Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Chapter 4

Draco felt his stomach dance in excitement as he led Granger to the vanishing cabinet deep in the Room of Hidden Things. It had worked out after all! His plan to fool the brightest witch of their age into helping him complete his task. All it had taken was for him to be broken down and damaged for her to come running to his side. He noted that piece of information for future use. Hermione Granger seemed to have a soft spot for the underdogs. It made sense as to why she had befriended Potter and Weasley. They both had their own little sob stories and he was sure Granger felt she had to take care of them at times as well. It was probably in her nature.

Any other decent bloke might feel bad about using the princess of the light side to plan and execute her leader's assasination, however Draco wasn't a particularly decent bloke. He didn't give a damn about anyone other than himself and his mother. Why should he? When he had endured beating after beating at the hands of his father growing up, who gave a damn about him? No one but his mother had picked up the damaged pieces of Draco Malfoy following one of Lucius' outbursts and for that Draco did not feel he owed anyone his sympathy. Sure Granger had proven to be different from the rest… he knew this based off of the way she had held him as he had cried his worries out that fateful night in the bathroom but he could not afford to think about how great of a person Granger was. Right now he had a deadly task to complete and deceiving Hermione Granger was not something he could dwell on.

"Here." he spoke when they finally reached the dusty cabinet.

Draco reached out and grasped the fabric he had thrown over the cabinet whenever he left, pulling it off. It was an old, dusty cabinet that looked more like a piece of junk than something of any value. He turned to face the witch next to me, trying to decipher her reaction to the object. He watched as she circled the cabinet, raising a hand and running it along the sides as she walked.

"It's a vanishing cabinet." she stated after a minute of silence. "Witches and wizards used these during the first war to anonymously escape a Death Eater attack if needed." she finished, almost as if she were speaking to herself. Draco had to admit, he was impressed with her knowledge. Not many people would be able to identify the object so quickly.

"Correct." he nodded, eyes glued to her. Did she suspect anything? "Ten points to Gryffindor," he added.

"These are extremely rare nowadays," she pointed out, turning to him. "How did you come across one?"

"Like I said, it's a family heirloom. I'm a Malfoy, rare objects aren't so rare to us." he said, chin raising the slightest bit in a superior manner.

She scoffed, dropping her hand from the cabinet. "Humble." she muttered. "So, it's broken. What have you tried so far? Do you know where it's sister is?"

"I've tried about every mending charm you can think of. Nothing has worked." he said, lip curling into a scowl as he recalled the sleepless nights he had spent in this very spot attempting to repair the cabinet. "Yes. It's sister is being kept at the Manor where our other heirlooms are. The cabinets are worth more as pairs and with one half of the pair broken, you can see how it might not be worth much at the moment. I'm to fix it by the end of the year. Can you help?" he asked, brow raised. He hoped she was buying his explanation. He had spent an entire week coming up with his cover story and perfecting it before he confronted Granger for help.

"Hm…" she hummed, brow furrowed in concentration as she inspected the cabinet, opening the door and peering her head in. "Perhaps… I'll need to do some research and we'll need to do a lot of practicing before I perform any hardcore mending charms. We don't want to make it worse with a faulty spell." she explained, not bothering to spare him a glance as she conjured up a piece of parchment and quill and began scribbling some notes while she inspected the cabinet.

Draco watched her in slight amusement as he nodded. "Sounds like a plan," he muttered, feeling the slightest bit of weight lift from his chest. The task seemed much more doable with someone else at his side. They stood in silence as Hermione's hands furiously scribbled down an entire parchment of notes and sketches. She really was an intelligent witch. He didn't know anyone else who he was certain could help him. As she wrote note after note, Draco took the opportunity to analyze her from their unusually close proximity. She had a heart shaped face with a light dusting of freckles across her small nose. Her dark eyebrows seemed to frame her pretty face perfectly. Her eyes… those caramel fucking eyes lined with long, dark lashes held a certain fire in them that Draco did not see in other witches at Hogwarts. He felt drawn to them. They were the complete opposite of his own cool, icy grey eyes. Something about that intrigued him. Her hair was tied up in a messy knot at the top of her head today and Draco wanted nothing more than to rip the hair tie holding her wild chocolate curls from her head and watch her tresses flow freely down her back. His gaze lowered to her full lips and he felt something in his lower stomach lurch when he noticed her lower lip was caught between her teeth as she nibbled on it in concentration while she wrote. He shook his head, banishing any further thoughts regarding her appearance from his mind when she looked up from him and began folding her parchment.

