Hogwarts rose out of the horizon as Hermione stared out of the carriage window. Everything had changed so much in her life, but the castle still looked the same as it always had. She sighed. What were you expecting Mione? Life moves on. Get a grip.
Harry and Ron pushed into the carriage, their faces grim. ''He's here, Mione.''
''So it worked? They managed to get him back without that much fuss?'' She asked, staring up at them with wide eyes.
''Yeah, and he's wandering around like he owns the place, as per bloody usual.'' Ron spat. ''I mean, I know that he has to be here, but honestly…''
Before Hermione could answer him, the door opened and a smirking face glared in at them. Speak of the devil and he'll appear Hermione thought, wishing that she could rip every single one of his blonde hairs off his head.
''Weasel. Potty. Mudblood.'' Malfoy mock-bowed to each of them in turn, smirking all the while. ''Didn't think that you lot would be coming back now that your precious Dumbledore's dead.''
Hermione stared at the hateful smirk on his face. Doesn't he realise that everyone is gossiping about him? Saying that he's a Deatheater and that he was the one who killed Dumbledore! Suddenly she realised that her two friends had leapt to their feet, pulling out their wands but the door had already slammed shut and Malfoy was gone. Ron shoved his wand back into the pocket of his robes, and inhaled deeply.
Harry sighed as well. ''I honestly never thought that I would be letting Malfoy wander away from me after what he did.''
Hermione grimaced. ''Harry, we have to put up with him. We'll get him in the end, don't worry about it.'' Harry looked at her and had to smile. She seemed absolutely tiny now that he and Ron had grown so much, almost fragile. But everything that she said rang with such certainty that it was easy to overlook her small stature and believe her. She pushed her hair back and wrinkled her small nose as she looked in the direction that Malfoy had disappeared. ''Just think about it, we have all the advantages. He'll be swaggering around like the same old ferret, thinking he's gotten away with everything, and then we can swoop in and destroy him.''
While it was horrible in the short term, the boys had to agree with her. The Ministry of Magic had agreed to temporarily overlook Malfoy's crime, not (for once) because of his family connections, but because the Order of the Phoenix had asked them to. It was true that they had the names of many of the old Deatheaters, but Voldemort was constantly recruiting new blood, and Malfoy could easily get careless and lead them to the meeting places. The old crowd were aware of how crafty the Ministry could be, but a new Deatheater, possibly not too keen on the idea of being one of Voldemort's elite could easily be manipulated into being an unaware informer. The deal had been that the Golden Trio would keep an eye on Malfoy while he was at Hogwarts and informs the Order when he left the grounds, at which point the Order would take over. Harry, Ron and Hermione could carry on with their studies and leave school much more prepared for the challenges ahead. After all, the Horcruxes had been there for so long, a little longer surely wouldn't make that much of a difference, and Harry had been told that he could change his plans if things got significantly worse. If they didn't, then why shouldn't he gain something in the way of knowledge? With this in mind, he had postponed going to find the other Horcruxes, although he was still determined to carry on researching any leads while he had the use of the library.
Malfoy, of course, had an entirely different agenda. He and his family had assumed that the only reason that he was being allowed to go back to Hogwarts was because of his father's importance. Malfoy was still a powerful name and obviously still available for exploitation. When the Dark Lord had called him and explained his plans, Draco had quickly agreed. A minimum of pain and a lot of gain was all that he could see ahead of him. He hadn't particularly wanted to be a Deatheater – he was only seventeen at the time after all – but now that he was, it seemed essential to keep on the good side of his Lord, especially after the debacle that had been Dumbledore's death.
As he strutted up the corridor of the train, his robes swishing behind him, he winked at a pretty Ravenclaw and smiled to himself as a blush crept out of the neck of her robes and onto her cheeks. He knew that there were already a few rumours about him, but he was under no illusions and knew that his status as a sex symbol was rocketing. And let's face it Draco, he thought to himself, it was pretty high to start with. I guess the only thing better than a hero is a villain.
