Hermione
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Coffee, coffee, coffee...
Hermione thought of nothing but coffee as she descended the stairs to the Great Hall. Once again, she had got up far too early. Classes didn't start for two hours, but she had this habit of always getting up early for fear of being late.
Normally, she wouldn't have been so tired, but she had spent the previous evening reading the book Malfoy had found for her in the Library, so she hadn't fallen asleep until 2 or 3 in the morning. She didn't usually read that late on a school night, but she'd been far too engrossed in her reading to care, and now she was suffering the consequences.
She arrived in the Great Hall, which was practically empty. Hermione glanced up at the ceiling and saw that the snow had been replaced by large grey clouds, from which small streams of rain were escaping.
Hermione sat down in her usual place and finally poured herself the coffee she had been waiting for since she woke up. No sooner had her lips touched the rim of her cup than Ginny sat down opposite her.
"Good morning Hermione!" she exclaimed cheerfully.
"Hey Ginny." she replied hoarsely. "Still here so early? Don't tell me you're going to practice again?"
"I'll try." she said with a shrug, indifferent to the grey weather over their heads. "What about you?"
"I was thinking about maybe going to the Library before class..."
Ginny gave her a funny, amused look over the rim of her mug and Hermione pursed her lips:
"Stop it."
"What? I didn't say anything." the redhead replied with her mischievous grin. "I'm just saying it's a strange coincidence..."
"Oh, nonsense." retorted Hermione. "I've always gone to the Library in the mornings before classes, ever since first year."
"Yes, but before first year, you didn't go with... you-know-who." said Ginny in a low voice.
Although no one could hear around them, the hairs on the back of Hermione's neck bristled at the disguised name. She still hadn't realised she was spending time with Draco Malfoy, her lifelong enemy. It was as if he was someone else. Her secret was safe with Ginny, she knew that, but hearing it was as shocking as experiencing it.
"Actually, it doesn't make much difference." Hermione said, though it was an outright lie. "I just work, and so does he. He just sits at my table, and we only talk once in a while, so I can help him with his homework."
Ginny arched an eyebrow, obviously not fooled. Hermione preferred to take a large sip of black coffee rather than give herself away any further.
"You know, I've been thinking about what you told me." Ginny continued. "And I think that, even though it surprised me a lot at first, it's not necessarily a bad thing to spend time with him."
"Really?" gasped Hermione. "You think so?"
"Yes, I think he's quite unhappy, and maybe by spending time with you he'll realise that the prejudices he's had all this time aren't true." replied Ginny. "Besides, with Harry and Ron acting like idiots lately, it doesn't hurt that you're spending time with someone else."
Ginny turned to look at the Slytherin table, but Malfoy was not seated there. Only Theodore Nott and Blaise Zabini were already there, silently reading.
"Besides, it can't be much fun spending all his time with Crabbe and Goyle, it must do him good to talk to someone intelligent." completed Ginny with a little grimace.
"He's not just friends with Crabbe and Goyle." Hermione said, looking at the green table in turn. "He gets on well with Pansy Parkinson, Theodore Nott, and Blaise Zabini."
Hermione looked at Theodore from a distance, who was reading, his eyebrows furrowed. He had a steaming mug next to him and seemed far too focused to realise he was being watched. For a second, he suddenly reminded her of her.
Ginny, on the other hand, wasn't looking at the same boy at all:
"Blaise Zabini... He's quite handsome."
"I don't think I've ever heard the sound of his voice." Hermione said.
It wasn't entirely true, because she remembered all too well collapsing on top of him from exhaustion the year before, but she'd preferred to keep that detail to herself.
"Me neither." Ginny admitted. "But that's just what makes him... mysterious, don't you think? We don't know anything about him, he's always quietly reading, or watching the others..."
Ginny was now fully back on the bench and staring shamelessly at the boy reading a magazine on the other side of the Great Hall. Hermione snapped her fingers in front of her to bring her back to herself:
"Hey, Ginny! What about Harry?"
Ginny gave her a sad little smile:
"I can't even stay in the same room with him!"
"I'm sure if you talked to him normally, you'd realise he's a perfectly normal, accostable boy. How can you look at Blaise Zabini like that, and freak out with Harry?" asked Hermione, flabbergasted.
Ginny laughed and ended the discussion with a clever change of subject:
"The first Task is coming up soon, does Harry feel ready?"
Hermione nodded and the two girls' light-hearted discussion suddenly turned into a heavy silence. Hermione ate her porridge, suddenly far too unfocused. Every time she thought about the bloody tournament, a panic of fear gripped her head. What if Harry got hurt?
