The next day, as Harry and Hermione made their way towards her tutoring sessions with Malfoy, they ran into Ron Weasley, who was sitting on a ledge, looking out the window. He was holding a letter.
"Ron?" Harry asked tentatively. "Is something wrong?"
"Harry! Hermione!" he sounded startled and unsure. He jumped off the ledge with ease, and quickly put the letter in his pocket.
"How are you lot?" he asked after a moment.
"We're alright. And you?" Harry answered for Hermione as well, who was smiling hesitantly.
"I'm alright. Well. It's nothing really major. It's just that, Dad's having a relapse of that thing he had last year, with the snake bite. He's at St. Mungo's. It's really not that big a deal. Really." He said this all very fast, as if he was trying to convince himself of the truth of it. He seemed relieved to finally be telling someone.
"Ron! Why didn't you tell us?!" Harry exclaimed.
"I didn't want to worry you. It's really not that bad. Mum says he should be fine. That's what the doctors are saying too. It's just…I don't know. I don't have a good feeling about it all. It's stupid really. Me. Having feelings." He shook his head. Hermione studied him. He seemed a bit lost and confused.
"As if a major part of him was missing." Hermione thought to herself. "He misses us."
"Ron," she said gently, squeezing his arm. "You don't have to do this by yourself."
"Yeah well, you lot have your own things to worry about. Harry with the usual stuff, and Hermione with your tutoring sessions. We've all got our own problems to deal with. I don't want mine to become yours."
"He's changed. He's become older, more mature." Hermione said to herself. "He's different, but it's a good different."
"THAT is the stupidest thing I've EVER heard." Harry said firmly. "Your problems are ALREADY our problems, and there's nothing you can do about. Now quit acting like a wanker, and hang out with us every once in a while."
"Like now for instance," chimed in Hermione. "Though I've got to get to Malfoy and the tutoring sessions."
Ron was grinning like crazy by the time they finished.
"Yeah?" he asked hopefully.
"Yeah!" Harry and Hermione answered together.
"Well, I can't go now. I've got to answer this letter here from my mum. But tomorrow?"
"Of course Ron," Harry answered.
"Oh Merlin," said Hermione. "What's wrong with us? Since when do we have to make…appointments to see each other?! We're best mates. Ron, Harry, I'll see you in the common room. I've got to get going, I'm already late. But none of this awkwardness anymore alright? We're mates. There's no room for awkwardness," she lectured.
Harry and Ron exchanged glances, grinning.
"Come on, mate," Harry said, pulling on Ron's arm. "You have loads to catch up on."
Hermione watched them go, smiling to herself. Then she turned and hurried to the usual classroom.
When she reached the classroom, Malfoy was already there. He looked up when she entered, but didn't say anything. They stood their, facing each other for a moment, silently, until finally, Malfoy spoke up.
"Listen, Granger, I have things to do, so if we could just get this over with…"
Smiling inwardly, she nodded her agreement. They worked in near silence, speaking only when necessary. She demonstrated the wand movement for him, and he gave it right back to her quickly and easily. Then, when the goblet was transformed into a bird, he walked quickly out of the room.
The next few days were extremely…happy. Normal. Near perfect. Hermione was nearly always smiling. Ron spent more time with the group, though he didn't break up with Lavender. (The only downer in Hermione's life.)
Remus flooed to let her know that Molly had finally agreed to the vacation thanks to the persuasiveness of Sirius, Tonks, Remus, Mr. Weasley and Albus who agreed that the group needed it. Plans were being made to include the house in the floo network, allow the kids to perform underage magic while inside, and also to perform the necessary cloaking and protection spells around it to ensure safety, because as Molly pointed out several times, the children and Harry were sitting ducks if anything was to go wrong. She insisted that aurors be placed around the place, "just in case." At the end of the process, Albus ensured Ms. Weasley that the school would be as safe as Hogwarts.
Tutoring sessions with Malfoy became increasingly friendly as time went on. Although they never talked about anything substantial, Hermione learned a lot about him. She noticed that he never revealed any emotion in his face. His expression was masked behind his two deep, greyish blue eyes. He fidgeted quite a bit though, whenever he was nervous, angry or upset, but it was subtle things, never overly noticeable. It was an unusual trait for Hermione; she prefered her friends to be open with her. Harry and Ron wore their hearts on their sleeves. But Malfoy, he was a mystery, and the more time she spent with him, the more she was determined to help bring him over to the light. And Hermione always got what she want. Each day, she insisted on talking more with him. She asked him more questions, talked more about herself. It was light and unconsequential topics, but she had to start somewhere. And she was making progress. He was slowly but surely opening up to her, until one day, everything changed.
