Chapter 6
Hermione POV
Two days after the Gryffindor win over Slytherin, Hermione was deep in the Forbidden Forest for a Care of Magical Creatures lesson. As it was their O.W.L. year, Hagrid had spent a lot of the beginning of the term going over creatures they'd already learned about in years past, and today was a refresher on unicorns. Since unicorns weren't too fond of males, Ron and Harry were on the outside of the paddock with the other boys, while Hermione was on the inside with the other girls in the class.
"Alright lads, continue keepin' yer distance. Girls, feel free ter approach the unicorn. Carefully, o' course," instructed Hagrid.
While Hermione knew deep down that it was unlikely Hagrid would ever allow them into a paddock with a creature that would hurt them (unlikely, but not impossible), she still hung back. Outside of Crookshanks, Hermione wasn't too fond of creatures. She liked predictability, and creatures as a whole had proven to be far too unpredictable. She could read about them all she wanted, but she found she was never quite ready for what a real-life creature would bring to the table. This posed an issue for her when it came to class, as the last thing she wanted to do was look as if she didn't know what she was doing, and that often became the case when Hagrid's creatures became unruly.
Parvati and Lavender, who loved all things beautiful, cautiously moved forward and reached out a hand so the unicorn could sniff them. The stunning unicorn with its sparkling coat and shimmering mane met them halfway, sniffed their hands tentatively, and allowed them to stroke it.
"See? Nuthin' to be afraid of. Parkinson? Greengrass? Fancy givin' it a shot?" Hagrid asked.
Both Pansy and Daphne had extremely bored looks on their faces, but they still stepped up. Surely, the unicorn would sense their negative vibes and reject them. Both girls held up their hands, palms down, to allow the unicorn to investigate. The unicorn sniffed for a few seconds, before stepping forward as it did with Parvati and Lavender, allowing Pansy and Daphne to pet it. Daphne patted it a few times before walking away, but Pansy stayed for a while longer, gently stroking its cheek. Hermione watched her, curiously. Pansy had never seemed to enjoy Care of Magical Creatures, and often kept away from the creatures the best she could, but clearly the unicorn had been different. She ran her fingertips up and down the cheek of the unicorn so gently, almost lovingly. It was so unlike her. Hermione had never experienced anything like that out of Pansy, except for a few days ago when she stopped Hermione from tumbling down the steps in the Quidditch stadium. She had held her gently, and those light green eyes of her's were full of concern. Concern for her...
"Goin' ter give it a try, Hermione?" Hagrid's voice snapped her out of her thoughts about Pansy.
"What? Oh I – I don't know Hagrid…"
"Don't worry abou' it, yeh don't have ter. Come on class, that's enough learnin' fer today. Let's head back up ter the castle."
As the class began to walk back on the path through the forest to the castle, Hermione stopped Hagrid.
"May I stay out here for a bit, with the unicorn? I just want to ease into it without an audience… If that's alright?"
"'Course. Jus' move slow and make sure ter let her out of the paddock 'fore yeh leave, alright?
Hermione nodded, and leaned against the rock wall of the paddock until her classmates were gone. Then she took a deep breath and smiled nervously at the unicorn.
"You're sweet, aren't you?" she said softly as she held out her hand and very slowly began to timidly inch her way towards the striking creature. Once she got close enough to the unicorn for it to smell her hand, it raised its head and looked over Hermione's shoulder. Hermione didn't dare turn immediately, as she didn't want to spook the creature, so she took a few slow steps backward before doing so. When she finally turned, she found Pansy leaning against the outside of the paddock, watching her.
Hermione let out the breath she'd been holding in, "What are you doing here?" she asked, relieved it was just Pansy and not some other vile creature that would've loved to have killed and eaten her. Although, that still could be the case, seeing as it was Pansy.
"Forgot my notebook," Pansy said, casually holding up a small, leather-bound notebook. "Should you really be in there alone?"
"I'm fine," Hermione said firmly before turning back to the unicorn that had gotten much closer to her when she was talking to Pansy. "Oh!" Hermione squeaked, instantly nervous again as the unicorn looked at her curiously.
"Shhh…." Pansy was suddenly beside Hermione, holding her hand out to the unicorn. It clearly remembered Pansy, as it eagerly pushed its nose into her hand. Pansy smiled as she pet the unicorn, running her fingers gently up and down the bridge of the beautiful creature's nose. Hermione watched as her heartrate settled back down.
