Chapter Six:
The First Date
The Great Hall was crowded as students hurried to get to their seats, eager to eat before getting to their dormitories. The ceiling, the picture of the night sky above them, was lit brilliantly with the full moon and hundreds of twinkling stars.
Hermione, Harry and Ron sat down at their usual spot at the Gryffindor table and started piling things on their golden plates.
"Well, today has certainly been an...interesting day," Harry said as he looked at Ron who groaned. He was sporting a large scratch over one eye that his plant in Herbology had given him. He sighed as he rubbed it, but Hermione scolded him.
"Ron! Stop rubbing it! It'll get infected!"
Ron rolled his eyes.
"Hermione, I think I can handle a little scratch," he replied smartly as he began eating his roast turkey. Hermione pretended she didn't care about it anymore and started paying attention to her plate as well.
Harry, after a while of eating in silence, started.
"Hermione?"
Hermione looked up.
"I'm sorry that you got paired up with Malfoy," he said as he looked into her eyes. She felt a little uncomfortable looking into his emerald eyes, so looked back down at her plate.
"You and me both." she replied as she pushed her peas around her plate.
"You know, maybe you could talk to Professor Sprout or something and switch partners –"
"Harry, really," Hermione cut in. "I'm fine with it. It's just a stupid project...that's all it is. I can handle it."
Harry didn't believe her, but nodded anyway. It was no use fighting with her over the way she felt. He too looked down at his plate, finding it now more interesting than it had ever been.
Suddenly, they heard someone behind them clear their throat.
Harry looked up to see Malfoy standing expectantly behind them. He glared at him, not missing the opportunity to tell him off.
"What do you want, Malfoy?" he snapped as he turned around to face the blonde boy. "Come to make fun of Ron and me again?"
Malfoy grinned.
"No, I'm afraid I'm not here to see you, Potter. Perhaps we can talk some other time – with your boyfriend, of course. I'm here to speak to..." His voice trailed off as he searched for a word. "To...Granger." he spit out finally with a lot of effort. Harry could tell he was trying really hard not to anger Hermione.
"No, I'm afraid she doesn't want to speak to you –"
But, Hermione put a hand on Harry's shoulder, seeing that she'd have to talk to Malfoy some time or another, reassured him that she'd be all right.
"I'll be right back, Harry." she said as she got up, giving Malfoy a cold stare as she followed him to the landing of the marble staircase. Once Malfoy stopped, she turned to him and frowned. "Look," she started heatedly. "I don't want to talk to you any more than you want to talk to me, but let's get this over with as quick as possible."
Malfoy looked a little surprised, but went on as though it were nothing.
"Same here, Granger. Look, I don't really want to do this stupid project – and I'm sure you don't either. My plan is to get it done without..." His voice trailed off once again and Hermione looked at him expectantly with her arms crossed. "Without upsetting you."
Hermione chuckled.
"Why so considerate to me now, Malfoy?"
Malfoy frowned and looked to either side of him, as though making sure nobody was listening or watching.
"Look, Granger, quit giving me a hard time, okay?"
This got Hermione. Never before in her entire time at Hogwarts had she seen Malfoy actually serious about something without snickering or making wisecracks about her or her friends.
"I will if you will."
Malfoy nodded.
"So..." he started. "When're we going to do this project thing?"
Hermione, glad that some of the tension between them was gone, started. "I've already looked at the list and didn't know which plant you wanted to do, so decided to wait. We could go down to Hagrid's tomorrow after class and talk to him about researching one of his plants."
Malfoy nodded and avoided her eyes.
"Is that all?" Hermione asked as she tapped her foot.
Malfoy nodded and she started back into the Great Hall. But, he caught her by the arm before she entered.
"Look, Granger – could you call me Draco or something outside of class?" Hermione gave him a confused glance. "I hate being called Malfoy all the time."
After a minute of thinking, she nodded.
"You can call me Hermione outside of class too, by the way." she replied as she started back into the Great Hall, feeling a little better about working with Malfoy on a project.
That night, Hermione couldn't sleep. She kept thinking about her project. That talk with Malfoy had been very unexpected. If anything, she thought it would have been her confronting Malfoy, not the other way around.
That was possibly the most awkward experience I've ever had... she thought to herself. With Malfoy.
Why had he been so nice to her? For once, he hadn't called her Mudblood and made fun of her appearance. Maybe it's because he wasn't around his Slytherin friends, she concluded as she turned over in her four- poster.
