Flushed with a mixture of anger and embarrassment, Hermione made her way to the Great Hall to eat supper with Harry and Ron. She couldn't believe what she'd just heard. It had to be some sort of set up that'd simply hurt her in the end. Yes, that was it. She was sure of it. She just needed to get it out of her head.
Once she reached the Great Hall, she quickly found Ron and Harry and tried to push that unfortunate conversation out of her head.
"Hello! Have either of you started on your paper for Snape's class yet?" She asked, trying to distract herself as much as possible.
"No, not yet," replied Harry. "What about you, Ron?"
"You honestly think I'm going to do that? Two pieces of parchment over the affects of Amorthentia? He's bloody insane!" Stated Ron, annoyed.
"Oh, Ronald," began Hermione. "You know you'll end up doing it. Your mother will be outraged if you don't do well in your classes this year, and you haven't gotten a very good start as it is."
,"Yeah, yeah, I know. What about you, then? How far are you?"
"Me? I'm already halfway done. I spent my free periods yesterday and today in the library working on it. I should be done by Monday," replied Hermione, slightly smug.
Just as Harry began to say something, an enchanted paper airplane whizzed in front of his face and landed on Hermione's lap. She grabbed it quickly and unraveled it. Scrawled inside was:
'Please hear me out.
I know you have no reason
to believe any of what I say
but just listen to me first.
Please meet me in the
greenhouse in 10...
don't tell anyone'
She quickly glanced over at the Slytherin table and found Draco. He was staring at her. There was no humorous or mocking expressions in his face. There was, however, a look Hermione had never seen him wear. One of slight pleading.
"What in the bloody hell was that?" Asked Ron.
"Oh," began Hermione, coming back from studying Draco's face. "Just something Malfoy thought would be oh-so historical," she sad, brushing it off. She made sure to crumple the parchment before either of them had a chance to see it, though.
When the three of them looked back at the table, Draco was laughing with his friends, but she thought she saw him glance up at her.
Harry and Ron immediately began talking about the upcoming Quidditch match against Ravenclaw. Harry was convinced their new seeker was too good for him to beat, but Ron assured him that he was easily the best in the school. Hermione, however, only listened to their conversation closely enough to know if they were talking to her. The rest of her thoughts were dedicated to trying to decide whether or not she should go to the greenhouse in, what was now, just 7 minutes.
She wasn't going to act like she hadn't thought about it before. Draco, as daft as he could be, had a certain charm about him. And she had noticed that he isn't harass the three of them as much as he used to. Of course, he hadn't stopped all together, but even when he did do it, none of his remarks were nearly as bad as they'd been when they first met him.
She'd go. If it's a trick, then okay. She'd get over it. If not? Well... She would figure that out once she got there.
"Hey, guys. Sorry to interrupt, but I'm going back up to the dormitory. I don't feel so well," Hermione said.
"Is it about what Draco did?" Harry asked, concerned. He knew how cruel Draco could be and that Hermione didn't always take what he said very well.
"Oh, no," she replied, maybe a bit too quickly. "No, it's uhm. It's just a headache."
"You'll be okay? Don't need one if us to walk you, do you?" Asked Ron, with the same amount of concern as Harry, if not more.
"No, no. I'll be fine," she assured them. "I just need to sleep it off. I'll see you guys later," she added as she walked off towards the greenhouses.
