Here's the next one! I really love the feedback you guys are giving me. Thanks so much!!
It all belongs to JKR....
Chapter 7: Digging Deeper
Hermione finally made it back to the common room. She had another hour before her class started, so she decided to grab a book and sit at her desk to pass the time. Engulfed in the book, she didn't realize that her class would start in five minutes. When she looked up at a clock hanging over the mantle of the fireplace, she realized she'd stayed in the common room for too long. Her heart sank. She would be late to her first class. Practically stumbling out of her chair she grabbed her books and ran out of the portrait hole. Unfortunately, Malfoy had just given Olivia the password, and Hermione flew out the portrait hole, crashing into him.
"Ow! Damn it..." He nearly fell back, looking at Hermione's stumbling form. After regaining his balance, he reached out to steady Hermione. "Merlin, Granger, watch where you're going next time?" Normally he would have annoyed her, but she was too worried about being late. She mumbled an apology and started to run off. "Hey, where are you going? Maybe I can help?" Hermione was taken aback by his offer, but she stopped running, turning to look at him.
"Ancient Runes. It's two floors up from here and on the other side of the school. I doubt you can help." She was getting more anxious by the moment. Dammit, why did I stop? I can't waste anymore time! She was about to continue running, but Malfoy soon caught up, grabbing her by the arm. It reminded her of what had happened during her vacation, and a bit of her old embarrassment came back. This was not the kind of beginning to her seventh year that she'd been hoping for. It was only the first day and she was going to embarrass herself again by being late to class.
"Don't worry about it Granger. There's a secret passageway down this hall that drops you right off by the Ancient Runes classroom." Draco had extensive knowledge of many secret passageways in Hogwarts. Thanks to all his work the year before in preparation for the attack on Hogwarts, he'd found several different ways to get around the school. The passageway he spoke of now, though, wasn't of much use to him the year before. He still made sure to make a note of where it was, though, in case he found use for it later. Granger looked at him strangely, in a combination of surprise and confusion.
"How do you...?" He simply shook his head, communicating 'you don't wanna know.' "Oh. Alright." She nodded at him and went off in the direction he'd said.
"It's behind the tapestry with the green knight. Just follow it straight through," he called after her. Draco watched her run, wondering how it was she didn't know of that particular secret passage. It hadn't been of any use to him, but knowing how many classes the know-it-all Gryffindor usually tried to fit in her schedule he thought she would have figured out ways to maneuver through the school more quickly. In fact, he was surprised when she didn't wake up that morning until late. He was sure she would have been up by six at the latest. After watching her disappear behind the tapestry, Draco went into the common room, deciding to keep reading the book he'd started that morning. When he looked on the shelf, however, he noticed it missing. He turned to the desk, where he was amused to find one of the chairs tipped over. Probably the one Granger was sitting in when she realized she was late. Chuckling, he bent down to straighten it, but as he got up he noticed the book on the table. Picking it up, he saw that Granger had placed a bookmark in it, a little over halfway through. It was the same one he'd been reading, and he realized she'd passed where he'd stopped that morning. Wow, she really is a bookworm, isn't she? At least she has good taste. Leaving her bookmark in place, he grabbed a small sheet of paper, wrote DM on it, and sat to pick up where he'd left off.
Hermione made it to the class just as the last student was filing in. With a sigh of relief, she chose a seat off to the side. Professor Babbling entered the room seconds after she had picked a seat. She slouched in her chair a bit, giving in to her relief before sitting at attention, ready to take notes. Note to self: thank Malfoy later. The class seemed to drag, however. Hermione found herself distracted, unable to focus as fully as she used to. When it was finally over, she looked down at her notes, half expecting them to be littered with squiggles. To her surprise, she'd managed to take decent notes, despite her wandering mind. I'm just mentally exhausted. With that she got up, gathering her things and heading for lunch. She dreaded sitting anywhere near Ron, but she didn't want to cause any more issues among her friends. When she walked into the Great Hall, she was relieved to only see Ginny. It seemed the boys hadn't left the dorms yet. When she sat down, she was greeted by a smile. After a few quiet seconds, Ginny spoke.
"So now I understand what the whole thing on the train was about." She laughed a bit, "Who would have thought? Hermione protecting Draco Malfoy?" She laughed again, making Hermione smile. "So why didn't you hex him on the spot?"
"Oh, believe me, I wanted to. But he said something about Dumbledore making him Head Boy, and I couldn't bring myself to do anything until I spoke to McGonagall. That, and I kind of owed him for Paris, so yeah." She nodded understandingly. Hermione was glad to have Ginny. If it weren't for her and Harry, she would have lost her mind by now.
