Chapter 7: Beside the Flutterby Bush

D r a c o M a l f o y

"Draco Malfoy! You come out this instant!" Pansy yelled knocking on Draco's door brutally.

His sweet dreams had to be interrupted in such a malevolent way to be bothered by such a trivial person. Draco attempted to raise his head from his silky pillow making an effort to open his eyes. He took the nearest cushion beside him throwing it at Blaine Zabini.

"You go get it." He groaned almost falling back into a deep slumber.

"No way, she's your problem, not mine." Zabini groaned back hiding himself under his quilted blanket.

"If you don't open this door, I'll tell your father about you and that revolting mudblood!" Pansy threatened still banging on the door. Everyone in his dormitory practically heard what she just announced.

Draco's eyes shot wide open. How could she of known about his encounters with Hermione? Pansy's been staying at least 50 meters away from him ever since he broke up with her. He thought she was out of his life for good. She couldn't have seen them talking during class either. They didn't have many classes together, and even when they did, Hermione wasn't in any of them.

Draco stood up letting out a yawn walking towards his bedroom door. He turned the knob letting Pansy do the rest of the job by pushing the door wide open. He rubbed his left eye looking at Pansy staring at him, her cheeks turning into a cherry like blush. He forgot to put on a shirt and was pretty much only wearing a pair of Slytherin boxers.

"What?" he asked in a rude manner making her eyes break away from the context of his well-toned abs. "It's not polite to bother someone when they are sleeping."

"You break up with me to date a bloody mudblood?" She yelled. "You think your reputation will be maintained if you date her!"

A few of their Slytherin housemates crowded around them some giggling in the background.

"It's none of your business Pansy." He shrugged. "At least she's not needy like you."

The giggles turned into laughs. Pansy was a 1st class clinger. She was like a magnet sticking onto a fridge.

Pansy looked around her peers embarrassed to hear her roommates agreeing with Draco's comment. She slapped him across his face. "Well, jokes on you! I heard she fancies Viktor Krum!"

Pansy stormed out of the corridor shoving Terrence Higgs against the wall. Draco stared at Pansy as she left. He hasn't seen Hermione for the past couple days, except during class of course. He was too busy dealing with Quidditch practice. His first few classes of the day were excused just so his team could prepare for the next match against Gryffindor. Was she hanging out with Viktor Krum during that time?

Zabini walked up to him resting his elbow on Draco's shoulder. "Sucks to be you." Zabini teased. "I was just going to let you bring my sister to the Yule Ball too."

Draco shrugged Zabini's elbow off his shoulder heading back into their room closing the door behind him. He thought he was so close to capturing the heart of the mudblood; he even put up an act of being a sweetheart to get to her. Now he was losing his dare to Viktor Krum. The one thing that confused him was why he vented to her when they snuck out after curfew. It must have been those brown eyes of hers. Each time he stared into them he had an urge to say or do things he would never do. He's been acting a little too nice for a quite a while and it was now getting to him. Nonetheless, he had to ask Hermione to the Yule Ball before Viktor Krum did.

He stood their awkwardly in the Gryffindor territory feeling the dirty stares burying deep into his soul. Whispers were being heard all around him and fingers being pointed like a pistol aiming towards his head. Draco quietly groaned looking up from time to time to see if Hermione would come into sight. He waited at the library for around an hour, but she was never there. His patience was thinning by the second when each Gryffindor boy would pass by him asking 'Why are you here Malfoy? Go back to your dungeon.' He looked back down between his shoes to avoid making eye contact with anyone passing by.

"Hey there Malfoy… Are you looking for Hermione?" Ginny asked bending down to make eye contact with him. Lavender and Parvati were standing behind her greeting him with a hello. He never saw Lavender since his summer with her; he was feeling a bit uncomfortable.

"Yeah… I haven't seen her in a while; I just wanted to know how she was doing…" He responded standing up straight. "Do you know where I might find her?"

"She's at Professor Sprout's Herbology room. She's been helping to prune some of the Flutterby bushes as decoration for the Yule ball."

"Oh… I see." He sighed in relief. At least she wasn't with Viktor Krum. "Well thanks for your help. I've been looking for her all day."

"You're Welcome." Ginny smiled.

Draco returned the smile before running down the stairs and across the 1st floor to the Herbology room. He stared through the window just to make sure that she was there. It seemed to look like she wasn't alone. Viktor Krum was in there with her. He stared at the two of them trying to read their lips and body language.

He started to question if he was too late as he watched Hermione give him a hug before Viktor started to head his way. Draco hid behind the door watching Viktor exit the room waiting until he turned around at the nearest corner. He then fixed his robes and stepped into the room.

"Hey Granger… I haven't seen you in a while. Did you miss me?" He said giving her a smirk.

Hermione looked up putting down the gardening pruners. "Yeah… I did miss you." She joked trying to hold in her laugh. "I felt so lonely during class when you weren't there."

He knew that she was just teasing him, but he was going to take it anyways. "Need any help?"

"No not really… This is my last bush of the day. It won't take too long… And we all know it takes you a lifetime to put on the safety clothing."

Draco laughed because he knew it was true. He stared at Hermione as she pruned her way through the bush wondering how he should bring up the Yule Ball. He didn't want to make it too obvious, but he didn't want to make it so vague either.

"Will you be attending the Yule Ball?" he asked taking a step towards her.

"Yes… It's an event I'd like to take part in."

He took a deep breath before replying. "Will you be going alone…?"

"Uhm… Viktor Krum asked me a few days ago at the library." She paused trying to remove the thickest branch on the shrub. "I mean the point of having this tournament is to meet new people right? So… I said yes."

"Oh…" Draco said disappointed.

"Yeah… I think Pansy overheard him asking me when we were at the library. She looked mad… I'm not really sure why, but she was…"

His disappointment grew hearing that Pansy knew for a while and didn't decide to confront him until today. He was still confused to as how Pansy knew more than expected. Maybe they're encounters with each other were more public than he thought.

Draco leaned in closer to see if Hermione even made a cut on the branch. Hermione squeezed the pruner as hard as she could till…

"BAM!" she elbowed Draco right on his nose.

Draco squeezed his nose backing away feeling dizzy as he fell to the floor.

"OH MY GOSH! Are you okay? I'm so sorry!" Hermione panicked. She ran across the room grabbing an ice pack from the first aid kit before kneeling down to place it on his nose.

"I am so sorry." She repeated pressing it against the bruise.

"It's fine…" He replied. "You punched me last year… This isn't so bad."

Hermione leaned in closer trying to inspect the damage she just created.

Draco leaned back a bit staring at her eyes; everything around him muting. He couldn't even hear her panicking anymore. Those honey like eyes looked angelic to him and his surroundings would feel so calm and serene every time he looked at them. He moved the ice pack away from his nose forgetting about the pain leaning in giving her a soft gentle kiss on the lips. Hermione stopped talking as Draco leaned in again, letting his fingers comb its way into her hair while resting his thumb on her cheek. He gave her another kiss; this time deeper and passionate than before. She tasted like a Liquorice Wand… Draco hated Liquorice Wands, but this one he wanted to savour in his mouth forever.