A/N: I think this is quite possibly the fastest I have ever been motivated enough to update, because I got three reviews right after I posted the story. I know that doesn't sound like much, but to me it's a lot, especially when it's within such a short span of time. So here goes the second chapter of Tainted Pureblood. Hopefully, you like it. It's basically an explanatory chapter without much (ok, well anything) happening... but I swear it's plot furthering.


So, basically, the entire Order knew something was up. Hermione had been holed up in the library for three solid days with strict orders for no one to enter with the exception of Harry, who brought her food three times a day and disappeared inside the walls with her for two or more hours at a time.

Draco wasn't terribly curious, though. He assumed they had just figured out something important that would help them kill Voldemort and Granger was double checking before sending Hero-Boy and The Red Haired Wonder into combat (and if she had been wrong in her discovery, certain death). He was excited for the first time in his life, actually, because soon he could come out of hiding with complete immunity because of how early he "saw the light". He wasn't stupid, you know.

He was a pretty good actor, he thought. He had convinced the do-gooders (well, except mainly Granger, who seemed to see right through him and push all his buttons) that he was a changed man who no longer hated muggles and mudbloods. For this, he got three meals a day, a warm place to stay, and safety from being killed by whichever side of the war hated him the most at the moment.

That's not to say he didn't want Voldemort dead. He was a real pain in the ass. Draco Malfoy bowed to no one, not even some crazy Lord of Doom… unless it would save his own butt. Despite his firm belief that mudbloods were below him, he wasn't too keen on killing anyone, and he preferred that he just be left alone to his riches and better-than-everyone-ness. As that wasn't possible in the midst of a war built upon principle and insanity, he figured being holed up in a safe haven that didn't torture him (as the Death Eaters were fond of doing when he messed up) was the next best scenario.

The only real downside was that damned Granger- everyone else just left him alone. She was constantly at him, no matter what he did. He had tried to be nice, really he had! For example, the other day when they had been studying in the library, he had even said he thought they may have been friends! But that woman would put forth no effort. She just saw him as a spoiled brat… it was almost as if she believed he was beneath her, which was quite laughable indeed.

It wasn't only that bothering him about Granger. Perhaps it was the isolation but more and more he found himself wanting to talk to her, if only for the excitement of the witty banter. Contrary to popular belief, he was by no means stupid. He was cold and calculating, and to be so meant he had to be logical and well read. He was held up to the highest of standards, because he was a pureblood, and that was just the way things were.

He wasn't an idiot. And he needed intelligent conversation (or at least, that was what he told himself when he found himself wanting her company). Granger wasn't the only intelligent conversation he could find at the Order, but she was there by far the most, and it just made the most sense to him (another one of those things he told himself when he found himself wanting her company). Not that he could ever convince her that he seriously just wanted someone to talk to…