1995 – Fifth Year

Hermione sat in the Gryffindor common room, her legs dangling over the arm of the chair whilst her back rested against the other, the fire warming the back of her neck. She secured her final loop on her sewing needled and placed her knitting to one side. She often wondered whether Ron was right. If she cared more about freeing House Elves than whether they wanted to be freed in the first place.

Hermione shook her head of her latest argument with Ron and glanced over at him. Ron was lay across the sofa beside her, a textbook resting against his chest as he flicked aimlessly through the pages. Her eyes wandered to the floor in front of the sofa where Harry sat, reading a column in the Daily Profit intently, his eyebrows scrunched together at certain passages.

Hermione sighed and looked up to the ceiling. She wondered if there would ever be a year that she wouldn't feel like one of her best friends was in imminent danger. It seemed highly unlikely when that best friend was Harry Potter.

Hermione thought about how different things would've been if Harry had been friends with Draco. Would he have been forced to sway Harry down a darker path? Would Lucius Malfoy have sunk his teeth into Harry if they made friends, preparing him to be Voldemort's Prodigy one day, instead of Draco?

The familiar feeling of her dragon pendent heating against her chest caused such dark thoughts to be pushed from her mind. She shivered and focused on the heat of her necklace before it simmered down, not quite disappearing completely.

"This new take on Defence Against the Dark Arts is bullshit," Ron huffed as he threw the textbook, he had been reading down to the floor beside him. He rubbed his eyes before stretching out his arms and pushing himself to a sitting position.

"The fact that Umbridge is here is bullshit," Harry added. Both boys hummed in agreement and nodded.

Hermione looked between them both, she agreed with what they were saying, and the solution was there but she just couldn't see it. She twisted herself around on the chair, sitting upright and putting her shoes back on.

Harry had scrunched up the Daily profit and had set it alight. It wasn't a roaring flame that omitted from it, but a dull crisp burning, floating mid-air just on level with his head. A spell Hermione had never seen him do before. At that moment an idea sparked through Hermione, one she had kicked herself for not thinking of sooner.

"You should teach us," Ron and Harry both looked at Hermione wearing the same look of confusion on their faces.

"Defence Against the Dark Arts, you should teach the students who want to learn the practical spells," Hermione said, her excitement bubbling out of her at the seams.

"Hermione…" Harry started as he moved uncomfortably, positioning himself to sit cross-legged.

"Harry, come on, you've had more practice than anyone in this subject, you've fought Voldemort himself and lived to tell the tale. Who better to teach students how to protect themselves for what's to come than you!?" Hermione looked at him like the suggestion was a no brainer like there was nothing to even consider.

"I owe a lot of my teachings to you, Hermione, you'd be better at teaching them," Harry protested.

"No, I've taught you what I know from books, half the spells I've never actually used myself and you've had practice in real-life scenarios using them."

"She's right mate, it's a good idea," Ron added, Harry turned to him briefly before looking back at his burning paper in front of him.

"Who would want to be taught by a liar?" Harry asked his friends quietly.

"Leave that bit to me. Just think about it." Hermione told him before she grabbed her cloak and left through the portrait of the Gryffindor Common room.

"She goes on a lot of walks that one," Ron told Harry who nodded, although it was clear to Ron that Harry hadn't heard what he was saying.

Hermione moved through the castle quickly and quietly. She had mastered the skill of being able to get through the halls as quiet as a mouse. She knew all the shortcuts, all the secret passageways, she had only ever been caught roaming around after hours a few times, most of which were by Victor Krum in her previous year, and the only other time was by the portrait to the Gryffindor common room in third year.

Hermione reached the top of the stairs on the seventh floor. She paused as the sensation in her necklace caused her to catch her breath, she felt butterflies race through her and her heart rate quicken. Hermione shook her head and ignored the blush that crept across her cheek as her eyebrows furrowed with confusion.

Hermione didn't understand the new reaction the necklace had given her and she wondered if it had been something intentional that Draco had wanted her to feel. Hermione pushed past the veil behind the dragon and moved further into the room. She glanced around at the window empty window seat and moved to get a better view of the sofa, which was also empty.

