She just wanted to help him learn the spell. Hermione wasn't trying to be a know it all, she wasn't trying to be rude or to embarrass Ronald Weasley whatsoever. So when he was mocking her to Harry, Seamus, and Dean, saying it was no wonder how she didn't have any friends she couldn't help but feel her heart crack. She had thought Harry was her friend along with Dean and Seamus but as they laughed along with Ron she found out that she was clearly mistaken. She pushed past him, their shoulders colliding harshly and she ignored the ache that followed as she hurriedly made her way to Gryffindor tower and tried her best to not let anyone see the hot stream of tears that flowed down her cheeks.
Hard as she tried, she couldn't keep Draco from seeing how wounded Weasley's words had left his friend. He thought her success of the spell was admirable, thought that she was brilliant and couldn't help smirking as she gave a look of satisfaction towards the red haired boy next to her. While he was slightly frustrated at his own inability to get the spell down, he knew he would in time and wasn't too worried. He was still appearing to be one of the top students in their year, just barely behind Granger. As the girl in his mind passed him in a flurry of brown frizz, he felt anger rush through him. However, he knew better than to make a scene in the courtyard in front of other Slytherins. He had an act to keep up and he couldn't break it for a Gryffindor muggle born witch, it would raise too many questions that his eleven year old mind didn't want to worry about.
After his next class, Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Ravenclaws, he was lounging around his common room when Pansy came in looking deep in thought.
"Pansy," Draco called, catching her attention as she whipped her head up to look at him.
"Have you heard about Hermione?" she asked him, a look of concern washing over her features.
"I heard what that Weasel said about her and I know she was pretty upset."
"Some of the girls from Gryffindor said she's locked herself in a bathroom stall in the girls' lavatory and has been there since Charms. She's been crying," Pansy informed him. "I think. . . I think we should go check on her, she is our friend."
"I can't be caught with her, Pansy," Draco groaned. He wanted to make sure that Granger was okay, wanted to make sure she wasn't letting what Weasley say get to her because she did have friends. She had Neville and Pansy and even though they couldn't be friends in public, she had him.
"No one will know unless you tell them," Pansy quipped before going up the stairs to the girls' dormitory. After a minute or so she made her way back down, passing him once again on the couch. "I know your parents are strict about who you involve yourself with, but she is your friend at the end of the day. Just put aside your little secret for one day and come on."
Draco gave her a look of confusion but nevertheless he stood from the couch he lounged across and followed her out of the Slytherin common room.
"How did you know-"
"You and Hermione aren't the only ones who hide in the library," Pansy cuts him off, sending him a soft smile as they continue walking towards the lavatory Hermione was occupying.
"And you won't tell anyone?" he asked. He didn't want his friendship with the Gryffindor house to be out in the open, not yet anyways.
"Not a soul," Pansy promised. She knew what it was like to have parents that wanted to control every aspect of your life for reputations sake. Unlike Draco, she didn't let it affect her. At the end of the day she was going to be friends with whoever she pleased and her parents would just have to deal with that fact.
As they came up to the bathroom with gentle sobs emitting through the doorway, Draco turned to Pansy and thanked her, a hand resting on her shoulder before they both entered. There was a stall closed shut, the rest vacant and empty. Draco stood back as Pansy quietly made her way to the stall that Hermione occupied and knocked softly.
"Hermione, it's Pansy," she called through the door. "Draco and I came to make sure you were alright."
"I'm fine!" Draco could hear her sniffling through the door, her voice sounding thick as she tried to calm her breathing. "I just needed a minute."
"Granger," Draco said gently, making his way towards the stall door. "I know what Weasel said-"
"Don't call him that," she scolds and Draco can't help but smirk. Even when she was hurt and upset, she was still the kind hearted person he knew her to be and stuck up for the person that caused her tears.
"Even when he's made you cry, you stand up for him?" Draco asks.
"I don't like bullies, Malfoy."
"Then I won't call him that anymore," he informs. On the other side of the door, Hermione lets a small smile grace her face. "Now can you come out of that stall, Granger?"
Hermione gathers herself before she comes unlocks the door and pushes it open. At first she is looking down, wiping away what tears are left in her eyes before she looks up at the two Slytherins. Slytherins, the house that was supposed to be full of dark and evil, turns out to harbor the two people that came to her side to make sure she was alright.
"I just want you to know," Pansy starts, gaining the attention of the girl with red rimmed eyes. "What Ron said isn't true in the slightest. You have us, you have Neville," Pansy tells her.
"I just don't understand," Hermione whispers. "Dean, Seamus, Harry? They were supposed to be my friends, too."
"You are so brilliant," Draco tells her. "You have more magical ability in your finger than any of us have in our entire bodies. You can't let those that are jealous of you bring you down. You have to rise."
Hermione smiled at her two friends before enveloping them in a hug tighter than Devil's Snare. The three of them, all so different in upbringing and in personalities yet they managed to become closer than anything. They hugged, cherishing this moment of peace.
