The 8th Year

Chapter 9 – Can't Stop This Thing We Started

When Harry woke up the following morning Hermione was waiting by his bed with fresh clothes and his school bag. Draco was gone and Harry got the distinct impression that the blonde boy was avoiding him.

"Malfoy left as I got here," Hermione said as she followed Harry's line of sight.

"Did he?" Harry asked, trying his best not to sound irritated.

Hermione nodded, "Yes...why do you sound angry about that?"

"I'm not," Harry lied, "I just wish I didn't keep ending up in here. We've not even been back for a month yet and this is my second time in this place."

Hermione chuckled, "Twice in the hospital wing in three weeks. Madam Pomfrey said she should just assign you a private bed."

Harry laughed at that and pulled the curtain around his bed shut to get changed. For the rest of that day he tried to corner Draco but he had no such luck. It was a Wednesday which meant the only class Harry shared with Draco was double DADA but he also taught that class which meant he couldn't talk to Draco during it. He was resigned to having to talk to him in the common room the second he could grab him alone but when Harry got there after dinner Draco was sitting with Theo doing 'homework'.


"Is she looking at me?"

"No."

"Theo!"

"What?"

Draco glared at his best friend, they had known each other since they were kids and they had always been close. They fought a lot but Draco knew that Theo was the closest thing he'd had to a best friend before he came to Hogwarts. He had always been there and he hadn't abandoned Draco at times when a lot of other people had. Theodore Nott was very similar to Draco but without the pride and the obsession with having pure blood. Theo's Father had also been an abusive Death Eater who had died in the line of 'duty' so in some respect he and Draco had more in common than they would admit to other people. Theo also happened to be smug and snarky but really rather funny. He was also very intelligent and could easily have been a Ravenclaw if it wasn't for the fact he was a sneaky little shit. He was fairly tall, around Draco's height in fact and he was skinny with the build of a seeker. When he was younger he had a slightly ratty face but he had grown out of that. He now had dark black hair which was usually messy but nothing like Potters mop and his eyes were a shocking colour of blue, similar to Dumbledore's. He was a bit of a heart throb amongst the 8th Year (and a lot of the 7th Year) girls.

"You didn't even check Theo," Draco whined to his dark-headed friend from where he sat next to him in the common room.

"I didn't need to," Theo said as he rolled his eyes, "She hasn't been looking at you the last 18 times you've asked me to look over."

Draco grumbled, "That's not the point," as he looked down at his Transfiguration homework and crossed something out, "Is it possible to transfigure an elephant into a mouse?" he asked sullenly.

"No!" Theo said incredulously, "Draco these questions are practically 4th Year level, what is wrong with you?" he asked, now worried as Draco jotted down the answer and glanced behind him to where Hermione Granger was sitting on the sofa in front of the fire with Daphne Greengrass. They were talking and Draco really wanted to know what they were talking about.

"Oh!" Theo realised, shutting his book and turning around to talk to Draco properly, "You aren't obsessed with her; you want to know what those two are talking about," he said triumphantly.

"Well done Theo, it only took you half an hour to figure it out," Draco said dryly as he looked away from the blonde and the brunette.

Being quite the teen heartthrob Theo called, "Daph!" and the Slytherin smiled and excused herself to come over to where Theo was sitting with Draco.

"Yeah?" Daphne asked when she reached their table.

"Do you wanna come to Hogsmeade with me next weekend?" Theo asked smoothly with a wink added in to the mix.

Daphne laughed, her blue eyes sparkling, "Why Theodore, do you want me to become another of your conquests?" she asked with a grin.

"Only if you want to be one," Theo said in that charming voice of his, he looked at her with a smug grin.

Daphne raised an eyebrow at him, "Never going to happen Nott, never going to happen."

Theo smirked at her, "Ah you say that now."

"And I'll mean it forever," Daphne said pointedly, "Is that why you called me over here?"

"Well that and I wanted to know what you and Granger were talking about," Theo said with a grin.

Daphne snorted, "You mean Draco wants to know because he totally has the hots for Granger?"

