Draco Malfoy Must Die

Chapter 4 - How to Save a Life

Hermione was early to breakfast on Monday morning, as she always was. She had been reading a book and slowly making her way through some toast when Harry and Ron walked into the hall, arguing in hushed undertones. She could hear them, even if they did think they were being quiet.

"-just can't believe you'd do that Harry! And what the hell was Hermione thinking? Was she imperiused?"

"It's really not your business Ron, so back off!"

"Not my business? Last time I checked I was your best friend-"

"Was last time you checked before or after you attached yourself to Lavender?"

"At least she's a Gryffindor not a dirty snake or a Death Eater wannabe!"

Hermione kept her head down as they neared her, but Ron spotted her right away. His face was red, and she could tell he was angry the moment she saw him.

"Hermione!" he said, in what he clearly thought was a quiet tone of voice, but half the hall were watching the three of them now, "how the hell could you go to Slughorn's party with him? Bloody McLaggen would have been better than him!"

"It's none of your business who I go to parties with Ronald," Hermione said firmly

"None of my business?" Ron said, his voice getting louder, "You went with Draco Malfoy!"

"And?" Hermione asked shrilly, "why do you care? You have a girlfriend, remember?"

Ron's face got even redder, "I'm not jealous, Hermione! I just don't want you hanging around his lot."

"Ron, you've got to calm down. Who Hermione, or I, go to parties with really isn't your business. You can't control who we're friends with," Harry said calmly.

Ron scoffed, "So you're just replacing me with the schools biggest slut and Draco fucking Malfoy?" he practically shouted.

Harry raised his voice as he said, "You're calling her a slut? Look at your girlfriend."

Ron's face burned bright red, and Harry was reminded of his Uncle Vernon, "Leave her out of this!"

"Why? You've gotten everyone else involved!" Harry said irritably.

"Well you should have asked me before you went with them!" Ron said hotly.

"We don't need your permission to do anything!" Hermione said, now raising her own voice, "and for your information I was going to ask you but I had much more fun with Malfoy than I would have had with you anyway!"

Ron looked positively outraged at this and shouted, "Yeah well he probably only went with you to try and shag you anyway. Hermione Granger, the most recent notch on Malfoy's broomstick."

"How dare you!" Hermione shrieked as she got to her feet and pulled out her wand, "you are the one sneaking around in every classroom you can find with her! You are such a hypocrite, Ronald Weasley!"

She was reminded of the Yule Ball as tears burned at her eyes, and when she saw Draco and Daphne walk up behind Ron she knew things were about to get worse.

"I think you will find I was the perfect gentleman, Weasley," Draco said coolly, "I don't get caught trysting with my fellow students across the school."

Lavender, who had heard about half of this argument since entering the hall glared at Draco as he looked pointedly at her, "Ron and I are dating-"

Draco waved her away, "Go away Brown and find some other Gryffindor to entertain."

Lavender shut her mouth and looked thoroughly displeased, but Draco ignored this and said, "I do not appreciate you shouting profanities about me in front of the whole school Weasley, and I especially dislike falsities being spread. I think this boils down to one thing, you are jealous that Granger asked me instead of you."

"And I don't know why you care that Potter took me," Daphne said with a raised eyebrow, "or do you want to screw him too?"

Harry's face screwed up in disgust, and Ron was now thoroughly embarrassed as he spat out, "I just don't want my friends joining your junior Death Eater gang! Or have you forgotten who killed your parents, Harry?"

Harry had a temper, and most of the time he could control it. But as he stared at Ron, he found it impossible to control that temper, "Do you want to repeat that?" he asked quietly.

Ron swallowed hard, and Neville spoke up from where he was sitting nearby at the Gryffindor table, "I was there for the whole party Ron. Nobody did anything bad, and they were all polite."

Ron scoffed, glad that Harry's attention was no longer on him. He turned to Neville, "So you're sympathising with them too then Neville? Or have you forgotten what they did to your parents as well?"

Neville got to his feet, but Ron wasn't scared because he didn't think Neville would hurt him. That was why it came as such a surprise when Neville's fist collided with his nose, and it cracked loudly. Ron shouted out in pain, and Neville said quietly, "First of all, they didn't do it. Other people did, and that is private!"

Ron whimpered in pain, and McGonagall was standing in front of them in seconds, "That is enough! Potter, Weasley, Granger, Longbottom, Greengrass and Malfoy, I will see you all in detention tonight, 7pm, the entrance hall!"

