Disclaimer: As much as I wish I did, I do not own Harry Potter or any of J. K. Rowling's characters. I own my OC's, however, which is significantly less exciting. I am not profiting from this story. This is simply a tribute to my favorite series of all time.

This work of fanfiction is created by me. It is hosted on two different sites (see my profile for details).

This particular fanfiction is rated T for suggestive themes and allusions, occasional use of strong language, and bits of violence here and there. Nothing is very graphic at all, and the language used is typically milder in nature.

I apologize in advance for any potential spelling/grammatical/canon errors. I am usually quite good at catching these mistakes but they do occasionally slip past me. I typically fix them if I notice them.

The Perks Series

Part One of Three:

The Perks of Befriending a Malfoy

by

snapplexo (Tyler)

It's a universally known fact that kids love the end of the school day, especially when it leads to the weekend. Kids at Hogwarts were no different. The excited clamor of the fifth-year students rang down the hallways. They were all too ready to be done with school for the week; that is, except for Hermione Granger.

While she didn't exactly love all of her classes (or teachers, either, for that matter), she was studious by nature. She loved learning; she even did it in her spare time. She would read her textbooks over the summer to prepare for school. So while the weekend meant that she and her friends could kick back and relax for a while, she missed getting to attend her classes every weekday. But, there wasn't usually too much to do at Hogwarts over the weekends, really. So, Hermione often studied over weekends – when she wasn't hanging out with her friends, Harry and Ron, of course, who she noticed were in the middle of a conversation about how much they hated Professor Snape, a conversation that they had quite often.

"You know, it wouldn't be that hard to just get rid of him…what does he do around here but take points from Gryffindor, anyway?" said Ron.

Hermione decided to interject, being careful to keep her voice at a whisper. "He's a teacher, Ron, we really shouldn't be –"

THUD.

In a moment, all of Hermione's schoolbooks were scattered across the corridor, and she nearly fell over herself. She noticed that it wasn't just her things, but someone else's things were mixed in with her own. She tried to get a closer look but a voice stopped her quickly enough.

"Admiring my school supplies, are you, Granger?"

She knew the cold, drawling, sarcastic voice all too well. Malfoy.

"What, jealous that yours aren't like mine or something?" he went on, drawing the attention of multiple students who had stopped to watch the events unfold. "I guess mudbloods never really can afford stuff like this, can they?"

She turned bright red. "I could care less about your school supplies, Malfoy. I was just looking for a name."

Crabbe and Goyle quickly began to pick up Malfoy's things and hand them to him. "Pathetic," he said, taking a textbook from Goyle. "I was just teasing you, Granger. Everyone knows that it's the only sort of tease you'll ever get. . . . It's amazing, I thought nothing was nastier than a mudblood." He turned around to the group of Slytherins who had gathered around him. "The only thing nastier than a mudblood is a mudblood with an even nastier face." This caused a roar of laughter from the surrounding Slytherins. He smirked and took a step closer to Hermione. "Face it, nobody will ever care about filth like you. All people care about is the oh-so-famous Harry Potter."

"Leave Harry out of this," said Hermione, taking a step closer in turn.

"What, got a crush, Granger? I guess it could've been worse . . . it could've been your dirty, dirt-poor ginger friend there," he said, pointing to Ron, who was pursing his lips and clenching his fists. "Oh, leave Harry alone!" he said, attempting to imitate Hermione. She remained silent. "Embarrassed, are we?"

Harry put a hand on her shoulder. "Hermione, let me take care of this —"

"No," she said, shaking his hand away. She glared at Malfoy. "And I don't feel embarrassed at all. The only thing I feel is pity for you, Malfoy. At least I don't have to get daddy to buy me friends." She looked around at the Gryffindors surrounding her and smiled victoriously. "I find it rather funny how you tell me that no one will ever care for me when not even your parents care about you. They just buy you things to keep you quiet."

He raised his eyebrows and smirked. "For your information, my parents do care about me," he said. "That's why they didn't have more children, you see. They didn't want me to grow up like a Weasley . . . stupid, poor, and desperate for attention."

"I'm not desperate for attention," Ron interjected. He caught Hermione's gaze and backed away a step.

"I think you're desperate for attention, Malfoy," said Hermione. "Why else would you pick on everyone? You just want to feel like you're worth something."

"I'm worth much more than you and Weasley combined, although I guess that Weasley doesn't add much anyway. . . ." He looked around the room at all of the surrounding students. "Do you all need something? Isn't it almost dinnertime? Don't you all have something better to do?"

Slowly, all of the surrounding students left for their dormitories, except for the two trios that were facing each other, each person glaring at the other group with a fire in their eyes.

"Hey, Malfoy!" said Ron, taking a step towards Draco. "Don't you have anything better to do?"

"I did . . . until she knocked everything out of my hands, that is," said Malfoy. "Then I got distracted because Granger was being so careless."

"Don't mess with Hermione," said Ron. "You remember that time she punched you in the face? Do you want me to do the same?"

Malfoy smirked with amusement. "Go ahead; it wouldn't hurt nearly as bad as hers did," he said, causing Crabbe and Goyle to chuckle and step forward. "But since we're on the subject, would you like my friends to try a couple on you, though?"

