Chapter 7 is finally here! Sorry for the delay everyone, practicum starting up has completely derailed my writing time.
Thank you to everyone who has followed or faved, I never expected such a great response! Also, thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far, your little notes of encouragement really do inspire me to keep writing!
Last thing, I own nothing, just the plot. Here we go!
Chapter 7: The Plan
Hermione climbed the stairs to the third floor after dinner wondering how Draco had come up with a plan in such a short amount of time. She was curious to say the least, and more than a little bit scared. She was still just figuring out that she fancied the witch at all, maybe trying to get to know her was too much this early on.
As she stepped over the threshold to the eighth year common room, she thought maybe she would tell Draco that she wasn't ready for any sort of plan yet. Yes, that was best. She spotted his blonde head by the fire and headed in his direction.
"Draco," she started, "I don't kno-"
"Oh good, you're here," he exclaimed excitedly. "I have the perfect idea for how you can get closer to Andromeda." He turned in his seat and looked up at her. Her face told him that something was up. "What's wrong?" he asked her.
Hermione sat down on the couch beside him and looked into the flames nervously.
"I don't know if if this is a good idea Draco" she said finally. "If this really is just a crush, then what's the use in getting to know her and possibly freaking her out if this will just go away on its own?" She turned to him, concern etched across her face.
"I don't believe it" he said quickly, a look of disbelief on his face. "What kind of Gryffindor are you?" he reached out to poke her in the shoulder. "I thought you lot were supposed to be brave?"
She smacked his hand away and stuck her tongue out at him.
"We are" she pouted, "it's not that I'm scared, I'm just being logical. There's no sense in going through all this mess if it turns out I don't fancy witches, or that I don't fancy her, or if there's absolutely no chance that she'd fancy me back." She huffed and crossed her arms across her chest, turning to look back into the fire.
Draco smirked at her.
"You are scared" he stated succinctly. "I'd think you were stupid if you weren't scared, but you're anything but." He shifted, turning to her grinning. "That's where my plan comes in" he said proudly. "There's much less risk if we do things my way."
She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, clearly unsure.
"Look at it this way Hermione," he said with a glint in his eye. "If we do it my way, there's no chance of you getting stuck in a horrible situation like confessing and her completely rejecting you."
"Famous last words," Hermione muttered, still staring into the fire.
"Okay, okay," Draco conceded. "How about I just explain to you what I had in mind and then you can think about it in that big brain of yours. I know you'll probably think it to death before the week is out." He looked at her hopefully. If this worked out, there was a chance that his ulterior motive would be satisfied as well.
Hermione caught her lower lip in between her teeth, clearly torn. Taking a deep breath, she finally turned back to look at him.
"Alright," she said slowly "but no guarantees." She narrowed her eyes at him then. "Why are you so interested in helping me with this anyway?" she questioned him.
He returned her look of suspicion calmly.
"I just want to help," he said evenly. "Can't a friend just want to help another friend?" He smiled sweetly at her again.
Hermione knew there was more to it, but let it drop. She was more curious about the foolproof plan he had concocted.
"Fine," she relented, "so what is this plan of yours?"
He grinned at her, clearly pleased with himself.
"You just need to ask her for extra lessons," he said quickly. "It's the perfect excuse for you to be alone with her." He continued smiling at her, watching her for a reaction.
"That's it?" she asked incredulously. "That's your master plan? Ask her for remedial lessons?" She scoffed at him. "She'd see through that from a mile off Draco! I don't need remedial lessons in Defense, I'm ahead of the rest of my class by three chapters, I've mastered all of the techniques we'll be covering for the next month! There's no way she'll take me seriously." She huffed again, disappointed that she had been curious what his plan might be.
He smacked her arm, clearly annoyed.
"No, not remedial lessons you oaf," he said shortly. "More challenging lessons. Things that you can work on with her outside of class because you're so far ahead. If you go to her asking for a challenge or for clarification on something that you've been researching yourself she'll be much more likely to take you up on it." He smiled, pleased with himself again. "She's quite brilliant apparently. My mother has told me a little bit about her since I owled asking about her."
Hermione brightened at that bit of information.
"She has? Like what?" she asked eagerly, straightening in her chair as she looked at him excitedly.
Draco chuckled. She was definitely smitten.
"Like how she was top of her class in her year, just like you," he said smiling at her. "That she has a protective streak a mile wide, and that her favourite subject was transfiguration."
Hermione smiled at him, knowing that he was telling her things that she would find intriguing.
"Also," he continued, "while you're spending time with our illustrious professor, I'll be grilling my mother for information. I was hoping that she might meet me in Hogsmeade when we get our first trip in a few weeks. You could come?" he offered hopefully.
Hermione began chewing her lip again, unsure of meeting with the Malfoy matriarch.
"Thanks for the offer Draco," she said timidly. "I'll think about it." She tucked her feet up under herself and got a more serious look in her eye. "So what should I say I want to work on with Andromeda?" she asked him slowly. "I'm not sure what I should ask her about."
Draco thought for a moment before responding.
"Is transfiguration based duelling part of the seventh year curriculum?" he asked her. "You both love transfiguration, and it's related to Defense."
"Well, it's not specifically related to the curriculum," Hermione started, a look of concentration on her face. "But I'm sure I can make it work."
"What are you waiting for then?" Draco chuckled at her. "Off to the library with you, go figure out a way to make it work."
