Chapter 10-Place Of Meeting
Hermione's POV:
Sitting in the library I read my book, Hogwarts: A History, and tried to ignore my surroundings. The faint scratching of quills against parchment and the occasional exasperated sighs from students echoed around the almost empty room. Bleak sunrays attempted to fill the room but mostly failed as the clouds constantly rolled across the sky, blocking their path. The cold air that had so easily infiltrated the stone walls of the castle had infected the air, allowing it to bite harshly at my nose and make me wish that I had brought my soft Gryffindor scarf along with me instead of my friends-who weren't doing anything.
Harry had collected several books that would aid him with his essay for Potions but had given up on reading them long ago-settling instead for gazing out of the window. Whereas we were still waiting to see if Ron would actually open a book to the first page before we left. My ginger friend was currently lounging forward in his seat, his arms folded on the table in front of him to provide a cushion of sorts for his head and not giving any signs of life. Naturally this irritated me.
"Ronald." I muttered, my intent eyes not leaving the pages of my book as I spoke to him.
"Yes?" He lifted his head to look at me.
"I made you come in here so that you could actually do some work on your essay; not laze about." I stated as I gently turned the page and glanced up at him.
"Oh come on Hermione, we've been in here for hours. I'm tired." He moaned, dropping his head back onto his arms in disappointment.
"Actually Ron we've only been in here for about half an hour." Harry smirked with a shake of his head.
"And you haven't done a single thing. So how exactly are you tired?"
"It's Sunday." Ron stated as if it was the obvious answer to my question. Marking the page and placing my book on the aged wooden table in front of me, I raised my eyebrows at him.
"Sunday is the day God took a rest Hermione. Key word: rest."
"Ron you're not even religious!" I snorted. "Do Wizards even believe in God? I didn't think you knew who he was."
Ron didn't reply, so I looked to Harry instead; who simply shook his head slowly with a shrug of his shoulders.
With a heavy sigh, I leant across the table to reach for one of Harry's books. When it was in my grasp, I picked it up and flicked through the pages until I had found one that would be suited to Ron's needs. It was two entire pages on the Befuddlement Draught that Snape had set the essay on-and it included diagrams. If he couldn't get the information that he needed from this without my help then I would probably lose my temper with him completely. Placing the book open in front of him, I fixed my gaze upon my red-haired friend.
"That, Ron, is everything that you'll need to know for this essay. I suggest that you actually try and do something."
He stared at me with a look of desperation and helplessness in his eyes. I simply shook my head at him before picking up my book and returning to read about Hogwarts' many ghosts.
I had read Hogwarts: A History several times before but I always liked to return to it. It gave me an overwhelming sense of pride and amazement at the fact that I walked the halls of this historical school every day without realising how far it had come and who else had walked those steps before me. There was so much history in this ancient building. So many secrets; so many memories. All hidden within the tall stone walls. And echoes of past laughter carried delicately in the wind that travelled through the castle. And now it was my turn to leave my mark here. My memories and laughter were constantly being left in the shadows and absorbed by Hogwarts to remain forever; dropped like breadcrumbs everywhere I go as a relic of my time spent in this magical place.
"Hermione?" Ron muttered, snapping me out of my soothing reverie and alerting me to the fact that I hadn't read a single word since returning to my book. I looked up at him, smiling slightly. Ron's blue eyes were darting off to the side every few seconds before returning to look at me and he held his body with a hint of aggression, hunched forward in the wooden chair with his arms tensed and his hands balled up into tight fists.
"What's wrong?" Worry began to seep into my voice.
"Malfoy's watching you." He spat out, again his eyes darting over to the side. My face dropped into surprise and slight horror as Harry's head snapped up to attention-having finally returned to his studying-and the two boys turned in their seats, glaring towards where I presume Malfoy was.
Following their heated stares with my own eyes, I saw that he was indeed sat there. Watching me.
