Chapter 14: A Mutual Acceptance of Terms
Draco noticed a slow change in everything in his world since he had denounced his heirloom. He had not asked for the burden that was the Malfoy name nor did he believe that he had any reason to stay loyal to it. To be a Malfoy meant to be doomed and with this realization came the eye-opening revelation that not everything stood as it formerly had.
Take the mudblood for example. She seemed normal enough on the outside but in her veins ran the mixed blood of a wizard and a muggle. What was in this blood that made it any different from his own? A simple idea, a simple belief, a simple cycle of discrimination.
If he had met her on the street somewhere far from England, Draco had no doubt that he would have found Granger attractive for both her appearance and her intellect.
Upon further inspection of his entire life Draco concluded that the hole after hole he found meant so much more than the idea on the whole. Some things just did not match up and for that reason he adopted a new philosophy. Not that he would change his personality. Though others may not have been, Draco was quite fond of his personality. It was harsh, it was dark, but it was real and it was who he had become after sixteen years of Draco in the making.
After the weeks and weeks he had spent in the room Draco had come to a startling conclusion about the works of Xander. They had been tampered with. After some advanced dating spells he had discovered that the documents had been opened, changed, and resealed in the recent past, possibly within fifty years. Whatever the things Xander had been working on, someone had not wanted them read properly, maybe not even read at all.
"Can you pass me the Latin dictionary?" Asked his constant companion and Draco shook his head with a smirk.
"No, what's the word?" He asked just as he always did. She had insisted upon having the dictionary in the room but that didn't mean he had to let her use it when he was there.
"Come on… I know the rough translation of the word but I want to make sure. It doesn't make any sense." The mudblood looked up from her work, a demanding expression on her face.
"Okay, pass it here." He said. "I'm here for a reason, you know. I know more Latin than that stupid book." He said bitterly. "Don't you trust me?"
She guffawed and pushed her paper across the table towards him as she stood. "Trust is something that is mutual, Draco."
"Is it my fault my father told me to never turn your back on a Gryffindor?" He asked as he looked over the parchment.
"Is it my fault McGonagall said the same thing about Slytherins?" She asked and he looked up at her with an odd expression. "There, you see." She said, pointing at the parchment.
"How did you get this?" He asked seriously and she shrugged. "You've translated this incorrectly. You see, two in this sequence stands for s not d therefore it would turn out to be dead not seas. There." He changed it and Granger laughed.
"Always first to cast the stone." She said and Draco shook his head.
"Who said anything about stones? You made a simple miscalculation, it's not like I jumped you for it." He said severely as he handed it back to her.
"That is exactly what you would have done before." Granger offered half jokingly and Draco realized she was asking for reassurance on where they currently stood. She needed to be sure that this would not all change in a day. It couldn't, he realized. After being this way he knew there was no returning.
"When we're in here, we're colleagues, Granger." Draco said and this would have to be enough for her at this point.
"So if it is dead then it still doesn't make sense." She said and Draco sighed.
"How so?" He asked and she offered it to him. "Read it." He said. Draco was tired of reading the endless code of numbers, his head hurt.
"Singularis conquiro alica ut servo vomica de certus nex absentia… single sought spell to fight the curse of sure death? Does it make sense to you?" She asked and Draco shrugged.
"All those arithmancists were very weird, who knows?" Draco asked and she sighed. "Read me more, maybe that's just a piece of the puzzle." He suggested and she nodded half-heartedly.
"Solus alica vis per vires satis pugno ut viridis addo de nex…" She read aloud slowly. "I don't know what half those words mean." She exclaimed. "I got only force and green and death." She said looking over the paper at him and Draco translated it slowly in his mind.
The only force with strength enough to fight the green bringer of death…Suddenly it struck him. "This fellow was trying to fight the curse of green death! What's the only killing spell you know described as green?" He asked Granger and she shrugged. "Avada kedavra!" He shouted and Granger's eyes went wide with horror.
"You don't think!" She asked and he shook his head.
"I know! It all makes sense." He jumped up and she handed him the paper before he could tear it from her grasp. He looked down at the paper. He started going through all of the files they had already translated and stacked them in front of him in an almost wild frenzy.
It was all one experiment. Every document they had were Xander's attempts at creating a counter spell for the avada kedavra curse. Looking through each piece of parchment, Draco could have smacked himself.
"Now it makes sense." He said with a sigh of relief and Granger walked over next to him.
"What makes sense?" She asked while looking over his shoulder as if she expected to see the same things he did.
