The next day was the start of classes, and much to everyone's shock, Dumbledore had decided to allow Hermione to start classes back up. It was a big stretch, considering almost over a month ago, Hermione could barely speak or comprehend anything. But he was convinced after her broad range of vocabulary and ways of learning, she would be back to herself in no time. Draco still wasn't too convinced, and apparently Harry wasn't either, but when they tried to speak up Dumbledore only raised his hand and asked them not to contradict his decision.
"But I don't understand magic." Hermione had stated, still slightly in the afterglow of her episode with Draco. Dumbledore insisted that she start back up so she wouldn't lose her magical ability completely.
"You'll do fine, Hermione, you always do." Dumbledore had given her a reassuring smile.
"But I don't know who I am." She had insisted. "I don't know what I always do."
"That just makes it more exciting. You can sit in the back and observe, at the least. Perhaps something you hear will jog your memory."
And so she walked into Greenhouse with Harry and Ron, her book bag over her shoulder and her pride on her sleeve. Draco also had this class, and he walked in with Pansy, Blaise, Crabbe and Goyle. Draco's and Hermione's eyes met from across the room, but they both looked away quickly.
"Welcome back, seventh years!" Said Professor Sprout as she stepped in the greenhouse with a large box of dragon-hide gloves. "I hope you had a happy Christmas break. Well, gather round and grab a pair of gloves, because today we're going to observe Sugar-Thistles."
"Sugar-Thistles?" Asked Pansy, crossing her arms. "Those little brutes? Can't we find something more... challenging?"
"Sugar-Thistles will actually destroy an entire garden, Ms. Parkinson. They've been known to uproot an entire garden and ruin crops for farmers. They were actually the main cause for famines throughout history." Pansy rolled her eyes and grabbed up a pair of gloves out of the box as Sprout walked across the room. Hermione looked uneasy when she took her gloves, and Draco looked at his pair as if they were the most putrid things on earth.
"Now... Mr. Weasley, would you mind coming up here? Chop, chop! I haven't got all day."
Ron gulped and reluctantly took his place at the front of the class. Everyone seemed to gather around, except Pansy, Hermione, and Draco. The three seemed to have their own reasons for not wanting to witness the event. Draco tried to act nonchalant when he met eyes with Hermione again, but all he ended up doing was looking like a jerk. Pansy had taken off her gloves and was now examining her fingernails with bemused interest. Hermione still tried to get his attention, and this time succeeded. Draco looked into her eyes and asked in a hushed tone, "What?"
"Nothing." She said, blushing and turning her head straight forward. Draco knew what she was feeling... that hunger of wanting attention from someone she loved. He felt the same way, but he couldn't just let his guards down here in class. He had a reputation to uphold, after all, even if it was a sham by now. She looked back at him, and he quickly looked away.
"Draco..." Pansy said, now filing her nails with a nail file she had gotten from her pockets. "Tell me... does a girl look prettier with red nail polish, or green?"
"If it's on you, neither." Draco smirked, and this caused Hermione to cover her hands to stifle her laughs. Pansy glared at Draco and then to Hermione.
"Oh, think that's funny, do you?" She sneered. "Think that's bloody brilliant?"
"Ghastly." Hermione laughed, recalling one of the firsts words Draco had taught her. Draco himself couldn't hold back a laugh this time.
"Oh, not you too!" Pansy looked to Draco. She stuck her nose up in the air and retreated to the front of the class next to Blaise. Draco and Hermione exchanged eye contact and broke into full, quiet laughter. He smirked and whispered in her ear, "That was a good one."
Harry watched from across the room and poked Ron, who had a Sugar-Thistle attached to the end of his finger on his glove. "Do you see that?"
"See what?"
"Malfoy and Hermione... they're getting along..."
"It's odd." Ron agreed. "But my opinion is if she wants to hang around with a stuck up, idiotic prick, then let her." He shook his hand to try to get the beast to let go of him, but it wouldn't.
"Ron, you don't believe that..."
"No, but it's worth a shot..." Ron said, looking slightly put off. "I don't like it, either, Harry, but what can we do?"
"I guess nothing for now." Harry agreed. "Just watch out for her, I guess." Harry had the odd feeling of ripping Malfoy's guts out through his throat, but thought better of it.
"Alright, seventh years! All who don't have partners grab one and pull a Sugar Thistle out of the barrel over here. Tell me coloring, how many nubs they have, and what parts of the plants they eat."
"Hermione, you can pair with me." Said Neville Longbottom. "I'm Neville. You and I were good friends. You used to help me with my homework." Hermione eyed Neville and nodded her head slowly.
"Alright." She agreed.
"Meet me outside after class." Draco whispered, and brushed his hand down her arm before walking over and pairing with Goyle. The entire rest of the class hour Draco and Hermione looked at each other an accumulation of ten times, each one with a wink or a smile. She seemed a little uneasy with the Sugar-Thistle, but Neville coaxed her through most of it. When the bell rang, Hermione gathered up her books and handed her first paper to Sprout, who seemed very proud. Draco followed close behind Hermione, pushing Harry and Ron out of the way in the process. Hermione hung around outside the greenhouse, and when Draco found her, he grabbed her hand and pulled her around to the unseen part of the greenhouse. Then he pulled her close to him and gave her a long, sensuous kiss. Hermione's heart fluttered.
