AN: I had fun with this chapter. Please enjoy!
Draco lowered his wand but kept his grip on it tight and at the ready should the need to use it arise. He was still unsure how he should feel when it came to Severus Snape - how trustworthy is a man who had to be bound by dark magic to protect you? Where his mother had felt that the man's word wasn't sufficient enough.
Granger had been drifting to sleep, but he knew that she was now actively listening in on his thoughts - she knew Snape had just burst in and asked about her. She knew he had seen her. She was scared - if he didn't trust the dark wizard before him, why would she - especially after all he had done? Draco wasn't sure what to feel about her fears. He tried to ignore her thoughts as he focused on the situation unfolding in front of him.
Snape, in his sweeping black cloak, stepped into the room and removed the door behind him with a flick of his wand. He stared down at Draco with rage written in the stress lines across his face. "I do not have time to waste waiting for you to find your words, Mr. Malfoy," he bit out as he took two steps closer to Draco.
Instinctively, Draco took two steps back as he gulped. He shook his head and pushed his fear to the side as he took one step towards the man. "What does it matter to you?" He clipped as a cold scowl came over his face.
In one quick motion, faster than Draco could react, Severus Snape leapt forward and grabbed the young man by his collar, pulling face to face. With his teeth bared, he spat as he spoke. "One wrong move and the girl could be killed," his breath was hot as it invaded Draco's face. Draco grimaced and tried to pull away, but the older wizard held on tight. "One wrong move and she could expose where you are. Then all three of us will wind up dead. Do you want that?"
Snape's fingers loosened their grip and Draco was quick to push the man away from him. "What do you care if the Mudblood dies?" he asked as he rubbed the wrinkles out of his shirt, avoiding eye contact. "Wouldn't that just be delaying the inevitable?"
There was a beat of silence and Draco could hear that Granger was now wide awake, keenly following his thought process. He knew she was able to visualize the situation clearly. He could feel deep fear overtaking her. She was thinking of the Muggle-born Extermination, and how that would play out if the Order lost.
His stomach tightened with a feeling he wasn't familiar with when it came to the girl - sympathy.
"She is needed. That is all I will say."
"Right, right," Draco snorted. "You know, you no longer have to play both sides, Professor. You've made it quite clear where your loyalties lie."
The silence was deafening. Draco looked at his former professor and tried to read his face - it was stoic and pale. Creased with years of stress and turmoil. He looked about 15 years older than he truly was. "My strongest loyalties are with your mother," Snape began as he pressed the tip of his wand deep into his palm. "Ensuring you survive this war is the only way I will continue to live. That being said, should the Dark Lord find out you are alive, he is certain to kill you. You'll never leave here to fight alongside the Death Eaters again."
Draco's face twist in anger as rage and sadness bubbled up inside of him. Deep inside he had known this to be the truth. Hearing it coming from the man who had saved him simply confirmed this. If Draco couldn't return to fight, he would never win back his parents' love. He'd live out his life in hiding, being remembered as the disappointment of the Malfoy family. "What does that have to do with anything?" He snapped angrily, his eyes burning with tears that he was willing to never come.
Snape laughed lowly. "You should probably know this, now. I'm on the side of the Order, Mr. Malfoy," he said looking directly into the younger wizard's eyes. "And now I have the full, unquestioning trust of the Dark Lord and his followers. That is why I need to know about Miss Granger's appearance tonight. She needs to be protected."
Draco staggered back. He felt his head spinning as he took in this information. Granger was just as shocked as he was - but he felt her head fill with thoughts of victory - of having someone on the inside to ensure they were protected. Draco felt betrayed, he felt lost, and he felt completely alone. He was at a loss for words as he found himself falling back onto the sofa. "But-But you killed Albus Dumbledore - you betrayed him!" His head was throbbing.
"He asked me to. The old man was dying from a curse - it was his own stupid fault," Snape said with a scoff. "He knew all along that you were trying to kill him. We had to protect you. Now, tell me why Hermione Granger was here before I confiscate your wand," he demanded in a clipped tone.
Granger's mind was bursting with emotions. She wondered how much of what Snape had said was true - if it was all a lie, it would have been an odd lie to tell. On the other hand, if it were true, then the students at Hogwarts may not be in as bad a position as she had thought.
Draco felt his body hollow. "Occlumency," was all he could mutter.
"Occlumency?" Snape questioned. "Why in Merlin's name would Hermione Granger be teaching you Occlumency? How does she even know you are alive?" The man sounded equally angered and bewildered.
