A week into the school year and Draco had decided that he was already sick of the other students. He was sick of the dirty looks he got in the corridors, he was sick of living with the other delegates, and he was sick of having his left sleeve slip up during class and having people glare at his mark. It wasn't like he desperately wanted the mark on his arm; if he could get rid of it he would do it in a heartbeat but there was no way. He was forever branded as a bad man and there was nothing he could do to change that. Coming back had been a bad idea, he realized; he should have stayed at home and locked himself in his room to avoid his parents instead of going back to Hogwarts. He was beginning to wonder if it was impossible to drop out; he'd never seen anyone do it before but maybe if he talked to McGonagall... No. He wouldn't give up and let everyone else win. He would stick it out and get an education and hopefully find a decent job when he was done with school. He would survive the year; he had no other choice.
His plan to stay in his room for most of the year had quickly gone downhill; the only furniture that could be used for sitting on was his bed and it wasn't incredibly comfortable. But the chair in the common room, well, that had been claimed as his. The other delegates knew it and let him stay in the chair. Draco was sure it was so they wouldn't have to hear him complain, but he didn't mind that. At least he got the chair. Abbott and Boot usually sat on the right side of the sofa together; they were quickly becoming the best of friends. And Granger, well, she was actually the one who spent most of her time in her room. She went there right after dinner while the rest of them spent a few hours together, even though Abbott and Boot didn't talk to him. But every day Draco woke up she would either be walking back to her room from the bathroom or she'd be sitting on the left side of the couch, the side closest to his chair.
Waking up had become somewhat of an experiment to Draco. He only wanted to know exactly what time Granger got up in the morning so that she was awake before everyone else. It was simply curiosity that drove him to wake up five minutes earlier than the previous morning, so he could see when she would come out of her room yawning. He would be waking up at 5:25 the next morning, a time that bothered him greatly. He'd never gotten up that early in his life and now he was waking up then, simply to see when Granger woke up. He needed to stop thinking about Granger, he knew, because it would lead him nowhere good, though half of the time he really didn't care. She was more interesting than his homework, surprisingly enough.
And she was sitting right next to him. It was their second Arithmancy class and he'd once again come in late, being made to sit by Granger once more. A Ravenclaw had come up to her and told her that she'd be willing to sit by her instead, just so she wouldn't have to sit by a Death Eater. Granger had declined, her tone polite but quite obviously forced, and told the Ravenclaw that she didn't mind sitting by him, as he was quiet and didn't bother her at all. Unfortunately, that seemed like it was going to be the highlight of his day. Which was horrible; how had he gotten to the best part of his day being when Granger wanted to sit by him instead of a Ravenclaw? He wasn't entirely sure how he felt about that, but there wasn't much he could do about the feeling. Draco knew that he couldn't change it easily; it had taken him two years to convince himself that muggleborns weren't that bad. He still wasn't able to say that he didn't hate Potter or Weasley. But he was starting to be able to say that Granger didn't bother him too much. Well, not say it but think it.
Draco was still incredibly curious as to what was going on with Granger and Weasley, as they weren't acting like a normal couple would. And he often heard Weasley saying things to her that were bad; he couldn't understand what Granger still saw in him. It wasn't any of his business though, so he didn't ask. Instead he just sat through the lesson, occasionally glancing at Granger and feeling safe doing so. Weasley wasn't there to notice, there was no way he would ever be in an Arithmancy class, and Granger was too focused on the lesson to realize either. He'd never really thought about it before, but she was slightly pretty. He wouldn't go any further than that, but it was true. He absolutely crazy hair was nice, in his opinion, because it was different than any other girl's in the school. And there was just something about her that he found to be slightly charming. He hated himself for the thoughts, but as he tuned Professor Vector out they seemed to be the only thing on his mind. He would be killed if anyone found out they seemed to be the only thing on his mind. He would be killed if anyone found out what he was thinking; it would be like he'd done a horrible crime to anyone but him. He was sure even Granger would be disgusted if she found out.
The bell that signaled the end of the class rang and Draco jumped, tearing his eyes away from Granger and shutting his textbook. He glanced at Granger one more time to see her rubbing her eyes but smiling slightly. She ended up walking out of the room before Draco and he trailed after her, careful not to get too close. She was talking with a boy from Hufflepuff though thankfully it wasn't McMillan. It surprised him to see her talking with someone he'd never noticed her with before, though he figured that was probably because he'd only really paid attention to her when she was with Potter or Weasley. "The lesson was fascinating," Granger was saying. Draco looked at some of the paintings on the wall, wondering if that would draw his attention away from her. The Hufflepuff boy agreed, smiling at Granger. They kept chatting about the lesson and how they would complete the homework and Draco decided to walk slower.
He ended up going back to the Delegate's common room while Granger went off in the direction of the library. He wanted to start on the Arithmancy essay as it was his free period next. He needed to get as much homework done as possible during the day because that night was the first of many meetings with McGonagall and the rest of the delegates. Draco had no desire to go but he didn't have a choice. McGonagall would probably go through the entire castle to find him just so he would cooperate. At least he wouldn't put it past her; maybe Granger would help her as well because this was the kind of thing Draco was sure she would be serious about. Granger liked helping people when she could, as far as Draco could tell.