"So what's it like, living with a Slytherin?" Ginny looked too eager, and Hermione saw a familiar sparkle in her eye. What was she thinking about?
"Well, Gin, it's only the first day. But, since we haven't killed each other yet, I guess I can say it's ok. He hasn't done anything to annoy me. Yet." At that, Hermione looked over at the Slytherin table, to see Malfoy talking animatedly to Zabini. Parkinson seemed to be trying to listen in, but they were both making a visible effort to ignore her. He looked a lot better then he had that morning. As if feeling her eyes on him, Malfoy turned to see her, nodding slightly and giving her a ghost of a smile before returning to his conversation. Ginny watched the exchange with curiosity bubbling inside her.
"If you ask me, 'Mione, it doesn't look like he'll be annoying you." Ginny gave her a knowing smile, and Hermione immediately frowned.
"What are you talking about?" Hermione didn't need to ask, though. She had a distinct feeling she knew what the younger witch was referring to.
"Well, I think there might be some connection between you, that's all." Hermione's eyes widened in slight shock. She'd been expecting this kind of response, but hearing it out loud was completely different. Ginny simply smiled at her reaction.
"I don't think so, Gin." But Hermione couldn't help another glance at the Slytherin table, the thought beginning to take root. She's lost it. That's definitely not going to happen. "The most that could come of us spending so much time around each other is a friendship, which is doubtful anyway. To tell you the truth, though, I kind of hope to reach some kind of truce with him. It would make this year a lot easier." She realized she'd been staring at the Slytherins, and immediately looked away, hoping no one else had noticed. Before Ginny could respond, Harry and Ron arrived at the table. Harry greeted Ginny with a kiss and Hermione with a smile, seemingly forgetting about the whole Malfoy situation. Ron, on the other hand, didn't acknowledge Hermione and barely nodded at his sister.
"Hello Harry, Ron." She needed to make a reconciliation attempt, especially since her next class would be spent with them and Malfoy. They had double DADA with the Slytherins right after lunch. Harry was the only one to respond.
"What's up, 'Mione? You look exhausted. Ancient Runes that boring?" Hermione laughed at his attempt to be funny.
"Of course not, Harry, I'm just exhausted. I didn't sleep very well." He nodded understandingly. Harry tried to draw Ron into the conversation, but it was in vain. He utterly refused to speak to Hermione. She was getting sick of it, and eventually gave up, signaling for Harry to give up trying, too. With a sigh she dedicated the rest of her lunch to actually eating, while she listened to the three of them talk about the upcoming Quidditch tryouts.
Draco saw when Potter and Weasley walked into the Great Hall. He could see Granger's shoulders stiffen, and for a good reason, because Weasley acted as if she wasn't even there. He really was giving her a hard time over something she was ordered to do. He knew the feeling. It's not like Granger had a choice in what was going on. Dumbledore had placed this task on her just as abruptly as Voldemort had placed the task of murdering the late Headmaster on Draco. If Draco looked like hell, then Granger wasn't looking so great either.
"Draco? Hello..." A hand waved in his face, and he snapped out of whatever trance he'd been in.
"What?"
"Are you alright? You were staring off into space." Blaise looked concerned, but then he followed Draco's eyes to what he'd been staring at. "You do know the Weaslette is taken by Potter, right?" Draco was taken aback.
"Idiot. I wasn't staring at her."
"The mudblood then?" Blaise's voice was shocked.
"No. I wasn't staring at Granger either." He put an emphasis on her name. He'd broken the habit of using the term 'mudblood' over the summer, as Snape reprimanded him whenever he used it, or anything like it. Besides, in the short time he'd spent with her, a strange sense of respect for her developed. It had always been there, the kind of respect one would have towards a formidable enemy, but due to recent events, and how she'd handled herself that respect changed.
"Then what were you doing?"
"Staring off into space, like you said." He gave him the classic smirk. Blaise was about to say something else, when Pansy chose that moment to shriek Draco's name.
"Drakey!! You've been ignoring me this whole time!" She crossed her arms in front of herself, pouting like a three year old. Blaise cringed, feeling sorry for his friend. When he'd boarded the Hogwarts express and found only Pansy, he'd wanted to die. Anything would be better than an hours long train ride with Pansy Parkinson chatting away in her annoying voice. Draco didn't blame him.
"Wouldn't you think that's for a reason, Pansy?" She just ignored him, placing her head on his shoulder and trying to drape her arms around him.
"So where were you this summer, Drakey? I missed you! And then the train ride was just awful without you." Draco shrugged her off. Blaise wanted to laugh at his friend's expense, but caught the glare Draco shot at him.
