- - follow the golden snitch ,

[beatrice marie evans]

ooc: this is during harry potter's sixth year. whoooh, imagination! it doesn't matter if your character's face claim doesn't match the character, this is just all for our imagination.

the library. those two words always came across this girl's mind as she made her way around the hogwarts castle. if there was ever a place to find this girl, it would be in the library. hermione made quite the reputation of herself at hogwarts as the know-it-all gryffindor. the sorting hat had thought of placing her in ravenclaw, but there was a hidden trait beneath her skin. bravery. hermione definitely proved this throughout the years of following after harry potter and making sure he stayed out of trouble. he made the point that he doesn't go looking after trouble, trouble finds him. ever since then, hermione had to keep that in mind. it was true. he hadn't asked for all of this to happen to him. but, it did. hermione knew that being his best friend, she had to stick by his side until the end. now that they were almost reaching the end of their education, hermione figured that her entire sixth year had to be devoted to studying for the final exams. she was going to graduate at top of her class. to do this, she had to keep up with her studies and assignments.

even with the wizarding world becoming darker with each minute that passes by, hermione still had the thought of graduating running through her mind. as she made her way down a flight of stairs, she turned the corner and strolled down the corridor towards the library. eventually coming face to face with the familiar oak door, she opened it and stepped right inside of the familiar place. besides living with her parents and sleeping in the girls' dormitory for the gryffindor common room, the library was considered another home for her. this was where she spent most of her time if she wasn't busy keeping an eye on harry and ron. traveling down one of the bookshelves, hermione placed her index finger along the spine of a book before dragging it down to the bottom. feeling the texture of the book just made her realize that this was her favorite place to be. looking for a book that she hadn't already read by now and one that seemed interesting enough, she pulled one off of the shelf and sat herself down at an empty desk. flipping it open to the table of contents, hermione began to read. this just happened to be a typical saturday evening for her.

[chord]

Pale white fingers ran their way along spines in the library. headed towards the restricted section. He had been given permission to enter the area long ago, during his fourth year from Snape for a potions assignment. Draco had saved the note and forged a copy that night, handing it off to Madame Pince as he'd entered. She didn't think twice as she'd nodded him towards the section--that was a talent of his. Draco had a talent for knowing who's good side he needed to be on. Right then, he needed to find something, anything about that bloody vanishing cabinet. It had been three months and he still had no idea how he was going to repair it. As he continued down the library, the blonde boy spotted a lone girl sitting at one of the tables, and as always his breath caught in his throat, if only for a split second.

The Dark Lord had told him if his mission was not completed he would destroy Draco, he would destroy his family, and all those at Hogwarts. At the time, he'd just scoffed at the last threat, but only when he was alone did Draco look out the window and cry. He'd made a promise to himself right then, he was going to complete his mission, her life counted on it. So he'd begun to work feverishly, everything was counting on him. It was the way people can attach themselves to something--an idea, another person, a desire--with an impossibly strong grip, and in the case of restless ghosts, a grip stronger than death. Will is a powerful thing. Will--it's supposed to be a good treat, a more determined and persistent version of determination and persistence. Bit will and need--they sit right next to each other. They pretend to be strangers and all the while meet secretly at midnight.

Once he'd passed her, Draco glanced over his should for a moment, and this was his mistake. He tripped on a copy of History of Magic left on the floor, and landed on his face on the hardwood. "Bloody hell."

[beatrice marie evans]

having managed to get past the first page of the chapter, hermione's mind was too focused to even pay attention to the sound of someone walking past her. it didn't take until the sound of a crash before hermione's eyes immediately left the page of the book to see who had been roaming around her. at first, she didn't care who it was as she noticed that the copy of hogwarts, a history was laying beside the boy and wondered if it had suffered any damage. but once she heard "bloody hell" coming out of the boy's mouth, hermione instantly realized who it was. the blonde hair and slytherin robes gave it away. "wonderful." hermione sarcastically managed to let slip before realizing that he was still there and able to hear what she said. she didn't let it bother her that he could hear her sarcastic comment, though. hermione learned to defend herself since the day he started causing trouble. usually, she learned to keep to herself and not let anything bother her when it came to malfoy, but this time around was starting to take a toll on her nerves. she was going to take a stand.

