Two hours; that was how long he'd been hearing an argument in the common room. Boot, Abbott, and Granger had come back from their meeting half an hour after he had and he swore he could feel the tension seeping into his own room. It sounded like Granger had gotten frustrated with Boot and Draco hadn't been sure why at first. But he'd quickly gathered that it was because of him. He'd never realized just how loud Granger could be; her voice was killing his ears. Boot was shouting too, about how he thought Draco should be sent to Azkaban and Granger's shrill voice was shooting him down, every time. He couldn't believe Granger was defending him, after everything he'd done... But apparently Boot couldn't believe it either because halfway through the argument the door had slammed. Granger's voice had disappeared, as had Boot's, and for a few moments all he could do was listen to the quiet murmuring of Abbott and Granger. And then the yelling started again.
"Oh very mature, Terry!" Granger had yelled suddenly. Draco could only imagine the look in her eyes; she sounded absolutely furious. "Bringing them here as if they can do anything!"
Weasley's voice replaced Boot's, shouting angrily and not even caring about what Granger was saying in response. "He tried to kill you!" or "He watched you tortured!" were the most common things out of his mouth. Potter was there too, desperately trying to calm his friends, but it wasn't working very well. After another hour Weasley shouted that he should have left Granger to be killed by Bellatrix so he would be saved the trouble. The common room fell silent immediately and Draco himself couldn't help but stare at the door with his mouth hanging open. There was another slam of a door, signaling that Weasley had left and probably Potter too. Draco had never liked Weasley, never, but he'd never realized just how terrible the other boy could be.
"Hermione?" Abbott asked quietly.
"Go away," Granger said harshly. Two more doors closed and Draco climbed out of his bed. He was already in his pajamas, which made him feel awkward and like a child again, after hearing his parents fighting. He approached his door and opened it silently, taking a cautious step out into the common room. Granger was standing in the middle of the room, her shoulders shaking slightly.
He watched her for a moment, considering just stepping back into his room and leaving her alone; he hated tears and he was sure she was crying. But this was Granger; he'd never seen Granger cry and it was freaking him out. He was furious with Potter for leaving when she clearly needed someone. Obviously she would never want that someone to be him, but what other choice did she have? Boot and Abbott were in their rooms, probably getting ready for bed, her boyfriend was the one who had hurt her in the first place, and her best friend seemed to have ignored her. "Granger?" Draco asked quietly.
She turned around slowly, wiping her eyes before folding her arms across her chest, as if that would protect her. As if he planned on hurting her too. Her long sleeves had been rolled up though, and he caught a glimpse of the scar on her arm; guilt swelled in his chest. "What do you want?" she asked finally.
Draco's eyes lingered on her arm for a moment before he looked back at her face. Granger made the quick move to pull down her sleeve, obviously not wanting him to look at the word anymore. He quickly realized that it had been stupid to come out into the common room; he had absolutely no idea what to say to her that would make her stop looking so sad. And he couldn't help but let his anger toward Weasley grow; after everything she'd done for him, he was treating her like she was dirt. Draco knew that was how he'd treated her in the past, but Weasley was supposed to love her or something like that. But he still didn't know what to say; he couldn't bring up Weasley or Potter without upsetting Granger and he didn't want to say anything about listening to her shout in his favor. "You, um... You've still got a twig in your hair," he decided on, feeling like an idiot as the words came up. Granger stared at him, her eyebrows raising slightly as another tear leaked out of her eye. "Here, I'll get it," he said, finding the odd branch rather annoying.
He took a few steps toward her, surprised when she didn't back away from him. "Malfoy?" she questioned quietly as he reached to take the twig out of her hair. "What are you doing?"
"Taking this out of your hair, isn't it obvious?"
"Well, yes, but... why?"
"I don't know, it was bothering me,"
"Malfoy, I..." she trailed off, looking at her arms as if they were the most interesting thing in the world.
"It's okay, I get it. I wouldn't want someone like me around either. I just... I heard what he said to you, Granger, and don't mistake this for caring or anything like that," he said quickly, wanting her to understand that. He didn't care about Granger; that was impossible. "But you shouldn't stand for that kind of treatment. And I know you don't want to hear it, but he is-"
"Horrible, I know," Granger said, sighing heavily. She straightened her back and wiped her eyes again, trying to get her tears to go away. It seemed like she hated the silly things as much as he did. "You're right. I can't believe it, but you are," They fell into a silence for a few minutes, just standing there watching the other warily. Draco couldn't believe he was standing so close to Granger and he didn't want to insult her. He didn't want to see her any more upset than she already was. "I should get some sleep," Granger said finally. "It's going to be a long day tomorrow,"
"Why?"
Granger blinked, frowning as if she'd said something she didn't mean to. "Well, I'll have to apologize to Ron,"
"You're going to apologize to him?" he asked, surprised. Granger had never seemed like the kind of person to apologize when she'd done no wrong.
"Well, yes," she said, shrugging slightly. "I've got to; I want to... Well with my..." she trailed off, giving him the same frown she had only moments ago. "I just have to,"
"I won't pretend to understand," he said, returning her frown and taking a step back toward his own room. "But do what you've got to do. It's not like my opinion matters anyway,"
Draco turned away from her, sighing quietly as he did so. He wasn't sure why the thought of Granger apologizing to Weasley bothered him, but he had a feeling it was because after the way Weasley had treated her, he didn't deserve an apology from anyone. Let alone Granger, who Draco knew had done no wrong. She shouldn't have tried to defend him, that was true, but he couldn't do anything about that. "It does," Granger said quietly. "Kind of, well... I don't know," Draco turned around, surprised by the comment, but Granger was already hurrying into the bathroom. He shook his head slightly and retreated to his bedroom.
