Chapter 34
Chapter 34:
Getting Draco to agree to help her was as painful as she expected. When he decided to offer her a pinky swear on the secrecy Hermione was both amused and confused at how he learned tradition, it was an exclusively muggle habit. She made a mental note to ask later, but for now, at least she could count him for the mission ahead.
Hermione watched Draco’s features darkened and darkened as she explained herself, she couldn’t read the emotions on his face, he clearly was very affected by her words but she wasn’t an idiot she could see him occluding the entire conversation, which was a waste of time because she wasn’t even a legilimence. She concluded he must do it to prevent his emotions from showing clearly.
After leaving his classroom Hermione was restless, she wanted nothing more than to retire to the room of requirements because it was the only place that ever gave her peace. She made her way there and sat in her room feeling exhausted by the evening's events. She was sitting watching the fireplace crackles in the room when she noticed something was off about the room but she couldn’t place it. She wasn’t there a full hour before she left, though she longed to stay the night she had too much work waiting in the lab to delay.
As she was making her way out she noticed Malfoy coming up the hall, she hurried into the alcove around the corner and watched as he entered the newly reappeared room of requirement door. Hermione was immediately suspicious. The last time he was here he’d thought the room was destroyed and now he’s found a way inside again? What was he doing? And more importantly, is that why her room felt a bit off? She never really thought about how the room worked if more than one party was using it on a consistent basis.
Hermione waited until she was inside before she left, now she had 2 mysteries to solve. But as worked into the night a small voice in her head insisted that perhaps the 2 mysteries were connected after.
***
Hermione couldn’t sleep that night, she kept replaying the day's event in her mind. Over and over again, but in particular, she kept replaying the scene of Malfoy leaving her desk and stalking over to her. The way he walked towards her like a cat, the way his lean tall figure loomed over her. She’s sure that very approach would have weaker men run fright and more sensible women to back away, but for some reason that’s not how her body responded. She stood her ground and waited, when he was close enough she felt the heat off his body, she could smell his surely expensive aftershave, electricity ran through her body, there was a thrill in it all. Hermione concluded she was mad. Quite right, she was surely mad, because there is nothing thrilling about Malfoy and wraith-like figure or his stupidly perfect hair or his perfectly kept clothes. Nothing at all enticing in his smell or the way he quirked his head at the perceived insult.
Tomorrow, when she woke up tomorrow her sanity will have returned.