As the 6th years filed into their first Transfiguration class of the year, Professor McGonagall raised her wand into the air to get everyone's attention as they took their seats.
"Don't take out your books just yet," she said, craning her thin neck to make sure they were all listening. "I am splitting you into pairs." Her statement was answered with a loud mix of groans and yells of disagreement, some even muttering profanities. No one liked working with anyone other than their friends, because it meant they either had to make awkward conversation with their partner or concentrate.
"I will be calling out your pairs, and you will join your classmate in order to begin this terms topic." She cleared her throat, and began, as everyone prayed silently to themselves that they were put with someone they get along with. "Luna Lovegood, with Blaise Zabini," Luna happily left her seat and crossed the room softly towards Blaise, who was looking extremely embarrassed to have to work with someone so quirky. "Neville Longbottom, with Padma Patil. Ronald Weasley, with Hannah Abbot, Harry Potter, with Ernie McMillan, Hermione Granger, with Draco Malfoy-"
"You what? I am not working with that, that Mudblood!" Draco shouted in shock. His foul words caused Harry and Ron to spin in their step and glare warningly, daring Malfoy to repeat his words.
"Watch your tongue, Mr. Malfoy! I will not hear such language in my classroom! 10 points from Slytherin. And you will work with whoever I tell you to work with. Potter, Weasley, take your seats." She turned to see that Hermione hadn't moved, she was staring at McGonagall in utter confusion. There was no way she would pair them two together. She knew how Hermione and her two best friends had always had nothing but disagreement with the Slytherin boy. But her Professor just told her to get moving.
"But, Professor-"
"No 'buts' Miss Granger. It is about time the houses, especially Gryffindor and Slytherin, interact more. This is school, not a battle-field." Professor McGonagall continued her list of pairs, as Hermione's jaw dropped in disbelief. However, she was a Gryffindor, and McGonagall was right. The house rivalry had gone on long enough, the only problem was, and she had to work with the git she would have hated even if he was mistakenly placed in Gryffindor. But she wasn't going to let it destroy her quality of work, so she took a deep breath, left her seat and sealed her lips together tightly, holding back any bursts of anger she felt like allowing the whole class to hear. As she walked, Harry and Ron stared at her, ensuring Malfoy wasn't a prick to her as usual. But he just sat there, his elbows perched on the desk, his head facing down, held between his two hands covering his ears.
"Don't even bother." He muttered as Hermione sat down. Harry and Ron had turned their backs now, talking to their partners, yet still glancing back to check on their friend. "I am not working with you." He had pulled his arms down to rest on the desk, but he refused to look at her. But Hermione was not having this. No way. He was acting like a child, therefore she would treat him like one.
"Afraid I'll outsmart you or something?" She voiced sarcastically. He glared at her. "For goodness sakes Malfoy grow up. We may not get along but I refuse to fail anything because of you, and I'm sure you feel the same about me. Believe me when I say I don't want to be sat here anymore than you want me to be, but that's how it's happened, so suck it up like the man you seem to believe you are, and get on with it." And she turned to face her Professor, waiting for an explanation of what they would be doing.
Malfoy turned and stared at Hermione, quite surprised with her outburst. He was just about to retaliate when McGonagall started speaking again.
"Now, what you will be doing this term, in your pairs, is studying the Werewolf." She stated. However she was met with panic, and even a few screams, and shouts of "what? Are you mad?"
"Calm down!" She roared. "You will not be going anywhere near a real werewolf. What I want you to do is discover and explain the changes the human body goes through during the transformation, and explain why, in werewolf form, the victim forgets everything about being human. You will be required to make a presentation, both visual and verbal. This task will take up half of the term, as it is a very difficult area to explain, and there is much disagreement. You are also required to include references.t is important that you take this assignment seriously, for it could help you in future. Off you go." McGonagall clapped her hands, and returned to her desk.
"Brilliant!" Hermione exclaimed, forgetting Malfoy's close presence as the excitement filled her. "I've always been so interested in what actually happens to the body as it goes through that transformation, even before I knew werewolves were real." She smiled, while turning to face him, and suddenly being reminded of his existence wiped the smile from her face.
"Great," the white haired, pale boy said. "Now you can be prepared for the next full moon. Oh hang on, that must be this week, with you looking so rough." He smirked. Hermione sighed.
