A/N: Italics are for thoughts. Caps and italics for emphasis of a word and caps are for shouting/yelling. Enjoy and please review. No flames, than you very much, it's hot where I am at the moment and flames would just not help.
Disclaimer: You know the drill, me not JK I don't own HP or any of the characters or settings, I do however, own the plot... or so I've been told, hehe.
To all of you who reviewed, you are all such beautiful people! You guys rock my world! I hope you all like this chapter much more, and it is lengthier to compensate for the long absence. Thank you!
Of Serpent Tongues and Lion Hearts:
Chapter 3: "A Very Happy Birthday and Unfortunate Accidents":
It had been almost 3 weeks into their positions. It was Sept 17th and Hermione was loving every bit that came form her Head Girl position. Of course that when it came to Draco Malfoy she wouldn't go as far as to say that she loved that aspect of the position, but one thing was for certain, she wouldn't go as far as to say that she hated or disliked that part of her position.
Actually he kept to himself most of the time and had a very tight schedule that he followed like if his life depended on it! But then again he better be organized because he had not only the Head Boy position taking much of his time, but he also happened to be the Slytherin Quidditch captain and seeker, he was also the vice president of the dueling club (because he didn't want the presidency this year) and he was the 2nd best in his class... only beaten by Hermione Granger, but then again she didn't play Quidditch nor was she a captain of anything!
He was very civil most of the time and he even listened to her on their meetings, which happened to be every Wednesday... and today was Wednesday.
They had to discuss how were they going to plan the 1st trip to Hogsmeade which was going to be this Saturday, how would they do their rounds, Quidditch season, inter house interactions, and many others. This positions would keep them as busy as possible, but they were both enjoying it!
Draco and Hermione had come to an unspoken agreement. They were civil with each other and kept to themselves most of the time. Of course this was because Draco wanted it that way, but Hermione rather had a very private, but somewhat polite Draco than a very outspoken annoying ferret! So the deal worked both ways.
It was breakfast time, one of the two times of the day that they were given the option of either sit with their houses or sit with the faculty. Hermione and Draco had chosen to sit with their houses at breakfast and lunch, but at dinner time they had to sit with the faculty.
So.. it was breakfast and both Granger and Malfoy were sitting in their respective tables. Every one seemed to be chatting excitedly about the 1st Hogsmeade trip.
" Ginny, Harry and I have decided that since your birthday is on Friday, but we have a meeting with Madam Hooch that night about Quidditch season, it would be best if we take you out to lunch on Saturday."- said Ron with a smile on his face.
"Thanks but you don't have to do anything of the sort, plus I don't know how much time I'll be given to be with you. We are supposed to keep an eye on everything and everyone, but Mcgonagall hasn't told us anything yet. Malfoy and I have a meeting tonight, so I'll be bringing that up."
"You can tell Malfoy, and Mcgonagall for that matter, that we at least want 2 hours with you!" Said Ron as a matter of fact.
"Yeah, damn it, it's your birthday... well a day after, but all the houses teams have a meeting with Madam Hooch about Quidditch season that Friday and there's no way around it!" added Harry.
"Plus we hardly get to see you all week , and it's fine with us because we know how much it means to you being the Head girl and all, but honestly if it wasn't for breakfast and Lunch we would never know how u r doing!"- added Ginny with frustration plastered all over her voice.
Hermione smiled at the thought of how much her friends loved her and how much she loved them.
"Ok people, lets not get too frustrated, I'll bring it up to Malfoy tonight and see if we can get some sort of arrangement."
"Good, but if that bloody git says no, we r still taking you out to Lunch, I don't care if I have to beat him up and tie him to a tree!" said Ron angrily
"Ron! Thanks for the offer, but one: I don't think that Malfoy would oppose to have 2 full hours free of the "mudblood" and 2: I don't want you to get into trouble because of him... I mean it won't look good if Ronald Weasley, Gryffindor Prefect, beats the Head Boy for no apparent reason, plus lets not forget that he has the power to take points off of you or give you detention, plus it would deteriorate your working relationship with him more than it already is" - said Hermione with her usual "know it all" tone.
"FINE!" said Ron.
"Herm, now that you mention it, has he insulted you at all? or done something to u?"asked Harry worried while putting his pumpkin juice down.
"Nope, nothing at all, we barely talk."
"Oh, so now he's just way too good to talk to you?" said Ron with much resentment in his voice."He needs to be reminded of whose the number one student in Hogwarts... overall!!!"
"I don't know and I honestly don't care. I like it better this way. He does his job and I do mine and we don't insult each other. Works for me! "
"Maybe ferret boy got his tongue eaten by Crookshanks." said Ginny giggling.
The four of them laughed very hard and as they grabbed their things, they headed towards the 1st class of the day... double potions with Slytherin.
* * * * * * *
Laughter echoed in the great hall, but only Draco looked up to search for the source of laughter. Inside him he knew who it was, but his conscious brain did not wanted to admit it. He was correct... it was her and her fan club... it was her.
He stared at them leaving the great hall. "How careless they seem to be. It must be nice to have people to care for and that care about you!... Draco get out of it! You don't need anyone you are a loner, and with the future that awaits for me, I don't need anyone,... I can't have anyone!"
He barely turned his lips upwards in what seemed like the saddest smile in the whole wide world.
