~ Draco and Hermione ~
"The world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters.
We've all got both light and dark inside us.
What matters is the part we choose to act on.
That's who we really are."
Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters and settings belong to J.K Rowling.
Enjoy!
Chapter 36
The first day of classes flew by, and Hermione found herself back in the common room early with an excuse to be studying. She quickly went to the back of the room and sat at a table, got out her Transfiguration book, and then got out the note Draco had slipped her. After making sure the coast was clear, she opened it up and began to read:
We have a deal. I am not allowed to be mean to you, in public. I'll tell the others it's because McGonagall is watching me and I have conditions from my trial, since I'm an ex-Death Eater or something. Write a reply and put it under the couch next to the golden clock. PS: the shove doesn't count, because it's technically not motivated by malice because I did it to give you the note, see how these things are open to interpretation?
Hermione rolled her eyes at his final statement and how arrogantly intelligent he was trying to be, because he knew how it would annoy her. When she'd finished reading the note, she quickly scrunched it up and put it back into her pocket, with a amused scoff. She immediately began writing her response.
Okay fine, but shoving is only allowed if you're trying to pass me a note, otherwise, it's mean. And why did you underline, 'in public'? Being mean to me in private with the Slytherin's is no better than doing it to my face, you know. Make sure you make this lie with McGonagall believable, otherwise it could cause more harm than good if she finds out. I can't believe I'm encouraging you to lie, see how bad of an influence you are? PS: I owe you a shove.
When she'd finished writing it, she got up and walked over to the golden clock pretending to read the time, and slipped the paper underneath the couch beside it like he'd instructed. There were still hardly anyone in the common room, and nobody had noticed what she did. Either way, she would be sitting near the couch studying while she waited to make sure that he was the one who found it and no one else. The minutes ticked by as she continued reading her Transfiguration textbook, which was actually from her first year. Her plan was to re-read all of the textbooks she'd received from first, second and third years so that she could revise all of the content, before she taught the younger classes. And she'd read her seventh year Advanced Transfiguration as well, so she could get Outstanding and pass any Ministry exams they had planned for her later on. She had complete confidence in becoming a professor now, and so did Neville. He was the one who gave her the idea to read their older textbooks at breakfast. He was still reading 'One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi' when he walked into the common room.
"Nearly finished?" asked Hermione casually.
"Nope, I think it's going to take a while. I can't read as fast as you, and this book is huge," admitted Neville gloomily as he held it up. It was indeed a gigantic book.
"You'll get there. Have you seen Harry and Ron?" asked Hermione next, since they said they'd arrive shortly after her.
"Yeah, they were getting into an argument with the Slytherin's. Parkinson called Ron stupid for not getting into Potions, you know how it goes," said Neville with a smile as he sat down at the fire. Hermione sighed, and a second later the common room door opened again and in came the party.
"Potter only got into Potions because he is The Boy Who Lived and he can have whatever he wants! You're still dumber than Goyle!" said Pansy as she entered first.
"I got an Outstanding in our sixth year," Harry defended himself.
"So did I, in sixth and seventh, because I was here last year."
"That's only because Snape favours Slytherin's. And while you were here, I was risking my life fighting Voldemort, so don't pull that shit with me," said Harry heatedly.
"Slughorn was teaching in our sixth and seventh years you idiot, and he favoured you, not us! And I still managed an Outstanding, because Potions runs in my blood!" spat Pansy, though she flinched when he said Voldemort's name and conveniently ignored what he'd said. Harry thought about saying that it also ran in his blood, thanks to Lily being amazing at Potions, but this was neither the time nor place to talk about his mother.
"So what, you learnt more when we were little because half the time I was in fights or detention with Snape. Congratulations," said Harry.
"Well that's your own fault, isn't it? You don't see me fighting with McGonagall," said Pansy as if she never did anything wrong.
"You were crying over your room just this morning, and McGonagall didn't do anything! Imagine if that was me complaining to Snape!"
"You were complaining to Snape!" Pansy scoffed.
"Can you just stop fighting or at least do it somewhere else?" asked Hermione in frustration.
"Why don't you go read your books somewhere else, mudblood," Pansy spat.
"I was here first. And that's another twenty points from Slytherin," Hermione responded, trying to sound indifferent. She'd decided taking twenty points every time the word mudblood was used towards the Head Girl was fair, and it at least made her feel good.
"Still don't care about the points, and you're outnumbered."
