Chapter Eight
Sweet Revere
For another week they were abiding by their rules, but at breakfast time Hermione couldn't help but look over at him. Then the morning came when she was going to take the first step at reconciliation. Reading his journal she was thinking it would be a possibility they could be on civil terms.
She set her alarm at five in the morning, an hour before Malfoy would wake, and she tiptoed down to the kitchen, and began cooking. She had never been an exceptional chef, but everything was edible.
She was stacking the pancakes when Malfoy came in stumbling into his usual chair. She set a plate of pancakes, toast, butter, syrup, and whip cream in front of him without a word. Suspiciously he stared down at it. She turned away from him, and set to work with her own breakfast.
"Granger..."
"Hm?"
"What's this?"
"It's food, Malfoy."
"Are you trying to poison me?"
"No, I just had some leftovers, and I didn't want it to go to waste," she said simply, sitting across from him with her bowl of cereal. She smiled at him, and waited for the accusations to fly at her, but none came, he stabbed a fork into the pancakes, and they ate in silence.
Minutes later Hermione dumped the dishes into the sink, and went to walk out the backdoor when Malfoy called again.
"Where're
you going?"
She smirked, and wiped it off her face quickly
before she faced him. "Malfoy, I let you off the hook earlier
for talking to me, but now you're going overboard. Don't forget our
rules," and she walked outside.
It was nearing October, and the air was chilly, but she was determined to make use of the pond before it became too cold. She walked on the ground barefoot, the grass sticking between her toes, the morning dew leaving her feet damp. At the ponds edge she stripped off her clothes revealing a two piece yellow bathing suit. Hermione dipped her toe in causing ripples to work their way outward. The weather was cool, but the water was warmed by the sun. She jumped in.
Resurfacing to the top she started making two laps, and then floated on her back enjoying the feel of the sun beating down on her. Hermione thought of the hot bath she would take afterwards, and the book she would cuddle up with on the couch while she waited for her homework to appear on its designation, the coffee table.
It was ten at night when Hermione put the final touches on her Charms homework. She re-read it three times, and made minor changes until she was satisfied. She sat it aside with the other piles of parchments, and saw the envelope she had pushed back. Homework came first. She pulled it towards her, and ripped it open. She smiled wide.
Hermione,
Are you okay? Is Malfoy treating you alright? We can't believe this is happening. How can Dumbledore force you to live with him? We miss you loads. Ron misses you more than he likes to admit, but you know how he is. We wish you were here. Not only because we think that we're failing Astronomy, but it's lonely without you... Encouraging us. We love you.
Harry
Hermione felt that her day had brightened significantly, even though she knew that "encouraging," was code for nagging. She immediately took out extra parchment from her backpack, and dipped her quill in the ink bottle.
Harry,
I
miss you too! I'm just fine. Malfoy, and I have come to an agreement
to pretend that the other doesn't exist. It's working, but I admit
it's quite lonely here. I miss "encouraging," you. You
wouldn't have any trouble with Astronomy if you kept notes like I do.
Dumbledore is only doing what he thinks is best, you know that. Don't
worry about me. I love you two.
With Love, Hermione
She wrote it quickly, and blew softly on the wet ink before placing it into an envelope. She sat it with her homework for Dumbledore to pick up. She didn't know when he dropped by, but she knew he did.
Hermione leaned back onto the couch feeling very pleased with herself. It felt so wonderful completing her school work. She thought she should award herself, she felt particularly good about her Potions essay. At least now she did, soon she would start doubting her work, she always did. She decided to take her mind off of it. She raised her wand. "Accio journal."
She caught the flying book with such speed it would make Harry proud. She opened it propping it against her knee. He heart thrummed faster against her chest when she saw that he wrote.
23/9/96
Ever seen someone so beautiful they took your breath away? I did. Today. And it all started with something out of the ordinary. Granger cooked me breakfast. She repeated what I said when I did the same thing for her weeks ago. "Leftovers..." I would have sworn that she was poising me if it weren't for the look she gave me... It was like she was seeing something, that she knew something about me, but she knows nothing... Then she left, and out of my own cursed curiousity I followed her out into the backyard. When she was at the pond I hid under the stairs, and I watched as she undressed. I'm not a pervert, she had a bathing suit, but it showed off her stomach, and back. Her legs were longer than I would have imagined. For a bookworm she had sun kissed skin. Kissable skin... In the world I would create it would be sweet revere being there with her. It's not fair that we were born to hate each other. I'm losing it...
Hermione blushed deeply, her face was as red as lava. Kissable? He made her sound... Amazing. She breathed deeply. In normal circumstances she would be angry that he had spied on her, but she wasn't. What he wrote made up for it, but she shook her head at this thought. He was still Malfoy, her best friends enemy. He was supposed to be hers too.
She sent the book magically back. She wouldn't think of Malfoy anymore that night. She was done. She couldn't be having these feelings, whatever feelings they were.
She was very tired, she didn't feel like going up to her room. It wouldn't be so bad sleeping on the couch for a short nap. She curled up in the corner. She didn't wake up once that night.