Teach Me How to Love You (A Hermione Granger Love Story)

TMHTLY (A Hermione Granger Love Story) ... 9

A/N: [Edited 1/31/2016] I've almost edited everything. Crazy. New content will be happening!

Teach Me How to Love You (A Hermione Granger Love Story)

Chapter 9: Worst Best Day of My Life

It kept getting later and later as I stood waiting. The lead in my stomach continued to lower in my chest, reaching my stomach quickly. Perhaps Caden had ditched me instead. I shifted uncomfortably in my spot. My boots were starting to soak through a bit, a water resistant spell slowly wearing off after years of wear. The crunching of snow sounded to my left, giving away the passing of another person. The sun had peeked in the sky, reflecting off of the land beautifully. Stepping out from under the arch, I look towards the noise. Hoping for Caden, a smile is lifting itself on my lips.

"Oh, hey, Hermione!" It was Neville. My smile became more polite than excited. "Have you seen Luna around?" Neville continues. "Wanted to chat with her about tonight." He smiled broadly at the prospect of his and Luna's night together. While Violet and Ginny always giggled about the two, I found them quite endearing. Luna doesn't much talk about what it is they get up to. I could only imagine it contained mythical creatures and herbology. Perhaps they worked on homework and read in dusty corners of the Library.

Slinging my thumb over my shoulder, I point to inside the castle. "She's reading in the Library. I believe she's found a new creature that was of interest. A rare one, I think." At the excited light in his light eyes, I watch as he scurries around me, calling a thank you along the way. That new creature must be part of their date later.

"A new creature, you say?" came a familiar voice near my ear. His hair tickled my ear, causing a small squeal of squeamishness to sound. Whipping around while rubbing my ear, I notice Caden standing there. There's an urge to smack him on the shoulder like I do with Ron. I hold it back, still rubbing at my ear, a small safety-net action. I don't quite know what to do with my hands otherwise. At the sight of Caden the lead in my stomach hadn't lifted, instead gaining about ten pounds. I tried to not let this worry me.

Caden's chuckle echoed through the arch and down the nearest corridor.

I'm blushing regardless the chant in my head telling me not to. My face must be positively boiling.

"You scared me half to death, Cay." It's slightly too harsh coming out of my lips. I give a small grimace, trying to make up for both the nickname and the tone. I blush even brighter. He paused in his laugh to stare at me, his face, too, gradually growing redder. There's a level of bemusement as well.

I'm sure that thumping in my chest is the classic beat skip. It goes to fast and falls too low to me to truly grasp the feeling. I let my eyes drop to the snow covered cobblestone, not letting the sinking feeling become a bad sign. My eyes trace a few stones before finally glancing back up. Expression schooled into excitement, despite a twist in my gut, I try to be happy. I won't let Blaise Zabini rui—wait, who said anything about Blaise Zabini? Gross, shake that thought right out of your head this instant, Hermione Granger.

Caden was scratching his neck and fighting away his flushing complexion. His eyes were no longer on me, but rather distancing themselves in the land around us. The blue of his jacket perfectly complimented his blond hair.

"I didn't know if you were going to show or not," he finally admitted in a small voice. After an awkward cough, Caden shuffles a step closer to me. "I'm glad you did though." A dimple showed cutely in the corner of his mouth.

Grinning embarrassedly back at him, I ask the question that had been bothering me, "You're a bit late, yeah?" I allow myself to nudge him carefully with my shoulder. "We said 12:30, right?"

When Caden glanced at his watch, his face contorted into one of shock. "Oh, it's 1:30, sorry! You must have been freezing waiting for me." He shakes his head at himself, grinning down at me in apology. My nose must be red at the tip, hair chaotic with the ends a bit froze. "I got caught up. Someone needed help and I volunteered. He had a familiar face, but I can't put a name to it. I'm here now, though!" With an arm flourish, Caden bowed to me. I giggle awkwardly into my mitten. He was too cute for words. He was a jokester, but a nice one. His jokes were, in the long run, not meant to insult you. It was the perfect transition that I had been needing.

Putting my arm in his, we begin walking towards nowhere in particular.

"So, what do want to do?" I question casually.

"Well, if we were in the Muggle world, I'd take you to the theatre or perhaps a luncheon. We'll do the next best thing since we're here though!"

By the innocent look of excitement on his face I could tell he'd taken some time in thinking this through. Dipping my arm down, I venture into holding his hand. Instantly, Caden's fingers wrap around mine. Through our equally padded hands, I could feel the warmth of his palm. It heated my icy fingertips all the way.

"And what would the next best thing be?" As soon as the words came out of my mouth, I noticed it. When my genius brain registered what Caden was spelling out, my smile dropped.

There, on the side of a tree, was a single broomstick. Caden took my shocked—it was actually horrified but I doubt there's a difference—expression as a happily surprised one. His face lit up with glee.

There were only a few things I didn't like in this world. One was Blaise Zabini and his secretive motives. Another was chocoberry flavored hard candy, which was all brown and nasty. The last, and most terrifying of them all, was flying.

Maybe I should've ditched Caden.

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Love and fireworks,

unique-goddess