Ron was still whining in pain and McGonagall said firmly, "Finnigan, take Weasley to the hospital wing."

They walked towards the oak doors to the entrance hall, and McGonagall turned her gaze on Neville, "Longbottom, my office now!"

Neville swallowed as he was led out of the hall by McGonagall, leaving just Harry, Hermione, Draco and Daphne standing in the middle of the silent great hall awkwardly.

"I'm going to Potions," Hermione and Draco said, practically simultaneously. They frowned at each other at the occurrence and Draco, going back to his old self shrugged and said, "See you there Mudblood."

He turned and left, and Hermione frowned, "What was that?"

"It's his defence mechanism," Daphne said simply, "See you in Potions, anyway. Bye Potter."

"Bye," Harry said, slightly bemused as Daphne followed Draco out of the hall.

Hermione grabbed her textbook, "I'm going too, everyone is watching us. Are you coming?"

Harry nodded, "Uh yeah," he said, grabbing his bag and leaving the hall with Hermione as a plan began to hatch in his head. Slughorn loved him, and he could use that to his advantage so he had decided that he was going to try and do just that.

"Professor Slughorn," Harry said as he walked into the classroom after knocking on the door. Hermione, Daphne and Draco were still waiting outside.

Slughorn positively beamed at Harry, "Oh hello Harry my boy. What can I do for you today?"

"Well, I don't know if you heard but I just had an argument with my friend in the Great Hall so I don't really want to be sitting with him" Harry said, "and I was wondering if you could maybe shuffle the seating arrangement around a little? Maybe pair Slytherins and Gryffindors together, to help house unity and keep Dumbledore happy?"

Slughorn smiled, "Ah, you wouldn't want to be seated with a certain Miss. Greengrass now, would you Harry? I couldn't help but notice that you two seemed close at my party."

"And what an excellent party it was," Harry said passionately, "you really know how to throw them Professor."

Slughorn stood up and patted Harry on the shoulder, he chortled, "Well played my boy. Of course, I think a shuffle in the seating arrangement could be greatly beneficial to the learning environment of the class," he winked at Harry.

"Excellent news Professor," Harry said brightly, "oh, and there is one more thing. Do you think you might be able to seat my friend Hermione with Draco Malfoy?"

Slughorn chortled again as the bell rang, "Any friend of Harry Potter is a friend of mine," he said, opening the door and letting the students file in.

Once they were seated Slughorn said, "Good morning 6th years. I have decided that for the next few months it will do this class good to have a shuffle in the seating arrangements so I would like Blaise Zabini and Lavender Brown in the front here, Ronald Weasley and Millicent Bulstrode here when he returns from the hospital wing. Dean Thomas and Susan Bones here, and I think we will have Harry Potter and Daphne Greengrass behind them. Lillian Moon and Ernie MacMillan to the right here. Padma Patil and Theodore Nott at the back, and Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy at the last table in the back."

There was much grumbling as the class moved to their new seats, complaining about this new seating arrangement. Hermione shot Harry a glare amongst the shuffle, because she knew this had been his plan but she had to commend him, it was a good one. This way Hermione could talk to Draco and try and get him to trust her in a situation where he couldn't just walk away when he got fed up or when she asked something he didn't want to answer. She sat down, and took her books out and Draco did the same next to her, and they were silent.

"So…" Hermione said in a bid to start conversation.

"Just because we have to sit next to each other doesn't mean we need to talk, mudblood," Draco drawled.

"What is your issue?" Hermione asked in disbelief, "I thought we actually had fun the other night."

"I do not have fun with Mudbloods," Draco said, loud enough for Theodore Nott at the table next to them to hear, "I was bored and you were my ticket to that party. No need to think you're special."

Hermione pushed away the hurt feeling that bubbled up at his words. No, you can't let getting hurt get in the way Hermione. If you don't help him he's going to hurt someone else, or himself and as much as he's hurting your feelings you can't let that happen.

She listened to her internal monologue and swallowed her pride, "Sorry Malfoy, I just thought you were actually a decent person the other night. But I guess that was all a façade."

Hermione was sure she saw hurt in his eyes at her words, but he just shrugged and said, "Do you honestly think I would ever want to be friends with someone like you?"

Hermione just looked down at her book with red cheeks and ignored him as Slughorn started the class. He seemed to have gone back to hating her again, but he had defended her in the great hall this morning. She was so confused, and she had no idea how to gain his trust when he seemed to despise everything about her.

"What's with the long face?"

