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A/N: Random fanfic by the wonderful Madashats and the amazing Harry Potter Rulez! (This was written whist watching ALL the Harry Potter movies!) Slightly OOC and yup.
"Go away mudblood." Draco growled. His pale hands clenched.
"Malfoy… have you been crying?" Hermione looked in surprise at her enemy's face.
"N-no. Where'd you get that idea?" His voice wavered slightly.
Hermione gestured to his red rimmed eyes. Draco rubbed them furiously.
"Hay fever. Allergies. Dust." He muttered.
"I don't believe you." Hermione looked at Draco sceptically.
"I don't need you to believe me." Draco sniffed.
"Malfoy, what's the matter?" Hermione couldn't help but feel concerned.
"Nothing. Everything," He said shortly. "Go away. Please" He added his voice pleading.
"Fine. Whatever. Just trying to be nice…" Hermione walked past him down the deserted corridor.
"Uh, Granger?" Draco called out cautiously.
Hermione spun around to face him. "Yes?"
"Thanks," He murmured softly. "For asking."
Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Um… Ok…. You're welcome."
"Yeah, well. See you around I guess." Draco said awkwardly, raising an arm in goodbye.
"Maybe." Hermione turned back and padded down the corridor again.
"Malfoy? Do you live in this corridor?"
Draco blinked surprised at the familiar voice. "No, actually. I don't. Living in a public area? That's for mu-" He stopped himself. "That's for unworthy folk."
"Nice save. So why are you just… standing… here?" Hermione glanced around. He really was just standing there, alone.
"It's a good place to just think. Its quiet and peaceful." He said.
"It's a corridor."
"Exactly. It's a corridor."
"I don't get it…" Hermione looked at Draco quizzically, her brow creasing.
"No one comes down here. Its better then the library."
Hermione nodded thoughtfully. "Guess so. Well, I have homework, so, um, bye."
"Oh, okay. Have, fun?"
Hermione smiled slightly. "Unlikely. But, um, before I go… are you Ok now, Malfoy?"
Draco chucked without humour. "I'm never OK Granger."
"Dr-Malfoy, that is a serious thing to say… Can I help you at all?" Hermione took a step towards him.
"No one can help me now, Granger. It's always been too late to help me."
"Don't say that! There's always hope!" Hermione took a very small step forwards. "You can tell me, Draco. Malfoy, I mean. Malfoy."
Draco smirked slightly as Hermione said his name. "Hope," He said scornfully. "Is for people who still believe. I stopped believing long ago, Hermione."
"Why? What made you stop?"
"People." He said, looking intently into her eyes.
"Please. I'm sure I can help! What is it, D-Draco?" Her wide brown eyes searched the silver ones.
"If it were anyone else you could have been able to help, but its too late for me. I'm sorry."
"I won't ever believe it's too late for someone. Ever." Hermione's voice was as soft as the silk ribbon holding back her hair.
"Your still untainted. You wont be saying that after.. Everything."
"Please Draco, I want to help you!" Hermione's voice was intense as she looked at him.
"Sorry." He said softly, he turned around and started to walk away.
"So am I." Hermione looked after him sadly.
Draco groaned. He held his head in his hands."I can't do this anymore." He said, despair seeping into his voice.
"Then let me help you." Hermione had walked silently to where he sat in the corridor. Again.
He couldn't look up at her. "I told you already-"
"-I don't care. I will help you." Hermione said firmly, cutting him off.
Draco shook his head. "Still going on about that are you?"
"Yes."
Draco laughed quietly. "Too late, Granger."
"Too bad, Malfoy."
"You bloody Gryffindor's. Always looking for some way to act noble."
"That's not very nice .That's not why I want to help." Hermione sighed.
"Then why? Why aren't you giving up yet?" He growled.
"I-I… because I care. I care, Draco." Hermione had a faint tinge of pink creeping onto her cheeks.
"Care. Such an emotion shouldn't be wasted on me."
"Draco…"
"Hermione…" He said wearily, rubbing his temples.
"Please." Hermione's innocent eyes looked up at him.
"Please leave me. Go run along to your boyfriends."
"Who?"
"Potter and Weasley. Who else?"
Hermione blushed: "No one… and I have no romantic feelings for them! I'm not sure Ron and I are even friends."
"Huh."
"I don't!"
Draco looked out the window. "Fine. Help me."
Hermione looked at him, as though seeing him for the first time. "I will. You just have to tell me what's upsetting you."
"I- I can't do that."
Hermione sighed. "Fine. How can I help you, then?"
