Chapter 9 – Hermione's Creation
"Harry!" Hermione burst into the classroom, her chest heaving as she panted for breath. She hitched up the book that she was holding- a book that Ron would later swear was the largest book ever known to mankind.
"It's Malfoy!" She continued with a wild look in her eyes. Harry's grin fell away and he stood up, frowning.
"What did he do?"
"It... he... He let it slip that he wanted to be friends with me! It was horrible! He looked horrified after he said it!" She rushed. The stone Ron had been holding fell to the ground with a loud clunk.
"What!" Ron said in a strangled voice. Harry stared at her for a few more seconds before bursting into laughter.
"Oh!" He managed to choke out. "Malfoy- friends!" Neville simply looked thoughtful.
"What did you say?" He asked curiously. Hermione looked slightly unsure and she hefted the book closer.
"I- I said sure and came here as quick as possible." Her eyes widened suddenly. "Do you think he took that the wrong way?"
"Let's think about this," Harry said, regaining his decorum. "After I publicly denied his hand of friendship, we suddenly act nice to him in flying practice. Then when he finally gets up the courage to be friends with you, you decide it's a good idea to run away?" He teased. As he was speaking, Hermione's hands slowly tightened around the book until her knuckles were almost white.
"Oh no! What should we do?" she moaned.
"Don't worry," Harry reassured. "I've got an idea." Seeing the mischievous sparkle in his eyes and a small but confident smirk, the other two boys unconsciously straightened their backs while Hermione hugged the book in relief.
As the four friends walked down to the Great Hall for their next meal, they heard hushed whispers starting up at the sight of them. Hermione shrunk slightly and dropped behind, using the backs of the three boys as a shield. While Harry wasn't too happy that she was acting meeker than usual, it also placed him in a better position to eavesdrop on the gossip.
"-why Malfoy would want to befriend an uppity Mudblood like her-" an older Slytherin said darkly.
"- who knew this day would come-"
"-found it so ridiculous she ran away! Smart girl," praised a Ravenclaw.
"What in Merlin's name was Draco thinking?" said an anxious voice close to them. Harry turned his head slightly and spotted Pansy Parkinson. She looked worried and was conversing quietly with Millicent Bulstrode.
Just as they arrived at the entrance to the hall, Harry caught sight of a harried looking Draco Malfoy approaching them without his usual minions. The other Slytherins gave him odd looks as he passed. One of them even reached out with a foot that was certain to trip Malfoy up when he passed.
"Hey Malfoy!" Harry called out before he could get any closer. Draco halted a few steps away from the outstretched foot. Eyeing him critically, Harry noticed small signs that showed harassment by his Housemates. Malfoy's bag was slightly torn at the corner, his hair was ruffled and his clothes were slightly dishevelled. The green tie that was always impeccably tied has hanging loosely around his neck and his normally shiny black shoes had traces of mud. Still, he bore himself with the normal Malfoy poise and carried himself like a king. Harry felt a stab of pity.
"What were you thinking, trying to be friends with Hermione?" He mocked. Malfoy's shoulders tensed and a flicker of anger slipped past his mask. Harry sneered at him, the expression feeling odd and uncomfortable on his face.
"How dare you!" He continued. This time, Malfoy looked slightly confused.
"You think you can trick us?" He yelled loudly, purposefully catching the attention of everyone in the vicinity. His opponent's mask slipped away completely and for the first time, Harry managed to see the real Malfoy. He looked absolutely gobsmacked. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry spotted the foot that was meant to trip Draco slowly withdraw.
"You thought we won't know, didn't you? You thought you'd get away with treating Hermione like this!" Harry placed a protective arm around her. Neville and Ron joined in, glaring at Draco with as much vitriol as they could.
"Well too bad!" Harry made a cutting motion with his free hand. "We know your little tricks! And so," he paused dramatically, "we challenge you to a duel!" Harry hissed more quietly, seeing teachers beginning to head towards them. "Midnight in the trophy room," he continued, darting a quick glance at Neville. "With Neville as my second." He gave a final sneer and marched into the hall, an arm still encircled around Hermione.
Ron stepped closer to the pale and shaky Malfoy heir and threatened, "Come. If you dare."
Moonlight filtered through frosty windows, glancing off the many polished trophies. Harry and Neville stood in the middle of the room, Neville occasionally throwing uncertain glances at Hermione and Ron while Harry steadily stared at the closed door. Behind them, Hermione stood clutching onto her huge tome while Ron nervously fidgeted with his robes.
"I don't-" Ron was interrupted by a minuscule click of the door.