"No, I don't," Draco said, probably a little too quickly, "But you're fraternising with the enemy so-"

"The enemy?" Daphne asked in amusement, "Draco, did you completely miss the whole part about this 8th Year thing being a chance to make new friends and rebuild all our bridges?"

"I think he was asleep for that part," Theo sniggered.

Draco glared at his friends, "Whatever. What are you talking to her about Daph?"

Daphne smirked, "Well if you must know we are discussing Muggle literature. Ever heard of "Pride and Prejudice" Draco?"

"No, why would I have read Muggle literature?" Draco scoffed.

Daphne's smirk widened, "You should give it a shot Draco, I think you'd really relate to it."

"Daphne, what are you-" Draco began to ask. But Daphne just winked at him and strutted back over to the sofa where she sat down next to Hermione.

"Theo, what in Merlin's name is "Pride and Prejudice"?" Draco asked in disbelief.

"How the fuck should I know?" Theo retorted, "Take a leaf out of the Gryffindor princesses book and go to the library."

"Oh screw you," Draco said irritably as he got to his feet and stalked out of the common room.


"Fancy seeing you here, Malfoy."

Draco jumped out of his skin when the disembodied but very familiar voice spoke to him on the third floor corridor.

"Potter, what the hell are you up to?" Draco asked irritably.

"We're having that chat," Harry said as he pulled off his invisibility cloak and pulled Draco into an abandoned classroom, "You can't avoid me forever, you know."

"I wasn't avoiding you and I knew you had an invisibility cloak!" Draco seethed.

Harry smirked, "So," he said as he locked the door and put a silencing charm on the room, "You and Hermione."

"You do know that there is literally nothing to tell, right?" Draco asked irritably, "Nothing has happened between us."

"But you want something to happen," Harry pointed out, "You practically admitted it over in AU."

"What?"

"The alternate universe," Harry said offhandedly, "It's a Muggle sci-fi term."

Draco frowned, "Whatever."

"Look Malfoy, I actually don't mind," Harry said honestly, "She's smart enough to make her own decisions. But I just want to make it perfectly clear that if you hurt her in any way I will-"

"- yes I know, hurt me beyond all belief and all of the rest," Draco drawled.

"No," Harry said darkly, "Because this isn't your usual protective speech Malfoy. This is you telling me you are interested in the person who you stood by and watched being tortured. This is you telling me you have feelings for the girl who you watched have the word "Mudblood" carved into her skin. So no, I won't just hurt you beyond all belief. I will kill you and I'll make it look like it was a revenge killing by a family member of someone your Father killed. I'll make sure there isn't a shred of evidence to connect me to it and I'll get away with it. It's as simple as that."

Draco was silent for a moment as he stared at Harry to try and figure out if he was being serious. But he gave nothing away as he stared Draco down.

"You're more fucked up than I thought, Potter," Draco said eventually.

"Yes well, you don't go through what I went through and emerge perfect at the end of it," Harry said somewhat bitterly.

"There's no way I'm going to let you date my best friend now," Draco said in disbelief.

"I've just said I'm okay with you dating Hermione, assuming she actually wants to date you mind you," Harry said irritably, "I mean you were a Death Eater. You hurt people, tortured people, you nearly killed Katie Bell and Ron...You tried to kill Dumbledore and you watched her, this girl you supposedly have feelings for, being tortured and screaming in pain!"

"IT WASN'T MY CHOICE!" Draco practically roared and Harry actually took a step back. Draco's grey eyes flashed angrily, "I didn't want her to get hurt! I didn't want any of it to happen, I never wanted them to hold me down and force this fucking thing onto my arm but they did! If I could have helped her I would have done, I tried and he stopped me! He froze me there so that I was forced to stand there and watch helplessly! Do you think it was my choice Potter? Because it wasn't!"

"I never knew that," Harry said after a moment of tense, awkward silence.

Draco had turned away from Harry and was still breathing heavily, "Well you wouldn't because you always judge someone before you really know them," he said bitterly.

Harry spoke quietly again, "You know, Malfoy...I have misjudged you but can you really blame me after all you've done?"

