About a month after Draco and Hermione had started meeting, the Gryffindors
and Slytherins were in double Care of Magical Creatures. Hagrid had
assigned them to look after unicorns after putting them in groups of four.
Much to his dismay, Draco was stuck with Hermione and, as he called them,
the 'Wonder Twins.' He didn't mind so much being in the group with
Hermione, since she always made sure to get a good grade, but Harry and Ron
were still insufferable. Draco noticed that Hagrid didn't seem to have a
clue that Hermione wasn't inseparable from the Twins anymore, so he put
them together. Hermione had gone off to talk with Hagrid about something,
and Draco noticed Ron petting the unicorn absently. Sneering, he muttered,
"It's easy to get lost in thought when it's not familiar territory to you."
Ron gave him a dirty look. "Shut up, Malfoy, you useless git." He opened his mouth to say something else when Harry came up behind him, wand drawn.
"You look very confident that you can use that in a proper manner without getting caught. You know boys, confidence is the feeling you sometimes get before you fully understand the situation."
"Hey!" Ron shouted.
Draco merely rolled his eyes. "You aren't going to do anything."
"Why not? How can you be so sure?"
"Because then you'd be even more stupid than I originally thought. Hagrid, the oaf, is right there, and even though he's not too heavy upstairs, and even though you are the Wonder Twins of Hogwarts, he won't look too kindly on you boys casting hexes and jinxes around the unicorns. Especially when you're not actually allowed to do it at school anyway. So I'm not worried," Draco said smugly, smirking at them. Ron pulled out his wand and pointed it at Draco as well. "What are you going to do to me, Weasley?" Ron stuttered for a second. Draco added, "If you can't answer a man's argument, all is not lost. You can still call him vile names." Draco paused. "Go ahead, Weasley."
"What are you doing?!" Hermione's voice asked from behind Draco before Ron had a chance to reply. Draco turned slowly, still smirking. The smirk quickly left his face when he saw Hermione's expression. "You two know better than to pull out your wands and threaten people. Especially in school," she said to Harry and Ron. Then she turned to Draco. "And you should know better than to provoke them. You remember what's happened before!" She heaved an exasperated sigh. "Please, can we just get on with the lesson so we can get decent grades?"
At this, Harry and Ron put away their wands sheepishly. The familiar smirk returned to Draco's face. Hermione muttered to him, "We're meeting tonight; I'll deal with you then." Draco just smiled again and went back to tending the unicorn.
~*~*~*~*~
Later that night, Draco and Hermione were in the Room of Requirement. Draco was sitting at the table rereading part of "A History of Magic" that he needed for an essay in History of Magic. "I bet it was hard to pick up girls if you had the Black Death," he muttered under his breath.
Hermione lay sprawled on the couch, pretending to read the book she was assigned for Ancient Runes. Really, she was watching Draco. She couldn't figure him out. "Why do you always insist upon baiting them?" she asked him finally, sitting up.
Draco shrugged. "It's fun."
"Fun?"
"Yes. There is just something about them that makes them easy to bait. They always take it. Like a couple of fish always looking for a lure. Tease them a little and they go after it. I guess I get a kick out of it."
Hermione shook her head and joined Draco at the table. She leaned on her hands, looking at him. "I guess I'll never understand you."
"Why's that?" Draco asked, going back to his book.
"You're kind of polar." Draco raised an eyebrow but didn't look up. "I mean, for six years you're bastard Draco, the richest, most stuck-up son of a bitch I've ever met, and then all of a sudden, you're nice to me, the Muggle-born, and you're not hurling awful insults at Harry and Ron, you're baiting them. I just don't understand."
"It all comes down to power, Hermione. Power."
"Explain it to me?"
