Chapter 6

The two of us walked back to the castle an hour or so later, side by side, not as far as we were walking out. We were silent, not speaking a word. It seemed odd, the 'truce' we had. But I was happy with it. At least now, I wouldn't be sharing a living quarters with someone who hates me and is always insulting me, or vice versa, or always having that awkward silence in the air between him and I.

We made it back to the castle and started to walked back to the dorm when Malfoy caught arm.

"Aren't you hungry?" I shrugged, knowing I never really had much of an appetite after running.

"Dinner's over. We missed it." I started walking again.

But Malfoy smirked and grabbed my arm again. He pulled me towards the kitchen and I shook my head.

"Have you ever been to the kitchens before?" he asked.

"Of course." We reached the portrait and I stepped forward.

I put my finger on the pear, near the bottom of the green fruit. I wiggled my finger back and forth, tickling the pear. It laughed and squirmed for a moment before the portrait opened.

The room hidden by the fruits in a bowl portrait was filled with bustling house elves. They were cleaning up from dinner, the bowls that were usually lined up on the four house tables clustered on three or four big round tables. The house elves walked around, occasionally flicking their hand or finger towards the sink or dishes.

I looked around into the crowd until I found the one I was looking for.

"Winky! Hello." I called to the small elf.

"Miss. Granger? Is that you?" the squeaky voice answered.

I smiled and walked forward. "Yes, it's me."

"Winky hasn't seen Miss. Granger for a long time. How may Winky help Miss. Granger and her friend?"

"We missed dinner. Can you please fix us up with some food? And Winky, this is Draco Malfoy," I said, gesturing to Malfoy.

"Of course, Miss. Granger! And hello, Mr. Draco Malfoy." Malfoy nodded and smiled slightly.

"Thank you, Winky," Malfoy said quietly.

I did a double take. Since when does Malfoy say thank you?

"Since there was a wizarding war," I thought.

I shrugged it off and went to sit at one of the small tables that were almost clean. I heard Malfoy follow me.

I greeted some of the House Elves that stopped to talk to me. I was smiling like an idiot by the time we reached the table. The House Elves made me so happy sometimes, it was no wonder I had started S.P.E.W.

"What're you smiling about?" Malfoy intruded my thoughts.

I shrugged. "I don't know. I just like house elves, is all." He rolled his eyes.

"Of course. Leave it to you, Hermione Granger, to love short and hairy-eared creatures." But Malfoy smiled as he said this, so I knew he wasn't being serious. I smiled.

"Actually, I started a small... group, I guess you could call it, for house elves in third year. It was called S.P.E.W."

Malfoy looked confused. "Spu?"

I rolled my eyes. "No! S.P.E.W. as in, you know, capital S, dot, capital P, dot, capital E, dot, capital W, dot. It stands for Service of Protection for Elves Welfare."

Malfoy raised his eyes at me, and then he burst out laughing. In between laughs, he said, "You," laugh, "started a," laugh, "club for," laugh, "house elves?" He was bent over the table, laughing so much, his face was turning red as a tomato.

I mocked offense. "It hurts that you think I wouldn't go far enough to set up a club for the equality of creatures - house elves, in particular - and witches and wizards." Though I couldn't help smile at how Malfoy's crystal blue-silver eyes brightened and how a dimple appeared on Malfoy's right cheek when he genuinely laughed.

He laughed some more, but then calmed down enough that his face was now back to his regular colour, and he could take a deep breath; he said, "No. It's just that you would; you are that ironic."

I scoffed. "Fine," but I had to laugh along with him after a moment or two.

Eventually, we calmed down, and right in time for the house elves to come and give us our food.

They served us as they would in the Great Hall, though, of course, with smaller portions. They cleaned the table off with a flick of their wrist, and they set the bowls down in front of us. We thanked them and dug in graciously.

I watched Malfoy as we are in silence, only the sound of clanking dishes and the house elves' bare feet padding on the floor. He ate properly, not shoving his food in his mouth like Ron. He sat up straight, and he was looking above my head, his eyes misty. He seemed to be lost in thought. I smiled when we finished our dinner and called over Winky.

"Can we please have ice cream? It doesn't matter what kind." I smiled.

Winky nodded her head eagerly. "Yes, Miss. Granger."

I looked over at Malfoy. "Malfoy, have you ever had ice cream?" I asked curiously.

"No, actually, I haven't. I've always wanted to taste it, though. I've heard it tastes amazing."

"It does. You can try it now." Just as I finished speaking, the house elves came over levitating the whole deal. There were sprinkles, nuts, syrup, and fruits. They had three different kinds of ice cream tubs: vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry. I smiled and took a bowl that was offered to me. I started to fill it with my favourite things (one scoop of chocolate ice cream and two scoops of vanilla ice cream with sliced strawberries and chocolate syrup), but waited for Draco to pick up his spoon.

