Granger hadn't talked to him in two weeks. Not because they'd fought or she'd done something incredibly stupid like when she'd tried to 'help' him, no, it was because she was so busy studying for their exams that she barely had time for anything else. She made it to the delegate meetings, looking exhausted, and of course she went to classes but the majority of her time was spent in the library. Sometimes Potter and his girlfriend would join her, sometimes Longbottom would be there, but no one could seem to get her to leave. She was far too focused and far too afraid of receiving bad marks which, Draco knew, was completely ridiculous because Granger had the best marks of the entire year. But it was highly likely that she wanted to be the best at everything so she just kept poring over books and expecting something new to pop up.
Being away from her was ruining his mind. He often found himself thinking about her when she wasn't around and wondering exactly how she would take it when he told her about his trial. He didn't know how to bring it up or when the best moment to tell her would be. Was he just supposed to bring it up in the passing moment that he saw her? Was he supposed to write it on a slip of parchment and give it to her during Arithmancy? It had to happen sometime, otherwise Potter would murder him. He kept insisting that Draco tell her and soon so she could figure out how to deal with the news. But Draco was still trying to figure out how to deal with it himself; how was he supposed to try and help Granger do that at the same time?
He was ninety-nine percent sure that he was going to Azkaban for the rest of his life. That's what had happened to his father. And maybe Draco hadn't really killed or tortured people the way his father had, but he'd done things that were most definitely illegal. And he knew they were illegal when he did them, which made it all worse. However he was sure that once he could get used to the idea of spending the rest of his life in that hell-hole then he would be able to tell Granger. Which, he knew, meant that he would never be telling her.
Draco groaned quietly and rubbed his face before trying to once again focus his attention on the textbook in front of him. It was the fifth time that afternoon he'd gotten distracted by thoughts like that and he was starting to get irritated. He would have been even more frustrated if he hadn't started to enjoy thinking about Granger, though when she interrupted his studying he wasn't entirely pleased. Unlike her, Draco actually did need to study to get decent marks on the exams.
"Malfoy?" The quiet voice startled him and he looked in front of him with narrowed eyes. It wasn't often that people just approached him to say something, especially someone he didn't know. And the small boy in front of him wasn't even slightly familiar.
"What?" he snapped, glancing at the Ravenclaw tie and frowning. It was even more rare for someone from another house to approach him. He absolutely hated it when that happened.
"I-I just wanted to ask you something,"
The boy could only be a second year, third year at the most and he looked slightly terrified at the thought of talking to Draco. "Well spit it out then,"
"I-It's just-How did you do it?"
"How did I do what?"
"A-After the war, how did you-I mean was it easy to-Wait, no, I meant-"
He almost felt sorry for the kid about how badly the question was going. Draco sighed and tried very hard to not look so frustrated, hoping that maybe the boy wouldn't look so frightened. "Get it out, I know you can,"
"How did you get along with your parents?" the kid blurted.
Draco blinked, momentarily forgetting himself and letting an astonished expression take over his face. "Why the hell do you want to know that?"
"I-I just-"
"Spit it out kid!"
"I just wanted to know because my parents were the same and I've been avoiding them but now I don't know what I'm supposed to do when we go home for the summer!" he rushed out, his eyes widening slightly. "I-I don't mean to say-"
"How have you gotten through the year with no one figuring this out?"
"They weren't well known or anything. Just-Just small time, just supporters really-they didn't even fight in the battle because they were too afraid and-"
"Just quiet down,"
"But I-"
Draco sighed and gathered his books, putting them all in a bag before standing up and frowning at the kid. "Come on,"
He began walking, not really caring if the kid was following him or not. If he didn't then at least Draco could see the first year Slytherins he'd gotten to know. If the kid did follow then he would get the advice he was looking for. But Draco sure as hell wasn't going to talk to the kid about how to deal with parents. He was absolutely awful at it, for starters, and the younger Slytherins would be able to relate better. Their parents weren't as involved as his had been.
"Wait I can't go in-" the kid said as they approached the Slytherin common room.
