A/N: Hi readers! Finally Hermione and Draco have their first tutoring session. Read this chapter to find out what exactly goes down :)
Summary: Hermione, newly appointed Head Girl, signed up in volunteer for Hogwarts' first tutoring program. Little did she know that she would be the proposed tutor for the Pureblood Prince himself. Semi-AU, drugs, drinking, lemon/limes, DMHG, HPGW, RWLL
Last Time…
Ron Weasley, panicked, starts a rumor about Hermione and Draco being together.
Pansy Parkinson shared 'their secret' to the entire school, a secret that may not be 100% true, yet.
In his path of avenging Pansy's outrage, Draco got dominated when he tried to kick Ron's arse in front of Ginny.
Chapter Four: Mind Your Studies
Draco took the camera to the Middle Courtyard. He tossed it on the ground in front of him. He then lifted his wand out, pointing at the camera.
"Expulso," he said. The camera burst into a small explosion, and cleared up immediately, the camera and anything it held within, was destroyed. Draco smiled and drew his wand to his robes, muttering, "Reparo." The fabric of his school robes instantly repaired. He tucked his wand away inside of his jacket and headed off to Muggle Studies, his least favorite class, especially now.
Draco was late to Muggle Studies by 5 full minutes. As he walked in the door and over to his desk, Professor Burbage added a "Mr. Malfoy, you are late again," into her lecture, mid-sentence. The other students looked at Draco, and turned to laugh and snicker amongst themselves.
He glared back at them and marched to his seat. This was absurd. Draco Malfoy was not someone who would be laughed at. Silly teenage girls and their jealousy would not make a fool out of him. And he absolutely would not, under any circumstances, let these rumors come true and stay to haunt him.
"So, ladies and gentlemen," Professor Burbage said, floating about the room, "Can someone name for us, three types of Muggle government systems?"
She gazed around the room. Few students had their hands up in the air. Even fewer students were even paying attention. However, one first year student sat at the front of the class with her arm held straight up, practically bouncing in her seat. She was a gangly young girl and had long, bushy blonde hair.
Burbage had made her way around to the right side of the room against a wide bookshelf. She looked over to the first-year student and smiled, "Yes, Harriet?"
Harriet turned toward the teacher and spoke with confidence. "Muggle governments can be based on three concepts – economical, political, or authoritative. An example of a government based on economical concepts is Socialism. An example of a political government would be Parliamentary. And finally an example of an authoritative government would be Democracy."
"Excellent, Miss Thompson!" Burbage had a great smile across her face, ecstatic to see a student so interested in her class, "50 points to Gryffindor!" she awarded.
Draco groaned, 'Well isn't she just the most clever thing,' he thought.
Burbage turned to Draco, "You know, Mr. Malfoy, you could be just as knowledgeable about the Muggle world as Miss Thompson is," she sarcastically smiled, "If only you would apply yourself…"
He responded with a dirty look and pulled a piece of parchment from his bag. He settled in for a session of doodling for the rest of the class period. "Damn Gryffindors," he cursed quietly.
Pansy walked through the corridors of the school with Hestia and Flora Carrow. They were headed to the Slytherin Common Room after a gossipy History of Magic class had ended.
"I still can't believe you just got up on the breakfast table and shouted 'The Head Girl is a slut' across the room!" Hestia giggled.
Flora cackled, "And the look on that Mudblood's face!" she added.
Pansy laughed as well, although not as hard. She was starting to feel a bit nervous about what Draco was going to say and do the next time that they met. Its not like they socialized together often as it was, but she had a feeling that rather than winning him over, she had driven him further away. After all, it wasn't just Hermione Granger's name that had been dragged through the mud. In fact, the more Pansy thought about what she had said, the more she worried that it looked more like an attack on Draco than anything.
Then, around the corner came the oh-so talked about Head Boy. Pansy froze, Hestia and Flora doing the same just steps later. Flora let out a small 'eep.' They turned around, walking as quickly as they could in the opposite direction. But it was too late; Draco had seen them.
"Parkinson!" he shouted, freezing Pansy in her tracks again. Malfoy caught up to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Do you have any idea the trouble you've caused me?" he growled.
She turned to face him. Hestia and Flora looked at the situation in front of them, and then at each other. They took what they interpreted as their cue to leave, and disappeared down the corridor. Pansy smiled awkwardly, "Oh hello, Draco."
He drew his wand and pressed it to her chin. He was about five seconds away from hexing the wench. "Anything to say for yourself?" his eyes glowed with rage.
