Finding The Right Side

by Katia Dashwood

Draco is confined in Spinner's End. He is in hiding from both the Ministry and the Death Eaters with his mother and Snape. At Snape's prompting, Draco contacts Hermione for help, and to his surprise she gives it. DMHG

2. Malfoys at Grimmauld Place

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the world of Harry Potter.

CHAPTER 2 - Malfoys at Grimmauld Place

McGonagall pulled Hermione aside after dinner that night.

'Remus and Arthur feel that you should be the one to tell Draco and the others that they can stay here,' she said grudgingly. 'We have already arranged to have hoax-killings at midnight. Bring them back here as soon as possible.'

'Thank you,' Hermione said, and ran out of the room to grab a cloak. She sent a short Howler on with Hedwig and Apparated when the tip of her wand glowed red.

She arrived right in the middle of the fugitives' dinner as it turned out. Draco looked flushed and Snape very annoyed about the Howler.

'Now, honestly,' Narcissa said haughtily, 'was it really necessary to scream that you would be arriving?'

'That's the only way I could get here,' Hermione said apologetically. 'I'm still working on a way to Apparate in connection with using a regular letter.' She turned to Snape. 'I'm so sorry to interrupt – 'she added hastily.

Snap cut across her. 'What's done is done,' he said, obviously peeved at having his meal disrupted. 'Why are you here so late at night, having Howlers herald your arrival so obnoxiously?'

'Professor McGonagall said that I should inform you all straight-away that you can come to Headquarters to hide, and that your pseudo-murders will be staged at midnight,' Hermione explained nervously, feeling very much as though she was back in Snape's Potions classroom. So much for the upper hand I had earlier she thought.

'I do apologise for such short notice,' she said, looking at Narcissa, who appeared more displeased with her than ever. 'I could help you pack if you like. But you can only take a few things, since the house has to look as if it hasn't been touched.'

'And just how many things do you think I really have, Hermione?' Narcissa demanded bitingly. 'When I escaped here, I took a single bag; with only three sets of robes, some toiletry items, and my jewellery.'

'I'm sure you have suffered a great deal, not living at the same level of luxury you have been used to,' Hermione said with forced politeness, though still tingeing her words with sarcasm. ; I can assure you that more clothing, at least, can be acquired for you once you are at Headquarters.'

Narcissa looked slightly mollified.

'We have roughly two and a half hours in which to get you into hiding.'

Narcissa tactfully left the room and Snape followed after her, presumably to do his own packing.

'Draco, wait,' Hermione called to him as he tried to get away.

'Aww, Granger, what do you want?' he grumbled.

'Call me Hermione,' she told him. She gave him an intimidating glare, and to save time, he gave in.

'Fine, Hermione, what do you want?' he rephrased his question.

'I'd like to set a few things straight with you,' she said, a bit of an edge to her voice. 'First of all, if I ever hear you call me or anyone else a Mudblood again, you'll regret it.'' Draco nodded.

No problem. I'm already breaking that habit.

Hermione continued, 'You will have relatively free reign over the house, but you may not go in anyone else's bedroom.'

He snorted, but nodded too. Why would I want to go in someone else's bedroom? I wouldn't even want to go into yours. Wait. Especially not yours.

'And you have to call Harry, Ron, Ginny, and I by our first names.'

'No,' Draco refused.

'They will also call you by your first name,' Hermione told him. Well, they will when I tell them to. Hermione was using the situation to her advantage, to promote unity instead of enmity.

'Fine, fine,' Draco consented, muttering rude words under his breath.

'Um, can you Apparate, even though you haven't got your licence?' she asked casually.

Draco looked slightly embarrassed. Great. She just has to ask that. 'My Apparition isn't the best,' he admitted, daring her with his eyes to make fun of him.

But Hermione juts nodded thoughtfully. 'You can Side-Along with Professor Snape or your mother, then.'

'Well, see, my mother can't Apparate under stress,' he said flatly. 'So, Snape has to take her and I'll just wing it.'

Hermione looked utterly terrified. 'You mustn't!' she said shrilly. She lowered her voice. 'You'll just have to Side-Along with me.'

'No,' Draco refused, point blank.

'Draco, you can't refuse,' Hermione snapped. 'We've got to go fast; Snape can't risk coming back for you and we can't risk you splinching yourself.'

'Thanks so much, Hermione for taking my last bit of independence away,' he said with biting sarcasm. He stormed up the stairs; past a somewhat bemused Snape.

