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Chapter 12: Nice Shoes Longbottom.
Hermione rushed along the corridor with half the library cradled in her arms. She ignored the strange looks she was receiving from most of the student population and
Tripped.
She had been so busy trying to stop 'What not to do with spare potions ingredients' from reaching its untimely demise of dropping on the floor and being stood on by numerous pairs of feet that she had forgotten to pay attention to coordinating her own two feet.
The result? Hermione dropped to her knees with a painful 'crack' and the books skittered away across the stone floor, hitting a few unsuspecting passers-by painfully in the ankles.
Hermione damned the books to hell rather loudly. Granted, it wasn't best thing to do when you were already the receiving end of most people's strange looks but Hermione was past caring. She had piled most of the books into a rather unsteady pile and was now looking for Alfred Twaddle's bestseller that had apparently disappeared without a trace.
Unfortunately for Hermione she was unaware that her hair had come out of its ponytail and was covering her face making her look oddly like Cousin It. She did know however that she had splodges of ink on her hands and one of her socks had fallen down – as socks are prone to do.
Her hair did not impair her hearing though, she could hear a whispered 'I don't know what Draco sees in her' perfectly well. A sudden urge to march over to what appeared to be two fourth year girls and tell them that Draco didn't see anything in her whatsoever popped up inside her brain.
And maybe give them a detention to go with it.
She dismissed the urge, telling herself that prefects should not abuse their power. Besides, the two girls would probably think that they were being accosted by the hair monster or something.
She knelt up, abandoning her search for the book for a minute, and realised how silly she must look, scrabbling around on the floor trying to collect her dropped books whilst attempting to not get stood on.
It was amazing that, just because it was the end of school on a Friday afternoon, no one would bother to help her because they all had somewhere to go, someone to meet or something to do.
She pushed her hair out of her eyes and gave a quick scan of the floor for the missing book when a pair of shoes came into her line of vision.
A pair of shoes that she knew very well.
The owner of these particular pair of shoes was an insufferable prat.
"Not you." She murmured into her hair.
Maybe he had come to return her quill. At last.
It was slightly strange though; the shoes were more scuffed than she remembered and had what were probably the remains of a spilt potion on one of the toes.
A hand proffered the book she had been searching for; Hermione took it, scrambling to her feet. She was all ready with a scathing remark when she came face to face with Neville.
"Neville!" She yelped, instantly wincing inwardly at the pitch of her surprised voice. There was a pause as Hermione looked at Neville's feet and Neville watched Hermione look at his feet.
"You do realise you have the same shoes as Malfoy don't you?" Hermione asked, finally looking up.
"Yeah, I thought they might make me more attractive to the girls. You know, if I had the same shoes as him." Neville blinked, slightly surprised at the question. There was another pause, this time it was more awkward. Hermione gave Neville a strange look at his answer.
"Did you want some help with your books?" Neville asked, breaking the silence and motioning at the teetering pile of books.
"Oh. Yes." Hermione replied, still obviously quite bemused about the shoe conversation. "Please."
Neville picked up half of the stack and began to walk at a slow speed. "I needed to talk to you anyway."
Hermione paused to note that the corridor had suddenly emptied of the students, most people, she guessed, would have gone outside to sit in the last rays of autumn sunshine before it got too cold.
She also wondered where Neville was planning on going with this 'talk'.
Realising that Neville was waiting for her, she scooped the books up into her arms and scooted after him.
They walked in silence for a little while, Hermione contemplating whether she could run away if the conversation turned to Draco. She had had enough of people asking her about 'the Gryffindor Slytherin alliance' as it had been named.
Also Lavender and Parvati had taken to cornering her on the way to lessons and asking her strange questions about Draco. They had also come in the library on a few occasions, looking around in distaste as if the books were going to jump on them and mess up their hair before sitting down next to Hermione and re-asking many of the same questions.
They had also asked her whether constant exposure to dust made hair as bushy as hers.
Last time she had been detained with questions on whether Draco had chest hair or not, she had been saved by the arrival of Harry and Ron. As she fled, pulling Harry and Ron after her, the girls called after her that they would be talking to her on Friday.
This was one of the main reasons Hermione was rushing down the corridor with most of her homework. She had been trying to find a place to work where Lavender and Parvati wouldn't find her.
She thought she had lost them when she went to the library.
