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Draco stepped in to Flourish and Blotts and made a beeline for the staircase leading to the small but thankfully empty second floor. Down below, what looked to be over fifty people (majority of them being witches) were crammed into every nook and cranny of the shop, all waiting to get a glimpse of what his father had mentioned was their new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.
Oh, this was going to be a fun year indeed.
Not interested in looking for any particular faces at the moment, Draco turned his back on the crowd and turned to look at the row of shelves he had stopped in front of: Classics of Literature.
Figures he would stop in one of the most boring sections of the shop.
The door swung open again, but Draco paid no attention to the new guests in the shop. It wasn't a minute or so later, the entire floor below him burst into applause with a few muffled giggles and squeals. His curiosity getting the better of him, and with really nothing better to do, Draco turned away from the bookshelves and positioned himself over the railing looking down over the heads of the people below him.
He could barely catch sight of Gilderoy Lockhart as he came to the front of his desk. Draco couldn't help but roll his eyes at his future professor. Honestly, and people said he had an ego?
A few camera flashes momentarily blinded him, but before he was able to walk away in search of something worth his reading, a certain name caught his ear and he nearly flung himself over the side of the balcony.
"It can't be, Harry Potter?"
Draco scanned over the faces in the crowd in search of the boy he had grown to loathe since his first day at Hogwarts. He didn't need to look for long, though, as the man for the Daily Prophet quickly stepped in and yanked him up to the front.
Draco's lips pulled back into the sneer.
As his eyes traveled over the people surrounding him, Draco could pinpoint at least six heads of red hair, one belonging to Potter's best friend.
The other one was a girl that was only a bit shorter than him, and while someone (not him!) may have considered her pretty in a nerdy and bookish-brainy sort of way, if it were not for the atrocious, bushy mess she called hair, she could pass as someone who was...attractive, he guessed.
Underneath the balcony, Draco could hear Gilderoy Lockhart bragging to the crowd about Harry leaving with his entire collection of books or some rubbish like that. He didn't pay the two at the front much mind, though, as he followed the bushy-haired girl's movements.
There was no mistaking it was Granger, but Draco couldn't find himself to tear his eyes off of her. For the sake she was recognizable in any crowd, of course, because of her hair.
He assured himself there was not a singular other reason, that along with the fact she seemed to be carrying at least five books that could have reached from her nose to her navel.
Draco's attention was finally snapped away from Granger by the arrival of the boy next to her, who was for some reason covered from head to toe in soot. Granger began spilling on about some of the books she had managed to grab for the three of them. Potter seemed less than interested to hear about it, along with the Weaselbee next to him.
It took him a moment to realize they were headed back towards the front of the book shop, and wanting to stir a little trouble as Malfoy's are supposed to do, Draco smirked and began his trek back down the stairs. Luckily, the trio, accompanied by a few extra red-heads, got stuck on their way back and Draco managed to get there first.
"Bet you loved that didn't you, Potter?" Draco smirked, coming to a stop in front of the group. All three of the small smiles or grins any of them had been wearing dropped immediately upon seeing him, and Draco couldn't help but feel a swell of pride.
"Famous Harry Potter, can't even go to a bookshop without making the front page!" he sneered, about to continue before the youngest red-head stepped forward.
"Leave him alone," she hissed through clenched teeth.
It was a bit of a surprise for him to see Weasley's sister of all people to come forward and defend Potter, and his thoughts immediately took advantage of the situation as he smirked down at her.
"Oh look, Potter, you've got yourself a girlfriend," he drawled. He was satisfied when her face turned the deepest shade of red he had ever seen. It could have matched that of Gryffinor's.
Before anyone, including Draco, could say another word, he felt a firm hand on his shoulder. Whipping around to see who it was, and about to demand they unhand him at once, Draco's words died in his mouth as he saw his father standing tall behind him.
"Now now, Draco, do play nicely," said Lucius as he gently but firmly pushed his son to the side. Turning to face Potter, he held out his hand for the boy to shake. "Mr. Potter, we meet at last. Lucius Malfoy."
As his father pulled back and gave him a small smirk, his eyes traveled from Potter's face to the scar on his forehead. Draco took another step back as his father vaguely gestured to it, unaware of the person beside him with her chin held high and her glare steely.
