Draco
.
.
"Dentesaugmento!"
Draco watched as his spell sprang from the end of his wand and hit Potter's violently. It ricocheted, hitting Granger full force. She groaned in pain and put her hands over her mouth.
Draco hadn't planned to hit Granger. It hadn't occurred to him that Potter could protect her by casting a spell, let alone hit her with his. When he annoyed Granger, he just wanted to irritate her, make her a bit angry, see her turn red. He'd never wanted to hurt her physically.
For a split second, he was so shocked that he didn't hide the concern that must have marked his features. As if on reflex, he took a step towards her, then suddenly remembered where he was and stopped. Fortunately, no one had noticed his hesitation. Weasley threw himself at Granger:
"Hermione!"
He grabbed both her arms. He was worried too. Draco felt a rush of anger rise up inside him as Granger looked up at him with frightened eyes, as if he were a fucking Prince Charming.
Draco then saw the effect of his spell manifest itself. Behind her hands, Granger was hiding her two front teeth, which were getting bigger and bigger. It looked terribly painful. Draco was in shock. He couldn't believe it was he who had caused it. He wanted to tell her that he hadn't done it on purpose, but he couldn't speak or move, and anyway, he was surrounded by all the Slytherin students laughing and patting him on the back to congratulate him.
Draco stared at Granger. Her teeth were past her bottom lip now. Weasley was doing his best to get her hands off her face, but he was completely helpless, only able to watch Granger's teeth grow longer and longer.
"What's all this noise?" asked Snape, who had just come out of the Potions room.
He approached the stage and everyone began to explain at the same time. The professor turned to Draco:
"Explain." he said in his deep voice.
"Potter attacked me, sir."
He pointed at Potter, who was shaking with anger.
"We attacked each other at the same time!" he shouted.
Goyle gave an unfortunate little cry of pain and Draco winced as he saw his nose swollen and covered in pustules:
"And he hit Goyle... Look!" said Draco.
While Snape bent over Goyle to see the damage to his nose, Draco watched Granger. Her teeth had grown up to her chin and her eyes were misty with tears. Weasley was saying words to her in a low voice, probably to console her, which annoyed Draco even more.
"To the hospital wing, Goyle." Snape said.
"Malfoy got Hermione!" exclaimed Weasley, pulling Granger forward to show him. "Look!"
Granger tried to hide her teeth, but her hands could no longer cover her two incisors, which had now reached her neck. Draco heard the mocking laughter of Pansy and Daphne behind his back.
Snape showed no sign that he had just seen Granger's elongated teeth. He looked at her coldly, then shrugged limply:
"I don't see much difference." Snape said calmly.
Even Draco, who was used to Snape's obvious favouritism, was shocked at his words. Granger took the blow and Draco was sure he saw a tear fall before she turned on her heel and ran off. He watched her flee with a twinge of sadness. Then he turned to Pansy, who was laughing her head off, and tried as best he could to smile. But he couldn't. His blood pressure must have exploded and his heart was still racing.
Potter and Weasley simultaneously shouted a stream of incomprehensible words tinged with insults, which echoed against the damp walls of the dungeons.
"Let's see..." said Snape. "Fifty points from Gryffindor and a detention each for Potter and Weasley. And now, get back to class or I'll give you a whole week's detention."
They entered the classroom and Weasley jostled Draco as he passed. Pansy entered in turn, followed by Draco, who hadn't yet realised what he'd just done. When he sat down at his usual desk next to Theo, the latter made no comment, although Draco could see his disapproving expression as he took out his cauldron.
To his left, on the next desk, Draco could hear Pansy whispering to Daphne:
"Did you see her beaver teeth? It was so horrible! I wouldn't have left my dormitory for weeks if that had happened to me..."
Draco then turned to Potter, sitting at the back of the classroom. He was enraged, and was already staring at Draco's back as if hoping to hurt him telepathically. Draco clicked his badge to reveal the message "Potter stinks" once more.
Still, he was less proud of his idea of badges than he had been fifteen minutes ago. Despite Snape's interesting lecture on antidotes, Draco couldn't concentrate. Was Granger already in the hospital wing? Had she regained her teeth yet, or would she have to stay there for a few days to be treated?
Draco realised that his hand was shaking as he cut the beetle shells for his potion. It was he who had done it. And as much as he wanted to convince himself that he didn't care, that Granger deserved it, he knew full well that was a lie.
.
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Hermione
.
