(Well.... at least people are reading - .... I'll try not to screw it up
:d
Disclaimer - /searches for something that belongs to her/ .... Yeah, no,
not having any luck with that)
-/-
Draco Malfoy was bored.
He drummed his fingertips on the edge of his cauldron, tuning out the Professor, who was droning on and on about some Potion Snape had made and... who knows what. Draco usually enjoyed Potions, but today they had a sub, and his attention was turned elsewhere. His eyes wandered lazily around the room until they landed on the profile of a girl sitting across the room from him. She, clearly, was enjoying this class as much as he was, for she had her head propped on one hand, angling most of her face away from him.
He stopped tapping his fingers and tilted his head a little to the side. This girl was actually quite pretty... delicate features framed by an abundance of ginger curls. He didn't recall ever seeing her before.... She moved a little and Draco narrowed his eyes, trying to get a better look in the dim dungeon light. Then she turned so he could see her face, and he recoiled in horror.
The look on his face would have served as being extremely amusing, if anyone had indeed been looking. He shot a quick glance around to make sure no one was doing just that, then turned to focus his attention on the Professor, humiliated. Not so much by what had just happened, but by the fact that anyone who happened to look over at that time would have seen it.
Of course he hadn't recognized her - Granger was usually being a Know-It- All Pain-In-The-Arse Teacher's Pet... He'd never seen her actually appear bored. Draco glanced back at her from the corner of his eye. She was still slouched over, fiddling with her wand, oblivious to what had taken place on the other side of the room.
Good.
She didn't need to know that this wasn't the first time it had happened. That Draco had let his eyes linger and his mind wander quite a few times before. No one needed to know that he'd been growing jealous of all the time she spent with Potter and Weasley, who never seemed to appreciate her for what she was. No one needed to know that he had decided to be especially cruel to her to try and make these feelings go away, or that, despite this, it tightened in his chest every time she walked by, ignoring him.
No one needed to know, and no one was going to know.
--
This substitute is extremely dull.
Hermione Granger gritted her teeth as she listened to him repeat what he'd said for the fourth time. He was a skinny, jittery fellow, with large eyes, a blonde ponytail, and skin that would indicate he'd rather be outside in the sun than in a dungeon teaching Potions. He was reading from a slip of instructions Snape had given him, but he kept getting his words jumbled.
She sighed. Double Potions was torture as it was, even with a Professor who knew what he was doing. She paid only enough attention to learn what the Potion was and what it was supposed to do before she completely tuned out, thinking about her Project. She wasn't quite as sure as she had been about using Draco as the test subject.
What if it didn't work? The side effects could be catastrophic.
And... what if it did work?
Hermione peered at Draco surreptitiously through her eyelashes. He was looking about as bored as she was, drumming his fingers on his cauldron. She bit her lip as his eyes moved towards her, and she quickly looked down at her robes, hiding her face. The problem wasn't that she didn't want him to love her.
The problem was that she did.
A while ago she'd started to feel a small tug at her chest whenever he looked at her, even if to tease her. Harry and Ron didn't realize it, but his words had started to affect her in a way they hadn't before. She used to brush it off and ignore him, but recently it had been getting harder. Maybe it was the way she saw him walking down the hall, laughing with his friends, his movements fluid, in perfect harmony with his lithe body, his face no longer pointed and arrogant, but graceful and.... divine. She could see how his name meant Dragon, beautiful but strong, deadly.
Who knew what would happen if the potion worked....
She shook her head a little, as if to clear her mind of such absurd thoughts. This was Draco Malfoy, honestly!
She sat up straight and tried to pay attention to the Professor, determined not to think about it.
He was only the subject of her new Project. That was it. And that was the way it was going to remain.
--
".... And so, now you should start this potion...um... in pairs," the sub- Professor finished. He looked around.
"I guess... I'll be assigning pairs, since Professor Snape didn't specify," he added, looking more cheerful as the class groaned.
Draco snorted. 'This ought to be interesting,' he thought to himself, leaning back against his chair with his arms folded over his chest.
"So.... Um... you... yes, you, girl," he pointed at Hermione, who blinked in surprise.
"You shall be with..." he looked around the room a minute. Hermione cast Ron and Harry a worried look.
"Ahhh.... You!" The Professor pointed gleefully at someone sitting across the room. People gasped. Hermione's head whipped around to see who it was. Her blood stopped cold.
Draco stared blankly at the Professor.
"You're joking," he demanded.
The Professor frowned.