"Please, forgive me," Lucius started. "But your scar is legend. As was the wizard who gave it to you."
"Voldemort killed my parents," Potter returned with a hard venom in his voice. "He was nothing more than a murderer."
"You must be very brave to mention his name," Lucius replied. "Or are you foolish?"
"Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself."
Draco refrained from jumping as a voice came from beside him. Turning to see who he had backed up next to, he was surprised to first set eyes on a head of bushy hair. He didn't need to look at her face to know it was Granger, but he couldn't refrain from letting his eyes travel to the heated daggers she was shooting at his father. While he was not one to stand by and see his father disrespected, he had to admit (although he hated doing so), she could be a bit scary at times.
Lucius had turned his attention from Potter to Granger, and the moment he saw her face, he quirked a brow in recognition.
"And you must be...Ms. Granger, I presume?" he asked, looking to Draco for confirmation. He gave his head a single nod, his eyes darting back between his father and the Gryffindor beside him. Lucius caught the movement, but didn't comment.
"Ah yes, Draco's told me all about you," Lucius continued. "And your parents."
At the mention of them, Granger's head turned to the side to look at what Draco guessed were Mr. and Mrs. Granger at the back of the shop, lost in conversation with Weasley's father. He followed her gaze over to them, and right on the spot, he knew where she got her hair from.
Her father was a tall and thin man, much like the woman beside him. His hair was starting to gray at the sides, but Granger's mother was a mass of brown curls; nearly identical to the girl's beside him.
"Muggles, aren't they?" Lucius clarified looking back at Granger. She didn't nod or move from her spot, but instead kept her chin high and her glare firm on him. Draco was the only one to notice the slight raise in his feather's brow, and the faintest twitch in his lip upward. If he wasn't mistaken, and were it anyone else, Draco would have assumed his father was near impressed.
Lucius turned back towards the group standing behind Potter, but before he could get a word out of them, yet another red-head joined the group. Like Granger's father, he was starting to gray around the red end of his hair, and Draco could only assume it was Weasly's father.
"Children, it's mad in here!" he exclaimed, coming up from behind the youngest Weaselette. "Let's go outside."
"Well, well, well, Weasley, see now." Lucius interrupted, raising his shoulders back and returning to his usual icy state.
"Lucius." Mr. Weasley replied, his voice just as cold.
"Busy time at the Ministry?" he inquired. "All those extra raids. I do hope they're paying you overtime - "
"Lucius!"
At the mention of his name, Draco's father cut himself short and turned in the doorway of Flourish and Blotts. Leaving Granger's side, Draco walked up beside him and peered out into the street. The last thing he had expected was to see his mother standing outside one of the shop windows, motioning for them to hurry up.
Yet there she was, a rather casual dress robe on for his school shopping. Even though Lucius rose himself up to his full height, Draco couldn't help but feel a bit of heat crawl up to color his cheeks pink at his mother.
Turning back to face the group, Lucius gave all of them a quick once over and landed on Mr. Weasley. "I'll see you at work."
With a slight nod, he spun on his heel and was out the door. Draco remained behind for a moment, giving each member of Potter's trio a heated glare. When he came to Granger, he could still feel the reminisce of his embarrassed blush on the tips of his ears, and her barely-raised brow with both amusement and curiosity didn't help. He scowled and swiveled back towards Potter.
"See you at school."
Stepping away from them, he too spun on his heel and was out the door, about to give his mother the scowl of the century.
"I am sorry Draco, but we're on a bit of a tight schedule today," Narcissa explained as she placed the money in Madam Malkin's hand, thanking the lady once again for Draco's robe fittings. "You and your father can't be squabbling around in bookshops and bickering with everyone you come across."
"It wasn't just anyone, Mother, it was Potter and his bloody followers," Draco sneered. "Those Weasley's and that bushy-haired know-it-all."
Narcissa glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, but she quickly averted her gaze back to the crowded street again as Draco turned to look at her.
"Your father did mention something about one of the people you talked to there," Narcissa commented as if talking about the weather. "Ms. Granger, I believe her name is?"