He fell onto his bed and closed his eyes, fighting away thoughts in the hope that he could get some sleep. All he wanted to do at the moment was fight; all he wanted to do was go up to Weasley and punch him in the nose to wipe his stupid expression off his face. Draco despised Weasley and there were only a few others he could say that about: Voldemort, Bellatrix, his father, and himself. He didn't even despise Potter or Granger-No, he couldn't think about Granger. It felt like she was changing things, in a way, and Draco didn't like that; he couldn't handle any more change.
Draco rolled over, kicking the blankets away from his body and letting himself shiver slightly as a chilly breeze drifted in through the window. He felt odd; under the covers he felt too hot and he was beginning to feel cold without them. He figured he deserved the uncomfortable feeling; after everything he'd done he need to experience a few things the others had during the past year. He wondered, briefly, if Granger had ever spent a cold night while she was out camping around with Potter and Weasley. But that didn't matter, not really, because he knew he would never find out. He barely even saw Granger, the only real time was when he woke up and when he sat by her in Arithmancy. Sure she was in a few of his other classes and he could see her in the great hall and sometimes as he was going to bed, but it's not like he said a bunch to her then. Sometimes they would exchange a quiet "hello" or "good morning" as he walked into the common room or sat down by her.
Another five minutes and he was sleeping restlessly, glad that his thoughts of Granger had disappeared by slightly irritated about dreaming of his aunt. He hated the woman; she had hated him too, he was sure, even though she acted like she did. She acted like she cared and Draco had believed her, once, and he'd believed plenty of other people too. But he did end up sleeping semi-peacefully even with the dream, something Draco was happy about when 5:25 came around and it was time for him to wake up.
He was only angry when he woke up, because he was sick of getting up so early only to see that Granger was awake as well. Just once he would like to get up before her, though that was a really silly thing to want. He didn't even know why he cared so much about her when she woke, but he was beginning to think he wouldn't really find out. Not any time soon, anyway.
Draco climbed off his bed and frowned, yawning loudly and running a hand through his already messy hair. He usually slicked it back, but at any time before seven in the morning he didn't really care. He walked out of his room and into the common room, covering his mouth as he yawned again, quieter this time. And he stared at the sofa then, his eyes going wide despite how sleepy he felt. She was sitting there, already, curled up in a blanket and reading a book. "Seriously?" he asked, forgetting that he hadn't planned on saying anything to her.
Granger jumped slightly and turned to look at him, her eyes tired but a bit surprised. "Malfoy?" she asked, clutching her blanket a little tighter. "What are you doing up?"
"I could ask you the same question," he muttered, his anger disappearing. Granger had every right to wake up whenever she wanted; he had no reason to be irritated with her for being awake.
"I'm reading. You're the one that's just sitting around,"
"I just woke up, Granger. I'm allowed to sit in my chair for a while," he said, walking to his spot and taking a seat.
"All right then," Granger said, looking away from him and back to her book. She yawned quietly and turned the page, completely ignoring Draco.
Draco watched her for a few moments before turning to look at the fireplace. There were a few dying embers in it; it looked as if no one had touched it since the previous night. A dying fire was rather boring to watch, so he turned his gaze back to her. "Is it good?" he asked, resigning himself to a civil conversation with a girl he didn't really want to talk to.
"Excuse me?"
"Your book, is it good?"
"Why do you care?"
"I don't,"
"Then why are you asking?"
"I'm allowed to, Granger. You're the one that's asking so many bloody questions,"
"You're the one that started this,"
"I-You're right," he admitted quietly.
"I'm what?" she asked, her eyes going slightly wide as she looked up at him. "Did you just say I was right?"
"You heard me, Granger, don't make me say it again,"
She smiled slightly, just for a moment, and looked back down at her page. "It's not terrible," she said, shrugging slightly. "Though it's not the best I've ever read,"
"Right," Draco said, amazed at how easily she could talk to him. Shouldn't she hate him as much as he hated himself? Shouldn't she be disgusted by the sight of him? "Weren't you reading a different one yesterday?"
"You paid attention to what I was reading yesterday?"
"The cover looks different,"
"I suppose it would.," she said. "I finished the one I was reading yesterday, so I started a new one,"
"You read fast then?"
"Usually,"
Draco nodded and fell silent; he didn't know what else to say to her that would be deemed appropriate. A small exchange about her book had been enough to make him speechless; he had no idea what else would interest Granger. She liked books, and school for that matter, but that was all he knew from going to school with her for six years. He felt slightly ashamed of that fact, but it wasn't like Granger knew anything about him either. At least he didn't think she did; he couldn't imagine Granger caring about him enough to realize what he was interested in. Half the time he didn't even know what he was interested in.
The silence didn't last long; Granger closed her book and disappeared to her room with her blanket. She walked back out with a towel and into the bathroom without a word. Draco sat in his chair, staring into the fire with tired eyes. He was waiting for Granger to finish getting ready before he could get ready himself, as he thought that was the respectful thing to do instead of just barging into the bathroom while she was showering. He'd be furious if someone did that to him, so waiting felt right. Eventually Granger walked out, drying her hair with her towel, and Draco was able to catch the faint scent of flowers as she passed.