He was only 17, but he looked so much older. He was older. He had lived too much, he had seen too much for his 17 years, but this was not the worst part. "Bloody hell!" He wished this was the worst part! No, the worst part was his future, was what would happen to him once he left Hogwarts. He seemed defeated now (but he would only show this when he was alone in his room). He had accepted what Lucius wanted for him, after all he had nothing else to fight for... and the only person he cared for, his grandfather, was dead now and there was nothing else! Nothing else mattered anymore! "I better go now before that nasty vein in Snape's forehead exploits". He headed towards the potion dungeon and left Emily with the words in her mouth since she had been babbling through all the time Draco had spent in the Great Hall, but he had stopped listening almost as soon as she opened her mouth.
* * * * * * * *
Since Malfoy had chosen as the Head Boy, Snape had been acting a tad more "companionate" towards the Gryffindors... (if u can call taking 25 points from Gryffindor instead of 50 more "companionate"!).
Of course it was wonderful for him, it was not only a Slytherin, but his favorite Slytherin and best student, (ok... Granger was tied with Malfoy in potions, but anyway...), for that matter that was chosen as the Head Boy and not wonder boy (Potter)! On top of that this was the 1st year in 78 years in Hogwarts that the Head Girl and Head Boy positions weren't disputed.
This year after a short meeting, (of 5 minutes), with the faculty Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger were chosen as Head Boy and Head Girl. Today Snape seemed to be in a good mood (well at least no vein in is forehead was visible... yet anyway).
"Well, well lets start. Today I've decided that since we r a little bit behind I'll assign a project so you can learn about some potions and their ingredients off class., while learning of others in class. I want all of you to write 4 rolls of parchment on the following plants: Lisbel, Kalaria, Io, Ganymede and Aceber. The essay must contain where are they found, what time of the year they bloom, r they dangerous, can they be found by muggles and wizards alike, what are their properties, what potions are they used in most frequently, do they have other names and everything that it's important to know about these. It must be a very well elaborated essay and it's due a month from today."
Ron and Harry exchanged worried looks, while Hermione took notes that seemed to be making a hole in her parchment. She was not the only one furious with the idea of more work on her schedule, after all Prof. Vector Had assigned a very long and hard project for Arithmancy on Monday, which Draco had to do too since he was in Arithmancy too, and Prof. Lupin, who had returned for DADA, had assigned another elaborated essay on Pegasus and Unicorns (no they were not the same despite popular belief).
Draco was very furious, like Hermione. He had so much work to do, it seemed that all the professors had conspired against the 7th years to give them as much work as possible to turn in around the same date.
"However" Snape continued "since Mr. Malfoy and Mrs Granger..." he said Draco's name with pride while Hermione's with disdain " have many other projects as well as duties to fulfill, I will allow you to turn in your essay a week after the due date at the latest and you will only be required to write two rolls of parchment between the two of you. In other words you will work together for this essay. Now lets get started with the class. Today we will learn how to make..."
Draco and Hermione both looked at each other after Snape's words sank into their brains. One thing was working together, but separately, like the HB and HG position required, but this, this meant that for the next month they would be spending more time together, more time than they had expected. Non of them was thrilled, that was for sure, however they felt a relief when Snape told them that they only had to do half the work others had to do, after all they did had loads of work to do!
**************************
Potions went as usual, Neville brewed the Morpheus potion incorrectly and Snape took too many points from Gryffindor (so many that they lost count). Ron got his potion right and so did Harry, but they did not got points for Gryffindor. Blaise Zabini got extra points after Lavander ruined Blaise's potion by tripping on the hem of her robes and adding more asphodel than needed on Blaise's potion.
After double potions the rest of the Gryffindors had a pleasant day.
At dinner time Draco and Hermione sat in the faculty table as they ate a succulent dinner. Mcgonagall told Draco and Hermione that they both needed to let her know how many hours were they going to take in Hogsmeade for themselves so the professors could cover for them. they both nodded in agreement.
"Yes professor, we will discuss that in our weekly meeting tonight and we will let you know 1st thing in the morning on what we agreed on."
"Very well Mr. Malfoy, very well. Oh! Mr. Granger I gave Mr. Malfoy a copy of the Hogwarts HB and HG handbook, I can't seem to find the other copy anywhere so in the meantime while I order another copy of the handbook with Flourish and Blotts, please ask Mr. Malfoy to borrow his."
"Yes Prof. Mcgonagall, thank you."
Draco was staring intensely at his plate pretending he hadn't listen to the conversation between Granger and prof Mcgonagall.
Hermione was mortified, she had been dying to read that handbook for quite sometime now and to top it all off she had to borrow Malfoy's copy!
If she didn't believe in destiny, fate and all that rubbish she could have sworn that destiny was trying to play quite some nasty trick on her... with Malfoy. But the real question was WHY? Why did she seemed to get stuck with the former annoying ferret? That is IF she believed in destiny, but she didn't. Nope, not Hermione Rebeca Granger, not Mrs. There's a perfect and logical explanation for everything!
***************************
Later that night Draco sat on one of the tables of their common room. The fire was roaring and warm. There were old fashioned lamps that floated on top of the table Draco was working on. The whole dorm was decorated with all sorts of things and the colors used were royal blue, navy blue, silver and gold.
It was a very warm and cozy dorm, very different from the cold Slytherin dungeons, but similar to the Gryffindor tower environment (with less noise).
