"Geez Granger, how much do you weigh?" Blaise mumbled as he tried to get up with Hermione still wrapped around his waist. "I know my robe is a bit loose on me but you don't have to hold on to me there like a belt."
Red-faced, Hermione slowly let go of Blaise's waist and pushed herself up. She swept her bushy hair behind her ears and started to pick up her books. Blaise pushed himself up and winced as he felt the soreness on his back.
"Thanks a lot, I don't need any help after being a stupid cushion. Just save your books." Blaise muttered to himself. "I've heard about your stubbornness and your insufferable brain but nobody said anything about you being so clumsy."
Hermione dropped her books guilty and stood up. "Um, so are you okay?" she asked uncomfortably, not accustomed to talking to Slytherins rather then the words 'Shove off' or 'minus 10 points'.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be okay with my back burning like hell and scraps in areas you wouldn't want to know about." Blaise said sarcastically. "Next time just watch where you're going. No need to rush off, class isn't for another half an hour." With that said he turned to leave.
"Wait!" Hermione called out with an outstretched hand. "I just wanted to…I needed to…"
"Yes, Granger, you can apologize and thank me graciously later. I need to go check on my injuries before class starts." Blaise cockily said with a trace of impatience in his voice. Without even turning his head, he continued to walk away.
"But I needed to-" Hermione repeated as she started to chase after him. Slipping on her quill, she flew into him again. This time he turned in the nick of time to catch her.
"Geez, woman, you're such a bother you know that?" He said tiredly said as he held her waist until she regained her balance.
"Well, sorry! I just wanted to-" Hermione started to say as she looked up at his face and lost her train of thought. His face loomed over hers with a serious look on his face. She scanned his face, from his wavy black locks to his finely arched brows. Lingering a split second on his firmly sculpted lips, her gaze drifted to his chocolate brown eyes with the slightest golden flecks. A trace of annoyance flashed in his eyes which shook Hermione from the spell his eyes cast on her.
"Let me go!" She snarled as she shoved him away from her. She wobbled a bit when he suddenly released her but held her balance.
"And sudden temper tantrums. My my another little secret that nobody knows about." Blaise said with a slight Malfoy-like smirk.
"For your information, Madam Pince asked me to return your book about certain contraptions." Hermione said tightly as she fished in her bag for the book.
"What are you getting at Gran-" Blaise eyes widen as he realized what book she was talking about. He shuffled his hair about nervously and cleared his throat with embarrassment. "That book's not-erm I mean I don't…wouldn't care…"
"My, you're not so quickly with the smart comments are you now?" Hermione said smugly as her hand closed over the book.
"Hermione!" Harry called out. "We were wondering where you went." Ron and Ginny was right behind him as they approached Hermione. Taking in her scattered books and disheveled appearance, Harry gave her a concern look. "Are you oka- Zabini!" Harry angrily cried as he caught sight of the Slytherin.
Ron shoved Hermione behind him as he glared at Blaise. "What do you want?" He asked with a trace of disgust in his voice.
"Ron, it's okay I just tripped and Zabini-" Hermione muttered as she struggled to get past Ron and Harry to stood before her like a wall protecting her from Blaise.
"Tripped! I'm sure you had something to do with it Slytherin. You better stay away from Hermione." Ron warned Blaise with a threatening step forward.
"Ron," Hermione repeated. "Zabini was just-"
"Of course I had something to do with it." Blaise replied smoothly. "You wouldn't expect me to see a Gryffindor Mudblood all alone and not do anything about it would you?"
"Why you-" Ron and Harry angrily said as they struggled to get to Blaise with Hermione and Ginny holding them back.
"Careful Weasley," Blaise said with a smirk. "You wouldn't want to get hurt. You're parents might have to sell the house to pay for your hospital bills." With that said, he gave Hermione a slight amused look and left.
"When I get my hands on him I'll-" Ron made many furious gestures that made his sister gasp while Harry watched in agreement. "Are okay Hermione?"
Hermione rolled her eyes and said sarcastically, "No, if you hadn't shown up I probably would have just died."
"What?!? Wait until he-" Ron angrily muttered as Ginny laughed and touched his arm.
"I think Hermione was just joking." She pointed out.
"Yes, Ron, no need to get all worked up." Hermione said with a sigh. "I actually just tripped on the stairs and would have gotten seriously hurt if Zabini didn't catch me."
"Well, I, he didn't touch you anywhere when he caught you did he?" Ron seriously asked as the tips of his ears started to turn red.
Hermione let out a scream of aggravation and glared at Ron. "Yes! I let him touch me everywhere out of gratitude for catching me." She announced loudly, gathering stares from student surrounding them. With a flounce of her hair, she walked away still muttering about his nerve.
Hermione came into the library with her usual pile of books and greeted Madam Pince warmly. The librarian was still warily of Hermione from the ruckus she and Blaise caused last week. Hermione put her books on her table and casually scanned the library for a certain Slytherin. Not seeing anyone on her right, she flipped her hair out of her face and turned to her left looking right into a pair of dark brown eyes a mere foot away from her. Hermione stumbled back in surprise and once again Blaise stopped her from falling flat on her face.
"Really," Blaise said with a slight smirk. "I'm beginning to think you do this on purpose so I would keep catching you."
