Chapter 5
Nov 14th 1994
Draco took a deep breath of the crisp morning air. He was becoming mildly concerned about his love for the cold and slight crave to feel it. He was sat on the railing at the back of the ship where he had a good view of Hogwarts castle in the morning light. It was ridiculously early.
He liked to get up early, make his way outside and let his thoughts wonder anything and everything. Right now it appeared his thoughts were focused on Hermione Granger. She absolutely fascinated him.
She was incredibly intelligent, leagues above many students in his own school and from what Nott had told him, she was easily the brightest at Hogwarts. Hence the nickname she hated. She was more than able to handle his sarcasm and even gave some back at him, he liked that.
Her reaction to when he really managed to wind her up was the icing on the cake for him and was probably his new favourite pass time. Part of him was surprised when he learnt she was a muggle-born. He had been raised to believe some idiotic things about muggles, like they were stealing magic and such nonsense.
As a child he fully believed those things and he did up until his first year at Durmstrang. He had learned a lot that year and it had changed him.
His trip down memory lane was interrupted when a door on the ship opened. Krum came out in shorts and a t-shirt for his morning run, he saw Draco and greeted him with a nod. Draco returned it with his own.
Krum didn't stop to talk, he went on his way without saying anything. Draco could see some Hogwarts students waiting for Krum to pass them on his jog. Draco couldn't help but shake his head at them.
His thoughts returned to Granger. He hadn't seen or spoke to her since Friday. He had gone to the library Saturday but she didn't turn up, it didn't bother him and he thought she was more than likely spending her time with friends, plus it was an unspoken agreement so it made sense that there would be days when one didn't show.
He didn't go on Sunday, he spent that day in the ship catching up on his work. He got up and headed back to his room. He passed a note he received from Nott last night, it asked Draco to meet him at lunch. Draco couldn't help but be curious about what Nott might want as he began to get ready for the day.
/
"Hermione I need your help" Neville called as he made his way to her. Hermione looked up from her breakfast at the boy who dropped into the empty seat next to her on the Gryffindor table.
"Morning Neville, what's wrong?" she asked tiredly. She liked Neville, even considered him one of her best friends but the last thing she wanted this morning was stuff to sort out, however she couldn't not help a friend.
"I totally forgot about our potions homew…" he was cut off by Hermione pushing papers in front of him, she had expected Ron to ask her this morning so she had them on her lap ready.
"Thanks Hermione, you're a life saver" Neville beamed. He quickly got to work. He knew not to out right copy word for word.
Hermione stifled a yawn. She felt like she could sleep till Christmas and still need a nap later that day.
"Forgot your homework again Neville?" Ginny asked light-heartedly as she passed the boy who was hunched over at work, he only nodded in response. She sat next to her bushy haired friend "You look like you just rolled out of bed. Not enough sleep?". Hermione responded by shaking her head.
"Had a busy weekend?" Ginny asked. This time Hermione nodded. Ginny giggled at that. It was rare to see Hermione this tired, normally Hermione would power through her tiredness but once in a while she crashes and becomes far too tired to interact properly. It didn't normally last too long though, usually a few hours.
"Come on, rest your head and rest a while" Ginny whispered and gently lowered Hermione's head onto her shoulder. Hermione didn't fight it and enjoyed some time resting on her friend in peace.
/
It didn't happen often but Draco was stunned into silence. He had met Nott on the shore of the great lake. The Durmstrang ship only a few hundred feet behind them. "I'm sorry Nott but could you repeat that?" he asked slightly recovering from his shock.
Nott shuffled his feet, clearly nervous and looked down with embarrassment. His cheeks slightly red. He expected this reaction but bringing up the courage to express himself again still brought up some anxiety. Taking a deep breath he repeated himself "I said can you please help me with confessing to someone I like?"
"Yeah, that's what I thought you said" Draco muttered with a sigh. He was rubbing his temple trying to think of the best way to handle this. "Look Nott, I think it's great that you have someone you want to 'confess' too but what makes you think I'm the best person to come too for help with this?"
The tall Slytherin looked at the other boy with a desperate look "Because I really like this girl and besides you, my only other options are Pansy or Blaise"
Draco momentarily considered what advise those two would give Nott. Pansy would tell him he needs to do a grand and expensive gesture. Zabini would advise Nott to simply go and lay a kiss on the girl and hope it goes well "I see your point" Draco reasoned but quickly shook his head "But I'm really not an expert with any of this stuff"
"But I've seen how you are with Granger. That's what I need it to be like isn't it?" Nott asked.
That startled Draco a moment, his eyes growing wide "First off there is nothing like that between myself and Granger" He wasn't even sure they were friends but he wasn't going to tell Nott that "Secondly, are you spying on me or something?" he didn't think he was but it would change the focus away from him and Granger. Or at least he hoped.
Nott frantically waved his hands in front of himself "No, no, of course not. I just happened to see you two once when I went to the library" he explained then added on quietly "Certainly looked like you two were getting on"
"Ok" Draco snapped "Nott if I was you I would either write your crush a letter or go up to her and confess face to face" his advice wasn't ground breaking. He knew that and he was just saying what he had read in books but he really wanted this conversation to end. Normally Draco could keep his cool in any situation but this type of conversation was completely foreign to him.
