Now that Malfoy is good, what will happen to him now? Will the Slytherins turn on him? Will students in the other houses even acknowledge his new predicament? And what the heck do Harry, Ron and Hermione have to do with this? Read on!
Draco, Flipside
Day 1 of 7
Through the hallways of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the same four words were being repeated over and over again:
"Longbottom turned Malfoy nice!"
The Slytherins were howling in outrage. Not only had a little dork who was practically a Squib shown them up, he'd turned their Seeker into a pansy-boy. On the other hand, the Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws and Gryffindors were in hysterics over the whole thing.
Harry, Ron and Hermione entered the Great Hall early the next morning for breakfast. Neville was already seated at the Gryffindor table, beaming like the sun. He was shoving handfuls of Jelly Slugs in his mouth, not caring that there was eggs and waffles for breakfast.
"I've just had an owl from Gran," he said cheerily when they joined him at the table. "She heard that I finally got a potion right and sent me a box of Honeydukes sweets. Good thing she didn't hear that I ended up enchanting Malfoy."
Harry thumped him on the back. "We owe you one, Neville," he grinned. "The first Quidditch match is tomorrow after classes. You think this is going to affect Malfoy's game?"
Ron snickered. He was the Gryffindor team's Keeper, and Harry was the Seeker as well as the captain. "I should ruddy well hope so!"
"Ten Galleons says Malfoy hands Harry the Snitch," Neville put in.
All three boys doubled over laughing, picturing Malfoy handing over the tiny, golden winged ball to Harry.
Boys, Hermione thought disgustedly. She left the table and headed to the library.
"Here you go, Madam Pince. I thought you might like these."
"Why, Draco! They're lovely!"
"I hope you like them. They're African violets. I heard somewhere that you liked purple, so…"
"Well, I'll just put the pot over here. My, they're beautiful! I can't thank you enough."
"The pleasure's all mine, Madam Pince."
Hermione turned away from Malfoy and the librarian, sharp-eyed Madam Pince. She just couldn't believe what she'd just seen—Malfoy had given the librarian flowers. Potted flowers, true, but they were still flowers.
"Did I just see that?" Padma Patil asked her twin Parvati, squinting and rubbing her eyes. "Am I having hallucinations?"
"I doubt it, sis."
"I never thought I'd live to see the day. Draco Malfoy actually gave the librarian flowers!"
Hermione groaned. If she knew Padma and Parvati as well as she thought she did, this little tidbit was going to spread around school faster than a rash caused by Bubotuber pus.
She made her way to the back of the library, where the books she would need for her Arithmancy homework would be. No sooner than she had gotten to the shelves, Draco Malfoy himself appeared at her side. Evidently he was searching for a book in the same section.
"Hermione!" he greeted her fondly, like they were friends or something. "How are you?"
"I'm fine," she said stiffly. "I'm looking for a book to help me with my Arithmancy homework."
He appeared to be interested. "Where is it?" he asked pleasantly.
"It's on row 12, number 543."
Malfoy glanced at a slip of parchment he was carrying in shock. "I don't believe it," he said in wonder. "I'm looking for the same book!"
Hermione almost dropped the stack of books she was carrying. "You take Arithmancy?" she squeaked out. "I had no idea. Professor Vector never mentioned that she taught the Slytherins."
"Only a few of us take it," he admitted. "It's my favourite subject, next to Potions."
"It's my favourite subject too!" she said brightly, forgetting that Malfoy was normally her mortal enemy.
Just then, Harry and Ron showed up. Both of them stopped in their tracks when they noticed that Hermione and Malfoy were smiling at eachother.
"What are you doing talking to him?" Ron snarled.
Malfoy looked as if he didn't hear him. "Ron! How's it going?" he said, grinning widely. "How's your father? Personally, I think he's going to get promoted sometime, what with all the hard work he's doing. All my Dad really does is sit in an office all day, writing letters."
Ron gaped at him.
Harry elbowed Ron in the ribs. "If I didn't know that Neville enchanted you, I would think that you'd gone soft in the head," he said. "C'mon, Hermione, Ron."
With that, he propelled both of his friends out of the library, while Malfoy waved at them cheerily.
"Harry, we were talking about Arithmancy!" Hermione cried shrilly as they entered their Herbology class. "It's not like he was insulting me or something. We were actually having a nice, normal conversation!"
"Right," Ron chortled. "You know, I think this is the first day in ages that Malfoy hasn't called her Mudblood or something."
"Anyway," Hermione said sharply, "I didn't get my book, thanks to you two. The project I'm working on in Arithmancy is due on Tuesday, which is—"
"—next week," Harry finished for her. "Hermione, look. It's Friday. You can get your project done over the weekend like everyone else, can't you?"
She glared at him. "We have Astronomy classes at midnight on Saturday, and I'm tutoring Neville in Potions for most of the weekend anyway. I was hoping that I'd at least get my project done by tomorrow afternoon."
"Yeah, well, you've still got all of Monday evening," Harry put in. "Don't worry about it, Hermione. You'll get it done. You always do."
She sighed and gathered another handful of Tentacula leaves. "I sure hope so."
"He gave Madame Pince flowers, then he asked Madame Hooch if he could help her mend all the Quidditch robes!"
"That's nothing. Did you hear what he did for Filch? He scrubbed out the Potions dungeon, and I swear, the old grump almost had a coronary!"
"You know what else he did?"
Rumours were flying in the Great Hall that evening at dinner. All of them seemed to contain stories about Malfoy doing kind and courteous deeds for the teachers.
Hermione sat at the Gryffindor table, looking downright miserable.
"What's up, Hermione?" Ron managed to ask through a mouthful of mashed potatoes.
She sighed heavily. "I went back to the library at lunch to find that book," she said glumly. "It was gone. I'm never going to get that project done!"
Just as she said this, a large tawny owl flew toward her and dropped a heavy parcel into her plate of food. It was covered in gravy and ketchup when she picked it out of her plate, but she didn't care. She tore off the wrapping and let out a cry of astonishment.
"It's my book!" she breathed, running her fingers over the worn, green leather cover. "But who—and how—"
A note fluttered out of the pages. Curious, she picked it up and read it.
Dear Hermione,
Here's the book you were looking for. I'm done with it now.
-Draco