Hermione

Hogwarts

November 1996

It had been over a month since the last time Malfoy willingly spoke to Hermione.

She had spoke to him since, but it was clear it was fully against his will.

He had disappeared between Runes and Potions that day after their second detention. Before he vanished, Hermione began to let herself believe that perhaps, there was something worth exploring with Malfoy. She was still in denial that what she was most curious about extended beyond friendship, but at the very least she recognized that she craved a new interaction with him as soon as one ended. So she'd take whatever was offered.

But he didn't show up to Potions. Or to DADA the next day. Or Herbology. Or Arithmancy. Or Charms. Or Transfiguration. Or Astronomy. He vanished for a full week. She hadn't even seen him at meals.

She didn't know who to turn to, but she was desperate for answers. So a week following his mysterious disappearance, Hermione planned to ask Theo Nott; the nicest seeming Slytherin in his circle.

Hermione had hung back at the Gryffindor table one day after lunch, waiting for as many people to clear out as she could hold out for while still keeping Theo in her sites. Harry and Ron had left, and on the other side Pansy and Blaise. It was as good as she was going to get.

Adrenaline bubbled through her the moment she pushed herself up to a standing positon and began her approach.

Steps away from Theo though, he reappeared.

A disheveled and nearly lifeless looking Draco Malfoy emerged after a week of being gone. Hermione was close enough to the Slytherin table to really take in his appearance.

His robes were wrinkled, an unheard of condition for the clothes of the posh, pureblood wizard. She was close enough to see that his skin was thin, and waxy looking; giving the impression he had not slept for days. There were shadows of purple wisping out under his lids, which looked stark against the blood shot whites of his eyes.

When she gasped at his appearance, he was close enough to hear it. Theo also looked up and then between the two who stood a few meters away from where he remained seated.

Hermione knew by the look Malfoy gave her that whatever it was that transpired between the two for those 24 hours was dead and over with.

The blond slytherin eyed her through a narrowed glare, pulling his lips back in a sneer directed solely at her. It forced her back a step.

But her stubbornness wiggled its way to the top. She could not excuse his appearance. Despite his vicious stare, the overwhelming emotion she felt was concern.

"Are you OK?" Hermione rushed out in a whisper, just loud enough for Malfoy to hear her. Theo was still looking at them, but no one else seemed to see the Griffyindor and Slytherin exchange anything other than a nasty glance.

Nothing changed behind his eyes. He was darker than she'd ever seen another person. She had to stop her hand from reaching out.

His eyes darted to where her hands barely even twitched, then back up to her face. His whole body contorted into a scowl.

"Fuck off, Granger," he finally spit out. With a final condescending look her way, he moved to sit next to Theo who merely looked perplexed.

Two weeks after that, Katie Bell was cursed and nearly died.

Even though Malfoy was back to hating her with every fiber of his being, she still defended him against Harry's outlandish accusation. Because even though it was only for a brief moment, she couldn't let go of the thought that Draco Malfoy was actually good.

—-

Over time, things changed back to a version of how they were at the start of the year. Before any detentions.

Ron had gravitated back into her orbit, but it was of no consequence to her. He didn't make her feel the way he had before. Or perhaps he did, but her senses were numbed after being dealt something stronger. Regardless, it would seem that her lack of interest only edged him on.

Hermione would still indulge in her Malfoy fixation. She was relieved to see that with time, his appearances improved, even if they were still shockingly concerning. But he was present in class, and some color had returned to his face.

It was only on rare occasion that Hermione would catch the disheveled Slytherin return her stare. He seemed genuinely angry to find her looking at him, so she did her best to go undetected.

As a distraction, she tried to let herself fall back into something with Ron. Hermione thought she could be happy about Ron's newfound focus on her. It was what she had wanted after all, and it was a welcome reprieve from constantly theorizing about what changed with Malfoy.

But, as time past, Ron began to revert to his old, defensive ways making it more difficult for Hermione to stay on track with their reconnection. His newest craze was that everyone he knew had been admitted into the prestigious "Slug Club", except for him.

Though Hermione knew it to be a silly institution, she was the only muggle born to have been asked to join, which felt like an accomplishment. Harry found participation in the group tiresome but necessary, and to Ginny, it was really just a laugh that she had been let in. But Ron took the lack of an invitation personally.

Anytime the group would come up in conversation, Ron would turn moody. He would cross his arms tightly, look straight ahead, and only grumble half hearted responses if he was addressed.

His attitude bothered Hermione, if only for the reason that she was sure Ron could tell Hermione was proud of being the only muggle born admitted, but he couldn't see past his own insecurities to celebrate her for her accomplishments. It was only ever about how he was not apart of this club.

Matters only became more tense when Ron brought up, in a rather sour mood, the Slugclub party.

"Ginny told me about the Slugclub party," Ron said flatly one day in Herbology.

Hermione and Harry exchanged glances. Both had become accustomed to Ron's defensiveness towards the institution.

"It'll probably be a bore" Hermione added, grabbing a mound of dirt and adding it to her planter.

"Easy for your to say, you're invited," Ron snapped back, jotting something down on his parchment about the grubs in the soil they were tending.

Hermione wished Harry would take the lead on the conversation, but when she made eye contact with her friend, he merely shook his head and turned his attention back to the assignment.

The stakes around the conversation were higher for Hermione. Since the announcement of the Slugclub party, it was well known that those invited could bring a date, and Hermione had planned to ask Ron. But several opportunities came and went to do so, but she hadn't broached the topic.

When she thought she may ask Ron, bitter flashbacks would plague her about how Ron failed to ask her to the Yule Ball, then promptly ruined her evening out of jealousy. Hermione's hesitancy to invite Ron was not the same. It was not a matter of waiting for someone better, rather a general lack luster feeling about the act all together.

Boiling it down that way, she wasn't sure what was worse.

"Ron, I was actually going to talk to you about that…" Hermione choked out, keeping her hands occupied with re-planting the Fire Fern.

"Oh what, did you ask Malfoy and didn't want me to hear it from someone else?" Ron spat back defensively.

Hermione's hands stilled, and so did Harry's. Across the room, Hermione was sure that Malfoy frame halted at the sound of his name.

"No" Hermione spoke in a forced whisper, though her pulse quickened at the thought. "I was going to ask if you wanted to go with me." She rushed saying, almost reluctantly at that point.

That was when Ron's hands stopped moving. Separately in the room, she felt eyes boring into the back of her head.

"Oh"

"Yeah" Hermione huffed, resuming her work.

Ron's face was overtaken by red as he mindlessly returned tending to his dirt.

Harry merely looked between his two friends, the apprehension on his face plain on what this new step meant for the threesome.