Hermione was crying when she reached the hospital wing. Fortunately, she hadn't passed anyone on her way, and arrived strangely before Goyle. The nurse opened the door and gave a little cry of astonishment when she saw Hermione's elongated teeth:
"Miss Granger! What ha..."
"Ivantrd tou shrugpt..."
"Come with me." said the nurse, who probably hadn't understood a word Hermione had meant.
She approached her towards a bed set back from the ward and closed the curtains. Hermione wanted to warn her that Goyle would be back soon, but she couldn't pronounce properly, so she let it go.
"Dentesaugmento spell?" asked Madam Pomfrey. (Hermione nodded.) "I recognise the effects, did a student do that to you?"
Hermione nodded again, and the nurse gave an annoyed sigh. She reached for her wand, which was in her apron pocket, and a small mirror in a drawer on the bedside table. When she put it in front of Hermione, the latter gave a strangled cry: her teeth were reaching her neck.
"I'm going to stop enlarging the teeth and make them smaller. You tell me to stop when they've reached a normal length, okay?"
Hermione nodded, but the weight of her teeth was so disabling that this simple gesture caused her terrible pain. Madam Pomfrey pointed her wand at Hermione and whispered:
"Prohibere ac recusare."
There was a flash of white and Hermione felt the thrust stop, and her gums close. Then she watched her long teeth slowly narrow. Her neck, her chin, her lip...
Hermione saw the moment when her teeth were the right size, but she didn't say "stop" just yet. She waited for the moment when they were perfectly aligned before murmuring "that's it."
"Does it hurt?" asked Madam Pomfrey.
"Yes, a bit."
Her nerve was horribly sensitive and she kept running her tongue over it in the hope of soothing it.
Madam Pomfrey left for a moment and returned with tea and a small cinnamon stick.
"Here, drink this, it will do you good. And if the pain doesn't go away, you can chew on this, it'll loosen up your teeth."
The hospital wing door opened, and Goyle's voice rose in the room, frightened:
"Madam Pomfrey?"
She nodded gravely:
"Did he do that to you?" she asked, pointing with a shake of her head to the front door.
"No, he was hit by the other spell from the duel."
"Oh, Merlin... These students, never able to keep quiet... Who did this to you?"
Hermione said nothing, and Goyle asked in an even more panicked tone:
"Madam Pomfrey?!"
She sighed and headed for the front door, taking care to close the curtains around the bed Hermione occupied. She heard Goyle being laid down in a bed on the other side, stammering in fear. He was struggling to remember the spell Harry had cast, and fortunately he didn't give away who had done it to him, probably too frightened to think about it at the moment.
Hermione drank her tea and chewed on the cinnamon stick. It did soothe quite a bit, but her teeth were still as sore as if she'd just had dental surgery.
Hermione thought about her parents. She'd been asking them for an operation to shrink her teeth for as long as she could remember, but especially since she'd been at Hogwarts. They wouldn't be very happy to see the change, but at the same time, it would save them an expensive Muggle operation.
Hermione picked up the mirror Madam Pomfrey had left on the bedside table and looked at her teeth. When she smiled, her teeth were now the same size. It felt strange at first, but as she smiled more and more, she really liked her reflection. It was the one advantage of being a victim of a Malfoy spell.
Madam Pomfrey forced her to lie down for hours, preventing her from going to class. She even missed part of dinner, so Hermione finally got up on her own and went straight to see her in the nurse's office. Walking into the hospital wing, she saw Goyle through a small opening in the curtains, lying in bed with his eyes closed. His nose was swollen and covered in yellowish cream, but Hermione could clearly see the boils underneath. It was really disgusting.
She knocked on the door of the nurse's office.
"Miss Granger! Are you feeling better?" asked Madam Pomfrey as she entered.
She made her open her mouth to inspect her teeth under a lamp and seemed satisfied with the result:
"Are you sure you don't want to sleep here, get some rest?" she offered gently.
"No, thank you, I feel fine."
It wasn't quite true, because her gums were still stinging, but she much preferred to feel pain in her Common Room than in this room where she was bored and had to endure the silence she hated so much. The nurse nodded:
"Very well. But I'm warning you: no solid food until Monday. You can drink soup, or tea, and occasionally nibble on cinnamon sticks, but that's it. And when you brush your teeth, be careful not to be too brusque, your incisors are still very fragile."
"All right, thank you very much Madam Pomfrey!"
