Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter (but I wish I did...). The characters Amanda Spike and Clio Thorns are mine, however.
Chapter Three: Charms
The
feast that followed the Sorting was the same as usual. Once they were all
fed and watered, they proceeded to their common rooms. Hermione slept late
because she had to make sure everyone was in bed and to stop a group of
third years from holding another party. They managed to bring food from
the table with them. By two in the morning, she finally had the sleep her
body longed for. Dozing off, she had a dream about previous events in the
train.
Meanwhile, in
the Slytherin common room, Draco Malfoy was having the same dream too.
The next day,
Hermione didn't get to eat breakfast. She spent the whole time passing
out schedules to Harry, Ron and the rest of the Gryffindors. She had overslept
and went down the Great Hall with ten minutes to spare before classes started.
Susan offered her a buttered toast on their way to Herbology which she
accepted.
"This is the
first day of classes, Hermione. You'd better not tire yourself too much,"
said Susan, giving her friend a worried look.
Last subject
for the day arrived and it was Double Potions with the Slytherins. Hermione
sat at the last desk at the corner, far from Ron and Harry who shared the
same desk in the middle of the room. Her worst fear was realized when Draco
Malfoy sat beside her. Crabbe and Goyle took the seats in front of them,
blocking the view from people in front who would looked over. Hermione
made a move to transfer to a seat beside Parvati but Snape came in. With
a sweep of his cape, he ordered everyone to sit down. Hermione groaned
but sat back in her seat, moving it far from Malfoy as possible. She realized
this was a wrong idea because Snape barked from the front, "Miss Granger,
your seat is out of line. How many times do I have to tell you, class,
that I do not want the formations askew. Three points from Gryffindor for
being hard-headed."
Harry and Ron
were surprised to see Malfoy sitting beside Hermione but there was nothing
to do about it anymore. Hermione motioned for them that its okay. The class
spent the next hour brewing a very complex Vanishing Potion which hardly
anyone but Hermione and Malfoy got correctly. They never spoke to each
other directly but when one notices a near-mistake, they point it out in
a weird fashion. Once, Malfoy saw that Hermione miscalculated the Demiguise
pelts for two when she picked up three. He piped up, "Crabbe, three is
more that two, right?" Hermione got his point and corrected her mistake.
Another was when Malfoy seemed to have lost his small bag of lionfish eyes.
Hermione muttered, "Scales." Malfoy looked over his brass scales and saw
the bag leaning over it.
However, Malfoy
felt the need to speak to her when the moment arose. "Goyle, I need a quill."
Goyle muttered
that he forgot his in the common room. Crabbe said he accidentally dropped
it somewhere. Hermione saw right through their acting--Malfoy probably
told them not to let him borrow their quill for some reasons. Sure enough,
Malfoy turned to her, "May I borrow yours, Granger?" Hermione decided not
to waste their efforts and handed Malfoy her own though careful not to
let im hold her hand. He scribbled something on a piece of parchment and
was careful not to let her see it. He returned her quill and thanked her.
The bell rang
and the class cleaned up and left. Hermione hurried to catch up with Harry
and Ron. She made one more glance behind her and saw Malfoy with a blank
expression with Crabbe and Goyle flanking him. He was looking at her but
averted his gaze and trudged of to the Slytherin common room.
At around ten
that night, Hermione was still patrolling around the Gryffindor common
room. The Head Boy told her to go to sleep but Hermione said she wasn't
sleepy yet. A few minutes later, something caught her attention. It was
an owl flying towards her. It dropped a piece of parchment on top of her
lap and flew off. She read the letter, "Prefects' meeting at the Charms
classroom tonight at half past ten. Be there. Professor McGonagall. How
come she never told me earlier?"
Hermione tucked
the letter in her pocket and headed for the Charms room. She had five more
minutes and arrived there before ten-thirty. As soon as she entered the
room, the lights went out and she heard the door shut behind her. She heard
someone mutter, "Lumos." The dim wand light came from the desk.
Draco Malfoy's features stood out clearly, wearing a light blue polo which
he didn't even bother to button all the way up and blue pajama pants. He
was sitting on the table and he looked somber.
"Leave us Crabbe,
Goyle."
Hermione looked
behind her and watched as Crabbe and Goyle went out of the room, "What
kind of sick joke is this, Malfoy? Where are Professor McGonagall and the
others?"
Malfoy tilted
his head so he could get a better look at her. She didn't like it one bit.
There was a slight gush of cold wind and she hugged herself to warm up.
"Cold, isn't
it?" he asked coldly.
"Stop it Malfoy,"
said Hermione, shivering. She realized he was conjuring the cold wind.
She wished she had a coat with her. The thin fabric of her pj's weren't
helping at all. She hated the wind that found itself through her arms,
hitting the skin of her belly and making her shiver more. "It was a hoax.
What did you want me here for?"
Malfoy tossed
his wand to her feet, "Pick it up and kill me, Granger."
She was caught
in surprise by his words. He jumped off the table and walked over to her.
"Why would you
want to die when life is still there?"
Draco shook
his head, "I'm very much alive but then I'm not. You killed me when you
turned me down. Now I want you to finish where you left off. Take away
my agony."
Hermione could
feel tears stinging her eyes, blurring her vision. What was he trying to
do?
"You snuffed
up the light of hope that could have changed me, Granger. Potter was right,
I'm an idiot and I'll forever be a scum. The world doesn't need scum so
please, do it for mankind."
He picked up
his wand and placed it between her hands. Hermione was lost. She can't
kill. She dropped the wand and leapt up to wrap her hands around Malfoy.
He staggered on the sudden weight but regained balance and hugged her back.
Tears fell from her eyes and she buried her face on his neck. He stroked
her hair and whispered for her to stop crying.
"I'm sorry...I'm
so sorry. I didn't mean--I didn't know...You were always saying that...Mudblood--"cried
Hermione. Malfoy wrapped his arms even tighter, breathing her scent in.
"Sshhh...forget
about that." He lifted her face up and their lips met--the kiss passionate,
hot and searing. His lips moved gently against hers until her lips parted,
dipping his tongue into her mouth. Hermione supported herself by clinging
on to his neck. She could feel his chest tighten as he pressed closer to
her. His hands roamed from her face to her neck, down to the outlines of
her body. She groaned as a hand grazed the side of her breast and came
to rest on her hips. He was still, of course, the best kisser she met as
his prowess never faltered. His kisses set her on fire; they were wild,
sensual and arousing. He kept turning his head from side to side while
Hermione had to catch up with his quick moves. Now she could boast to Lavender,
Parvati and all the other girls who had a crush on Malfoy about this.
"Mind if we
continue this, elsewhere? It's getting hot in here," he whispered as he
stopped to breathe.
Hermione smiled.