The next few weeks in the common room were silent. Draco avoided Hermione whenever he could and she did the same. She spent more time with Harry and Ginny so Draco wouldn't have to be around her. They rarely were alone now, they would hide in their rooms if there was any chance they'd end up alone.
This didn't go unnoticed by their friends however. Ginny questioned Hermione about it every time, but Hermione just told her she was imagining things.
"You can lie to Weaselette but you can't lie to me"Pansy snapped as she entered Hermione's room. "You know there's something called knocking" Hermione rolled her eyes, closing her book.
"What's happening between you and Draco? He took his baby sitter role so seriously and now he's avoiding every second of it!"Pansy told, sitting on Hermione's bed. "Why don't you go ask him?" Hermione suggested. Pansy narrowed her eyes at her, "did you and Draco kiss?"She asked.
"NO!"Hermione snapped, her eyes nearly popping out of her head.
"Than what's wrong! You know what, get your coat, we're leaving"Pansy said as she stood. "What? I'm in my pyjamas, and I'm not going anywhere"Hermione rolled her eyes. "Yes you are"Pansy told, walking over to Hermione's dresser. She pulled out a light green jumper and jeans before throwing it over at Hermione. "Come on, you have 5 minutes"Pansy said before leaving the room. Hermione groaned, looking down at the clothes in her hand. Reluctantly, Hermione got up and changed.
Opening her door, Hermione left her room. She caught sight of Pansy in the common room, and walked over. "Great, let's go"Pansy said, jumping to her feet. She grabbed Hermione's arm and ran out of the common room. "Parkinson, where are we going!"Hermione questioned, glancing back at the students in the corridor. "You'll see"Pansy told, sending her a smirk over her shoulder.
Hermione was forced into her seat in the quidditch stands. "I hate quidditch"Hermione mumbled, trapped between Pansy and Astoria. "No one hates Quidditch"Astoria scoffed. "Why are we even here, there's no one playing" Hermione said. "They're right there" Pansy told, pointing down at the field. Hermione leaned over in her seat and saw the Slytherin Quidditch team come out on the field. Hermione looked over her shoulder and glared at Pansy, "really?"She snapped.
Pansy only smirked, turning her attention away from her. Hermione glanced back at the field, her eyes searching over the team. She caught Theo's eye, who smirked before nudging Blaise.
"Look Pansy and Astoria came"Blaise said loudly, pointing towards them. Draco glanced over, instantly regretting it. He saw Blaise and Theo smirking out of the corner of his eye and scowled, Gits. He had a hard time looking away however, this was the first time he'd caught her eye in nearly 2 weeks. "Get on your brooms, and do a few laps!" Draco demanded, finally tearing his eyes away from her.
Hermione looked around the field, remembering how she used to watch the Gryffindors play. Now most of them suspected she'd be leaking information about the team to the Slytherins. Some even refused to practice while she was there. It was the other week, she left the Gryffindor practice on the verge of tears, she had only gone because Ginny had begged her.
"Why haven't any of you tried out?"Hermione asked, distracting herself from her thoughts. "Us? Well we wanted to, but our parents didn't approve. They refused to buy us brooms and we weren't going to use the schools"Astoria told, staring as the players flew around the field. "They found it foolish"Pansy muttered, glaring at nothing in particular.
A few minutes of laps and they had brought out the quidditch balls. While Draco was giving them instructions, Hermione glanced at the players. It seemed like Blaise and Theo were chasers, And Crabbe and Goyle were beaters. There was two other people there, the keeper and another chaser.
"Nott, Zabini, Goyle, you're on team one. Crabbe, Bletchley, Urquhart, you're team two. Bletchley, Nott, you're keepers. Zabini, Urquhart, chasers, and Crabbe, Goyle, you're beaters"Draco told. He had them go on opposite sides of the field as he flew up on his broom.
