A/N: Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who is following or has favorited this story! I am so glad you are enjoying it! Please leave a review, I'd love to hear what you think! I am trying to make the chapters a little longer and edit them some more, but I should still be updating rather frequently. There will probably be about two more chapters that take place in The Sorcerer's Stone and then onto Chamber of Secrets! Whoo hoo! P.S. I already have a few chapters written for COS so you won't have to wait long between them. :)
Previously on The Affair- Hermione and Draco get sorted and Hermione can't believe her how much her life has changed. They have their first class with Snape, their budding friendship is put to the test due to their different houses. Draco finds out Hermione is Muggleborn and has to deal with conflicting emotions about her.
Chapter Three
The fire crackled and spat as Hermione sat in the Gryffindor common room Sunday evening. She closed the book she had been reading and set it beside her. Ever since her walk to the library with Draco, Hermione felt more out of place. The other girls in Gryffindor were nice enough, but she didn't fit in with them well. It was like Muggle school all over again.
The one time she sat with them in the Great Hall they talked about the boys in Gryffindor, then the boys in Hufflepuff. Hermione rolled her eyes and decided to read ahead in their Defense Against the Dark Arts book instead of discuss who had the cutest butt. But as she read, Hermione had a hard time keeping her mind from wandering to Draco Malfoy.
He's cuter than any of the other boys at this school. She looked over to the Slytherin table; Draco was laughing with his friends and a dark haired girl sat a little too close to him for her liking. Frowning, Hermione lowered her eyes back to the words on the page. She couldn't help just sneak a few more glances over to him throughout dinner.
She pulled out a piece of parchment out of her bag and scribbled her parents address on it. As much as she was loving her new life at Hogwarts, Hermione did miss her parents. After school she would walk to the dentist office where they both and sit at the reception desk while she did her homework. Occasionally kids from her school would come in for appointments and would wave awkwardly at her as they passed by.
She might not have been a popular girl at school, but her life was not a bad once before she found out she was a witch. Her parents were surprisingly acceptive of the fact and were almost as excited as she was. They however did not want her abusing magic to have quick fixes. When Hermione read about body modification spells, her mother strictly forbid her from shrinking her large front teeth.
Dear Mum and Dad,
Hogwarts is amazing and I am having a wonderful time here. All my classes are interesting and the homework load isn't bad at all! I have been practicing some beginner's spells and I can even conjure up a small fire. Tomorrow we are having our first flying lesson; I am a little nervous about it to be honest. I was never very good at sports in school.
I made a friend already! His name is Neville Longbottom he comes from a magical family. We have all the same classes and are both in Gryffindor. I've talked to another nice boy named Draco Malfoy too, but he is in a different house than me. The houses are how we are sorted based on our skills. There's Ravenclaw, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor (which I'm in).
I miss you both loads and I can't wait to see you again. I hope everything is good at home. By the way, I am using a school owl to send this letter. If you tell it to wait, you can write me back and send it with this owl.
I love you both,
Hermione
She folded the paper tightly and made her way up to the owlery. Hermione had never sent a letter by owl before and cautiously approached a light brown barn owl. "Hello" she said softly and reached out her hand. The owl clicked its beak and blinked its large black eyes. Running a finger over the owl's head and handed it the letter which it grasped in its yellow beak.
"Can you take this to my parents?"
The owl blinked again and took off into the night sky. Hermione started down the stairs where she nearly ran into a familiar blonde boy.
"Oh, hi there." Hermione said nervously. The last time they had talked, she ran off from him and had no idea how to start a normal conversation with him now.
"Hey…" Draco drawled. After Hermione had darted away Draco figured that he was wrong about her and she didn't like him. He clutched the letter to his parents in his hand tightly. "How are you?"
"Fine!" She said quickly, pushing her wild hair behind her ears as much as possible. "I mean, I'm doing well. Are you finding your way around the school well enough?"
Draco nodded. Along with not liking him, Hermione must have also thought he was an idiot. They stood facing each other for a minute, both looking everywhere but at each other. "Well, I've got to send this." He twisted the letter in his hand. He tried to refrain from scrunching his nose at the smell of dung in the owlery, but couldn't keep the look of distaste off of his face.
"Right, yes." Hermione mumbled as she moved out of his way. This was unbearably awkward. Draco obviously thought she was weird and wanted nothing to do with her. "See you tomorrow."