Confused and alone, Hermione turn on her heel and made her way over to the window seat. She kicked off her shoes and perched herself on the seat, pulling the blanket from beside her over her legs. She pulled her wand from her robe before using it to summon her knitting, absentmindedly she continued her pattern as she stared out of the window and admired the way the grounds looked at the start of Autumn.

Over an hour passed, Hermione had made several tiny pairs of socks, hats and scarfs for the House Elves that worked at Hogwarts, she finally stopped, feeling proud of herself. As she placed her needles on the table beside her, she heard footsteps from outside the door leading into the room.

Hermione observed as Draco walked into the room, startled by the sight of her before he discarded robe, revealing a pair of black trousers and a Slytherin Quidditch jumper.

"How long have you been here?" Draco asked, joining her at the window.

"A little over an hour, I came not long after you sent the message to."

Draco gave Hermione a puzzled look as he reached for his coin in his trousers.

"Not by coin, my necklace grew warm," Hermione told him, her hand reached for the pendant as she held it against her chest.

Draco remained confused as he stared down at the girl beside him, he tried to cast his mind back to just over an hour ago but could not recall using his necklace to signal that he wanted them to meet.

"Not that I'm complaining, but I definitely didn't do it intentionally," Draco relaxed before pushing himself further onto the seat.

"Has your chain been playing up recently?"

"How so?" He asked, his eyes started to close as it dawned on him how heavy they were from quidditch practice.

"In the beginning, when you gave me the necklace, you said they would heat up depending on how much we wanted to see each other, the heat would be more intense the more we wanted to see each other," Hermione started, "But recently its been happening at random times. Like when I was dreaming,"

"Dreaming about me," Draco said, his eyes still closed but a smirk danced across his lips.

"Exactly, your necklace felt pretty intense I bet when that happened,"

Draco's eyebrows raised as he nodded and hummed with agreement.

"Last year, a couple of times, my pendent heated causing me to look over to you in the Great hall and you seemed non the wiser like you hadn't meant for my necklace to heat. Then today, I felt it when I was in the Common Room a couple of hours ago, it was little at first, then it was enough to make me feel flustered."

Draco's eyes opened as he looked at Hermione with a raised eyebrow, his arms folded across him whilst he lifted his head away from the wall.

"Do you think they're running more off emotions?" Draco asked.

"Potentially. Have you ever noticed yours heating at strange times? Like it wasn't to signal for us to meet up?"

"At night times I have, when you're not here I assumed it was because you were wishing you were, and when you are and you're asleep, I just assumed it was because you were dreaming about me again," Draco teased as he wriggled his eyebrows at her suggestively, "Other than that, I can't say I've noticed anything too out of the ordinary."

"That is pretty out of the ordinary though, no? It's almost as though we can feel every time we want each other…" Hermione said as a blush crept across her cheeks.

"That would explain why it's only started during these past 12 months, once our hormones kicked in and we realised we didn't just see each other as friends." Draco concluded, "Why do you seem embarrassed?"

"Because it is slightly embarrassing," Hermione squealed, holding her pendant tightly in the palm of her hands.

"I don't think it's anything to be embarrassed about, think of it as a sneak peek into the other person mind, letting you know when you're in their thoughts." Draco gave her a smug smile which only enraged the rose tint in her cheeks.

Hermione swatted his arm playfully and scowled at him before he moved his head back against the wall and closed his eyes once more.

"Ok then, so what were you thinking about an hour ago that made me have to come to a complete standstill to compose myself at the top of the starts?"

Draco's eyes remained closed, his eyebrows scrunched once more as he tried to retrace his steps.

"I was doing some Quidditch training with Blaise and Theo," Draco told her.

"Wrong, that can't be it. This only works when we think about the other person who owns the other necklace. So what did you do afterwards?"