She didn't know that they were even aware that there was a library in the school.
It wasn't that she didn't like Lavender and Parvati; it was just that if she heard them ask her whether Draco's eyes were more deep grey or more silvery grey one more time, she might explode.
She didn't care whether Draco had grey eyes or eyes that changed colour depending on the weather or even eyes that flash neon colours. As far as she was concerned he was an irritating prat who made life extremely difficult for her.
And smirked while he did it.
Whilst she had done her homework in the library yesterday she had not in any way wanted Draco to come in and annoy her like he had done the night before.
Really.
She hadn't been disappointed at all when he didn't saunter through the bookshelves to just infuriate her.
She also hadn't toyed with the idea that he might come in to return her quill. Which, he didn't.
And again, she hadn't been disappointed.
"Hermione?"
"Mmm?"
"Why are you whacking your head against a book?"
"Oh, no reason."
Neville stopped abruptly and turned to her, his mouth barely visible over the pile of books he was holding.
"Look Hermione, I've seen you and Malfoy kissing in the library and I've seen him in your room. What's going on? Really, I mean. Not some random rumour going around the girls' toilets. The truth." Neville said, sounding concerned from behind the books. He looked as though he expected her to hit him.Hermione froze. She didn't mind what the rest of the school thought, apart from when they asked irritating questions, but when it was one of her friends it was rather more difficult.
She didn't have time to wonder why on earth Neville had been in the girls' toilets as it wasn't important.
"You're not going to yell again, are you?" Hermione asked in a tight voice.
"No."
"Okay."
There was a long pause. Neville looked at Hermione wide-eyed and expectantly over the top of the books.
"And?"
"And what?" Hermione said, trying to sound curious as to what he might mean.
"What's going on?"
"Nothing!" Hermione cursed her English rose complexion that flushed over the tiniest lie.
Neville frowned confusedly, "So you just decided to kiss Malfoy in the library? Maybe we should all do it!"
Hermione realised that answering this particular question would mean admitting that it happened, but there was no point lying about it anyway – she was Hermione The Red Faced Liar.
"Two things, one, he kissed me! And two, I don't think that's a good idea, he'd probably hit you." Hermione replied shifting the books that had suddenly become rather heavy.
"So now you know the inner workings of Malfoy's brain?" Neville didn't sounded angry, more worried than anything.
"No! I was just remarking." Hermione said.
The two teenagers didn't even notice the paintings around them all watching with interested looks on their faces.
"If you can't give me a good reason, I'll have to tell Harry and Ron." Neville said anxiously, fiddling with a book cover.
The sound of footsteps echoed down the empty corridor.
"Move Granger. Your hair is barricading the hallway."
Ah it was Mr. Insufferable Prat himself. Hermione and Neville moved out of his way, as Draco walked past he grinned at Hermione and gave her the ghost of a wink.
Hermione knew she should have waited until he was out of earshot but she needed to prove a point. "See! There's nothing going on!" She cried to Neville.
The footsteps stopped and Hermione grimaced as she saw Draco swivel back round to face them out of the corner of her eyes, he had a wicked smirk on his face.
It wasn't looking good.
"Oh yeah, Hermione love, I'll meet you in the astronomy tower later." He said, as if remembering something he had meant to say a while ago. He then pretended to see Neville for the first time. "To, uh, study." He winked again, this time it was extremely over exaggerated and he did it so Neville could see.
"By the way, nice shoes Longbottom." Draco said before ambling off down the hall.
"He's lying! Don't look at me like that!" Hermione protested. Neville looked torn between believing his friend and believing the boy that tormented him everyday.
"I'm sorry Hermione but I think Harry and Ron need to know." He said slowly, avoiding her gaze. He walked off still holding her books.
Hermione waited until he was out of earshot before exclaiming to the ceiling, "The world is conspiring against me!"
In a painting to Hermione's left a motherly looking woman with what appeared to be a parrot on her shoulder muttered, "That's nice dear."
Another painting to Hermione's right was of another woman with a huge powdered wig leant forward in her frame. "So tell us, is there something going on between you and that good-looking blond boy?"
"Argh!" Hermione moaned at no one in particular.
Even if Neville had said something to Harry and Ron they didn't say anything to Hermione. Although they did spend an increasing amount of time with her, Ron had even ventured to the library with her on Saturday afternoon.
