The Right Choice

Chapter Seven

For the next two weeks, Draco found it easier and easier to talk to Hermione as a friend. They discussed anything now, of course except for Voldemort and his cause. Draco even found himself laughing with her.

That afternoon, he was roaming the aisles of the Transfiguration section of the library, looking particularly for books on Animagi. He thought about achieving it, maybe he could do something under the radar for once. He rounded a corner and ran straight into Hermione, knocking both their books to the ground. He apologized profusely, and they both grabbed the same book, one of Draco's.

She looked at it curiously and handed it to him.

"Are you looking into this for academic purposes, or thinking of trying it?" she asked.

Draco shrugged. "Trying it, maybe. I like to be different, and not many wizards can do it."

"It's very difficult, you know. McGonagall was born with it, like most are. Few can work to achieve it."

"I like to live dangerously." he said with a smirk.

She rolled her eyes playfully and walked to a table, gesturing for him to follow.

"I can do my homework later. I'm curious to hear about the subject as well." she said, grabbing for a book.

"Really? Are you thinking of trying it?" Draco asked.

"Perhaps. I like to give nearly everything a try at least once."

"Well, then let's look into it together."

They opened their books and studied the subject, occasionally discussing a fact unknown to them.

"Look," Hermione said, interrupting a ten minute span of silence, "it says in order to transform into your chosen animal, you must have knowledge of it. You must be able to focus and try to see the world through it's perceptive."

"So if I wanted to be a leopard, I would need to try to get into the mindset of one? Perhaps try to imagine how it sees the environment?" Draco inquired.

"Yes. Is that the form you want to take, a leopard?" she asked.

Draco nodded. "A black one. They're silent and powerful."

"I see. Well yes, you should spend time studying it and try to imagine how it lives and behaves."

Draco smiled at her and she smiled back. Only then did he realize how close they were sitting and that they were leaned over the same book together.

He cleared his throat and excused himself, thanking Hermione for her help.
********************************
What was wrong with her? Hermione was enjoying Draco's company. That was alright. She had told herself to move on from Ronald, that she didn't need nor deserve that sort of emotional distress. But she certainly wasn't supposed to take an interest in Draco Malfoy.

Fifteen minutes ago, she had found herself in a secluded corner of the library, practically nose to nose with him over a book on Animagi. Before she could excuse herself, he had saved her the trouble and gone back to his dormitory.

She tried to put the matter out of her mind, today she was invited to Hagrid's. Hermione hadn't seen Hagrid in a few weeks, and she was grateful for the invite.

She arrived at his hut, and found that Harry was already there, Ron must have been occupied with Lavender. She entered, accepting tea from Hagrid, but none of his rock cakes, after five years she knew better.

For a while there was friendly conversation between the two of them. Hagrid suddenly turned to Hermione and said in a serious tone, "Hermione, Harry told me yer hangin' around Malfoy."

Hermione smiled at Hagrid's concern. "He's only my partner in Ancient Runes. I didn't pay attention when the professor asked us to pair up and apparently neither was he, so we were the last two. He's actually being polite, I suppose he appreciates the help with his work."

Hagrid grunted, "He can' be trusted. Just be careful. He's up to somethin'"

The next hour passed rather uneventfully, Harry excused himself to Quidditch practice fifteen minutes ago, and Hermione finally decided she needed to finish her homework and thanked Hagrid.

She was halfway to the castle when a torrential downpour began. She pulled her hood up and tried to hurry into the castle without slipping.

She was just walking past the owlery when she fell on the slick stone steps. She braced herself for the impact but a pair of arms caught her.

"Merlin, Granger. You need to be more careful!" Draco said as he lifted her back up to her feet.

"Thank you for catching me. This all came out of nowhere." Hermione said, gesturing to the rain.

She realized she was still in his arms, and she quite liked it there. But since she wasn't sure he felt the same, she removed herself. She nervously tucked a hair behind her ear and began walking back to the castle with Draco following.

"We need a way to predict all of this. Trelawney needs to use her Inside Eye, or whatever." Draco said with a sneer.

"Muggles have a way, they use satellites. They float above the clouds and predict the weather by sending signals back down here." Hermione responded, glad to teach Draco something he might like about muggles.

"It's a wonder that wizards haven't invented a spell for it." Draco said as they finally reached the castle.

"Only you would find a way around being impressed with muggle technology." Hermione said, climbing the steps.

She suddenly slipped once again and Draco rushed to catch her before her head hit the stone.

"Hermione!" he shouted as he caught her. "How many times am I going to have to catch you? For Merlin's sake, be more careful!"

Hermione was infuriated at his tone with her. He was talking to her as if she were a clumsy child.

"I didn't ask you to catch me, Malfoy!" she spat back.

Draco found he quite liked it when she was angry, she refused to be spoken down to. He broke into an impish grin. He admired the fire in her.

"What the hell are you smiling at?" she demanded of him, crossing her arms across her chest.

"You," he said, still smiling, "you're funny when you're angry."

She screamed in frustration, throwing her hands into the air. Draco couldn't help himself, he grabbed one of those hands in his and wrapped his other arm around her waist, planting his lips on hers.

At first she was in shock, her eyes were wide open. Then she leaned into it and accepted the kiss. He was quite gentle, despite his attitude. He didn't push her any farther than this, he merely backed her into a wall. His hand released hers and came up to her face, caressing her cheek and then entwining into her hair.

When they finally broke apart, he rested his forehead on hers, trying to catch his breath. Out of nowhere, she pushed him off of herself and ran.

"Fantastic. That's the first time that's happened." he said to himself.