Hey there. Time for Chapter Three! I'm so excited for this one. I've had this idea in my head for the past couple hours, and I am so ready to put it on paper. Hopefully this chapter will be a LOT longer than the last one. That one was a disappointment. Plus, I only have four reviews for this story. Think we can get some more for this chapter? I really like to read what you think of my writing. It always helps! Thanks in advance if you do review.
Right then, on to the story. (:
Draco sat at the ebony desk covered by cauldrons, bubbling flasks, and the random toads eye rolling around on the slick surface. His friend Blaise Zabini sat as his side, randomly flipping through a worn textbook, making odd conversation with Draco as they waited for their Potions lesson to begin. Every few seconds, Draco's eyes drifted towards the door, waiting for Hermione to walk through. When she finally did flounce through the doorway, surrounded on either side by Ron and Harry and her head thrown back in laughter, Draco immediately straightened up, fixing his robes and lifting a hand to slick back his platinum hair. His eyes narrowed as his gaze followed Hermione to where she sat next to Harry, giggling, her cheeks flushed and her hair bouncing as wildly as ever. Blaise raised an eyebrow at Draco's obvious primping, then turned his head to where Draco was staring. He grinned, and nudged Draco in the side.
"Granger, eh? Mudblood, Gryffindor, a Potter puppet?" Blaise smirked, and Draco frowned, bringing his gaze to linger on the cauldron in front of him, pretending to be fascinated by the bubbling, puss-colored liquid on the inside.
"It's not what you think," Draco mumbled out of the corner of his mouth, fingering the cracks on the surface of their desk and stealing quick glances in Hermione's direction.
"Really? Seems to me someone is infatuated with a certain Hermione Granger," Blaise chuckled, and Draco turned to glare at him coldly.
"I am NOT." he hissed, but something on the inside nagged at his thoughts.
Maybe you are? the little voice in his head whispered.
No. It's simply part of the plan. he forcefully tried to convince herself, until Blaise spoke again and snapped him out of his reverence.
"Hey, mate, it's alright," Blaise said, looking at Hermione who was currently smacking Ron on the shoulder and laughing joyously, "She may be a Mudblood, but she's hot." Draco laughed coldly, but the voice inside his head thought otherwise. He quickly shut it up and whispered frantically,
"Granger? Hot? You must've hit your head on something, Blaise," Draco grinned, but the smile disappeared as he inconspicuously looked at her one more time. He had to admit, if you ignored the wild hair that framed her head, she had a pretty face. The light pink lips, the big, brown eyes, the way she looked when she laughed-
NO! Shut up! SHUT UP! he screamed at himself, clenching his fists and looking away.
"Maybe I have, mate, maybe I have not-" Blaise was cut off by the slam of the door as Professor Snape rushed into the room, his long robes swishing around his ankles as usual. He stood at the front of the room and swept his gaze across the class, silently daring anyone to make a noise. When he was sure he had everyone's attention, he snapped his wand on the desk in front of him and started to speak,
"We are going to be doing a partner project for the next week or two," he drawled coldly, then proceeded to whip open a piece of parchment on his desk and read it over, "Listen closely for your pairing...Potter and Parkinson, Weasley and Zabini, Finnigan and Crabbe, Longbottom and Goyle, Patil and MacMillian, Bones and Smith," he then paused, and proceeded to look at Draco, blinking once, then turned back to his scroll, "Malfoy and Granger. Turn to page 74 in your books, follow the directions, try not to mess it up. Go." he finished, flicking the scroll closed, then watched, hands folded, as the class scurried to get with their partners and get started.
"Weasley. Of course," Blaise groaned, gathering up his books and slowly making his way towards the table where Ron was trying not to seen, hunched over his book. He stopped at the last second, turned to Draco, and winked maliciously, "Have fun with Granger." then proceeded to laugh as Draco grimaced and subtly flipped him the bird under the table. Blaise seemed to have a little extra bounce in his step as he walked away.
"Hello, ferret," Hermione stated, no emotion in her voice, as she slid into the chair Blaise had just occupied, "It would figure that we would be paired together, now wouldn't it?"
"I'm not sure I know what you mean, Granger," Draco said, averting his gaze and twiddling his thumbs.
"Cut the crap, Malfoy. I mean that little conversation we just had about, oh, I don't know, twenty minutes ago. What was that?" she hissed under her breath, quickly glancing in Harry and Ron's directions to make sure they weren't listening in.
"A conversation? What else would it be?" Draco shrugged, then turned away and grinned to himself.
"Right. But why were you being nice to me? I thought we hated each other," she looked genuinely curious and not angry now, and Draco couldn't help but smile as he looked at her.
"Look. It's Potter I hate. Not you. You're not that bad," he bit his lip, and Hermione momentarily felt her heart flutter. She was just starting to sink into his blue gray eyes, when he cleared his throat and turned to his book, which was already on the right page. Scanning the list of ingredients, he gave himself a mental high-five for being so smooth and so so good, then turned back to Hermione, who was staring off into space, eyes crinkled in confusion and a slight pout on her lips.
"Hey, Granger. We should probably get started." he said, and started to gather the items they needed. Hermione looked at him, then murmured her agreement, sifting through the ingredients he dropped onto their desk.
"Okay, you get started by chopping this up, and I'll juice these," she said, handing him some roots and taking a couple toad's eyes for herself. They worked in an awkward silence for a couple minutes, until Hermione turned suddenly to Draco, startling him and causing him to drop his knife with a clatter.
"Did you mean what you said?" she asked, her eyes searching his face for any sign of lying, but Draco recognized the look in her eyes and managed to keep his face blank, with just a hint of a smile causing him to curl up his upper lip.
