Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. It all belongs to JK Rowling.
Word Count: 1983
Challenge: Are you Crazy Enough To Do It Challenge
Prompt: 88. (AU!) Muggle School
Challenge: HSWW - Assignment #7 - History of Muggles - Task 1
Prompt: Write about a rivalry.
12th November 1999
'Not again!' Draco groaned internally as he found his rank on the mid-term exam results sheet posted on the school notice board. He had been consistently coming in second for the past three months; ever since that transfer student moved in from Australia. He checked back on the board to find that indeed, she was first once again.
"Hey Draco, my mate! Second again!" Flint wrapped an arm around the blonde's neck and dragged him down into a mock chokehold.
Draco lightly tapped on Flint's arm to signal him to release. "Yeah…" Draco coughed out.
"Well, it looks like that nerdy Australian bitch got one over you again." Draco groaned internally once again; his idiotic friends never forgot to reference her whenever their results came out. She was like an infestation he just could not get rid of.
But unfortunately he could not voice his frustrations either, because he had to maintain an appearance that he was a child prodigy, and not someone who spent many tedious hours in the library slaving off so he can keep up his standing; so he nonchalantly shrugged them off and carried on with his somewhat miserable day.
Draco stomped his feet in frustration as he noticed the sign hung up on the front door of his local library.
This library has been permanently closed by the local authorities because, Mr. Jim Cook, the owner had been caught illegally operating a drug cartel in the back storeroom. The space will be sold to the highest bidder and the books will be donated to charity.
-Cornelius Fudge, Your friendly neighborhood Mayor
"Fuck! That Cornelius bastard is up to his old bullshit again." Draco exclaimed, before he turned around and walked back home. He would have to find another library where could study; one that has all the books he needed, isn't frequented by any of his friends, and isn't a target of that arsehole of a mayor.
After nearly two days of searching every street within a five kilometer radius, Draco finally found a place that checked all of his boxes on the outside; he just hoped that it would be same inside.
He walked inside to find the library quite cozy and comfortable; the place was deserted enough to feel reasonably quiet, while it still full enough that he didn't feel completely alone. His friends never frequented the area because it was quite far; nearly two and a half kilometers away from his own home in the opposite direction of his high school.
The place seemed relatively new; which it must be because Draco didn't remember this place existing half a year ago.
This was going to be his new study haven.
The next day, Draco made his way down to the new library to begin his revision for the past few days that he missed. While it was indeed farther away than his older study place, it didn't take him as long to reach the place as it was in a much less crowded area.
Draco found a seat in the corner of the building, facing towards the rest of the room; while it wasn't as comfortable as some of the seats by the window seemed, it was cozy enough for him to get by.
Taking out his books for the day, the blonde surveyed the room, and got a shock; sitting a few tables over by the window, surrounded by a wall of books and a table full of stationary items, sat his bushy-haired rival, Hermione Granger.
He was about to shove all of his books in his bag and leave; when she turned to him and gave him a warm smile. He was frozen still in his seat as she set aside her notebooks and walked over to his table.
"Hi… Draco, right?" she asked with a huge smile donning her face.
"Y-Yeah…" Draco sputtered out. Almost instantly he regretted it; 'How could a Malfoy sputter? Preposterous!' he thought.
"I'm Hermione Granger. I don't believe we have met." She offered her hand to shake.
While he shook her hand, Draco noticed that she did not possess an Australian accent. "No… we haven't… If… you don't mind me asking, why do you have an English accent? Aren't you supposed to be Australian?"
"Oh no, I'm not a native Australian. I only lived there for a year." Hermione sat down on the chair in front of her. "For a while, my family moved around quite a lot within the UK; and last year my father got a promotion which meant we would be moving around abroad instead of within the country. We all agreed that was a little too taxing on my education so I came back to live with my aunt."
"Oh, okay. I guess this is a better alternative when you compare it to constantly switching so many education boards."
"So… what brings you here? Don't you usually frequent that library on Fifth Avenue?"
Draco was taken aback by her knowledge of his secret; he thought he had been extra careful while leaving for the place after school.
Sensing his discomfort, Hermione immediately started to explain. "I saw you studying there when I was searching a place to study. This was even before the first day I started to attend classes. Coming in a month after the start of school I desperately needed a better place to study than my cousin's old bedroom, and I found your library to be quite good; until I found out that this place was opening in a week's time. So I chose this place because my house is barely a kilometer away from here. When I found you later on, I wanted to talk to you but it seemed like nobody knew about your visits to the library; so I decided that was your secret and left it alone."
"Oh…" Draco replied. "Okay."
