Hermione waited impatiently at the rock where she had hit Draco in the face only a short year before. It was still only ten-til-twelve but she couldn't wait any longer as she grew antsy down in the library with anticipation, so she wandered her way quickly through the halls until she was at the rocks. Sitting down, she started to read her copy of Magical Hieroglyphs and Logograms book while she waited.
"Are you early for EVERYTHING in life?" Draco asked Hermione as he walked down the steps leisurely. He had the sack of food strung over his shoulder and was wearing jeans and a dress shirt. "Well?"
"Not everything." Hermione answered closing her book, "but I would rather be early than late. If you are late, people think you are unorganized and unprepared."
Draco tilted his head back and laughed. When he was through he looked Hermione in the eye and asked, "Even if your fashionably so?" He asked holding out his arms and striking what he thought was his come and eat me up pose.
"Well, I would assume that would be different." Hermione answered with a laugh before shaking her head and walking ahead of him.
Following behind her Draco shuffled to catch up. When he was beside her he looked her up and down out of the corner of his eye and found himself imagining her placing her arm through his and leaning her head on his shoulder like she had the night before. "So, …Hermione what's your problem with Ancient Runes?"
"It's just harder to memorize than the other subjects. Like the numbers. I understand that Unicorn is one, Graphorn is two, and Runespoor is three. Those are obvious because of the horns, but Fwooper is more difficult. How can it be four if it only has one horn?" She asked in a flustered confusion as they carefully walked down the hill through the field of stones at their feet constantly threatening to trip them.
"You're using the horn trick?" Draco asked shaking his head. "We really need to reorganize the way you do your studying. So where is this study place of yours at anyways?" Looking around them he couldn't really imagine any place around that would be comfortable enough for a picnic.
"Right over there." Hermione answered, pointing to the tree line if the Forbidden Forest. A large rock blocked the view of where they would be sitting from the castle but the sun shined down on it perfectly as the soft waves that the wind blew onto the lake crashed into the rocks below, giving the area a sense of serenity. "How are you studying them then? I assumed the horn method would be the best way. It works for the first three but I am always willing to learn new study tactics."
"Study tactics? It's not a war Hermione. You're not going in the test with the outcome being life or death. Here help me setup the blanket and food and we'll talk about it." Draco said shaking his head wistfully. He pulled out the blanket from the sack and handed Hermione one side.
Hermione helped him to straighten out the blanket before sitting down and looking inside the basket. Pulling out two glasses, she set them on either side of the blanket, trying to keep it level on the snowy ground beneath them.
Draco pulled out his wand and began casting a warming spell around them in order to keep out the cold. With a few quick twists of his wrist and some muttered words he had created a nice warm bubble around them.
Hermione felt the air warm up immediately, comforted by the warmth as she took her heavy winter coat off, exposing her usual long sleeved striped shirt and blue jeans. She reached back into the picnic basket and pulled out two plates, setting them down so they would be sitting next to each other as opposed to across from one another. She couldn't help it, but for some strange and absolutely unknown reason she wanted to be closer to him.
Draco found himself enjoying the silence between them. It wasn't awkward or so bad they had to try to force a conversation. He was strangely satisfied just being around her which unnerved him more than anything else. "You're hungry I hope?"
Hermione nodded her head. "Famished," She answered as she leaned back on her hands, soaking up the sun as she closed her eyes. It felt wonderful having the light and heat of the sun washing over her face and she couldn't help but feel relaxed.
Draco couldn't help but stand there admiring Hermione in the light of the sun. She was actually quite pretty. Wait what was he thinking? She was a mud-...she was muggleborn. He didn't need that kind of trouble to come down on him from his father so he didn't even know why the thought had crossed his mind. But as he stood there admiring her beauty, Draco couldn't help but be tempted by something about her.
Opening her eyes Hermione looked over at Draco, tilting her head slightly. "Are you ready to study?" She asks with a bit of a snicker. "Share your secrets with me on how to overcome Ancient Runes, Master Malfoy?"
Draco shook his head to clear before answering, "Food first, then we study. Do you like duck?" He had always been a fiend for the more expensive types of fowl, geese being his favorite but duck doing in a pinch since the season for geese had already passed.
"Duck?" Hermione asks, snarling her nose slightly as she looked down at the food. It looked good and smelt good but it was still...a duck. "What's it taste like?"
"What does any bird taste like? Chicken of course." Draco said with a smirk. "Try it. You'll like it. Its covered in a mango salsa."
