Disclaimer: I hate these stupid things, because I have to think of something witty, or else they will be boring…I don't own Harry Potter…god, it's hard to be witty…
Author's Note: Here is the next chapter. Thanks to all my reviewers. Here are some strawberries for you. tosses strawberries into crowd
Chapter Three
The next day Hermione woke early. She wasn't sure what Draco's bathing habits were, but she figured he spent at least an hour in the shower. She quickly hurried into the bathroom, and was pleased to see that it was empty.
Turning on the large garden bath, Hermione let the hot water run as she added some bubbles and bath salts and a few magical ingredients she found under the sink to the ever-filling tub. Undressing quickly, she redid her bun (as it had come loose during the night), and slid into the warm blanket of water.
Closing her eyes, Hermione sank down into the water until it came up to her ears. She began thinking about Harry, and, surprisingly, Draco. He hadn't seemed like such a prick the night before; in fact, he had seemed tolerable. Hermione wondered what was up with the boy. Yes, he had joined the good side in the battle, and his father had been sent to Azkaban along with Voldemort, but that didn't mean Draco was good. Hermione knew how hard it was for a cheetah to change its spots (or some other metaphor pertaining to that situation).
Then came the matter of Harry. Hermione had thought she had felt something coming from him, but wasn't sure. She was never that good at telling how a boy felt about her. Hermione didn't want to risk her friendship with Harry if he didn't like her; they were too close, and Hermione wouldn't be able to handle life at Hogwarts without Harry.
Opening her eyes, Hermione glanced at the magical clock on the counter. She had been in the bath for half an hour! Hopping up, Hermione grabbed a fluffy white towel to dry herself off, not noticing the doorknob begin to turn.
Draco had woken up about twenty minutes after Hermione. Grabbing his uniform and a robe, he walked over to the bathroom. Pushing open the large door, Draco was met with Hermione's bare ass bent over, as she pulled the plug out of the bathtub. As Hermione stood up, Draco got a good look at her long, tan legs, and could see the outline of the girl's breasts.
Stepping out of the tub, Hermione let the towel hang from her hand, not covering herself up, and Draco stared at her full breasts. His eyes began to drift downward, but Hermione's screams stopped him.
"Get out, get out, get out!!" Hermione cried, attempting to cover herself.
Looking down, Draco exited the bathroom backwards, mumbling apologies and other incoherent words. Shutting the door, he leaned against the wood, trying to slow his breathing. Hermione had turned him on! Draco hadn't excepted that. Of course, she was female, and he was male, with all the proper sexual organs, so it was understandable that he may get…excited about her naked body. It didn't mean he had feelings for her, or anything.
Inside the bathroom, Hermione was seated on the toilet, the towel completely wrapped around her. Her cheeks were just returning to their normal color. Hermione had seen the way that Draco had looked at her, and it had stirred something in her stomach, something she hadn't felt for another guy. It had felt…good.
Shaking her head, Hermione attempted to drive all thoughts of Draco from her brain as she dressed in her uniform. Magically drying her hair, she left it down. Grabbing her knapsack, Hermione rushed out of the common room before Draco could stop her.
Once she was out of view of the portrait, Hermione slowed to a walk. Hermione liked to get to the Great Hall early, so she could have a good seat, and some down time. Because of this, the corridor was practically empty. Entering the Hall, she saw that Harry, Ron, and Ginny were already seated at the table, eating.
Sliding in next to Ginny, Hermione loaded her plate with pancakes and eggs and bacon, filling her goblet with orange juice. "Good morning," Hermione said to her table mates.
Ginny replied, but Ron and Harry mumbled something incomprehensible. Both boys' hair was mussed, their ties not fully tied, and their jackets in a pile on the table. "Didn't get much sleep last night, huh?" Hermione asked, amused at their appearance.
"They're not used to waking up this early," Ginny explained, also amused. "So how was your first night with Malfoy? Was he a total prick?"
"Uh, no, not really," Hermione said, her gaze on her plate. "I mean, we didn't really talk, or anything."
Ginny leaned in, and whispered into Hermione's ear, "Then why has he been staring at you since he got to breakfast?"
As nonchalantly as possible, Hermione looked over at the Slytherin table and saw that Draco was indeed staring at her. Hermione blushed as Draco smirked at her, and dropped her gaze back to her plate.
"Are you sure nothing happened last night?" Ginny asked, still whispering.
"Of course not," Hermione said, a little louder so Ron and Harry could hear. Switching back to a whisper, "Something did happen this morning that I need to talk to you about, and something else relating to a certain wizard seated at this table."
While Ginny tried to decipher what Hermione had just said, Ron said, "Are you guys talking about us?"
"God, no," Hermione said. "You are extremely paranoid, Ron, and a little self-absorbed. Might wanna get that checked."
"Oh, my God!" Ginny cried out, just realizing what Hermione had meant.
"Discretion," Hermione said, widening her eyes at the girl.
"Sorry," Ginny said, dropping her gaze.
"You know," Harry said, piping up, "I don't think it is very nice for you two to be having a totally separate conversation while we are seated right here."
"Probably," Hermione said, "but we're girls, and are allowed to have private conversations not including other friends only two feet away. It's written in our genetic coding. Of course, guys can't do that for two reasons: 1) they talk extremely loudly, and 2) girls get hurt more if they are excluded from anything. I know, I know, it's not very fair, but that's just the circle of life, and life isn't fair. So get a tissue, fix your issues, and wipe your tears away."
"Wow," Harry said, smiling. "Never again am I going to question your intelligence." Hermione returned the smile, pleased that her little speech hadn't hurt Harry.