Draco turned around and refused to look Harry in the eye, "No, but I'm not the person that you think I am Potter and I'm trying to show you that. I'm trying to let people in."

Harry nodded, "I know. I just don't want to see Hermione get hurt."

"And I don't want to see Daphne get hurt," Draco countered, "She's been through enough already."

Harry frowned, "I've barely even spoken to her...I haven't had the guts. How pathetic is that?"

Draco chuckled quietly, "I've practically been avoiding Granger since she gave me that ultimatum in the common room...I know how you feel."

Harry smiled slightly and held out his hand, "So we've got a deal?"

"Yeah," Draco agreed half-heartedly as he took the shorter man's hand, "If either us ever get the nerve to say anything to the others best friend we've got to treat them right upon threat of death."

"Perfect summary," Harry smirked as he shook Draco's hand and stalked out of the empty classroom.


It was Friday night and Draco felt incredibly creepy as he practically stalked Hermione during her Head Girl patrol.

It had all begun after his little 'chat' with Harry. He had remembered that their first Hogsmeade weekend was on Saturday and for a wild moment Draco had wondered about asking Hermione to accompany him. He had brushed the idea off as ridiculous but he hadn't been able to get it out of his head. He also happened to be aware that he only had a limited amount of time to ask her if he did want to go through with his crazy plan.

How that amounted to him following her along the 5th floor corridor on Friday night he had literally no idea. But it had seemed like a good idea at the time, he had planned to try and catch her alone to ask her and she was always surrounded by people apart from when she was on patrol. But Draco had chickened out every time he had gotten close to revealing himself. Her patrol was coming to an end however as she entered a secret passageway on the 5th floor that came out at the top of the Eastern Tower, close to the 8th Year common room.

Draco slipped quietly into the passageway after her and he had decided that he would take his disillusionment charm off and jog to catch up with her. Then he would ask her.

It didn't quite work out that way though because the moment Draco entered the secret passageway he was pressed against the wall by a booby trap that she had laid. He cursed as Hermione removed his disillusionment charm and leant against the opposite wall to the one that he was pinned to.

"How stupid do you think I am Malfoy?" Hermione asked calmly, "I went through a war, I can tell when somebody is following me. You need to discover masking charms; I can smell your cologne for miles."

Draco rolled his eyes, "I was just trying to catch up with you to talk to you."

"For half an hour?" Hermione asked in disbelief.

"I'll explain," Draco promised, "Just let me out of your bloody booby trap Granger."

"I think I like you better that way," Hermione smirked.

Draco glared at her, "I'm serious, I need to talk to you."

"Fine," Hermione said irritably as she waved her wand and the bindings broke. He fell rather ungracefully to the floor and ignored her sniggering as he got up and dusted himself off.

"Merlin Granger," Draco muttered, "You're not an easy person to talk to, do you know that?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him and her eyes sparkled mischievously as she did so, "What do you want, Malfoy?"

Draco knew what he was supposed to say. He was supposed to say that he wondered if she wanted to go to Hogsmeade with him. He wasn't supposed to be mesmerised by the mischievous look in her eyes and the smirk on her lips and he certainly wasn't supposed to step forward, close the gap between them and kiss her. Yet, that was exactly what he did. Hermione gasped in surprise as Draco's lips pressed against hers and his body pressed hers against the wall. She didn't try to push him away however, in fact her hands snaked around his neck and she actually deepened the kiss. It was exactly what Draco expected it to be, it was hurried, hard and almost harsh in nature but he hadn't expected anything less from himself and Hermione who had spent the last 7 years sparring in one sense or another. Draco found himself feeling overwhelmed as all of his senses were flooded at once. Hermione smelled distinctly like old books and flowery perfume, yet she tasted like cherries which he could only assume was because of whatever she wore on her lips. Her fingers were entangled in his hair which he was glad that he no longer gelled back. As Hermione pushed herself onto her toes, because she was frankly quite tiny, she pressed herself against him and Draco gasped slightly and broke the kiss.

When he opened his eyes he was surprised to see something in her eyes that he had never seen before. Mixed in with the mischief was something akin to lust.

