Hermione sat in the library, her head leaning on her hand as she used the other hand to furiously tap her pen on the table. One thing she loved about having muggle parents, which Draco would never understand, because he liked things the better, wizard way, is that she had access to an assortment of small bits of muggle ingenuity, like the pen she was using and the digital watch she was wearing underneath her scarlet and black robes.
"How did I know you'd be in here, Granger?"
She smiled and looked up at Draco. "I was just doing some light reading. You know, extra research. And also, I need to start preparing for the homework that's going to come soon. Just because we haven't been assigned homework today doesn't mean that there won't be a whole lot of it, and soon. I mean, our O.W. L. S. are next year. We can't afford to stall on this, it's very important to our-"
Her mouth was covered with his hand before she could finish her spiel.
"How do I say this politely? Oh right, please shut up."
He uncovered her mouth and she began to speak again, "-Education..." She said, finishing her last sentence. "If you don't want to study, then why are you here?"
"I came to see you. We didn't get a chance to talk after last night. This whole Triwizard Tournament's gonna be awesome, huh?"
"Yes, it should be interesting, I mean the history of it all is so incredible, that's what I've been reading about for the most part. I can't believe we actually get to experience it."
"By the way, Granger…we'd have to get Dumbledore in here to find someone with a spell powerful enough to lift what you like to call light reading." He punctuated his joke with dropping one of the many textbooks onto the desk from a few inches up. It landed with a loud thump onto the wood. The few students that had found themselves in the library that morning looked up at the unexpected noise.
"You know that's not what I meant by 'light'."
"Hey, I have an idea. How about we get out. You know, in the sunlight. Where people usually go when they aren't doing imaginary homework. It could be fun. You're not going to study with me in here, anyway. I'm just way too much of a distraction." Draco ran a hand through his hair dramatically to prove his point. "Honestly, I don't know how you ever get through a book when I'm around."
Hermione rolled her eyes and shut her book.
"I'm just so much prettier to look at." He said to himself as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Fine, fine, we'll go." She put the book she had been reading back on the shelf behind her and put her school supplies into her bag.
When she finished, he held out his arm for her to hold on to, "Shall we?"
"You do know that we're going to the lake, not a ball, right?" She laughed at her joke and the tinge of red on his face. He recovered quickly.
"Fine then, we'll walk separate. Would you like a minimum of five feet between us?" Draco asked sarcastically.
"Oh, don't be silly, Draco." She threw her bag over her shoulder and wove her arm through his as they left the library. The smile on his face did not go unnoticed.
They found themselves at the lake a few minutes later. It was their place, or at least they sure thought it was. Seamus had made a joke last year that they came with the property. They would come here for everything. Hermione would read books, study, and every once in a while doodle. Draco would throw rocks as far as he could into the lake, ramble about whatever was on his mind, and sometimes, it was rare, but sometimes, she caught him just staring at her. She would look up, meet his eyes, give him a small smile and then they would both continue on as if nothing had happened.
Most of all, the lake was their place to talk. Whether it was trivial conversation, like a discussion about what type of shampoo Snape used, if any, or sometimes it could be something deeper, like their first conversation at the lake.
Hermione laid her head back against the tree. "Focus." She told herself. Her wand raised and muttered what should have been a simple spell. The page of her book stayed still and she tried again. She felt so stupid, waving her wand around, trying to flip a page that lay stubbornly dormant. "You can do this." She muttered again.
"Singar-"
"Granger."
It wasn't a greeting, and it wasn't said to call her attention. The same pale blonde boy's eyes widened at the sight of her. He hadn't been expecting her, and she could tell.
"What do you want, Malfoy?"
"I um...I came here to y'know...uh, never mind."
"What? Are you asking me to move?"
"N-no...I mean...yeah, maybe I am."
"Well that's just too bad." She stated with an air of confidence. Her head turned back to her book and she flourished her wand swiftly, while muttering her charm. The page instantly flipped, and faster than she had expected. As it turned out, anger had fueled her magic like wood to a flame. Her hand continued its swishing motion, and the pages began to flip five, ten, fifteen at a time, until the book slammed shut with a thud.
Draco cleared his throat. "Are you really a mudblood? Like
fully y'know, muggle born?"
Her eyebrows furrowed in shock. "Yes! I am fully muggle born, and for your information, you can't be anything else. Do you know why? Because if you aren't fully muggle born, then you're half muggle born. Do you know what half muggle born is? Half-blood! But I'm not a half blood, am I? I'm a mudblood, and clearly not good enough for you!"
He looked stunned, but recovered quickly. "Well just because I'm-"
She wouldn't let him finish. "And do you know what I'd like to know? What is so bloody awful about being muggle-born anyway?"
