YAY! I managed to update today! I honest didn't think I would be able to! I had sailing tryouts on Monday and Tuesday, so I had no time to write! Thankfully, I had only a little homework today, so I get to write. Thank you for all the reviews and favorites and alerts! I honestly didn't think my story would become so popular. In such a little time too!
Disclaimer: I own NOTHING!
Chapter 4
Head Boy
Hermione was trapped by the silver eyed Slytherin's gaze, unable to tear her own brown eyes away. Those eyes held so many emotions, swirling around his irises, but the most dominant one was pure rage. The intensity of his gaze sends a shudder through her body, from fear or something else, she doesn't know. His burning gaze seems to judge her, bringing up the questions she had been avoiding.
Why are you with him? His eyes seem to say. You could do so much better. Though she would deny it if asked, she is entranced by his gaze. His gaze, so intense, seem to make her knees weak. His molten silver eyes see right through her, see right through everything. She has a eerie sense that this boy knows that she hadn't enjoyed her kiss with Ron. How he knows this, she doesn't know, but a sharp fear grips her at the thought. If he can sense she isn't happy, then it isn't all in her head..
Stop it! Hermione chides herself, tearing her eyes away from her old enemy (she had dropped all grudges against him after the war), and turning to make her way to the Heads' compartment. She needs to get away from those silver orbs that seem to unhinge her. Scratch that, she needs to get away from everything, if only for a few hours.
Not that she will be able to, after all, she is Hermione Granger, brains of the Golden Trio. Already, several articles have been run in Witch Weekly about her and Ron's engagement. She can already hear the whispers following her as she makes her way to the Heads' compartment. As quickly as she can, she throws herself into the tiny room reserved for her and one other person, and shuts the door behind her.
A book, she decides, is the best way to not think. So, she pulls her favorite book out of her bag, Hogwarts, A History, and peels open the worn cover. She has had the same copy since her first year at Hogwarts, and can't seem to part with it. It used to remind her of simpler times, when she was merely eleven, but now, it stands for how much she has been through.
She allows herself solstice in the pages of the old book, as the smell of it's musty pages fill the air. She is so lost in world of crinkling pages, delicate lettering, and interesting fact, she doesn't notice the second person enter the Heads' compartment.
"Well, Granger, seems as if the rumors are true." A chillingly familiar voice drawls from beside her. She jumps nearly a foot in the air and drops her book, which thumps on the floor.
"W-what rumors?" She stammers, quickly recovering and scooping her victimized book from the floor. She has yet to look at the unwanted visitor, not wanting to confirm who it is.
"That you and Weasel are engaged." The boy beside her says, and she can picture his signature smirk pasted on. "I never took you for someone who would like such a monstrosity." He gestures to her ring.
"Shut up, Malfoy." She grumbles, finally looking up at her old nemesis's face. His silver eyes are carefully blank, revealing nothing of what he is thinking, unlike earlier. But seeing those eyes still raises the questions she doesn't want to think about. "What I like and don't like doesn't concern you." She glares at him, unable to stop herself. Turning over a new leaf with Malfoy will be a lot harder than she thought if he keeps acting like his old insufferable self.
"Grumpy, now, aren't we? Have I hit a soft spot?" If possible, his smirk grows wider at this.
She growls at him, "None of your business, ferret. What are you doing here anyways? This compartment is reserved for Heads'."
His smirk, which had dropped a bit at her jibe, is full blown again. "Haven't you heard, mudblood? I'm the new Head Boy."
She flinches at the insult, but quickly shakes it off. "That isn't possible!" She exclaims, shaking her head. As if denying it will make him go away. It doesn't work. Now she has to spend all year in close quarters with him? This can't get any worse.
"Then I guess I just achieved the impossible." He replies snarkily, clearly not liking the fact she doubts his intelligence. She doesn't, of course, she knows he has been second in their year, just behind her, since their first year.
Deciding to ignore him before it blows out of proportion, she turns her attention back to her book. As she reaches to flip a page though, he grabs her hand and examines the ring on it. His fingers are long and gentle as they handle her hand, his palm slightly calloused. The feel of his soft, yet rough hands sends a shiver down her spine. His thumb traces over her ring, in almost possessive way.
"I don't think this suits you. Besides, you aren't one to flaunt what you have."
Just like that, she is torn back to reality.
"Hey!" She snatches her hand away from his, flustered at her reaction to him. This is Draco Malfoy! You're engaged to Ron! She reminds herself fiercely. "Like I said before, Malfoy. None. Of. Your. Business!" She snaps, standing up and roughly shoving her book back into her bag.
"Where do you think you're going? Heads' are supposed to stay in their compartment." He demands as she stands and strides quickly to the door.
"To my fiance!" She spats, slamming the door behind her as she exits the compartment and walks down the train in search of her friends. Now that she is no longer with Malfoy, she realizes just how much she over reacted. She can't help it. That boy always manages to get her wound up.
But it isn't just him, she acknowledges that. It is her thoughts as well. Those traitorous thoughts, that make her question her relationship with Ron, whom she is engaged to. Why can't those thoughts just go away? She knows she can go on with her marriage to Ron, it is expected, at least, she could if the thoughts would stop. She will marry Ron.
DHDHDHDHDHDHDHDHDH
Time seems to slow down from Draco as he stares into Granger's chocolate brown eyes, which aren't as muddy as he had originally thought. No, they are the opposite of muddy. The last time he saw those eyes, they had been filled with tears and pain while his deranged aunt tortured her. Now though, the eyes have the spark of life in them, along with surprise at seeing him once again.
