DRACO

Professor Slughorn had given an oversight of how this year's classes would go, and the rules that should be abided by now that he was the potions teacher. His approach to teaching was nothing like Snape's, and had what Draco considered to be a very annoying habit of chatting to each student as he circled the room. He was currently explaining which potion they would be attempting that day, and Draco had zoned out as the scent wafted towards him from the Amortentia. His mind travelled back to that morning, replaying her reaction to his words over and over again. He had noticed Granger's presence immediately upon entering the room, standing in the shadows, waiting for the perfect opportunity to reveal himself, when he felt all of the breath leave his body. He watched as she twirled her hair up on top of her head, a stray part falling to the side of her face, as she secured it with her wand. Standing there in the dark had felt extremely pornographic, and wrong. Heat rose to his cheeks, and his briefs felt tight as he watched her bathe. Knowing the moment felt wrong, he'd taken a step forward and made his presence known to her.

"Mint, new parchment and - aftershave". Her voice brought him back to normality, and he glanced up towards her. The last word had come out in a whisper, confusion spreading across her face and cheeks turning pink as she flustered and took a step backwards. Draco felt movement next to him and jumped slightly as Blaise whispered into his ear. "Sounds familiar, don't you think Draco?". He could hear the smirk in his voice and he continued. "Where was it you disappeared to this morning? Pansy complained through breakfast about your meeting in the common room". His voice was quickly forgotten, as Granger had looked around the room and caught his eyes. Her face turned to a scarlet red, and she averted her eyes towards the rest of the precious Golden Trio. He heard a small chuckle come from his right, and felt a small push in the small of his back, directing him towards their work table.

Sorting his ingredients and cauldron quickly, Draco started working on the Draught of Living Death they had been given to produce. Attempting to cut the Sophorous Beans, he smirked as Theo's attempt on the same instruction had resulted in Blaise being hit in the face, leaving a red mark in the centre of his forehead. Karma. Glancing at the gryffindor table, he noticed that Granger's hair had doubled in size, and there was evidence of frustration oh her face as she glared at Potter. Trouble in Paradise?. Slughorn had offered a vial of Felix Felicis to the best potion at the end of the lesson, which had surprisingly gone to Potter. He had somehow managed to beat an entire room of students that had bested him in his O.W.L's. Placing his potion into a number of vials for assessment, Draco quickly cleared his table with a flick of his wand and stormed away from the classroom. There had to be another way to get a bottle of Felicis. He would definitely need it this year.

HERMIONE

She had managed to get a full nights sleep this time. Her first day has exhausted her, and the pile of homework was already making her feel stressed. It would take her a day to complete at most, but that would have to wait. She had promised Ron and Harry that she would come to watch the Quidditch tryouts to cheer them on, as Harry had become the new captain and Ron was trying out to become the new Keeper. McClaggen had also displayed interest in Keeper, and seemingly Hermione as well, according to Ron, who had tried to involve Hermione in conversation to bring her head out of her Runes textbook. She had awoken before the other girls, which was the usual for her, and stretched her arms above her head before Crooks had crawled up to her and snuggled in under the quilt. Smiling, she carefully moved around him and sat on the edge of the bed, shivering with the cold September chill of the room.

Grabbing her wand from the nightstand, Hermione cast a warming spell and sighed in happiness before noticing a light tapping coming from the window to her left. Grabbing a blanket, she stood and creeped over to the window, opening the hatch and letting in a small brown owl. He hopped onto the windowsill and dropped a single, light blue cornflower. Hermione picked up a small treat from a pot by the window and fed the owl, giving it a light stroke on its head. "I'm going to call you Barnie" she whispered, hearing the bird chirp in approval and lightly nipping her finger, before turning and flying away. Closing the window, she focused her attention on the flower, noticing that there was no note accompanying it. She smiled at the kind gesture, although confused as to who could have sent this to her, and casted a stasis charm to keep it fresh.

Moving to the bathroom connected to the bedroom, Hermione washed and prepared herself for that day. She sighed at the sight of her hair, which had become bushy overnight, and smoothed it over with a tonic that Ginny had gifted her for her birthday that year. Brushing it through, she was thankful to see her hair had fallen into soft waves around her shoulders, and returned to the bedroom to change into her robes. The girls had started to rise as she entered the room, with Parvarti giving her an approving look and complimenting her hair that day. She smiled in response and sat back on the bed, watching as Crooks stretched and jumped from the bed, sauntering over to the door and turning to look at her. She shook her head and moved to let him out, watching as he ran down the stairs to the common room. Grabbing her bag, she followed him and headed down to breakfast.

Her first lesson that day was Defence Against the Dark Arts, which had recently been handed over to Snape, and she wanted to read a few chapters of the textbook to prepare for whatever he may throw their way that morning. They were due to start working on non-verbal spells, which Hermione had started practicing a few weeks prior to returning. As the great hall was so quiet, Hermione had thirty full minutes of drinking tea and reading in silence, before Ron and Harry sat down noisily opposite her, wishing her a good morning before helping themselves to a hearty breakfast.

The classroom had changed dramatically since last year. The windows were covered in thich, black curtains, with candles lit on the walls and hanging in the air to create an whole class had entered and sat down before Professor Snape barged into the room, his cloak billowing behind him, turning sharply at the front of the classroom. Lecturing them on what he had expected from them, he introduced that they were, in fact, going to start learning Non-verbal spells, which Hermione was thrilled about. They had been paired up with others from their houses, and she had been placed with Neville. At the end of the lesson, Hermione had successfully been able to cast a jelly-legs jinx at Neville more than once, and also threw a few shield charms his way when they had swapped roles. Neville had been unsuccessful with his casting attempts, asking if she could tutor him before their next lesson. She had agreed happily, excited about the opportunity to teach again, before saying her goodbyes to the boys and heading towards the library for her free period. She had decided to start working on her Ancient Runes essay when a shadow fell over her.

"Homework already Printessa? How awfully dreadful". She smiled as she recognised the silky voice, and turned to smile at her best friend. Blaise Zabini and Hermione had started a blossoming friendship in their second year. Hermione's friendship with Harry and Ron was great, however they lacked the academic values that she prided herself on. She had chosen to study in the evenings whilst Quidditch was on, and found the tanned boy sat in her favourite corner. He had teased her when she had folded her arms and ordered him to move. From then on, they had decided to meet every other night and study together, and she considered him a brother. He had filled a hole in her life that she didn't know she had, and that feeling had become mutual for Blaise too.

He pulled up a chair at their table in the corner of the library and grabbed his books from his satchel. They were in the same Ancient Runes class, and had chosen to sit at the same desk and work together, for inter-house unity. Hermione had brought the mysterious flower with her for the day, and was twirling it through her fingers when Blaise took it from her. "Hey!" she exclaimed, reaching out to take it back from him, when he moved it out of her reach. "Someone has an admirer, no?" he jested, giving her a teasing smile. She blushed furiously, and looked back towards her book, flipping onto the next page. "It's nothing. Someone sent it to me this morning, but there was no note" she said, sticking her nose up in the air, refusing to look at him.

He dropped the flower onto her book in front of her, and opened his textbook, giving a short laugh. "If you say so Printessa".

And that's Chapter three! As always, the characters do not belong to me. Thankyou for reading my little story. Again, I am looking for a Beta, but I don't know if there's a specific way to go about it? If you know, please send me a message! I always love reading stories where Blaise and Hermione become best friends. I know in the books he can be just as opinionated as Draco, but not here! I'll build more on their friendship throughout the story.

Let me know what you think by leaving a comment or sending me a message.

Much love,

AcaciaKnight x