'What is he yelling about?' Snape inquired.

'I have to take him Side-Along since you're taking his mum,' Hermione frowned. 'He said she can't Apparate under stress. I don't know why he's complaining so much. It's not as is I want to take him Side-Along any more than he wants to be taken.'

Snape paused before answering, smirking slightly. Narcissa wasn't stressed at all and could go perfectly well by herself, but he wasn't going to tell this to Hermione or Draco. He took a wicked pleasure in seeing them suffer.

'Too bad for you, then,' he said coldly. 'I assume we will be using Disillusionment charms.'

'Yes,' Hermione replied tartly.

Narcissa came down a few minutes later with her bag, Draco banging and slamming down the stairs behind her. Hermione rapped him smartly on the head with her wand to perform the Disillusionment charm when he reached the bottom of the stairs.

'Hermione! Ow!' he yelped. 'What was that for?'

'Disillusionment charm,' she told him. 'And it couldn't have hurt that much, so don't whine.' She turned to face both him and Narcissa. 'The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix is at number twelve, Grimmauld Place,' she said quietly but distinctly. 'If you're quite ready, we'll leave now.' Both Malfoys nodded, picking up their bags again.

'Er-' Draco went over to Hermione. 'How does this work?'

'Firstly, I'm sending you bag ahead of us,' she told him, tapping his bag. It disappeared. Snape did the same to his and Narcissa's bags. 'Now, hold tight to my arm,' Hermione said to Draco, offering him her left. Draco awkwardly wrapped his hand around her wrist.

He was astonished at how slender she really was.

Hermione concentrated, and they were whirling away, lungs compressed, finally arriving at the cul-de-sac near number twelve Grimmauld Place. Draco forgot to let go of Hermione's wrist. He was terrified to be out in the open after his failure to carry out Voldemort's orders.

'Where-' he left off mid sentence as he saw Headquarters grow in between numbers eleven and thirteen.

They waited for Snape and Narcissa, who arrived with a pop a second later and then Hermione led them up the steps to number twelve. She tapped her wand on the door to unlock it and they walked inside. She rapped Draco on the head again to remove the charm.

He hastily let go of her wrist as Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Mrs. Weasley came into the entryway.

Harry stared at Snape directly. He had come of age, and was determined that Snape should no longer treat him as a child. Hermione noticed Snape withdrawing his hand from the small of Narcissa's back, and, judging by Draco's expression, he had not noticed it. McGonagall now entered into view.

'Severus,' she greeted stiffly. 'Mrs. Malfoy. Draco.'

'Good evening, Professor,' Draco responded politely.

'Minerva,' Snape said cautiously. They shook hands, as if to call truce. His gaze shifted to Harry, Ron, and Ginny.

'Hello, sir,' Harry said, stepping forward.

'Potter,' Snape acknowledged. 'Thank you for sharing your house with us,' he deigned to say.

Harry looked taken aback by this extraordinary statement, and paused before answering. 'You're welcome, sir.'

Mrs. Weasley busied forward to greet Narcissa. 'I'm Molly Weasley. Narcissa, if you will come with me, I'll show you to your room,' she said kindly.

'Thank you, Molly,' Narcissa replied, looking very much resigned to the type of company she would have to keep. At least, that was how Hermione saw her expression.

'Hermione, you know where Draco's things have been sent,' Mrs. Weasley called over her shoulder. Harry, Ron, and Ginny all gave Hermione sympathetic looks as she grimly led Draco out of the entry and up the staircase. Draco's room was on the same level as Ron and Harry's rooms.

Hermione opened the door and waved her wand to light the lamps. Draco walked in past her, looking about the room.

You can come downstairs into the drawing room if you like,' she told him.

'No, thanks,' Draco shot at her.

'Well, fine. It'll be nicer without you, I'm sure,' she couldn't help retorting. 'Mrs. Weasley will do your laundry if you leave it in the hamper over there. Harry or Ron will probably wake you for breakfast. Tomorrow we are decontaminating the library and the sitting room, if there's time.'

Draco appeared put out. 'What? You mean, I have to help clean?'

'Yes,' Hermione said, rolling her eyes impatiently. 'Everyone pitches in. And you might even find it interesting. There are a whole lot of Black family heirlooms around here.'

Draco grumbled, swore, and kicked his bureau. Hermione left the room, containing her laughter until she was out of earshot.