"They can sense if you're scared…" Pansy muttered softly, "She won't hurt you…"
"Are you talking to me, or the unicorn?" Hermione asked quietly, finally taking her eyes off of Pansy's fingers to look up at her eyes. They were soft, and as a gentle as her fingers were on the unicorn.
"Both of you, I guess," Pansy said with a small smile, "Go on, be brave, Gryffindor Granger."
Hermione rolled her eyes, but did step forward, holding out her hand as Pansy pulled hers away. The unicorn seemed irritated by the loss of Pansy, but also intrigued by Hermione. It sniffed her hand, before tentatively moving forward into it, allowing Hermione to pet it. Hermione mimicked the same movements Pansy had used, slowly running her fingers up and down the bridge of the unicorn's nose. It was velvety soft, much softer than it had looked. She turned to Pansy and saw that she was watching her, a small, warm smile on her face. It seemed so genuine, but was it? But how could that be? Hermione turned her attention back to the unicorn and pet it a few more times before stepping away and letting it out of the paddock. As it trotted off into the forest, she and Pansy made their way back up towards the castle. They walked in silence for a while, the only noises coming from twigs snapping beneath their feet and the rustling of leaves falling from the large trees of the forest as they passed.
"Why didn't you let me fall after the match?" Hermione asked, looking over at Pansy.
Pansy remained quiet, but looked over at her too, her light green eyes seemingly nervous.
"I would've thought it'd have been a great story for you to tell your Slytherin friends who hate me…" Hermione added, still studying Pansy. This was the girl who has tortured her the past four years, who clearly hated her more than anyone else, so what in the bloody hell was going on?
Pansy shrugged, "I'm sure it's many people's instincts to catch someone who is falling right in front of them… It was just a reaction…"
"It wasn't. I could see in your eyes that you were concerned… Worried, even…"
Pansy was quiet again, and looked away from Hermione. They walked in silence once again.
"You're making a big deal out of nothing, Granger…"
"I know I'm not…" Hermione responded.
Pansy stopped walking, and Hermione did the same.
"So, what do you think it is, then? Why would I be worried about you? I barely even know you, right?" Pansy asked.
"That's what I'm trying to figure out. I feel like it's a ruse of some sort... Or you're lulling me into a trap… I've noticed that you've been kinder to me lately, and I don't know if I should trust it or not…"
Pansy shook her head and smiled, but it wasn't warm, "Of course, because me being kind could only be due to an elaborate ruse…"
"Well, what am I supposed to think? You've been horrible to me for years, and now all of a sudden you – "
"Maybe I'm just turning over a new leaf, Granger? Weren't you the one to suggest I do that? What was it you said on the train? 'Consider doing the right thing and transform yourself completely into a halfway decent human being'?"
Hermione was quiet. She had said that on the Hogwarts Express, but she certainly didn't think Pansy would take her up on it. Or remember something she said over two months ago.
"Mind if I change the subject?" Pansy asked as she began to walk again.
Hermione nodded, falling in stride with the girl as she continued to think about what she'd said about turning over a new leaf.
"I'm going to preface this with the fact that I'm not at all trying to be rude or offensive, so keep that in mind before you jump down my throat… Do you think your friend Hagrid is preparing us properly for our Care of Magical Creatures O.W.L. exam?"
Hermione said nothing, but looked down as they continued walking through the forest.
"I knew it," Pansy said triumphantly.
"I didn't say anything!"
"Your silence says everything! I knew you wouldn't think he was doing enough, despite being buddies with him. Can't you do something about it? I'm doing a lot of work on my own to try and make up for the holes he's left in the curriculum, and while I don't necessarily mind learning outside of class, it would be nice to have some time to myself outside of Prefect duties, classes, and tacking on all this extra reading. It would be nice if, you know, we were given everything we needed when we were actually in class, instead of having to supplement it during our own free time."
Hermione had stopped again as she was positively stunned by what Pansy had just said. She had just outlined exactly how she felt about Hagrid's teaching, and exactly what she had also been doing over the past month in order to fill in the gaps Hagrid had left.
Pansy stopped and turned around to look at Hermione, "What?"
"I – I just never took you as… As someone – "
"Who took her studies seriously? You know, Granger, you're genuinely not the only one who enjoys learning, even though I know you assume you are… There's actually a whole house that prides themselves on it… You have heard of Ravenclaw, right?"
Hermione rolled her eyes, "Yes, of course I have. I've never seen you studying though… I'm in the library more than anyone else, and I've never seen you there…"
Pansy scoffed, "I would never be caught dead in the library. How would I uphold my reputation for not caring about anything?"