"That the documents were tampered with." Draco said without thinking.
"Tampered with? How do you know that they were tampered with?" She asked and Draco motioned for her to be silent for a minute.
After sitting and settling Draco turned his attention to Granger. "I found odd smudges on words and whole lines of numbers didn't add up correctly or even close so I had the ink dated and they were four hundred years apart in age." He explained and she crossed her arms over her chest, her posture suggesting that she wanted a good explanation for his silence. "I thought that someone had corrected his works but in reality they were sabotaging it. Do you know what this means?" Draco asked and Granger shook her head slowly.
"No, but I bet it has to do with power." She commented dryly and Draco ignored her.
"It means that by completing the sequences ourselves we could find the counter spell for the killing curse. Aurors and wizards would be safe against Voldemort's favorite choice of weapon besides corruption and bribery that is." He said and Granger looked taken aback. "Now that we know, we just need to finish translating all of the documents, get them organized, recopy them without the words and sequences that were tampered with and then figure out what the hell it all means." He said elatedly.
"You think it will be that easy?" Granger asked apparently unconvinced.
"Why not?"
How wrong Draco was when he asked that question. Two weeks into December, Draco found himself exhausted, disappointed, and angry all at once. How could something seemingly so simple be so fucking complicated? Granger got the brunt of his frustrations though. He often found himself snapping at her for no apparent reason and though he did not feel exactly guilty, he did not feel all fuzzy on the inside. He knew she was just as dedicated to the project but when he reached one more dead end that didn't matter.
On the day they discovered the aim of Xander's works they had decided to keep the discovery quiet. They didn't even tell Samuel, not that they had had much of an opportunity as he was never there.
Draco stood suddenly and shook his hands out. Giving a loud yawn he woke Auru who in turn woke the Granger. Groaning loudly she lifted her head and looked up at him.
"What is it? Did you find something?" She asked and he shook his head.
"I'm heading to bed." He explained. "You should too." He suggested and she nodded.
Draco collected his things, placed them in his bag, and threw it over his shoulder. "See you tomorrow." He said and Granger nodded once again before laying her head back down. He patted Auru on the head as he passed and the small animal repositioned itself curling up next to the mudblood.
As Draco made his way through the deserted, dark, and eerie hallways towards the prefectorial dormitories he heard an odd noise to his left. Turning he heard something that sounded disturbingly a lot like… moaning? Veering off course a corridor, Draco followed the oddly strangled noise to a predictable source.
"Ah, Pansy." Draco said coolly. "At it again I see." He finished with a knowing smirk. There was rustling and a very flustered Crabbe and a shameless Pansy formed from the shadows. "Oh, Crabbe, nice choice in women. We had more in common than I imagined."
Pansy smirked. "If I'm still your type we could have a go." She said slowly and Draco resisted the urge to say something that could be interpreted as equally suggestive but a bit more violent.
"Tempting… but, no. I would much rather have a go with myself than waste my time and energy on your high maintenance." He replied and her grin never faltered.
"I still don't have a date for the dance." She was relentless! "I've been waiting for you to come around but you're much more stubborn than you let on."
"Well, it's quite obvious you've been around at least twice, which is plenty for the both of us, I've decided." Draco retorted caustically. "And besides that, I want something more than an arm decoration for the evening. The Slytherin common room has been lacking in intellectually stimulating conversation and I fear I may soon have to turn to the Hufflepuffs."
"I won't give up that easily…" Pansy said while taking Crabbe's hand in hers and leading him in the other direction. "Remember my offer; I'll be open until the night of the dance…" Her voice faded and Draco snorted. I'm sure you're open more often than that…
Draco's eyes began coming in and out of focus and he shook his head drowsily. He was so tired.
He walked to the wall trying to remember where he was and leaned against it. Slowly he slid down. He would sit here, just for a minute. Just until he figured out where he was and where he had been going… Draco's eyes closed and he drifted off, jolting awake only seconds later just to drift off once again.
He could feel the threat of sleep more acutely as black sweetness lurked near the edge of his vision. "Just for a minute." He convinced himself and he closed his eyes. Just for a minute…
"Mr. Malfoy, what may I ask are you doing in the hallway?" Asked a sharp voice and Draco was jolted awake from his deep dreamless sleep.
"Professor!" Draco exclaimed and he stood, grabbing his bag. "Sorry professor, I must have dozed, I don't remember stopping here, sir." He excused.