She went down tot he drawing room, where everyone, including the adults, had congregated. Ron was absent-mindedly following Harry and Ginny's conversation about Quidditch, thinking about Luna, who had gone home from visiting them.

'So, Hermione,' Ginny said quietly so that the adults couldn't hear. 'What's Malfoy like, really? Away from school?'

'Well, all this has been a rather large blow to his ego, so he's quieter than before,' Hermione told them. 'But I really can't tell other than that. He has put up so many barriers around himself.'

Ginny looked disappointed.

'Oh, and I think it would be a good idea to get him to warm up to us, so we can see what he's like, by calling him Draco,' Hermione said.

'Aww, come on,' Ron complained, finally coming back to reality. 'We've been calling each other by surnames for years.'

'Yeah,' Harry said. 'I'm willing to let him live here, and trust that there's good in him, since he couldn't kill Dumbledore and all, but I'm not calling him Draco.'

'But, Harry, Mrs. Weasley and Lucius Malfoy call each other by first names and they hate each other,' Hermione pointed out.

'Fine,' mumbled Harry and Ron.

'Now, I'm going to bed,' Hermione told them. 'Good night.

Ginny followed suit and met up with Hermione on the stairs.

'Are you sure you don't have ulterior motives for this first name business?' Ginny inquired, giving Hermione a look.

'What!' Hermione exclaimed, unable to imagine what these motives could possibly be.

'You know, it's awfully strange that Mal-Draco chose to write to you and not to one of the boys,' Ginny continued.

'Ginevra Weasley! Are you suggesting that I've been carrying on in secret, with him!' Hermione demanded, shocked.

'More bizarre things have happened. I mean, look at Bill and Fleur, Lupin and Tonks. Ron and Luna. Madam Pince and Filch – '

'Ginny, I get the idea, but you're simply out of your mind. I would never even consider going out with Draco,' Hermione told her vehemently. Then she and Ginny noticed Draco standing in his doorway, looking at the intently. Hermione turned pink without knowing why her face was turning hot and hurried up the next flight of stairs, with Ginny following behind her, smirking.

'It wouldn't be so bad, you know,' Ginny said, as they went into Hermione's room. 'I mean, if he turned out not to be such an arrogant prat… It would be good for you, and you could help him stay loyal to the Order.'

Hermione sent her a withering glance. 'Ginny, I'm already going to face his annoying comments tomorrow after what he just overheard. I don't care how attractive he may be. He's still Draco Malfoy. He still thinks Muggleborns are filth, and that your family are a lot of blood traitors.'

'He's a blood traitor now, too,' Ginny said, suddenly smiling. 'Now if he says that, we can just throw his insults back in his face.'

'Ginny, get out,' Hermione said. 'I don't want to talk about him anymore.'

'Just want to think about him, eh?' Ginny asked saucily.

'Ha ha. Very amusing. No, I want to go to sleep now, since we've got to wake up early tomorrow,' Hermione told her flatly.

'Fine. I'll go,' Ginny said. 'Goodnight.'

'Goodnight,' Hermione replied, and shut the door.

Hermione awoke extraordinarily early the next morning and went downstairs to Harry's room after waking Ginny.

Hermione walked firmly across the room and opened the curtains.

'Wake up, Harry!' she ordered.

'No,' he grumbled, putting his glasses on nonetheless.

'Breakfast in ten minutes. You get to wake Draco,' she told him, and ran laughing out of the room, dodging the pillow he good-naturedly threw at her.

Hermione met up with Ginny and the pair of them went to help Mrs. Weasley in the kitchen with breakfast.

'That woman had better help with the cleaning,' Mrs. Weasley was muttering angrily to herself. 'We've given her protection, the least she can do is to help out a bit around the house.'

'Good morning, Molly,' Hermione said, going over to the stove to poke at the sausage pan with her wand. Mrs. Weasley flushed.

'I hope you girls don't go repeating what I was saying just now. I want you to be very polite and welcoming towards Narcissa,' she said, flustered.

'Don't worry, Mum,' Ginny comforted. 'It'll be like having Phlegm back.'

'I don't suppose we could very well get away with using the same name, though,' Hermione said, thinking of another name.

'No,' Mrs. Weasley said sharply, 'I don't want you two coming up with any nicknames for our guests.'

'I guess that rules out Ferret Boy for Draco,' Hermione said under her breath to Ginny, who grinned.

'You all are calling him Draco now?' Mrs. Weasley asked.

