Blueamber - LOL! Alright, read much much more!
Chinagurl - You shall see, you shall see. It may be *forever*, but you shall see!
The SimonCowel of Fanfiction - OMG, thank you so much! I can't believe it, thanks!
Darkmoon Shadows - Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. . . You get to read this chappy, YAY!!!
Cherryplum11 - I like monkeys! (Sheesh, I tried to spell monkeys, m-o-n-k-i- e-s) Updating Queen = happy!! I don't mind your self-promotion, and I shall read your stories when I get a chance! LOL! So . . . you *hate* Draco? =D
Tanuki-Hime - Wow? Thanks so much!
Eleanor Branstone - Of course I will stop when I run out of ideas, I am trying to finish mapping the story out it my head now. Thanks so much!
ObliviousTrance - Oh, thanks so much. I enjoy reviews, yours makes me feel happy!! *dances* Anyway . . .
Jelli Bean - Yes, that was my goal, to write a GOOD and BELIEVABLE fic - something I don't see all the time. Thank you bunchies!
Willowfairy - Actually, I believe that I said it was the LAST day of Christmas break, but I apologize if I didn't! Anyway, thanky thanky!
Read, review, and read the news at the end! Thanks!
Chapter 11 -
Although it was her last choice, Hermione had to resume her classes today, and she wasn't very happy about it. She was sure that Malfoy wouldn't let her live down what had happened, because SHE was sure that she wasn't going to ever let herself live it down.
She didn't want it to have happened, and she had even thought about trying to go back in time to change it, but that could and would be extremely dangerous and she could end up killing herself, which wasn't looking like a bad choice currently.
Her life as she knew it was over. She had so many people that she knew that would flip and freak out if something in her life didn't go 'the golden way' or 'the way it should be'. She didn't want to think about what other people would think and say, she didn't even know what SHE would think and say.
She had spent hours in the early morning trying to invent lies to tell people when they spoke to her the next day about what had happened. None of the lies that she fabricated seemed to work though, unless the person had a pumpkin for a brain, and that meant that these would only work on Crabbe or Goyle.
Then she had decided that she could try to make a disguise and be someone else, but the Polyjuice potion was both illegal and took far too long. She needed something that could come into affect that day. She tried to wear a wig and that hadn't worked very well because the green hair shined through like a beacon in the cold and clear night's sky, which aggravated Hermione more than before.
She tugged at her hair and kicked the air, thinking of the day ahead of herself. She was GOING to die, and that was all there was to it. She probably should have written a will the day that she came to Hogwarts, because her life was bound to be lived prematurely at the rate she was going.
Hermione sighed and made a silent promise to herself - she was never going to reach out to someone again. Every time she did another part of her heart got hacked off, and she didn't know how much more she could take. First her family, then her friends, now everything else. Her life was like a puzzle with all of the wrong pieces and she didn't want to try to do anything anymore.
She couldn't imagine what she would have to do to avoid people that she knew, and she didn't know how she would react. How could she cope with people talking about her all the time? How would she cope with everything that would flood her sense and boggle her mind when everyone found out, as they were completely bound to as this was Hogwarts, and everything flew through the whole school so fast that people in China would know before the day was done.
That barrier, that invisible wall that she had been working so hard not to use was now the easiest way to go. She would ignore her feeling, she would be painlessly oblivious to all anger and hurt, the pain would slide right off of her. She didn't want to feel anything anymore, because she was sure that it would hurt someone. What she failed to realize was that she was hurting herself.
Hermione had no sense of herself, and this was going to cost her later on, although, you probably already guessed that.
~+~
Classes were in five minutes now, and Hermione had completely skipped eating breakfast as she had opted for the 'I'm not hungry' excuse and stay in bed, and she now had a feeling that she may never feel hungry again in her life, let alone regain the feeling in her hands - that was if it lasted much longer.
