First Experiences

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Hermione awoke feeling refreshed and radiant with the sun's rays pouring through her window. They danced across her as she rose from her bed and began getting ready for the day ahead. She laid out her uniform and sauntered towards the bathroom for a warm shower. "Morning Gin, morning Lavender." She said pleasantly just before entering the washroom.

"Mooorrnnaaa." They yawned.

Hermione undressed quickly so as to jump into the warmth of the shower as quickly as possible. She pointed her wand at the showers and immediately there was a perfectly pressured stream of water that was pleasantly warm running in the shower. Hermione laughed at her image in the mirror. She always thought the sight of herself naked and doing magic was quite comical. She placed her wand carefully with her clothes near the shower and got in. She lavished in the soothing feeling of the water and the calming effect of the steamy air surrounding her. She opened her eyes and thought how sometimes she missed writing messages on the glass, it had been bewitched for anti-steaming. She let the water stream down her perfect figure and soak into her normally wavy chestnut hair. She washed her hair manually, some other witches used magic but she preferred the traditional way. She scrubbed the soap through her hair slowly and eventually decided that she better get out or she would miss breakfast. She quickly rinsed herself off and got out of the shower. She used magic to dry herself instantly, although she preferred using a towel, she was in a hurry. She wrapped her robe around herself, which was hanging on the door and headed back to her dormitory where she began dressing.

Most of the other girls had gone and Hermione was just adjusting her stockings when she noticed a small book sitting with her school things. She then remembered that she had found it earlier last night and had completely forgotten about it. She decided to skip breakfast and find out just what this book was.

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"I wonder where Hermione is." Harry said to Ron. Ron squirmed in his seat uncomfortably at the mention of Hermione. "Sorry mate. It's just she never misses breakfast."

"You're right. Maybe we should go see if she's alright." Ron said reluctantly.

"Looks like we won't need to, here she comes." Harry said looking towards the Hall doors where Hermione was jogging towards them.

"Good morning." She said breathing heavily. "I ran all the way here. I'm glad I made it." She said, hoping she sounded normal. She grabbed a plate and began taking samples of the food around the table.

Harry and Ron just watched her. She was eating like a slob in order not to be late. This was most unusual for Hermione who was on time every morning, usually lecturing them on how they should manage their time better. "Uh, Hermione? Are you alright?" Harry said frowning.

"I'm fine Harry, just a bit late this morning that's all. We all have our days." She said awkwardly with a bit of a nervous chuckle. Harry seemed to accept that. "How are you?" Hermione said apprehensively to Ron.

"I'm good." Ron said putting on a small and most likely fake smile.

Hermione smiled back at him gratefully. After everything, he was still going to be friends with her, or at least try anyways. She finished the rest of her breakfast in a great haste and they rushed off to their first class; double potions with the Slytherins.

They entered the classroom and swiftly sat down as Professor Snape entered the room. He swooped towards his desk in flurry of black cloaks and finally stopped in front of the class. "I have decided that since you cannot seem to behave or work properly in this class, that I shall put you into your pairs from now on." The class groaned inwardly. Snape began pairing off the class until he reached the last six people. "Potter with...Longbottom. Granger with...Malfoy. Weasley with...Parkinson." They all looked at each other hopelessly.

"I will not sit with that filth!" Pansy sulked.

"Miss Parkinson sit down now, unless you would prefer to stay after class and clean dried frog entrails?" He said cocking his head slightly to the side with a slight grimace that was well known to all at Hogwarts. Pansy sat down without a word. "Shall we begin the lesson, or will there be any other objections?" The class remained silent as was expected.

"I hope you don't expect me to do everything." Hermione whispered to Draco. Draco remained silent, unsure of how to respond properly. His normal answer would be something along the line of, "Of you course you'll do all the work you dirty mudblood cow." Now, however, he had to watch what he let slip. Silently, he was thanking Snape for easing him into his plans even more.