"I'm sorry, Draco, it's just that, I really have feelings for you and I thought that if Granger was out of the picture, I could become Head Girl and we—" she was cut off by Draco's sarcastic laughter.
He cackled, "You? And me?" he said as he lowered his wand and studied Pansy a moment before saying, "What are you, woman? Mad? You could never be Head Girl, not even if you were the last witch in Hogwart's. And it's even less likely that we would ever be together."
Pansy was devastated and embarrassed. Her face was beat red and tears swelled up in her dark eyes. "But, Draco…" she whispered, defeated.
"No!" he shouted, causing a tear to run down her cheek, "I'm not your boyfriend, never will be! And I'm not snogging Granger. I suggest you stop spreading rumors that say otherwise." Draco gave Pansy one last dirty look before he walked away.
He could hear her sniveling from the end of the corridor, but he did not care. Draco had a tutoring session to attend. The sooner he started passing Muggle Studies, the sooner his life could be Granger-less again.
The late afternoon was progressing and the rumor mongers remained unrelenting. Hermione struggled to focus in classes, distracted by the sound of her name being whispered all around the room. She did her best, however, and managed to get through the day without an emotional outburst. Her last class ended about thirty minutes ago, and Hermione headed up to her dormitory with a plate of dinner to spend the rest of her evening. The last thing she wanted was to take the chance of fall victim to another one of Pansy's outbursts.
Ascending the enchanted stairs, she realized this would be the first time she would talk to Lady Clarice about what she told Ron, which had now spiraled into the biggest rumor of the school year. It was still autumn!
"Hellooooo~ Miss Granger!" Lady Clarice greeted the Head Girl, oblivious to the damage that she had caused.
"Lady Clarice," Hermione started, "Did an older student come by here last night that I didn't know about?" she asked, probing the painted woman.
"Why yes, honey," Clarice replied, "A young ginger-haired man came by asking for you."
"And, what did you say to him that I was doing?" she asked.
Clarice laughed to herself and smiled, "I jokingly told him that you were already passion-deep with a gentleman caller from Slytherin, and you were busy at the moment. I also called him a tramp."
"Clarice, you can not do that!" Hermione exclaimed in anger.
The portrait smiled devilishly, "You're right, trampy is such a tacky word," she joked.
"No," Hermione scolded, "You can't joke to people that I'm being intimate with someone, everyone heard about it today and…" she thought for a moment, and said, "and it really screwed things up with him."
Clarice frowned a bit, "Well, that's no fun! Hermione, now that I know your rules, believe me, anything that goes through this door is top secret!"
Hermione studied Clarice for a moment, 'could she be trusted, honestly? Or is she mocking me? Well, either way, I don't suppose that it could be much worse right now. Besides, my food is getting cold.'
"Alright," she said cautiously. Lady Clarice smiled and curtsied in her picture frame. Hermione said the password and was allowed entrance into the Head Girl's Suite.
Hermione kicked her shoes off in the living room and sat down at the kitchen table to eat the dinner she had brought up with her. She picked at her food, managing to eat a pile of potatoes and a treacle tart.
After her short dinner, Hermione headed straight to her bedroom. She pulled off her clothes as quickly as possible on her way to the bathroom. What she needed was to wash away the stress in a hot shower.
The young witch flicked her wand to cause the flow of water to start. Before stepping into the shower, she stood in front of the mirror and pulled the band out of her ponytail, releasing her hair over her shoulders.
Hermione ran a comb through her hair to work out any tangles and help relax her follicles. She sat the comb down and reached around to unhook her bra, which she draped over the towel rack. Her panties slid down around her ankles and she stepped into the shower, soaking her hair and body.
While enjoying her shower, she let the stress of her day melt. She let her anger toward Pansy and every other student who had spent their day making Hermione's humiliating. She let go of her frustration toward Ron and Harry, and any resentment left toward Lady Clarice, as well.
She thought about Draco and how he had said to her that he could never fall for "me," so harshly, as if she was a lower form of life. Hermione hated to admit it, but Draco actually did hurt her a bit.
She sighed and did her best to forget about it, rinsing the shampoo and soap off of herself. It didn't do much trying to ignore the feelings that were filling up inside of her. Hermione leaned up against the shower wall, defeated. She refused to let Malfoy get to her.
She stepped out of the shower and turned the water off. Hermione could hear a swift knock on the portrait frame and a small conversation muffled by the door. Another knock was heard and she quickly pulled on panties and her long bathrobe. She listened for a moment to confirm her suspicion. She opened the door and pulled in the visitor before anyone saw who was at her door for the second night in a row.