"Okay… I've got my notes here. I'll do some research and we can meet back here in a few days to discuss some of my ideas." she stated, pocketing her piece of parchment. "We should work out a schedule, a day or two of the week when we can meet up." she suggested, and Draco noticed her cheeks colour slightly as she spoke.

He nodded in agreement. "I'm pretty much always here." he admitted. "When do you want to meet?"

"How about Tuesday and Friday nights?" she suggested. "I can probably say I have prefect rounds on those nights."

"That works for me." he agreed, surprised at the civility of their conversation. This was an unusual interaction between the pair.

"Great… um I'll see you then." she said slightly awkwardly as she glanced back the way they had come from. She wasn't getting cold feet was she? Was she planning on standing him up on Saturday? He began to panic internally.

"How about those questions?" he asked quickly before she had a chance to depart. "21 questions, right? Let's start now." he said, throwing the sheet back over the cabinet. The more he allowed her in, the more she might trust him. He needed her to trust him in order for her to help him fix the cabinet without any suspicions on her end.

"Right now?" she asked, staring at him in surprise as she looked around the messy room. "This isn't exactly the place for-"

"We're in the Room of Requirement, Granger," he rolled his eyes at her as he began to head for the room's exit. "We can ask for a room that better reaches your interrogation standards." he drawled as he walked, not looking back to see if she was following him.

She stared at his back in shock before she huffed and jogged to follow him out of the room.

Hermione led Malfoy into the new setting of the Room of Requirement. She had chosen a small, cozy room that heavily resembled her living room back home. It had a couch, two chairs, a large fuzzy rug in the center and a burning fireplace to tie it all together. The walls were lined with bookshelves filled with a large variety of books and Hermione felt herself feel a wave of homesickness wash over her as she looked around the room. She hadn't realized how long she had spent just standing there, admiring the cozy room until Malfoy cleared his throat rather rudely. She turned to him in slight surprise, having forgotten he was there.

"Sorry," she muttered, settling into one of the chairs by the fireplace. She pulled her legs up, curling into herself as she marvelled in the warmth of the fire.

She felt herself smile in amusement as she watched Malfoy looked around the room, a slight look of distaste on his face. The room was probably the size of his closet, the spoiled brat.

"This is what you chose?" he questioned, staring at her from where he stood.

"Yes." she answered, slightly defensive. "It feels like home. I like it." she said, pointing to the chair opposite her. "You can sit, you know."

He slowly moved towards the chair, settling into it and looking extremely out of place. "Interesting choice," he said, stretching his long legs out in front of him and crossing them at the ankles.

"So…" she began, unsure of where to start with her questions. Talking to Malfoy wasn't like talking to a friend. She knew he had a wall up which he did not allow anyone to pass. She knew he came from a drastically different upbringing than her own or anyone else she knew. She knew he was an egotistical, prejudice, arrogant bully but a part of her felt drawn to this unfamiliar territory he represented. "What's your room like back at home?" she asked, deciding that was a good question to start with.

Draco stared at her, clearly unimpressed with her choice of question. "It's much larger than this broom closet." he said, smirking as he gestured around the room. Upon seeing her scowl, he rolled his eyes. "Fine. It's about ten times the size of this room. It's decorated in black and green. I've got a king sized bed in the center, a desk, a sitting area, some book shelves, some family heirlooms here and there, and an attached closet and bathroom." he explained. "It's cleaned nearly everyday by the elves, my laundry is done for me before I even wake up and my bed is made for me by the time I've finished brushing my teeth. A family of five could probably live comfortably in my bedroom." he finished, not an ounce of emotion in his voice as he spoke.

Hermione frowned slightly. Her bedroom at home was a simple suburban home's bedroom. It was a bit smaller than the room they sat in, it had a double bed, a desk and a nightstand in it with plenty of pictures littered around the room. It sounded like a joke compared to Malfoys.

"Only the best for a Malfoy, I suppose?" she said, unsure of how to react. It irritated her a bit that good, honest families like Ron's were shacked up in the Burrow barely making ends meet while families like the Malfoys were living so lavishly while associating themselves with the dark side. It wasn't fair.