"What was that?" Hermione asked breathily.

Draco cleared his throat, "That was my answer to your question, about whether I insulted you because I hated you or because I liked you."

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him, "It's about 2 weeks late."

Draco caught her eye and smirked, "I didn't hear any complaints."

"I can't believe you just did that," Hermione said in disbelief, "You happen to be in luck because for some insane reason I've wanted you to do that for years. But if I hadn't, you would be in a world of pain right now."

"I had to take the risk at some point," Draco said as he caught her eye, "Or I would always have wondered."

Hermione's gaze didn't flicker, "I always thought you were more forward than me," she said in amusement, "But I was the one who initiated this, with my little rant in the common room."

"Yes, I didn't expect that," Draco said calmly, "But you returned from the war changed."

"So did you," Hermione said, her hazel eyes still fixed on his stormy grey eyes, "If you hadn't I would never have let you kiss me. Not after this."

Draco looked down at her left arm as she pulled up the sleeve of her cardigan. The word "Mudblood" was still carved there, although it had faded significantly.

In that moment he remembered what the alternate version of Hermione had told him, about showing his Hermione his own scars and telling her his version of events. He knew it was risky but kissing her like that had been much riskier so Draco pulled up his own sleeve and showed Hermione the dark mark. It was fading slightly and it no longer moved but it was still there and it was surrounded by scars that had once been deep knife wounds.

"You tried to cut it off," Hermione realised with a slight frown.

Draco nodded, "After you escaped the Manor. Do you remember what my Father did?"

"I remember that you tried to run forward and he stopped you," Hermione said as she pulled her sleeve down, "But I was kind of in a haze of pain. I can't remember how many times she used the cruciatus curse on me that night."

"I wish I could forget," Draco said darkly, "But my Father didn't just hold me back. He used a sticking charm on my feet so that I was forced to stand there and watch, completely helpless."

Hermione looked up at him, "I'm sorry."

Draco scoffed and looked away, "Don't apologise to me."

"I didn't realise," Hermione frowned, "I didn't realise that you were just as much a victim of the war as we were."

Draco frowned too as he looked back at her, "No, don't try and make me into a victim Granger. I was the bad guy, I wasn't a romantic hero. I was a coward who was controlled by his Father. I didn't do it all for love like they say Snape did, I did it for myself because I didn't want to die."

"Well," Hermione said with a slight smile, "At least you admit that you're selfish."

Draco frowned, "And you're not angry at me for it?"

"Draco," Hermione said in amusement, "I'd expect nothing less of the boy that they've called the Slytherin Prince for years. You may be a coward but that doesn't make you a bad person."

Draco surveyed Hermione with interest and admiration for a moment and then out of the blue he blurted out, "Do you want to come to Hogsmeade with me tomorrow?"

Hermione was taken aback by the question, "You want me to go to Hogsmeade with you? Publically? Where everyone can see us?"

"I know what publically means, Granger," Draco smirked.

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him, "That doesn't sound like you."

"Is that a bad thing?" Draco asked calmly, "I don't much like being called a coward. I've wanted to kiss you for years and I've had feelings for you for even longer. If you're scared of what your friends will say though then that's another story entirely."

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him, "If I'm scared? Oh, I'm not scared Malfoy."

Draco's smirk widened, "Then come to Hogsmeade with me."

"Fine," Hermione said calmly as she ducked under his arm to get to the stairs that led to the other end of the passage. She turned around before she rounded the corner and smiled slightly at him, "Meet me in the common room at 10am."

Draco smiled at the mischievous, playful look on her face, "It's a date," he agreed.


"You did what?"

"I asked her to Hogsmeade," Draco said as he buried his face in his pillow.

"So did she punch you or slap you?" Blaise asked dryly.

"She said yes," Draco said, still sounding surprised about it as he lifted his head up from his pillow to look at the two people he shared a dorm with, his fellow Slytherins Blaise and Theo.

"What?" Theo asked in disbelief.

"Yeah I know," Draco frowned, "I didn't quite expect it either to be honest."