"No... I'm not. Now, you, move over there to sit by him." He pointed first at Hermione, then at Draco, as though she were slow. Hermione rose slowly from her seat. That seemed to satisfy him. He continued to assign partners, putting Harry with Neville and Ron with Pansy. They both gave her pitying looks before she walked over to Malfoy.
Draco was hunched in his seat, glaring at her. His mouth curled into a sneer.
"And I thought this class couldn't get more disgusting," he spat as she sat down. She glared back at him.
"Like I want to be over here inhaling stupid," she shot back. He was still glaring but a smile formed on his lips.
"My, my, cranky, are we? What's the matter, not get enough porridge this morning?" he asked innocently, eyes still cold.
Hermione's face turned red.
"Grow up, Malfoy," she muttered, than started chopping the ingredients they'd need for the Potion. She was careful to not look at his face as they made their potion in stony silence. At first she had been horrified, but now she felt strangely peaceful, sitting by Draco, working together with him.... though he seemed to slack off in class, she watched his hands, long and pale, deftly and quickly chops the herbs and adds them to the pot, working at the same speed as her.
'Huh,' she though to herself, impressed. 'He'd make a wonderful partner... his skill seems to match my own,'
"Excuse me," a cold voice cut through her thoughts. She jumped a little.
"Are you going to cut those? Or do I have to do this whole thing by myself?"
She realized she'd stopped working when she started daydreaming, and now she was lagging behind. She looked up to give Malfoy a nasty look, which turned out to be a mistake.
Her eyes met his and all the anger drained out of them
For a few seconds neither did anything but sit there and stare at each other.
Then, suddenly, Draco tore himself away and barked coldly, "You're going to ruin the potion, hurry up!"
Hermione, her anger flooding back to her, finished chopping the ingredients and tossed them in.
Draco kept his head turned away from her, and Hermione kept her eyes on the potion.
It turned a deep shade of crimson and a thin curl of smoke rose from the surface.
Perfect
-/-
(So...? This is kind of dragging, but it's essential to build a foundation, and not start in with the mushy stuff right away :x Ehh, it's coming, though. By the way, sorry about the 'Perfect' thing.... It was a habit, and I'll stop. Or maybe I'll continue and make it a trademark ;) .... No, I think I'll just stop. Anyway, I'll write more if you do like it, so tell me what you think
EDIT - I'm reposting these chapters without the Perfects because I realize it's just stupid and annoying. :P Sorry for the inconvience (I will keep a few, though))
-/-
Draco Malfoy was bored.
He drummed his fingertips on the edge of his cauldron, tuning out the Professor, who was droning on and on about some Potion Snape had made and... who knows what. Draco usually enjoyed Potions, but today they had a sub, and his attention was turned elsewhere. His eyes wandered lazily around the room until they landed on the profile of a girl sitting across the room from him. She, clearly, was enjoying this class as much as he was, for she had her head propped on one hand, angling most of her face away from him.
He stopped tapping his fingers and tilted his head a little to the side. This girl was actually quite pretty... delicate features framed by an abundance of ginger curls. He didn't recall ever seeing her before.... She moved a little and Draco narrowed his eyes, trying to get a better look in the dim dungeon light. Then she turned so he could see her face, and he recoiled in horror.
The look on his face would have served as being extremely amusing, if anyone had indeed been looking. He shot a quick glance around to make sure no one was doing just that, then turned to focus his attention on the Professor, humiliated. Not so much by what had just happened, but by the fact that anyone who happened to look over at that time would have seen it.
Of course he hadn't recognized her - Granger was usually being a Know-It- All Pain-In-The-Arse Teacher's Pet... He'd never seen her actually appear bored. Draco glanced back at her from the corner of his eye. She was still slouched over, fiddling with her wand, oblivious to what had taken place on the other side of the room.
Good.
She didn't need to know that this wasn't the first time it had happened. That Draco had let his eyes linger and his mind wander quite a few times before. No one needed to know that he'd been growing jealous of all the time she spent with Potter and Weasley, who never seemed to appreciate her for what she was. No one needed to know that he had decided to be especially cruel to her to try and make these feelings go away, or that, despite this, it tightened in his chest every time she walked by, ignoring him.
No one needed to know, and no one was going to know.
--
This substitute is extremely dull.
Hermione Granger gritted her teeth as she listened to him repeat what he'd said for the fourth time. He was a skinny, jittery fellow, with large eyes, a blonde ponytail, and skin that would indicate he'd rather be outside in the sun than in a dungeon teaching Potions. He was reading from a slip of instructions Snape had given him, but he kept getting his words jumbled.