"Well, we were playing Quidditch for hours. I argued with Blaise because he thinks I'm hiding stuff from him again, Ironically this time I'm genuinely not." Draco started, "Then we went to the showers, only I didn't want to use the ones near the Quidditch grounds because I'm not poor."

"Draco!" Hermione scolded him.

"Wow, spooky."

"What is?"

"Well, I pictured you having that exact reaction when I sat in the prefect's bath, thought you'd scold me for saying I was too good for the Quidditch Ground showers."

Hermione giggled alongside Draco before she witnessed his smile fall from his now pale face, a blush crept along his cheeks as his eyes widened.

"What?" Hermione asked, feeling suddenly alarmed.

"That can't be all, what is it? Hermione told him, but Draco said nothing in return, "Draco?"

Hermione waited for a moment and watched as the redness in Draco's cheeks grew.

"What is it? It can't be that bad. You had a bath, cleared up, then what? Did you go to the Slytherin Common room or come here?"

"I came here…" Draco said quietly.

"Ok so it must've been before that then," Hermione said, her lips pouted and moved to the right side of her mouth as she tried to find the piece of the missing puzzle.

"Wait, you said you thought about how I would react, when you were in the bath?" Draco nodded at her in response, willing her to connect the dots without him having to spell it out to her.

"So, it must've been when you were in the bath," Hermione said, smiling triumphantly as she narrowed down the puzzle she had given herself, "You were thinking about me when you were in the bath,"

Once Hermione repeated the words, she clasped her both closed with her hands over the top of it, her cheeks flamed behind them and she couldn't help but let out a small squeal. Draco closed his eyes again and groaned with embarrassment.

"Draco…" He didn't look at her but instead groaned once more, "Did you… did you have a-"

"Yes," Draco said flatly, his eyes remaining closed as he spoke.

"And was you thinking about me?"

"Yes."

"That explains why I got so flustered when it hit me then, it must've been when you…" Draco groaned at her, beginning her to stop talking before he died of embarrassment.

Hermione sat in silence as she stared at Draco. She felt embarrassed for him, having something like that known, especially by the person being fantasied about. However, more than anything, she felt flattered that he had been thinking of her.

"Why are you so smug," Draco said, peeping through one eye at her.

"Because you were thinking about me," Hermione said, her hands now in her lap.

"Of course I was, who else would I be thinking about?" It was rhetorical, but Hermione answered nonetheless.

"Well, I don't know, you could've been thinking about some Quidditch player from the Holyhead Harpies or something!"

Draco pushed himself away from the wall and lent over to Hermione, clasping her hands around hers.

"Hermione, have you seen those witches?" Draco chuckled.

"That's beside the point."

"True, but I understand your point, and it's irrelevant because of course, it would be you. It's always been you."

"Always?"

"Well, there was a brief moment when I discovered how things work where I momentarily thought of Belle from Beauty and the Beast because I was reading it at the time, but that not only doesn't count but isn't something I should be judged for!" Draco spoke quickly as he realised what he was confessing to, Hermione couldn't help but laugh as he spoke.

"Regardless, it has always and will always be you."

"Only you could make the promised to always be the centre/cause for someone's masturbation seem so romantic."

"Hermione!" Draco groaned as he flung himself back once more, his arms moved above his head as he hid his eyes completely away from her, "Did you have to just say it so bluntly!?"

Hermione couldn't contain her laughter and soon enough, Draco was laughing with her. Eventually, he gripped her hands and pulled her into him, partially so that he wouldn't keep looking at her and feeling embarrassed all over again, but also because he was tired and wanted them both to fall asleep.

~X~

Mid-Wednesday Morning, early October, Hermione sat in her Gryffindor and Slytherin Potions lesson, making a list of the students she wanted to speak to before the first Hogsmeade trip of the year came up over the weekend.

Hermione had already read through the passage in her textbook detailing the riddle of ingredients the students needed to use for the Potion they had been assigned to make in the lesson. Once Snape had given the nod to begin, Hermione stood up from her desk and made her way over to the supply cupboard, her list of ingredients in her hand.

