Disclaimer: I own nothing as usual.
A/N: This is my favorite chapter so far.
After that day with her little Pansy incident, Hermione saw Draco in a new light. When she was younger, she thought that he was a cold-blooded, heartless, jerk, but he had shown her that he wasn't. He had shown her that he could be, kind, and, gentle, and sweet if he wanted to be. She no longer hated him as she once had. It wasn't like she was great friends with him, but she definitely didn't hate him.
"Ok Draco, what's on the list today?" Hermione asked as she met him in the same place she had on Tuesday.
"We have to make this spoon turn into a large cat." Draco answered holding out the spoon.
"Easy. Just one question, do we have any form of protection? I'd rather not be eaten by something that will be turning back into silverware in an hour." Hermione smirked.
"Yeah, she placed a spell on the spoon earlier so the cat can scare the shit out of us, but it can't harm us." Draco nodded.
"You want to try first?" Hermione asked.
"Sure." He said a few words and the spoon started to grow larger had grown fur.
It had turned into a cougar. Hermione took a step towards it. She had seen them at a zoo in America before, but never had she ever been nearly as close as she was at the moment. She was awed by its beauty. Hermione had always had a soft spot for large animals. Her favorite cat was the snow leopard, but the cougar was a close second.
"Isn't she beautiful?" Hermione smiled.
"Yeah. I've never seen one of these before. I've only seen pictures in books. She really is quite amazing isn't she?" Draco looked at the creature with wide and curious eyes.
"I've never seen one up close either. I saw one at an American zoo before, but I was never anywhere near this close to it. This is amazing." Hermione added.
Just then it hissed at Hermione and shown it's large teeth. It took a step towards her, and she backed up hastily. It swiped its paws at her, and barely missed her, but she had bumped into something hard, Draco's chest.
She looked behind at him and looked him over. He really was much more muscular then most boys their age. Very few were stronger then him, and they were smelly and sweaty all the time. Hermione quickly realized what she was doing and snapped out of it.
"Calm down. It can't hurt you remember?" Draco smiled.
"Oh, right. I forgot." She sighed.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
That night Hermione took a bubble bath to relax herself. No one usually used the prefect's bathroom, so she locked the door, seeing as how no one would be coming in. No one would notice, but she did it as a safety precaution.
The water was warm and soothing. She used the bubbles that smelled like chocolate. Then she used her wand to create some relaxing music. She slid into the water and sighed. There was nothing like a nice bubble bath when you were stressed and needed time to think.
She swam around for a bit and played with the bubbles. When she finally settled down she decided to think about her situation. Why had Draco been so nice to her when she was crying? He had seen lots of girls cry before and had laughed at them. Why did she think about his muscles earlier? Why did she lean in to his touch when he wiped her tears?
The only conclusion that she could come up with, was because she didn't have a crush on anyone at the moment. She had always had a crush on someone. There was always at least one guy she had liked. The problem was that at the moment there was no one who caught her eye. In her first year it had been Harry. In her second year it had been Ron. In her third year it had been Seamus. And in her fourth year it had been Victor Krum, who she had dated for a while. Maybe she was just overreacting. Maybe it was because he was always around. Whatever the reason was, she decided to ignore it and move on. She had better things to worry about.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Finally after three weeks of getting together after class, McGonnagall decided to test them on their ability to transfigure an object into a creature. The first few groups did ok, but it was nothing impressive. Neville and his partner had turned their paper into a mouse. Ron and Pansy turned a book into a rabbit. Harry and Millicent had made a goose out of a notebook.
When it came to Draco and Hermione they grinned. They were going to make everyone else's look like child's play. The professor handed them a rock and asked them to turn it into the biggest animal that they could.
"No problem. Everyone, if you could, we would like you all to back up about two yards." Draco instructed.
Hermione said the spell and rapidly the rock turned into an enormous elephant. The entire class stared in wonder how they had pulled it off. It had created a bit of a mess, but they got the best grade out of the entire class.
On their way out of class they could still hear people talking about it. Since they were both on their way to their dorms, they decided to walk together.
"You did great Hermione." Draco complimented.
"Correction, we did great. I couldn't have done it without you." Hermione smiled.
"Did you see their faces? It was priceless." Draco laughed.
"I know. Poor Neville, he finally did something right, and his animal seemed like nothing compared to ours! A mouse! I feel so bad for him, but if you've got the talent and the smarts, you might as well use it. It would be a shame to have let our knowledge go to waste." Hermione smirked.
"I completely agree." Draco nodded.
"Wow, I never thought I'd hear those words come from your mouth." Hermione looked over at him and smiled.
"Same here, and don't get used to it. It was a one time thing got it?" Draco sneered.
And once again he had taken a perfectly sweet moment and screwed it up. Hermione smiled to herself anyway. She knew now that his behavior was all a show. The real Draco Malfoy wasn't like that. He was just living up to everyone's expectations of him. He was acting how a Malfoy was supposed to act.
A/N: So, what do you think? I should have the next chapter up sometime tonight, or tomorrow morning for those of you who are interested. Review Please.
