"He's using you, Hermione!" Ron said dismissively after Hermione had confided in him and Harry "you think so, don't you Harry?"
"I dunno" said Harry "I never thought I'd say this, but Malfoy really does seem to have changed recently. We can't carry on hating him, I suppose, he's in the Order now. Nevertheless, it might not be a good idea for you to tutor him, Hermione"
"It's not exactly tutoring" said Hermione "I'm just helping him with his homework" she paused "I feel sort of sorry for him, to be truthful. He hasn't even got Crabbe and Goyle anymore"
"Not that they were much use in the first place" said Ron, muttering the password to Gryffindor tower and climbing through the portrait hole. Harry disappeared into the dormitory, looking more tired than Hermione had seen him in a long time.
"They were still his friends" said Hermione, suddenly wondering why she was defending Malfoy. It was true; he had never been nice to her. In fact, he had been downright horrible and not just to her, but to her friends. But despite all the nasty things he had said to her over the years, the way he had behaved, she was willing to give him a chance because she knew that nobody else would "if he says one nasty comment, one insult, that's it" she said to Ron, who did not look very convinced "I'll put a stop to it"
"You're getting like Harry" Ron told her, collapsing into his favourite armchair by the fire "this whole 'need to help people' thing"
"I think Harry's heroics were a lot nobler than helping Draco Malfoy with his revision" said Hermione, pulling her bag towards her and fishing around inside for the diagrams she had made in Herbology that afternoon.
"So where are you going to meet Malfoy to do this study thing?" said Ron, smoothing out his Transfiguration essay, only to pick up his quill, frown and set it down again
"You, Ronald, are going to fail your N.E.W.T's" said Hermione "unless you get some serious study done. And I don't know yet. The library, maybe? Has Professor McGonagall said anything about that study room?"
"Yeah" said Ron "it was on the notice board yesterday. Fourth floor, opens tomorrow, sixth and seventh years only"
"Perfect" said Hermione
The following morning, Hermione spent the first fifteen minutes of her study hour trying to locate Draco Malfoy. She was just about to give up and retreat back to the Gryffindor common room, when he appeared in the Entrance Hall, evidently having had a late breakfast
"Malfoy" Hermione called, hurrying over to him and stumbling slightly under the weight of all the books in her bag "I've been looking for you. I've found somewhere we can work"
"You still want to, then?" he said
"We should start on your Astronomy chart" Hermione replied "we can use the new study room on the fourth floor"
"You'll be right at home in there, Granger" said Malfoy, a shadow of a smirk appearing on his face
"You just can't help yourself, can you?" said Hermione acidly, leading the way up the staircase
"Come on, Granger. That was weak compared to my usual standards"
Hermione chose not to reply to this. They hadn't even started and she could already sense an argument brewing. More to fill the silence that had fallen between them than anything else, Hermione said "why did you come back to school, Malfoy?"
"Why not?" he replied "there's little else for me to do. I could get a job I suppose, but most employers don't want ex- Death Eaters"
"I suppose not" Hermione mumbled.
The study room, which, as far as Hermione could remember, had been a previously disused classroom. Now however, it appeared to have been transformed using magic. It was at least half the size of the Great Hall, with half of its space devoted to a small library, large wooden tables and straight backed chairs grouped in the middle. The other part had been seperated into roomy cubicles for those who wished to work privately. There were a few comfortable looking sofas and armchairs and candles glittered inside decorative lanterns hanging from the walls.
Lavender Brown was reclining on one of the sofas next to Parvati Patil, both of whom had their noses buried in books. Lavender looked up as Hermione passed "Hi Hermione" she yawned "how's the studying – oh"
Malfoy strolled past and headed for one of the cubicles, ignoring Lavender's stare and Parvati's muttering "I'm helping Malfoy with his revision" Hermione explained
"Right" said Lavender who watched Hermione's progress across the room, her eyes wide.
Malfoy shut the door of the cubicle once Hermione was inside "unless you want it open, if you're afraid I'm going to attack you, or something. I just can't stand those two girl's gossiping, drives me mad" he said
"N…no" said Hermione "it's fine. It would be best we had some peace and quiet" she sat down on one of the chairs "I think there might be a charm on these cubicles, you know" she said, merely for the excuse to say something "I can't hear them talking, now the door is shut"
Malfoy shrugged "where did I go wrong with the Astronomy, then?"
Hermione took out her books and parchment and tugged Malfoy's chart towards her "everywhere" she said, picking up her quill. Malfoy's hand was rested upon the table next to it and, Hermione, with her eyes on the chart did not see it. Her hand brushed against his and she retracted her own quickly, turning to the chart and scribbling out one of his mistakes "sorry" she said. She cleared her throat "so many of these planets are mislabelled. You should really start again"
Malfoy rooted around for a spare sheet of parchment and Hermione took this opportunity to steal a look at him. He had never been ugly, she reasoned but never entirely attractive either, but it wasn't necessarily his looks that made it so. It was his personality that Hermione didn't like. He looked drained, though. Tired and weary. He had the look of a man who had been through too much, too often. Her eyes travelled over his robes and she wondered whether the Dark Mark was on his forearm, hidden beneath them. She did not think she had ever seen anyone with fairer hair, strands falling carelessly over his eyes - they were silvery blue, pale and cold.
"Parchment" he said, tossing it across the table towards her.
"I'm not doing it for you" she said firmly "you have to put the work in, you know"
"Fine" replied Malfoy, a trace of irritation in his tone "where's the text book?"
Hermione lay in bed that night, questioning Malfoy's intentions. Maybe Ron was right, Malfoy was just using her to get good grades; even he couldn't deny her academic abilities. The part of her that wanted to believe that Malfoy just wanted a friend was quickly melting away to make way for fresh doubt. Perhaps he hadn't changed at all, was still selfish as he was when she had first met him. And he was, after all, an ex- Death Eater. Yet everyone makes mistakes, Hermione thought and Malfoy seemed to have realised where he had gone wrong and was trying to make it right. The Order trusted him, even Harry seemed to think he had changed his ways.
Their first session could have been worse, she pondered. They hadn't argued, at least and he did seem to be making some progress, although most of the time he had merely been using her notes instead of his own and she was sure he had been copying some of her work. Tomorrow, she decided, she would put her foot down. If Malfoy wanted her as his tutor, he would have to get used to her way of doing things.
