Draco Malfoy and His Quest to Sensibility

by cleury

Chapter XI

"Where do I put this?" grumbled Draco to Hermione. He glared at the pot-plant as though it had been responsible for massacring his entire family.

A week had passed since Hermione paid a visit to his room and they had been getting along well... for the most part. They bickered over trivial things, but Draco made a real effort to be nice. And dare he say it? Most of the time he enjoyed her company, and he could say Hermione enjoyed his presence too. Sure, there had been more than a few awkward moments on the first few days, but they decreased steadily. A comfortable silence now replaced those uncomfortable ones.

Draco grimaced at the bright yellow plastic spade, and considered whacking the staff who thought of this brilliant idea over the head with it. Whoever thought taking all the patients outside to plant flowers and small shrubs ought to be pulled in for questioning in front of the board. We're patients, not slaves! Draco thought with a scowl .

Hermione crouched down next to him and started digging dirt. She wore a wide-brimmed sun hat which obscured half of her face.

"I ought to sue this place for making me do manual labor," Draco whined, not liking the prospect of getting dirt between his nails. That was why he loathed Herbology. He hated his "peasant's hands" after each class.

"Hermione!"

Draco heard a high-pitched squeal and a flurry of red bowled Hermione over. He grimaced."It's the Weaselette." Whoever decided visitors were allowed to come join them should also be fired for such a stupid idea too. He'd forgotten Hermione was friends with the red-head. In the morning sun, Ginevra Weasley looked as pale as he did. Draco couldn't help but sneer as she rushed to embrace Hermione with the intensity of a suicide-bomber.

"Ew, Malfoy." She wrinkled her nose when she caught sight of him. "What are you doing here? Finally decided to sort out your daddy issues?"

"No," said Draco. "But I had to be admitted here when I heard about Potterhead's first-born."

"Harry's what?" screeched Ginny, her eyes popping out of her head. She grabbed his shoulders and shook him hard, tears threatening to spill any moment.

Draco smirked at the red-head's was enjoying it so much that he thought it was worth being touched by Ginny. The Weasleys still get played like a fiddle. "Ask Hermione."

"Hermione!" hissed Ginny. She let go of Draco's shoulders and spun to face her friend. "D-Did Harry find himself someone in Russia?"

"You mean that big-breasted beauty that can drink one bottle of vodka in one sitting?" Draco inquired innocently.

Hermione glared at him. He gave a nonchalant shrug. "Calm down," she said, giving Ginny a pat on the head. "The mean-spirited boy over there is just riling you up. Last time I had a fire conference with him, he could barely stay awake while talking. I don't think he has the energy to do anything else."

"Or he could be that tired from someone's ministrations," dropped Draco gleefully, making an hourglass figure with his hands.

Hermione swatted him away. "If you're not going to be nice to Ginny, you're not going to be around us."

"Since when did you get to dictate what I do?" challenged Draco. If only he realized how stupid he looked with a yellow plastic shovel in his right hand and his left hand placed on his hip.

"Since I was made team leader a few minutes ago," she retorted. "Now shoo. Go plant some seedlings."

Draco rolled his eyes and grumbled to himself while Hermione smirked. Ginny stood amazed.

"Pinch me, Hermione. I must be dreaming," said Ginny in a small voice. She peered at Draco as he squatted and attempted to dig a hole without touching the dirt. "Did I just see youand Malfoytalk without killing each other?"

Hermione snorted. "Believe me, we couldn't stop going at each other at first. It was like we were teenagers again—I don't think me or Draco hated anyone as intensely since the last time we met each other. You wouldn't believe it, I felt like the whole core of my body shook with hatred and there was a raging fire within me, causing me to erupt." She paused and looked at Draco, who stomped to pack dirt around the seedling. He smirked at the plant, looking very satisfied with his accomplishment. "It came a point where we either learnt how to co-exist or we'd both just combust into flames."

Ginny giggled and gave Hermione a sly look. "Should I be taking anything more than that from your words?"

Hermione gave Ginny a horrified look. "No." She slapped Ginny hard on the shoulder. "Don't even go there."