Harry and Ginny sat on the floor in front of the fireplace in the Gryffindor Common Room. They were making plans for the party that was happening that Friday night by the Black Lake of Hogwarts. They were to have a 'late night astronomy club meeting' outside, observing stars. At least, that's what they said when the pair had been interviewed by Snape earlier that day.
But otherwise, yeah, they had gained "permission" to hold this get together outside under the stars.
Harry read the agreement paper, "It says we have 4 hours for this astronomy club project, that's bloody brilliant!"
"A reminder to students," Ginny read over his shoulder, "that there are Grindylow and merfolk down there. In the past, the Grindylow attacked students competing in the 1994 Triwizard Tournament." She looked at Harry, "Bummer."
Harry interjected, "Oh, come on, Ginny, its just a little excitement for everyone. It'd be fun," he pleaded.
Ginny groaned, "Fine." She stood and backed into a welcoming couch, sitting on it, "But we've got to try to put protecting charms around us, just to be safe."
Harry only laughed at the thought of being able to corral Hogwart's first and largest rave they would ever see. "Okay, Gin," he smiled.
Harry sat down on the couch next to Ginny and put his arm around her. "Look, I know," he said to her in a comforting way, "I know you've been worried about me getting into trouble just for the adventure. But really, I am glad to not have to worry about getting killed or having my loved ones in danger anymore."
Ginny looked into his eyes and smiled. He always had to be the hero, didn't he?
"Things will go great at the party," Harry told her.
She collapsed into a hug with Harry, excited for the event. "Oh my gosh!" She cried, "I'm so excited for the shopping I'll be doing tomorrow!"
Draco was pulled into the Head Girl's dorm quite forcefully. Granted, he was happy to get out from the line of questioning from Lady Clarice; but still, he just would have rather not have chanced a concussion on the door frame when Hermione smacked his face into it by, what he assumed was, not completely accidental.
"Blimey, woman!" Draco hollered, rubbing his forehead and nose. He pulled himself off of the floor and slid his cloak off from around his shoulders.
Hermione scrambled back to her bedroom before Draco could ask, 'Where the bloody hell are you going?'
"Be right back!" She yelled, closing the curtains to her bedroom as she disappeared behind them.
Draco rolled his eyes. "I don't care if you don't have your makeup on, Granger. I'm not interested in taking you out." Draco walked toward the curtains that Hermione had disappeared into, "Seriously," he said, slipping a finger between the fabric and stepping into the room, "I just – AAAAAHH!"
Hermione was pulling some denim shorts from London up over her panties when it happened. Draco unexpectedly walked in on her, and Hermione accidentally exposed her breasts to the Head Boy. Fabulous.
She screamed back at him, and grabbed her robe to cover up. Draco realized what had happened as soon as he looked up at her. He shot out of the room and onto the couch, hoping and praying Hermione hadn't seen him. He did not mean to interrupt her in such a way. He couldn't say he wasn't intrigued, however.
Hermione strapped up her bra and pulled a white sweater over it. She put her feet into her slippers and tried to calmly walk out into the living room. Maybe she could get out of this with some dignity?
Draco sat down on the white leather couch. His fingers played with the brass accents on it. 'Rather tasteful for a Gryffindor,' he thought.
Hermione cleared her throat. Draco looked over to her, "I'm –" he stuttered, "I apologize for what just happened…" he trailed off.
"What?" she asked. Had the boy who had been meanest to her in the school, just apologized to her? No crass remarks about her body? No name-calling? She was stunned.
Draco's soft expression of apology turned quickly to embarrassment. "What I meant was, maybe you shouldn't let your things run loose while you have company over!"
Hermione laughed at his attempt to cover up his soft side. "Its fine, Malfoy," she assured. "What did you come here for?" she asked, getting down to business.
"Well," Draco replied, "Dumbledore made up our study schedule, and he told me to bring you a copy tonight. Its our first session."
"Oh…" she said, not realizing this was an immediate thing, "I see," she said, going with it, "Well, I take it you brought your things?"
Draco picked up a book back from underneath his cloak on the couch, indicating that he had.
Hermione nodded and walked over to couch and sat down next to Draco. 'What an odd feeling,' she thought as she sat next to someone who had always been just a bully to her. She almost felt like equals.
"So, what is it that you're struggling with?" Hermione asked, taking the class book from Draco.
"Everything," Draco replied, embarrassed.
"What?" Hermione looked puzzled.
Draco sighed and said, "I have been paying someone to do my homework, and he just got caught and all of my grades were thrown out. I have to redo it all."
Hermione looked down, shocked to realize that she was hired to re-teach Draco Malfoy an entire class here! "Oh," was all she said.
