Chapter 12
"Does everyone understand the project?" Professor Snape asked. "Now remember, this is in place of your final exam. Make sure it's going to be sufficient." The class nodded in unison. Hermione looked at Draco, who was busily scribbling away at something Hermione couldn't see. She sighed. If there was one thing Hermione hated it was group projects, and this one was going to be hellish.
"Relax," Draco said. Hermione looked at him again. He had drawn a picture of a girl on his sheet of parchment. "She has your eyes," he informed Hermione.
"What?" Hermione was taken aback.
"You heard me. She has your eyes."
"Thank you?" Hermione wasn't sure how to respond.
"You happen to have very nice eyes, Granger," Draco said standing up. He took the parchment that she had written the requirements on. "This won't be so bad," he said, looking over what was expected. "I know exactly what we can do."
"You do?" Hermione asked. She was surprised. Usually she was the only one in the group who ever wanted to do the work. Which meant she usually ended up doing it all.
"What, are you playing the question game?" Draco mocked. Hermione took her notes back from Draco.
"What's your idea?" She asked him. Just then, class ended and Draco took her by the wrist.
He dragged her out of the dungeons and outside around to the greenhouse. Professor Sprout waved him in and he led Hermione to a darkened back corner. A single growing lamp hung over the single tray of dirt that was hidden by all of the surrounding foliage.
"We plant some muggle plants and give them potions and test which potions help the plants, and which plants can't handle magic," Draco proposed. Hermione nodded. She was surprised that Draco had actually had a good idea.
"That's an excellent idea, Mr. Malfoy," Professor Sprout added. "If you give me a copy of the results, I might just use this project instead of your final exam in Herbology."
"That would be wonderful," Hermione gushed. "Thank you, Professor." Professor Sprout smiled at Hermione and headed back across the greenhouse. Hermione smiled at Draco. "That's a great idea, Draco, better than any of the ones I was considering. I think it'll be more fun too," Hermione admitted. Draco shrugged.
"We'd better hurry up, or we'll miss dinner," Draco said, changing the subject. He and Hermione headed back to the castle.
* * *
"Hermione!" Pansy said, running after Hermione later that night. "My mother wanted me to invite you back to our house at the end of summer," Pansy said. "She also said it was okay if I visited you for the first few weeks."
"Oh that's great!" Hermione exclaimed. "My parents are thinking about a trip to the United States," Hermione said. "They have friends who live on a beach somewhere out west, and they're just dying to have us come visit."
"This summer is going to be so much fun!" Pansy and Hermione were almost jumping up and down. The two girls headed off down the hallway talking excitedly about everything they planned to do that summer.
* * *
Hermione sat in the Common Room, studying for exams. She was looking through all of her notes and as she did so, couldn't help but remember all that had transpired throughout the course of the year. There was Breena, and her relationship with Draco, that everyone had sworn was perfect and would last forever. Then there was Pansy, and the discovery of her true lineage. There were Ron and Sorcha, who thankfully had been reunited so Ron was no longer moping around. And of course, there was Draco himself.
He had seemingly recovered from his break up with Breena quite well. Excluding his encounters with Pansy and Breena. As far as Hermione knew, he hadn't raped anyone else. Which led Hermione to believe that Draco wasn't the type to go about raping people as a hobby. And that is a good thing.
But then he was nice to Hermione. He had stood up for her to Breena, when she had called her a mudblood. He always made sure to do his fair share of work in Potions, and wasn't rude to her like he had been in the past. And he had told her that the girl he had doodled had her eyes. Hermione was utterly confused. He seemed like such a nice guy, what had taken him so long to come out and show it?
Maybe it was just like he'd said. He was only nice to her because they were Potions partners. Maybe Hermione was reading too much into his actions. But she was starting to get the feeling that Draco Malfoy wasn't as much of an asshole as he would have everyone believe. After all, he and Breena had dated for close to five months. No one, not even Breena who acted like an asshole as well, could put up with Draco's nonsense for that long.
Hermione shook her head and tried to focus on her studying. After all, exams were two weeks away. She looked up at the clock. It was close to curfew. She decided to take a walk to clear her head before she went back to her notes.
Hermione walked down to the greenhouse to visit her and Draco's experiment. They had decided to grow bean plants, because bean plants grow relatively quickly. Right now, the plants were all the same size, and were just starting to grown teeny little blossoms that would turn into beans. Hermione leaned in to talk to them.
"Hey there little guys," she said. The plants stood there, unmoving. She almost felt stupid, but she had read that talking to plants helps them grow. She talked to them about growing up and how they were going to be stong plants when they grew up. She was so busy talking that she didn't hear someone else come in to the greenhouse.
"Why don't you read them a bedtime story?" A voice quipped. Hermione blushed and turned around to see Draco standing there behind her.
"I read that talking to them helps," she spluttered.