"We'll take the first bite together," I suggested. He had two scoops of vanilla ice cream with a drizzle of chocolate syrup. He nodded, and I laughed at his expression. It was quite funny. He had a look of fear and nervousness lacing his face.

"On the count of three."

"One," he said.

"Two." I scooped up a spoonful of chocolate and vanilla ice cream with a small strawberry and held it to my mouth. Draco copied me, scooping up a small bit of vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup. He looked at it uncertainly before having it poised over his mouth.

"Three," we said together. I immediately put the spoon in my mouth, relishing in the taste of my favourite ice cream. Draco, however, glanced at it again one more time, and then put it his mouth reluctantly.

The look on his face when he tasted the delicious desert was absolutely adorable. It reminded me very much of a little boy on Christmas morning. His eyes lit up, and he smiled around the spoon in his mouth. He wrinkled his nose when he smiled, and the corners of his eyes rippled when he smiled big.

I laughed. "I'm guessing you like it?" He spooned another mouthful in before he answered.

"Yes! Why don't wizards have this?" He smiled and kept eating his ice cream at a faster pace than I would advise.

"You might not want to-" I couldn't finish my sentence as I burst into laughter at the face he made. The bliss he had had on his face before was completely gone. In its place was one of total surprise and slight pain. His face twisted.

"Brain freeze!" I laughed. He just glared at me but I didn't take any offense to it. "The same thing happened to me when I was about 10 the first time I ever tried ice cream. I wasn't allowed before then because my parents, as dentists, thought that it would rot my teeth. When I went over my friend's over for a sleepover, we piled on the junk food. It was really fun. I just can't believe you've never tasted ice cream until this moment," I continued. Draco just kept eating the ice cream, and he eventually started trying different toppings on his plain ice cream.

I lay in bed that night, cuddled under the covers and ready to sleep after the long run. Before I forgot, though, I set the alarm on my wand in time for Astronomy.

When we got into the common room, Draco and I had departed ways awkwardly, waving silently.

Once I entered my room, I had quickly taken a shower and got dressed for bed, planning to get some sleep before Astronomy. But still, I layed there, happy beyond belief, for some reason, of my new... well, acquaintance. Not yet friends. But I felt relaxed that Ginny and I would live peacefully this year.

Maybe this would be a good year.

I walked to Astronomy, climbing the stairs to the top of the tower. When I got up there, there were only a few other people there, adjusting their telescopes. One of them was Draco.

I walked over to him and Blaise. "Hello." I took in Draco's appearance. His hair was rustled, and I could still see a line of chocolate syrup on the corner of his lip from earlier.

They remained silent, but they both gave me looks of distaste. I had to say, I wasn't surprised. I had wondered if he was going to reveal our civilness, or if it was real at all. I sighed, because it felt real during the time it was happening.

And men say women are complicated.

The class started within the next few minutes, and the more time I spent looking at the stars and planets, the faster I forgot about Draco. I went back to the room smiling, having fun in class and earning 15 points for Gryffindor.

When I walked into the common room, I realized that I wasn't sleepy at all, so I ran to my room and changed into shorts and a T-shirt.

I emerged from the room to enter the library. I smiled at all the books. There were different sections: biographies, fiction, how-tos. I walked around the library, and as I walked closer to the one corner, I saw with surprise that the books near that spot had some dust across the spine. I blinked, because the dust was so thick that I couldn't even see the names or authors.

'That much dust can't build up in just a few months!' I thought. It was only true. The amount of dust covering the books was only able to build up in about a decade or more. It made no sense, though. There was a new headquarters for the Head Boy and Girl every year, made from bashing in one of the hollows in the castle. This... if this was just made this year, at least the library had to be here for a bit.

I reached forward slowly, cautiously, as if the books would set fire to the room at my young touch. I touched a few books with just the pads of my fingertips, and then picked a book with a leather cover.

It was named Amaryllis's Diary, Years 1435-1498, and it was written in a thin, delicate handwriting, with lots of loops and dots. I opened it up carefully, scared that the pages would break. The first page was the introduction.

August 13, 1435: I am Amaryllis. I am only 12, yet it seems that I have problems beyond belief. I am a witch. Goodness me, if anyone found this, I would be dead. I am from a regular family, a religious one, nonetheless. I would be burned at the stake if anyone found out. I need to express my feelings somewhere, but all of my friends seems normal, even though I know that there are more of me out there. So, I found this diary. I am going to confide in this paper book. But... I don't know. It feels like there is something in this book that makes me feel like... There is something different. It has magic in it. I can feel it. And I can't wait to see what I discover in it...

I dropped the book on the ground and backed away. The first thing that came to mind was second year, when Ginny found a book that was haunted by the younger version of Voldemort.

Scared out of my mind, I ran out of the library, leaving the book on the ground and the candles lit.