Chapter Text
Hermione never thought that one of her best-kept secrets would be revealed because of her friends’ actions. However, she knew that all of this could have been avoided if she had reacted to Harry and Ginny’s behaviour in time. Especially when Luna—a close friend of Ron’s sister—suddenly and decisively distanced herself from both Ginny and Harry.
But no, Hermione was naive enough to ignore all the signs that could have suggested the coming disaster. Perhaps it was because she put them together only when, at Valentine’s Day breakfast, she smelled something in her apple juice that definitely shouldn’t have been there. Unfortunately for her, it was too late, because as usual, she drank the contents of the glass in one sip.
“What was that?” she asked, looking at her friends. “What did you put in my juice?” she added through clenched jaws. She didn’t know what they had given her, but she was already starting to feel the effects. Something was forcing her to get up from the table, and it wasn’t the fact that she was upset with them. “And where’s Ron? Does he know about everything?”
Ginny immediately blushed to the tips of her ears, and Harry began to avoid her gaze. Hermione wondered which of them would break first. Meanwhile, she was trying harder and harder to stay in place.
When she almost lost her patience, she heard Ginny say, “We gave you a potion to help confess a hidden crush...” she said each word more and more quietly. Now she was almost whispering, “We wanted to help you and Ron. Everyone knows that you’ve been around each other since the first year. The potion will stop working when you tell him you love him and kiss him.” After a moment, she added with a smile. “Or other way around. Apparently it doesn’t matter.”
Hermione stood up abruptly, and Ginny and Harry instinctively moved away from her almost at the same time. “What is it? How does it work? And what are the consequences of opposing the effects of this… thing?”
This time Harry spoke, placing his hand on the hand of (as Hermione suspected) his future girlfriend. “It’s a potion that will draw you to Ron until you do what Gin mentioned. The longer you wait, the stronger this allure will work. Ron will be here soon, so you can get rid of it quickly.”
She scraped her knuckles by hitting the table too hard. “You had no right!” she also wanted to ask why they were so sure she was in love with Ronald, but she let it go. She thought she had been infatuated with him in her third year, but it had been short-lived and she hadn’t told anyone about it. Instead of continuing this pointless conversation, she stood up from the Gryffindor table without a word and, feeling the curious eyes of the students on her, headed straight for the Slytherin table. Or more precisely, to the place where none other than Draco Malfoy was sitting.
The fact that Hermione had fallen in love with that Slytherin completely escaped her common sense. She wasn’t sure when it had happened, but she had known she had been in love with him the moment she had seen him with Parkinson during the Yule Ball accompanying the Triwizard Tournament two years ago. She had been so overcome with emotion at the time that she had exploded during an argument with Ron. Viktor Krum later laughed at her for days after she explained her disappearance to him.
Hermione stopped behind Malfoy, or rather between him and Theodore Nott. She could barely stand. Every inch of her was drawn to Draco. Even her mind had begun to see only him. Maybe that's why she could hardly hear the whispers that made Draco look at her before she even had a chance to say anything.
“What are you doing here, Granger? I hope you haven’t got lost here.”
Perhaps if she had the time or strength to think about what she wanted to do, she would have chosen a more private place for her first kiss. She had neither the time nor the mind to think about anything more than that she would rather not check what would happen to her if she waited even a moment longer.
She already felt physical pain. That was why, instead of answering his question, Hermione took Malfoy’s face in her hands and kissed him. It was supposed to be a kiss long enough to break the spell, and short enough so that the wizard wouldn’t push her away in disgust.
To her surprise, Draco not only didn’t push her away, but actually deepened the kiss. He placed his hand on the back of her neck and stood up without letting her go. He slowly closed the distance between their bodies, so that soon there was no space between them. When her legs weakened and she fell in his embrace, he pulled away from her and said with a smile, “I hope the challenge you fell victim to was worth it.”
She still felt the pull. Hermione knew she couldn’t avoid what she had to do now. She had to confess her feelings so the spell in the potion would stop working. “It wasn’t a challenge, Malfoy.” He still held her in his arms. “Harry and Ginny wanted to help me and Ron. They gave me a potion that was supposed to make me confess my hidden feelings. They didn’t know, however, that my heart doesn’t belong to Ron, but to someone else. My heart belongs to you.” The spell broke, but the attraction didn’t fade away. However, she no longer felt magical one, but what she had felt before.
Draco Malfoy looked as if he was in shock, but it quickly gave way to satisfaction. It was the first time she had seen him so... exposed. “You don’t even know what you’ve done now, Granger.” He said, and before she realised what was happening, he lifted her up and sat her down next to him at his house table.
Hermione looked around, and the Slytherins seemed not to be surprised by her presence or what she had just confessed. She saw in them rather satisfaction mixed with acceptance. “Could someone tell me what’s going on here?” she asked, and before she got an answer, she added, “Nott, why were you so eager to move over to make room for me?”
The boy snorted, accompanied by Parkinson’s chuckle. “I’ll give you some advice. You should get used to us. You just confessed your feelings to a wizard who’s been in love with you since the first year. There’s no turning back. I hope you didn’t think you’d get rid of him now?””
She looked at Malfoy, confused. He stole a kiss from her, just like she had from him. After a moment, he whispered in her ear, “Theo wasn’t kidding. I love you and I never thought I’d have the chance to say it out loud. So... Take it easy and let me court you. I’ve always wanted this, and now that I know you feel the same way, I want it even more."
Hermione snuggled into him and he pulled her into a possessive hug, giving her a kiss on the top of her head. She couldn’t help but think that this was the strangest Valentine’s Day she’d ever experienced. Fortunately for her, she didn’t know that this was only the beginning of surprises regarding the Slytherins who had just entered her life.