Draco was scribbling in his parchment with Forrest green ink. He had a copy of his potions and Arithmancy books at the far end of the table while close to his parchment was an open copy of Quidditch through the ages. He seemed to be sketching strategies according to the teams in Hogwarts.
"Wronski Faint?! I should try that with Ravenclaw, now that Chang is gone the new seeker will probably fall for it, after all Boscorelli is not that smart". Draco mumbled.
" Nope, not more Starfish and Stick for Kelley, that idiot almost dies trying that!... hmmm the Woollogong Shimmy will do for Montague."
He kept mumbling strategies and plays and was so absorbed in what he was doing that he didn't heard when Hermione entered the common room all sweaty and gasping for air. She was flushed. She had obviously ran to their dorm.
"Sorry I'm late, I was...." but she didn't finish.
Draco looked at her and back to his book of Quidditch.
"Well Granger nice of you to join me!" Then looking at the clock in the wall "You are five minutes late... very unlike you Granger. What is it? Making out with your boyfriend Weasley?"
At this Hermione open her eyes widely and then frowned.
"For your information Malfoy I was in the library doing some research for OUR potions project and I lost track of time... and not that any of your business but Ron is not my boyfriend. He has a girlfriend you know?!"
"Oh yes that Ravenclaw girl... bloody hell I wonder how she got into Ravenclaw?" he added pensively.
"Why?" asked Hermione a tad confused.
"Well if Ravenclaw is the house for the smart, wise and witty she sure doesn't seem to reunite those qualities, I mean picking the Weasel as her boyfriend makes me seriously wonder about her intellectual capacities... or lack of them for that matter!"
He said with his very well known drawl, the same one that he hadn't use in a very long time.
Hermione felt like she could have smack him right then and there!
"You know Malfoy, for your information she is very smart, and her name is Mandy Brocklehurst! How dare you speak of her "lack of intellectual capacities" without looking yourself at the mirror" she said angrily "after all you were the one with Emily Wood and not anyone else!" She spat this words with venom, just wanting to hurt him just as much as he had her "Now, how stupid you must be to date that brainless hag?!" A beautiful smirk adorned her face.
Draco now frowned angrily and clenched his jaws, while Hermione widened her smirk at the obvious sign of victory... or so she thought.
"Oh what happened to the all powerful- I have an insult for everyone-all mighty Draco Malfoy?"
"What do you want me to say Granger? huh? That I committed a mistake when I dated Emily? Well yes I did. I should have never had, but at least I never committed Krum's mistake on dating an ugly filthy mudblood!"
At that he stood up with his things and headed towards his room, but not before giving Hermione his trademark smirk.
Hermione stood there, motionless, the smirk that once had adorned her face was now gone. Her eyes now stared into the blank space, the same space that Malfoy had occupied moments ago. With those short words Malfoy had managed to defeat her, to hurt her where she hurt the most. She had no strength left. The books she was carrying were now on the floor and her eyes were full of tears.
She was still motionless, but once she heard Draco slamming his door she came back to reality and with all the hatred and despise that her pure heart was capable of she yelled... at the top of her lungs... she yelled at him.
"I HATE You MALFOY, I HATE YOU SO MUCH!"
Of all those painful words there was only one thing true, but only she knew it... at the very back of her head. She didn't hate him... not even a little bit, not even at all and that's exactly why it hurt her so much! Then she ran up to her room throwing herself into her bed and cried herself to sleep.
**********************
Draco gathered his things from the table stood up and before leaving their common room he looked straight into those innocent brown eyes and smirked! As soon as he turned around and headed for his room, as soon as his face was out of her sight his smirk melted. He opened the door of his room and before closing it he looked again at her. she hadn't moved, but she had dropped the books she was carrying. He could swear he saw a tear making it's way down her pink cheeks to meet her upper lip.
He slammed the door out of anger. He had made her cry! He had put her in that state. Why didn't he just ignored her when she tried to provoke him, it wasn't like he didn't deserve it ,he started it, he had started it a million times and she kept her cool most of the time! Why had he lost control of himself? Why? Why was she crying? He had called her that a zillion times before, well not since the death of his grandfather, but still! He didn't know what had happened to her in there... bollocks! He didn't know what had happened to HIM in there! He had clearly seen hurt in those pure eyes.
"Well done Draco Tristan, bloody well done! That was rich u bloody idiot!"
His train of thought ... or better yet, his train of insults came to a halt by a constant tapping on his window.
He looked at the window and saw and owl he didn't recognize. He opened the window and the caramel and white enormous owl flew right in with a huge box and a letter. He took them and placed them in his desk and gave a treat to the owl, but the owl didn't leave.
"Oh you must be waiting for an answer" he said to the owl and then looked for the letter
"Right." He opened the letter and proceeded to read it's content.
Dear Mr. Malfoy:
Sorry to interrupt u dear if u r doing something important. Our Hermione says that you two are always busy with the HB/HG positions!
Oh my god! I'm terribly sorry we haven't introduced ourselves! We r Hermione's parents Mr and Mrs. Granger. As you may, or may not know, our Hermione's birthday is this Friday and even though Headmaster Dumbledore has given her permission to go to dinner with us Friday night, we do have a little tradition on her Birthday. We usually serve her breakfast in bed and let her open her presents early in the morning and we give her a bouquet of her favorite flowers, Kala lilies, so she can start her day on a very jolly note! Now dear, we don't want you to do everything we do because we know that u r very busy, and we know that she'll probably sit with her friends in the Great Hall (I think that's how she calls it) for breakfast, and well the flower part we were trying to send her the flowers via owl, but you see being "muggle" parents of a witch is not easy and we couldn't find a flower shop in London that had them (and to be quite honest we still don't know how to get to the wizard flower shops here).