Draco almost tripped over his own two feet, nearly colliding into a passer-byer carrying boxes and bags of supplies. With a scowl he replied, "Yeah, what about her? That she's an annoying know-it-all? That she keeps doing better than me in some of my classes? It's not my fault that she's the pet of every professor in that bloody school!"
Narcissa held back a chuckle and a wide smile. "Actually, he said it was interesting to meet her in person. She's many of the things you mentioned about her, though I think he added a few others. I do feel ashamed, Draco. You share all of this information about girls with your father, but nothing with me."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Draco hissed through clenched teeth, his ears taking on the same pink they usually did when someone mentioned him talking about Granger.
"You've left me out entirely about Ms. Granger," she exclaimed. "And I'm asking why that is? The way your father described her, she seems like a very capable girl."
"More like stuck-up, annoying, bossy; take your pick." Draco snorted.
"The point is," Narcissa cut in with a pointed look at her son. "I don't know why you kept this from me. You're not embarrassed about her, are you?"
"We're not even friends, Mother. She's a Mud - Muggleborn." He cut himself short on using the term "Mudblood". His mother wasn't a woman, despite how most people perceived them, that enjoyed such language about another's bloodline. While she did have some standards around them, using slurs like that wasn't one of them.
"Yes, your father already told me that, too. But besides that, tell me something else about her. Something that doesn't have to do with her family."
"I already did," Draco retorted, growing more and more uncomfortable with where the conversation was headed by the second. Narcissa didn't seem phased in the least.
"How about saying something besides that she's, as you say, a "know-it-all". For example, what does she look like?" Narcissa asked, curiosity getting the better of her of who might have started to grab her son's attention more than he cared to admit.
"Well for starters," Draco mumbled. "She has what I would consider just to be a mountain of hair. I don't mean that kindly either. Her curls are so ridiculous at times, you could honestly mistake it for a squirrel's nest. I mean, has she never at least heard of Sleekeasy's? She may not be the richest of the bunch, but I know she could at least afford a suitable hair product every now and then."
"You could always buy her a bottle if you think she'll need it that much," Narcissa teased, though she framed her face to look completely serious. She barely refrained from smiling again as Draco seemed to ponder the idea for a minute.
"We could always do that. I mean, because it'll drive her up the bloody wall, obviously."
"Obviously," Narcissa muttered to herself, quietly enough so Draco wouldn't hear. When she was sure he wasn't looking, she couldn't help but crack a small smirk as he continued.
"And the way she smiles sometimes, you've got to see it for yourself to believe it. She has two teeth outfront that if they were any bigger would make her look like a beaver. Ironic since her parents are supposed to be healers that do stuff with...well, I don't really know what, but you'd just have to see it to believe it. That, along with the way she walks around school sometimes next to Potter and Weasley - "
Draco cut himself short so he could take a breath.
Narcissa covered her chuckle behind a small cough as she realized her son, while he easily concealed it, was showing a few first signs of jealousy around Ms. Granger's two other close friends.
" - I feel like she thinks she owns the place sometimes. But her eyes, mother, her eyes! They may be quite pretty to look at, but I'm telling you, Granger could probably melt the back of somebody's head if she tried hard enough…."
Draco trailed off as he looked to see his mother trying to conceal a wide beam. "What?"
"You really think she has a lovely set of eyes?" Narcissa inquired, quirking one of her blonde eyebrows as her wide grin turned into a smirk.
"No, I - I never said that," Draco said much too fast for his own liking. "I said her eyes are like hot coals that could burn two holes into the back of your head. I never said they were nice to look at."
"But they must be pretty for you to notice them so closely," Narcissa concluded, rounding to a stop outside of Madam Primpernelle's Beautifying Potions. Draco rolled his eyes, but followed her up to the door nonetheless. He never knew why his mother went into the shop in the first place; while he didn't say it out loud, he did think his mother was beautiful already, and she didn't need any extra potions to prove that.
Noting her son's bored expression as she opened the door, Nacrissa turned back to Draco. Her eyes briefly flew up to someone behind him, but they quickly darted back down to him. "Draco, didn't you say there was a book earlier today that you thought we should have in our library?"