Blowing his whistle, He watched over them as they began practice. Knowing no one was watching him, he stole a glance down at the stands. A few people had joined the 3 Slytherins. Daphne, Tracey, Millicent and a few others were sitting beside them. He noticed Adrian Pucey there, remembering he hadn't tried out this year. He looked directly at Hermione and found her looking down at a book. He rolled his eyes before looking back at his teammates. He noticed Urquhart frequently getting distracted. He'd caught the quaffle and was zooming towards the goal before glancing over at the stands and nearly flying into the hoop.
It didn't take Draco long to notice he had been glancing at Hermione. After 3 times, Draco got annoyed, was he trying to impress her?
He turned his attention away from Urquhart, looking for Hermione. She still had her head in the book, curled up in her seat. As an idea came to him, he silently pulled his wand out of his sleeve before muttering 'accio'.
Hermione was about to turn the page of her book when it zoomed out of her hands. She jumped up, trying to grab it but it was already gone. "What?" Pansy said. "My book!"Hermione snapped, looking around the field for where it could've went.
She watched it almost hit Urquhart in the face before zooming straight up. She barely got to see the book before it was in the hands of Draco Malfoy. He flipped through it before glancing at her. He flashed her a smirk as he raised an eyebrow. "Is he serious!"Hermione barked. Astoria glanced up to where Hermione was looking and burst, catching the attention of the others around them. "Doesn't seem like they're ignoring each other completely"Pansy mumbled, resisting the urge to laugh along.
Hermione glared at him, forcing her way to the edge of the stands. "Granger, what're you- GRANGER!" Pansy yelled, watching Hermione jump off the edge. "That's a 30 foot drop"Astoria said, horrified as her and Pansy rushed over.
She flew past them on a broom, straight at Draco. "Is that Granger?"Theo muttered as he glanced over, catching Blaise's attention. He looked over and rolled his eyes. "Our dear captain is picking fights" Blaise said with a shake of his head. "More like a love story"Theo smirked.
"Is there a problem?"Draco asked innocently as she came within hearing range. "What's your problem! Give me my book!"Hermione snapped, holding her hand out. "I didn't go through all this trouble just to hand it back to you Granger"He said. She glared at him and that only seemed to make a smirk appear on his face.
"I might decide to give you it at a cost"He added, flipping through it. "Give. me. my. book"Hermione snarled. "I'm afraid not, I'll keep this with me for now" Draco told. "You're a git, you know, an insufferable arse"She snapped, glaring at him. "You seem to say that a lot" he smirked. "You need to be constantly reminded"She told.
"Captain? Is there a problem?"They heard. Draco glanced over at Blaise, who rolled his eyes. "Continue training! This shouldn't distract you!"Draco snapped, realizing the others were waiting for his answer. "Why are you like this? You go from avoiding me for the past 2 weeks to just- just being a plain git!" Hermione snarled.
"I wasn't avoiding you Granger"He rolled his eyes. "Still doesn't explain why you're a git"She remarked. "Captain, shouldn't you be getting practice?"Theo's voice was heard. Draco closed his eyes in frustration.
"Nott, sob off"Draco told, watching his fellow Slytherin smirk back. "You should be practicing. This is extremely inappropriate from the head boy-"
"Oh please, you had the Weasel at wand-point in his own common room-"
"That was necessary!"Hermione snapped. "This, however, is just you being-"
"An insufferable arse"He finished, smirking as her glare flared. "I hate you"She snarled. He simply shrugged, before flying past her quickly, her book tucked under his arm.
Groaning, she took her wand out and accio-ed the book to her as she flew down to the ground. Draco felt the book slip from under his arm but by the time he had turned, he saw a broom flying towards him.
He barely had time to react before it hit him straight in the stomach, nearly launching him off his own broom. People in the stands and his teammates looked over as Draco let out a grunt. Draco glared down at the witch, who smirked back from the ground.
"You deserved that" He heard from his left. Draco scowled at Blaise who shrugged before returning to practice. Draco held his hand over his stomach, he wouldn't admit it but that witch was capable of doing some serious damage.
