Hermione opened her eyes, blinked several times, and yawned. In those first, confused moments of the morning, she looked at the clock with alarm, realizing after a brief, terrifying moment of panic that she had not missed her first few classes. It was Saturday morning. She pulled her feet out from under the covers and onto the floor, stretching her arms above her head as she stood. Looking around, she saw that the other girls still slept. It seemed rather late for them to be sleeping, even for a Saturday…
That’s when it hit her, so quickly it felt as if a jolt had gone through her body, causing her to involuntarily sit back down on her bed. Last night, she thought, was the ball. Last night I kissed Draco Malfoy.
What had she been thinking? It was all so sudden. She remembered making a few protests that they were moving to fast, but then, she also had made a joke about snogging in public. Hermione, the girl who twenty-four hours ago had never been kissed, had made a joke about snogging in public with Draco Malfoy. Things that had seemed so perfect last night looked absurd in the harsh reality of the morning light. She was a Muggle-born, and he was a Pureblood. She was a Gryffindor, and he was a Slytherin. It just didn’t make sense, and she was sure Draco would think so, too. She would break it off at their meeting this afternoon, after their last class.
Wait…last class…it’s Saturday…oh, Merlin, she thought. What were we thinking? Of course the ball wouldn’t be on a school night! We were both such idiots, she thought, annoyed.
How in Merlin’s name were they going to meet with each other now?
Draco Malfoy was in a rage. He had awakened much earlier than Hermione, and, unlike Hermione, had remembered everything perfectly from the instant he had awakened. Only now he recalled the detail that they did not know when to meet. He’d have to find her inside the school, and he knew how risky that was.
Especially considering how angry she might be when he broke it off with her. No, they had not even had an “it” to break off. A silly kiss, that was all. There had probably been something in the punch to make them act that way. Really, would Draco Malfoy kiss a mudblood if he hadn’t been under the influence of something?
She deserved a goodbye, though. He had led her on, and he knew it. Even in Draco’s stone heart, he found enough compassion to tell the girl goodbye, enough compassion to explain why it could never work.
Why he still felt anything towards her, he wasn’t sure. He knew he never would have had that spark of compassion twenty-four hours ago. Not for Hermione Granger. Yet, for a reason he did not know, he felt it and planned to act on it. Only one problem…
How in Merlin’s name were they going to meet with each other now?
Ginny lay in bed, thinking about the previous night.
After she had seen Malfoy, everything turned into a blur. It was like her body functioned without anyone running it. She remembered smiling and laughing with Harry, being teased by Ron until she blushed, and chattering aimlessly with Hermione in the common room.
Yet, her only thoughts had been of Malfoy and Hermione, trying to understand what had occurred. In Ginny’s original theory, Malfoy did the entire thing as a joke, and Hermione found out. She was upset, and Malfoy ran after her…why? Ginny could not figure that out. Plus, that theory did not explain why Malfoy had a trace of lipstick on when he re-entered the hall.
That’s why Ginny liked her second theory better. The problem was, what to do now that she knew that Draco and Hermione were together.
No, Ginny thought. They’re together in theory.
Still, that theory was a very likely one, if she did say so herself.
In the end, Ginny decided to bide her time. If her theory was right, she knew evidence would start to seep out slowly, even if just through Hermione’s subtle actions. Sooner or later, the whole thing would come out, and she’d be prepared.
If Ginny only knew how much sooner that would be…
Hermione, changed and ready for the new day, was sitting in the common room, putting the finishing touches on her Herbology homework. Or so it appeared.
In truth, Hermione was paying little attention to the Herbology and a lot of attention to what she should do about a certain Draco Malfoy.
She had decided to call him by his full name for the time being, as Draco was too personal of a term for someone she barely knew, and Malfoy was too formal for someone she had kissed.
After much internal debate, and telling Ron and Harry she had to go to the library, she found herself wandering the halls. She really had not wanted to let it come to this, aimlessly looking for him, hoping he’d be near. It seemed like something a lovesick sixteen year old in a romance novel would do, not know-it-all Hermione.
This wandering went on for nearly an hour before she had any luck. When she did finally see him, her heart gave a little leap.
Okay, a big leap.
Draco had also been reduced to wandering aimlessly for Hermione, as he could think of no other way. Thankfully, Pansy was still sleeping and Crabbe and Goyle seemed to let it sink through their thick skulls that Draco did not want to be followed.
Finally, when they met, he felt something strange. That same breathless, heart-just-skipped-a-beat feeling he had felt last night. The feeling he had blamed on the punch.
He found himself wanting to kiss her again. And after all, Malfoys are used to getting what they want.
So he did.
Neville Longbottom, you could say, was gifted at being in the right place at the wrong time. That was probably how he ended up walking down the hall, trying to remember where the bathroom was in this tangled maze of a castle, when he saw something he was pretty sure he wasn’t supposed to see.
Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger kissing in the middle of the hall.
Well, really, if they had to kiss, did they have to do it where any innocent passerby could see? Then, suddenly, Neville realized the full force of what he had seen. Everyone knew that those two hated each other!
Neville stumbled into the wall, but they didn’t seem to notice. He was thankful. After all, who knew what Draco might do if he was angry? So, figuring he’d decide what to do later, left as quickly and quietly as he could.
Well, so much for breaking it off, Hermione thought rather giddily.
As the two pulled away slowly, Draco said, “It’s Saturday.”
Hermione smirked at him. “I noticed. Want to go down to the lake anyway? I told Harry and Ron I’d be in the library. Nobody’s expecting me back for hours.”
Draco nodded with a tiny smile and slipped his hand into hers as they quietly exited the building.
A/N: I know it’s another rather short chapter, but it’s almost more like an intro to chapter six. Believe me, that’s where the “fun” begins.