Draco dug through his thoughts in regards to what he said earlier that morning. The first volume of a beloved book he had started before his first year was miraculously missing, and although he had searched the entire Manor from top to bottom, it had been nowhere in sight.
"If you go quickly, I'll meet you at the front of Ollivander's. Don't waste any time, though. You're to be back there in less than half-an-hour, understood?" Narcissa clarified, her tone sharp and to the point. Draco nodded and, with a small smile, hurried back up the street, winding his way through the crowds and back up towards Flourish and Blotts.
As Narcissa watched him go, she couldn't help but feel a swell of love for her son as she watched him trail behind the girl she had seen moments before he left. While she did want Draco to spend the money she had given him for school-worthy supplies rather than just more quidditch brooms and equipment than she knew what to do with, she was glad that if it meant he would spend money on the book she had found just the other day beneath the couch in the library, it would be worth it if he got to see the girl that had caught his eye again.
Weaving between the last wave of witches and wizards before another came in, Draco ran across to the doorway of Flourish and Blotts and stepped back inside. Since he and his father had left, the crowd had started to dwindle down and it was mainly only the press that remained to see Gilderoy Lockhart. His soon-to-be-professor's smile was near unnerving to look at, and Draco made it his goal that this trip would be quick.
He quickly took in the labeled shelves around him, not finding anything in regards to the book he wanted. He moved around from shelf to shelf, his fingers sometimes trailing behind on the backs of the covers. Some were cracked and beginning to fall apart, while others were polished and looked like they had just come out of the publishers store a few shops down the street.
With no luck on the first row, Draco turned back towards the front of the shop and took the stairs. He was already so focused on looking for it as he scanned the shelves that he didn't notice the girl on the other side, browsing through with a mission to fulfill.
Draco rounded the corner just as she came around, and the two almost tumbled to the ground with the force Draco ran into her at. The two books she had been carrying hit the floor with a thunk, and a few of the pages came flying out of one.
"Oh, I - Granger?"
Draco took a step back from where Granger was standing and rubbing her head, her forehead seemingly having run straight into his jaw when the two collided.
"Who else, Malfoy?" she snapped back. Her attention was distracted by the two books on the floor, and seeing as one of them was already ruined, she sighed. Granger took her wand from her cloak's pocket, and with a quick wave, one of the books flew up into her arms while the other carefully repaired its pages to its spine before landing right on top. "I would say it was nice running into you, but I think we both know that's not true."
Draco couldn't keep back his snort, and covered his mouth for a second to cover his chuckle. He didn't see the surprised look that crossed Granger's face at her rather terrible joke.
"Why carry the books when you can just stuff them in that tangled mass you call hair," he drawled, a smirk taking over his face. "I'm sure you've already got a few hiding up there."
Granger rolled her eyes and scoffed. "I'm honestly surprised to see you back in here, Malfoy. And here I thought the pestering, pig-bigoted boy in front of me had too big of an ego to know how to read. I do wonder sometimes how you manage to get it through those doorways."
Draco's smirk deepened. "I could say the same thing about your hair, but we probably both already know you had trouble getting it in here. And what's this about you wondering about me?"
"Sod off," she sneered, pushing past him to look at the rows of books. "I'm already wasting time as it is talking to you."
"You're getting more?" Draco asked, glancing down again at the two thick books she was carrying already. "Are you trying to make a library the size of Hogwarts?"
"Now you sound like Ron," Granger chuckled. She couldn't help her own smirk as it crept onto her lips when Draco physically flinched away from her. "I could say it occasionally sounds like Harry, too."
"That's just insulting," Draco scowled, crossing his arms defensively over his chest. He didn't meet her eyes as she looked over at him again, this time with a small grin rather than just a smirk. He also didn't notice it hold for a few seconds, or the way she simply looked at him before she quickly shook her head and turned her attention back to the bookshelves.
"Well, I'm browsing for a book, and I'm guessing you're in here to do the same thing," Granger commented. Draco finally looked back at her with a flicker of surprise that she had seemingly started a small conversation with him. "That is, unless you're in here to get an autograph."
Draco rolled his eyes and gestured with his thumb towards the level down. "From that nutjob, not in a century. You think I have an ego; Lockhart's got an entire book literally called 'Magical Me'."