"Whether you remember or not makes no difference, the fact that you are here is enough, Mr. Malfoy." Severus Snape loomed over Draco like a cloud ready to burst.
"Yes sir." He said.
"We need to have a talk, Mr. Malfoy." He then said and Draco sighed. "My office now."
"I have work to do, it's Saturday-"
"I am well aware of what day of the week it is Mr. Malfoy, now do as I say!" Draco lifted his bag over his shoulder and followed Snape to his office in the dungeons, his head lowered, heart filled with foreboding.
Snape quickly unlocked the door to his private office and Draco entered hesitantly. Taking a quick glance around there were many odd and disturbing things he noticed. Not only were there many jars of odd things suspended in yellow fluid but there were also other, even weirder things hanging from his head of house's ceiling.
"Have a seat, Mr. Malfoy." The professor snapped and Draco did as he was told, taking the seat across Snape's desk. "Now, what is the matter with you?" He asked rather bluntly. "I received a letter from your mother telling me you have been… aloof." Snape said and Draco nodded.
"I haven't had much spare time, you see." He explained casually. "She expects a twelve inch essay every day of the week and, quite frankly, I don't know of one single student at this school who has that kind of extra time."
"I see. But that does not explain your change in attitude as well as a monumental change in your overall habits. Your grades are lacking as I see in most of your classes as of late. They are very high, but not the best. Quite an odd occurrence, one might say, yes Mr. Malfoy?" Snape searched his eyes and Draco tried not to meet his princely black stare.
"I have been preoccupied as I have already mentioned." Draco respectfully rebuked. "I assure you I have been giving no less of my attention to my schoolwork than I ever have and as you should know, courses get harder as we move further into the year." Draco added. "Transfiguration is a perfect example of this."
"Yes, but you have never failed to rise to the occasion, is the point." Snape replied darkly. "Is there a problem I can help you with, Mr. Malfoy? I am sure some of your frustration and your lack of concentration can be partly attributed to your current colleague." Snape slyly pointed out and Draco nodded in sudden understanding.
"We hardly see one another. She developed a schedule within the first few days and I built my own around hers." He lied through his teeth and Snape smiled.
"Good to know that that is not what is contributing to your problem whatever it may be but that still leaves more unanswered questions." Snape leaned forward and folded his hands in front of him. He looked suspicious but knew when to let things go "As you know, the Malfoy fortune has been left in your name?" Snape questioned and Draco rolled his eyes.
"I got the will just as you did." Draco said sharply and Snape nodded, a realizing spark in his eyes.
"Then you know you have certain responsibilities that you were formerly spared?" He asked and it was Draco's turn to nod. "Good, then I should not have to go into too much detail when I tell you to think with your mind, not your heart, nor other attributes teenage boys may feel the need to satiate." Snape said and Draco felt a rush of heat come to his pale cheeks.
"You have a family name to carry on and your mother has asked me to spare her this talk since she knows how you look up to me as a male figure in your life. Remember the value of blood, Draco, especially your own." Snape stood and Draco followed suit. "Truly take into account all the things I have mentioned here." He said while clapping Draco on the shoulder.
"Yes sir." He replied compliantly and Snape smiled, his dark eyes glittering out of his sallow, pale lids. Snape leaned forward, placing his full weight on his hands, which were palms down on the surface of the desk.
"Now, off to what you were doing before." Snape allowed. "But one would hope you were on the pitch watching the Gryffindors get the stuffing beat out of them by the Ravenclaw team." Snape said and Draco froze as he saw the look of recall on his head of house's face. "I neglected to ask for a report. Did you discover anything new with the Veritaserum solution?" Snape asked and Draco smiled.
"Not as much as you would have expected." Snape frowned slightly and Draco shrugged, saying his goodbye then walked as quickly as he could towards to the library.
Upon entering he saw, to his disappointment, that the room was empty. The mudblood was probably on the Quidditch pitch cheering on her friends, Draco thought. With a sigh he set his bag carelessly down at the table.
All of the sudden, feeling as if there wasn't much incentive to stay in the room alone, Draco ran a hand through his bleach-blond hair and let a deep, calming breath pass between his lips. Deciding he would much prefer to take a shower then work right now he left his bag behind and walked slowly and purposefully to the prefectorial dormitory.
Glumly saying the password, Draco entered the warmly lit large center room. He didn't even take the time for a quick look around before swinging open the door into the Slytherin dorm and walking straight to his dresser where he found a fresh set of clean clothes (not his uniform.)
