Hermione Granger looked over her supplies to make sure she had everything she needed. Even though this was just a simple experiment, she still wanted it to go just right. Every good grade was another boost to her already impressive GPA average. Now all she needed to do was survive her lab partner. Every single time she was partnered with Harry or Ron, it never failed that her experiment went totally awry. She was hoping to get paired with Draco this time around. He always made a fun and excellent partner. It also helped that they both loved to experiment with cooking. They had practically grown up together. She spent almost as much time at his house as he did at hers. The only difference was that her grandmother refused to let them cook. His mother had no problem handing them a cookbook and turning them loose in the kitchen.
Draco Malfoy walked into Mr. Snape's classroom. He smiled as he realized Hermione Granger was already there. She had everything set up to do the experiment they'd all been assigned. He knew what that look of dread on her face meant. She was scared to death that she was going to get paired with Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. The two of them somehow always managed to wreck Hermione's hard work whenever she was paired up with one of them. Ordinarily, he'd be jockeying to pair up with her as they always had fun and came up with some great ideas, but since the first of this school year, he'd been on a mission. True, they weren't very far into the year, but this was a mission already three years in the making. He was determined that this year was the year it would succeed. This year he was bound and determined to get Hermione together with the boy who had been pining after her since their freshman year.
Severus Snape watched as his students entered the classroom. As usual, Hermione Granger had been the first one in and set up ready to go. He kept an eye on her as Draco Malfoy and some of his teammates walked in. His eyes narrowed as Draco looked at him, then made a motion between one of his friends and Hermione. 'If he didn't know any better, he'd swear the boy was trying to get HIS help in matchmaking for Hermione!' He repeated the gesture and arched a brow in question. Draco nodded, clasped his hands together and silently mouthed, "Please." Snape had to let out a small, amused chuckle. Based on their reaction to each other so far, Draco might not want to celebrate just yet. The students in question had already clashed a couple of times this year and not only in his class, from what he'd overheard in the teacher's lounge. There had apparently been quite a spectacular show in McGonagall's English class, involving the use of paper airplanes.
Hermione turned around and her eyes narrowed at the sight of HIM. He smirked at her as he went by, flicking a strand of her hair as he passed her. She eyed the braces on his legs and the forearm crutches he wielded. She hissed at him and whipped around to face the front of the room. Draco was chuckling behind him as he leaned down and hugged her. She rolled her eyes as Harry and Ron ran in just in time to avoid the tardy bell. She'd actually been hoping they'd be absent today. They dropped into their seats and greeted her with bright smiles. She loved them to death, she really did, but it didn't take away from the fact that they were both klutzy and not to be trusted with anything that could even remotely blow up.
Snape stood up and gave a short lecture as he wrote instructions on the chalkboard. A lot of the other teachers criticized his nonuse of the textbook. He simply shrugged his shoulders and went about his business. The way he saw it was, as long as he followed the basics of the book, he could add on his own ideas and make the lessons better. It was the reason so many students signed up for his class. They always had fun, right along with learning what they needed to. He wasn't afraid to let them experiment with different things, either.
Today, for instance, he was going to let them make their own ice cream. As he explained the experiment they would be conducting, the students were getting genuinely excited about it, especially as his class was right before lunch. The way they saw it was they would be getting their dessert first, something that didn't happen too often at home. After his lecture came the fun part: Assigning partners. He picked up the attendance sheet and began calling out teams. From the sounds of it, there was going to be quite a few three person teams. One would be supervising the other two. To Hermione's delight, she was indeed paired with Draco. To her displeasure, they were also given Ivar Lothbrok as a third person. She huffed angrily as he and Draco made their way over to her.
"Cmon, Hermione, smile! We're the best two students after you. You know this experiment is going to be a roaring success!" Draco teased her. Hermione rolled her eyes at him. Ivar was sitting quietly, already looking over their materials.
"Maybe. We'll see what happens. Hopefully, there won't be any paper planes making an appearance today!" She sniped at Ivar. He looked up and smiled at her, his blue eyes shining brightly.
"No need for paper planes today. We're already in a group together." He laughed as she frowned. Draco and Ivar's brothers were already seeing sparks fly between the two of them again.
They began packing their bags as Draco filled the ice bags. The brothers watched in amusement as Hermione kept snatching everything away from Ivar just before he touched it. Hvitserk leaned toward Draco, telling him quietly, "Be on the lookout. There's about to be trouble. She keeps grabbing everything away from him, he's going to grab her hand and lick it. He used to do us like that when we'd snatch stuff away from him!"