Hermione sent him one of her looks before returning her attention to the shelves. "I am certain," she started. "I've never met anyone with a bigger ego than you, Malfoy. I must offer my congratulations for that."
"Shut it, Granger," he scowled under his breath, though her smirk said she heard it. For the next couple of minutes, the two remained silent on the second row. Occasionally, Granger would reach up on her toes and have to put her books down in order to see the cover. When it wasn't the one she was looking for, she slumped back down and quickly tidied up her things again and moved onto the next shelf.
Draco refused to admit it looked cute despite what his pink-stained ears said.
He thought at least ten minutes had gone by until they ended up in front of the bookshelves again, this time no more than a couple of feet apart. He scanned his eyes over the spines of the books, and she mindlessly traced her finger over a few.
At the same moment, they each layed eyes on the spine of a book each within arm's reach. Its sleek turquoise spine had an intricate gold lettering down its edge, reading out the title of C.S. Lewis. It took Hermione's smile a moment to reach her face, but just as quickly, it disappeared when the book was snatched from the shelf.
"Hey!" Granger exclaimed as she watched Draco flip the cover over in his hands to get a better look at the title. "What do you think you're doing?"
"What does it look like, Granger?" he drawled, rolling his eyes as if he were talking to a small child. "Getting a book like I said I was."
"I didn't think it was going to be the one I was looking for," she snapped, her eyes darting from the book up to Draco's face, which was slowly forming into pure smugness. "What are you going to do with it anyway?"
"Well, I was thinking about throwing it in the Black Lake after ripping out each of the pages to use for the fire in the Slytherin common room," Draco explained with a completely straight face. He couldn't hold it for long as a smirk made its way back across his face upon seeing her expression change from annoyed to horrified in a matter of seconds. "Bloody hell, Granger, I'm going to read it for Merlin's sake!"
Granger scowled again and rolled her eyes. "Did you know it's written by a Muggle author?"
Draco shrugged his shoulders and said, "Yes."
She seemed to be biting back on something, whether it was a retort or a question he didn't get the chance to find out before he opened his mouth again to continue.
"Better luck next time, Granger," Draco smirked. "This is going right to the family library after I'm done with it."
Granger was giving him one of her looks right now, going between choosing to lash out at him and call him the biggest and stupidest wizard she had ever laid eyes on, or just going off to find another read and ignore him for the remainder of the school year. To be completely honest, he wasn't sure which he preferred.
Draco was surprised, though, when she took a steadying breath and relieved the tension from her shoulders as she looked back up at him with a little less aggravation and a little more disappointment.
"In that case, I hope you like it, Malfoy," she stated as she adjusted the books in her arms. "It really is a lovely story. Though now that I know about witches, I don't know how well that book lines up with it."
She gave him a smile he knew was fake with the briefest hint of sadness to it before she spun on her heel and headed for the stairs, her curls bouncing up off her back with each step. When she got to the bottom, he couldn't help but eavesdrop on the conversation with the assistant below:
"Did you find what you were looking for, Ms. Granger?"
"Yes, I got a couple of the books I was looking for, just one more that I was missing."
"Oh, goodness! I was sure we would have enough copies for all the students' required books this year, but they may have miscounted - "
"No, no, please don't feel sorry! It was just a book I was hoping to read during my spare time at school. You know, just a way to get through the long nights and things like that."
"Ah, I understand. Well, I apologize if we didn't have what you were looking for, but if you'd like I can take your payment right over there on that counter."
"Wonderful, thank you very much!"
Granger followed the man up to the counter and checked out, hauling the books into her arms again as she steadied her bag of galleons. Draco was already at the bottom of the stairs waiting for her to pass by the time she steadied it all. As she came closer to the exit, she rolled her eyes at him but didn't quite acknowledge him.
She didn't have time to process the small bag of galleons leaning over the side of her books before it went tumbling towards the floor. The seeker practice over the summer paid off as Draco snatched it with ease and held it out in front of her to take. She gave him a withering glare as another light smirk pulled back on his lips.
