Pure Happiness
Chapter 6-
Granger's Got Guts
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Hermione left her secluded
corner in the library feeling annoyed. Out of habit, she tugged her left
earlobe firmly. She walked as quickly as she could to the Gryffindor common
room, thinking about her awful partner the entire way. She was pretty upset
about what had just happened; if Harry or Ron found out, she'd be done for.
'I can't believe I actually
agreed to a truce,' she thought angrily. 'Of course he's going to try something funny on me.' A part of her
felt funny for a moment, and she then started to convince herself
that he would be trustworthy. Of course
she didn't trust him now, but if they worked long enough together in peace, she
might be able to trust him in the future.
When she reached the portrait
of the Fat Lady clad in her normal pink ball gown, Hermione uttered the
password and the door swung open. As she went to go greet Harry and Ron to get
ready for class, someone hidden in the corner outside the common room was
quickly jotting down the Gryffindor password.
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* *
After a dull Herbology class and a less-than-stimulating History of
Magic lesson, the seventh-year Slytherins made their
way to the Great Hall for lunch. Draco brushed by Pansy, who shoved a crumpled
piece of parchment into his pale hand. He stopped, looked at what she had given
him, and gave her a confused look.
"Read it later," she
hissed at him. Draco slowly nodded and turned around, walking to the dungeons.
When he arrived at the marking of his common room, he rushed up to his
dormitory, and flopped down on his emerald bed with silver sheets. He carefully
uncrumpled the letter, and read,
Draco-
I heard that you made the
truce with Granger (ugh) this morning. Good job- personally, I thought you
might've been a bit chicken to do so. Anyways, I followed her after she left
and found out the password. It's French- la loyauté prévaudra. Hmmph. It's just like a
Gryffindor to have a lame password like that.
So that might come in handy. I
know your father wants you to ruin her grades,
so maybe you could go in one night and destroy her homework or something. Also,
I know you can't get into the girl's dormitory, so if you need my help, just
ask.
-Pansy
Draco was a bit surprised-
Pansy was being quite civil to him. For a while, when they were dating, she'd
been really clingy and girlish to him. Then, when they broke up, she was always
bawling and calling him crude names. Draco guessed that she was finally over
him, as she was talking nicely to him, and even offering to help him manipulate
someone. Then again, she was a
Slytherin and loved to do those types of things.
Draco folded the letter as
neatly as he could, and set it behind his pillow for later use. He left for the
Great Hall, and bumped into a small girl- a first year, he guessed- on the way.
"Watch where you're going," he
snarled as she tried to apologize.
"I... I..." she said meekly.
"I... Malfoy??" Draco had already
started walking off. At the sound of his name, he whipped around and saw
Hermione sitting on the ground. 'Oh, no!'
he thought. 'Not her again!'
He tried to smile- he'd had
very little practice in that area- and helped her up. "Sorry, Granger, I didn't
know it was you," he sighed. Hermione rubbed her head.
"That's alright, I
guess," she whispered. She started to walk away, and she seemed on the
verge of tears. Draco felt pained and strange. He wasn't allowed to be mean to her anymore, he knew that, but the thing was, he
didn't want to be mean to her. Sure,
he still hated her, and wanted nothing to do with her, but he wanted her to not
be so pained by him any more.
"H-Hermione!" he called out,
stuttering. It was still very new and weird for him to call one-third of his
worst enemies by their first name. She stopped and turned to him, her face a
bit blotchy. "I really am sorry," he said, trying to sound sincere.
She seemed a bit taken aback, but responded,
"I said it was alright,
Draco." Draco tried smiling again, but found his mouth twisted up horribly.
Hermione giggled softly, and started to walk away. Draco grabbed her arm,
looked at it in horror, and dropped it.
"Er... Granger.... Have you heard about the first event yet?" he drawled. She
nodded and stuck her nose in the air.
"As a matter of fact, I did!" she said excitedly. "Professor Dumbledore
explained it in the beginning of lunch to the competitors. It's to be secret
until the event- which is on October 11th. It's supposed to see how
well we compete under pressure..." Draco cut her off.
"Didn't they do that in the Triwizard Tournament?" he
sneered. She nodded vigorously, ignoring the rude sneer, and went on.
"Yes, but oh well. Perhaps
they had nothing better to do for it. Anyway, he said it had to do with trouble
brewing and some other references to Potions,"
she gushed. "So let's meet tomorrow night in the Library and go over some of
our Potions work."
"But the tournament isn't for
a couple of weeks!" he protested. "We don't have
to even think about it until then!"
Hermione was agitated.
"But, Malfoy," she simpered. "You said it yourself- you wanted to win."
She
shrugged and went on. "But I guess I'll have to- sigh- do this all myself. At least I'll be able to recognized
for my outstanding abilities." She
smirked lazily at him- she looked like she'd done it a million times more than
he had. Draco stared at her, open mouthed, as she walked away.
Who knew Granger had guts?
*
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Sorry to everyone who said it was short!
This one's pretty short, too. I promise that the next chapter will be nice
and long- and interesting, for once. THANKS!
P.S. The password means Loyalty shall prevail. So Gryffindor, no?