Chapter Four

The next day was a Friday, and Draco had gotten up particularly early to finish his Transfiguration essay. Last night's chat with Chad had left him little time to work. He sat down at his desk, dipped his quill into the inkwell, and began to write.

Hermione woke at around 6:30. She felt buoyant, and it felt like a 'good' day. She picked out a mini tee and a cute skirt to wear under her robes, and entered the bathroom. She closed her bathroom door, humming a tune, and began to undress.

Draco heard Hermione opening and closing her closet, as well as her entering the bathroom. He heard her door close, but to his delight she had forgotten to close his sides' entirely.

There was still a slit in the doorway, through which Draco could see the mirror that took up and entire wall.

His eyes widened considerably, when she took off her top, revealing her breasts. (She obviously didn't sleep in a bra). She wasn't exactly 'top-heavy', but the curves were there, and Draco couldn't find the faintest reason as to why Hermione didn't flaunt her assets.

She finished undressing, revealing curvy hips and fairly long legs. Draco continued staring into the mirror, his eyes wide, and his mouth curved in a self-congratulatory smirk.

'I am soooooo gonna hold this against her.'

Hermione moved away, into the shower and out of Draco's line of vision. He subconsciously tilted his chair back, so he could continue to watch her. The water was running, and she was already lathering up her hair, the faint smell of roses drifting to Draco's nose. She rinsed out her hair, which now hung in dark and wavy tresses across her back. Draco's eyes continued running up and down over her body, all thoughts of blackmail gone, as he drank in the sight of superb natural beauty.

Once again, Hermione stepped out of sight, presumably to get the soap. Again, Draco tilted his chair further backward. Big mistake. He felt his balance shift to sit right above the two chair legs supporting him. He wobbled a bit; worried that one move might cause him to fall over, crashing into the floor. Suddenly, his weight shifted again, and the front two legs of his chair returned to the cold stone floor with a loud bang. Draco swore under his breath, knowing full well that it was impossible for Hermione to not have heard that.

"Shit."

He then gritted his teeth, and tried to get back to work, cursing her for distracting him.

BANG

Hermione's head snapped up. She had been lathering herself up when she heard the noise, and her head turned instinctively to the source of the sound.

Draco's door.

She felt her face and body flush a deep red, and her mind began clutching at straws, hoping he hadn't seen her, and wondering what he would do if he had.

'Did he see me? Did he take photos? Of course he didn't take photos: he doesn't have a camera. But what if he did? Was he going to tell all of Slytherin? The entire school would know! Was Chad with him? Would he not like me, after seeing me in the nude? Could he use this as blackmail? Should I tell someone? What would Ron and Harry say? Should I tell Ginny? Oh God.'

She hurriedly finished washing, and got out of the shower, almost slipping on the slick tiles. Wrapping herself tightly in a towel, Hermione quickly gathered up her clothes, and practically ran back to her room, slamming the door behind her. Shakily, she sat down in her leather desk chair, and closed her eyes. After taking several deep breaths, she opened her eyes and stared into her white cotton swathed lap. Hermione slowly got dressed, and as she packed her bag for the days lessons, she wondered to herself, how would she ever face Malfoy again?

Upon hearing her door slam, Malfoy whipped around in his chair and threw his Transfiguration textbook across the room.

How could he, Draco Malfoy, purest of the pure, have had thoughts about a Mudblood freak, such as Granger?

He brought his fists down hard on his desk making the entire thing shake; his eyes were clouded in anger and revulsion with himself.

All of a sudden, his mind flicked back to a book he'd read, about the human mind.

'… this is called action and consequence. For example, if a dog bites, and one were to punish the dog every time it bit someone or something, the dog would eventually stop biting, to avoid the consequential punishment. Or, if a dog were to obey a command, rewards are given to promote the good behavior.

I could try that. I could punish myself for every time I have a good thought about her. Yeah. Hmm… it's a sorta psychotic idea though. Oh well, it had better work or I don't know what I'd do with myself. I hope it's just a phase. Where's my parchment?

Finding a roll of fresh parchment, Malfoy rolled out the top and weight it down with a crystal shot glass. He then chose a particularly sharp quill, and pricked himself on his thumb, wincing when the nib broke his skin. Allowing a small drop of blood to ooze from the puncture, he smeared it onto the corner of the parchment, bright red against creamy white. He looked at it, satisfied, and continued with his Transfiguration essay.

Hermione peeked out of her room, and only seeing Chad sitting in front of the fire doing some work, she steeped out. Hearing her soft footfalls, Chad looked up, smiling at her wet hair and dewy skin.

"Hey, Hermione! Morning. Sleep well?"

Slightly startled, she stuttered a bit, and replied.

"Uh… yeah. Um, how was your night?"

"Uneventful. Anyway, are you any good at charms? I have some work due in today, and I'm not quite sure with some of the facts. Maybe you could help me some?"

"Sure. What's it about?"

"Specified charms. Like, how to concentrate the effects on part of something, instead of the entire thing."

"Oh. OK"

Hermione walked over, and sat down next to Chad. She looked approvingly at his fluent script, and then proceeded to read what he had done.

Chad, who was quite pleased with himself for choosing the right person to help with his work, lay back in the sofa, relaxing. Thinking about what to do next, he sat up again, watching her read. When she finished, and declared his work excellent, he replied with a nonchalant grin, and popped the question.

"Are you free tonight? You want to go out or something? Show me about the town?"

Hermione had definitely not been prepared for the question, and paused, causing Chad to think he had asked to early.

"Sure! I'd love to. We're seventh years, so we're allowed to go to Hogsmeade whenever we like."

"Great. Does six sound good? We could go out for dinner."

"Yeah, no problem. I'll see you in class then, I need to go for breakfast. Bye."

Striding out the door, Hermione marveled at herself for handling his request so well. Sure, she'd been asked out before, but mostly by people she'd known for ages, and never by a cute American guy who looked like he had been on every possible sports team ever. She strolled down the hallway with an extra bounce in her step, and entered the Great Hall. Nearly everyone was there already, eating and chatting. Several people who had tried to leave to prepare for classes were wondering why they weren't allowed out, and tried to ask Hermione as she passed by, on her way to the Gryffindor table.

"Hermione! Whats going on?"
"Whats happened?"

"Is it true that someone died?"

"Are there new people here?"

Smiling, she shook her head, and told them that Dumbledore would explain in a moment, once the Hall was nearly full.

As she sat down next to Ginny, Dumbledore stood up, and drew everyone's attention to himself.

"Students, I believe I have quite a surprise in store for you."