After a few attempts at getting comfortable, she groaned in disgust. She had her favorite classes the next day, and she didn't want to be dozing off in any of them. Especially Hagrid's, with that Erkling in her presence.
Looking at her watch, she read the time: 12:47. Well, that's it, she thought finally. If I can't get to bed now, I'll never after 1:00.
She pushed the covers off her legs and got up, leaving her dorm room and descended the spiral staircase.
She expected the Common Room to be empty and gave a start as she spotted someone sitting in one of the big armchairs facing the roaring fire. The person looked up, and Hermione saw with relief that it was Harry.
"Harry," she started with a slight laugh in her voice as she crossed the room towards his chair. "You scared me."
Harry smiled.
"You can't sleep either?" he asked as Hermione sat beside him, Harry wrapping his arms around her as she shivered.
"No," she said softly as Harry gave her a light kiss on the cheek. "I keep thinking about..." Her voice trailed off. Harry looked at her expectantly.
"What?" he asked innocently.
Hermione shook her head with a smile, as she looked him in the eyes. "It's nothing."
Harry smiled.
"All right, then," he said as he took her hands in his and gave her a concerned glance. "Your hands are cold," he said as he enveloped them in his palms.
"I'm a bit cold," she said as she rested her head against his. She breathed in the scent of him and smiled. Harry noticed and grinned.
"What's the matter?" he asked as he looked in Hermione's eyes.
"You smell good." she replied as he chuckled, taking in the compliment. She felt his lips brush against her cheek, then he took her hands and brought them up to his lips and kissed them, holding them there for a minute before returning them to her lap. "You know," she started after a while of listening to the crackling of the fire. "This was our first date."
Harry guffawed.
"You consider this a date?"
"What?" Hermione replied playfully with a laugh.
"Come on," he went on. "I can do better than this."
"No." Hermione said, pulling his arms tighter around her.
"No what?"
Her eyes flickered open to catch his.
"You don't have to do better than this." she said with a smile. "This is perfect."
Slowly, their lips met, connecting softly. It was a while before they parted to look at each other.
Then, in each other's arms, they drifted off to sleep, not caring that the others would see them when morning finally came.
The First Date
The Great Hall was crowded as students hurried to get to their seats, eager to eat before getting to their dormitories. The ceiling, the picture of the night sky above them, was lit brilliantly with the full moon and hundreds of twinkling stars.
Hermione, Harry and Ron sat down at their usual spot at the Gryffindor table and started piling things on their golden plates.
"Well, today has certainly been an...interesting day," Harry said as he looked at Ron who groaned. He was sporting a large scratch over one eye that his plant in Herbology had given him. He sighed as he rubbed it, but Hermione scolded him.
"Ron! Stop rubbing it! It'll get infected!"
Ron rolled his eyes.
"Hermione, I think I can handle a little scratch," he replied smartly as he began eating his roast turkey. Hermione pretended she didn't care about it anymore and started paying attention to her plate as well.
Harry, after a while of eating in silence, started.
"Hermione?"
Hermione looked up.
"I'm sorry that you got paired up with Malfoy," he said as he looked into her eyes. She felt a little uncomfortable looking into his emerald eyes, so looked back down at her plate.
"You and me both." she replied as she pushed her peas around her plate.
"You know, maybe you could talk to Professor Sprout or something and switch partners –"
"Harry, really," Hermione cut in. "I'm fine with it. It's just a stupid project...that's all it is. I can handle it."
Harry didn't believe her, but nodded anyway. It was no use fighting with her over the way she felt. He too looked down at his plate, finding it now more interesting than it had ever been.
Suddenly, they heard someone behind them clear their throat.
Harry looked up to see Malfoy standing expectantly behind them. He glared at him, not missing the opportunity to tell him off.
"What do you want, Malfoy?" he snapped as he turned around to face the blonde boy. "Come to make fun of Ron and me again?"
Malfoy grinned.
"No, I'm afraid I'm not here to see you, Potter. Perhaps we can talk some other time – with your boyfriend, of course. I'm here to speak to..." His voice trailed off as he searched for a word. "To...Granger." he spit out finally with a lot of effort. Harry could tell he was trying really hard not to anger Hermione.
"No, I'm afraid she doesn't want to speak to you –"
But, Hermione put a hand on Harry's shoulder, seeing that she'd have to talk to Malfoy some time or another, reassured him that she'd be all right.