"Damn, that was hard." He said when he broke the kiss.
"What? Kissing me?"
"No. Waiting all that time in class and not being able to kiss you." He brushed her hair out of her face.
"You seemed pretty breezy in there for a while..."
"I have a reputation to keep up, Hermione. I thought you knew that." He smiled, but she didn't. Instead she moved out of his touch and shook her head. "What?"
"Nothing." She said, pulling her book bag up on her shoulder. "I'll see you later, Draco." She walked away from him with a glare stuck on her face. Draco stood there for a few moments, almost in shock. What had just happened?
"Got shot down, did you?" Pansy giggled, coming out from her hidden spot behind a tree nearby.
"But why?" Draco asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, come on Draco. Not even you could be that daft." She stared at him. "Okay. Maybe you could."
"What'd I do?"
" 'I have a reputation to keep up!' " Pansy mocked, waving her hands in the air. "Ooh, look at me! I'm Draco Malfoy and I've got to keep up a bloody reputation and I don't care what my girlfriend thinks!"
"She's not my girlfriend." Draco said, not sure how he liked that sentence.
"Funny. It sure looks like you two are going out." Pansy shook her head. "Of course, not everyone who fucks in the Slytherin dorms is going out. On a sofa no less."
"How - How'd you know about that?" Draco was thrown for a loop.
"Oh, I have my ways of knowing. Everyone in Slytherin knows, Draco. We know how you fucked a mudblood." She crossed her arms. "And it makes me sick that you're toying with her emotions like this. I never liked the girl, but it's not right that you're fucking her and not dating her. F.W.B.'s are SO last season, Draco. I thought you knew this. Oh. Wait. You're poor now. You don't give a shit about fashionable tastes." She laughed, and Draco's ears turned red. "Oh yes, I know about the will your father left. I feel bad for you. Where are you going to live? You can always stay with me."
"Never. I swear on my father's grave I will never stay with you."
"Oh, what a pity." Pansy shrugged. "Here." She handed him a piece of parchment. "Read this. Its how any girl wants to be asked out." Draco took the parchment. "Do it tonight, and I promise you'll be the romantic hero on campus."
"Why are you helping me?" Draco raised an eyebrow.
"I'm not helping you. I'm helping her. The Gryffindor password is on the bottom, left hand corner." Pansy then sauntered off.
"Pansy!" Draco called, causing her to stop a distance away. "Green nail polish. You look good in green nail polish." Pansy smiled, nodded politely, and walked away, leaving Draco to read the note to himself.
-That night... -
Hermione, Harry, and Ron were settled over their potion books, trying to get a grasp on tonight's homework. It used to be that Hermione helped the two boys, but now it was the other way around.
"What is this?" Hermione asked, biting her quill in confusion. "Dragon tongue? Eye of newt. That sound's disgusting... Surely this stuff doesn't exist?"
"Oh it does." Said a weary Ginny, stepping into the room. "I'm Ginny... Ron's sister..." She introduced herself. "I would have introduced myself sooner but I figured that since you were with Malfoy all the time I'd back off and let you realize what a prick he was."
"Oh." Hermione seemed un-interested. "Nice to meet you." She stood up and yawned. "I think I'm going to head off to bed... which way is my bed?"
"Oh yeah. You don't remember." Ginny said. "Here, I'll show you." She offered a hand out to Hermione, and she took her hand. Ginny led her up the girl's staircase and to her four-poster bed. "This one's yours." She pointed to the bottom bunk. "I have the top one above yours. - Your old clothes are still here..." She rummaged through the drawers and pulled out some flannel p.j.'s. "Here you go. Aww, they have penguins on them..." Ginny handed them to Hermione just as a tap came on their window. Ginny looked to the window and saw a gray owl perched on the edge, pecking every few seconds. "Who's sending post at this time of night?" Ginny opened the window and offered her hand out to the owl. Hermione curled back in fright. "Oh, don't be afraid. It's just an owl."
"It's big." Hermione stated. "And... big."
"And it's got a letter to you." Ginny said, taking a letter and a white rose off of the owl's extending leg. "And a rose! Wow... I envy you. Don't even remember who you are and are getting flowers..." She handed the letter and rose to Hermione, then closed the window. "Well, read it! Who's it from?" Ginny sat down on Hermione's bed and stroked the owl.
Hermione opened the letter and red out loud. "Dear Hermione... I'm sorry for the way I acted today. Actions speak louder than words, and my actions obviously weren't all that great. I'm not all that good with words, either, so I'm going to get right to the point. I sent you the white rose because I hoped it would sway you to meet me at five in the morning near the lake. I know it's early in the morning, but I'll make it well worth your while. Hope to see you there. Love... Draco." Her cheeks turned a cherry red.