"Merlin, Pansy, get the hell off! Some personal space if you wouldn't mind?" He continued to shove her off, deciding that his lunch was over. He needed to go back to the dorm to grab his books for DADA anyway. Pansy didn't let this faze her at all. She merely smiled what she thought was a seductive smile at Draco and winked at him. She just won't give up. I knew it was a mistake to ask her to the Yule Ball. He'd been paying for that mistake since his fourth year. Ever since then, she wouldn't leave him alone. Making a quick getaway, he hadn't noticed that Granger was doing the same.
The awkwardness at her table had finally gotten to Hermione, and she excused herself. Her first attempt at reconciliation with Ron had failed miserably. She gathered her things and left, deciding that she would just let things run their course. If he never spoke to her again, so be it, but she wasn't going to put herself through emotional stress because of him again. Once had been enough. She practically stormed out of the Great Hall, but paused quickly to keep from colliding with Malfoy again. He stopped also and let her through first, and the both of them walked in silence. Hermione decided to break the silence.
"Hey, Malfoy?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks, for earlier. I made it to class just in time." Malfoy shrugged.
"No problem, Granger." That broke the tension in the silence that had engulfed them until now. They settled into an easier silence, until Hermione spoke again.
"So...I guess you knew about that passageway because of last year, right?" Draco almost stopped walking, surprised that Granger had brought it up. Why...? He simply nodded, unwilling to speak about it. His sixth year had been pure hell, something he didn't feel like talking, or even thinking, about. "I see. How many passageways do you know?" He thought she would have dropped the subject, but she simply kept going. Her tone was different, now, though, purely curious. She was honestly interested in knowing, and not because of what he'd used them for the previous year.
"Lots. I'm sure it's not all of them. The castle is much too large for me to have found them all, but I have a decent amount. For example, there's one from the seventh floor that takes you straight to the dungeons. And there's another one down this corridor that drops you off by the entrance hall. There are some pretty random ones, too, though. There was one by the Slytherin dorms that drops you off by a fourth floor bathroom. Another one takes you from a fifth floor corridor all the way to the grounds by the lake." Hermione listened intently, making a few mental notes. They had patrol duty that night, and she was interested in seeing them.
"Will you show them to me? We have patrol duty tonight anyway." Malfoy looked surprised, but he nodded anyway.
"Sure." Hermione smiled to herself. Having Malfoy around would be like having her own personal map of the school. She had a feeling that would be useful at some point, things had a way of working out, after all. Suddenly, Paris came to mind and she realized she hadn't thanked him for it. "I almost forgot, thanks for Paris, too. Even though I could have handled it myself." The last part she said somewhat jokingly. She honestly didn't know what would have happened in Malfoy hadn't stepped in. Then again, she wasn't going to admit to that, either, and thanking him just felt strange, so she had to turn it around.
"Is that so, Granger? From my vantage point, you looked the very part of a damsel in distress." He said this with an easy smirk on his face, joking back at her. "But don't worry, Granger, I won't speak a word of it to anyone." He chuckled slightly, knowing she'd been embarrassed by the whole situation, and was too proud to admit defeat.
"You better not, or I'll hex you into next week." She wasn't entirely serious, but she would follow up on the threat if need be. Malfoy registered this, but couldn't help retaliating.
"What makes you think you'd be able to take me on when you couldn't take on a few muggles?" He was smiling completely now, amused at how Granger scowled at him for that. They were both enjoying the argument, despite themselves. She caught the smile on his face, surprised to see it there.
Hermione had never seen him smiling before. The more time she spent watching him, the more human he seemed. He was showing her a side of him that anyone rarely saw, maybe not even his actual friends. "Just watch yourself, Malfoy." He simply nodded, keeping the smile on his face in place. By now they were standing before Olivia. Giving her the password, they walked in, gathering their books and walking out almost at the same time. Malfoy waited for her outside the portrait.
"Did you want to see one of the other passageways now? There's another one in the next corridor that drops off two rooms down from the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom." Hermione nodded, and Malfoy led her down the corridor and to the right. The passageway he spoke of covered by a large portrait of a dragon. It roared loudly, breathing fire, and Hermione nearly jumped. Chuckling, Malfoy reached up and pet the dragon's tail. It reminded Hermione of the portrait covering the way to the kitchens. After one more roar, the dragon curled up and slept. As it slid over, the frame revealed a dark hall. When she walked in, a strange, dizzying feeling came over Hermione. The pit of her stomach did a flip, and she felt like she would get sick. The portrait reopened to the hall Malfoy had mentioned.
