Chapter 3

The next morning, I got up early and made a quick run to the grocery store. Daphne had decided to put blind faith in my cooking skill and handed me some money before she went to the gym.

By the time she came back, I had the fridge and cabinets fully stocked, and our lunch packed inside an insulated bag.

"Hey, you might want to hurry. We only got like 30 minutes before class start." I told her, setting the last load of clean dishes on the drying rack.

"Okay. Give me a minute."

It took her no more than twenty minutes to change her clothes, put on makeup, and style her hair in a twisted braid. How she managed that, I probably would never know.

We left the apartment, and I couldn't help the tingle of excitement inside me as Daphne and I made our way through the open field where students were throwing frisbee, or just laying around in the grass taking in the morning sunlight, and passed the bustling tall brick buildings, from where people were coming in and out.

Daphne and I made it to our class with just a few minutes to spare. To my surprise, the front row seats were more packed than the back. People were apparently very eager to learn – one thing already different from my high school.

Daphne tugged me towards the back.

"I want to sit in the front," I protested.

"Seriously?" Daphne raised her brow at me, and when she was sure I wasn't joking, she sighed. "Well, alright then."

"You don't have to sit with me."

"I don't want to sit by myself, or next to some weirdo." Daphne said when we sat down "You better help me if the professor asked me questions and stuff."

At exactly 8 A.M, a short old man with slick bowl cut hair entered the room, and the chatter died down.

"Good morning, everyone," he said cheerfully. His gaze moved slowly around the room, trying to take in all of our faces. "Ah, so nice to see new, young faces this year. My name is Professor Flitwick, and I'll be teaching English 101. If you have any problem with this class, my door is always open."

I like this professor. He seemed nice and very energetic.

"Now, let's take a look at the syllabus, shall we?" Professor Flitwick began.

Halfway through the lecture, the door swung open, cutting off Professor Flitwick in the middle of his explanation about his grading system.

A tall blond guy moseyed in with his hand in his pocket and a lazy grin on his face. "Morning, Prof."

The cheerful and friendly Professor Flitwick disappeared instantly. "Mister Malfoy." He huffed. "I cannot believe you were an hour late."

"Better late than not show up." The blond shrugged.

"I can barely count this as attendance."

"Well, I'm here, aren't I? Besides, it's not like I'm missing anything. I bet your current syllabus is not that different from last year anyway."

Professor Flitwick crossed his arms, his face turning red. "That is not the point, Mister Malfoy."

While the short professor and the blond guy continued to argue in front of the class, I turned to Daphne and raised my brow. "Who is that?"

Daphne closed her eyes and rubbed her temple like she was fighting a headache. "That's Draco Malfoy. He's not technically a freshman, but since he failed all his classes last year, he'll be repeating the year."

"Do you know him?"

"We grew up together," Daphne answered. "Our family are pretty close. He's like my brother. You remember I mentioned him back at the diner?"

I nodded as I processed the information. Draco Malfoy. Why did that name suddenly feel familiar? I thought for a while… before something light up in my brain. My scholarship, The Draconis Scholarship… granted by the one and only Lucius Malfoy.

"You figure it out yet?"

"Is he Lucius Malfoy's son, the one who gave me my scholarship?" I asked in disbelief.

Daphne nodded.

"You know about this?"

"My mom found out about your scholarship when she looked into you."

"Then you know one of the scholarship special condition was for me to tutor Draco Malfoy and keep him from failing another class, right? You know this is, and you don't think to warn me?"

At least Daphne had the decency to look sorry.

"Unbelievable." I grumbled. I knew the scholarship perks were too good to be true. Full tuition, room and board at the most expensive place on campus… even books. It came with a lot of conditions, but I was confident. Keeping my GPA at 4.00, I was pretty sure I could do. But helping Draco Malfoy passed all his classes? This Draco Malfoy?

"Just please take your seat, Mr. Malfoy." Professor Flitwick finally said, "I'll forgive you this time since it's the start of term, but next time, do not even bother to come if you're more than fifteen minutes late"

Draco Malfoy looked like he couldn't care less and made his way to the back seat.

"Right, now, where were we?" Professor Flitwick straightened his tweed jacket and took in a long breath. "Ah, right, the grading system."

I tried to concentrate, yet I couldn't help but turn my head backward toward the blond, who was sitting with his cheek on his hand, looking bored and half asleep.

I already had a bad feeling about this.

Daphne and I made plans to meet up for lunch and went to our separate classes. I pushed the thought of Draco Malfoy away and put all my attention into my Chemistry class. The teaching professor, Professor Snape, was the total opposite of nice and friendly Professor Flitwick.

"Professor Snape," was his only clipped introduction before he started his lecture.

Ten minutes later, the door opened quietly and a student walked carefully inside, chin tucked to his shirt. Snape never looked away from the slide projector when he barked, "Get out!" The student left the room in embarrassment.

The same thing happened when another student came in minutes later. She tried to explain her car had broken down and she had to pushed it down a couple of blocks away because she didn't have Triple A. By the look of dirt and sweat on her face, and the damp pit stains in her blouse, I thought the girl was not lying. But Professor Snape merely said, "Unless it's a medical emergency, I do not tolerate latecomers." The girl walked out of the class in tears.

Though I did feel bad for her, I at least believe I could count on Professor Snape to stick to the rules. He wasn't friendly, but at least he didn't discriminate between students when it comes to his class. Or so I thought.

Draco Malfoy came in with fifteen minutes left to the lecture. I was expecting the stern and indifferent Professor Snape, but to my and everyone else's surprise, he didn't say a word as Draco sauntered in like he owned the room and sat in the back.

