"Granger?"
Hermione turned around slowly and stared at the boy behind her with suspicion, prepared for another insult, another vile comment.
"Happy birthday," Malfoy said softly, and then he disappeared to his dormitory.
She stared at the spot where he had stood moments ago, not sure what just happened. She felt shocked and briefly wondered whether she had imagined his birthday wish. He had sounded so uncharacteristically... friendly. Slowly turning back, Hermione got back to unwrapping the package in her hands, albeit absent-mindedly. Once the wrapping was removed completely she gasped for air, instantly forgetting about Malfoy and his strange, uncharacteristic behaviour.
In her hands she held an ancient handwritten book titled The Founders of Hogwarts: A Complete And Uncensored Biography. She had been dying to get her hands on this book for years now but it was incredibly rare and valuable. She reached for the letter that had been attached to it with a bright smile.
Dear Hermione,
Happy birthday, or as we say it here, Честит рожден ден! I hope you have a really nice day with your friends. I remember that you mentioned this book during one of our very first conversations, so when I found it in Magical Plovdiv I just had to buy it for you. I have been told that there are only seven copies in existence and that each copy is unique and signed by the Founders themselves. Please keep it safe, it's very, very valuable. I had to use my connections to get this for you.
I have yet to answer your previous letter; I will try to do that before the end of the month. Our new manager is vicious: he makes us train twice a day and we have to do more interviews than ever. We'll all be happy to be on a winter break soon.
Hopefully we'll see each other again soon. You cannot refuse this time: Clara will not take no for an answer. She really wants to meet you.
Let me know once you've made a decision, you know you're always welcome here!
Have a great birthday, Hermione.
много любов,
Viktor
She stared from the letter to the book and back, quite breathlessly. She couldn't believe that Viktor had gone through all that trouble to get this book for her birthday. He loved Quidditch more than anything but he despised the fame that came with his spot on the Bulgarian National team. And now he had actually used it to obtain something. Hermione shook her head, smiling, unable to remember the last time she had felt such gratitude.
A few months ago, Viktor had written her that he had started dating his teammate, Clara Ivanova, and Hermione felt really happy for him. Even though their own short relationship four years ago had been great, the distance between them made things too difficult to continue. It also just wasn't the right time: her feelings for Ron had confused her. Viktor had kept hope for a while afterwards, but after having seen each other at Bill and Fleur's wedding, when he had learned that her feelings for Ron had continued to grow, he had finally moved on.
He and Clara had been really good friends for years, and according to Viktor they had a lot in common. Their friendship had gradually grown to be more and they had been officially dating for months now. Hermione could only imagine how much the local press loved that. She was really happy that he had found love and it amused her that Clara insisted on meeting her. She would have to make arrangements to visit them in Bulgaria after all.
Hermione moved on to the other packages. There was a short letter from Harry. He had sent her a beautiful pearly-white quill and a box of her favourite sugar-free sweets. Mr and Mrs Weasley had sent her a box of homemade caramel-chocolates and a knitted crimson scarf and matching hat. Neville had sent her a long letter and a beautiful flower that could absorb sunlight and save it for dark days. There was also a letter from Bill and Fleur and one from her parents, who had sent her a lovely cornflower blue cardigan, a lilac folder for her notes and a couple of classic Muggle books.
She gathered all her presents with a smile and made for her dormitory. Even though she didn't care much for birthdays, this one promised to be great.
~ X ~
"Happy birthday, Hermione!" Ginny said happily, embracing her friend tightly. Luna skipped over from the Ravenclaw table as well, congratulating her with a big smile on her face. She pushed a little package into Hermione's hands, wrapped in the most colourful paper Hermione had ever seen.
"Luna!" Hermione exclaimed with a smile. "You shouldn't have."
"Don't be silly, Hermione, with a birthday comes a present!" Luna said seriously.
Hermione started unwrapping the gift, wondering what the Ravenclaw girl would have gotten for her. It could truly be anything. Inside the wrapping paper she found a little box that contained a gorgeous shell. At first glance Hermione believed it to be pink but when she examined it and the light shone on it from a different angle, it turned from lilac to blue to purple to white and back to pink. "Oh Luna, it's beautiful!"
"Hold it near your ear!" the girl instructed with a smile as she settled down on the bench beside Hermione, filling her plate with some egg and tomato.
Doing as Luna asked, Hermione brought the shell up to her ear, expecting to hear an echo of the blood flowing through her veins giving the illusion of the sea, but she heard a beautiful humming noise that sounded oddly familiar instead. "What is it?" she asked in surprise.