Hermione rolled her eyes again and began walking, "Well then where do you study?"
Pansy fell in stride with Hermione, "Usually in my dormitory. My dormmates often have something better to do than to hole up in our dormitory all day, so it's typically pretty quiet."
"I wish I could study in my dormitory… My dormmates never stop talking…"
Pansy chuckled, "Yeah, I don't envy you living with Patil and Brown."
"They're honestly not that bad, although, things have been a bit more awkward this year since I've started dating Ron."
"Oh yeah? Which one of them fancies King Weasley?"
Hermione gave Pansy a look, "That would be Lavender, and don't call him that…"
Pansy grinned, "Sorry. Couldn't help myself."
They walked in silence for a bit, before Hermione decided to test the waters of what had become an alarmingly normal conversation with Pansy.
"You mentioned something about your relationship with Malfoy… About being on the same page…"
Pansy didn't say anything.
"Are you really in an arranged relationship? Is that something that purebloods actually do?"
Pansy still didn't say anything, but she did nod.
"Wait, so it's not a real relationship? I was right?"
Pansy rolled her eyes, "Would you like an award for figuring it out?"
"Why? Why would you willingly pretend to be with someone you don't like?"
"Well, I believe you're forgetting the key word there: arranged. It's been arranged by our parents, by the pureblood community, that we are to get married and – and procreate to continue the pureblood lines."
"What?"
"It's honestly not that big of a deal, purebloods have been doing this for decades."
"Not all purebloods! Ron's parents weren't arranged to be married!"
"Well, lucky for them."
Hermione was stunned. Well, she was impressed with herself for somehow correctly guessing that Malfoy and Pansy weren't actually in a real relationship, but at the same time… She felt… Bad? She felt bad for Pansy… Was that possible?
"I… I'm sorry, Pansy…"
Suddenly light green eyes were looking directly into Hermione's dark brown eyes. They'd both come to a stop again, just before the Forbidden Forest opened up into the grassy hills that led up to Hogwarts.
"Why would you be sorry?"
"I… I don't know… I just can't imagine it'd feel good to be in a relationship with someone you didn't actually like…"
"Well, lucky for me, Draco and I are very good friends. I'd say beside Daphne, he's my best friend, so it's not so bad. And hey, at least I have a reason to be in a relationship with someone I don't like…"
Hermione furrowed her brow, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means that I know I'm right about you and Weasley… You don't actually like him, do you?"
"I do like Ron… He's one of my best friends and – "
"And sometimes best friends are better off as best friends. I mean, take me and Daphne for example – "
Pansy broke off, clearly realizing what she'd said. Hermione stared at her in shock.
"I – That's – I didn't mean that we..." Pansy stammered.
"Pansy, do you fancy girls?" Hermione asked.
"Of course I don't! How could you think – "
"Because you just said that you and Daphne – "
"Forget it, alright?" Pansy said firmly, looking anywhere but at Hermione. She made to exit the tree line, but Hermione stopped her by gently grabbing her arm. She turned back and froze, staring directly into Hermione's eyes. They stayed like that for a moment, before Hermione let go, and Pansy took off for the castle. Hermione watched her hurry across the grounds, trying her absolute best to process what the girl had just revealed.
"Hey, there you are!" Ron called as he and Harry exited Hagrid's hut and walked towards her. "Hagrid said you wanted to stay back to work with the unicorn on your own, how'd it go?"
Hermione tore her eyes off of Pansy to look at Ron, who was smiling at her with an eager grin, "I – What?" she asked, not being able to recall what he'd just said.
"How was the unicorn after the class left?" Ron asked again, grinning as he took her small hand in his.
"Oh, it was fine…" she said as she walked with Ron and Harry back towards Hagrid's hut.
"It's actually kind of a shame we blokes can't pet them. I mean, I get it, they don't like men, but when are we ever going to get another chance at it? How'd it feel, soft I suppose?" Harry asked.
Hermione nodded, "It was soft and gentle and… Unexpected…" she said slowly.
"Unexpected?" Ron asked, furrowing his brow, "How so?"
"Oh well, she was just – She was softer than I expected. She was softer than she looked from afar, I mean," Hermione explained quickly.
"She?" Ron asked.
"What? Oh yes, the unicorn was female."
Ron shrugged and smiled amiably as he opened the door to Hagrid's Hut, motioning for her to go ahead. She gave him a thankful smile as she entered, but wasn't sure she would be able to get Pansy off of her mind during this visit to Hagrid's hut.