Hermione tried to force her eyes shut, but nothing worked. She wasn't tired at all, even after a long day of lessons. She couldn't help but notice the bookshelf in the corner with her favourite novels. She felt a smile spread across her face, they brought back so many great memories from the past years, and she wished she could just relive them.
Heaving herself from the four poster bed, she padded along the room with bare feet.
Hermione grabbed her favourite book about the Hogwarts history, feeling its worn cover and soft pages.
Oh how she loved books.
Snuggling up in the covers, she pulled it on her lap and grabbed her wand.
"Lumos."
A white light shone on the tip of her wand, and she smiled as she opened the first page. Even if she had reread it a million times, she still loved every bit of it.
*
She woke up with a sore back, and found herself sprawling unattractively across her bed, with a book on one of her legs. Rubbing her eyes, she realised she had been reading until the late hours of the night.
Sighing, she pulled on her robes, because even if breakfast was the last place she wanted to be, she was extremely hungry.
*
He saw her rush into the hall, books in hand. At first he just studied her, he had never really noticed her before. She seemed flustered; as if she had been concerned about something.
Draco sneered at his inner thoughts. Why would he care if she was flustered or not?
You're interested, Malfoy.
No, I'm not.
He looked down at his plate, battling with his own thoughts.
Meanwhile, Hermione was trying to avert her gaze from the Slytherin table. She had never felt so paranoid before, as if people were watching her from every corner. She just couldn't seem to concentrate on anything else, and it was scaring her.
"What an annoying little boy!"
Hermione's eyes shot up as she heard Pansy Parkinson's shrill voice. When she saw the scene, she tried to restrain herself from screaming out in fury.
Pansy stood in the middle of the hall, holding a toad by its leg. Infront of her was a little boy, trying to reach for it.
"Give him back, he's mine!"
Came the tiny voice of the boy, clearly terrified. Pansy let out a loud laugh, and held the creature higher, its body dangling high above the ground.
The little one reminded Hermione of Neville, in the early days, when his toad always seemed to dissapear.
But when the sneers from the Slytherin table reached her ears, she snapped out of her memories and fumed in anger. Who were they to pester a young Hogwarts student?
"Hey, why don't you pick on someone your own size?"
Hermione spoke up from her table, and everyone around her went silent. She stamped over to Pansy, red in the face. Her friends craned over to look if she was okay, but she nodded at them to assure them it was fine.
"Well, well, if it isn't the mudblood."
She spat, letting go of the amphibian as it hopped away to a safer place. Hermione pretended not to care, even if the word stabbed her in the heart.
"Great, you still remember me. But please, get a life and stop picking on poor, helpless first years."
Pansy was dead silent for a moment, but not for long. Her pointy finger reached Hermione and she prodded her in the chest.
"That's why it's so fun. Because they're helpless. Just. Like. You."
She hissed, jabbing her with every word.
Suddenly, Pansy gave her a shove, and Hermione lost her balance, toppling to the ground. This caused a commotion, and a couple of her friends pushed through the crowd to get to her.
Hermione adjusted the sleeves of her robe as she got up, and before her friends pulled her away, Draco caught a glimpse of something that made his breath hitch.
On her pale skin, he could see deep cuts that seemed to form a word. A word that he regretted.
Mudblood.