So That's What They Do

A few moments  before moonrise found Hermione walking slowly through the grass to the glade where Hagrid had decided to keep the skrewts.  Though still in their crates, he thought they’d feel more at home just inside the Forbidden Forest, not so close to the sound of the students and staff wandering the grounds at all hours.  She walked towards the large crates with extreme trepidation; leaning against the wooden box was Malfoy. Hermione approached him cautiously, nodding at him in acknowledgement when he caught sight of her.

Hagrid and Dumbledore thought this was a good idea.  Right. She would try her best.

“Hello, Malfoy.” She tried for blank civility, but her voice caught slightly at end, belying her nerves.

He sneered and looked away.  

She gave a small sigh, but was so far relieved.  Sneers and avoidance were far preferable to death threats.  Hermione fell back on her basic line of defense when nervous; create a safe wall or words around herself.  

“Well, I suppose Hagrid might be on the right track after all,” she spoke as walked around the crates, looking into the ghastly scorpion aspect of skrewts. "Perhaps they are nocturnal after all.  I did look them up in the library of course, but I believe this...what shall we call it?....collective...of skrewts might be the first of its kind. Scamander's book on Beasts had next to nothing to say.  Beside the entry is says only, ‘Beware, never simple.’ I wonder what it could mean.”

She looked over at Malfoy to see if by rare chance, he had an idea.  But he simply looked at her.

She straightened, opened her mouth to speak, closed it  and looked at him...looking at her.

His face was, strangely loose, relaxed.  It was an odd look on him, who always seemed so tightly wound, sneering, leering, jeering.  For just a moment, Hermione wondered if this is how he looked when he fell asleep.

The moon had risen slowly as she had spoken, and a soft white light had fallen on the skrewts.  Hermione looked down and realized the strange crustacean like creatures had become motionless, and very very faint sound was emerging from the box.   It was like a humming, but so soft and thin, and quite beautiful, actually.

Malfoy stepped around the box, and stood shoulder to shoulder with Hermione, his eyes now looking in the the box. Hermione looked up at him.

“Malfoy! What in the world could they be….” Her whispered excitement at this new discovery was cut short.

“I’ve always liked you,” he said.

“What?” Hermione looked to him and then to the skrewts.  “What?!”

He looked at her.

“What’?” she repeated one more time, just in case he hadn’t heard.  “You’ve always liked the skrewts?”

“No. You.” He reached out and touched her face.

Hermione froze.

“What?!” She couldn’t help it.