A/N: I've posted a new work titled Twinned Quills: Bonus Chapters! These will be select chapters from this work from Draco's POV. The first is up, chapter "16.5," which is chapter 16 from Draco's perspective!

December 1998–

The next weeks progressed better than Hermione could have hoped. Gryffindor won the quidditch match, which bolstered Ginny's mood back to normal. Every day that they got closer to the Christmas holiday helped, too. Ginny was back to spending her meals laughing and talking with Hermione instead of snapping and brooding. Once Hermione could finally share her update on Ernie, Ginny latched onto the only guy left, in her eyes: Viktor. She had written multiple completely and carefully friendly letters to Viktor. His latest letter was very long and included a second invitation to visit him over the winter holiday, which she declined with true regret. As much as she would love to be away from everything, which sounded like the perfect distraction, she worried about giving him the wrong impression. She was not looking to further their relationship, if that was what he still had in mind.

"Listen, Mione, you need to just go for it! Ask him to visit on a Hogsmeade weekend, or invite him to meet you somewhere over the holiday." Ginny was so excited, she was almost shaking. Hermione omitted the detail that she had already had an invitation from him, twice. "You can invite him to the Burrow again! Ron can just deal with it. Anyways, he used to love Krum."

"Ginny, you're the one in a long distance relationship, not me," Hermione kept reminding her, to no avail.

All in all, Hermione's patience with life was wearing thin, but contrary to everything else, classes with Malfoy were going swimmingly. With working together so regularly on their shared assignments, they were starting to learn how to talk civilly in person like they had with the Twinned Quills. In a matter of weeks, they joked; they discussed; they compromised; and they even disagreed without blowing up. Things had improved so much that she decided to put it in a (carefully worded) letter to Harry. His reply was encouraging instead of suspicious, which had her grinning ear to ear.

In fact, it was odd to think that most of her days were now full of Malfoy. She would see him in six of her eight classes during the day, work with him in the library or in the Head common room during free periods and evenings, and end several nights per week with a few messages by quill if one of them had a late-night idea about a project or just wanted to blow off some steam. On top of that, they had Head and Prefect meetings together, and since both of them had so few friends at Hogwarts anymore, their spare time was ample. It was becoming more and more difficult for her to associate him with the cruel person he had always been. It was also a topic they carefully skirted.

That is, until one day in Herbology.

"Venomous Tentacula!" Professor Sprout said to the class, "A plant you are all familiar with by now. I will still remind you that you should not approach these tendrils too closely, or you may find them taking a strangle hold of you. Remember, these plants want to eat you, or at best, bite you to deliver their venom."

Hermione and Malfoy exchanged bored looks.

"You will be caring for these plants today, but your primary goal is carapace harvesting."

That earned piqued interest from Hermione.

"Chizpurfles!" Professor Sprout continued, holding up and magnifying a vial. It was full of miniature, crab-like creature with giant fangs. "You will lure these little parasites to the Venomous Tentacula and be prepared to summon and collect the carapace after it feasts. Work in tandem with your partner. We are harvesting these carapaces as an important ingredient for those of you taking N.E.W.T. Potions, so you might see them again. Begin!"

Hermione and Malfoy each held up their bottles, examining the tiny critters within.

"So, do you want to summon or lure first?" she asked Malfoy.

"You pick."

"I don't mind either, really."

"Just pick, Granger."

"Testy much?" She smirked at him and cackled inwardly at the raised eyebrow he gave in return. "I'll lure first." She grasped the cork of her bottle and tugged, but it stuck fast. Glancing around the room, she saw others were uncorking their bottles easily, so she gave another tug. It would not budge. She bit her lip, wiped her hands, and tried again. Malfoy started to chuckle and held out his hand, but she just scowled at him. As a last resort, she wrapped her robe around the bottle for a better grip and yanked.

The cork went flying.

Next thing Hermione knew, miniature chizpurfles were scurrying all over her robes. They were tiny enough to burrow into the fabric, and in seconds, she felt little fangs sinking into her skin. Frantic, she began smacking herself, then started to haul her robes off over her head. Malfoy was full out laughing, and somehow, that threw her over the edge.

"Do something!" she cried at him. "Don't just laugh, help me!" But Malfoy continued to cackle, doubled over and clutching his stomach. She was nearly in tears.

