A/N: It's been a minute since I last updated! I'm hoping to post more regularly moving forward. Enjoy Ch. 8!

CHAPTER SEVEN

Day Eight cont.

"Aren't you still mad at me?"

I glanced at Granger as we walked towards the Arithmancy classroom and raised an eyebrow.

"You know," She started, "For yelling at you in front of everyone and comparing you to your father."

"Oh, that?" I said as I rolled my eyes, "How could I forget?"

She nudged me with her shoulder, "Answer the question."

I sighed and cracked my neck to relieve some of the tension. This woman infuriated me to no end with her hot-one-day, cold-the-other behavior. Old Draco would tell her to piss off, but Old Draco also wouldn't have asked her if he could walk her to class. I glanced over at her expectant face.

"I'm not mad at you, Granger."

She cocked her head to the side, "Why not?"

"I guess I'm just tired of being mad all the time."

We fell into silence after that, and when I dropped her off at her class, she stopped and spun around to face me.

"Thank you, Malfoy." She said with a small smile and looked up at me through her lashes.

At that moment, she was beyond beautiful.

I stared like an idiot as she entered the room and gave me a wave over her shoulder.

What the fuck is going on?

Later that night, I sat in the common room with Daphne, doing our Transfiguration homework.

"Hey Daph," I questioned after a while of constant studying.

She looked up from her parchment with a raised eyebrow.

"Has Granger changed at all since you first became friends with her?"

Daphne squinted her eyes at me, contemplating my question internally before responding, "I suppose she has. She's much more unafraid now. Before, she overthought every decision before making it, whereas now she seems to follow her instincts."

"Do you think that's a good change?"

She shrugged delicately, "I don't think it really has a connotation. She's just expressing herself more openly now. Do you think sixth-year Hermione or any version before would have mouthed off to a professor the way she did to Franklin or McGonagall?"

I snorted, "Definitely not."

"I'm guessing that's why you're asking, right?" Daphne asked, trying to pull information out of me. "Because she yelled at you and made a joke out of Franklin?"

I nodded quickly, before returning to my homework.

Day Nine

It was hard to deny that I found Granger physically attractive. There was no denying it at this point, in fact, but that was not to say that she did not irritate the shit out of me. She was needlessly condescending, excessively grating, and, historically, a killjoy, not to mention she surrounded herself with self-righteous asshats. But even with all of those truths, she managed to be the most brilliant witch I had ever met.

That's why, during our therapy session, I couldn't take my eyes off of her.

She was mesmerizing.

"Okay everyone," Professor Franklin demanded all of our attention to her, "we are going to continue our discussion on happiness today. Please break off into groups of five or six and we will get started!"

It was a given that Theo, Blaise, Daphne, and I would be in a group together, but it surprised me that Granger and Red blew off Finnigan, Longbottom, and Lovegood to come to our group. They sat beside Daphne and instantly started quietly chatting with one another. From across the room, I could see Finnigan glaring.

"Alright, now that we have our groups, I will ask a question to the room and have you discuss within your groups for a couple of minutes per question and then, at the end, we will reconvene all together and share. All of these questions are based on happiness, whether that be achieving it, seeking it, or what have you. Is everyone ready?"

After a noise of agreement from the class, she began.

"When was the last time you felt happy?"

We all took a second to contemplate and awkwardly stared at one another, urging someone to go first.

"I felt happy this morning when there were pineapples out for breakfast!" Daphne said with a bright smile.

I snorted, "That's kind of cheating, don't you think? That isn't a real answer."

She shot me a stern look, "Happiness can be found anywhere, Draco. It doesn't have to be this massive, phenomenal feeling. It can be little things."

"Yeah, I agree," Red chimed in, "especially after the war, I've found it easier to find happiness in little things like the sun shining or leaves changing colors."

Granger's face looked like how I felt. She didn't seem to be buying what Red and Daphne were selling.

"What do you think, Granger?" I prompted her.

She sighed, "I don't think I've genuinely been happy this entire year."

Everyone was silent.

Professor Franklin, who had been making rounds around the room, chimed in when she heard Granger's confession, "Why do you think that is? Were you not happy when the war ended or even when you saw your family after it was done?"

Granger's eyes hardened at the mention of family, and I noticed Ginny grimace slightly, as well.

