"Don't think I didn't hear that." Instead of rebutting, he smiled at me slyly and whispered into my ear: "You almost lost it, didn't you? You can't beat me at this game, that's for sure."
"Don't jump to any conclusions," I returned his smile.
To be completely honest, I liked his smile. Although I would rather be caught dead than admitting it openly, I did find him quite good-looking. And it was indescribably endearing when he smiled like this.
But I held myself to high standards. And there was simply no way for me to end up with this prude, selfish, pretentious, audacious, conniving Slytherin.
"I recommend you add handsome, chivalrous, alluring, charismatic, and wealthy after those words." His whisper was so close to my ear that like coward, I blushed.
"How dare you to read my mind!" I nearly screamed. Seeing my embarrassingly red cheeks, he smiled again.
"Because as I said, I have no doubt that you are destined to be a Malfoy one day."
"You are unbelievable, do you know that?" I wrap my other arm around his waist as if I was hugging him. In reality, however, I pinched him as hard as I could.
"You little…" He mumbled a series of swear words. I couldn't hear him properly, so I decided to ignore him.
In the end, I couldn't say no to him and reluctantly sat down at the Slytherin table. The glares from the Slytherins made me more than uncomfortable. Hermione Granger was no timid lamb to be slaughtered by ferocious wolves, and I chose to stand up for myself.
"Please, everyone, staring at me won't fill your grumbling stomachs," I said in an unapologetic tone; almost like I was imitating Malfoy. "Yes, as you can see, I am currently dating Draco Malfoy. If you have concerns, keep them. Because what we do is none of your business."
"You are lying, you dirty mudblood! There's no way Draco would want you. What have you done to him?" Pansy Parkinson let out a squeak, pointing at me with panic and anger.
"Well, have you ever heard about this thing called, I don't know, love?" I lifted my glass of pumpkin juiced and slightly swirled it. "For your sake, I hope you know what I'm referring to. Also, even Draco no longer has a problem with my background, so what's your problem? I'm sorry, Parkinson, I feel bad for you. Your dearest Draco, whom you chased for seven years, was conquered by a mudblood within a summer's time. I'd be furious if I were you, too."
I threw her a sympathetic look, shook my head and sipped my pumpkin juice. And that was when I suddenly realized that the Slytherins were staring at me in complete silence.
"Are you...um…are you sure you are Hermione Granger?" Blaise Zabini asked cautiously.
"Yes, I'm sure." I took another sip of my pumpkin juice. Zabini shook his head and went back to finish the omelet on his plate. I curled my bottom lip and turned to Malfoy: "What's wrong?"
"You've changed." Malfoy said quietly with a frown. He seemed, well, bothered.
Have I changed? Since when?
It was probably when I ran into Draco Malfoy on that ill-fated day during summer break.