He bundled everything carelessly into his arms and entered the conjoining bathroom.
After stepping into the glass-doored stall, Draco showered slowly, letting the water flow through his hair and over his body in endless torrents that soothed his every nerve. Unlike the Slytherin showers in the normal dorms, these were warmed automatically. One did not have to turn the water on, wait five minutes, and take a quick shower that was often too warm or too cold.
Think with your mind, not your heart, nor other attributes teenage boys may feel the need to satiate… What gave Snape the nerve to speak with him about such matters? Duties such as those were reserved for the father or immediate male family, not one's head of house and potions master. And where would anyone get the idea that he had forgotten his duty to his name, Draco wondered…
Perhaps Crabbe had taken it upon himself to inform his mother of their little falling out. Or worse, Pansy had delivered her all-star performance speech to someone else besides him and word had leaked to "the homestretch" and this was his mother's way of warning him. Either way it was not good. Someone in Hogwarts had taken on the role of a spy, a spy that Draco needed to seek out and destroy, for if there was in deed some kind of observer than Draco was at a great disadvantage.
Leaning forward, Draco rested his head against the wall and savored the feeling of cool mingled with warmth as it spread in the form of a shiver throughout his body. It had been a while since he could enjoy the soothing touch of water on flesh as well as being able to think things through properly without coming to an either incorrect or irrational conclusion.
After washing, Draco stepped from the shower and grabbed his silver towel off of the rack outside the shower door. He walked slowly to the sink while thoroughly drying his hair then finished drying.
His clothes were a wrinkled mess on the counter and looking at them, Draco decided that some semblance of order needed to be displayed. After all, Draco still had all the pride in the world in himself.
Draco wrapped the towel securely around his waist and walked out of the bathroom fully intending to change when he was in the Slytherin dorm. But when Draco entered the Slytherin dorm and turned around, he realized it was not the Slytherin dorm at all. This is unbelievable… He had walked into the Gryffindor dormitory and stood frozen in front of the door, his clothes bundled in his arms only a towel wrapped around his waist.
The scene before him would have seemed hilariously funny had he not been involved Draco decided. Granger was sitting comfortably on her couch, her face red with agitation and Weaselby, his ears as red as his hair, was standing over by her desk in his Quidditch robes.
Silently and with a smirk on his face, Draco reached behind him and turning the doorknob uttered a curse. It was locked from the inside, which suddenly made sense and Draco could have laughed at his horribly bad luck. Calmly he let his hands fall back to his side and watching in mild discomfort as their personal argument continued he waited to be discovered.
"Ron, you're not making any sense." The Granger snapped in a tone that Draco often heard when she was addressing him. "You need to calm down."
"Don't tell me I need to calm down. Why weren't you there?" He asked. "You always come to the first match of the season, Hermione. We needed you and you were locked up in that stupid library with that stupid git like you always are." Weasley shouted and Draco was slightly impressed but wondered how it made sense that he could shout like that at a woman but not another man…
"Ron, I was asleep. I forgot that the match was today. I don't know how many times I can apologize for something so stupid." Weasley's face turned an even darker shade of red and he gripped his arm so tight that his knuckles turned white.
"You forgot." Weasley stated in a cold and dangerous tone that could have been intimidating under other circumstances. "Well," He began. "What if I were to accidentally forget to ask you to the ball?" Weasley asked and the mudblood had obviously heard enough.
"Get out and leave me alone until you can treat me with the respect I deserve." Granger said and Weasley nodded.
"My pleasure, you know-" Draco cringed as Weaselby turned and stopped dead, staring at Draco.
"Hello." Draco said in voice that suggested he was much calmer than he actually was. The mudblood's head snapped around and Draco gave her a short wave and an unperturbed smile. "I came to check out the view in here but it seems you don't have any windows either… I'll be going." Draco secured his towel and began walking to the door.
"No, that's fine. I'll just leave you two here to sort things out." Weaselby said bitterly and walked out the door slamming it so hard behind him that the walls shook. The Gryffindor banner was knocked from the wall and floated gracefully to the floor in silence.
"What's his problem?" Draco asked mockingly and Granger glared at him. "It was an honest mistake, Granger."
"Talk to me when you're clothed." Granger snarled and Draco let out a short laugh. "You know where the door is." She reiterated and Draco nodded.
"I'm truly sorry, I wasn't paying attention, granted I should have been, but I wasn't. So, I'll see you later then." He said uncomfortably and she nodded.
