Chapter 4

Draco was trudging very slowly to the Great Hall for breakfast. He and Blaise had been up late the previous night getting sloshed on Fire Whisky. He had run out of hangover potion and had no time to brew one himself so he was feeling particularly rotten. He plopped down on the bench at the Slytherin table and laid his forehead against the cool table. It had been a rough and very slow morning and the day was not looking to improve.

Someone had sat down across from him and was talking very loudly in his general direction.

"Could you please shut the fuck up?" He groaned against the table.

"You look dreadful, mate," Blaise replied with a little too much chipper in his voice.

"And it's all your fault. You did this to me and took all of my potions hostage." Draco peeked up at Blaise to notice the fucker smiling at him. "And for some reason you look happy about it."

"Maybe I just wanted to see what it would be like to see Draco Malfoy lowered to our mortal standards. Here," He tossed a vial in Draco's direction. "Just drink it and stop your bitching."

Draco snatched the vial from the air, uncorked it and drained it in one swift motion. He felt the potion work its way down his throat and warm his body on its way to his stomach.

Within minutes he was feeling normal and felt his appetite return. He grabbed a plate and began filling it with sausage.

He had just started chewing when a thought struck him. "You know, you never did tell me why you wanted to celebrate last night."

Blaise chuckled, "You were just so eager to get sloshed you didn't seem to want a reason, but I'm sure you'll hear soon enough. I, Blaise Zabini, have joined the Quidditch team!" He beamed back at Draco.

Draco sputtered into his goblet. "The Quidditch team? I don't think I've seen you on a broom in about 9 years."

"Well that doesn't mean I haven't been on one. I'll have you know I'm a very excellent flier."

"Oh are you?" Draco quirked an eyebrow at him. "Last time I saw you fly, you fell about 20 feet and broke your arm. You cried like a little bitch." He laughed at the memory.

"Well I was only eight. And you bumped me!" Blaise argued childishly.

"We were playing Quidditch, you pansy. What position would you even play anyway?"

"I will be playing keeper of course!" Blaise declared in a matter of fact tone as he waved his fork through the air.

Draco chuckled again. "Yeah, okay. Why the sudden interest in sports? You've always called Quidditch players, what was it? 'Meat headed air mongrels'?"

Blaise nodded in confirmation, "Yes, I believe that's what it was." He didn't bat an eye as he continued with his breakfast.

"So why the sudden change of heart? Oh I see," Draco lowered his voice as he laid down his utensils, "You think you've gained some weight. It's ok, mate, I've noticed too."

"WHAT?!" Blaise looked completely and utterly appalled. "I will have you know that I have increased my daily exercise tenfold in the past 6 months. If anything I am more manly than before." Draco snorted. "I will also have you know that a certain saucy redhead plays chaser and I think I can get a lot of face time playing keeper."

Draco started to choke on his slice of toast. "Ex…excu….excuse me?" He wheezed.

Blaise slid the pitcher of pumpkin juice across the table, which Draco picked up and drank straight from it, forgoing a goblet completely.

Once he was able to breathe properly again, Draco stared at Blaise. "I didn't think you were actually serious about pursuing her! I thought you just liked to look at her."

Blaise smiled a menacing smile. "Oh I do, but I'd love for her to take a ride on my broomstick, if you know what I mean." He threw in a wink for good measure.

"I'd rather not dispose my stomach of my breakfast, thank you." Draco winced and pushed away his half eaten breakfast.

"Well I just hope I'll see you at our first game tomorrow." Blaise continued as he grabbed Draco's plate and picked off the extra pieces of bacon.

"I wouldn't want to miss you falling off your broom, mate." Draco stood up from the bench and clapped Blaise on the shoulder. "I'll have to make sure I find a camera." He punched Blaise's shoulder, slung his bag over his shoulder and headed to the library.

…..

"He actually made it onto the team?" Hermione laughed. "I didn't even know he knew how to fly!" Not that she was much to talk. Ever since that first lesson in first year, she had only been on a broom one other time, and that was to escape a fire from completely consuming her, so that didn't really count.