Hermione took a small bite, still unsure at the thought of eating duck. She let the taste linger in her mouth for a moment, tasting the familiar taste of chicken mixed with a tropical fruit and spicy flavor. "Mmm..." She said finally, looking over at Draco. "It's not bad, but why on earth eat it, if it just tastes like a smoked chicken?"
"Because it's the best of course." Draco replied shaking his head to himself. She was really going to have to learn to enjoy the better things in life if they were going to be hanging out more. Even if it was where no one else could see.
Hermione shook her head. There was obviously no talking common sense into someone like Draco, someone so set in their own ways to see anyone else's. "Well, it does taste good." She said finally, looking down at her plate before glancing back up, her eyes meeting his. "Thank you." She whispers in reply.
"Yea well what's the point of having money if you don't get to spend it on the best of things, right?" Draco asked as he took his seat beside Hermione and began loading food onto his plate. "This isn't a bad spot. I kind of like it here. Quiet. Not the horrible array of noises in the Great Hall."
"That's why I always come here." Hermione answers looking out over the lake, "Ron and Harry are great but sometimes I just need somewhere to get away to. To be able to relax and study with peace and quiet. I can't get that in the Common Room with the two of them always asking me to write their reports for them." She confesses, taking another bite of the marinated duck.
Draco blanched at her words before thinking to respond with, "You write their reports for them? YOU? The great Hermione Granger helps not just one but two other students cheat? And the Great Potter being one of them to boot?" He couldn't believe she had confessed that to him whether it was intentional or not. He immediately grew a new respect for her.
Hermione looked down at her food, suddenly feeling a rush of guilt sweep through her. She had said too much. She wasn't supposed to let Draco know that, let him know anything he could later use against her and here she was telling him that she helped Harry and Ron cheat. "Well, not quite like that," She answers, trying to quickly cover the truth she had just let slip to him with a lie. "More like I review it, I mean. I read over their reports and let them know when they got the information wrong. Like Ron cannot grasp the concept that wolfsbane and aconite are the same thing. Whenever they get something like that wrong, I correct it for them." She answers, hoping Draco would believe her.
"You're a bad liar Hermione. If we're going to hang out you're going to have to learn to lie better than that. You said you wrote their papers for them, not edit them." He chided her even though he was grinning from ear to ear. Seeing the look of concern on her face he laughed and said, "Besides if that's the worst thing you've done at Hogwarts then you're still a saint. Worry not Saint Granger your secrets are safe with me."
"Let's just forget that I said that," Hermione whispers, blushing as she looked back up at him, avoiding eye contact. "It's still nice to get out here and just get away for a while. It makes studying a lot easier when there aren't distractions."
Finishing his duck leg Draco nodded his head in agreement. He did like being out here in the quiet, even if it wasn't the nicest day out. Draco had to persist though out of sure curiosity, "So...if you'll cheat at the essays why don't you cheat at Ancient Runes? I mean it's pretty much the same thing right?" He asked preparing for an argument.
"It's not me cheating." Hermione answers, correcting Draco firmly, shocked and disgusted that he would even suggest such a thing. "I am only helping Ron and Harry out, not cheating. Besides, I couldn't cheat in Ancient Runes. It isn't fair to the others if I am cheating to get the answers. It is...wrong, and...immoral." Hermione says, trying to find the proper words as she held her head high, her arms now crossed across her chest as she turned her head away from Draco in disappointment. "I thought even you were above that, Draco."
"This coming from the woman who writes others papers for them. Isn't that the pot calling the cauldron black? Besides I don't know what you're so upset about. Personally I think it's a good thing. It shows you're willing to do whatever's necessary to..." What? Win? Survive? Draco couldn't think of the proper term for what he was trying to say so he settled for, "It shows your determination." He nodded approvingly at her as he started packing up the leftover food.
"It shows I'm determined?!" Hermione asks, now even more upset over what the man in front of her was saying. "No, determination is studying until you have the material memorized. Cheating is lying about it. Cheating will not do you any good if you need to use what you have learned later on." She says before finally turning back around to face him. She couldn't explain it, but she felt hurt that he was packing up. Was he leaving? "Where are you going?" She asks with concern, her voice suddenly softer and more fragile.
"I've suddenly found I've got something I need to take care of. Think about it would you? You'd be surprised what you're willing to do when you have to. If you want any help I'll tell you how I do it..." He said with a wicked grin as he picked up the basket and began walking up to the Castle leaving Hermione with a shocked scorn on her face as he swung the bag to and fro smiling to himself and humming a tune all the way back to the dungeons.