Romeo && Juliet: A Harry Potter Love Story Chapter II
"That Malfoy… he makes me so mad sometimes…" muttered Hermione to herself and partly to Harry. "Uh-huh…" murmured Harry, not really listening. 'She looks so cute when she's upset. NO, HARRY, YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT HER AGAIN!' Harry shook his head, but it didn't help. It wasn't his fault he fell for Hermione, right? And it definitely wasn't his fault that although she was already naturally pretty, she had grown even more beautiful over the summer, either. HE WAS NOT TO BLAME FOR FALLING FOR HER! Hermione used to have unmanageably thick bushy hair; now most of it was cut and she sported light, girly curls. Also, she finally managed to persuade her parents to let her use a Straightening Charm on her teeth, which did wonders for her. And her once baggy, shapeless school robes were now replaced with robes that actually fit her and modestly showed off her hourglass figure.
Harry shook his head again and looked up. They were already at the Drama room. Hermione took a deep breath, and then turned to face Harry. "Okay. You ready?" Harry tried to grin but it only turned out as a grim smile. Together they pushed the doors open. There were already quite a number of students lined up. The students were separated into two lines-- one for the girls, and another one for the guys. Harry and Hermione each went into their respective lines. Hermione was behind Padma Patil, and Harry was behind Ernie Macmillan.
Hermione looked around. She sensed someone was missing, for some odd reason. But she didn't know why, so she listened to Professor McGonagall's instructions. "… Now, I want you all to pair up with the person next to you. You will each be given yours and your partner's lines, which will be highlighted in yellow. You will memorize them, and when you and your partner are ready raise your hands, and you will come up and audition in front of us. Understood?" Hermione turned to pair up with Harry, but he was already paired up with Padma. That explained why Hermione thought someone was missing—The boys line was one guy less than the girls'. But then—
"I'm sorry I'm late, Professor." Hermione looked to see who was the latecomer, hoping fervently that it wasn't— "Ah, Mr. Malfoy, you're just in time. Get in line, your partner will tell you what to do." "Thank you, Professor." GreatWhy did this have to happen to her? Hermione had had the biggest crush on Draco since fifth year, as did almost all the other girls. She did almost everything she could to avoid him as so not to embarrass herself in front of him, and when they did bump into each other, Hermione always acted pissed at him, while she was secretly admiring his icy gray-blue eyes. She could look him in the eye for about ten seconds without any suspicion aroused, as she always pretend-glared at him. And now they had to pair up. They had to act mushy in front of the teachers and students during the audition. Great.
'OH YEAH! WHOOO! I'm pairing up with Granger, I'm pairing up with Granger, yeah, I'm pairing up with'— oh god. NO. He was thinking about her AGAIN. Why did this have to happen to him? 'You're pairing up with Granger, you're pairing'—sang a little voice in his head, which he stomped out immediately. No. Granger was out of the question. The mere idea of it was preposterous. 'Are you sure about that?' purred the little voice as he got in line behind Potter. 'YES,' he thought angrily. 'Yes, of course I'm sure of that.'