Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and its characters.
Draco groaned once they've reached outside. "Great, now we have to plan for the break in and find a way to destroy the horrid snake."
"Not to mention studying for our NEWTs."
"Why do we have to do everything? What is the old bat doing, anyway?"
"Don't call him that." Hermione glared at Draco. "He's probably helping around, too. Remember when he destroyed Merope Gaunt's wand?"
"So what's he going to do now?"
"Does it look like I know?"
"Well, don't you know everything?"
"Malfoy, I am not some sort of heavenly being who can see everything everyone does, you know."
"Well, you sure are acting like it. 'He's probably helping around too, blah blah'" Draco said, imitating Hermione. Hermione glared. "Keyword being probably, or have you skipped that part?"
Both were so into the argument that they did not notice Harry head towards them.
"Who cares about the-"
"You guys care to lower down your voices? The whole of Europe could probably hear you."
Both jumped at Harry's voice. "Potter, please tell Granger that nobody cares about 'probably' and it does not make a difference."
"Of course it does! It makes-"
"Granger-"
"Malfoy-"
"Shut up, the both of you!" Harry interrupted. Both shut up immediately.
"You bicker like an old couple." Harry observed. Draco and Hermione glared at him.
Harry sighed and rolled his eyes. "All I'm saying is to lower down your voices. Others might over hear you. They're probably wondering why Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger are talking to each other."
"We aren't talking, Potter, we are arguing. We always argue. That's nothing out of the ordinary."
"Yeah, but what are you arguing about?"
"How Dumbledore is out of his mind. That isn't out of the ordinary either."
Hermione rolled her eyes at him. "Honestly, Malfoy, stop being a prick."
"Honestly, Granger, stop being a bloody know-it-all."
And thus, they start arguing again. Harry rolled his eyes and mumbled to himself "at least some things never change."
"Both of you stop it. Hermione, Ernie's looking for you. Head's duties."
"Harry, why didn't you tell me earlier?" Hermione said exasperated, and left.
"That woman is impossible, I tell you." Draco said. Hermione turned around and glared at him. "I heard that, Malfoy. You're no better." And she disappeared as she turned a corner.
"Honestly, is she always like this?" Draco asked Harry.
"Nope, only around you." Harry replied cheekily.
"Oh, now I feel so special." Draco said as he also left.
The next few weeks passed quickly. They met up every Saturday to talk about the plans for the break in and Draco and Hermione met up once or twice a week to talk about Nagini. Slytherin won against Ravenclaw while Gryffindor won against Hufflepuff. The championships were going to be held during the last Saturday of the month.
Today, it was exactly one month until the end of the school year, one week until their NEWTs, and one month and one week until Draco and Hermione had to get married.
Waking up and realizing this, Hermione got scared. Yes, they were almost done planning for the break in: Harry already asked Bill about the Goblin and their plan was going smoothly, but their progress on finding a way to kill the snake was going slowly. How were they going to kill something so close to Voldemort? They thought of all the possibilities: Draco killing it when they had a Death Eater meeting, luring the snake, Harry talking to it in Parseltongue, but none of them were going to work. There was less homework since the NEWTs were coming up, so Hermione and Draco were able to meet each other more often. They usually met each other in the library, although sometimes they did not do research and instead studied.
Sometimes, though, they would bicker and argue like they used to.
Hermione found herself looking forward to their meetings. Draco became her 'study partner,' and she was glad that he was because he nearly matched her intellectual skills and they were often found debating on whether dragon scales or snake skin would be a better ingredient to use in the various healing potions, or having an intellectual conversation about their thoughts on the Goblin wars, or talking about the latest books they've read..
Hermione has never had these intelligent conversations with Harry or Ron, both opting instead to talk about Quidditch. Draco, although he was also an avid Quidditch fan, also spent time reading books and studying.
Sometimes, they would share information about themselves, but not personal enough to make them awkward. The other day, Hermione learned that Draco liked running too, although he would prefer flying.
"It makes you feel free, flying. The way you fly so fast to the ground, and at the last moment, when you're about to hit the ground and die, you make a swift turn back up. It's phenomenal. You see things you don't usually see from down below. You feel like you're flying to the moon at night, you get to watch the sun rising and setting in the horizon, you see a bigger picture of the whole world, and you appreciate things more. You feel free."
Hermione also learned that he was close friends with Blaise Zabini, him being the only close friend he had, although they had a falling out because Blaise's father forced him to join the Dark Side, together with Theodore Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle.
Hermione also told him things about herself, why she was afraid of failure, why she wanted to excel at everything she did, what her parents do.
"They're dentists."
"What on Earth are dentists?" Draco asked.
"Muggle healers for teeth." She explained.
He told her to tell him things about the muggle world, what they used for transportation, what a telly was, subjects taught at school. Hermione was happy that Draco was interested about the muggle world, and sometimes, she also asked him about his Pureblood heritage, if they have been serving the Dark Lord ever since, what they did during the summer, although one time, she asked him about his relationship with his father.
