The first time Hermione, Draco, and Astoria met up to study together went well, if not a little awkward. Hermione and Draco were still unsure how to act towards one another outside of their late-night meetings, but with Astoria as a buffer, they started to get more comfortable being around each other in public.
Whispers started about how much time Draco and Hermione—known adversaries since they both started Hogwarts eight years prior—were spending with each other. Eventually, the whispers died down, and everyone started to focus on other things.
This, of course, was Hermione's plan all along: for it to become normal for her and Draco to be seen together outside of class without causing a controversy.
Luna sometimes joined their study group as well, and Hermione couldn't help but realize how protective Draco seemed to be of her. She noticed on quite a few occasions when another student was making fun of the eccentric Ravenclaw and Draco would subtly hex them with his wand from under the table, and she found herself starting to like and respect him a little bit more.
A month had come and gone, and the warmer weather soon turned chilly. Their meetings on the pitch had to be put to a halt, but the two students found that it wasn't needed like it once was. They could converse in the hallway like any other pair of students and didn't find the need to be secretive anymore. Even Pansy wasn't complaining nearly as much.
Hermione wrote owls to Harry weekly, checking in on him. Harry was still having a hard time getting over Ginny's betrayal. Ron, being Ron, wasn't making things easier. While he agreed that what his sister did was wrong, he believed Harry—and, by extension, Hermione—should forgive her and at least try to be her friend again. Harry, of course, adamantly refused and thus caused a rift in their friendship. According to Harry, they still hung out at work, but Ron decided to move out of Grimmauld Place and back to the Burrow. Sensing that Harry could use the company, she invited him to come visit during the next Hogsmeade weekend and even gained the Headmistress' approval for letting him come onto school grounds for a few hours.
As far as Ginny was concerned, Hermione still hadn't spoken to the other witch. She had gotten over her anger towards her, but the disappointment and dishonesty regarding everything that happened was too much. There had been a few times, usually in the Great Hall, when Hermione would catch Ginny's eye and the redhead would give her a small, hopeful smile, but Hermione would just turn her attention to something else.
It came as a surprise one evening when Ginny walked up to Hermione at the library, interrupting her study session.
"Hermione, can I speak with you? Please?" Ginny asked pleadingly.
Hermione sighed and nodded. "Sure."
Unsure how the conversation would go, Hermione led the girl out of the library and into the hall.
"What do you want, Ginny?" Hermione asked, arms crossed in front of her as she turned to the girl.
"Look, I know I fucked up."
Hermione scoffed. "You can say that again."
"But I'm really, truly sorry! What can I do to prove it?"
"You don't have to apologize to me," Hermione said. "That should be to Harry."
"But he won't talk to me!" Ginny said, frustrated. "I've owled him too many times to count and the letters keep coming back unopened. So I was wondering if…" She trailed off, looking sheepish.
Hermione raised a brow, "If?"
"If you could tell him to please accept my next letter? Or let me know if he's coming to Hogsmeade so I can talk to him—"
"Absolutely not," Hermione said. "If Harry doesn't want to talk to you, that's his choice. I'm not about to go making him do something he doesn't want to do."
Hermione turned around to open the library door when she heard Ginny sniffle. She sighed and looked back at Ginny. She'd never seen the witch, who was usually so fiery and fierce, look so dejected. She almost felt sorry for her. Almost.
"Please?" Ginny whispered? "Just… just tell him that I only want him to read the letter. He doesn't have to respond or anything. But it would make me feel better if—"
"Oh. So this is about you feeling better? I'm sorry, I thought you were trying to apologize to Harry for what you did, not to try to clear your conscience."
"NO! That's not what—"
Hermione held up a hand to the sputtering witch. "Stop. Just... stop, Ginny okay? If Harry wants to read your letters, he will. If he wants to talk to you, he will. If he wants to forgive you, he will. Going through me will not change his mind. You made your bed, now you have to lie in it."
Ginny wiped away a few tears but nodded. "Alright. I'll let you get back to your studies then. Thank you for—"
Hermione had already turned and left Ginny in the hallway alone. "—talking to me," she finished to the empty corridor.
Back in the library, Hermione made her way to the table, only this time, one of their group members was missing.
"Where's Astoria?" Hermione asked as she sat down.
Draco nodded towards the stacks. "She disappeared in there a few minutes ago. I say we give her an hour before we send in a search party."
Hermione chuckled softly and shook her head, returning to her homework once more.
They worked quietly for a moment before Draco cleared his throat. "So what did Weasley want?"
"She's been unsuccessful in contacting Harry, so she thought she could get to him through me."
Draco quirked a brow, "Seriously? Does she even know you?"
"Apparently not. What answer did you get for number seven in Arithmancy? I think my calculations are off."
When Astoria came back from the stacks with an armful of books, Draco and Hermione were sitting by side, going over their assignment together. She noticed that the two of her friends were getting closer as the weeks went by and started to wonder if anything was there. She'd never ask them of course; she wasn't nosy like that. If they wanted to start something, they'd tell her when they were ready, and she respected that.
She dropped the books onto the table, which made the two other occupants jump.
"Sorry," she grimaced.
"What did you do, collect every book in aisle fifty-seven?" Draco asked, quirking a brow towards the pile of books.
Astoria stuck her tongue out at him. "No, I just… well, I was done with my work, and I've been curious about how to become an Animagus, so…."
"So you're going to attempt it?" Hermione asked, somewhere between baffled and impressed. "You realize that this particular spell can take months to accomplish, right?"