And Hermione left the hospital wing. The corridors were empty, obviously everyone had already gone back to the dormitories. She climbed the stairs, massaging her cheeks thoughtfully.
She was thinking about Malfoy. She felt stupid for thinking that they could be friends now, just because he had sat with her at a table in the Library. His nature had returned and she'd taken it in the face, literally. At that moment, she hated him. Just like before.
Hermione arrived in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady and guessed there was hardly anyone there, because there was no hubbub through it. When she entered, she realised that there was only Ginny, Fred, and George. All three of them stood up when she came in:
"Hermione, are you all right?" asked George.
"Ron told us what Malfoy had done." Fred said.
"That fat bastard." George continued.
"How are you feeling?" asked Ginny.
"I'm fine." she said with a smile. "Madam Pomfrey narrowed my teeth, and I pushed a little to get them aligned..."
She walked over and gave them a big, forced smile. The three Weasleys looked at her for a long moment, then Fred said gallantly:
"You have as pretty a smile as before, Mione."
"Thank you Fred."
"Are you in pain?" asked Ginny.
"A bit. Ever since Madam Pomfrey put them back on, they've been brittle, and throwing me a bit. I'm going to have a cup of tea and go to bed."
She sat down on the sofa next to Ginny, while Fred and George sat on the two armrests.
"Malfoy really is an arsehole." Fred said. "Casting a spell on you like that in front of Snape..."
"It's not really Malfoy, he didn't do it on purpose, he fired without aiming..." said Hermione in a small voice.
"He did cast the spell, didn't he? He wanted to get to Harry, he got to you, either way, he's an arsehole." decreed George.
Ginny had frowned indescribably when she heard Hermione defend him, but changed the subject:
"We didn't see you at dinner, did you eat in the hospital wing?"
"No, I can't eat solids because of my teeth..."
"You haven't eaten?!" shouted George.
Without consulting each other, they got up synchronously and went out through the portrait. Hermione raised her eyebrows and turned to Ginny, who shrugged:
"I've learnt to stop asking them what's on their minds."
Hermione threw out an Accio and her mug jumped into her hands.
"You're really good with those spells." Ginny said, impressed. "I heard Harry was having trouble."
"Yes, he can't do it, I think it's because of Ron... By the way, where is he?"
"He went to bed about twenty minutes ago. He seems really depressed at the moment."
"And Ron too?"
"Yes. I think they're both too stubborn to realise that one is as sad as the other. Everyone notices but them."
"They're idiots. They'll make up eventually, I hope." sighed Hermione.
"I hope so too, you must be feeling quite lonely at the moment." said Ginny in a sympathetic voice.
"Pretty swamped juggling the two."
Ginny chuckled and Hermione offered her a cup of tea.
"No thanks, I don't really like mint." said Ginny.
Hermione nodded and took a sip of tea. She looked at Ginny, whose red hair was glowing brightly from the fire that lit it. Her legs were outstretched, so that she could put her feet up on the armchair in front of her, and her head was resting comfortably on the back of the sofa.
Of all the people at Hogwarts, the person Hermione was most able to confide in was Ginny. She always had good advice and never repeated her secrets. So Hermione took a deep breath and awkwardly blurted out:
"You know... I'm not really alone these days."
"Oh yeah?" asked Ginny distractedly.
"Someone often comes and sits with me, in the Library."
"Neville?" asked Ginny.
Hermione stifled a laugh.
"No, a bit more scandalous."
Ginny's eyes widened and she rolled her head over the back to look at Hermione:
"No way... Krum?!"
"No..."
"I don't know who could be more scandalous than him, Mione."
"Draco Malfoy."
This time, Ginny raised her head sharply.
"WHAT!"
"Yes... He came to sit with me, when Krum's admirers were taking up all the space in the Library."
"Oh... You poor thing, that must have been a particularly awful study session."
"No, not so much..." Hermione said in a whisper. "He was... Not nice, but rather, decent. We even laughed together."
"Excuse me?! Hermione, if this is a joke..."
"No, I promise."
Ginny's eyes were still too wide and her mouth was open in shock :
"And it wasn't just one night!" added Hermione. "He came and sat all week!"
"But... What did you talk about?"
"Oh, he doesn't talk much. I started the conversation first, a few days ago. Before that, he'd barely given me a glance. And since then... we talk a lot."
Ginny frowned suddenly:
"Then, why did he cast a spell on you?"
