Just A Dream- Chapter 3
Hermione woke up the next morning feeling better than yesterday evening and got ready for breakfast before her classes began. She grabbed her school bag and walked downstairs to the common room where she saw that Ron, Harry, and Ginny were already there waiting for her and talking. "So you really do like Lavender this time?" asked Ginny. She still couldn't believe that they had gotten back together and that he was over Hermione that fast. "I thought you really liked Hermione. She was all you talked about when she wasn't around for the holidays." She reminded him as if he had forgotten. Hermione came over to them and barely heard what she had said and saw that Ron had turned a bit red. "So shall we go over to breakfast?" she asked them. She really didn't want to hear about how much he had liked her or anything like that. If he was happy with Lavender, then that's all that mattered.
"Did you find anything good in the library?" Ginny asked Hermione. "Uh yeah. Just another book on the history of Hogwarts and the founders. That's the only thing that caught my attention." She told her as they walked downstairs to the Great Hall and sat down at the Gryffindor table. Hermione grabbed some orange juice and some eggs and bacon and ignored Lavender who came over and sat down next to Ron who was across from Ginny and Hermione. Harry was sitting next to Ginny on her other side and started talking to her about their Defense Against The Dark Arts homework while Hermione ate her breakfast in silence and alone. She looked around at the Great Hall and when she looked over at the Slytherin table, she saw that Draco was watching her. He gave her a small smile that no one else seemed to notice but her and then went back to his breakfast. Hermione looked down at her breakfast and wondered what this all meant.
We only talked once last night…So does that now make us friends? She thought to herself. She decided not to think about it so much and pushed that thought out of her mind. Once she was done with her breakfast, she went over to her class without waiting for anyone. She felt like the third wheel there since everyone was now pretty much paired off and she didn't want to think about boys or any relationships. As she was walking to class, she thought about writing a letter to her parents to see how they were doing. She hadn't written to them yet and thought she should do that before they started to worry about her.
She got to class on time and sat down at a desk next to Luna. "I heard about Ron and Lavender." She told her. Hermione groaned. "Not to be mean Luna, but I think everyone already knows about that." She told her as she took out some parchment and her quill and ink bottle. "I'm really sorry about the whole thing. You'll find the right guy one day." She told her. Luna opened her book on thestrals and started to read while they both waited for class to start. It wasn't long before Neville came into class and then Dean, Seamus, a few Slytherins and other Gryffindors came as well. Harry and Ron both took their seats behind Luna and Hermione while Ginny sat down at the table next to theirs and next to Neville. Hermione looked over to where the Slytherins were sitting and saw that Malfoy was sitting at the back of the class.
She looked away from him before anyone would notice her looking over at him and started up some stupid rumor to make her week worse. The teacher started class and had them take notes on the lesson which seemed to have gone by pretty fast and for their homework, they were to write a four page essay on what they were studying. Soon class was over and everyone else went to their next class and Hermione didn't see Malfoy until lunch. She was surprised to get some mail and immediately thought that it was from her parents. When she saw who had written to her, though, it surprised her even more. She opened the letter and read it to see what it said:
Hey, Granger. I know this is weird, me sending you a letter and all that, but I was wondering if you wanted to go over to Hogsmeade with me later today after classes are done.Not like on a date or anything like that. Let me know what your answer is.
-Draco Malfoy
She put the letter away in her bag and thought about what to respond to his letter while she ate and looked at the Daily Prophet that had come along with her mail. She made up her mind and waited until lunch ended so that she could go ahead and talk to him about what he had sent her. She did some of her homework in the meantime and by the time that she was done, lunch had ended and everyone was already leaving to their next class. She looked over at the Slytherin table and was glad to see that Malfoy was still there. She got up from the Gryffindor table and went over to where he was and ignored anyone that was staring at her walking towards them.
"Come up with an answer?" he asked her once she had stopped in front of him. He got up from where he was sitting and they both walked out of the Great Hall together. "Where do you want to meet up?" she asked him. She hoped that he had picked somewhere and wouldn't make her choose. "We'll just meet up in the courtyard. Is that ok with you?" he asked her. Hermione nodded. "That's fine with me." She said and then was quiet for a few minutes before speaking. "What are you going to tell your friends?" she asked him. Malfoy shrugged. "That I'm gonna hang out with a friend. Not like they can control my life and who I wanna see." He told her as they stopped and looked at each other.
"Are you still worried about what people will say if they see us together just hanging out?" he asked her when she didn't say anything. "Kind of. I mean, I just don't want any rumors to start. I can barely stand the stares I get when I'm walking to class or anywhere else." She told him. Malfoy shrugged. "You'll get used to it. Anyways, we should get to class so I'll meet you after school's done." He said as he went to his class. Hermione went over to her next class as well and thought about telling her friends where she was going to be but decided not to. It wasn't like they were going to miss her at all or anything since everyone was going to be with their friends or boyfriend/girlfriend. She barely made it to class before the lesson started and the rest of her day went by fast and before she knew it, classes were over and it was time to meet up with Malfoy.