She got dressed, not thinking about anything and not bothering to glance into the mirror. She didn't care how she looked today, all she wanted was to get today over with as soon as is was humanly possible, so that she could go somewhere to be alone and try to kill her mental images.
She practically fell down the stairs as she stumbled down, walking like a zombie and not thinking much better than one herself.
Hermione could feel her hands shaking and her knees trembling as she tried to look calm on her way to the Potions class even though she knew that she was fighting a gory and losing battle with herself. She was absent- mindedly twirling a lock of her hair around her finger and she was close to biting her fingernails off completely. She was so worried about what was going to happen that she didn't notice anything else that was happening.
Rushed thoughts and irrational thoughts and panicky thoughts were all running through her head and the walk to the Potions classroom seemed to be so much longer than before, yet it ended so much sooner than she wanted it to.
'What will I say if he tells the whole class?' Hermione wondered in utter panic. 'And what do I do if someone asks me a personal question?'
Her worries were so stupid and chaotic that she had tried to Obliviate her memory twice, but had almost jabbed her eyes out with her wand both times and gave up trying to clear her memory as she also realized that she was trying to wipe her memory out before she had a class.
While she had given up trying to clear her memory, she still worried about many things that she would have never worried about before.
It finally got to the extreme worries such as,
'What do I do if someone else kisses?'
And the stupidest and most incomprehensible of all of her other worries and questions,
'What do I do if someone looks at me?'
By the time she was at the door to the Potions classroom she had driven herself into a tizzy and she couldn't concentrate on anything. Even though Snape was talking, she wasn't comprehending any of the words that were spewing out of his mouth, which wasn't a good thing because they were doing OWL practice work today and he was grading the potions accordingly.
Although she was worried about whether Draco was going to say anything, she was more worried about what the news would trigger in Harry and Ron. She didn't know if they would explode in her face or Malfoy's, but she sincerely hoped it wasn't hers, because she didn't know if she could handle that.
Her thoughts were drowned out by the worst news that she had ever been given by anybody.
"I'm paring you into groups, Slytherin and Gryffindors together." Professor Snape said, and Hermione's thoughts vanished and were replaced by fear. What if she was with Crabbe or Goyle? Her grade would be HORRIBLE, and what if she was stuck with someone that she already knew hated her, like Millicent Bulstrode?
And then panic took its root in her heart again as the worst 'what if' came into her mind. She felt her breath catch in her chest and she looked around desperately, hoping that nobody noticed how alarmed she was looking and acting. She was praying that she wouldn't be in the situation she feared.
What would she do if she were stuck with -
"Potter and Goyle," Professor Snape began assigning the pairs, and Hermione began paying rapt attention to who everyone was paired with. As long as she wasn't with . . .
What if she was stuck with Malfoy?
"Longbottom and Crabbe," Professor Snape continued, and Hermione continued her panic attack in stunned silence.
"Finnigan and Bulstrode," Hermione let out a sigh of relief at the realization that she wasn't with Millicent, but panic soon took over as she realized that partners were being assigned and she was one of the few left that could be partnered with Malfoy.
"Weasley and Malfoy," Professor Snape said, and nothing could be used to describe the immense feeling of relief that washed over Hermione as she realized that she wouldn't have to be with Malfoy. She was saved and she didn't care that she was saved at Ron's expense. All she knew was that she wasn't with Ron.
Almost happy, Hermione awaited her partner.
"Granger, and . . ." he didn't say anyone and Hermione looked around to see why. There wasn't much of a choice left and she could see that he was trying to find the worst possible partner to put with Hermione.
"I think Prudie." Snape said and Hermione groaned. Not that Slytherin that she had to share a dormitory with.
He smirked and she sneered in return. At least he wasn't a total moron, so she was pretty sure that she would get an okay grade even if she had to work with this disgusting slob.
She sighed and walked over to the cabinet to grab her ingredients, but froze completely. She had just seen her hair.
