~Perfect Harmony~

Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling. I do not own Harry Potter. I merely own this plotline. Enjoy!

~Acrophobia~

He was trying. He was trying very hard, actually, but every time she came around all he wanted to do was tear his hair out and scream. She was getting on his nerves in a way no one ever had before. The more he tried to hide his emotions, the more irritating she became. And the worst part was that she didn't even know it! She'd been ruining his life one class at a time. In Potions, where he was fairly certain he would excel in, she wouldn't put her hand down the entire time. It was as though she had no sense of shame or modesty whatsoever. Every question Professor Snape asked that stupid Pothead, she'd raise that bloody hand of hers higher and higher until she nearly fell out of her seat and ended up standing. How bloody desperate could you get to answer a stupid question? Draco thought he'd been desperate before? This mudblood was showing him a whole new level of desperate and while he wanted to sit back and laugh about her with his friends, she was so ridiculous that he didn't have time to sit and think.

She had already made herself a teacher's pet with that Transfigurations professor. What baffled him about that particular professor was that she wore Slytherin colors and yet she herself was the head of Gryffindor. It made no sense at all. Either way, he couldn't deny the fact that she was quite brilliant with transfiguring things. He just wished that mudblood would keep to herself and stop being such a bloody know-it-all all the time. It was as though she were trying to make it known that she was the smartest girl in the class, whereas most others try to stay under the radar. She was crazy.

If he were being honest, though, his irritation didn't have to do with her showing off so much as how well she was fairing considering the fact that she hadn't even known any of this existed before this summer started. How could she be so bloody brilliant when she was a...a mudblood? He just didn't get it. He'd been taught that mudbloods were lowly beings just playing at magic. They barely knew anything; they were weak and clueless. Yet here she was, challenging everything he'd ever believed about her kind, and she was doing it flawlessly.

One thing he had over, though, was flying. He may not be soaring as smoothly through these classes as the mudblood, but flying lessons started tomorrow at three-thirty. There was no way she was going to excel at that. It wasn't something you could just learn from reading out of a book, but he was highly amused when he walked into the library that afternoon.

"What are you doing?" he sneered, knowing exactly what she had been doing. When she tried to ignore him, he took a seat across from her, tossing an apple up and down before taking a rather large bite out of it. After moments of chewing, he realized she was more stubborn than he'd thought. "You won't learn anything from reading out of a bloody book."

"Mind your tongue, Malfoy," she said carelessly without looking at him, but he could tell he'd begun to get to her. So foul language got to her, did it? He'd have to remember that for next time.

Looking down at the page she'd been reading, he scoffed. "You really think you're going to learn how to fly on a broom by reading Quidditch Through the Ages? Granger, you're being bloody ridiculous-"

She snapped the book shut in his face and glared at him then, and he couldn't help but smirk smugly at her. He'd gotten to her. "You're being a prat and I don't fancy it at all," she spat. There was something in her eyes he hadn't seen there before, and it was quite unnerving. Was she really that worked up over learning how to fly on a broom? "I've never been off the ground before, so I was trying to find some useful tips before trying to mount a broom that was going to fly me away into the sky where something could go wrong midair and I'd have something broken. And before you mention Madam Pomfrey in the hospital wing, I don't doubt her abilities to fix broken bones. I just don't want to have to go through the pain of breaking my bones in the first place."

Draco Malfoy stared at her. "We're only going to be hovering above the ground for two seconds, Granger, and we won't be going very high, anyway. No need to get your knickers all in a twist."

Hermione wasn't quite sure what to make of this. Was this his way of consoling her, or was he just being cruel and nasty towards her like he always was? The problem was, Draco Malfoy wasn't sure himself, not that he was letting on. His smirk was still in place, though it wasn't as prominent as it had been a few moments ago. "Just mind your own business, will you?" she sighed finally, gathering her things and tucking the notes she'd made safely in her robes. "I have more important matters to deal with other than a bully who doesn't fully understand what it's like to be someone like...well...someone like me."

Draco stared after her as she walked away, wondering what she'd meant. Had she been talking about her blood status? Was that why she was acting the way she was, to prove herself? Had he just gotten a glimpse of the real Hermione Granger, and why did he suddenly want to know more about her? And what exactly had she meant when she said 'fully'? Did she know something he didn't know? He stood and walked away in thought, the apple laying forgotten on the surface of the table.

As Thursday rolled around the corner, Draco sat next to Blaise Zabini, someone he'd actually thought of as pleasant company. "Flying lessons start today, don't they?"Blaise asked as he added bacon to his plate.

"Indeed, they do," the blonde smirked as he recalled the encounter he'd had with Granger in the library. He was eager to see her usually composed face contort in frustration.

Hermione was terrified. She was so terrified that she'd barely touched her food and had resorted to reassuring herself by regurgitating all the things she'd read in the library to anyone who sat around her despite the fact that they were barely listening. She was scared of this class. She'd never flown before...not on a broom. A plane, yes, but a broom? Something she had to control on her own? Never. As much as she'd read about all the flying accidents that have occurred over the years, she wasn't looking forward to this one bit. She would never admit it, but she was deathly afraid of heights. Planes weren't nearly as bad because she was too busy watching the clouds and the sky and she'd been safely inside something. It was just...different.