"You're horrible!" she wailed, frantically searching her discarded robes for her wand as welts began to pop up on her skin. "I don't know why I expected to get any help from you! You always enjoy seeing me suffer!" Finally, she found her robe pocket and pulled her wand free. Her heart sank as she looked around for the bottle, which was missing, and remembered the cork, which had flown across the room. Tears finally splashed down her mottled, stinging cheeks.

Some movement caught her eye through the bleariness. It was Malfoy, whose laughter had stopped. Instead, he was siphoning the miserable chizpurfles in a long stream off of her and into her bottle. He flicked his wrist, and the little cork came zooming from across the room and stoppered neatly into the bottle as the last of the critters fell inside. Then, he turned his wand on Hermione and pointed it directly at her face. Panic rose in her for a fleeting second, but she heard him muttering healing spells. Her face stopped stinging, and her vision cleared. He continued until her breathing had relaxed and she nodded at him to stop.

"I forgot about their bite," Malfoy said, and she heard the sincerity in his voice. It was not an apology, exactly, but it was as close as she figured she would get.

"It's okay," she muttered, not quite thanking him in kind.

"I'll lure, you summon. It's the least—I don't mind."

"Right."

Malfoy unstoppered his bottle and levitated the horde of minuscule chizpurfles out. Then, he danced them into a pattern in the air. Hermione caught his eye glancing her way, looking for approval, and she chuckled. He redirected them towards their Venomous Tentacula's mouth, and Hermione carefully summoned the discarded carapaces a few at a time. It was tedious work, but the luring was by far the worst part of the job. Malfoy had to perform some spell-casting acrobatics to keep all the chizpurfles managed instead of fleeing all over the place.

Looking around at the end of the lesson, Hermione saw that everyone in the room had at least one or two (or several) tiny welts from the chizpurfles. Everyone except for her and Malfoy, that was, because he healed their bites as soon as they popped up. They trudged back up to the castle in a much better mood, but Hermione kept shivering.

"Cold?" Malfoy asked her.

"No, I just keep imagining chizpurfles crawling all over me."

Malfoy stopped dead and sighed. "Come here," he said, holding out his arms.

"What?"

"Just come here," he motioned again. Hesitantly, Hermione stepped into him, and he wrapped his arms around her entire body. She felt herself relax into him.

"There," he said, releasing her. "Now we've both got them. I expect you to heal me this time if I feel any bites." Malfoy winked.

Hermione laughed out loud, and they continued up to the castle together.

That night at dinner, Ginny noticed Hermione's grin, which had remained with her for the balance of the day.

"Did you get another letter?" Ginny asked her.

"A letter?"

"From Viktor!"

"Oh, no."

She saw Ginny regarding her for a few moments with a shrewd look, and Hermione held her breath, preparing herself for more questions about the Quidditch player.

"How are classes going with Malfoy?"

She released her breath. "They're going really well, actually! I think we made something of a breakthrough today."

"Oh, yeah? What happened?"

Hermione regaled her on everything from Herbology that day, as well as some of the other successes that she and Malfoy had had in their classes. She noticed Ginny's eyes widen slightly and a grin grow across her face. She thought she caught a glint in her friend's eyes as well, but Ginny did not tease or press her for anything else like she did about Ernie or Viktor. She listened, asked questions at all the right times, and hugged Hermione tightly as they parted ways for the night.

"I'm so happy things are working out well, Hermione," Ginny had said. "This is really, really good to hear. Tell Malfoy that I said he's not so bad. That might get him worked up."

Hermione retreated to her room, after finding the Head common room empty when she entered, and told Malfoy all about her great talk with Ginny by quill. He proved to be an equally good audience.

"Wait," Draco's hand snatched out and grabbed Hermione's wrist in midair. "No. Let me be first."

Their scar salve had just finished maturing, and it was time for them to begin conducting tests. She was about to dip her fingers into the jar. It was reckless, she knew, but she was literally itching to test it on her MUDBLOOD scar first. She leveled Draco with a murderous glare.

"Why? I swear, if you think you're being all noble, I'm going to hex you."

He scoffed, "I'm not Potter."

"Good."

But, he did not release her wrist. His face turned serious. "My family has caused you enough pain."

They stared at each other for several moments. He released her hand. Hermione's mind had been wiped blank at his open statement. If she had not known better, she could have sworn she saw vulnerability shining through behind his grey eyes. With a shake of her head, she recovered herself.