Malfoy chuckled in response, "Me either. I haven't seen him fly since we were 8. He broke his arm and refused to fly ever again."

"Why did he even bother to try out then?" Hermione picked up her forgotten quill and started scanning through her Potions notes.

"Apparently he's trying to win over a particular redhead." Malfoy glanced at her from the corner of his eye.

Hermione blanched. She turned her head slowly in his direction. "Ginny? He wants to win over Ginny?" She blinked in shock for a few moments before turning back to her work. "That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard."

Malfoy held up his hands as he chuckled, "Hey I didn't say it was a great idea. I think it's completely farfetched. But I'll be sure to be watching from the sidelines when it blows up in his face." He shrugged as he reached for her notes.

It had been three weeks since they had been assigned as partners on their Advanced Arithmancy project and they had already completed their work. They turned it in at the beginning of their third week and had gotten glowing remarks from Professor Vector. She was so pleased that she had given them extra credit work to raise their grade even higher. They, of course, had already finished that as well. Now they met in the library regularly to study for their other classes together.

It was quite pleasant to share thoughts and notes with someone of high intellect. Hermione would usually be studying by herself and "helping" Harry and Ron with their homework. She was never able to converse with other students about any subject matter. She had actually learned quite a lot from Malfoy over the past few weeks. Having grown up around magic, Malfoy was able to give input on subjects she hadn't even known about. Harry had grown up with muggles and Ron's family knew more about the household side of magic, so she didn't get a full in-depth knowledge of what it was like to grow up with magic. Sure most of the magic Malfoy grew up learning was dark stuff, but it was all still very interesting.

Hermione had learned about different ways to brew potions, different items that can hold enchantments and even about house elf culture. It had been the most enlightened few weeks she had ever had at Hogwarts.

"Are you sure this is right, Granger? I thought Slughorn said four counter clockwise turns, not five." He pushed her notes back with his finger pointing to the note in question.

"Malfoy, that does say five." Hermione slid the paper back to him with a roll of her eyes.

"Oh, well excuse me for not being able to read your chicken scratch."

"Hey, I just want to make sure I get everything written down so I write fast. If you don't appreciate my notes, I will just have them back then." She held out her hand for the notes.

Malfoy smacked her hand away and pushed the notes further from her reach. "No, no it's ok. I'll still use them."

Hermione smirked and went back to her Potions essay.

Malfoy was quite easy to get along with without Harry and Ron constantly yammering about how much of a prat he was. They even had quite a few things in common.

Hermione was still writing when she asked, "Tomorrow is the first Hogsmeade visit, think you'll go?"

Malfoy whipped his head to gape at her, "Granger, I'm rather flattered that you would want to go out with me, but you're not really my type."

Hermione scoffed and tossed a book at him, "I wasn't asking you out, you wanker, I was just making conversation! I'm not even going anyways."

"What do you have to do that's so important?" Malfoy replied placing the book back on the table.

"I volunteered to do patrols so the other prefects could go have fun," Hermione grabbed the book back and searched for page 207.

"How chivalrous of you. Poor little Granger won't be having any fun," He mocked but his voice didn't have any of the usual bite from the past.

"I think it will be pretty nice actually. All the usual chaos will be gone, so maybe it will be relatively quiet."

"We could only hope. I was given an extra assignment by Slughorn, so I'm sure I will be in my room finishing that before Monday." He began to pack up his supplies. "In the mean time, I have to get going. Have fun on your boring day, Granger."

"You too," She waved him away from the table. "Now shoo, so I can actually get some work done."

…

Draco slammed his book shut and flung his quill to the floor.

The assignment Slughorn had assigned him was preliminary work for beginner students in a potions mastery course. Slughorn had told Draco he had seen potential in him that he hadn't see in anyone since he had taught Severus Snape. The old professor had wanted to challenge Draco to see if he would succeed in a more advanced potions assignment. While it was interesting work, it certainly was more challenging than anything Draco had done while at Hogwarts.

He had been working for about 4 hours in his small room and was starting to feel claustrophobic. Since not many students from his year had returned, most of the students were given their own rooms. While it did make completing schoolwork easier with the lack of noise, it wasn't that large of a room and he was starting to feel it. The walls were starting to close in on him and the lack of fresh air was getting to his head.