"He hates me," Hermione muttered angrily to Susan, it was after lunch and they were in the greenhouse together. The good thing about Herbology was that the sounds of the plants snapping and swaying, and the sounds of tools against ceramic pots meant they could talk quite comfortably without being overheard.

"I heard him defend you this morning," Susan said, "I hardly think that's hatred."

Hermione cast her gaze away from Ron, who was glaring at her from where he stood with a strip over his nose. Neville was standing at the other end of the bench, a fair distance away from the hot-headed redhead. She turned to Susan, "You didn't hear what he said to me in Potions. That I was a Mudblood, and he didn't want anything to do with me. And I know he's using me to get to Harry."

"Is he though or did he just tell Snape that to get him off his back?" Susan asked, "I don't think he knows how he feels about you. I think he's trying to hate you, because it's easier and safer for you if he does. If he gets involved with you and brings you into whatever he's doing it's dangerous for you, and he'll know that."

"How do you know him so well?" Hermione asked with a frown, "you can't have dated him for that long."

"I didn't, but I grew up with him. I told you, I was at all of the pure-blood parties as a kid with families like his and the Greengrass's. He nearly drove a wedge between Daphne and me when he dated us at the same time, but we're still close," Susan said, "I've known Draco since I was 4, and I know the way he thinks."

"Then tell me how to gain his trust, because I don't know how to when all he does is insult me and belittle me in front of people," Hermione said a little desperately.

"He'll try and play the big man in front of his friends, he always has done," Susan said, "so talk to him in private. Ignore him in potions, but sit next to him and talk to him when the library is practically deserted."

"Talk to him about what? We don't get past petty insults," Hermione pointed out.

"You have more in common than you know, Hermione," Susan said with a slight smile, "he loves reading, he loves Potions and romantic epics. Use those things as basic starting points, offer to help him with his Transfiguration because it's his weakest class and use those as building blocks."

"You really know him well," Hermione said, looking at Susan and having a bit of a revelation, "you still care about him, don't you?"

"Of course I do. He was my friend for years, and because of what happened we don't even talk anymore," Susan said honestly, "and I'm scared for him right now."

"So am I," Hermione admitted, "that's why I'm doing this."

At 7pm that night Harry, Hermione, Ron, Neville, Draco and Daphne found themselves in the entrance hall with McGonagall, awaiting their detention. Nobody said a word to each other as McGonagall led them out into the dark, freezing cold grounds all the way down to the Quidditch Pitch.

"Your punishment is to clean the Quidditch Pitch, and Madam Hooch will not let you leave until it is cleaned to her standards," McGonagall said, leaving them to be instructed by Hooch. They were split up, and much to Hermione's annoyance she was tasked with picking up litter from the stands with Draco.

It was freezing cold, it was dark, and she didn't have her wand. Needless to say, Hermione was not in a good mood.

"I know you don't want to talk to me, Malfoy, but I'm going to talk at you because I hate awkward silences," Hermione said, shivering as she picked up bits of litter and put them into the bags Hooch had given them.

Draco sniggered, and Hermione grumbled, "This is all Ronald Weasley's fault. If he could just keep it in his pants and not flirt with his best friend for 5 years, leading her to believe he had romantic feelings for her, then none of this would have happened."

"Not jealous at all Granger," Draco drawled.

"Fuck off Malfoy," Hermione bit back irritably.

"Well, you really are in a bad mood," Draco said, amusement lacing his voice.

"I thought you weren't talking to me Malfoy," Hermione said, raising an eyebrow at him.

"I'm not," Draco said firmly.

"Yes you are, you talked to me just now," Hermione pointed out, "and to be honest, I can't be bothered with you not talking to me while we have to clean every single one of these bloody stands. So, even if it's just to insult me, can you please talk to me?"

Draco snorted, and Hermione muttered, "I never thought I'd rather spend the night with Draco bloody Malfoy instead of Ron."

"That sounds like an innuendo," Draco joked.

"Ugh!" Hermione groaned, "Get over yourself Malfoy. Not everyone wants to screw you."

"No, but everyone seems to want to screw Brown at the moment. I can't imagine why," Draco drawled, "although Weasley doesn't have much taste anyway."

"Can you just leave Ron and bloody Lavender out of this for one fucking second?" Hermione said angrily, her pink cheeks becoming red, "I get that he doesn't notice me because I'm just Hermione, his best friend, the girl with the bushy hair and bland personality! And Lavender is so bubbly and fantastic, and every guys dream, I get that okay! I don't care Malfoy, but I'm freezing and I'm fed up and I just…I don't want to talk about them okay!"

