Draco Malfoy had never been more furious with himself than he had been that morning. He'd grabbed her hand. Granted he hadn't actually realized what he'd been doing, not until she'd pointed it out, but still. The only thing that kept him slightly calm about the entire ordeal was the fact that Granger had to have noticed before she'd told him about it. He didn't know how long she'd known about it, but she hadn't said anything until she'd needed to leave. He didn't know why she'd kept quiet about it, but he had other things to think about.
The reason why he was pacing around the common room was that Granger had gone to talk to Weasley. He was a right foul git, in Draco's opinion, even though Weasley was a better person than he was. But Granger had gone with him willingly and she'd made him sit down. Honestly! She had some nerve to tell him to sit back down when he only wanted to make sure she was going to be okay. He wasn't entirely sure why that had bothered him so much, though he refused to think about it. Really, thinking about things never led him anywhere good.
And so he was left pacing, trying to figure out what he could possibly say to her that wouldn't lead to a fight. He couldn't believe that a fight was what he was worried about; he fought with Granger all the time so why should now be any different? He didn't know; he didn't want to know. To be completely honest, Draco was sure that- "If you keep pacing, you're going to burn a hole in the floor,"
He paused then, looking toward the door. Granger was standing there, though Draco hadn't noticed her come in. She looked like she was worried about something, probably the conversation that was supposed to follow, and Draco was worried about it too. He refused to upset her; it would only set them back and Draco was sick of that happening. "That's idiotic," he said finally.
She laughed quietly and shrugged. "You never know, it could happen,"
"Doubt it," he muttered, shaking his head and folding his arms across his chest. And then he asked the question he really wanted to know. "What did Weasley want?"
"To talk,"
"About?"
"Us,"
"That's still a think with you two?" he asked, wishing the words didn't anger him as much as they did.
"Ron wants it to be,"
"I see,"
Granger frowned at him then, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Please don't use that tone with me,"
"Excuse me?"
"Don't talk to me with that disgusted tone, Malfoy," she said angrily. "You have no right to be disgusted by my actions. All I did was talk to someone I hope to be friends with again someday. So don't you dare use that tone with me,"
"Granger-"
"I've had enough of people disapproving of my actions today and I won't let you do it too," She clenched her fists and her eyes narrowed even more. "Ron was going off on me for being friends with you. I explained my reasoning to him but I won't try to explain anything to you. You should know my reasons,"
He did; Granger had a loyalty problem that was incredibly annoying. On any other day he would have kept digging until he got the answer he wanted, but he really, for some reason, did not want to make her angry. "I know,"
"You-Oh," It became apparent then that Granger thought there was going to be a fight. And Draco was angry, furious really, and he wanted nothing more than to scream at her but that would get them nowhere. "So you aren't mad?"
"It shouldn't matter if I am or not,"
"I know that, but I prefer it when you're not,"
"I am mad, Granger," he said, ignoring her comment. "I don't like you talking to him because then I'm worried you're going to get back together and he'll be an ass again,"
"But-
"I don't like the thought, Granger. I don't know why I feel that way but I know that I do,"
Granger stared at him for a moment, her eyebrows raising. "Well," she said slowly, "I don't plan on starting up another relationship with him any time soon, so you don't have to worry about it,"
Draco nearly sighed in relief, but he was flustered enough by what he'd admitted to her that he managed to keep quiet. "Okay,"
He could tell that there was something she wanted to say, but he had a feeling her actual words weren't it. "I should go talk to Harry. If I don't explain what happened before Ron, he won't be happy with me,"
Before he could reply, she walked out of the common room. "Damn it," This time he picked up his textbook and threw it across the room. It didn't snap in half like Draco had wanted it to, but it fell to the floor with a loud clatter that didn't make him feel any better. He hadn't even gotten to say half of what was on his mind before Granger had decided to leave. He'd wanted her to stick around because he had something to ask about the essay they'd finished the previous night and honestly, though he wouldn't admit it aloud, he was starting to like having her around. Which was why Granger's stupid every other night arrangement was a pain in the ass; he'd gotten used to being with her every night, it was practically the only constant in his life and now she was taking that away from him too. It was shaping up to be a rather angry day, which never did work out well for him. No doubt he would wake up the next morning, a bloody Monday and he despised those, and he would be just as angry as he was now. He wasn't the best at letting things go.
Nearly six hours later Draco was still sitting in the common room, alone with a book in his lap as he tried to decide whether or not he actually wanted to go down to dinner. He wasn't that hungry to begin with and going down meant he'd actually have to see other people and he wasn't really in the mood to do that. Draco never was, though he had moments where he enjoyed company. Like that morning. With Granger. Holding her hand and-Damn it he was supposed to be trying to decide whether or not to go to dinner!
Draco decided rather quickly after that thought that he wasn't going. It wouldn't get him anything as he wasn't hungry enough to eat and if he did get hungry he could always go down to the kitchens. He didn't see himself getting hungry though; he had far too much on his mind to focus on anything else.
The door to the common room bursting open was the only thing that drew Draco away from his thoughts. Boot came in, breathing heavily with wide, wild eyes and for once it didn't look like he hated Draco's very existence. "Hospital wing," he gasped out, a horrified expression on his face.
For a second that Draco was surprised by, Granger entered his mind and he was worried that something had happened to her. "What's going on?" he asked instead of jumping to conclusions and rushing down like he was itching to.
"First year Slytherins-cursed-Now, Malfoy, let's go!"
He was out of his chair faster than he'd thought possible. Draco didn't care much for the people in his house or any house for that matter, but the fact that someone thought it a good idea to curse first years was horrible. It was probably just feelings being taken out on them from the previous years, or maybe they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Either way, Boot couldn't even say another phrase; Draco was out the door and storming down the stairs before he got the chance.