He got up and started to make his way outside. The other students should all still be at Hogsmeade and since it was the first Hogsmeade weekend, he had to guess there weren't too many students still at the castle.

He made his way up from the dungeons and into the Entrance Hall, which as he'd had guessed, was completely empty.

It was quite nice to be back at Hogwarts this year. After everything that had happened the past few years, it was pleasant to be away from all the evil he had been exposed to. He was even starting to enjoy the chatter of his fellow students.

He pushed open the front doors and let the cool fall air hit his face. This is what he needed. Fresh air. Silence. He took a deep breath and headed to the lake.

Throughout the years at Hogwarts, Draco had loved going to sit on the edge of the lake to think. Thankfully this year he won't be thinking about how to avoid death for himself and his family. He was worrying about things that a student his age should be worried about.

As he approached the lake he noticed a head of curly brown hair curled up on a blanket. He stopped walking in confusion. Wasn't she supposed to be on patrol? He was looking forward to some quiet alone time by the lakeside, but he didn't mind Granger's presence too much lately. He shook his head and continued on his path to where the girl was seated.

"What's this? Skirting your duties, Granger?" He tsked as he approached her.

She put down the book she had been reading and shielded her eyes from the sun as she glanced up at him. "Well I was patrolling for about 2 hours before I realized there are only about three other students in the castle and they were all studying in their rooms. So I decided to come out for some fresh air. Are you here to skirt your duties, Malfoy?"

Draco shrugged as he sat on the grass beside her blanket. "Eh, here and there." He smirked in her direction.

They sat in compatible silence for 20 minutes; Granger returning to her book and Draco laying back and closing his eyes. Draco was enjoying the sound of the water lapping the sides of the lake and the wind rustling the leaves on the trees. It could only last for so long though.

Granger had cleared her throat three times in the last 5 minutes and Draco had had enough.

"Granger," He growled, "either say what you need to say or get yourself a glass of water."

"I was just thinking." She said quietly.

"I know." He smirked, still with his eyes closed to the sun. "I could practically hear your brain moving from here."

"Did you ever think at the beginning of the year that we would be sitting here together?"

Draco opened one eye and saw Granger twisting her fingers together.

He closed his eyes again as he replied, "It's not like anything interesting is happening. You're reading, as usual, and I'm trying to get some Vitamin D."

"I guess it would be more appalling if we were conversing or being nice to each other. Maybe it's that we're not at each others throats like in the past." She said pensively.

"Well that was usually me and Potter or Weasley. Not so much me and you." He laid his hands behind his head.

"True. Although you were quite a prat." She snickered.

"That I was, Granger. That I was." He trailed off as he felt himself drift into sleep.

….

Hermione slid her eyes from the page she was reading to glance in Malfoy's direction as she heard his breathing pattern change.

He looked so at peace and less irritated when he was sleeping. All of the hard lines on his face had smoothed over to make him look more handsome than he was. Yes, he was handsome; she would have to be blind not to notice it. He had just been such a jerk before that his looks did nothing for her. But now that he was being… friendly? No that's not right. Cordial; yes that was it. Now that he was being cordial, she could see what some of the other girls were talking about when they would whisper in the bathrooms or dormitory late at night.

She still couldn't see what the girls were talking about when they said he was charming though. Sure he could be a massive flirt, but was that being charming? Surely not, or Hermione would be genuinely charmed, which she was not.

She went back to her book, stealing glances in his direction every so often. He had moved his head to the very corner of her blanket and she couldn't help but laugh at the way his head looked on a gold and maroon blanket.

She was starting to drift off herself when she heard the voices of students coming back from Hogsmeade. She glanced at her watch in mild shock. They had been sitting at here together for almost 2 hours. She had to get back if she wanted to grab dinner before the first Quidditch game of the year. As if on cue, her stomach rumbled loudly.

She started to pack up her things and glanced down at the sleeping Malfoy. Should she wake him up? It would probably be the decent thing to do. Plus he was on her blanket so he would need to move in order for her to pack it away.