Three-thirty came entirely too soon for her, but for many others-including Draco Malfoy- it couldn't have come soon enough. Madam Hooch, who would be there flying instructor, came strutting down the field to them. Her eyes had an uncanny similarity to that of a feline or a hawk, and her hair was short and grey. Everyone stood clumped together and stared at her, and she stared back at them. Then she began shouting orders. "Well, what are you waiting for? Everyone stand by a broom. Come on, hurry up!" In an instant, everyone was scrambling to get to one of the twenty brooms placed in two distinct, neat lines. Draco had already chosen his before anyone else had gotten there, and so he watched in amusement. His eyes fell on Granger, who seemed as though she were trying her very best not to be sick. If she happened to make a fool of herself, Draco was never going to let her live it down.

Hermione hurriedly got next to the broom farthest away from the blonde who seemed to be watching her closely, and barely noticed Neville choose the one next to her. Madam Hooch had made her way up to the front of the line as she waited for everyone to get settled before she instructed them any further."Stick your right hand over your broom and say 'Up'!"

"Up!" Hermione shouted, but the broom simply rolled over. Harry, who was standing on her other side, had his broom jump into his hand eagerly, and Hermione couldn't help but stare at him in shock for a moment. Looking over at Malfoy, she felt slightly better that his broom was taking a bit longer as well. But that changed when he looked at her. He stared at her for a moment longer, then looked back down at his broom, and it shot into his hand as well. Great. Now he was gloating once more. Determined not to be outdone, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and screamed, "Up!" No sooner had she done so than her broom reached her arms. A breath of relief escaped her lips and she turned to send a smirk of her own at the blonde boy, only to see that he was busy lost in his own thoughts. Well...this felt a bit disappointing.

Draco watched as Madam Hooch showed everyone how to mount their brooms without slipping off the end, and then mounted his own as she'd told everyone else to do. He'd be excelling in this class, no problem. It might have irked him that Potter had gotten his broom up in his hand faster than anyone else there, but it didn't necessarily mean anything about his actual flying capabilities. Calling a broom up and actually flying it were two completely different things, after all, and Draco definitely had more experience. He had the upperhand. "Mr. Malfoy, how long have you been flying?" asked Madam Hooch, interrupting his thoughts. Had she noticed his expert posture already? This class was getting better by the moment.

"I've been flying since I was five, ma'am," he boasted, resisting the urge to rub it in everyone else's face. "And I'm a wonderful Quidditch player, if I do say so myself."

Madam Hooch stared at him for a moment, just before she crushed him. "Mr. Malfoy, you've been gripping your broom incorrectly for the past 6 years of your life. Do fix it." With that she walked away. Draco didn't want to know what his face looked like at that moment. How dare she embarrass him in front of the entire class like that! It was horrid. He shoved Crabbe away as the heavy boy tried to console him before gripping his broom as everyone else was. She said something about hovering a few feet above the ground and then coming back down once she blew the whistle. He wasn't really listening, though, lost in his own thoughts.

Apparently, neither was Longbottom. He'd been so scared about not being able to get off the ground that he kicked the ground entirely too hard and too early. She hadn't even raised the whistle fully to her lips, and then he lost control, screamed, and fell a few moments later. All the little Gryffindors ran to his aid, but Draco was, like the rest of the Slytherins, trying hard not to laugh.

Hermione was probably the most concerned for Neville. Madam Hooch had said something about a broken wrist, and she tried not to cringe. This was the very thing she had been dreading, and she couldn't help but feel a bit relieved that it hadn't been her that had broken anything. That didn't mean she wanted anything bad to happen to Neville, either. He seemed to always have bad luck, didn't he? Madam Hooch instructed no one to get on a broom, or they would be expelled. As soon as they were out of earshot, however, Draco started roaring with laughter, closely followed by all the other slimy Slytherins. Parvati Patil stepped in to defend Gryffindor before Hermione had the chance to say anything, which resulted in a full on argument between Parvati and Pansy Parkinson from Slytherin.

What stopped it was Malfoy , and in his hand was the Remembrall Neville had received from his grandmother earlier that morning in the mail. He held it up so that it glinted in the sun, and Hermione had a sinking feeling he was going to do something awful with it. "Give that here, Malfoy." It was Harry who had spoken.

Draco stared at him thoughtfully, aware of the audience that watched them so closely. He smirked, for this was just what he'd been waiting for: a chance to challenge the famous Harry Potter. "I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find. How about...up a tree?" Harry demanded that he hand it over, but Draco had already mounted his broom and began to fly over to the tallest tree he could find. "Come and get it, Potter!"

Hermione knew exactly what he was trying to do, and she wasn't going to let Malfoy get the best of them if she had anything to say about it. Rushing over, she grabbed Harry's arm as he began to get on his broom, and exclaimed, "No! Madam Hooch told us not to move. You'll get us all into trouble!" Her pleas were ignored and she could only hope he didn't get himself hurt as well, but most of all, she hoped he wasn't caught. They'd already lost too many points in Potions class due to that nasty Professor Snape.

