No Going Back.
Chapter 3.
Author's Note: Hey everyone… How many years has it been now? I started on this site when I was about 12 and now I'm almost 20! I spent some time re-reading old fics tonight and it was really interesting to watch how my writing changed as I grew up. I think my last update was in 2008 so I'm probably due for another one ;) Here goes! Hopefully I'm not too rusty. Please review and give me some feedback! Xoxo Jessica.
Flashback:
Looking up, Hermione Granger came face to face with Draco Malfoy's icy blue eyes and the curl of his upper lip.
"So, Mudblood. Looks like its just you and me."
Before his spiteful words could have an effect on her, and before she could correct him by saying, no it wasn't going to be just him and her, Draco spit on the ground inches away from her feet and stalked off.
Hermione's eyes narrowed. This was going to be an interesting week... well, if she managed to not murder Draco Malfoy, anyway.
Hermione leaned back and closed her eyes, trying to rid her mind of any negative thoughts. The upcoming week loomed ahead of her and she didn't know what to expect. Thankfully, she had managed to nab a seat on the train alone. Harry and Ron were seated across from her, whispering frantically about something but she did not care to break out of her reverie and find out what it was.
"Excuse me? Do you mind if I have a seat?" A tiny voice filtered through the background noise of the train. Hermione opened one eye to see who it was. Lavender Brown. She opened the other one too, sighing internally.
"Of course not, sit down." She tried to make her voice as warm as possible without conveying she just wanted to be left alone.
Lavender was wearing robes in an ironic shade of purple – some might even say lavender – and she swept them aside before sitting down.
"So I wanted to talk to you about Ron. I think I like him. Can you help?"
Hermione groaned internally and launched into a typical girl speech about how she was sure her friend liked her back and she would do everything she could to help her out. Finally, finally, Lavender returned to her seat with Parvati and Hermione was once again left with her thoughts on sharing a tent with Mr. Malfoy for a whole week.
Twigs crunched merrily under her feet in eerie time with the whistling of the birds residing in this forest. She felt so high strung and irritated right now that she just wanted to wave her wand and make it all stop. But she was Head Girl and she knew she had to be a role model. Leading the way for the Gryffindor group, she waved her arm to let them know they had reached the main camping area.
"Okay everyone! We're here. Now all we have to do is wait for the rest of Hogwarts to catch up and then McGonagall and Dumbledore will take it from there. You can drop off your bags by these tree stumps here." She kicked the ground with her foot to indicate what she meant.
An excited buzz fell over the crowd and she spotted Harry and Ron talking to Lavender and Parvati. Ron was blushing profusely and Lavender seemed to be laughing really hard at something he'd said. Strange. Was Ron really that funny? She hadn't noticed, in all these years of friendship. Biting back a smile, she kept her sarcastic thoughts in check and went over to join them.
"Hey guys! Are you looking forward to this week?"
Harry was the first to reply. "I am now…" He said it a little too quickly, eyes on Parvati the entire time.
Well, it looked as if his little mini-crush on her had been nipped in the bud. This pairing would work out pretty well, especially if Ron and Lavender did too. She breathed a sigh of relief and nudged Harry jokingly to convey she knew what was up.
He grinned back and turned to have his own private conversation with his new lady of interest. With Ron deep in a conversation with Lavender, Hermione had no one to talk to and felt a little left out. She stepped back and surveyed the surroundings. A typical Muggle forest, a typical Muggle campground, and a lot of wizards in different robes that looked extremely out of place.
She blinked. The size of the crowd had quadrupled. Everyone else was here! Thank goodness, now the headmaster could take charge. All she had to do was wait for the tents to get set up and go straight to sleep.
After finishing up a chat with the Head boy and girl from each house, Professor McGonagall dismissed them for the night. Hermione walked slowly to her tent, a grey contraption that looked like everyone else's, save for the number 9 in bright red on the side. It was strangely quiet inside but she chalked that up to the tent being so big. Why was it so big? She'd gone camping as a child and had never seen a tent this big, or weirdly rectangular. She pulled the flaps aside and stepped in.
"Well, well, well. Look who finally decided to grace us with her filthy presence." Of course. A sneering Draco Malfoy to start off this trip.
She pointedly ignored the comment and asked, "Where are Ernie and Elise?"
He ignored her for a few minutes, looking everywhere but at her.
"Get your nose out of the air and start being respectful. We're here for a week and this is no way to treat someone." She whispered fiercely, getting dangerously close to him. Her eyes flashed in anger and she didn't back away.
He jumped back, startled. He'd never seen her like this. All fire and flash – she looked kind of hot. Whoa. He shook his head rapidly, trying to shake the thought out of his head. This was going to be a long week.
"HELLO?!" She loud-whispered, getting even angrier by the second.
He'd forgotten she'd even said something. Maybe he could be nice. After all, in this tent, who would even find out, besides the two other losers he didn't even know? He took a deep breath.
"They're on the other end of the tent. The reason it's a rectangular tent is that it's designed to have two people sleep on one end, two people on the other, with a central area for luggage and food." Draco said this slowly, staring at his fingernail. Being nice to a Mudblood really was a foreign concept to him.
"You mean Elise and Ernie have already picked the other end?" She grumbled. "Way to leave me in the dust, guys…"
He hadn't even thought about this. They'd be together? Stunned into silence, he just looked at her. She really was quite nice looking. Well, for a Mudblood. Oh god, what was happening to him? It had literally been half an hour. Half an hour and his thought process was completely unlike anything it had ever been before.
Author's Note: Well, that's it for now. Please review and tell me what you think! I feel really rusty and would appreciate the feedback.
Thanks for reading! xxx Jessica