"He didn't do it on purpose... I mean, he cast the spell, but he wanted to get to Harry. I don't know why he did it. Now I don't know what to think of him."
"You don't think he was doing it to amuse the Slytherins?"
"Probably. But what's the point of getting on well in private, if he's this stupid in public?"
Ginny shrugged, but before she could argue, the portrait slid open again and they fell silent. The twins returned to the room, and Hermione watched in amazement as a bowl levitated between them in the air.
"Chestnut soup for madam!" exclaimed George as he placed the bowl on the table. "Be careful, it's burning hot."
"Oh, thank you boys! That's lovely!" said Hermione.
Hermione took the bowl, careful not to burn herself, and brought it to her lips, but just before she tasted it, she stopped:
"Wait a minute... You went to the kitchen, didn't you? Did you ask the elves to make this soup?"
Fred and George had firmly refused to join the S.P.E.W.
"Yes." said Fred without blinking. "But they were delighted to make it."
Hermione frowned hesitantly. George continued:
"Come on, Mione. If you throw it away, it'll be a waste anyway. They've already made it, might as well enjoy it."
"Besides, can you imagine if you left the bowl here and the elves stumbled across it during the night, when they were tidying up the Common Room? Can you imagine their big tear-filled eyes as they clean up your lovingly made soup?" asked Fred with a pout.
"And more importantly, we just climbed seven flights of stairs to bring it to you. It's worth drinking." added George with a small smile.
Hermione contemplated the soup, which looked perfectly velvety, and gave off a tantalising smell.
"Well, all right... Thank you."
And she took a big gulp, which immediately soothed her sore teeth, and warmed her instantly. This chestnut soup was delicious.
.
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Draco
.
.
He felt the weight of his bed sag slightly as Pansy lay down next to him. Draco hadn't spoken since Potions class, but that didn't stop his friends chatting happily next to him, constantly interrupting his thoughts.
"Very good idea, those badges, Draco." said Pansy, pointing to the badge she had removed from her dress to observe it closely. "I'm going to wear it every day. Potter was furious."
"Yeah." continued Blaise, who was lying in his own bed. "How did you get the idea again?"
Draco mumbled incomprehensible words. He didn't have the energy to lie. Blaise and Pansy took no notice and continued as if they hadn't heard him:
"And that spell... What a good idea!" said Pansy, smiling. "You did it perfectly, Granger was disfigured. Did you plan to hit her?"
"No." Draco blurted out.
He hadn't been able to hold back, guilt already gnawing at his insides to hear further praise for what he'd done. Pansy raised her eyebrows and continued:
"Anyway, it was excellent. She won't be showing off with her beaver teeth any more. Did you see her face? I'd have died of shame in her place."
"It was completely stupid." Theo snapped.
He hadn't said much either. He had been lying in bed for a long time and was reading a book, but his tone was hard, dry. Draco raised his head to look at him, but his book was blocking his face.
"What do you care, Theo? It's not like she didn't deserve it." said Pansy.
She was in the process of applying lotion to her two bare legs, which she had spread out on the duvet, and the smell of the product was quite disgusting. Theo put his book down on his duvet and gave her a cold look:
"Deserve it? Pansy, tell me truthfully when she deserved it."
"She's friends with Potter and Weasley, she's always being Miss Know-It-All, she's insufferable..."
"You can be insufferable too, and yet I've never deformed your face for it." Theo hissed.
Draco was surprised by his reaction. He looked furious. He'd never thought he could defend Granger to such an extent. Draco vaguely wondered if his friend didn't feel something for her, but the thought pissed him off and he preferred to quickly pull him away before he got insomnia.
"Oh, Theo..." exclaimed Pansy. "You're not falling in love, by any chance?"
Draco tensed without meaning to. Pansy continued in her honeyed voice:
"What made you fall for her? The fact that she reads as many books as you do? Her buck teeth? Her high-pitched voice? Or her impure blood?"
Theo exaggeratedly rolled his eyes.
"Shut up, Pansy." he muttered. "I'm just saying it was unnecessary."
"Maybe, but it was funny."
They didn't speak after that. Draco watched Pansy take a pack of black cigarettes out of the bedside table drawer and light herself a cigarette. He found it completely disgusting to smoke before bed, but no one in the dormitory commented on it, so he preferred to keep quiet.
Pansy smoked her whole cigarette until only a burnt piece remained between her fingers, which she crushed in the ashtray, then lay down.