Draco's lips twitched as he saw the frustration growing on Ivar's face. Sure enough, the next item Hermione snatched was dropped in surprise as Ivar grabbed her hand. Quick as lightning, he licked it and grabbed the last ingredient needed. She squealed angrily and lunged forward. He turned and pecked her on the cheek. She jumped back with a squeak, staring at him wide-eyed. He grinned at her triumphantly. His brothers were covering up their laughter.
She looked at Draco, who shrugged and tapped his watch. She turned her attention back to the experiment, watching Ivar warily. Then they each took a gallon bag, dropped their pint bags inside and started shaking them. Draco hadn't told them which ice bag had the salt and which bag didn't. They watched as Ivar's bag slowly turned to ice cream. Hermione growled softly as she realized he'd get credit for finishing the experiment first.
Without thinking, she flipped him off. Ivar's eyes widened, then narrowed as he returned the gesture. She gasped, then flipped him off again, this time using both hands. Again, he sent it right back at her. Draco was leaning on her shoulder, holding his stomach as he tried to keep from howling. Sigurd was leaning on Goyle's back as he did the same thing. Hvitserk was leaning on the counter, both hands over his face. She crossed her arms and wiggled one hand as she flipped him off yet again. He grinned menacingly as he held his hands out and pretended to crawl upwards, then flipped his hands over to flip HER off again.
They were both unaware that Snape had a perfect view of their silent war of the bird. His lips were twitching as he waited to see if he was going to have to run interference. Hermione's teeth were bared as she thought of her next move. She reached out and knocked his book off the counter. Ivar huffed angrily as he grabbed some of her notes, wadding them up and tossing them in the floor. Hermione looked scandalized as she stared at the paper wads. Just then, the bell rang. Everyone started grabbing their bags.
Hermione was straightening her papers as she muttered angrily to herself. Ivar was sitting on his stool, stubbornly refusing to move as he stared at her. A throat cleared above them. "Class is dismissed, for everyone except Hermione Granger and Ivar Lothbrok. You two will stay and clean every counter in here. You will also straighten up every desk and table. The door will be locked, and I will be in my office. When you quit acting like the dunderheads I know you're not, I'll let you out." Snape stared at them as they just sat there. "I would also suggest that you pick up Mr. Lothbrok's book and apologize, Miss Granger. And you, Mr. Lothbrok, will apologize for messing up her notes. You might want to get started. I'm told you both have gym after lunch. I'm not sure about you, Miss Granger, but I strongly doubt Mr. Lothbrok will want to go to gym class hungry." He almost lost control of his own laughter at the look of horror on Ivar's face at that particular thought.
Ivar immediately slid off his stool and grabbed up a cleaning rag. Hermione debated with herself as to whether or not she wanted to risk ISS over defying Mr. Snape and leaving Ivar's book in the floor. Then she thought of having that one little blemish on her records and immediately picked the book up, silently apologizing for any damage she'd caused it. As the classroom emptied, Snape did indeed lock the door before he went to his office and shut the door.
The two students silently worked and stole glances at each other. Ivar finished his side of the room first and sat down to wait for Hermione. She turned around to face him as she finished up. His head was cocked as he watched her with the most enticing blue eyes she'd ever seen on a boy. She wondered if he knew exactly how seductive those eyes were. She was sorely tempted to lean down and kiss him, just to see how he'd react. She walked towards him slowly. He waited to see what she was going to do.
"I'm sorry about knocking your book in the floor. That was very immature of me." She surprised him with the apology. He'd heard how stubborn she was, especially if she thought she was right.
He scraped a fingernail along his jawline as he spoke. "I'm sorry for messing up your notes. I know you like to keep all of your stuff neat." She lowered herself into a chair facing him. Propping his hands on his knees, he leaned forward. "May I ask you something?"
She tipped her head at him. "Ask away." He reached out to stroke a strand of hair behind her ear. She shivered slightly at the light touch.
"Are you seeing anyone?" He'd surprised her. She reached up and held his hand against her hair.
"No. Not at the present time." She held her breath and waited. He smiled and pulled her closer.
"Hypothetically speaking, what would you say if I were to ask you out sometime?" He watched as she ducked her head shyly.
"Hypothetically speaking, I'd very likely say yes." She peeped up at him. He laid a hand on her cheek, wrapped his other arm around her and kissed her. As he pulled away, Snape opened his office door.
"Well, it looks like you're cleaning is done. Have we exchanged apologies?" Snape asked, eyeing the two of them sternly.
"Yes, Mr. Snape." They spoke in unison. He nodded and smiled at them. They really were his two best students!' He unlocked the door and allowed them to leave. Just before they were out of the classroom, he spoke again. "Have a good time on your date." They looked at him, then started giggling together. He chuckled as he prepared for his next class.