"Just… Just stay with me for awhile."
Hermione nodded and stood slightly awkwardly beside him. "Ok Draco."
"Uh." They stood in awkward silence.
"How are you and Pansy?"
"Pansy?" Draco asked confused.
Hermione gave a small smirk. "Your girlfriend?"
"I don't have a girlfriend…"
"Does she know that? Hermione repressed a smile.
"Obviously not." Draco snorted, laughing slightly.
"Smooth."
"Mmm, so. You don't like Weaselbee?"
Hermione shook her head: "He had his chance. I've moved on." She suddenly blushed.
"He's an idiot."
Hermione let out a sweet tinkering laugh. "Oh, only 90% of the time!"
Draco chuckled. He lent back his blond hair falling out of his eyes.
Hermione looked confused. "Didn't realise it was that funny…"
"I was laughing at Weasley's idiocy."
"…ok."
"Yeah."
Silence set in again. It was soon broken by Hermione: "Are you gonna tell Pansy, then? Or take advantage of the situation?"
"Hopefully I wont know her in a few years."
"How come?"
"Things."
Hermione let out a loud sigh. "Whatever, Malfoy."
"Don't think I'll open up to you immediately, Granger." Draco drawled, a hint of a smile across his lips.
"Sorry Draco." Hermione blushed. She was blushing a lot tonight.
He smirked and tentatively brushed a strand of her hair off her face.
Hermione blushed scarlet. "D-Dr-Draco…"
"I have to go. Sorry." He stood up suddenly and walked briskly away.
"Draco!"
He stopped but did not turn around. His head twisted round slightly, but she could not see his face.
"What just happened? All that I mean… where do we stand?"
He said nothing and kept on walking leaving a confused Hermione behind him.
"The properties of… moonstone… are.." Hermione muttered under her breath as she wrote out the beginning of her potions essay.
There was a loud thunk of books colliding with the table and then the sound of a chair being pulled out.
"Malfoy? Fancy seeing you not in a corridor! By the way, what do you think you're doing?"
Draco looked up, his blond hair covering his eyes. "Studying." He murmured.
"Next to me?"
"No where else is free."
Hermione looked around at the surrounding tables. There were two fifth years at a table on the other side of the library. All the other tables were empty. "Um… look around."
"Fine then. If you didn't want me here you could have just said so." Draco said, packing up his stuff.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "It's fine, you can sit, Malfoy."
"If you insist." Draco smirked, unpacking his stuff.
"I don't."
"Such kind words, Granger." Draco said, sarcastically but he looked genuinely hurt.
"At least I don't ignore people." Hermione frowned.
"I don't 'ignore' people."
"Last night?"
"I just chose not to answer."
Hermione was silent and continued to write her essay.
"Hermione?"
"Oh, sorry, I just chose not to answer!" Hermione didn't look up from her work.
"Ha ha." He said dryly.
Hermione rolled her eyes, still not looking at him. "Are you going to study?"
"Well. We're in a library and I have tons of homework to do," He gestured to his books that were strewn across the table. "Yeah, I'm going to study."
"Then stop annoying me."
"I'm not annoying you. I'm talking."
"And it's annoying."
"Pfft, fine then."
Hermione stifled a giggle. No, she was angry with Malfoy, she would not laugh.
Draco smirked and starting writing.
Hermione sat in silence and wrote, but felt the pressure to yell at Malfoy mounting inside her.
"You look like your in pain." Draco said, amused.
"..."
"Your face is all scrunched up." He carried on.
Hermione tweaked the edge of her parchment, concentrating on not exploding with anger.
"And your lips are pursed.. You look like Professor McGonagall slightly…"
That was the last straw. "Stop… It… Malfoy!" With each word Hermione hit Draco's shoulder with her potions book.
"Ouch." Draco laughed.
"I'm leaving. Thank you for ruining my entire study plan! When I fail, I'll blame you!" Hermione stood up, she was angry and upset.
"You wont fail, Hermione." Draco scoffed.
Hermione packed up her books. She was annoyed, she'd had the whole day planned, and now it was broken.
"Girls." He muttered.
"Stuff you!"
"Urk, I don't like stuffing."
Hermione just gave him a look that said: 'Fail'
Draco shrugged and laughed.
Hermione frowned.
Draco raised his eyebrows.
"Idiot."
He grinned and winked. "Funny. I'm second in the class next to you."
"Top soon. Since you're making me fail!" But she looked less angry.
"Right. Your mad. I'm leaving now."
