Redfaced, Harry Potter had been watching the interaction between Hermione and Malfoy; moments ago, he'd congratulated her on a richly deserved slap.
But, right now, Harry Potter most resembled a baffled dog watching tennis - as his entire face flicked from Malfoy's disappearing back to Hermione's tight-lipped face. And his head did so again, and again.
Finally, Harry opened his mouth, his brow furrowed, as he confoundedly asked Hermione, "If you slapped him, why does Malfoy look like he thinks won?"
Hermione barely restrained herself from burying her head in her hands. She also restrained herself from laughing at her friend's confusion, as it really was hilarious to watch. Finally, her stomach stopped quaking enough for her to actually say something, "Oh, that. An argument we were having in the library." Hermione sniffed, "About a month ago."
"Since when have you been talking to Draco Malfoy?" Ron Weasley said, and Harry said, nearly tripping over ron's words: "How long have you been having civil conversations with him?"
Hermione shrugged, saying, "It's only happened a few times - this year mostly."
The boys were looking at her with - well, Ron looked dumbfounded, as if this was so far off what he'd ever expected to exist that his entire world had flipped over. Harry looked startled, but also a good deal concerned. "Be careful around Malfoy, Hermione." He said in a low tone, "I don't trust him to mean you no harm."
"I know that!" Hermione snapped, "But he's hardly going to hex me in the middle of the library, now is he?"
Ron and Harry wore small grins at the thought, Ron responding with, "Yeah, Madame Pince would have his head!"
"Mine too, for that matter." Hermione said.
They started walking back to the castle, and Hermione Granger had let her guard down, by the time Harry spoke up again. "Violence is never the answer. Malfoy said that?"
"No, he was arguing the opposite, actually." Hermione said, "Telling me that I'd need to bang some sense into those house elves heads before they'd listen to me."
Harry Potter said nothing more, walking the whole way back to the castle with his brow creased, thinking in eccentric circles.
[a/n: flipped the last two chapters, and added a bit more ... "draco is thinking". What do you think? Leave a review!
End of Friday.]