Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns it all, the lucky gal, not I. (said the little Red Hen)
The next morning at breakfast, Hermione was hollow-eyed from lack of sleep. All last night she had lain awake, thinking about the encounter with Draco. What was that weird attraction thing that had happened right before they left? It was incomprehensible that they should be attracted to each other. They despised each other; had ever since the first day in their first year. Why should that change in their sixth year, when they were just a year away from being free of each other? Besides, she rationalized, it wasn't Draco that she had been attracted to. With the lingering remains of the peace of the night still in her, her defenses were down. Any handsome man would have caused the same reaction, she told herself firmly as she dressed. And Draco was certainly handsome, she wasn't disputing that. Unbidden, the image of his intense gray eyes rose in her mind, causing a funny little clutch in her stomach.
Furious with herself, Hermione stomped her feet into her shoes and grabbed up her books. Downstairs in the Gryffindor common room, she ran into Harry. He looked startled at her appearance. "Hey, Hermione, you ok?" he asked tentatively. "We were a little worried about you yesterday. You were a little, um. . ."
"Scary?" Hermione supplied helpfully, and Harry breathed a sigh of relief.
"Yeah," he said, relief lightening his emeraldine eyes. He looked closely at her. "But you're ok now?"
Hermione smiled and patted him gently on the shoulder. "I'm fine now, Harry. I promise."
Harry smiled and nodded as Ginny and Ron came downstairs, arguing about some move in wizard's chess. When she came within reach, Harry's arm slid smoothly around Ginny's waist, and she tipped up her chin for his kiss. Tears sprang to Hermione's eyes. It was like a smoothly executed dance, and Harry and Ginny knew every step perfectly. They were so good together, and it made her heart hurt that she would never experience that. Involuntarily, her memory swept her back to the night before, but she shoved it out of her head unmercifully.
"C'mon," she said, her voice more curt than she had planned. "Let's go eat. I'm starving."
The four trooped down to the Great Hall, chattering aimably. Hermione made herself try to participate in the conversation, but she was still quieter than usual. When they reached the Great Hall and sat down, food immediately appeared on their plates. Harry and Ron dug in, with Ginny eating a little more delicately, and Hermione nibbling absently.
Suddenly, gooseflesh rose along her arms. Going on instinct, she looked up at the entrance to the Great Hall and saw Draco standing there, surrounded by his groupies. Pansy Parkinson was there, fawning all over him, and Crabbe and Goyle were hanging back like the thugs they were. Blaise Zabini's eyes were roaming the room, making her shiver. She didn't like Blaise one bit. He made her uneasy.
Draco paused in the doorway, and his gaze swept the room, alighting on her. Their eyes met, and Hermione's toes curled. There was a savage heat in his gray eyes until the mask dropped down over his features again. Saying something cutting to Blaise that made him laugh, Draco sauntered over and sat down at the Slytherin table.
Feeling her cheeks flame with shame, knowing that he had said something about her, Hermione looked down at her hands in her lap. They were twisted together in a painful knot, betraying her emotions. But at least they were hidden by the table so no one could see. Well, he's living up to his end of the bargain, Hermione thought sourly. Usually he would have approached the table to say something cruel to her. At least now he hadn't confronted her with it. She would obviously have to be satisfied with that. Taking her emotions firmly in hand, she glanced up and saw Ginny watching her with a raised eyebrow.
"What was that?" Ginny asked, a small smile quirking her lips.
"What was what?" Hermione asked, instantly regretting the defensive tone in her voice.
Ginny's smile widened deviously and she gestured with her chin toward the Slytherin table. "That look. With Draco."
Instantly Harry and Ron glanced up, their attention caught. Hermione resisted the urge to bolt from the table, but she had the distinct look of a deer in headlights. "I don't know what you're talking about," she snapped. "I haven't had a 'look' with Malfoy. I hate his guts."
"Mm. So you do." Ginny agreed, but her tone said that she didn't believe it. Feeling her cheeks heat, Hermione dug into her food with a new purpose. She did not want to meet Ginny's gaze. The damned girl saw too much.
Harry glanced between Ginny and Hermione, wanting to ask what was going on. One minute he had been peacefully eating his breakfast, and then the next Ginny was looking at Hermione like there was something that she wanted to say, but was holding her tongue. And since they were talking about Draco, that made him wary. But he could see the tension in Hermione's shoulders, and realized that if he said anything, she'd probably take his head off. So he chose discretion as the better part of valor and turned his eyes back to his breakfast with a single-minded intensity that almost overshadowed Hermione's.
Once breakfast was over, Hermione headed to Divination, which she didn't have with any of her other friends. Unfortunately, she did have it with Draco. Feeling cranky because she hadn't gotten any sleep, she made her way through the hallways until she got to the tower that was where the Divination classes were held.
When she sat down in her seat, Draco was already in his corner of the room, holding court. He didn't even look at her when she came in, which was just fine with her. She didn't want to see him anyway, she thought spitefully. She dug through her books, looking for her homework, then froze when she realized that she had forgotten to do it.
