What I\'ve Always Known

Disclaimer: Still haven\'t made good on the whole owning the characters thing.

A/N
Dani- thank you for your compliment on the plot. :) I try to update often as possible!

Chapter Four: Acies Draught

The next morning dawned bright and early. Too early for Hermione’s liking. Groaning, she rolled over and found herself facing an abandoned dormitory. Hermione leapt out of bed and dressed at top speed, getting stuck in her robes several times before she finally managed to get them on properly. Twisting a pencil up through her hair to keep it out of her face, she jumped into her shoes and took off down the dormitory stairs to the common room.

“Slow down!” Hermione ignored the Fat Lady’s order (feeling slightly guilty being a Prefect) and continued to run down to the Great Hall, wondering just how late she was. As she neared the Great Hall, many chattering voices reached her ears, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Professor Snape would have had convulsions if she were late on their first day of classes. Hermione entered the buzzing hall, and trained her eyes on the back of Ron’s head, resisting the urge to scan the Slytherin table. She was just congratulating herself on her brilliant scheme to not draw attention to herself, when it completely backfired; Ron turned in his seat to see whom Harry was smiling at, and he saw Hermione. In the span of two seconds, am extensive series of events took place; Ron elbowed his goblet off the table onto Ginny’s bag, Harry laughed and knocked his plate to the floor, Ginny screamed an impressive obscenity at Ron, and Hedwig swooped into the Hall, landing on Hermione’s shoulder. Managing to suppress a yelp of surprise, Hermione stroked Hedwig and gingerly sat on Ron’s other side, setting her bag on the floor, clear of the expanding orange mass of pumpkin juice. Harry emerged from under the table holding his plate as an irate Ginny dragged her sodden bag, leaving a wide wet streak in her wake.

“Good morning!” Hermione greeted, feeling in the wrong about finding Ginny’s reaction funny. Harry simply nodded his ‘Good morning’ as he rocked backwards and forwards, clutching his sides, still incapable of speech.
“Goodmorningnicedayisn’tit?ToobadwehavepotionswiththeSlytherinsfirsteh?” Ron looked towards Hermione and pitched the words at her with alarming speed. As soon as he was done, he went back to his bacon, his ears flushed.

After handing Hedwig over to Harry, Hermione dished herself some eggs, and pulled out her essay. Harry rolled his eyes at her very openly as she made small corrections and checked some facts against a textbook. Ron continued to eat his bacon half-heartedly, his face half an inch from his plate.

Ten minutes later, Harry, Hermione and Ron were just leaving for class; all of them wondering what nasty assignment Professor Snape would have in store for them, when Hermione ran into something very solid. Hermione gasped, expecting any second to be sent sprawling to the ground, when a pair of strong hands seized her upper arms. She was pulled against a hard body, and the hands held her until she was balanced. Hermione took deep breaths through her nose, trying to gain her bearings. Hm, the person smelt clean and fresh…and familiar. Her stomach flipped as she identified the scent. Before she could take this information in, the hands gently held her at arms length. She looked up at their owner, not really that surprised to be face to face with Draco Malfoy.

Vaguely, she registered Ron and Harry, standing half a foot to Hermione’s left, looking stunned and disturbed.

“Are you alright?” Draco’s voice was low and soft, but it none the less carried to Ron and Harry, whose mouths (if it was possible) gaped even wider. For some reason, Hermione hadn’t considered how odd Draco and her must have been acting. So with no delay, Hermione reached up to cover Draco’s hands with her own, and answered.

“Yes, I’m fine. Sorry about that. I wasn’t looking where I was going” Hermione smiled lightly up at him, and she could have sworn she almost received a smile in return. But just then, Draco’s eyes widened and he tenderly, almost reluctantly, released her. Before either of them could move an inch, Ron suddenly appeared and seized Hermione’s arm, steering her forcefully away from Draco.

Hermione started, Ron’s unyielding grip a harsh contrast to Draco’s delicate hands.

“What was that about?” Harry demanded as they made their way down to the dungeons, Hermione having to run on her tiptoes because of her and Ron’s height difference.

“What was what about Harry?” Hermione asked, thinking it best to play dumb for the time being. No answer she could give would be at least believable since all she could think was how good it felt to be held by Draco.

“You bloody well know what” Harry lowered his voice slightly as they neared the rest of the Gryffindors and Slytherins outside of Professor Snape’s class.

“What do you mean? I fell and Draco caught me-“ Hermione was cut off as Harry grabbed her other arm and he and Ron stood in front of her, both holding an arm.

“Who caught you?!” Ron said, his voice rising to a slightly hysterical pitch. Hermione rolled her eyes and pushed through them, going to stand by Seamus. After exchanging greetings with him, she glared back over her shoulder at Ron and Harry, putting an end to the conversation. Ron glanced at Seamus jealously, and then moved to the back of the line with Harry. Hermione turned to talk to Seamus, but just then, the door banged open, and a silence fell over the queue of students.

“In” Professor Snape pointed one long, greasy finger towards their desks and there was immediately a flurry of action to follow his order. Just as Hermione passed Professor Snape, Draco came strolling down the stairs with his cronies Crabbe and Goyle. Professor Snape merely nodded the three of them in after the rest and Draco passed by his usual desk and chose one near the back. Hermione was already seated two rows in front of him next to Harry with Ron and Neville behind her.

The class was just settling, when Neville dropped his wand off of his table and a huge bang sounded, accompanied by a cloud of smoke. When most of the smoke had cleared and Neville had retrieved his wand, Hermione looked around to see what damage was done. Her eyes immediately fell on Ron, who seemed to have been the victim of the blast. His hair was standing straight on end and the only thing visible on his ash blackened face, were his remarkably wide eyes.