The only thing we would want you to do and we would highly appreciate if you could do that for us, is to arrange the presents that we r sending u inside the box.
If u could only take them out of the box and placed them somewhere for her to see Friday morning, that would be wonderful. Doesn't have to do nothing fancy really. We usually ask her friends to do it, but Harry and Ron told us that since the two of you live in a separate dorm, they don't have access for it, and we would really love for her to see her presents when she wakes up!
Well darling we really hope that this is not too much or too bold of us to ask you, please send us your answer as soon as you receive this letter with the box.
Thankfully,
The Grangers.
PS. We have taken the liberty to buy u a little something as a thank you present. It's not much but we certainly hope u enjoy it! Herm told us that u were a Slytherin, so we hope this fits your taste!
Draco smiled and fold the letter. Really muggles were not that bad after all! He took his quill and a bit of parchment.
Mr and Mrs. Granger:
Please be at ease. I will be more than pleased to help with your family tradition. Thanks for the present it wasn't necessary really, but I'm sure I'll use it well.
Sincerely,
Draco Malfoy
He rolled the parchment and tied it with a silver ribbon.
"Have to buy more stationary supplies" He gave the parchment to the owl
"Here you go bloke. Now you can go!" and the owl took flight immediately.
He stared at the box, took his pocket knife out and proceeded to open it.
Many gifts were inside. He thought that she was a spoiled brat, but after unpacking for a while he thought that probably most of those gifts were books. The wrapping paper was mostly from Celtic gift shop. They were scarlet and gold and had the coat of arms of Gryffindor. Many others had a royal blue and silver colors with the words "Congratulations Head Girl" flashing in it.
Then at the bottom of the box was a long, not too thin, not too thick, box with the Slytherin wrapping paper. He contemplated the box for a little bit. He had received gifts but they weren't most of the time wrapped and they were gifts that Lucius thought would help Draco learn more about the dark arts.
He proceeded to open his gift carefully. When he opened it he was amazed. Inside the box was a complete stationary kit, with a silver border around each parchment. At the top center of each parchment there was a green snake that slithered with red eyes and right underneath in emerald green was written "Draco Malfoy".
There were parchments and envelopes of various sizes with his name engraved in each one of the envelopes in emerald green at the top left corner. There were also ribbons that were silver and green, a metal stamp with his initials in it "DM" and wax sticks that were a brilliant green and finally there was a beautiful quill. It was red. A phoenix quill. He was so surprised he had been wanting one for a long time but his father refused (he wasn't very fond of phoenixes... or anything for that matter).
"Really, muggles are a lot better than I thought" he thought while flashing the empty bedroom a beautiful smile, the same smile he had smiled a very long time when his grandfather was still alive. The same smile that made him look his age again!
**************************
Draco woke up that morning to find an unknown owl at the top of his perfectly formed abs. He was startled at first
"What the hell is up with unknown owls looking for me!?" he took the parchment in it's beak.
Malfoy:
I will take 2 hours for myself in Hogsmeade. Since we will be arriving there at around 11:30am we'll go on a quick round and make sure everything is ok.
At 12 I will take my 2 hours until 2 o'clock.
After that I'll reunite with u in front of The Hungry Mind and we'll go from there. I will tell Prof. McGonagall of our schedule. Answer me ASAP.
H. Granger
*********
Granger:
Fine with me.
D.Malfoy
And he sent the owl.
"What in the bloody world is wrong with that girl... why is she owling me when I'm literally next door to her?!."
As he made his way out of his room and into the common room, he saw her.
As soon as she saw him, she picked up her pace and placed her things rather quickly in her bag and made her way out of the common room. Malfoy noticed the death glare she gave him and ran after her.
"Granger!" he ran after her, but she was walking very quickly.
Good thing that he had longer legs and he caught up with her quickly.
"Granger! What is wrong with u this morning? Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed?!" he asked flashing a non malicious smirk at her, while grabbing her arm to stop her once and for all.
"Sod off Malfoy!" she said adding an 'I wish you were dead look'.
Draco looked almost hurt, but Hermione thought that it was probably her imagination, plus she didn't have time to feel sorry for the slime ball.
Draco was startled, for the love of his grandfather he could not figure out why she was mad at him... but not for much longer, she'll make sure he'll remember.
"Why did you sent me an owl if I'm right next to you?"
"Because I didn't want to hear your annoying voice or see your pathetic pureblooded face! That's why!" by now Hermione was yelling and the students near them were staring.
Draco noticed
"Damn it Granger lower your voice!" he hissed.
"I will not! don't you dare to tell me what to do Malfoy!" she yelled.
She was so angry with him that she was blinded by her anger. She wasn't being rational at all, if she had been , she wouldn't have been putting the show she was.
"Damn it woman! What in the bloody hell is wrong with you, I haven't done anyth..." and suddenly realization slapped him in the face... hard!
He had completely forgotten about last night's fight. He had been absorbed in when to arrange her presents without her suspecting anything, that he had forgotten... she was crying last night.
"Listen Granger, about what happened last night..."
"Shut up you imbecile!" now she was the one hissing, and boy, the hurt and the hate in those eyes, made Draco's heart shrank and his skin had goose bumps, but he could not understand why?!