"So, you… you still haven't told me why you switched places. Did something happen there?" Hermione pressed on.
"Oh, yeah... The place closed down." Draco answered, a light smile gracing his face as he realized that she had kept his secret even though he hadn't threatened her to shut her mouth. "On the government notice, it said he was operating a drug cartel in the storeroom; but I know for a fact that isn't true. Jim, the owner, must've had some problem with the Mayor. Being a regular, Jim allowed me into the back room sometimes to check out the new books; I never found a single trace of any illegal substances."
Hermione listened on intently until he finished his explanation, her expression slowly morphing from a nonchalant smile to that of complete appalment at the circumstances in which Jim was arrested. "What?! How cou-"
"Granger, keep it down." Draco motioned for her to hush.
Sheepishly, Hermione checked around to see if anyone was staring at them, and then returned to the discussion; lowering her voice down to a whisper, she said "How could they do that? Isn't there a way we can help him?"
"Don't worry yourself too much; I already got him out of jail, and my dad is working stuff out with Ol' Fudge to find out what was the reason for this nonsensical arrest. He's pretty influential in the city government." Draco replied.
"Oh… That's quite nice of you to do that. With that appearance you keep up in school, I thought you might be a little less helpful than that."
"Hey, if you're in my good books, then you're worth the trouble." Draco held out his hands in front of his chest.
"I should probably get in those books then." Hermione rose up from her seat. "And speaking of books, I think we'd better get back to work. You probably have a lot to do after all of the library searching you must've done."
"Yeah." Draco replied.
A little while later, Hermione slowly approached Draco. "Hey Malfoy, I… I need some help… Do you have your math notes on Ellipses? I had to call in sick for a day and I have yet to copy those from someone."
For a second, Draco looked a little puzzled and even a little happy that person he thought could do no wrong, was asking him for help. But then he remembered that she was still waiting for him to answer, so he broke out his trance and fished his bag for the notes she wanted. "Yeah, I have them."
Draco knew he was helping his rival out and this would probably widen the gap between their scores even further in the upcoming tests, but for some inexplicable reason he just couldn't bring himself to deny her.
Her bright smile and the bounce in her step as she strode back to her seat quelled any more doubts about his decision to comply.
That little interaction opened the gates for more questions to be asked, and soon Draco found himself talking to her at least a few times every day. The pair decided nearly a week afterwards, that it was quite tedious to keep moving back and forth between tables; so they sat together at the same table from then on.
The next test results were posted on the notice board during one of their breaks in between classes, and Draco was thoroughly surprised to find his name at the top of the sheet, above his bushy-haired study partner. Still maintaining his poker face, even though he was much happier on the inside, Draco turned to his left to see Hermione staring at the top of the sheet with a dejected look on her face. It only lasted for a few seconds before it disappeared, but it definitely registered in Draco's brain.
But before he could approach her, a familiar arm wrapped around Draco's neck. "Hey Draco, my mate! You really beat that nerdy bitch this time!"
Draco instantly notice the change in Hermione's expression as it turned from a sad smile to one of absolute horror. She turned away from him and ran down the hallway.
The blonde pushed Flint's hand off and chased after her, catching up to her as she exited from the building. He grabbed her arm and dragged her off to the side so they could talk in relative privacy. "Hermione… I didn't… he… Flint's an arse. Hermione, believe me when I say I do not think you are a nerdy bitch."
"But he-" she started.
"I know. I once did, but not anymore. The only reason I scored that high is thanks to you; you challenge me to do better, just as I do to you. I scored a 492 and you scored a 491, and both of those are better than our previous scores of 483 and 485. Our cores are this high despite the paper being tougher than last time." Draco held her by her shoulders so she wouldn't run away as he explained to her.
"Yeah."
"Hermione, I think of you as my rival; and you push me to do better just as I do you. So what I want to see is you to beat me again next time, even though I try my very best to not let that happen. We'll help each other out all through the time before the test, and then we'll let it all out on the battlefield. Is that alright?" Draco looked down hopefully at Hermione.
After nearly a minute of silent contemplation, Hermione turned her head up to Draco with a smile. "Yeah, that's alright."
"Alright, rival! I'll see you at the library today evening." Draco gave her a pat on the back and then walked back to the school building for his next class.
Hermione watched on as he disappeared behind glass door. She recognized the familiar flutter of her heart; her grades definitely weren't the reason for her displeasure with her now rival.
How was it? I think Draco turned out a little more OOC than I wanted him to, but it's an AU so who cares.
Please let me know what you think in a review. I really appreciate those.