Then & Now

Chapter 6

Hermione POV

It went on like that between them for some weeks. When in class or even within their shared dorm, they didn't speak much. Hermione was usually busy studying in her room and Malfoy kept to himself, often disappearing off with his own coursework. She had assumed he went to the library, like her, but she never saw him there. Each evening after dinner, they would meet, trading off on who was instructing and who was learning. The first night they had gone out to the Practice Pitch, Hermione had been exceedingly nervous. The lack of light had concerned her. She was more confident than the first time, but flying was still new and the idea of being unable to see where she was going worried her.

Malfoy had been surprisingly patient with her. Despite the voice in the back of her mind that kept telling her to keep her guard up, she found him to be more human when away from the others within the castle. When it was just the two of them he came off as cordial, dare she say, even friendly at times. True to his word, he never let her fall. She came close a couple of times, but he was always right by her side to straighten her out and keep her from taking a nose-dive into the ground. Hermione found herself becoming used to his voice. It had a comforting quality to it when he wasn't harassing her about her bloodline.

The more time they spent together, the more she felt herself becoming used to his company. On numerous occasions, she admitted to herself how handsome he was. He had matured from the slick-haired daddy's boy he been at the start of their time at Hogwarts. He shaved now, to keep his face clean of his facial hair and he had gotten taller, leaner. Even with heels, she wouldn't reach his eye level as she had when they were eleven. At first, she had denied her physical attraction to him. Once he had begun to impress her with his wits, she had given up the charade.

They continued their spit-spat rivalry. It had turned into a sort of game. Each tried to outdo the other. First the competition was who could do the best in their private lessons, but after a couple of weeks, Malfoy began to challenge her in their classes as well. She knew Malfoy was intelligent. He had always been a close second after her in terms of grades, with the exception of sixth. She had never worried about securing her position as the smartest witch at school. Harry and Ron were less keen on education. She had grown used to the idea of being the best in terms of grades. The Head Boy was making her work for it this year. Though she had always been an avid learner and often hung around after classes to ask for extra credit tasks, this term, she found she was neck in neck with him. It should have annoyed her. She had been committed to achieving greatness since her first day at Hogwarts. Instead she found the competition exciting.

Ginny remained skeptical. Hermione understood why her best friend wasn't onboard on her roommate. There was no reason for Ginny to be kind to Malfoy, even if he was helping the Head Girl out. Malfoy's father was the reason Ginny had been subjected to Tom Riddle's cruel plan in her first year at Hogwarts. Malfoy had never been nice to her or any members of her family. While Ginny had her reservations about the deal Hermione had made with Malfoy, she was supportive. She didn't constantly tear down the Slytherin or berate Hermione for trusting him to teach her to fly properly. She inserted a dig once in a while, usually something along the lines of "arrogant git" or "pale ferret". The insults died down over the course of the weeks, especially once Ginny realized that her target wasn't up to his usual narcissistic tendencies.

Her mood had not improved when Slytherin beat Ravenclaw in the first Quidditch match of the season. Malfoy was not on the team any more, but the contention between Slytherin and Gryffindor was rooted as deep as blood prejudices. The youngest Weasley had been in a better mood since the Gryffindor team won their first game against Hufflepuff. Ginny had scored the most points by any female Chaser in Hogwarts history. Romilda had also been praised for her exceptional strategic tactics that enabled the team to win. They had beaten Ravenclaw last week and they were scheduled to play the undefeated Slytherin team the day before the Winter Ball. The entire team had been under a strict training schedule along with threats of coming up on the receiving end of one of Ginny's famous Bat-Bogey hexes. Needless to say, the Gryffindor team was looking a bit worse for wear these days.