"Jeez, Malfoy, you didn't warn me what the passageway was like." She held her head, stumbling out of the portrait hole. It was another dragon, but this one seemed more tame than the first one.
"Sorry, Granger." He was chuckling again, but she shot him a glare that immediately quieted him. After stopping for a breather, she straightened up. "You alright?" She nodded and led the way down the hall to their DADA class. When they walked into the room, they saw that most of the seats were taken. Hermione watched as Harry shrugged apologetically, signaling at Ron, who had occupied the seat next to him. She smiled at him, and went to sit at an empty desk.
Draco saw that Blaise was sitting next to Neville Longbottom. He nearly stumbled in surprise at his friend's choice, because he definitely knew it hadn't been Longbottom's choice. He also gave his friend the same shrug he had seen Potter give Granger. Malfoy shrugged back, slightly confused but not really caring, until he saw that the only other available seat, other than the one next to Granger, was Pansy's. Blaise was sitting by the Gryffindor to avoid Pansy. Malfoy had to stifle a laugh, seeing the look on her face. She was sure Draco would choose to sit with her, since the only other option was Granger.
"Hey, Granger, mind if I sit here?" Surprising everyone in the class, he put his books down by Hermione. She was slightly shocked, not having thought that their almost friendship carried over into a class where he had fellow Slytherins to talk to. Moving her books over, she made room for his.
"Um, not at all. Go ahead." A look of relief came over him, so she looked around the class. There has to be some reason why he's sitting...oh? There's an empty chair by Pansy Parkinson...why isn't he...? She turned to ask him. "Malfoy, why aren't you sitting with your girlfriend?" His head nearly snapped when it turned to look at her.
"Ugh, Granger, you think Pansy is my girlfriend?" He shivered, "Hell no. Blaise and I try to avoid her like the plague." Hermione laughed, but neither of them got the opportunity to say more, as their professor walked in. There was a general gasp of surprise, as well as small cheers from the Gryffindors. Hermione beamed.
"Professor Lupin!" He smiled at them, greeting the class in a friendly manner. She looked over at Harry and Ron, but saw Ron with a somewhat disgruntled look on his face. That's when it registered in her mind. Lupin was sent by the Order to keep an eye on them, she was sure of it. After a brief introduction, he went right into the lesson, asking them to open their books to the chapter on the Patronus.
"This is a crucial spell that could be put to very good use, once learned effectively. A Patronus is mainly used to ward of Dementors, but can also be used as messengers or as shields against curses." He went on to explain the incantation. Hermione listened on, despite the fact that she was very successful at casting one already. She knew Harry and Ron were bored listening to him. After a few more minutes of explanation, he opened the floor to anyone who was willing to try. Hermione volunteered.
"Expecto Patronum." She watched as her otter flowed out in a white mist, and began floating around her. She smiled at Lupin, and he nodded approvingly. She knew he expected nothing short of the perfect Patronus from her, and she did not fail to live up to that expectation. She sat back down, and watched as one by one others volunteered.
Draco was impressed by Granger's Patronus. He knew she was good, but it couldn't have been the first time she ever cast one. She had practiced it on her own, and maybe even put it to practical use at some point. Yes, Draco was very impressed by it. He wondered if he'd be able to pull one off. Lupin had explained that you needed happy memories to create one, something Draco lacked. Yet he really wanted to give it a shot, but waited until the next person went. It was Pansy. She made a decent attempt, but she could barely create a wisp of the white mist. After trying again she'd managed to make a small sliver, and Lupin congratulated her. Draco volunteered next, to the surprise of everyone else in the room.
"Expecto Patronum." His voice was slightly unsure, but he gained some confidence when he managed to summon a small cloud. Smiling, he tried it again and managed to form the vague shape of something on four legs. Lupin congratulated him and when he sat down, so did Granger.
"That was really good for it being your first try. What were you thinking about?" He wasn't sure he wanted to tell her. His childhood didn't hold many happy memories, and those that were happy were of his mother. Thinking about her now only depressed him. His first attempt had been with thoughts of his mother, but the nagging depression held him back. His second try he had thought of something else. He had thought of that morning, and his joking exchange with her. Draco wouldn't admit this to anyone, though, especially not her. "I was thinking about my mother."
"Oh." Hermione had been looking at him curiously, but she pulled the curiosity back when she saw the sensitive look in his eyes at the mention of his mother. She could tell he missed her, and suddenly began to wonder when he had seen her last. Fortunately for both of them, the class ended, and the awkwardness was dispelled. She had Charms with the Hufflepuffs next and he had another free period. They parted ways without speaking, Draco headed to the dorm to grab his broom to practice for tryouts and Hermione bolting to Charms, unreasonably afraid of being late.
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