Gifts 1
No prank
Pansy
The first time I saw Hermione Granger was at the station, where my parents brought me to the Hogwarts Express. It was difficult to miss her. Demanding voice, answers to all questions, and those eyes.
Of course, I knew that she was muggleborn, and of course I felt no surprise when she became a Gryffindor. Oh, she was intelligent enough to have become a Ravenclaw and loyal enough to have made a good Hufflepuff, and I really think she might have had the cunning of a Slytherin if she'd really needed it. But the braveness was her greatest gift, and I didn't need the incident with the troll to figure that out.
I've spent a lot of time with watching her; reading in the library, running around with Potty and Weasel and cheering at Quidditch matches. But most of all, I love how she looks when she puts her hand in the air to show that she knows something. Her eyes glow and she looks so beautiful.
No, I'm not in love. Merlin, I'm only eleven. But I have a crush of her, and I would like for her to know it. She deserves something nice, and it's Valentine's Day next week. But what was I to give her?
Sweets are always okay, aren't they? And I know what she likes. I remember when she told Parvati that she likes caramel cream and nuts. No problem.
But how was I supposed to get into her room in the Gryffindor tower which is protected by passwords and a picture? And I didn't want her friends to find out and tease her about it, so I couldn't use one of the school's owls. No, she needed an intelligent bird, and that meant that I had to ask Draco for his eagle-owl. But that wasn't a problem - he isn't as arrogant and unapproachable as he leads others to believe. He didn't even ask what I wanted it for.
Hermione
I knew that it was Valentine's Day. Girls know things like that. But, of course, I hadn't expected anything. I was too young, and even if I had been older, who would give anything to bushy haired, big toothed Granger?
I know I'm no beauty, but deep inside me I dreamed, like every little girl of a prince who would come.
And when I came into my room after dinner, there was a little parcel on top of my covers. A parcel on Valentine's Day?
Something in me flickered with hope. But in my head was mistrust.
What if it was a prank?
Carefully, I opened it. Chocolate. Maybe there was a potion in it, or it was going to explode at any moment. I spoke any examining spell I knew. Nothing.
Before Parvati and Lavender could come back and ask questions, I brought it to the common room to think.
"Sweets from your parents?" Ron asked. Trust him to miss any implications. Without asking, he ate a morsel. I held my breath, but nothing happened.
I watched him for the next few hours, but he remained intact. In the end I decided that it had to really be chocolate. I took a piece of it. Delicious, my favorite chocolate.
If it really wasn't a prank, it really had to be a gift - my first Valentine's Day gift.
TBC