Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter (but I wish I did...). The characters Amanda Spike and Clio Thorns are mine, however.
Chapter Two: Stumped
"If you're not
sitting with us, then can I borrow your essay for Professor Binns? I'll
just check mine--" said Ron. Hermione shook her head and said that he should
have double-checked his essay when he had the time at home.
"I'm sure my
essay and yours won't be much different. Have some confidence in your job,
Ron. Anyway, I'll be at the prefect's compartment with Susan. I'll see
you at school then," said Hermione and she closed the compartment door.
Harry waited as her footsteps died down and he whispered to Ron.
"She's hasn't
completely changed, I guess. At least, mentally."
Hermione picked
up Crookshanks who was strutting around the train with its bottlebrush
tail up. Her ginger cat had fattened up over the years and she was quite
pleased of that. She thought it was absolutely cute but Ron thought otherwise,
"It looks like a stuffed pillow." She left it outside their compartment
and it promptly sat there.
She opened the
compartment where she was expecting to find the Hufflepuff prefect, Susan
Bones. She and Susan were sometimes seen together whenever Hermione wasn't
with Harry and Ron. They'd both be in the library studying their heads
off. But instead of Susan, she saw none other than Draco Malfoy sprawled
on top of one side of the seats with a pillow under his head.
"What're you
doing here? Unless I'm in the wrong compartment or you are," she said.
Malfoy sat up and smirked at her. His hair do was back on again accompanied
by his evil smirk.
"Bones switched
with me. She wanted to be in the same compartment with her boyfriend. You
know, Terry Boot from Ravenclaw. Better not disturb them, Granger. It would
be unethical," he said when Hermione motioned for the door.
"Fine, I'm sitting
with Ron and Harry then. Bye!" She turned for the door but a sudden jerk
of the train caused her to stumble backwards. Draco laughed when she almost
fell over but managed to support herself by holding on to his shoulders.
"Sit down, Granger.
We're on a bumpy ride. And please," his eyes traveled to the hands on his
shoulders, "take your filthy hands off me."
Hermione realized
what she was doing and quickly stepped back to sit across him, her face
really disappointed. She didn't want to speak with him at all. She couldn't
even stand at the thought that she was in the same area with him with no
more than a meter of air space. Her eyes narrowed when she caught him wiping
off his shoulders on the spot where she touched him. Infuriating her was
his hobby but sometimes, even he had to admit he was getting way too painful.
He shouldn't be treating a lady like that. Especially now that she looked
like a beauty queen.
"Just between
you and me, Granger, how come Potter or Weasley never made a move on you?"
said Malfoy. Hermione wanted to ignore him but since they would be traveling
together until night time, she thought talking would make the whole trip
a bit interesting.
"What's in to
you, Malfoy? Stop calling me Granger, it's too formal," she said, crossing
her arms across her chest. Malfoy watched the movement then tore his eyes
away to gaze out the window. There wasn't really much to see except complex
cloud formations.
"Can't a guy
ask and not be asked inr return? I bet you turned them off, didn't you?"
Hermione didn't
know what he was trying to get at but she replied anyway. They talked--or
berated--on the issue until Malfoy popped another question, "Don't you
even want to try to have a boyfriend? I mean, life is boring especially
when you're prefect. You hardly get private moments. The least you could
do to spice up things is to have a love life. Don't you agree, Granger?"
Hermione didn't
have a good answer for that one. At least none that she could express verbally.
He had completely stumped her. Yes, she did want to be the same as everybody.
Quite a lot of her friends had boyfriends; Lavender and Seamus, Parvati
and Justin and even Ginny with Colin. The two met during one of Harry's
Quidditch practices. They clicked right away, of course. Even Ron had been
courting this pretty Ravenclaw girl Hermione didn't know. It seems Ravenclaw
had all the good-looks. The quote, "What is beauty if brain is empty" seemed
to have lost its touch. She was lonely and having someone to comfort her
would be pleasing. Harry and Ron were special people in her life but they
were just that. Nothing more. She needed someone that could be more-than-special.
He seemed to
have read her mind because he added, "We share the same fate, Granger.
Of course, we are two different people. Even though I'm a genius, girls
still battle over me. You're smart, too but I don't think the boys ever
want to be with someone who's as talkative as you. Blabbing about silly
things and stuff...I'm pure blood and you're a Mudblood--"
He stopped.
Hermione was crying. Even as she bent her head to hide the tears, it was
obvious. He could see droplets on her robes and try as she might, she couldn't
make the sniffing stop. Malfoy was starting to feel guilty. Over the years
he had insulted her, she never cried or broke down. Now here she was, keeping
too much in that...
"Come on, Granger.
Stop that. Potty and Weasel would be after my blood," he said and transferred
to the seat next to her. He didn't dare touch her. He just wanted her to
know he was there. He took the chance to survey her again. Looking at her
profile, she had great hair. Her nose had grown longer, giving her that
grown-up look. Her lips had grown fuller and redder. Her soft, creamy skin
was as flawless as ever--no pimple, blemish or rash. Her chest had expanded
too and at that thought, he blushed. He looked down and noticed the soft
stretch of skin of her legs that showed from under her skirt that the robes
didn't hide.
As if on impulse,
his hand went around her shoulder and pulled her closer. She jerked but
made no move to free herself. Draco muttered an apology then released
her. She pulled away and didn't look at him at all for fifteen minutes.
