"Nothing is as obnoxious as other people's luck."
―F. Scott Fitzgerald
"Why are you mashing your mashed potatoes? It's already mashed enough, isn't it?" a dark-skinned Slytherin boy named Blaise Zabini asked with raised eyebrows. Following Draco's gaze, he added, "I heard that those three faced that troll by themselves and that Granger went after it on her own. In the end, they even got themselves some points for their bravery," he narrated with a grimace, jaw clenched in obvious annoyance. "If we'd done that, we would've gotten ourselves detentions until the end of the year."
"Evidently, Blaise. No one gives a damn about us 'cause we're the bad guys," Theodore Nott snickered, narrowing his dark eyes as he watched the Gryffindor trio. "Snape would only treat us nice if we awarded him an Order of Merlin."
"An Order of Merlin First Class, you mean," Blaise amended and Theo nodded with a frown. "What do you think, Draco?" and they both stared at the blonde boy, who was still acting as though the mashed potatoes had just told him that Quidditch had been canceled forever.
Draco Malfoy was glaring at the Gryffindor table, where Granger, Potter and Weasley were chatting excitedly and laughing at some stupid joke. It seemed as if they were getting along better than ever and the brunette looked much cheerier than the day before. Draco swallowed the mashed potatoes with a scowl and tasted nothing but bitterness. Watching that scene unfold made him feel an unprecedented feeling, but he would turn himself into a slug before admitting what was making his stomach churn.
"Shame that troll couldn't finish the job," Draco hissed, coolly, making Crabbe and Goyle laugh dumbly whereas Theo just rolled his eyes and ate the rest of his lunch. Zabini, however, kept his eyes fixed on Draco, watching how the blonde Slytherin kept glancing at a certain Gryffindor girl every thirty seconds.
Hermione was oblivious to Draco's annoyed glares. There, having lunch with Harry and Ron after they had saved her from that terrible creature, she felt perfectly happy for the first time in Hogwarts. Maybe the School was going to become home from now on.
"Blimey, Hermione, that essay is at least ten inches larger than Professor Binns asked!" Ron stated with disbelief, his expression clearly startled at the girl's dedication.
Hermione merely smiled and chastised both of the boys for wanting to copy her homework. Well, she guessed that there were still some things you couldn't share even when you liked each other.
Once again, it took months until Draco and Hermione crossed paths again. Both of them were too busy with their timetables to remember their altercations, but that did not stop Draco from irritating Hermione and her friends whenever there was an opportunity. He and his muscled friends Crabbe and Goyle seemed to have made their mission to harass Harry about his celebrity status and Ron about the size of his family being inversely proportional to their wealth. For some unknown reason, Hermione was labelled merely the bushy-haired know-it-all and she had to admit she had faced worse in muggle school.
In those past weeks, every time the Gryffindor girl caught sight of Draco, he always had a sneer plastered on his pointed face as he waltzed around the castle as though he owned the place, his grey eyes narrowed in slits. She was beginning to wonder whether she had imagined his smiles because it seemed as though Draco Malfoy was incapable of doing something so nice. As a result, Hermione was beginning to forget that they had almost become acquaintances (she had decided to refrain from using the word friend to talk about Draco). That is, until that very night. And the situation could not be more unpleasant: they were both serving detentions at the Forbidden Forest.
Professor McGonagall had punished Draco after he had reported that Potter and his friends were trafficking a baby dragon with the aid of the gamekeeper Rubeus Hagrid. Nonetheless, since he was out of bed past curfew and had not been able to prove his accusations, he had lost fifty points and gotten himself a detention. Hours later, however, he finally got his vengeance: Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom (in a dimwitted attempt to protect his friends) were caught by the lurking caretaker Argus Filch. Much to Draco's rejoice, they had lost one hundred and fifty points, heard McGonagall's proverbial verb and gotten themselves detentions. The Slytherin boy would have been even more ecstatic if Ronald Weasley had been there as well, but the ginger tumor was still at the Hospital Wing thanks to a nasty dragon bite.
Which was why Draco, Hermione, Harry and Neville saw themselves together in front of Hagrid's nut as they waited to serve their detentions in a place that Draco had hoped to stay as far away as possible.
"I'm not going into that Forest!" Draco stammered, shifting his weight from one foot to the other as his grey eyes scanned the dark edges of the trees. It was so cold and dark outside that he wondered why they couldn't just tell him to write some lines inside the safety of the castle.
"If I didn't know you any better, Malfoy, I'd say you're scared," Potter piped in with a scornful look.
"There are werewolves there," he clarified, breathlessly, dismissing completely the drawled tone he normally used to address Potter. His pale complexion was almost shining under the moonlight as he grew whiter and whiter by the second. "Wait till my Father hears about this!"
"He'll tell yer that's how it is at Hogwarts!" Hagrid growled, clearly annoyed at the Slytherin student, who almost jumped some inches at the booming sound of the gamekeeper's voice. Of course that oaf was mad at him; he had come forward and told McGonagall about his dragon, an illegal and dangerous creature that Hagrid had been nursing as if it was a puppy. "Yeh've done wrong an' now yeh've got ter pay fer it."
Then Hagrid embarked on an explanation about what they were going to do in the Forest, which did absolutely nothing to calm Draco down. There was something attacking unicorns in the Forest and the boy knew for a fact that they would be facing a grave danger if they were to deal with that. Even though he was not particularly fond of magical creatures, only something very evil would harm a unicorn. Ollivander had told him so when he had gotten his wand, whose core contained a unicorn hair. Swallowing hard, he refocused his attention on the gamekeeper's words, still hoping that the man decided to venture himself alone in that Forest and allowed him to return to the Slytherin dungeons.
"So me, Harry an' Neville go one way an' Draco an' Hermione'll go the other."