Once again she stormed out, but he wasn't a seeker for nothing. He grabbed her by the arm before she could give a second step and he didn't even moved. This time she struggled even more, so he grabbed her waist too and pulled her close to his body, she would listen to what he had to say, "No one leaved a Malfoy with an apology in his mouth... wait, Malfoy's did not apologize!"
She opened her eyes wide and her breathing became irregular and faster. This was the 2nd time her body was pressed against his and GOD! he loved how it felt!
He could feel her breasts falling and rising against his chest with every breath she took. They were both staring into each others eyes, and it seemed like a storm had broken loose in both their souls. Boy were they confused!
Once gain her knees gave up on her, and she felt like she was going to crash into the floor, but he was strong and quicker, (again he is not a seeker for nothing!). He prevented her form falling but by preventing it, their bodies pressed more closely than before.
Her breathing was becoming shorter and faster and she felt very dizzy suddenly. His breathing was longer and slower. He was so lost in the pool of her eyes that he felt that he would drown at any moment. He didn't care now. He would let himself drown in her!
She looked into those grey eyes, into the thunderstorm that they were now, she felt herself getting lost in them, just like when you watch a thunderstorm, and keep thinking how beautiful and dangerous it is, but you stay there, not moving just watching, and maybe if you are lucky the thunderstorm notices you and strikes you, strikes you right in the heart!
Her knees had completely gave up on her, that much she knew, but that's as far as she could go... she was lost in him, in his storm, in his battle.
He was so much taller than her, he felt so strong against her body. Those broad shoulders and strong arms, made her felt safer than anything or anyone she had experienced before.
He could see the battle inside her soul reflected in the pool that were her eyes, and he couldn't understand what in the world was going on with both of them, it was so inexplicable, but so right!
He, like her, had abandoned all rationalization by now and without thinking about anything except her in his arm, he lowered his head to search for her lips and she didn't move.
Their faces were mere inches aprat, she felt it coming, he was so close. She held her breath expectantly, closed her eyes and tilted her head a little bit to the side.
That was all he needed, her response. He was going to kiss her! He approached her lips more. They were barely touching their lips when...
"Mr. Malfoy, Mrs. Granger, what in the world is going on?!... I was told that you two were fighting!" Said Professor Mcgonagall ignoring the compromising position she found them in.
Draco let go of Hermione, but her knees were still too weak, she was about to fall when he caught her for the 4th time!
"Thanks" she said shyly in a barely audible whisper to him.
He shyly smiled at her.
"Oh Professor we weren't really fighting, we were just... having a slight disagreement" said Hermione.
"I see... I also see that apparently you two have solved your disagreement?!"
Hermione flushed as red as Ron's hair, and Draco just gave a short nod trying to hide the smile forming in his lips.
"Yes Professor we have" added Malfoy.
"Well have the two of you worked on a schedule for Saturday?"
"Yes, yes, here's a copy of our schedule" said a more composed Hermione.
"Thank you Mrs. Granger" She gave a quick look to the schedule. "Seems like the Hogsmeade trip has been well organized, which shouldn't come as a surprised since you two are the best students Hogwarts has. Well go on now to breakfast and no more fights... or disagreements!"
They both nodded and quickly headed to the great hall.
"Oh and Mrs. Granger..." They both stopped abruptly and turned around to face Professor Macgonagall "maybe you should go to see Madam Pomfrey concerning your week knees, you can't expect Mr. Malfoy to be around every time your knees give up on you, to break your fall, can you?" She had a mischievous smile in her face and quickly winked at Draco.
Draco was trying to not to laugh hysterically, while Hermione was trying to stop the brutal shade of red that she was becoming Professor Mcgonagall left and they both started to walk toward the Great hall.
Draco let a loud laugh scape his throat, and Hermione was mortified.
"Shut Up Malfoy!"
He didn't say anything, but kept smiling.
They reached the great hall and went to their respective tables, like nothing had ever happened... "maybe if I ignore it enough" they both thought "maybe nothing really happened" but they both knew that, that was only wishful thinking.
**************************
The rest of the day went by pretty much the same, except for Snape taking only ten points from Gryffindor and Seamus being chased by a doxy in care of magical creatures (poor thing, almost got his arm bitten off, because he called one of the doxies a fairy... big mistake!).
After dinner Hermione went to the Gryffindor common room for some tea and a game of exploding snaps with Seamus, Dean and Ginny while Harry and Ron ran through the new strategies for this Quidditch season.
Almost the entire team was new since last year. Harry was the seeker and captain, Ron had become a chaser with Ginny, Dean Thomas was a beater with Diego Spencer (a 6th year with a Puertorican mother and English father) and Gabriel O'Maley, a 5th year Irish brunette, was the Keeper (and a good one too!).
The team was very good, they had created a very tight bond, they seemed to be able to read each others minds and that's why no one could beat them last year, although Slytherin came VERY close. Malfoy was a captain not to be fooled with and he played fair... most of the time (when it wasn't fair, it was because one of his teammates did something without his permission).
It was already 11pm when Hermione announced that she was going to her dorm now. She was exhausted and wanted to take a shower and meditate on the things that she had to do tomorrow and Saturday... or so she told herself. In reality what she wanted to contemplate was a certain blonde with certain grey eyes, and why this person made her weak in the knees.. something that had NEVER happened to her before.