Her voice had gotten louder and louder as her rant continued, and by the time she was finished the tears burning behind her eyes were falling, and she felt like a complete idiot. She turned away from Draco, and wiped her eyes feeling embarrassed.

"You have some serious self-confidence issues, Granger," Draco said from behind her, but it didn't sound insulting, just a comment.

"Can't imagine why," Hermione said bitterly.

Draco cleared his throat, "I'm sorry Granger, I didn't mean it like that-"

"Don't pretend that you care Malfoy," Hermione said in a choked voice.

"I'm…" his voice trailed off, and for a moment all they could hear was the wind. Hermione sat down on one of the benches, and the last thing she expected was for a warm, fur lined cloak to be gently placed over her shoulders.

"I'm sorry you're having problems, Granger," Draco said, sitting down next to her, "but he's a Weasley. What do you expect?"

"Don't," Hermione said weakly, "don't bring your family feud into this Malfoy."

"I'm not," Draco said, "but look at the Weasley kids. The oldest one might be settling down now, but he was wild before that, and the other older ones still single isn't he? Look at Weaslette and the amount of guys she's led on, and those twins were arses to women. And if somebody did want to date the other one, I'd be shocked, I can't even remember the guy's name."

"Percy," Hermione said, glaring at Draco.

"Merlin, don't tell me you had a crush on the guy?" Draco said.

"He's Ron brother, of course I didn't," Hermione muttered, but her mind was in over-drive, Malfoy can't talk about Ron being an arse to women. He dated three girls at the same time! What a hypocrite!

"Anyway," Draco said as he got to his feet, "enough about your relationship problems, if I talk about Weasley's for too long I come out in a rash."

Hermione rolled her eyes and stood up, feeling significantly warmer in Draco's cloak. She frowned as a familiar smell invaded her nostrils, it was coming from his cloak and it smelled like…fancy cologne. Her frown deepened as she tried to remember where she had smelled it before, and then it hit her like a ton of bricks. Shit, amortentia. When I smelled it in Slughorn's class it smelled like freshly mown grass, new parchment and cologne, fancy cologne that smelled just like the stuff on this cloak. That can't be a coincidence, can it? Merlin, it has to be a coincidence! I can't be attracted to Draco Malfoy!

"Granger, you alright?"

Hermione was drawn out of her reverie, and she was glad for the cold because she was certain that her face was bright red at the moment, "Uh, yeah I'm fine."

Draco raised an eyebrow at her, "Are you sure? You don't sound convinced."

"I'm fine," Hermione said simply, "but now that my breakdowns over, we can go back to hating each other Malfoy."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night Granger," Draco teased, and just like that they fell back into the silence their detention had begun with.

"How was the litter pick-up with Malfoy?" Harry yawned as they walked up the grand staircase towards the Gryffindor common room.

"Enlightening," Hermione sighed, "what were you doing?"

"Cleaning the showers with Nev," Harry said, "the company was fine, it was the job that sucked. What happened with Malfoy?"

"Well, I had an emotional breakdown about Ron and Lavender," Hermione said, shaking her head in annoyance with herself, "and he told me I ought to have expected it because the Weasley's were arses, and then gave me his cloak because I was cold."

Harry frowned, "So he was nice to you?"

"A mixture of insulting, and comforting," Hermione shrugged, "I don't think he knows whether he likes me or not to be honest, and I don't mean that in a romantic way. I mean in general, he can't decide whether he thinks I'm a nice person or that he completely hates me."

"He's pretty complicated, but I can understand why now that we know what's going on with him," Harry sighed, "I feel sorry for the guy."

"So do I," Hermione said, "which is why I've finished the galleons and I'll hand them out this week. We'll get everyone together soon and try to figure what he's planning, and why Katie got caught up in it."

"Yeah, that's the part I don't understand," Harry agreed, yawning the password to the Fat Lady. They entered the common room which was empty, and Harry said goodnight and went to his dorm. Hermione sat down on the sofa, and took a book from her bag. She didn't want to go to bed yet because she knew she would just toss and turn, she hadn't been sleeping well for a while. She didn't know how long she was in the common room for when footsteps padded down from the girls dorm and Ginny walked into the common room in her pajamas.

"Oh, hey Hermione," she yawned, "I just came down to grab my Charms book. Why are you still up so late?"

"I've got a lot on my mind," Hermione admitted.