"So what are you going to do?" Theo asked his friend, "I mean she's Hermione Granger. Potter is going to kill you...oh shit, Weasley, Weasley fancies the shit out of Granger! You are fucking dead meat mate!"

"Potter isn't a problem, we've talked," Draco said honestly, "But you're right about Weasley..."

"What's he going to do, puke slugs all over you?" Blaise asked smoothly.

Draco rolled his eyes, "As much as I hate to admit it Blaise, he's been through a war now. I expect he could do a lot worse."

Theo nodded in agreement, "He'll go mental."

"He'll just have to go mental," Draco said firmly, "Because the other option is standing her up and I won't do that."

Blaise raised a singular eyebrow at the blonde, "You're serious about her, aren't you?"

"You could have picked any girl," Theo despaired, "Anyone Draco! But you had to pick Hermione Granger! She's the princess of Gryffindor, she's a Muggle-born and she's a war heroine!"

"And?" Draco asked calmly.

"And you're an ex-Death Eater," Theo said in disbelief, "With a great big fucking snake on your arm and a long list of sins that would make her toes curl. She's a typical good girl Draco and if you hurt a hair on her body Potter will hunt you down and kill you, and probably take all of us down with you!"

Draco scoffed "I'm not scared of Harry Potter and you shouldn't be either Theo. I'm taking her to Hogsmeade tomorrow and you can't persuade me not to."

"He's dead," Theo said as he turned to Blaise.

The dark skinned boy nodded solemnly, "Indeed."

"Well it was nice knowing you Draco," Theo said matter of factly as he lay back on his bed, "I can already hear your eulogy in my head…"

"Here lies Draco Abraxas Malfoy...gone and completely forgotten...he lived a dishonourable, shameful life and was a truly despicable person...until his final and only moment of glory when he died in a futile duel for the love of Hermione Granger and was henceforth murdered by our great, honourable, chivalric, enigmatic, handsome-"

"-Oh fuck off Theo!-"

"-Chosen lord of all greatness, Harry Potter!"


"What have I done? What have I done? Oh Merlin...what on earth have I done?" Hermione was muttering as she paced her dorm room. The dorm room that she thought was empty.

A head popped out from behind the curtains of one of the four poster beds, "Have you murdered someone?"

Hermione jumped and turned to the amused voice. She was grateful when she saw that it was only Lilly Moon. Of all the people Hermione had been lumped into a dorm with she was the only one who she actually quite liked. Sally Smith and Sally-Ann (known as Annie) were far too similar to Lavender and Parvati for Hermione's liking. So although she had shared a dorm with them since 1st year she rarely actually talked to them about anything of significance. Megan Jones, the Hufflepuff who had been thrown in here with them was also a gossip and Hermione didn't trust her with sensitive information either. But Lilly was different, she was a Ravenclaw and a Muggle-born who, like Hermione, was very intelligent. She had jet black hair and bright blue eyes which were always hidden behind glasses, at the moment her hair was pulled back into a messy bun and she was peering at Hermione curiously through her large thick-rimmed glasses.

"Uh no," Hermione frowned, "Draco Malfoy asked me to Hogsmeade on a date and I said yes."

"Woah, what have you done?" Lilly asked with wide eyes.

Hermione groaned and sat down heavily on her bed, "I don't know! It seemed like a good idea at the time!"

"He challenged you, didn't he?" Lilly asked as a smile played on her lips.

"How did you know that?" Hermione asked in surprise.

Lilly smiled cryptically, "It's what all boys do with girls like us. They challenge us because they know we can't back down from a challenge."

"Well yes, that is what he did," Hermione admitted, "But...I wanted to say yes. I mean the way he kissed me was like nothing-"

"-he kissed you?" Lilly interjected in surprise.

A blush rose in Hermione's cheeks, "Yes."

"And?" Lilly grinned.

"And it was amazing," Hermione mumbled under her breath, "I wanted to say yes. What is wrong with me? How on earth can I be attracted to him? He's an ex-Death Eater!"

"He nearly killed Katie Bell and your best friend Ron," Lilly added.