"But my throat gets really dry whenever I'm near her" Nott explained nervously.
"It sounds like you should write a note then" Draco summed up. As much as he didn't want to help with this conversation, Nott had been there for him when he needed information or anything the last two weeks, so he should return the favour.
Nott nodded slightly "Yeah, I can have it delivered with her morning post or something" he sounded excited more than nervous now. Draco felt himself relax now that was done.
"But…" or not.
/
Hermione felt nervous and the worst part was that she knew that logically she had no reason to be nervous but here she was pacing outside the library. So she didn't turn up Saturday. Something had come up which took up all her Saturday afternoon and evening. He didn't turn up on Sunday when she did but if he did show up Saturday, she couldn't blame him for not turning up Sunday.
Taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself. If he didn't turn up yesterday then what made her think he would be waiting for her today? The more important question or questions though, the two she was avoiding thinking about was. Why did it bother her so much? What was she nervous?
They had never agreed to this being a recurring thing so it only made sense that after Saturday he wouldn't show up again but that led her to worry that he would be mad at her. She wasn't even sure if they were friends, all she knew was, too her own surprise, enjoying his company.
Was that it? Was she worried that she had lost a friendship she was just starting to really enjoy? As if another side of her brain kicked in she stood up straight and muttered to herself "Come on Hermione. You only spoke to him for a week or so"
She opened the door to the library, walked in and hated herself for feeling relieved and happy when she saw Malfoy sitting at a table. She headed for him and made a mental note to sort her head out soon. She was all over the place.
"Malfoy" she greeted with a smile.
Draco's eyes stayed on his book as he responded with a monotone "Granger"
Hermione raised an anxious eyebrow at him. Worrying that what she was pacing about might be about to come true "Uh, you okay Malfoy?" he looked up at her then. He didn't look angry or annoyed but he didn't look how he normally did.
"I've had a very uncomfortable day" he confessed.
Surprising even herself, she let our a chuckle "What happened? Did a hair fall out of place?" she teased. How she went from nervous and worried not even one minute ago to now teasing him, she didn't know. It was just something they did that came naturally.
His eyes shifted back to how they normally were "Out of everything you could of chose against me, you choose my hair when you have that birds nest on your head?"
She should not be trying to hide a smile with a comment like that but it showed they were still in the same place they were a few days ago and she had worried for nothing "You're going to run out of stuff to say about my hair if you keep going after it you know"
"That wont be today though and I'm sure I could keep coming up with new insults. I am smart you know" he boasted which caused her to eye roll.
"I hear enough of you stroking your own ego on other days. Let's do something different today and you tell me what made you uncomfortable today?" she hoped she had done a good job disguising her question with a taunt, she did want to help him if she could.
Draco eyed her for a moment. Debating if he was safe to tell her someone else's secret but if he didn't give her a name then it should be fine "I thought the something different was going to be you stroking my ego instead" he grinned at the slight blush Hermione seemed to be fighting "but someone asked me to help them with a confession to a girl, not really my area"
A giggle escaped her "You? I actually feel sorry for that person to have no-one else to turn too"
He let out a sigh "I hate to say it but I agree with you"
"That's something I never thought I'd hear you say" she confessed with mock shock. He gave her a stare as she asked "What advice did you give?"
"I told him to either write the girl a letter or tell her face to face"
Hermione nodded "That's not terrible advice. Do they spend time together?" Draco shrugged "Do you know how long he has liked her?" another shrug "Do you at least know who she is?" one last shrug "Malfoy, did you not ask him for any further information?"
"Yeah, I asked why he came to me for help" Hermione facepalmed.
"That poor guy" she muttered "You really are clueless aren't you?"
Draco huffed and returned his focus to his book. As Hermione looked his way her lips curled up in amusement. Even though everything between them was clearly still good, she couldn't help but look down at her own book and ask "Were you here Saturday?"
"I was" he confirmed. His voice casual.
"Sorry I wasn't here. I had something I had to deal with" a hint of annoyance in her voice when she thought about how she spent her Saturday.
"It's fine Granger, I don't exactly expect you here all the time" he lied but more to himself. He didn't want to admit it "Besides I wasn't here Sunday"
"I know, I came here to apologise" she sheepishly admitted.
Draco looked up with a relaxed smile "You don't have anything to apologise for Granger. Well, except for wasting my valuable time" his tone shifting in to a taunt effortlessly.
"I don't think 'valuable' is the right word" Hermione snipped with playful eyes.
"You wound me Granger" a smirk on his lips "but shall we agree to only meet here on weekdays? If we happen to meet on weekends then we do but don't feel obliged"
"That's fine with me. It means I get a break from you" she stuck her tongue out at him and turned back to her book. Draco shook his head at her and did the same.
A/N: Hope everyone is still enjoying this. please don't hesitate to let me know what you think.
