Hermione walked into Potions class and quickly sat down in the back, which was very unlikely of her. She quickly set her things down and met eyes with two confused boys.
"Hermione, why are you sitting over there?" Harry asked while Ron made his way over to the empty seat next to Hermione.
"No!" Hermione stuck out a hand and pushed Ron off the seat. "This seat is taken -- I-I'm saving it for Ginny." Hermione stuttered through her words as she got up, grabbing Ginny away from Harry. She quickly pushed her friend down on the seat and sat down, looking flustered.
Ginny shook her head as she stifled a laugh. "You're really good at this." She whispered over to her friend.
"I just need some assistance, that's all." Hermione urged and glanced over at the boys who still stood in their spots completely confused by her sudden behavior. "Go sit over there." She ordered as she pointed to the table all the way across the room from them.
"Okay?" Ron frowned as he furrowed his eyebrows, slowly walking off with Harry. "What the bloody hell is going on with Hermione?" His voice slowly trailed off as he walked farther away from Hermione and Ginny.
"You really need help." Ginny stated and shook her head.
"I-I just don't know how to talk to him, that's all." Hermione stated defensively. "I mean, let's be honest here. I—we haven't talked to each other ever since the war. I mean, we awkwardly greeted each other a few times but that was it. How am I supposed to just randomly go up to him and start talking?"
"I was talking about Ron but Malfoy is a problem as well." She said, cocking up an eyebrow "I told you it was a bad idea to start this whole plan. But you have me, so don't you worry." Ginny said with a grin.
"You are my hero," Hermione said with a relieved sigh.
"Right, so how about this? All you have to do is just—"
"Yes, class, look at the board and find your partner, I will give you two minutes, starting now." Professor Slughorn walked in with his voice suddenly filling the room as he whipped out his wand and pointed it at the board. Names began to appear on the front board for everyone to see as he made his way up to the front.
"Yeah, just talk to him." Ginny quickly said as she looked at the board. She suddenly groaned and frowned. "Professor Slughorn, which Weasley is with Zabini?" She asked anxiously.
"Hmmm," Professor Slughorn glanced at the board and then back at Ginny with a shrug. "I suppose, that would you be you, Ms. Weasley." He answered with a kind grin.
"Oh . . ." Ginny sighed and looked at her friend. "Great, this is just great." She said with sarcasm dripping from her voice. "Well, I guess I have to go now."
"Wait, but could you just give me one little tip—"
"I'll tell you more during lunch. Besides, you might not have a chance to talk to him considering we're stuck with partners today." Ginny said matter-of-factly. "Don't freak out."
"Yeah, I won't," Hermione reassured herself and perused the board. Her eyes finally found her name but it quickly widened as she gasped. "Ma-Malfoy's my partner?"
Ginny furrowed her eyebrows and glanced behind her to see her friend's name beside Malfoy's. She pressed her lips together and raised both eyebrows. "Okay, uhm, that wasn't supposed to happen."
"Okay, now I'm freaking out." Hermione told her friend with wide eyes.
"Don't worry, he's not even here!" Ginny said with a grin.
"Ah, it's so nice of you to join us, Mr. Malfoy." Professor Slughorn said with a frown as he stared at the teenage boy.
Hermione glared at her friend and frowned. "Just go sit down, you keep on jinxing everything." She said and sighed as she took a quick seat back down.
"Have a wonderful talk." Ginny teased her friend with a cheeky grin and grabbed an empty seat elsewhere.
Draco smirked and stared at his professor. "What are we doing now, Professor?"
"Mr. Malfoy, please look for your name and sit with your partner."
Draco frowned as he raised an eyebrow at the board. Just then, Blaise came and lightly pushed him. "What the hell, mate? I thought we agreed you wouldn't come in late."
"No, you merely suggested that I shouldn't come in late anymore, I decided to ignore that suggestion." Draco said with a smirk. "Are you my partner?"
"No, and it serves you right because your partner is Granger." Blaise told him with a smirk.
"What?" Draco asked with wide eyes. "Who's your bloody partner, then?"
"Weasley." He muttered under his breath with a groan.
"She-Weasel?" Draco raised an eyebrow at his friend and let out a snicker as his friend nodded. "Have a nice time, mate."