Draco left the room and walked into the prefectorial common room with a smile on his face. He was pretty sure it would be a permanent thing. Over all he thought this was a very funny situation. He didn't understand why she was taking it so personally. That Weaselby character was a jackass to everyone, why did she think she was any different? Because she had been… until you, the little voice in Draco's mind answered.
"Don't see how it's my fault he needs constant affirmation that he's the only male at Hogwarts she looks twice at." Draco muttered to himself angrily as he threw open the door to the Slytherin prefect dorm and walked to his dresser.
After Draco was dressed in normal school uniform he sighed loudly, desperately. Opening the second drawer down he reached inside, his fingertips blindly searching. Coarse parchment met his finger and Draco retrieved the letter from the deep, enchanted drawer. The envelope was torn slightly in the corner but was otherwise untouched and Draco could feel the small particles of sandy paper fall as he rubbed it idly with his thumb.
His father's will… Draco completed opening the envelope and extracted the yellowing parchment from within. He had lied to Snape that morning. He hadn't read the will yet, hadn't been able to look at the neat, curvy cursive that he had seen his father use to write out a certificate for someone's death. The same handwriting he had seen in ever letter he had ever received from home.
Slowly unfolding the parchment, Draco felt his heart begin to pound behind his rib cage. A feeling of grief settled in the very pit of his stomach and he began to read his father's last will and testament.
I, Lucius Malfoy, being of sound and disposing mind and memory do make, publish, and declare the following to be my Last Will and Testament, hereby revoking all wills made by me at any time heretofore.
I Nominate, constitute, and appoint my wife, Narcissa Malena Malfoy to be the sole executor and trustee of this, my will. If she is unable or unwilling to act, I then nominate, constitute and appoint my son, Draconis Aquilus Malfoy to be the sole executor of this, my will.
I, Lucius Malfoy, Give, devise, and bequest all of my property of every nature and kind and whatsoever situate, including any property over which I may have a general power or appointment to my said trustee…
As Draco read through the mundane details of the will he felt his stomach rise and anger coursed through him. He wasn't in it, not once was his name mentioned other than as a mere formality. The Malfoy estate was not his, but his mother's…Now Draco understood the knowing expression Snape had given him.
Draco didn't even bother reading the rest of the document before crumpling it into his fist and throwing it as hard as he could across the room. After years of enduring his father's hell this is what he got. Nothing but trinkets and a mere namesake. He had given his life to his father's cause and he had nothing, but Draco supposed that was how it was supposed to work all along. Those who were innocent gave more but never got their gold's worth in the end.
Draco hit his dresser drawer closed with a fierce punch and cursed under his breath as he felt the tender skin of his knuckles split. The envelope fell off the dresser and drifted grandly to the marble flooring. Upon its making contact with the hard floor Draco noticed an additional piece of parchment housed within its confines.
Bending down slowly, Draco took the envelope once again in his hands and peered inside. Sure enough there was another letter enclosed. Draco took out the single piece of lonely parchment and unfolded it gently. The excitement of the last letter he thought had drained him but he was wrong. He felt the rush of adrenaline through his body as he began to read.
Dear Draco,
Son of mine how you have failed me. Cowardly and weak you have let me down, you have let you mother down, and you have let your blood down. I wish you the only the most fortunate luck in your future endeavors and only hope you can overcome the shame you should feel without destroying yourself. If only you had put half the amount of devotion you have for your schoolwork into what truly matters, you would be spared his negative attentions.
Beware of those who hate you but only those who love you and you love back can destroy you.
Your father, your superior
Lucius Malfoy
Draco read and reread the letter several times before he actually accepted what it said. His father had called him a coward. "Fuck you." He told the letter. "Fuck you!" He shouted at the top of his lungs. Draco made sure that this letter met the same fate if not a worse one than the other one and left the Slytherin dorms in a hurry.
He walked through the prefectorial commons to the Gryffindor door and banged loudly three times. Granger opened the door a crack and upon seeing his face she sighed.
"What do you need, Malfoy?' She asked and Draco wondered what the hell he was doing.
"I don't know." He exclaimed, his voice filled with repressed anger. "I don't know. Forget it." He said and stormed off in the other direction.
"Wait!" She shouted after him and he heard her following. "Draco, slow down." She begged but Draco felt as though he had hell biting at his heels and he couldn't stop. "Draco!" Granger shouted as he exited the common room and began speeding through corridors. He heard her stop and the sound of her voice faded.