She reached for her final ingredient when a longer arm than hers reached for the jar first. She moved quickly before the other hand had a chance to reach the jar, turned to see the arm belonged to Draco, and instinctively smiled at him.

"Oh I'm sorry, do I have something you need?" Hermione asked, calmly as she slowly walked out of the supply cupboard, heading back towards the desks.

"Yes," Draco said as he caught up to her, "But I'll settle for what's in that jar," he gave her a wink and as he took the jar off a dazed Hermione, leaving her as he walked back to his desk and took a seat next to his cauldron.

"What was that about?" Blaise asked Draco, seemingly the only other person in the room who had witnessed the interaction between the pair. 'Typical' Draco thought.

"She took the last of the ingredients I needed, I stole them off her."

"She didn't look very angry, and I've seen Granger angry,"

"Because there's something I find way more satisfying than pissing people off Blaise," Draco said before he finished prepping his ingredients and turning to his friend, "and that's causing someone to feel pissed off at themselves more than the person causing them to. There's no better feeling than knowing someone hates you, but at that moment, they forgot that and gave you want you wanted because... well... who could resist this?" Draco said through his trademark smith, causing Blaise to scoff and Pansy hum as she rested her head in her hands and started at Draco.

"That's bullshit," Blaise said, "So what you're saying is, you'd prefer to flirt with Granger than be a dick to her."

"Takes up way less energy and I know at the end of it, she will hate herself more for it than I could ever make her feel." Had Draco maintained the relationship with Hermione that his friends were under the impression he had, then that statement might've been true. However, he knew differently.

"Try it some time, I promise you, you'll see what I mean," Draco told Blaise who turned his nose up at the idea before shrugging and returning to his potion.

Draco looked back at his own and allowed himself to look up through his lashes to steal a look from Hermione who was still crimson from his earlier comment. With a hint of smugness, Draco returned to his work and zoned out on his surroundings whilst he lost himself in his own little world of potions.

~X~

"Who's supposed to be meeting us then?" Harry asked Hermione as she lead the way to the Shrieking Shack.

Hermione shrugged her shoulders and mumbled her response before opening the door to lead Harry and Ron inside. The Shrieking Shack was once a place they were terrified to be looking upon from a great distance, now it was considered a safe haven.

Hermione climbed the rickety staircase, the sounds of the students she had asked to meet there were getting louder the closer she got to the landing. She turned to Harry, who was a bundle of nerves, offering him a reassuring smile before opening the door to a now silent room. All eyes turned and were on Harry as they made their way into the room, Ron followed and closed the door behind them.

Harry moved to a seat beside the empty fire, avoiding eye contact with anymore in the room. Hermione watched before she glanced around the room at all the sceptical faces before her. She recognised most of the faces, some she had never seen before, but overall she was happy with the turnout.

"So," Hermione started, causing everyone's eyes to turn away from Harry and to her, "You all know why we're here. We need a teacher. One who's had real experience defending themselves against the Dark Arts."

"Why?" A boy Hermione didn't recognise asked.

"Why?" Ron asked, frustrated with the boy, "Because You-Know-Who's back, you tosspot."

"So he says," The boy answered back, gesturing towards Harry.

"So Dumbledore says," Hermione added.

"So Dumbledore says because he says," The boy shot back once more, "The point is, where's the proof?"

"If Potter could tell us more about how Diggory was killed," Dean Thomas added from the back of the room.

All eyes moved back to Harry. Hermione glanced at her friend with an apologetic look on her face, this was not how she had intended for the gathering to go.

Harry stood and moved to stand beside her before addressing the room, "I'm not going to talk about Cedric, so if that's why you're here you might as well clear out now."

Harry turned to Hermione and lowered his voice, "Come on Hermione let's go, they're just here because they think I'm some sort of freak."

"Is it true you can produce a Patronus Charm?" Luna's voice sang across the room as she asked Harry the question.

Harry turned to Luna, her eyes flicking between the boy who had questioned him, a smirk on his face, and back to Luna again. Harry stared at Luna without a response before turning to Hermione.