"This entire year, I was so focused on keeping myself and the boys alive that it was hard to feel anything that wasn't just survival. And when the war ended, all I felt was relief, not really happiness. I was so relieved that I wouldn't have them depending on me all the time, which ultimately made me feel guilty, and I was relieved that I could sleep without having someone on the lookout, but, through all of it, I never felt happy."

I noticed that she didn't address her family.

Professor Franklin looked perplexed and somewhat saddened by Granger's dialogue, but shifted the conversation to Theo.

"Mr. Nott, when was the last time you felt happy?"

Theo thought for a moment, "Honestly, when I was thinking of a memory for this class. I was thinking about my mom a lot during the process and just going back and watching that memory over again was really the happiest I've been in a while."

I gave him a look of encouragement. It used to be so difficult for him to talk about his mom, and here he was doing it in front of practical strangers.

"Mr. Zabini?"

Blaise looked like he zoned out for the entirety of the conversation, and he answered in a monotone voice that was the opposite of Blaise's normal cadence, "When the war ended."

I could tell something was off about his behavior so I jumped in to answer for myself, "The last time I felt happiness was when I went flying this morning before classes."

"And you got mad at me for saying I felt happy about pineapples." Daphne rolled her eyes at me.

I responded quickly, "Flying is way more significant than pineapples, Greengrass."

"Eh," Granger responded with a shrug, "They seem pretty equivalent to me."

"Just because you don't know how to fly, Hermione, doesn't mean the rest of us find it so atrocious." Red chimed in with a smirk.

Granger glared at her and crossed her arms, "I know how to fly, Ginerva, I just choose not to. In fact, I'm rather good at it."

All eyes were on her. None of us forgot her less than satisfactory trials and errors in First Year.

We all remained silent.

She huffed, "You don't believe me."

Silence.

"Well," She continued after throwing her hands in the air, "it looks like we're going to the Quidditch fields after this."

And that's where we found ourselves following the classes of the day; standing on the Quidditch pitch with a surprisingly confident Granger in front of us, broom in hand.

"What do you want me to do?" She asked as we all stared at her.

"Honestly," Weaslette began, "if you just do a lap without looking shaky I'll be impressed."

I cocked my head to the side as I appraised Granger.

She got my gaze, "What, Malfoy?"

"What can you do?" I responded, genuinely interested.

She let out a short laugh before she hopped on her broom and flew off. She did a quick lap without so much as a backward glance, much less shakiness, as Weaslette implied. Then she proceeded to do a series of corkscrews, flips, and abrupt turns leaving all of us stunned. Her hair flew behind her looking like chestnut fire and her skills were worthy of a position on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, undoubtedly.

When she landed, we were all equally flabbergasted.

"What the hell?!" Weaslette yelled after she came to. "When did this happen?!"

Granger shrugged, "I needed to feel in control of something after the war ended so I learned how to fly. Harry taught me all that extra shit though. It's much too flashy for my tastes."

Day Ten

"Today we are going to be a little more active with our exercise. I am going to be asking a series of yes or no questions. If you wish to answer yes, please walk to the left side of the room. If you wish to answer no, proceed to the right side of the room. Does everyone understand?"

Everyone made a noise of agreement.

"Very well," Franklin continued, "The first question is: 'Is happiness a goal?'"

Everyone seemed rather confused by the question initially, except for Granger who almost immediately after the question was read walked over to the "yes" side of the room. I found myself disagreeing, on instinct, so I decided to join a few others on the "no" side.

Blaise and Theo, amongst some other Slytherin seventh years, were beside me, but a large majority of the class resided on the "yes" side.

"Since the no's are in a minority here, we will begin with you all. Would one of you like to volunteer why you chose this side?"

Everyone's eyes seemed to drift to me when she asked, so I felt the need to respond.

"I suppose growing up there were certain goals pushed upon me like getting high marks, joining the Quidditch team, marrying a suitable wife, and things of that nature. Happiness was never really something I cared about and I don't think it was something most Purebloods were taught to strive for." I said and looked around at the rest of the no's who were all nodding along with me.

Theo chimed in, "Happiness was merely something that could happen to you, but it wasn't something to seek out. I was taught, and I'm sure most other Purebloods can attest to, that duty came before anything else. It was my duty to carry on the family business. It was my duty to marry a Pureblood wife who could give me a Pureblood heir and if miraculously, I actually loved the woman I was to marry, then I would get happiness simply by luck, not as something I genuinely tried for."

