Disclaimer: *gasp* I still don't own Harry Potter.
Enjoy.
For a second she contemplated the risks of lowering her wand around Malfoy- her heart hammering in her chest, but Harry's advice popped into her head and reminded her to act professional; despite the fact that she just showed her former enemy how deeply the war scarred her. She lowered her wand and apologized, "I'm sorry Mr. Malfoy, you took me by surprise."
Draco Malfoy had to employ every bit of self-discipline his mother and father beat into his head as a child to not make a snide remark about how Hermione ruined the little effort she seemed to have put into her looks. However, he also realized that making that comment would show that he paid a tiny bit of attention to her appearance and that was simply not acceptable. He figured that if Hermione wanted to act as if their past never happened, he should comply: for now. Deep in the back of his mind, he realized that he would not have thought those things about any other woman. It seemed that just like Hermione, Draco was subconsciously reverting back to his childhood self.
"It is okay, Ms. Granger. Please follow me to Malfoy Manor." He was planning to apparate them to the outer gates, but his mind screamed, "Don't let the Mudblood touch you!" Despite his best efforts, his rearing had made a rather large mark on him that was difficult to erase no matter the change of heart he had long ago.
Hermione, meanwhile, couldn't help herself from noting how polite Malfoy had been. Her guard was far from down, but she decided that a death grip on her wand was not needed, and proceeded to follow him out of the desolate Victorian and toward a slim brick road.
oo00oo
They must been walking for 20 minutes before Hermione could tell they were close to Malfoy Manor. She stepped onto the larger path that Draco turned onto, then all of a sudden the Manor, in all of it's dark elegance, appeared in front of her. She froze for a long minute, reliving painful memories while staring up at the many torrents and wings of the stormy castle. She could feel her skin burning while Bellatrix's cursed blade tore through her flesh all the while the mad woman was screaming, "Where is it?" Her limbs twitched at every crucio that played out like a broken record in her mind.
Draco also stopped, fully prepared to tell Ms. Know-it-All that they were at his home finally, but as he turned around to give her orders to keep walking, he saw her wide-eyed, frozen in fear. Snarky quips flowed through his head, but-like his emotions which bubbled up with guilt- he pushed them down when he realized that he was part of the reason that such a strong woman was now quaking from terror. He immediately evaluated himself. It was not okay to show her softness, but it was also not proper to be cold when a woman is in such a state- Granger or not. "Did I just think of Granger as a woman? Did I also compliment her? Draco! Get a hold of yourself!" Draco reprimanded himself internally. After a mental battle, he decided that her would give her directions with slightly more kindness than he would normally. This would break her of her horrifying memories and not get him injured for insulting her while she was not in complete control. His memory flipped to the slap in third year. "Definitely not provoking her," he internally flinched.
"Granger. I need you to take my arm to be able to get passed the wards," Draco directed gently. He briefly cringed at touching her, but also pushed that down, as not allowing her access to his home, thus pissing off the Minister of Magic would not get his reputation back.
-o-
Malfoy's voice penetrated through the memories that were playing like a horror film in front of her eyes, knocking her back into reality. Her face flushed from embarrassment. This was the second time in half an hour that he witnessed her weakness; she needed to show him she was not some frail, damaged girl (even if she may be a bit damaged, he did not need to know that), so she adjusted herself quickly, straightening her back and keeping her head up as she took Malfoy's outstretched arm. Her face molded itself back into a mask of polite indifference. "Thank you, now, do you know anything about the Muggle Marriage Act of 1205?" she asked, hoping to redirect the conversation and hopefully distract him from her recent actions. She knew that it was easier to sound like her swotty younger self and irritate him, than to delve into the tremulous emotions that surrounded her history here.
-o-
"Same old Granger. Has she forgotten already that she's coming here for my help?" Malfoy thought as he vaguely replied to her question. Her arm is warm and soft momentarily popped into his mind, but he caught himself and scolded himself internally, "No, no, no. This is Hermione-wouldn't-shut-up-to-save-her-life-Granger. No attraction." He then shut down any branches of thought that did not relate to the current mission at hand and vital motor-movements.
-o-
Hermione was becoming increasingly annoyed with the man next to her. Malfoy was giving her bland answers that barely answered her questions, and her feet had begun to kill her thanks to her sexy, but impractical, pumps. She was contemplating strangling him when they both arrived at the grand doors to the Malfoy residence. At once, a house elf opened the door and took their jackets against Hermione's avid protests.
"Calm down Granger. The house elves are paid and follow all of your new bloody laws. You should have had to be the one to tell them they were required vacation. I'd like to see you deal with 20 crying elves who thought I was punishing them. Just give Dinky your coat and we can move on. I'd rather this not take all day," Malfoy drawled, back to his old self. One that she longed to slap again. However, one particular bit of information niggled at the back of her mind.
"Dinky?" Hermione said incredulously. "Are you Winky's brother?"
"Yes, Miss. Dinky miss Winky very much. You know Winky?" The little elf asked with his big eyes boring into hers with interest while flitting back warily to the irritated look on his master's face to make sure he wasn't doing anything wrong.
"Yes, I saw her at Hogwarts when I returned for my final year. She is recovering. I hope you can see her. Malfoy can give you my address, and you can come by on your vacation days where I will arrange you to see Winky again," Hermione smiled. She loved helping the house elves, after all, it was her life passion for almost three years.
"Dinky would much like that," Dinky beamed up at Hermione.