"Yes," Hermione answered the questions, moving her eyes away from Harry towards Luna, "I've seen it."

"Blimey Harry, I didn't know you could do that," Dean Thomas commented.

"And he killed a Basilisk, with the sword of Gryffindor in Dumbledores office," Nevil added.

"In third year, he fought off about 100 dementors at once," Ron spoke next, whispers had already started to travel around the room as the students start to marvel at the stories they were being told.

"And last year, he really did fight off Voldemort in the flesh." Hermione silenced the room as she spoke.

"It all sounds great when you say it like that, but the truth is, most of that was just luck. I didn't know what I was doing half of the time. I nearly always had help."

"He's just being modest," Hermione chuckled,

"No, Hermione, I'm not," Harry told her with a stern look before turning back to the group, "Facing this stuff in real life is not like school. In school, if you make a mistake, you can just try again tomorrow. But, out there, when you're a second away from being murdered or watching a friend die before your eyes… you don't know what that's like."

"You're right Harry, we don't. That's why we need your help if we're going to have any chance of beating Voldemort." Hermione sat down beside him, ignoring the rest of the room until someone finally spoke.

"He's really back isn't he?" Cho Chang whispered, Harry nodded in response.

"It's settled then, we start next week. I will work on finding a way we can communicate a date and time for these lessons. In the meantime, Fred and George, I need you to work with Harry and Ron and find a place we can have the lessons, you guys know this castle better than anyone."

The Weasley twins nodded and turned to one another before they started whispering possibilities. The rest of the students started talking to one another about the different spells they wanted to learn before Hermione turned back to Harry and Ron.

"See, that wasn't so bad," Ron told Harry, who scowled at him before smiling.

~X~

"You can't be serious, Draco," Hermione scolded him playfully from across the room whilst he sat looking out of the window in their secret room.

"Why not, I think it will be fun," Draco smirked, enjoying how frustrated Hermione was becoming.

"You are not joining the Inquisitorial Squad," Hermione told him sternly.

"Says who?"

"Says me?"

"Who put you in charge?" Draco asked, his grin growing wider as he spotted Hermione turning pink.

Hermione stood up from the floor in front of the fire and marched over to him, however, froze the second Draco started to do the same.

"What're you doing?" Hermione asked.

"What're you doing?" Draco repeated her question.

"Why do you want to join, Draco?" Hermione asked once more, her arms folding against her chest.

"As I said, it will be fun. Being the boss of you sounds fun to me,"

"So you're doing this to be the boss of me? I'll never listen to you,"

"Then I get to punish you appropriately. Besides, chasing you around the castle trying to find where you and your friends are hiding out, sounds like fun to me!"

"You'll never catch us,"

"Is that a challenge?" Draco's tongue danced across his teeth as he waited for Hermione to respond.

She had to admit to herself, the idea of this little game that Draco was creating did excite her, in more ways than one. There was a lot of moves being made within Hogwarts that were causing the year to be very stressful and not a lot to look forward to, what Draco was proposing sounded like a little bit of light in an otherwise awful situation.

"I repeat, you'll never catch me." Hermione looked up through her lashes as she smiled at him.

Draco pounced and caught her in his arms, lifting her in the air with ease, wrapping her legs around his waist, her arms resting around his shoulders as she smiled at him.

"Oh really?" Draco teased, watching as her lips moved to a pout.

"Doesn't count," Hermione whispered against his lips, pulling away as Draco hummed, "Say it doesn't count."

Draco groaned as she teased him, watching her pout turn to a smirk, his smirk, one she had learnt from him. He moved towards the wall and rested Hermione's back against it before he sighed in defeat.

"It doesn't count," He said bitterly before Hermione kissed him and he no longer cared that she made him admit he was wrong.

~X~

"You joining the Inquisitorial Squad Blaise?" Draco asked as he sat in the Slytherin Common, flicking through a copy of the Daily Profit absentmindedly.

"Why on earth would I do that?" Blaise didn't move his eyes away from the Wizards Chess game he was playing with Theo.

