When a Tornado Meets a Volcano
Chapter 5: Cloudy With a Chance of Magic
"Now class, open your texts to page 475 and begin deciphering the first fourteen lines. It will not be finished by the end of the class, therefore you will be expected to finish it along with the two pages you already have for homework."
Hermione glanced at the sleeping figure to her right. Shaking her head she bent to pull a fresh pot of ink from her bag. When she returned to proper sitting position, she nearly screamed in annoyance - Draco Malfoy, the sleeping figure next to her had sprawled out onto her notes and books, scattering some of them to the ground. Instead of screaming though, she took a moment to compose herself.
And then she flicked his nose with her forefinger.
"OW!" Draco said sitting straight up and holding his face in pain. Several students turned to look at him, and snickered, much to his annoyance. He rounded on Hermione.
"What did you go and do that for?" he said in an angry, but hushed tone. "That hurt!" She merely cocked an eyebrow at him and gestured to her now wrinkled parchments and generally disheveled space.
"I think the evidence speaks for itself." She began to gather up the scattered materials and restack them neatly on her left hand side. "I don't suppose you recall anything that Professor Babbling was just talking about?"
"And I suppose you do," he said, annoyed. He turned to face the front of the class, pouting and occasionally rubbing his sore nose, and Hermione noted that he hadn't even bothered to remove any of his books or parchments from his bag. Rolling her eyes, she began the assignment.
After a few minutes hunched over her work, she put her quill down. Feeling something - a very small something, but a something nonetheless - she turned towards Draco, only to find that he was leaning on his hand staring at her. She gave a small squeak of surprise and felt her cheeks flush.
"What is the matter with you this time, Malfoy?" she asked, giving a huff and turning away to regain her composure.
"Nothing, I'm just waiting," he said, his voice and face completely unreadable. She didn't look his way this time, but rolled her eyes.
"And just what are waiting for, Dear Mr. Malfoy?" she asked though with fake sincerity. She picked up the quill again and continued with her work.
"For you to tell me everything about yourself, of course."
She dropped the quill on the parchment and turned to face him, her face flushed this time with anger. What was he playing at exactly? He cheers her up once (if you could even call it that) and now he expects to be regaled with the tales of Hermione Granger?
"You are delusional if you think that for once second I will tell you anything," she said glaring at him. Though she didn't want to admit it, there was a small part that wanted to tell him everything; however, she knew that it would end badly, and pushed the thought away promptly.
"No, I am in quite a right state of mind," Draco replied, stretching upward off of his hand. He watched as her face cycled between confusion and anger. Before she could retort, the shuffle of feet and materials broke her out of her trance and she snatched up her things, storming from the room in frustration.
Draco chuckled to himself; she certainly did get worked up pretty easily. It wasn't the reaction he had been hoping for - he understood that no matter how much he provoked her, she would not outwardly misbehave in a classroom.
Harry Potter had been extremely wary of Draco Malfoy since the day they had met in Diagon Alley. Recently, though, Harry had been observing him with the intent of finding out anything he could about the Dark Lord. It seemed like a simple task to just simple watch him from afar, however, it turned into something much more complicated when he noticed that twice did he follow Hermione out of the Great Hall, and one of those times, he had even seen them conversing civilly.
Of course, in all of this he suspected Hermione of nothing. Malfoy was another story entirely. He had to be up to something to all of a sudden take an interest in Hermione. He loved his best friend dearly, but he had to admit that most of the guys at Hogwarts were intimidated by her intelligence, himself included.
It was that day in Ancient Runes when he finally realized that he had to find out what was going on with Malfoy. He watched as he and Hermione talked quietly before Hermione left in a huff. Malfoy was chuckling to himself, no doubt satisfied at a job well done. As Malfoy stood to stretch, Harry made his way over to where he had been sitting.
Draco felt the hairs on the back of his neck bristle. He turned to see Harry Potter, the-boy-who-lived-to-drive-him-insane standing next to him glaring. Draco was caught off guard momentarily, but regained his composure before Harry could register it.