"Yes, I will. But I hope you have a nice time talking to Granger, I know you'll enjoy it." Blaise retorted back with a smirk. Draco sneered.
"Go sit down." Draco said roughly as he pushed a laughing Blaise away from him. He immediately spotted Hermione in the back and sighed. 'Alright, keep it cool. Act natural, don't make a fool out of your—wait. What the bloody hell is wrong with me? Why am I concerned about what Granger thinks? No, Draco, do whatever the hell you want.' He stopped his train of thoughts and shook his head slightly. 'Just talk to her because the plan must work.' He finally agreed to himself and walked over to her.
"Granger."
"Malfoy."
Draco sat down awkwardly and looked straight. Hermione stole a glance of him and immediately let her eyes go to the front. They both knew it was going to be a hard class today.
"We will be brewing something very challenging today. We will be making the Amortentia potion. Would anyone like to tell me what that is?" Slughorn asked with a grin as he stared at all his students.
Hermione's hand immediately shot up. Draco slightly flinched at her sudden movement and leaned away from her. 'Boy, some things just never change. She's still a know-it-all.' Draco thought to himself bitterly and frowned.
"It's the most powerful love potion of all . . ." Hermione finished explaining and grinned.
Draco sneered as he shook his head.
Professor Slughorn flicked his wand toward the board and the ingredients to the potion came up. "I will give you three hours to make it, starting now." He told them and immediately students started to get up, grabbing their cauldrons and all of their ingredients.
Hermione stood up and stared at Malfoy. "I guess I'll be getting all the ingredients?"
"Oh, I should do something, too." Draco stated with his arms crossed across his chest, leaning back against his chair. "But, I'm sure you can handle yourself, eh, Granger? You are the smartest witch of our generation so you won't need any assistance getting ingredients. I'll stay right here." He said with a smirk.
Hermione immediately frowned and scowled as she quickly walked over to where the ingredients were. She took her wand out and pointed it at a cauldron and soon, it floated up and started to fly over to Draco. She quickly dropped her wand, the cauldron dropping gently on the table in front of him. She rolled her eyes with annoyance and turned back around only to bump into Ron. "Oh, sorry." She said and quickly straightened herself out.
"It's okay." Ron grinned. "Who's your partner?"
"Malfoy. Who's yours?"
"Harry." Ron answered after a few minutes of silence. "Well, I'm sure he won't do anything to you." He reassured her with a small grin.
"Yeah." She said awkwardly and scratched her head. "I'm just . . . we should get back to our project. We only have three hours to brew this." She said with a small grin and walked past him, grabbing all the things she needed. She then saw Blaise Zabini next to her, examining her. She furrowed her eyebrows and turned to face him. "Is there something on my face, why are you staring at me?"
"Oh, sorry. I didn't realize I was." Blaise apologized as he quickly turned away.
"Are you sure?" Hermione asked with a weird look.
"Positive." Blaise said as he shrugged her off, quickly grabbing all the ingredients he needed.
"Okay." Hermione frowned and walked back to her table to see Malfoy staring at her. "Do you Slytherins not know it's rude to stare?" She asked as she set all the things down on the table.
"No." Draco answered her as he raised both eyebrows, standing up. "Let's just get this over with."
"Right."
"Tell me when you need me." Draco said as he sat back down, reverting back into his previous position. "Actually, don't bother me at all."
"We're obviously paired up for a reason."
"Oh, really? I didn't notice, thank you for telling me." Draco mumbled.
"Malfoy, you're going to help me sooner or later."
"No, I'm not."
"Yes, you are." Hermione glared at him for a long minute but realized he wasn't going to open his eyes. She gave up with a sigh and immediately started making the potion. "You are hopeless." She muttered under her breath.
After two hours of brewing the potion by herself, Hermione kicked Malfoy's chair. "Malfoy, this is a partner activity, like I stated before." She stated with a deeper frown. "At least do something!"
"Alright, fine. I'll stir it." Draco said with a sigh as he stood back up. "I just thought since you're a know-it-all you'd want to work by yourself. I know how much you hate it when people get in your way when doing these trivial activities."
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Hermione snapped at him as she shot daggers.
"I'm saying you're a bossy know-it-all. I guess some things never change."