"My father and I used to be best friends when I was a kid." He explained. "He taught me Quidditch, bought me all the things I wanted, taught me how to play chess, and all that. We fell apart when the Dark Lord rose again, and I felt disgusted when he wanted me to serve the Dark Lord and get the Mark. Honestly, Voldemort isn't even a pureblood. My views changed then. I am disappointed with my father, because he taught me to belong to the top, and yet he grovels at the feet of someone below him." Draco finished bitterly.
Hermione headed to the library, replaying memories of her and Draco in her head. Upon reaching the library, she found that Draco was already there, seated at their usual place. Reaching their table, she noticed that Draco had bags under his eyes and he looked paler than usual.
"Malfoy, is there anything wrong?"
Draco held up a letter he was holding. "It's from my mother. I received it lat night. She got beaten by my father yesterday." Hermione gasped. "Why?"
"My father was not in a good mood, Voldemort seemed to be mad at him, and my mother only wanted to know what was wrong, but then my father turned his anger on her. He beat her up." Draco said in a monotone. "Although she says she's alright, I need to get her out of there. She cannot stay there anymore."
Hermione looked at him with a sad expression. "We're going to find a way to get her, Malfoy. Have you told this to Dumbledore?" Draco shook his head. "He left. He's not at his office. I'll probably talk to him later. "
Hermione nodded and they both fell into a comfortable silence. Hermione broke it, asking: "Malfoy, tell me about your mother."
And with that, he told her. He told her how caring she was, how she was always concerned for his safety, how, if she had a say about it, she wouldn't let Draco do Quidditch because he might get injured, how she used to always send letters to him during his first year at Hogwarts, how she talked to Snape about Draco being forced to take the Dark Mark, how she was so brave, staying in a house full of Death Eaters just so that they would think that she and Draco were still in the Dark Side. The way Draco talked about his mother was amazing. It showed how he really loved her, how he was so worried about her, and how much he really cared about her.
Hermione stared at him from across the table, shocked that this is who he became. From the snobbish and arrogant kid he was back then, he finally grew up to be a different person. Yes, he would still be a prick sometimes, but it unnerved her how someone who was brought up to hate all things muggle and who was taught to be superior over everyone would turn around 360 degrees and help the Light, the side he was taught to hate and to loathe.
"How does it feel, Malfoy, to turn away from everything you've been taught?" Hermione asked.
Draco stared at her for a long time, his grey eyes boring into hers. "It feels good, like I've finally done something right in my life, like I finally knew what the right thing to do was without others dictating what I should be doing."
Hermione gave him a smile. "That's good, Malfoy." He smiled right back at her.
They then continued working on the Horcrux.
The next day, Saturday, they met again for the break in plan.
"Look, guys, this is possibly the last time we're going to meet. We're doing to head to Diagon Alley next Saturday."
The three nodded. "We have a well-thought out plan and we're going to be able to get the cup successfully if we follow through everything. I already talked to Dumbledore, Moody, and Bill. We're going to bring Moody along with us and Ginny too."
"Why?" Draco asked.
"Because she's part of the Order now. Dumbledore told me to include her. She's coming in a while."
And as if on cue, Ginny Weasley entered the Room. "Sorry I'm late, got held up by professor McGonagall." The rest nodded and Harry continued. "As I was saying, this is going to be our last meeting, so we're just going to go through our plan and make arrangements." They nodded and got to work.
The rest of the week, they were not able to talk about anything about the Horcruxes and Voldemort. It was their NEWT exams, and they spent the whole time studying.
Coming out of the potions room, Harry, Hermione, and Ron headed to their common room. "One more day of exams and we're free." Ron said.
"Not really, Ron. We still have to get the Horcrux."
Ron groaned and buried his head in his hands.
"And after that, there's going to be the war." Hermione added.
"I have Voldemort. If he was dead, then we wouldn't be doing this crap."
"Everyone hates Voldemort." Harry said.
"Except for his followers."
"Yeah, except for them."
They then continued to study for their last day of exams.
After their last test, which was on a Friday, they lost no time heading to Dumbledore's office.
"Hello, children, I trust you've finished your tests?" Dumbledore asked.
They three, together with Malfoy and Ginny all nodded.
"So Moody told me about your plan for tomorrow and the days after that. I just wanted to wish you luck and remind you to always be safe and watch your back." They all nodded and headed out.
Outside, Harry faced the four of them.
"So, this is it. We meet up early tomorrow in the courtyard. Then we head to Hogsmeade where we'll apparate from there to the Ministry. We go to the Ministry and pick up Mad-Eye and then head to the Leaky Cauldron where we put our tings and go over our last minute plans."
They all nodded and Harry took a deep breath.
"See you all tomorrow then, have a good night's sleep. You'll need it."
A/N: Here it is! Your daily update of my story. Thanks for the reviews! And please also check out my other stories and tell me what you guys think. Thanks!
