Where I Found You | Dramione

2. The Ferret and The Champion

"...and then, in front of everyone, Moody turned him into a ferret! I damn near died laughing, probably would've if McGonagall hadn't shown up a few minutes later!" Seamus was telling Ron about the amazing bouncing ferret, that's what they were calling him now. Hermione laughed as she remembered the event, her eyes falling on the Slytherin table. Malfoy gave their table a death stare, his hand balled into a fist, it seemed that he had noticed they were talking about him.

Remembering the last time they interacted, the corner of her mouth quirked up as she winked at him the same way he did before. She appeared to have succeeded in getting under his skin, as he tensed his jaw and broke eye contact. She was aware that he was still looking at their table from time to time, but she had the upper hand this time and had no intention of ruining it.

She grabbed a parchment from her bag and before she could begin her homework, an owl landed in front of her: The Daily Prophet. She gave the bird a piece of bread and unfolded the newspaper. The front page was unsurprisingly all about the Triwizard Tournament. She didn't have to read through all of the champion's sections to see the terrible journalism. If she hadn't known Harry, she would have assumed Harry Potter was a depressed teen who always puts himself in danger in order to gain fame and attention. Thus, they would say he managed to enter the tournament to gain more fame. She folded the paper and focused back on her homework. After writing a 15inch long parchment about Jupiter's moons for the Astronomy class, she put down her quill. She looked at it with content, but her friend was not feeling the same.

"I can't understand how you manage to write such long papers,"

Hermione closed the lid of her ink. "Well, compared to you, I actually like this class."

Ron rubbed his temples. "Yeah, I know that by now."

She smiled at his not-so-shocked tune. When it came to her classes, her abilities were not shocking to her friends anymore but they still couldn't comprehend how she would enjoy listening to almost all the classes. She stood up and turned to Ron. "I'll go to the Commons to check on Harry-"

"You go ahead, I'll play chess with Seamus-"

"Oi, I didn't say anything about-" Seamus started, but shut his mouth after seeing the look Ron was giving. "Oh, right. I must've forgotten, we'll play chess."

Hermione knew Seamus well enough that he didn't play chess, but she didn't force the matter. "Good luck then,"

Ron nodded and Hermione left the hall to find Harry. She presumed he already knew about the dragons by now, he must've visited Hagrid. The first task was tomorrow and she was deeply worried about her best friend. He was capable of succeeding, of course, he was a decent wizard with great practical skills, but it didn't stop her from worrying.

She saw him turning the corner and she ran a bit to catch up to him. "Harry!"

He turned to her. "Hermione? Did something happen?"

She waved her hand. "I was just looking for you... to check if you're okay."

He sighed. "Well, I have to face a dragon tomorrow, if I can't, the whole school will make fun of me. Also, the Malfoys have betted on me," he gave a half-smile. "I've definitely been better."

She bumped her shoulder to his. "Can't be worse than a basilisk if you ask me,"

He chuckled. "Let's hope not,"

She put her arm around his shoulder walking him to the common room. "Go rest for the day now, you'll have enough on your plate tomorrow," she let go of his shoulder, "speaking of plates, don't eat anything heavy."

Harry put his thumbs up. "No meat, just pie." She smiled at him and went to her bed to practice a transfiguration spell.

• - •