Ginny, who had realized that Hermione wanted to talk about Harry, fidgeted in her seat all throughout breakfast, waiting for it to end so she could get Hermione alone. About ten minutes before the bell was to ring, Ginny sighed, exasperated, and grabbed Hermione's arm.
"We need to talk, now," Ginny said, pulling the older girl out of the Great Hall despite her protests.
"Ginny, will you please let go?" Hermione asked once they were out in the corridor. Ginny spun Hermione around so they faced each other, then waited for Hermione to start talking, her hands on her hips.
Hermione sighed. She knew she wouldn't be able to get out of this one. "Okay, here goes." Hermione begun with her feelings for Harry, their experience on the train, and ended with the incident in the bathroom that morning. The entire time, Ginny's face went from perception to awe to not-so-concealed humor. Obviously, Ginny found the bathroom incident extremely funny.
"It seems you have had a very interesting two days," Ginny said once Hermione was finished. "And I thought my news about Justin was major."
"Sorry to spoil your news," Hermione said. "It's not my fault guys find me irresistible."
"Right," Ginny said. "Actually, it's amazing they find you tolerable."
Hermione's first class of the day was Potions, with Harry, Ron, and Draco. Hermione couldn't wait.
"Due to the fact that Dumbledore has deemed this year Inter-House Unity Year," Professor Snape said in his monotonous voice, "I am forced to give a seating chart that mixes the Slytherins with the…Gryffindors." It was obvious Snape was not happy with this announcement.
With the flick of his wrist, a seating chart appeared on the board behind the teacher. The entire class was crowded in the back of the dungeon, and they began reading the chart. As students found their seats, they sat at the table, the pair of students (one Slytherin, one Gryffindor) sitting as far from each other as possible. As Hermione scanned the chart, she saw that Harry was seated next to Crabbe, and Ron next to Pansy Parkinson. Finally, she saw her name: Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy. With a groan she tried to conceal, Hermione saw that Draco had already seen their names. He was seated at their table, leaning back in his seat.
As Hermione passed Draco, she resisted the urge to knock him on his ass. Instead, she sat in the seat next to him, and placed her books on the table. As Snape began talking, Hermione had difficulties paying attention. Hermione felt many emotions rolling throughout her body. She felt anger, for being stuck next to the person she hated the most; embarrassment, because of what he had seen that morning; and, finally, oddly, excitement. For some reason, sitting next to Draco made Hermione's heart race.
"Miss Granger!" Snape's voice interrupted Hermione's thoughts. "Do you find my teachings funny?"
Hermione realized that she had been smiling. "N-no," she said, quickly thinking of an excuse. "I am just very excited about learning all sorts of new things in your class. I know how great a teacher you are, and I can't wait to hear what you have to teach."
It took Snape a moment for him to properly process what Hermione had said. He really wanted to take points away, but there was no reason to. She had been…nice to him. And he couldn't risk making Dumbledore suspicious, especially after the revealing of his Death Eater status. Realizing that Hermione was waiting for him to say something, he replied, "I do not appreciate your sarcastic remarks, and if you continue to disrupt my class, I will be forced to take away points." Snape knew this was as threatening as he could get without putting his job in jeopardy.
Hermione relaxed, pleased that Snape hadn't taken away any points and pleased that he hadn't wondered what Hermione was actually talking about.
"Now that we have everyone paying attention," Snape said, glaring at Hermione, "I will continue with my lesson. Today we are going to do something simple. You and your desk mate will be making a Memory Finding Potion." You could hear the capitol letters in his voice. "I want one vial on my desk from each group at the end of class." A wrist flick again, and the seating chart was replaced with the ingredients to the potion.
Hermione stood. "I'll get the ingredients," she told Draco, then left the table. Sighing, he got out parchment, a quill, and ink, and began copying down the instructions. He knew it was easier to do the potion with the instructions on the table instead of the board.
The two worked in silence, save for asking for an ingredient, and finished the potion early. Draco brought the vial up the Snape, and the two sat in silence.
Hermione glanced up when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Draco gestured to a folded piece of parchment on the desk. Careful so Snape could not see, Hermione shoved the note into her bag. Draco sighed. Leaning in close, he whispered, "Read it."
Hermione looked up at Snape again, to make sure he wasn't looking their way. She unfolded the note, and read it under the table: You know, I think it's a shame that you hide that killer body of your's under baggy clothing. Hermione knew she should have felt violated by this note, but Draco's compliment made her blush.
Grabbing her quill and making sure that Snape wasn't watching, she replied: Shut up, perv. The least you could've done this morning was knock. She passed the note back.
Yeah, and the least you could've done was lock the door. And I'm not a perv.
Yeah, right! You stood there for, like, a minute, staring at me. If I hadn't screamed, we would still be in the bathroom.
It's not my fault you're hot. And I bet you wish we were still in the bathroom. I bet no guy has looked at you like I did.
I do not wish we were still in the bathroom. And the only reason no guy has looked at me like that is because no guy, save for my dad, has seen me naked.
No, you wish we had gone to the bedroom. What kind of relationship do you have with your father that lets him see you naked?!
Shut up, perv! I would never go to the bedroom, like you so eloquently put it. And I meant my father has seen me naked when I was a baby. You really have a sick mind.
You mean you wouldn't have sex with a guy? Wow, Granger, I didn't know you were like that.
You know, you are extremely annoying. After I pass this back, please, do not return it. I would never have sex with you. I would happily have sex with a guy, and, no, I wouldn't have sex with a girl.
Why wouldn't you have sex with me?
Do you not listen to directions? I wouldn't have sex with you because you are a jerk.
Draco was about to respond to Hermione's note, but the bell signaling the end of class rang. Without saying a word to Draco, Hermione packed up her belongings and left the class.