Ginny smiled and sat down next to her on the sofa, "Is this because of Ron? I heard the whole argument in the great hall this morning."

"I only went to that party with Malfoy to annoy Ron," Hermione admitted, "so I guess I got my way. But I just thought he would care more, I thought he had feelings…for me."

"I don't know what goes through my brothers mind Hermione," Ginny admitted, "but if he lets you go then he really is an idiot, and I don't know what he sees in that irritating bimbo. He's bringing her home for Christmas this year, between her and phlegm I don't know how I'll cope."

"You could always stay at Hogwarts," Hermione suggested.

"Mum would kill me if I left her alone to deal with that," Ginny said with a shake of her head, "she's gonna flip at Ron when she finds out you and Harry aren't coming. I'm assuming you won't unless you make up with Ron?"

"Probably not," Hermione admitted.

"This isn't just about Ron, is it?" Ginny asked, reading Hermione like a book, "It's about Malfoy. Merlin, do you actually like the guy?"

Hermione scoffed, "It's impossible to like someone who's that hot and cold," she said irritably.

Ginny smiled a little, "Spill the beans, what happened on your detention tonight?"

Hermione did trust Ginny, despite their differences. They were friends and had been for years, so she opened up to the redhead, "One second he was insulting me and then when I had a bit of a breakdown over this whole Ron and Lavender thing he was actually quite comforting and….almost sweet. He gave me his cloak."

Ginny chuckled, "Yeah, I see what you mean about being hot and cold. He's probably just trying not to be nice to you, if people see that he is they'll get suspicious, and ruin his reputation or whatever."

Hermione nodded thoughtfully, "Ginny, what do you smell when you smell amortentia?"

Ginny frowned, "Uh, why?"

"I'm just curious," Hermione said sheepishly.

Ginny replied, "Well I smell broomstick polish, cakes baking, and…the third thing is sort of hard to pin-point, it's an earthy sort of smell like…"

"A greenhouse?" Hermione suggested.

Ginny frowned, "Sort of, I suppose. Anyway, what do you smell? You're obviously asking me this for a reason."

Hermione replied, "New parchment, freshly mown grass and…"

"Draco Malfoy's cologne?" Ginny guessed.

Hermione's head snapped up, "How did you…"

"I've known you for years Hermione, and you're the least subtle person I know," Ginny said in amusement.

"But it's just cologne. Anyone could use the same stuff, right?" Hermione asked, only a little bit panicked.

Ginny smiled, "I hate to break it to you, but Draco Malfoy is a rich bastard. Hardly anyone in Hogwarts can afford the cologne he uses. What you smelled, it was unique to him."

"But, I hate him Ginny!"

"I highly doubt that," Ginny said, "and from what you just told me I don't think he hates you either. Didn't your Mum tell you as a kid that boys tease you because they like you and don't know how to tell you?"

"We're not kids anymore," Hermione pointed out.

"I didn't say he was mature," Ginny said with a slight smile as she got to her feet, "just be careful Mione. There's a war coming on, and he's right in the heart of the opposition."

"I know, Gin," Hermione said with a smile, Ginny was just looking out for her after all, "I promise I'll be careful."

Ginny nodded, "Night Hermione," she said, and not long after Ginny had left, Hermione decided that she really ought to get some sleep herself.

They didn't have much time to set their plan in motion before Christmas break, on Tuesday morning Harry and Hermione found themselves discussing that at the Gryffindor table over breakfast.

"We need to talk to McGonagall at break today," Harry said as he put some jam on his toast.

Hermione frowned, "Why?"

"Because we're supposed to be getting on the Hogwarts Express to go to the Burrow on Friday," Harry said pointedly, "I somehow doubt Ron is going to want us to spend Christmas with him considering the fact he's angry with us, and we've barely spoken to him since he got together with Lavender.'"

Hermione sighed, "But that's just not right. We've always spent our Christmases together, we should talk to Ron, he's our best friend."

Harry glanced along the table to where Ron was sitting, with Lavender on his lap, and frowned, "Is he? How can he just completely stop talking to us for a girl?"

Hermione shook her head as she got to her feet, "We're not talking to Professor McGonagall until we've talked to Ron first," she said.

"Good luck with that," Harry muttered as Hermione walked down the table, and paused behind Ron, "Um, Ron," she said.

Ron detached himself from Lavender, and rather grossly wiped his face with his arm, "Oh hey Hermione," he said a little awkwardly.