"It's the sound of Merpeople singing. I charmed it myself," Luna announced. "The changing colours on the shell were rather easy, but the sound quickly faded away on the first few tries. I think I've got it now, though," she said proudly.
That explained why it sounded so familiar, Hermione realised. She must have subconsciously heard the Merpeople sing when she was down in the Black Lake during the second task of the Triwizard Tournament. She kept the shell to her ear for a little while; it was a very relaxing sound.
Luna smiled at her. "Do you like it?"
"I love it," Hermione answered honestly, smiling at her blonde friend as she put the shell back in the box. "Thank you so much, Luna, it's absolutely great!"
Ginny reached for the box and took the shell, curiously holding it near her own ear. "Oh wow, that's beautiful," she muttered dreamily as she listened to the Merpeople's song. "Where did you get this shell?" she asked Luna.
"I found it near your brother's cottage," the blonde answered after swallowing a spoonful of egg. "I found several; I couldn't leave them. Dean said I was silly."
"Hey! No I didn't!" Dean exclaimed with a snort, who had just entered the Great Hall and was about to sit down when he caught the last bit of the conversation. He wished Hermione a happy birthday and proceeded to tease Luna.
Ginny pushed a package in Hermione's direction, still holding the shell to her ear. "I hope you'll like it," she said with a smile.
Hermione removed the wrapping and found a pink knitted jumper inside, as well as a pair of tiny golden earrings and an elegant, fragile-looking golden bracelet. "Oh, they're beautiful," she said softly, carefully moving the bracelet through her hands, examining the intricate details that were carved into the gold. "Thank you so much, Ginny!"
The redhead smiled. "I figured, since you're graduating this year, it'd be nice to have some accessories for such a special occasion."
"How thoughtful of you," Hermione smiled back. Even though she never really dressed up, during her sixth year she discovered that having a few accessories would be nice. Being a member of the so-called Slug Club was fun, but the frequent parties had made her realise that she always looked quite the same. She only owned three pairs of earrings and one ring that had been passed down from her mother and grandmother. Ginny didn't really own any jewellery, and borrowing something from Parvati or Lavender didn't appeal to her, as their choice of accessories was far too flamboyant for Hermione's taste.
"You're blessed with great weather today," Ginny mentioned after finishing her blueberry porridge breakfast. "It's actually sunny."
"Well then, I'll bring these up to my dorm," Hermione said, gesturing to the presents in front of her, "and then we should go outside. I've already finished my homework; I just have to study a bit for the Advanced Arithmancy test on Monday."
Ginny nodded in approval. "I have to finish my History of Magic essay but I can do that outside. Are you coming too, Luna?"
The Ravenclaw girl nodded enthusiastically. "Sure! I'll just have to get my books for Alchemy first, I'll meet you outside." She said goodbye to Dean and skipped out of the Great Hall, oblivious to the fact that a couple of the younger students she passed watched her in amusement.
Hermione grabbed a buttered bagel and collected her presents. After a trip through the castle, she entered her common room and brought her things up to her dorm. When she walked out through the portrait hole again, Ginny, who had already hurried up to the Gryffindor Tower, was waiting in the corridor, petting Crookshanks. "Look, Hermione, even Crooks remembered it's your birthday!" she announced with amusement.
Crookshanks walked up to her with a large dead rat between his jaws. Hermione reached for its tail and took the rat from the ginger half-Kneazle, smiling fondly. "Clever Crookshanks, well done!" she said, lovingly scratching the cat behind his ears. After she let the cat back into the Head's Tower, she and Ginny made their way down to the ground floor, keeping the dangling dead rat at arm's length, grateful that she had already finished her bagel. Once outside, she tossed the rat into the bushes and cast a Scourgify on her hand. She shook her head. The perks of having a cat…
Luna had already settled down underneath the largest tree near the Black Lake. It was indeed sunny, like Ginny had assured them, and the temperature was still rather pleasant, even though the leaves on the trees around the grounds were already starting to colour. They sat down next to Luna and started doing their homework while chatting about nothing and everything.
"Slytherin's holding their Quidditch tryouts today," Ginny observed aloud after a while, staring at something behind Hermione with narrowed eyes. She turned around and saw large numbers of people dressed in green walk in the direction of the Quidditch Pitch. Some were carrying a broom, but many weren't.