The girl before him has changed a lot since the war. Then, she had been dirty and gritty, barely able to pass for a proper witch. Now though, she is anything but dirty and gritty. Her honey-brown curl falls delicately, framing her face. Her cheeks are flushed a light pink, and her lips are swollen from kissing the Weasel.
Just like that, the anger returns to him. How could she let someone so dimwitted at Weasel kiss her? How could she settle for him? For anything less than she deserved?
It seems like forever before Granger looks away from him, forever, and all too soon. He watches her as she quickly walks down the length of the train, then shakes himself. Why is he thinking of Granger this way? She's a filthy little mudblood. Besides that, she is best friends with his enemy. Well, not so much his enemy since the end of the war, but the person he despises.
There is no way he could have any feelings for her. After all, he only has eyes for his mate, whoever that may be. And Granger definitely isn't.
Once his thoughts are sorted, he starts to the Heads' compartment, already knowing who will be waiting for him once he reaches it. He braces himself for her questions of why he was staring at her and thinks up a snarky response.
As suspected, Granger is already in the compartment when he reaches it. Surprisingly, she doesn't look up as he enters. Too absorbed in her book. Not to pass up an opportunity, his takes his time to study her. She is slender, but not skinny like Pansy is, nor does she flaunt it. She is covered with baggy school robes, hiding her form, yet even a blind man could tell she is a beauty.
A beauty? This is Granger! He snaps at himself, jerking away from those thoughts at the same time he catches sight of the ring on her finger. Rage wells up inside him at the sight of another man's claim on her.
"Well, Granger, it seems the rumors are true." He drawls, breaking her concentration and frightening her enough for her to drop her book on the floor. The expression on her face is priceless.
"W-what rumors?" She stammers, not looking at him. That frustrates him. Why won't she look at him? She scoops her book from the floor, still avoiding his gaze, and his eyes narrow as he forces a smirk to his lips. Truthfully, it is difficult because he feels like shaking her until she looks at him.
"That are you and Weasel are engaged." Saying the words prove more difficult than he would have thought. It is as if saying them out loud makes them real. Not that he cares. He doesn't. "I never took you for someone who would like such a monstrosity." He adds, gesturing to her ring. That, surprisingly, is the truth, though he said it as an insult.
He pictures Granger as someone who would prefer a simple engagement ring. A silver band with one diamond at most. Nothing flashy like the thing on her finger.
"Shut up, Malfoy." Is her reply, but she finally looks up at his face, which he keeps carefully blank. Granger is the last person he wants to see the turmoil waging inside of him at the moment. "What I like and don't like doesn't concern you." That stings, though he doesn't know why, but he quickly pushes the emotion aside to deal with later. The tone of her voice surprises him, almost as if she is afraid. Afraid of him? He doubts it. The Granger he knows would go up to Voldemort himself and yell at him without flinching.
"Grumpy, now, aren't we? Have I hit a soft spot?" He widens his smirk, knowing he has her there. After talking with her for less than an hour he knows exactly how much she doesn't like her ring, and maybe her engagement, yet the Weasel still hasn't clued in. How dumb could you be?
She growls at him then, trying to be threatening. It succeeds in doing the opposite, he finds her growl incredibly sexy. "None of your business, ferret. What are you doing here anyways? This compartment is reserved for Heads'." At the ferret jibe, he frowns a bit. Shaking thoughts of Granger growling out of his head head, he grins mentally. For the brightest witch of her age, she sure is thick.
"Haven't you heard, mudblood? I'm the new Head Boy." The words, mudblood, feels clumsy in his mouth, and he has to force himself to spit it out. He doesn't care for her, so why does he immediately regret his word choice when he sees her flinch? After all, that had been the reaction he wanted. Hadn't it?
Surprise flickers across her face as his words sick in, and he takes pride in the fact he had stumped Granger. "That isn't possible!" She half-shouts at him. That hurts his ego a bit.
"Then I guess I just achieved the impossible." He practically snarls at her. Does she honestly think so low of him that she doubts he could be Head Boy? She turns away from him and to her book, which lies open in her lap, and starts to read, ignoring him. Him! He glares at the back of her head, but if she notices it, she doesn't let on.
Instead, she starts to turn a page in her book, leaving her ring in clear view. Before he can think, he grabs her hand, drawing it closer to him to inspect the chuck of stone she calls a ring. Her skin is as smooth as if looks, and ever so soft, he can't resist running his fingers across her palm as they trail up to her own fingers. Her fingers are long and delicate feeling as he fingers run over them. Then, there is her ring. A flicker of... something, he doesn't know what it is or how to describe it, fills him up as he runs his finger over the stone.
"I don't think this suits you. Besides, you aren't one to flaunt what you have." He says, half to himself. Why did she yes? Why did-
"Hey!" Her shout pulls him out of his thoughts as she jerks his hand away from him, as if disgusted by his touch. That thought pains him, but he quickly pushes it aside. He does not have feelings for Hermione Granger. "Like I said before, Malfoy. None. Of. Your. Business!" If looks cold kill, he would be dead three times over. She slams her book shut and strides toward the door. For a second, he is distracted by the way her hips sway.
"Where are you going? Heads' are supposed to stay in their compartment." He demands, though most of him is confused to why he even cares where she is going. But he does.
"To my fiance!" She spits the words out at him, stocking through the door and slamming it shut behind her. That stings a lot more than it should, and he winces at the sound of the compartment door slamming.
Groaning, he buries his head in his hands. First he figures out he is part Veela, and now he actually cares about Granger. What has the world come too?
Soo? Good? Bad? Okay? Let me know! This is a pretty long chapter, something I am REALLY happy about, since I wrote it in one day. YAY ME! I should probably update again by Saturday or earlier, I hope.