Hermione jerked away from the cocky Slytherin and ducked her head a bit. She slightly turned away to hide her blushing cheeks. "I was just looking for you to return your book you dropped."
"Ah, so you admit you were specifically looking for me?" Blaise innocently asked as his smirk grew.
Hermione's face flushed as she shoved the book into Blaise's arms. "Here just take it!" She snapped. With a loud huff, she stomped back to her seat muttering about arrogant Slytherins.
Noticing that Hermione chose a seat with her back to him, Blaise found it safe to it let out a soft chuckle. Strangely enough, he was starting to think the Mudblood was interesting company. It wasn't her looks that intrigued him as she looked the same as she always did. Although her buck teeth shrank a bit, she had Draco to thank for that. No, it was her attitude that caught his interest. She had the ability to look like a prim prefect, to a blushing schoolgirl, to a haughty young woman. And yesterday, Blaise could have sworn he caught a glimpse of a coy and flirty teenager. But it was gone as soon as her friends showed up.
Deciding to ruffle her feathers a bit more, Blaise strolled over to her desk. "Granger, I wasn't finished talking to y-" he stated as he mocked a stumble over her backpack and started to fall toward her.
Hermione jumped up to leap out of the way. Yet Blaise caught her around her shoulders and pulled her down toward the ground with him. At the last moment, he turned his body toward the floor so she would land on him and not get hurt. As they both landed on the ground, Hermione tried to brace some of the fall on her arms so she wouldn't land entirely on Blaise. Yet upon impact, her arms slid on the carpet and she landed right on Blaise's lips. A burst of electricity went through each of them as their lips touched. Stunned, Hermione pulled away from Blaise in surprise.
Blaise stared into Hermione's eyes and his eyes started to soften. His chocolate brown eyes drifted from her eyes to her lips for a moment. He reached out to place his hand on the back of her neck, and slowly tugged her head back down for another sweet kiss. Hermione closed her eyes, wrapped her arms around his neck and gave in to the sweet pleasure that Blaise's simple kiss could evoke in her.
Suddenly a stack of books fell to the ground, echoing throughout the entire library. The noise shook Hermione out of her spell and she quickly shoved herself off Blaise.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" She shrieked as wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
Blaise had to blink twice before realizing what happened. He pushed himself on his elbows and looked at Hermione quizzingly. She tried to ignore how attractively disheveled his hair was from her fingers in them just minutes ago. Hermione gave him a angry glare while she tried to gather her thoughts on what just happened. Seeing this, Blaise gave her a return scowl as he swiftly bounded to his feet.
"What was I doing? What the heck were you doing?" Blaise retorted back as he leaned back on a desk and crossed his arms.
"Well…I…You were the one kissing me." Hermione snapped over her shoulder as she frantically shoved her books into her bag. "When you came flying over here like a clumsy troll."
"Granger, kissing involves two people." He haughtily replied as her blush deepen. "Or did you not know that? You seem to be even more involved in it then me. Besides what we just did is more like snogging as kissing require some sort of feeling toward one another; which is too much to ask from me seeing that it's you."
Hermione snapped around in anger and hurt. Reaching out one hand, she slapped him across his right cheek. With a toss of her bushy hair, she stomped out of the library. Blaise raised one hand to his cheek and let out a sigh. He caught a glimpse of the hurt in Hermione's eyes before she slapped him. As disgusted with himself as he was, he felt ashamed for hurting her. But her simple kiss stirred him up so much that it scared him. He was always able to keep his emotions in check and keep his cool. But Hermione came by and made him feel…
"Damn," he muttered to himself as he packed his books. "I've been spending too much time in the library I'm losing my Slytherin manner. I need to spend more time with Draco."
"I've figured it out Hermione." Ginny announced as she tugged her ragged navy backpack on her shoulder. "You don't need an actual relationship. You need just a little relationship with no commitments, feelings, nor strings."
"Wait what?" Hermione came out of her daze. "Ginny, you're not making sense. How could I have a relationship that isn't a relationship?"
Ginny glanced around the crowded corridors. "Where are Harry and Ron?"
"They're probably still in that rubbish Divination class. They should have just given it up ages ago and taken something sensible like me." Hermione stated as she shifted the four Ancient Runes books in her arms.
"Er, right," Ginny hastily agreed. "So what I was thinking was that you need a relationship that's not a relationship. You need to get some experience with other guys. You know one that isn't your best friend. But not a serious one with feelings and commitments and such. Just to gain some experience with flirting and snogging. I think you might benefit from it don't you think?"
Hermione's face heated at Ginny's innocent mention of snogging. Her mind flashed back to being in Blaise's arms and her face flushed even more.
Noting the redness on Hermione's face, Ginny gave a big grin. "So I suppose you agree with me?" Mistaken the reason for her flush, Ginny replied. "Just give it a chance."
"Ginny?" A dark haired boy touched her on her arm. "Could I talk to you for a minute?"
"Sure, Michael," Ginny said with a smile. Whispering to Hermione, as she walked away. "Believe me, you'll feel better afterwards." She gave Hermione a slight wink as she took Michael Corner's arm and walked with him.
Hermione smiled slightly at Ginny's antics and continued walking. Suddenly an arm grabbed her from the shadows and pulled her into the darkness. As Hermione opened her mouth to let out a scream, a streak of sunlight glittered by letting her catch a glimpse of her smiling attacker's face.
It was Blaise.