It was wavy and honey colored. Her hair was back to normal, Mudblood was no longer tattooed across her face and when she glanced at Malfoy, she realized that his silvery-blonde hair was falling across his head again and his eyes were back to their steely gray color.
Why had their curse reset?
For a minute, Hermione thought that the curse must have had a time limit when the voice of reason began hollering and screaming in her mind and she felt a blush creeping up her cheeks.
They had kissed. That was why they were back to normal. It was the only possible explanation, and she settled for it.
She snatched her ingredients and sauntered over to the table to work with the jerk that she had been assigned to and she began imagining what he would look like if she replaced his head with the head of a giraffe . . .
~+~
Thirty minutes into the lesson, Hermione's world crashed.
She had been innocently working on her portion of the potion, when she heard a huge crash and she whipped around in time to see what had happened.
When she saw, she felt her heart plummet.
Ron, being the clumsy oaf that he was, had somehow managed to dump his potion on himself and the person directly behind him, who happened to be Hermione's partner, Prudie.
Both of them were rushed to the hospital for the numerous antlers that were beginning to sprout where the potion had spilt on them.
Hermione groaned, knowing that this potion was going to be hard to make on her own, because some things required the use of three hands at once, but she thought that she would somehow manage.
Snape, however, had a very different approach, one that Hermione didn't like anymore than the 'on your own' approach. In fact, that was the approach that she quite much preferred.
Snape, however, had no sentiment of her thoughts, and continued on his rampage of her life as she knew it.
"Malfoy, you go join Granger as her partner had to leave to the hospital wing as well, so you two will be partners." Hermione had to work hard with her muscles not to cramp up and freeze.
She HAD to work with Malfoy?
As in, NOW?
Hermione thunked her head on the table and whacked it a good few times so as to make sure that she would be acting like a complete drunk before she raised it, and came face to face with the spiteful face of Draco Malfoy. He took a breath to talk, but she beat him to it.
"Don't talk to me, don't touch me, don't look at me, don't screw up the potion, don't think about me, don't be within twelve inches of me and we'll work fine." Hermione said, before he could get a word in edgewise, and she was very proud of herself.
"Alright?" She asked, and she turned to look imploringly at him when he didn't answer. He stared at her, like she was a complete idiot.
"Al. . . . Right . . ." she practically spelled out for him, but he didn't answer, and her temper began to get the better of her and her actions.
"ALRIGHT?" She said again, this time a little louder.
"ALRIGHT?!" she practically screamed at him, and she couldn't help but notice that he appeared to be smirking at her.
"Weeeeeell?" He said, drawing out the syllable as though it were a sacred word or just a reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally long one.
"WHAT?" Hermione asked, slightly annoyed now.
"How am I supposed to answer you?" he asked her as though this were the most obvious thing in the world and she were a stupid two year old that he was trying to explain it to.
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked and Malfoy rolled his eyes in an answer, evidently surprised at even HER stupidity.
"You said, 'don't talk to me, don't look at me'. How do I ANSWER you, your Royal Pain-in-the-as-" Hermione slapped her hand over his mouth before he could finish his statement. She didn't need to be in any more trouble, even if he was Snape's favorite student, she didn't want to even take the chance.
She brought her face close to his, whispering a deadly whisper into his ear, so the others wouldn't hear. She knew that they were watching.
"Just make the potion and leave me alone." She removed her hand and continued her job.
Together they sat in silence for a little while, just working together on their potion, and then, to Hermione's immense dislike, Draco spoke again, and it was the last thing she wanted him to say.
Apparently he was annoyed about something, because his words were what younger kids would call 'angry words'.
He turned and looked at her, smirking.
"You know, Granger," he said, his familiar drawl back in his voice. "I knew that you liked me, and who could blame you?" he posed in a stupid way, as though expecting her to swoon.
Hermione thought she was going to be sick.