She sighed. Double Potions was torture as it was, even with a Professor who knew what he was doing. She paid only enough attention to learn what the Potion was and what it was supposed to do before she completely tuned out, thinking about her Project. She wasn't quite as sure as she had been about using Draco as the test subject.
What if it didn't work? The side effects could be catastrophic.
And... what if it did work?
Hermione peered at Draco surreptitiously through her eyelashes. He was looking about as bored as she was, drumming his fingers on his cauldron. She bit her lip as his eyes moved towards her, and she quickly looked down at her robes, hiding her face. The problem wasn't that she didn't want him to love her.
The problem was that she did.
A while ago she'd started to feel a small tug at her chest whenever he looked at her, even if to tease her. Harry and Ron didn't realize it, but his words had started to affect her in a way they hadn't before. She used to brush it off and ignore him, but recently it had been getting harder. Maybe it was the way she saw him walking down the hall, laughing with his friends, his movements fluid, in perfect harmony with his lithe body, his face no longer pointed and arrogant, but graceful and.... divine. She could see how his name meant Dragon, beautiful but strong, deadly.
Who knew what would happen if the potion worked....
She shook her head a little, as if to clear her mind of such absurd thoughts. This was Draco Malfoy, honestly!
She sat up straight and tried to pay attention to the Professor, determined not to think about it.
He was only the subject of her new Project. That was it. And that was the way it was going to remain.
--
".... And so, now you should start this potion...um... in pairs," the sub- Professor finished. He looked around.
"I guess... I'll be assigning pairs, since Professor Snape didn't specify," he added, looking more cheerful as the class groaned.
Draco snorted. 'This ought to be interesting,' he thought to himself, leaning back against his chair with his arms folded over his chest.
"So.... Um... you... yes, you, girl," he pointed at Hermione, who blinked in surprise.
"You shall be with..." he looked around the room a minute. Hermione cast Ron and Harry a worried look.
"Ahhh.... You!" The Professor pointed gleefully at someone sitting across the room. People gasped. Hermione's head whipped around to see who it was. Her blood stopped cold.
Draco stared blankly at the Professor.
"You're joking," he demanded.
The Professor frowned.
"No... I'm not. Now, you, move over there to sit by him." He pointed first at Hermione, then at Draco, as though she were slow. Hermione rose slowly from her seat. That seemed to satisfy him. He continued to assign partners, putting Harry with Neville and Ron with Pansy. They both gave her pitying looks before she walked over to Malfoy.
Draco was hunched in his seat, glaring at her. His mouth curled into a sneer.
"And I thought this class couldn't get more disgusting," he spat as she sat down. She glared back at him.
"Like I want to be over here inhaling stupid," she shot back. He was still glaring but a smile formed on his lips.
"My, my, cranky, are we? What's the matter, not get enough porridge this morning?" he asked innocently, eyes still cold.
Hermione's face turned red.
"Grow up, Malfoy," she muttered, than started chopping the ingredients they'd need for the Potion. She was careful to not look at his face as they made their potion in stony silence. At first she had been horrified, but now she felt strangely peaceful, sitting by Draco, working together with him.... though he seemed to slack off in class, she watched his hands, long and pale, deftly and quickly chops the herbs and adds them to the pot, working at the same speed as her.
'Huh,' she though to herself, impressed. 'He'd make a wonderful partner... his skill seems to match my own,'
"Excuse me," a cold voice cut through her thoughts. She jumped a little.
"Are you going to cut those? Or do I have to do this whole thing by myself?"
She realized she'd stopped working when she started daydreaming, and now she was lagging behind. She looked up to give Malfoy a nasty look, which turned out to be a mistake.
Her eyes met his and all the anger drained out of them
For a few seconds neither did anything but sit there and stare at each other.
Then, suddenly, Draco tore himself away and barked coldly, "You're going to ruin the potion, hurry up!"
Hermione, her anger flooding back to her, finished chopping the ingredients and tossed them in.
Draco kept his head turned away from her, and Hermione kept her eyes on the potion.
It turned a deep shade of crimson and a thin curl of smoke rose from the surface.
Perfect
-/-
(So...? This is kind of dragging, but it's essential to build a foundation, and not start in with the mushy stuff right away :x Ehh, it's coming, though. By the way, sorry about the 'Perfect' thing.... It was a habit, and I'll stop. Or maybe I'll continue and make it a trademark ;) .... No, I think I'll just stop. Anyway, I'll write more if you do like it, so tell me what you think
EDIT - I'm reposting these chapters without the Perfects because I realize it's just stupid and annoying. :P Sorry for the inconvience (I will keep a few, though))