"I heard that they hosted a party in the dungeons yesterday," Luna mentioned absent-mindedly. "Margaret and Padma were on patrol duty last night and they complained about loud music when they got back. And apparently Professor Slughorn stormed into the Slytherin common room at three in the morning, personally sending everyone off to bed."
Ginny snorted. "That is so typically Slytherin, to throw a party on the night before hosting their Quidditch tryouts. I wonder how many of those people have hangovers."
Hermione found herself staring at the back of Malfoy's blond head. The party explained why he was out until after curfew last night and why he made such a grumpy expression when he entered the common room. The party had probably been at its peak when he had to leave. Maybe he had been more intoxicated than she had noticed; it would explain his sudden friendliness.
"Malfoy came back late last night, way past his curfew," she told her friends. "It was a little before midnight, and I received my first birthday mail. When he learned it was my birthday, he wished me a happy one and he actually sounded friendly."
Her friends looked at her with surprised expressions. "Definitely drunk," Ginny remarked after a moment, sounding rather baffled. "Or maybe Slytherins don't stop at alcohol and maybe he consumed some Silverweed mushrooms."
Luna laughed and Hermione shook her head dismissively, smiling. "As strange as it was, Malfoy doesn't strike me as the kind of person who consumes hallucinogens."
"It was probably just a Wrackspurt that made his brain go fuzzy and stopped him from thinking clearly. It happens to the best of us," said Luna airily as she browsed through the pages of her book, Alchemy: Ancient Art and Science by Argo Pyrites, with a small frown on her faint brows.
Ginny giggled and exchanged an amused glance with Hermione before they silently proceeded to do their homework. After about half an hour the redhead let herself fall backwards onto the grass and yawned. "I need some entertainment," she sighed. "Why don't we go check out the Slytherin Quidditch tryouts for a while?"
Hermione reluctantly followed her two friends to the Quidditch stadium and sat down in the stands. On the front row sat a group of rather angry-looking Slytherin girls dressed in Quidditch robes. Her observation was voiced by Luna. "They don't look like they've made the team."
Ginny snorted. "Of course they haven't. Slytherin has never let girls on the team before, that wasn't likely to change now. Malfoy's not exactly one to break tradition."
"It is rather old-fashioned," Hermione commented thoughtfully. "I wonder why they're still holding on to such an outdated tradition. They can't deny that there are a lot of really skilled female players out there."
"You know how Slytherin is dominated by old pureblood families." Ginny shrugged. "They feel very strongly about gender roles, which is why most old pureblood families still have this aristocratic air about them; they are quite literally holding on to the past. Women are supposed to be elegant and feminine, preferably at home and certainly not in the air on a broomstick." She motioned to the angry-looking girls on the front row. "They're probably not raised in an old pureblood family, or else they would have known and they would have at least pretended to gracefully accept that their place is on the sidelines."
"I'm glad your family is different," Hermione smiled.
"In a way we're not," Ginny said seriously, surprising her. "There is a reason why I was never allowed to play Quidditch with my brothers, even after Bill moved out and there were only five boys left, making the teams uneven. They would rather take turns than let me play. I'm a girl, and I wasn't supposed to play. I could have gotten hurt." She wrinkled her nose. "It's also one of the reasons Mum doesn't have a job. That's just how it's supposed to be. The men work and the women stay at home to take care of the children and the house."
"I... I never thought of it like that," Hermione muttered, quite taken aback. "Your family seems so open-minded and accepting."
"Oh, they are," Ginny assured her quickly with a smile. "It's not like Dad forced Mum to stay at home or something, she just felt that it was the right thing to do. I just mean to say that we are influenced by tradition too, even though we're way more tolerant than other pureblood families. We've always been the odd ones."
A sudden movement on the Quidditch field distracted them. The third round of tryouts for the Keeper position had started and a group of three Chasers were throwing the Quaffle around at such a rapid pace that it seemed as though they had been playing together for years. The badly prepared Keeper didn't stand a chance: he didn't stop a single goal.
Malfoy was standing on the sideline of the pitch with his arms folded in front of his chest and a pleased smirk on his face. For the first time since they were back at school, Hermione thought he looked as though he was completely in his element again. He didn't have to please anyone here: today people had to please him instead, and this Keeper had done a poor job.
"Oh no," Ginny moaned, sounding disappointed. "Looks like Zabini's on the team again. He's such a foul player... He elbowed me so many times during the game two years ago that I had too many bruises to count."
"Aren't the other two Chasers in your year?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah," she answered, nodding her head. "Niles Hanley and Michael Robinson. They're not so bad."