"It's going to take a lot more than insulting comments about my looks to break me, Malfoy, so I'd quit while your behind." She snapped. But she didn't realise she was just baiting herself.
"Whoa, someone's got their knickers in a twist. Don't take your PMS out on me." He paused as he realised exactly what he'd said. Oh this was too easy. "Wait, you have your PMS and your werewolf week at the same time? It's no wonder you're always a moody cow."
She could tell that he was loving this, but she wasn't going to make a scene, and she was most certainly not going to bring herself down to his level.
"Grow up, Malfoy." She replied calmly, "Just shut up and concentrate on the werewolf."
"I'm trying. But it keeps telling me to shut up." He laughed. Wow. He really thought he was hilarious. How pathetic. Even though he wasn't hurting her feelings, he was really hitting a nerve and she was losing her patience. Don't give him what he wants. You're smarter than that. Yes indeed she was. She shook her head, rolled her small eyes and turned to the book in front of her, Everything You Need To Know About: Werewolves.
"You amuse yourself as much as you want. When you're ready to finally do any work, you let me know and I might just do my best to help." That shut him up.
Malfoy stared at her in surprise. He really didn't know what to say to that, so he followed her actions and turned his head to the old tattered book on his desk.
The lesson did not go well. Every now and then the pair would start up their banter again, and once someone had spoken the last words of intimidation or humiliation, they would become quiet. Any strangers to their world would think this was a class of how to insult others if watching Malfoy and Hermione. She would ask questions along the lines of "how do you think we should say this," or "have you found anything you find interesting," actually trying to work, but he would always reply with blunt statements such as "you're the smart one, you figure it out." She was very surprised that she hadn't ripped all her hair out during that lesson. When the bell rang, Malfoy shot up from his chair and out of the room before she had even noticed the sound of the bell. He left his book open on the desk, and as she went to close it, she saw childish drawings along the edges of the pages, showing a girl with bushy hair and a red and gold tie hanging from her neck, whilst a tall pale boy with a green and silver tie shot water at the girl from a wand in his hand.
"Childish. Utterly pathetic. No respect at all." Hermione muttered as she closed the book and picked it up to take with her, so that she could fix the mess whilst in the common room later on. If she had caught him vandalising the book, she really would have lost it. She believed it was truly disgraceful to destroy something that could be so important. As she looked up from stuffing the books into her already full bag, Hermione saw Harry and Ron walking towards her, their faces serious and worried.
"Are you okay?" Harry asked, approaching. "We thought you were going to hex him or something."
"Bloody deserves it, you should have done it anyway." Ron blurted, watching Hermione softly, as if trying to spot any sign of upset.
"It wasn't that bad." She smiled. Then the three of them burst into laughter, making Hermione forget that she had to see the white ferret a lot in the next 6 weeks. "I'll catch up," she said, her lips falling back into a thin line curved upwards slightly, "I want to talk to McGonagall." The boys began walking away when Ron stopped, and leaned close enough that Hermione could smell spearmint toothpaste on his breath, and his eyes found hers. Her body gave a quick tremble, but she suppressed it well enough that he didn't notice.
"If Malfoy gives you any trouble, you tell me straight away, right?" He whispered. She loved Ron, but his sexism really irritated her sometimes.
"Honestly, Ron, I can take care of myself. In case you have forgotten, I did slap him once. Quite well, if I say so myself." She bragged. Ron smiled, a mischievous look in those gorgeous green eyes of his. Her heart dropped into her stomach.
"How could I forget!" He said excitedly. "It was bloody brilliant." He winked, and oh god she had to fight hard not to fall backwards, as he swept away after Harry. She really had to calm her feelings for him down. It was getting ridiculous.
She made her way over to the teacher's desk once the class had emptied, and cleared he throat as McGonagall looked up over the thin frame of her square glasses.
"Yes, Miss Granger?" she asked as she sat up straight. "What can I do for you?"
"Well, Professor," Hermione took a deep breath. She didn't want to argue with McGonagall, she was her favourite teacher. "I was just wondering, why did you pair me up with Malfoy, out of everyone? It's just, you know his opinion of me and of how strong our conflicts have become in the past. I was just wondering if there was any particular reason you did it, as it may make me feel a bit better about working with him, because honestly, I feel like hexing him every time he opens his mouth." She exhaled, bowing her head bashfully, and looked up towards her teacher.