Draco attached the letter to his eagle owl and turned to answer her, but Hermione was already disappearing down the stairs and out of sight. This was the second time she had run away from him. He wondered if it was because he was in Slytherin while she was a Gryffindor. Did she believe that rubbish that all Slytherins were evil?
Draco sighed and walked down the stairs after her slowly. Who care what she thinks? A small voice in his head said. She's a Muggleborn. You shouldn't even be bothering with her anyways. Draco could only imagine what his Father and Mother would say if they knew he was befriending a Muggleborn girl. Perhaps his Mother would change her mind and they would send him off to Durmstrang.
Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle walked up to the Great Hall the Thursday morning for breakfast. Draco was in a suspiciously good mood today because it was their first flying lesson. He bragged to Crabbe and Goyle as they walked through the corridors about how well he could fly. Draco couldn't wait to show off in front of in front of everyone.
Especially Hermione. Draco caught himself thinking. She might not think much of me, but when she sees how good I am on a broom, she is bound to be impressed. He looked for her bushy hair when he entered the Great Hall and saw her talking to several of the boys in Gryffindor. She rubbed Longbottom's back as she showed him a passage in a book. Draco's stomach turned cold and sour as he saw her touching another boy.
He couldn't help but like Hermione Granger. She was smarter than anyone else in their year and seemed more mature than most of the other girls who would stand in groups and giggle at the boys. If Draco didn't know better, he would have never guessed she was Muggleborn. He wasn't going to let Hermione slip out of his grasp that easy and started in for the Gryffindor table.
Longbottom was holding a beet red Remembrall and Draco easily swiped it out of his hand. He was about to crush it on Longbottom's fat head when Potter and Weasley jumped out of their seats. Hermione's big brown eyes darted from the two Gryffindors to Draco's grey ones. He smirked at her and could have sworn her cheeks started to match the Remembrall in his hand.
Professor McGonagall strode up to the table and questioned the boys about their disturbance. Draco scowled, not wanting to get in trouble right before the flying lesson; he dropped the Remembrall back into the Gryffindor table. Stalking off with Crabbe and Goyle behind him, Draco glanced back to see Hermione watching him leave.
Draco was bored. He knew how to fly a broom and wanted to do more than practice sitting on it. "Everyone who doesn't already know how to fly should be put in a different class" Draco said loudly for the other Slytherins around him to hear. "Those of us who can should have a more advanced class." Theodore Nott agreed with him and slouched over on his broom.
Pansy seemed upset that she was even outside. "I don't want to burn." She complained as the sun shone down on them. Pansy had probably never ridden a broom in her whole life and Draco doubted she ever would again. Not many Purebloods used them for transportation, they were more so for entertainment purposes and nothing outdoors entertained Pansy.
Draco easily did all the tasks that Madame Hooch called for. Crabbe and Goyle's brooms seemed like they were having a hard time keeping the boys in the air. Both Blaise and Theodore were doing well while Pansy scowled at her broom.
Bored, he looked over at Hermione who was having a hard time even getting her broom to fly up to her hand. Draco chuckled a little, but just because she looked so cute trying to order the unruly broom around. He scowled when he saw Potter's broom jump into his hand and Hermione watching him.
It wasn't long before Draco's boredom vanished. When they were only supposed to hover, Hermione's friend Longbottom lost control of his broom. It unceremoniously dumped him on the ground with a loud thump. Draco tried control his laughter and pointed at the fat boy for his friends to see. Good, that's what he deserves. Hermione will see that he's useless and she's better suited with someone of my stature. Draco sat up proudly on him broom as he landed gracefully on the ground.
As soon as Madame Hooch was out of earshot, Draco let his cold laughter out and it wasn't long before Pansy, Crabbe, Goyle, Theo, and even Blaise were laughing along with him. Hermione turned sharply to look at him. Goaded on by his friend's laughter and wanting to impress Hermione, Draco picked up Longbottom's Remembrall off the ground.
Potter approached him and told him to give it back. Draco felt a sense of pride along with a dark urge to prove his worth over Potter. He smirked in Potter's face and mounted his broom. Before Potter could get any closer to him, Draco sped off in the air loving the fact that everyone's eyes were on him. He hoped a certain pair of brown eyes were looking up in awe at him.
Draco was a good flyer, his boasting was not empty. He swirled and twisted his broom around. Potter had followed him on his broom and hung in the air before him. Draco smirked at him again and easily pulled out of Potter's path as he lunged forward. Draco looked down to see Hermione's worried face as she watched the two boys in the air. Draco decided he had his fun and threw the Remembrall into the air and flew back down to the ground.