"what brings you to the library at this time of night?" hermione asked as her attention shifted to the nearest window. the moon was already starting to creep its way up into the sky. hardly anyone remained in the library; in fact, she was quite sure that it might just be the two of them lingering here while everyone was off doing their own thing in the common rooms or whatnot. madam pince seemed preoccupied behind the desk; but from where hermione was, the desk was nowhere in sight. becoming a little tense in her seat, hermione kept a finger where she left off in her book before pulling out a bookmark from her messenger bag with a free hand and placing it on the page. closing the book quietly, she returned her gaze back on draco, waiting to see his next move. hermione had no intentions for helping him up from his spot where he had tripped. he ruined all future opportunities that she would help him out since the day he called her a mudblood. although, she didn't let it bother her. she was glad to have harry and ron as her friends.

[leo]

Draco's ears, always so sensitive to her easily cued into the sarcastic tone. If anything, he had anticipated the sound even before she spoke. Regardless it still cut through him, like it always did. Like it always would. "Shut up, Granger," he'd sneered back, perhaps a split second later than normal. He remained on the floor a second longer before standing, elegant and arrogant as ever. He brushed his robes and smoothed his hair before fixing his narrowed blue eyes at her. Sometimes he wondered if things would have been different between them had she been a Pureblood, or him a Mudblood. Would they had been together or would he not have cared at all? Draco knew that restrictions made something you didn't even want all that much turn into a coveted prize.

He watched her every move, as she so surely placed the bookmark in it's place before turning to him. As if the book was more interesting than it was, and with a wrenching in his stomach, he realized it probably was. "Hoping to find a filthy Mudblood with her nose in a book." He hated the way he sounded, his response rude and relentless against what might have been an innocent question. Draco hated his hostility towards her, but what choice did he have?

[beatrice marie evans]

hermione learned to ignore any insults that draco had to give her, whether it was pathetic or stupid. any insult he gave never really made an impact on her. pretty much, it was as if he was just wasting his breath on her. returning her glance down to the cover of the book, hermione noticed that a corner of it was a little worn off. this was book abuse. someone didn't properly take care of this book and she was quite sure she had to bring this attention to madam pince sometime. this wasn't the right time. if she had brought up this matter with the librarian, then madam pince would surely notice that it was becoming too late for her to remain lingering in the library. hermione had no intentions on leaving anytime soon; but, if draco doesn't seem too eager to leave, then hermione knew she had to make the plan to return to her common room; preferably to the girls' dorm on her bed so she'd be alone.

at least then she wouldn't have to listen to draco search his mind for something new to say to her. without looking up from the book, she wasn't even sure if she should talk back and give him more ammo to work off of. but, she couldn't help but laugh in her mind. "really? that's quite a clever answer. how long did it take for you to come up with that? or did you consult your father with how to answer my question?" it was strange how hermione decided that for once, she might as well take a stand for herself. she could have simply just ignored the slytherin and continued reading her book. it was easy for her to get lost in the pages, but there was nothing that draco could do that ever scared her. after all, she was the smartest witch of her age. she could easily come up with a way to protect herself from the prat. "technically, my nose is not in the book, to clear that up."

[leo]

You know how your mother would tell you boys only tease the girls they like? It was true, at least for Draco. But it also because he wasn't allowed to feel for her, not because he was trying to show affection in some ridiculous junior-high school boy. He wasn't sure what his parents would do should they find out how he felt about this muggle-born girl. Would they shun him? Would they accept him and her? He didn't even know what the point of wishing for the latter was. They were living in dark times, it was not his parents he had to worry about. It was the Dark Lord. As she spoke his heart sank and before he had a chance to control himself he blurted out, "My father is in Azkaban, Hermione!" As soon as the words left his mouth he stood there, almost shell-shocked. Blue eyes blinked rapidly as he looked away from her, angrily but embarrassed at the same time. Scary how easily she brought down his defenses, he needed to be careful around her.

Draco remained where he was gnawing at his lips, a nervous habit he'd picked up that year. He drew blood too often like he did right now, but somehow, the taste of iron would bring him down to earth. Down to the present days he never wanted to face anymore. "It's a figure of speech." He said, those his voice wasn't as snippy as it always had been.