The Lost Timeline | Dramione | ✔

#3 Silent Surprise

That encounter with Malfoy kept Hermione on her toes for the rest of the week. She kept expecting something out of the ordinary to happen again, feeling as though it was a prelude to something bigger, something lifechanging.

And yet, nothing ever did.

While outwardly, she was still exactly the same, she struggled slightly with her composure. At the sound of his voice, a thrill would go through her and she would be painfully aware of how conscious she was of him. She had only hoped nobody noticed how the tips of her ears burned – there was nothing she could do with how her body reacted. She was mildly horrified at the betrayal, but logically knew that it was all due to natural reflex. He had paid her a compliment and she's curious as to why, so she paid him extra attention to glean reason. But she was still unable to shake the maddening anticipation until the following week.

The same class had come and gone, without so much as a glance from the Slytherin prince. A little nugget of disappointment made its way into her chest as she trudged into the Great Hall for lunch. She grudgingly allowed herself to admit that she has had more than enough time to draw her conclusions and made a mental note to shift her focus.

"Well, I'm off to the library!" She announced after the meal. Harry mumbled something about Quidditch tryouts and Ron's face turning a spectacular shade of cerulean sea water.

"What's the matter with you?" Harry asked, tugging him along, "The whole team should be there so we get a good fit." He said, trying to mimic what Katie Bell said in the previous year. He was absolutely stoked at making captain, but already he was feeling the stress and responsibility weighing down on his heart.

"I-it's just, sixth year." Ron spat out, as though that was a sufficient explanation.

"That's absolutely sensible," Hermione said, "NEWTs are very important, more so than OWLs. Both of you should be dedicating every spare moment to revision. The exams are less than a year away!" This drained Ron of all colour and he turned to Harry.

"D'you reckon she's right?"

"C'mon Ron, it's Hermione." He laughed good-naturedly as not to offend her, "We hardly have any good players left and you're decent at it. Don't tell me you want to drop out now." Harry said, trying to persuade Ron. "Anyway, Ginny's on the team- you'd be the only Weasley-"

"Nope, don't say it. Let's go!" Ron interrupted with a loud screech and pulled Harry off towards the pitch. Seems like he was going to the try outs after all. Hermione sighed her disapproval.

Needless to say, she would have joined in the fun to see who might make the team this year but with both the boys already on it, there wasn't anyone else to cheer for. And, she desperately sought the solace of books and silence, eager to be alone.

She was halfway through her Potions homework when she heard murmuring. Curiosity got the better of her and she left her desk to peer down the shelves and saw a tall blonde figure with his back to her, head inclined.

There was a slow burst of warmth racing up her lungs when she realized who it was. If the greens of his robes didn't give it away, his posture surely did. And his platinum hair, of course. There is no other more striking trait to Draco Malfoy. She held her breath in as she spun around in a cautious retreat, but the thudding of her heart seemed to freeze when she heard him speak.

"It's rude to spy, you know."

"I w-wasn't!" The stammering seemed to compose Hermione and her normal haughty inflection returned, "You were reading out loud, in a library!" She stressed as though there is no higher crime.

There was a soft thud as he shut the book he held in his left hand and he turned to face her in a slinking fashion.

"I suppose you are a perfect example of how one should conduct oneself in a library?" He asked.

"Yes!" She answered in a huff, only to take it back in her next breath, "Well, no. Not right now, but I was reading in a reasonably respectable manner before your muttering intruded!"

A slow smirk made its way onto the blonde's lips. "Well then I suppose I should study from our brightest example how to conduct oneself in the library." With that he strode past her to the table she was on and sat down.

Heart hammering away at the pit of her throat, Hermione inched back to her seat and sat down opposite from the Slytherin boy. "Watch well." She said haughtily before burrowing back into her books, unable to bite her tongue.

All the while, Draco couldn't help but feel rewarded for all the times he had hung around in the library. He convinced himself it was to rid himself of his posse. He has found it harder and harder to entertain them when his heart was no longer in it. For him to finally pinpoint his desire for familiarity that extended beyond faces and families was almost profound. He craved a kindred spirit. But if he was being completely honest, he could have chosen any hidden nook on the large grounds of Hogwarts, there was no reason for him to choose the library. And yet... Here he was, sitting opposite from Hermione Granger, no less.

He sighed loudly. Upon hearing it, Hermione diverted her attention from her book and all but glared at him, "Shhh!" She hissed, "Watch with your eyes, not your mouth."

"Clearly you are unaware of the noises you make when you are - what was it? - reading respectably." He drawled, "It's very... Disruptive."

"I do not make noises!" She said indignantly.

Draco clicked his tongue and dropped his head to look at the book laid out in front of him, sighing and tsking at times, clearly doing a poor and exaggerated imitation of Hermione.

"That is ridiculous," Hermione said, suppressing a laugh that was bubbling up, giddy with the idea that she was actually having a civilised conversation with Malfoy, the boy who had caused her and her friends so much suffering, "I do not do that."

She turned her attention back to her parchments but couldn't help but feel conscious of steel blue eyes studying her in return. "Now you're being disruptive." She said without glancing up, looking completely engrossed in whatever she was doing.

"S'pose I should go then," He kicked himself mentally, no Gryffindor would turn that offer down. Much less one a third of The Golden Trio. But she did not answer him, and when he looked at her through his pale lashes, he was greeted with another shush from the girl. He couldn't help but smile inwardly. This was progress, she doesn't hate him. Although, he could have told by the way she has never acted subjectively with prejudice or bias towards him. Everything cruel or reprimanding she has ever said to him was never unprovoked.

"How so, though?" He prompted, "How am I disrupting you?" Now that he's got a reason to grin, he does. And oh, what a lovely sight was it to behold Draco's smile. It was as though the heavens parted and shone a joyful light on his face. Hermione paused for a moment to marvel at it before saying, "You should smile more often. It..." She narrowed her eyes, "Makes you look less like a ferret."

Now that was unwarranted. Unless, it was a rebuttal at his curiosity. But he wasn't about to just give up.

Feigning ignorance, he said, "Why ferrets, of all animals? Do you have a soft spot for them like you do the merfolk? You surprise me, Granger."

To hear her name spoken with no malice from Draco was shocking on its own, more so than his jibe. But she kept her composure and shot back with, "Well, one only has to look at the company I keep." She gestured with her chin in his direction, challenging him to continue.

Draco tilted his head skyward, looking like he is considering her words, "Ah, of course. Potty and the Weasel."

Humbled by her loss of words, she once again turned back to her notes before her. But of course, that wasn't the end of it. Their conversation was riddled with long pauses and stimulating back-and-forths, like a muggle trying to ride a bicycle for the first time. It wouldn't be the last time they spent time together in the privacy of the library, either. Accidentally in the beginning, hesitantly. But after a while seeing the other sitting there at the desk they've come to recognize as theirs felt as natural as going home.