When the train arrived in the station, Hermione peeled away from her two closest friends and moved swiftly towards the anxious crowd of First Years that were looking around with wide eyes. She smiled at Hagrid and began marshalling the children towards the boats. They stared at her Gryffindor badge and tie, and began whispering among themselves, about what houses they wanted to be put into. She smiled wistfully, remembering her hopes when she had arrived, saying that she wanted to be in Gryffindor because that was where Dumbledore had been, but Ravenclaw wouldn't be that bad.
''What are you grinning for Mudblood?'' The last voice in the world that she had wanted to hear floated through the air and hit her eardrum with all the subtlety of a giant on Pepper Up Potion.
Making sure that all of the boats were out of hearing range, Hermione spun around, her eyes flashing dangerously. ''I'd like to point out that if you're meant to be the dizzy height that I'm meant to be aspiring to, I'm happy with my 'dirty blood'. As far as I'm concerned, you're the one in the gutter, rather than me!''
''How dare you, you filthy little…''
''Filthy little what? Go on Malfoy; finish it! It won't be anything that I haven't heard before will it, given that you've been calling me a Mudblood since we were twelve? You honestly think that I still care?''
Malfoy drew himself up to his full height, his six foot two towering over her five foot six. He thought about cursing her for a minute, but reconsidered quickly. He was meant to be getting on her good side, not into a fight. Staring down at her, he looked at her determined and angry face and suddenly grinned.
Don't hit him…rise above it…ignore the stupid ferret. Just walk over to the carriage and get in. Try to get the carriage to go without him in it. Letting out a muted noise of rage, Hermione turned on her heel and stalked over to the carriage, yanking the door open and slamming it behind her.
Draco shook his head and followed her, pulling the door open and getting in just as the Thestrals began to move away. Flopping in the seat, he stared rudely at Hermione. Not that she noticed, as she was staring determinedly out of the window at the slowly passing scenery.
It cannot be right that this journey is taking so long. Come on, please hurry up, please, she silently begged. How infuriating that the pair of them were to be Head Boy and Girl! She knew that she would have got it anyway, it was what she had been working towards, but he had only got it so that someone could keep close tabs on him. There was the Marauders' Map of course, but the Order had decided that you couldn't beat the good old-fashioned personal touch.
The personal touch was just what Malfoy was thinking about at that moment. Looking at Hermione's profile, he thought how she could possibly, maybe, conceivably be considered rather attractive. She had obviously worked out how to tame her hair, and now it was actually a glossy, light brown colour rather than just a mass of frizz. Her eyelashes were enormous in profile, and rested beautifully on her cheekbones when she blinked. Letting his eyes drop slightly lower, Draco smirked, raised an eyebrow and looked out of his window. Nice. Very nice indeed.
Hermione barely waited for the carriage to stop moving before she opened the door and jumped out. Professor McGonagall was standing at the entrance to the castle, and Hermione walked over to her, hearing Malfoy trudging along behind her.
''Good evening Miss Granger, Mr Malfoy.'' She nodded at both of them, and Hermione wondered if she had really seen the almost imperceptible narrowing of the headmistress' eyes when she looked at the Head Boy. ''The sorting is just about to begin, so we must proceed quickly. Here,'' she handed over a sheet of parchment ''is a list of the prefects, and the passwords for each House. I'm sure that you are familiar with what needs to be done.''
Hermione nodded, and tucked the parchment into her robes, before brushing some dust off and marching into the Hall. Slipping into the seat that Ginny had kept open for her, she watched the huge hat slipping over the eyes of ''Coopake, Angela''. Smiling around at her friends, she glanced around the hall, her eyes scanning along the teachers' table, taking in all of the familiar faces, and the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.
Eventually, the Sorting was over, and Professor McGonagall stood up to introduce the new teacher – Professor Felmer. All the girls in the roomed swooned slightly as he stood up – those cheekbones, that body, that gorgeous voice. Hermione looked at Harry and Ron, and laughed slightly as they caught her eye. Even now they would still tease her about her crush on Lockhart. Merlin, I hope that he isn't related to Malfoy. Or rather, I hope that he isn't connected to Voldemort.