"Don't be daft," she whispered. "I'm sure we've got the formula right this time." The slight imbalance in their first test had left them both with some uncomfortable stinging for a few days. "Anyway, you're right. Professor Sprout said we should test other scars first. Maybe we can document the results on non-magical scars, then magical ones, and then dark-magic."

"Uh, non-magical scars?"

"Yeah."

"What do you mean?"

Hermione stared at him again, flummoxed.

"Do you mean to tell me that you never got any scars as a kid? You know, falling out of a tree or crashing your bike?"

Draco raised an eyebrow at her.

"Okay, I guess not your bike, but… Oh."

"Right."

"I never thought about your parents being there to just heal you right up."

"If it makes you feel better, I never thought about Muggles not being able to heal their kids."

An awkward silence passed between them.

"So, do you have any non-magical scars then?"

"I do." She swallowed. "We can start with one here on my knee."

They had formulated the salve very carefully (the second time around) to act as a scar reduction treatment. It was designed to return the skin to its original appearance by infusing magical healing and concealing spells with a combination of magical and soothing herbs. The salve would not work immediately, but over the course of a few daily applications, they were hoping for results. She sat down, took a photograph of her knee, and then reached out, but the jar was gone. Draco was kneeling before her, jar in one hand and salve already on the top of his index finger. He waited. Nothing happened. He ran one steadying hand up her calf, then massaged the salve over her scar with feather-light touches.

"There," he whispered, then he unbuttoned and began rolling up his sleeve. For a second, she worried he was going about to go straight for the remnants of his Dark Mark, but then she realized it was his right arm. He held it out to her, and she saw an unmistakable curved line just below his elbow.

"Buckbeak," she whispered with a fond smile.

"Bloody chicken," he chuckled.

The camera flashed as Hermione took a picture of his forearm.

"You know, you were a right arse that day."

"Hah, yeah. I know." His devilish grin suggested otherwise. "I do feel sorry I got him killed, though."

"No, you didn't. I helped him escape." It was Hermione's turn to smirk.

"Escape? How?"

"That's a story for another day."

She dipped two fingers into the salve and took hold of his forearm. She was surprised at how warm his skin felt under her touch. Making slow, sweeping motions, she coated his scar with the magical salve, and when she was finished, she had to fight the urge to let her fingers keep roaming over his skin. Her arms dropped, and she turned her face up to his. He had not stepped away from her, and as their eyes connected, her mind flew back to the time in the kitchenette when she had captured his lips and tasted the pure bliss of magic on his tongue. She licked her lips unconsciously, and his eyes darkened. He stepped away from her and turned his back to scribble down some notes, presumably on their first applications of the salve.

Hermione cleared her throat and began packing up the jars.

"Why don't you make a list of what scars you want to test," she said, her voice higher than she meant for it to be. "Then we can make a timetable for testing. I think we should ask around and see if any of our friends wouldn't mind being test subjects, so we have a larger pool of comparisons."

Malfoy nodded, keeping his eyes to his page. A few moments later he handed her a neat list.

Hippogriff talon—right forearm
Chandelier crystals—neck
Sectumsempra—chest
Dark Mark—left forearm

Hippogriffs were magical creatures, so that must be why Madam Pomfrey could not fully heal the wound without a slight scar. The Sectumsempra and Dark Mark were obvious.

"This chandelier one…" Hermione began to ask.

"Yes," he said simply. His jaw clenched.

For the first time, she saw two faint lines just under his jaw line. They had clearly been there before, but they were so unobtrusive that they were easy to miss unless you were looking for them. She wanted to ask him more, but he was clearly tense. A month ago, she would not have noticed. To look at him, he seemed relaxed in the way he leaned over the table. But now, she knew Malfoy a little better. Everything about the way he stood was intentionally placed to send that message. Only his tight jaw and narrowed gaze betrayed him. All at once, it hit her. Dobby had collapsed a chandelier nearly on top of them six months ago in Malfoy Manner. Everything in that house was magical, so she had no doubts the chandelier was bewitched in some way or another. Would that be enough to leave a scar? she wondered.

Hermione frowned. By the looks of the tables around them, Herbology had ended, and it was time to make their way back to the castle. She knelt down to pick up her bag and froze. Her knee was shiny from the salve, but the scar had completely disappeared.

"Draco!" she called out excitedly.

He looked down at her. His eyes flicked to her knee, then back to her face. His lips split into a grin.