The Slytherin was sat alone at a rather large table not too far away from us, possessing only one book. No other student dared to go near him-even though he clearly wasn't using the rest of the space surrounding him-so he remained isolated from the other groups in the room. Nothing about his body language suggested that he was studying; his elbow was on the desk and his head rested on his hand. The only book he had lay open in front of him, abandoned and forgotten as he wasn't paying a shred of attention to it. Instead his gaze was fixed upon me. The thin black jumper that he wore hugged his torso and the sleeves had been pushed up to the elbows so that his pale arms were revealed. At the top of his jumper, there were three buttons-the top of which was undone. He was dressed so casually. So much like...a muggle. It was difficult to process. Malfoy's blonde hair was ruffled slightly, parts falling across his forehead, and there was something of determination in his storm grey eyes.
Noticing that I was looking at him in return, he smirked from across the room. This tiny action jerked me back into reality and reminded me that he could see me just as easily as I could see him. Feeling a slight blush begin to blossom on my face, I hurriedly dropped my gaze back to the comforting pages of my book and lowered my head so that some of my curls fell forward to shroud my face.
"Stop looking. You're being so obvious." I hissed at Harry and Ron.
"Well he's not exactly trying to hide it. Look at him with his stupid grin, watching us as if he's never seen a bloody Gryffindor before." Ron almost snarled. "What does he even want?"
"I don't know Ron, just leave it. He's alone so he's not going to risk confronting us." I mumbled trying to avoid any further conversation. I glanced up briefly to see that Harry had returned to reading and I watched Ron patiently from under my eyelashes until he also reluctantly turned back around. I released a tiny sigh of relief. I didn't want them to pay any further attention to Malfoy, because this had been happening a lot. Whether I was alone or with Harry and Ron, Malfoy had been in the library at the same time as me just watching me. And it had been happening for weeks. We hadn't spoken once since making eye contact in the hallway after the first DA meeting and I had been grateful for this. But he still never failed to be in the library when I was recently. Sometimes he had company-most commonly Blaise-and other times he was alone-like now. It made me uncomfortable, sometimes enough to make me leave, but nothing ever happened. And I refused to tell Harry and Ron about it-I didn't want to cause a fuss over something that probably didn't mean anything. It wasn't as if he was trying to get to me.
"Hermione he's still watching." Ron mumbled.
"Well don't be as idiotic as him and don't do the same." I replied quietly, trying to restrain myself. The nerves were beginning to creep up on me. If they asked more questions about it then I would no doubt blush and they'd press me for more, suspecting something. And this wasn't something that I particularly wanted to discuss with my two best friends.
"This is getting weird though." Harry stated, looking up from his book again and casting Malfoy suspicious looks.
I snapped Hogwarts: A History shut and hopped up shakily, eager to get away from the boys now that they were beginning to grow increasingly annoyed at the Slytherin.
"I'm going to change my book; I'm getting a little bored of it now. Hurry up and finish your essays, I want to leave soon."
They watched me as I scurried away, eventually becoming lost amongst the maze of bookshelves as I searched for the place that Hogwarts: A History was supposed to go and racking my brain for something else that I could read once I had put the book back.
I quickly found the correct place for Hogwarts: A History and pushed it back in the shelf, sandwiched in between two other relatively thick books. Then I began my half-hearted hunt for another book. I wasn't really in the mood for more reading because of the layer of bile that had begun to swirl in my stomach at the thought of returning to Harry and Ron to face their questions about Malfoy. I didn't even know the answers yet I was still getting worked up over it. Cursing the blonde Slytherin, I decided to pick whichever book I saw next. I closed my eyes briefly before opening them again and scrambling to make out the title of the lucky book.
Wandering with Werewolves was the first thing that I saw and it instantly sparked a slight slither of interest in me. I had read the book once in my second year-as a requirement of my Defence Against the Dark Arts class-but hadn't given it a second thought after finding out about Remus Lupin being a werewolf himself. Perhaps I would have a different outlook on the book this time considering I actually personally know a werewolf?
I couldn't help but laugh as I realised that it was on the second shelf from the top-where I couldn't reach. Of course.
I reached automatically inside my jeans pocket for my wand, planning to use a simple charm to retrieve the desired book, but my fingers dug right to the bottom without trailing over any object. Panicked, I looked down. But there was definitely no sign of my wand. I must have left it on the table with Harry and Ron. Cursing again under my breath, I stared defiantly up at the book.