"What do you want, Potter?" Draco said, yawning and giving Harry a bored look. He grabbed his bag from the floor and without waiting for a reply brushed past him, only to have his sleeve catch on something. He turned back to find Harry gripping his robes with an iron fist.
"Is there something wrong with you, Potter? Let go," Draco protested, his bored stare turning to a glare. "I don't have -"
"What are you up to Malfoy?" Harry said his voice cold as ice and his eyes glowering. Draco cocked an eyebrow at him while still tugging at his robes.
"I have no idea what you are talking about, so let me go or I will hex you into oblivion!" Draco growled, putting his other hand on the pocket where his wand was held. Harry hesitated a moment before finally letting go, allowing Draco to give him one last stare before moving quickly away, lest he change his mind.
"Stay away from her Malfoy!" Draco faltered in his step as he heard Harry shout after him. He turned back to see a satisfied grin on the boy's face. "Or you will not like the consequences." Draco scowled and turned abruptly on his heel, his cloak swishing behind him as he made his way to his next class.
Back in the classroom, Harry Potter was grinning like a Cheshire cat. His suspicions had been proved and he couldn't wait to see what Malfoy would do next.
Draco had gotten to class just before Professor Flitwick appeared on his usual stack of books, and noticed that Hermione had chosen a seat between two students so that she (or so he assumed) wouldn’t have to sit next to him again.
So he dropped in to the only empty seat there was available, and sighed heavily. He was sitting next to a Ravenclaw girl on his right with pin straight black hair, and posture that would make a wall look bent. He rolled his eyes to himself; leave it up to the know-it-all Ravenclaws to make it into Advanced Charms. Hermione was sitting in the same row, but seven students away. Since the seating was in a horseshoe shape, he could see most of her, but decided against full frontal staring.
Not that he would ever be caught doing that.
He tried focusing on the lecture Flitwick was giving. Something about birds and swishing and flicking and the like. He closed his eyes and rested his head on his folded hands, intent on going straight to sleep when something caught the corner of his eye. Slowly but surely, words were etching themselves into the wood of the tabletop. He looked to the girl at his right to see that she hadn’t noticed the words, and was scribbling furiously in her journal.
Don’t fall asleep this time.
Draco’s eyes narrowed and he looked down the row of students towards Hermione. She had a completely unreadable look on her face, but he knew it was her who’d sent the message; he knew of no one else smart enough to figure out the tricky, but handy little charm. He was just about to look away when he saw her head tilt in his direction, and her eyes glance at him quickly before turning back. He smirked and tapped his wand against the table lightly, enabling him to write back.
It’ll give me something to do while I wait.
Draco could practically feel the air ripple with her anger when he knew she’d gotten the message. He leaned his head on his arms again and closed his eyes just as he saw her reply appear on the table.
You are an incorrigible git, do you know that?
Five minutes later, Draco was forced back to attention by the sounds of birds shrieking in his ears. He opened his eyes and slowly lifted his head to find that he was surrounded by small green and orange birds, all of which seemed to have taken to flying dangerously close to his face before sweeping off in another direction.
“Well done Miss. Granger!” Flitwick cried in delight, clapping his hands, and scaring some students as the pile of books he was standing on wobbled precariously. Draco shot a glare at Hermione; so this was her doing was it?
“Immobulus,” he whispered, and the birds stopped mid-flap and mid-tweet, and the classroom was silent, heads turning back and forth between Draco and Hermione, eager to see who would do what next.
However, like in the class before, they had a rather untimely interruption. The doors to the Charms classroom swung open and Blaise Zabini walked in, looking flustered and slightly concerned. His eyes fell on Draco’s and some mutual understanding passed between the two that didn’t escape the gaze of Hermione.
“Why Mr. Zabini, how pleasant it is for you to join us!” Professor Flitwick said, stepping onto a more steady stack of books. “Do you have a message to deliver?”
Blaise nodded seriously, breaking his silent conversation with Draco. “Yes, Professor. Professor Snape needs to see Draco right away.” Hermione turned her head sharply in Draco’s direction, looking for any signs of change in his expression. There was none, but Draco stood and gathered his things, making no noise, and ignoring the bird suspended in air above him. As he was walking out of the classroom, he looked back once at Hermione. She couldn’t find one trace of the previous moments fierce challenge.
