Impossible Reality
Author's Notes: I sort of, hurried up in writing this chapter. I had a hard time writing it though, as I can't find the right words to describe what I was thinking of. Anyway, there are a lot of changing views and scenes in this chapter. I hope you won't get confused. ^_^
Thanks again to saj aneri, angkat14, and hydee for pre-reading the first part of this chapter. *mwahuggerz three* And, oh, there's this sentence that aneri constructed when I asked for help in finding the right description for what the character just did. :-)
Disclaimers: All you recognize are JK Rowling's.
Working Together
After one week…
Hard footsteps were heard from above. Then the skid of a chair, the falling of books, the crash of a lamp, and the loud cry of a cat. Ron and Harry didn't have to ask what the racket is all about. After seven days of hearing the noise every morning before breakfast, they just cringe at every sound hear. They looked at each other and shuddered, shaking their head as both remember the first and last attempt they tried to question her behavior.
Harry was pouring coffee for the three of them when Hermione trudged down the stairs wearing a serious face. He had to suppress a sigh as Ron said a soft, "Good morning!" Hermione just grunted a reply as she sat down and took her mug.
The two men exchanged a look as Harry sat down.
"I would just like to announce that…," Harry started carefully.
"I know what you're going to say," Hermione interrupted, putting her mug down. "Malfoy told me," she continued, a twitch forming in her eye.
As Ron wasn't looking at her and didn't notice the twitching of her eye, he said, "Is that about the…" he stopped abruptly as Hermione slammed down her palm on the table.
"Herm," Harry said, "will you let me be the one to explain?" he asked pointedly. Hearing no objection, he continued. "Good. Ron, I'm on the last stage of my training. Just one more test to go and I'm a Hit Wizard!"
Ron grinned at him. "That's good!"
Hermione, on the other hand, just muttered, "Humph!"
"So now, let's go to you," Harry said, looking straight at Hermione who, raised an eyebrow at him in return. "You've been acting like the Spawn of Voldemort is at your heels. We've had to be careful of what we say and how we act in front of you. And that's not right. We can't act as strangers with each other especially since we've known each other for almost ten years and we've been living under the same roof for three years. What's gotten into you?" he asked her.
Hermione stared at him blankly before the question had finally sank into her head. "What's gotten into me?!" she demanded. "What's gotten into me?! Malfoy's gotten into me!" Her eyes grew wider as she forced the words out of her mouth while bordering on the expression of juvenile extreme annoyance.
"And what's wrong with Malfoy?" Harry asked her levelly.
Ron, on the other hand, kept quiet as he knew Harry is the only one who could get through to Hermione at times like this.
"What's wrong with…" Hermione asked in exasperation. "He's a Malfoy, for Merlin's sake! Harry, have you or have you not forgotten what Lucius did to you and your family?"
"No."
"Then, why are you…"
"Draco Malfoy is not Lucius, Hermione. Even if he is the son of the right hand of Voldemort, he is not that man. He was just acting on his father's orders, remember? And who wouldn't obey if you've got a father like his? Everyone saw his transformation in sixth year after his father died. Sure, he may still be that arrogant bastard that we know but he is not the cold-hearted bastard anymore," Harry finished as he looked at Hermione piercingly.
"What's this? Did you suddenly become Malfoy's champion?" she asked haughtily.
"No. We're not even friends. But we're not enemies, either. We just learned to act civilly towards one another," he answered, emphasizing his last words.
That shut Hermione up and ended any further argument.
~*~
The rhythmic clicking of the heels on the hard wooden floor can be heard even from outside the door of the room in the silence of the manor. The light footsteps of someone approaching were muffled by the carpet on the hallways, making the arrival of that person a surprise to the one pacing the room. However, as the door was closed softly, the concentration of the "pacer" didn't waver until, "Draco!"
He looked up to see his mother watching him with an amused look and the barest hint of a contained smile.
"Mother," he said, ceasing his pacing to sit on an armored chair near the fireplace and stared at the cackling fire.
Narcissa took up the other chair and looked at her son before stating her reason of seeing him.
"How have you been doing?" she asked.
"Fine."
"With your assignment?"
"Fine."
"Your partner?"
A pause.
"Fine."
"Look at me, son," Narcissa commanded softly.
Draco sighed before turning his head to look up to where his mother sat. He saw a twinkle in her eyes, whether from amusement or from anger, he didn't know.
"Are you sure?" she asked him, a hint of doubt heard in her voice.