He landed and was just about to walk over to Hermione to ask her what she thought of his flying when people started cheering. Draco looked over to see Potter holding the Remembrall safely back on the ground. His face dropped and he couldn't hide the scowl as Hermione smiled and hugged Harry. She hugged him. Anger flared up inside of him and Draco pulled his wand out of his robes.
At that same moment McGonagall stormed onto to the field and escorted Potter away. Malfoy smiled as Potter was led away certainly to be punished severely if not expelled. His problem might have just taken care of itself. Crossing his arms over his chest, Draco locked eyes with Hermione. She seemed worried about Potter and Draco raised his eyebrows sharply at her to show his displeasure.
Madame Hooch returned a moment later and told them to put away their brooms that class had ended. Draco hung back and waited for Hermione, he still wanted to talk to her. She was one of the last people to place her broom back in the cupboard turned around to see Draco lounging against it staring at her.
"I told you I was a good flyer" Draco looked at his nails, "Don't you think so?"
Hermione bristled. "Yes," she said briskly "not that nice though." Pushing by him she headed towards the castle.
Draco's long legs easily caught up to her as he fell in stride. "Come on, it was just a bit of fun." He smiled, hoping Hermione would let up on him a little.
"I don't care much for flying or bullies!" She kept her eyes straight in front of her and quickened her pace. Draco rolled his eyes, she was turning out to be a goody two shoes.
He stepped in front of her stopping Hermione in her tracks. She took a step back and pulled away from him. "I didn't mean anything by it" Draco said apologetically as he could, "All's well that ends well, right?" He smiled at her again.
As much as Hermione wanted to hate Draco for picking on Neville and getting Harry in trouble, she couldn't. She couldn't help herself melting a little inside when he smiled at her and feeling the need to match it.
"See? I knew you weren't really mad at me." Draco beamed.
Hermione tried to wipe the smile from her face but couldn't. His grey eyes glittered in the sun and his hair shone white blonde. She agreed to walk with him through the castle until they had to go their separate ways. Draco made sure that they walked by the trophy room.
"Let's go in here!" He whispered and grabbed her hand. When his skin touched hers Hermione felt like an electric shock went through her arm. She was surprised by how much she liked the feeling of his hand grasping hers. Hermione panicked; she didn't know if she was supposed to hold his hand tightly or loosely. What is her hand was sweaty or dirty?! She did her best to mirror the way he held hers.
Draco looked over at Hermione and smiled. He felt bold holding her hand like this, but she seemed to like it. It was one way to find out how she really felt about him at least. And Draco couldn't deny that he liked having her hand wrapped inside his own.
They looked at all the Quidditch trophies as he explained the game to her. She didn't care for the game too much, but was interested because Draco was talking about it. Hermione felt like they were in a world all of their own, alone in the trophy room. It took all she had to keep her cool while they were together. Draco kept her hand in his the whole time.
Hermione sat down at the Gryffindor table just in time to hear Draco challenging Harry to a duel. He must not have noticed her and Hermione was glad of this because she knew her expression was betraying her emotions. She didn't want Draco to fight Harry! He could get hurt or expelled! Her heart began to race as she watched him saunter off to his table.
Hermione jumped up and walked over to Harry trying to convince him not to fight with Draco. Ron snapped at her and told her to leave them alone. Affronted by his behavior, Hermione sat back down and tried to think of a way to stop the duel. She could tell McGonagall, but then Draco would get in trouble too.
As she finished her last piece of toast, Hermione decided that it was her best bet to try and get through to Draco. If she could convince him not to fight, he would be safe and not get caught out of bed. She decided to let Ron's pigheaded decision play out however it would.
It was Friday so Slytherin and Gryffindor first years had Potions together. Hermione made sure to take a seat near Draco so she could talk to him. Snape lectured for about a half an hour before instructing them to brew a simple calming potion. Hermione started chopping up her ingredients and used the small amount of noise to whisper.
"Draco," she called. "I heard what you are planning tonight." Hermione quickly looked down to her book as Snape walked by.
Draco waited until his Snape had walked to the other side of the room before he answered. "So? Potter has it coming. You won't even be able to recognize him when I am done with him." Draco threatened.
Hermione sighed and shook her head. "You could get in big trouble, sneaking out at night!" Draco shrugged, utterly unfazed by her comment. "You could get hurt in the duel!"
