Not Yet

"Oi Granger!" Hermione heard the bane of her existence call after. She rolled her eyes and walked faster down the corridor. 

But of course, as he had been doing for the past week, Malfoy caught up with her. She wanted to curse his impossibly long legs. She did her best to ignore him as he fell into step next to her, placing his hands in his pockets and attempting to start a conversation. 

"Off to charms, are we?" He asked, looking at her as if she wasn't entirely ignoring him. She kept quiet and didn't slow her pace. "Come on, Granger... don't you mud-...muggle-borns know any manners. I'm speaking to you." Still no response. She thought he had finally stopped talking to her when he didn't say anything for a good fifteen seconds, but then he stepped in front of her, successfully ending her stride. 

She was able to stop herself just before bumping into him, but was annoyingly close. She stepped to the right to try and get around him. He stepped to the right. She stepped to the left; he stepped to the left. 

"Ugh! Fine! What is it, Malfoy? What do you want now?!" Hermione had to restrain herself from stomping her foot like a petulant child. 

"Woah, no need to holler at me, sweetheart." He held his hands up in mock defense. "I just wondered why you weren't in potions today." 

"Wha- You can't be serious." Her anger was momentarily dulled by her disbelief, was he really stopping her to ask why she wasn't in class? The grin on his face told her that he was. 

"Listen, I know Weasley is an insensitive twat. But the rest of us are capable of worrying for someone." His eyes sparkled with mischief, he didn't actually care, he was just happy to take jabs at Ron.

"Right." Hermione was about to throw obscene words at him, but when she opened her mouth, she found herself being honest. "I wasn't feeling well, it must have been lack of sleep." She met his eyes, they were grey as always, but the blue around his pupils was more visible today. His brows scrunched for an imperceptible second before his face fell back into his relaxed smirk. 

"Been hitting the books late again?" He teased. 

"Sod off. You got your answer, now let me get to class." She tried to move past him again, and surprisingly, he let her. But not before making sure to bump her shoulder. "And don't call me sweetheart!" Hermione tossed back at him. 

"You got it, Sunshine!" He yelled after her and was left there smiling at the back of her head as she sped off. 

Hermione couldn't help but smile too as she walked away, rolling her eyes. 

***

Later that night, Gryffindor dormitories.

Hermione sat with Ginny and Parvarti on the floor of their dorm, they had developed this routine last year when Ginny started visiting their dorm room, it helped them unwind after a long day and they sat there for hours sometimes.

"So Hermione, Malfoy still pestering you?" Ginny asked, leaning back against the foot of Hermione's bed. 

"No." She lied. 

"You little liar! I saw him behind you when I was entering charms class." Parvarti chimed in, giggling. 

Where Ginny despised Malfoy, Parvarti was totally boy-crazy. She didn't care who it was. 

"Okay, fine, and how is that something to giggle about? Parvarti he's ruining my perfectly peaceful walks to class." Hermione said but couldn't help but let out a laugh of her own at the way the dark-haired girl across from her wiggled her brows. 

Hermione could see from the corner of her eye how Ginny looked between the two giggling girls. 

"I really don't think any of this is funny," Ginny said, a small scowl on her face as she crossed her arms. 

"Um, hello? He's so dreamy!" Parvarti giggled some more.

"I would like to point out that I disagree, I think he's a total twat." Hermione chimed in with her finger raised in the air. But it was no use, Ginny was already attacking Parvarti.

"Parvarti, need I remind you that he's a blood supremacist? He has not only bullied Hermione for years, but he frequently calls her slurs too!" Ginny leaned forward, her face turning red with that Weasley anger of hers. 

"Well to be fair... he hasn't called me that in quite some time—" Hermione tried to interject, it was once again fruitless. 

"You're always so negative Ginny! Maybe he actually likes her!" Parvati huffed. 

"STOP IT!" Hermione finally yelled. "This isn't something to argue over. It's Draco Malfoy, for Godric's sake! No matter how many times he calls me sweetheart, he will always be Draco Malfoy. His only intentions—" 

"He called you WHAT?" Parvarti and Ginny interrupted at the same time. Parvati was delighted, while Ginny seemed to be blowing smoke out of her ears. Hermione just covered her face with her hands in a loud groan. 

It would be a long night...

***

"Miss Granger, please stay behind. I'd like to speak to you." Professor Slughorn spoke over the boisterous class as people began to file out. 

Naturally, Hermione wasn't concerned, she was used to receiving praise from her teachers. 

"Hey, maybe you'll finally be in trouble for once," Harry teased, packing his bags to head to lunch. 

"Oh, please. Hermione? Trouble?" Ron scoffed, "Have you lost your wits, Harold?" 