"Mother," he started. "What exactly do you want to know?"
"Do you mean, what do I know?"
Another sigh. "Yes."
"The question is, what do you intend to do about it," Narcissa stated.
He raised an eyebrow at her in question. She smiled at him in return.
Again, a sigh.
"We aren't progressing much. After one week, we should already be tracking the wizard but, we're still looking at records and latest reports on his last action and whereabouts," Draco related. "She won't speak a full sentence to me. Just grunts, nods, glares, and a forced 'Fine' occasionally."
"Why do you think she's acting like that?" his mother asked.
"I'm a Malfoy," he answered disgustingly. "I just kept wishing that I'm not associated with that name anymore."
"You can't say that! If it weren't for him, you wouldn't be…"
"I would never have been born," he finished for her. "It would do the whole world better if I hadn't," he concluded angrily, standing up and quickly disapparating before Narcissa could utter another word.
~*~
They arrived at the same time, facing each other, as they appeared at the second floor of the Shrieking Shack. Both looked wearily at each other before turning and slumping on chairs at their respective corners. They chose this place to work on the case as it is isolated and no one would still dare enter the house.
They stared at each other, unblinking, both lost in their own thoughts, yet aware that they are looking at each other across the room.
Sigh.
"Let's just get started," they both said at once.
A twitch of the mouth. A clamped hand over it. An escaped giggle. A shared laugh.
Then silence.
"This is weird," Hermione started.
"I know," Draco agreed. "But at least you're talking to me now," he added quietly.
She just stared at him and remained silent.
Hearing no response, "Why don't we start working?" Draco suggested, getting up from his chair and taking his position on the working table in the middle of the room they had set up days ago.
Muttering to herself, Hermione stood up and approached the table hesitantly.
"Malfoy, I…" she half-whispered, not knowing what to say more, she just sighed and settled herself on her designated place.
Thus the start of another normal, silent interaction with one another.
~*~
Parchments were being passed back and forth to one another. Then record books, and some more parchments, an occasional newspaper, and some more books. Each time a circle, check mark, or dash was added.
Hermione occasionally glances at the devices she had set up around the room. Even though she knows that the place still scares the village people, one can't be too sure about visitors. She was rereading, for the nth time, a parchment that she and Draco both thought important, what with a lot of mark placed when, "Aha!"
"What is it?" Draco asked her, as he looked up from the newspaper that he was studying, curiosity heard in his voice.
"I finally found our lead," she answered him enthusiastically, forgetting for the second time that day, that she loathes and despises him. She stood up and walked around the table, stopping at his side to place the parchment on top of the daily he was reading.
"There," she pointed out, a phrase caught outside the marks they made.
"We missed it," he said while nodding.
"Several times," she agreed. She left the parchment for his further scrutiny and settled back on her chair.
"So," she started, earning a look from him. "What do we do now?"
Draco frowned at her in thought then spoke up.
"We'll follow this first thing in the morning," he told her and she nodded in return. "But," he continued, "I'd like to straighten things out between us."
It was her turn to frown at him, until she realized what he meant. She opened her mouth to comment on that statement when he lifted his hand to stall her.
"Look," he said, as he ran his hand through his hair. "We could be civil. Like this," motioning his hand around.
She tried opening her mouth again to speak but he wouldn't let her.
"I'm not asking you to become a friend. I'm not even asking you to forget who I am," he went on. "I just want you to treat me…," he paused, as though looking for the right word. "Professionally."
Her eyebrows shot up in indignation but she remained quiet as she let his words sink in. She had wanted to say she was going to try to be less indifferent to him, as hard as it is. But, she decided that it would be worth a try. Treating him as an equal. It's going to use up all her willpower though, but she'll do it.
"Alright," she answered him, and held out her hand.
He shook it, as though sealing a business deal.
Last notes: First of, I just noticed that I like using the word though. Don't you think? Second, I won't be elaborating on what happened on their sixth grade except when I have to make references to it. It's easy to understand what happened, anyway. It's in the context. Third, you might notice that for this fic, it's Hermione's turn not to be open-minded. I've read a lot of fics about Harry being the rigid one. But I actually think that he should be the one who's more open to things like this. Then, I've made Draco here a mature person. I've been thinking that he should be because of all the things that he went through.
This was quite a long chapter for me to write. Especially type! *lol* Anyway, next chapter will be hopefully up after Holy Week.
Lastly, thanks for reading!
