~Unknown Markings~

~Playing Detective~

Third Person, Hermione POV:

Hermione and Ron were both at breakfast waiting for Harry to arrive at the Gryffindor table. Their first course of action would be to analyze his interactions in the morning. If anything seemed off Ron and Hermione would catch it. Or maybe just Hermione. 

However, their attempts of waiting up for Harry failed after he refused to show. Hermione considered their first attempt at spotting any odd behavior equally failed. That being said, it in no way stopped her from coming up with a new plan. 

Ron on the other hand was moping due to Harry's lack of presence. Clearly, he didn't adapt to change that well, Hermione thought. 

Instead, when they got to their first class, Harry was sitting there waiting for them in his usual spot. There were a couple of other students that had entered just before them who started to unpack their quills. The only other person actually sitting down was none other than Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson. Hermione made a quick mental note of this. 

When everyone had been seated and the class seemed full Blaise Zabini barged into the room. After noticing all the stares he was getting he smoothed out his hair and corrected his poster. 

"I deeply sorry for being late Professor. It will by no means happen again." Being the teacher he was Professor Flitwick accepted this apology and Blaise Zabini went to sit next to Malfoy and Parkinson. Not more than a few moments later Neville stumbled into the room as well. Utterly out of breath. 

"I'm so sorry Professor Flitwick. I forgot the time!" Neville's face was bright red as he fumbled around his words. Flitwick just told him to take a seat, clearly not pleased by having two late students. 

Throughout the duration of the lesson, Hermione caught Harry giving sideways glances across the room constantly. It wasn't necessarily obvious but to Hermione, it was too frequent to ignore. Plus, she knew Harry well enough to know this wasn't normal behavior. 

When one of his stares lasted a bit longer than usual, she followed his eyes down to see... Pansy Parkinson?! What was he doing staring at her? Was that who he fancied. 

Pity started developing in her stomach as she watched how Parkinson and Malfoy interacted. The light touches or the kind glances, that they would never do for anyone else. This begged another question in Hermione. 

Who could be interested in someone like Malfoy? He was utterly repulsive! A slimy git and evil cockroach! 

Harry for some reason did not seem at all bothered by what was going on and continued through the lesson completely normally. Well almost normally. 

Ron of course was oblivious to it all and spent most of his time doodling on the side of his parchment. He knew this annoyed Hermione but for some, inexplicable reason he did it anyway. 

The hour seemed to drag on without any uneventful happening. Hermione started to cultivate a new plan. However hesitant she was in the beginning she was now intrigued and a little too emotionally invested. Hermione knew that she would be getting nowhere interrogating Harry so she naturally decided to follow Parkinson instead. 

This brought back a flash of deja-vu, and Hermione remembered her conversation with Harry about Parkinson and Malfoy. She did wish there could be something between Harry and Malfoy so that there would be some end to their stupid rivalry but Harry had been so adamant about being straight. Even if he wasn't there was a small chance he would fall for someone like Malfoy. 

This left Parkinson, Harry was supposed to follow her. Hermione speculated. Maybe this was where everything started. When Harry started following Parkinson. It was no wonder that he was trying to hide it. A relationship with a Slytherin would definitely cause out-rage in the Gryffindor house and probably the Slytherin house too. Also, anyone in close contact with Malfoy was automatically on Ron's shit list. 

Hermione was leaving asking Harry straight out as a last resort. She knew that he would shut down, get defensive, and then they would be back again at square one. She also did not want to follow Harry because she thought that was too much of a breach of privacy. 

From her seat, she watched as the Slytherins packed up and Parkinson linked her arm with Malfoys. Now it was time to put her plan in action.