NOVEL NEXT Chapter 12: Chapter 12
Her imagination only managed to distract her for fifteen minutes or so, before reality clawed its way back in. With a dejected breath, she stopped the water and left the shower, returning to the mirror and palming away the condensation. She gave this new reflection a ghost of a smile, deciding it was notably better. The warm water had roused a healthy blush to her skin and she felt more human. More present.
She wrapped the fluffy and practical bathrobe around her, and spared her damp and blurry reflection one last look before she grabbed her wand off the sink to mutter a quick drying charm for her hair, and then left the bathroom. Her fist had just closed around the knob to her bedroom when she heard a small knock at the main door. She cringed slightly but sorted her wits and crossed her sitting room to answer it, and a genuine smile graced her features when she eyed her visitor.
"Hello Dobby," she grinned, noting the large trunk behind him.
"Morning Miss," he nodded meekly, ever the nervous little soul. "Headmistress said for Dobby to bring you this."
"Thank you," she said, knowing they were probably things for Malfoy. "Could you do me a favour, Dobby?"
"Yes Miss!" the House-elf chirped merrily. "What does Miss want Dobby to do?"
"Could you possibly sort out some extra food for me?" she requested. "And I can come to collect it later?"
"Dobby can bring it here."
"That's okay," she told him with a delicate wave of her hand. "I'm going for a little walk later so I'll pick it up. Honestly, it's fine."
"Yes Miss," he mumbled, obviously a little disappointed. "I go now. Must help clean after breakfast."
She wanted to tell him to stay, feeling substantially...safer with someone she knew around, but he was gone with a snap of his fingers. She did some quick calculations in her head and realised that she hadn't seen any of her friends for five days, having spent all of her free time in the library doing what she could to assist the Order. She glanced behind her at Malfoy's door and concluded that she would need to meet with them soon.
They were another dose of something normal. Another escape.
Hermione pulled her robe a little tighter around herself as a chilly breeze swept up the corridor and invaded her dorm. She jerked her wand to levitate the chest into her sitting area, and let it crash to the floor with a loud thud just outside Malfoy's room. She considered giving him a shout to explain that he now had some belongings, but reasoned with her commonsense that the Hogwarts motto was there for a reason. It really was best to let sleeping dragons lie, especially a prejudiced, psychotic Dragon who was caged against his will.
She jumped when the Autumn breeze shoved her door closed with a piercing clap.
And then she could hear movement coming from his room, accompanied by heated and masculine muttering that sounded like venom; even if it was just muffled nonsense behind the door. She considered running for her room to avoid the hassle, but the stubborn lioness within her wouldn't allow it. She squared her shoulders defiantly and narrowed her eyes, preparing for the inevitable theatrics.
His door was flung open with an agitated tug, hard enough that it bashed into the wall, but she beat the instinct to flinch. The frustrated Slytherin came into her sight, his tall body filling the doorframe and clumsily clad in his trousers and his unfastened black shirt. But she didn't notice. She refused to let her eyes wander lower than his bottom lashes, knowing that eye-contact was power. It was control.
"You are doing my head in!" he roared, his upper lip curled and his cheekbones high with irritation. "Could you make any more sodding noise? You-
"You want me to make more noise?" she replied, innocently cocking her head to the side. With a swish of her wand, all the doors in her dorm opened and then slammed close again, and she refused her instinct to blink at the heavy bangs. "Better for you, Malfoy?"
"Very mature of you, Granger," he sneered, and she could feel the intensity of his stare from across the room. "You think you're so fucking clever-
"I think we can both agree that I am fucking clever," she cut in, a little uncomfortable with her swear word, but she covered it well. "As you so eloquently put it-
"STOP making so much noise," he growled, his voice a foreboding rumble that lingered between them. "Stop banging things, stop talking, stop moving-
"I can do whatever the hell I want in my room," Hermione argued, faltering when he sidestepped the trunk and stalked towards her. She backed up against the wall and raised her wand, but he didn't cease his long strides. "Don't come near me!"
"As if I would fucking touch you," he growled, stopping only when the end of her wand prodded his chest. "I would sooner die-
"Be my guest," she retorted quickly. "It would be worth it-
"I'm warning you, Granger," he sneered. "I refuse to put up with this! It's like having a dyspraxic Giant in the room!"
"Deal with it," she snapped, adding more pressure to his chest with her wand, although she would swear it only pushed her further against the wall. She quickly tugged her robe a little tighter around herself, but if he'd noticed her post-shower attire, he gave no indication whatsoever. Thank Merlin.
"I mean it, Granger," he scowled. "Stop making noise or put a silencing spell on my room-
"As if I would waste my magic to accommodate you-
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