"If it's just the two of us, then I want Fang," Draco grunted, watching Fang's long teeth. He was so freaked out by the prospect of getting near that Forest that he did not even have it in him to protest his pairing with… her.
"All right, but I warn yeh, he's a coward," said Hagrid, shuddering and looking like he could not care less about Draco's concern. "Now, if any of us finds the unicorn, we'll send up green sparks, right. An' if anyone gets in trouble, send up red sparks and we'll all come an' find yeh – so, be careful – let's go."
As Hagrid went to one side with Harry and Neville, Hermione started walking to the opposite direction without any warning, Draco following close at her heels. He had Fang by his side and looked as if he was about to pass out. And although a Gryffindor, Hermione had to admit that the Forbidden Forest was her least favorite place in Hogwarts (though the Quidditch pitch was a tough contestant) and she had trouble understanding why a place named Forbidden had been selected as a viable option to serve detentions. She absolutely loved magic, but there were some elements about the wizarding world that she had a hard time adapting to. That was definitely one of those. Perhaps Dumbledore did not care at all about following his own rules…
They walked in silence for at least twenty minutes, their wands barely illuminating the way as they got deeper and deeper into the woods. Both of them kept wondering how they had managed to end up there and together, nonetheless. Everything was dead quiet, save from their footsteps and Fang's heavy breathing. The treetops were so close together and the forest was so dense that a simple Lumos did not make any difference. Frustrated that she had not thought about that earlier, Hermione took a small jar she carried inside her robes and conjured the bluebell flames that she was so fond of. Beside her, she noticed the way Draco held his breath and watched the flames with amazement. With a small smile to herself, but still adamant on keeping her distance from the boy, she led the way with newfound determination.
"Bloody detention," Draco muttered, dryly, kicking a small rock in obvious anger.
"It's all your fault. If you hadn't decided to act like a little spy and then tattle on us to Professor McGonagall, none of us would have been punished!" Hermione replied fervently, her back turned to Malfoy. He's such a prat!
"I didn't ask for your opinion, Granger."
"So quit whining and do something useful for a change."
"There's nothing to do. I don't know if you've realized with that big brain of yours, but that oaf wouldn't have sent us to this side and take those two to the other if he thought that the unicorn was around here," he scoffed, his tone full of sarcasm.
Hermione opened and closed her mouth, but could not find anything to argue with him. He was obviously right. Hermione turned on the spot to face him, bluebell flames in hand. Under the blueish light, she allowed her eyes to settle on his quivering figure and give him a good look for the first time in months. He looked the same: platinum blonde hair meticulously fixed with hair gel, pointed face, aristocratic features, grey eyes and… no sneer. Draco kept glancing to the side every second, shifting his weight from one foot to the other and gulping. If that was not enough of an indication, the way he was gripping tight to Fang's leash as life depended on it was enough for her to realize that we had indeed scared beyond measure.
She could feel her disappointment melt off and be replaced by sympathy.
"Come on, take the jar. I'll take Fang," Hermione told him kindly, giving him the bluebell flames. Draco watched her hand for over a minute, brows furrowed, reluctant in accepting that offer. A million things rushed through his mind in that minute: their conversation, her kindness, her magical skills, her big amber doe eyes, their bickering, his hatred, his convictions, his beliefs, the darkness and the coldness of the Forbidden Forest, his trembling hands, his fear.
That was too much for an eleven-year old boy to think about! Especially one that happened to be in the middle of the woods, where dangerous creatures lurked in the shadows! His internal debacle seemed far from a happy ending, so his self-preservation instincts spoke louder and he took the jar with an imperceptible nod. And that was it. That was only it. Self-preservation. Slytherin.
"Thanks," mumbled Draco against his will, giving her the dog and deciding that there would be another time to overthink that decision.
The two turned on their heels and headed back to Hagrid's hut in a comfortable silence, which reminded Hermione of the day she had met Draco. However, she did not dare start any conversation considering how hurtful his words had been some weeks ago and her resolution to pretend that nothing had ever happened. Draco had a bitter look in his eyes as he stared at the bluebell flames and Hermione knew that is was because he had accepted her help unwillingly. Deep down, Draco wanted to ask how she had done that and perhaps praise her magical abilities. But that was impossible; he ought to keep away from the girl. Being in her company was already against his initial plans. Enjoying her company… that was abominable.
They were standing in silence in front of Hagrid's hut for some minutes now when the gamekeeper fast approached with a horrified expression in his bearded face. Neville and Harry came just behind, the latter's face stricken with panic. Hermione ran for the green-eyed wizard, Fang at her heels, and asked him what had happened. Her voice sounded more worried than ever. Draco heard something like "I was attacked", "my scar" and "the centaur saved my life". Bloody Potter and his heroic tales! Was he capable of doing anything without causing any commotion?
"Merlin! Hermione exclaimed, throwing her arms around Potter and hugging him tightly. "I'm glad you're all safe! Did you find out who attacked the unicorn?"
But Draco was no longer paying attention to that conversation. Watching the pair with a scowl and thinking that he had had enough of those stupid chitchats, he threw the glass jar on the ground and stomped his way off to the castle without looking back. That sensation he had felt while watching Hermione with her friends after the troll episode came back steadfast and this time, he did nothing to set it aside. He knew fairly well what it was: envy.
If he had looked back, Draco would have seen a pair of big amber eyes following him with a lot of worry until he disappeared from sight.
A/N: hey there. Once again, thanks to everyone who followed this story! Hope you're enjoying where it's going. Draco and Hermione's interactions are limited for the time being. They're children and not exactly in a position to understand thoroughly what they're facing. Also, as you can see, I'll change up things a little bit. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter and share your thoughts with me.