It had been so strange to sit so close to him. Even though they had hardly spoken, she felt she knew so much more about him that she had that morning; how his shoulders tilted towards the page, how he bit his lip when he was really concentrated, the way he seemed irritated by his hair when it fell in his eyes.
She put down the book. Why couldn't she stop thinking about him? It was infuriating! Yes, he was painfully good looking, but he was arrogant and rude and she hated his guts. She thought back to all the things he had said and done to make others laugh at her, and finally decided that she was going to work ahead on the Herbology project so as to finish it as soon as possible, even if it meant doing the work for him.
She got her books from upstairs and began to work.
Two days passed and Hermione did not have another thought about Malfoy. They had not looked at each other since their study session.
It was getting colder and colder inside the castle; professor Flitwick had enchanted candles to fly around and warm the surrounding air. This is why, after lunch that day, Hermione decided to walk the long way to the library instead of having to walk through the colder hallways.
The Slytherin common room was very near to where she was walking; she knew there was a staircase that lead down to it somewhere near because of that one time Harry and Ron had sneaked in back in their second year.
She pushed thoughts of Harry and Ron out of her mind. For some reason she felt a stab of guilt whenever she thought of them. They had sent her a letter the previous day to which she had not yet replied, maybe because-
Her train of thought was interrupted as she rounded a corner and crashed into a tall Slytherin girl. She was from the year above, and did not look happy at all.
"Look where you're going, Mudblood. Now I'm going to have to clean this robe again thanks to you." She shoved past Hermione, causing her knees to buckle and for her to fall.
The next thing she knew she was being hauled up off the floor by an even taller Hufflepuff girl with rosy cheeks and brown hair cut like a boy's. She had seen the girl before and knew she played for her house's Quidditch team.
"Did she push you? I could've sworn I saw her push you. It seems like some of those Slytherins walk around like they own the whole castle! Are you okay?"
The girl had quite a loud and dramatic voice, which were two things Hermione tried to stay away from.
"Yes, I'm okay thank you. I just wasn't looking where I was going, that's all." She said softly, brushing herself off. The girl smiled a wide grin and let go of Hermione's shoulder.
Just as she was turning away, a voice called out "hey, Harrison! I see you're helping mudbloods off the floor now! If I recall correctly, last term you were the one lying on the muddy floor!"A cackle echoed through the hallway, closely followed by a laugh Hermione recognised immediately as Draco's. She looked up and saw three Slytherins walking towards them. The one who had spoken was thin and weedy-looking, and had a sneer that seemed etched onto the features of his face. Behind him were Draco and a short dark boy, and all of them were staring at the two girls in front of them.
The thin boy's comment was probably some hint about Hufflepuff's latest Quidditch practice, which featured three of the players crashing into each other and ending up flat on the ground, but Hermione was too shocked to notice. She hadn't realised how much she had been looking forward to seeing Draco again until he was there in front of her. Before she could think over this crazy idea the malicious voice spoke again.
"Cute, this, isn't it Draco? Two mudbloods chumming it up. I'll bet they even take little mud baths together!" He looked back to see if Draco found this funny, and began to laugh a hard and humourless laugh that gave Hermione shivers. The look on Draco's face made her feel a deep dread in the pit of her stomach. He wasn't looking straight at her as he smirked, but was instead staring at a point somewhere above her left ear. Encouraged by Draco's laughter, the thin boy carried on. He pointed at Hermione and said, feigning surprise and recognition, "Hey Draco- isn't this the bitch you were talking about yesterday? The one who corrects everyone's grammar and talks like she learned English from the Queen?" He snorted as a wave of hurt and embarrassment washed over Hermione. She thought things had gone well, that maybe Malfoy's respect for her had grown, that- well it didn't matter what she had thought. She had been wrong.
To her horror, she felt hot tears burning in her eyes, and suddenly found it hard to catch her breath. Harrison, or whatever that tall girl's name was, pinched Hermione's sweater between two of her fingers and pulled lightly. Hermione disguised her wiping away a tear as tucking her bushy hair behind her ear. "Lets get out of here." Harrison muttered to Hermione, pulling on her sweater in the direction Hermione had just come. Hermione looked up to stare as hard as she could at Draco, trying to make him uncomfortable.
He stared straight back, a cold and blank look in his eyes, like he didn't care about a single thing in the world. He cocked his head towards her as he spoke, his voice hard and sharp as ice. "What are you looking at, Mudblood? He's right. You should know your place. You should respect me. Don't think just because we have to sit in the same classroom for a few hours this holiday that it changes anything."
She scowled at him, not being able to stop a tear escaping and rolling down her cheek. She was so embarrassed; Now he knew he had made her upset and that she had thought he liked her better. Stupid stupid stupid stupid Hermione. Of course this didn't change anything. Of course it never would. He was Draco Malfoy, and she was just filth to him.