Hermione had been lost in thought for several minutes, gazing sightlessly at the bits of oatmeal floating in her milk, when Ginny stifled a scream:
"Merlin, Hermione!"
She looked up and saw that the Hall was suddenly much fuller, without her realising it. Neville and the twins had joined the Gryffindors' table, Malfoy and Parkinson theirs.
Hundreds of owls were flying over the students to bring in the mail. An extremely usual sight, except that this time, all the students in the Hall were snatching up the newspaper and exclaiming as they looked at the cover.
Hermione focused on Ginny, who had one hand over her mouth and her eyes bulging. She showed her the cover of the Daily Prophet without a word:
A picture of Harry was spread across the front page. It moved only slightly, but you could tell he was uncomfortable: his smile was tight and he kept looking to his left, as if trying to escape. Below the huge photo was written "Harry Potter, the youngest champion of the Triwizard Tournament, tells us about his life full of drama and hope." (pages 2, 7 and 8).
Hermione made a strangled sound and picked up her own copy of the paper she'd just received, paying no attention to the owl's beaks hammering at her hand to demand payment.
The article was all about Harry. The further Hermione read, the more horrified she became. "Sometimes I cry when I think of my parents" "His green eyes reflect the ghosts of his past" "The boy's trauma painfully inscribed on his face, marked by a flash of lightning" "I have few friends to support me, but my parents always watch over me from where they are..."
Hermione had never heard Harry say anything like that, so she was sure that Rita Skeeter had changed everything he said. That didn't stop half the students in the Great Hall from giggling stupidly as they quoted a few meaningless phrases.
As always when something happened to Harry, Hermione suddenly felt many eyes turn towards her. She pretended not to see them and looked further down at the paper.
To her left, she heard someone call out to her:
"Hermione! Hermione!"
She turned her head and saw George, who was holding a copy of the paper himself, his eyebrows furrowed. He simply pointed out to her:
"Page 8, 9th line."
Hermione immediately turned the pages and ran her finger over the lines to find what George was talking about:
"Harry has at last found love at Hogwarts. His close
friend, Colin Creevey, says that Harry is rarely seen
out of the company of one Hermione Granger, a
stunningly pretty Muggle-born girl who, like Harry,
is one of the top students in the school."
Hermione felt her cheeks tingle and she looked up violently at Ginny:
"That bitch!" she exclaimed in outrage.
On the page, there was a small photo taken on the side, where Hermione and Harry could be seen side by side coming out of Charms class.
Hermione immediately justified herself:
"Ginny, that's not true at all, I swear, I've never seen Harry as anything other than a broth..."
"I know you do, Mione." Ginny cut in with a wave of her hand. "That hussy Rita Skeeter isn't going to make me doubt that, don't you worry."
"I'm afraid your brother doesn't think so..." murmured Hermione.
Ron was already in a bad mood at the moment, he was going to be furious when he found out about this article. Hermione could hear snatches of the article repeated by the students in front of her, who were reading the paper and laughing.
The Slytherins were the loudest. The raucous laughter of Crabbe and Goyle could be heard over the hubbub of the Great Hall, as they openly mocked Harry by imitating his face in the photo. Pansy Parkinson and her gang of girlfriends were laughing too, hunched over the newspaper.
Hermione glanced at Malfoy. He was already looking at her. He was smiling, but it was a false smile, tinged with mockery. He looked shaken, but she wasn't sure if it was because of the article or something else.
Harry burst into the Hall at that moment, as if by chance. He studiously ignored the stares and sat down opposite Hermione, next to Ginny who had the courage to remain seated and still avoid looking at him.
"What happened?" asked Harry, already annoyed. "Did someone spread a rumour about me during the night? Am I someone's descendant? Am I a werewolf?"
"Worse than that." replied Hermione simply, handing him the paper.
He was going to find out anyway, so he might as well find out soon enough to prepare himself for the mockery. Seeing his face plastered across the cover, Harry grimaced and hurried to read the article in its entirety. As he read, Hermione simply pursed her lips, waiting for his reaction, and exchanging worried glances with Ginny.
"That's completely untrue!" cried Harry about halfway down the page. "I never said that, least of all to that fraud Rita Skeeter!"
"We know, Harry." said Hermione in an attempt at reassurance. "She twists everything she writes."
"I don't «cry at night thinking about my parents!» And «my eyes certainly don't reflect the ghosts of my past»!" he corrected indignantly.
He turned to the others, as if to check that they believed him. Neville, the twins, Hermione and Ginny all nodded at the same time:
"We know, Harry." Hermione repeated.