"Harry and I were just wondering what we were doing this Christmas," Hermione said, sitting down next to him on the bench, "I mean we are supposed to be going to The Burrow but we haven't exactly been on the best terms."

Ron frowned, "Well you've gone and become friends with the Slytherins. It's a bit awkward if I'm honest."

"But we can't only be friends with you for our entire life, Ron," Hermione said calmly, "there are some really nice people in other houses and Harry and I are friends with them too."

"Like Malfoy and Greengrass?" Ron asked bitterly.

"They are some of them, but we've made friends with some Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws too," Hermione said, so far she thought this was going well.

"So what are you asking me? If you're allowed to come to The Burrow or if I want you to?" Ron asked bluntly, "Because Mum will let you come even if I say no."

"Well, do you want us there?" Hermione asked, trepidation hanging on her words. She still cared about what he thought of her, and what he said, even after all the stamping he had done on her heart.

"Not really," Ron said bluntly.

Hermione swallowed and nodded, "Right. Well, have a good Christmas then," she said, turning around and leaving the hall.

Harry caught up with her in their first period class, which was Transfiguration. He knew they wouldn't have long to speak, so the moment he sat down he said, "So we'll talk to McGonagall after class?"

Hermione sighed, "Yeah," she said a little miserably.

"Hey, don't worry about it Mione. We're going to have a great Christmas," Harry said, taking her hand underneath the table and squeezing it as he gave her a comforting smile.

Hermione looked up to smile back at him, and noticed that from the table across the aisle Draco was glaring at Harry, she averted her eyes before Draco saw her looking, "Thanks, Harry," she said. So Susan's right, he definitely doesn't hate me, but then again he doesn't exactly like me either. She sighed heavily, her life had gotten even more confusing than even she had thought possible.

All the way through double Transfiguration Hermione could feel Draco's eyes on her and it made her feel uncomfortable. She ignored it, and never looked up, and all the while her brain was in over-drive with thoughts of what had happened in the past weeks. What had begun as a simple party in the Hufflepuff common room and become a mission regarding Voldemort.

The class dragged by, and when it was finally over Harry and Hermione purposefully took a long time to pack their bags and then walked up to McGonagall's desk.

"Mr. Potter, Miss. Granger. What can I do for you?" McGonagall asked.

"We were hoping you could put our names on the list of students staying at Hogwarts over Christmas break," Harry said.

"And why do you make that request, Potter?" McGonagall asked.

"We're supposed to be staying at the Burrow, Professor," Hermione said, "with Ron and his family."

"I see," McGonagall said knowingly, "of course, I will add your names to the list."

"Thank you Professor," Hermione said with a smile.

Wednesday night found Hermione alone in the library. She and Draco in Potions had ignored each other throughout the whole period of Potions which had been incredibly awkward. And on the way out, while Hermione packed her bags she heard Theodore Nott mutter something to Draco.

"You better have a shower after dinner Draco, you stink after sitting next to that filth for a whole hour."

"Fuck off, Nott."

Hermione was still dwelling on that occurrence as she sat with a book open in front of her, and a half written Charms essay to her side. Had he been defending her? Or was he just pissed off that Nott had insulted him? She sighed heavily, she wasn't getting anywhere with Draco and on Friday Christmas break began. She hadn't asked him, because she knew he wouldn't answer her so Hermione didn't know if Draco was staying at Hogwarts or going home.

"Thinking hard, Hermione?"

Hermione jumped at the voice in the silent library, but when she looked up at the person blocking her candlelight she realised that it was only Lilly. She looked very different in her school clothes, wearing a baggy Ravenclaw jumper and thick rimmed square glasses.

"Hey Lilly," Hermione said with a tired smile.

"No offence, but you look like shit," Lilly said bluntly as she sat down across from Hermione.

"I've not been sleeping well," Hermione admitted.

"You should go to Madam Pomfrey about that. You don't want to mess your grades up in 6th year," Lilly said with a frown.

Hermione smiled weakly, "I think my grades are going to get messed up anyway. You heard Harry, there's going to be a war and it's going to kick off soon."

"That's not an excuse to forget to be a teenager when you still are one," Lilly said with a smile, "look at me, I'm a Ravenclaw by day and a fun-loving Hufflepuff by night."

Hermione laughed and said, "Yeah, I wondered why I hadn't noticed you when I saw you at the party. You look pretty different by day."

Lilly smiled and said, "I blend in during the day, it makes my life a whole lot easier but I still get to have fun."

"That must be why Malfoy liked you," Hermione said thoughtfully, "he seems to like fun girls."