"You sure you don't want us to walk you to your dorm?" asked Ron.
"Nope, that's fine, don't worry."
"Night Herm" they all said in unison.
"Night mates!"
*******************
"Lions and Serpents"-said Hermione to the portrait of a very handsome knight as it swung open winking at her.
"Honestly no shame at all" said Hermione shaking her head in disbelief, referring to the knight in the portrait who had tried to hit on her for the quintessential time!
"Nope, not really, but I thought we had already established that." Said Draco as a matter of factly.
Hermione was startled, she hadn't noticed Draco was on the couch.
"Don't flatter yourself Malfoy I was talking about prince Dashiell on the portrait."
"Oh." Draco said a little disappointed.
She moved to her room and quickly emerged from it heading to the bathroom. During her shower she couldn't find any logical explanation as to why her knees weakened "around that ... that... that Malfoy!"
As she dried herself with her towel, she noticed that she had left her robe in her room.
"Ok no big deal, he probably isn't there anyway. And even if he was he would never look at you that way! As he said you are just an ugly, filthy mudblood! "what about what happened this mornign" Said another voice in her head
She looked into the mirror and with a resolution in her voice she simply said
"Nothing happened this morning! NOTHING! You are just a mudblood" This last part she added with tremendous resentment and hurt in her eyes.
She covered herself carefully with the towel and as she left the bathroom she noticed that Draco was still in the couch reading intently.
"Please God, don't let him look up, please..."
"Hey Granger I was wondering when in the world yo..." As he tried to say "you" he raised his head from the book and he found an almost naked and still somewhat wet Hermione.
His heart stopped for what seemed an eternity. Her hair was wet and her skin still had a few drops of water.
Her skin looked so soft and so sweet, seemed like her skin was begging to be conquered, and how he would have loved to be the conqueror! Her long legs would make him travel them for days and days, until he could reach for her treasure! "What in the bloody hell are you thinking Draco Tristan Malfoy?!" he slapped himself mentally "you REALLY need to see Madam Pomfrey about those psych wizards!"
"WHAT!?" spat an exasperated and mortified Hermione.
"Oh! I...I ju..just wanted to know if you wanted to work on the potions project tomorrow night, after my meeting with Madam Hooch?"
"Oh! well....um..I...I don't know."
"Why not? Do you have something better to do?" he already knew the answer, but he wanted to hear it from her.
"Well umm, my... umm. my parents r taking me to dinner tomorrow night."
"Oh, and why's that?"
Hermione didn't wanted to answer that. She didn't wanted to share something so important to her "with that... that... with him!" Only the people that cared about her and loved her should know, and those people already knew, she just didn't know that he was in that list! (But neither did he)
"How come that the old Dumbledore gave you permission to stay out of the grounds of Hogwarts at night... don't tell me he has favoritism towards Gryffindors... or is it that you are going to sneak out?" he smirked at her.
"No! And he doesn't have favoritism towards anyone. It's my birthday and my parents asked Dumbledore to make an exception." She said now visibly angry and forgetting she was almost naked in front of him.
"Well if it's your birthday I guess we better make an exception for little Miss perfect Head Girl!"
He said sarcastically as he stood up and walked dangerously close to her.
"Fuck off Malfoy! It's not my fault that your parents don't love you enough to even remember your birthday!"
At this Draco's eyes flashed in anger and hurt. Hermione had hit him hard, where it hurt the most! He thought of the best insults to hiss at her, but suddenly the image of her last night came into mind and her words echoed in his head:"I hate you Malfoy, I hate you so much!", he opened his mouth.
"Good night Granger." he turned around and headed to his room.
Hermione had realized that she had gone too far, somehow he managed to take the worst out of her, but it was not an excuse!
"Malfoy I'm so..."
"Good Night Granger" he repeated emphatically.
He didn't want her pity. They were even now, according to him, and before he closed the door behind him, he turned around
"Oh and Happy Birthday."
"What?!" she said like she had no idea what he was talking about.
He looked up at the clock near the entrance.
"It's 12:05 am, it's your Birthday already. Happy Birthday... good night Hermione."
"Oh right... my birthday, thanks... night." she said almost automatically.
He closed the door. She turned around and walked to her room, why had she felt so awful after saying those horrible things to Malfoy? It was Malfoy and he had said worst things to her, like last night for example, but then again why did she feel so awful?!
"Oh! Stop whining Hermione Rebeca Granger you are even now!" she thought and with that she went to bed (after changing into her PJ's).
"Nox" the lights in her room were out.
She was getting cozy in her bed... today was her day. He had even wished her a Happy Birthday.
"Way to start your day Hermione" she mumbled to herself happily.
She was drifting to sleep, but then suddenly, she sprang up with her eyes wide open, like if she had just had a nightmare:
"He called me Hermione! Oh Merlin!"
* * * * * * * * * * *
Draco waited until she was asleep to sneak into her bedroom. he placed all her presents carefully on the floor around her bedroom so it kind of resemble "giftland".
He stopped and stared at her sleeping peaceful form. He thought that she had looked beautiful before with her hair all wet and little drops of water falling from her hair into her shoulders, but now... now she looked so innocent and beautiful, so sweet and calmed and peaceful and... "god "Draco shut up!" he whispered.
