Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling won't answer my calls, still not mine.

14. Inspirational Hero

"Hannah, what did I tell you about calling me your boyfriend?"

"Not to do it." she peeped.

"And?"

"That mummy has a problem with it, because you're too old for me."

"So what am I to you?" Draco tried again.

"My boyfriend." she insisted.

Draco slapped his forehead with his hand. "No Hannah, I am not your boyfriend."

"But I've got a pool in my backyard, and you've got shiny hair, this means we're forever."

"That's nice but—" he looked around, "Billy!" Draco grabbed the small boy my the shoulders and gently led him over as he was passing, "Billy has shiny hair, and I bet he really likes pools. Don't you Billy?"

"I like water, I take showers everyday." Billy nodded, his short golden hair catching the morning sun.

"Maybe Billy," Draco suggested, "Would like to be your boyfriend?"

"Ew, no! She's got cooties!" the boy ran away from them to the other side of the field as fast as he could. The whole idea of having a girlfriend frightened Billy greatly. He did not want to be like his eldest brother who took his girlfriend out on dates instead of hanging out with his friends. The one who snogged on the couch. The one who was saving up his money to buy a ring. The one who talked about things like marriage. Having a girlfriend was like being doomed to get married. Billy did not want to be married, or put a girl before his mates.

"See, Billy's not mature like you."

"Hannah, I'm your coach. I'm not here to be your boyfriend, I'm here to teach you how to fly and play Quidditch."

"I hate Quidditch, it stinks worse than the potion my mum rubs on me when I've got a cold." Hannah stated.

"Hannah, if you hate it, why are you here?" Draco asked, loosing his patience with the small little freckled redhead.

She rolled her eyes and shook her head as it was the most obvious thing in the world, "Cuz your my boyfriend."

Draco crouched down to her eye level, "Listen little missy, you are too young to be having hormonal feelings." he said, pointing his finger at her. "You will not call me your boyfriend. You will either play Quidditch, or you will go take up ballet like your mum wants you to do."

Hannah put her hands on her hips, unfazed, "Will you be teaching ballet?"

"No." he growled.

"Then I'll stay here." she said stubbornly, going over to the bench and dropping her broom carelessly, letting it hit the soft ground. She hugged her pullover around herself, and ran off to join her friends as they waited for their parents to pick them up.

"Recruiting for the Draco Malfoy fanclub?"

"Nah, they do that on their own." Draco responded, not bothering to turn around and address the person until he realized, "Granger?" he was surprised, "What are you doing here?"

"Well I went to your office looking for you, I figured you might be around, and your secretary said you were here. I admit, I didn't believe her."

Her hair was straight but pulled back into a ponytail, and he noticed she had on makeup, something she rarely did unless it was a special day. She had on a black dress, black stockings, and a navy cardigan buttoned just at the top. She looked beautiful. He only hoped she had gotten so dolled up for him.

"I'm an inspirational hero, what can I say?" Draco shrugged arrogantly.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "I would hardly call teaching kids how to fly either inspirational, or heroic."

"It's not as glamorous as killing trolls, but hey, I'm still a hero. It doesn't take saving the world," he began to walk away from her, knowing she would follow. "Someone should tell Potty that."

Hermione followed behind as Draco walked towards all the children. They were huddled together playing games and talking.

"Father says I will be the first one in my year to get my Hogwarts letter."

"Last Halloween, I took all my siblings chocolate frogs and set them free in the living room. It was so funny! There were over two dozen frogs jumping everywhere! We couldn't find them all for days!"

"Draco is so my boyfriend. I have a pool. Boys love pools. This means we're meant to be forever."

"Settle down everyone." Draco calmly spoke, they quieted. It hadn't been a loud voice but everyone knew to listen, "You all did great today, I'm really impressed. You've all gotten so good so fast. Next week I will teach you some more seeker techniques, we may even have a light game of Quidditch." there were hushed excited whispers, "I already see some of your parents coming in to pick you up, so set your brooms into their proper slots before you go. Make sure you put your brooms in the slots with your names on them. Until next class, have a good week!"

"Bye Draco!" they all chanted. Some gave him high fives, the polite ones thanked him for helping them, while some braver girls went in for hugs.

Hermione felt a tug on her dress and looked down, "Hello," Hermione spoke brightly to the young girl in front of her.

"Just so you know," the little girl placed her hands on her hips. She had a look that meant serious business, "Draco is my boyfriend. You can't have him, so back off."

Hermione stuttered, bewildered. "Um-"

"Hannah, what did I tell you about saying stuff like that?" Draco warned as he made his way over, "I am not your boyfriend, I am too old and therefor it's gross. Honey, I'm flattered," he said softly before his tone changed back to ferocity, "But you need to find someone your own age. You're too young to date anyway! If you don't cut this funny business, I'll make sure your mom transfers you into that ballet class so knock it off!"

"You are so unfair! You are so mean! I hate you, you're the worst boyfriend ever!" Hannah yelled and stormed off.

When Hermione turned back to Draco, he was already talking to parents. She stood back and watched. It was really weird, he was so nice to them, and the kids. When she had found out Draco did charity work teaching kids to fly on weekends, her first and instant thought was, who the hell would let their kids near Malfoy? It was easy to see why. He got along well with everyone. It was odd. But she didn't let that stop her from asking anyway.

"So," Hermione was helping Draco put away some forgotten brooms, "Why would parents ever leave you alone with their kids?" he looked at her with distaste, "No offense."