"No she's not, and if you call her a mudblood one more time I'll hex you and anyone else who uses the word," said Harry, pulling his wand out in preparation.
"Would you really hex me for petty name-calling, Potter?" asked Pansy, suddenly sounding innocent. Harry hesitated for a split second, unsure why she was acting differently, but he kept his wand up regardless.
"I'd hex anyone for using that word towards my best friend, yes. Try me, Parkinson," he said shortly. At that, Pansy slipped past him with a coy smile, and jumped onto one of the couches near the fire and beside Neville, who frowned at her as he tried to concentrate on his book. Hermione glared at Pansy, frustrated that the Slytherin girl could time and time again be insulting yet get away with it. Clearly taking points didn't mean anything to her. Draco was definitely right, all Slytherin's knew how to act, lie and manipulate those around them. She didn't like it one bit.
"You should stop drawing your wand unless you're prepared to use it, Potter," said Draco, as he and the other Slytherin's entered the common room.
"Then give me a reason to use it, Malfoy," said Harry, his voice threatening.
"I don't think a will," replied Draco with a smirk.
"Off the couch, Gryffindor has the fire tonight," said Ron as he approached Pansy.
"It's not night time yet, classes only just ended. I'm resting."
"Well it feels like night down in these bloody dungeons, and I'm cold, so get up!" said Ron firmly.
"Now you know how it feels to live in the dungeons, imagine doing it for your eighth year in a row!" screeched Pansy, as she got up and stomped over to where Draco, Blaise and the others were sitting. As the Gryffindor's settled in around the fire and talked, Hermione moved over to them too. When she walked past Draco, she nodded towards the golden clock a tiny bit, and he seemed to understand. Minutes later and a whole bunch of Hufflepuff's arrived, and then some Ravenclaw's returned from the library, and the entire eighth year was back in the common room once again. Draco moved his Slytherin group to the golden clock at the back so that they were away from everyone else, and so that he could grab Hermione's reply note before he went to bed. Despite the argument on the way in, this night was much calmer than the night before. Perhaps that was only because they were separated from the Slytherin's and they'd made a system for who gets the fireplace, but separation was better than fighting.
The next morning was similar to the first. Hermione woke up in her sleeping quarters and went to the Great Hall with her books, among the other few people who arrived that early: some Ravenclaw's with Padma Patil who studied obsessively, Crabbe and Goyle who ate obsessively, occasionally Neville if he was in the mood for reading Herbology, and students from younger years. Hufflepuff's rarely got up early, and Hermione supposed that was because of how comfortable and warm their sleeping quarters were. She'd made a personal note to see what all the other sleeping quarters and House common rooms looked like at least by the end of the year. When she sat down and got her book out at the Gryffindor table, she noticed that Crabbe and Goyle were glaring at her. At first she tried to figure out why, having not been at Hogwarts for so long, and then she remembered bitterly. Crabbe and Goyle always glared at mudbloods. In fact, the two Slytherin giants glared at everyone. Regardless, their glares still bothered her and she blocked their faces out with her textbook as she began reading. A few minutes later and she heard footsteps coming from behind her, and turned around to see Lupin.
"You're up early," he said cheerfully as he sat down at the table.
"So are you. You look tired," said Hermione in surprise. The black bags under his eyes were darker then usual, and he appeared drained.
"Oh! Sorry, you must have..."
"It's fine, last night was a full moon," Lupin explained briefly, waving his hand as though it didn't matter. She supposed that it didn't anymore, since almost all of the older students knew that he was a werewolf now. Everyone knew that's why he left in their third year, and the Prophet had published lots of stories about him.
"Is that what you and Snape were talking about after the Start of Term feast?" asked Hermione.
"Yes, he's promised to supply me with Wolfsbane potions. I'm also working on... mending old grudges, but he's a difficult person," said Lupin with a tired smile.
"I think they all are," said Hermione with a sigh, as she looked pointedly at Crabbe and Goyle.
"Ah, your combined common room. How's that working out?" continued Lupin.
"Not good. You know Harry and Ron, now they're all grown up and famous, they want revenge on all the Slytherin's that have wronged them," said Hermione in annoyance.
"While it's not right, it's understandable that they feel that way. You don't want revenge?" asked Lupin.
"I don't want conflict," answered Hermione carefully.
