AN: For the:

A Variety of Prompts challenge: Occasion - Graduation.

Drabble a day challenge.

Divergent competition: Erudite 2 - "Intelligence is a gift, not a right"

37. Truth

Hermione couldn't believe it; she'd got straight O's on her NEWTs and come top of the year! She couldn't help but feel smug as she noticed some of the Ravenclaws' expressions of disappointment, especially when she heard Mandy Brocklehurst complaining about only getting an E in Transfiguration.

Looking at the list detailing where everyone in the year had come, she was surprised to see that Malfoy had come second; she had only beaten him by two points. Spinning around to go and find Harry and Ron she bumped into someone tall and strong and was in the middle of apologising before she realised that it was Malfoy himself.

"Watch it!" Malfoys voice came, before he realised who had bumped into him, "Oh, it's you. Going to gloat to Potter and Weasel how you beat me out to first place are you?" he sneered, a hint of jealousy evident in his voice.

"Actually, I was going to congratulate them on how well they'd done considering what happened last year!" she replied in a huff. She was too busy trying to get past him that she didn't notice his face fall and the colour start to drain from his face.

"Granger…" Malfoy choked out in a voice that was very unlike him.

"What it is?" Hermione asked, getting impatient. She really did want to go and congratulate her friends.

"I… I just wanted to apologise for everything. The truth is I was just jealous that you were better than me. How could you, a mudblood, be better than a pureblood like me?" Malfoy said in a rush, some colour coming back to his face in embarrassment.

"Oh, Mal…"

"Don't! Don't think this makes us friends or anything; I still hate all of you. I just thought you deserved the truth since you'd managed to beat me to the top spot!" he spat at her before marching off with a last warning at her not to mention it.

Hermione found herself standing there for far longer than she had intended, she was only drawn out of her thoughts by Harry and Ron coming over to find her.

"What did that git want now?" Harry asked, obviously he'd spotted the exchange that had gone on between herself and Malfoy.

"Oh nothing, he just wanted to make it clear that just because I beat him in the exams in no way was I better than him, and I let him know that intelligence is a gift, not a right of blood," Hermione told her friends, "come on, let's go celebrate with some butterbeer!"

And with that, Hermione pushed the thoughts of her conversation out of her head. Although, she may have to make an effort to make sure she 'accidentally' bumped into him outside of Hogwarts.

AN: Draco may be a little ooc here, but I just couldn't find another way around getting him to apologise.