Later that day, Hermione went down to the Slytherin common room, determined.
"Hey, Blaise?"
Blaise Zabini looked up at her as Hermione approached him on one of the sofas. His eyes widened in surprise, and then he looked pleased.
"Miss Hermione Granger," he said, giving her a grin. "How can I help you today?"
"You're… from Italy?" Hermione guessed. "Somewhere on the continent?"
Blaise looked less enthusiastic, he but nodded. "Italy. Why?"
"I know I've read about this creature somewhere once before, but for the life of me, I can't remember what it's called," Hermione explained, pushing over a sketchbook drawing she had toiled over. "Do you recognize this?"
Blaise took the drawing and looked it over, before looking at her and raising an eyebrow, amused. "Is this supposed to be recognizable as anything except scribbles?"
Hermione flushed. "I did my best. But look," she moved over closed to him, crouching by him on the couch and pointing. "It's a giant dog that has three heads. See? It's about this size proportionately to a human, and the faces look like this, if that helps you identify a breed."
Blaise studied the picture for a long moment before nodding slowly. "I see what you mean."
"And?"
Blaise handed the drawing back to her, giving her a cheeky grin.
"And if I help you with this, what will you give me in return?"
Hermione bit back the urge to retort. Instead, she forced herself to give him a coy smile back, as if she was perfectly accustomed to playing the Slytherin game.
"What would you want?" she murmured. Blaise looked surprised at this answer. He paused to consider.
"What would I want, what would I want…?" he considered. He glanced over her, and Hermione forced herself not to flinch as he gave her a smirk. "A kiss will do."
Hermione couldn't stop her reaction. "A kiss?"
"Not now, if you don't want to," he assured her. "But… when you're ready. I want to have your first kiss."
"How do you know I haven't already had one?" Hermione challenged.
Blaise paused to consider, before his eyes gleamed.
"If you had, you wouldn't have hesitated to agree before," he told her. "Girls make a big deal out of their first kiss, but not their second, third, or fourth. So you haven't."
"Why?" Hermione asked.
He shrugged.
"A girl always remembers her first kiss," he told her, his eyes on hers. "I want to make you remember me."
His tone was casual, playful, and he was wearing a smirk, but Hermione could hear a note in his voice behind his words that betrayed him. He… he actually wanted to kiss her.
Hermione didn't know much about Blaise, save his mother's reputation as a seductress and a man-killer. From Blaise's flirting, she'd presumed that Blaise intended to place himself into a similar role, but…
Well. It was okay for a boy to want his first kiss to mean something, too.
"A proper first kiss when I'm older," Hermione said quickly, before she realized what she was saying. "A small one on the cheek now, as a promise for later."
"Deal," Blaise said immediately, his eyes lighting up.
He offered his face, a lingering smile on his lips, and with a quick glance around the room, Hermione moved forward, pressing her lips to his cheek.
It was a quick kiss, barely a moment, but one of the third-year Slytherins whistled, and Hermione broke away, embarrassed. Blaise only grinned.
"It's from Greek mythology," he told her. "A three-headed dog guarded the cave to the underworld. It guarded Hades' realm. Some legends say it had snakes for a tail." Blaise shrugged and gave her a smile. "That's all I know. That enough?"
"Mythology…" Hermione murmured, her mind racing. "That's… thanks! I've got to go!"
Hermione darted off to grab her bag from her room, Blaise calling a "You're welcome!" after her as she ran.
Random unheard of magical creatures? No idea.
But mythology? Hermione knew where to start researching there.