She stirred a little, but then got cozy again. One of her curls had fallen into her face. he got close to her and delicately brushed the curl off her face and behind her ear. The skin contact was electrifying, he felt something in his chest, like... like... well he really didn't know like what it felt, he had never experienced it before. The closest description he could give was that it was warm and tight... he didn't know what it was and that scared him to no end!
He stood up and as he was leaving he murmured
"What it's wrong with you boy!"
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Hermione woke up an hour later than usual because she decided to treat herself with an extra hour of sleep instead of going to the library. She stretcher on her bed as she realized that this year her birthday won't be the same because the tradition would not be followed this year. Her parents were not there and Harry and Ron could not access her dorm.
She opened her curtains of her four poster bed and she was speechless. Her eyes danced across the room. This was by far of all her years at Hogwarts the best birthday!
She stood up from her bed. Balloons were floating all around the room, many presents were neatly accommodated in the floor, chairs and desk. Serpentines were floating on mid air, of different colors, silver, green, red, gold, pink, blue. Glitter and confetti seemed to be falling from her ceiling. Little fairies were dancing around her room writing in mid air with their little wands "Happy Birthday Hermione" in glitter. It was almost perfect!
"The only thing missing that would make this entirely perfect is.."and she glanced at one of her windows and there it was, what would make this morning simply perfect, the most beautiful bouquet of Kala lilies tied perfectly with straw string.
"My favorite! Wow, this is too much!" she laughed.
She lifted the flowers. There were a dozen of them neatly arranged and there was a little note sticking from the middle of the bouquet.
"Happy Birthday Hermione!
Sorry.
DM".
She frowned
"Who's DM?... Oh god! ... Draco Malfoy!" she read it again.
Yeah it was him, but if he sent those did that mean that he had arranged her room too? She was shocked, but she was smiling and that smile did not fade away for a very, very, very long time.
She went to breakfast and looked radiant. She had let her hair loose and had straighten it for today. Ron, Harry, Ginny and Mandy greeted her cheerfully, whistling and congratulating her very loudly.. so loudly that all the tables including the faculty table was now staring at the noise makers and at the birthday girl.
Hermione was flushing and pulling her hair behind her left ear.
"Happy Birthday Head girl!"
"Yeah!!! Ohhh look at her! She's looking stunning today!"
"Happy Birthday Herm!"
By now not only all the 7th year Gryffindors had joined but the entire Gryffindor table was cheering quite excitedly. Also I must add that the Some Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws were cheering too.
Hermione was very well known, not only because she was a part of the dynamic trio, but because she WAS Hermione Granger and a very popular girl. Everyone loved her, well not the Slytherins but then again the Slytherins didn't love many people. Though she did get along with some of the Slytherins... a very small minority, but still.
She finally sat down and tried to burry herself in her seat. After a while the congratulatory team seemed to calmed down and shut up finally.
"Ok Herm, in all honesty, I know it's your birthday and you are entitled to be very happy for that, but you look so much happier, you...you look too happy, like goofy happy!" said Ron while stuffing his mouth with eggs.
"Yeah what's the deal?" added Harry while he buttered some toast.
"Oh nothing really, I just woke up on the right side of the bed, plus my parents are coming tonight to take me out for dinner, so I'm really happy about that!
"Wicked! Oh by the way Herm Harry and I are very sorry that we couldn't follow the tradition this year!
"Yeah we really wanted to , but you know we can't get into your dorm and other option was out of the question!" added Harry just slightly frustrated.
"Which was?" asked Hermione.
"Well you know... asking Malfoy" said Ron a bit ashamed and in a barely audible tone.
"Honestly! The pair of you!... Anyway it doesn't matter, the tradition wasn't broken."
"Huh?" was all Harry could say with a mouth full of pancakes.
"What do you mean?" Asked Ginny and Mandy together, afraid of the answer.
"Well I guess my parents spoke with Malfoy and he arranged everything."
Now the five of them were staring at their plates confused.
"Wait! So you are trying to tell us that Malfoy was nice to you? That he did something nice for you?" asked an extremely puzzled Harry.
"Yes, I guess."
Harry and Ron exchanged very confused glances, none of them were expecting that!
"I told you that he had been very civil lately."
"Yeah... well civil is one thing, especially given your situation, but NICE?... Malfoy nice?!" said Harry.
"Yeah... that's a new concept...bloody hell that's a disturbing concept!"
"He's behaving civil most of the time.. he did called me mudblood the other night..." she said barely above a whisper.
"He what?!" spat Ron so loudly that the entire hall turned around to watch him.
Everyone turned back to eat.
"That's it! It will be payback time in potions, that slimy git, son of a death eater, ...."
Continued Harry with many insults that Hermione had never heard coming from his mouth.
"Oh come on the two of you! Don't go picking up a fight specially not in front of Snape, he will take all the points we have if you even dare to stare at Malfoy."
"Ok fine, we'll get him after Quidditch meeting tonight. Right Harry?"
"Right you are Ron!"
"Really no need for violence. It wasn't like I said some ugly things too."
Harry and Ron shrugged and they left to double potions with the Slytherins.
"Bye darling I'll see you in Herbology"- said Ron to Mandy, while giving her a peck in the lips
"And that won't be seen enough!" she said in a syrupy voice.
"I think I'm going to be sick!" added a voice behind them.
It was the always stunning Blaise Zabini. She had a smirk in her face.
"Oh Blaise are you jealous?" asked Mandy.
Blaise laughed hard.