"Well this is a turn-up, isn't it?" Harry asked smugly, levelling a cool stare at Malfoy as he stepped into the room. Once again, the most telling sign of his recent fall from grace was the lack of bodyguards. Instead of the beaten down expression they were expecting, Malfoy breezed into the room with a stiff back and his nose high in the air.
"It's all you'll ever get, Potter," Malfoy hissed nastily.
"I see you've regained your spirit," Hermione observed.
He spat in her direction, "I never lost it, you filthy Mudblood!" Neville tensed from beside Harry.
"No need to get angry," he said calmly. Harry stepped forward, ignored Draco's quick step backwards, and opened his arms.
"We just wanted to talk."
"What?" Draco said, taken-aback. Out of all the things that he expected would happen tonight, peaceful negotiation was definitely not one of them.
"Talk," Harry said serenely.
"Talk," Draco repeated in disbelief.
"Talk," Neville nodded.
"Yes, yes, we get it," Ron stepped in impatiently. "Now let's move on, yeah?"
"Malfoy," Harry said, taking over. Draco's eyes darted back to meet him. "I asked you to come here to make a deal. One that all of us can only benefit from."
"Asked me to come here?" His eyebrows shot straight up. "You left me no choice!"
"Piffle," Ron said, waving his protests aside. "Go on, Harry, tell him! Tell him your awesome plan!" He said, rubbing his hands together with glee.
"You see, we understand your position," Harry began delicately. Seeing Draco open his mouth, he quickly hurried on, "I mean, Gryffindors as friends with the Slytherins? Surely not! However, we still want to be friends with you and you clearly want to be friends with us." Hermione shushed Malfoy when he made to interrupt.
"That's definitely not going to happen thanks to our Houses' hostility so," his voice dropped, "I've come up with the perfect solution." Draco's curiosity peaked and got the better of him.
"What is it?" He asked, forgetting himself and leaning forward slightly.
"In public, you Draco Malfoy will detest the very sight of us. You'll insult everything about us that you can think of- Ron's eating habits, Hermione's hair, MY hair... and of course, we won't hesitate to do the same. Behind closed doors however, we can have a laugh at everyone's reactions, share stuff, hang out..." he demurred. Throughout his speech, Draco's eyes slowly widened as he considered the possibilities.
"Merlin Potter... you might have made it in Slytherin!" he said, impressed. The side of Harry's mouth quirked up in a smile.
"So what do you say?" The four Gryffindors watched nervously as Draco mulled over the proposition for a while.
"Deal," he said decisively, sticking out a hand. Harry relaxed as Neville and Ron whooped for joy and Hermione cheered in relief. He shook Draco's hand solemnly and then let a smile burst out.
"This is going to be great!" He exclaimed. "Can you imagine everyone's reactions?"
Ron bounced on his toes. "Fred and George are gonna be so jealous! It's the ultimate prank!"
"Prank or no prank, we're not going to be able to wake up on time if we don't get back soon," Hermione pointed out.
"Prepare yourselves, Gryffindors!" Draco said with an impish grin. "You won't know what hit you!"
With that parting remark, he quickly disappeared, leaving the quartet staring at each other.
"So..." Ron spoke up. "Think it'll work?"
"It should," Hermione shrugged. "There's no reason Malfoy won't believe us." Then she grimaced. "Oh no, I need to start calling him Draco now, don't I?"
"Only in private," Neville soothed. "You really covered all our bases there, Harry," he said, turning to address his messy-haired friend.
Said boy grinned and said, "It was only logical. We pretend to hate him, he pretends to hate us- neither of us really needs to know our true feelings about each other! If we do end up liking him, it's fine. Although," he gave a shudder, "I can't imagine it. But if we don't like him, he'll never know! Problem solved!" He finished triumphantly.
After successfully sneaking back into their respective dorms, Hermione let out a sigh of relief, thankful that she was finally able to put the heavy book down. When she was at last ready for bed, she suddenly remembered the stone she had been carrying around. Pulling it out of her bag, Hermione placed it on top of the book and gave it one last considering look.
On a usual night, she would have set aside some time to meditate on the bed while holding the stone. Tonight however, she was simply too tired to even think about opening the book she had borrowed let alone meditate for a while. The book seemed so interesting, she thought holding back a yawn. I want to read... but maybe next time. With that thought, she promptly climbed under the warm and inviting covers and closed her eyes.
A/N: Hullo dear readers! Missed me? Well, I hope the wait was worth it – enjoy! :D
By the way, Harry is going to be a wee bit Slytherin because hey, if you've had a limited set of powers and had to think up of ways to get around the limitations, you too will start to develop some form of cunning. Right?
If you have any thoughts, don't hesitate to tell me~