McGonagall and Pomfrey were talking in hushed tones in the corner of the room. Draco looked to see a huddled group of four young Slytherins that were sitting together, whispering and looking up nervously as they noticed that Draco was present. Abbott was busy rushing over to Boot to talk about the matter. Granger was the only one currently with the Slytherins; she was on her knees in front of them and listening as the one on the far left talked quietly.
He recognized the Slytherins almost immediately; it was easy to spot a kid of a Death Eater and two of the ones on the bed were. The other two had to just be friends with the Death Eater's children, but it seemed no one had really cared about that. At least, Draco realized, they looked like they were okay. He'd had horrible thoughts on the way down of little kids that were badly hurt because someone thought it would be a bit of fun-or worse, that the kids deserved it.
Draco hesitated, trying to figure out if it would be better to go interrogate McGonagall and Pomfrey about what happened or if he should go to Granger. Boot and Abbott were out of the question, as the only decent thing Boot had done that year was come get Draco when the first years were hurt. Granger won out in the debate in his head, and Draco sighed before making his way over to her. The Slytherin that was talking, a boy who's surname Draco didn't know, began to trail off as he knelt down next to Granger. "Oh good, you're here,"
"What's going on?" Draco asked quietly, eyeing the first years warily. They were looking at him the same way and Draco wanted to sigh again. There was a reason he didn't interact with younger students and this was it.
It looked like Granger was about to say something when the only girl in the group of Slytherins decided to speak up. She did not look pleased and she folded her arms across her chest; her eyes narrowed at Draco immediately. "Some fourth years thought it would be fun," she said angrily. "They wanted to curse these two numbskulls because of who their parents are so Daniel and I tried to stand up for them and they just threw spells at us too," It seemed as if the girl had lost the nerves she'd had when Draco had first walked in, because she was fully glaring at him now. "We didn't do anything wrong,"
Draco surprised himself again by saying, "I didn't think you had done anything,"
"You-But when Elizabeth called for help the other people said-" the boy to the girl's left began, looking surprised.
"Did she say it was your fault?" Draco asked, nodding to Granger who was staring at him in surprise.
"No. But she's only trying to make us feel better because it's her job," the girl, Elizabeth, said.
"Granger wouldn't do that. She, I don't know, cares about people and how they're feeling, and not because she has to,"
"So close to a compliment," Granger chimed in, rolling her eyes and knocking into his shoulder gently. "Honestly, it's appalling what happened. If you'd just tell me who did it-"
"No," the girl cut in again, looking at her friends and shaking her head. "It'll only make it worse. We just want to go back to the common room,"
"Give us a minute," Granger said, standing up and pulling Draco with her. She walked away from the Slytherins without looking back, though Draco found himself peering over his shoulder at the small group. "They won't tell any of us who did it,"
"I'm not surprised," Draco muttered, shrugging slightly. "What happened anyway?"
"It wasn't anything harmful," Granger explained quietly. "Just a bunch of silly hexes that upset them more than anything else. I don't think people can really hurt first years without being horrible people," Draco felt a twinge of guilt in his chest at the words, after all hadn't he hurt first years when Hogwarts was run by Death Eaters? But he wouldn't think about that now, there were more important things. "I just wish they would tell me who did it, or at least what house they're in. The kids could be punished then. And they deserved it, attacking four defenseless Slytherins like that," She sighed heavily and shook her head, which Draco took as his sign to speak.
"Granger it will only make matters worse if they tell who it was. Two of those kids have Death Eater parents; people are taking frustrations out on them because of that. The other two stood up for them, they got the same. It would happen with anyone even close to the Death Eaters,"
"But no one's come after me," she stated quietly, obviously not really thinking about her words. At first all of the color drained from Draco's face, though a few seconds later his cheeks were burning with heat. Granger looked at him then, her eyes wide. "I didn't mean that,"
"It's true, isn't it? You got close to me and no one's coming after you. It's because you're a hero, Granger, that's why. Everyone looks up to you, which I believe I've stated before,"
"But I-"
"I'm going to ask McGonagall if I can take them back to the common room,"
"Draco-" He was shaken by the use of his name; there were really only two people in the word who used it now: Granger and his mother. "-come with you, okay? We'll walk down together and then we can talk about what we're supposed to do about this,"
"I can take them alone,"
"Well-"
"I don't need a supervisor, Granger," he said icily, turning on his heel to walk toward McGonagall. He didn't feel the least bit guilty about interrupting her conversation with Pomfrey about having given the first years Calming Draughts after they'd come in hysterics, as he was sure that was obvious.
Do I have permission to take them back to the common room?" he asked, a bored tone to his voice that Draco knew sounded forced.
"Of course, Mr. Malfoy," McGonagall said, frowning at the Slytherins. "If they won't talk tonight they should at least get some comfortable sleep, and the other Slytherins will take care of them. Come to my office afterwards; we'll be having an emergency meeting to try and get to the bottom of this. And hopefully find a solution,"
Draco nodded stiffly as an answer before walking back to the first years. They stared at him, confused, and he nodded toward the door. "Let's go,"
"Where?"
"Back to the common room," he said, frowning at them and folding his arms across his chest. "You'll be safe there," he added as an afterthought, watching a bit of relief form on the girl's face. She looked at her friends before standing up. They each grabbed a hand of one of their friends and set a determined look on their faces. Draco almost rolled his eyes; he'd probably acted similar at some point in his life. "Let's go," he said again, leading them out of the hospital wing and toward the dungeons. They got to the Slytherin common room without incident and Draco walked to McGonagall's office once they were safely in the room. He walked into a rather large shouting matching among Boot, Abbott, and Granger.
He sighed immediately; it was going to be a long night.