"Miss Granger," McGonagall said, sighing. "I am afraid I am unable to tell you any more than the fact that Professor Dumbledore asked me to pair the two of you together." Hermione's head shot up. What? This was Dumbledore's doing?
"Wh..What?" She said in disbelief.
"All I can say Miss Granger, is that Mister Malfoy is going to be required to make a difficult choice very soon, and Dumbledore believes that a little of your company may steer him to make the right decision. I hope you take into account, that as much as I dislike the idea of you having to spend any time with Malfoy, I trust Dumbledore's judgement even more than my own, and you should too. He knows what he's doing, dear, and I hope you will try your best to deal with Malfoy. If it gets too much, you know where I am." McGonagall smiled as she watched Hermione nod her head and turn to walk away. She was in too much shock to speak. Dumbledore did this? Why? What was the choice Malfoy was going to have to make? This was enough of a motivator for the small girl, though, as she was indeed a Gryffindor, and curiosity always overtook. And, of course, she also trusted Dumbledore's judgement more than her own.
She made her way to her next lesson, Care of Magical Creatures, and as she stepped out into the Hogwarts grounds, the wind hitting her face in a cold snap, she allowed her mind to wander what she was going to experience in the next few weeks as she hurried down to Hagrid's Hut.
The next few days didn't allow any progress with Malfoy. Whatever she said to him, he retaliated with insults which Hermione just shrugged away. Sometimes he didn't speak at all, ignoring her like some child. Considering his age and intelligence, (because she knew, unfortunately, that he was quite clever) he was the most childish person she'd ever met. And she'd know Ron Weasley for 6 years. That's what irritated her most about boys, how pathetically childish they could be. However Hermione wasn't putting up with any of Malfoy's rubbish, so if he ignored her, she would make sure she muttered something witty and insulting about him, though loud enough for him to hear, just to make him feel that small. When told this was Dumbledore's idea, she told herself she would try to make an effort, but she felt he was deliberately trying to wind her up, and she couldn't help thinking it was hopeless. She hadn't managed to find out anything about what this decision was that he was going to have to make, and the worst thing to come from this whole situation was that they hadn't done any work. Well, she had done some preparing, but she wasn't letting Malfoy get away with not doing anything. Even Ron and Harry were ahead of them. She told Malfoy this a week after they'd been paired together, and it seemed to be the push he needed, as this was the lesson he was first civil with her.
"So how are we starting then?" He asked abruptly. This didn't surprise her at all, as this was her intention. Progress at last. Even if he did still have an attitude.
"Well, we will be starting with an introduction. I thought it should just include a summary of what the task is and how you become a werewolf and what the basics are. Is that okay?" She asked when she saw him frown.
"Don't we already know all that from year 3?" he asked, confused.
"Well, yes," Hermione replied, "but if we start with a bunch of new stuff everyone will be confused as to whether we're talking about the same thing and we don't want that because no one will listen and we will have done loads of work for no reason." This all came out in a blast of words that Hermione didn't even hear herself saying. She did that sometimes when explaining things. Her cheeks tinged a pale pink and she looked into Malfoy's eyes for a split second. He was smiling at her. She couldn't help but stare, his grey eyes had locked with her brown ones. Their connection was broken though as a thick strand of her wild hair fell into her eyes and made her blink. He snapped his head back to face the desk as if he'd been caught listening in to a private conversation, except for the fact that she was sure she'd heard him chuckle. She felt each end of her lips curling upwards into a soft smile, as she glided her eyes over his body, which was hunched over the desk, his left harm holding up his head, his right hand moving his quill softly over the parchment in front of him, as if he was drawing something. He was wearing a thin white shirt, his Slytherin tie hanging from his neck, and she could see the shape of his torso through the white fabric. She felt so peaceful watching him that she jumped in shock when he spoke.
"So when you're done staring at my ass," he mocked, "maybe you could write an introduction, as I am doing, and we can decide which ones best when we're done." He turned his head so his eyes were smirking at her from the top of his shoulder, and her cheeks turned an even darker pink.
"I wasn't staring at your backside, Malfoy," she shot, "I was simply thinking how to start the introduction." She said no more as he turned his head back with a sarcastic nod. Seriously embarrassed and panicked, she turned onto the desk and began writing her introduction.