She flicked the curtains shut without saying goodnight to the others and cast a Silencio charm at the same time. Then she lay back down and stroked Draco's arm lightly under the duvet. But he was far too upset to pay any attention. Was Granger still in pain? He didn't know the real effects of the spell; in fact, he'd cast it without knowing what it would cause.
"What are you thinking about?" asked Pansy softly, snapping him out of his thoughts abruptly.
"Nothing."
There was a silence, then Draco asked her:
"Did you know about the Dentesaugmento spell?
Pansy quickly removed her hand from Draco's arm.
"No. Why?"
"It's the spell I cast on Potter."
"Didn't you know it made teeth get bigger?" asked Pansy.
Draco avoided turning to her and answered honestly:
"Yes, I mean, I knew the principle, I just didn't think it would be so... literal."
He thought back to Granger's teeth that had pushed through to her collar and her tear-filled eyes.
"You're afraid she'll tell on you, aren't you?" questioned Pansy.
Draco realised that he'd never even considered being punished for it. He'd replayed it in his head so much that he'd forgotten it was forbidden, and that he actually risked punishment. In truth, he couldn't care less. No punishment inflicted by a teacher could be as painful as the guilt he felt at that moment.
"No, not really."
Pansy shrugged, then added bitterly:
"It's funny that the spell ricocheted and hit Granger, because it was very appropriate. I'm sure she has a complex about it. I would, if I were her."
Draco turned his head towards his best friend. Her face reflected the acerbic tone she had just used. Draco had never really noticed it, but Pansy had always been particularly vehement towards Granger. She was clearly jealous. Her large dark eyes were crinkled in a grimace of hatred.
He realised that he understood why. Pansy spent hours making herself perfect, taking care of every detail of her appearance, whereas Granger was naturally pretty. Granger was sunny, and Pansy was ice. That was probably why she was so resentful of her.
Fortunately, she stopped talking and the bed fell silent. Draco wondered again about Granger and the effects of his spell, then gave up, telling himself that there was no point in making any more dramatic hypotheses anyway. He'd find out the next day in the Library. He tossed and turned in his bed, trying to fall asleep, and pulled back the curtain on his four-poster bed slightly to look at the time on his alarm clock:
00h07.
"By the way, happy birthday, Pans'." whispered Draco.
"Thank you." she replied sleepily.
.
.
.
"Happy birthday, Pans'!" cried Theo and Blaise the next day.
"Thank you boys." she said with a smile. "I see you haven't forgotten..."
"How could we forget?" pointed out Blaise. "It's not as if you wrote the date down in indelible ink in all our notebooks."
Pansy's smile widened even more.
"Shall we get some breakfast?" suggested Theo.
They turned to Draco, who was still silent. He didn't feel like getting up, and was definitely not hungry, but nodded to his friends all the same:
"I'm coming."
They waited until he had finished getting ready before leaving the dormitory, then the Common Room, and entering the Great Hall. When they took their usual seats, Draco was surprised to hear how many people there were wishing Pansy a happy birthday. He hadn't noticed that she was so popular with the Slytherins, probably thanks to the many parties she had attended.
"Thank you, everyone!" shouted Pansy.
She had put a pink ribbon in her hair, which fell elegantly over her shoulders. She had also cut her own fringes, so that they surrounded her dark eyes more.
The Great Hall was much emptier than usual on this Saturday morning. Draco noticed that Granger wasn't at the table, nor Weasley, nor Potter. He wondered if she was still in the hospital wing, or if she'd had breakfast earlier.
He nibbled an apple wedge, when suddenly a hundred owls swooped through the windows of the Great Hall. Draco saw Pansy glance hopefully towards them, but none landed in front of her. Her father hadn't written for her birthday, and even though it was the fourth year in a row that he hadn't, she still seemed disappointed.
Theo must have noticed her pain because he threw the paper at her with a smile:
"Here, Daily Prophet. So, what's your horoscope for today, just for fun?"
Pansy grinned and unwrapped the paper:
"Scorpio - Put your best foot forward, this is a very important day for you. You'll be so busy that you won't notice the time passing. Be careful not to trip, you could inflict a particularly painful injury on yourself."
Theo burst out laughing:
"Well, yes, because tomorrow you won't have to worry about that at all."
"I can see what you're trying to do, Theodore." Pansy replied mysteriously. " You're actually really interested in my horoscope, but you don't dare admit it because you've spat too much on it, am I right?"