He shrugged at her comment, not bothering with a reply. She cleared her throat. "What was your childhood like?" she asked. She wondered how it might have been growing up with everything you would ever want at the tips of your fingers.

A muscle in his jaw twitched and he shot her a dirty look. "None of your fucking business, Granger," he spat, and Hermione was surprised at his sudden hostility.

"We agreed that you would answer any of my questions! It was a part of our deal! You can't do that!" she exclaimed, feeling slightly childish at her words.

"New deal." he said, leaning forward in his chair, elbows propped on his knees. "When I feel one of your little questions are a bit too invasive, I get to ask a question of my own." he suggested.

Hermione scoffed, sitting forward in her own chair. "What? No! That wasn't what we agreed on! I help you with your cabinet and you answer my questions!"

"Come on, Granger. I feel like I'm answering to the Wizengamot here." he sneered, pressing harder for his new rules. "At least make this a bit enjoyable for me too. Unless..." he began. Lips curling up into a smirk. "You're worried I might ask you something you're too afraid to answer?"

Her face flushed in anger and slight embarrassment at his words. "You know what? Fine. But you answer first. What was your childhood like?" she repeated her earlier question, eyes locked on his own. She watched as his face grew irritated once more and he held her gaze for a minute, daring her to look away. She didn't. She held her ground stubbornly, silently demanding that he answer.

"It was just fucking peachy." he said after a minute of silence. "It was filled with all the riches in the magical world. What more could I have asked for?" he said emotionlessly, though Hermione immediately saw through his lie.

"You agreed to be honest here, Malfoy." she began, growing irritated. "I agreed to your stupid new rules, the least you can do is stick to your word now." she frowned. When he didn't respond she huffed, getting up from her seat. "This was a bad idea. Clearly we can't work together Malfoy. I'm sorry I came." she picked up her wand from the chair and walked past him, heading for the exit.

"It was a fucking nightmare." she heard a low voice behind her. "My childhood was filled with lessons from my father on the dirtiness of muggles and Mudbloods. It was filled with learning advanced magic at grade levels much beyond my own. Anytime I couldn't do something -a spell, a wrong answer to a question, I was punished. If I questioned my teachings, I was punished. If I behaved in any way outside of traditional pureblood standards, I was punished. If I held a fork and knife wrong at dinner, I was punished. If I wore my pyjamas past 7:00am, I was punished."

Hermione felt her heart wrench at his words as she slowly turned to face him. Punished? She watched as he stood from the chair and took a few steps her way. "Every semester when I came home from school with second to best grades, I was punished." he stood in front of her and Hermione felt slightly afraid at the resentment in his gaze. "Anytime I was beaten in class by a filthy, undeserving little Mudblood girl who was friends with the great Harry Potter, I was punished. The first time I came home for the holidays, I wasn't fed for a week." he hissed, taking another step to her until they were nearly chest to chest. "The second time my fingers were all broken and then repaired a few hours later to ensure I really felt it. The third time I was a practice dummy for father and his mates during one of their drinking sessions. Any spell was fairplay. The fourth time was the Cruciatus curse." he laughed humourlessly. "That one was fun. The fifth-".

Hermione raised her hands to her ears, shaking her head. "Stop!" she insisted, unable to bear hearing the outrageous punishments he had received due to her academic success. She had no idea.

"Didn't you want the truth, Granger?" he asked, his eyes filled with rage. "You want to know how the Cruciatus curse feels?" he reached up to pull her hands away from her ears before tilting his head down until his lips were brushing against the lobe of her ear. "It feels like your skin is being peeled from your body with a knife. It feels like every bone in your body is being broken at once. It feels like you're burning up from the inside out. It hurts so bad that as soon as you're under the curse, you're wishing to die. Because death would be better than that sort of pain." he whispered in her ear.

She let out a whimper and shook her head, taking a step back. "Stop. I don't want to hear this anymore." she murmured, unable to meet his eye. Although she knew her position at the top of their class was based on hard earned work, she couldn't help but feel guilty. She had been the reason that a child had been abused so badly.

It's not your fault, Hermione. she told herself, squeezing her eyes shut.

