Mystical Days: Finding Black [Hermione Granger]

Chapter 7

The following days seemed to pass in a blur, and by the following Thursday Malfoy had re-joined classes, as he entered halfway through the double Potions that Gryffindor shared with Slytherin.

Nathaniel watched him cautiously as he entered the classroom, in case Malfoy decided to come and annoy him and Hermione. However, Malfoy had decided to join Harry and Ron, clearly wanting to rile them up, and for this he was thankful. Nathaniel didn't really want to get detention just yet, which he was sure would happen if Malfoy decided to antagonise him or Hermione.

As the class progressed, Nathaniel was happy that Hermione was helping Neville Longbottom to fix his potion, which had previously been a vibrant orange instead of the acidic green colour that the Shrinking Solution they were making was supposed to be. This was simply because Nathaniel already had a basic idea of Professor Snape's lack of tolerance towards Gryffindors, and his evident favouritism towards Slytherins, just from the few interactions he'd had with Snape in the corridors.

By the time class had finished, Nathaniel's potion was nearly the correct shade of green, despite being just a couple shades darker. He then looked at the contents of Hermione's cauldron. "Impressive Hermione." He'd say, smiling as he saw that hers was absolutely perfect, despite her attention being divided between her own potion and helping Neville fix his, which Nathaniel was glad to see was now a shade of green somewhat resembling the correct one. He watched with bated breath as Snape dropped a few drops of the potion onto Neville's toad, and clapped with the other Gryffindors when Trevor the toad managed to shrink into a tadpole.

"Five points from Gryffindor." Snape said. "You were forbidden from helping him Miss Granger. Class dismissed."

Nathaniel grabbed his things and walked out of the classroom with Hermione, on the way to lunch. "That was unbelievable... I think what you did was great though, in all honesty Hermione." He'd turn to look at her as they climbed the stairs, but realised she wasn't there. "Hermione..?" He then saw her at the bottom of the stairs again, hurriedly tucking something down the front of her robes. He waited for her to catch up. "You ok?"

"Yeah, I forgot something. Sorry..." She'd half-smile at him, apologetically. "Let's just get to lunch. I don't want to be late for Professor Lupin's first lesson!" A series of loud thuds then distracted them, and they saw that Hermione's bag had split, with several large books falling out and hitting the floor.

Nathaniel would immediately start picking up some of the books, before putting them in his bag. "I'll carry some of them for now, ok? It'll make things easier for you.." He'd smile and hold the rest of her books while she fixed her bag.

"Thanks Nate.." Hermione would take the other books from him and put them back in her bag. The pair would walk in silence back to the Great Hall and sat down in their usual seats, at the end of the table. The pair ate lunch in silence, although Nathaniel kept catching Hermione glancing at him out of the corner of his eye.

After lunch, they got up and left the Hall, on their way to Defence Against the Dark Arts. By the time they reached the classroom, it seemed like they were the only ones there.

"When's your birthday Nate?" Hermione blurted out, instantly going red. "Sorry.. It's just, I've been trying to work how old you are for a while, and I honestly don't have a clue..."

"I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours." He'd smile calmly. "I'm obviously not much older or younger than you Hermione. I'm nowhere near talented enough to put in a year above what I'm supposed to be in..."

"O-Ok... Mine's the 19th of September... I don't expect you to remember though.." Hermione said quietly. "Nor do I expect anything either." She added as an afterthought.