Disclaimer: Harry Potter and it's rightful characters belong JK Rowling.

"Granger, wait!"

"Bugger off, Malfoy." Hermione Granger said dismissively, navigating her way through the crowded corridor. Hermione had an important conference she wanted to be early for and she had no time for a little chat. These days, the ministry wasn't the best place for a private conversation, especially not one with her least favorite co-worker. Draco pressed his lips into a thin line and rolled his eyes, clearly anxious to say something to her. Seeing she wasn't about to slow down, as a last resort he grabbed her roughly by the upper arm and forced her into an empty office. Hermione stumbled, whipping around to face him with a vicious glare set on her face.

"Ugh! Malfoy! What in Merlin's name do you – "

"Will you stop scuttling around for two minutes and just listen to me?" demanded Draco sharply. "The meeting with my mother today –"

"Malfoy, honestly!" she interrupted, "We've already talked about this. Like I said yesterday, just because she's related to you does not mean I will treat her like rubbish. But if your father were here I couldn't say the same."

He looked at her with hard eyes. "Don't you dare start on about my father," he sneered.

She hesitated, not knowing if he was being sincere or just trying to goad her into another argument, but after all these years she new it would feel so good to finally tell Draco off – to reinforce what he already knew. "After all the horrible things Lucius has done it's a wonder he's not back in Azkaban." She went on, her voice getting stronger as her passion revealed itself, "I say he deserves what's happening to him! Finally, he's getting what's been coming to him! All the people he hurt, all the filthy lies he told and all the bribes – maybe now he can finally feel what it's like to be below others –"

"Enough!" Draco snarled, his bark echoed off the stone walls. Traffic halted for a moment outside the door but he didn't worry. Not one of those people out there would dare question him, not if his family could wipe theirs off the face of the earth. His tone was hushed but livid, "Where do you get off calling my father filthy, mudblood?" She visibly flinched when the word was said. It had been so long since she had been called that.

Without her realizing it he had backed her into the wooden paneled wall. All the while she was spitting her outbursts at him like a wildcat he had been advancing on her, towering over her. She thought she had lost her will to fight completely until a little spark of retaliation alit in her breast. Trying to stand stronger before the taller man, she raised herself to her full height, refusing to back down.

"I 'get off' calling him filthy because he is the most despicable person I have ever had the misfortune of meeting in my entire life." Hermione hissed with as much vehemence she could manage, "You and your mother both know how dreadful he is so don't you dare try to tell me otherwise."

She thought it likely she would be smacked for her rudeness, especially if directed to him, and for an instant she thought he was going to do it. His rage building up in him, pulling his muscles in his jaw taut as a drum, she was ready for anything he could throw at her. He was close enough for her to smell his after shave, feel his breath on her face. Adrenaline raced through her blood, heightening her senses. But, almost to her disappointment, he turned away. When he had walked a few feet from her, she could see the stress on his face. She almost regretted what she had said. Not because of the things she said about Lucius but because she could tell Draco was already filled with anxiety. The last few days had been wearing on him like sandpaper and she could see the darkness beneath his eyes. He sighed heavily, the fight leaving both of them almost instantly.

"I don't ever want to hear you speak about my father like that again," he said. His voice was calm but held authority, "You hear me, Granger? Especially not in front of my mother, I don't think she could handle it right now.

Alright?" He waited for her response.

"Okay." She said in a subdued tone.

She wanted more than anything to tell him that she was sorry and that she didn't mean to make things worse than they already were for him. But she new that because of who they were she couldn't: Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy never said sorry and never reconciled differences. Gryffindors and Slytherins still don't get along even after all these years. "Old habits die hard" was the only way she could describe it and the unspoken rules had to be followed. They could agree to disagree but they could never be friends, or at least, they weren't supposed to be.

Draco ran his hands through his hair and nodded in agreement. There was a silence between them. Hermione remembered she had somewhere to be. Trying to make an excuse to leave, Hermione attempted to sound flippant but instead sounded weary like a child reprimanded by her father, "So… Are we done here?"

Draco had a far away look in his eyes. He ignored her question and said distractedly, "What do you think will happen to him?" He crossed his arms.

"I have to be going, Malfoy. I'll talk to you after the meeting--"

"No, Granger, what's going to happen to him? Is he going back to Azkaban?"

"What?!" She cried, "Do you honestly think the Ministry is going to lock him up just because he's been bitten by a werewolf?" His jaw slackened. She was being blunt but she felt she had to be. "You really are thick sometimes."

"Werewolves are vicious animals!" He looked dumbfounded and angry, "Surely the Ministry can't just — set him free on the public."

"Your father was already a vicious animal, Malfoy." She stated matter-of-factly but he shot her a weary look. "Alright, I'll stop." She sounded annoyed and looked at her toes. "Besides, you remember Remus Lupin. By proving that he wasn't a threat to the community he was allowed to get a job. And a job with children, at that!" Hermione smiled at the memory of Remus happily teaching at Hogwarts. "Dumbledore was very generous to him. If anything, I hope this experience opens your eyes a peek. Lycanthropes are wizards, too."

Draco hushed at that.

"Perhaps… Perhaps if your father tries to make up for the things he did others will be generous to him also, though it'll be nearly impossible to find anyone as apt to forgiveness now that Dumbledore is gone."

He remained silent. Hermione knew what he was thinking. He was thinking that it's going to be impossible for his father to change into someone worth forgiving and he was probably thinking about Fenrir Greyback. Hermione suddenly felt unimaginable pity towards Draco and his family. The Malfoys had a dark past that had already proven to be very hard to escape from and now they had this! Hermione knew that the wizarding society was tough on werewolves and other 'cursed' individuals. She wished she could help but at the same time she wished she could let them burn in the irony. They were the Malfoys for Merlin's sake! If anyone deserved something like this, it was them.

"Malfoy, I really have to leave now," She started regretfully, "I know you wouldn't want me to be late for the meeting."

Draco nodded vaguely, feeling behind him for a chair and then plopping into it. He looked shocked and devastated but also dreamy and disconnected. He frowned a bit and cleared his throat, opened his mouth to say something but didn't. It was as though he didn't know what to do.

Hermione wanted to comfort him but she didn't know how. "Don't worry, he'll still be your same old dad in the end, now wont he?" She offered lamely. Hermione really had to work on her people-skills. Didn't she have a book on that somewhere?

He still wouldn't look at her. "Yeah, Granger, just get the hell out of here," Draco mumbled.

Hermione made a frustrated sound; her face was one of disbelief. "I don't have time for this!" She hissed at him feeling betrayed. Hadn't he wanted to talk to her in the first place? She tried her best to help him and apparently it wasn't enough. It was never enough. Turning on her heel, she left him sitting there, depressed and pathetic. The last thing he saw was a flash of her fluttering robe disappear around the door frame.

Hey, guys! I re-wrote this chapter. When I posted chapter two I realized that the first one sucked balls and I finally decided I should do something about it. For those of you that read the first version, you may notice that this one is much more calm. It's also about a page and a half longer. I hope this one is better than the last!

Please review before you leave.