Then the food appeared and Hermione began eating, laughing with her friends and trying not to think about having to share quarters with Malfoy.
Meanwhile, Harry and Ron were muttering about her.
''Ron, I'm worried about her. You know what she's like with trying to succeed at everything. How far do you think she's going to take this whole trying to get close to Malfoy thing?''
''You don't mean…''
''No, I don't think she would sleep with him or anything like that, it's just he's a Slytherin, and he isn't thick. He's going to notice if she begins to tail him or something.''
''Harry, look at him!'' Ron had glanced at the Slytherin table and immediately stiffened in anger. Malfoy was staring at Hermione, sipping idly from his goblet, with a contemplative smirk on his face. The boys glared at him and then looked at Hermione.
''Ron…she's really pretty.'' Harry sounded slightly surprised, and immediately shook his head. ''I mean, she…she…''
''I know.'' Ron shook his head as well. ''And Malfoy's looking at her as though she's a particularly tasty morsel. Harry, I swear if he lays a finger on her, I'm going to…'' Ron began ranting quietly about what he would do if Hermione's honour were in any way compromised.
''She might be able to use that in her favour though.'' Harry said quietly, and quickly explained to Ron. Malfoy now presumably had a weakness and Mione could use that to her advantage, to stop her being as vulnerable. ''We'll have to speak to her tomorrow.''
''NO! She can't go in there without being prepared!''
''Yes she can, she's a big girl. And she gets angry when we fuss over her and then she'll make a stupid mistake. She can go in there, and get the lie of the land, and then we can talk to her tomorrow. Plus if she delays in going in there, Malfoy is going to think that she's afraid of him.'' Harry said firmly.
Ron nodded reluctantly and the pair of them looked back at Hermione, giggling with Ginny as she ate a slice of cheesecake. Malfoy watched as well – the corruption of the innocent beckoned.
Hermione finally walked into the common room that she shared with Malfoy, and yawned. She had had to sort out the prefects and make sure that everything was running smoothly, seeing as Malfoy had buggered off as soon as possible. Running her hand through her curls, she rubbed at her eyes and made towards the staircase that had a Gryffindor tapestry at the bottom of it. A Slytherin snake hissed menacingly on the other set of stairs and she raised her eyebrows dismissively and began walking up the stairs.
''Hey! Granger.'' Malfoy had stood up in front of the fire.
''What?'' she spat at him.
''Now, that is not a pleasant reception for your new housemate.'' He reprimanded her laughingly.
''Malfoy, I've just had to do your job as well as mine, and I want to go to bed.''
Draco raised his eyebrows suggestively. ''Fancy some company?''
Merlin, did he actually just say what I think he said? What the hell is he going on about? Is there some ploy here that I am completely unaware of?
Her consternation must have shown on her face, and just as she opened her mouth to tell Malfoy to piss off, he smiled scornfully. ''A joke Granger. Come on, don't you know me at all?''
''Why would I want to know you?''
''Because I'm charming.'' Draco resisted telling her that he was also so far above her that she should be honoured by this attention.
''Whatever Malfoy.'' Hermione took another step up the stairs, just thinking of her pyjamas now.
''Actually, I was wondering if…'' Malfoy paused and struggled to get the hated words out of his mouth. He had been thinking about what he would say, but it was just as hard as he thought it would be. ''If you would like to tone down the hostilities?''
Hermione stopped dead in her tracks. ''What did you just say?''
''Well, seeing as we are going to be living together, I don't really want to be arguing with you all the time.''
That does actually make sense. And if we were friends, I could get really close to him. Way closer than the map ever could. But…is it really a good idea to make friends with the guy that I'm trying to destroy? Hermione frowned slightly. She wouldn't actually be friends with him, she would just be pretending until she got what she wanted.
She sighed heavily. ''I suppose that does kinda make sense.''
''I'm not talking about being best buddies or anything like that.'' Malfoy said quickly, ''just like, not threatening to hex each other, or swearing at each other and stuff.''
''I can just about handle being civil to you Malfoy, any more and I might spontaneously combust. So don't worry, your status is fine.''
