"Full name?"
Silence answered his question, prompting Draco to glance up from his parchment to glare at the messy-haired wizard sitting across the library table. The boy in question was glaring at the blonde, pushing his round spectacles up his nose every couple of minutes.
"Harry, please, we need this for our project. I need this." Granger's voice came from the seat next to Draco, her own parchment laid out neatly in front of her.
"Honestly, Mione. Take the fail and drop the course." Draco wrinkled his nose at the nickname. Miney? What was she, his property? Sighing, Draco scratched his quill against the parchment, crosshatching neat little lines against each other.
"Harry James Potter! Take this seriously or you'll be throwing up slugs for the rest of the school year! See how far you can fly then!"
"If you knew his full name, you should have just written it and saved us all a load of time, mudblood." Hermione shifted her glare to him, though he stared back at her unphased. He knew just as well as she that they needed to provide the verbal record as proof of actually interviewing other students.
"Harry, answer the questions. Full name?"
The boy who lived sighed and uncrossed his arms to lean in. "Harry James Potter."
Draco picked up the second question. "House?"
"Honestly, Hermione!"
"Answer it! We need to show we actually interviewed you."
"Gryffindor!"
"Thank you, Harry! Age?"
"Sixteen."
"Gender? Actually, I'll just mark that as female."
"Male, you wanker."
"Heritage?"
"Human?"
"Harry!"
"More like troll, with your brains."
"Malfoy!"
Hermione slammed her hands on the table, her curls frizzing with her anger and energy.
"Harry, heritage? Meaning pureblood, half-blood, or muggleborn." Her teeth were gritted. The choice to add that into the questionnaire was Malfoy's.
"Pureblood. Both of my parents were magical."
"Great. Last one Harry, are you currently in a relationship you'd define as fulfilling or loving? One that makes you a better person?" That question had been hers and hard won after having to provide several sources to Malfoy to prove that relationships were one of the most important factors in determining a person's likelihood of success. At least, in muggle literature. Not that she told him it was muggles; she simply magicked a name or two to sound more wizard-ish. She could feel the ferret's eye roll beside her, making her wish it would stick and he would be forever stuck with the whites of his eyes outward, the pupils inward. The haughty thought that it would allow for introspection raised a small smirk to her face.
"No." Harry's answer brought her back to the present, he had a small frown on his face. "You mean romantic relationships, right?" Hermione smiled, patting her friend's hand gently.
"Any kind of relationship; friendship, mentorship, love." Harry's eyes lit up, and he nodded.
"Then yes, I do, plenty. All of my friends. Dumbledore. My family through friends."
Hermione scribbled down on her paper, hearing more than seeing Malfoy do the same.
"Great, boy-wonder. You can go. Next!"
Harry glared, kissing Hermione's forehead before he departed from the table. A suave Blaise Zabini sauntered over and plopped in the seat Harry had sat previously.
"Malfoy…" his eyes wandered to Hermione, taking her in. "… Granger."
Hermione straightened her shoulders and shuffled her parchment to a new sheet. Dipping her quill she looked up expectantly.
"Full name?"
"Can I get a date first? These are personal questions." Hermione glared while Draco smirked. He was feeling more relaxed in his friend's presence of course. Hermione prompted him again. "Full name?"
"No fun, mudblood. I don't care about your status. You're adorable enough. The name is Blaise Zabini."
Hermione arched an eyebrow, "No middle name?"
The Slytherin shrugged, a slight frown on his face. "Guess mum didn't care enough to put that much effort. I don't have one."
Hermione ignored the pang that sent to her heart, signaling for Malfoy to continue with a nudge to his ink pot beside her.
"House?"
"Slytherin, the mightiest!"
"Can't disagree there." The ferret's smirk was annoying, Hermione decided. "Now, age?"
"Sixteen."
"And heritage?"
"Pureblood." His scoff made Hermione roll her eyes. As if it was unimaginable to be anything else. She posed the last question.
"Do you have any meaningful relationships, friendships, or mentorships in your life?" Blaise looked taken aback by the question, glancing at his housemate to confirm it was legit.
"Um, no. Not that I can think of."
"Great. Thank you, next!" Hermione's voice carried over the stacks.
They continued like that, interviewing person after person. While Draco noticed there were more purebloods in houses like Ravenclaw and Slytherin, Hermione took note that those were the houses that lacked the most genuine relationships. It saddened her to think that any kind of success was less likely if they continued like that.
By the end of the night, both Draco and Hermione were tired of asking the same questions over and over again. Hermione had at some point spilled her ink bot, causing large blots to soak through most of her papers. Draco's own stack of parchment was littered with crosshatching and random doodles that he had spelled to move around. Hermione had the fleeting thought wondering if there were such a thing as magical tattoos that did the same thing. Then she wanted to smack herself, because she knew exactly what tattoo would do that.
As the clocks struck just before curfew, Malfoy began to pack up his things. He was neatly folding things so they wouldn't smudge, capping his ink pot with his spidery digits. Running a hand through her mane, Hermione didn't realize she smudged ink across her cheek.
She'd been wanting to rerun Malfoy's predictions of success but didn't have the courage to ask if he had any close or supporting relationships. Just as the words were ready to leave her mouth, the blonde in question had already turned and fled the quarters of the library. Hermione accepted that she'd have to find out the answer another day.