'To help integrate him into the Order,' Hermione explained, before Ginny could add any of her assumptions.'

Just then, Harry and Ron Apparated into the kitchen. They had got their licences a few days beforehand, on Harry's birthday.

'Morning,' Harry said to Mrs. Weasley. She smiled at him fondly when he kissed Ginny on the cheek.

Well, she ahs got them paired off. And I'm sure she has got Ron and Luna paired off, too. She took to Luna surprisingly well, considering the first time Luna visited the Burrow, she accused the Weasleys of having a Wrackspurt infestation.

Mrs. Weasley looked at Hermione in an odd sort of way.

Oh, dear. She's only got me left to match up with someone.

But Mrs. Weasley did not say anything to Hermione, and instead turned to Harry.

'Did you wake Draco?' she inquired.

'Yes. He said he's be down,' Harry told her. 'Among other things,' he muttered to Ron, Ginny, and Hermione. Draco chose that moment to enter the kitchen, so Harry didn't get to tell them exactly what had been said.

'Eggs and sausage, dear/' Mrs. Weasley asked Draco, sliding a plate in his direction as he sat down.

Dear? Weasl-Ron's mother called me 'dear?'

'Yes, please,' he replied quietly.

'Is your mother going to be joining us in the library this morning?' she continued, loading his plate with food.

'Er – I don't know. I haven't spoken to her. I don't even know which room is hers,' he answered, aware that all eyes in the room were watching him.

'I'll show you where it is later,' Mrs. Weasley said, waving her hand in the air. 'Eat up, everyone. We've got a full day ahead of us.'

'But, we're cleaning the library,' Draco said as Mrs. Weasley headed out of the kitchen. 'How can that take all day?'

Everyone exchanged amused glances.

'This is the Black mansion,' Ginny reminded him. 'There Dark Arts artefacts all over the place.'

'We aren't cleaning exactly,' Ron said.

'We're waging war on the house,' Harry told him.

'What about the House Elf?' Draco asked. 'I saw the heads on the wall – '

Harry laughed, for just then, Kreacher entered the room, muttering under his breath not so quietly.

'There's the nasty lot of blood traitors, foul Master, and that filthy Mudblood sitting down at the same table as Miss Bellatrix's nephew… Nasty little blood traitor he turned out to be, too. And Miss Narcissa! What would Miss Bellatrix say?' He seemed to realise that people could hear him.

'Kreacher, never let anyone, especially not Bellatrix, know about this,' Harry ordered.

Kreacher glared at him. 'As Master wishes,' he simpered, 'Putrid filth that Master is,' he added.

'Kreacher, go and tell Snape that breakfast is on the table,' Harry told him, more to irritate Snape than anything else. 'And then keep out of trouble.' Kreacher bowed in an irksome manner and disappeared with a crack.

'You see, Kreacher doesn't exactly do anything. He doesn't feel any loyalty to me,' Harry told Draco grimly.

'He called me a blood traitor,' Draco said, as the words finally sank into his mind.

'You did come over to the right side,' Ginny reminded him, eyes narrowing.

'But Kreacher isn't right in the head, anyway. He's always saying mean things like that. He's been taking mad orders from a portrait for far too many years,' Hermione couldn't help adding, feeling as if she had to protect Draco's feelings for a moment.

'Portrait? Whose?' Draco asked.

'Your dear great-aunt, Sirius' mum,' Harry said grimly. 'We have managed to get a permanent silencing charm on it, but we can't get it down.'

'My mum might know a spell,' Draco offered unexpectedly.

'Really?' Ron asked excitedly. 'Finally. I've been waiting for that hag to come down for ages.'

'Hag?' Draco inquired indignantly.

'Let's take him up to see it, shall we?' Harry said, stuffing his face with the rest of his eggs.

They trouped up to the portrait. Hermione removed the silencing charm after the boys pulled back the curtains.

'Filthy swine! The Mudblood and that Half Blood to whom my despicable son left this house!' Then she took notice of Draco, who was looking quite horrified. 'And the new blood traitor! If only I could blast him and his mother off – '

Harry re-silenced her and closed the curtains.

'She's barking mad,' Draco said, scandalised.

'Now you know how you always sounded at school,' Hermione said crossly, and huffed away, followed by Ginny, who shot a nasty look at Draco before doing so.

Harry and Ron left as well, chuckling at the rueful look on Draco's face.