~
Hermione left the pitch, heading back to the common room. She wouldn't waste her time on something as plain as quidditch, she had work to do. Especially the essay Slughorn had given them, he was making potion pairs and he decided an essay would help him choose who worked well with who.
Fed up of being in her room, she sat in the common room to do her essay. She knew no one would come, practice usually lasted 3-4 hours. Hermione laid out her parchment on the table, taking out her quill and ink before getting started.
Barely 2 hours later, she heard the portrait open and looked up. "Harry"She smiled, getting up. "Of course you're doing work"He scoffed as he walked over. "What did you expect?"Hermione rolled her eyes, hugging him. Harry sat down next to her, his bag with him. "What're you here for?"She asked, sitting down. "Ginny went to the burrow, Charlie is stopping by for a few days and she wanted to see him" Harry told. "And I don't like the Gryffindor Common room much, not when everyone is still trying to find out where Ron went"He added.
"It must be tiring, I've managed to avoid most of the questioning but I've heard from Parkinson that some people are asking Malfoy about it"Hermione shook her head. "Malfoy? Why would they think Malfoy knows?"Harry asked. "That foolish git told Lavender in front of everyone that she'd be joining Ron. Lavender is obviously in Azkaban, so everyone wants to know"Hermione explained. "He even hexed someone who wouldn't leave him alone"She said.
"I'm guessing it's Zacharias Smith?"Harry guessed, a pleasant smile on his face.
Hermione stared at him for a second. "I knew it was someone from Hufflepuff but I didn't know it was Smith"She said. "Serves him right, nosy b-"
"Harry!"Hermione snapped, but she couldn't help but giggle. "What? You saw how annoying he was during the D.A meetings"Harry scoffed. "Doesn't give Malfoy any right to hex someone"Hermione shook her head. "I mean rather Zacharias Smith than Neville- he's been asking around as well"Harry told.
"I don't want Neville to view Ron differently on some silly mistake. I've forgiven Ron and I see it unnecessary to get others involved"Hermione explained.
"You're great Hermione, a really great person"Harry told sincerely. Hermione smiled gently, leaning over and hugging Harry once more. "I love you Harry"She mumbled.
They heard someone clear their throat and Hermione snapped her head toward the noise. Draco stood near the portrait, a few others behind him. He glared at Harry, who returned the favour.
"What?"Hermione questioned, her arm still around Harry's shoulders. "I don't fancy having scar head in my common room"Draco told.
"Davis is a pain in my arse, yet you still bring her along. Harry is welcome here whether you like it or not"Hermione snapped. Harry had a smug look on his face, feeling Draco's hatred grow. "Must you make everything difficult?"Draco said.
She glared at him, what title did he think he held over her? "Yes"She answered, before turning to her work. Harry didn't seem to have any intention of leaving and Draco scowled, storming past them into his room, his muddy footsteps covering the floor.
The other Slytherins glanced at each other as they sat around the common room. Harry shifted uncomfortably in his seat, but didn't leave. Hermione felt his discomfort and hid a smile. "Harry, could you go get my potions book from my trunk?"She asked, glancing at him. He got up quickly and left to her room.
Hermione turned to the others as she heard her door close. "Must you stare at him like he's a piece of meat?"Hermione questioned. "You grew up with him, you've seen him 10 months a year for the past 7 years, I doubt there's anything amusing to stare at" She said.
"You're so oblivious"Pansy groaned, rolling her eyes. "I feel like their stupidity is finally catching up to you after this long" She noted. "Maybe you should tell me what I'm so oblivious about"Hermione told.
"But that ruins the fun"Pansy said. Hermione scoffed, levitating her bag and paper up. "Where're you going?"Blaise asked. "You guys can have the common room, I'll be in my room with Harry if you need anything"She said, already walking away. "With Potter?" Astoria repeated, raising an eyebrow.
"You know, One would say you were-"Theo began before Hermione's glare silenced him immediately. "Don't ever" She snarled. Theo smirked but didn't speak. She entered her room, leaving them.