Draco was fairly surprised that Potter was actually flying as well as he was. He'd never been on a broom before, but that could have fooled anyone. And it worried Draco. He thought he'd be safe up here. "Give it here," Harry growled. "Or I'll knock you off your broom!" Draco went to retort, only provoking Harry as he zoomed straight at him. He'd barely dodged that attack, and this wasn't fun anymore. Not at all. Below, people were cheering Potter on, and it wasn't looking too good for him. He was making a fool of himself...again. He needed to do something, and fast. He would surely break something if he kept trying to dodge Potter for much longer, and he didn't have Crabbe and Goyle up here to help him out.

As if reading his mind, Potter taunted, "No Crabbe and Goyle up here to save your neck, Malfoy."

That was it. "Catch it if you can, then!" he yelled and, with all his strength, he threw the blasted ball as far as he could.

Hermione nearly had a heart attack, watching as Harry zipped off to catch the Remembrall. He was going so fast, she was sure he would lose control. She couldn't watch this. She was scared out of her mind that he was going to get hurt, and she didn't want to be witness to it! Even as she thought this, however, she couldn't take her eyes off of him. He was amazing! He was flying through the air as though he'd been born on a broom. The Remembrall began to fall at a rapid speed, and still Harry raced after it. Everyone stood there watching, holding their breath. Then he caught it mere inches from the ground and pulled up with seconds to spare. Her hammering heart nearly jumped out of her chest, but she was happy he'd managed to save Neville's Remembrall without hurting himself. How he'd done it was beyond her, but she ran up to him along with the rest of the Gryffindors, cheering just as loudly in the excitement. That's when they heard a very loud, "HARRY POTTER!"

Everyone turned to see Professor McGonagall striding briskly up the field to where they were. Their victory had been all too short lived. She felt bad for Harry as he trudged his way over to her. "Never...in all my time at Hogwarts..."she continued to stutter, then she ordered him to follow her. Parvati and Ron tried to reason with her, but she hushed them and soon they were out of sight. Hermione might have thought he was amazing, but that didn't change the fact that he had broken the rules. She only hoped he wouldn't be expelled; she had just started to take a liking to him. She liked the fact that he didn't get a big head about all the attention he tended to receive. He was a hard worker who preferred to be acknowledged for something he could actually remember doing rather than something he didn't. It was something she truly did admire about him. Though he wasn't a big talker like she was, she'd liked getting to know someone like him.

Finally, class was dismissed and everyone had immediately begun to clear the area. She had decided that she would go check up on Neville and see how long it would be before he returned to classes. Though she'd never admit it, he was the only one other than the Weasley twins who actually didn't mind being around her. She had few real friends, and Neville was the only one that attended classes with her. She didn't fancy the thought of being on her own any longer than she absolutely needed to be.

As she began her walk up to the castle, however, she was blocked by two boulders and a blonde haired stick; quite frankly she thought him to be a pain in her-

"Crabbe. Goyle. Go eat some lunch. I need a word with the mudblood." They nodded with snicker in her direction before following orders and leaving. He waited until they were out of ear shot before turning back to her, not at all surprised to see her now glaring with her arms crossed. "Well, that was an exciting lesson, don't you agree?" he grinned. "The Toadless Wonder broke his wrist and lost his stupid ball-not that he had any to begin with-and now Potter's going to be expelled for trying to be the hero. It would have been hilarious if he'd broken a bone or two, as well. Who does he think he is, anyway?"

Hermione had had it with this pureblood wizard. Standing tall, she quirked an eyebrow at him-partially because she just realized she was slightly taller than him which made it easier to look down at him-and took a deep breath to prepare for something she'd been waiting to say to him since the day she'd first met him. "Harry Potter thinks he's a person, possibly because he is a person. And The Toadless Wonder has a name: Neville Longbottom. Use it. Have some sympathy like a normal human being, you selfish, childish, stuck up, snot-nosed little prat! After all, it was your aunt that caused him to lose his parents before he truly got to know them. Have you absolutely no common decency, you stupid pureblood?! Someone could have been seriously injured and you have the gall to laugh about it? If something had happened, it would have been your provocation that caused it! How dare you attempt to harm a fellow student! Just because Neville is easy prey and Harry is so much better than you that you feel the need to try and have him expelled...you coward. You are a coward, Draco Lucius Malfoy, and you are a disgrace to the wizarding race! I sincerely hope you realize your mistakes before you end up in a worse condition than your father!"

Draco Malfoy had gone deathly pale. He hadn't been expecting her to blow up like this. Who knew she was capable of such wrath...and this tight feeling in his chest. He'd only ever felt this around his...his father. This speechlessness and guilt...Why were these emotions suddenly rising up? Then he realized she'd said something he would only be able to think about for the next few weeks to come: he would end up in a worse condition than his father. Exactly what his mother had feared. Even though he had already begun to feel this way, hearing someone else say it out loud hit him like a ton of bricks. He was so shocked that he didn't realize he'd been standing there staring at the spot where Granger had been for many moments. And he continued to stare in that exact spot, unsure what to do. Slowly, anger built and he owed he would get her for what she'd said today.