Chapter four
Ginny and Harry reached the Great Hall to find everybody seated and awaiting their arrival. Hurriedly they rushed to their seats, Professor Dumbledore observing them with a merry twinkle in his eye.
"Well then, now that we are all here, Happy Goober's Day and let us eat!" Conversation broke about the table as everybody tucked into the continental breakfast. Hermione spread cream cheese on her bagel as she listened ardently to the conversation between Harry and Ginny, who were opposite her. To her left sat Ron, heartily wolfing down a plate of pancakes, while to her right, Pansy was daintily buttering her scone.
"So how were your holidays so far?" Pansy questioned. Hermione turned as she heard the question. About her conversation was still going on as norm. Hermione had grown to accept Pansy's sudden friendship, she had come to see that the girl was not as bad as she thought. She was actually quite pleasant, Hermione thought to herself. Thus, she turned to Pansy and replied truthfully, "Alright I guess, regarding the circumstances." Pansy smiled softly and nodded in agreement, "same here as well…" She trailed off as her eyes landed on Malfoy who was opposite her and sharing an interesting conversation with Professor Snape. Hermione followed her gaze, and she was startled to see the raw emotion on her potions masters face. He seemed to be shining with pride and joy.
Hermione frowned slightly, though her apparent friendship with Pansy, she still had not been able to find out the reason for their arrival. Perturbed, she reminded herself to ask Pansy about it, hoping that the Slytherin girl would be sharing the private quarters which Ginny and herself resided in during the holiday period.
Meanwhile, she had not realised that she had been staring in Snape and Malfoys' direction all this while. Their conversation came to a halt as Malfoy turned to meet Hermione's gaze. Hermione confronted it with a raised eyebrow, before turning to Ron on her right, who not noticing anything amiss, was attacking his fifth pancake.
"So Ron, what's going on between you and Pansy?" Ginny questioned a smile on her lips.
Ron, finishing up his last pancake, sat back comfortably and patted his full stomach. Reaching his hand behind Hermione's back, he tapped Pansy's shoulder lightly. "Hey Parkinson, do we have anything going on?" he asked coolly. Ginny covered her face in embarrassment; she could not believe that bluntness of her brother! Pansy turned slowly, interrupted from her conversation with Professor Flitwick, she shot a degrading look at Ron. Raising an eyebrow, she uttered, "No where near, Weasley. No where near." Then clearly dismissing him, she turned back to her conversation.
Drawn to the commotion, Malfoy simply sneered at them, before turning away.
By now, Ginny was blushing deep red, she felt awful for her brother. Yet from some odd reason, Ron did not seem affected at all. Hermione took this into contemplation as she observed the scenario, obviously there was something else going on, for if not why would she be nice to them and not Ron. Hermione sighed, the emotional observation was always Ginny's department.
Hearing Hermione's sigh, Ron shot her a cheeky grin, draping his arm around Hermione he lamented loudly, "I've been rejected once already, surely you would not reject me Hermione." Ron batted his eyelids heavily at Hermione.Hermione laughed and took Ron's hand in her own, gazing into his eyes deeply, she let a slow minute pass before she breathed softly,
"Join the queue Weasley."
Harry and Ginny broke into laughter, even Ron started to chuckle, grabbing his hand from Hermione he added theatrically, "Alas thy heart is broken, and thy soul will not mend."This sent them all into another hearty fit of laughter. Hermione smiled as she bit into her bagel.
Their antics came to a halt when Professor Moody strode into the hall. Harry and Ron quickly jumped to their feet and called for their broomsticks.
"Get moving all of you. Now!" Moody barked, causing Harry and Ron to quicken their pace out of the hall. By now, Hermione realised that most of the staff, including their headmaster, had finished their meals a lot earlier and had long gone. She watched as Harry and Ron disappeared out of the hall. She stretched slightly, now that she had found out more about the book, she wanted to pop into the library and do a bit of research on the ancient world. Further more, she had planned to get down to penning a letter to her father perhaps he knew something about her memory. She had opted not to tell anyone about it till she had more information. To her surprise, Professor Moody remained in the hall, not leaving with Harry and Ron like he usually did.
"Did you hear me not? I said all of you! Up now!"
Ginny and Pansy looked up from their food and at Professor Moody in confusion. Reading the dissatisfied look on his features, they hastily left the hall, Ginny turning back and signalling to Hermione to hurry up. Hermione cleared her throat. "Professor Moody, I don't think I am supposed to join you today."
"Miss Granger, you look perfectly fit to me and don't see why not otherwise."
Hermione quirked her brow, Professor Moody had obviously misinterpreted her intentions. She tried to reason with Professor Moody but his back was turned to her. Instead, he was facing Malfoy, the only remaining person in the hall.
"And why aren't you moving young man?"
"And why should I listen to you, old man?" Malfoy replied. Hermione listened with amazement. There were times when Malfoy appeared to be so matured that she doubted he was even capable of a childhood. And yet, there were other times when he acted like every bit of the spoilt and stubborn brat he was, and apparently it seemed as if Malfoy had not learnt his lesson from his past experience.
Then, to both the surprise of Hermione and Draco, Professor Moody clapped Malfoy on the back. "Always liked spirit in my boys." He added, hobbling out of the hall.
