Hermione chewed on her nail nervously. In less than a second Draco Malfoy would walk into the compartment. She had felt her face grow hot and flushed before she had even seen the shadow of his tall and lean, yet muscular, body through the crack between the floor and the sliding doors, as if her body was now sensitive to the change in air currents when he was within a certain radius of her.
"Get a grip Hermione!" she whispered to herself as the door opened and Draco stepped through. He was wearing a tight black sweater that flattered his body and light blue jeans, his robes slung casually over one arm, the other supporting a beautiful owl in a silver cage. Normally, Hermione would have probably chuckled along with Ron and Harry at the sight of Draco in muggle clothes, but at this moment, she felt herself being mesmerized by his blue-grey eyes. Despite them being almost hidden by his light blond hair, they appeared to be large, sparkling with what seemed to be like small pieces of silver in them. They were beautiful.
Hermione watched as he tossed his black school robes on the seat across her and carefully placed his owl next to them, leaving the seat next to her empty.
"Do you mind if I sit here?" he asked, his voice polite and calm, "I think we have to go over prefect schedules now anyway, so it would probably be easier." Hermione, unable to speak for once in her life, motioned for him to sit.
"What's wrong with me?" she thought to herself with disgust, "I'm acting like a love sick school girl!"
Determined to act normally around Draco, yet still retain a degree of civility (he had, after all, defended her against Crabbe, and consoled her about Harry), Hermione cleared her throat to gain his attention. Almost as soon as she had done this, she regretted it - Draco was looking at her curiously, his blue-grey eyes locking with her own hazel ones.
"I...," Hermione blushed and looked away, embarrassed at how meek her voice sounded, "I...umm...wanted to say congratulations on becoming Head Boy" She stammered finally, her heart doing a flip as she watched Draco's handsome face crease into a smile.
"Thanks," he said "I'm glad you're okay with me being head boy, although I guess you wanted someone else..." his voice trailed off as he caught the look of hurt in Hermione's eyes.
"Oh Hermione...." He said slowly, "I...I didn't um mean it like that... at all... the Harry thing...you know...I'm sorry"
Hermione nodded, trying to act like his reference to her crush on Harry was no big deal at all, yet inside, she still felt hurt. Sure, she was semi-crushing (Oh Merlin, had she just used the word 'semi-crushing'? And she was?) on Draco now, but she seemed to be upset that Draco would mention Harry. As much as she had tried to avoid him and Ginny during the two weeks before school, the awkward moments where she walked in on them kissing had hurt far more than anything she had ever experienced before. Perhaps the worst part of the whole situation was the fact that Ginny had guessed about Hermione's feelings for Harry, causing Ginny to glare at people when they bought up the subject in front of her, and apologize profusely whenever Hermione walked in on them together.
Hermione wasn't even sure why she liked Harry so much. Yes, he was courageous and brave and an amazing quidditch player, and while he was in no way stupid when it came to his studies, he just didn't have the academic brilliance that Hermione thought she would usually be attracted to. So, Hermione thought, her brain hard at work, was I really ever attracted to Harry in that way? In fact, it seemed as though many of the students at Hogwarts had just assumed that she and Harry would, if they weren't already, go out. Even the professors had made subtle hints at the two of them, their favorite ones always pairing them together with the wink of an eye, and so, gradually, Hermione herself had come to expect that she and Harry would become an item, not because she was completely attracted to him (after all, her palms didn't sweat and her heart didn't somersault every time she saw him as they did when she now saw someone like Draco), but rather, because it had become expected.
Suddenly, Hermione's eyes widened as she realized what she had just deduced. She never actually had a crush on Harry Potter. In fact, she had been so upset that day in the Leaky Cauldron because the news had shocked her. The perfect picture she had painted of her seventh year at Hogwarts – her as head girl, going out with head boy, Harry Potter, and receiving a perfect N.E.W.T score – had been shattered when Harry told her, it had come as a real surprise, and Hermione Granger hated surprises. And as for her reaction after seeing Ginny and Harry all over each other, well that was understandable; firstly, most displays of public affection were slightly disconcerting, and secondly, Harry had gone from being her best friend, there for her all the time, to suddenly hanging out with Ginny all the time – much in the same way that Ron had become distant after his involvement with Lavender.
Hermione sighed with happiness, feeling free and liberated for the first time in months. She was making a new start – no more following people's expectations, and no more fixating on Harry Potter. She turned to the head boy sitting next to her, and picked up their conversation, trying very hard to focus on his words, not his body.