Placing the bag back on top, Draco's smirk fell as he made his way over towards the counter. The assistant was still there and ready for his next customer, and by the time Draco took one last glance to see if Granger had made it out of the store alive, she was already gone.
"Find everything today, young man?" the assistant asked as he took the galleons from Draco's hand.
"Just a book for my spare time," Draco replied, staring down at the cover of the book as the assistant gave him an odd look. With a shrug of his shoulders, the assistant flipped open the cover and slid over a bottle of ink and a new quill. Draco frowned down at them before the assistant gave a light chuckle.
"Just a signature of ownership," he explained. "It's not binding or anything, just normal ink. We want to make sure it gets back to the right owner in due time."
Draco nodded as he scribbled down a 'D.M.' in the top left hand corner on the back of the cover. The signature looked almost daunting on the crisp, clean page.
"Enjoy the rest of your day, and good luck at school," the assistant smiled as he shuffled back to clean up the rest of the books that laid astray around the shop. Nodding his head although the shop keeper had already walked away, Draco tucked the book underneath his cloak and headed towards the door, a small pang of guilt that he had missed his one chance to do something civil in the very least for the girl he knew he did not fancy.
Hermione ignored her parents' chatter behind her as they made their way through King's Cross Station. The usual morning hustle from train to train was booming around them as people passed them without any second glances.
She was happy to see the approach of platforms 9 and 10, and right in between was the gateway wall to yet another year at Hogwarts.
"You ready, darling?" Mrs. Granger asked from behind her. Hermione hadn't noticed she had stopped walking when they had gotten a few yards away from the entrance. Giving her mother a small and a quick nod, Hermione took a deep breath and ran forward, pushing her trolley through first as the familiar sensation of getting sucked through to the other side overcame her.
She had closed her eyes the first time she had gone through, and it had since become a habit. Opening her eyes again, she looked ahead to see the Hogwarts Express waiting patiently for the students to board. Good-bye hugs and waves were exchanged as more students and families went to meet and greet one another, board the train, and get through to the other side.
Which she was currently blocking.
Quickly pushing her trolley forward, Mr. and Mrs. Granger popped through to the other side, her father's arm wrapped tightly around her mother's waist. They still hadn't quite gotten used to the idea of running through walls that weren't really there.
Hermione and her parent's wove their way through the sea of families on the platform. She kept looking over heads and behind shoulders for a family of six with red hair, though she hadn't yet caught sight of any. Figuring they were just coming later, Hermione pushed her trolley to the side and took a seat on the top of her trunk.
Mr. and Mrs. Granger followed as her mother sat down beside her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Hermione figured it was more so for her mother's comfort than her own.
"Promise you'll write every week," Mrs. Granger exclaimed, taking Hermione's hand in her own. "And keep me updated on anything that happens while you're there."
"I promise," Hermione reassured. "Mum, you don't have to worry so much."
"Hermione, both of us have tried that, and it doesn't seem to have worked out in our favor," Mr. Granger chimed in, chuckling at his own joke. Both his daughter and wife rolled their eyes, which only spurred him on further. "We are going to miss you, Mione. Just like last year."
"I'm relieved to know you still thought about me," Hermione teased. "But I can assure both of you that I think this year will be a lot more normal than the last."
"Let's hope so," Mr. Granger sighed. "But hey, what's a school year without a crazy professor and a magic infinity rock."
This threw Hermione into a fit of giggles, and before she realized it, the chime of the ten minute warning for the departure of the train was echoing off the wall of Platform 9 ¾. Mrs. Granger's eyes filled with a few stray tears, and Hermione quickly wiped them away. Each said their good-byes and farewells as Hermione pushed her cart away from them and towards the loading zone for the luggage.
Pushing her trolley through the crowds of students now starting to load, she hoisted her trunk off and set it beside the conductor who gave his hat a small tip in her direction. She smiled before turning back to the crowds. She was so distracted by looking for heads of red-hair and a boy with crooked glasses that she didn't see the approaching blonde with a turquoise book in hand.
"Granger."
Hermione spun around to face whoever had said her name. She had hoped it was one of the Weasley siblings finally coming to invite her to one of the compartments, but it was quickly downed by the sight of blonde hair and a pair of steely, silver eyes.
