Disclaimer: Much as I'd like to, I don't own Draco Malfoy, or any part of the magical world that J.K. Rowling has all the copyrights to ... please don't sue me. There are some parts of this story that are quotes from the book - it can't be helped - events are the same as in the book, but Draco's opinion of these events may vary from Harry's.
Author's Notes: This chapter is filling time that GoF seemed to miss out altogether. Between the first DADA class and the other schools arriving. I felt there should be some padding there (says she who wishes OotP was a longer book).
Starre: I really don't have time to watch any more TV ... sorry.
Exodia Himself: No ... he might be confusing to a Legilimens, but think about this - Voldemort's insane too - so no, not immune to that.
Princess of Darkness: Thank you.
Vu: What AU are you reading? Any more Draco/Hermione than what I've already done (plus the Yule Ball) isn't really possible when I'm sticking to canon.
Andraste: Thank you ... I'm glad you liked it.
Akuma-sama: What was the twitch for? And how did you forget about Theo? Cat doesn't know who he is or what he's up to ... but she does know he's not who he looks like, and she got a hint that the Cruciatus Curse was involved (see ch7 where they were talking about the Unforgivables). That quote wasn't mine anyway *shrugs* I guess you can use it.
Devi: About the fact he's insane making him immune to mind-control? Yes he's telling the truth. The scary thing is he knows he's insane so he can adjust his behaviour accordingly and get away with it in normal society without getting committed ... I'm the same (seriously - no kidding). I like rambling reviews ... although I can't think of anything to say in response to it. I just got around to reading the reviews for the Lockhart Quiz, and I never wrote any essay about Weasley.
duochang97: Cat only knows he's not who he looks like - she doesn't know who he is, or what he's up to. Luna's not insane, she's just odd - the Imperius may or may not work on her ... depending on if JKR says it works on her or not. Draco was not better at it than Harry - he just had a different way of resisting the curse - Harry thought "I don't really want to do this, silly thing to do" ... Draco on the other hand thought "this isn't real, this is a trick, I'm not stupid enough to fall for it" both, you might note, thought the curse-caster was stupid.
dstrbd child: The fact Theo knows he's insane is the only reason he's not been committed to the mental ward of St Mungos. *sighs* when will people realise I'm not trying to write Draco as better than Harry? They're equal, sorta. Harry does have amazingly good luck while Draco has determination to get what he wants, and Harry is a bit better at Quidditch while Draco's a bit better at schoolwork, but all in all they're sorta-equal ... except for Harry's whole "powers the Dark Lord knows not" thing, but with Lucius as a father it's not surprising Draco's a bit unloved. I'm rambling *shuts up*.
Elizabeth: Yeah, well I saw him nicking something in the CoS movie, and had to use it. Thank you so much! I was hoping someone'd get that trick Moody tried to pull - yay!
Bob: Draco is not a Mary-bloody-Sue! For a start he's a guy. But other than that *sighs* he's Harry's closest school rival -it stands to reason that he is close to Harry's level. Plus my version of Draco is very willful, and always gets HIS way, he wouldn't like to be controlled like that, and is determined enough not to be. And anyway, even Crouch Sr eventually learned to resist the curse a bit - Draco has cast the curse on small animals, he knows how it works. As for finding out about Moody, Cat only knows he's not who he appears to be, and there's a lot of dark magic in his aura - that's it - reason to be suspicious, nothing else. *sighs* sorry if I sounded pissy, I was just trying to counter the points you made ... I really do appreciate constructive criticism, it's just I thought I was right this time.
Dragona 2007: Erm ... I don't remember saying I'd do Severitus Challenge ... I did try to write it, but I failed miserably. Sorry.
"those of us who fail History ... are doomed to repeat it in summer-school" -BtVS
Chapter 9 - Muggle Studies
I sat down next to Cat, in the common room, "Want to use the spy ball again?" I asked smirking evilly.
"No thanks." she said, not looking at me.
"What're you doing?"
"Divination homework." Cat replied, "Do you think she'll like it if I say our Defence teacher will meet a grizzly end? I think it'll happen."
"If you See it, say it." I said, shrugging.
"The problem is, this teacher doesn't have real Sight - she liked horror stories ... Dementors, that'll work." and she started writing quickly.
"You have a frightening imagination." I noted.
"I didn't make that up." Cat said ominously.
"That's good - serve him right." I muttered - I still have a couple of the bruises from the ferret incident.
"Don't you have to be in Muggle Studies in five minutes?" Cat asked calmly.
I just made it to class in time. Crabbe and Goyle weren't taking this class anymore, because they failed it last year.
"I'm going to go easy on you all, because I know perfectly well your other teachers are piling on the homework for OWLs." Professor Savage said smiling.
"Thank you, sir." Theo said loudly.
Professor Savage smiled - he likes and encourages the troublemakers to a point - it's a good strategy for an authority figure, really. "Instead of many essays and deadlines, I am going to give you a project each term, which you can do in your own time, and fit in around your schedule - it's a Muggle-originated teaching strategy, and it's supposed to help you learn responsibilities by organising your own workload - it works." he said, levitating pieces of parchment out to each of us, "Your assignment is written on this parchment, including set dates when you will be required to show up for this class. Other than those dates, this class period is now a free period during which you can work on your project, other homework, or play Quidditch with the Giant Squid. It's your choice ... it's also your grades. Class dismissed."
As we left class, I read the assignment, "Five rolls of parchment on a specialist Muggle profession of our choice, information to be gathered from Muggle sources." I read, "Oh crap."