Draco rolled his eyes and finally turned to look at him again. "What's your name?"
"My-My name?" Draco nodded as an answer and the boy frowned. "It's Jacob," he mumbled.
"Right, well listen, Jacob. There are some first year Slytherins that will be able to help you a hell of a lot better than I would be able to. I don't speak to my father and my mother and I, well, that's none of your business. Now just wait here and let me get them,"
"Okay," Jacob said, stepping to the side so his back was pressed against the wall. Draco scowled; that was an awful position to be in if he got attacked. Then again the kid-Jacob-probably didn't think like that. Draco, having grown up with parents preparing him to be in the middle of a war, often found himself slipping into that kind of thought. He wouldn't be surprised if Granger, Potter, and anyone else in the battle thought like that too.
Draco sighed and muttered the password to the common room. After the number of times he'd gone to talk to the first years he knew the password like the back of his hand. If he hadn't talked to them, he wouldn't have bothered to learn it. Draco took a step inside and looked around, scowling. Elizabeth and her friends, Draco had problems remembering their names because they all had incredibly similar personalities, were sitting in the corner with books in their laps. "Elizabeth!" he called loudly, watching her head snap up. Draco paused. He knew that one of the boy's names was Daniel, so he called that too and watched another pair of eyes look at him.
Their books were set to the side already and the four first years began to walk his way. "Hello," Elizabeth said brightly, smiling at him. "You called?"
Draco rolled his eyes and frowned at her. He looked to two of the boys, he was sure their names were Marcus and Anthony, whose parents had been Death Eaters as well. "I thought you two would be better at this than I am," he said, his frowning deepening. "There's a Ravenclaw, Jacob, and he needs advice on how to get along with his own parents. His situation is like yours. I thought you'd be better suited to this than I am. And keep it quiet, got it?"
"Of course," the two boys said.
"Well I hope you know that Daniel and I are coming too. What if he's just trying to-" Elizabeth started, but a look from Draco silenced her.
"He's not trying to mess with you guys. If he was he wouldn't have come to me first. And why do you think I called you two as well?"
Elizabeth rolled her eyes and pulled her friends out of the common room. Draco followed them, wishing he didn't need to be there at that moment, only to see the Ravenclaw he left suddenly surrounded by Slytherins. They were questioning him, about why he was there and what he really wanted. Elizabeth was the first to react, mostly out of surprise, as she stormed over and grabbed the boy's arm. "Hello," she said, in her usual fashion. "He's with us guys, go back to the common room," she said, addressing the Slytherins. Their eyes narrowed and Draco knew they didn't want to leave without their answers. Draco chose that moment to clear his throat and nod his head in the direction of the common room. After a few moments, the Slytherins rolled their eyes and walked away. "Right, well my name's Elizabeth. This is Daniel, and-" She continued introducing her friends as they walked toward a secluded area of the dungeons. "-Not very Slytherin, I know, believe me I've been told. My parents always said I could be too friendly. Then again when you've got to keep an eye over these three," she said, nodding at her friends, "you learn to get along with people you could make an ally out of. Anyway, I hear you're in the same boat as Marcus and Anthony? I don't really know what that's like but they're willing to talk to you and, well, I think Daniel and I are pretty good at-"
"Do I need to stay for this?" Draco asked, his tone bored. He wanted to make sure the younger students were okay, but he was starting to think that Granger had the right idea. He really did need to study.
"I doubt it," Daniel muttered. "You've seen her. She'll make sure everything's okay,"
"Oh shut up," Elizabeth said, frowning at him. "I'm just good at this kind of thing. And I think we'll be okay, actually,"
Draco nodded and turned away, happy to leave and get back to studying. He would go outside this time; there was less of a chance that someone would bother him and he wanted to make some progress. "Hey, um-"
"What?" Draco asked, glancing at the Ravenclaw as he opened his mouth.
"Um, I, um wanted to say thanks for n-"
"Yeah, whatever," Draco shrugged, hurrying away from the younger students.
