Greengrass

~13~

"You're an idiot. What do you mean you might fancy Draco Malfoy?" Pansy ran her hand through her head and gripped at the base of her head.

Daphne sat up beside her. "Hermione, are you sure? I thought this was all supposed to be pretend."

Hermione twisted her hair into a knot on her head and wrung her fingers out anxiously before her. How to explain? She felt so stupid! "I'm an idiot. I got carried away in what we did today and let it manifest into actual feelings." She sighed and stared at their ceiling where a mini spectral galaxy winked back at her. "The way he kissed me today... I've never ever been kissed like that. Not by Viktor Krum, not by Ron Weasley, not by anyone."

Daphne and Pansy looked at each other, then back at Hermione. "You kissed Viktor Krum?" Daphne had a hand over her heart dramatically.

Hermione's cheeks flushed as she kept her eyes on the galaxy above her. "Well, yes. I was his date to the Yule Ball, after all.  He didn't just watch me study, you know." She tried not to look too smug at the admission, but she was just a girl. Who wouldn't be smug if they snogged the most popular and handsome Quidditch player of the age?

Daphne looked scandalized while Pansy looked impressed. "I didn't think you had it in you, Greengrass. Color me impressed." Pansy shook Hermione's hand and Hermione tried not to smile.

"What else did you do, or was it just snogging?" Daphne asked.

Hermione thought back to fourth year, to awkward touches up her blouse and even more awkward requests for consent. Hermione could confidently say she didn't miss the language barrier that separated her and her longtime pen pal. While it would be fun to scandalize her sister further, she knew how much Viktor valued privacy and decided not to divulge more information on their Yule activities.

"Never you mind," she said instead.

Pansy threw a stray sock at her, which was half an inch away from landing on her chest. "Finish telling us about your crush on Draco," she commanded.

Hermione flicked the sock farther away from her and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know what else to say. He moves in close and the lines between real and fake are starting to feel a little muddled. Just a few minutes ago he walked me to the stairs and then pulled me against him and instead of righting myself, I wanted to kiss him." Her mind drifted back to the foot of the staircase, how warm Draco's hands felt through her jumper, how nice it felt to be pressed up against him. "I want to kiss him."

Hermione sighed and closed her eyes.

Daphne and Pansy side-eyed each other, twin smiles playing on their lips. Unbeknownst to Hermione, she had just given her friends permission to play matchmaker.

~~~

The next morning, Hermione woke with a headache. She could already tell the day was going to be an annoying one.

It didn't help when Daphne and Pansy practically pushed Hermione into Draco while they were walking to breakfast.

Draco caught her arm and righted her easily. He brought his mouth close to her ear. One whispered "Easy there, Greengrass," and she could feel her cheeks get considerably warmer. She forced herself not to pull away, telling herself it was just for appearances. No one had to know she wanted his lips to linger. No one had to know the blush on her cheeks sprouted at the sound of Draco's morning voice, all gravelly and deep. Hermione huffed out a breath and glared at her sister.

"Sorry, Hermione. It's croissant day, you know how much I love my croissants," Daphne said. Her face was frozen in a big, wide smile that made Hermione instantly suspicious. Pansy elbowed her and the two rushed ahead.