"Helps you or helps them?" Draco teased. Hermione turned a deeper shade of read. "I'm only kidding, Hermione, lighten up a little." He looked at the plants. "They're doing so well," he said, smiling. "Anyway, it's almost curfew, we'd better head back."
"I didn't realize it was so late," Hermione said. She and Draco walked back to the castle.
* * *
The next Potions class, Harry sat in his usual spot. Pansy was almost late, running in just as Professor Snape closed the door. She slid into her seat next to Harry and took out her potions book. As she did so, something fell out of it and drifted onto the floor. Harry leaned over to pick it up for her.
It was a picture of Pansy and Hermione at Pansy's house during the past holiday. Both girls were in dress robes, their hair swept up in identical upsweeps, sitting on a sofa, waving happily up at Harry. He smiled at Hermione, even though he could barely recognize her. She was incredible in those dress robes. He looked across the dungeon at her. She had changed right in front of his eyes and he had barely noticed. Harry watched Hermione as she sat taking notes and whispering to Draco while Snape wasn't looking.
Harry also noticed the way Draco looked at Hermione. His Hermione. It made Harry want to be sick.
"Excuse me," Pansy said, bringing Harry's mind back to Potions class. "Would you mind if I had my picture back?"
"Sorry," Harry mumbled, handing it over. Pansy smiled at him.
"This was taken at my house, after dinner one night. I have more, do you want to see them?" Pansy offered. Harry nodded.
Pansy passed him an envelope full of pictures of Pansy and Hermione together at Pansy's house. They were in matching bathrobes, having a pillow fight, doing eachother's hair, eating popcorn and watching movies. Harry's favorite by far was the picture of the two girls in the hot tub, their skin glistening and bathing suit tops barely covering their ample chests, both girls smiling furiously and laughing.
Harry passed the pictures back to Pansy. He was still confused as to how Hermione had managed to slip her transformation past him. Harry spent the rest of the day in a daze, trying to figure out when Hermione had gone from being just a friend, to being the devastatingly attractive girl she was now. Harry rounded the corner and ran smack into another person.
"Oh, I'm terr-ter-" Harry stuttered. Speaking of devastatingly attractive, the girl standing directly in front of Harry had walked right out of the dictionary's illustration of the description 'drop-dead gorgeous.' She tossed her waist-length jet black hair, and shifted her weight from one leg to another, waiting for an apology. Harry regained his breath somehow, and managed to squeak out, "I'm sorry, Breena."
"It's alright, really," she said dully. Harry wasn't convinced, but she brushed past him and walked down the hall. Harry shook his head and headed back to his Common Room.
"Does everyone understand the project?" Professor Snape asked. "Now remember, this is in place of your final exam. Make sure it's going to be sufficient." The class nodded in unison. Hermione looked at Draco, who was busily scribbling away at something Hermione couldn't see. She sighed. If there was one thing Hermione hated it was group projects, and this one was going to be hellish.
"Relax," Draco said. Hermione looked at him again. He had drawn a picture of a girl on his sheet of parchment. "She has your eyes," he informed Hermione.
"What?" Hermione was taken aback.
"You heard me. She has your eyes."
"Thank you?" Hermione wasn't sure how to respond.
"You happen to have very nice eyes, Granger," Draco said standing up. He took the parchment that she had written the requirements on. "This won't be so bad," he said, looking over what was expected. "I know exactly what we can do."
"You do?" Hermione asked. She was surprised. Usually she was the only one in the group who ever wanted to do the work. Which meant she usually ended up doing it all.
"What, are you playing the question game?" Draco mocked. Hermione took her notes back from Draco.
"What's your idea?" She asked him. Just then, class ended and Draco took her by the wrist.
He dragged her out of the dungeons and outside around to the greenhouse. Professor Sprout waved him in and he led Hermione to a darkened back corner. A single growing lamp hung over the single tray of dirt that was hidden by all of the surrounding foliage.
"We plant some muggle plants and give them potions and test which potions help the plants, and which plants can't handle magic," Draco proposed. Hermione nodded. She was surprised that Draco had actually had a good idea.
"That's an excellent idea, Mr. Malfoy," Professor Sprout added. "If you give me a copy of the results, I might just use this project instead of your final exam in Herbology."
"That would be wonderful," Hermione gushed. "Thank you, Professor." Professor Sprout smiled at Hermione and headed back across the greenhouse. Hermione smiled at Draco. "That's a great idea, Draco, better than any of the ones I was considering. I think it'll be more fun too," Hermione admitted. Draco shrugged.
"We'd better hurry up, or we'll miss dinner," Draco said, changing the subject. He and Hermione headed back to the castle.
* * *
"Hermione!" Pansy said, running after Hermione later that night. "My mother wanted me to invite you back to our house at the end of summer," Pansy said. "She also said it was okay if I visited you for the first few weeks."
"Oh that's great!" Hermione exclaimed. "My parents are thinking about a trip to the United States," Hermione said. "They have friends who live on a beach somewhere out west, and they're just dying to have us come visit."