Harry turned the pages again and came across the picture of him and Hermione. His eyebrows furrowed further:
"Oh, and we're together now?" he asked wryly. "Great. I wish I'd known. Can you give me a heads up next time, Hermione?"
Ginny stifled a giggle and Hermione gave a sympathetic smile:
"Don't worry, everyone will have forgotten by tomorrow. Eat something, get your strength up for today. We're going to need it."
"It's not like I haven't had something else to think about lately." Harry said, angrily poking his fork into his omelette.
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.
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As she had predicted, Monday was a long and difficult day. Hermione had to deal with unpleasant remarks all day long. It started in her first class of the day, Arithmancy, where a Hufflepuff had asked her for Harry's autograph between two exercises.
But that was nothing compared to Harry. Everywhere he went, the cover photo of the article followed him, sometimes ending up by chance on his desk or between two pages of his textbook. Whenever Hermione dared to speak to him in public, some of the pupils made loud mouth noises and they were forced to move away from each other.
At lunchtime, they ate only a few mouthfuls and decided to spend the break in the Library, both to study the Charms of Attraction and to get away from the insistent remarks. For an hour they practised casting Accio, but Harry couldn't get his apple to move across the table no matter how hard he tried, which made him even more miserable than he had been at the start of the day.
Tired of being hissed at every time she stood next to her best friend, Hermione decided to spend her Defence Against the Dark Arts class next to Ron. The latter hadn't remarked on the article all day, but he took advantage of Moody's demonstration of the Reducto spell to slip into her ear:
"How are you?"
She looked at him funny, not sure if he was genuinely worried or if it was concealed anger.
"Perfectly well, and you?" she replied in a whisper.
"I'm fine. I'm not the one having my private life published in a newspaper." Ron remarked.
"It's not my private life, it's lies." Hermione corrected at once.
"I know." said Ron calmly. "I was just asking how you are. I imagine it can't be very pleasant reading that about yourself, and everyone laughing at you."
Hermione relaxed her features at hearing this:
"Thank you, Ron. But it's not me who's having a hard time of it, it's Harry."
She turned to Harry, who was sitting a little further away, next to Neville. He was waving his wand limply between his fingers and no longer even trying to cast a good Reducto.
Hermione turned back to Ron who had been looking puzzled, wrinkling his freckled nose.
"You should go and talk to him, Ron." she said quietly. "He needs you, he misses you, and I'm sure you miss him, too. Let's just forget the whole thing."
"No." he replied, suddenly much firmer. "I'm still mad at him, Mione."
Hermione rolled her eyes and refocused on the mug she was supposed to smash to pieces at the end of class. Ron stopped talking to her about the article, but she was secretly flattered that he was worried about her like that.
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On Monday evening, Hermione was particularly tired after this hard day. She had been reluctant to go to the Library, but the prospect of being in a quiet place where no one could make fun of her or Harry was so appealing that she decided to go after dinner.
When she arrived in the great hall of books, she immediately felt safe, much safer than any place she had set foot in during the day. She said a discreet hello to Madam Pince and wandered between the tables.
Krum was still there, sitting at his usual table. He was reading an English book, frowning so hard you could hardly see his eyes, yet when Hermione passed him by, he straightened up and gave her his usual little nod in her direction, to which she replied.
She suspected he spent time here because he had nowhere else to go. She had suffered the damage of "fame" all day, and she could understand why he might want to take refuge somewhere where no one could talk to him. Yet his fan club was still there, as if glued to the Library chairs and giggling every time he made the slightest move.
The far table she'd been sitting on since Halloween was occupied by Draco Malfoy. She came up behind him, but he didn't turn to check it was her. Hermione sat down opposite him and said directly:
"I'm warning you, you're forbidden to mention that stupid article, or I'm off to sit at another table."
"Good evening Granger." he replied in a voice full of sarcasm. "Tense?"
He couldn't help but smile, revealing his white teeth for a moment. She realised that she was so used to seeing his insufferable smirk that she rarely saw the real smiles, the ones he couldn't control.
"It's because of you." she retorted, pulling out her book.
"I'm sorry? My name is not Rita Skeeter. I'm Draco Malfoy."
"Do you think I didn't notice your cut-out of Harry's photo that you threw into a paper aeroplane, during Defence Against the Dark Arts?"
He laughed at the memory, completely undaunted by Hermione's dark stare.
"It means a lot to me that you might think that was me, but it was Goyle's idea. I simply helped with the Levitation Charms, good friend that I am."
"You remember our deal, Malfoy? No name-calling for a month, or you're not allowed to sit at this table again." she reminded him in a voice a little too wispy for her liking.