We all nodded.

"It is rather interesting that all of the no's come from Pureblood families, is it not?" Professor Franklin asked. "Who of the yeses is a Pureblood?"

Daphne and Weaslette raised their hands.

"I don't really count as a Pureblood though," Weaslette offered, "because I come from a family of blood traitors so my customs are nothing like theirs."

Daphne spoke up, "I definitely agree with everything that Draco and Theo mentioned. I was raised the same way, but since I was little I have questioned everything that has been taught to me. In case you couldn't tell by what the guys said, Pureblood society is innately sexist. The daughters are basically sold off into arranged marriages without a say in anything and they are forced to be the Ladies of the house while their husbands provide for them. I knew something was terribly wrong with that system from a young age so, for me, I personally made happiness my goal, even if that meant defying what my family wanted for me in life."

"Arranged marriages?" Professor Franklin asked skeptically.

All of the Purebloods nodded.

"Well, that is simply archaic!"

I laughed sarcastically, "Yes, I heard that in America those traditions were practically discontinued, but here we very much adhere to those customs. Daughters are pawns used to further the agenda of their fathers and it ensures that we keep a "pure" bloodline. I've been betrothed to Astoria Greengrass, Daph's sister, since she was born. Thankfully that died with my father, no offense, Daph."

Daphne snorted, "None taken. She's a mess."

"I'm sorry you had to endure that growing up. Now, do you think that happiness should be a goal in your lives moving forward?" Franklin asked with pitying eyes.

All of the Purebloods around me began nodding their heads but I couldn't seem to muster the will to. I had been focused on existing and reviving the Malfoy name, not on making myself happy. I had succumbed to the idea that I would never truly be happy when the Dark Lord came into power. Franklin didn't seem to notice that I hadn't nodded, but I felt a pair of chocolate eyes focused on my face.

"Next question," Franklin called out, returning our attention to her, "Can you be poor and happy?"

My gut pulled me to the no side of the room but I took a minute to genuinely think about the question and my answer. Was I happy now?

With that question in mind, I walked purposefully to the yes side of the room along with the majority.

Granger's eyes were on me, as they had been the entirety of the class so far, as I stood on the outside of the masses.

The no's from the previous question were all the same except I had moved to the majority yes side.

"Seeing as how Mr. Malfoy was the only one to move for this question, I would like to hear from him first."

Everyone stared at me as I tried to formulate what I wanted to say.

"In case you didn't know," I began, "I come from the wealthiest Wizarding family in Europe, even after all of the fines that we had to pay due to my family's illicit behavior. And what has that money done for me? Sure, I have nice clothes and fancy things, but aside from the material, it's given me problem after problem. My family's money was used to fund a psychopath's war. My family's manor was used to house his soldiers. My family was ultimately a pawn being used for our wealth in order to further the Dark Lord's agenda."

I finished with a deep sigh and stared at the floor. Professor Franklin began another long-winded speech about the importance of happiness that I couldn't focus on. I thought about all of the times my father had stressed the importance of our status and our money and our purity and never once the importance of love or happiness or family. No wonder I was so fucked in the head.

As I was deep in thought, I didn't notice Granger move quietly through the crowd of students to stand by my side. I did notice, however, her small hand graze mine. I looked down to find her looking straight ahead, focused on Franklin. I bit back a smile at her attempt to comfort me.

"Okay, all that being said," Professor Franklin's voice rang through the room, gaining my attention once more, "That is all for our class today!"

Before she had finished speaking, everyone began to move back to their seats to grab their belongings.

"But first," She shouted over the hustle, "You have homework that I need to explain!"

Cue a collective groan.

"Before next class, please compile a list of ten things that make you happy with explanations. It doesn't need to be incredibly serious! I just need ten things that make you feel happy. Any questions?"

There were several.

I tried to rack my brain for things that made me happy and instantly felt bad for telling Daphne that pineapples didn't count. I couldn't think of three, much less ten.

As I packed up my belongings, Daphne was appraising me.

"What, have I got something on my face?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

She laughed, "No, I'm just happy is all."

"How appropriate," I said, referring to the topic for the class. "What has you so happy, my dear?"

"How much you've been sharing during these classes," She said with a pat on my cheek. "I think this'll be good for you."

Good for me?

I could use some good.

A/N: Let me know what you think! There's definitely been a shift between Draco and Hermione, stay tuned for more!