Chapter 13
“So… did you have fun in Herbology?”, asked Theo.
Theodore Nott was Draco’s best friend. Unlike Blaise, Theodore didn’t give a single shit about bloodline and wealth. He was wealthy, of course, and popular, but he only liked having fun, no matter with who or to which house they belonged to.
He was quite popular among girls, for a reason, Hufflepuffs loved him, and he was always up to organising a party or being a matchmaker.
It didn’t occur to Draco that Granger’s note was actually Theo’s and that he was the one who matched them up inside the classroom. He wanted to be mad at him and punch him but to be honest, Draco Malfoy couldn’t hide his happiness.
He did his best to ignore Nott, but the smile on his face was too obvious, so Theo began his interrogation. “Who confessed first?”
Malfoy didn’t reply. Theo continued. “Ohhh, she did.”, he grinned. “Who gave the first kiss?”
Draco kept silent. “Oh… she also did that!”, exclaimed Nott. “I didn’t think you were such a pussy Draco.”
Malfoy reacted with a quick punch on Theo’s shoulder, to which his friend exclaimed ‘ouch’.
“Was it good?”, he inquired.
Draco took a deep breath and looked around. They were alone in their dorm, so he finally decided to talk. “It was incredible, Theo.”
“Did anything else happen?”, asked Nott with a naughty smile. Draco shook his head, and Theo pouted. “What a shame.”
“I don’t know what to do.”, Malfoy finally said. “I mean.. What are we supposed to do now?”
“Oh mate, now comes the best part!”, smiled his best friend. “A lot of making out and fucking, that’s what comes next!”
“Shut up idiot, I’m being serious.”, replied the blond.
Hermione couldn’t sleep at all. Her head kept replaying that kiss over and over again, and she wiggled her feet in excitement. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt so happy about someone, it was like a complete new feeling. Ginny was not in bed, she hadn’t been there all night, and Hermione wondered if she was with Harry or what. They had been kind of ‘dating’, but behind Ronald’s back.
Hermione needed to talk with someone, whoever that might be, she needed to share her sudden boost of happiness. She decided to put her clothes on and go into the common room, she would stay there before lessons began.
While she was sitting in Gryffindor’s common room, someone touched her shoulder. As Hermione turned, she faced Lavender Brown. She was standing there, not a single expression in her face, she looked completely normal.
“Hermione”, she said in almost a whisper. “Can I.. tell you something?”
Hermione was not in the mood for having a girls chat with Lavender Brown out of everyone, but still, a part of her noticed some kind of worry in Lavender’s tone. She nodded, “Yes, go ahead..”
Lavender sat by her side on the sofa and looked around desperately, she seemed actually scared that someone would hear.
“I know… I know I haven’t been the best person, quite the opposite.”, she began “and you know I’m in love with Ronny, I wouldn’t have done anything if it wasn’t because of that.”
Hermione was still. She wondered where Lavender was trying to get, what was the point behind this whole thing. She didn’t rush her, though, she just waited. “I’ve been really bad to you, and that’s why I felt… like I needed to make it up to you.”, she said. “Ron has been weird lately, and it.. Scared me a bit."
Now Hermione was interested. Ronald had certainly proved to be someone who was not entirely sane, especially after what he did to Draco. Lavender began crying, and Granger wasn’t sure what to do. She was never the comforting type.
“All he does is talk about you and Malfoy”, sobbed Lavender. “He’s completely mad, he said Malfoy tricked you into falling for him so he could hurt him.”
Hermione stood up, grabbed a paper towel, and gave it to Lavender. “Relax, tell me more.”
Lavender took a few seconds to recompose herself, then continued. “He said he would get his revenge, and that if you didn’t realise Malfoy was a bad influence, he would take care of him in his own way.”, she explained as she dried her tears. “I’m afraid he’s going to do something evil, Hermione. So, I wanted to warn you about that.”
Hermione nodded. It was good to know Lavender wasn’t a complete bitch as she thought.
The girl grabbed Hermione’s hand and looked her in the eyes. “Will you ever forgive me?”
Granger gave her a sweet smile. “Of course, Lavender.”; she said. “Ronald and I were never meant to be. It doesn’t erase the fact that what you two did was completely wrong, but I’m okay now, and after all, he was the one who was supposed to respect me, not you.”
They talked for a while, Lavender kept emphasising on her worry, and then went on telling Hermione how Molly Weasley despised her and made her feel rejected. Lavender told her that when she met Ron’s parents, they were completely confused on how Ron went from their beloved Mione to her, and didn’t hide their disappointment. She explained how she felt and Hermione comforted her, telling her that they were complicated at first, but she shouldn’t worry because they would finally end up getting along.
Lavender asked Hermione about Draco, she had overheard Parkinson and Greengrass gossiping about them. Hermione explained the basics of what happened and Lavender asked if she believed he was the right one. Granger just smiled.
Some minutes after, they both left for their Charms lesson.
Professor Flitwick greeted the students and prepared the classroom to begin the lesson. Students were attentive to see which charm he would explain, since every single desk and chair was placed the nearest to the walls of the classroom. There was a huge space in the middle, so Hermione thought it would probably be an incantation to summon something quite big. Flitwick adjusted his spectacles and cleared his voice, once he got the attention of everyone inside the classroom, he began.