Astoria nodded. "Yes, I know. I still think it would be rather interesting to learn and try it out, don't you?"
Hermione pursed her lips in thought. "I suppose it would be."
"Why don't you try it with me?" Astoria asked excitedly.
This time Hermione hesitated. "I'm not sure. Like I said, it can take months, and I already feel like I have so much on my plate as it is with homework and studying for N.E.W.T.S."
"Is Hermione Granger actually going to give up the chance to learn something? Someone call the Prophet," Draco teased.
Hermione elbowed him lightly in the ribs. "Shut up, you prat." She turned her attention to Astoria. "I wouldn't mind reading up on it some more—the subject has interested me since we learned about it in third year—but I don't think I'll actually attempt it. I promise to think about it though."
Astoria smiled happily. "Okay." She grabbed the first book in the stack and began flipping through it.
Hermione and Draco both looked at each other and smiled, each holding in a chuckle, then resumed their studying.
An hour later, the group of them were packing up their things as Madam Pince had given them a ten-minute warning before the library closed.
"I'll see you two tomorrow," Astoria said to them as she walked towards the doors.
"Are you really going to try to be an Animagus?" Draco asked Hermione as they started walking towards their common room.
"Honestly? Probably not. Learning more about it will never hurt anything, but I'm not sure I want to become one," Hermione said.
Draco reached out and touched the Slytherin symbol on the door to their common room, causing it to vanish. They stepped in and walked together towards the different dormitory halls.
Draco turned to Hermione and hesitated.
She looked at him curiously. "Something on your mind, Malfoy?" she asked.
He looked around the room, and while they weren't getting the usual stares, he didn't want to have this conversation out in the open.
"Can I talk with you privately?" he asked quietly.
Hermione's brows rose, but she nodded and followed him towards his room.
"You know, inviting me to your dorm to talk privately is only going to reignite the rumours," she said, teasing lightly as they entered his room.
It was exactly like how she imagined his room to be: tidy, probably more so than her own. He had put up some posters of his favorite Quidditch team, The Falmouth Falcons, as well as a calendar with his schedule and homework assignments written on it, but otherwise his walls were bare. It was set up the same as her own, only with green and silver colors.
"I honestly could not care less," he said as he shrugged off his cloak and placed it on the back of the desk chair, settling his book bag next to it. He sat down and motioned for her to take a seat on his bed.
She did, taking off her own cloak and setting her bag on the floor. "So what did you want to talk to me about?" she asked.
"Hogsmeade weekend," he stated.
"Oh? What about it?" she asked curiously.
"I was wondering if you were going, and if you were, if you would like to join me for lunch?"
Hermione's mouth dropped open. "Are you asking me out? On a date?" she squeaked.
Draco gave a nonchalant shrug, but Hermione noted the red tinge to the tips of his ears. "We can call it a date. Or just hanging out with a friend, if you prefer."
Hermione bit her lip and stared down at her hands, contemplating what he was asking, before peering back up at him again. "I think, as friends, that would be nice. But…"
She noticed Draco's face fall, but then recovered quickly. "It's fine, Granger, you don't need to make excuses."
Hermione shook her head, her loose bun on her head letting out some curls. "No, no! You misunderstood. I would have agreed to lunch, but I have plans already," she said sheepishly. "Harry's coming to meet up. Since he and Ginny broke up, he's been a bit lonely, and I thought—"
"Granger it's fine," he said interrupting her. "I get it."
"You do?"
"Sure. Just remember that dating someone now that the soulmate spell has been activated will make you repulsed by them," he stated factually, not looking at her.
Hermione stared at him for a moment before she started laughing.
Draco turned to her and gave her an irritated look. "Something funny?" he asked, trying to hold in his frustration.
"Yes!" she said, wiping away the tears in her eyes from laughing so hard. "You are! I'm not going on a date with Harry!"
"But you said you had plans—"
"Yes, with a friend," she said teasingly, nudging his foot with her own. "A friend, who's more like a brother to me and who's been having a really rough time since he broke up with his girlfriend, so I wanted to hang out with him and make sure he's okay. If he hadn't been having such a hard time, I would have owled him and told him that I have other plans and he could visit me another time."
He looked at her curiously. "But even if you did accept, it would just be as friends?"
Hermione nodded, blushing slightly, and she wrung her hands nervously. "I'm… I'm still unsure I'm ready to take that next step."
Draco looked at her and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Well then," he said as he reached out and tucked a stray curl behind her ear. "I guess there's always next time."
Hermione's blush deepened. "Why do you want to go out with me? So soon, I mean. I thought we were going to wait a while?"
Draco shrugged and leaned back against his chair, resting his feet on his bed next to Hermione. "I figured since we've been getting along well enough as friends that going out would be the next logical step. But I won't force you into anything you're not ready for, Granger."
Hermione breathed out a small sigh of relief. "Thank you." She gave him a shy smile before standing up. "I should go before the rumours start spiraling out of control."
Draco chuckled and stood as well, walking her to his door. Once she was on the other side of the threshold, she turned to face him.
"I promise," she said softly. "Once I'm ready, you'll be first to know. Goodnight, Malfoy."
Hands in his pockets, he watched with a small smile as she walked down the hall and turned out of sight.
The door to his right opened, and Blaise stuck his head out. He raised a questioning brow at Draco.
Draco mimicked his expression. "Anything I can help you with, Zabini?"
"Nope. Anything you'd like to tell me, Malfoy?" he challenged.
With a tired sigh, Draco ran a hand through his hair. "Yes, but later. Over a pint tomorrow?"
"It's a date," Blaise said, winking.