Draco rolled his eyes, "Because I'm nice, Granger." he shrugged. He looked at the name engraved on the broom, and put it in the slot that matched. "I like kids. I'm good with them. It took parents a while to actually trust me alone with them, they'd sit in the stands the whole time."

It was a small Quidditch field in the back of the London Wizarding Community Center, which Malfoy heavily funded. In fact, it was through him that the field even existed. There was a plaque at the entrance that welcomed all to Malfoy Field.

The equipment was shared, except for the children's. Draco had explained how he had bought all the brooms for the fifteen children himself. They were top of the line, "The best of the best for my students. They're kids, they deserve it." he said as he shrunk the large broom storage that housed all the brooms. He took it into his locker, in the shared locker room. Not much undressing went on in there.

"That's a lot of children for you to take care of." Hermione said as he closed the locker.

"I had lots of help in the beginning, but it turned out they really listened to me. There wasn't any point when they wouldn't listen to anyone else but me. They're not dumb, and they're good kids. They know when to follow rules and listen... and I intimidate them. That helps loads." he chuckled.

"I thought you were their hero," she grinned, "Can't be a hero, and be feared at the same time."

He rolled his eyes, "It's not fear Granger, it's respect. You can't be a hero if you don't have any respect."

"How did these kids get into the program anyway? I mean, these kids have pools, and can take ballet, not exactly underprivileged if you ask me. Why didn't their families just hire someone to teach them to fly?" Hermione had heard a lot about the center, even attended some conventions that had been held there. The Center was made to help children and adults who were in rough spots in their lives. Having a pool in the backyard, didn't exactly sound like roughing it.

Draco gave her a cold stare, she was always making big assumptions on things she knew nothing about. She always acted like she had the world pegged. He opened the door that led out into the halls for her. "Big assumption for someone who doesn't know these kids, don't you think?" he led the way, Hermione barely keeping up with his long strides.

"There were only a few people who actually registered their kids. They either trusted me enough, or didn't care enough to know who taught the program. Most of these kids spend the week here because it's better than being at home. They take ballet, they take dance, they play instruments, they make friends, all here at the Community Center. The Center's a great place for them to take advantage of things they normally wouldn't be afforded the privilege of doing."

"When we saw the sign up list barely full, we did the only thing logical. Called up the orphanages to see if any kids were interested. That's where most of these kids come from. Don't even try to ask, they won't talk about it. Won't tell their stories. It's tough for them to talk about."

"Kids like Hannah, for example, have a different story. Parents like hers help fund the Center, so if they want their kid in a program, well, no one's going to stop them. It's not my job to care about where they come from. It's my job that they have a good time, and learn something new in the process."

Hermione stopped following him down the halls. Where had Draco Malfoy gone? This was clearly not the same boy she once knew. Out of all his achievements, Hermione was most taken by this alone. His outlook was so deep, and so pure.

She almost laughed at herself, Hermione felt inspired.

Hermione smiled and shook her head as she walked towards him. She felt inspired by a man she never would have deemed an inspiration, or a hero, or much else for that matter. Draco Malfoy was turning out to be something else.

Draco noticed her footsteps stop, he turned around and raised an eyebrow, "What?"

Hermione chuckled and smiled up at him, "That's really sweet."

Draco nearly died as she looked up at him. It was her first true, genuine smile towards him. She wasn't laughing at him, or finding something funny. No, this smile was different. It was refreshing, it radiated off her. It moved mountains, it made him believe in the impossible.

So Draco did the only thing he could, he let all the happiness he felt show on his face. He probably looked like a stupid smiling fool, but he didn't care.

"I do what I can. I get it now you know," Draco began, "How awful it must be to have some rich kid flaunting their pools, or their new clothes when the person next to them has nothing. Rich children like to go on, and on about all the great things they have. Example number one," he pointed towards himself, "So I try and pull them aside and explain it to them. Not everyone here is that lucky, so they should be more considerate of others feelings. I learned about that later in life, as you can see." he laughed.

"Yeah, I know." Hermione laughed.

"Anyway, sorry, you came to see me about something?" he realized.

"Oh right!" she pulled out a piece of parchment from her robes, "If you're still willing to..." she fidgeted, expecting to be turned down and rejected. It felt odd invading his life for her own personal gain.

"I am." Draco said confidently, knowing she was feeling unsure of his willingness to help her.

Hermione smiled briefly, "Well, these are the day's I'm free. Whenever you're free too just let me know, and we can-"

Draco looked at the paper she handed him, and could care less what he had planned on those days. He was a powerful man, people were willing to wait.

"Two weeks from now is the soonest date on here, how about then?" he suggested.

"That's terrific." Hermione could barely utter the words. She knew she had sounded less excited than she had meant to, but she was still trying to wrap her head around the new Malfoy. A man who had become selfless, and quick to resolve problems that weren't his own. She had expected him to put it off to one of the last dates she had jotted down. She had never thought he'd go for one of the early ones.

Draco checked his watch and frowned, "I have to go, I'm going to be late." He rushed the last part out as he began to leave, "We'll go for a long weekend. It'll be easier. I can assess the problem, and fix it without feeling too rushed. I'll take care of the portkey. I'll see you soon, Granger."

Terror squeezed Hermione's heart. Had he just said what she thought he had? No, no, no! Absolutely not! "But-!" by the time she managed to utter a syllable it was too late, and he was gone. "I never said anything about a long weekend."

A/N: Sneaky Draco! Plays so nice and yet plays so dirty! Let me know what you all thought, I was really excited about this one!

Happy New Year's to all of you wonderful readers and reviewers! :)