Draco put down the book and stared at Hermione for a minute with scrutinizing eyes. "Alright. Before the Wonder Twins...well, I suppose just Potter, really...defeated Lord Voldemort, I had power over them because of my father. Since he was a Death Eater and one of the most powerful wizards after Voldemort himself, I was able to be smug and really wretched to them. I mean, what better power was there than having the backing of the Dark Lord himself, right? And now, now that there's no more Lord Voldemort, I have the power now of cynicism and sarcasm. I understand that Potter and Weasley used to be your best friends, but even you have to admit that they are sometimes pretty daft and stupid. When I bait them and tease them, half the time they have no idea what's going on, and that's the power. I'm a very cynical person, you know, and I use it."
"I know. Of course I know. Even I have baited them once or twice." She paused, and then seeing Draco about to say something, hastily added, "but only once or twice, not once or twice every day like you do." Hermione got up from the table and walked to the side of the room. She wished there were windows in this room, even fake windows. One appeared right in front of her and she stared out at the sunny grounds.
"If I've learned one thing from watching my father, it's that power corrupts." He watched Hermione for her reaction. As she opened her mouth to reply, he finished his sentence. "But absolute power is kind of neat."
"Don't you ever use any self-discipline? You know, to stay away from people like Ron and Harry?"
"Self-discipline implies some unpleasant things to me, including staying away from chocolate and keeping my hands out of women's pants." He chuckled at the shocked expression Hermione wore. "And not teasing the Wonder Twins. I told you already, Hermione, it's just too much fun."
Hermione went back over to where Draco was sitting at the table and leaned in front of him. "What else did your father teach you, Draco?"
"My father never bothered to teach me anything. Anything I learned from him I learned by watching." Draco got up from the table and went over to the window to get away from Hermione's gaze and questions.
"That's awful. He didn't love you enough to-"
"My father didn't love anyone. We were rich, and that was all that mattered. Money doesn't buy love. It puts you in a great bargaining position." Draco closed his eyes as he felt Hermione's hand on his shoulder. "You have no idea what it was like for me, Hermione. And I don't want to fill you in. You've changed your opinion of me. Sure I'm still a cynical bastard, for the most part, but I'd rather you not learn all the sordid details of my past and home life, alright? You're nice enough, but I don't trust anyone that much," he said with a smirk. Hermione withdrew her hand from his shoulder as though he'd bitten it.
"You can't hide behind your cynicism forever, Draco. All it is is just an unpleasant way of telling the truth." Her tone was full of hurt.
Draco turned around in time to see her flee the room. He collapsed on the couch. 'Well,' he thought, 'looks like I've got the cynicism down pat. Now, if I could just get the whole knowing-when-to-keep-my-mouth-shut thing, we'd be all set.'
Ron gave him a dirty look. "Shut up, Malfoy, you useless git." He opened his mouth to say something else when Harry came up behind him, wand drawn.
"You look very confident that you can use that in a proper manner without getting caught. You know boys, confidence is the feeling you sometimes get before you fully understand the situation."
"Hey!" Ron shouted.
Draco merely rolled his eyes. "You aren't going to do anything."
"Why not? How can you be so sure?"
"Because then you'd be even more stupid than I originally thought. Hagrid, the oaf, is right there, and even though he's not too heavy upstairs, and even though you are the Wonder Twins of Hogwarts, he won't look too kindly on you boys casting hexes and jinxes around the unicorns. Especially when you're not actually allowed to do it at school anyway. So I'm not worried," Draco said smugly, smirking at them. Ron pulled out his wand and pointed it at Draco as well. "What are you going to do to me, Weasley?" Ron stuttered for a second. Draco added, "If you can't answer a man's argument, all is not lost. You can still call him vile names." Draco paused. "Go ahead, Weasley."
"What are you doing?!" Hermione's voice asked from behind Draco before Ron had a chance to reply. Draco turned slowly, still smirking. The smirk quickly left his face when he saw Hermione's expression. "You two know better than to pull out your wands and threaten people. Especially in school," she said to Harry and Ron. Then she turned to Draco. "And you should know better than to provoke them. You remember what's happened before!" She heaved an exasperated sigh. "Please, can we just get on with the lesson so we can get decent grades?"
At this, Harry and Ron put away their wands sheepishly. The familiar smirk returned to Draco's face. Hermione muttered to him, "We're meeting tonight; I'll deal with you then." Draco just smiled again and went back to tending the unicorn.