"Now class, open your texts to page 475 and begin deciphering the first fourteen lines. It will not be finished by the end of the class, therefore you will be expected to finish it along with the two pages you already have for homework."
Hermione glanced at the sleeping figure to her right. Shaking her head she bent to pull a fresh pot of ink from her bag. When she returned to proper sitting position, she nearly screamed in annoyance - Draco Malfoy, the sleeping figure next to her had sprawled out onto her notes and books, scattering some of them to the ground. Instead of screaming though, she took a moment to compose herself.
And then she flicked his nose with her forefinger.
"OW!" Draco said sitting straight up and holding his face in pain. Several students turned to look at him, and snickered, much to his annoyance. He rounded on Hermione.
"What did you go and do that for?" he said in an angry, but hushed tone. "That hurt!" She merely cocked an eyebrow at him and gestured to her now wrinkled parchments and generally disheveled space.
"I think the evidence speaks for itself." She began to gather up the scattered materials and restack them neatly on her left hand side. "I don't suppose you recall anything that Professor Babbling was just talking about?"
"And I suppose you do," he said, annoyed. He turned to face the front of the class, pouting and occasionally rubbing his sore nose, and Hermione noted that he hadn't even bothered to remove any of his books or parchments from his bag. Rolling her eyes, she began the assignment.
After a few minutes hunched over her work, she put her quill down. Feeling something - a very small something, but a something nonetheless - she turned towards Draco, only to find that he was leaning on his hand staring at her. She gave a small squeak of surprise and felt her cheeks flush.
"What is the matter with you this time, Malfoy?" she asked, giving a huff and turning away to regain her composure.
"Nothing, I'm just waiting," he said, his voice and face completely unreadable. She didn't look his way this time, but rolled her eyes.
"And just what are waiting for, Dear Mr. Malfoy?" she asked though with fake sincerity. She picked up the quill again and continued with her work.
"For you to tell me everything about yourself, of course."
She dropped the quill on the parchment and turned to face him, her face flushed this time with anger. What was he playing at exactly? He cheers her up once (if you could even call it that) and now he expects to be regaled with the tales of Hermione Granger?
"You are delusional if you think that for once second I will tell you anything," she said glaring at him. Though she didn't want to admit it, there was a small part that wanted to tell him everything; however, she knew that it would end badly, and pushed the thought away promptly.
"No, I am in quite a right state of mind," Draco replied, stretching upward off of his hand. He watched as her face cycled between confusion and anger. Before she could retort, the shuffle of feet and materials broke her out of her trance and she snatched up her things, storming from the room in frustration.
Draco chuckled to himself; she certainly did get worked up pretty easily. It wasn't the reaction he had been hoping for - he understood that no matter how much he provoked her, she would not outwardly misbehave in a classroom.
Harry Potter had been extremely wary of Draco Malfoy since the day they had met in Diagon Alley. Recently, though, Harry had been observing him with the intent of finding out anything he could about the Dark Lord. It seemed like a simple task to just simple watch him from afar, however, it turned into something much more complicated when he noticed that twice did he follow Hermione out of the Great Hall, and one of those times, he had even seen them conversing civilly.
Of course, in all of this he suspected Hermione of nothing. Malfoy was another story entirely. He had to be up to something to all of a sudden take an interest in Hermione. He loved his best friend dearly, but he had to admit that most of the guys at Hogwarts were intimidated by her intelligence, himself included.
It was that day in Ancient Runes when he finally realized that he had to find out what was going on with Malfoy. He watched as he and Hermione talked quietly before Hermione left in a huff. Malfoy was chuckling to himself, no doubt satisfied at a job well done. As Malfoy stood to stretch, Harry made his way over to where he had been sitting.
Draco felt the hairs on the back of his neck bristle. He turned to see Harry Potter, the-boy-who-lived-to-drive-him-insane standing next to him glaring. Draco was caught off guard momentarily, but regained his composure before Harry could register it.
"What do you want, Potter?" Draco said, yawning and giving Harry a bored look. He grabbed his bag from the floor and without waiting for a reply brushed past him, only to have his sleeve catch on something. He turned back to find Harry gripping his robes with an iron fist.
