The rapturous laughter enticed the rapidly growing feelings within her. "I'm telling you, Slytherin is the way to go," said the voice the enticing laughter belonged to.
She turned till she faced the owner of the voice. He was a handsome man with white hair and golden roots. His pale, lean arm was wrapped around the shoulders of a taller boy with with dark hair. The blonde boy turned toward her with the most stunning of blue eyes. He made a 'come here' motion with his hand. "Come. Join us, Em." The butterflies in her stomach spread their wings and took flight.
Hermione bolted upright in bed. Who was that blonde boy that sent warm shivers down her spine? More importantly, who was this 'Em' that he had called her?
She casted a quick tempus spell. It was too early for classes and too late for more sleep. With a groan, she pulled herself out of bed. If she couldn't go back to sleep then she might as well head to the library.
Hermione groggily got dressed before slipping out of her room, trying not to wake the others. She found Ron slumped over a book, asleep in the common room. She tsked before conjuring a blanket for him. The boy may be cute but he was a total nincompoop. She was also growing tired of mothering him.
After slipping out of the portrait hole, she made her way to the library. It was the beginning of their sixth year and never too late to start studying for their exams.
The hallways were empty, not to her surprise. Hermione had noticed that most students preferred to sleep in or hang out in their common rooms until it was time for breakfast.
"Good morning, madam Pince," greeted Hermione upon entering the library.
Madam Pince gave her a warm smile. "You're here earlier that normal, Miss Granger." For some reason, the other students thought madam Pince was cold but Hermione just couldn't see it.
Hermione made her way to her favorite seat in the back where she dropped off her bookbag. She then made her way down the aisles, running her fingertips along the spines of the books. Which one did she want to view today?
A wave of whispered, rapturous laughter drifted to her. Butterflies took flight in her stomach. The laughter resembled that of her dream guy but how could that be?
She quieted the butterflies flapping around in her stomach and went to investigate. She followed the deep, melodious laughter to the Forbidden Section. Sitting on the ground with his back pressed against the gate was none other than Draco Malfoy. Why did he have the same laugh as the guy from her dream?
Malfoy wasn't paying attention to his surroundings as he peered down at a comic book. A comic book! She must have made a sound because Malfoy's head snapped up to look at her. His silver eyes narrowed into a glare and he stuffed the comic book into his robes. Even with the quick movement, Hermione still caught a glimpse of the title. Malfoy wasn't reading just any comic, he was reading a muggle one!
"What are you doing here, beaver face," snarled Malfoy.
Hermione rolled her eyes at the nickname, having long lost its bite. "I won't tattle on you," scoffed Hermione. "Keep reading your ridiculous comic."
"It is not ridiculous!" Malfoy was now standing face to face with her. Her heart raced with realization that his facial features and body build were similar to the guy in her dreams. What horrid world was she living in that she dreamt she had a crush on Malfoy?
"Superman is way cool. The way him and Batman always go at it is inspiring. It is in no way ridiculous," continued Malfoy on his rant.
"Right," drawled Hermione. "You are a real-life wizard and you cannot see the flaws and unrealisticness of the characters."
"I don't need your unwelcomed snark," snarled Malfoy. He moved to push past her but she stopped him with a touch on his arm. She was so going to wash her hand after this.
"Sorry. I'm just not a fan. I don't want to fight." She removed her hand from his arm and held them up in surrender when he narrowed his gaze at her. "I'm just curious. Where did you find muggle comic books?"
Malfoy looked around them in suspicion. He sighed when he found no one lurking around. "I'll tell you if you get me the next three editions after this one." He held up the comic for her to read the edition number.
Was she curious enough to obtain the rest of the comics? This was a different side to Malfoy that she hadn't seen. Maybe if she found out more about him, she could lure him away from Voldemort.
"Deal."
Hermione turned on her heel and picked up her pack on her way out. She still had enough time to stop at the owlery to send a letter to her parents before breakfast. She may have said she wasn't a fan of the comics but that didn't mean she didn't own every single one of them. Her cousin had sent them as a gift one year as his way of bringing her into 'normal' society.
. . .
Draco woke up the next morning to find a piece of parchment laying on his bedside. He unfolded it, thinking it was from one of the idiots that he shared a room with.
Meet me in the RoR a half hour before curfew.
~H.G.
Draco blinked a few times. H.G. was easy. Hermione Granger. She must have gotten her grubby, Gryffindor paws on the comics he requested.
If she could get him the rest of the comic books then he may be willing to comply with her stupid questions. It would get him what he wanted and provide him with a distraction from his daunting task that Lord Voldemort assigned him. That just begged the question, what was RoR? He would have to figure out her bloody acronym if he was to get the rest of those books.
. . .
Hermione crossed her arms in frustration. Her foot tapped against the brick flooring. He was late. Draco Malfoy was late. And the worst part was that he was making her wait. She should have told him an hour before curfew. It was a good thing that she 'borrowed' Harry's Invisibility Cloak.
The door to the Room of Requirement appeared. In stepped Malfoy.
"Finally," said Hermione in exasperation. "We only have ten minutes left before curfew."
"Bloody woman and your bloody acronym. I wouldn't be late if you just came straight out with our meeting place! Why do you have to be so bloody secretive!"
"Then become smarter, though I doubt you have the capacity for it."
Malfoy snarled but stayed silent. He held out his hand.
Hermione went to place the requested material in his open hand but paused. "I have a new deal."
"Well, what the bloody hell is it?" Malfy finally snarled after she stayed silent for a few seconds.
"I want you to answer a question. I'll reward you with a comic for each question you answer." Malfoy nodded in agreement without taking a second think her condition over. He must really want those comics. "Who gave the comic?"
"My godfather." Why would Snape, a follower of Voldemort, give Malfoy a muggle comic.
"Why?" The question slipped out. If she wound up needing more information out of Malfoy then she could just always write to her parents to send more comics.
"To distract me." Malfoy frowned as he probably started to regret agreeing to her terms. "That's two comics you owe me."
Hermione dropped two of the comics into his greedy hand before asking her last question. "Why would Snape want to distract you?"
"He wants to keep me preoccupied so I don't have to worry about the task I was given." He snatched the last comic out of her hand and she let him. Voldemort must have given him a task but what was the task?
Malfoy started to leave but Hermione stopped him. She really must stop touching him. "I can get you the rest of the D.C. comics if you agree to answer the rest of my questions."
Malfoy paused as he thought over her words. "Get the comics first then we'll talk." He moved out of her grip but paused right as he was about to leave. "What do you mean by D.C?"
Hermione laughed as she realized that Malfoy didn't know much about muggle comics after all. If she played her cards right, she might be able to use Malfoy and foil Voldemort's plan. "D.C is just one branch of comics. It contains heroes such as Superman, Supergirl, Batman, The Flash, and so on. Another branch of comics is Marvel. They contain heroes such as Spiderman, Iron Man, Captain America, and the X-men which include Professor X, Wolverine, and Mystique, and many more," explained Hermione.
Malfoy's jaw clenched almost as if he was keeping his jaw from dropping. Hermione laughed. "Thanks to my cousin, I own all of the issues from both."
Malfoy's silver eyes flashed with greed. "We'll meet here again tomorrow. Same time." He placed his hand on the door but didn't open it. "Oh, and Granger. You better not tell anyone and don't ask questions you know I won't be able to answer or both our lives will be on the line."
"Deal." Malfoy left the Room of Requirement. She threw the cloak on over her shoulders before she too left. It was a good thing she had that dream or she might have never followed that laughter. She might have never even had the chance to discover Malfoy and his secret love of muggle comics if it weren't for that dream.