Dear Viktor,

Thank you so much for your invitation. Unfortunately, now is not the right time for a visit. We will have to defer until later. Maybe in the spring? I will be spending the holidays with Harry and the Weasleys, who are as close as family to me. After the loss of Fred, it will be a hard year for everyone, so it's important that I am there with them. I hope you have a wonderful time with your parents. I will be happy to see them again soon, and please wish them my very best.

Our semester will be at an end soon, though I will be sad to break from classes. I have learned so much this year! All of our work has been so engaging, especially the partner work we've done. I don't know if we'll get to continue with any partnering next semester, but I have a feeling they will refocus us on individual work to prepare for N.E.W.T.s.

Good luck in your upcoming quidditch matches! Or is it just practices right now? I'm sorry that I'm hopeless at following quidditch.

Yours,
Hermione

The last week of classes before the break arrived in a hurry. Before she knew it, their final class in Herbology for the semester was done. Hermione and Malfoy's project was a success on non-magic scars and drastically improved non-dark magic scars after several applications, which earned them top marks. They walked back to the Head common room from the greenhouse together in excellent spirits, even though the scars they both most wanted erased were unchanged. The salve had no effect on dark magic scars. Nonetheless, they rewarded themselves with a few butterbeers before starting in on the last bit of work for their remaining classes.

"Are you going home for the holiday?" Hermione asked after a healthy swig.

Draco nodded. "What are your plans? Nonstop reading?"

"I'm going with Ginny to the Weasleys'."

Draco set down his bottle and raised an eyebrow.

"I know," she groaned, dropping her bottle on the table. "I hope it's not too awkward. But Harry and Ginny will both be there, and I've spent part of my Christmas holidays there for the past few years. I don't know what they'll think if I don't go."

"That you're happy to spend all your time alone in the library?" Draco smirked.

Hermione grimaced and lowered her voice. "I'm not sure I can be alone this holiday."

Draco looked at her inscrutably, then he took her hand and squeezed. He held it only a moment, then released. She felt so much understanding in that small gesture. With Harry, something like that would be completely commonplace. But with Malfoy? Hermione cleared her throat, and Draco thankfully changed the subject.

"So, shall I expect an amazing thank you present delivered to my window by owl on Christmas Day? You know it was my brilliant work that nailed us full marks in Herbology and Charms."

Hermione scoffed. "In your dreams."

"Would you like to be?" His voice lowered.

Hermione was ready for something like this. For the past couple of weeks, Draco's new favorite way to tease her was to push the boundaries of her comfort zone. Suggestive comments were his go-to, since every time he succeeded in making her blush. She had discovered already that the best way to make him lose interest (and to make her flushed face calm down) was to poke holes in his innuendos.

"And what good would being in your dreams do me?"

"What if I promise to tell you every last detail?" His voice was gruff, and he leaned in towards her.

At that moment, the door swung open and admitted Ernie into the Head common room with Padma on his heels. She never saw Malfoy move, but when she turned back to him, he was leaning back far away from her.

"What are you two up to then?" Ernie asked with narrowed eyes.

"Celebrating top marks in Herbology," Malfoy said nonchalantly. He threw back his bottle, clearly intent on exiting the conversation.

"Well done!" Padma exclaimed. "I thought Sprout was beaming after your review. Now I know why." She seemed genuinely happy for them.

To Hermione's surprise, Ernie scowled.

"Everything okay, Ernie?" she asked.

"Yeah, just a bad test is all. Do you want to go blow off some steam with me?"

"Oh, Draco and I were going to do a last bit of work for Potions and Transfiguration together. Do you want to join?"

"No thanks." Ernie stomped up his stairs, and they heard his door slam.

Hermione looked to Padma, lost.

"Don't mind him," Padma said, "he's just in a sour mood. You two carry on!" Her smile was a little too wide, and there was a knowing glint in her eyes that reminded Hermione a little too much of Ginny for her liking. But, the moment passed, and Padma made her goodbyes and left to meet Terry.

Hermione turned to Malfoy. "What the heck was that about."

Malfoy appraised her carefully, bottle still at his lips. "Are you sure you made things clear with him?"

"Yes, I think so."

"What exactly did you tell him?"

"I don't remember the exact words, Malfoy! I made it clear that things weren't going to go that way between us."

"And what did he reply?"

"Something about diving in head first when another witch came along." Hermione shrugged.

"Hmm."

They dropped the subject and enjoyed the evening with jokes and laughs interspersed with studying, but Hermione could swear that she felt Malfoy's pensive stare whenever she was looking the other way.