That is what I must sound like! No wonder they all can't stand me…

Draco started heading down the stairs, but froze when he heard Hermione whispering fiercely to Ginny at the bottom of the staircase.

'I was thinking how he has changed, since he joined us and couldn't commit a murder,' Hermione hissed. 'And then, I hear that awful portrait, and all of what he has done comes flooding right back.'

'It's alright,' Ginny soothed. 'Just ignore the mean little boy.'

'I keep thinking he has changed, but I get this suspicion that his old bigotry is just looming beneath the surface, hidden because he wants sanctuary here,' Hermione added. 'I want to give him a chance to work with us, but it's so hard to trust him on a personal level.'

'Come one, let's go to the library. There may be some worthwhile books for you to keep after we throw away the bad ones,' Ginny consoled, and Draco didn't hear any more of their conversation after that point.

Draco was now a bit angry.

Hey! I came here. I lowered my pride to send her a letter.

Oh. That's what she's talking about, right there. She doesn't like me because I act as if I think I'm better than her.

He turned quickly, hearing footsteps, and saw his mother and Snape coming off the ascending set of stairs, and they were a little too close together in his opinion.

'Mother, we're helping in the library,' he said. 'And would you get that painting down?' he asked, pointing to it.

Narcissa flicked her wand at the portrait of Mrs. Black and it came crashing down off of the wall.

'Severus will help me find the library after we have eaten breakfast, dear,' Narcissa told him. 'Run along now.'

Draco stormed away, down the stairs.

She's treating me like a child again!

He found the library by following the sound of laughter and occasional snatches of singing. He stood a moment in the doorway, watching them.

Hermione and Ginny were at opposite ends of a bookcase, and were wearing protective goggles and gloves.

'Ardente love:' Hermione read off a spine, tapping it a few times with her wand before opening it. 'Potions to kindle desire in the object of your affecktshun. Solutions to help you resolve that unresolved – oh, for heaven's sake,' she scoffed, placing the book in a bin labelled SAFE.

Ginny smirked.

'What?' Hermione asked. 'You're not still on about that, are you?'

'On about what?' Ron called from the other side of the room, out of Draco's line of sight.

'Ginny just has some rather silly ideas, Ronald. You wouldn't be the slightest bit interested,' Hermione dismissed, dropping a book as she noticed Draco.

'Draco, you can work over here,' Mrs. Weasley called from her position on the other wall with Harry and Ron.

Harry and Ron grumbled.

'There are already three over here,' Ron protested.

'Oh, alright,' Mrs. Weasley said briskly. 'Draco, go over there with Hermione and Ginny.

Draco reluctantly went over to their wall, and took a place in between the two witches. 'My mother and Professor Snape will be here directly after breakfast,' he remembered to inform Mrs. Weasley. She smiled and took her next book with great enthusiasm.

What jolly good fun that will be, Hermione thought. Two Malfoys in one room at the same time. All day. And dear old Professor Snape. A day of awkward silence. And possibly injury if Harry or Ron does something stupid.

She pulled another book from the shelf. This one's binding was falling apart. After a few preliminary safeguard spells, she opened it, and then gasped. It was a false book and, inside, laid a heavy gold locket on a chain, with Slytherin's mark. Kreacher must have hidden this here. I remember seeing this locket the summer before last.

She snapped the book shut.

'Harry! Get over here, quickly,' she called anxiously.

Harry saw the look on her face and bounded across the room, followed by Ron.

Hermione handed Harry the book. 'Open it,' she told him. She, Ron, and Ginny all crowed around Harry so Draco wouldn't see.

'It was here the whole time,' Harry said grimly. He performed the tricky spell that Dumbledore's portrait had suggested when Harry visited him after the funeral. A green puff of smoke came out of the necklace and they all held their breath, trying to avoid inhaling it. But they needn't have worried, because it dissipated rather quickly and the locket cracked open.

'Well, it's gone now. Old Regulus can rest in peace,' Harry whispered. He closed the pseudo book around the locket and placed it in the bin labelled DESTROY.

Harry gave Hermione a hug. 'Thank you for finding it instead of Draco,' he told her. Then he and Ron returned to their side of the room to continue decontamination.

Hermione was still rather on edge from having found the locket Horcrux. It also made her upset that Regulus had returned to the right side and lent aid to it before his death and no body, save the Trio and Ginny, knew of his redemption.

'You alright?' Draco asked, looking at her strangely.