He smirked. ''Well in that case, shouldn't you call me Draco?''
''Why?''
''My friends don't call me Malfoy, they call me Draco. And I'm presuming yours don't call you Granger.''
''No.''
''A little more detail. Help me out here. What do they call you?''
''Mione.'' She said without thinking. No! Don't tell him your nickname.
''Right. Mione it is.''
''No! No, call me Hermione.'' She said as quickly as she could. Great, make a big deal out of it, now he'll know how to piss you off.
''Hermione it is.'' Draco tipped an imaginary hat to her and wandered off to his room. Hermione groaned quietly and carried on up the stairs. Pushing her door open, she smiled as she saw the four-poster with the heavy red curtains, and the beautiful furniture. Stripping off her robes, she climbed into bed and went straight to sleep.
Draco had no such luck. Lying back on his bed, he stared at the fireplace and waited quietly. He wasn't disappointed. Within minutes, his father's head had appeared in the flickering fire and was coughing impatiently.
''Hello Father.'' Draco knelt down in front of the fire.
''Have you befriended the Mudblood?''
''Yes Father. I'm not going to fail this time.'' Draco could have sworn he saw a small smile of pride on Lucius' face.
''I'm glad that you appear to be putting more effort into this mission than your last. At last you are becoming a worthy Deatheater.''
''I don't want to let anyone down Father.''
''Good. The Dark Lord has exempted you from all meetings except important ones. We cannot have suspicion raised. Make sure that you maintain your contact with that filthy creature.''
''Of course.''
With a few more words, Lucius disappeared and Draco collapsed back onto his bed. Was it really surprising that he wasn't keen to let anyone down again? The Cruciatus curse was not something that he particularly wanted to experience again, just as he quite fancied staying alive for a bit longer. He had the Dark Mark now, and whether or not he wanted to be a Deatheater, he was involved. He might as well be an enthusiastic follower and preserve his life.
And if that meant doing particularly distasteful things, fine. His life was worth more than pureblood pride. Plus, the Dark Lord had said that he wanted Hermione Granger, so Hermione Granger he would have. It had not escaped Voldemort's notice that Granger was an amazingly skilled witch, and he had determined to have this witch on his side and to use her against Potter. Draco's job was to become so friendly that she could either be willing won over, or close enough that he could drug her into submission. Either suited him, thought Draco, he'd just like to get on with it as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, Hermione slumbered on, totally unaware of the plots surrounding her. Harry and Ron tossed and turned throughout the night, both of their minds filled with worries about what Malfoy could be doing to Mione.
When morning rolled around, Hermione stretched and slid out of bed. Padding over to her en suite, she began running a bath. Wriggling her toes on the cold tiles, she smiled gratefully. One of her worst nightmares had been sharing a bathroom with Malfoy and him somehow walking in on her. Slithering into the hot water, she began washing herself, and then lay back. Now that she was awake, she wasn't sure that she hadn't dreamt last night's bizarre exchange. Had Malfoy really asked to be her friend? It wasn't something that she could ever picture him doing, and more to the point, something that she could ever see herself agreeing to.
And yet she had agreed to call Malfoy by his first name. Shaking her head, she got out of the bath and set about getting ready. After dressing, she looked at herself in the mirror, smoothed her hair down and pushed a tiny red hair band into it, to keep it out of her eyes. Gently brushing some mascara onto her eyelashes and smoothing some balm onto her lips, she deemed herself ready and picked up her bag. She didn't see the point in covering herself in foundation and powder when it was just a normal day at school. Plus, Draco might think that she was making the effort for him.
Clattering down the stairs in her small flat pumps, she made for the exit, only to hear Malfoy following her.
''Morning Hermione.''
Oh shit. I didn't dream it.
''Good morning…Draco.''
''Sleep well?''
''Er…yes thanks. You?'' Could this be any more stilted?
''Ok. I'm gonna give you some time to go down first, because I don't think that anyone is going to be too receptive to us being friendly. You know what I mean?''
''Yeah.'' Raising a hand in farewell, Hermione left the room and hurried down to the Great Hall. Dropping into the seat between Ron and Harry, she began buttering a slice of toast. The boys looked at her and raised their eyebrows questioningly.