"Harry and Ron aren't the only ones who want revenge, you know. Severus still hasn't gotten over his dislike for James and Sirius since Hogwarts. Think of all the Slytherin's whose parents are rotting in Azkaban cells, or being alienated by the Daily Prophet now," said Lupin, making it clear that he'd been observing the news. Lupin must know a thing or two about alienation, after being shunned by most of the wizarding community for being a werewolf.
"Now that Voldemort is dead, don't you think people should move on though?" insisted Hermione. Lupin looked at her for a few seconds thoughtfully.
"Want to know what I think?" he asked, and Hermione nodded curiously.
"I think the fight between the Founders set off a chain of events. In case you weren't aware, Slytherin has often been the weakest house throughout the centuries."
"But that's absurd, they bully everyone!" Hermione disagreed, remembering all the older Slytherin's who walked the corridors shoving people out of their way. In her experience, Slytherin's were people you don't mess with unless you're old enough to defend yourself. Unfortunately for Hermione, the Hogwarts history textbooks rarely discussed which house has power in the schoolyard though, the textbooks only recounted important historical events.
"No Hermione, not in the past. The other three houses always picked on Slytherin in my time, and in previous generations. Why do you think Severus hates me, Harry's father and Sirius so much? Why do you think the Sorting Hat stressed about the Houses uniting, and that dividing you into four could be disastrous, or even the source of the problem? Oh, know the perils, read the signs, the warning history shows," Lupin quoted a part of the Sorting Hat's song, and Hermione's memory was triggered. She forgot to talk to Harry about the song after the feast, but now she remembered it.
"I'm... not exactly following," said Hermione. In reality she just wanted to know more of what Lupin thought.
"Well look at Hogwarts' history. Slytherin fought the other Founders and left. Slytherin students were always picked on and excluded by the other Houses because in a way, they're the most different. Every few hundred years you'll find a dark wizard, from Slytherin, seeking revenge on everyone who has wronged them and power over the wizarding world, often involving pureblood beliefs," Lupin began to explain.
"Like the Black family," suggested Hermione.
"Yes, like the Black family, Sirius' parents were the worst. After that dark wizard is defeated, all of Slytherin are stereotyped to be evil and the cause of the dark wizard. Then the cycle of discrimination, distrust and hate towards Slytherin begins again, eventually leading to the same consequences. Like I said with Severus, James and Sirius bullied him for years you know. I tried not to be apart of it, and that's why Severus dislikes me somewhat less. Other Slytherin's like Lucius Malfoy stuck up for him, and he started hanging out with their little Death Eater group at school. Of course, our latest dark wizard from Slytherin was Voldemort, and he sparked one of the biggest wars in wizarding history. His biggest supporters were not only pureblood fanatics, but Slytherin students recruited in Hogwarts, after years of schoolyard rivalry with other houses. Voldemort's influence is the only reason Slytherin seemed powerful to you. Without Voldemort, Slytherin is back to being the weakest House with the least support," finished Lupin.
"So now that Voldemort has come and gone, people are going to suspect another one like him from Slytherin?" Hermione mused.
"Yes, and it's likely to happen too, isn't it? The Slytherin house has an even worse reputation now because of him, some students' parents are in Azkaban, and to top it all off, the students will be turned on by the rest of the school even more for what's happened. Look at Lucius Malfoy, when I was at Hogwarts he was much older than us, and he often helped Snape out. He hated James too, and he hated Sirius even more, because Sirius was part of the Black family, but he ended up in Gryffindor. Lucius leaves school, teaches his son that Gryffindor's are bad people, teaches him all the pureblood beliefs... years later, you have a generation of Slytherin students who have been taught the wrong things by their parents."
"How do you know all of this?" asked Hermione, after listening intently to what he was saying.
"It was Dumbledore who told me, years ago when we were in the Order. They were just ideas, Dumbledore had plenty of wild ideas on everything, but it turns out that he's never been wrong when it comes to Hogwarts. And besides, coming back to Hogwarts brings me back to my childhood, to how badly everyone treated Severus and his friends," said Lupin gloomily.
"Well at the rate we're going, Ron's kids will hate Slytherin's before they even get to Hogwarts," said Hermione bitterly as she began putting some breakfast on her plate.
"Exactly. The other Slytherin's in your year will teach their kids the same thing. It's Hogwarts tradition, it's been happening throughout history since the Founders split. Know the perils, read the signs, the warning history shows. Dumbledore always said it was a smart hat," said Lupin thoughtfully.