She had also realized that he seemed to be slowly disappearing before her very eyes. He was becoming thinner and shabbier. His eyes lost their glow and become dull and tired. He no longer took care of his appearance. His hair stood up messily, and there were bags under his eyes. He looked like he hadn't slept in ages. On that particular day, Malfoy came in about 15 minutes late. He looked like he had run some distance to get there, and he tried and failed to catch his breath.
"Sorry…completely…forgot," he panted, leaning over, his hands on his knees to support himself. Hermione looked quizzically at him. They had been meeting five days a week for the past month. How could he just forget? She studied him carefully. Today he looked worse than she had ever seen him. He was pale and sweating, as if he was really scared about something. He was shaking slightly and he looked really, really thin. He truly looked like he could just collapse on the spot. And suddenly, he did.
Hermione instantly panicked.
"Draco!" she exclaimed, running to him. She knelt down on the floor, and gently shook him.
"Draco! Wake up!" He wouldn't stir. She took a deep breath, calming herself. Then, she felt his pulse breathing a sigh of relief when she found one. Then she conjured a bed for him, and levitated his body onto it. She knew that she wouldn't be able to bring him all the way to the Hospital Wing, and she was afraid to leave him alone, just in case. She made him as comfortable as she could, and then sat with him, hoping that he woke up soon.
About fifteen minutes later, Draco woke slowly.
"What happened? Where am I?" he asked out loud. He received no answer. He sat up slowly and looked around. Hermione was sitting at a desk in the far corner of the room, staring at him. Her face was devoid of any emotion, a mask.
"Granger? What happened?"
"You fainted." Draco shuddered. Her voice was cold and dettached. Nothing like the voice he was used to hearing from her. She stood slowly and walked out of the room, never looking back.
"Wait!" Draco said. "Thank you." He muttered to himself, as she walked out the door.
Harry met her outside the door.
"C'mon," she said, her voice as cold as before. She took his hand, and began dragging him quickly down the corridor.
"Wait! Hermione! What's wrong? Where are we going?"
"To Dumbledore's office."
"Why? What happened? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. You were right. About Malfoy. We have to warn Dumbledore." She still walked fast, pulling him in the direction of the office.
"Hermione!" Harry shouted. "For godssake. Wait!"
Finally, she stopped and turned to him.
"Hermione," he said gently. "Dumbledore already knows! Remember what Remus said? They're working on turning him!"
"No! you don't understand Harry! He's a lost cause. He's plotting to kill!"
"Kill? Who?!"
"Dumbledore! You! Students! Harry! He's planning to bring deatheaters into the school!" she said frantically.
"Dumbledore already knows," Harry said softly. "He knows, I promise you. He's not going to let it happen."
Hermione looked at him in shock.
"He's known this whole time?!" Harry nodded.
"What?! Why is he letting me teach him then? Why he letting me help the enemy?!"
"He wants to turn him, remember? Malfoy will be really valuable on our side."
"No. Malfoy is a LOST CAUSE. I refuse to teach him. I refuse to teach someone who wants to kill the people I love."
"Oh, Hermione." He gathered her into his arms. "I hate the slimeball as much as you do. Don't worry. He won't be able to. He's not going to hurt you or me, or Ron or anyone. I promise. Dumbledore has the situation under control."
"I won't teach him, Harry. I can't. Please don't make me."
He rocked her back and forth slowly. "Shh, it's okay. It'll be alright…"
The next day, Hermione was 15 minutes late for tutoring. She wouldn't have gone at all if it hadn't been for Harry freaking Potter persuading her that she had to keep up pretenses, or Dumbledore would be disappointed. (To which Hermione had promptly answered, "Screw him.")
When she walked in, he was there, with his back to her, looking out the window. He quickly turned around when he heard her. He looked miserable as usual, but this time, she swallowed the kindness she felt for him. She ignored his expectant look and sat in her usual seat, taking out her book to read.
"Granger?" Malfoy asked incredulously. "What's going on?" When she did not answer, he continued.
"What did I do now?"
She continued to ignore him. At exactly half an hour, she walked out of the room. The cold expression in her eyes never left them.
The rest of the week continued to be much of the same. In the beginning, Hermione remained cross at Harry, because he refused to let her quit teaching. But in the end, she forgave him, knowing that he had good intentions. Afterall, she was a pretty reasonable girl. She refused to budge with Malfoy, however, and by Friday, McGonnagall was waiting for them outside the regular room, in order to inform them that the charm on the door was back, and that they would not be allowed to leave until the spell was correctly performed.
Hermione stormed into the classroom, sat at her usual spot, and began to read. As usual. Malfoy just rolled his eyes and stood by the window, knowing that it would be futile to argue with her now. After an hour and a half of doing nothing, he became desperate. There were things that he really had to take care of, and they were not going to get done if he was wasting his time like this.