"I...I don't..."
"Exactly."
"My father always tells me that if you don't have any magic in your...er, breeding then...well you're not really deserving of the magic. It's cheating, really."
"Well my father always told me that if I ate too many sweets, my hair would fall out and I wouldn't be pretty any more. And quite honestly, that's some advice that I wish I hadn't believed to the age of eight."
Draco's eyes attempted to shield the how much he wanted to laugh, but only unsuccessfully.
"Frankly, it was a real waste of candy."
He lost control on her last word and laughed loudly. It was only moments before she joined him as well.
"I'm just saying..." She began again. "Maybe you shouldn't believe everything they say."
His laugh morphed into a simple smile. "Maybe you're right. We'll see, Granger."
"Yes. We will."
Once again, he held his hand out to her. "Let's start over. Draco Malfoy."
"Malfoy? The Draco Malfoy?" She said sarcastically. "Well I'm Hermione Granger."
"Nice to meet you, Granger."
Now, the two of them laid sprawled out among the grassy area, just feet from the sandy patch before the water started.
"So are you nervous about your competition this year?" Draco teased.
"Competition? What competition?"
"We'll have visitors, y'know. Two other schools, which means three times as many complete know-it-alls to deal with."
"Are you calling me a know-it-all?" She raised her eyebrows at him.
"Hmm, let me think. What can you tell me about the other schools?"
"Well...Beauxbatons is seven hundred years old, and located near Cannes, France. Oh, and also the headmistress' name is Madame Olympe Maxime. Now for Durmstrang. It's located in Norway, and was established in 1294. I believe. It has a smaller castle than Beauxbatons or even Hogwarts, but then again it takes less students, so size isn't that impo-"
Draco was laughing uncontrollable now. "No, I'm sorry, you're right. You're not a know it all."
"Shut up!" She hit him playfully on the shoulder and they rolled onto their sides to look at each other.
"What's wrong?" His eyebrows furrowed and he stopped laughing. Draco could always tell when something was wrong.
"It's just...I read something else yesterday. Durmstrang Institute is a pure-blood school. They won't except any students unless they have magic in every part of their family. And with a third of the students this year being from Durmstrang... Well, I'm just worried about how they'll act around people like...like me."
"You never worried about that kind of stuff before."
"Yeah, I know, it's silly. It was just something I was thinking about."
"Well, do you want to hear something really cool about Durmstrang?"
She pushed the current thought out of her mind. "Sure."
"D'you know what famous wizard is in their seventh year this year?"
"No...who?"
"Krum. Viktor Krum. Can you believe it? Viktor Krum is going to stay in our school. We get to meet the best Quidditch player in the entire wizarding world."
"And there was much rejoicing." Hermione said in a flat, sarcastic voice. "Yayyyy."
"Oh, c'mon! It'll be great! Do you think he might teach me some Quidditch? Then I could finally beat Potter for once."
She shook her head. "First off you git, you should pay more attention when Dumbledore speaks. There's no Quidditch this year." Draco's eyes widened in shock. His face resembled the spoiled look he used to wear in his first and second year that would say, "My father will be hearing about this!"
"What do you mean, no Quid-"
"And second of all...no offense, but it will take a lot more than coaching from Krum for you to beat Harry."
His face projected insincere offense. "Well that was rude."
"Sorry, just the truth."
"Whatever." Draco pouted.
Hermione rolled back to her previous position, facing upwards. "How are you doing with this Mad Eye Moody thing?"
"Well, I can't decide whether to give him a hug, or just make it more anonymous. Y'know. Send him a fruit basket or something."
"Draco, c'mon. Be serious here. You're honestly fine about this? Happy, even?"
"I'm more than happy."
"You're telling me that you're more than happy that our new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher just happens to be the man that killed your father?"
"Well when you put it that way, you kind of make me sound a little heartless."
"I just can't believe you're really okay with this."
"You knew my father, right?" He asked sarcastically.
"Yes, Draco, I knew your father, and yes, he was a total arse, but still. He was your father."
"How do you not hate him, Hermione? Honestly, I don't understand it, you always seem to think that his death erased what he did to hundreds of people. And what he almost did to us!"
"I just want to make sure you're still okay. You were upset when he died, and Im sure you're still upset, you're just very good at bottling up your emotions."
"I'm fine, Hermione." She could always tell when he was serious about something, because he would use her first name.
"Alright then."
"I bet Viktor Krum and I could be Quidditch buddies." He stated in a dreamy voice.
Hehehe foreshadowing :) Sooooo whatcha think?
You should make me happy and click that pretty little blue review button. I bet it would make you happy too :D