With his eyes bugging out slightly, Malfoy asked incredulously, "Did you just compare me to the Weasel?"
Hermione was horrified at what she had just said. "I'm sorry! I wasn't thinking!" she gasped.
Malfoy snickered, and remarked, "Well that's a first, you not thinking, isn't it?" and went back to his food.
Hermione, too, fixed her attention back onto dinner, glad that Ferret Boy hadn't taken too much offense. As she sipped her soup, she decided to press her luck a little bit more.
"So, Malfoy, what do you think being Senior Boy and Senior Girl will be like? Don't you think we'll be pretty much stealing all the glory from Ginny and that Smith?"
"I'm actually looking forward to it, myself. A chance to abuse power must never be wasted, even if it is to be shared with someone like you." Malfoy said, smirking. "And honestly, we'll be doing the Head Boy and Head Girl a favor. I'm betting Weaslette will rip out Smith's throat before the end of the first week."
"GINNY," Hermione snapped, "Would never embarrass Gryffindor House with such a lack of civility. And you never know, Smith might have grown up a little, too." Ahh, who am I kidding? she thought. I wonder why McGonagall made him Head Boy, anyways…
Malfoy, as if reading her thoughts, snorted and said, "RIGHT. Like that'll ever happen."
The pair continued to eat their dinner, lapsing into silence, with the exception of the clinking of silverware.
"Damn it," said Malfoy abruptly. "They forgot to bring us our bloody drinks." He leaned over and rang the silver bell.
"Draco!" exclaimed Hermione. "The elves said to ring that AFTER we finish dinner! And I am nowhere NEAR done!"
Malfoy just shrugged, but then suddenly snapped his head toward her.
"Since when were we on first-name terms?" he asked suspiciously.
"I- I- I- er, I don't know. I don't know why I just said that." admitted Hermione, confused. "Maybe…"
"What?" asked Malfoy, his eyes curious, with no sign of disgust. What was happening?
"You are being a lot nicer than usual." said Hermione in a small voice.
"Well, the war's over. I've ended my prejudice over blood," drawled Malfoy slowly. "That doesn't mean that I like you as a person, though."
"That's quite alright. The feeling's mutual." retorted Hermione, hurt. "Although I never thought someone as stubborn and as horrible as you could go against your beliefs…" Immediately, she regretted adding that second bit. He hasn't been horrible in a long time…
"You don't know what I've been through," said Malfoy coldly. "When your family is forced to do Voldemort's bidding, forced to watch him kill and torture, and threatened by him constantly with death, we'll see if you and your family change all of their ideals."
A pang of shock hit Hermione. Family… well, hers was gone.
"Maybe," replied Hermione, on the verge of tears. "Except my parents are dead."
A look of horror appeared on Malfoy's face. "Oh Lord… I'm so sorry… I hadn't any idea… I shouldn't have overreacted." he mumbled, looking ashen.
"It's alright," whispered Hermione. "You didn't know."
"It was still out of line," he replied, his voice barely audible. In a clearer voice, he added on, "I'm sorry. Maybe we should try to make peace, so we won't unintentionally offend each other like this all year long." he looked doubtful, waiting for her reaction.
She blinked, and asked, "Do you think it's possible… for us to be friends? After all we've been through?"
Malfoy immediately backed off, saying, "I mean, we don't have to, it was just a thought…"
"No! I didn't mean that I don't WANT to try… but it will be kind of difficult, given our past history, won't it?"
"Let's start over then." Draco extended a hand cautiously. "Hello, I'm Draco Malfoy. Pleasure to meet you."
Hermione debated internally for a bit. Could this really be happening? But, ready to give anything a chance, she grasped his hand. "Hello, I'm Hermione Granger. It's nice to meet you, too."
Just feeling his hand… it wasn't cold and rough, as she had been expecting. It was soft, warmer than her own hand, and truly expressed the hope of a bright future.
As Malfoy let go she felt as if something inside her had changed. Yes, maybe it IS time to make peace. Especially if he thinks of it, first.