Ron, it seemed, was not the best person to go to the library with. He had a book about Muggles open in front of him and kept sniggering loudly at the diagrams of washing machines and televisions.
Hermione didn't find the pictures funny in the slightest, having grown up with them and kept sending Ron death glares through her hair.
It was only when she was halfway through explaining to Ron why you had to be quiet in a library for the third time that she realised she was supposed to be in detention.
She jumped up, overturning the chair in the process and haring out of the library leaving a rather confused Ron in her wake.
She skidded to a halt in front of the potions classroom, extremely out of breath, her hair in her face and ten minutes late for her detention.
Snape was standing outside the potions classroom, his arms folded and his regulation scowl in place.
"Glad you could join us Miss Granger." He said curtly before disappearing into the classroom. Hermione followed him in; Draco was already in the classroom, his feet up on the desk and his hands behind his head. Snape swept past Draco and pushed his feet off the desk.
"Mr Malfoy, Miss Granger. Do you see that pile of cauldrons and jars over there?" Snape said, gesturing to a huge tottering pile of dirty cauldrons and jars, some still half full of old potions. Hermione and Draco nodded, both of them pretty sure what they would have to do.
"Clean them all. Normally I would clean them with a quick wave of a wand but seeing as you let the other detentionees leave the classroom somehow, I think it would be a good idea for you to clean them yourselves."
Hermione opened her mouth in protest but Draco nudged her sharply in the side with his elbow.
"Accio wands. The muggle cleaning items are under the sink." Hermione and Draco simply stared at the stack of cauldrons. "This century if you please." Snape said, before swishing out of the classroom.
"Tell you what Granger, I'll do this pile." Draco took two cauldrons and a few jars. "And you can do the rest." He nodded towards the still huge pile. "Can't say fairer than that."
"Or how about you go drown yourself in that sink full of water?" Hermione said, raising an eyebrow.
"Why so tense Granger? Maybe you need a smoocheroo to loosen you up." Draco said, taking a step forward.
Hermione took a step backwards. "Smoocheroo? And no thanks, I don't need any smoocheroos from you."
"It's a fun word to say." Draco shrugged. "There is another option though."
"Oh yes? What might that be?" The words had barely been spoken before Draco had thrown a cauldron full of water over her.
Hermione shrieked loudly, the water was cold, and snatched up a cauldron of her own.
Draco grinned and stuck his tongue out at her. He didn't have time to move before the water hit him full in the face. There had still been some remnants of potion in the cauldron; Draco's hair was now bright red.
In return he threw a half full jar at Hermione, turning her skin green.
"Right that's it!" Hermione yelled.
Snape returned two hours later to find a soaking Draco and Hermione, laughing and having a duel with scrubbing brushes.
"ENOUGH!"
Draco and Hermione froze mid parry, the grins vanishing off their faces.
"Out! Out! Out!" Snape roared. The two teenagers didn't need any more encouragement, darting out of the door.
Walking down the corridor, their water-filled shoes making squelching noises, Hermione turned to Draco.
"That was your fault, you know."
Draco snorted, "Actually I think it was you that started it."
"Excuse me? I wasn't the one who threw a cauldron of water in the first place!" Hermione replied, pushing Draco lightly in the arm.
"No, you did. Right after I sprayed you with water from the tap." Draco said, raising an eyebrow. "Personally I wouldn't be surprised if Snape slipped poison into your next potion."
"As long as I'd put some in yours first." Hermione said, taking her soaked shoes and socks off and walking down the corridor bare foot.
"You do realise your skin is green don't you? Slytherin green?" Draco said.
"And you do realise your hair is red don't you? Gryffindor red?" Hermione retorted, wringing her socks out.
Really, when you thought about it, Draco mused, when her hair was dripping wet it wasn't all that bushy.
As the pair disappeared around the corner the painting with the huge wig turned to the woman with the parrot,
"I told you there was something going on between those two."
A/N: Sorry for the delay. Returning to school is such a depressing thing isn't it? Anyway, I got buried in homework so didn't have time to write.
There's a chapter further on that I really want to write and I needed to get this 'filler' chapter out of the way. More stuff will happen in the next few chapters, this was a transitional chapter so I apologise if it was slightly dull.
Nyarg†school.
Thanks to everyone that reviewed!
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