Prince of snakes | Dramione

Chapter 15

"You can be more original than that, Harry," she whispered so as not to be heard by the other students.

"What would you do?"

"I'd probably grow him a third ball, just for the fun of watching him walk sideways."

Harry choked on his beard as he contained his laughter.

"Merlin! You are terrifying, Hermione. Don't become my partner. I wouldn't want any nasty changes to happen to my body."

"Oh, Harry, come on! I would be nice to you," she whispered.

He gave her a fearful look and she giggled back. Raising her little face towards the board, Hermione saw her first name intertwined with Theodore Nott. Interesting, she thought. The tall man winked back. With a movement of his hand, he invited her to join him.

The walls mummified into several rooms, before the amazed eyes of the many students. Turning a corner to join her classmate, Hermione vaguely heard behind her:

"Wish Nott luck, he'll need it."

"I'll pass the word on to him," she crooned happily.

Theodore, his eyes cloudy, found himself leaning against the window of the right wing of the course. He observed her with a morbid and indiscreet curiosity. He was not suspicious, on the contrary. If Hermione thought she had put off the Slytherins through the events of the day before, she was only surprised. She had only aroused their morbid interest in her person. Biting her lower lip, suddenly embarrassed, she stood two meters from him, her cheeks hot with embarrassment.

"Are you staying a safe distance from me to avoid swinging your fists, Miss Fighter?"

Hermione smiled beneath his mocking intonation.

"Maybe, I wouldn't want to damage your pretty face."

"Ah," he breathed theatrically. "You are flattering me. The Golden Girl who finds me beautiful, what more can I ask ?"

"Don't get any ideas, Nott. I would even find an earthworm beautiful. Not enough to grow wings."

"Ouch," he mimed, pinching his heart, lips pursed teasingly. "If it's not my beauty that's stopping you from coming closer, what is?"

"I'm not afraid of you, Nott."

"Prove it then, Granger."

"Good."

"Perfect," he commented, this time an indescribable glow in the depths of his irises as she moved closer to his tall body.

He was awfully tall and she had only noticed it now. Raising her small head to peer at him through her eyelashes, she crossed her arms in a protective posture. One eyebrow arched in the air, his face hooked in mockery, Hermione quickly thought of her next spell. Concentrated, she imagined making a movement with her wand, her body tense, even though she was not making the slightest movement. She was tired of the Slytherins making fun of her. She was not a circus beast and she was going to make him understand that.

Nott's teeth, seemingly white and impeccable, began to grow excessively. With his hand pressed against his mouth, his face stunned, the tall man no longer made the slightest movement. She returned to him his mocking smile.

"Is everything okay, Nott? I can help you if you want, it looks... painful?"

She vividly remembered the moment Draco Malfoy had cast the Dentesaugmento curse on her in first year. Her revenge was short, because after reaching catastrophic greatness, his teeth returned to their original shape.