"I know, Granger. I haven't insulted him all day, he just happened to be in my way a lot when I was reading the article aloud, that's all. Besides, I'd like to remind you that this Library doesn't belong to you, even if you spend more time in it than Madam Pince herself." he added mockingly.
"You're in a good mood for someone who collected a Dreadful in Arithmancy this morning."
Hearing this, Malfoy's face broke down slightly.
"Yeah... Speaking of which..." he said, pointing to his Arithmancy textbook, which happened to be open to the page for today's exercise. "Theo has asked me several times to explain the course to him, saying, and I quote, «if you get a better mark than me again, I'll make you eat Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewts through your nose.»"
"Nervous, that boy." Hermione remarked.
"Yeah, you could say that. He can't stand being less than good at anything, so he spends all day studying Arithmancy. It scares the hell out of Blaise. And besides, it reminds me of someone..."
He gave her a very pointed look and Hermione smiled in spite of herself.
"I don't know what you're talking about." she said falsely. "Go on."
"Anyway, I understood what you explained, but now it's another charter and I don't understand anything anymore, and Theo's getting more and more threatening. Could you explain this exercise to me?"
"Don't you want to add anything?"
He widened his eyes slightly, surprised by the request.
"I don't know, what do you want in return?"
"Nothing, I was just asking you to say please."
Malfoy pouted, probably trying to weigh the effort this politeness might provide against the necessity of understanding the exercise. Eventually, he capitulated:
"Please, Granger, enlighten me with your wisdom."
"No." she replied brusquely.
She opened her book that her grandmother had sent her for her birthday and which she had almost finished, ignoring Draco Malfoy's scandalised face in front of her.
"I said please!" he exclaimed, far too loudly for the Library.
"Just because you ask doesn't mean you get what you want, Malfoy." Hermione said. "Didn't your parents ever teach you that?"
Draco's face suddenly darkened at the reference to his parents.
"Stop being arrogant and explain this fucking charter to me." he demanded through gritted teeth.
"Now, that's polite." said Hermione, who had to restrain herself from laughing. "Why should I help you when you've been bothering my friends all day?"
"It didn't bother you before." he said in his most piercing tone, the one he usually took to deliver wicked jabs.
"Well, today it does." she replied calmly.
Malfoy sighed and fidgeted slightly in his chair. Hermione was surprised to see that he was still wearing his Slytherin uniform, he usually changed before coming. Had he come straight after dinner? He loosened his tie a little and seemed to be in the grip of a most difficult mental dilemma. Obviously, he had to restrain himself from insulting her, and thus breaking their agreement.
Hermione read a few lines, indifferent to Malfoy's inner struggle before her, and only lazily looked up once he had made up his mind:
"Granger, I really need your help."
Draco Malfoy wasn't one to ask for anything, she'd rarely seen him so frustrated. He must really have understood nothing about this class to act like this.
"Fine, then you stop wearing that filthy badge for the rest of the week." she said without thinking.
He raised his eyebrows:
"This is blackmail, Granger."
"No, it would be blackmail if I asked you to join the S.P.E.W, but you never will, so I'm asking you for something within your reach."
"All right, fine." he said, rubbing his eyelids to show his impatience. "No 'Potter stinks' until next Monday. You'll end up stripping me of all my personality, Granger."
"That's the point." she said mischievously. "Now, show me that charter and pass me your quill."
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Draco
.
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On Wednesday, in History of Magic class, Draco did his best not to extend his night by a few extra minutes, half slumped over his desk.
As History of Magic class was on Wednesday mornings this year, he and Pansy rarely attended, preferring to sleep in later. But that morning, Theo had unintentionally kicked his trunk, and after being woken up so rudely, they'd had no choice but to get up too.
Professor Binns' voice was as slow and guttural as ever, which had the effect of making the students drowsy. Even though the class was shared with the Ravenclaws, none of them had decided to take notes. Some were talking in low voices, others yawning without embarrassment. Blaise had given up and was fast asleep, his cheek against the table. Theo, sitting next to him, was the last survivor of the most soporific course ever given, and was still writing on his parchment.
And it was only 9.12.
Draco sighed loudly. He had already exhausted every possible form of amusement: making ink blots on his paper, cutting out a quill, rocking backwards in his chair, and throwing bits of parchment at Blaise in an attempt to reach his ear.
He turned to Pansy, with whom he shared his desk. She usually fell asleep too, but this time she was reading something under the table. He leaned back to see what it was, and recognised without difficulty the colourful lines of her favourite magazine, Crystal Ball.