Draco decided he had no reason to lie to Professor Snape about their situation. He told him everything about the Wishbone, about their connection, and about how they were trying to mitigate their thoughts by learning Occlumency together.
Snape, surprisingly, simply nodded through the entire thing. Once Draco finished, he sucked his teeth and looked away. "This is an unfortunate predicament."
"Yes, it very much is," Draco agreed. "I'm not sure there is any other solution."
"I will ensure that area of the Forbidden Forest is off limits," Snape spoke in a low voice as he looked down his nose at the boy, "She will be guaranteed safe access to the castle."
"Thank you," Draco muttered. He felt Granger share his gratitude. He rolled his eyes, hating that she was involved at all.
Severus Snape flicked his wand, conjuring the door behind him. He turned his back to Draco and opened the door slowly. Draco leaned back against the sofa and placed his hands over his face. An exasperated sigh slipped from his lips.
"One more thing, Mr. Malfoy," Snape spoke as he looked back over his shoulder. "Make sure she isn't doing anything stupid. She might be the answer to you having a normal life after the war. She can't do that if she's dead."
With that, the man disappeared behind the door, leaving Draco with that heavy thought. Would Granger help him if the war was lost to him - if the Order won?
'With that mentality, never,' she thought as she drifted to sleep.
Draco stayed up all night pondering what his life would be like after the war, if he were to live through it. Which side would let him live if he'd apologized. He was starting to feel conflicted. What would his parents want for him?
It was July 7th when Hermione decided she would go to the castle to meet with Malfoy again. Two days after their first meeting. Two days after he'd informed her about the extermination plan. Two days after she learned what may or may not be the truth about Severus Snape.
In the past two days, Hermione had been reading up on experimental potions that could be used to fight in the war. She was particularly interested in Veritaserum, as she found that this would be very useful to have in stock for the Order. Any prisoners they took in, they would be able to interrogate them for true, honest answers.
Malfoy had gone back to an opposite sleeping schedule, which meant that he was fast asleep during the day. Hermione was fine with this temporary arrangement, as it gave her peace to think and work. The privacy was nice as well. She was able to have thoughts of her own that weren't being ridiculed and torn to shreds.
Hermione had set four bronze cauldrons filled with Veritaserum potion to the side. She tried three separate brewing styles from three different books, and made her own version of the brew - whichever one worked best, Hermione would continue to replicate. It would take 28 days for the potions to brew, so she was ready to be patient.
Pulling two large brewing gloves off of her hands and removing her Potions Master goggles, Hermione sat down at her dining table and took a sip of the tea she had held under a heating charm. The table was against a wall nearest the window, which looked out to a meadow with blooming flowers and tall grass. It was truly a beautiful sight and Hermione was happy to have that.
With her tea in one hand, she used her other to pull a scroll towards her. It was a letter from Ron, sent to her through McGonagall. She had kept her promise and wrote Harry and Ron each and every day. She had asked the boys not to put anything they were planning into writing, should it get intercepted. This was part true - but the main reason she had asked this was so Malfoy wouldn't be privy to any private Order business.
In the letter, Ron complained about how his mother was all over the place lately, getting everything prepped and ready for Bill and Fleur's wedding on the first of next month. He talked about how he missed her and Harry - about how Harry had gone back to the Dursley's for the remainder of the summer - or, at least, until the wedding. He asked her if she was still going - she was. She wouldn't miss it for the world.
He said he missed her. He thought about her every day. He couldn't wait to see her face again.
Her stomach tightened as she sighed. She had too much on her plate to deal with Ron's feelings for her, so she pushed the letter off to the side. Her mind wandered to tonight. She was going to have to see him again. She was going to have to touch him. She shivered.
Hermione wouldn't have such a problem with this if Malfoy hadn't made such a big show of being offended to even look in her direction. He was the one making more of a deal out of this than it needed to be. The tea stung as she took a sip that was just a little too big for her. If she was able to deal with this like an adult, then he would have to as well.
Malfoy was ready for her this time. As soon as she made it to the door, he swung it open and walked away, leaving her to let herself in.
'Prick.'
Malfoy spun his head around and looked at her with a quirked eyebrow. "I'm going to assume that wasn't meant for me."
Hermione walked in and unclipped her cloak. "Going to assume what wasn't meant for you?" She played it coy as she assessed his reaction. He rolled his eyes and began removing his cufflinks. Her eyes followed his arms down from his shoulders to his hands and watched as his long, graceful fingers undid the silver and green snake cufflinks.
"Something catching your eye, Granger?" he questioned as he caught her looking intently at his fingers. Her thoughts on them had lingered a bit too long as well. "Naughty girl," he mewled, his intent to embarrass her.