Draco spent the next three hours alone in the library poring over the documents brooding and as odd as it seemed, even to him, he wished that Auru were there. The little kelltor was very perceptive and knew how to comfort.
Draco looked down at the parchment and focused on the sequence of numbers with an unwavering concentration. So far they had only deciphered and had the key to fifty sequences, which may have seemed like quite an accomplishment in the face of the project's difficulty but to Draco, it was failure. Fifty out of five thousand was a speck on the map, a grain of sand on a beach and they had a long ways to go yet.
Filling in the blanks was the hardest part for Draco because in order to fill it in properly one has to do a string of lengthy equations and even then it was a guess and check process that more often than not was wrong.
So into the documents Draco was that he did not notice when the door opened and Samuel walked in. After a few minutes Samuel gave a small cough and Draco looked up, annoyed.
"Yes?" Draco questioned and Samuel shrugged.
"What are we doing?" He asked and Draco rolled his eyes with a loud sigh.
"Right now we're trying to decipher Xander's complex codes. He used a new one for ever spell he attempted to create, which creates a pain in the neck for us." Draco explained. "We've organized all of the documents into all their respective categories and all you have to do is choose one and dig in."
"Right, where's the Granger girl?" Samuel asked and Draco shrugged. "Well," Samuel began while clapping. "Might as well have a go, right?"
But Draco gave no reply, he was already absorbed in his work again. His focus however, did not keep him from hearing the Hufflepuff mutter something like overly dedicated under his breath, which made Draco smirk.
Better than being under dedicated…A half an hour into work Draco heard the door open and close again and looked around. Samuel had left. All of his documents he had been working on were scattered about his workspace and Draco could have had a fit but before he could throw anything about, Granger entered, her bag slung over her shoulder.
"How long was Samuel here?" Asked Granger in a quietly conscious voice that she had learned to use when he had been working for long periods of time.
"Half an hour. He couldn't hack it." Draco said with a bitter smirk. "Neither can I, but I won't give up."
"You are stubborn." She stated while coming further into the room and setting her bag down on the table. After grabbing her file from the shelf she took her seat across the table from Draco and started working.
Draco didn't know how long he worked straight but eventually he let his eyes take a break from the abuse of work. He rubbed his eyes and laid his head down. Five minutes later he was ready to begin again.
Looking across the table at Granger he let a small smile tug at the corners of his mouth. She was chewing nervously at her bottom lip and she subconsciously fingered the necklace around her neck. A long strand of bushy brown hair fell in front of her face and she expelled it with a puff of air.
Draco shook his head while looking back down at the yellowed parchment but he found himself unable to concentrate. He felt like talking about what had happened, he wanted to scream and rant that all he was worth to his father was a dagger, a golden, gilded bow, and a ring encrusted with the Malfoy emblem. But, as always, he kept to himself and as always he felt the emotion eat away at his composure until the mudblood noticed.
"Is something wrong?" She asked and Draco was jolted from his thoughts.
"No, why?" He asked suspiciously and Granger shrugged.
"You were holding your quill so tight that I feared you were going to snap it in half and burst the ink all over your translations." She said and he set his quill idly down on the desk as if it were the enemy.
"Wouldn't matter much, would it? I'm not much farther than I was yesterday." He exclaimed and Granger shook her head.
"We're getting somewhere, Draco and you have to be happy with that." She preached contentedly.
"Well, I'm not." He rebuked childishly.
"That's your deal, then." Granger said while looking back to her translations. "If you cannot see that what we're doing here is taking baby steps in the right direction then why are you still here? Why are you still working so late into the night that when you leave you go straight to classes? Why are you?" The way she said it seemed to Draco more like a challenge than a question or anything else.
"Because you are." He said and Granger laughed.
"Because Draco Malfoy cannot let me, a mudblood, do anything that may make the substance of my blood or lack thereof meaningless." She said coldly and Draco realized that was just it. "Not as honorable a reason as you would make it seem."
"I never claimed to be a Gryffindor, did I?" It was a rhetorical question and Granger knew it so she kept quiet. In a half an hour this argument would be forgotten and they both would be on less but still bitter speaking terms.
"No. No, you didn't." She said and Draco went back to work what couldn't have been ten minutes later Samuel walked into the room.
"Hello there." He greeted cheerfully. "Don't you two look like the two gloomiest people there ever was. Granger, you should be celebrating, the Gryffindors won because of your friend Potter, though I suspect that's nothing new." Granger gave a curt nod and Samuel went silent. He walked to his desk and took his seat.
