"I've missed you, too," Harry said, smiling softly as she pulled away.
Hermione couldn't help but notice the boy looked distraced, his gaze not falling on her but rather on a tall, handsome blonde at the end of the Slytherin table.
"Harry, why are you looking at Malfoy?" she asked, inviting Harry to sit down next to her. "Did you two get into a fight already?" Hermione clucked her tongue disapprovingly.
"Uh...no," Harry replied, looking away from Draco quickly as icy grey eyes had found his. "There's just...something different about him, don't you think?"
Hermione glanced over at Draco.
"Well, maybe," she shrugged. "His hair is different. It's not so...well, perfect."
Harry sniggered.
"You fancy him or something?" Hermione asked, leaning in with a secretive smile.
"Wha--? Of course not," Harry said, though his face was flushed. "Not that he's aware of, anyway..." he added in an undertone.
---
"Oi, you two, not in the halls!" Ron said, passing a kissing couple on the fourth floor corridor. "Kids these days."
Harry laughed and shook his head as they headed for their next class, History of Magic.
"Umf!" Harry grunted as Draco shoved into his arm, the one that had been mangled and scarred with a blade one too many times.
"Geez, Harry, watch where you're going," Draco snarled with a backwards glance.
Harry froze and looked at the blonde head walking away from him.
"Did he just...?" he said, contemplating the way Draco had referred to him as 'Harry'. He rubbed his sore arm, looking at Ron.
"I believe he did," the freckled boy answered in shock. "He called you by your first name."
---
It was during Potions that Draco finally started acting like his regular self.
"Potter, you fucking moron, that was the wrong ingredient!" Draco hissed in annoyance.
Harry sighed.
"Well maybe if you did some of the mixing yourself, this wouldn't happen, Malfoy!" he spat in reply.
"Is there a problem here?"
Professor Snape had silently glided over from Neville's table, where apparently he'd managed to make a chickenpox potion, judging by the many red spots on his pudgy face which he was now scratching.
"Potter," Draco said with a sneer, "keeps mixing in the wrong ingredients."
"Well if you helped once and awhile, this wouldn't happen!" Harry retorted angrily.
They stared each other down.
"Now, now, boys," Snape said in a bored sort of monotone, "no need to fight. Just start a new potion."
Draco gaped at him.
"But--"
"NOW!"
In unison, both boys answered furiously, "No fuckin' way!"
Snape crossed his arms over his chest.
"Then may I suggest you work out your differences in detention. Tonight. NO excuses."
And without a second glance, Snape left the two boys at their table, shooting daggers in each other's eyes.