Disclaimer: Well… I obviously still don't have the rights to Harry Potter….
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"Can I have my wand back?" Hermione asked, looking up from the ancient book in her lap.
Malfoy didn't look up from his. "No."
"Why not?" Hermione asked, closing the book and setting it on the floor next to her. "I haven't done anything rash since the first night."
"And your point is?"
She looked down at her hands. "I miss magic. It's a part of me and I want it back," She said, cautiously looking back up.
"I said no," Malfoy repeated, still unmoving from his casual position on the couch. He was wearing his usual sweats and black v-neck. He didn't shy away from wearing any type of clothing, Hermione thought. Ron probably didn't even know what a v-neck was, and Harry probably would rather wear nothing. She guessed that they didn't think it was manly, but Hermione found it showed an attractive amount of Malfoy's collarbone.
Hermione looked away, shaking the random thought from her head. "Is it because I'm a muggle-born?"
Malfoy snorted. "Sure, that's the reason," He said, flipping the page in his back.
"You're so pathetic, Malfoy."
"That heat flash came out of nowhere," He said calmly, now wearing a small smirk.
"I bet you feel so high and mighty, keeping a mudblood from her magic," Hermione huffed, his casual attitude pissing her off. She realized as she said it that he hadn't called her a mudblood in a while.
He looked up, finally. His steel grey eyes met hers. "I said no, Granger. Believe what you want to believe but you are not getting your wand back."
"What if Death Eaters came in and starting firing curses? I wouldn't be able to protect myself."
"That wouldn't happen. These wards are strong, I made them myself."
"No offense, but you weren't exactly the best wizard," Hermione muttered before she could stop herself.
Malfoy froze. "Excuse me?"
Hermione felt guilt well up in her stomach. "God, I'm-"
"In case you hadn't noticed, Granger, we've been speaking fucking Voldemort's name allowed constantly, and he hasn't exactly blasted down the door, knowing our location. Do you know anyone who can make wards that powerful?" He was standing up, his eyes flashing as he glared down at her. Hermione stood up so that she wouldn't feel so small.
"I-"
"Have you ever seen a fridge that refills itself? I bet not, I made the spell myself."
"Malfoy-"
"What about your clothes? Since you no longer have your wand, I've bewitched them to transform to what you're thinking. Have you ever seen a spell like that? I made it up, too."
"Look-"
"Don't you dare think I'm not powerful. In case you hadn't noticed, I'm the one who protects this house day and night. I'm the one who keeps us alive. I'm the one who makes sure fucking Death Eaters don't poor in and slit our throats in our sleep."
"But-"
"Who wakes up before you and stays up late after you've cried yourself to sleep, finding a cure for someone who doesn't value their life? Oh, that's right, it's me."
Hermione had had enough. "How do I know it isn't some sham? How do I know you're not a Death Eater who's going to slit my throat in my sleep?" She spat, repeating his words.
"You're so fucking stupid. Why would I have kept you alive for so long if that was my intention?"
"Why else would you keep me here, doing all of this for me?"
"Being a Death Eater changes you," Malfoy spat, thrusting his wrist at her, showing her the eerie Dark Mark. It didn't move, but it had a life-like quality, as if it was breathing, or as if it's eyes were watching you.
Hermione stared at the mark, shudders running down her spine.
"In all honesty, I don't know why I'm doing this. Maybe it's because I feel like I have to repay a debt. Maybe I'm just crazy." He stalked away, and Hermione watched him slam his bedroom door behind him.
She'd never seen him so angry. She just found their arguments were like a routine, and she actually like them.
They made her feel something.
Malfoy calmly returned, all of the angry emotion wiped from his face. It was the cold stare again. "Here," He grumbled handing her something.
Her wand.
Hermione took it, surprised at him. "Thank you," She whispered.
"Kill yourself with it, murder children, I don't care. It's not my problem."
"I'm sorry I was rude. I didn't mean what I said, you really are a great wizard." Even though she didn't realize it until she said it, Hermione found that she truly believed what she was saying.
"Whatever," He snapped, returning to the couch and opening his book, returning to his page.
For the first time, Hermione looked at Malfoy. Really looked at him. He'd shown something that she'd never seen from him. He'd always been cold, always been arrogant, always been rude, but he'd never been angry. He did have human emotion, buried under his hard exterior.
A loud pop was heard outside the front door. Instantly, Malfoy was on his feet and they were pointing their wands at the door.
"It's us," Harry's voice said.
"I completely forgot today was their day," Hermione said happily, pocketing her wand.
"Verify yourself," Malfoy said, not lowering his.
"Malfoy's a ferret," Ron said, annoyed.
"Be serious, Weasel, or I'm assuming you're a Death Eater in disguise."
"I'm Harry Potter. My first owl was given to me by Rubeus Hagrid. On our first meeting, you tried to befriend me. I refused. You are now working on a cure for Hermione Granger."
Hermione opened the door, smiling. "Come in."
