Just as luck would have it, Gryffindors and Slytherins had Defense against the Dark Arts lessons together the next day. Umbridge had mercifully taken ill that day and the class heaved a sigh of relief upon realising that Dumbledore himself would be taking over from Umbridge due to a shortage of teachers. But Draco had a sense of foreboding that something was going to go terribly wrong when Dumbledore announced to the startled class that they would be learning how to produce patronuses that lesson. After all, Draco's patronus was an otter, identical to Hermione's, and would no doubt raise suspicion in the class if he produced the same patronus as Hermione. It was widely known that if someone had an identical patronus to another person, that someone most probably had deep feelings for that person, often romantic feelings, and Draco was determined to keep that part of him that loved Hermione hidden.
"Now, wands at the ready," Dumbledore instructed the class. "Think of a very strong, happy thought and say the words Expecto Patronum." Most of the people around Draco managed to produce wisps of smoke from the tips of their wands, but Draco was so worried that he might produce a corporeal patronus as he done so before that he did not even attempt to think of a happy memory. As Dumbledore walked around the room assisting students, Draco decided that he might as well drop the attempt at a patronus altogether. Instead, Draco's feet somehow found their way to Hermione.
He gazed at her, her pretty features screwed up in concentration as she tried her best to produce a patronus. Hermione had never been able to produce a patronus at will, not like Harry, and Draco knew that that must annoy her tremendously, as she took pride in being top in everything that she did. Meanwhile, a silver stag was charging around the room and he saw that Hermione became more and more frustrated as her failed attempts increased while Harry succeeded on his every attempt.
Draco decided that he could not stand around and watch Hermione suffer, he had to do something. His judgement was always bad when it came to Hermione, and this time was no exception. Ignoring the glares from the Slytherins, he walked to Hermione's side and offered to help her with her patronus. Under normal circumstances, Hermione certainly would not have accepted help from Slytherins, but she was desperate now, and accepted Draco's offer without a second thought.
"So what's your happy thought?" Draco asked curiously. "Is it really strong enough?" Hermione hesitated for a while. Now that she really thought about it, the only happy thought she could think of was when she managed to get on a broom without falling off. "I can't think of anything particularly happy," Hermione confessed after a while. "It's like all my really happy memories somehow vanished...I know they're there somewhere, but I just can't locate them, no matter how hard I try." To add to her frustration over her failed patronus, Hermione still could not remember the happiest memories she had, and without warning tears suddenly welled up in her eyes. She turned away, embarrassed, hoping that Draco had not seen her tears, but he had, and his heart ached for her. He questioned himself again whether it really had been best for Hermione when he had cast the memory charm on her, taking away her treasured memories.
"Here, take this," Draco reached into the pocket of his cloak and pulled out a handkerchief. He did not care what the Slytherins thought about him, he just could not stand seeing Hermione sad, especially since he was the reason behind her sadness. "Don't cry, you won't be able to produce a patronus being sad," Draco tried to cheer her up by teasing her. Hermione took the handkerchief offered to her and managed a small smile. Something about Draco's presence was immensely comforting and it seemed to make up a little for the memories she vainly searched for but to no avail.
"How about the memory when you first found out you were a witch?" Draco offered. "Think about how you felt, the elation. Capture your emotions and concentrate carefully, then say "Expecto Patronum."" Hermione decided that she might as well take that piece of advice from Draco. She let his words flow over her as she concentrated as hard as she could. Hermione was rewarded with a wisp of smoke from the end of her wand and a smile from Draco. "Not bad," he said encouragingly. "Try that again, and try to summon up the full happiness of that moment when you first received your Hogwarts letter."
But there was little improvement from her first attempt. As the minutes ticked by, Hermione was beginning to lose patience with herself again. Tears of frustration clouded her eyes for the second time, and Draco was consumed with guilt for being the source of her disappointment with herself. He had seen her produce a corporeal patronus before on her sixth attempt, but by now they were already somewhere between Hermione's twenty-fifth and thirtieth attempt.
Hermione was just about to give up and run crying to the girls' lavatory but suddenly she decided to try again, just another try, she coaxed herself. And suddenly it occurred to her, how she had felt, that tiny leap her heart gave when Draco walked over and offered to assist her. "Expecto Patronum!" Hermione exclaimed, concentrating every ounce of willpower she had left on the recent memory. And to her tremendous delight, a silver otter burst out from the tip of her wand and frolicked around her and Draco. Overcome with delight, Hermione hugged him.
It went without saying, Hermione and Draco had just become friends. Getting closer to Hermione was trouble, it meant danger even, Draco's instinct warned him. But seeing the sunny smile on Hermione's face and knowing that he was the reason behind it pushed remaining thought from Draco's head and he hugged her back.