Hermione let out a small scoff. "Well, you're an insufferable jerk. You haven't changed the least bit ever since the war!" She retorted back.
Draco's face hardened as he pressed his lips together into a thin line. He remained quiet as he began to stir the potion as it said on the board. Hermione bit the inside of her cheek, instantly regretting what she said. Her plan wasn't going as planned.
Draco finished stirring and turned to Hermione. "The potion's finished." He told her as he took a seat.
"Ah, Mr. Malfoy and Ms. Granger, I see you've finished. Let's see how it is." Professor Slughorn walked over to them with a delighted grin. He examined the potion and nodded. "It looks about right but would you, Mr. Malfoy please step up and tell me what you smell?"
Hermione stared at Malfoy but he decided to ignore her. She leaned closer to Malfoy and jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow. Draco groaned and glared at Hermione. He rolled his eyes out of annoyance and got up. He leaned over the potion as he studied Professor Slughorn. "I smell . . . vanilla and old books, oh and also," Draco furrowed his eyebrows as he concentrated. "old parchment and ink." He finished and blinked several times, trying to process everything. He quickly pulled away as he lightly shook his head.
"Excellent! Excellent, indeed! How about you, Ms. Granger?" Slughorn pressed eagerly.
Hermione slightly leaned in and furrowed her eyebrows. "I smell peppermint, pine, and . . . rain?" She asked, the scents throwing her in a whirl of confusion. She immediately stepped back after pondering for a few more minutes.
"Excellent, my dear. You two have exceeded my expectations, this is perfect. You may be excused to leave for the remainder of class. Excellent work." Professor Slughorn exclaimed happily and walked off.
Hermione gathered her belongings and walked out of the classroom with Malfoy. She furrowed her eyebrows and sighed. "Rain?" She muttered to herself at the outrageous smell.
"What are you muttering to yourself about, Granger?" Draco asked as he raised an eyebrow at her.
"Nothing." She immediately answered and bit her lip at her mistake. "I mean . . . I was just thinking about the smell from the amortentia."
"Oh . . ." Draco was at a loss for words. He was such a smooth talker but when it came to Granger, his mind drew a blank. It was possible because all he had ever said to her were insults so he couldn't think of any compliments to say. She did look a lot prettier than last year but he couldn't say that. He snapped out of his scary thoughts of Granger and stared at her. "Well, I wouldn't worry about it if I were you,"
"And why is that?"
"Because it's not like you'll actually find the love of your life. No one would want to marry a ---"
"Mudblood? Is that what you were going to say?" Hermione snapped at him as she frowned.
"No, I was actually going to say know-it-all bookworm." Draco said as he raised an eyebrow at her.
She stared at him as she chewed on her bottom lip, thinking hard. 'Did I hear correctly? Did he just . . . not call me a mudblood?' "I'm sorry, what?" She asked after a few minutes.
"I don't like to repeat things twice so if I were you, I'd pay attention next time." Malfoy said, going back to his cold-self. He mentally slapped himself for saying that, he was going on the right track with the whole blood status thing but then he screwed it up by saying that. Great, right when his plan was going great!
"Next time? And why do you think we'll be talking again?" Hermione asked curiously as she raised an eyebrow at him.
Draco slightly furrowed his eyebrows, a smirk spreading across his face. It was working . . . "Figure it out, genius. We don't call you the smartest witch of our generation for nothing, you know. There's a reason behind it." He said matter-of-factly and smirked at her as he walked off.
Hermione stood there in the empty corridors with a stunned face. "What just happened?" She asked herself, completely confused. Then, the whole scene replayed inside her head.
"Because it's not like you'll actually find the love of your life. No one would want to marry a ---"
"Mudblood? Is that what you were going to say?" Hermione snapped at him as she frowned.
"No, I was actually going to say know-it-all bookworm." Draco said as he raised an eyebrow at her, completely shocking Hermione.
Why was he being so . . . nice to her all of a sudden? She had expected him to call her mudblood but he didn't. Being called a know-it-all bookworm wasn't nice but it was better than being called a mudblood. She bit her bottom lip as she furrowed her eyebrows. She pressed her lips together as she started to slowly make her way towards the library, still thinking hard about Draco Malfoy. She couldn't believe he was on her mind. What was going on?
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xoxo Annie