"But, you know, you didn't HAVE to jump me to tell me." He said this with a broad smirk on his face that Hermione wanted to smack off his face.
'God, what does he have? PMS?' Hermione thought as she remembered his interesting mood swings in the past few times they'd been together.
Anger was beginning to boil in her. How could he suggest that she liked him any more than he liked her? She knew that he hated her, and she was nothing short of hating him, of that she was sure, yet . . .
There was something in his grey eyes . . .
And the way his hair fell on his face . . .
They both went back to working in silence, only speaking when they needed an ingredient or paper from the other. Hermione thought this was the best relationship - none whatsoever. She was uncomfortable sitting next to him.
"Do you think I'll ever lose my looks?" he asked her thoughtfully as he admired himself in the reflection of his potion. Hermione rolled her eyes, and replied without bothering to spare a glance in his direction.
"With a considerable amount of luck, yes." Hermione said dryly as she measured out her beetle's eyes and poured them into the potion, which was turning a light purple color. She could hear Draco scoff next to her.
'Malfoy,' she reminded herself, although she knew that it did no good to try to remind herself of anything right now. Her brain was as good as shot.
She kept glancing his direction despite what she told her eyes to do.
She couldn't help but look at him. He wasn't shabby. His hair fell into his face while he chopped the crunchy. . . things . . . and his tongue was poking out between his lips. . .
Hermione shook her head vigorously.
Hermione didn't like being next to him. She no longer knew what to expect. One second he was sort of nice, next second he was insulting her. She almost preferred him as a permanent insulter. (A/N: is that a word?)
Now . . . she didn't know what to think.
'I REALLY think that he has PMS, or something VERY like it.'
A/N: HA! Minor cliffie! Sorry it's shorter than the last one.
I have BAAAAD news though. . .
I won't be posting another chapter until Friday or (most likely) Saturday, because I have an overnight that I have to supervise. I will write as soon as possible, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter because I wrote it quickly. (About 75 minutes).
Read and Review!!!
The sacred "R"s.
--Saquoia--
Chinagurl - You shall see, you shall see. It may be *forever*, but you shall see!
The SimonCowel of Fanfiction - OMG, thank you so much! I can't believe it, thanks!
Darkmoon Shadows - Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. . . You get to read this chappy, YAY!!!
Cherryplum11 - I like monkeys! (Sheesh, I tried to spell monkeys, m-o-n-k-i- e-s) Updating Queen = happy!! I don't mind your self-promotion, and I shall read your stories when I get a chance! LOL! So . . . you *hate* Draco? =D
Tanuki-Hime - Wow? Thanks so much!
Eleanor Branstone - Of course I will stop when I run out of ideas, I am trying to finish mapping the story out it my head now. Thanks so much!
ObliviousTrance - Oh, thanks so much. I enjoy reviews, yours makes me feel happy!! *dances* Anyway . . .
Jelli Bean - Yes, that was my goal, to write a GOOD and BELIEVABLE fic - something I don't see all the time. Thank you bunchies!
Willowfairy - Actually, I believe that I said it was the LAST day of Christmas break, but I apologize if I didn't! Anyway, thanky thanky!
Read, review, and read the news at the end! Thanks!
Chapter 11 -
Although it was her last choice, Hermione had to resume her classes today, and she wasn't very happy about it. She was sure that Malfoy wouldn't let her live down what had happened, because SHE was sure that she wasn't going to ever let herself live it down.
She didn't want it to have happened, and she had even thought about trying to go back in time to change it, but that could and would be extremely dangerous and she could end up killing herself, which wasn't looking like a bad choice currently.
Her life as she knew it was over. She had so many people that she knew that would flip and freak out if something in her life didn't go 'the golden way' or 'the way it should be'. She didn't want to think about what other people would think and say, she didn't even know what SHE would think and say.
She had spent hours in the early morning trying to invent lies to tell people when they spoke to her the next day about what had happened. None of the lies that she fabricated seemed to work though, unless the person had a pumpkin for a brain, and that meant that these would only work on Crabbe or Goyle.