"So, reckon we start with chapter 1?" Draco asked.
"Right," said Hermione, "Okay, get out your notes and a quill." She looked around, searching for a place for them to work, "Here, lets move over to the dining table, it's a better surface."
"Do you have any ink? I'm dry," Draco said.
Hermione grabbed an inkbottle off of the shelf and handed it to Draco, "Here, this will be plenty to keep you busy."
Hermione sat next to Draco at her small dining table. The book for Muggle Studies was called, 'Muggles: Not So Different, But Not So Similar,' a title sure to appeal to the pureblooded audiences, if not entrance them. The first chapter was quite simple. "The Similarities between Muggles and Wizards." It was a rather drabbley chapter about how we all shared a similar world, we coexist with them. How similar our bodies were. Ridiculous and rather childish, Hermione found it difficult to imagine that this was a challenging class for Draco.
Nevertheless, she began her first tutoring session with Draco Malfoy.
'It actually isn't too bad, ' Hermione thought, 'he's not calling me names or saying anything insulting.' She looked up from the book at Draco, who was writing out definitions vigorously.
"Draco?" Hermione said, calling the blond's attention.
"Yes, Granger?" he said, looking up at her.
"I noticed that you have been, well," she paused, "nice to me… Why is that?"
Draco bit his lip in frustration. "I didn't think that I really needed to be playing the blood card when that person who I need right now is a Muggle-born," He set down his quill and turned to face her.
"Hermione," he started.
'He called me Hermione?' she thought instantly. Hushing her voice of confusion over that, she continued listening to Draco.
"I know that I've been rude in the past, but I really hope that you could see past that and help me with this class. I really need it," Draco's face was a bit flushed.
Hermione gave a small smile, "I appreciate it, Draco."
The rest of the session went very smoothly between the two. They both managed to keep their tempers under control. Draco even got close to a whole chapter's worth of coursework done.
It was nearly 9 p.m. now, and Hermione needed to get to sleep if she was going to get up early to go shopping. She, Luna, and Ginny were all going to Hogsmeade on a special half-day visit. Hermione didn't want to have to break up the night, however. In fact, she was having a better time with Draco than she ever had with any of her exes on their first dates…
No, not dates. Tutoring Sessions not dates.
"Well," Hermione finally spoke, "I think it's getting late, I need to get ready for bed now."
Draco nodded, "Yeah, I've got to get going, too."
He collected his books into his bag and draped his cloak around his shoulders and secured it on. The air around them was thick and warm, even inviting. They walked to the door together and stood a moment, both of them delayed every action, holding on to the last seconds together as part of their legitimate tutoring session.
But the portion of their time that was spent over books had ended.
Draco leaned against a table and began to make his version of 'small-talk' before he was forced out of the door.
"So, er, Granger," he said awkwardly, "I suppose I'll see you again on Friday night, yeah?"
Hermione smiled, "That's right. You might have plans but you'll just have to cancel them because Muggle Studies is a very—"
"No," Draco interrupted, "I asked because I know you had plans to go to some shindig with Potter."
Hermione paused, thinking a moment, "How did you know…"
Draco smirked, "You must have forgotten that I am Head Boy. We both are made aware of all 'club events' happening on school grounds."
She responded by biting her lip and looking at the ground. The last thing she wanted was to have him ruin their cover by telling Professor Snape about the legitimacy, or lack there of, surrounding Friday night's 'Astronomy Club Meeting.'
He laughed a little, "Don't look so beaten, Granger," he said, enjoying teasing her, "I won't tell anyone about your silly party."
Hermione sighed in relief and smiled, "Thanks, Malfoy."
Draco's face became warm and he nodded, putting his hand on the door handle to leave, "I've got to get going now."
"Right," Hermione said, awkwardly extending her hand for him to shake, "See you around."
Draco took her hand and shook it politely, "You, too, Hermione," he replied, releasing her hand and withdrawing behind the heavy entry door.
'Hermione,' the sound of Malfoy finally addressing her by her first name rang in her head. She smiled to herself, enjoying the civility of her former blood-sworn rival. Maybe they could be more than civil? Maybe they could be friends.
If they were to become friends, then, maybe it would make it accepted for her to acknowledge the fluttering feeling in her stomach. Perhaps Hermione wasn't the only one whose stomach was rippling with nervousness.
A/N: There's the fourth chapter! I just want to say thank you to anyone who is keeping up with this story. It means a lot to me. Drop a review to me if you'd like. Otherwise, keep reading! My next update will be soon.
Love
-Rawberry