"After the song, I knew that it meant something more, but I didn't have time to think about it. You really are the best Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, Remus," said Hermione with a smile. As she finished saying this, they heard footsteps coming from behind them and turned around to see Snape walking into the Great Hall.
"Enjoying your breakfast at the students' table?" Snape mocked as he neared them.
"Good morning to you too, Severus," Lupin replied.
"How did the potion go last night? I hope you weren't in too much pain?" continued Snape. Hermione saw a brief flicker of anger in Lupin's eyes before he responded.
"If you don't want to make the potions, Severus, then don't," said Lupin firmly.
"I'll make them," Snape said in resignation, as he walked past them towards the staff table.
"Like I said, he's difficult," continued Lupin.
"He doesn't even try to be nice, though. He's always been like that," said Hermione, as she glared at the black billowing cloak moving away from them. How ignorant could you be to ask a werewolf how much pain they were in the night before, next to one of his students? It was said on purpose just to embarrass Lupin. A typical, snide Slytherin move.
"Well, Gryffindor's weren't nice to him when he was your age either," said Lupin.
"What goes around comes around... but that doesn't excuse his behaviour now. Oh, it's a muggle saying," explained Hermione, as she realised that Lupin might never have heard 'what goes around comes around' before.
"A good one too. Because by the looks of things, your Slytherin bullies are about to be bullied, just like things were back when I was at school," said Lupin.
"I don't want it to be like that, though. It's not fair, you can't fight bullying with more bullying. I've been trying to tell Harry and Ron but they won't listen," said Hermione quickly, hoping that she could get some advice from Lupin, since he was on the same page as her.
"Well that's the way things are, uniting Gryffindor and Slytherin would be like making lions and serpents be friends, it won't happen overnight, if ever. Ah, here comes Harry now," said Lupin with a smile, as Harry walked towards them with Neville. But Hermione paid no attention to anything else, as what Lupin just said intrigued her. Making the Houses unite was like, 'making lions and serpents be friends, it won't happen overnight'. Well, she and Draco were friends, so if this pair of lion and serpent could manage friendship, surely the rest could, Hermione thought to herself. She thought about how their relationship had built ever since he'd given her the apple in the cellar, months ago. She wondered whether Gryffindor's and Slytherin's would be more open to unity if they saw that it was possible for people like her and Draco to be together...
"Rough morning?" greeted Lupin as Harry sat down opposite them. He looked rather like Lupin, except he wasn't tired, he was annoyed.
"It's just Parkinson, she's taken the fireplace and won't move," said Harry with a sigh.
"She's allowed to," said Hermione with a shrug.
"It's not Slytherin's turn."
"That only counts for night time, anyone can sit by the fireplace in the morning," said Hermione diplomatically.
"No, not anyone, because the moment a Slytherin sits there, nobody else will. I wanted to sit there to do the Transfiguration homework, and she..."
"Was there first," finished Hermione.
"Forget it, Hermione. I shouldn't have brought it up, you always side with them now anyway," said Harry, without bothering to keep the anger out of his voice. There was an unspoken message hidden there, and she guessed that he was referring to Draco. She was reminded that he was the only one who'd seen them hug and get close at The Burrow.
"I'm not siding with anyone, I just want to make things fair," said Hermione defensively.
"She called you a mudblood last night, she called Ron's family poor this morning, and then she took the fireplace and refused to move. That's not fair. She's just trying to piss us off and she does it on purpose," argued Harry, as he loaded his plate with food.
"He's got a point Hermione," said Neville in agreement. Hermione sighed and turned to Lupin to see what he thought. He looked bewildered at how the combined common room was working out.
"Well don't look at me, I know how to get rid of a boggarts and trolls, not seventeen year old Slytherin girls," said Lupin jokingly.
"What are we doing for our first lesson, Remus?" asked Harry to change the subject. Their first Defence Against the Dark Arts and Potions lessons for the year were that day, and both classes were with Slytherin. There would be plenty more interaction to come, and Hermione wasn't exactly looking forward to it. Although she was expecting a reply from Draco, assuming that he'd read her note the night before.
Thank you for reading! If you liked this chapter, please feel free to review and add to alerts/favourites! :)
Check out my other stories!
Draco and Hermione - s/5661111/1/Draco-and-Hermione
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The Time-Turner Division - s/12337018/1/The-Time-Turner-Division