Then she had decided that she could try to make a disguise and be someone else, but the Polyjuice potion was both illegal and took far too long. She needed something that could come into affect that day. She tried to wear a wig and that hadn't worked very well because the green hair shined through like a beacon in the cold and clear night's sky, which aggravated Hermione more than before.
She tugged at her hair and kicked the air, thinking of the day ahead of herself. She was GOING to die, and that was all there was to it. She probably should have written a will the day that she came to Hogwarts, because her life was bound to be lived prematurely at the rate she was going.
Hermione sighed and made a silent promise to herself - she was never going to reach out to someone again. Every time she did another part of her heart got hacked off, and she didn't know how much more she could take. First her family, then her friends, now everything else. Her life was like a puzzle with all of the wrong pieces and she didn't want to try to do anything anymore.
She couldn't imagine what she would have to do to avoid people that she knew, and she didn't know how she would react. How could she cope with people talking about her all the time? How would she cope with everything that would flood her sense and boggle her mind when everyone found out, as they were completely bound to as this was Hogwarts, and everything flew through the whole school so fast that people in China would know before the day was done.
That barrier, that invisible wall that she had been working so hard not to use was now the easiest way to go. She would ignore her feeling, she would be painlessly oblivious to all anger and hurt, the pain would slide right off of her. She didn't want to feel anything anymore, because she was sure that it would hurt someone. What she failed to realize was that she was hurting herself.
Hermione had no sense of herself, and this was going to cost her later on, although, you probably already guessed that.
~+~
Classes were in five minutes now, and Hermione had completely skipped eating breakfast as she had opted for the 'I'm not hungry' excuse and stay in bed, and she now had a feeling that she may never feel hungry again in her life, let alone regain the feeling in her hands - that was if it lasted much longer.
She got dressed, not thinking about anything and not bothering to glance into the mirror. She didn't care how she looked today, all she wanted was to get today over with as soon as is was humanly possible, so that she could go somewhere to be alone and try to kill her mental images.
She practically fell down the stairs as she stumbled down, walking like a zombie and not thinking much better than one herself.
Hermione could feel her hands shaking and her knees trembling as she tried to look calm on her way to the Potions class even though she knew that she was fighting a gory and losing battle with herself. She was absent- mindedly twirling a lock of her hair around her finger and she was close to biting her fingernails off completely. She was so worried about what was going to happen that she didn't notice anything else that was happening.
Rushed thoughts and irrational thoughts and panicky thoughts were all running through her head and the walk to the Potions classroom seemed to be so much longer than before, yet it ended so much sooner than she wanted it to.
'What will I say if he tells the whole class?' Hermione wondered in utter panic. 'And what do I do if someone asks me a personal question?'
Her worries were so stupid and chaotic that she had tried to Obliviate her memory twice, but had almost jabbed her eyes out with her wand both times and gave up trying to clear her memory as she also realized that she was trying to wipe her memory out before she had a class.
While she had given up trying to clear her memory, she still worried about many things that she would have never worried about before.
It finally got to the extreme worries such as,
'What do I do if someone else kisses?'
And the stupidest and most incomprehensible of all of her other worries and questions,
'What do I do if someone looks at me?'
By the time she was at the door to the Potions classroom she had driven herself into a tizzy and she couldn't concentrate on anything. Even though Snape was talking, she wasn't comprehending any of the words that were spewing out of his mouth, which wasn't a good thing because they were doing OWL practice work today and he was grading the potions accordingly.
Although she was worried about whether Draco was going to say anything, she was more worried about what the news would trigger in Harry and Ron. She didn't know if they would explode in her face or Malfoy's, but she sincerely hoped it wasn't hers, because she didn't know if she could handle that.
Her thoughts were drowned out by the worst news that she had ever been given by anybody.
