Tiny little chapter, but something happens! Finally.
He had never hated her as much as he had Potter and Weasley. Whilst they had always been pompous and arrogant in a way that would annoy, as far as Draco was concerned, any sane human being, Hermione was pompous and arrogant, but had every reason to be. She was clever to the point of genius, yet, as far as he knew, fairly modest about it, always willing to help, but never deliberately showing off.
She was not tall, not leggy, but almost painfully normal, and yet there was something so striking about that he now found himself struggling to keep mobile when he passed her in the corridor.
His first thought was that it was her hair, which was still the bushy mass it had always been, but soft curls fell from it and they caught the light, making her hair look luscious and desirable. It may also have been her face. She had smooth features, which were a harsh contradiction to his own sharp, pointed nose and eyes. Her lips were a soft pink, and at first he'd thought she wore makeup, but on closer inspection he could find no trace.
Ever since they'd spoken, and he'd finally accepted that this bet was becoming less and less important in his quest to make her love him, he was unable to take his eyes off her. He would find himself glancing over at her at the breakfast table, watching her in lessons. It was like an illness.
She plagued his mind as he lay in bed at night. Blaise didn't help. He'd instantly tuned in on the fact that his friend's mind was elsewhere and seemed to be doing his best to let him dwell.
Hermione appeared to be ignoring him. Every time she caught him looking at her she'd avert her eyes, quickly starting up a conversation with Potter or another of those Gryffindors. He didn't know whether he should take it as a good sign or not. It may have been that she was feeling exactly the same way, doing her best to hide it, just as he was half-heartedly attempting to do. Of course, the alternative was that she was feeling nothing of the sort, and the unwanted attention was unnerving her.
There was no time to confront her, as she was doing her best to avoid him, running from class at the end of Potions, or dashing past him in the corridors. Several times he'd casually strolled past the Heads' office, just to see if she was inside, but she never was.
The worst thing about it was he had nobody to talk to. He was determined to not lose face but admitting the dare had turned into something much more serious in front of his friends, but without a second opinion, he was at a loss at what to do.
His eyes sought her out in the Great Hall, just as the plates were clearing at the end of supper. She was sat with her back to him, as she'd been doing a lot recently, and as the light bounced off her hair he could tell that she was laughing. At what? Him? Was she relating their sorry tale to her friends and basking in the foolish laughter that surrounded her?
No.
He was being ridiculous. She wouldn't do that. That was the sort of thing he expected from Pansy, but not Hermione. The hall steadily emptied as students hurried back to their dormitories to sleep, as it was Halloween the next day, which meant there would be celebrations late into the night.
He followed her as she left. She was alone, having been sat leafing through books long after her friends had left her. Even as she walked she had only one eye on where she was going, the other glued to the text she held up before her.
Draco felt like a stalker as he glided along behind her.
"Hermione." He said, finally.
She jumped, stopping short and almost dropping her book. "Draco! Please don't ever do that again!"
"I'm sorry." He felt a smirk spreading across his face and quickly stopped it. The smirk had been inherited from his father, it seemed to be a natural reaction that, nine times out of ten, was out of his control. "I didn't mean to startle you, I just wanted to talk."
She sighed, shifting her book back into her bag. "These talks we keep having aren't getting you anywhere, Draco. I don't know what's going on, but I want to trust you and you're making it very difficult."
"You can trust me." He sat down on the floor, leaning against the cold stone wall and pulled her down beside him. "I think you can, anyway."
"That's not saying much" She muttered, just loud enough for him to hear.
"I know. But what happened is that on the train here, Blaise and I…" He couldn't tell her. It could make everything better, but it could also destroy all the progress he'd made with her so far. He cleared his throat. "Never mind that."
She was looking at him, and for once there was no suspicion in her eyes, just questioning curiosity.
"You've been avoiding me." Draco whispered, startled to feel colour springing to his cheeks. Was he embarrassed? He cleared his throat again, suddenly uncomfortable.
"Yes. I have." She confirmed, unabashed. "To be honest, I didn't know what to think and thought it best if I just kept my distance.
"Hermione," He couldn't believe he was going to say it. "I think I like you."
Yeah, so, please forgive me the tiny chapter, the next is already half written so…
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JustADoll
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