Something Draco noticed about Samuel that annoyed him to no end was that he didn't have the slightest capacity to shut up. Silence was just something that was unacceptable when Samuel was in the room with them. Knowing this beforehand, Draco set his quill down and waited.
"You two have dates for the dance?" He asked and Draco smirked. Granger looked up, a slightly annoyed expression on her face. "I'm going with Hannah Abbot, do you know her? I think she's in your year, eh?" He asked and Granger nodded.
"Yes, I know Hannah, she's a sweet girl. She's a Hufflepuff though, we don't really see a lot of one another, you know?" Samuel nodded.
"Well?" He prompted. "Who are you two going with? Both of you must have dates by now." Samuel stated knowingly a wide smirk on his angular face. "The dance is in what, four days?"
"I don't have a proper date yet but once Ron cools down I think we'll be going together." Granger said and Draco coughed inwardly. He thought that had been over months before and either Weaselby was incapable of letting go or Granger was settling to go with someone familiar since that Krum guy wasn't there.
"Really now? Ron Weasley, you say?" Samuel asked, a curious expression stretching across his face. Granger nodded with an odd expression of her own. "You see, that's quite impossible as Ron's going with a friend of mine. You heard of Amber Solitaire?" He asked.
Granger nodded dumbly and Draco suddenly felt very sympathetic. "Yes, I know who Amber is. We're friendly acquaintances. When was this arrangement made?" She asked and Samuel looked uncomfortable.
"Earlier today. All I know about the whole affair is that he was storming through halls, she said hi, they talked, and he asked her. He said he didn't have a date and she thought he was cute, so there it is." Draco would have laughed if the situation had been the other way around with Weasley being the one played, but it wasn't and though she was good at hiding it, Draco could tell that she was very hurt.
"I see." She said shortly. "Well, I wish Amber the best of luck with him." Granger stood slowly and Draco saw the traces of tears behind her brown eyes as she packed her folder away and put all of her stuff into her bag. She turned to leave and Draco stood.
"Want to go for a walk?" He asked and she looked up at him, her eyes searching for the answer to the question he was asking himself.
"No, I'll be fine. Thank you for your concern, have fun with your documents." She stated with an air of finality. "I have some schoolwork I need to complete, I wouldn't have been here very long anyways."
Draco nodded and sat down, watching her leave, head down and book bag slung despondently over her left shoulder.
Draco looked down at his parchment and sighed loudly.
"Fancy her do you?" Samuel asked and Draco rolled his eyes.
"No, but I care when she's this upset. Granger doesn't concentrate well when she and Weaselby have an argument and this shit that he's pulling I have a feeling is going to set us back an entire week if not two." He said quickly and Samuel nodded.
After two more minutes Draco decided he had had enough fo this for now. Standing, he bade Samuel farewell and followed after Granger.
Walking through the winding corridors Draco sauntered to the prefectorial dormitories where he assumed (correctly) Granger would have made her way to.
He heard her voice even before he had said the password but it was not her normal voice nor was it her normal tone.
As he entered the large common space he saw something zoom towards his face and ducked just in time to avoid a fireplace ornament aimed to behead him.
Looking around for the source of the projectile, Draco saw Granger over by the fireplace another ornament in her hand.
"Wait. Come on now, Granger. Let's think about this logically." He soothed but Granger's grip only tightened. "What good would it do for you to bludgeon me when the one you really want to beat to death is Weaselby?" He asked.
"I would be freeing the world of one more sleazy boy!" She shouted. Granger hesitated only a second before letting the porcelain statuette lose towards his face with as much force behind her arm as she possessed. He ducked once more and she crossed her arms over her chest, brooding as if she were disappointed.
She had a crazed look in her eyes, that same look that his mother often had after her and his father had gotten into a fight and punches were thrown. Suddenly Draco would do anything to make it stop, to make that wounded look in her eyes disappear.
"We could go together." Draco suggested rather halfheartedly. "I- I don't have a date and Pansy's been all over me for the past three weeks. I don't want to go alone and I'm sure you don't want to go alone either and Weasel dumped you for some Ravenclaw…" He paused for a second to gauge her reaction to his proposition and Granger lifted another statuette from the ledge. "No, no, no! It all makes perfect sense, you see. I'm a prefect, you're a prefect and… well, we could call it a … a mutual acceptance of terms."