"You don't want to hear it now?" she heard him say, his voice tight. "Imagine living it." he muttered under his breath, and Hermione snapped her eyes open, watching him move back to his seat by the fire.

She stood there, watching him stare into the fire in silence for a few minutes, mind racing as his words replayed over and over in her head. She imagined an 11 year old boy coming home for Christmas only to be starved for a week. She imagined a 12 year old boy having all of his fingers broken by his father. She imagined a 13 old boy laying broken in the center of a large drawing room while a group of grown men shot a variety of nasty spells at his body. She felt her eyes water as she imagined a 14 year old boy writhing under the Cruciatus curse. She felt like a layer of Malfoy had been peeled back and she now understood him much better. The constant need to run off to his father growing up… it no longer looked like a spoiled brat running to his father to fight his battles. It now looked like a scared little boy who was seeking validation from his abusive father.

"I'm sorry." she said quietly, taking a few steps until she stood in front of him. He stared up at her from his seat in silence. "I'm sorry that my success caused you all of that pain. I'm sorry for judging you… I'm sorry you went through that. You didn't deserve it." she said, taking another step forward until she stood in between his spread legs. "You still don't deserve it."

He didn't respond, though she noticed his indifferent mask flicker. He finally broke eye contact and turned his head away from her, staring into the fire once more. "Malfoy…" she trailed, not wanting him to close himself off again. Now that she had heard all of this she felt all the more drawn to him. Something in her wanted to fix the broken and battered boy in front of her. He ignored her.

Hermione reached her hands out, ignoring the way they shook as she cupped his cool face in her small, warm hands. She gently turned his head until he was facing her once more. "You didn't deserve what happened to you, okay?" she repeated, clutching his face in her fingers. She noticed the shock in his face and she felt pleased that he hadn't wretched his head from her hands.

"You were just a boy… you did your best. You didn't deserve to be punished for those things. You're smart. You're clever. You're enough." she insisted. Before she realized what she was doing, Hermione felt herself lean down and press her lips to his own.

She clutched his face tightly, afraid he might pull away, or curse her, or both. She poured all of her guilt, her affection and her comfort into the kiss, gently kissing his lips until they began to move under her own. Physical touch was always a way Hermione knew to comfort others, however she had never kissed someone in an attempt to comfort them like this.

She gasped against his mouth as he reached out and gripped her hips, pulling her forward and into his lap in the chair. His hands slid down to the sides of either of her thighs and he pulled on them until they were on either side of him, straddling his hips. He kissed her deeply, passionately, in a way that Hermione had never been kissed before. She felt fireworks dance behind her closed lids as his tongue snaked out to stroke her bottom lip and Hermione whimpered into him, granting him access to her mouth.

His hands slid up her thighs, moving to cup her bum as he pressed her into his core, tongue probing around her mouth. She raised her hands, tangling them in his platinum hair and she pulled on the strands slightly when he nibbled on her bottom lip. Using his grip on her bum, Draco pulled her hips into him and Hermione felt something hard under her. She unconsciously flushed at the feeling, shyly grinding her hips down into the bulge. He groaned in satisfaction and she felt encouraged, repeating the motion and revelling in his breathy moans into her mouth. His reactions made her feel sexy… his kisses made her feel wanted. Just as Hermione timidly slid her hands down his neck and chest, Draco abruptly pulled his head back before shoving her off his lap. She cried out as she landed on the rug in front of them, staring up at him in embarrassment and confusion.

"This is your little plan is it?" he hissed, standing from the chair and towering over her. She held herself up on her palms, cheeks flushed red as she opened her mouth to deny his accusation. "Get me to open up, tell you my sob story and then you come and try to seduce me to keep me wrapped around your little finger?" he accused, sneering down at her.

"No! I-" she began to defend herself, shaking her head furiously.

"Nice try, Mudblood," he hissed. "But it's going to take more than you spreading your legs for me to get anything useful out of me." he finished before turning on his heel and heading out of the room.

Hermione sat in the exact spot that he had left her in for several minutes, unable to process what had just happened. She had kissed Draco Malfoy! She had! And he had once again shoved her off. She felt a wave of embarrassment rise in her as she recalled the kiss and his reaction afterwards, her eyes stinging with tears. What had she done?

A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed! I'll be posting chapter 5 once we reach 15 reviews!