"What are you doing?" he mumbled.
"Reading." she said, as if it wasn't obvious.
"I can see that. What are you reading?"
"Our December horoscopes." said Pansy.
She frankly put the magazine down on the table. Anyway, even if she suddenly started dancing on the table, Professor Binns probably wouldn't notice.
"Mars will be in orbit in the Twelfth House at the beginning of the month, which can bring out the ascendants." Pansy explained.
Draco couldn't understand a word she was saying, but it was still more exciting than the biography of the goblin Ranrok who was leader of the Goblin Revolution of 1890.
"So, what's my December going to be like?" asked Draco.
Pansy scrolled her black-glazed finger down the lines of the magazine to find Gemini, then read in a whisper:
"Gemini: Your dual personality will be felt even more intensely than in previous months. You'll often be conflicted and full of doubts, but trust your primal instincts and stop getting carried away by your emotions. Health: The cold won't get you this year, and you'll be celebrating Christmas without a fever. Love: If you're single, it's time to open yourself up to the possibility of new love, especially over the festive period! If you're in a couple, don't take your relationship for granted, give them a nice present!"
Draco swallowed hard. He hadn't expected such a real account of his life. Maybe Theo was wrong, maybe Divination wasn't as fucked up as he thought. Pansy turned the page to read the Scorpions' horoscope, which he was sure she would summarise for Blaise after class.
After about ten minutes, Pansy closed her magazine and unfolded the Daily Prophet, presumably to compare the two horoscopes. Draco then saw a photo of Potter among the pages, where he was standing all prim and awkward.
"Potter again?" he hissed.
"No, it's still Monday's edition. I didn't think to read my horoscope, I was too busy reading about Potter and Granger." replied Pansy.
She stopped at the double-page spread with the headline "The Romantic Life of a Tragic Hero at Hogwarts", where the picture of Granger and Potter walking together took up most of the centre of the page. Pansy giggled wickedly:
"It disgusts me."
"Oh, Pansy." said Draco impulsively. "You're not going to tell me you believe it? Not even you, who's a big Rita Skeeter fan, can dare tell me that article isn't a load of bollocks."
"Who cares if it's true or not. The most important thing is that it puts pressure on Potter to lose the tournament. And look at her, that Granger, completely obsessed with her Potter..."
She pointed to the photo of Granger walking out of class. Objectively, there was no expression on her face that could indicate the slightest form of wonder at Potter. But Draco was forced into Pansy's game:
"Yeah. Pathetic."
As Pansy read her horoscope from the newspaper, Draco dared to ask:
"What's the sign for people born in September again?"
She arched an eyebrow and turned frankly to Draco, the bottom of her fringes brushing dangerously against her dark lashes:
"Virgo. Why are you asking me this?"
Her eyes were slitted, wary.
"For Theo, who else?" replied Draco.
"Oh!"
Pansy's expression changed in a split second, she was suddenly much happier at the thought of Draco being interested in astrology. She slipped him the Crystal Ball magazine and he read the Virgo one:
"Virgo: For once, you will leave work aside to focus on much more urgent problems. A major event will shake your December and an unexpected surprise will fill you with joy! Health: A few headaches will bother you during the even numbers, but tea will manage to spare you from them. Love: If you're single, you're in luck! Don't hesitate to open up to strangers. As a couple, Christmas will be synonymous with conflict."
He didn't know what to make of this horoscope, either for Granger or for Theo. He still wasn't sure if he believed in astrology, although Pansy seemed determined to convince him. She took the magazine from his hands, then whispered:
"Oh no, Sagittarius: you'll have money problems this month... Daphne is a Sagittarius, she won't be able to buy that handbag she's been talking about for months..."
Draco didn't dare tell Pansy that he couldn't care less about Daphne's handbag, so he nodded without answering. Pansy's stream of words about her friend's life soon became a Binns-like buzz, and Draco spent the rest of the class staring at Theo, who had succumbed to the effects of the class and fallen asleep on his arm.
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The steps to get to the Astronomy class were even more exhausting than usual. On Wednesday nights, it was always difficult to get out at 11pm to go stargazing, especially after leaving the comfort of the Common Room.
Draco was only consoled by the knowledge that Astronomy class was shared with the Gryffindors, and that always added a little spice. And then, too, because he could incidentally watch Granger, even if he tried to convince himself not to.
They arrived in the circular Astronomy theory room under the roof, where Professor Sinistra was handing out lecture sheets with her wand. When they entered, with Pansy at the head of the queue, the teacher gave her an unusual big smile:
"Miss Parkinson! How are you?"