"What?" Draco popped up behind Hermione. She gave a scream at the sudden sound and her body went rigid with shock. He jumped backwards, afraid he spooked her into some sort of fit. Draco gave a sigh of relief when Hermione placed a hand over her heart and gave a quick exhale.

"Nothing," sighed Hermione. "Since you're free to chat, go and plant more." She pointed at the number of potted flowers they still needed to plant.

"Like Red is doing anything! She's just yapping." Draco mimicked Ginny's stance and opened and closed his mouth wriggling his head, miming her in conversation.

Ginny screwed up her face and gave Draco the finger. Hermione sighed, wishing her friend would stop antagonizing Draco; he was a tolerable sort of person when he wasn't deliberately acting like a jerk. Unfortunately, he only appeared to not make an effort to be an asshole around her and… Crookshanks. Hermione didn't know whether to be flattered or insulted, as she was being treated the same way as her pet cat—did that put her on the same level as an animal?

Not that she judged Crookshanks as inferior or anything, but he was a cat!

"Draco," said Hermione. "Can't you just leave Ginny alone? She's done nothing to you."

Draco wrinkled his nose as though the notion of being nice to Ginny was a bad smell. "But she has–the first thing she said was 'ew.' She hurt my itty-bitty feelings." He pouted dramatically and gave Hermione the puppy-dog eyes.

Ginny snorted. "Draco Malfoy, having feelings like a regular mortal! Who would have thought that?"

Hermione shot Ginny a look. She mumbled and apology, sensing she might've crossed a line. "As team leader, I'm going to assign you," She pointed to Draco to the corner of their designated area. Hermione thought it would be for the best to keep Ginny and Draco away from each other. "To plant all the seedlings next to the willow tree."

"What?" gasped Draco."By myself?"

"It's fair," said Hermione crossing her arms, her body language stating there was no room for negotiation. "And Ginny, you'll be planting all these flowers—"

"What?" said Ginny outraged. "That's double the amount Malfoy has to plant!"

"—with me," she finished. "Sounds fair?" She glared at Draco, daring him to argue. He huffed and finally nodded his head. Hermione didn't leave room for Ginny to argue either. That settled, Draco grunted and made a sour face at Ginny, not liking her there at all. Ginny sighed and picked up a blue shovel, heading towards the pot-plants.

"Malfoy is insufferable. How could you possibly stand him?"

"He's not that bad," defended Hermione. "And Crookshanks likes him."

Ginny raised an eyebrow. "That cat hates everyone."

"Exactly," sighed Hermione. "I think Crooks likes him more than he likes me."

Ginny made a huffing noise and crouched down to plant the flowers. She struck the dirt with a thirst of vengeance with her plastic rake. "Even if you say so, if he hurts you—which B.T.W., he undoubtedly will— he's going to get cut."

Hermione burst out in laughter, causing Draco to look in their direction with distaste. "I'm a big girl; I can take care of myself."

"Yeah, only if I'm the one who gets to draw first blood," she replied, laughing. Ginny and Hermione worked in silence for a while longer. Hermione found it nice to have a change of pace. She hardly ever got to see anyone outside and it was nice to talk to a girl every so often. While Luna always made time for her, Hermione found it hard to connect to Luna on an intimate level and she didn't seem to like gossiping.

"So, Draco, huh," said Ginny after a long while, she referred to how Hermione and Draco called each other by their first names.

"Um, yeah," said Hermione. It got awkward calling each other by their last names and they found that they angered more easily if they referred each other as that. So as an attempt to keep the peace, they decided to call each other by their given names. "Don't think too deeply about it, it just kind of happened."

The two were silent as they planted a row of pink daisies on the flowerbed.

"You seem happier," noticed Ginny quietly.

"I am," said Hermione pursing her lips. She stepped back and admired their work. "I think it's because I've been letting go of some things. I feel... lighter." She rolled back her shoulders and stretched.

Ginny glanced at Hermione; she hadn't seen that sort of a peaceful expression on her for many years."There was a time, after… I mean, when Ron…"

"Yeah. I let that go recently," said Hermione, crouching back down. "But I know two things. One, he's your brother and he made his choice. Two, I can't hold it against him."