"I will be doing," Goyle spoke, sitting opposite Draco on the sofas.

"Really?" Draco closed his newspaper and looked over at his friends Crabbe and Goyle sitting beside one another, playing a card game togher.

"Yeah, I think Crabbe is too. We need the extra credit." Goyle shrugged.

"Fair enough," Draco nodded, "How's about you, Theo?"

"Yeah, fuck it, why not," Theo responded before moving his final chess piece to declare checkmate to Blaise.

Blaise kicked back and huffed before finally looking over at Draco, "Why is everyone so interested?"

"Something to do isn't it? Umbridge has taken everything else away, at least we get to terrorise some Gryffindors in the process." Draco enticed Blaise as he watched Theo roll his eyes.

"What's everyone doing?" Pansy asked as she moved over to sit beside Draco.

"Joining Umbridge's little gang," Blaise answered.

"The Inquisitorial Squad? You mean Flitches gang?" Pansy cackled, Blaise and Crabbe stared at her in disbelief before turning to face Draco.

"Ignore her, she's just bitter because Umbridge doesn't like girls and they're not allowed to join." Draco rolled his eyes at her.

"They are allowed to join, I just don't want to. I have better things to do."

"Like filing your nails and reading through the latest copy of Witch Weekly because the air between your ears doesn't allow you to do much else? Get over yourself, Pansy,"

"Why do you have to such a fucking dick, Draco," Pansy snapped, causing the entire Slytherin Common room to quieten down to near silence. Draco stared and Pansy in disbelief.

Pansy stood up and put her cloak over her shoulder before she left the common room. Draco watched her leave before he realised his friends were all staring at him.

"What?" Draco asked defensively.

"You know what." Goyle told him.

"Come on guys, it's Pansy. She gives as good as she gets." Draco tried to play it off cool, not wanting to admit that he was feeling guilty, he had seen the hurt in her eyes before she stormed off.

"She's our friend, but she's not one of us, you can't treat her like she's one of the guys, Draco." Goyle continued.

"Why, because she fancies me? Do I have to be nice to her? Lead her on and make her think I'm interested." Draco said irritably.

"Maybe it's you who needs to get over yourself," Blaise added. Draco turned his head to glare at his friend before he stood up, straightening his robes and headed for the portrait.

"Where are you going?" Theo asked.

"Away from here, this place has ruined my good mood," Draco shouted back before he left the Slytherin Common room in search of Pansy.

It didn't take him long to figure out where she was. For as long as he had known Pansy, he had known of a classroom where she had always taken herself to whenever she was upset. He often caught Blaise lingering outside, debating on whether to go in and comfort her before he would inevitably bottle it and leave her alone.

Draco pushed against the door leading into the empty classroom, once inside and the door closed behind him, he heard the smashing of what sounded like bottles and plates against a hard surface. He walked further into the classroom and waved his wand to produce more lighting when a plate flew past his head, missing him by only a couple of inches.

His eyes moved to the culprit and landed on Pansy as she stood scowling at him. She didn't look like herself. She had discarded her cloak and cardigan over a desk, the sleaves on her shirt were rolled up to her elbows and her usually neat black bob had volume to it, with stray hairs wandering off in each direction.

Draco stared at her quizzically, waiting for an explanation that never came. His eyes wandered around the room over the broken pots that lay surrounding them before he looked back at Pansy, who not stood with her arms folded against her chest.

"So this is what you do when you're upset?" Draco asked, "You break things."

"What did you expect, to find me locked up in some toilet somewhere, crying my eyes out over something you said. That's not me Draco, never has been."

"Fair enough," Draco said before he moved across the sea of broken classroom supplies, stopping at the desk at the front before he pushed himself upwards to sit on top of it.

"Why are you here Draco? You're interrupting." Pansy huffed as she waved her wand over all the broken pieces and the transformed back together, completely fixed and like new.

"To see if you're ok," Draco told her.

"Bullshit," Pansy scoffed.

"Why else would I be here?"

