Chapter Two- Questions

Hermione gave him a look as he just returned it with his own look. She shook her head finally at him after the two were staring at each other until she realized that neither of them had blinked. "If you know then why are you still smiling?" She asked him in a way that was a more obvious statement than an actual question.

Draco on the other hand, stopped in their dance and blinked. He hadn't noticed his grin, or "smile" was still in place and he quickly made it leave. What was he thinking? Smiling like this while dancing with her of all people in this school?

He ignored her question and lifted her hand above her head, spinning her outward and (regrettably) into the arms of Viktor Krum whom had rejoined to their side lines patiently while he watched them dance. He couldn't help but study how elegantly she moved into the spin, stopping herself as she was now facing Viktor again, her hands going to rest upon his shoulders.

Draco, whom had by now lost all train of thought simply bowed towards them, for whatever reason he was unsure, he just felt it seemed appropriate, then quickly walked away from them. He forced himself to not look over his shoulder, deciding he'd rather not see how she looked just then.

But his mind still wondered, was she happy he left her alone? Was she showing real smiles now that she was back in the arms of Viktor Krum? Or perhaps, maybe she was a little disappointed that he had not answered her question.

He mentally kicked himself for wondering over it so much, he either would suck it all up and look at her or he wouldn't, simple and easy. He left the huge room and walked out into the hall where Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy were all standing.

He saw them chatting quietly amongst themselves and started to walk in the other direction, secretly hoping that he would stay unnoticed. But the squeal from Pansy echoed in the hall as she noticed him. "There he is! Our Slytherin Malfoy who would rather dance with a filthy Mudblood rather than someone else." Draco stopped in his tracks and made a fist, breathing deeply to calm himself.

The anger that he had against Pansy appeared so fast, that he had to close his eyes to make it leave. Pansy lately, had been drawing that out of him. He considered turning her into a toad, but then decided she'd probably croak even more. He let out a breath and regained his composure as he turned around and sent Pansy a flashy grin. "You know how these things are Pansy, you must show you have some class. Even to the lower class." He said as he walked towards his "friends", even though his words left a bitter taste in his mouth.

He stopped in front of them and watched Crabbe and Goyle grinning from ear to ear. Pansy gave him a little grin and flung her arms around his neck in an attempt to show some affection that he clearly did not want. But she never seemed to notice as she always was trying too hard to impress him, always pointing out how she was or how good she was at being a witch.

Draco couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes. She looked up at him like a needy cat, he could almost imagine that she could probably really purr if he asked her to. Although, he figured she'd do anything that he asked which made it all the more irritating and equally terrible.

"Pansy, I am not in the mood for your games tonight." He reached up and pulled her arms from him, pushing them down to her sides. He could almost see the pout that started to show on her face, to ignore this, he simply walked by her.

He held up a hand to Crabbe and Goyle who were about ready to follow him, he didn't need anyone following him, not tonight at least. He walked forward until he was far enough from them to let the scowl he had been holding back show on his face. Sometimes he wondered how he even could stand to be in the same room with them let alone the same school.

He heard some yelling and his attention jerked to the stair case where Hermione had sat down, soft sounds echoed in the space that made it obvious that she was crying. Draco looked up to see Ron stomping up the stairs in a tantrum, the action reminded him of a five year old.

"Weasley..." Draco muttered angrily. He walked closer but decided to stay hidden, he watched Hermione sitting on the stairs, her elbows against her knees with her hands covering her face. He could still hear her crying but he decided to stay where he was. What good of comfort could he offer her? And why did he care if she was crying. After all, she was just a mudblood know it all.

One Year Later...

Draco sat in potions class room, it had been a year since that night of the Yule Ball, a year of different thoughs, different reactions, and different feelings. He had thrown himself into anything his father would speak to him about, which was mostly on the fact of "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named".

He would listen, yet not listen at the same time. He tried to show his father that he was strong, and could do anything asked of him. But in reality Draco was no more ready to do anything that a child was. He knew he wasn't the bravest person, that he acted like he was tough but he knew he could never really do something.

A sigh left him as he heard their potions teacher, spouting off some talk about working in partners and that he'd be pairing them together. "For this we will have...Ms. Parkinson and Mr. Goyle, Mr. Potter and Ms. Weasley, Mr. Malfoy and Ms. Granger, Mr. Weasley and Ms. Lovegood..."

Draco heard nothing else after the 'Mr. Malfoy and Ms. Granger' name call. He looked over to a table, where he saw Hermione sitting in surprise. Draco noticed how she looked this time, a year made a difference. She looked a little more grown up than before, her hair was back to its usual frizzy ways but the curls and waves remained in their usual places, she still had the innocent looking face but they no longer had tears running down them like from before.

He made no move to get up and move to her and after a minute of waiting, Hermione stood up with her books and walked over to his table and sat down next to him without speaking a word. They were told that they'd be working on a spell to make a symbol appear above their cauldrons, that this could be something used in the future for anything from danger signs to warnings.

He noticed Hermione slid off her robe and roll up the sleeves to her white button up top, he quickly looked away to avoid his gaze from her but heard her as she opened her book and began turning the page. He also heard her let out a little sigh, a smile showed at the edges of his lips but he quickly hid it and looked towards her.

"So, what shall we be doing Granger? Or will you be taking over the work for yourself?" He said as he added a snicker which resulted in her just rolling her eyes at him.

"Do you have a book Malfoy?" She asked, suddenly speaking in a soft voice. He looked puzzled for a moment then glanced at the book he had next that he currently had been using as an arm prop.

"Yes I do." He said in a simple tone towards her.

"Then open it and read for yourself." Hermione spoke in the 'it should be obvious' tone that he remembered from the Yule Ball. He shook his head and grumbled beneath his breath, but slid his book in front of him and flipped to the page that she was on and began reading. Hermione wasn't like most girls, she didn't care to stand in the face of anyone and he learned that in their third year when she had punched him.

A slight smile showed from him as he remembered that, it shocked him that she had pointed her wand at him, but shocked him even more when she punched him. He swore he'd get revenge on the Mudblood but now that he thought of it, he never had.

He shook his head and looked away from his book as Hermione had already began to mix the ingredients in front of them that they would need for this potion. "Are you always this quick to get started?" He asked her, never having paid close attention to how she worked in class before.

She glanced at him, the surprise on her face was obvious that he was even being civil with her, she found that this was becoming a rare thing for her to experience from Draco Malfoy. "Yes." She answered with a soft tone then began to work again, she watched Draco as he began to help her.

They would glance between each other every so often, but were quiet as they worked. Hermione noticed Ron glaring in their direction and she sent him a look of apology, until she noticed Draco was glaring right back. "That will only encourage him." She said after a minute of them glaring at each other.

Draco blinked and snapped his attention to Hermione, he gave a tilt of his head and sofly grinned at her. "Do you really think so Granger?"

"I know so Malfoy." Was her reply as she poured their ingredients slowly into the cauldron.

I hope you enjoyed it! Thank you for reading and yes to everyone who wondering, this is a full story and not a short shot.