Think, think, think, she thought frantically. What had been the assignment? Her mind rooted anxiously through all the things she could remember from Divination, then lit on the assignment a moment later. Trelawney had asked them to tell everything that they knew or could find on the subject of the divination practices of centaurs.
Hermione tried to calm her breathing. Ok, she told herself firmly. You can do this. You've talked to Firenze at length. You've got this.
But when Trelawney walked into the room, she said dramatically, "Please take out your essays on centaur divination."
Oh shit, Hermione thought blankly. It had to be an essay. I can't BS this one. Her mind worked frantically, then accepted that she was going to have to tell Trelawney that she didn't have her assignment. She let out a deep breath, biting her lip anxiously. She felt the hot lash of failure claw at her throat, and tears pricked the back of her eyes, but she resolutely shoved them away. It's just a stupid essay, she told herself sternly. Just one, out of all the assignments that I've ever done. It's not that big of a deal.
When Trelawney walked up to Hermione's desk and held out her hand with a dramatic flair, Hermione nearly shrank into herself. "I don't have mine," she said, her voice nearly inaudible.
Trelawney blinked several times. "I beg your pardon?"
Hermione swallowed, her pulse hammering in her throat. "I don't have mine." She made an effort to strengthen her voice, but it didn't come out much louder than before. But it was enough to cause the whole class to silence and turn their attention to the small drama being enacted between Hermione and Trelawney.
Trelawney stared at Hermione. "You don't have your homework, Miss Granger?"
Hermione wanted to scream at her. Wasn't that what she had just said? The tension in her neck felt like it was going to snap her muscles any second. "That's right." Her voice was just as soft as before. When Trelawney gaped at her, Hermione said in a small voice, "May I be excused from class, Professor? I don't feel very well."
"Yes," Trelawney said, frowning slightly. With her head bowed, Hermione gathered up her books and made her way swiftly out of the silent class that watched her go in astonishment. Once she was out of the room, she broke into a run before she found a small nook in the wall. Then she slid down the wall and into a miserable puddle on the floor. She drew her knees up against her chest and laid her head on her knees, defeat in every line of her body.
Damn Draco Malfoy! she thought furiously. If he hadn't been so intent on bothering me, I wouldn't have had to ask him to meet me, and I wouldn't have forgotten to do my homework. This is all his fault! Then moments later, her shoulders slumped. No, she admitted privately to herself. It was her fault. She had been lax in her responsibilities. She heard her mother's voice in her head, harping, griping that Hermione had a responsibility to uphold the family standard. Just because she was a witch and wasn't going to be a doctor like both of her parents didn't mean that she was allowed to fall beneath their standards. And their standards were high. So high that sometimes Hermione felt like she was crushed beneath all the pressure that they exerted on her. She knew that they cared about her, but she felt smothered beneath their single-minded intensity that she do well.
She felt the pressure every single day when she was in school, but it was better than when she was at home. At home they made her study every night. If she didn't study, she didn't eat. Oftentimes she had had to study through dinner, and thereby missed eating that night. Over the summer, her figure had thinned down some, but there were still the curves that Draco had noticed last night. Although it was true that Hermione was pressured by her parents, she had her own drive and ambition. She liked being smart. Felt a fierce satisfaction all the way down to her toes whenever she did well. And failure was a bitter stone to sit in her stomach.
Knowing that she was hidden from prying eyes, Hermione let her guards down and let herself sag, her weight supported by her knees. Then she just let herself sit and try to think of nothing.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
When Draco saw Hermione's frantic search through her books, the thought that immediately sprang up at him was that she had forgotten her homework. That thought he immediately banished. She was Hermione Granger--Hermione Granger never forgot to do her homework. When Trelawney stopped in front of her, her hand outstretched for Hermione's homework, and Hermione just curled in on herself, surprise froze him in his seat. By Merlin, the fool woman had really forgotten her homework! Obviously the rest of the class was just as speechless as he, because the room fell silent. Trelawney leaned forward slightly and asked for Hermione's homework again. A moment later, Hermione rose, fairly vibrating with tension. Her eyes were downcast, and he could see the quick sheen of tears in them before her hair fell down in a curtain that shielded her face. She gathered up her books quickly and then hurried out of the room.
There was silence for another moment, then Pansy giggled and said maliciously, "Look how the mighty have fallen."
Draco suppressed the urge to tell her to shut her mouth, and the equally strong urge to stand up and follow Hermione to make sure she was ok. Startled with both thoughts, Draco clamped his mouth shut. But involuntarily, his annoyed gaze went to Pansy. "You're such a bitch," he said mildly, and her mouth snapped shut in surprise.
She glared furiously at him. "As if you're one to talk, Draco! You hate that little mudblood bitch, and everybody knows it!"
Draco looked at her with cold eyes, and she shivered and turned away. He turned and saw that Blaise was watching him with a raised eyebrow. Draco shrugged, feeling the disquiet that had been dogging him since last night increase. Dammit. Hermione Granger was tying him up in knots. It was ridiculous, and something he would have never thought would happen. Still annoyed at Pansy and himself, he turned his attention to Trelawney as she started class, but his mind was elsewhere, reluctantly wondering where Hermione had gone.
