A/N: I own nothing. All credit is to JK Rowling. This is my first fanfic, forgve me!
The retuning "seventh years" were granted leniency. They had the option to attend regular seventh year classes, or they could have advanced classes among themselves.
Some students only took the advanced classes, while others only did the minimum. Wanting to have the most options available, Hermione Granger enrolled in all the advanced classes that were available. She was going to accomplish Os on all of her NEWTs.
This is how she found herself in one of the smallest classes of the day. She was paying attention to Professor Slughorn, she honestly thought she was, but her mind was driving to her Arithmancy homework.
She was more than proficient in Arithmancy, she was just working out some equations while Slughorn droned on.
Thus, she was confused when everyone started shuffling around. Draco Malfoy came up to her. "Granger, do you mind?" He motioned with the parchment and quill in his hand.
"Excuse me?" she questioned him a little too loudly.
"Were you not paying attention to Slughorn, or are you just going to be difficult?" She gaped at him. 'What in the world is he talking about?' As she looked around, she noticed other students pairing off and sitting together.
"Oh, ah, yes. Of course I was," she snapped at him, too quickly. She felt bad for raising her voice, it wasn't his fault she had missed the instructions. He was looking at the floor, waiting for her to move, one way or the other.
"Bloody woman, will you move over or scoot your chair in?"
"Sure," she sheepishly, averting his gaze. She began to stand up to shift while he moved to go around her. They bumped into each other, causing Draco to drop his quill and parchment. She felt a zing. 'What the hell was that? Did he feel it too?' She jerked away from him. Something flashed in his eyes, but it was gone in a second, leaving her to wonder if she had seen anything at all.
"Sorry," they both quipped at the same time. As they both bent down to retrieve the items, they bumped heads.
"Oh honestly Granger! You move over, I will pick up my own items!" In the past, he would have made a comment about her filthy body coming in contact with his, but he has been subdued this year. He hadn't made any comments about her heritage, blood, or any derogatory comments about Muggles or Muggle-borns. No, the only off-handed remarks had been about her hair or choice in friends. Even those lacked any real malice. He had been keeping to himself, or with his returning Slytherins, even though all of the second year seventh years shared a common room.
This Malfoy, she didn't have a problem with. In fact, she was able to forgive him of his past transgressions. She had noticed how studious he was. She also noticed other things, like how fit he looked in his quidditch uniform, or how his disheveled hair made him look roguishly handsome. Who was she kidding? All of the girls in Hogwarts noticed that.
She haphazardly grabbed her belongings and moved to the next seat so he could take hers. "I'm embarrassed to say this, but I was not actually paying attention to Slughorn," she offered once they both were settled in their seats.
"Well we were assigned the new potion that was discovered in Snape's office, Postea Visum, we have to make it, and then report on what we saw."
"That potion takes a month to brew!" She was glad she had a competent partner, Malfoy having had higher marks than her in this one class, something that still irked her.
"Yes, so we should get started," he drawled. "Come on Granger, are you afraid that you will have problems following the instructions, or do you not want to bepartneredwithme," the end of his sentence quicky said.
"No! No, of course not….afraid, that is. I don't….. mind...Being partners that is. As long as you do your part." She wasn't worried about Draco carrying his own weight. She knew he wanted good marks. He couldn't best her in potions if he didn't do his work.
After gathering ingredients, they met back at the table. "I just wanted to apologize, you know… for everything. And to let you know that I don't think that way, about you, that is," he whispered to her.
It sent shivers down her body, the way his breath ghosted over her skin. She froze, not knowing what to say. "I...I won't say it's okay. But I will tell you that I had already forgiven you. I know there was nothing that you could have done about… about your aunt." It was still hard to talk about that day. She didn't talk to anyone about the nightmares she still had, the nightmares everyone had, but just dealt with it. Like it's a normal part of life.
His eyes, for once, weren't so guarded. "Thank you," he told her earnestly. The next several minutes passed in companionable silence. Each cutting, dicing, crushing the necessary ingredients. "You know, we might have to talk sometimes. This is going to be a long month if we continue to ignore each other."
He smirked at her, and she felt her heart flutter. Why was this happening to her, she had only felt that a couple of times before. With Victor Krum, she had felt them at the Yule Ball. She still keeps in touch with him, they have remained friends. She felt it with Ron once, when they kissed, but it didn't feel like this - which is the reason their romance never went anywhere. So why was she feeling it now, and with him? This is someone she used to hate, that used to hate her - for reasons she had no control over!
"Ah, yeah…" she started, she hasn't been this tongue tied before. Why was she acting like this around him?
"So eloquent, Granger. No matter. We will get top marks, regardless of whether we talk or not."
"Um, how is quidditch practice going?" She mentally kicked herself. She doesn't like quidditch talk, but she knew it was something he could talk about."
"It's going well. I'm afraid that the Gryffindor team needs to be worried though. We are going to beat them into the ground," he said with an air of indifference. "Not literally, just that we will win," he quickly added.
"Well, I wish you luck….Because you're going to need it!" She clumsily laughed. Oh Merlin, he was going to think her nutters!
She added some crushed lacewing flies to the potion. Draco stirred the pot in half a dozen times, counter clockwise.
"Finish up the step you are on, granted you are at a point to let it sit," Slughorn called out over the class.
"Yes, well I suppose that is it for today. Thank you for handling your portion well, Malfoy."
"No problem, Hermione," he returned. Hearing her first name slip out of his mouth was strange. Exhilarating, even. "Will you cheer for me at the match?"
"What?!" She was dumbfounded. Why would she cheer for him?
"Close your mouth, it's unbecoming. You did say good luck, so naturally, I assumed you meant it," he smugly replied.