They were like
statues--never moving, not speaking. It stayed that way until Crookshanks
managed to get inside the compartment and jumped up to Draco's lap. He
gasped in surprise. Crookshanks snuggled against his chest then purred
lightly. It yawned and dozed off on his lap.
Hermione felt
jealous of Crookshanks. But she was surprised too. That cat didn't usually
open up to strangers so easily. Last year, that cat wasn't anywhere near
Draco at all.
"Want to change
places with the cat, Granger?" Malfoy asked.
Hermione huffed
indignantly and avoided his gaze after that. It was ten minutes later that
Harry knocked on the compartment and came inside. When he saw Crookshanks
sleeping on Malfoy's lap and Malfoy sitting close to Hermione, he said,
"What's wrong with this picture?"
Hermione had
a job explaining to Harry--about Susan and Terry, how Crookshanks warmed
up to Malfoy and he was just trying to comfort her. Malfoy just sat there
on his seat, stroking Crookshanks's fur and grinning while listening to
Hermione talk and Harry listen with disbelief on his face. Harry didn't
seem to believe her immediately but he glared at Malfoy anyway.
"If that idiot's
troubling you, Hermione, don't hesitate to come over to Ron and me," said
Harry, making side glances at Malfoy. He was worried for Hermione. Who
knows what Malfoy could do? He's not particularly that violent but
still, a Malfoy is a Malfoy.
"What did you
come over here for, Harry?" asked Hermione.
"Oh, just checking
on you...remind you that we're almost at Hogwarts. That's it, bye." He
closed the compartment. Malfoy waited for her to sit down and said, "See,
Granger? They don't know what they're missing. He's so slow."
Hermione glared
at him and she felt the urge to hit him in the face. She swung her arms
and it nearly hit him when he caught her hand. Crookshanks woke up and
jumped off Malfoy's lap. It walked out the compartment and seemed to be
heading for Harry's. His eyes were closed and his expression was calm.
He opened them slowly to penetrate into Hermione's. His cold, hypnotizing
stare prevented her from looking away.
"The same trick
won't work twice, Granger."
The train slowed
down. Outside, it looked close to night time. Malfoy still hadn't let go
of her hand. Instead, he was entwining his fingers with hers. His hand
was soft. Probabaly because he doesn't do any chores. They had a mansion
full of house-elves to do that.
She should've
been revolted but feeling his touch felt so good. She didn't want to let
go at all. They stared at each other for a few seconds until he smiled
and leaned forward, closing the gap between their mouths. Hermione's body
was moving against her will becuase she couldn't muster the strength to
push him away. She moaned as he clutched her hand tighter, his other hand
at the back of her head. She wanted to free herself but that seemed impossible.
Her body yearned for this. Though not from Malfoy, but the feeling.
The kiss she dreamed of some nights whenever Lavender or Parvati talk about
the kisses they had with their boyfriends. But Malfoy wasn't her boyfriend.
He was their mortal enemy--but for how long? He was a good kisser--a wild
one, she admitted to herself though this was her first. She merely felt
this was the best she could have. She loved the way he groaned at the right
time and used his tongue to explore. She wondered if he ever kissed Amanda
or Clio that way or if they had better ones.
He was on the
point of pushing her back on the seats to lie down but Hermione thought
this going way too far. Having sex in the Hogwarts train was indecency
and they could get expelled. Much as she dreaded it, she managed to push
Malfoy away and break the kiss. He was panting and gasping for breath,
unable to keep his gaze at her. He releaed her hand.
Malfoy lifted
himself from above her and sat on the floor. He himself was shocked at
what he just did. Hermione quickly sat up and straightened her robes. Just
in cue, Harry stuck his head in and said, "Hermione, come on. Get your
trunk." He looked at Malfoy who was sitting on the floor and Hermione with
her head down, both looking dazed, "What's the matter with you two? And
what's wrong with your lips?"
Hermione swallowed
and said, "What do you mean? Nothing's wrong with them." Harry had noticed
they looked puffy and swollen and he pointed it out. Hermione covered it
up by saying they must be chapped or something. "I'll follow you and Ron
later. Go on."
"Do you want
me to carry your things for you?"
"No, Harry.
Stop worrying about me."
Harry nodded
slowly, looking at her and then back at Malfoy. Finally he left to follow
Ron and the others. Hermione waited for Malfoy to speak first and promptly,
he stood up to pick up his trunk from the overhead compartment.
He cleared his
throat and said, "Sorry about that...Hermione. But what's done is done,
I'm afraid I can't take it back. I'm sorry if I ruined your first kiss.
You must've been saving it for Potter or Weasley--"
"It's all right.
I mean, it's over and it can't be helped. I just want to know...why did
you do that?" she asked, her tone changing as though she was on the verge
of tears.
It took Malfoy
a while to answer. But he said, "I think it's obvious. Work it out, use
logic."
It took a while
to sink in and she realized what he was trying to say. "I'm sorry, Draco
but you and I will never be. As you kindly pointed out; you're pure blood
and I'm just a Mudblood. Better stop yourself before you fall even
deeper. No one's there to catch you. That is, I won't be."
With that, Hermione
heaved her trunk and left the compartment leaving Draco alone.