Draco looked on as he departed. Was the man crazy? He needed to be taught a lesson, he thought deciding to show this old timer a thing or two about a Malfoy. Hermione followed her Professor slowly behind, her mind lost in contemplation. Beside her, Draco strode firmly, his head held high, pondering ways in which he could annihilate the crazy old man who disrupted his morning meal.
As Professor Moody turned the corner, he looked back to observe the two, the signs of a smile on his face. By the time the three of them reached the Quidditch pitch, Harry, Ron, Pansy and Ginny, were already in the air, hovering about the goalposts. Hermione took one look at them and turned around to return to the castle.
"Miss Granger, where do you think you're going?"
"Back to the castle." Hermione replied, waving her hand towards the Hogwarts beyond. "Don't tell me you're scared Granger?" Malfoy's mocking voice pierced the air. To Hermione's disgust she found that he was already on his broom, hovering slightly above her.
"I am most certainly not!" She replied. Turning around to face him, a slender hand placed on her hip.
"Well looks to me like you are." Draco replied, making loops in the air. Hermione already felt slightly queasy watching him. But, angered by Draco's remarks, she marched over to where the practice brooms were. Taking one she attempted to mount it. I am not afraid of flying. It's just that brooms just don't seem to like me, and plus my fear of heights does not really complement that. I am most certainly not afraid of a cleaning device! Hermione thought to herself, as she managed to get the broom to hover a metre above the ground. Suddenly, as if the broom lost its magical power, it fell, and Hermione landed with a bump on the ground.
Rubbing her sore bum, she gave a glare towards her broom on the floor, and directed a second one at the Slytherin laughing above her. With a huff, she picked up the broom and dragged it towards Professor Moody. Professor Moody was watching this spectacle with a grin in his eye and upon seeing Hermione's approach, hurriedly turned his face to the four children in the air above him, shooting random spells into the air and watching them avoid them. He nodded in appreciation at the team work already beginning to form between his two boys and the newbies.
"Professor Moody, I would like to learn to fly a broomstick." Hermione stated a look of determination plastered on her face. Moody nodded uncommitted, "Mister Malfoy!" Hermione cringed. "You yelled?" Malfoy answered, coming to stop just above them. "I want you to assist Miss Granger in flying. No questions." Before either could reply, Moody barked "Potter, Weasleys and Parkinson down to earth now, and that includes you to Malfoy."
"Nice going, Granger" Draco mouthed as he passed Hermione.
Hermione smirked in reply.
They all quickly dismounted, Hermione still brooding over what she had gotten herself into.
"Today we are going to work with these." Moody revealed a row of sharp swords. Hermione looked at them warily. She had never been to any of Harry and Ron's trainings but from their intake of breathe she assumed that this was not usual. "We are here to work towards a common goal, so I do not want any snide remarks. Arm yourself and we will begin." Hermione wanted to question why on earth they had to learn to use swords when a simple spell would be sufficient, but instead she held her tongue, retrieving a sword from the table.
Holding the dead weight in her hands Hermione tried to find comfort in it. It was too cold for her liking. "Pairs. Potter Weaslette. Parkinson Weasley. Granger Malfoy." Moody barked, leaving no space for argument. Hermione sighed. It felt has if the world was certainly against her today. She was determined to show that boy a thing or two. She stood opposite Malfoy, her sword in hand. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Pansy take a stance. Hermione followed suit, placing one foot before the other she raised her sword slightly. She honestly had no idea what she was supposed to do.
Opposite her, Malfoy looked perfectly at ease, as if he had done this a million times before, his confidence did nothing for her own.
"Enguard." Hermione had watched enough movies to know what this meant and she steeled herself, still not believing that Professor Moody would allow them to use swords. Nothing prepared her for Malfoy's sudden attack. Out of no where, Hermione saw a silver blade whip out at her, with inhuman reflexes, she ducked and watched in amazement as the sword whistled just inches above her head. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Ron and Harry heading towards them; Professor Moody stopped them before they even were close enough to do any harm. Suddenly it was as if blood was pumping in her ears and her hand seemed to possess strength unknown to her. She raised her sword and brought it slashing towards Malfoy. Just when she thought she was going to actually cut him, it was deflected with a quick blade, and both their swords were wrenched out of their hands by the momentum.
"Oh!" Hermione exclaimed in surprise has she found herself breathing hard, the blood in her ears disappearing.
"Despicable, that was hardly considered worthy of any swordsmanship. They are swords not javelins!" Moody roared.
Hermione watched as Malfoy bristled. "Look here old man, I know how to fight properly, just give me a proper opponent and…"Malfoy trailed off. Then to Hermione's amazement he simply turned around and trudged back to the castle. They all watched him go, and for some reason Hermione felt extremely unsettled by his sudden change in nature.
"Right. Back on the brooms, I want you to work as a team!" Moody bellowed, towards the four who were simply staring past him. Pansy turned up her chin and called to her broomstick, with one fluid movement she was up and into the air. Ginny, Ron and Harry followed soon after. Professor Moody immediately started to shoot spells at them, Hermione watching in fascination as they ducked and dived through the air, at the same time trying to mount attacks on their opponent teams. She now knew why Pansy could fit into their training so flexibly, she was a natural flyer.
Receiving a dismissive nod from the preoccupied Professor, Hermione returned to the castle. Not wishing to see Malfoy anytime soon, Hermione visited the library, borrowing all the books which she thought necessary and then returned to her private common room for a pleasant read
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