Draco scoffed. "Doubt it! Potter doesn't know what he's got himself into." He was touched by her concern and worked hard to keep a smile off of his face. "Did he put you up to this? Does he want to back out?"
"No, he didn't ask me anything." Hermione said shortly. "Draco, terrible things can happen in wizard duels. I've read all about them."
"Look, I appreciate your concern, but its unwarranted." Draco drawled. He stirred his potion as Snape made his final round, nodding smartly at him.
"Turn in a flask of your potion when you are finished then you are free to leave." Snape ordered.
Hermione began to bottle hers up. "Please, just promise me you won't go." She stood up and waited for his answer.
"I won't do that" Draco shrugged and began to bottle his own. "It's a matter of pride!"
Hermione huffed and turned on her heel. She placed her flask on Snape's desk who seemed unhappy, even though her potion was the perfect shade of lilac. She walked back to her desk and grabbed her bag without looking at Draco as he made his way to Snape's desk.
"Well done, Draco." Snape said; Draco was one of the only students he ever praised. Walking back to his desk Draco picked up his bag and chased after Hermione. He quickly caught up to her and came to a halt in front of her.
"Hermione, I just can't" Draco pleaded. "I would look like a coward if I didn't go."
Hermione sniffed and looked unfazed. Then her expression changed to one of pleading and Draco thought he might fall into her large brown eyes. "Will you not go… for me?" Hermione offered in a small voice.
Draco felt his heart drop into his stomach. There was no way that he could back out now, not after the scene he made. But he didn't want Hermione to be mad at him either. "I'll see what I can do" he finally said defeated.
Hermione beamed and kissed him on the cheek. Draco stood stunned and Hermione trotted off down the corridor.
"You're welcome!" He called after her haughtily.
She turned back around and smiled again, "Thank you!"
Hermione was furious. She had followed Harry and Ron to their duel with Draco to see if he would show up or not. When he didn't she was delighted, but it didn't last long as Draco apparently planned to stick Filch on Harry and Ron. He had no idea that Hermione would be with them.
But that wasn't what she was upset about. No, that was nothing compared to what came after. They had to run from Filch and ended up in a room with a three headed dog! Hermione couldn't believe she let herself get into such a situation. And against her better judgment, with Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley.
Hermione avoided them like the plague the coming days and even pulled away from Neville. All she wanted to do was come to Hogwarts and study magic. But instead, she was dragged around by trouble makers like Harry and Ron and trying to be friends (or maybe more) with a cute boy she was supposed to hate. What had happened to her?
Since she had more free time now, she was spending it in the library. Her classes were in full swing and so was the homework load. Hermione budgeted her time well and never turned her assignments in late. Other students were not so lucky. She began to see more and more students filtering into the library to study and research.
It was a sunny, Saturday afternoon that Draco Malfoy walked into the library and Hermione watched him as he picked out a few books and sat at a table not too far from her. She figure he must not have seen her so she took this time to watch him out of the corner of her eye.
It was one of the last warm days and Draco just had to be stuck inside because of his History of Magic essay that was due on Monday. He paged through old volumes that seemed to have more dust than information in them and scribbled down a few notes. He ran his hand through his hair, making a few strands fall onto his forehead.
Hermione suppressed a smile as she watched Draco finish up his essay. She had completed hers last night with an extra foot more or parchment than was required. Draco slammed one of his books shut and Hermione jumped. Madame Pince came rushing over and scolded Draco for treating the book so roughly before confiscating his others. As soon as her back was turned, Draco flipped her off.
Hermione couldn't help but giggle and Draco's attention was drawn to it. He gave a half smile and collected his things to come sit across from her.
"How long have you been in here?" Draco asked curiously. He had been so wrapped up in his own work he hadn't even noticed Hermione sitting a few tables away from him.
"Since about eight this morning, I guess." Hermione closed up the books she had been reading. Draco look impressed at her commitment to her studies and slid her book closer to him.
"Took you all day to do your essay for Binns?"
"Oh, no" She shook her head, "I did that last night in about an hour. This is just for some extra reading."
Draco's mouth dropped open. "Er… yeah, well… I am almost done with mine." He placed his parchment on the table in front of her. She picked it up and quickly scanned it.
"This isn't bad…" Hermione sounded impressed.
"No need to be so shocked." Draco snarled and snatched his essay back, shoving it into his bag.
"I didn't mean anything by it." she mumbled. "It was very well written."
"Thank you." Draco snapped.
"You're welcome." A moment of silence hung in the air before they both chuckled a little at the tension.