The fourth round started. This Keeper did a much better job, stopping three out of five goals. When the fifth round was announced, a lanky boy mounted his broom. He was surprisingly good, stopping every single goal. Malfoy was nodding in appreciation and enthusiastically shook the boy's hand when he landed.
"He's good," the Ravenclaw girl who was sitting next to Luna remarked.
"Oh, hey Orla, I didn't see you there," Ginny said, greeting the girl. Orla Quirke was a fifth-year prefect and one of the Chasers on the Ravenclaw team. Even though she was a year below them, she was often seen with Ginny and Luna.
"Did you hear? Michael's on the team as of this morning," the petite Ravenclaw girl announced with twinkling eyes, referring to Ginny's ex-boyfriend Michael Corner.
Ginny immediately leaned forward with interest, a small smirk on her lips. "Really? What position? Please tell me he's Keeper."
"He's Keeper," Orla confirmed with a smile.
"No way!"
"Yes, really!"
Hermione laughed when her friend did a little victory dance in her seat. Michael had been a really bad loser when Gryffindor had beaten Ravenclaw during a Quidditch match, and when Ginny had broken up with him because of his childish behaviour, he had run off to Cho Chang instead and started dating her shortly after. Ginny could no longer stand him since.
"When will you be holding your tryouts?" she asked after a while.
"Next week. I wanted to hold them today as well, but both Ravenclaw and Slytherin had reserved the field already so I talked to Brendon Halkirk this morning and he said that I could have the field first next week. All I have to do is find a Keeper and a Seeker that's adequate enough to replace Harry so that shouldn't take me all morning, and then Hufflepuff has their tryouts after us."
"You shouldn't compare them to Harry," Hermione warned. "We all know he's an exceptional Seeker, but you have to judge the new ones in their own right."
"I know," Ginny groaned.
"So you're keeping Jimmy and Ritchie on as Beaters and Demelza as Chaser?"
The redhead nodded. "Yeah. I asked Dean as well and he wants to join the team too. He was a great substitute the last time; he deserves a full spot this year."
The Slytherins all started moving off the field. The tryouts were over and everyone was leaving the stadium. Hermione and Ginny followed Luna and Orla to the exit, heading back to their spot underneath the tree to enjoy the sun while they still could.
~ X ~
When Hermione headed back to the Head's Tower after dinner that evening she was very excited to start reading the book she had received from Viktor and to try on the clothes she had received from Ginny and her parents. She would write thank-you notes tomorrow. The portrait slid to the left and Hermione entered the common room.
Malfoy was lying on the couch, still in his Quidditch robes, and fast asleep. Crookshanks was lying on his stomach, also fast asleep. They made a strange couple. She stared at them for a little while, unable to understand how someone as arrogant and spiteful as Draco Malfoy could look so serene and kind when he was asleep. When those cold, grey eyes of his didn't hatefully glare around, when he didn't have his eyebrows raised in an arrogant manner or his lip curled in its usual sneer, he actually looked like he could be a friendly guy. It was too bad, really, that she knew him better than that. He then started moving. Afraid that he would open his eyes and catch her staring at him, Hermione quickly took off to her dormitory.
~ X ~
After having browsed through her new treasure for a while she craved some hot chocolate and so she made her way down to the common room again. Malfoy had woken up in the meantime and was reading a book, but he was still lying in the same position, as Crookshanks was still lying on his stomach. When he heard her enter the common room he put his book aside. "Granger, come get your fat cat away from me," he grumbled.
Hermione walked in his direction, smiling a little. "Why didn't you just push him off you?" she asked as she lifted Crookshanks from his stomach.
Malfoy swung his legs off the couch and sat up. "Don't you think I've tried? The fat beast just grasped my robes with its claws and refused to move," he said, glaring up at her. He stood up and examined the front of his robes. "Great, the first day I'm wearing these and the Weasley cat decided it was time to moult."
Raising her eyebrows, Hermione set Crookshanks down on the armchair. She had long ago lost hope that Malfoy would ever grow out of his whiny attitude, but it was truly tiring to hear him confirm it. "Well then, next time you should nap upstairs, where this beast can't reach you," she told him, mimicking his tone.
"I was exhausted; I collapsed on the first comfortable spot I came across."
Hermione couldn't contain a snort. Not only would he forever be a whiner, he would be a dramatic one. She walked toward the kitchenette, opened a cupboard and took out a mug. She filled it with water, took out her wand and muttered a spell that Mrs Weasley had once taught her. A second later, the smell of hot chocolate fumed from the mug, and Hermione smiled. She turned around and almost walked into Malfoy, who was standing right behind her.
