When Draco found her at the agreed time, she was slumped over a large table by the library window, with a jumble of books in front of her: Ancient Runes Made Easy, Spellman's Syllabary, a dictionary of runes, Simple Spells to Fool Muggles, The Home Life and Social Habits of British Muggles, and diagrams of how Muggles move heavy objects.
"Why do you not come to our study corner any more?" he asked, puzzled. "It seems it has been a long time since you have come to see me."
"I love the view from this window," Hermione smiled at him. "From this window, you can see the whole of Hogwarts."
Although she longed to be with him, she could not be with him all the time. Otherwise, she would be too preoccupied with her heart condition and neglect her studies. Besides, she was hiding a little secret about a Time-Turner, and if she kept studying in front of Draco, it might be exposed one day.
Draco walked to the window and glanced at the view outside: the nearby field, the distant Black Lake, the edge of the Forbidden Forest, and even a corner of the Quidditch pitch were all visible.
Hermione Granger, even when looking at the scenery, wants to know everything that happens at Hogwarts... which is quite similar to me... there is a subtle sense of control in her.
"Not a bad spot," Draco said. Amidst the scratching of her quill, he silently sat down in the chair beside her, tilting his head to scrutinise her face. "Speaking of which, with so many classes, are you really managing? Look at those dark circles under your eyes."
"Is it that obvious?" Hermione nervously picked up a silver hand mirror to examine her eye sockets. She lowered her head and said dejectedly, "I cannot help it, I have too much homework."
"Why do you not drop at least two more courses?" Draco asked, watching her move the books aside, seemingly searching for the dictionary of runes.
"I cannot do it!" She glared at him indignantly, like a cat that had been scalded. "I cannot give up any of these things!"
"You have to learn to make choices. Life is about making choices; you cannot hold onto everything, or you will lose everything. There is no such thing as perfection in this world, and no one can learn everything." Draco rested his chin on his hand, studied her flustered way of flipping through books for a while, and finally lazily picked out the dictionary for her and handed it over.
"Thank you! But I have heard that there have been students in Hogwarts history who earned twelve OWLs!" She pursed her lips, suddenly opened the dictionary, and a defiant expression appeared on her face. "I am simply following in their footsteps!"
Following in the footsteps of those who came before... that is all? Draco's lips twitched; he did not know how to evaluate that.
In Draco's memory, he had only heard of two of the Weasley children... Bill Weasley and Percy Weasley... who had earned twelve OWLs; perhaps others had done so before, but that was a long time ago.
Miss perfectionist, who knows everything.
He silently studied her profile and remembered that in her previous life, she had earned a total of ten qualifications in her OWLs: nine Outstandings and one Exceeds Expectations.
That was already quite an amazing achievement. Enough to make Lucius and Narcissa in their past lives so envious that their faces twisted, so envious that they had remembered the name, appearance, and everything about this Muggle-born girl they had always looked down on.
If Hermione were their child... and achieved such a dazzling feat... they would probably throw a huge celebration throughout the wizarding world for a month, or even a whole year.
Some children from wizarding families are lazy, complacent, and lack ambition; they are content with obtaining three or four qualifications.
A Muggle-born little witch has far greater ambition than a wizard-born child.
Having ambition is a good thing; Draco admires ambitious girls. Slytherins admire ambitious people.
"Besides, these courses are all very interesting," she stubbornly added, to show that she was not solely focused on grades or competitiveness, but had other, more important reasons.
"Interesting? Perhaps. At least you could drop Divination. I thought you did not like it, or were not interested."
Draco shrugged, glanced at the book at the bottom, Unfogging the Future, and then looked back at her profile, studying the slight shadow beneath her lower eyelashes.
"I admit I do not like Divination, and I have never believed in Professor Trelawney's nonsense. But, since others can..."
Hermione flipped through the book, a complex expression flashing across her face. She continued to scribble furiously on a piece of parchment covered in writing, muttering to herself, "I am not one to give up so easily!"
Draco frowned. Was there any girl in the world more stubborn than Hermione Granger?
If others can do it, why can I not?
Draco guessed that the second half of her sentence was something like this.
Hermione Granger, never gives up.
He admires people who never give up.
She looks quite pretty with her lips pursed. Her focused and serious expression is also quite captivating.
But does she not get tired?
If this continues, will her delicate and lovely neck suddenly break from twenty-four hours of academic study with her head bowed?
Spare it, Hermione, what deep-seated grudge could you possibly have against your own cervical spine?