Chapter 5: Hermione's Point of View
Hermione is furious.
She hates Draco Malfoy more than vomit flavored jelly beans.
She pushes the fireworms toward Malfoy. "Cut them up in four equal parts and put them in the cauldron."
He raises an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"
"What?"
"You can't tell me what to do."
"I most certainly can and I just did."
"Well, you're wrong," he says, pushing the worms back to Hermione. "If you think you're better than me, you're as stupid as you look."
"I don't think so. I know so," she shoves them in his face, surprising him. He topples backwards in his chair and falls off with the worms squirming around on his chest.
Hermione stifles a laugh. "Oops. You slipped."
"Get these bloody worms off me, Granger!"
She laughs again and bends down next to Malfoy. She places the back of her hands beneath the worms and on his chest. She hopes he doesn't notice her face reddening as the she cups the worms in her hands and removes her hands from his shirt. She stands up and places the worms on the table. She is about to sit down, but remembers that Malfoy is still on the floor. She comes around the chair and reaches out a hand to help him up.
Hesitantly, Malfoy takes it and she yanks him off the ground. "You're still cutting the fireworms, you know," she adds.
He sighs angrily. "Fine," he plops down on the chair. "Give me the bloody knife."
She gives him the knife. "Don't cut the heads off."
"You think I will?"
"You never know."
He cuts one worm very badly and out of shape. She puts a hand on her forehead. "Malfoy, didn't I say equally?"
"Did you? Don't seem to remember," he taps his chin dramatically.
She rolls her eyes. "Watch."
She takes the knife from his hand and separates one worm from the others. She puts a finger on its tail and slices its body in half. Then, she slices the halves into smaller halves. "There. Equal."
He quirks an eyebrow. "I got this," he leans over and pulls another worm out. He places the knife at the midsection of the worm. "Is that half?" he asks, looking at her.
"Yes."
He pushes the knife through, and Hermione can feel him breathing on her neck, shallow and warm. Not something you'd expect from a Malfoy.
He finishes the worm, and shows it to her proudly. "Look, Granny Granger, I did it!"
Hermione laughs at his imitation. This is certainly not the Malfoy she knows. "Great, now finish the other ones."
Later in the evening, Hermione comes back to the common room after Potions with Harry and Ron.
Ron is having a major laughing fit about what happened to Malfoy during Potions.
"The way you shoved the worms in his face! Brilliant!"
Hermione sighs, "Yes, Ronald. You've repeated that sentence eight times."
"Still," he laughs again. "Amazing!"
Harry smiles. "It was pretty funny.
"Very funny," Hermione mutters disapprovingly.
She turns to them both. "Look, guys,I've got loads of homework from Professor Vector all due tomorrow, so-I need to start working."
"Right," Ron suppresses another laugh. "You also need to finish my essay on grindylows, and my question paper on levitating charms."
Hermione glares at him. "I'm not doing any of your homework until you behave yourself, and until I've finished my homework first."
"Oh come on, Hermione-"
"No, I really need to finish my Arithmancy homework, and my own twelve-foot essay on grindylows," she stalks off into her dormitory.
She sits at her bed with her parchment and ink, trying to think about what thirty uses of grindylows there were, and…
Her thoughts drift to something else. Someone else, actually.
She remembers the warm heartbeat under that pale skin. She didn't even know he had a heart. She didn't even know he had a smile.
The Draco Malfoy that she knows is definitely not the one she was talking to at Potions.
The Draco Malfoy she knows for almost six years is the one who tortures her, taunts her, does all those horrible things to her.
She tries to picture Malfoy happy again. A big warm smile he had had on his face when he had shown Hermione the worms he had cut. But it had instantly disappeared in less than a second.
She misses that smile.
She doesn't want to admit it, but his smile comforted her, had shown her that behind that cruel and vile face, behind his perfection and aggression, lay a heart. Not a cold, evil heart. A real heart. A golden heart.
Hopefully.