Harry promptly burst into a fit of giggles he quickly masked as a coughing fit. Snape glared at them and started his lesson.

“When Potter has kindly finished tittering-” Harry’s mouth snapped shut in indignation”- You will follow these instructions” Snape waved his wand in the direction of the blackboard and the instructions promptly appeared.

Hermione smiled as she recognized the familiar Acies Draught, a potion that reflected the brewer’s deepest desires at will.

Hermione mindlessly pulled out the ingredients and set about brewing the potion while next to her Harry did the same. Thankful for the noise of chattering students and bubbling cauldrons, Hermione could pretend she didn’t hear Ron’s attempts to get her attention.

“Hermione I know you’re ignoring me!” Ron whispered at her, but Hermione simply continued to measure her Armadillo Bile and ignored him. He couldn’t speak too loudly after all; Draco was right behind him. Hermione wondered if Draco had seated himself so close to them on purpose, if he knew that Ron would attempt to question her. Harry chose to brush the incident off, and Hermione could have kissed him when he asked her about her summer. Happy for the change of topic, Hermione launched into a tale about the camping trip she had been on with her parents, while Ron huffed and puffed behind them.

Time passed quickly as the students allowed their potions to simmer gently. Hermione had already packed away her ingredients and was waiting until Professor Snape gave them all permission to concentrate on their potions. If they had brewed them correctly, the potions would reflect their desires when they concentrated. If done incorrectly, they would receive a failing grade.

“Very well. You may now start concentrating. I will be circulating the class, and verifying that an image appears on the surface of your potion.” Professor Snape picked up a clipboard and started at the back of the class. He reached Neville first and snorted through his nose, marking a very flamboyant X on his sheet.

“Another inadequate potion Longbottom. My, my, none of us saw this coming.” He sneered. All the Slytherins laughed appreciatively, and Hermione glanced back at Draco to find his mouth…CLOSED?! He was passing up a chance to rub Neville’s lack of skill in potion making in his face…for once. Trying desperately to conceal her shock, Hermione turned back to her potion and listened with one ear as Snape reached Harry.

“Potter, are you burning socks?” Snape demanded sharply. Hermione couldn’t help but turn around with the rest of the class as Harry explained. Snape was pointing to Harry’s potion, looking utterly disturbed.

“Yes sir. They’re socks from a friend…Dobby.” Harry said bashfully. Hermione and Ron instantly burst into laughter, causing Harry to grin and blush. Hermione tried to calm herself as Snape reached the front of the row. He marked down Pansy Parkinson’s and Millicent Bulstrode’s results and moved to Hermione.

Hermione frowned at the surface of her potion, and a blurry image appeared. Professor Snape tapped his foot impatiently as they both waited for the image to swim into focus. Soon enough, it did and Hermione felt her stomach drop through the floor. Silvery blonde hair framed the perfect face in her potion. Silver eyes stared straight up at the pair of them, and soft, red lips opened, muttering vague words in a soft tone. Draco Malfoy had appeared in her potion.

Hermione stared at the rim of her cauldron, refusing to look up as Professor Snape made a mark on his clipboard and moved back to Ron. She barely heard what Snape said about Ron’s potion and was just considering bolting for the door, when Snape’s words called her back to her senses.

“Mr Malfoy, you are spending too much time with Ms Granger.”

“Sir?” Draco glanced up, frowning at Professor Snape.

“The results of your Acies Draughts are the same. Roles reversed of course” Snape spat at the pair of them, glancing back at Hermione with a look of pure loathing as he swept to the person next in line. Hermione nearly fainted, as she finally understood what Professor Snape was saying; she had appeared in Draco’s potion.

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~~*

The end of Potions and lunch passed in a flurry of action, and Hermione barely noticed what she was doing as Harry steered her into Transfiguration. Numbly she dropped her Switching Spell essay onto Professor McGonagall’s desk and took her seat. McGonagall’s lesson refused to penetrate her fuzzy brain and she simply sat and stared at her blank parchment as she thought ‘me. I’m his deepest desire. Just like he is mine. What’s happening to us?’

Hermione skipped dinner that night and instead escaped to the Library to do her homework. She sat herself at an empty table in the very back, where no one was likely to find her. But someone did…

“Hermione?” Hermione froze in the process of scanning the index of ‘A Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi’ as the familiar deep voice floated to her. She went back to the index, not even bothering to look surprised as Draco rounded the corner of the nearest bookshelf.

“Draco” She looked up and nodded, not sure what to do or say. Timidly, Draco pulled out the chair next to Hermione and sat down in it, turning to face her. Hermione sighed and shut her book, turning to face Draco.

“Look, what are we doi-“ Draco placed a finger over her lips to silence Hermione and pulled her chair closer to him with his other hand.

“I didn’t come here to talk ‘Mione” He said in that tone that made Hermione’s stomach flip over.

Before she knew what was happening, Draco removed his finger from her lips and leaned in towards her. The next second, his lips were on hers, and Hermione’s breath was gone from her body. Her brain disengaged as Hermione wrapped her arms around Draco’s neck and she kissed him back. Her brain whirled as Draco claimed her mouth with a possessiveness she knew he always had and a tenderness that almost brought tears to her eyes. Draco wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her up against his chest, deepening their kiss. Hermione was just starting to lose herself when a voice invaded on their very private moment.

“I guess you were tired of your staring contest?”