Ch. 8

They walked around Hogsmead for a few hours, going into the joke shop and stopping by the post office so she could mail a few letters she had written. The best part of the trip was their stop at the three broomsticks.

Draco had ordered two butter beers followed by two firewhiskeys. She hadn't tried firewhisky before and found out that she was a light weight. After their drinks they decided to head back. Hermione had trouble walking straight, and he realized that she might actually be drunk.

"Granger," he called to her.

"Hmmm," she responded, unlike herself.

"You really like my muggle clothes?" he was going to bait her and make fun of her later.

She didn't answer but just smiled.

"Is that a yes?" he pushed

"Yes Draco," she returned as she looked him up and down with a hungry look in her eyes. It gave him a strange feeling to see her look at him that way. To say his name that way…did he…like it? "What is this feeling?" he wondered.

"Better get you back to your quarters, I think you've had enough fun for today." He said in a distant voice.

"But the day has just started!" she said, disappointed.

"No, it's late afternoon, do you realize how long we've been here?"

"Nope," she shrugged her shoulders, not too concerned. Totally unlike herself.

He walked with her through the portrait and helped her inside her room. As she sat down on her couch she fell asleep with the fire going. He noticed she looked so peaceful.

He reached over and lightly touched her ankle and slipped her shoe off, and the repeated the same thing with her other shoe before placing them on the floor. He then went to get a blanket from her bedroom and covered her up. Her hair was partially in her face and he brushed it off her cheek a little bit before making a turn for the door and leaving.

The next morning was a Sunday and since it wasn't usual that they spent any time together on the weekend, neither woke the other one up.

After yesterday, Malfoy felt odd. Not sick, but something definitely wasn't right. He kept thinking about Hermione in the dress she wore and the look she gave him when they were leaving the village. He tried to make himself think about how much he disliked her, but it wasn't working. He resolved not to see her for the day.

Hermione woke up in the afternoon and realized she had fallen asleep in her outfit from yesterday. She didn't even remember how she fell asleep on the couch, or got to her room, or leaving the bar. "What the heck happened," she wondered.

She changed her clothes and got cleaned up and then planned to go to the library to do some research. When she left her room she looked over at Malfoy's door and considered knocking, but wanted to give him his space. He had already agreed to go to Hogsmead with her yesterday, which she definitely was not expecting. They even had fun.

She made it into the library and got the keys for the restricted section from Madame Pince. She glared at Hermione while handing her the keys. "Such a weird lady," Hermione thought.

After about 45 minutes of picking out books to read in the evening, she handed the key back and made it back to her quarters. She put all the books away except one, and went to sit by the common area fire. This way she might strike up conversations with other people.

She saw most of the teachers throughout the day as she sat there, she had drunken too much yesterday to be hungry today. She would greet them or strike up conversation and then continue on with her book. In the evening, most people left for the great hall, but she decided to stay behind and continue reading. After most people had left she heard a door lightly open and close. She didn't pay it any attention until it happened again and she hadn't seen anyone. She looked around, wondering what was going on.

She got out of her chair and sat against a wall, so that if someone was waiting for her to leave, she would be blocked from view. She heard the door open again and this time someone did appear around the corner and sat down by the common room fire.

"Malfoy?"

He jumped and turned towards her. "Granger, I thought you were gone."

"You've been avoiding me?" She said in a joking voice. He had a sheepish look on his face that told her that was exactly what he had been doing. "Oh, okay, I was done anyways," she said as she closed her book shut.

She felt awkward as she walked to her room and closed the door. She could be just as comfortable in here as she was out there, and it was almost time for a new book anyways.

She grabbed another book and had been reading for half an hour when she heard a soft knocking on her door. She pretended she didn't hear it at first until it got louder.

She opened her door just a crack to see Malfoy standing there. She raised her eyebrows at him as if to say "what?" He could infer her meaning.

"You didn't have to leave…" he began.

"I know," she returned.

"Want some company?" He asked in a soft voice.

She was surprised, she hadn't heard him use that tone before. "Sure, but I just plan on reading."

"Great, me too," he said as he lightly pushed on her door so he could enter.

She sat down on her couch with her blanket wrapped around her, the blanket he covered her up with the night before. He didn't know if she could remember anything from yesterday. He sat down on the opposite side of the couch and both of them read in silence for the next few hours while listening to the crackling fire. He could imagine spending many nights this way.