"Oh shut it the both of you!" Hermione sneered at them and waved goodbye before packing her own bag and making her way toward the back of the class where Slughorn worked on his lesson plans. 

"Hello, Professor." Hermione stood in front of Slughorn's lab table waiting for his comments. 

"I am concerned about you..." Slughorn said, catching Hermione entirely off guard. She was speechless. "You missed an important assignment last class when you weren't feeling well, and the class before that— your potion was mediocre at best." 

"I-I but Professor—" Hermione struggled for her words. 

"No, no. No need to worry. I have assigned someone to help you." Just what she needed. To have to listen to some incompetent twat try to teach her potions. Ha! Pathetic. "Mr. Malfoy is exceptionally gifted at potions. He will assist you for the remainder of the semester." No way in Hell would she ever allow that to happen. 

"Professor Slughorn, I assure you that is not necessary. I am more than capable—" 

"It has been decided Miss Granger." He held up a hand to quiet her. "You will meet with him this evening in the library at 6:30. From then you two may coordinate your own meetings. You may go now." He dismissed her, leaving her no choice but to walk away. 

This was preposterous, Malfoy teaching her? She was surely dreaming. It was a nightmare. Hermione had never ever EVER needed a tutor, and for it to be Malfoy? Well, that was just the icing on the damn cake. 

She was just considering ways to get out of it when she heard a familiar stepping pattern to her left. 

Sure enough, a tall figure with freakishly blond hair walked beside her. She wouldn't let him get a word in today, she didn't want to leave him the opportunity t tease her about her alleged need for a tutor. So, she said the first thing she noticed. Well... the second. Because the first was that his arms looked phenomenal in that shirt, but of course, she couldn't say that. She shouldn't even have been thinking it. Instead, she noticed that the reason she even noticed his defined arms and chest and... anyway... was because for once he had decided to not wear his black blazer nor his robes. 

There he walked beside her, black slacks as usual, but only a fitted black turtleneck with rolled-up sleeves covered his upper half. 

"Finally changed up the wardrobe ferret boy?" Hermione asked. Keeping her eyes ahead as she walked to the Great Hall. 

"Why? Do you like it?" He smirked, quickly recovering from the shock that she had initiated the conversation. 

"I never even insinuated that, you're so full of yourself." Hermione scrunched her nose at his ego. 

"Well if you tell me you like it, sweetheart, I might just wear it like this more often." Hermione suddenly stopped walking at his words. The low tone had sent a shiver down her spine, she had never heard him sound so... She played off her sudden stop by whirling towards him quickly and stepping toward him so he was cornered in a side hallway will his back to the wall. 

"Don't call me that!" She spoke, the only complaint she could think of. But of course, Malfoy was the picture of relaxation. He leaned against the wall, arms crossed, and one foot resting on the wall behind him.

"Why? Does it make you feel things?" He teased, but his eyes glittered and the low tenor of his voice made Hermione cross her arms protectively, every nerve-ending feeling exposed. 

"It does actually! Disgust!" She responded, but even she could hear the lack of resolve in her voice. As she feared, he didn't believe her for a moment, his smirk revealing that. But he let that one slide, instead moving to his next remark. 

"You know, if you wanted me alone in a dark hallway, all you had to do was ask, Granger." He leaned his face down closer, the words so quiet they were almost a whisper. She felt his breath on her cheek, she tried to hold her ground but found herself taking a step back. She couldn't find anything to say for almost half a minute, and they stood there just staring at each other. 

What was wrong with her?

"You're so full of yourself." Hermione finally said with a scoff, moving to step back into the main hallway. But she felt a cold and gentle hand grab her arm. 

"Okay, alright, I'll stop." Malfoy sighed as if this was some great turmoil for him. But then his expression was serious, despite the tiny smile playing on his lips. He had really nice lips. "What do I have to do for you to give me a chance?" Hermione was caught so off-guard by this that she felt her mouth literally drop open. She quickly regained her composure physically, but her mind was whirring. 

"Excuse me?" She asked, for lack of a better answer. Actually, for lack of any brain activity at all. 

"What do I have to do for you to forgive me and give me a chance? Get to know me." She could see the seriousness and determination in the way his eyes didn't leave hers. It was soon broken by a small smirk. "I'm actually great once you get to know me." He winked, but just as he did so, a blush appeared on his cheeks— surely at how ridiculous this all was. Hermione couldn't help her smile as she pulled her arm free. 

"Not a chance." She said, leaving the boy alone in the hallway. 

But what Hermione didn't know is that as he watched her walk off, he smiled knowing that eventually, she would give in. She was softening up already.