Harry and Ron walked in, no longer taking time to admire Malfoy's interior furnishing. Ron plopped himself on the couch and Harry sat in a chair.
"Hermione, we have lots to tell you," Harry said seriously.
"Well, I'm going to throw up," Malfoy said, exiting as usual.
"Tell me," Hermione said, sitting down in her spot on the floor.
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"More horcruxes?" Hermione asked, her mouth agape.
"Ron thinks so, but I disagree." Harry paused to brush the long hair out of his eyes and then continued. "There's got to be some limit, and if seven's the ultimately powerful number, I think eight will just kill him."
"Harry, that makes perfect sense. Voldemort wouldn't risk killing himself to make another Horcrux. His guard will be up, though, and it will be that much more impossible to get to him."
"And then we had another idea."
"Shoot," Hermione said, mentally kicking herself for not thinking about Voldemort's Horcruxes. She had been so distracted looking for a cure, she wasn't herself. The sooner she got rid of the bloody curse, the better.
"We think that if we kill Voldemort, your curse will be lifted. You said that it was lodged in your brain, right?"
Hermione's mouth widened. "Malfoy!" She called, wanting him to know the new information.
After calling his name a few times, he grumpily walked in.
"What on earth could you possibly want now?" He grumbled, moodily leaning against a wall.
Hermione explained Harry and Ron's theory to him, watching as his facial expression changed from extremely pissed to moderately angry. When she finished he remained silent for a moment, and then spoke up.
"This doesn't really change much," He said, crossing his arms. "We still have to be able to quench the fire inside you before we could kill Voldemort, and then I'd have to scan your brain, just to be sure the curse permanently left."
"It makes it a hell of a lot easier," Ron said haughtily.
"You really think so? Have you ever heard of a spell that completely quenches fiendfyre? The only known thing possible to even do with fiendfyre is wield it."
Hermione sensed the tension in the room escalating. She realized that in the weeks that she had lived with Malfoy, she had become accustomed to his blunt attitude and even appreciated it. "Maybe we should go outside," She said to Harry and Ron. "It's beautiful outside."
They spent the next hour relaying the events of the past week to each other, and then Harry and Ron had to leave.
"Hermione, I know I've said it before, but be careful," Ron said, touching her arm. She had once believed that Ron had a crush on her, but she was positively sure that her relationship with Fred discouraged anything from Ron. Now he had a happy relationship Luna Lovegood, which Hermione found a little ironic, since he had been the least friendly to her out of the trio.
She smiled in return and replied, "Always am." Ron smiled and then disapperated.
That left her and Harry. "Hermione, I know I've said it so many times, but I'm-"
"Harry Potter, if you say you're sorry one more time, I will hex you into tomorrow," Hermione said, raising her eyebrow.
"But I am, Hermione. Truly and sincerely."
Hermione waved away his umpteenth apology. "Seriously Harry, the way I look at it, Voldemort would have cursed me one way or another. He actually probably would have killed me." She squeezed his hand affectionately.
"As long as you know that I never meant for you to get hurt. You're like my sister, Hermione."
She smiled. "Of course." With a final farewell smile, Harry disapperated, leaving Hermione enveloped in a tranquil silence.
Hermione stood outside alone, looking at the mountains, at the wind whistling through the trees, at the alive feeling of her surroundings.
Hours passed and she remained standing outside. The summer air started to turn chilly, and she vaguely remembered that she was simply wearing jeans and a t-shirt. She didn't want to leave, though. She had never felt so peaceful in her life.
"Granger, if you're going to stand out there like a clichéd heroine in a novel, you might as well get a jacket or something."
Malfoy's voice broke her serenity, and she stiffly walked back into the warm house.
"It's about bloody time."
Hermione did not respond to Malfoy's obnoxious comment, instead choosing to rummage in his fridge. She found leftover pasta and, with a wave of her wand, it was steaming and fresh.
"I've missed magic," She murmured dreamily, settling herself at the dining room table.
"Not enough to ask for your wand before now," Malfoy observed, sitting across from her with Sheppard's Pie.
"I figured I wasn't on your good side and you would never consider it."
"I didn't consider it-"
"Yes, you did. I could tell, even if you weren't trying to show it."
"And by the fact that I gave you your bloody wand in the end," Malfoy grumbled into his food, rolling his eyes. He looked up, smirking. "Do you think you are?" He asked.
She tilted her head questioningly. "Am I what?"
"Do you think you're on my good side?" He asked humorously.
She smiled. "More so than I was when I first came here."
Malfoy rose his eyebrow in response. "You thought you were on my bad side?"
"I'm pretty sure I've been on your bad side for a while," Hermione said, taking a bite of pasta. "Me being a muggle-born and all."
"You know, sometimes people are more than they seem."
Before Hermione could ask what he meant, he stood up suddenly, and she shockingly realized that he had already finished his plate of food.
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A/N: So… yeah.
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Thanks for reading. :D