She made her decision and nudged his foot. "Oi, Malfoy." He didn't move. "Malfoy!" She said much louder and kicking his foot harder.

"Fuck, Granger. You ever hear of bedside manner?" He sat up and ran his hands down his face. He had little marks on the side of his face from laying on the blanket.

"Everyone's back from Hogsmeade. Dinner will be soon." She grabbed the blanket as he stood up to stretch.

"Dammit. I told Blaise I'd be at the game tonight."

She shoved the folded blanket into her bag. "Yeah we better get back."

Malfoy held his hand out motioning her to go ahead of him. "Lead the way."

…

The first game of the year had gone surprisingly well. Who knew that Blaise Zabini was a relatively good keeper? When he had stepped onto the field, he had gotten a lot of shocked faces and a lot of booing. By the end of the game, however, he had gotten a lot of cheers and still quite a lot of shocked faces.

The Slytherin team had won and of course had stayed up all night celebrating, which Draco was paying for now. Blaise was still holding all of his potions hostage and he had yet to see Blaise this morning. Suffer through breakfast it was.

Since students slept in more on the weekends, Sunday breakfast usually lasted until about 11 am, so that students could come and go as they please. It was 10:30 and Blaise was still nowhere to be seen.

Draco took a sip of his orange juice and laid his head on the cool table. He was just starting to get over his nausea when he heard someone clear their throat.

"It's about time you showed up you son of a… Granger. What are you doing here?" He had glanced up and was surprised to see the Head Girl sitting across from him.

"Are you finished eating?"

"Am I what?" He gaped at her.

"Eating. Are you done?"

She didn't seem to want to go any further in this conversation without him answering.

"I don't have much of an appetite for food this morning." He answered dully.

"Great. Do you mind if we go talk outside?" She looked almost desperate for him to say yes.

"Er, yeah sure." He slowly stood and followed her to the front doors.

He watched her from behind as she walked. She was wearing muggle clothes this morning; jeans and an oversized blue sweater with a yellow H on the front. She looked good with her hair pulled back in a slightly messy plait. It looked like she had pulled her hair back in a hurry as a few wisps fell around her face and a few strands were falling out of her band. The light from the overhead windows was hitting her face making her freckles stand out on her cheeks and the gold in her brown eyes sparkle.

She pushed the front doors open to a beautiful crisp fall morning. Draco groaned in pain; he immediately regretted coming outside. The sun was way too bright and made his stomach lurch in disgust.

Granger must have noticed his discomfort and led him to a bench in the shade.

"I'll make this as quick as I possibly can." She sat down and jumped up immediately as if there were a tack on the bench.

Draco slumped onto the seat and leaned forward with his forearms on his knees. "As long as I can head back to my room soon, I don't really care."

Granger started to pace in front of him. She turned in circles about three times and was wringing her hands again.

"Granger, if you don't stop spinning around, I swear I will hurl on you." He groaned as he closed his eyes.

"What?" She stopped and seemed to get a good look at his appearance. "Oh. Right. Okay. Well I was wondering if you would possibly, and I completely understand if you were to say no, but I would like it if you would at least think about it," She started to ramble on at a hundred miles a minute.

"Granger, please slow down and get on with it."

She had stopped pacing and stood in front of him. She chewed on her bottom lip and shifted her weight from foot to foot. "I was wondering if you would possibly be my fake boyfriend." She blurted it all out in one breath.

What? Draco could not comprehend what had just exited her mouth. He just stared at her with wide eyes.

"Well say something!" She threw her hands in the air after a few moments of silence.

He had plenty of things to say: A fake boyfriend? Why? And why him? Wasn't she dating the weasel? He didn't even think she particularly liked him, let alone would want him to be her fake boyfriend! Where had she cooked up this insane idea? What had happened between yesterday and today that had made her want to seen in public with him? And on a level of fake romance?

He opened his mouth to say something witty, or question her reasoning, but instead what came out of his mouth was alcohol induced vomit which splattered on the ground in front of her.

This is a lot later than what I had been wanting, but I have been doing some renovations so time got away from me! Thanks for sticking with me and as always, reviews are welcomed :)