Not really giving myself time to weigh up my chances, I reached for the book, stretching out my fingers and standing on my toes. But I couldn't reach it. I was almost two shelves away from it. So instead I tried springing into the air and grabbing at it. But that didn't work either. I was so close and yet so far. With a defeated huff I turned on my heel-about to fetch my wand-when I almost bumped into someone's chest. My eyes were level with their shoulders so I didn't see their face right away but they were extremely close-a mere few inches between us. I stood there, entirely still, for a moment; too confused and surprised to react.
But when I forced my curious and slightly frightened brown eyes upwards, I saw first a green tie and then a blonde head of hair. Malfoy. He was smirking down at me with one thin blonde eyebrow raised.
I took a hasty step backwards but he matched it with a step forward, returning us to our previous state.
"What are you doing Malfoy?" I mustered the words from my scrambled brain. But he didn't answer. Instead he stretched a long, pale arm upwards. I flinched slightly but he didn't touch me as I had expected. I nervously watched him grab a book before holding it out to me. Glancing hesitantly down at it, I saw a purple leather-bound book with the title 'Wandering with Werewolves' scrolled across it in fancy gold letters.
"Oh, thank you." I mumbled as I took the book gingerly from his grasp.
"Gilderoy? Really Granger? Are you still hung up on that idiot?" He scoffed. As soon as his unfriendly tone registered in my brain, my face dropped into a scowl.
"So much for being civil Malfoy." I spat, turning to look at the other books. "I thought that you were-"
"-Were what?" He cut me off. I glared back at him and scowled again at the cockiness in his stance and smirk.
"More mature. Why are you even here?"
"It's the library Granger; I'm allowed to be here. And it seems to me like you were getting quite frustrated with Weaslebee. What's that about?" He almost sniggered.
"You're being ridiculous. I'm not angry with Ron."
"It's alright to admit it; anyone would get irritated by his obvious lack of intelligence."
I spun on my heel and glared at him, my book grasped firmly in my hand and my eyes burning with fury. But I managed to stop myself from retorting. Instead I turned back around and started walking along the shelves in the opposite direction. But Malfoy followed me. I could hear his delicate footsteps behind me, matching my own. I tried to ignore him as best as I could, but he was like a shadow. Pointless, silent and always on my trail.
I stopped occasionally to pick out a few books and read the blurbs with little interest. But it prevented me from having to make conversation with Malfoy.
At the next stop that I made, he leant against the sticking out shelf, facing me with a slight smirk. Did he ever have any other expression?
"Is there any point to this Malfoy?" I asked with a sigh, not looking up from the newest book that I was holding, part of me wanting to keep a constant eye on him but another part of me having no desire to acknowledge his presence. I waited but he didn't answer. The faint chattering of students talking animatedly at the front of the library travelled towards us and filled the silence. But it seemed to make it more awkward. Feeling his eyes on me and giving in to the instinct of wanting to watch his every move with suspicion, I finally turned to him questioningly. His eyes were indeed on me but he wasn't smirking anymore. His mouth was set in a straight line and his grey eyes held no evident emotion. I opened my mouth to repeat the question but he beat me to it.
"How is your mother?" He asked, never looking away and completely shocking me with his change of direction-and polite change at that!
"Umm...I-I got a letter from her the other day, she's alright. Well as alright as she can be right now." I mumbled in return. He nodded simply, his eyes at last leaving my face, before pushing himself off of the shelf and walking away almost briskly. In that moment I could do nothing but stare helplessly after him, utterly bewildered.
Hey guys x) I know, I'm sorry I suck for leaving the update for so long but I was doing NanoWrimo. For those of you that don't know what that is, it's basically where you have to write 50,000 words of a novel in one month-which is November-and it's really really difficult as you can imagine. My friend was the one who told me about it but she didn't tell me about it until the 10th of November so I started 10 days late-meaning that realistically I should have had around 20,000 words but I had 0 words-so yeah I was focusing on that and I'm really sorry.
It would encourage me to write and update more often if you review though ;) Seriously, ANYTHING that you want to praise/complain about please do. Like tell me what you think about the pace of the story, how in character the characters are, the events, the writing style. Anything because I want to know what you think in general. Thanks.