"Well, now that we'll be calling each other by first name, I guess I'll have to call you Hermione now..." He rolled her name around in his mouth, as if it were foreign. The look on his face was as if he tasted something sour, much to Hermione's chagrin.
"What?" she demanded. She had always thought her name was pretty, and special, too!
"It's… a mouthful, truth be told." he grinned at her. "Any way to shorten it?"
"I'm sorry," teased Hermione, "if every word containing more than two syllables is difficult for you to pronounce. However, I can't tolerate 'Hermy,' at all. To me, that will always be the shortened version of 'hermaphrodite.'"
Malfoy snorted. "Actually, what about 'Mione?' That's a bit more respectable, isn't it? Wait, no, that sounds too much like 'Mine-y.'"
As he said "Mine," a thrill shot through Hermione, for some unknown reason.
"How about something that rhymes with that, instead? Whiny?" he chuckled.
"Right. Because that's so much more respectable than 'Hermy.' Well, what about you? Can you accept me calling you Draco?"
"I don't see a problem," replied Malfoy, innocently, though his gray eyes were still bright and mischievous.
"Actually, that's a mouthful, too." said Hermione sarcastically. "What about 'Drake,' instead?"
"No way!" Malfoy protested. "Too common! I'm one of a kind!"
"Well, your ego seems to still be the same," laughed Hermione. "Alright. I guess we'll have to be Whiny and Ferret then!"
Malfoy groaned. "That was fourth year, ages ago! Aren't you ever going to let that go?" he asked hopefully, pouting his most convincing face.
That look just made Hermione giggle. "Never," she said, sweetly.
"Fine, fine. I will allow you to call me Drake, if you allow me to call you Mione." he sighed, defeated.
"I thought 'Mione' made you uncomfortable?" Hermione teased.
Malfoy rolled his eyes. "I was kidding, woman."
Hermione's heart rate accelerated just a tiny bit. He doesn't mind calling me something that sounds like I belong to him! Of course, they were just friends…
Lady Montecino's voice rang out suddenly. "The kitchen elves are here!"
This time, Hermione beat Draco to the door. The elves filed in, and Draco told them, "Oi! You forgot to bring us something to drink, idiots!"
The elves looked horrified. "Sorry, sorry! Our apologies! What would you like? Pumpkin juice? Butterbeer? Firewhiskey?"
Hermione interrupted before Draco could reply. Glaring at him, she said kindly to the elves, "We'll just have a pitcher of water and two goblets. That's all, thank you!"
At that, one of the elves bowed, and quickly ran out the portrait hole, while the other two elves began to clear the coffee table off.
"What was that?" a very annoyed Draco sneered. "And aren't you still eating? You barely finished your soup!"
"The joy of our conversation has made me lose my appetite." snapped Hermione. "Now, Drake. If we want to make this friendship work, you'll have to adjust your attitude just a tiny bit. For starters, let's employ some basic manners, shall we? It was just a small mistake on their part! And it can be rectified immediately, so be nice."
Draco rolled his eyes. "They're just elves, Mione."
Irritated, Hermione scoffed, "Ugh, you really are just like Ron."
In a sing-song voice, Draco stated, "Once again, comparisons to the Weasel are not appreciated!"
Now it was Hermione's turn to roll her eyes. "And we'll also have to work on your giving people you don't like derogatory names."
"Why, look who's talking! Aren't you the one who once called me a, quote, 'foul, loathsome, evil little cockroach,' unquote?"
Hermione laughed, remembering the time she had punched him. "Well, you were one, back then. But Ginny and Ron are not weasels, so you shouldn't call them that." she said, seriously.
"Will you be satisfied if I just say I'll try?" asked Draco hopefully.
"Well, it's a start," Hermione said.
Just then, the third elf came back with the goblets and water. The other two elves had finished removing the food and had wiped down the coffee table, so as soon as the third elf set down the drinks, all three of them hurried back out of the portrait hole.
"Wow, they must be super embarrassed." smirked Draco while pouring water into both goblets.