"Yeah, of course I did. I'm a Malfoy. Malfoy's don't lie." he grinned at her once more, but his heart hurt from the lie he had just told right there. By god, what was happening to him? He never felt pity. Was he becoming...soft?
"Huh," Hermione whispered, then swept a lock of hair away from her eyes nervously and sent Draco a sweet smile, "Well, I think we might be done. Should we all Professor Snape over to check our work?" she asked, sniffing the purple, swirling substance in their cauldron.
"Sure," Draco sighed, then watched as Hermione raised her hand, looking in Snape's direction expectantly. He looked at her slightly upturned nose, the curl of her lips, the soft look in her previously hard eyes. The plan seemed to be working, but he wasn't sure if he was happy about it.
Hermione scuttled through the murky, dim dungeon hallways, the only sound reverberating off of the brick walls being the patter of her feet on the cobblestones, and the occasional spider scuttling somewhere in a corner. It was Sunday night, right after dinner, and Hermione was desperate to get to the Potions room to ask Professor Snape about the essay due the next morning before curfew. Turning a corner, she sped straight into someone walking the opposite direction. With an oof, she and the boy she had bumped into fell backwards, scraping their hands against the coarse stone floors. Grumbling to herself, Hermione brought herself to her feet, not even looking in the direction of the person still rolling on the floor, wiped her hands off on her jeans, and kept walking.
"Oi, Granger! Not even an apology?" Hermione heard the voice she unfortunately recognized, and she turned to see Draco Malfoy lifting himself off the ground, "Walk out of the bathroom and get trampled by a girl. It would figure," he said, then turned to look at her, eyebrows raised in anticipation for the apology he thought he deserved. Hermione wasn't looking at the eyebrows, though. Her gaze went more south, for Draco's shirt was unbuttoned, and all she could see was a pair of alabaster abs, the finest she had ever seen. She heard herself take a small intake of breath, then quickly shook her head and snapped out of her thoughts as Draco followed her gaze. He looked back at her and grinned mischievously.
"Like what you see, Granger?" he asked, cocking his head to the side and locking his eyes on hers.
"Oh, yeah, I've seen your bare chest," Hermione scoffed, "Kill me now, and I could die happy," she retorted sarcastically, but Draco just chuckled. She was trying to be tough, but he could tell by the way that she kept looking down that she really was awestruck. He knew he had nice abs, and it was just a plus to the plan that he happened to bump into her when she could see them.
To the plan? Please, the voice in his head cackled, You like her. The voice was taunting, and Draco's eyes softened as he looked at Hermione, who had her arms crossed and was looking at him, waiting for him to say something.
No I don't. he told himself, but with less force this time. Stepping closer to the girl, he suddenly cracked a grin, laughing to himself.
"What?" Hermione asked, confused. Her eyes widened as Draco stepped even closer, their bodies practically touching. Looking down at her, he whispered with a laugh in his voice,
"You want to touch them?" With this, Hermione let out a shocked gasp and sprang backwards, holding up her hands and slowly taking tentative steps behind her,
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What? Why in the name of Merlin would I ever want to do that?" she whispered through clenched teeth, but Draco just laughed again and stepped closer.
"Come on. You know you want to," he teased, taking one more step in her direction.
"No, thank you. " she gaped at him in disbelief, "I do not want to touch your non-existent abs!"
"Non-existent?" he gasped jokingly, "Obviously you've never heard of a six pack."
"Oh, I have, and that's not it." she smirked, turning to walk away.
"What's not it?"
"That." Hermione repeated, pointing at his abdomen. Seizing the opportunity, Draco grabbed her finger before she could react, and used it to trace his abs, his pale white, long fingers wrapped around her short, darker ones. She was oddly silent, holding her breath, and when he let go, she dropped her hand slowly and shuddered visibly. She still didn't say a word, and Draco looked at her and smirked.
"And?" he prodded.
"I lied. Now I could die happy." she rolled her eyes, but as she turned and started down the hallway, she smiled to herself and squealed on the inside. She then halted to a stop, horrified with herself, and turned on her heels, looking at Draco with her eyes narrowed, "I can't believe you did that."
"I can't believe you went along with it," he shrugged in response, holding out his hands.
"You know I could report you for rape," she smirked, and tried to walk away. He caught up with her in no time, and she whipped around when he grabbed her shoulder. Her gaze followed his hand, and he quickly dropped it, cheeks flushed.
"Technically, your finger was on my abs," he grinned nervously, rubbing his shoulder.
"Well you made me by grabbing my finger! It was your fault we made sexual contact!" she practically screamed, grinning, but her face fell and she looked at the floor in embarrassment as she realized what she had said. Draco just laughed in response.
"That was sexual contact?" he chuckled, shaking his head, "You poor, lonely girl!"
"Hey!" she laughed, smacking his arm playfully. She then grabbed her arm with her hand, massaging it in embarrassment, as she blushed, a crimson color spreading across her cheeks. She lowered her face and looked up at Draco, her wide brown eyes huge and inviting. Against his will, he grinned, then backed up.
"I got to get back to my dorm," he said, and she nodded in response, "I'll see you later...Hermione."
As soon as he was gone, Hermione sighed and leaned against the wall.
What was wrong with her?
As soon as Draco got into his dorm, he flopped onto his bed and thought about the look Hermione gave him right before he left, and he smiled to himself.
What was wrong with him?
Oh man, I love Dramione. I also like where this is going, and this chapter was slightly longer than the last one. That's good, I guess. I like this chapter. My favorite so far, but seeing as its only the third, that's not saying much.
Review, pretty please! (: