"Good morning students. Today we will be performing the spell we have been studying. Everyone line up here and get your wand out. You'll take turns attempting to turn me, a human, into an animal. Miss Granger, stand on guard in case anything goes wrong."
The class stood and made a line in front of McGonagall's desk. Hermione stood a little off to the side of McGonagall. She would fix anythng that went wrong. Draco was the only one who couldn't do anything. He stayed in his seat looking rather bored.
"Mr Malfoy, up!" McGonagall commanded.
"I can't do magic," Draco drawled out glaring at Ginny. He wasn't actually upset, but he had a reputation to uphold.
"Then please kiss this person so you can particpate in class," She demanded understanding his glare.
"I can't. I . . . don't know who to kiss." Draco lied with a slight hesitation.
"Perfect!" McGonagall exclaimed dryly. "Miss Granger, assit him with your strange methods and Miss Weasley, at least wait until break to hex people."
The two girls nodded before returning to their work.
. . . . .
"Alright, so we need to figure out who you love," Hermione declared.
She and Draco sat in the library. They hadn't been able to meet until late that night. The two were sitting out by the lake. Hermione had three things to try that night.
"Obviously," Draco rolled his eyes.
"First, Amortentia. Smell it," Hermione insisted, shoving a potion under his nose.
Draco inhaled quickly. It smelled amazing to him. Books, vanilla, rain, and fresh grass. The rain and grass bit seemed a bit odd to him, but it was what he was attracted to.
"What do you smell?" Hermione asked.
She had to admit, she was jealous. Her crush on the blonde boy was growing stronger everyday. It hurt her to know that she was helping him to find another girl. Hermione would help him, however. She considerd herself his best friend and she'd do anything to help him.
"Um . . . rain, grass, and vanilla," Draco said. He took a moment to decide what to reveal before her answered. He had to be careful. Had he said books, Hermione would've been able to put it all together somehow. Its just how she was.
"Darn, that's not helpful," Hermione groaned. "Well next is this."
She held up a strange object. It looked like a dreamcatcher, expect the string inside the circle was in a specific pattern. A heart to be exact. Instead of feathers dangling from the three strings, three small rocks were.
"What the hell is that?" Draco asked.
"Its callrs a lovelycatcher. Luna gave it to me, and it seems to work. I'm going to hold this abobe your head. Each rock will dive into a different part of your soul. I'll say a special chat, and they'll create an urge for you to kiss whomever it is you love." Hermione explained.
She jumped to her feet and went behind Draco. He watched as she walked, savoring how the moonlight hit her skin perfectly. Hermione held the strange object above his head.
"Close your eyes," She whispered, "It'll help."
Draco listened and closed his eyes. The sound of her voice washed over him as she began speaking in a different language. It made him feel calm and at peace. Her tone never changed, relaxing Draco even further. He sat completely still amd listened to her speak in almost a songlike way. It sounded like music to him.
After a few moments there was a tugging in his gut and chest. All he wanted to do was spin around, pull her to him, and kiss her. He almost did, but stopped himself before remembering he had to get her to like him. Maybe a close encounter with his lips would do the trick.
He spun around, kicking her legs out from under her in the process. Hermione let out a small yelp of surprise as she came crashing down. She dropped the Lovelycatcher, bracing herself for impact. It never came. Instead, Draco swiflty caught her and pulled her to him.
"W-What are you doing?" She asked nervously as he stared her in the eyes.
Draco didn't speak. He watched her intently. Her eyes were his favorite thing about her. Draco loved the shade of brown they were. He loved the long and full lashes that accompained them. The way they'd shine when she was excited or darken to a deeper color when she was mad.
He reached up slowly and gently touched his fingers to her skin. He traced from the end of her right her, down to her jawline, up her cheek and to the conrer of her lips. Draco cupped her face, watching his hand. He knew if he were to look into her eyes again, he would lose himself and kiss her there and then. Gently, he brushed his thumb over her lips. They were parted slightly in confusion, but snapped into a thin line when hair thumb touched them.
The second his hand hit Hermione's face, she widened her eyes. She was not expecting this. It couldn't be her he loved. This had to have been a trick. She did her best not to lean into his touch, but fell slightly helpless. She stared into his eyes but they wouldn't meet hers again. His thumb ran gently across her lips. She tightened them in shock. Hermione knew her face was probably red and eyes wide, but she didn't care. She almost wanted to kiss him.
Draco slowly leant in, stopping and inch away from her mouth. He let out a small chuckle before leaning back and breaking into full out laughter, although it was fake.
"You should've seen your face," He laughed.
"Bastard! You scared the bloody hell out of me," Hermione exclaimed giving him a hard shove.
"It was to good of an opportunity to pass up," he shrugged.
"Godric, Malfoy. Do you know the fright you gave me?" Hermione asked. She was a little disappointed he hadn't kissed her, but she hated herself more. She had actually fell for it, leaning into his touch and allowing him to come withing and inch of kissing her. She hated that she was upset he hadn't kissed her.
"Nope, but I saw it. Your face was priceless," He laughed.
Hermione rolled her eyed. "Did you feel anything?"
"No," Draco lied swiftly.
"Great. Well, on more thing for tonight and then back inside," She decided pulling out her wand, "This spell will turn your hair to the same color as the girl, or guy I guess, that you like. It will narrow down the search slightly."
Draco nodded, thankful it was dark and that her hair was up so she wouldn't be able to see her color. Hermione placed the tip if her want on his head and whispered the spell. Draco's scalp tingled slightly before it stopped.
"It looks to be brown. That's about a third of the school, although she or he may not even be at Hogwarts," Hermione declared switching it back to blonde.
"She, Granger, and I'm sure she's here. I just have this feeling," He said.
"Zabini," Hermioen grumbled. He couldn't seem to ever get her surname right. "Let's go. Its really late."
Draco agreed and stood. The two snuck back into the castle and into their separate beds. Draco smiled softly to himself. He had seen Hermione's reaction and knew that he had developed a staring point. She seemed to actually like him a little already based on that and the small things he had done that day. He was listening to Pansy's instructions.
There would be no way that the Slytherin Prince would lose his Gryffindor Princess.