"How did you do that?" he asked in a demanding tone.
"I used a spell," she shot back, slightly startled. "You could have asked nicely."
"I could have," Malfoy deadpanned. "Where did you learn that?"
She glared up at him. "Mrs Weasley taught me. Why? Didn't your mother ever teach you any food-related charms?"
"My mother?" He let out a mocking laugh. "You do know that my mother grew up as a member of The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black? You don't honestly believe that anyone, save the house-elves, knew such spells?"
Hermione rolled her eyes. "I suppose not. The spell is Calidum Scelerisque." She watched as Malfoy grabbed a mug from the cupboard, filling it with water like she had earlier. He took out his wand and muttered the spell, succeeding on the first try. Smiling smugly, he took his hot chocolate back to the couch and sat down, taking his book again.
"Malfoy?" He looked up as he took a sip, and Hermione briefly hesitated. "I wanted to thank you."
His eyes darkened. "For what?"
"Wishing me a happy birthday. Being civil to me today."
He looked away from her, sipping from his hot chocolate again. "Don't mention it."
Hermione walked up to him and sat down in the armchair across from him. She hesitated, but after a few moments she decided to give in to her curiosity. "Why did you wish me a happy birthday, anyway?"
"Damn it, Granger," he snapped, putting his mug down on the table with a loud smack, spilling some hot chocolate. "Why can't you just take what you get and be done with it? Why do you have to analyse every little thing I do to find some hidden meaning behind it?"
"Because I don't get you!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands up. "One minute you're nice and the other minute you're a foul git! There is no in-between! We've only been back for two weeks and we still have an entire year to go. How do you propose we continue? Neither of us will hold on like this."
"I've already made a proposition, but you didn't seem really cooperative. That's not my fault."
"It actually is. You said would behave and act civil. You haven't really been able to pull that off."
"A two-edged blade cuts both ways, Granger," Malfoy spat. "I've told you repeatedly to stop prying into my motives but you stubbornly continue to do so, even though you know I don't appreciate it. I've asked you to stop, yet you refused to listen, but when I snap because you continue to be an insufferable, inconsiderate wench, I'm the bad guy?"
Hermione blinked at him, a little taken aback by his anger. She opened her mouth to reply but he silenced her with a single glare, clearly indicating that he wasn't finished just yet.
"A person can't just change overnight, as you bloody well know. I've tried very hard to tolerate you and to be civil but when I ask for a little consideration in return, a little less prying into my life, you simply ignore me and proceed to do as you please. Just because the whole Wizarding World views you as some kind of heroic war goddess because you aided in ridding the world of its greatest force of evil doesn't mean I do too."
She let out some air. "Okay, you're right, I should have been a bit more considerate," she admitted quietly. "And I do appreciate that you've shown to put in some effort to be more civil. I just... I find it hard to keep up with your mood swings, and because we're spending so much time together this year I just want to have some understanding of why you're behaving the way you do."
"You want to know why I'm attempting to be civil? Because that's what you and McGonagall expect from me. You want to know why I don't quite succeed at that? Because I don't like you and because you annoy me." He cleaned the table with a wave of his wand and took the mug as he stood up. "And that's the end of it."
He walked around the couch to the stairs leading up to his dorm. Suddenly he stopped, staring down in disgust. "That bloody beast of yours has regurgitated something. Please get rid of it. Not all of us fancy the feeling of bones between our toes," he grumbled, sarcastically emphasising the please.
Once Malfoy had made his way up to his dorm, Hermione sighed and rose from the chair, whipping out her wand to Vanish what seemed to be a vole skeleton. She turned around to Crookshanks who was still lying curled up in the armchair. "Please, Crooks, next time, please sneak up to his dorm and regurgitate it on his bed," she said sourly, addressing her sleeping cat.
She took her mug and made her way upstairs. Putting her drink down on her desk, Hermione browsed through the letters she had received today with a small smile. Her birthday had been great, but somehow she couldn't shake off the feeling that something was wrong. It was as though something was missing, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
Hermione finished her hot chocolate, changed into her pyjamas and crawled into bed with The Founders of Hogwarts: A Complete And Uncensored Biography. After reading the first couple of pages, she started to feel rather sleepy. It wasn't until she had almost fallen asleep that she realised why her day didn't feel complete.
She hadn't heard a single word from Ron.
Not even attempting to keep the tears from falling, Hermione cried herself to sleep.