"I'm paring you into groups, Slytherin and Gryffindors together." Professor Snape said, and Hermione's thoughts vanished and were replaced by fear. What if she was with Crabbe or Goyle? Her grade would be HORRIBLE, and what if she was stuck with someone that she already knew hated her, like Millicent Bulstrode?
And then panic took its root in her heart again as the worst 'what if' came into her mind. She felt her breath catch in her chest and she looked around desperately, hoping that nobody noticed how alarmed she was looking and acting. She was praying that she wouldn't be in the situation she feared.
What would she do if she were stuck with -
"Potter and Goyle," Professor Snape began assigning the pairs, and Hermione began paying rapt attention to who everyone was paired with. As long as she wasn't with . . .
What if she was stuck with Malfoy?
"Longbottom and Crabbe," Professor Snape continued, and Hermione continued her panic attack in stunned silence.
"Finnigan and Bulstrode," Hermione let out a sigh of relief at the realization that she wasn't with Millicent, but panic soon took over as she realized that partners were being assigned and she was one of the few left that could be partnered with Malfoy.
"Weasley and Malfoy," Professor Snape said, and nothing could be used to describe the immense feeling of relief that washed over Hermione as she realized that she wouldn't have to be with Malfoy. She was saved and she didn't care that she was saved at Ron's expense. All she knew was that she wasn't with Ron.
Almost happy, Hermione awaited her partner.
"Granger, and . . ." he didn't say anyone and Hermione looked around to see why. There wasn't much of a choice left and she could see that he was trying to find the worst possible partner to put with Hermione.
"I think Prudie." Snape said and Hermione groaned. Not that Slytherin that she had to share a dormitory with.
He smirked and she sneered in return. At least he wasn't a total moron, so she was pretty sure that she would get an okay grade even if she had to work with this disgusting slob.
She sighed and walked over to the cabinet to grab her ingredients, but froze completely. She had just seen her hair.
It was wavy and honey colored. Her hair was back to normal, Mudblood was no longer tattooed across her face and when she glanced at Malfoy, she realized that his silvery-blonde hair was falling across his head again and his eyes were back to their steely gray color.
Why had their curse reset?
For a minute, Hermione thought that the curse must have had a time limit when the voice of reason began hollering and screaming in her mind and she felt a blush creeping up her cheeks.
They had kissed. That was why they were back to normal. It was the only possible explanation, and she settled for it.
She snatched her ingredients and sauntered over to the table to work with the jerk that she had been assigned to and she began imagining what he would look like if she replaced his head with the head of a giraffe . . .
~+~
Thirty minutes into the lesson, Hermione's world crashed.
She had been innocently working on her portion of the potion, when she heard a huge crash and she whipped around in time to see what had happened.
When she saw, she felt her heart plummet.
Ron, being the clumsy oaf that he was, had somehow managed to dump his potion on himself and the person directly behind him, who happened to be Hermione's partner, Prudie.
Both of them were rushed to the hospital for the numerous antlers that were beginning to sprout where the potion had spilt on them.
Hermione groaned, knowing that this potion was going to be hard to make on her own, because some things required the use of three hands at once, but she thought that she would somehow manage.
Snape, however, had a very different approach, one that Hermione didn't like anymore than the 'on your own' approach. In fact, that was the approach that she quite much preferred.
Snape, however, had no sentiment of her thoughts, and continued on his rampage of her life as she knew it.
"Malfoy, you go join Granger as her partner had to leave to the hospital wing as well, so you two will be partners." Hermione had to work hard with her muscles not to cramp up and freeze.
She HAD to work with Malfoy?
As in, NOW?
Hermione thunked her head on the table and whacked it a good few times so as to make sure that she would be acting like a complete drunk before she raised it, and came face to face with the spiteful face of Draco Malfoy. He took a breath to talk, but she beat him to it.