"Oh, Hermione," breathed Ginny shakily. "You know he's sorry."

Hermione shook his head. "I don't want him to be. Speaking of Ron, how is he doing? I haven't heard from him since, well… we broke up."

"You really have gotten over him," she said with in realization. Ginny turned to face Hermione, who ignored the red-head while she continued planting as though nothing was amiss. It wasn't a much of a speculation as it was an observation. Since Ron and Hermione broke up, Ginny had been too scared to mention her brother in fear of inflicting pain on Hermione. Ginny had never heard Hermione bring up her relationship with Ron, so she never dared asking. Her bringing up Ron's name meant she was moving forward.

"Well, what did you expect," said Hermione, drawing circles in the dirt with her shovel. "It has been almost two years."

Ginny nodded lightly but didn't trust herself to speak just yet. She didn't think she could have gotten over Harry if she was in Hermione's situation. Finally, she sighed and said,"He's doing well. Well enough, I guess. He failed the Stealth and Tracking part of the Auror training. Can you believe it? He was doing so well until he saw a spider on his head. Then he had toscream like a little girl."

Hermione cracked a smile. "He's always been afraid of spiders."

"I don't know how he got sorted into Gryffindor," said Ginny, sniffing in disdain at her brother's lack of valor. "Of course he blames it on George—you know how he turned Ron's teddy-bear into a spider when they were kids. Ron's somehow managed to convince George to give him a job at the shop until next year when he can try out again… but honestly, who knows if he can make it through two years of training again."

"Have some faith in him," said Hermione as she begun to dig a hole. "I'm sure he'll get there eventually."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Girl, sometimes you're so good it makes me want to beat you up."

Hermione smirked. "Oh, but I'm not. You wouldn't know if I'm secretly happy that Ron failed his Auror test."

Ginny snorted. "Yeah, whatever. My brother was wasted on you." She looked to check Hermione's reaction and saw nothing but faint amusement in her eyes. "So you're really over him?"

Hermione sighed. "Yes, Ginny-dear. But that doesn't mean I won't hex him the next time we see each other. Did you know how he broke up with me?"

Ginny leapt forward; she had been morbidly curious but wasn't sure if it was appropriate to ask. "How?"

"By owl."

"An owl!" exclaimed Ginny. Her face turned the same shade as her hair and she clenched her fists in fury. "Brother or not, that is absolutely no way to treat a girl! I'm so sorry, Ron's a total idiot!"

"I swear, you'll find it funny later on. Calm down, Ginny." Hermione giggled. "It's just something Ron would do, don't you think?"

"For the likes of Lavender Brown! She's like dirt," yelped Ginny, and she stabbed the dirt viciously. "Even her name's the color of dirt!"

Hermione laughed at her friend's reaction. "That time he wasn't even conscious! Come on, you've got to find it funny!"

But Ginny couldn't find the humor in the way Ron broke up with girls at all. She was positively livid. "I'm planning to send him a Howler! Would you like to leave a personal message?"

Hermione tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Something about failing Auror training and spiders?"

"Oooh!" Ginny hissed, narrowing her eyes. "I wouldn't want to get on your bad side; you kick right where it hurts."

"Why thank you," said Hermione, feeling incredibly pleased with herself. Ginny noted with interest her expression morphed into the same one Draco had a few minutes ago when he succeeded with packing soil around the seedling without using his hands."It's because I get a lot of practice."

"Practice?" snorted Ginny. "I can't imagine you insulting anyone for fun."

Hermione flitted her eyes in the direction of Draco, who had somehow managed—no—bullied, another patient into doing his grunt work for him. Ginny laughed, bumping Hermione lightly on the shoulder with her own.

"Speaking of which…" she said slowly.

"I told you already," said Hermione, shaking her head. "There is nothing between us!"

"I wouldn't mind you know," said Ginny glancing at Draco. "Though his personality is rotten, if that's what makes you happy… but you're too smart to be involved with the likes of him."

