The two-week Easter holiday arrived.
In Draco's words, "this holiday would have been worse than none," because all the students were rushing to finish their assignments, everyone looking listless and sleep-deprived.
Hermione, in particular. The sense of collapse emanating from her could be felt across the entire corridor.
Merlin, she always looked as though she were about to cry... it made his heart clench.
"Are you all right?" One day, Draco could not help but stop her in the corridor, his gaze subtly sweeping over the book in her hands... Numerology and Symbols...
"I am fine." Hermione lowered her eyelashes, concealing the uncontrollable affection in her eyes for him.
"I have not done anything wrong, have I? I always feel like you are avoiding me." Draco looked at her suspiciously.
Why would she not look up at him? He was a little troubled.
"Of course not." She finally glanced up at him hastily, her expression flustered and her face slightly flushed. "I have too much homework, I cannot keep up... You know, I took on so many subjects."
Hermione was completely lying. She did have a lot of homework, but not so much that she could not even "talk to someone."
She was indeed avoiding him. Not just because Ginny had been watching her lately, trying to spot any boy whose name began with "Dr" that she interacted with; she herself did not know how to face Draco, and she was panicking.
At the Great Hall table, they faced each other from a distance. She would always steal glances at him out of the corner of her eye, and then quickly look away when he noticed. She felt that her behaviour was completely abnormal, irrational, and illogical. It was driving her to the brink of collapse.
She found that she could not interact with him as naturally as before.
She was always afraid that she would say something foolish. How would he react?
She was even more afraid that their friendship would crack. What if he only saw her as a friend?
She wanted to see him every moment, yet she was afraid to see him.
Clearly, keeping her distance from him was pointless. She had suppressed her inner turmoil, deliberately avoiding his attention.
After some time, when she inadvertently caught a glimpse of his sharply defined, aloof face, or his platinum blonde hair, even a fleeting glance from him sent shivers down her spine.
And that wretched "heart palpitation syndrome" was starting to take effect. If she looked directly into his quiet, pale grey eyes, her mind would go completely blank.
Let alone speak to him! She could not say much to him. A few more words and she would be breathless. She could feel her face burning, growing redder and redder, until he noticed!
"Sorry, Draco, I have to go!" Hermione struggled to regain what remained of her composure, practically leaping up before he could completely captivate her, hastily fleeing the innocent boy who was making her heart race.
She... seemed to be under immense pressure.
Draco stood there, lost in thought, uneasy at her manner.
Harry had told him she had finally decided to drop Divination... but it did not seem to ease her stress much.
Draco often saw her leaving early and returning late.
In the mornings, he would just have sat down at the Slytherin table when she would abruptly jump up and flee from the Gryffindor table.
She was a lone wolf in the library, rushing to finish her assignments, seemingly oblivious to everything else. She did not even seem interested in going to their study corner, despite his repeated invitations.
She always kept her eyes down, refusing to look at him, and dismissively said, "Perhaps another time."
Could Hermione Granger have any interests besides finishing her assignments? Even just a little respite?
Draco thought dejectedly.
This situation did not improve until the first Saturday after Easter... the day of the Slytherin versus Hufflepuff match.
Riding on his flying broomstick, Draco scanned the densely packed stands and easily spotted her.
Who could ignore her long, bright brown hair and those striking brown eyes?
He was now certain that her gaze was fixed on him... not the fleeting, aloof look she had been giving him lately.
Watching Quidditch was probably her only form of entertainment these days.
Draco smiled slightly on his Nimbus 2001, continuing his search for the Golden Snitch.
Undoubtedly, it would be a tough match.
Hufflepuff's captain and Seeker, Cedric Diggory, was a seasoned opponent; each time the Snitch flashed by, he kept pace with Draco for a long time, until the elusive little thing vanished again amidst the disappointed sighs of the spectators.
Hufflepuff's Chaser, Zacharias Smith, constantly tried to trip Draco up. As Draco circled in the air searching for the Golden Snitch, he kept trying to sneakily "blag[1]" Draco's broomstick, as revenge for the "cobbing[2]" he had received near the Great Hall entrance.
"Oh dear, Madam Hooch was only watching the Hufflepuff goal and did not see what Zacharias was doing. She was distracted by the other Hufflepuff players," Harry said, holding up his Omnioculars.
"I am fairly sure it was a foul. He grabbed Draco's broom tail; he was hindering him."
"How could he do that?" Hermione looked at the platinum-haired boy with concern and fury. She threw down her Omnioculars, put her hands to her mouth, and screamed at the top of her lungs, "Zacharias Smith! You despicable scoundrel!"
Draco heard her angry shout from the nearby stands.
She was watching him, and she was angry for him.
He liked...no loved her anger.
Hermione Granger's anger was Draco Malfoy's best stimulant on the pitch.
"Is that all you have got?" Draco turned and smiled contemptuously at Zacharias behind him.
He gripped his broom handle with one hand and continued flying rapidly in a certain direction, while his other hand reached for the Quaffle in Zacharias's grip, trying to snatch it away. Zacharias panicked.
He had not expected his opponent to try to take the Quaffle from him.
"Let go, Malfoy!" he shouted, pulling on the tail of Draco's broom while trying to pull back his own Quaffle. The two were locked in a stalemate on their high-speed brooms.
Until Draco bent forward, and in the blink of an eye, just before crashing into the hoop ahead, he released the hand that had been grabbing the Quaffle.
"Miles, get out of the way!" he yelled at his Keeper. At the same time, he lowered his broom handle, made a ninety-degree turn, and dived straight towards the ground.
Zacharias, busy releasing Draco's broom tail to avoid being pulled down himself, did not notice the hoop in front of him.
He could not afford to bother with the agile Seeker. He barely managed to keep hold of his Quaffle and charged straight into the hoop, where Madam Hooch, flying over, saw him and immediately awarded a clear penalty.
"Well done!" Miles laughed, slapping his broom handle in front of the goalposts. "Draco, you are a bloody genius!"
Zacharias's face turned pale.
"Zacharias, what are you doing?" Diggory flew down from above and yelled at him. "Haversacking[3]? What were you thinking?"
The stands were filled with gasps and exclamations.
"He is strong," Harry said excitedly beside Hermione, watching Draco fly back into the air. "That is a difficult move, a sudden ninety-degree dive."
"Exactly. He seems to be using the Wronski Feint tactic. And in an instant, he turned a disadvantage into an advantage, giving Zacharias a good beating..." Ron said admiringly from Harry's side.
Ginny Weasley sat in the stands next to Hermione, listening absentmindedly to her brother's praise of the Slytherin Seeker. Her eyes were fixed on Hermione's profile, every part of her mind focused on one thing.
Dr... what?
[1] (Blagging: seizing an opponent's broom to slow them down or hinder their progress. A foul applicable to all players.)
[2] (Cobbing: excessive use of the elbows against an opponent. A foul applicable to all players.)
[3] (Haversacking is a foul committed by a Chaser when the Quaffle passes through a hoop while still being held in their hand... the Quaffle must be thrown.)