-o-
Draco, watching the encounter from the sidelines was slightly annoyed at the delay. "Just because I do not have a formal job does not mean I do not have tasks I must complete everyday. What do they think, I have all the time in the world, and I loaf around all day because I have money?" Draco muttered to himself. Finally growing peeved, he loudly droned, "Granger, I do not have all day." When he turned toward his house elf, his face morphed into an impassive mask only his eyes betraying his adoration. "Please excuse us Dinky, but we have business to attend to. Will you please have tea brought up to the library?"
The little house elf nodded furiously- eager to please- and popped away.
-o-
Hermione was a bit miffed that her humanitarianism was cut short, but she followed Malfoy up the magnificent staircase and down many hallways to the ordinate doors to the Malfoy library. She was practically drooling with anticipation to see the thousands of books that contained the knowledge of an ancient family. The excitement was enough to keep her dark memories at bay and distract her from Malfoy's presence.
Her jaw could have hit the floor when he swung open the doors and the smell of parchment and old bindings flowed toward her. It was everything she dreamed it would be and more. Shelves and shelves of books that went on as far as she could see. So many tomes full of knowledge yet to be had. The ministry would probably destroy half of these books if they knew about them, but she could care less. "I could get used to this," Hermione thought, a bright smile lifting her face while she took in the vast collection. She almost wished that this law would take forever to break if it meant her being able to have access to the beautiful library.
Hermione began unconsciously walking towards the many rows, itching to run her fingers down the bindings. She was snapped out of her trance when Malfoy jerked her back away from the white volume she was about to caress. Anger flared up inside of her. Could she not have one moment of bliss amongst the very things she loved most without Malfoy ruining it? She was about to let Malfoy know exactly what she was going to curse off of him if he every did that again when she saw his expression.
-o-
Draco had begun to take a seat to start the inevitably boring discussion about some pureblood law when he glanced toward Hermione. She was reaching out to touch a book. A book that would give severe burns if touched by someone of un-pure ancestry. The short-lived thought that he should let her touch it and learn her lesson the hard way was shoved away as he lurched away from his seat to yank her away from her interest. He gripped her forearm and pulled her into him (without thought- or so he told himself). "What the hell is she thinking? She should be smart enough to know that this library has dark books. Why the bloody hell would she touch them without knowing what they are? The stupid woman!" he internally ranted. When she turned to face him with righteous fury glowing in her eyes, he was about to superiorly point out her utter ignorance, but her expression changed and left him slightly shocked. Was that gratitude? Was that what Hermione Granger's face looked like when she was grateful? Her face was soft. Her eyes stared up at his own like that of a doe, and her lips formed an adorable little "o". He liked that face.
-o-
Hermione realized what had happened when she looked at Malfoy. How could she be so…so…unintelligent? What would that book have done to her if it wasn't for Malfoy actually helping her? Should she even dare to say saving her? No! Saving was for princesses and Hermione was not a princess. She could take care of herself. But when she looked at those deep grey eyes, she thought they softened just a little, and she realized she liked them better that way. This was when Hermione realized that her and Malfoy were embracing and staring into eachother's eyes. It seemed to have hit both at the same time, and they pushed each other away- softness fading as quickly as it came.
Trying not to linger on the feeling of his large hand grasping her arm, she started to ramble. "So, the law states that a pureblood cannot marry a muggle or muggle-born without the permission of the head of house, and muggles and muggle-born's have no rights to any possessions shared during the 'accidental union'- meaning any romantic or sexual relations they had- and the children of such a union are the property of the pureblood to do with as he pleases. If the pureblood is female-" Hermione explained, feeling the awkward tension dissipating, but Malfoy interrupted her- per usual.
"What does "to do with as he pleases" mean?" Malfoy asked with an odd, distant expression.
"Well a pureblood male can chose to keep the child or to kill it. Since the child is seen as a possession, there is no penalty to end it's life. It's barbaric and wrong," Hermione expressed with passionate venom. She hated these pureblood laws. If you were a male pureblood, you had power over everything. It was not right to Hermione, and every word she uttered about the subject was accompanied by deep-seeded, un-disguised contempt. "Why do you ask?" The simple question brought out of her ire and directed her attention to him. At the back of her mind, she started to scrutinize his words to understand why he seemed to care so much.
"Clarification," Malfoy uttered stiffly, unable to look her in the eye. He took all the questions that swirled through his conscious and threw them in a box to think about tonight. Right now, he needed to help the witch in front of him, so she could get out of his manor, and he could think. "Now, what is it exactly that you don't know about this law?" Malfoy asked with a drawl as if he was bored.
"How to un-do it. Who made it. I don't even know what magic was put into it that sealed it into law!" she ranted and plopped down on a chair, exasperated.
-o-
It was the first time Draco had ever heard Granger admit that she didn't know something, the only reaction he could produce was rolling laughter. What was so funny about it? Not much. But finally karma seemed to have caught up with her and that was enough to send Draco into a fit of deep laughter.
Malfoy's amusement only furthered Hermione's cantankerous mood. She huffed and stood back up, intent on finding an informative book herself since Malfoy was useless. She was halfway to a distinctly old shelf when he called out to her.
-o-
"Granger, sit. I'll tell you what I know. But if you want to ignore me, I will not save you next time you touch an evil book." Draco had composed himself and figured that ruffling her feathers would her will only extend her stay. He wanted her gone and giving her answers she wanted was the best way to achieve his goals.
-o-
Hermione turned back around and laid eyes on Malfoy's somber face. Believing both his threat and his promise, she sat down in the chair across from him and summoned parchment and a quill from her beaded bag. She readied her quill and looked up at him expectantly finding a glint of satisfaction and amusement in his eyes.
"So the law-" Draco started.
A.N./ If you enjoyed this chapter, hated it down to the bottom of your soul, or was super annoyed at the incorrect use of a comma, feel free to tell me in the reviews. I hope you have a fandiddlytastic day!