"Do you wanna get out of here?" Draco offered. Hermione was still surprised that a boy as attractive as Draco would want anything to do with her. His grey eyes were shining and he held out his hand across the table. Hermione tentatively grasped it and Draco pulled her up and towards to exit of the library.
Hermione tried to keep up as Draco started running through the corridors and down the stair cases. "Where are we going?" She panted. Draco just turned and grinned at her before pulling her down another set of stairs. Hermione saw familiar statues and realized they were headed for the dungeons.
It was cool and drafty down here, but Draco either didn't notice or didn't care. He's probably used to it. This is where he lives after all. Hermione felt a small pang of guilt as she realized that even first year Slytherins were required to live so far away from the other students in a dark and dank dungeon.
Draco finally stopped as they reached a small classroom that looked like it hadn't been used in about a century. He climbed onto one of the tables and patted the space in front of him. "Come on, Granger, live a little bit."
Hermione knew they shouldn't be down here. The dungeons were normally closed off on the weekends; rumor had it there were still some torture devices hidden in some of the classrooms. She carefully climbed onto the table and sat across from Draco. "You know it is really nice outside, we could go and sit by the lake."
"Everyone is outside today. Here, no one will bother us. We can be alone." Alone?! Hermione wondered why he brought her down here for. "Relax. Granger." Draco rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to hex you."
Hermione did relax a little. In fact, this was almost sweet in a way. They were utterly alone and could say or do anything they wanted.
"I like exploring the dungeons. You find all sorts of weird stuff down here. A fifth year swore he saw a skeleton in one of the rooms, but I've haven't seen it yet." Draco looked excited as he told her this.
"I think I've had enough of exploring for a while." Hermione exasperated. "You wouldn't believe what I saw the other night!" She went on to tell him about the three headed dog on the third floor.
Draco was enraptured with her story and asked her all sorts of questions about the dog. Suddenly his face fell and darkened. "What were you doing out with Potter, Weasley, and Longbottom?" He couldn't help that jealous bile rose up inside him. Half the time they had talked Hermione ran away from him, but she would go gallivanting around with her fellow Gryffindors. What was he to her?
Hermione felt awkward staring into the dark eyes of Draco. "I...erm…" Hermione cleared her throat and could see him clenching his jaw. "It was the night of the duel. I followed them to make sure you wouldn't get hurt and we found Neville along the way. The other reason we were on the third floor was because we were running from Filch." Hermione said quickly.
She liked Draco. He was tall and attractive. When he walked down a corridor people instinctively moved out of the way for him even though he was only a first year. His confidence and pride were visible to anyone who looked at him. She didn't want him to think she was some loser who only sat around reading books and never did anything exciting.
The night of the duel Hermione couldn't just sit idly by when Draco was in danger of being cursed or expelled for being caught. She didn't know what she would do to stop it, but Hermione had to take some sort of action. Looking up, she saw Draco's face break into a grin.
"You were worried about me?" He smirked and Hermione blushed. "I can handle myself against Potter, no problem."
"If you would have just told me you weren't going to go, I wouldn't have had to follow them and almost be eaten!" Hermione laughed.
"Yeah, about that," Draco started and ran a hand through his blonde hair. "I told Filch that students were going to be out of bed and were they were going to be that night. I just wanted Potter and Weasley to get in trouble. How was I to know you'd be there too?"
Hermione was shocked. "So you didn't go because I asked you?" Draco nodded. "And you just stuck Filch on them instead." He nodded again, trying to keep a smile off his face. "Well… that's clever," she admitted, "not very nice, but clever."
"That's me." Draco said proudly.
"You're nice to me." Hermione whispered.
"You're different, Hermione." Draco forced himself to say. She smiled and Draco felt the urge to reach across the table and kiss her, but fought back. He reminded himself that she was Muggleborn and he was Pureblood. Being friends was a stretch, but one he allowed himself because he couldn't stand to not be around her. But more than that? Draco might have felt it, but acting on it was crossing a line.
Next time on The Affair- Hermione and Draco bond on Halloween, but a rivalry quickly emerges. Draco's jealous grows and leads to violence. Hermione is torn between her loyalty to her house and her new friends and her relationship with Draco.
A/N: I hope this isn't moving too slow for any of you, trust me it will pick up soon and then Drama! Intrigue! Love! Violence! Just trying to show the beginning of their relationship in the fullest way. Also the first decently long chapter, how was it? Let me know what you think; I'd really appreciate some feedback! And thank you for reading!