As Hermione waited, Crookshanks came out of her room and cautiously leapt onto the chintz armchair next to her side of the couch, still observing Draco suspiciously.
Setting down the pitcher, Draco sneered, "Good Lord, Granger, did you sit on its face? It's practically squashed!"
Glaring at Draco, Hermione reached over and picked up Crookshanks, stroking his fur. "Crookshanks doesn't like you, either." she said, stiffly.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to say it that rudely," said Draco, breaking a grin. "I'm working on it! Give me time!"
"And, you called me by my surname again," Hermione pointed out.
"I know, I know, I'm trying!" He sounded like a little boy, but Hermione liked it. She was seeing the more innocent and vulnerable side of her former enemy, and it was comforting, since she, too, could lower down her guard around him.
"Anyways, cheers!" said Draco brightly, picking up a goblet, and mock-toasting her, before taking a swig.
Hermione, smiling, picked up her goblet, too.
The rest of the evening was enjoyable enough. Draco told her about what was happening at home. His father was trying to regain the family's social position and former glory by helping the Ministry hunt down Death Eaters in hiding. He also revealed that the Ministry had taken away half of the Malfoy Fortune, instead of sending his family to Azkaban. So now his mother was being very careful with the family finances, although it was pretty much unnecessary, for half of the fortune was still enough for them to live on for the rest of their lives, even taking up a part-time job as a seamstress for Madam Malkin just in case. Finally, he admitted that he had always wanted to be friends with Hermione, but the fact that back then, his parents would never have allowed it, coupled with her friendship with the detestable Potty and Weasel, made him helpless to and frustrated, and so he took it out by insulting her, and becoming jealous.
Hermione was extremely flattered by that last bit, and in return, admitted to Draco that she had always considered him highly intelligent, far more than Ron or Harry. Eventually, after many jokes, much laughter, and nostalgic reminiscing of past school years, Hermione had warmed up enough to discuss with Draco her parents. He was very quiet and sensitive, listening carefully. Surprisingly, Hermione didn't feel the need to cry, because his attention made her feel protected, like he was a doctor listening to her problems. Even Crookshanks grudgingly accepted the fact that Draco was now on par with Harry and Ron. At least he didn't bite him when he apologized later for making fun of his face and when he scratched him behind the ears.
Finally, they got to the subject of Ron and Harry. She told him how they were off somewhere for Auror training, and admitted that she missed Ron deeply.
"So, you two are finally together?" asked Draco, quietly.
"Yes, we are. Although it doesn't feel like it right now. I haven't heard from him for a while, but Harry hasn't written, either, so I'm assuming they're very busy." She added on, "So, why are you back at Hogwarts? Do you really want your NEWTs that badly?"
"Actually, my parents pushed me into this. My father thinks that me getting my NEWTs will prove to the community that our family actually is capable of hard work, and my mother thinks it will help me in making a good marriage match."
Seeing the look of shock on Hermione's face, Draco said, "My parents don't care about blood status, anymore, like I said. They just want me to continue the Malfoy line as soon as possible. In fact, they expect me to get married within a year after graduation. The fact that our family was almost obliterated during the war really shook them, and all they want is for me to settle down and raise a large family, ensuring heirs, blah blah blah…"
"And how do you feel about that?" asked Hermione, quietly.
"I don't know." Draco grinned again. "I'd rather not think about it right now. I think these kind of things will just happen on their own."
"I agree." said Hermione sleepily. Then she yawned, in spite of herself.
"I guess it's time for bed." said Draco, standing up and setting down his goblet. "Get a good night of sleep! Class starts tomorrow." he winked, and went into his room.
After a moment, Hermione, too, set down her goblet. Crookshanks took that as his cue to get off, and so Hermione followed him back to her room. She took a quick shower, and then collapsed onto bed, not wanting to move. I haven't felt this happy in a long time. she thought. Crookshanks mewed next to her face, reminding her that the covers were there for a reason.
"All right, all right," she grumbled, settling under the blankets. Crookshanks wormed his way into her arms, and soon, Hermione drifted off to sleep, her mind finally at peace.