On the Nature of Daylight

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Hermione sat at the breakfast table, poking at her eggs and resting her face in her curled hand. Last night was a fluke. It had to be. Some sort of game Malfoy was playing. He had always picked on her, thinking she was easy prey. His grey eyes following her in the corridors, watching her, waiting for an opportunity to- To do what exactly?

She frowned. He still sneered at her and called her names, but his eyes... they had changed over the years. From disdainful to... almost playful; as if he was waiting for her to say something back to him instead of shaking her head and returning to her schoolwork.

But no. That was ridiculous. Malfoy didn't think of her in any way other than a filthy Mudblood. He had called her that enough times to know that could only be his opinion of her. So that meant that his little indiscretion in the Restricted Section last night had to be just another ploy to get under her skin.

"Let me know if you ever want to find out what that is."

Her head spun. With all her brains, she still couldn't figure out what he meant by that. What was he playing at? Was he trying to get her to duel him maybe? Did he have some horrible curse he was itching to try out on a new victim?

Hermione couldn't help it; she glanced up and over to the Slytherin table. He was easy to spot with his white blonde hair and tall frame that stood out among his classmates. She had expected to find his grey eyes staring back at her, but instead he was talking with Blaise Zabini with Crabbe and Goyle on either side of him.

He wasn't thinking about her. Why would he be though? He must have better things to do than think of the crying little Mudblood he had run into last night. He had his group of friends, he had-

Pansy threw her arms around his neck from behind him and kissed his cheek. Malfoy's mouth twitched in something similar to a smile, but not exactly. She placed a leg over the bench, straddling it as she faced him and held onto his arm. Dark eyes looked up at him with admiration and longing.

Right. He had a girlfriend. There was no way he had meant anything by that comment. Just trying to get under her skin, that's all. Yes, she caught him looking at her. Yes, he often sat at a desk near her. Yes, he made snide comments and then looked to her to see her reaction. But this was Malfoy and he would never even entertain the idea of Hermione as anything other than a Mudblood.

Malfoy pulled his arm away and Pansy pouted, tucking her short black hair behind her ear as she watched him continue his conversation with Zabini like she wasn't even there. Did he treat everyone as inferior? Lording over his fellow Slytherins was his modus operandi after all.

He had his bodyguards, Crabbe and Goyle, although these days he didn't even need them that much. Malfoy knew quite a few dark spells and she had noticed how well he handled himself in the practical lessons of Defense Against the Dark Arts. She had also noticed the muscles under his clothes last night when she ran into his chest. Blushing, she blinked the thoughts away.

He had his lieutenants- Nott and Zabini; Smarter than Crabbe and Goyle, but not as dependable. They would turn on him as soon as help him if it meant they could take his place of power in their little circle. They reported to him, but only to further their own agendas, not because they were friends or felt any kind of loyalty.

Then he had his... paramour, Pansy Parkinson. She had made Hermione's life almost as miserable as Malfoy had. Her taunts often came as Hermione tried to fix her unruly hair in a bathroom mirror or comments on how undesirable Hermione was as she hung on Malfoy's arm. But even then, Malfoy's eyes had locked onto hers until Pansy's bark-like laugh caused him to scowl in annoyance.