~*~*~*~*~
Later that night, Draco and Hermione were in the Room of Requirement. Draco was sitting at the table rereading part of "A History of Magic" that he needed for an essay in History of Magic. "I bet it was hard to pick up girls if you had the Black Death," he muttered under his breath.
Hermione lay sprawled on the couch, pretending to read the book she was assigned for Ancient Runes. Really, she was watching Draco. She couldn't figure him out. "Why do you always insist upon baiting them?" she asked him finally, sitting up.
Draco shrugged. "It's fun."
"Fun?"
"Yes. There is just something about them that makes them easy to bait. They always take it. Like a couple of fish always looking for a lure. Tease them a little and they go after it. I guess I get a kick out of it."
Hermione shook her head and joined Draco at the table. She leaned on her hands, looking at him. "I guess I'll never understand you."
"Why's that?" Draco asked, going back to his book.
"You're kind of polar." Draco raised an eyebrow but didn't look up. "I mean, for six years you're bastard Draco, the richest, most stuck-up son of a bitch I've ever met, and then all of a sudden, you're nice to me, the Muggle-born, and you're not hurling awful insults at Harry and Ron, you're baiting them. I just don't understand."
"It all comes down to power, Hermione. Power."
"Explain it to me?"
Draco put down the book and stared at Hermione for a minute with scrutinizing eyes. "Alright. Before the Wonder Twins...well, I suppose just Potter, really...defeated Lord Voldemort, I had power over them because of my father. Since he was a Death Eater and one of the most powerful wizards after Voldemort himself, I was able to be smug and really wretched to them. I mean, what better power was there than having the backing of the Dark Lord himself, right? And now, now that there's no more Lord Voldemort, I have the power now of cynicism and sarcasm. I understand that Potter and Weasley used to be your best friends, but even you have to admit that they are sometimes pretty daft and stupid. When I bait them and tease them, half the time they have no idea what's going on, and that's the power. I'm a very cynical person, you know, and I use it."
"I know. Of course I know. Even I have baited them once or twice." She paused, and then seeing Draco about to say something, hastily added, "but only once or twice, not once or twice every day like you do." Hermione got up from the table and walked to the side of the room. She wished there were windows in this room, even fake windows. One appeared right in front of her and she stared out at the sunny grounds.
"If I've learned one thing from watching my father, it's that power corrupts." He watched Hermione for her reaction. As she opened her mouth to reply, he finished his sentence. "But absolute power is kind of neat."
"Don't you ever use any self-discipline? You know, to stay away from people like Ron and Harry?"
"Self-discipline implies some unpleasant things to me, including staying away from chocolate and keeping my hands out of women's pants." He chuckled at the shocked expression Hermione wore. "And not teasing the Wonder Twins. I told you already, Hermione, it's just too much fun."
Hermione went back over to where Draco was sitting at the table and leaned in front of him. "What else did your father teach you, Draco?"
"My father never bothered to teach me anything. Anything I learned from him I learned by watching." Draco got up from the table and went over to the window to get away from Hermione's gaze and questions.
"That's awful. He didn't love you enough to-"
"My father didn't love anyone. We were rich, and that was all that mattered. Money doesn't buy love. It puts you in a great bargaining position." Draco closed his eyes as he felt Hermione's hand on his shoulder. "You have no idea what it was like for me, Hermione. And I don't want to fill you in. You've changed your opinion of me. Sure I'm still a cynical bastard, for the most part, but I'd rather you not learn all the sordid details of my past and home life, alright? You're nice enough, but I don't trust anyone that much," he said with a smirk. Hermione withdrew her hand from his shoulder as though he'd bitten it.
"You can't hide behind your cynicism forever, Draco. All it is is just an unpleasant way of telling the truth." Her tone was full of hurt.
Draco turned around in time to see her flee the room. He collapsed on the couch. 'Well,' he thought, 'looks like I've got the cynicism down pat. Now, if I could just get the whole knowing-when-to-keep-my-mouth-shut thing, we'd be all set.'
