Classes and Extra Classes - Aritmethics -- by AkatSaku
Disclaimer: The Almighty Banana would like to say that AkatSaku does not own Harry Potter, that's reserved for J.K. Rowling, and she doesn't own any of the characters either, except for minor background characters you don't recognise. These may or may not appear visibly. Though, she does pretty much own the storyline, and if she had owned Draco Malfoy, she would be sooo happy. And have sooo much better things to do than writing this fic.
"I can't believe I'm stuck here with you, Mudblood," a platinum blonde-haired boy sighed.
"The feeling is mutual," a bushy-haired brownette murmured back.
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Professor Vector had decided that Aritmethics and Draco Malfoy.. well, didn't quite match that well. Aritmethics and Hermione Granger, though, was another story. So, when Draco had finally reached rock bottom in the subject she was completely superior in, the teacher had decided that what the Slytherin needed was simply extra lessons, and who could better tutor him than a fellow classmate? This made Hermione the perfect choice, much to both students' dismay.
"So, what do you need to know?" Hermione huffed. Draco looked away arrogantly.
"You don't have to act like you're superior to me, Mudblood," he scowled. She gave him a dirty look.
"In this subject, and most other subjects, I dare say I am superior to you, Malfoy. Don't take that tone with me."
Draco gritted his teeth at her. "Let's just get this over with, okay, Mudblood? Neither of us likes this, and I have absolutely no desire to be here alone with YOU. Of all people that idiot teacher could've chosen, I got stuck with the filthiest of them all." To this, Hermione just looked away. She appeared to have a dark, yet thoughtful look in her eyes. Then, she turned back to the paper in front of her, not saying a word or even looking at him, and scribbled down some formulas and short explanations.
"Here," she said, handing him the paper violently, making it crunch slightly, still not looking at him. "Now the teacher can't say I didn't help you, and we both get to get away from each other as fast as possible. You're probably happy now, I suppose." Draco was appalled at this. He'd never seen her this fierce before.
As she stood up and started walking away, Draco suddenly reacted instictively. "No! Wait!"
Hermione stopped and turned around to face him. "What?" she asked darkly, as if expecting more insults. This gave Draco a strange feeling.. One he couldn't remember to have had before. It felt like.. shame? Was he really ashamed of insulting a Mudblood? No, the word 'mudblood' didn't fit. He didn't want to think of her as Mudblood Granger.
What? He didn't want to think of her as Mudblood Granger? What had gotten into him? He slapped himself in is thoughts, and regained control of reality.
"I'm.. I'm sorry," he managed to say. "Don't go."
Now it was Hermione's turn to be stunned. Did the ferret Malfoy just say the word 'sorry'? To her? No, impossible. She must've been hearing things. She looked at his face again, and to her astonishment, he had an almost pleading look in his gray eyes. "What?" she breathed, staring with part wonder and part silent hatred. "You want me to stay? Me, the filthy Mudblood you despise so much? Because if you're just going to insult me more, I'm leaving."
Draco stared back. "No. Please.. Just help me out. I give you my word that I won't react like that again." Upon hearing this, she snorted.
"How should I trust your word?" she asked with a glare.
He sighed, at first not sure how to respond. She was right, he had to admit to himself, he wasn't really someone she could - or should - trust. He took a deep breath, turned away, and said clearly: "You can trust me because you know that if I do react like that again and you leave, I'm going to go straight back to bottom of this class. If that happens, my dad would pretty much kill me, or at least disown me." He said the last sentence a little more silently. He still wasn't looking back at her, but he could feeling her silent gaze on his backhead. "Besides.. I suppose I have these lessons for a reason," he added quietly. "It'd be a shame to waste the time on this."
She looked at him for a while, deep in thought, and finally walked back to her chair, making so little noise that Draco barely noticed it before she dumped down on her chair with a loud sigh.
"Fine. I'm staying," she said with a sigh. "And you're right. Fighting is a waste of time, which is why I'd rather leave a mouthy brat than staying to fight with him. You're also right about the lessons - We're not here because we want to, so let's get on with this instead of wasting our time, don't you agree?" She winked. Draco gave her a hestitant smile.
"Yeah.. I suppose we better just get it over with before someone decides to pop in and find us here," he said, shooting the classroom door an unsure glance.
"We'll just continue the work. I suppose it'll take more than one of these lessons, so.. If anyone asks, we're just working on a special study project, okay?" she smiled to him. He gave a tiny smile back.
"Sure."
"What would your dad say if he found out you'd have to learn from one of the filthy Mudbloods, then?" Hermione asked, still not removing her eyes from him.
He put on a fake thoughtful look. "I suppose he'd shake my hand and give me a medal of honour, and then give me a real bear hug." Hermione giggled.
"I never knew you had humour, Malfoy," she smiled.
"You didn't?" he asked amused. "I thought you'd have spied on me enough to know." She laughed, and slapped him lightly on his arm.
"Are you implying that I'd spy on you during my precious spare time?" she asked jokingly.
"I'm not implying, Granger, I'm telling you," he said lightly.
A/N: Well, there you go. HP-fic, and already my favourite ship is shining brightly. I'll have you know, if the story idea sounds familiar, it just might be. This chapter is inspired by a great, yet discontinued, doujinshi. It is known as Foe Transfiguration, and is on TurtlesItch. Find it yourself if you're interested, because FFNet won't allow me to link it to you. (Just Google 'Foe Transfiguration'. Should work.) I will continue this fic, though; you haven't seen the end of this yet. This chapter is called Aritmethics, and here's a little sneak hint for the next chapters: There will indeed be different classes now and then. I'm not sure yet as for which subject they'll be studying on together yet, I'm considering to choose Potions or History of Magic. These will more likely be mostly one-shots, though there might be a storyline. I have yet to decide. And if you have any wishes as for future chapters - tell me! In my world, Gryffindor and Slytherin will have loads of classes together. Extra classes or not.