and blueberries appeared in front of him, and he started to eat. The hall was full of conversation, except for the area where the sixth years sat. Draco glanced around and found his fellow students watching him, waiting for permission to talk. With a quick nod, Theo and Blaise started talking about Blaise's new appointment as the Quidditch Captain; Draco had decided to take a step back this year, due to his new schedule and tasks that he knew needed completing, and Blaise had happily stepped in for him.
HERMIONE
The new students were a breath of fresh air. The entire way down to breakfast they had bombarded her and Neville with questions about the paintings, staircases, and teacher. She loved her role as Prefect so far, and was glad to be so interested in something new. Harry and Ron would be spending a lot of time practicing Quidditch this year, which gave Hermione the opportunity to take the first years down to the stadium. Looking at her timetable for the day, she had decided to try to speak to Professor McGonagall about assisting with teaching, and maybe she could start a new revision club for them, similar to what they had done in the DA last year, but more focused on the year's curriculum. She would also inform the Professor about Malfoy. The situation this morning had angered and upset her in many ways, but if she was able to help in some way, it was definitely worth reporting.
She had noticed over the years that his treatment of her was getting better, and although he was a Malfoy and a member of the 'Sacred 28', that he wasn't as much of a bigot as his father. Maybe he's just misunderstood she thought. Their first meeting in Diagon Alley before they had even attended Hogwarts had been quite pleasant. They had spent a number of hours in Flourish and Blotts chatting about books and how excited they were to be attending Hogwarts. She remembered that he hadn't reacted negatively when she informed him she was muggleborn. If anything, he seemed curious. He'd asked her questions about her upbringing, and taken an interest in being friends. My first friend. He'd promised to write to her, and they'd exchanged addresses (She couldn't use owl post so he'd offered to write in a muggle way). She had received two letters from him in the weeks following their meeting, and three weeks before they'd gotten on the Hogwarts Express, he'd stopped writing. She'd ran up to him on the platform whilst he was stood with his parents, excited to see him, and he had told her to go away. Meeting Harry and Ron on the train had distracted her from worrying about what she could have possibly done to upset him, but she had tried to talk to him again whilst walking up to the boats with Hagrid, but he had shunned her and called her a mudblood for the first time.
That was the last time she had tried to befriend him.
Casting her thoughts aside, she noticed he had gotten up and left the hall, alone. Seconds later, Pansy Parkinson had rushed after him. And he thinks i'm pathetic. Parkinson's obsession with Malfoy had been going on since first year, which wasn't surprising seeing as they were betrothed to be married following graduation from Hogwarts, yet her feelings seemed to be.. Unrequited in nature. He definitely didn't seem interested. At all. Not that Hermione was bothered, after all, why should she be? She turned and smiled as Ginny and the Patil twins sat with them for breakfast, grabbing a croissant and a mug of tea whilst Ron shovelled a large handful of scrambled egg and sausages onto his plate, followed by bacon and four slices of toast. How he managed to eat it all and still have space for pastries which he usually ate on the way to class, Hermione had no idea. Finishing her tea, she made another and filled her Thermos flask before leaving the hall with Neville and Parvati down towards the dungeons for Double Potions.
The hallway was nearly empty when they arrived. Only the Slytherins had arrived so far, and as far as she could recall, not many others had gained an 'Outstanding' in their O.W.L exams, a handful at most. The new potions Professor, Slughorn, arrived a few moments later, with the rest of the class trailing behind. Once in the classroom, they were directed towards the back of the room, and stood behind a long, mahogany table. Stood on that table were three cauldrons filled with different types of potion; one was clear with a silky texture, one pearl coloured with spiraled steam rising, and the last was a thick, black concoction. Hermione quickly diagnosed the different potions and smiled; her summer studying had proved successful.
After a quick introduction, Professor Slughorn started to discuss the potions in front of them when the door to the classroom swung open, and a raven-haired boy fell through, followed by a flash of bright hair. Hermione rolled her eyes as Harry apologised for their lateness, to which Slughorn dismissed it and advised them to collect supplies for the cupboard before turning back to the group. "Now, can anyone tell me what this potion is?" he asked, scanning the roo and pointing to the cauldron in the middle. Raising her hand, Hermione waited for him to acknowledge her, and continued when he nodded with a smile. "It's Amortentia! It's the most powerful love potion in the world!". The Professor gave a great smile before nodding for her to carry on with her explanation. "It's supposed to smell differently to each individual, according to what attracts them. For example, I smell mint, new parchment and - aftershave" she stated, a light blush crawling across her cheeks.
Stepping back towards the group, she glanced around towards Harry and Ron, who were glaring to her left. Turning to follow their gaze, she saw Mafloy and the Slytherins whispering among themselves. "Ignore them" she whispered, and the boys nodded before focusing on Slughorn. She took another glance to her left and noticed Malfoy looking in her direction, a confused, and possibly concerned, look on his face. Blaise Zabini stood to his right, and leaned over to whisper in his ear, before Malfoy met her eyes. Gasping quickly and averting her gaze, she focused back onto the professor, who had started to brief them on their task for the lesson. Slughorn started to call out names and table assignments, to which the students left and joined up around the room. Hermione was placed with Ron, Harry and Neville close to the dungeon door, and started to set up her equipment, pulling her books from her bag.
That's it! Chapter two! I've changed quite a bit from the draft work I came up with, and I really hope it works! You can start to see that there is something between our two star-crossed lovers, although Malfoy is obviously very confused to what it is he could possibly be feeling.
I'm going to try and update this in the next week, although I do have an essay of my own to write for University. Please leave comments, or send me a message if you have any questions. I am also looking for a Beta, if anyone is interested!
Thankyou all for following my little story. I didn't think this would go anywhere to begin with, but after receiving multiple emails from the site, I can see that maybe I was wrong!
I hope you all have a lovely halloween!
Much love, AcaciaKnight x