บท 11: Being put on the pedestal isn’t always a good thing

"What made you say that?" He raised one brow. Though his tone was casual, he was betrayed by the tinge of pink on his pale cheeks.

"Intuition?" I said the first word that came into mind.

"Since when have you started believing intuition?" He curled his bottom lip. "I thought you see anything remotely related to Divination a hoax."

"I didn't know you believe in the whole intuition thing now," He tried to keep his composure, but the tone of his voice gave him in, "What happened to you not liking Divination?"

"Are you trying to change the topic?" I asked directly with the courage I didn't know I had.

"No," he sighed quietly. He looked away from me and stared into the distance. The sun had begun to set, and the last trace of light had painted the horizon a warm shade of orange. "Truth to be told, Hermione, I don't know."

My heart was beating out of my chest during his short pause, and I wasn't sure how I would've reacted if the answer was a definitive negative. This answer, albeit it far from ideal, was good enough for me.

Did I just say far from ideal? I blushed. Does that mean I…

"I don't know either," I said my finally answer.

Staring at the horizon, he smiled bittersweetly. He then wrapped his arm around my shoulders and rested his chin on the top of my head as he whispered:

"And that means we both know the answer, don't we?"

***

I pushed the stack of books away from me and rested my head on the library desk. It was a beautiful day outside and naturally I was in the library. No, not just because I believed some quality time with books was an excellent way to spend my spare time. Well, it would've been the case on any other given day. Today, however, it was mostly because I wanted to avoid Ron Weasley.

Yes, I understood how horrible it was to use any means possible to avoid someone. Ginny had been trying to get me to sit down with her brother and have a proper talk with her as the mediator so that we could sort things out once and for all.

Yet, I simply couldn't bring myself to it. And neither could Ron.

Ginny said that me dating Malfoy was the straw that broke the camel's back and drove her brother away. But I knew for a fact that her brother had started drifting away long before I ran into Malfoy on that fateful summer day.

The ridiculous contract with Malfoy didn't turn out as ridiculous as I initially thought it would be.

Those who I thought would stand by me until the end of times had chosen their own directions. And I didn't blame them. I too, would like to choose my own direction, though it's unfortunately been proven to be difficult.

Although an unexpected turn of event had marked a positive change – the Slytherins had become cordially with me after Malfoy - he called it 'politely inquired' while I would say- threatened them to be nice on that day.

"You must be proud now that you've been accepted by the Slytherins," Ron said bitterly the moment I stepped into the common room on a chilly afternoon.

"What?" I was beyond confused.

"We overheard the Slytherins talking about you at the Quidditch practice today," Ron crossed his arms. "Apparently you're a good baker and not a bad person to talk to."

Ginny nudged him. He shook off her hand.

"I'll take it as a compliment despite your sarcastic tone," I began walking towards the stairs. "And I'd like to point out that I believe it's a good thing to be more open-minded and accepting. Even the Slytherins are trying, so why don't we try as well?"

"Try what?" He jeered. "Try to accept Malfoy with open arms? Right, let's just forget about everything that happened and shake hands and be friends."

I was about to explain that wasn't what I meant when Ginny said with a concerned frown:

"Hermione, I think it's too early for that. Us accepting your relationship with him doesn't necessarily mean we've accepted him, I'm sorry, but I hope you understand."

That was when Malfoy's words came back to me:

It's easy to make a Slytherin accept something they don't believe for the sake of their reputation and connections. But that won't do for a Gryffindor. Gryffindors tend to believe what they want to believe, and what they think it's right.

I didn't like how he was right.

"There's no need to be worked up over a casual suggestion," I said.

"Are you going to bake for us too, or is that reserved for your dates with the Slytherins?" Ron asked loudly and mocking when I reached the top of the stairs.

I chose to ignore him.

***

"I knew you'd be here." I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I didn't need to lift my head to know who it was. "When will you realize that spending a rare sunny day in autumn outside is not a bad idea?"

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell me what or what not to do," I said dryly.

"Someone's had a hard time with someone again," he pulled a chair and sat next to me.

"I'm sorry," I put my quill down, "I didn't mean to…"

"It's alright," he shook his head. "It happens. Although I do wish to express that at some point, it might be easier to cut the losses instead of trying to salvage something that's quite frankly, not worth it."

His eyes looked sincere. Mouth agape, I didn't know how to respond.

"Stop frowning, Granger, unless you want to get a wrinkle at such a young age," he pressed the tip of his index finger between my brows and pushed gently. I pouted as my head leaned back slightly. "Care to join me for a walk outside?"

"Why a walk all of a sudden?" I was dubious. "I thought you didn't like the dry frosty air."

"I don't need to provide a justifiable reason for asking you to accompany me to something," he took my hand and pulled me up. "You are obligated to do as I say. It's in the contract."

"Nice try. I reckon you didn't think I'd actually read the fine print, did you? I suggest you try a different trick than mention the contract next time," I pretended to be mad while gathering my belongings. "You can't control my free will."

"Sure. And we both know your free will wants to spend time with me instead of being here sunken in your mind.," he took the stack of books from me. "We'll put these definitely not boring books back and you're coming with me."

"I'm devastatingly offended by your brilliant sarcasm," I tried to keep a straight face but failed miserably.

Malfoy smiled and led the way to return those books to their shelves. He had changed. Something was different about him. It wasn't any kind of drastic change that occurred overnight, instead, it was the kind of subtle change that took place over a long time. Though he still had that pretentious side of him, it no longer came from malice.

But was this because he really had become more mature, or was I blinded by my slowly developed affection for him?

The kind of affection that was nothing but dangerous; the kind of affection that I had no control over.

I wish I was secure enough to speak openly about the said affection.

"The Slytherins were impressed," he said casually as we walked along the shore of the lake.

The fallen leaves made a crunchy sound each time we stepped onto them.

"In a good way, I hope?"

"I'd say so," he nodded. "Not that they'd be friends with you, but at least they no longer think I'm insane for dating someone they believed to be awful."

"I'm not sure how to take that," I chuckled dryly. "I wonder what they'll say once our contract comes to an end."

I said this in the hope that he would say something along the lines of how nothing would change or confess his feelings. But he was silent, and my heart was pounding furiously.

"Listen, there's something you need to know," he finally spoke. Though he wasn't looking at me, I could still tell what he was going to say from the tone of his voice, "I've been debating how to tell you this for a while now and I really don't know how to approach it. So, I'm just going to be frank and say that I…"

"Hermione!" Before he could finish his sentence, I heard a familiar voice called my name.

Malfoy's expression shifted from concern to spite.

Merlin, why did it have to be right now?