"Not mad. Well, annoyed. At you. For 'choosing not to answer'."
Draco rolled his eyes as he shoved the last of his books into his bag. "I chose not to answer because honestly I don't know were we stand."
Hermione looked at him. "You could have just said."
He shrugged. "Fine. I don't know were we stand. Happy?" He growled and stormed off.
Hermione sigh glumly. "No."
Draco limped glumly down the cold corridor. Suddenly something collided into his still tender wounds.
"Oh, sorry, wasn't looking where I was goi- Oh, hello, Malfoy. How do you feel?" Hermione looked a bit sheepish.
"Better. I guess." He shrugged.
"That's good. If it's any help, Harry feels bad."
Draco snorted. "Of course he does." He said sarcastically.
"He does. I had a go at him. He's sorry he hurt you so bad… he just has… crazy theories." Hermione looked awkward.
"He thinks I'm a Death Eater. Everyone does." Draco said bluntly.
Hermione hesitated, her heart hammering against her chest: "Are they right, Malfoy?"
"What do you think?"
"I don't know… can I chose not to answer?"
He gave her a small smile. He pulled the sleeve of his top up to reveal the ugly black tattoo adorned on his arm.
"O-Oh Dr-Draco!" Hermione suddenly wrapped him in a tight hug, as though she could cuddle the mark off him.
He stiffened and pushed her back. "I'm sorry, but we- we can't be whatever we were before"
Hermione's face saddened. "Why?"
"I think you already know why."
"No, I don't! What's wrong with being friends?"
"The Dark Lord will find out. And when he does he will kill you. You tried to help me but it was already too late, but thank you anyways Hermione."
"He'll kill anyone you're friends with? Poor Crabbe and Goyle…"
"You know what I mean. Your not Pureblood."
"So just because we are friends he'd kill me? Really? Just because I'm a mudblood?"
"Don't call your self that. Please."
"Why? Mudblood and proud. You called me mudblood for years!"
"That's before I actually really knew you. I don't want to have to watch you be tortured and killed in front of me. It would kill me."
"Why?"
"Because I love you!" Draco shouted.
"Oh." Hermione looked utterly confused.
But Draco had already hobbled off in the opposite direction. "I love you too."
"What's going on?" Hermione yelled to Tonks as they ran towards the commotion at the bottom of the astronomy tower. "Well, they say someone put a dark mark above the tower." They dashed up to the rest of the Order. They were already duelling death eaters. "What's happening?" Lupin pulled Hermione out of the way of a jinx and spoke quickly: "The Malfoy boy is up there, with a couple of others… Snape just went up… Hermione stop!" Hermione hurled herself towards the stairs and hurried up them. Behind her Lupin watched in shock, no one else had got past the jinx on the stairs apart from Snape.
Draco stood and watched wide eyed as Hermione raced up the stairs two at a time. "Draco! Don't do anything sil-" Hermione didn't finish. Bellatrix had stunned her. Draco swore colourfully. He sprinted down to were Hermione lay unconscious and scooped up her limp body. Distantly he heard Bellatrix cackle and watched his godfather raise his wand and kill Albus Dumbledore. He ran down the stair holding Hermione tightly.
"MALFOY!" He heard Harry yell.
"Potter," He panted. "I- I need your help."
"I promise you he's changed!" Hermione insisted.
"Hermione, are you sure? He's a Malfoy!"
"Must you be so doubtful? He's locked in the attic for Merlin's sake!" Hermione growled.
"Constant Vigilance!" Bellowed Mad Eye.
"Well, I think Hermione should be put in charge of Mr Malfoy." Remus stated.
Mr and Mrs Weasley nodded in agreement.
"Doesn't seem much like his father." Mr Weasley admitted.
"He tried to kill Dumbledore!" Ron exclaimed.
"He loves Hermione, Ronald. He would never try hurt her." Ginny sighed.
Harry and Ron spluttered incoherently waving their arms about.
"What in Merlins name are you on about Ginny?" Harry yelped and at the same time Ron screeched.
"HE LOVES HER?"
They heard a yell from above them. "YES, YES I DO!" Hermione went bright red but was grinning.
"So let me get this straight-" George started.
"-Malfoy is a Death Eater.." Fred continued.
"..He loves Hermione.."
"..And now he wants.."
"..to join the Order?" Concluded George.
"YES!" Madashats and Harry Potter Rulez yelled, grinning.
If you want us to continue please review or PM either of us so we know. Just cause we were afraid it would go on too much. Hope you enjoyed it J
The Hatter and Potter
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