Draco had never heard the teacher take such a gentle tone, she who could usually be extremely strict. Pansy approached her and they chatted for a long moment, before she went and sat down next to Daphne.
The Gryffindors arrived and took their places around the circular table. Granger took a seat between Weasley and Potter and pulled out her Astronomy map, parchments and white quill.
"Good evening, everyone." said Professor Sinistra as she positioned herself in the center of the room. "Today we're going to do a bit of theory in this class, and then we're going up the tower to observe what I'm going to talk to you about, all right?"
Theo, sitting next to Draco, unintentionally produced a strangled sound and Professor Sinistra turned curtly to him:
"Yes, Mr Nott, I know it's cold, but the best astronomers in the world have nevertheless managed to detect many stars, even in November."
Theo nodded and the teacher resumed her lecture:
"As you know, we are currently studying the constellation Lyra, and more specifically the star Vega. Can anyone tell me what is so special about this star?"
No one was surprised when Granger's hand shot into the air.
"Yes, Miss Granger?"
"It's the fifth brightest star in the sky, the second brightest in the northern hemisphere, just after Arcturus." she replied proudly.
"Very good!" exclaimed Sinistra. "Five points for Gryffindor!"
As she did every time a teacher congratulated her, Granger lowered her head to her map to hide an embarrassed smile. It was almost annoying. He wished she'd got it wrong for once.
"Easy." squeaked Pansy from her desk.
Draco disagreed, he had no idea what Arcturus was, or Lyra, or anything. He was always copying Pansy's homework.
"Today we're going to move a little further north, to the celestial north pole to be precise." the teacher explained, writing on the board with a flick of her wand. "We're going to look at a constellation that borders on the Ursa Minor, called the Draco constellation."
Hearing this, Draco looked up sharply, and he and Granger exchanged the briefest of glances before looking away. "Your name comes from a constellation." she'd said, in the Library, the first night they'd truly spoken. She must have been thinking of the same memory. She circled the constellation in question on her large map, probably because she already knew where it was.
Draco was now listening to the lesson. Professor Sinistra launched into a lengthy explanation of the myth of the Dragon, then reproduced the constellation on the board, writing the names of the stars that made it up. Granger took careful note of everything, and without knowing why, he was flattered.
At the end of the theory, Sinistra asked the students to get up and take their telescopes to go and observe the constellation in question. When Draco got up, Pansy intercepted him:
"Did you see that? That's the constellation, yours!"
Draco remembered the many times Pansy had shown him Draco's constellation from his garden beside the fountain. She had offered to study with him if he was terrible at Astronomy before they got to Hogwarts.
If someone had told him at the time that it would be a Muggle-born helping him with his homework, would he have believed them?
They climbed to the very top of the Astronomy Tower, the highest at Hogwarts. Theo was right to complain, because no sooner had they reached the platform, than a bitter cold hit them full force.
Draco sat behind one of the observation posts with a grumbling Theo, an inexpressive Blaise and an all-too-happy Pansy.
Granger cast her blue flame spell into her jam jars and passed them to Longbottom and Potter. Then she concentrated on her telescope and searched the sky for Draco's constellation. His constellation.
Draco no longer listened to Sinistra's advice on how to adjust the telescope, which was blown away by the wind anyway. He let himself be guided by Pansy, who looked for him, then looked through the telescope at the series of stars. No matter how many times Pansy had shown him, he had never really been able to disentangle this constellation from the others. To be honest, he was still struggling to see a dragon shape in there.
He spent the rest of the class watching Granger at an angle, struggling to find the Draco. At times, he could have sworn she was turning towards him, only to return abruptly to her map.
Sinistra announced the end of the lesson much sooner than he would have imagined. As soon as she had finished her sentence, Theo was already descending the Tower's staircase, completely frozen. While Granger folded her telescope and chatted to Potter, Pansy approached Daphne, Millicent Bulstrode and Tracey Davies in a corner of the platform.
Draco hadn't noticed what she was holding until he heard:
"Harry Potter has finally found love at Hogwarts!"
It was the Daily Prophet, and Daphne was reading in a sly voice the article Draco had heard a hundred times before. Potter walked past them at that moment and Pansy stared at Granger, just behind him, with her dark eyes:
"«Stunningly pretty?»" Her? Compared to who, a beaver?" cried Pansy.
Draco saw Granger clench her jaw, but she raised her head high and walked past the giggling girls, indifferent:
"Don't mind them, Harry." she said. "Don't mind them."
She and Potter went down the steps in turn, while Pansy burst out laughing, her worst laugh, which sent shivers down Draco's back that had nothing to do with the cold.