"Right…I'm supposed to take what you say seriously when I have something heavy and slightly lethal ready to throw at your head?" She asked and Draco nodded vehemently. "Why? Wouldn't it risk your image?" She asked, her voice full of suspicion.
"I have no image." Draco said and the way he said it made her set the small object of death back down in its rightful place. "So?" He questioned and Granger shrugged.
"So?" Her shoulders drooped in indignation. "Do I have a choice?" She asked and it was Draco's turn to be hurt.
"Of course you do. Go alone if you want, it's your image you should be worried about. I can't wait to see the look on Weasley's face when he sees you enter alone and in the same state you're in now." Draco was using reverse psychology and despite the fact that he knew it was dangerous, he also knew it would work.
"Which would be worse? That look of triumph when you enter alone or that look of shock and jealousy when you enter on the arm of a Slytherin prince?"
"I don't want to go to make him jealous. I want to go to have a good time or in the least to have done all that work to see a good event…" She said sadly while shaking her head.
"Then a good time we shall have. I thought you and I got along fine." Draco said slowly. "Two people who spill their blood into something together for so long and so viciously should be able to attend an event together without there being anything to worry about image wise."
"I suppose you have a point, Mr. Malfoy." Granger conceded with a small grin. "But, the question of the matter would be, could you handle me a whole night without being vicious?" She asked and Draco shrugged.
"Can you?" Granger cracked a full smile and he took a step forward. "Is this a deal then?"
"I suppose so, Mr. Malfoy. What did you call this? A mutual acceptance of terms?" Draco nodded. "I do believe you have a date."
"You as well, miss Granger."
"You know, as much as I love my surname, I'm getting tired of being called Granger. You have officially worn it out." She stated bluntly.
"Does that mean I have to call you by your Christian name?" Draco asked fearfully and Granger nodded. "So, I have to call you Hermo-ninny?" He mocked and Granger brandished the statuette in his direction once again. "All right, I suppose Hermione isn't the worst name one could ever have been given.
"Do you think Samuel's still in the library?" Hermione asked and Draco shook his head.
"With no one to talk to? Honestly, I thought you had caught on Gr- Hermione…" Hermione gave him the quick thumbs up sign and he coughed loudly.
"Good. Maybe we can actually get some work done. I don't know about you but I feel suddenly enthused." She said and Draco shrugged.
"Could it be you're imagining the look on Weaselby's face when he sees you with me?" He asked and she considered it.
"That may just be it."
There was silence all the way to the library but it was the kind of silence where it would be wrong to break it. A silence of acceptance that had never before been felt between a Slytherin and a Gryffindor.
When they entered they discovered that Draco had been right once again. Samuel was nowhere to be seen and once again all of his stuff was scattered throughout his workspace, something that drove Draco insane.
Sitting down in their respective places, Draco threw Hermione a quick glance, which she returned. Something had definitely changed and for just a moment Draco felt the tightness in his stomach that was almost always present release and subside.
After a few minutes of focus Hermione broke the silence. "Do you think this curse was as popular then as it is now?" She asked and Draco looked up.
"Probably." He replied shortly.
"Do you think there were men like Voldemort around?" She added thoughtfully. Draco shook his head slowly. "No, seriously."
"Yes, I do. Men like Voldemort are always around and they always have people like death eaters to support them. It's a cycle that is inevitable for some and others have the resources to avoid it." Draco said while looking away
"I don't understand how it can be inevitable." She spoke with a hint of disgust in her voice and Draco gave her a smile that was real but weak.
"You wouldn't." He stated darkly.
Hermione suddenly reached across the table and grabbed Draco's left arm. Before he could react she had pushed his sleeve up to his elbow and inspected his forearm only to find it pale and untouched except for a series of small scars, a reminder of a painful past.
Draco knew what she had been looking for and pulled away angrily. "What the hell's your problem?" He exclaimed shaking his sleeve into its former, more comfortable and concealing position.
Hermione looked him in they eye, a look of pleasant surprise on her face. "I needed to see. I could stand going to the ball with a Slytherin, but not a death eater. " She said and Draco nodded, his anger had not yet dissipated and he was feeling a lot less than friendly towards the little Gryffindor prefect.
"Well, Miss Granger, I can guarantee to you that you will never see that mark on my arm." He said coldly and Hermione nodded nobly. Draco could tell that she was not in the least embarrassed about their short yet seemingly intimate contact, which made what he was feeling much worse for him.
"Let's hope not." She said bluntly and they both went back to work without saying another word.