"He likes a lot of girls," Lilly said with a shrug.

"Does he have a type?" Hermione asked, "I mean he dated you, Susan and Daphne at the same time. A brunette, a blonde and a redhead."

"I don't think even Draco knows his type," Lilly said honestly.

"It sounds like its anything female," Hermione retorted.

Lilly smirked a little, "That's not what you really want to know is it? You're wondering why he dated me because I'm a Muggle-born."

"Well, I didn't want to say," Hermione admitted sheepishly.

"I'm a hard person to offend, Hermione," Lilly said in amusement, "but to answer your unspoken question, I don't think he actually hates Muggle-borns. He doesn't terrorise every Muggle-born in this school, or do anything bad to them. I mean I guess he threatened them when the chamber of secrets was opened in second year, but since then the only person he insults for being Muggle-born is you."

"Is this supposed to make me feel better?" Hermione asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It should," Lilly said, "it means you're special. It isn't because you're a Muggle-born, that's just the excuse he uses. It's because you are Hermione Granger, the one person whose comebacks are just as good as his and just as quick. He likes to get a rise out of you."

"That's one thing, but half the time he's just downright nasty, and I try to pretend it doesn't hurt but of course it does," Hermione said, keeping her gaze down.

"He's a dick Hermione," Lilly said, "I'm not trying to convince you otherwise. He is a completely selfish, arrogant dick so who knows why he does the things that he does. He was nice enough to me, and he never mentioned my blood status, that's all I know."

"How did you two even meet?" Hermione asked curiously.

"The library," Lilly said honestly, "we got talking on late nights in the library when we were alone and it went from there. He's a secretive person, so I doubt in the 6 months I dated him I found out anything real about him, he's complicated."

"I'd gathered that much," Hermione admitted with a sigh, "but I really don't know how I'm supposed to gain his trust."

"Stick to the library, it's your common ground," Lilly said, "if you try and talk to him in front of anyone else he'll just block you or insult you. I dated the guy, and he pretended that I didn't exist when we were in public together."

Hermione nodded, "Alright," she said finally, "oh, Lilly are you going home for Christmas?"

Lilly scoffed, "No way. I only go home when I absolutely have to, why?"

"Harry and I were thinking of having our first meeting," Hermione said, reaching into her bag and giving Lilly a galleon, "it will be over the Christmas break but the galleon will burn and the date and time will appear."

Lilly grinned, "Cool," she said eagerly, "well I'll definitely be there."

Hermione smiled, "Good, I'm kind of glad of all this in a way. I know it's horrible for Malfoy, but we'd never have been friends without it."

"That's true," Lilly said as she stood up with a smile, "There's a silver lining to every cloud. I'll see you at the meeting."

"Yeah, see you there," Hermione said as Lilly grabbed a book and walked towards the door of the library. Hermione watched her go, and to her surprise as Lilly left, Draco walked in. Lilly smiled at him, and Draco blanked her then he scanned the library and saw Hermione who had been smart enough to keep her head down and make it look like she was reading.

She scrawled down some information from the book onto the essay in front of her, and when she turned her head to turn the page of her book she jumped when she saw Draco standing right by her table.

"Malfoy!" Hermione exclaimed in fright, "What do you want?"

"We need to talk," Draco said simply.

"Really?" Hermione asked sarcastically, "I thought you spent half your time not talking to me."

Draco rolled his eyes, "You're being melodramatic Granger."

"And you're being an arse," Hermione said irritably.

"Can we quit with the insults and talk?" Draco asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't know, can you get through a conversation with me without calling me a mudblood?" Hermione asked.

"I came here to offer an olive branch to you, Granger," Draco drawled.

"That would imply you want to be my friend," Hermione pointed out.

"Well, maybe I do."

"Do you?" Hermione asked sarcastically, "Because I don't know what we are Malfoy and I'm sick of it so either hate me and leave me the hell alone, or be my friend. You can't just pick and choose which one you want to do depending on your mood! I'm actually a human being, not one of your little playthings!"

"Can't you ever just shut the hell up and let me talk?" Draco asked irritably, he had raised his voice too now.

Just as Hermione opened her mouth to yell back at Draco Madam Pince emerged from behind a bookcase and promptly kicked them out of the library. They were still annoyed at each other as they walked along the first floor corridor, and when they neared the grand staircase Draco grabbed Hermione's arm and pulled her into a secret passageway behind a tapestry.

"What are you doing?" She hissed at him.

