Distraction

"Harry? Harry? HARRY?"

Harry tore his eyes away from the Slytherin table and looked over at his friends.

"Huh? What?"

Ron looked at him expectantly. "I said, what do you think?"

Harry frowned. "About what?"

"The Quidditch game, of course! Haven't you been listening?"

Hermione put a hand on Ron's arm to quiet him. "Is something wrong, Harry? You seem very distracted."

Harry glanced quickly at the Slytherin table again before looking at Hermione. "Nothing's wrong. Just thinking, is all."

Ron grinned. "Well, you don't have to worry about the game tomorrow, Harry. We'll show those Slytherins what for, mate." Ron glared over at the Slytherins and smirked. "Then, we can rub it in Malfoy's face."

Harry and Hermione also looked over at Malfoy. Across the hall, the blond Slytherin was clearly visible among his housemates. Crabbe and Goyle were seated across from him, with Blaise Zabini on his left and Pansy Parkinson practically glued to his right. Harry scowled.

"That's disgusting," he said.

Hermione frowned. Harry rarely expressed such vehemence towards the Slytherins anymore, and his tone was quiet out of character.

"What is?" she asked.

"Pansy's hanging all over D-Malfoy," he said, vaguely pointing to them. His scowl had not changed.

"Yeah," Ron agreed, "It's sickening. Just imagine, in the future, there'll be kids that look like the two of them."

"What?" Harry gasped. "It's disgusting because she's so desperate. It's obvious he is not interested in her. Isn't it?"

Hermione watched Harry thoughtfully as he looked across the Great Hall again. The look on his face was no longer one of disgust, but of slight panic, as if he was desperately in need of reassurance. Hermione just was not sure what he needed reassurance of.

She looked over at Malfoy just in time for him to catch Harry's eye. Hermione watched as something flickered across his features. It wasn't obvious, and it was gone almost immediately. Pansy kept talking, and Blaise kept eating without noticing anything.

It was, however, significant. It was something she'd never seen Malfoy express - a sort of warmth and caring that Malfoy had never seemed capable of before. As soon as Harry caught the look, the panic receded from his face, and he let out a barely perceptible sigh. Hermione stifled a grin. She knew what was going on.

"Of course, it's obvious," she said, turning her gaze back to Harry. "He can do much better. Though, I hate to say it."

She sent Harry a meaningful look and his eyes widened in shock. He started to say something, but she cut him off with a wink. He shut his mouth and nodded. She wouldn't say anything.

For the rest of breakfast, she watched both Harry and Malfoy. By the time they had to leave for classes, she was convinced she was right. Harry and Ron were walking slightly ahead of her, and she took note of the way Harry eyes followed Malfoy until he went down a different corridor. She hid a grin behind her book and managed to stop a giggle.

Ron is going to go mental, she thought.