The remainder of his afternoon was spent sitting outside near an unused door. He didn't want to sit out in the sun but being outside was nice, he thought. And he didn't want to sit on the ground either, so that led to his current position. It wasn't half bad actually; a total of four people passed him int he three hours he spent outside. And the only reason he actually went inside the castle was because it got dark and he hadn't brought his wand with him. Draco was sure he could cast a spell without it, but his eyes were beginning to hurt from staring at notes and textbooks anyway, so he thought it was about time to come inside. Granger would have just kept going, he knew, but he was not Granger.
Draco brought his things back to his room before going to dinner that night. A quick look at the Gryffindor table left him with the sight of Granger's head buried in a book, though Draco wasn't surprised by that. He was fairly certain that every time he saw Granger now she had a book in her face. With that thought in mind he sat at his own table, picking at some food as he once again thought about his trial. It was not a pleasant thing to think about, especially when everyone around him was laughing and enjoying another night at Hogwarts.
He was lost in thought when a small group of people came to sit around him. "Look, we just keep growing," Elizabeth joked as she took a seat next to Draco.
"What are you-" Draco blinked, looking around the group. The Ravenclaw, Jacob, was sitting between Daniel and Marcus looking sheepish. "Oh, right,"
"You're not mad, are you?" he asked nervously.
He shrugged slightly and frowned. "No,"
"Honestly, you had to know it would happen. As if we'd let him go back to sitting alone with the Ravenclaws. He'll benefit us," Anthony muttered.
"You mean he's a friend now," Elizabeth corrected him.
Draco listened to the friends bicker for a few minutes longer before they switched to another topic of conversation. He was pleased, in a way, that the Ravenclaw had gotten his advice and found friends in the process. The first years were good people to be friends with. Draco could even admit to himself that he was starting to care about them too, though in a completely different way than he cared about Granger.
"And we grow again," Elizabeth muttered suddenly, once they were halfway through dinner.
"What are you-" Draco began, but he stopped he realized that Granger was walking toward him. He raised an eyebrow and she flashed him a smile.
"Could I have a word in the corridor?" she asked as she reached him. "Um, Delegate business," she said, glancing at the Slytherins. It seemed as if she was trying to keep her promise of not telling anyone, though he was sure the Slytherins already knew something. Elizabeth tended to know things like that.
"Oh please," Elizabeth said, rolling her eyes and pushing Draco as he went to stand up. "We all know you two are practically together; just go have your sn-"
"They're together?" Jacob asked in surprise.
"Yes Jacob, keep up!"
"Oh shut up," Draco said, throwing a glare at the first years before following Granger out of the great hall.
As soon as they got halfway to the common room she stopped and stared at him with raised eyebrows. "So, I see you've made a new friend," she stated. "Who was that Ravenclaw?"
"Just some kid, Granger, why?"
"Because I swear, Draco, sitting there with those Slytherins and that Ravenclaw is the closest I've seen you to smiling all year,"
"What on earth are you-"
"How did you meet him?"
"The Ravenclaw? He just asked for some help with something and I thought the first years would be better suited to give him what he wanted,"
"So you just willing helped a kid from another house?"
"I-I guess, Granger, why are you making a big deal about this?" Draco was positive that she was no longer thinking about their agreement to keep whatever they had a secret, because she quickly kissed him in the middle of the corridor without even checking to see if anyone was around. "What was that for?" he asked once she pulled him away.
"Can't I just kiss you?"
"But you never do that without-"
"I'm proud of you, Draco. Don't be upset but you usually wouldn't think twice about helping that boy but you did and, well, I-"
"How did you even see him sitting there, Granger? You weren't looking at anything but your book at dinner,"
"And how did you see that?" she asked cheekily. "Exactly. Now, I really think it would be best if we studied for a few hours in the common room,"
Draco held back the groan he wanted to make at the thought of studying any more; Granger looked excited at the thought and he wasn't going to take that away from her. And that was how Draco found himself sitting on the floor in the common room with Granger by his side until half past eleven that night, studying until his eyes were close to falling shut and Granger forced him to go to his room before she went into her own. All in all, Draco thought as he lay in bed staring at the ceiling, it hadn't been that bad of a day.