"To make me feel worse?"

"Do you think I'm that cruel?" This time Pansy didn't respond to him. The truth was, she didn't, but she also couldn't accept that he was there to make sure she was not upset.

"Pansy, can I be completely honest with you?" Draco asked her, staring at the floor was much easier than looking her in the face as he spoke.

"Sure." She said with just as much sass as ever.

"I don't fancy you. I never have, I never will. When you told me in first year that you wanted what your father had suggested all those years ago, for us to get married, it scared me. But, we were young, I didn't think anything of it. Then you tried to kiss me in third year, and I realised I needed to make it clear that I wasn't interested. I know I probably lead you on by asking you to the ball, and for that I am sorry. But what I'm trying to say is, the reason why I'm so horrible at times is that I've gotten used to having to be that way to make sure there is no way you think I might fancy you."

Draco spoke quickly and with very few breaths in between his sentences. There was a slight moment of silence before Pansy burst out laughing. Draco's eyes shot to hers as he watched her cling to her stomach from laughing so hard.

Pansy moved across the room to take a seat on the desk in front of him before she steadied her breathing and prepared herself to respond.

"Draco, I don't fancy you either." Draco's eyebrows shot up as he stared at her with shock, slowly transitioning into confused as he waited for her to continue.

"I don't think I ever really did. You see, my father told me that one day we would be married, he said I needed to make friends with you and basically, that was all I'd ever be good for. Imagine being told at 11 years old that you'll never amount to anything yourself, so your best bet is to make sure you're a good wife to someone who will? I was 11 Draco, that shit sucks. He told me I had to make friends with you, so I played the part, but you were nothing like what he told me you would be like. You weren't like other boys. I knew that when you pointed out in first year how there are more important things to have in common than just blood status and social standing."

Pansy shuffled on the desk she sat on, brushing the dust off her skirt and straightening her back before she continued.

"I realised by the start of third year that we were never going to be a thing. But I got scared. I could just hear Fathers voice in my head telling me I'd be a failure and how he'd marry me off to one of his Death Eaters friends." Draco's stomach turned as she continued, "So that's when I tried one last time, a desperate hope to kindle something. We both know how that went, and to be truthful I'm glad. Because I mean it when I say, I really don't fancy you. So, you can stop thinking that if you were nice to me I'd going to start swooning after you all over again."

Draco chuckled as she attempted to lighten to mood, "I didn't know any of that Pansy, I'm sorry."

"You wouldn't do because you never asked, you were more focused on what's going on inside your own head."

"To be fair to me, you don't exactly act like it's not true. Whenever I make jokes about my appearance, like in Potions when I jokingly said to Blaise, who could resist me. You agreed and stared at me."

"It's an act. I'd rather people think I liked you and my father believe I'm at least trying than the alternative."

"I do have a solution to your little problem though," Draco said.

"If you say, Blaise, I swear,"

"Why not Blaise? He follows you around like a lost puppy, would treat you like the princess you want to be, and he's not bad looking and comes from a respectable family."

"He only wants me because he thinks I want you. The second that changed, he wouldn't want me anymore. I've seen it hundreds of times, people wanting what they can't have."

"So you do like him?"

"I never said that,"

"You never said you didn't either," Draco pointed out, causing Pansy to blush ever so slightly.

"There are more important things to worry about at the moment, like the Dark Lord returning," Pansy reminded Draco of the elephant in everyone's room at the moment.

"Yes well, whatever happens, we will get through it together," Draco said.

"Does this mean you'll stop being a dick and start being nice to me?"

"Oh I don't know about that, when am I nice to anyone?" Draco teased and smirked at her before he jumped off the desk and smiled at her, walking past her to the exit.

"Don't tell anyone," Pansy shouted, her back still facing towards him.

"That goes without saying, Pans," Draco said before he exited through the door and headed down the deserted corridors towards the staircases.

He felt a moment of slight guilt when he realised, he wasn't entirely truthful with Pansy. He knew he needed to tell just one person to prevent their second year from happening all over again.