Hermione was happy for the company and the silence that allowed her to get through her reading. After a few hours, Malfoy stood up. "It's getting late, we've got early classes Granger."

"Yeah, I'll see you in the morning." She said as she closed her book and watched as he left. "I had a nice night," she thought.

In the morning she woke Malfoy up earlier than usual. In the early morning hours a list of areas in the castle to decorate for Halloween had been placed under her door. She wanted to plan out the decorations for the items on the list. She knocked several times before he finally answered.

"What is it?" he answered the door with a towel wrapped around his lower abdomen, exposing him from the waist up.

She looked at his chest and her suspicion about him having muscles was correct. His chest was very well defined and he had nice biceps to match. She lost her train of thought as she took the sight of him in.

"Well?" he asked impatiently.

"Um…" she tried to get on track and looked away from him. She handed him the list. "I got this under my door this morning and I have some ideas…" she still kept her eyes averted.

He noticed that Hermione had been definitely gawking at him, he knew he hadn't imagined it. "Granger, why are you acting so weird?" He wanted to give her a bad time, but he was enjoying the attention all the same.

"I'm not!" She half shouted and started blushing. She could feel the heat rising in her cheeks. "You're the one who's half…naked," she hissed the last word at him, embarrassed.

"Well you were nearly knocking my door down!" he pretended to be exasperated.

She caught the insincerity in his voice, placed her hand on his chest, and pushed him back inside his doorway and closed the door, leaving herself out in the hall. "That was weird," she thought. "Why did I keep staring?"

After he got done he came to the fire where she had been waiting for him in the common area. They both acted like nothing had happened.

He set the list down on the arm of her chair before he sat down on the couch.

She looked over at the list, refusing to look at him. "I thought we could add to these decorations a bit, you know, go big!"

The list gave them two weeks to complete the tasks so that the castle was ready for Halloween.

"Which ones did you want to start first?" He never let her pick first and was trying to be nice.

"You're letting me take the lead? Are you sure you're feeling okay?" She had to give him a bad time.

"Well if you're going to be that way, I take it back," he said playfully as he grabbed the list back from her.

She stood up and tried to grab it back but he kept holding it higher and higher, she was pressed against his chest trying to reach. The closeness made him freeze and she became aware of it too. She backed up a step and he handed the list over to her.

They again pretended that nothing had happened. "I say we do giant pumpkins in the great hall and then we have floating lights all over the castle, and..." she noticed a melancholy look on his face "too much?"

He hadn't been paying attention.

"Earth to Draco!" He looked at her with his eyebrows raised.

"What?" He liked when she said his name.

"You are so distracted? What's your problem?" She asked directly.

"Nothing..."

"It's fine if you don't want to talk about it, but at least pay attention." She said as she repeated her ideas.

"Sounds good to me, when are you going to do all this work?" He asked seriously.

She lowered the list and looked at him with a disappointed face.

"You're kidding," she said as she eyed him for any hint of a joke.

"Maybe I am and maybe I'm not..." he toyed with her emotions for a minute before admitting he was joking. "Come on, Granger. You know I have no choice."

She smiled and put the list away. "Time for breakfast, we better get going."

They walked down to the great hall and started their day.

After lessons were over, Draco sought out Hermione. Usually there was a bit of time that would lapse before they would see each other, due in part to finishing up after the school day, and also due to Mr. Bones detentions that were nearing their end.

She was in her classroom putting her things away when Draco knocked and then entered. "Hey Malfoy, you're early…" she stopped when she noticed he had a student with him. They may have been informal with one another the majority of the time, but it had been an unspoken rule that this didn't happen in front of students. "I apologize professor," she recovered, "what can I do for you?" She gave him a serious look and didn't wear the friendly expression she usually displayed.

"I wanted to introduce you to a student of mine, Ms. Chadwick." He began.

She knew her from lessons and remembered Draco had said she was a muggle born. "Good evening Ms. Chadwick," Hermione said as she nodded her head in the young Slytherin's direction. She waited for Malfoy to continue.

"Ms. Chadwick is in my potions class, as well as a member of Slytherin house, I've told her a lot about your story and wondered if you had a moment to talk," He pressed. He hadn't given her notice, so she assumed there was something urgent or concerning to him that had caused this sudden meeting.