"Wow..." Ginny stroked the owl's head. "You're not going to, are you?"
"Not going to what?"
"Meet him at the lake, of course!" Ginny exclaimed, grabbing up the note and examining it. "It's obviously a trap or something."
"I'm not so sure..." Hermione shook her head. "I think he's sincere."
"I don't." Said Lavender Brown, who emerged from the farthest top bunk. "It's Draco Malfoy. How could he possibly be sincere?"
"Lavender! People don't like other people spying on them!" Ginny glared, folding the note, which caused the owl to sway on her arm from the loss of balance.
"Well I'm not people, now am I? I'm a person." Lavender smiled.
Ginny snorted. "Yeah, a person who snogged Ron's brains out last year just to hurt Hermione, and now is trying to make up with her! And she can't even remember who you are!"
"Snogged?" Hermione asked. "That sounds painful."
"It's just another word for making-out. Except in Lavender's case you can bet she almost ate his face off with all that kissing she did." Ginny put her hands on her hips. "I'm still not talking to you, Lavender Brown."
"To tell the truth, I really don't care." Retorted Lavender, which really got a rise out of Ginny. She looked as if she were a ruffled, wet hen.
"Why would I care if she kissed Ron?" Hermione asked, puzzled.
"Because you and him have had a crush on each other since forever." Ginny spoke, then covered her mouth up. "Oops... I wasn't supposed to say that."
"What?" Hermione asked, startled. "Me? Like Ron? That red headed boy out there, Ron?"
"The one and only." Said Lavender.
"And why weren't you supposed to say that?" Hermione now looked even more peeved than Ginny had.
"Because... you weren't supposed to know that." Ginny flinched. "Okay, well Harry, Ron and I thought it'd be a good idea if we didn't mention anything about who you liked for a while so you could concentrate on education and remembering who you are on your own."
"And I liked Ron?" Hermione questioned.
"There was a rumor that you were shagging Harry Potter." Lavender pursed her lips. "I wish you could remember so I could find out how he was in bed." Ginny's ears turned red, as if recalling a very bad memory. "So do you remember anything like that?"
"Shagging?" Hermione was trying to find this word in her mind of vocabulary.
"It means having sex." Ginny said through clenched teeth. That one really through Hermione for a loop.
"Me? Having... sex? With Harry Potter? That Harry Potter out there? The one with the scar on his head?"
"It was just a rumor." Explained Lavender. "I thought it might be true for a while, but I asked Harry about it a few months ago, and he said all you two did was kiss. Made Ron mad, it did. Ron's had a crush on you since anyone could remember. I haven't brought up the subject since. After your rape-"
"Lavender!" Ginny squealed.
"-they kind of bonded together, worrying about you. It's almost like they forgot about the fights they used to get in over you."
"My rape." It was the first time Hermione had really given any consideration to the matter. Before, it was all about trying to understand what everyone was saying, and keeping up... but now...
"Oh... Ron. He and I got into a fight outside... I gave him a black eye."
"Harry! Violence is NOT the answer."
"Oh really? So I suppose I should just tickle Voldemort to death?"
"H-Haa-Harry! That ti-tickles!"
"Oh, it does? And what does that feel like, Hermione?"
"Lavender! That's a sensitive subject." Ginny gave a death-glare. "One I don't think Dumbledore appreciates you going in to."
"Well Dumbledore didn't rape her, now did he?" Lavender said, sitting up on her bed.
"We shouldn't even be mentioning it. It could cause psychological relapses or something."
"You didn't come here to be with Potter tonight, did you? You came to break up with him; that's why you kept insisting that your relationship with him would ruin his friendship with Weasley. Isn't that right? I find it so hard to believe that Blaise was after you, Weasley was after you, and Potter was after you. But the truth is you're not waiting for any of them tonight, are you Ms. Granger? -So I'll ask you again. Who were you waiting for tonight?"
"God, stop it!"
"Go ahead and tell Potter there was someone else. Look him in the eyes and tell him."
"Isn't that what everyone wants?" Lavender yawned. "For her to remember? She can't remember unless she's reminded of things that are important. Sure, text books were Hermione's life, but that's not what was in her heart-"
"Don't tell me. - To get rid of all the mudbloods in the school? We've been through this five times, that's impossible."
"No, precious Granger, it was to tell you that I hate your putrid face. And that the bathroom on the third floor is flooded."
"You're like my own little Mrs. Norris. What was the cause of it?"
"-She needs to hear about her friendships and whatnot to understand who she truly is."
"Oh, and what would you know about friendships, Lavender? You couldn't know what a friend was if it came up behind you and bit you in the-"
"One of these days, Granger, you're going to be in debt to me. And when you're begging for me to spare you, I don't think I ought to. - Good day, mudblood."
"That's enough from both of you!" Hermione screamed, putting her hands over her ears and cupping her head. A tremendous headache was approaching. "Just stop it." She whispered, and a tear fell down her face. "Just stop it." She held the rose close to her. "I'm going to bed. I can't think... I'm going to bed." She climbed on her bed and snuggled under the covers.