What the hell was she doing? Malfoy asked himself once she had settled in her seat and had the back of her bushy hair facing him. Was she really staring at my ass? It should have disgusted him, but strangely he felt a small smile creeping up his face. For Merlin's sake Malfoy stop it before she sees you and asks what's so funny. What you going to say? I thought it was nice that you were looking at my ass? Why are you even thinking about this, get back to work. Focusing on the parchment in front of him, Malfoy put his quill in the ink and onto the parchment. But he couldn't think of one word to write. Instead he just let his hand move as it wanted as he fell into a daydream about him and Granger arguing. Why, he had no idea, but he enjoyed it, and he was pretty much controlling what they did and said to each other, and told himself he was practising for their next match. Twenty minutes later, he was pulled out of his daydream by her, whispering his name.
"Malfoy? Malfoy!" she said, bringing him back to earth slowly. "Have you finished?" she asked, staring down at him and pulling her parchment between them. He didn't even know the answer to her question until he looked at his own parchment and saw the exact same eyes staring back at him. Oh shit. He thought, panicking. Did I really draw them? He looked back at the real life eyes and saw them fall to his drawing. Oh god oh god oh god.
"Where's your introduction?" she asked, looking sceptically at her own eyes, however not recognising them. She probably didn't look in the mirror enough. Shame, he thought, if he was a girl with her eyes he'd spend all day in the mirror, they were gorgeous. WAIT! WHAT? WHAT ARE YOU SAYING? What the hell is wrong with you? He couldn't answer however as she had interrupted his thoughts. Again.
"Malfoy, is this all you've done all lesson? You've been drawing? You haven't written a word!" She said impatiently, still waiting for an answer.
"I couldn't concentrate," he replied. It was sort of true, he supposed. Forcing himself to daydream certain things wasn't exactly 'couldn't', it was more like 'wouldn't'. "Just, let me see yours." He said, snatching her work from her as she opened her mouth to protest, but decided against it with a sigh. After a few moments of frowning repeatedly, Malfoy threw the parchment back at her. "That was rubbish." He exclaimed sharply. Bad idea.
"What?" she said, in shock.
"It was so boring, all you said was 'we will be analysing blah blah blah,' and 'a werewolf must attack you for you to become one blah blah blah'. It's just a load of obvious rubbish, you're going to send people to sleep." Ooh, you're going to regret that. He told himself.
"Excuse me!" She was angry. Shit. How was he going to get out of this? "How DARE you tell me my work is rubbish when you haven't done anything! At least I did the work! And I bet you wouldn't be able to do any better!" She was cut off by the bell ringing for lunch, and Malfoy scooped up his parchment in his arms and flew from his seat. Saved by the bell. "I'm not done with you, Malfoy!" he heard her call after him. He made it out as far as the hall when she caught up with him. "HEY! DON'T YOU DARE WALK AWAY FROM ME WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU!" she shouted, not caring if the whole school heard. Unlike him. What would everyone say if they knew a mud blood was shouting at him, Draco Malfoy? But then again he didn't really want to retaliate from fear of making her scream at him. He turned on his heel, and stared back at her.
"What do you want? Can't get enough of me, eh, Granger?" He said smugly. He saw her pause for a second, as if she didn't believe what he'd called her. But then the anger returned.
"I don't believe you! Who the hell do you think you are? You think just because you get paired up with someone you get to slack off while they do all the work?" By this time, the weasel and Potter had emerged from the classroom and stood behind her, Weasley putting his hand on her hip and whispering something in her ear. This made Malfoy shudder. However she pushed the ginger rat away and snapped something like "get off, Ron!" and she stormed right up to Malfoy until they were only 2 feet away from each other. "You think you're so smart don't you? We were given this task a week ago, Draco, and you haven't written a damn word!" He shot up from his self-pitiful slouch at the sound of her saying his name. His first name. She'd never called him that before. No student at this school ever called him Draco. At this thought, he felt a pool of heat gather in his stomach. "What is wrong with you? Can't you hear me?" Her voice travelled back into his ears. Are you really going to take this from her? He asked himself.
"Not all of us can be know-it-all mud bloods!" he shouted. He didn't mean to say it, he actually didn't this time, but it received an answer that actually pleased him. At his words, Weasley had shot forward at Malfoy, but all he got was a push, because as Malfoy stumbled back, Granger had thrown herself in front of Weasley and pushed him, not once, but twice, with enough force to push a rocket into space.