"Oh my dear Mandy! And what exactly am I supposed to be jealous of? Your boyfriend... or your ability to fool people?"
Blaise asked with a sinical sweet smile.
Mandy lost her smirk.
"I don't fool people Blaise Unlike other people... and jealous of my boyfriend of course, wouldn't you like to have him for yourself?!" smirk back in her face.
Blaise's amber eyes flashed pure anger and Mandy sensed that danger was on it's way.
"My dear Amanda... I don't fool people, what you see is what you get!"
"Oh so you are a harpy, because, in all honesty Blaise, that's what I see from you!"
Ron grabbed Mandy from her waist, like trying to say stop it.
"Oh darling stop it! You are making me blush with such nice compliments!" Blaise's smirk was very much present in that beautiful face of hers.
Hermione, Harry, Ron and Ginny were a bit nervous, everyone knew that Blaise had quite a reputation, but there were so many rumors of her circulating around Hogwarts, that no one knew what could be true. But one thing everyone knew she was ruthless and she didn't mind!
"Well it was very nice having this exchange with you Brocklehurst, but I don't want to be late for potions, like I suppose the rest of your crew. So if you'll excuse me I'll pick up where we left later!"
And with that she turned around and left, her beautiful, straight brown hair with blonde chucks swinging side to side.
She stopped and only turned halfway
"Oh and Happy Birthday Hermione!" and she gave Hermione a true smile and a wink.
"Thanks."
Hermione didn't know why, but she was never truly afraid of Blaise, a bit nervous around her at times, yes, but mostly she respected her, she never hated her. And for some reason apparently the respect was mutual, because Blaise never insulted Hermione, Never!
***************************
The rest of the day went by smoothly. Hermione was getting ready to go out with her parents for dinner in Hogsmeade.
She tried to thank Draco but she had no success. He had avoided her in the classes they shared and he was pretty much no where to be found after that.
She was wearing one of the dresses her parents had sent her as a gift. It was a soft shade of peach and pink, and every time she walked the fabric of the dress made it look like she was floating. The dress finish right above her knee in the left side of her dress, while the right side of the dress finished in mid calf. She wore the diamond studs her parents had given her when they find out she had become a Head Girl.
Her hair was pulled in a low pony tail wrapped by her own hair. Around her neck there was a small scarf of the same fabric of her dress resembling a necklace. She looked absolutely stunning and the little make up she wore only accentuated her natural beauty.
She left her room with a gorgeous smile. She looked in the common room and it was empty. At this sight, her smile faded and her heart sank a little bit.. but the reason for that, she would not acknowledge.
She left their dorm to spend a great night with her parents in a new Restaurant in Hogsmeade The Water Dragon.
**********************
Draco had been home now for almost 3 hours after the infamous meeting. He was tired after a very long day evading Granger, he didn't know what had possessed him to do what he did, but he had and he had to face her sooner or later right?
So now he was not evading her, nope not now, not him. He was just doing research on his Arithmancy essay, or so he told himself. Funny though, how he had spend the last 2 hours in the same page and he still had no idea what the page was about.
He finally decided to go to his bedroom, it was fruitless to stay reading, or trying to.
He went to his bedroom and change into his exercise short trousers. He laid on the floor and started doing push ups. He did many and many of them to occupy his mind. he was doing sit ups now and was actually immersed in his thoughts because he didn't noticed when the door shyly opened.
"Malfoy?"
He was startled and jump to his feet where he saw a head popping in through the door.
"Yes, Granger?" he hide his surprise.
She opened the door, but the sight of an almost naked Draco left her brain empty of any thought... except how good he looked.
She took a good look at him and his broad shoulders, strong arms, perfectly shaped abs. However he did not noticed how she stared at him because he was staring at her in the same way.
She truly looked beautiful in that dress. She could pass as a nymph if she wanted to.
"Draco wake up."
"Hermione wake up"
They both thought at the same time, coming out of their reverie.
"Ummm, I... I just wanted to know if ... if I could borrow your copy of the HG/HB handbook?" She said a bit flushed.
"Oh yeah sure." He turned around to look for his handbook which was on his desk.
Hermione let out a loud gasp when she saw his back. It had so many scars, maybe too many for any 17 year old boy. They were all different sizes and shapes.
"By Merlin's sake, what happened to you? Who did that to you?" she asked with a concerned.
He approached her and she noticed the scar at the top of his right breast, it ran diagonally. She was hypnotized by it and without thinking she extended her left arm and gently ran her fingers across the scar.
He felt like a lighting bolt had just struck him, and the current was running to every part of his body.
She felt him shiver under her touch.
He felt warm, his stomach felt tight and for a second or two he felt dizzy. Then he held his arm and said
"Here's the handbook."
She was brought back to reality and withdrew her fingers from the scar, like if the scar burned her fingers.
"I just had many unfortunate accidents as a child." he simply said.
"Thanks for the handbook." she lowered her head and turned around, but before he closed his door:
"Oh Draco! Thanks for... well thanks for everything, you know. The flowers and everything else, it meant a lot to my parents that you did it...It meant a lot to me." she said softly and looking away from the thunderstorm that were his eyes.
"You are welcome" he said shyly, almost embarrassed
"Good night Hermione."
"Good night Draco."
They both exchanged short glances and each turned their own way.
"Yeah unfortunate accidents right?! I bet they have a name too.. don't they Lucius Malfoy?"
She told herself sarcastically as she jumped into her bed.