"Is there something wrong with you, Potter? Let go," Draco protested, his bored stare turning to a glare. "I don't have -"
"What are you up to Malfoy?" Harry said his voice cold as ice and his eyes glowering. Draco cocked an eyebrow at him while still tugging at his robes.
"I have no idea what you are talking about, so let me go or I will hex you into oblivion!" Draco growled, putting his other hand on the pocket where his wand was held. Harry hesitated a moment before finally letting go, allowing Draco to give him one last stare before moving quickly away, lest he change his mind.
"Stay away from her Malfoy!" Draco faltered in his step as he heard Harry shout after him. He turned back to see a satisfied grin on the boy's face. "Or you will not like the consequences." Draco scowled and turned abruptly on his heel, his cloak swishing behind him as he made his way to his next class.
Back in the classroom, Harry Potter was grinning like a Cheshire cat. His suspicions had been proved and he couldn't wait to see what Malfoy would do next.
Draco had gotten to class just before Professor Flitwick appeared on his usual stack of books, and noticed that Hermione had chosen a seat between two students so that she (or so he assumed) wouldn’t have to sit next to him again.
So he dropped in to the only empty seat there was available, and sighed heavily. He was sitting next to a Ravenclaw girl on his right with pin straight black hair, and posture that would make a wall look bent. He rolled his eyes to himself; leave it up to the know-it-all Ravenclaws to make it into Advanced Charms. Hermione was sitting in the same row, but seven students away. Since the seating was in a horseshoe shape, he could see most of her, but decided against full frontal staring.
Not that he would ever be caught doing that.
He tried focusing on the lecture Flitwick was giving. Something about birds and swishing and flicking and the like. He closed his eyes and rested his head on his folded hands, intent on going straight to sleep when something caught the corner of his eye. Slowly but surely, words were etching themselves into the wood of the tabletop. He looked to the girl at his right to see that she hadn’t noticed the words, and was scribbling furiously in her journal.
Don’t fall asleep this time.
Draco’s eyes narrowed and he looked down the row of students towards Hermione. She had a completely unreadable look on her face, but he knew it was her who’d sent the message; he knew of no one else smart enough to figure out the tricky, but handy little charm. He was just about to look away when he saw her head tilt in his direction, and her eyes glance at him quickly before turning back. He smirked and tapped his wand against the table lightly, enabling him to write back.
It’ll give me something to do while I wait.
Draco could practically feel the air ripple with her anger when he knew she’d gotten the message. He leaned his head on his arms again and closed his eyes just as he saw her reply appear on the table.
You are an incorrigible git, do you know that?
Five minutes later, Draco was forced back to attention by the sounds of birds shrieking in his ears. He opened his eyes and slowly lifted his head to find that he was surrounded by small green and orange birds, all of which seemed to have taken to flying dangerously close to his face before sweeping off in another direction.
“Well done Miss. Granger!” Flitwick cried in delight, clapping his hands, and scaring some students as the pile of books he was standing on wobbled precariously. Draco shot a glare at Hermione; so this was her doing was it?
“Immobulus,” he whispered, and the birds stopped mid-flap and mid-tweet, and the classroom was silent, heads turning back and forth between Draco and Hermione, eager to see who would do what next.
However, like in the class before, they had a rather untimely interruption. The doors to the Charms classroom swung open and Blaise Zabini walked in, looking flustered and slightly concerned. His eyes fell on Draco’s and some mutual understanding passed between the two that didn’t escape the gaze of Hermione.
“Why Mr. Zabini, how pleasant it is for you to join us!” Professor Flitwick said, stepping onto a more steady stack of books. “Do you have a message to deliver?”
Blaise nodded seriously, breaking his silent conversation with Draco. “Yes, Professor. Professor Snape needs to see Draco right away.” Hermione turned her head sharply in Draco’s direction, looking for any signs of change in his expression. There was none, but Draco stood and gathered his things, making no noise, and ignoring the bird suspended in air above him. As he was walking out of the classroom, he looked back once at Hermione. She couldn’t find one trace of the previous moments fierce challenge.