He settled into his chair in the common room, pulling his textbook back out to start his essay. He wasn't thrilled about having to work on another essay and try to figure out what he was going to say to McGonagall to make her believe that he was actually trying with this whole delegate business. He wasn't sure what the others were doing with it though he had seen them talking to a few younger students who looked concerned about something or another. No one had come up to him so far, which didn't surprise Draco. Who would want to come up to a Death Eater and talk about their problems? He wouldn't, so he could understand why people avoided him. That and the fact that he'd been truly horrible during his previous years at Hogwarts. He'd barely been kind to anyone and those he had been kind to weren't in school anymore.
"Screw it," he muttered, shoving the half-finished essay into his bag and pulling out his Potions textbook. He wanted to read something and that was the only book he had with him other than his Arithmancy textbook and he had no desire to look at that. He would finish the essay later, maybe he'd have to stay up half the night to get it done but it would happen. Draco was okay with reading a textbook; he always found them interesting He liked to learn things and he liked school, for that matter, something that Gregory, Vincent, and Pansy had never understood. At least, he realized, that being alone this year would mean that there would be no one to bother him when he was doing schoolwork.
Draco began to read the textbook, forgetting for a while that he wasn't back at home reading in the library, a room his parents almost never went into. He was alone, he almost felt peaceful, and-and the door to the common room opened. Draco expected to see Boot or Abbott, as seeing them would make what was appearing to be a bad day even worse. Yes Abbott wasn't too bad and she was definitely better than Boot, but Draco found that she complained more than necessary and he hated it. But it was Granger, walking in with her eyes closed and her hands massaging her temples. She looked pale and there was a small frown on her lips that Draco found he disliked even more than her confused expression. "Granger-"
"Shh," she whispered, frowning even more as she held up a finger in his direction. "Please, not right now," she pleaded quietly. Draco was surprised to hear her speaking quietly; he was used to her speaking with a normal volume. "My head is killing me and I can't take some sarcastic remark or argument right now,"
Draco frowned; he wished she didn't expect an argument from him but after the way he'd treated her, he wasn't too surprised. Instead of telling her that he'd only planned on saying that he thought she should lay down because she looked exhausted, he just nodded. "Sorry," he muttered. Granger didn't look at him or say anything, she just made her way to the bathroom. He wished that he could have done something to help her, as the thought of Granger in pain made him feel guilty all over again, but the only thing he could think of was the odd head massage-like thing his mother would do for his father every time his head began to cause him pain. He could never touch Granger, nor do anything remotely kind for her as it would make her and anyone else that found out start asking questions. Which, Draco knew, he wasn't prepared to answer.
Granger emerged from the bathroom, looking just as dreadful as she had when she'd first entered it. He didn't know what she'd done in there to make her head feel better but he wasn't sure he wanted to ask; he didn't want to show any interest in her. She sat down on the left side of the sofa, which Draco found odd. He didn't understand why she would choose to sit close to him when she had the entire sofa to sit on. "I shouldn't have snapped at you," she stated, her voice sounding a bit ashamed. "I'm sorry,"
Draco stared at her; he wished she wouldn't act kindly toward him because then it would make it a lot easier to ignore her. "Don't be," he said, his voice harsher than he intended it to be. He cleared his throat, feeling embarrassed for speaking rudely to her after she'd apologized to him. He hated that he was acting differently toward Granger and wanting her to like him, but if he wanted to be a better person then doing that was included. "You should have Weasley give you a massage," he said quickly. "Here," Draco tapped the side of his head awkwardly as Granger snapped her gaze to him.
"Excuse me?"
"I-Well, that's just what my mother does for my father whenever his head is in pain. I figure you're with Weasley, for some odd reason, and it might help you if he did that. It always helps my father,"
Draco was surprised to see Granger roll her eyes. She looked away from him though, her face going a shade pinker. "Ron would never do that,"
"But you're together," he said, knowing he sounded slightly clueless and hating it. "If it would help then I'm sure he would. Even Weasley would do that if he cares, I think anyway,"
"Together is a little far off, Malfoy. You've heard him; he'd rather I be cold and buried six feet under the ground," She sighed heavily and closed her eyes, allowing Draco to look at her features a little more. She looked incredibly sad; he was sure he'd never seen her look like that before.
"Well Weasley's an idiot then,"
"Don't call him that, Malfoy. He's still one of my best friends,"
"But you just said-"
"He's still one of my best friends. You don't get to speak about him like that," And with that Granger stood up, her eyes narrowing slightly as she looked at him. She turned on her heel and marched out of the common room. Draco stared after her, feeling stunned as she walked out of the room. Her mood had shifted so quickly and while he knew he was partially at fault, at first it had just been her. He didn't understand Granger and he had a feeling he never would.