'Yes, fine, why do you ask?' she replied hurriedly.

'Well, you're quite pale,' he said.

'So what?' she snapped.

His face clouded over. 'Just trying to help,' he snapped back at her.

Maybe I shouldn't have snapped at him like that. He was only trying to be concerned.

But why? He's Draco

Maybe he really is trying.

She sneaked a peak at him. He was holding his wand pointed at the open book in his other hand, a look of serious concentration on his face instead of its usual arrogant mask.

He looks quite nice right now, she mused.

Wait. I can't look at him that way! She realised and went back to her own work.

Not long after that, Draco yelped in pain, yanking Hermione out of her reverie. His book had sprouted thorny tentacles and had lashed him across the face, leaving cuts and burns. Ginny stupefied the book and put it in the bin to be destroyed.

Hermione rushed over to Draco himself.

'Let me see,' she said softly, wand out, and removed her goggles. He turned his face back to her. She gingerly touched the burns. He winced.

'I can fix these,' she said, and touched her wand gently to the burns. They faded away into nothing.

'The gashes are trickier. I don't want to leave scarring,' she told him quietly. 'I'll go get Professor Snape quickly.'

'And get me some dittany,' he said. 'Thanks for healing the burns,' he added.

'You're welcome,' Hermione said. Then she Apparated directly into the kitchen.

She could see Snape's hand shooting back into his lap and Narcissa looked slightly flustered.

'Draco got attacked by a book and we thought you would be better to heal the gashes than I, to reduce scarring. Also, do you have any dittany?' she asked.

'How do you know dittany reduces scarring?' Snape asked, rising from his seat.

'From Harry, last year, sir,' she replied embarrassed. 'And Draco mentioned it just now.' Snape coloured a little at the mention of Harry'' unintentional use of Dark magic the previous year as a result of Snape's Advanced Potions textbook.

Snape disappeared with a pop.

'You couldn't heal cuts made by a book?' Narcissa asked stiffly, trying to make conversation as Hermione showed her the way to the library.

'I took care of the burns, but I thought Professor Snape would be able to heal the cuts so as to have less of a chance of scarring.'

'You care if Draco has scars all over his face or not?' Narcissa demanded, surprised.

'I don't think he's evil, Mrs. Malfoy. Everyone deserves a second chance, and I think he would prefer not having to sacrifice his looks to prove he'll help us,' Hermione replied. And I wouldn't want him to lose his looks over something as trivial as an attacking book.

Narcissa looked pleased. 'Well, thank you for your part,' she said. 'I hope I do not get attacked like that.'

Hermione suppressed a smile. 'Professor Snape would be able to take care of it,' she said.

Narcissa either did not understand, or, more likely, chose to ignore Hermione's vague reference to Narcissa's relationship with Snape, and did nothing more than murmur a 'yes.'

When they entered the library, Mrs. Weasley had returned from doing laundry and had set Snape to work with herself. Narcissa crossed the room to speak to Mrs. Weasley and Hermione went back to her own place.

'You're sadly behind,' Ginny berated her. 'Look at all I've got done,' she said, gesturing to her nearly cleared shelf.

'I'll catch up,' Hermione said, smiling back at her friend. She hummed quietly to herself, taking another book off the shelf. She cleared that shelf and started the next as Ginny started her next shelf. Draco was staying oddly silent, which Hermione saw as a foreboding sign of what he might say later, and she doubled her efforts at the task at hand.

Draco sneaked a sidelong glance at Hermione while she was examining a book.

I wonder why she helped me so quickly, and did part of the job herself. Probably that 'I am Harry Potter's best friend, I must save the world' thing.

He looked back at his shelf when Hermione put her book in one of the bins.

'Ooo, Hermione,' Ginny said some time later. 'I found another book you might like,' she told her teasingly, showing off the cover of the book, Love Potions.

'Not another one,' Hermione complained.

Ginny just raised an eyebrow and glanced significantly at Draco.

Draco, oblivious to his involvement in the matter, spoke to Hermione. 'I thought you and Ron were an item. Why all this love potions business?' he asked.

'Oh, that's all done now,' she said breezily. 'He and Luna are dating now.

Draco merely shrugged and turned back to his work, but inside his mind, the wheels were turning.

Why on earth would Ron choose Loony Lovegood over Hermione? He wondered.

Given the choice, I would definitely choose Hermi – I would choose neither. And I believe I should stop thinking to myself and get back to work at this point.