it started with a kiss, how did it end up like this?

Prologue

The plot for this is loosely based on the book Reunion by Alyssa Clark (it's really good you should check it out it's on kindle unlimited) but written instead with everybody's favorite Slytherins.

He always does it in front of his girlfriends, that's what bothers her the most. Not the giggling from the other students. Not the stern looks from the professors, though that really does suck. Not even the fact he only does it taunt her. No, it's the fact that has to blow the charmed paper birds toward her while his girlfriend of the month is sitting right beside him. So not only does she have to deal with the constant harassment from the three Slytherin quidditch players, but she also has to put up with being jinxed in the corridors by whichever girl the star seeker is currently seeing.

Because they don't know it's fake. They don't know he just does it to have a laugh. They don't know because he never tells them. Maybe he doesn't tell them so they add to her torment, but she really wishes he would just tell them the truth of it. She would much rather his girls think of her as a joke than as competition. Because even she would agree with that. Because the first time she had gotten one of his notes she had believed it.

The first paper bird she ever got had been sitting on her open book in the library. She had gone to retrieve a book and when she came back it was sitting there. She had shot a look up and down the aisle looking for its sender but the place was empty. She quietly sat down and once again looked around for the culprit. Finding no one, she waved her wand over the folded note. After finding nothing out of the ordinary, she finally opened it.

'You are so beautiful, you steal my voice every time I see you.

I can't seem to ever get your attention, but I can't keep sitting back waiting for you to notice me.

Meet me on the practice pitch outside of Ancient Runes if you like me as much as I like you?'

There was no signature. That should have been her second clue that something was up.

The first should have been when Blaise Zabini sat next to her in History of Magic. Usually, Padma sat with her but she had been out sick that day. She had thought it a little strange that the Slytherin had picked the seat next to her but had brushed it off as an empty seat was an empty seat.

While History of Magic should have been an interesting class, especially for a muggleborn like Hermione Granger, it usually left most students snoring. That day had been no different. Hermione was scribbling notes in the margins of her Charms textbook when Blaise started coughing next to her. When she glanced over at him, he was leaning back in his chair, two legs hovering off the ground, with one arm draped along the edge of the desk behind them. As their eyes met, he gave her a downward nod and his eyes flicked to the middle of their shared desk and then back to her. Looking down at the desk she saw a hastily torn scrap of paper. She turned back to him with one raised brow.

Blaise leaned forward causing the two legs to hit the ground with a loud thud. Hermione moved closer to the desk ignoring the stares from the students around her and shot a glare in Blaise's direction. He tapped the scrap of paper twice before pushing it closer to her. He glanced over before leaning in a bit closer and started to softly speak.

"One of my mates wanted me to give ya this. He likes ya, wants you to owl him back." He said it with a smirk. She looked back down at the note with a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. When she flicked her eyes back up to Zabini she noticed the smirk had turned into a grin, almost like he was laughing. She scowled before ripping the note from the desk, crumpling it up, and throwing it right back at him. He snickered at her as she pulled as far away from him as she could before staring straight ahead for the rest of the class period.

That really should have been her first clue that they were planning something. And maybe her second should have been when Theo Nott shoved past her outside the library. But that seemed to be something that he was starting to do more and more often. Between classes, the corridors tended to be busy, so it was normal to get a bit jostled now and again. Lately, it seemed as if Theo purposefully did it. He would look back afterward as if daring her to say something.

She thought herself rather smart. She should have put the clues together. She should have told Padma about the note. She would have set her straight. But she wanted to believe for a second that somebody had a crush on her. That somebody thought she was beautiful.

Her heart started to race as she reread the note. It hadn't specified a time, but there was only one more class left in the day. She decided she would wait until it was over before heading to the practice pitch. The walk from the library to the practice pitch seemed longer than it ought to be. She held the folded bird gently in her hand the whole way. She felt as if she could hear her quickening heartbeat echo through the quiet corridors. Her hands were shaking as she reached to adjust the bag on her shoulder. She took a deep breath before she rounded the corner into the open corridor that led to the practice pitch. She had just passed the door to Ancient Runes when she saw Draco Malfoy leaning against the exposed wall that led to the pitch. Right where the note said to meet.

He had changed out of his school uniform and into his quidditch gear. His broom was propped up next to him and he had a small paperback book in his hands. Her feet stopped moving without thought. She didn't say a word as she looked him up and down. He didn't look like he was waiting for anyone. But no one else was around, did that mean that he had sent her the bird? He was popular and not just among the Slytherins. He was a star seeker; he had outstripped Cedric Diggory more than once, and he had gone pro. By all means, he shouldn't even know who she was. But he was right where the note said to meet.

Her legs had just begun to work again she heard it. Blaise's snickering bouncing around the corridor. As she looked behind her she saw them. Blaise and Theo taking the same path she had just walked.

*They both had their quidditch uniforms on. They were coming back here to meet Draco.

Because they knew where he'd be. Because this had all been a joke. She had just been a joke. She'd been played. It was all just a joke and she had been the punchline. She didn't think anything had ever hurt that bad.

"Hermione," Draco's voice cut through the noise of her heart falling through her chest. She tried to ignore the burn in her throat. She didn't want to cry. She didn't want to feel so humiliated in front of those three boys.

She turned away from Draco back toward the other two boys. She crushed the paper bird she was holding to her chest and let it drop to the ground. She shot forward, knocking into Theo and shoving Blaise hard. She heard a protest, she heard her name being called by two of the three boys. She heard Blaise's barking laugh echoing in her ears.*

*contains a few paraphrased and direct lines from Reunion by Alyssa Clark