Hermione didn't say anything, though she secretly agreed. She'd spent her life solving problems for other people, and she needed time to fix her own. She wasn't stupid or naïve enough to romantically involve herself with Draco in hopes of redeeming him to the good side. She didn't like thinking it, and she wouldn't dare put it to her lips, but she really did think she was morally superior to the likes of Draco. And even though it seemed like he was slowly changing—to her at least—she wasn't looking for someone like him. Much as it pained Hermione to admit it. She was looking for a good man. And sadly, Draco did not fit the bill.

Hermione turned her attention back to Ginny. "When he's not frowning or wearing that obnoxious smirk of his, he's quite pleasant… but you're right. I wouldn't."

Ginny gasped her eyes wide. "He smiles? I didn't know his face could even pull off that expression. Hold still my heart!" she said as she waved her rake in the air. "I always thought he only had two expressions on his face: a scowl or a smirk."

Hermione waved her hand. "He didn't smile at me, granted."

"Uh-oh, who's your competition?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. Sometimes Ginny went overboard with guys. She supposed it was the lack of romance in her life, since Harry had been away for almost a year. She could play along and give her friend some much deserved love-talk. "Oh, wouldn't you like to know?"

Ginny flicked her hair back, undeterred. "Is it Pansy?"

Hermione shook her head. "He's not engaged to Pansy anymore but I think they're friends."

Ginny snorted. "Don't think friendship with a Malfoy means much."

"Well, he did propose to Astoria."

"Ha!" barked Ginny. "Word has it that Astoria is getting an arranged marriage with Goyle!"

"You've got to be kidding me."

"I'm not joking. What's more, that girl doesn't seem too bothered by it at all. Well, given that Goyle is rich and pure-blood, what more could she possibly want?"

"Beats me," said Hermione, rolling her eyes.

"So?" asked Ginny as she nudged Hermione once more, sensing that there was something strange going on between the two. "Who's competing for his affections?"

"Imaginary affections," said Hermione, giggling with a heightened sense of hysteria. "You'll never guess."

"Oh, come on!" Ginny said, she pointed the rake at Hermione, pretending it was a microphone. She was dying to know, and she could sense there was a strange kind of relationship between the two. They weren't exactly friends but they appeared much closer than acquaintances.

Hermione bit her lip; she had learnt that Draco was quite a private man when it came to his feelings and relationships and she wasn't sure she could tell Ginny anything without possibly offending him. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Draco stand up.

Draco had Crookshanks in his arms and he gave the cat a big smooch on top of its head.

Well if he does it in public, thought Hermione, then it isn't a disclosure of private facts, right?

"Him," she said, pointing to her cat, still purring in his arms.

"What?" said Ginny, completely confused. "Who?" She looked around; she couldn't see anyone standing where Hermione was point at, aside from Draco.

"Crooks."

"Crooks?" she repeated incredulously. "You mean your cat?"

Hermione crossed her arms and huffed dramatically, playing the part of a jealous girlfriend. "Every morning, I go to his room to fetch Crookshanks for his breakfast. And Crooks is there… in bed with him!" She wiped an imaginary tear fromher eye.

"Oh, the betrayal!" howled Ginny, dissolving in giggles. She clutched her stomach as she tried to stop but found it impossible to hold in the next wave of hysterics. "Walking in to find him having spent the night with… your cat!"

"Et tu, Brute?" supplied Hermione before cracking up with her best friend.

Draco turned to face them at the sound of contagious laughter and approached the two girls. Hermione and Ginny had given up crouching. They sat on the dirt cackling at something, he presumed, Hermione had said. Ginny clutched Hermione's arm for support.

"Hermione, I can't breathe!" said Ginny, trying desperately to gasp for breath. "I feel like I'm going to die."

"Must be my lucky day," said Draco, watching Ginny writhing on the ground, giggling with agony.

He had expected Ginny to look up and glower at him, or to end her tirade—which he soon realized was at his expense. But when Ginny looked up at Draco, his brows puckered in a frown and cradling Crookshanks, she burst into another roar of laughter.

"I don't think," gasped Ginny. "I can ever look at you the same way again!"

"Me too!"

"What?"

The girls continued laughing.