"I know!" Hermione said in disbelief, "And Dumbledore!"

"And he's generally a slimy, sleazy, arrogant little scumbag," Lilly said matter of factly.

"Exactly!" Hermione exclaimed, "And the only thing I care about is what to wear tomorrow."

Lilly raised an eyebrow at her, "Woah, well...good luck with that."

Hermione pushed herself to her feet in frustration and opened her wardrobe rather violently.

"Are you meeting him in the common room?" Lilly's disembodied voice asked.

"Yeah, tomorrow morning," Hermione replied as she sifted through her wardrobe and only seemed capable of finding jeans, jumpers, black robes and bloody Gryffindor cardigans.

"Don't you think Ron will go mental?" Lilly asked matter of factly and Hermione froze for a moment.

"Ron?"

"Yeah, you know Ronald Weasley, the ginger dude who's had a thing for you since he was like 12 who you nearly got together with after the war but didn't."

Hermione snapped the wardrobe shut, "How do you know that?"

"Hermione," Lilly said in amusement, "Look at the 3 girls we share a dorm with. I hear about a lot of things I don't want to hear about but Ron and I are friends anyway."

Hermione chuckled slightly at that comment, "True but you don't think Ron still likes me do you? We seemed to be getting on fine again..."

"Maybe you are but doesn't he hate Slytherins?" Lilly asked pointedly.

"He isn't exactly keen on them," Hermione replied evasively.

"I'll repeat what I said earlier, good luck with that," Lilly said in amusement.

"Thanks for the encouragement Lilly," Hermione muttered as she fell back onto her bed once more.


When Hermione walked into the common room the following morning it was pretty crowded as most of the 8th Years got ready to go out to the little village. Hermione had eventually settled on a pair of jeans, boots and a warm jacket, thrown together with her Gryffindor scarf, a hat and gloves. She was far more nervous than she would either admit or let on when she walked into the common room that morning, but she was playing it as cool as possible.

"Hey Hermione," Harry said brightly as he and Ron walked over to her, "You all set? We're going to hit Zonkos first, we promised George we'd check up on their stock and make sure they weren't competing too much. Then we're going to-"

"Harry," Hermione cut in, "I'm not going with you today."

Harry frowned slightly and Ron asked, "What? Why?"

Hermione swallowed, "Well, I said I would go with someone else."

"Who?" Harry and Ron asked simultaneously.

"That would be me," Draco's smooth voice said from behind Hermione. She felt the butterflies in her stomach start to flutter as he gently placed his hand on the small of her back. She could feel his warm breath against the back of her neck and it made her think about the kiss.

"Malfoy?" Ron asked in disbelief.

"Do you have a problem with that, Weasley?" Draco asked calmly.

"Do I have a problem with my best friend going on a date alone with a murderous Death Eater? No, of course not!" Ron said sarcastically, and loudly.

"Ron," Hermione cut in, "He's not a murderer and he's an ex-Death Eater."

"There's no such thing as an ex-Death Eater. Does he still have the mark on his arm?" Ron asked calmly.

Hermione frowned, "That's not the point-"

"-which means yes," Ron cut in, "So he's still a Death Eater. And did he help kill Dumbledore?"

"Ron-"

"Yes!" Ron remarked loudly, "So unless he can go back in time and not become a murderous Death Eater he can fuck off," Ron finished, he turned on his heel after that and left the common room.

Harry and Hermione caught each other's eye the moment he had disappeared. Harry spoke first, "That was better than I thought it would have been."

Hermione nodded, "That was quite refined for Ron actually."

"That was refined?" Draco asked in disbelief.

"Oh yeah," Harry agreed, "That wasn't him properly angry. That's full on swearing, screaming, dodgy curses and really hurtful remarks about the things you're most insecure about."

"Yeah," Hermione said quietly, "That was definitely not him at his angriest."

"Then I don't think I particularly want to see him at his angriest," Draco remarked coolly.

"You definitely don't want to see him when he's angry," Harry agreed, "But anyway Malfoy, just remember that talk we had."