"I still can't believe Snape didn't do anything about it." Parvati Patil, a nice Indian girl who sat next to me in Snape's class, scorned. "I mean… he even sent out that poor girl."

"Yeah, I know."

"They must be related or something. It's either that or Snape has the hots for the blond."

I cringed. I did not need that image in my head.

"Anyway, you wanna' grab lunch with me and my sister? We found this nice café down the block yesterday," she offered with a friendly smile.

"Thanks, but I have plans with my roommate." I patted the lunch bag on my shoulder.

"'kay, then. Talk to you later." Parvati waved and sauntered away towards the parking lot.

I still couldn't believe in two days I already have two friends. So far, my college experience had been way better than my entire high school years.

I was in the cafeteria picking up drinks when my phone buzzed with a text from Daphne.

Sorry, gotta bail on lunch. Something came up. I'll make it up to u later. Promise.

I texted back.

Is everything alright?

Everything is alright. Just a little family issue.

"Hermione." A deep voice called me from behind, and I turned around to find Cedric smiling at me.

"C-Cedric!" I was resolute to give up on Cedric, but I couldn't help the giddiness inside me when I saw him.

"You're kind of blocking the vending machine," he said, still smiling.

I felt the blush rising in my cheeks. "Sorry." I quickly reached into the pickup window, grabbed my bottled water and moved away.

"I was just joking." Cedric chuckled, dropping coins into the slot and pressed the button for grape soda. "Besides, nobody was waiting but me."

"Still, sorry." I tucked my hair behind my ears, nervously. "Where's your friend?"

"At Hagrid's. They're kind of addicted to the burger there."

"Can't blame them. It's delicious. But if you're here instead of there… Is the food here better than Hagrid's?"

"Not a chance." He laughed and shook his head like I was saying something ridiculous. "It's like comparing Dunkin Donuts to gas station donuts."

"Got it." I smirked and crossed my arms. "So what are you doing here then?"

"Ah, I kind of lost my wallet." His cheek turned slightly pinkish.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry! That must've sucked."

"Yup." Cedric laughed again. "But my Dad's coming in this evening. I just have to survive until then."

"What are you going to do about lunch?"

"I think I saw a jar of pickle in my fridge this morning. And this." He raised his soda. "Lucky I found some loose change in my laundry."

"You are not having pickle and soda for lunch." I chuckled. "Look, I made lunch for me and Daphne, but she had to cancel. You can have her share."

His eyes glinted at the mention of Daphne's name, and just like that, the flutter in my stomach disappeared. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah." A tight smile was all I could muster. "I can't possibly eat the whole thing by myself anyway."

"Alright, then; thanks, Hermione."

We exited the cafeteria and walked the short distance to the courtyard. There were dozens of other students there spending their lunch munching on food or reading. We took an empty bench facing the fountain.

"Wow, this looks amazing, Hermione!" Cedric complimented when I opened a box of chicken salad sandwiches and chips. I had made them specifically for Daphne, but I hope Cedric liked it too.

"You don't have any allergies, do you?" I asked, twisting the cap of my water.

Cedric shook his head as he grabbed a chip and tossed it into his mouth.

"Great. I don't want to accidentally murder you."

Cedric laughed. "If you do, I'll make sure the police knew it was an accident." He devoured the sandwiches and licked his fingers clean in fifteen minutes. "That was amazing, Hermione. I'm pretty sure you could get a job at one of those fancy Gordon Ramsay's restaurants."

I shook my head, but smiled at his exaggeration. "Glad you like it. Here, have some fruit." I pulled out a smaller container from the bag and opened it, displaying the mixed berries and an apple.

Cedric's jaw tightened as he reached for the apple. "This is …"

I narrow my eyes. It was just a normal apple. I had cut them into four slices and tied them back together with a rubber band to keep them from turning brown.

"Is something wrong with the apple?" I asked.

A nostalgic look mixed with pain settled across his face. "My mom used to do this too."

He said used to. And then I remember the conversation we had yesterday about her mother who loved The Winter's Tale.

Something clicked in my head. "O-Oh." I bit my lip. "I'm sorry."

Cedric was quiet for a moment as his eyes lingered on the apple in his hand. Then he took of the band, offer a slice to me, and brought another slice to his mouth. "I used to think apples tasted better when they were tied together like this."

"It does keep it from browning," I said lamely.

"That it is." A sad smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. He then turned and watched me closely. "You know… you really do remind me of my mother."

"Yeah?"

He nodded. "The Shakespeare and the apple trick aside, there was this… air around you. Like you were confident yet somehow uncomfortable in your own skin."

I almost choked on the apple. "Wh−What do you mean?"

"It's just the impression I get." Cedric shrugged. "You look very proud when you talked about your study and your scholarship, but then other times when we talked about something else, you looked like you shrank a little."

I tore my gaze away from Cedric's prying eyes. He was right. I was proud of my intelligence. It never bothered me when people called me a nerd or a know-it-all. But I did have insecurities like any other human being on the planet. My appearance was my biggest. My bushy hair, my plain and freckled face wasn't exactly what people would call attractive. It was hard to ignore when my friends used to tell me exactly that, all the time.

But Cedric didn't need to know that. He was just an acquaintance.

"I had no idea what you talking about." I chewed on my apple.

A knowing look flashed in his eyes, like he could look right into my lies. But to my relief, he didn't say anything more. And we just sit there for a long while, munching on the apple.

A/N

Sorry for the long update, folks. Things were hectic in here.

Thank you for my beta reader ekateraina016, and all of you guys awesome readers, thank you for your comments and reviews. It really made me happy to hear your thought. Leave another one if you enjoy this chapter and I'll see you next chapter.