"Absolutely," Hermione transfigured a few desks into three comfortable chairs and a tea tray, however, since transfiguration didn't work on food or drink, those things were missing from the tray. "Please, take a seat."

The quick transfiguration caught Malfoy off guard, he knew she was talented but this was exceptional magic to conjure up so quickly.

Ms. Chadwick started, "Is it true that you're muggle born?"

Hermione looked over at Draco and then back at Marie, smiling. "Yes."

"Me too." Marie said in a bummed out tone.

"If I didn't know any better, I would say you sounded sad about that…" Hermione pressed.

"It's just that, I don't know very much, and in Slytherin house most people don't like muggle borns." She added.

"I know what you mean…" Hermione sat back in her chair and exhaled.

Draco wondered if he should leave but knew he had to stay to support his student.

Marie looked up at her, surprised.

"When I came here I knew nothing about magic, the wizarding world, and on top of it all, I had no friends." Hermione didn't say any of this in a sad voice.

"But you're not sad? And you know tons now!"

"At first, I felt like I should probably leave the school and never come back because I was never going to fit in and never going to learn all the incredible things that people could do. Have you ever felt that way?"

The girl burst into tears, hearing someone lay out her insecurities was overwhelming.

Hermione leaned forward and handed her a tissue and patted her back. "There, there." She spoke softly as she continued. "Years ago, I had even tried to make friends with some kids in my year and it backfired, and after class I heard them talking about how I had no friends and they were making fun of me."

Draco gave Hermione an odd look as if to ask if that had really happened. He hadn't done that to her and wondered who had.

"But do you know what I did after that?"

"…what…" Marie said, her voice still sad but she had stopped crying.

"I went into the girls bathroom and cried my eyes out, of course!" Hermione took a breath, "and then, someone had set a troll loose in the dungeon and it came right for me in the bathroom. It destroyed the bathroom while it was trying to attack me!"

"Professor!" Malfoy interjected.

"I have a point!" she held up her hand to stop him. "This is a true story, cross my heart."

"Cross your heart?" Malfoy echoed.

"Oh, that might not be a term you're familiar with…muggle saying." Hermione added.

"Cross my heart, hope to die…" Marie recited the next part and looked at professor Malfoy to show she knew it.

Malfoy gave a disgusted look before he could regain his composure.

"Anyways, as I was saying, I was attacked by a fully grown mountain troll. And the same people that made fun of me earlier came to save me. I didn't realize it until when I was about to be crushed, that I did have two friends. It took me nearly being killed for them to show me that they were my friends, but sometimes you find friends in the most unlikely places. I made many of my friends outside my own house of Gryffindor. Even when I had gone to school several years, the girls in my dormitory still didn't like me."

"Really? And you stayed?" Marie couldn't believe her ears.

"Yeah, I decided I would give it all I could and threw myself into my lessons and vowed to show them all that I belonged here and I out preformed them at magic and out scored them on all my tests. Not to brag," she threw in at the end, putting on a humble face.

Marie just stared at her.

"I know it's not easy being a muggle born going to this school, let alone being in Slytherin house, no offense professor," she added the last bit for Malfoy. "You have to decide for yourself what you want, and not because of pressure or others expectations, but what you truly want for yourself. I'm always here if you would like to talk." She reassured her.

Marie had a sudden determination in her eyes that Hermione knew only too well. "Thank you for the talk. Professor Malfoy, may I be excused?"

Professor Malfoy answered first, "yes, can I check in with you after class tomorrow?"

"Sure," she shrugged as she walked out of the room.

Draco leaned forward in his chair when he was sure they were alone. He reached out and put his hand on Hermione's arm. "Hermione, that was brilliant!" Her arm went rigid as he slowly pulled his hand back. "Thank you. I hope this helps her, I can see she's been struggling more and more and today I decided it was time for her to talk with you."

"I'm happy to help," she stood up and transfigured her chair, Marie's chair, and the tea tray back into desks. Malfoy got up so she could return his seat as well.

"One thing I don't get, why did you lie to her? You said that you outperformed all the students in your year, but I think I got a higher potions grade than you did…"

"Only because you were the teacher's pet!" She threw back at him.

"That had nothing to do with it," he smiled as he led the way out of the room and into the great hall.