"Malfoy," Hermione greeted in return. "To what do I not owe this pleasure?"
Malfoy held back a sneer, but couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes. "And here I thought we had made just a little progress back in the shop," he muttered under his breath. He hoped she wouldn't hear, but luck was not on his side.
"Progress?" Hermione asked, crossing her arms over her chest in defiance. Malfoy's eyes widened as he shifted from foot to foot and the tips of his ears became pink. Some of her annoyance melted away and was replaced with curiosity.
"Well, erm, I...never mind," Malfoy finally said, waving his hand in the air like he was shooing away his own words. "Anyway, I came to give you something."
Hermione's curiosity spasmed into surprise as her jaw hung open for a few moments before snapping it shut again, realizing she looked like a codfish. "M-Me?"
"As far as I know, there aren't any other Granger's here," he drawled, rolling his eyes as he looked towards a group of students passing by. A few were staring their way, but he sent them off with an icy glare. "So yes, I would have something for you."
Before she could open her mouth to respond, he shoved something under her nose. Stumbling back, Hermione took a moment to take in what exactly he had shoved into her face before realization came over her. With its still polished cover and spine, and the gold-lettering running into the author's name, Hermione delicately turned the book over that she had found a few weeks prior over in her hands. The pages were still crisp and clean without a single wrinkle or ruffle. Truth be told, she was skeptical if he had even read it.
"I got through the first couple of pages and got bored," Malfoy shrugged, throwing off his lie without looking her in the eye. "Figured since you made such a bloody fuss you might want it back and what not…."
Hermione had momentarily forgotten he was standing there and looked up to see Malfoy distracting himself with the train's exterior. Clutching the book to her chest, she did something she never thought she'd say to him in a hundred years.
"Thank you, Draco."
Malfoy couldn't look at her. He knew the moment those words left her lips that he would never be able to look at her the same, nonetheless with the way she had used his first name rather than his last. It made his heart tap dance in his chest, and the heat from his ears was slowly spreading towards his cheeks. No doubt she was smiling - actually smiling - at him, too.
"Don't go all sappy on me now, Granger," he replied, trying to sound nonchalant. "It's just a book."
"Sure," Hermione exclaimed. "Just a book."
Flipping open the cover page of the book, Hermione looked into the top left corner where she would usually sign her initials. She paused when she found two letters already scribbled in with ink at the top.
"Oh, did you want to keep this in there?" she asked, pointing to the signature at the top of the page. Malfoy finally struck up the courage to look at her and where she was pointing, and cursed himself for forgetting about it.
"Oh, erm, right...I can just - "
"It's fine," Hermione reassured with a small smile. "I'll just add my initials later."
Malfoy nodded in agreement and found himself transfixed on the book rather than looking up and into her eyes. The eyes that could burn a hole into the back of his skull in a second, but the ones he sometimes found thinking about in his free time, and the disappointed ones he couldn't seem to get out of his head with that bloody book.
"Well, erm, thank you again for giving it to me," Hermione said, trying to keep the suddenly awkward tension from the conversation. "It's been my favorite since before my first day at Hogwarts, and it's kind of been my comfort book since then."
Malfoy didn't stop the words, "Me too" from escaping before he realized it was too late. Hermione's lips parted for a moment before they joined together in a smile again.
"Well, would you like to borrow it sometime since you apparently hated it so very much?" Hermione teased.
Malfoy struck up what little courage he had and looked over at her with a glare. She chuckled and hugged the book tighter to her chest as an odd and unfamiliar warm feeling spread throughout her chest upon seeing his usually pale cheeks a shade of bright pink.
"Fine." Malfoy almost spat, crossing his arms in front of him and going back to looking at the train's oh-so-interesting red color.
"In that case, I'll see to it you get it right when we get to the school," Hermione concluded. "Until then, I'll get caught up on a few chapters."
Before Malfoy could move or reply, Hermione had stepped around him and slid into the train's entrance, looking for any compartment that would give her a few minute's of peace and quiet without Malfoy on her mind.
When she returned the book as they passed each other in the hall, Malfoy opened the front cover to see his initials added to rather than completely scratched out. Merlin, what was he going to do with her?
D.M. & H.G.