"FOR GODRIC'S SAKE RON, STAY OUT OF THIS!" She screamed, watching him fall to the floor, staring back up at her in shock. Potter joined Weasley's side on the floor as if to try and stop him from getting murdered. Honestly, Malfoy couldn't blame them, Granger was bloody scary right now. She shot even closer to Malfoy. Their faces were inches away from each other now. Oh God, those eyes! "Grow up, Malfoy!" she growled. "You're at school now! You have to fend for yourself! You're not at home with your so called amazing family, there's no one to treat you like their precious little son who can do no wrong!" WHAT? WHAT! She had hit a nerve. Now he was angry. But he wasn't going to lose control. No way. She wasn't winning this.
"You know nothing about my family! You have no idea!" He sneered back. "Who are you to make assumptions about what goes on in my house?"
"Who are you to make assumptions about who I am because of my blood-status?" She whispered, as if she was breaking slowly. Okay. He wasn't expecting that. Draco's face dropped, eyes widening with sudden realisation, and possible self-disgust. She must have noticed this, as she took a deep breath and let out a long, tired sigh. "Oh my goodness." She said, realising she had gone too far. I'm sorry Draco. You're right, I have no place to make assumptions about your family. But you are so clever, Draco I know you are," there it was again. Her voice seemed softer now, as if she was almost trying to be affectionate with him, yet harsh at the same time. "It just irritates me that you don't use it. You don't have to be who your parents tell you to be." He broke at this. He started shaking. What the hell was going on!
"You don't understand." He whispered. "You could never understand. You don't know them, and you don't know me. So don't pretend that you do." He pulled back, but at that moment he felt cold, soft hands covering his, and the chill passed through his body like a rush of fresh winter air. She was holding his hands, and staring up at him.
"I know I don't Draco. But maybe if you helped me to, you might feel better." Her voice, his name coming from that voice. He suddenly really wanted to tell her everything. Everything he was feeling, how he felt about his family, how much pressure he felt to please them despite his own beliefs, how bloody confusing the past hour had been. But he was slowly coming back to reality and he noticed the sea of faces surrounding them. Slytherins staring wide-eyed in shock, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs stood with their hands over their mouths, whispering to one another. And the Gryffindors, all looking menacingly at Malfoy, as if he had just stabbed her or something. He felt a rush of heat explode inside him and snatched his hands away from Granger, knocking her back a few steps.
"Get off me!" He shouted. They stared at each other for a few seconds, her hands holding each other nervously, her eyes swelling as if she were about to cry. Oh no, he did that. He made those eyes cry. FOR GOD SAKES DRACO GET OUT OF THERE! He snapped out of his guilt and swept out of the hallway, down towards the dungeons where the Slytherin common room and dorms lay.
What on earth just happened? Hermione asked herself as she turned to face Ron and Harry, looking at her wide-eyed, waiting for an attack. She took a deep breath to calm herself, closed her eyes, and exhaled. When she opened her eyes, the boys were walking towards her warily.
"Hermione, are you okay?" Harry asked, trying to make eye contact, but Hermione just stared at the floor.
"I. I don't know." she replied, finally looking up at them, with a troubled look. "What just happened?" she asked, wanting to hear their point of view.
"Well, we don't know how it started, but when we left the classroom you were out here shouting at Malfoy, and then Ron tried to calm you down and you pushed him away." He paused as he looked between his two friends, as if waiting for a few words of apology, but Hermione never took her eyes off of Ron. "Then he called you, you know, and Ron and I flipped but Ron went for Malfoy and you went for him. You pushed him to the floor, Hermione."
"Yeah, but I only fell 'cos I was so shocked." Ron interrupted, defending his dignity. Hermione shot him a look that could kill. He needs to watch himself. She thought. He had annoyed her so much by throwing himself into her and Malfoy's argument. "You held his hands, Hermione. Why would you do that?" He looked more offended than he was hurt, and this angered Hermione even more. Harry seemed to notice.
"Plus you called him Draco," he said, "since when have you done that?" Hermione replied with a sigh and shook her head, lost for words of how to explain the occurrence. "What's going on with you?" he asked.
"Honestly, I think I over reacted a little. He hadn't done any work after saying he had and I suppose I just lost it. I've had a lot on my plate this week." She lied. She honestly didn't know what the hell was happening between her and Malfoy, but for some reason it scared her, even more scared than she was facing that troll at 11 years old, or even more terrified than she was when she found out that Voldemort had returned two years ago. But, strangely, it was a good kind of scared.