"I'll be right back, Harry." she said as she got up, giving Malfoy a cold stare as she followed him to the landing of the marble staircase. Once Malfoy stopped, she turned to him and frowned. "Look," she started heatedly. "I don't want to talk to you any more than you want to talk to me, but let's get this over with as quick as possible."
Malfoy looked a little surprised, but went on as though it were nothing.
"Same here, Granger. Look, I don't really want to do this stupid project – and I'm sure you don't either. My plan is to get it done without..." His voice trailed off once again and Hermione looked at him expectantly with her arms crossed. "Without upsetting you."
Hermione chuckled.
"Why so considerate to me now, Malfoy?"
Malfoy frowned and looked to either side of him, as though making sure nobody was listening or watching.
"Look, Granger, quit giving me a hard time, okay?"
This got Hermione. Never before in her entire time at Hogwarts had she seen Malfoy actually serious about something without snickering or making wisecracks about her or her friends.
"I will if you will."
Malfoy nodded.
"So..." he started. "When're we going to do this project thing?"
Hermione, glad that some of the tension between them was gone, started. "I've already looked at the list and didn't know which plant you wanted to do, so decided to wait. We could go down to Hagrid's tomorrow after class and talk to him about researching one of his plants."
Malfoy nodded and avoided her eyes.
"Is that all?" Hermione asked as she tapped her foot.
Malfoy nodded and she started back into the Great Hall. But, he caught her by the arm before she entered.
"Look, Granger – could you call me Draco or something outside of class?" Hermione gave him a confused glance. "I hate being called Malfoy all the time."
After a minute of thinking, she nodded.
"You can call me Hermione outside of class too, by the way." she replied as she started back into the Great Hall, feeling a little better about working with Malfoy on a project.
That night, Hermione couldn't sleep. She kept thinking about her project. That talk with Malfoy had been very unexpected. If anything, she thought it would have been her confronting Malfoy, not the other way around.
That was possibly the most awkward experience I've ever had... she thought to herself. With Malfoy.
Why had he been so nice to her? For once, he hadn't called her Mudblood and made fun of her appearance. Maybe it's because he wasn't around his Slytherin friends, she concluded as she turned over in her four- poster.
After a few attempts at getting comfortable, she groaned in disgust. She had her favorite classes the next day, and she didn't want to be dozing off in any of them. Especially Hagrid's, with that Erkling in her presence.
Looking at her watch, she read the time: 12:47. Well, that's it, she thought finally. If I can't get to bed now, I'll never after 1:00.
She pushed the covers off her legs and got up, leaving her dorm room and descended the spiral staircase.
She expected the Common Room to be empty and gave a start as she spotted someone sitting in one of the big armchairs facing the roaring fire. The person looked up, and Hermione saw with relief that it was Harry.
"Harry," she started with a slight laugh in her voice as she crossed the room towards his chair. "You scared me."
Harry smiled.
"You can't sleep either?" he asked as Hermione sat beside him, Harry wrapping his arms around her as she shivered.
"No," she said softly as Harry gave her a light kiss on the cheek. "I keep thinking about..." Her voice trailed off. Harry looked at her expectantly.
"What?" he asked innocently.
Hermione shook her head with a smile, as she looked him in the eyes. "It's nothing."
Harry smiled.
"All right, then," he said as he took her hands in his and gave her a concerned glance. "Your hands are cold," he said as he enveloped them in his palms.
"I'm a bit cold," she said as she rested her head against his. She breathed in the scent of him and smiled. Harry noticed and grinned.
"What's the matter?" he asked as he looked in Hermione's eyes.
"You smell good." she replied as he chuckled, taking in the compliment. She felt his lips brush against her cheek, then he took her hands and brought them up to his lips and kissed them, holding them there for a minute before returning them to her lap. "You know," she started after a while of listening to the crackling of the fire. "This was our first date."
Harry guffawed.
"You consider this a date?"
"What?" Hermione replied playfully with a laugh.
"Come on," he went on. "I can do better than this."
"No." Hermione said, pulling his arms tighter around her.
"No what?"
Her eyes flickered open to catch his.
"You don't have to do better than this." she said with a smile. "This is perfect."
Slowly, their lips met, connecting softly. It was a while before they parted to look at each other.
Then, in each other's arms, they drifted off to sleep, not caring that the others would see them when morning finally came.