That is, until a mountain troll decided to clamber into the same bathroom they were in, causing Hermione to stiffen and freeze and cause Draco and Pansy to pull away.
"What is it Granger?" Draco asked, pulling away and seeing her eyes wide and full of fear. He turned and stood frozen at the sight of the tallest and ugliest being he'd ever seen. The three of them all screamed as the troll raised his bat and hey scrambled into a stall, ducking as the wood was smashed and covering all three of their bodies.
They hear the doors to the bathroom burst open and Draco looks to see two sets of feet running behind the troll. His mind quickly passes over them and the three first years crawl through the splintering wood.
"You guys, move!" He hears the boy who lived yell, the sound echoing off the walls and he hears more cracks ring before wood continues to fall on top of them. They lay still as they feel the troll rummaging through the wood before he hears the Weasley start to yell.
"Hey, PEE BRAIN!"
It catches the attention of the troll long enough for the three of them to run under the sinks. The troll turns and swings, smashing the sink Hermione first crawled under, causing her to move under the vacant one next to it.
"HELP!" she yells at the two boys who stand in the doorway. They watch as Harry pulls out his wand before marching towards the troll and grabbing onto his bat, flying through the air with it. He lands on the shoulders of the troll, catching everyone by surprise. Draco found himself laughing at the look of shock on both of their faces, the expressions nearly identical. Ron was standing off towards where he and Harry had entered the bathroom, not knowing what he was supposed to do to help.
The troll had decided he would try to shake Harry off, jolting him back and forth before he is jerked forward, causing his wand to shove up the troll's nose. Everyone looked in disgust before the troll took hold of Harry's ankle and dangled him upside down in front of him.
"DO SOMETHING!" Harry screamed before curling up, avoiding being hit by the swinging bat of the troll. Draco didn't like either of the boys but he didn't want them to be harmed, didn't want any of them to be hurt by this monster.
"What?" Ron looked around, trying to figure out what it was he should do to help his friend from being battered. Pansy rolled her eyes at the cluelessness of the wizard who was their last hope in walking out of this bathroom in one piece.
"ANYTHING!" Harry curled up again, hoping his red headed friend would figure something out quickly. Ron reached into his pocket, pulling out his wand.
"Hurry up Wealsey," Pansy said, seeing Harry looking tired from dodging what would be a painful concussion.
"Swish and flick!" Hermione instructed, and Ron nodded before shouting the incantation.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" The bat is pulled from the troll's hand, and he stares at the empty space in his palm before looking above his head. Hermione, despite the situation, smiled at the boy who finally performed the spell. They all watch as the bat drops from the air, knocking the troll hard on the top of his head. Harry is dropped instantly, and the troll staggers where he stands. Both Ron and Harry scurry backwards as the troll stumbles in their direction before dropping on his stomach, dust swarming around the body.
Everyone takes a second to breathe, realizing that they were no longer in danger before standing and gathering around the incapacitated body. Harry kneels down and pulls his wand from its nose, all of the children letting out noises of appalment at the sight of bogies following.
"Troll bogies," Harry groaned, wiping his wand on his robes before placing it in his pocket. Draco, while still angry at both of the Gryffindor boys, couldn't help but commend them on their bravery, something he lacked tremendously but had to put up a façade of arrogance and confidence in place of it.
"That was wicked," Draco spoke, looking at both Weasley and Potter. Pansy nodded in agreement. "Didn't realize either of you had it in you."
"Thanks Malfoy," Harry spoke, and for the first time since the year had started, there wasn't any malice or hostility in his voice when he spoke Draco's name.
Draco held his hand out towards Potter, deciding that he didn't want to spend the rest of his time at Hogwarts fighting with the boy who he had only wanted to befriend. While skeptical, Harry placed his hand in Draco's and they shook, both of them deciding in that moment to put aside what had happened. What no one expected was for Draco to turn to Ron and offer his hand again.
"I know we've had differences, that our families have had differences," he spoke, thinking back on what Pansy had told him earlier in their common room, "but I don't want to follow in my father's footsteps. I'm sorry for the way I treated you, how I belittled you first day. I just want you to know I'm trying to be better. Can we start over?"
Ron looked at the silver haired boy who he was destined to hate just like their fathers hated each other, thinking back on how he was ridiculed for being a Weasley, for being poor. However, he also thought on the apology Malfoy just spoke and noticed their was nothing but sincerity in his words. They were absent of judgment, of hate, and made Ron believe that they could actually be friends. So he let is hand grip Malfoy's before shaking it. "I don't see why not."
Three professors barged in, McGonagall leading the bunch before gasping and leaning against the wall gripping her chest. The first years were on the verge of being scolded before explaining themselves. Draco, Pansy, Harry, and Ron were each awarded five points while Hermione, who took the blame for the whole fiasco, was docked ten points.
While walking through the halls to their houses later that night, the group looked amongst each other and a friendship stronger than any of them could know had started to form, but this was only the beginning of what would turn out to be a long year, and a long life, of protecting Harry James Potter.