"This summer is going to be so much fun!" Pansy and Hermione were almost jumping up and down. The two girls headed off down the hallway talking excitedly about everything they planned to do that summer.
* * *
Hermione sat in the Common Room, studying for exams. She was looking through all of her notes and as she did so, couldn't help but remember all that had transpired throughout the course of the year. There was Breena, and her relationship with Draco, that everyone had sworn was perfect and would last forever. Then there was Pansy, and the discovery of her true lineage. There were Ron and Sorcha, who thankfully had been reunited so Ron was no longer moping around. And of course, there was Draco himself.
He had seemingly recovered from his break up with Breena quite well. Excluding his encounters with Pansy and Breena. As far as Hermione knew, he hadn't raped anyone else. Which led Hermione to believe that Draco wasn't the type to go about raping people as a hobby. And that is a good thing.
But then he was nice to Hermione. He had stood up for her to Breena, when she had called her a mudblood. He always made sure to do his fair share of work in Potions, and wasn't rude to her like he had been in the past. And he had told her that the girl he had doodled had her eyes. Hermione was utterly confused. He seemed like such a nice guy, what had taken him so long to come out and show it?
Maybe it was just like he'd said. He was only nice to her because they were Potions partners. Maybe Hermione was reading too much into his actions. But she was starting to get the feeling that Draco Malfoy wasn't as much of an asshole as he would have everyone believe. After all, he and Breena had dated for close to five months. No one, not even Breena who acted like an asshole as well, could put up with Draco's nonsense for that long.
Hermione shook her head and tried to focus on her studying. After all, exams were two weeks away. She looked up at the clock. It was close to curfew. She decided to take a walk to clear her head before she went back to her notes.
Hermione walked down to the greenhouse to visit her and Draco's experiment. They had decided to grow bean plants, because bean plants grow relatively quickly. Right now, the plants were all the same size, and were just starting to grown teeny little blossoms that would turn into beans. Hermione leaned in to talk to them.
"Hey there little guys," she said. The plants stood there, unmoving. She almost felt stupid, but she had read that talking to plants helps them grow. She talked to them about growing up and how they were going to be stong plants when they grew up. She was so busy talking that she didn't hear someone else come in to the greenhouse.
"Why don't you read them a bedtime story?" A voice quipped. Hermione blushed and turned around to see Draco standing there behind her.
"I read that talking to them helps," she spluttered.
"Helps you or helps them?" Draco teased. Hermione turned a deeper shade of read. "I'm only kidding, Hermione, lighten up a little." He looked at the plants. "They're doing so well," he said, smiling. "Anyway, it's almost curfew, we'd better head back."
"I didn't realize it was so late," Hermione said. She and Draco walked back to the castle.
* * *
The next Potions class, Harry sat in his usual spot. Pansy was almost late, running in just as Professor Snape closed the door. She slid into her seat next to Harry and took out her potions book. As she did so, something fell out of it and drifted onto the floor. Harry leaned over to pick it up for her.
It was a picture of Pansy and Hermione at Pansy's house during the past holiday. Both girls were in dress robes, their hair swept up in identical upsweeps, sitting on a sofa, waving happily up at Harry. He smiled at Hermione, even though he could barely recognize her. She was incredible in those dress robes. He looked across the dungeon at her. She had changed right in front of his eyes and he had barely noticed. Harry watched Hermione as she sat taking notes and whispering to Draco while Snape wasn't looking.
Harry also noticed the way Draco looked at Hermione. His Hermione. It made Harry want to be sick.
"Excuse me," Pansy said, bringing Harry's mind back to Potions class. "Would you mind if I had my picture back?"
"Sorry," Harry mumbled, handing it over. Pansy smiled at him.
"This was taken at my house, after dinner one night. I have more, do you want to see them?" Pansy offered. Harry nodded.
Pansy passed him an envelope full of pictures of Pansy and Hermione together at Pansy's house. They were in matching bathrobes, having a pillow fight, doing eachother's hair, eating popcorn and watching movies. Harry's favorite by far was the picture of the two girls in the hot tub, their skin glistening and bathing suit tops barely covering their ample chests, both girls smiling furiously and laughing.
Harry passed the pictures back to Pansy. He was still confused as to how Hermione had managed to slip her transformation past him. Harry spent the rest of the day in a daze, trying to figure out when Hermione had gone from being just a friend, to being the devastatingly attractive girl she was now. Harry rounded the corner and ran smack into another person.
"Oh, I'm terr-ter-" Harry stuttered. Speaking of devastatingly attractive, the girl standing directly in front of Harry had walked right out of the dictionary's illustration of the description 'drop-dead gorgeous.' She tossed her waist-length jet black hair, and shifted her weight from one leg to another, waiting for an apology. Harry regained his breath somehow, and managed to squeak out, "I'm sorry, Breena."
"It's alright, really," she said dully. Harry wasn't convinced, but she brushed past him and walked down the hall. Harry shook his head and headed back to his Common Room.