"Don't talk to me, don't touch me, don't look at me, don't screw up the potion, don't think about me, don't be within twelve inches of me and we'll work fine." Hermione said, before he could get a word in edgewise, and she was very proud of herself.
"Alright?" She asked, and she turned to look imploringly at him when he didn't answer. He stared at her, like she was a complete idiot.
"Al. . . . Right . . ." she practically spelled out for him, but he didn't answer, and her temper began to get the better of her and her actions.
"ALRIGHT?" She said again, this time a little louder.
"ALRIGHT?!" she practically screamed at him, and she couldn't help but notice that he appeared to be smirking at her.
"Weeeeeell?" He said, drawing out the syllable as though it were a sacred word or just a reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally long one.
"WHAT?" Hermione asked, slightly annoyed now.
"How am I supposed to answer you?" he asked her as though this were the most obvious thing in the world and she were a stupid two year old that he was trying to explain it to.
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked and Malfoy rolled his eyes in an answer, evidently surprised at even HER stupidity.
"You said, 'don't talk to me, don't look at me'. How do I ANSWER you, your Royal Pain-in-the-as-" Hermione slapped her hand over his mouth before he could finish his statement. She didn't need to be in any more trouble, even if he was Snape's favorite student, she didn't want to even take the chance.
She brought her face close to his, whispering a deadly whisper into his ear, so the others wouldn't hear. She knew that they were watching.
"Just make the potion and leave me alone." She removed her hand and continued her job.
Together they sat in silence for a little while, just working together on their potion, and then, to Hermione's immense dislike, Draco spoke again, and it was the last thing she wanted him to say.
Apparently he was annoyed about something, because his words were what younger kids would call 'angry words'.
He turned and looked at her, smirking.
"You know, Granger," he said, his familiar drawl back in his voice. "I knew that you liked me, and who could blame you?" he posed in a stupid way, as though expecting her to swoon.
Hermione thought she was going to be sick.
"But, you know, you didn't HAVE to jump me to tell me." He said this with a broad smirk on his face that Hermione wanted to smack off his face.
'God, what does he have? PMS?' Hermione thought as she remembered his interesting mood swings in the past few times they'd been together.
Anger was beginning to boil in her. How could he suggest that she liked him any more than he liked her? She knew that he hated her, and she was nothing short of hating him, of that she was sure, yet . . .
There was something in his grey eyes . . .
And the way his hair fell on his face . . .
They both went back to working in silence, only speaking when they needed an ingredient or paper from the other. Hermione thought this was the best relationship - none whatsoever. She was uncomfortable sitting next to him.
"Do you think I'll ever lose my looks?" he asked her thoughtfully as he admired himself in the reflection of his potion. Hermione rolled her eyes, and replied without bothering to spare a glance in his direction.
"With a considerable amount of luck, yes." Hermione said dryly as she measured out her beetle's eyes and poured them into the potion, which was turning a light purple color. She could hear Draco scoff next to her.
'Malfoy,' she reminded herself, although she knew that it did no good to try to remind herself of anything right now. Her brain was as good as shot.
She kept glancing his direction despite what she told her eyes to do.
She couldn't help but look at him. He wasn't shabby. His hair fell into his face while he chopped the crunchy. . . things . . . and his tongue was poking out between his lips. . .
Hermione shook her head vigorously.
Hermione didn't like being next to him. She no longer knew what to expect. One second he was sort of nice, next second he was insulting her. She almost preferred him as a permanent insulter. (A/N: is that a word?)
Now . . . she didn't know what to think.
'I REALLY think that he has PMS, or something VERY like it.'
A/N: HA! Minor cliffie! Sorry it's shorter than the last one.
I have BAAAAD news though. . .
I won't be posting another chapter until Friday or (most likely) Saturday, because I have an overnight that I have to supervise. I will write as soon as possible, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter because I wrote it quickly. (About 75 minutes).
Read and Review!!!
The sacred "R"s.
--Saquoia--