“Good morning, class.”, he said with his usual cheerful tone. “Today we’ll be delving into the wonderful world of the Ascension Charm. We are going to ascend higher and higher, so I hope you’re all prepared for some mild flinging.”
Students looked around, the ceiling was empty, like there was no roof above them. Not many students knew what the Ascension Charm was but they were sure it was going to be a fun experience. Hermione felt a hand taking her hair out of the way, and as she turned around, Draco Malfoy smiled at her. “Sorry, I couldn’t see anything.”
“It’s not that bad!”, she complained, touching her hair.
“It’s beautiful, but it isn’t transparent.”, he joked.
Their proximity was enough to make Hermione nervous, but she tried her best to listen to Flitwick’s explanations. After a long exposition on how to cast the charm, he began calling students to the front. Luna and Blaine, Pansy and Lavender, Harry and Parvati, Theodore and Crabbe. Then he called Hermione.
“Who wants to make Granger fly?” Flitwick asked, completely enthusiastic. Ron and Draco raised their wands, offering themselves to take part in the practice. Surprised by this offering, the short witty man looked at Granger and then at the boys. “As much as you’re friends with Granger, Weasley, I’d rather not visit Madame Pomfrey today. Malfoy, come here.”
Draco smiled triumphantly and walked to the centre of the room.
“Well, Mr. Malfoy.”, said Flitwick. “Same thing I told the others, mind your wand movement. Be aware of your words and use intention. Remember, you’ll ascend Granger. Do not make her just float or fly through the ceiling up to the quidditch pit, or I will take a minimum of two hundred points from Slytherin for attempted murder.”
Malfoy chuckled at Flitwick’s clarifications. He prepared himself, moved the wand and casted a perfectly done Ascendio. Hermione flew through the air upwards, in the most controlled Ascendio she had seen so far. Flitwick began clapping. “That’s fifty points for Slytherin, young man. Perfect execution of the Ascending Charm.”
When it was Hermione’s turn, she did the same movement and used exactly the same pronunciation Malfoy had used, but something went wrong. Draco Malfoy flew into the air violently, like he was rocket-shipped out of the classroom. Flitwick reacted instantly, casting a counter-charm and helping Draco get back down. He looked at Granger indecisive.
“Miss Granger. How did you pronounce the word?”, he asked again.
“As-cen-dio”, repeated Hermione. Flitwick breathed out, letting a sigh escape his lips. He looked around at the rest of the class, his eyes travelling among all students and their wands. Then, he fixed on one of them.
“Mr. Weasley.”, he said defiantly. “Do you find it funny? Sabotaging your classmates' work and putting them at risk of an injury?”
“I- I didn’t do anything.”, explained Ron.
“Your wand is smoky, those are the residues of the Ascension Charm. And you haven’t casted it so far.”, Flitwick grinned, proud of his own conclusion. “Since you and Granger are both from Gryffindor, I won’t take out any house points. But I’ll let the rest of the staff know about your suspicious and dangerous behaviour.”
The group of Slytherin boys gathered around Malfoy. “Mate are you alright?”, asked Nott.
Zabini looked at Hermione with the most disgusting expression, it made her think he would kill her anytime soon. “What did that mudblood do?”, he let out angrily. “It wasn’t her, Blaise.”, Malfoy rolled his eyes. “It was the weasel.”
“Her boyfriend, same thing.”, stated his friend. His words stabbed Malfoy’s ego, and he grabbed his friend by the collar of his shirt, pulling him closer.
“It’s not her boyfriend anymore.”, he said firmly. “And don’t you dare call her mudblood again, you hear me? She’s way better than us.”
Zabini looked confused, and still angered, but he didn’t answer. He limited himself to silence while Malfoy walked away. “You’re a clueless bastard, Blaise”, said Nott with a cocky smile.
Draco walked across the room to meet Hermione. She let out her breath.
“Are you really okay?”, she said. Her voice was filled with worry. “I should’ve known.”
“I am.”, he reassured her. “Flitwick saved me in just a millisecond.”
She looked around, noticing no one was paying attention to them, and almost everyone was leaving the classroom. “Can I..?”, she asked.
Draco reacted as if he already knew what she was going to ask for, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her into a warm, tight hug.
Hermione buried her face into his chest, breathing in the soft yet intense perfume he always had, a mixture of green apple and sandal. She realised that same smell was the one she sensed in sixth year, when Slughorn brewed and explained what amortentia was for the first time. It was his perfume all along.
Hermione looked up at him, wondering if she should say something about it or not.
He smiled and said. “Are you free this evening, Granger?”
She nodded, completely surprised by the sudden question.
“Will you join me for a visit to Hogsmeade?”, he asked before she could say anything else.
“In the evening?”, she asked.
“I promise, it’ll be worth it.”, he said leaving her side.
“Wait…”, she complained. “I never said I’d go.”
“6.30 pm, at the North Exit.”, he clarified. “Dress comfortably, no fancy clothes.”
“What? Why?”, she said. “I always dress comfortably, but-”
“Then, you’ll have no problem…”, he waved his hand as he crossed the door. “And I’d wear trousers if I were you.”, he said before leaving the classroom.