Deeply Discovering Draco


Rating: G
Summary: Hermione has a theory as to why Draco bugs Harry, Ron, and herself so often. And she's determined to find out if she's right.
Pairing: Draco/Hermione
Genre: Humor, Fluff, sort of Romance
Notes: Probably the first and last D/Hr you will see from me. I'm not really a fan of the pairing myself (although not an anti-fan either), but I've been determined to write a D/Hr ever since I joined ff.net for some reason. I hope you enjoy it; I personally think it's pretty cute.

*****

Why? Why did he do it?

It was a question Hermione had been puzzling over since she was a first year. Why did Draco Malfoy always follow them around? Harry, Ron, and her...wherever they went, he went, too, just to make their lives miserable.

It didn't make sense.

When she'd told Harry and Ron about her puzzlement, they'd just laughed and rolled their eyes. "Isn't it obvious, Hermione?" Harry had said. "He's my rival. He wants to beat me. And he's going to use any opportunity he can." Ron had agreed.

Sure, Hermione conceded, that was part of it. But had that been the only explanation, he really didn't need to follow around Harry as much as he did. After all, Harry had had many rivals throughout the years, and none of them had been quite so obsessed. There had to be another reason.

Now, she finally thought she had it figured out.

Hermione cringed as she thought of her theory. Just the thought of Draco liking...well, eww. She wrinkled her nose. But perhaps she was wrong. There was only one way to find out.

Ask Malfoy himself.

Hermione twiddled her thumbs at the end of arithmathancy, attempting to stifle a yawn. After all, she'd already long learned these theories from her outside "light reading" of the textbook. Draco sat on the Slytherin side of the room, his typical sneer in place. Hermione was with the Gryffindors, but she didn't know any of them very well, since most took Diviniations instead of arithmathancy.

She joyously saw they'd been assigned homework, and then the professor dismissed the class.

Quickly, Hermione gathered her books, wrote down the homework, and stood outside the hall. Draco, as usual, took his time, gracefully loading his books and gliding towards the door. By the time the Draco was done, the other students had long left the classroom.

Hermione quickly ran up to Draco and cornered him. "Malfoy."

Uncharacteristically, Draco jumped in surprise upon hearing his name. Slowly, he turned around. As soon as he recognized Hermione, Draco glared.

"What do you want, Granger?" he sneered.

"Oh, nothing much," Hermione replied casually.

"Nothing much? Well, I don't have time for mudbloods like you," Draco said, annoyed. He tried to push Hermione out of the way, but she grabbed him hard and stopped him.

"Look, Malfoy, it's nothing, I..."

"I'm not giving you any of the dark side's secrets, if that's what you want," Draco drawled confidently.

Quickly, Hermione exclaimed breathlessly, "No, no! Nothing to do with that! I just have this theory....you know about why you bug us so much, and..."

Draco paled. "Huh?" He quickly covered up. "Oh, you and that miserable Potter and Weasel." He grinned snottily. "That is for me to know..."

"...And me to find out," Hermione finished, laughing at her brilliant entrance. "Look, Malfoy, I've been thinking, and I realized that when I was a little girl in muggle elementary school, the boys used to tease the prettiest girls. They'd pull out their hair-bands, call them names...you know, the usual sort of thing."

"And your point is?" Draco asked, tapping his foot impatiently. "Get to it. I have far more important things to do than talk to you."

"Stop interrupting me!" Hermione said, exasperated. "Anyway, I applied that theory to you. You're always going around bugging us...my only conclusion is that you have some stupid, school-boy crush on me."

"Whatever, Mudblood," Draco replied, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, don't worry, the thought repulses me," said Hermione matter-of-factly. "But I'm curious. Am I right?"

Draco paused. "Maybe you are, maybe you aren't," he taunted a moment later in reply.

"What?"

"Just what I said, Granger," Draco replied. "Maybe, maybe not. Why would I give an enemy confidential information like that?"

Hermione sighed, annoyed. "Is it really that confidential, Malfoy? Everyone knows the school-boy crush theory. Obviously, you like one of us. And with Parkinson around, I know you're not gay. So, it must be true!" she finished, more confident in her theory now than before.

"You're annoying, mudblood," Draco said cockily. "And...my final answer is.......maybe."

Grabbing him by the collar, Hermione glared at him and said, "All right Malfoy, one more chance! Am I right, or aren't I?"

This time Draco just looked at Hermione. For a long time, he studied her eyes, and every feature of her face. "...Maybe."

Hermione was about to groan again, when Draco suddenly gave her his classic evil grin. He winked, grabbed her hand, and gave it a small kiss. "See you around, Granger," Draco said in his typical voice, turned around, and strutted off as quickly as he could.

As quickly as possible, Hermione brushed the hand he'd kissed against her clothes. She grinned knowingly.

Sure, it was gross. Sure, it disgusted her. Sure, nothing more would come out of it.

But, she was right. As always. With an extra bounce in her step, Hermione walked back to the Gryffindor dorms, happy she finally knew Draco Malfoy's secret.

END