They began with the day's lesson, taking the beginning note, only three feet long today to save some time and then dove right into the potion making. Today's potion was intended to stop an anxiety attack and many were thankful for that, as exams were always lurking just around the corner. Not to mention the fact that Snape's classes brought on more anxiety than an exam ever could.

Hermione began following the written instructions. She boiled the water in the cauldron and chopped the Avendesa leaves carefully while it was brought to the precise temperature that was required. She began to lose her concentration though as Draco returned. She had not noticed him leave. He brought the remainder of the ingredients. She couldn't seem to keep her eyes off of his hands as they carefully unwrapped the Noethalon grains and laid out the rest of the ingredients in order.

"If you are not going to concentrate then step aside." Draco said with a smirk. Hermione looked up into his eyes to see that her staring had not gone unnoticed.

"I can't very well have you messing about with the ingredients." Hermione sniffed. Draco just rolled his eyes playfully. He strolled over to the cauldron, put his hand over hers and began to stir the contents as he slowly added more.

Hermione's back stiffened completely as Draco put his hand over hers. She gulped and prayed that he did not notice. She waited a moment longer and shook her hand and the spoon from his grasp. She turned to her parchment, dipped her quill and took observations on the different stages of the potion. It was not required but she liked to know these things for tests and exams.

They finished their potion quite early and bottled all that they could. After cleaning the cauldron and returning everything, Hermione decided to see how Neville and Harry were doing. From the look on Neville's poor face, they were not doing very well.

"The water temperature needs to be raised a bit more and you need more -" She stopped whispering and continued to the front of the room when she saw Snape look up at her. She placed the Anxiety potions in the shelf next to Snape's desk and returned to her seat.

By the end of the class Hermione realized how proud she was of herself. Considering the events of this morning, she would have thought that she would have been a stammering fool. Instead, she showed complete confidence, except for that stirring incident. Being Draco's partner wasn't even that bad of news either. He was one of the top potion students after all. She smiled to herself as she waited outside the classroom for Neville, Harry and Ron.

The events of this morning were truly unusual and surprising. She leaned against the wall and sighed. When she opened the book she had seen a flowing and almost ancient looking script cover the first pages. They were written by Draco. He had written about his dislike of his father's opinions and of his obligations to follow him. There were other things that he had written of that made Hermione's cheeks colour a dark crimson. Even thinking of them now made her face hot. The most amazing thing though was that when she turned to the pages that were blank she seemed to be pulled into a series of memories. The first few had been from early childhood. There was even one of Draco's caring and adoring cousin Tonks. His mother seemed to be kind as well. One following those showed his mother with a cold and distant voice telling him to go to his father. Her eyes looked far away and her frail figure looked as if she was in great pain. In the next, there were no more views of Tonks. There were beatings from his father when Draco had not learned something properly when being taught by his father. Several teachings were of the dark lord and his ways. More recent ones showed that Lucius had plans for Draco to become a Death Eater. No surprise there. But there seemed to be something in the way Draco's eyes looked at his father, as if he were silently pleading for another way turn his life. The most shocking was the last. It showed Draco looking longingly at Harry, Ron and herself as they sat together laughing and enjoying an autumn afternoon outside with Hagrid.

"Lets get going. McGonagall might cough up a hairball if we're late again." Harry said as they began walking.

Draco walked by himself to his next class. Those memories had been easy to bind into the journal. All he had to do was sit and watch the trio one day and the rest had all been real. The entries he had made up in his spare time. They were the most fun. First he had written about his father and Voldemort, the most obvious choices to make her think twice of him. Next however, he thought he had better have a bit of fun with her. He wrote about his first time with a woman. The experience had not been completely untrue but he added in the more juicy details that he knew she would enjoy. He wrote about the careful and tender touch he had used with her and the emotion that he had felt being that close with someone. A load of crock that she and any other woman for that matter would swallow in a heartbeat. He wondered for a moment whether she had ever been with anyone before. His first thoughts had been Potter or Weasley, or both but he just couldn't place her like that. His lips curled in a wicked smile. This truly was going to be fun.