"Well I will be cheering for Gryffindor, but I suppose I could watch for you, as well." 'Gods, I'm flirting with Draco bloody Malfoy. And he is smiling.'
Hermione was sitting next to Neville in the Gryffindor section, sporting her scarf. Up on his broom, Draco looked like a different person. Gone were any harsh lines on his face. He was grinning, a full blown grin, and he looked right at her. She could feel his eyes, returning his stare, she was frozen. He winked at her! No one else seemed to notice, but she felt her face heat up. All of the sudden, he turned and shot up, Harry must have seen it too, he took off after him. Just as Harry reached out his arm, Draco closed his fist around the snitch.
Madame Hooch sounded her whistle and the teams landed on the ground. The teams shook hands. Back in their common room after the game, everyone was having butterbeer, since they were of age, they were allowed more freedoms than the younger years. She was sitting in a chair, by the fire, thinking about Draco, of all things. 'When did I start thinking of him as Draco? Right, probably after he called me Hermione.'
Just then, the object of her fascination was before her. Just standing there, expectantly. "Can I help you, Draco?" she asked him, the question hanging in the air.
"I just wanted to tell you, it was for you. That is, I caught it for you." He stood there, waiting for a reply.
She was shocked. No one had done that for her, said that to her. "Well...Thank you?" She wasn't sure what was the correct thing to say when someone said something like that, having not had that experience before.
"Your luck gave me a little extra push, ya know," he quipped.
"Right. Well you're welcome. Um, I am going to head to bed now." She made a hasty retreat to her dorm, feeling his eyes on her, all the while.
The next day, in potions, everyone was a buzz talking about the match. Their table, however was quiet. The class passed, with few words, all being related to the potion.
The next month went by in much the same manner. However, they started to talk. They talked like friends. They both looked forward to the time spent together. The night came when they were to finish the potion. When the last of the strokes had been applied, Hermione looked up, right into Draco's eyes.
"Right then, thank you for everything. I couldn't have asked for a better partner for this potion." She held out her hand, expecting to shake his. He took his hand in hers and brushed his lips across her knuckles. She blushed. He noticed and stood up to his full height.
"I've really enjoyed being your partner," he told her as he stared into her eyes. She felt his finger come under her chin. She started to panic. "Granger, Hermione, I...Gods, why is this so difficult," he bellowed, releasing her chin. "I like you. I like how intelligent you are. I like how you bite your lip when you are thinking. I like how lost in thought you get while trying to solve a problem. I like how you support your friends, no matter how big of gits they are. I. Like. You." With this he grabbed her face and kissed her. She gasped in surprise, opening her lips. It was all the permission he needed. His tongue delved into her mouth, exploring, teasing. She returned the kiss just as eagerly, just as fervently. She had a growing need, it started to consume her, she was lost in this moment, in him.
Suddenly he pulled away. "Mostly," he smirked, "I like the way you look right now."
She stepped away from him, not believing what had just transpired. "Draco, I have to go." She turned around and sprinted back to her dorm.
When she got into bed, she noticed she was touching her lips, where Malfoy, no Draco's lips had just been. 'That was the best snog of my life,' she thought. She fell asleep to thoughts of him. Dreams of silver eyes, smiles, and kisses plagued her that night. No nightmares came though, and she was grateful for that. No longer would she see those eyes haunt her at night, watching as horrendous things happened to her, now they held intrigue and familiarity, friendship even.
The following day they are to present their potion. They go to the front of the room together. "We brewed one of Professor Snape's personal creations, Postea Visum for future sight," Draco informed the class.
"Right. With this potion, if brewed correctly, you should be able to see your future self for one minute," Hermione continued.
"Yes. Yes. Excellent. Here is a Ppensieve for you two," Slughorn set it on the table in front of them. "Well, go on with it then," he urged.
They poured a portion of their potion into the Ppensieve, watching it swirl. "Age before beauty" Draco supplied, although it was said with a twinkle in his eye.
Without further ado, Hermione immersed her head into the Ppensieve. She was in a cottage, if you could call it that, it was quite opulent. She heard murmurs of mum coming from the other room. She went to move towards the sound, but found her movements encumbered. She looked down and saw a swollen belly. She stroked it, lovingly, then began to move towards the voices.
She heard a manly laugh, followed by kids screeching in laughter. When she pushed open the door however, she wasn't prepared for the sight before her. Draco Malfoy was on the floor, rolling around, ticking two children. A girl, the older of the two, had long, curly platinum hair. The younger boy looked like a mirror image of Draco. "Mum, come quick, daddy is going to get us!" The girl pulled her away.
She looked to Draco, to find a look there she couldn't have imagined. She hoped she would see that look on someone, sometime in her life, but she could never have imagined it would have been on him. The look of pure love and adoration was startling. "Are you feeling well, love? You look peaked," he asked her.
"Fine. Um," she cleared her throat, "I'm….fine."
He moved to her, pulled her face up, leaned in, and then she was gone. She was back in the classroom, looking into those same grey eyes, searching for that look. "What did you see," he whispered.
She had a hard time getting words to form. "That is for me to know, and perhaps you to find out. Dive in, love."
Although confused by her comment, he took his turn. Once immersed, he looked around to find himself in dress robes in the Manor's gardens. All of the people around him were dressed in their finest. He heard music playing and turned to look at what everyone was staring at. Hermione began to walk towards him, the most beautiful woman, no sight, the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. When she reached him, her eyes were welled with tears, but her smile could have lit the night sky. She shakily reached out to him, the look in her eyes unmistakable. It was pure, pure love radiating from her. His eyes began to mist with the feeling blossoming in him. "Hello, love. Are you ready," she questioned him.
"I've never been more prepared," he replied. Just as they grasped hands, he was gone. Back in the room once more, he looked at Hermione and she looked at him.
What happens around the cauldron stays around the cauldron.