She blushed, and pushed the thoughts he was trying to put into her mind away. "That's disgusting, Malfoy."
"Really? I'm getting the feeling that you don't really think so."
"Enough. Let's just get on with it," she said firmly as she pulled the book he'd given her last time out of her bag.
"If I say anything about Weasley, will that bring forth some memories I don't want to see?" He pushed her.
Her brain pushed forward thoughts she'd had about what would happen if her and Ron did have a relationship like that, but she quickly pushed them away. In Draco's mind, he was intent on getting on her nerves. "You know, for someone so disgusted with me, you really seem to be fishing for something sexual out of me," she said brazenly.
He hadn't expected her to outright say that. His jaw opened and closed as he tried to find the words. His thoughts were jumbled with feelings of embarrassment and how he was only doing it to get under her skin - not for anything sexual. Well, not entirely for something sexual. His mind flashed to her the other night, his eyes raking over her.
"You're right, that's enough. No more on each other's thoughts," he said stiffly as he reached to grab the book she held in her hands. She pulled away. "It's my book, Granger, give it to me," he commanded annoyingly.
"I think it's better we get right into things. According to the book, we should sit somewhere comfortable to start," she looked around the room. There were two options: the bed and the small sofa.
At the same time, their minds removed the bed as an option. For Hermione, she felt it was inappropriate. For Malfoy, he couldn't stand the thought of a Muggle-born tainting where he slept - though he hadn't used the word "Muggle-born" when he thought it.
Hermione did her best not to comment on his bigoted thoughts. "Sofa it is," she said as she took a seat. "You'll have to sit next to me this time."
Malfoy made a sound of disgust before stalking to the sofa and taking a seat as far from her as possible - which was not far at all. This sofa was more like a loveseat in that their thighs were just nearly touching. Hermione blushed - she'd never been this close to him before.
"Don't get any ideas," he warned her as he crossed his arms.
"You really think I'd 'make a move' on you?" She asked, looking him dead in the eye. "I know you're aware I won't. So why do you say those things?"
"I- I don't know," he admitted. His mind showed her that he was doing it out of self defense. She thought this was sad, and that angered him. "Well, go on. I don't have all night."
Hermione licked her pointer finger and flipped through the pages of the book until she found the page she had been looking for. Malfoy was revolted by this. "Why did you do that?" He asked. "You've gone and gotten your germs in my book now. What was the point of that?"
"Oh - I'm sorry," she said - and she was. It had been rude of her. "It's just a habit I have from growing up. It makes flipping the pages easier, I guess."
"You know you could use a wand for that, right?"
She scowled at him and looked back at the book. "Yes, I know that. Hence saying it was a habit."
"Well, it's a nasty one."
"Well, no one asked you for your opinion." He looked at her with surprise written across his face, his eyebrows raised. His face fell back to repugnance as he squirmed uncomfortably in his seat, his knee hitting into hers. "For this process to work, we have to have skin to skin contact. I think it will be fine to just hold each other's hands and start there," she explained as she set the book down on the table.
Hermione reached her hands out and waited for Malfoy to grab hers. He didn't. "Are both hands necessary?" He asked as he looked at her hands like he was going to be sick.
She rolled her eyes and reached out, grabbing both of his hands with hers. "Grow up, Malfoy. Does this hurt you? Are you hurt? Do you feel your magic slipping away from you?" She asked with heavy annoyance. "Well?" She pressed when he didn't answer immediately.
His mind gave away that he felt nothing. Her hands felt like everyone else's hands he'd touched. There was really no difference. He felt conflicted - he wasn't sure what he thought would happen.
"Your hands are clammy, Granger. That's all," he lied as his fingers wiggled nervously against the back of her hands.
Hermione, herself, was surprised. He was warm, and his hands were soft. She wasn't sure why, but she always imagined he would be cold to the touch and that his flesh would feel like stone - like he was made of porcelain. But he wasn't any of that. He felt human.
She gave his hands a squeeze and shifted in her seat to face him. "Alright," she said as she cleared her throat. "Next, we must look into each other's eyes. This will replicate the feeling of Legilimency. From there, we can try to start with the normal techniques," she said.
Malfoy, too, shifted to face her. He looked into her eyes and there was a moment of silence as they stared at each other, reading each other's faces and minds. It was clear there was some sort of physical attraction there, but that they hated each other so much that the attraction meant nothing to them. A tortured feeling of want and disdain. Of curiosity and revulsion. They were both aware. They were both so lonely. The silence had to be broken
"Let's get started then."
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