Ron backed up and Hermione sighed, trying to be appreciative for his effort.

"C'mon, let's get out of here," said Harry, who took Hermione by the arm to leave.

Malfoy laughed. "What, scared, are we? Come back and fight like a man —"

Suddenly, he found himself up against a wall, pinned there by Hermione. "We're not scared, Malfoy. We'd never be scared of you. We just have better things to do than waste our time with you."

Crabbe and Goyle remained silent, and surprisingly enough, Malfoy did not appear to be too upset about this. They assumed that he was just distracted with trying to think of an insult that would tear her apart, but the shock and nervousness shown on his face when he turned his head to the side was more than enough to tell them that the words wouldn't come. He was staring into the furious eyes of Professor McGonagall, who had probably been watching them for some time. Hermione immediately stepped away from Malfoy, her face red with embarrassment.

"Of all the people in this school to be acting this way," said McGonagall, with more disappointment than anger in her voice. "Miss Granger? And then you. . . ." She turned to Malfoy, and her voice got sterner. "I don't know what you did to provoke Miss Granger like that, but I don't think I need to. And you all . . ." She turned to Harry, Ron, Crabbe, and Goyle, who were still stunned, standing off to the side. "I can only assume that you all were involved in some way as well. Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy, twenty points each from your respective houses. Ten points each from the others."

After a moment's silence, Hermione gained the courage to speak. "Will there be any further penalty, Professor?"

McGonagall sighed and crossed her arms. "I suppose that I'm in a generous mood today. No penalty other than the deduction of house points will be given…well, it's almost dinnertime, so get yourselves to the Great Hall as soon as you can."

They watched her as she walked out of the room. Malfoy shot Hermione a horrible glare before leaving with Crabbe and Goyle.

"I guess it could've been worse," said Ron.

Harry and Ron complained the entire way to the Great Hall about how annoying Malfoy was being (Ron claimed that his behavior should get him expelled immediately!). Hermione chose to walk just a little behind them. She tried to fight her tears. She hated getting in trouble, but she wasn't crying about that. She was seriously hurt. "Nasty mudblood . . . even nastier face . . . no one would ever care about you . . . filth . . ." She hung her head down in shame. She had never felt so down in her life. It didn't matter how much Harry and Ron told her not to worry about him. It didn't matter that he "wasn't worth it." It didn't even matter who said it to her. It was the words that hurt…

She forced back her tears, branding them as a foolish waste. He was just trying to get on her nerves. She tried to think of it as a trial of sorts. He was trying to get the better of her, but she wouldn't let him. She was better than that, she knew it…

Who was she kidding? She was crying about it. If she was really better than that she wouldn't be so upset. She could feel the tears streaming down her face. She ran past Harry and Ron towards the Gryffindor common room, where she could be in peace.

Hermione slumped down in a chair in the corner of the common room, which was thankfully empty for once. She felt more embarrassed than she ever had in her life. She tried to wipe away her tears but they just kept coming. She couldn't help it. She never felt so low, and it was all because of a few mindless words. . . .

She slammed her face into a pillow and screamed her heart out. Every day Malfoy picked on her in front of everyone. He didn't care . . . why would he? He was a heartless, cruel, evil Slytherin; nothing more and nothing less.

She tried to think of all the ways that she could get back at him, but she couldn't think of anything to save her life. . . .

She really didn't want revenge, did she? No . . . she was better than that. It was just her way of being better. She was the bigger person. She didn't have to retaliate to seem better. Now if she could only convince all the people who hated her to feel the same way . . . but, it didn't matter. She had more important things in her life. Two of them walked through the door, looking horribly nervous.

"Hermione, are you okay?" asked Harry, who sat down beside her on the couch. Ron sat on the other side of her.

"Leave me alone!" she snapped, without thinking. She started to cry harder at her outburst. "I ― I'm sorry, I didn't mean to — "

"We know you didn't," said Ron, who gently touched her shoulder and smiled. "It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

"Why are you so upset?" asked Harry, after a small silence.

Hermione wiped away her tears. She didn't want to talk about it, but she thought that it was probably best if she tried, at the very least. "It's just ― just ― I'm just so sick of Malfoy! He has to criticize everything about me and everyone expects me to sit and be quiet about it! He does it to everyone…" She sighed. "He's nothing but a spoiled, selfish, rude, demeaning, nasty, hateful — "

"I think I understand well enough already," said Harry, but not without an encouraging smile. "Just don't let him get to you, Hermione."

"But how? Everyone keeps telling me that and I don't think I'll ever understand how I'm supposed to manage to do it…"

"But you're Hermione Granger," said Ron. "You can do anything."

"Ron's right," said Harry. "You can find your way out of any mess. You're worth so much more than him. Nothing he said about you was true, remember that. You'll always have us." He looked at the clock on the wall. "Well, Hermione, do you want to go down to dinner?"

"Yes, of course," said Hermione. She prayed that it would help her forget about her little incident. She'd be at the Gryffindor table, where she could talk with her friends and just relax. She didn't have to worry about Malfoy there . . . or so she thought.