"Yeah, right..."
"You want me to read yours, don't you?"
"No, it's fine..."
"Virgo." cut in Pansy, which made Theo laugh. "Take advantage of this quiet day to rest, because you seem a bit overworked at the moment. If you're in a relationship, take advantage of this break to show your partner how much you care about him or her. And don't forget to go and cut your hair, because it really is getting too long."
"Nonsense, you added that!" said Theo indignantly.
"No I didn't!" exclaimed Pansy, shoving the newspaper under his nose. "Look, Rita Skeeter wrote it! She's the one who writes the horoscopes, I adore her."
"She's not wrong, Theo." pointed out Blaise, who was eating his eggs, amused by the conversation. "Your hair has never been so long."
Theo ran a hand through his mass of curly chestnut hair, which almost fell in front of his eyes.
"I like it that way. And it's certainly not Rita Skeeter who's going to stop me from growing it as I please." he decided.
Draco chuckled, especially when he saw the indignant look on Pansy's face.
After breakfast, Draco spent the morning with his friends. He was glad to be with them, but deep down he was looking forward to going to the Library. If Granger was out of the hospital wing, he was pretty sure he'd find her there. He thought he'd go during the afternoon, not wanting to draw suspicion on himself by being away all day on Pansy's birthday.
At breakfast, Pansy blew out the candles that Blaise had planted in a small muffin and received applause from most of the table. Then they gave her their presents: Blaise gave her a Divination book entitled "Scorpions in the Stars", and Theo a carved silver ashtray.
"This way, you'll stop littering the dormitory floor with ashes." he said mockingly.
Draco then handed her his, which she tore open excitedly. Then she squealed with delight when she saw what it was: a kit full of lotions and creams. Draco had noticed that she often stopped in front of the Diagon Alley shop window to look at it. And on top of that, Draco had added an expensive black lipstick.
"Thank you Draco, that makes me so happy!"
He smiled. He knew she loved presents, especially those carefully chosen for her. She'd treasured every present he'd ever given her, no matter how lame.
The conversation shifted to another subject, a party soon to be held, and Draco took the opportunity to look at the Gryffindors' table discreetly. Granger still wasn't there, shining by her absence thanks to her usual empty seat. Weasley was there, though, but looking particularly sullen.
"Dray, practice?" offered Blaise, rising from the table.
"Er... No, I can't, I have to do something." he replied.
His best friend frowned:
"Really? What's that?"
"I've got to finish a paper, I'm really late. It'll probably take me all afternoon. But I'll see you tonight, okay?"
Blaise nodded. Pansy looked disappointed, but said nothing, and Draco quickly slipped away.
.
.
Hermione
.
.
Hermione was in a very bad mood. She was hungry, but couldn't eat anything because her teeth were too sensitive, she was annoyed by Ron's behaviour, who was insisting heavily on his argument with Harry, and above all, she was having trouble studying. The chapter of Transfiguration she wanted to read wasn't interesting enough to stop her thoughts going off in all directions.
She had arrived at the Library early, and had deliberately put her bag on the seat in front of her and taken up most of the table space with her numerous parchments. She had even asked Harry to join her (to prevent Malfoy from sitting down), but he had refused.
Her stomach growled, so she took a sip of tea to calm her hunger. Leaning over her Transfiguration book, she pretended to read a little more, vaguely wondering if she wasn't going to study in the Common Room instead, when she heard footsteps beside her table. Without even looking up from her book, she already knew who it was. She recognised Draco Malfoy's prideful walk in the distance.
He stood in front of the chair opposite her but she still didn't look up and muttered:
"Piss off, Malfoy."
"Granger, there isn't a single seat available."
"I don't care, Malfoy. Go somewhere else, I don't want to talk to you."
"Oh, give me a break. I didn't cast the spell on you on purpose, you know that."
This time she looked into his eyes fiercely:
"The problem is that you cast the spell in the first place, Malfoy."
He was still dressed all in black, and his hair was a little flatter than usual, as if it had been crushed by a beanie. Perhaps he'd been out in the cold a few minutes earlier.
"I was aiming for Potter." he grumbled.
His grey gaze was piercing. Hermione nodded:
"And that's supposed to reassure me?" she asked wryly.
Suddenly, Malfoy's eyes widened, in an expression of shock that was very unlike him. Hermione was so taken aback by this that she abandoned her indignant look and frowned:
"What?"
"Granger, what have you done to your teeth?!"