"Why did you do that?" asked Draco once he'd caught up with Pansy on the stairs.
"Because I wanted to." she replied bitterly. "She does looks like a beaver, don't you think?"
Draco wanted to point out that her teeth had changed, but held back. He couldn't reveal that kind of information to Pansy, she'd be able to investigate how he'd come to know that.
Theo complained all the way to the dungeons, oblivious to the fact that no one else was as cold as he was. When he announced the password, the door appeared and Draco opened it. They were greeted by a stream of students of all colours dancing to the music reverberating off the stone walls.
"Again?" exclaimed Theo. "On a Wednesday?!"
"You've been saying that every Wednesday for at least two years!" protested Pansy.
She headed straight for her favourite sofa where she stretched out her long pale legs. Draco sat down next to her, Blaise took the miraculously empty armchair, and Theo agreed to stay for "five minutes".
Pansy lit herself a cigarette, and Draco was surprised to see Blaise grab it from her fingers and take several drags. It was the first time he'd seen Blaise smoke, but it didn't seem to be all that new because he inhaled normally and casually handed Pansy back her cigarette.
"Theo?" she offered, handing him her cigarette.
"No thanks."
"Come on, it'll warm you up."
"No, thanks." the boy repeated.
Several other people, including Daphne, insisted that Theo smoke. Draco thought that was rather childish. If he didn't feel like smoking, he didn't see why he should have to. Finally, Theo was persuaded and coughed for a good half hour after inhaling the smoke from Pansy's Muggle cigarette.
Pansy handed him the end of her cigarette, and Draco accepted, mainly because everyone else had done it and he didn't want to be excluded. He watched the bodies of the dancers in front of him jiggle to the rhythm of the banging music that echoed through the Common Room. He wondered how students from Houses other than Slytherin could come, and how. The prefects must be really crap to let so many people through practically every night.
Draco had to admit that smoking was a good outlet, but he couldn't stand the acrid taste of cigarettes in his mouth. He handed the cigarette back to Pansy with a grimace and she took it back while chatting to Daphne.
The music changed, several girls got up to join the dance floor, and a Ravenclaw that Draco had never seen before came and sat down next to Theo.
"Hi." she said over the music. "I'm Maia, third year."
"Hi." replied Theo, whose eyes were still watering from the cigarette. "Theo."
He seemed surprised by this girl's intrusion, especially since when someone came to talk to them, it was mostly to Blaise. But the girl smiled even more and continued:
"Are you the one who does other people's homework in exchange for money? I've heard you always get good marks, and I could really use a bit of help..."
The girl, Maia, had two long plaits that fell to her neck and a charming smile. Draco hoped that Theo had realised that she was only hitting on him for favours, but he didn't seem to mind because he replied in a proud tone:
"Yeah, that's me."
"Cool." replied the Ravenclaw. "Do you think you could do my History of Magic essay for me? I'll pay you, of course."
"Er... OK, sure. It's seven Galleons a copy."
Crabbe and Goyle, seated on another sofa a little further away, raised their heads in indignation when they heard the price, which was much lower than it was for the two of them. Fortunately for Theo, they didn't dare to argue and Maia accepted with a vigorous nod:
"Thank you, Theo! You've saved my life!"
"No problem."
Theo and Maia continued talking for long minutes, but Draco could no longer hear anything over the music, which had magically increased in volume. Blaise leaned towards Draco and pointed at Theo:
"Something tells me he's not going to stay five minutes..."
Draco burst out laughing, and Theo, who was far too focused on his conversation, didn't notice.
As the evening wore on, the dark surface of the Black Lake seemed to grow darker and darker. Draco watched the windows and occasionally managed to see creatures passing by. He was bothered by the metallic taste of the cigarette on his tongue, so he stood up and made his way to the drinks table.
He arrived in front of the array of bottles and picked one up at random, as he did every evening. He didn't know enough about alcohol to be able to tell them apart, he just took them so that he could have a glass in his hand and sip. Blaise was much more of a connoisseur, able to name every bottle without even tasting it.
He was unscrewing a bottle of blue alcohol when a girl approached him. He had never seen her before, nor did he know which House she was in. She leaned on the table and smirked at him:
"Malfoy, is it? Draco Malfoy?"
She had a very thick accent, he could detect it despite the thundering music.
"That's right." he said. "And you are?"
He didn't care about his manners. He poured the blue contents of the bottle into his glass.
"Ophelia."
Draco nodded slightly and brought the goblet to his lips, but the young woman stopped him with a smile:
"I wouldn't drink that, if I were you. It's disgusting."
