Behind Her Intelligence [Dramione] - (BEING EDITED)

Chapter 7

  The following day Hermione woke up, a dazzling smile on her face, and gathered her books for the beginning of the day. She peeled off her pajamas and slipped on her Gryffindor robe, tying her hair into a lazy ponytail. Abbie had already left the dorm, but Ginny was still sound asleep. Cristi had moved in with them after the Quidditch match yesterday, and she was also sleeping as well. Hermione decided it would be funny to push them off their beds, screaming bloody murder. 

        "OH MY GOSH WHAT HAPPENED?" yelled Ginny, frantically hopping from the floor and covering her ears to shield herself from Hermione's obnoxious screaming. Cristi got up groggily, rubbing her eyes and putting her fake, "hipster" glasses on, crossing her arms at Hermione.

        "Was that necessary?" mumbled Cristi, who changed into her robe, bitterness in her voice. Hermione giggled, and Ginny did the same as Cristi, putting her clothes on and glaring at Hermione furiously. She waited for them to get ready, and then the three of them walked down into the Great Hall taking their regular seats, except for Cristi who just joined the little group. She chose to sit next to Hermione, who was sitting beside Harry. Across from them was Ron and Abbie, and next to Harry, on the other side of him, was Ginny. Ron seemed very grumpy as he listened to Abbie babble about something. He was biting his food viciously, a frown evident on him as he nearly glared at her. She didn't notice though, and kept talking on and on. 

        "So she said that you did amazing yesterday, which I completely agreed, but then she said something about stealing you from me. I was beyond angry, even though I know you wouldn't do that, but I still argued with her until Professor Mcgonagall intruded on us. The girl is so determined to get you, which is funny because you won't leave me for her. Right Ronnie?" said Abbie, taking a small bite of her thin bacon strip. Ron rolled his eyes, although she didn't see, and Hermione tried to stifle a laugh, along with Harry, Ginny, and Cristi. Ron's eyes were blazing, and no longer were green. Blackness had washed through him, and they could all tell he wanted to strangle her. 

        "Right Ronnie?" she repeated, this time a little concerned. He took everything he had in him to not explode in front of her, nodding his head slowly, and eating more breakfast with attitude. Hermione couldn't help it anymore, and she let out a small chuckle. Abbie eyed her suspiciously, but thought nothing else of it when Harry and Cristi started laughing too. Ginny grinned, and Ron's frown turned into a smirk, but he was still slightly upset. Abbie, confused at why they were laughing, smiled a little, letting out a few, uncomfortable, giggles. 
 

~*~

        Charms had gone by faster than Hermione imagined. Professer Flitwick taught them an easy spell to master, something Hermione had read about before, and she caught the hang of it after a couple of tries. She was now walking to double potions with the Slytherins, Cristi beside her as the two girls chatted mindlessly. When Hermione got to the Potions room, Cristi trailed off someplace else, waving goodbye. 

        No one was in the room except for Malfoy, some other Slytherin student, and Professor Bewillex who was writing on the board with her wand. Hermione found it strange, though, that the professor said, "Goodmorning, Hermione." as she entered the room, because the teacher's back was facing opposite the door as she wrote. Hermione muffled a quiet, "Goodmorning, professor" before sliding into the seat next to Malfoy. He was tapping his quill against the desk, not paying attention as Hermione sat down. When he looked up, he smirked and put his feet on the table, leaning back in his seat and nearly knocking her stuff onto the ground. She squinted her eyes at him. 

        "Granger." he spoke coolly. 

        "Malfoy." she nearly whispered, looking away from him. His feet dangled on the table, moving side to side. He chuckled softly at her reaction. She crossed her arms, not daring to meet his gaze, and stared at the board as Professor Bewillex waved her wand around, words materializing on it. Hermione read what had been written so far, ignoring Malfoy's glares. He was confusing Hermione with every action he made, and every word he spoke. Since day one, he's always been rude to her. They called each other names, picked fights, and Hermione had even gotten to the point where she punched him. At the beginning of this year, he avoided talking with her, refused to call her a "mud-blood", and was extremely nervous. Now he was talking to her normally - neither rudely, nor nervously. 

        More students came into the classroom, including Harry and Ron. Malfoy had put his legs back under the desk, and stopped glaring into Hermione's skull. The class had started, the professor teaching them a new potion - yet again, another one Hermione knew and read about - and pairing them up. Hermione was with Malfoy, which didn't quite surprise her, and they worked on the potion in silence. If there's one thing Malfoy's good at, other than making fun of people, it was making potions and knowing all about them. He corrected Hermione on a lot of things, and he was right about all of them, which confused her, especially because he hadn't made fun of her or made any rude comments. It also confused her that he was acting so nervous and barely talked a few days ago but now was correcting her and not acting jittery whatsoever. Eventually Hermione couldn't take it.

        "Malfoy, what's wrong with you?" said Hermione, cutting some black beetles in half. She was about to put them in when Malfoy pushed her hand away, and took the half-beetles out of her hand.

        "That's too much. You need less. That's why they're cut in half." he spoke crossly, taking the needed amount and dropping it into the cauldron. He proceeded to stir the cauldron in a specific pattern. Malfoy had to push his hair out of the way multiple times, irritating Hermione, but his crystal eyes never left sight of the cauldron. 

        "You never answered my question." spoke Hermione. He continued to stir, not glancing at her once. Malfoy didn't speak a word, or move a muscle (other than the stirring), and it felt to Hermione that he was simply ignoring her. She sighed, adjusting her ponytail before sitting back down in her seat, watching Malfoy stir the potion. When he finished, he wiped his hands together, and then called out for Professor Bewillex. Hermione jumped out of her seat, standing beside Malfoy. The professor, like always, loved the work and sent the two out of class early with no homework.