I'm really getting into writing this... I'm still not sure where it's going, maybe it shall grow into an epic:D Anywayz, I'm still waiting for a few more reviews hint hint but if you're all too busy that's okay… or maybe no one is even reading… hmmmm… I'm just gonna keep going for now…


Stay With Me

Chapter 4

(We are still in flashback; we are still in Hogsmeade too)

Hermione entered the old bookstore. A smell of staleness filled the air of the stuffy little shop, and all the books had an aged brown appearance. Hermione walked cautiously through the isles. Something about the shop sent her nerves abuzz. She had never been inside here before, but seeing as she now had no potion to prepare, it was the first thing she thought of to pass the time.

Looking at a few of the titles on the books made her even more restless; most were about dark curses and deadly potions. She came to stand which had the words 'History Writings' painted above the top shelf. She began to read through the spines of the books, eagerly searching for the one she had just given away. She lowered her finger that was running along each book as she searched once she had come to the end of the shelf. Nothing.

Hermione looked at her surroundings again. She noticed that there was a staircase leading to another floor. The grabbed the dusty railing and climbed the steep stairs hat spiralled around until the top. Above, there was even more bookcases, all filled to burst. However, there was a space cleared for a couple of sofas and a table. Streams of grey light filtered through the dirt-covered window and lit up the furniture.

Turning away from the scene, Hermione walked over to look at the books. She read through the sections and stopped when one had caught her attention: 'Novels'. Surprised, Hermione looked at the titles of the books on the single shelf, and picked out a book with a deep navy blue coloured cover. She was even more surprised to see it was a play written by a muggle author, 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' by Roald Dahl. Hermione smiled to herself. It seemed absurd to find such a light-hearted book amongst all the black magic books.

Deciding against settling on one of the sofas, Hermione went downstairs and paid the well-aged owner of the shop, who in return gave her a smile that seemed warming to her. She walked out of the shop and made her way down the road to the Three Broomsticks.

More students had filled the streets on Hogsmeade; all bundles up in their Hogwarts cloaks trying to keep dry from the rain. Many had taken refuge in the town's famous bar from the bad weather.

Hermione entered the cosy tavern and scanned the room for anyone she knew. Harry and Ron were seated at a table towards the back, and once they had seen her, they signalled for her to come over. Smiling, Hermione moved through the crowd and sat down with a heave after finally reaching the table. Ron waved for Madam Rosmerta to come over, and he ordered another Butterbeer for Hermione, which was conjured up soon later, steaming and releasing a rich sweet scent into the air.

Meanwhile, across the room Malfoy watched the three friends laugh amongst themselves, his eyes particularly fixed on Hermione. In his hands he held her book open at a potion for curing the plague. Sighing, he brought his eyes back to the book and turned the page to the next potion when a bookmark fell out. He picked it up, already knowing to whom it belonged. He flipped it over and studied the writing printed on the back: 'The more you read, the more you know. The more you know, the more you grow. The smarter you grow, the stronger your voice, when speaking your mind or making your choice'.

Malfoy chuckled to himself; what else could you expect from a studious person such as her? He looked down at the page to see what she had been reading about. Interestingly, he found that she had underlined parts of the method such as "carefully stir in the beetle shells" or "stir only three times in a clockwise direction". Malfoy understood she had intended to make this potion. He looked at the title, "Cure for Clumsiness Potion". Malfoy chuckled lightly to himself again before he read on.

"…the 'Cure for Clumsiness' potion was invented by an old wizard who lived in the Emperor's palace during the reign of Augustus. He was ordered by the Emperor's wife to find a cure for her grandson, Claudius, who suffered from abnormalities at birth. Later, the Emperor Caligula gave orders for the potion to be issued to every man learned in medicine and under Hippocrates' Oath…"

Malfoy felt a little sorry for the girl, she did have tendencies to end up in bad situations, especially in front of him. But the thought passed his mind; he was used to disregarding muggleborns from his father's teachings. He scanned the potion as he had done with the ones before, and turned the page, although his mind then did wonder back to Hermione.

Malfoy took a sip from his mug of butterbeer and picked the bookmark again. He played with it between his fingers, thinking about the muggleborns offering. No one had ever given up something of their's for him in the same way, and he least expected an act of suck kindness from someone who he had never shown any care for. His father constantly warned him of everything bad you could find in a muggle, but never of anything good in them. Draco naturally assumed there was nothing but thoughtful things such as what she had done proved his father's theory wrong.

Draco stood up, having finished his drink, and walked over to the table of three where Harry, Ron and Hermione were talking intently about the next quidditch match; or rather Ron and Harry were while Hermione listened. He nearly reached the table when he asked himself what he was doing.

'She is just a muggleborns, and even if she were a real witch, she's a Gryffindor…'

Draco turned to leave the bar, but then he hesitated. He was only a couple of feet away from the table the trio sat at; they had probably seen him already. He turned around again; they still hadn't noticed him. Draco didn't move anywhere for a moment, his thought were muddled between his father's words that had been carved into his head and his own initiative. He looked down at the bookmark in his hand, re-reading what was written on it, "speaking your mind or making your choice".

Draco had never really been given a choice. It was always what his father wanted, always what his father said. It left Draco cold; most people avoided him except those who he stayed close to as a personal shield or bodyguards. But honestly, it was hard to hold a decent conversation with any of those people; none of them had the mind which could match Draco's.

He sighed. It was either his choice or his father's now, and for once, he decided to do his own thing. He walked up to the table and stopped. The three friends looked up; Harry and Ron scowling, Hermione with a look of surprise.

Draco placed the bookmark on the table and pushed it towards her. Hermione looked down at it remembering the page she had placed it in and blushed. She kept her head down expecting a cruel comment from Malfoy but he simply drew himself back from the table and before he turned away he said quietly,

"Thanks."

Hermione raised her head at the words, puzzled at his peace of mind. He hadn't seized the opportunity to poke fun at her, when usually he would have been dying to bring her down. Harry and Ron looked equally puzzled for a moment, but passed it off as some trick of his. Hermione simply told them what had happened on the carriage to which they laughed when she mentioned when she had slammed the door into him. Hermione felt ashamed at her friends' arrogance for laughing, but after all, he was a Malfoy. Surely he had done enough to deserve it? But something in the back of her mind told her no; he had shown an act of kindness back. 'Doesn't that mean there is some warmth to him that the cold smirk he wears?"

Hermione no longer took any interest in the boys' conversation. She opened her recently purchased book and began reading.

Hey! Another chapter. And a little more action, we can now assume things are going to soon turn fluffier than lint. I hope you enjoyed the little DM/HG parts, I'll get writing a fifth chapter now… See you in a couple of minutes them, ciao :D