Ice
By katie4dragons
Hermione sat quietly by herself on the warm bus. It was a chilly Thursday morning. Her fists were clenched, and she looked like she was about to throw up her recently eaten breakfast. These clearly are the signs of a very stressed-out person. She hated, absolutely hated, these morning bus rides. Every morning this winter she had to get on this stupid bus and wait for the horrible incident to repeat its self again and again.
God, how she hated ice. For some reason every single time she got off the bus there had to be a patch of ice the size of Canada there waiting, and as it seemed, just for her. Everyday since the first dreaded snowfall of the season it had been there, taunting her. That stupid chunk of ice was out to get her, she just knew it. There was a sudden, awful screeching noise that had people grimacing and covering their ears as the bus came to a stop. A sudden rush of cold air swept in as the doors opened, signaling that it was time for everyone to get off. People formed a queue and stepped off one by one, making it look easy.
Hermione stood up and prepared herself for the inevitable. Fist she made her way down the three bus steps, one, two, three. That was the easy part. Sucking in a breath, she braced herself. Slowly she put one foot down on the icy pavement, then the other. As soon as she let go of the bus' handrail she went down. Her right foot flew to the right and her left foot flew to the left. It was the most amazing fall she had done yet. If Olympic judges had been watching they would have given it a perfect score. Yet everyone around her did ether one of two things; stopped and cruelly laughed, or just ignored the poor girl on the ground.
After checking to make sure she hadn't broken anything, Hermione stood back up on shaky knees and wobbly ankles. Slowly and carefully she made her way to the edge of the ice patch, praying she wouldn't fall again. She fell down a total of three more times before she made it to safety. Once she was not on slippery pavement she took a deep breath and stood up straight. With tears in her eyes and bruises on her knees she carried on with the rest of her day, dreading the next morning when she knew it would only happen again.
The next morning, Friday, Hermione sat by herself on the bus, taking deep breaths and rubbing the scars on her hands from were she had cut them on the ice a few days ago. She wanted to cry. Here she was yet again, on her way to certain embarrassment and pain.
From his seat at the back of the bus Draco Malfoy watched the young woman. He hadn't laughed when she fell down repeatedly the day before. He had only been able to watch her out his window. By the time it was his turn to get off she had always managed to pick herself up for the forth time and walk away. But he could see it here, from his seat in the back. He could see the tears already pooled up in her brown eyes, the way her hands shook as she stood up. Here it goes again. Slowly she went down the steps as he watched from the window. One, two, three. One foot onto the ice, now the other. He could almost hear her cry outwhen she fell down yet again. Two more times this morning she fell, until she finally reached the end of the ice patch. As she stood up and sadly brushed herself off she failed to notice the pale blond man from her past watching her, with pity in his light gray eyes.
It was a cold, frozen Monday morning, and that stupid patch of frozen water was still there. As the bus came to a stop Draco Malfoy stood up and headed to the doors. Today he had changed his routine. He was sitting in the very front seat this morning, because today he was going to do something for the sake of someone else. His plan required him to get off the bus before the nervous wreak that was Hermione Granger. He went down the steps, one, two, three. He stepped on the ice with one foot, then the other. He walked to the side of the bus doors and waited.
Hermione Granger stood up and got in the queue to get off the bus. Finally it was her turn. She walked down the bus steps, one, two, three, and stopped. She didn't want to do this again. Preparing herself she made to step off the bus, and stopped again, this time not of her own will. Someone on the pavement had put their arm out in front of her, stopping her final steps. The owner of the arm walked the rest of himself in front of the bus doors. Draco Malfoy smirked up at a startled Hermione Granger.
This was the last thing on Earth Hermione wanted. He could only be here for one reason; to make her feel worse about herself when she managed to slip and fall down again. She was just about to protest him blocking her exit when he did something extremely unexpected.
Draco Malfoy, a first class snob and a former Death Eater, grabbed Hermione Granger, a Muggle-born and a bookworm, around her waist and proceeded to lift her off the bus. He then set her feet gently on the ground next to his and held her hand. Together they slowly and carefully made it off the ice. She, unsteady and grabbing onto him whenever she felt she was about to fall. He, leading her by the hand until they were free of the ice under their feet.