He arched an eyebrow and took a sip anyway. She was right, it was vile, but as he couldn't stand not being right, he shrugged vaguely:
"Whatever."
He took a step towards the sofa but the girl stopped him a second time by touching his arm:
"Do you come to parties like this often?" she asked.
"Well, since they're in my House, I don't really have a choice. What about you?"
Ophelia turned her head to watch the dancers, waving her long blonde hair as she went.
"Not really."
"Which House are you in?" he asked, intrigued.
"None." she said with a mysterious smile.
The blonde hair, the accent, the House... Draco finally understood:
"You're from Beauxbatons, aren't you?"
"Took you long enough." she laughed. "How much of that did you drink?"
She pointed at Draco's goblet.
"It's my first." he said. "If you're from Beauxbatons, how do you know my first name?"
"You have a good reputation." she replied simply.
"Do I?"
Now that he was talking to her, Draco realised how beautiful the girl was. She kept touching her hair, or tucking it behind her ear.
"Yes. The girls were right about you, you're definitely one of the prettiest boys at Hogwarts."
Her eyes twinkled under the artificial light that washed over the walls of the Common Room.
"Well... At least you're straightforward, Ophelia." he said with an embarrassed laugh.
He'd been hit on before, but it had never been this quick. Ophelia gave a little laugh and suddenly put her hand on Draco's, which he had put on the table.
"Yes, I get that a lot." she said, suddenly much lower. "All you have to do is pour me a drink and I'll be even more so."
Reflexively, Draco turned his head towards the sofa to try and intercept Pansy. Ophelia promptly withdrew her hand.
"Oh." she whispered. "Are you with her? The dark-haired girl on the sofa?"
Draco had never been good at describing the relationship he had with Pansy, let alone when it was a stranger asking. He stammered:
"No, not really, well yes... It's... It's complicated."
"I can see that." she said, more dryly. "Otherwise, you'd never have taken so long to answer."
"She's my best friend, but..."
"I see." she cut in, backing away slightly. "Sorry to have bothered you. See you soon, perhaps."
And she disappeared into the crowd. For a second, Draco wondered if he'd been dreaming about this exchange, perhaps it was that disgusting drink that was making him see things? He shook his head and returned to the sofa. He hadn't even sat down when Pansy asked him in a dry voice:
"What did she want with you, Ophelia?"
Draco was still flabbergasted by Pansy's ability to know everyone else's names. He shrugged:
"Nothing."
"It didn't seem like nothing, she was touching your hand." she replied coldly.
Draco turned to her, and was surprised to see that she didn't really seem annoyed, just curious. He answered honestly:
"I don't know, she came on to me, I think."
Pansy arched an eyebrow and said nothing more. She took out a cigarette and lit her wand with an non-verbal spell, then consumed it entirely without saying anything. Still, she stared at the crowd of dancers with her piercing eyes. Ophelia wasn't there.
"I'm going to bed." said Draco after about ten minutes.
"I'll come with you." said Pansy immediately, rising to her feet.
They waved to Blaise and Theo, who now seemed determined to stay the night, and set off towards the dormitories. It was pitch black. Draco made a quick toilet and got into bed quickly, very shortly joined by Pansy who closed the green curtains with a flick of her wand.
She didn't speak, and as the room was dark, he couldn't really make out her face. Draco sighed and finally said:
"I'm sorry Pans'."
"Sorry? For what?" she asked.
"For... I don't know." he admitted. "But you look sad, so..."
"Draco, you're perfectly entitled to hit on other girls." she said.
He frowned. He'd never thought she'd say that. He turned round in the bed and found himself a few inches from her, the smell of her cold tobacco filling his nostrils.
"What?" he asked in a breath.
"We said we'd sleep together, not that we'd be a couple." she reminded him. "We're not exclusive, if you want to sleep with someone else, I have nothing to say to you about that."
"I don't want to hurt your feelings."
"I knew what I was getting into when I agreed to this deal."
All was silent again. Draco was thinking about what Pansy had just said.
"But..." he began, anxious not to offend her. "The other night, when you told me..."
"I shouldn't have." she interrupted in a firm voice. "It was a momentary lapse. It doesn't change anything."
He thought back to the way she'd said her 'I love you', in such a sincere voice. Did she really mean what she was saying? That phrase that had turned his stomach, was it really just absent-mindedness?
He preferred not to answer, he didn't know how to react, so he simply took Pansy in his arms. She snuggled up to him with a sigh and clung to his pyjama shirt, and they fell asleep together, all their unspoken confessions hovering above them.