''He wants us to be friends.'' She blurted out, taking a huge mouthful of toast. I hope that they don't think I made the wrong choice.
''Seriously? Mione, what did you say?''
''I said yes. But I'm not really going to be his friend – it just gives me a chance to get closer to him.''
''Great, but Ron and I need to tell you something.'' Harry glanced quickly at his friend, but Ron was staring at his plate, obviously determined that Harry should tell Mione. ''Yesterday, during the feast, Ron and I were looking at Malfoy and he was staring at you Mione.''
''Like…staring at you!'' Ron blurted out.
''Oh.'' Hermione said, and drew her eyebrows together. ''As in an evil stare?''
''Yes.'' Ron told her determinedly.
''More like a lustful kind of stare.'' Harry told her, watching her nose wrinkle up in distaste.
''Disgusting. Well, I'll make sure I keep a safe distance then.'' Hermione told them, and turned back to her toast, pouring herself some pumpkin juice as she did so.
''That's it?'' Ron asked. ''You aren't going to kick up a big fuss?''
''Why would I? The only thing that I'm interested in about Malfoy is how quickly we can catch him and all his vile friends. If he does have a crush on me, which I doubt by the way, then that's up to him, but I certainly won't be reciprocating.''
''Good.'' Ron smiled slightly and changed the subject. Hermione smiled to herself. She wasn't entirely sure whether Ron thought he was her older brother or a love interest but his attention was quite flattering nonetheless. Harry smiled into his porridge as well. His friend was utterly besotted with Hermione, and he couldn't really blame him. Even with her hair pulled off her face and the rather shapeless robes, she was glowing. It looked like there was nothing that she could not achieve, and she was relishing every challenge coming her way, even if it did mean dealing with Malfoy.
Malfoy glanced across the room and saw Granger chatting away. Throwing back her hair to laugh, her hair cascaded down her back in glossy curls. Draco felt a small twinge. Things could definitely be a lot worse. Imagine if I had to flirt with someone like Bulstrode. At least Granger has some semblance of femininity. He watched as she picked up her bag and the huge textbook that had been sitting on the table next to her. Clutching it to her chest, she made her way out of the Hall, presumably to the Potions class that they had together. Grabbing his stuff, Draco followed her as quietly as he could, not wanting to draw the attention of the Boy-Who-Wouldn't-Die and his minions. He could hear small feet pattering away down the corridor, and he picked up his pace slightly to catch up with her.
Hermione slowed slightly, intending to get a hairbrush out of her bag (the fight against frizz never ends), and cursed under her breath as she only succeeded in knocking a huge sheaf of paper onto the floor. Stooping down, she began gathering up the sheets, and then turned around to find herself staring at Malfoy's chest. And smelling the rather nice aftershave…Down Hermione! Calm down!
To her surprise, he was holding out a couple of sheets that must have drifted further off down the corridor. Reaching out cautiously (let's face it, she thought it would be completely like him to snatch them away and set fire to them) she took them off him and stuffed them back into her bag. ''Thanks.'' She smiled half-heartedly, and then stopped. What the hell am I meant to do now? I can't be self-deprecating because he would only join in. I can't start up a conversation because my tongue seems to be like a lump of lead in my mouth. I can't walk away because that would be incredibly rude, and we're meant to be friends now. What?
''Don't worry about it, I'm always dropping things.'' He told her, without any kind of snide overtone in his voice.
''Really? I can't see you doing that.''
''I know I'm above most mere mortals Hermione, but I do have my lapses.''
''So conceited.'' Hermione rolled her eyes jokily.
''Nope, I just have good awareness of self.''
''For which read vanity.''
Don't respond to her, she thinks this is banter. Don't tell her that you wouldn't expect a Mudblood to understand. Come on, be self-deprecating, I'm sure she'll go for that. ''Yeah, well, it's got me this far hasn't it?'' Not quite deprecating, but pretty good considering.
''Suppose so.'' Hermione didn't have the energy for this. He could be as vain as he liked, she would be the one on top in the end.