Hermione grinned at him as she popped up out of her spot and dashed for the door. Maybe she could make it work, she thought.
"Professor," Hermione offered timidly, staying behind in Defense several days later.
Andromeda turned to regard the younger witch curiously.
"Yes, Miss Granger," she replied.
"I was wondering if I could ask for some advice." She hovered awkwardly in front of the teaching platform, hoping she didn't look as nervous as she felt. "I've been working ahead on my own since the beginning of the year and I'm stalling on transfiguration based duelling. I was wondering if I could throw some ideas at you and see what you think." She looked up into those warm brown eyes, looking at her wide with surprise.
"Transfiguration based duelling?" Andromeda questioned her quickly. "That's not even really covered in the seventh year curriculum Miss Granger. What on earth have you been working on since the beginning of term that you'd be working into that?"
Hermione looked down at the floor, a blush tainting her cheeks.
"I've covered the entire term's work Professor." Hermione confessed. "I didn't want to push all the way through the year's worth of work this early, and so I've been doing my own research and applied practicing."
Andromeda looked at her quietly, disbelief on her face before it pulled into a wide smile, causing her eyes to crinkle at the corners.
"Brightest witch of the age indeed," she said in awe. "I think maybe we ought to make sure you're fully covered for the term's coursework before we push into anything more complicated, but I'd be happy to assist."
Hermione felt like melting into a puddle on the floor right then and there. Andromeda had agreed to work with her, and she had smiled again for the first time in ages, and she thought Hermione was bright. Obviously, the incident at the lake had been pushed away and Andromeda was happily willing to help.
"Thank you Professor!" she exclaimed excitedly.
"You're very welcome," Andromeda replied, warm eyes dancing with something Hermione couldn't quite name. "I think we'll need a bit of time to suss out how much you've actually covered, so how about you meet me here Saturday morning after breakfast and we'll review the term's wordless and wandless spell work, as well as detection charms, defensive spells, and offensive jinxes." She turned to her desk and started gathering her things to leave.
"I'll be here," Hermione replied quickly, turning to leave as well. "Thank you again, Professor Black!" She dashed out the door and down the corridor to find Ginny and Draco at their usual spot. She couldn't believe it had actually worked!
Draco had to brace himself for impact as Hermione came skidding to a halt next to him before dropping herself into the space beside him. He turned to look at her with a look that clearly said: 'Well?'
"It worked!" Hermione practically squealed with delight. "She's agreed to meet with me on Saturday morning!"
Ginny turned to look at them curiously.
"What worked?" she asked, eyes darting between them before recognition dawned on her. "Wait, did you talk to her? What was the plan? Was there a plan? Can I know what the plan is?" She rambled off questions faster than either of them could answer.
"The plan was to ask for advanced lessons in Defense," Draco offered first. "Hermione and our esteemed Professor share a love for Transfiguration, and so I proposed that Hermione ask about transfiguration based duelling in order to get the 'get to know you ball' rolling." He grinned across the table at her, again pleased with his scheming.
"That's brilliant!" Ginny exclaimed. "And it worked? Even better, but is transfiguration based duelling even part of Defense this year?" she asked, brow furrowed.
It was Hermione's turn to answer this time, since she had done all the research.
"Technically no," she started, "but since I'm done the course work for the term already, I thought it might be a better idea than just working ahead to the end of the actual curriculum."
Ginny's jaw dropped open.
"You're done the term's course work already!?" she shouted, getting more than a few looks from the people around them. "How on earth have you managed that?!"
"You've done the term's course work for what, Hermione?" Neville interjected as he sat down next to Ginny.
"For Defence and Charms," Hermione replied easily. "I'm almost that far ahead in Ancient Runes and Transfiguration as well, but I do need some down time you know." She chuckled at her own joke while her tablemates stared at her incredulously.
"You're unbelievable, you are." Ginny finally stated. "How could you possibly have managed to get that far ahead?"
"It doesn't matter Gin," Hermione said brightly. "What does matter, is that I'm spending Saturday morning in the Defense classroom working on something amazing! She said yes!"
"That's great Hermione," Draco finally chimed in. "I really hope it goes well. I've sent another owl, so I'll hopefully have more information for you by Saturday morning."
Neville looked between the other three sitting around him curiously.
"Am I missing something?" he asked slowly, "or are we no longer talking about classes?"
Hermione looked at him innocently.
"I don't know what you're talking about Neville," she said. "You know how much I love school!"
"Right" he replied slowly. "I've been doing some research of my own, so I can see how you'd be excited. I've been working on a way to make dittany more effective." He grinned as he reached down to grab his notebook and start showing them what he had been working on.
Draco suddenly pushed away from the table. Making the bench he and Hermione were sitting on scrape loudly across the flagstones.
"Draco, are you okay?" Ginny asked him, concern on her face.
"I'm fine," he said shortly, looking intently at Neville. "I remembered I needed to do something before afternoon classes start. "Enjoy you research." He spat the last word as if it left a bad taste in his mouth, and turned to stride out of the Great Hall.
Ginny turned to look at her other two companions.
"What on earth was that about?" she asked them quietly.
Hermione shrugged, not having seen the way Draco had looked at Neville. Neville's ears and cheeks had gone pink, but he dropped his gaze and shrugged, mumbling something incoherent.
"Weird," Ginny muttered. "Anyway, what are you researching Neville?"
Hermione tuned them out as they chatted, instead focusing on the coming weekend, and her impending time with Andromeda.