A/N: This is my favorite chapter so far.
After that day with her little Pansy incident, Hermione saw Draco in a new light. When she was younger, she thought that he was a cold-blooded, heartless, jerk, but he had shown her that he wasn't. He had shown her that he could be, kind, and, gentle, and sweet if he wanted to be. She no longer hated him as she once had. It wasn't like she was great friends with him, but she definitely didn't hate him.
"Ok Draco, what's on the list today?" Hermione asked as she met him in the same place she had on Tuesday.
"We have to make this spoon turn into a large cat." Draco answered holding out the spoon.
"Easy. Just one question, do we have any form of protection? I'd rather not be eaten by something that will be turning back into silverware in an hour." Hermione smirked.
"Yeah, she placed a spell on the spoon earlier so the cat can scare the shit out of us, but it can't harm us." Draco nodded.
"You want to try first?" Hermione asked.
"Sure." He said a few words and the spoon started to grow larger had grown fur.
It had turned into a cougar. Hermione took a step towards it. She had seen them at a zoo in America before, but never had she ever been nearly as close as she was at the moment. She was awed by its beauty. Hermione had always had a soft spot for large animals. Her favorite cat was the snow leopard, but the cougar was a close second.
"Isn't she beautiful?" Hermione smiled.
"Yeah. I've never seen one of these before. I've only seen pictures in books. She really is quite amazing isn't she?" Draco looked at the creature with wide and curious eyes.
"I've never seen one up close either. I saw one at an American zoo before, but I was never anywhere near this close to it. This is amazing." Hermione added.
Just then it hissed at Hermione and shown it's large teeth. It took a step towards her, and she backed up hastily. It swiped its paws at her, and barely missed her, but she had bumped into something hard, Draco's chest.
She looked behind at him and looked him over. He really was much more muscular then most boys their age. Very few were stronger then him, and they were smelly and sweaty all the time. Hermione quickly realized what she was doing and snapped out of it.
"Calm down. It can't hurt you remember?" Draco smiled.
"Oh, right. I forgot." She sighed.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
That night Hermione took a bubble bath to relax herself. No one usually used the prefect's bathroom, so she locked the door, seeing as how no one would be coming in. No one would notice, but she did it as a safety precaution.
The water was warm and soothing. She used the bubbles that smelled like chocolate. Then she used her wand to create some relaxing music. She slid into the water and sighed. There was nothing like a nice bubble bath when you were stressed and needed time to think.
She swam around for a bit and played with the bubbles. When she finally settled down she decided to think about her situation. Why had Draco been so nice to her when she was crying? He had seen lots of girls cry before and had laughed at them. Why did she think about his muscles earlier? Why did she lean in to his touch when he wiped her tears?
The only conclusion that she could come up with, was because she didn't have a crush on anyone at the moment. She had always had a crush on someone. There was always at least one guy she had liked. The problem was that at the moment there was no one who caught her eye. In her first year it had been Harry. In her second year it had been Ron. In her third year it had been Seamus. And in her fourth year it had been Victor Krum, who she had dated for a while. Maybe she was just overreacting. Maybe it was because he was always around. Whatever the reason was, she decided to ignore it and move on. She had better things to worry about.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Finally after three weeks of getting together after class, McGonnagall decided to test them on their ability to transfigure an object into a creature. The first few groups did ok, but it was nothing impressive. Neville and his partner had turned their paper into a mouse. Ron and Pansy turned a book into a rabbit. Harry and Millicent had made a goose out of a notebook.
When it came to Draco and Hermione they grinned. They were going to make everyone else's look like child's play. The professor handed them a rock and asked them to turn it into the biggest animal that they could.
"No problem. Everyone, if you could, we would like you all to back up about two yards." Draco instructed.
Hermione said the spell and rapidly the rock turned into an enormous elephant. The entire class stared in wonder how they had pulled it off. It had created a bit of a mess, but they got the best grade out of the entire class.
On their way out of class they could still hear people talking about it. Since they were both on their way to their dorms, they decided to walk together.
"You did great Hermione." Draco complimented.
"Correction, we did great. I couldn't have done it without you." Hermione smiled.
"Did you see their faces? It was priceless." Draco laughed.
"I know. Poor Neville, he finally did something right, and his animal seemed like nothing compared to ours! A mouse! I feel so bad for him, but if you've got the talent and the smarts, you might as well use it. It would be a shame to have let our knowledge go to waste." Hermione smirked.
"I completely agree." Draco nodded.
"Wow, I never thought I'd hear those words come from your mouth." Hermione looked over at him and smiled.
"Same here, and don't get used to it. It was a one time thing got it?" Draco sneered.
And once again he had taken a perfectly sweet moment and screwed it up. Hermione smiled to herself anyway. She knew now that his behavior was all a show. The real Draco Malfoy wasn't like that. He was just living up to everyone's expectations of him. He was acting how a Malfoy was supposed to act.
A/N: So, what do you think? I should have the next chapter up sometime tonight, or tomorrow morning for those of you who are interested. Review Please.