"I came here to talk to you Granger, and I'm not leaving until we've talked," Draco said, not letting go of her arm.

"Fuck off and leave me alone. There, we've talked, you happy?" Hermione said in annoyance. She knew she wasn't supposed to get riled up, that probably wasn't helping in gaining his trust but he just pissed her off so much.

"Fucking hell you are so infuriating!" Draco said, letting go of her arm, "I don't know whether to curse you or laugh and that pisses me off because I can't like you Granger. I have to hate you, okay? I don't have a choice."

"Yes you do," Hermione said hotly, "I know you do. I'm just asking you to like me as a friend. I don't think that's impossible considering you dated a bloody Muggle-born, why is being friends with one so hard?"

"Dated a Muggle-born," Draco scoffed, "I don't know where you get your information but-"

"Lilly told me, she's my friend," Hermione said, unable to help herself, "and she's not a liar so don't even bother denying it."

The colour drained from Draco's face, "You can't tell anyone about her. If my family find out they'll kill me, promise me you won't tell anyone Granger!"

He had gripped her arm again and his grasp was so tight it hurt, "I won't tell anyone!" Hermione said as she winced.

Draco noticed and dropped her arm, looking at the red mark he had left on it guilty. He sighed and pulled his wand from his pocket, "Here, let me fix that," he said, and he sounded tired and resigned.

Hermione held out her arm to him, "If you're so scared why did you date her in the first place?" she asked.

"Because for once I wanted to do what I wanted, not what my parents wanted," Draco said honestly as he murmured a healing charm which instantly cooled the friction burn, "and I really liked Lilly."

"So why did you break it off?" Hermione asked.

"You know why, you know as well as I do what happened last year with you lot and my Father. Do you think I wanted to draw her into it? It's not her war," Draco said.

"No," Hermione agreed, "it's ours."

"And we're on opposite sides," Draco said, dropping her arm and looking up at her, "you would do well to remember that."

"Do we have to be on opposite sides?" Hermione asked, meeting his eye, "nobody's made that choice yet."

"Some of us don't have a choice, Granger," Draco said, his voice regaining its icy indifference.

"Everyone has a choice," Hermione said gently, "we just have to be brave enough to do what is right instead of what is easy."

"Well we aren't all Gryffindors, are we?" Draco said coolly.

"Is this what you wanted to talk about?" Hermione asked, with a raised eyebrow, "How we're on opposite sides of a war?"

"I wanted to ask you what we were trying to achieve here," Draco said, "because we can never be friends, I'll always have to insult you in public or people will get suspicious."

"Well then tell me that so I know it's just a façade," Hermione said, "If I know then it will hurt less."

She noticed the guilt that flashed in his eyes, and she could see how torn he was, "I won't risk it. You don't want to risk getting mixed up in my world, trust me."

"Like mine is that much safer," Hermione retorted, "I nearly get killed every year following Harry on his stupid suicidal missions."

Something flashed in Draco's eyes at those words, so he knows hes on a suicide mission.

"If we both survive this war, then we'll renegotiate," Draco said, and he really did sound resigned to a fate of death.

"Deal," Hermione said, holding out her hand.

Draco looked at it for a moment then took it and shook it.

"So for now we do what? Go back to not talking and pretend none of this ever happened?" Hermione asked, "Because I'm not sure I can do that."

It was the truth, she was beginning to like Draco Malfoy, and she wanted to help him. Maybe that was Harry's hero complex starting to rub off on her. But she couldn't just go back to her life and forget that this had ever happened.

"Tell yourself whatever you want to help yourself sleep at night Granger," Draco said, and his voice was just as cold as it had been when they had first met, "but whatever this was, it's over."

Before Hermione had a chance to say anything, Draco pushed past her and slipped out of the passage. She sighed as she sat down on the hard, concrete floor. You are beginning to do the exact thing you swore you wouldn't do, you care about him.

Hermione couldn't actually believe she was crying over Draco Malfoy, and it wasn't because he had said something horrible to her. It was because she didn't want him to die, in these past few days she had seen a different side to him. A funny, gentle, sweet, caring side, and that man did not deserve to die as a punishment to his Father.

Draco didn't leave the hallway immediately after leaving the passageway. He leant against the wall, and listened as Hermione sat down on the floor. He heard her quiet sobs and he felt terrible but he knew he couldn't risk bringing her into his suicide mission, because that was what this was.

He knew he wasn't going to survive, and he didn't want anyone else to get hurt, this was a punishment on his family and not on anyone else.

TBC :)