Brewing Romance

Brewing Romance.


Hermione Granger sat staring out the nearest window to her bed in the girls dormitory. It was pouring rain and it was so depressing to her. With a heavy sigh, she stood up from her bed and walked to the window in the small alcove across the room. She leaned against the wall and continued to gaze out at the forlorn and increasingly muddy grounds of Hogwarts.

You see, Hermione was no ordinary 16 year old girl. She was a witch in training at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Professor Minerva McGonagall, the head of Gryffindor House and Deputy Headmistress to Hogwarts, always took time to make sure the young witch had everything she needed. Hermione was the top of her class and exceedingly brilliant. Not to mention she was famous, as was Ronald Weasley, because they were both best friends with Harry Potter.

Everyone knew who Harry Potter was. The boy who was famous before he could even walk and talk. No one really knew who Hermione Jean Granger was though. All anyone knew, was that the three of them always got themselves into loads of trouble; but none were reprimanded for it. Everyone in the school was jealous of the trio because of this.

As for Hermione, well, she didn't have very many friends. She had plenty of acquaintances, but Harry and Ron were the only two real friends she had. Part of her was happy that she wasn't constantly pestered by a million friends, but she also wanted a couple of girlfriends to confide in. Sure, she had Ginny, Ron's younger sister, but she was wrapped up in Harry most of the time, or trying to hook her up with Ron. It was also common knowledge that Ron fancied Hermione and had for ages. There was a time that she too had fancied him back. Now, she was just bored of the prospect and having to wait for Ron to make a move, so she gave up.

Hermione pushed off the wall and walked over to her trunk that was at the foot of her four-poster bed. She opened it and rummaged around in it for a minute before slamming the lid down and locking it with a flick of her wand. Grumbling to herself, she heads down to the common room to try to find something to do. She had already finished most of her homework for the week, except for potions, and still had all weekend to do nothing.

She plops down on a large chair in front of the fire and stares distantly into the flames. 'Harry and Ron are off who knows where, doing things that are probably against the rules.' she thinks disdainly. Crookshanks jumps up onto her lap and settles down purring contentedly. Hermione absentmindedly scratches him behind the ears. Girl and her cat bond quietly by the warm fire.

About an hour later and after Crookshanks has moved, Hermione decides to head back to the dormitory and grab the library books that she has already read. Climbing the stairs slowly, she realizes that it is still raining. Snorting in disgust, she continues on up the stairs and gets her books. Walking dejectedly through the castle and around students just milling around, she eventually reaches the library.

The librarian, Madam Pince, looks over the book she is browsing through at the young girl who walks in and drops her books in the return slot. Hermione smiles timidly at the older lady and walks by practically on tip toes. She walked through the library to the back, where there was a multitude of desks. Walking over to her favorite one, she drops off her bag and then turns to browse through the immense collection of books that Hogwarts has to offer.

A few minutes later, Hermione Granger was in her usual corner at the library surrounded by heaps of books. A very large book was propped up against the wall as she scanned the text quickly looking for the answer she sought after. "Bloody Potions Homework!" She grumbled to herself. Professor Snape seemed to find a number of different ways of setting impossible homework assignments for her and despite everyone thinking that she was a know-it-all; sometimes she really did struggle with them.

Having not slept in 48 hours and growing increasingly frustrated at the homework, she slammed the book shut with a low growl and threw it onto the growing pile of books that she already went through. Madam Pince looked up and frowned darkly at Hermione's back for making noise in her precious library. Hermione ran her fingers through her hair then stood up to stretch. She walked over to the window to gaze at the rainy sky and muddy grounds. As she stood there for a few moments, she started losing focus and spacing out a little.

After a few moments of wasting her limited time in the library, she closed her eyes and inhaled slowly then turned and took a step. Quite suddenly, she was thrown to the ground before her foot made contact with the floor. She caught herself with her hands and drew her wand and pointed it at the cause of her fall.

"Going to curse me in the middle of the library Granger?" A sneering voice said as Draco Malfoy stepped out of a row of bookshelves.

"Ugh!" Hermione exclaimed in disgust. "Shove off and go away Malfoy!" She quickly picked herself up off the floor and started to walk away.

"How dare you talk to me like that you pathetic know-it-all mudblood!" Malfoy said in a threatening voice as he quickly advanced on her.

Little did Malfoy know, was that Miss Hermione Jean Granger, was extremely stressed out and not at all in the mood to deal with his high and mighty I'm-better-then-you attitude. She quickly whipped around and Malfoy found her wand at his throat, digging into the side of his Adam's Apple. He realized that she was making it hard for him to swallow. When he raised his slate gray eyes to her liquid milk chocolate orbs, he saw fury burning in them. Hermione backed him against a wall with her wand still at his throat, trying to not cause a scene and get into trouble.

"Listen to me you pathetic excuse for a wizard!" She began in a low and threatening voice, "If you EVER call me a mudblood again, I will hex you from here to Azkaban! I'm NOT going to deal with your crap anymore!" She finished in a low hiss and applied just a tad bit more pressure with her wand.

Draco swallowed convulsively and slightly nodded his head. He was absolutely appalled. No girl, not even a Slytherin, had ever made him feel this way. None of them had the guts to talk or act this way towards him and he prefered it that way. But now, with Hermione Granger threatening him in fury with a wand pressed to his throat, he realized that maybe she was not one to be trifled with.

Hermione withdrew her wand and walked away without a word or a backwards glance. Draco just stood there shock still, staring after her. He quickly left the library and ran all the way to his deserted private room and fell onto his bed. He was confused. That girl, managed to actually scare him, AND manage to turn him on at the bloody same time. He, Draco Malfoy, one of the oldest Pureblood families, felt an attraction to Hermione Granger, a muggleborn and not to mention the best friend of Potter. What was he going to do?