"I'm not going to forget it anytime soon, Potter," Draco said as he narrowed his eyes at the Gryffindor.

"Excellent," Harry said with a slightly wicked smile, "Have a nice date then."

"Thank you Harry," Hermione said, sounding mildly confused as the Gryffindor darted through the common room, probably to follow Ron.

"Shall we go?" Draco asked politely.

"Yeah," Hermione agreed, the entire common room had watched that little fall out and were now whispering about it so the faster she could get out of there the better as far as Hermione was concerned. Draco kept his hand on the small of her back until they got outside and began their descent of the Eastern Tower. It was only then that Hermione said, "So Harry had a chat with you?"

"It was more of a death threat, but yes," Draco replied calmly, "I had no idea he was so..."

"Intimidating and terrifying?" Hermione suggested.

Draco paused for a moment, "Those words work remarkably well for that situation, yes."

Hermione chuckled, "He isn't. He's the biggest softie in the world and I happen to be one of privileged few people in his life who he loves which means he's really protective. He would never actually kill you though. Unless I asked him to or...well if you did something really horrible to me he might consider it."

"Is this supposed to make me feel better, Granger?" Draco asked in disbelief.

"You know you should really call me Hermione," Hermione said thoughtfully, "Since you did grab me and kiss me in a secret passageway last night and since this is a date."

Draco raised an eyebrow at her, "I don't remember you being this witty. Don't get me wrong I remember you being witty and also sarcastic and even a little sassy. But not to this extent."

"I spent a year on the run with Harry Potter," Hermione said in amusement, "The king of sass. Did you hear some of his comebacks to you and Snape over the years? He was going to rub off on me at some point."

"He was a little sassy," Draco conceded, "But you've got to admit, I was far sassier."

"Does everything have to be a competition between you and Harry, Malfoy?" Hermione asked in amusement.

Draco thought about this for a moment and then smirked, "Yes, it does. And you know, you could call me Draco since we're on a date."

Hermione smiled slightly at that, "Touché."


Harry caught up to Ron about halfway down the path that led out of the school. He had been jogging so he walked silently next to his best friend until he caught his breath.

"Are you really bothered about this whole thing with Malfoy and Hermione?"

Ron blew out a breath, "Do you know what? I honestly don't care anymore. I was gutted when Hermione didn't want to be with me but I was over it by the end of the summer. I just think she's making some pretty poor decisions right now."

"Well they are her decisions to make," Harry pointed out.

"And I'm done with it," Ron said, "I'm done getting involved and trying to help people. She can make her own decisions and when it all ends in disaster you can be the one to pick up the pieces."

"Aren't I always?" Harry asked irritably, "I picked up the pieces after you left."

"Picked up the pieces by screwing her?" Ron asked bitterly, "Yeah, I wonder if Malfoy will still think she's an angel when he finds out about that one."

"That wasn't what happened Ron," Harry muttered angrily, "And I thought you said weren't bitter about that?"

"Well I lied," Ron said bluntly, "You knew I had feelings for her and the moment I was gone you were screwing her. First my sister and then the girl I loved, are you just trying to humiliate me?"

"That wasn't how it was Ron," Harry said quickly, "It was a mistake, I wasn't trying to steal her from you and I loved Ginny but things changed in the war, people changed."

"Yeah well I didn't!" Ron snapped, "And everybody else seems to have! I still can't stand scum like Malfoy and I'm sure as hell never going to be as forgiving as you and Hermione are!"

"Ron, where is all this animosity coming from?" Harry asked calmly.

"I don't know," Ron muttered angrily, "I just feel so angry all of the time."

Harry frowned slightly, "Maybe you should go see Pomfrey about that."

"Pomfrey?" Ron asked in disbelief, "So you think I'm insane now?"

"No," Harry replied firmly, "I don't but you did have the Cruciatus Curse used on you several times during the war and it can have long-term effects."

"I'm fine, Harry," Ron snapped, "I'm not going to go mental like Neville's parents. But can we just stop talking about Hermione and Malfoy, please?"

"Yeah, sure," Harry said as he watched Ron anxiously out of the corner of his eye.

TBC :)