Hermione was too busy looking at Professor McGonagall demonstrate how to transfigure steel into glass to notice her parchment subtly hover a millimeter above the table. Hermione picked up her quill and began to copy the spell down in her notes, poking a large hole in the middle of the paper. She blinked, confused as she hadn't been pressing that hard, and tried to write again, this time even more gently. As she looped the letter “l” she accidentally ripped a long line into her parchment, making a loud tearing sound and earning her a death glare from Lavender Brown, who was sitting just beside Ron. Hermione tried writing again.
The parchment had sunk back down to the table, but was now moving in small circles, making Hermione's normally perfect cursive practically unreadable. She slammed her hand down on the table in frustration.
“Ms. Granger, do you have something to say?” Professor McGonagall asked, raising one eyebrow. Hermione blushed.
“Sorry,” she mumbled, turning an even deeper shade of pink as the table in the corner furthest away from her burst into laughter. She looked down at her parchment in embarrassment, only to see her quill pick itself up and write on her paper, “Stupid mudblood.”
She cursed under her breath. Transfiguration class with Slytherins was always torturous, and Hermione hated being outwitted by those idiots. Class ended, and seething, she slowly packed up her bag. She froze, feeling a presence behind her. An arm snaked around her waist and lips pressed against her ear.
“Miss me?” It murmured.
In one swift motion she elbowed the person behind in her in the gut and turned around, holding her wand out in warning.
With false sweetness she smiled and whispered, “Not as much as you'll miss your arms if you ever try that again, Malfoy.” She spat out his name with as much malice as she could muster.
Hermione held his eyes as he held his stomach in pain until he caught his breath a moment later. “You know you like it,” he smirked, leaving the classroom. He hesitated at the door. “Oh, and Granger, do you need some more parchment?”
“MALFOY!” Hermione yelled, hurling a hex at his head, but he had already left.
Hermione slunk back to the Gryffindor common room, her cheeks still burning. She rationalized her blushing was still the aftermath of the parchment incident in transfiguration, but deep down she knew it wasn't the case. She tried to stop thinking of the feeling of his breath on her neck to no avail. She shook her head from side to side, trying to shake out her memories before she arrived at the Fat Lady.
“Password?”
“Quidditch.”
Hermione ran up to her dormitory and sat on her bed, thinking. She closed her eyes and collapsed onto her bed next to Ginny.
"Mione? Is everything okay?" Ginny asked.
Hermione sighed. "Malfoy just played a stupid prank on me, and then--" Hermione paused, unsure whether to share the rest. "Nothing. Let's just go downstairs," she finished, hurriedly.
Ginny rolled her eyes and followed her down to the common room, where Hermione sat on a couch with a huff.
Hermione looked away. "Hermione Granger, why aren't you responding to me? Tell me what happened!" she exclaimed.
"FINE! it's no big deal. Malfoy just... I don't know. Hit on me or something..."
"MALFOY DID WHAT?!" Ron shouted. Hermione hadn't even noticed Ron and Harry playing wizard's chess intently in the corner.
Ron jumped up so fast he had knocked over the board, and now a dozen little chess pieces were complaining.
"Hey! Watch it, boy!"
"What do you think you're doing?”
“Were not made of steel, son!"
"Ron don't overreact! He didn't really. He just..." Hermione blushed.
"He did SOMETHING. Don't worry, 'Mione, we'll get him back," Harry said with a wink.
"No! Boys, don't! Honestly it was nothing!" she exclaimed, but the two had already made up their minds.
"Where were you two last period anyways?" Hermione asked slowly.
"Uhhh, gotta run." Harry said with big eyes, running out of the common room with Ron behind him. Hermione realized immediately what was going on. Harry and Ron were in the process of planning an elaborate joke on Malfoy already. They must have skipped transfiguration just to sort out their plan. She sighed.
"At least whatever they're doing isn't for my benefit," she told Ginny.
"It will be now!" Ginny said with a laugh. She paused. "I know we hate Malfoy but... He IS undeniably hot. I probably would have fainted or something if he had hit on ME." she laughed. " What did you do?"
Hermione smiled mischievously. "I threatened to cut off his arms."
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