''You should have a little more awareness of self I think.''
''What? Me?'' Hermione let out a nervous bark of laughter and set off down the corridor again. ''Anyway, I thought we weren't meant to be in public together? Someone might see us.''
''Ah well. They'll just assume that I'm getting the better of you in an argument. Again.''
''Hardly. Although I suppose I could punch you. Again.'' Hermione smirked at him.
''You stole my trademark!'' I'll get you back for that. And for the punch.
Oh Merlin. What the hell do you say to that?
''You're starting to notice things, and I'm smirking. We're going to be switching places before long.''
''I hope not.'' Draco looked up the corridor and saw the Boy Wonder coming. What a fantastic opportunity to piss him off. Too good to be passed up I would say. ''Hermione,'' he whispered ''have you told them about our agreement?'' She shook her head quickly, maybe too quickly under the circumstances, but he didn't stop to think about it. ''Don't take anything I say or do too seriously, ok?''
Before she could say anything, Malfoy had slung his arm around her shoulders, and pulled her in closer to his body. With her hands full of books, Hermione couldn't do anything quickly enough to stop Ron and Harry noticing.
''Will you get the fuck off me?'' she hissed as she tried to rearrange her books to give herself a free hand.
''I can see why you kept her around for so long Potter.'' Malfoy shouted. Hermione began to flush, and heaved herself away from his side.
''Shut the hell up!'' she hissed again, and moved towards the classroom, halted by his next words.
''I mean, who would have thought that one Mudblood slut could keep a bed so warm?'' he drawled, his smirk lighting up his face.
''Malfoy, you want to shut your face right now.'' Ron began, drawing his wand out of his pocket. But Hermione had already dropped her textbook and slapped Malfoy around the back of the head.
''How dare you speak about me like that?''
''Ow! Fucking hell, what did you do that for?''
''I am not a slut! You should be grateful that I didn't slap you with my textbook!'' Picking up said textbook, Hermione turned her back on the three of them and walked into the classroom, hearing the rest of her class coming, and having no desire to have that argument in front of them.
Halfway through the lesson, Hermione was disturbed from Professor Slughorn's lecture when a small paper aeroplane glided in to a perfect landing in front of her and unfolded itself to show a small note.
How pissed of are you at me, on a scale of one to ten? D.
Eleven.
Oh, come on. I was only joking.
I'm splitting my sides on the inside. I would laugh if I wasn't afraid that my head would fall off.
I didn't mean anything by it.
Then why say it?
That's a bloody good question.
Then answer it.
Malfoy scratched his head and looked at her, where she was staring at the teacher with rapt attention. Why exactly had he done it? To score points off Wonder Boy. But he didn't really need Hermione to do that.
I did it because I'm an immature prick.
Well that's true.
I wanted to make Potter jealous and you were the easiest option at the time.
Hermione looked at the paper in front of her, his blocky handwriting contrasting dramatically with her small neat script. I'm meant to be friends with him, and that is certainly an opportunity for banter. Is it completely out of order for me to use it?
Deciding not, Hermione quickly scribbled an answer, and threw the plane back. Watching Malfoy out of the corner of her eye, she felt a small jolt of pride as she watched his eyes widen and a small smile play around the corners of his mouth.
Draco looked at the page in front of him: I'm never an easy option Draco. In any way. He could practically picture the devilish wink that he was sure would go with that statement.
Are you completely sure about that?
Why would I not be?
Well, it just doesn't seem very in character for the sort of person that you are?
Draco, you know virtually nothing about me. How on earth could you presume that something like that is out of character for me?
Bearing this supposedly new part of your character in mind, I would love to get to know you better.
What did you have in mind?
A drink in the Common Room this evening.
Hmm….
It'll be fun. Firelight, fire whisky, fiery company. What more do we need for a sizzling evening?
Merlin, that was awful. However, I'll take pity on you. This evening it is.
Hermione gnawed on her lip, and sent the plane back to him before she could change her mind. Now that she had hinted at some hidden aspect of her personality, what the hell was she going to wear?