"Granger," he said persuasively. "I'm sure you want to get out of here as much as I do. Just teach me the spell, and we can both go our own separate ways." She looked up at him, her eyes were cold and her expression blank. She said nothing.
"Please, Granger. I have loads of work to do," Draco said, losing patience. When she still did not say anything, he became impatient.
"JUST SHOW ME THE FUCKING SPELL!" he shouted at her. She looked up again, and Draco realized there was a hint of a smile on her features.
"She's enjoying this," he realized. "She loves that she's making me frustrated and miserable."
He took a deep breath to control his emotions, and then said quietly.
"Come on Granger, you're being really unreasonable." Her head snapped up.
"I'M being unreasonable?" she snarled suddenly. There was anger in her voice, but at least it was SOME emotion, rather than the cold, dettached voice she normally used with him. She continued, her voice growing louder with each word.
"You think me refusing to teach someone who is planning on bringing death eaters into school to kill all that I love is UNREASONABLE?" Draco winced.
"Yes, that's right, Malfoy," her voice full of venom. "Your secret is out."
"How did you…?" he stammered.
"You talk in your sleep Malfoy," she replied, bitingly. Draco paled at this. She walked forward slowly, taking a step with each word.
"Do you really think, that I'm going to help you? After all that you've done? I can't even stand LOOKING at you. If it wasn't for Harry I wouldn't even be here. If it wasn't for the fact that the spell needs to be performed…" she trailed off thoughtfully. "Wait a minute…Maybe if I…Right. Turn around," she ordered Malfoy.
"What…? Why?" Malfoy was afraid that she would hex him.
"Turn around NOW" she said, brandishing her wand threateningly. He hastily followed her orders. When his back was to her, she quickly performed the spell so that he couldn't see it, and then walked straight into the door.
She was thrown backwards with a bang. Draco had no time to react, and even if he did, he wouldn't know what to do. He turned around just as he heard her hit the wall with a sickening thud.
"Hermione! Goddamnit." He knelt beside her. He wasn't a medic, but he knew enough to find her pulse, and realized that she was just knocked out. He picked her up bridal style, and then realized that he didn't know what to do after that. In the end, he sat on the teacher's desk, with her in his lap, in at attempt to make her more comfortable.
She looked peaceful in sleep, and Draco realized with a start that she was beautiful. Her body was pliant against his, and when he studied her, he noticed that she had filled out in all the right places. Her eyes were closed delicately and her lips were open slightly, and he suddenly had the urge to kiss her. He imagined that she'd take control like she always did, and that he would love her for it. She would be demanding and impatient and passionate, and he would struggle to keep up with her, but in the end it would be he who dominated. He who made her moan and whimper with desire. He who made her panties wet with need and desire. He imagined touching her breasts and teasing her nipples. He imagined touching her and making her twist and writhe with need. He imagined her begging him to touch her, begging him to fuck her.
With a jolt, Draco realized he was hard. Achingly hard. He tensed. What if Hermione woke up and found him like this? He tried to will away his erection, but it was no use. He could not avoid feeling her warmth radiate from her, or her pliant body in his arms.
Suddenly, Hermione's eyes fluttered open and she found herself staring right into Draco's grey ones. She jumped a little in surprise, and Draco willed himself not to groan in both pleasure and dismay. Hermione had landed right on his erection, and the pressure was unbearable. Then Hermione's eyes widened in realization and she scrambled off his lap.
"How could you?" she whispered. Her eyes radiated fear, and Draco's heart broke with her every word. Tears slipped silently down her face.
"What have I ever done to you? Why are you doing this to me? How could you?" She began to sob quietly. She was slowly backing away from him and when she hit the corner, she sank to the floor and pulled her knees to her chest.
"Hermione," his voice was pained. He took a step forward.
"No! Stay away! Don't touch me!" she panicked. And Draco felt as though he had been punched in the gut. She was scared of him. She thought he was a monster.
"Hermione, I'm sorry, please…" he choked out.
"No," her voice wavered. "No. Just. The spell. It goes like this." She demonstrated through her tears. "Now please just leave me alone, just leave me alone. Please I'm begging you, just go away."
She looked…broken. Draco, more than anything in the world, wanted to go to her, pull her to him, protect her, put her back together. But he knew it would be futile. He quickly said the spell, tranfiguring the wool into barbed wire, and then ran out the room
A/N: I know this is an awkward place to end it, and I'm sorry, but if I don't end it here, you won't get another chapter up for ages. Don't worry, Draco'll find a way to fix this, I promise.
I just wanted to take the time to thank you have reviewed. They were well appreciated. Thank you very much. Those of you who haven't reviewed, please, do. Thank you! hugs I love you all! 3