"Well, on the bright side, it's all we have to do for this class all term - History's been giving us a roll a week." Theo said cheerfully.
"Where are we supposed to find 'Muggle sources'?" I asked.
"Muggle-born friends?" Theo suggested.
"I don't have any." I replied.
"What about Granger?" Theo asked, grinning.
"I am NOT going to ask her to help me with a school project - it would be embarrassing." I said coldly.
"She'd like it - it'd show you had some humility."
"I don't, though."
"We know this, Draco ... but trust me, girls like it when you need something."
"How would you know?"
"Luna."
"Are you dating her, or something?"
"Something."
* * *
During the Muggle Studies period, the next week, Theo and I could be found in the Library, finishing our Transfiguration essays, "Think this'll do?" Theo asked.
"If you put enough errors in your copying of my work, yes." I said, smirking.
"Who says I copied you?" Theo asked, affronted.
"You kept peering over my shoulder every few minutes."
"Oh. You saw that, did you?"
"Yes."
"What's next?"
"Charms. Then Potions. Then History. And they're all due tomorrow." I said, reading off the list I'd made of homework to do.
"Great. Just great."
"At least we finished the Transfiguration in time for this afternoon's class."
"True ... when are we gonna do our Muggle Studies project, though?"
"You're not going to get Granger to help you too?" I asked.
"It was my idea." Theo whined.
"Use the Slytherin Mudblood." I replied.
"Ok, I will."
"We'll do it tomorrow after classes - without the Quidditch practice, we have the weekend free to catch up on homework."
"Fun, fun, fun." Theo muttered sarcastically.
* * *
The next day, I had told Crabbe and Goyle to "be good henchmen and go away and practice henching for a while." Cat and Blaise had been bribed to give Pansy a makeover - that'd keep them all busy for a good few hours. Theo made himself elsewhere - I have no idea where he went, or what he was doing. I was in the Library, alone. Noctowl had been sent to deliver a letter to Gryffindor tower.
Mere minutes passed before Hermione appeared. "How did your owl get into my room? All the windows were locked." she asked immediately.
"He can get into anything, if he wants to. I still don't know how he got the bag of owl treats out of my locked trunk." I said, shrugging.
"Well, what did you want? Do you know what would happen if someone had recognised your owl giving me a letter?" she asked, sitting down.
"Who could have recognised him?" I asked casually.
"Harry, or Ron." she replied immediately.
"He delivered to your room - boys can't get into the girls dorms. Theo found this out to his expense in first year."
She scowled, "Fine, then ... what did you want?"
"To ask you for some help with a project."
"What sort of project? I'm not getting involved in anything illegal, am I?" she asked warily.
"It's a school project - look." I handed her the parchment Professor Savage gave me. She looked over it and smirked. "Will you help me?" I asked trying to sound plaintive.
"I think I will, yes." she said, still smirking, "What Muggle profession are you going to research?"
"I have no idea, yet. Whichever one is easiest for you to help me research." I replied.
"Dentists." Hermione answered immediately.
"What are dentists?" I asked.
"They fix problems with teeth." Hermione replied, "Both my parents are dentists."
I blinked, "And your teeth are still like that?" I asked.
She glared at me, "My teeth aren't that bad!" she snapped, "And I'm waiting until I'm older, so I can have proper dental treatment." she folded her arms across her chest and huffed.
"I didn't mean to insult you." I said quietly.
"Well, maybe you should learn to think before you speak, Malfoy." she retorted, still huffing.
I sighed, "I'll try. I can't make any promises, though."
She looked at me funny, "You never cease to amaze me."
"What?"
"You always say or do the last thing I expect you to." she said, a bit confused, "Well, when you're not trying to show off for your bodyguards, anyway."
"They're not my bodyguards. They're the children of my father's bodyguards, and they're brain-dead enough to think I want or need them hanging around."
Hermione sniggered, "I think I just made my point - that was the last thing anyone would ever expect you to say about those two."
"Except Theo - you can't surprise him."
"This says you need to gather information from Muggle sources. I'm not a Muggle." she said, turning her attention back to the project.
"But you have connections to Muggles. That's why I asked you."
"Well, I could owl my parents and ask them to send me some leaflets and books about their work." she said thoughtfully.
"That sounds like a good start." I said, smiling.
"If Professor Savage helped, I might be able to arrange for you to meet one of them, to talk about -"
"No thanks." I said quickly. I had about as much interest in discussing her parents' work with them than I guessed she had in discussing my father's 'hobbies' with him. That is to say: none.
"Well, will the paperwork be enough?" she asked. "It's a five-roll project."
"As long as all of the books you get for me are Muggle books, I'm sure I can do something with it." I said, sighing slightly.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Why would anything be wrong?" I said defensively.
"The way you sighed, there."
"I have a lot of other homework to deal with ... plus two personal projects I haven't had time to even think about yet. I'm wondering when I'll get time to deal with this as well." I answered honestly.
"I have the same problem. The days seem to fly by."
"Well, considering you spent half of last year in two places at once, I'm not surprised." I said, smirking.
"You -"
"Know about the time-turner."
"Oh."
"How old are you now?" I asked quietly.
"What?" she asked, surprised.
"How many hours did you turn back? How many more days did you have last year? How much older are you now than your birthday would say?"
"Oh ... I didn't keep count." she muttered, blushing.
"I would have." I said quietly.
"I turned fifteen in September." she said, "But I don't know what the time-turner did to it."
I looked at her for a minute. "It doesn't really matter, anyway ... I was just curious."
She shrugged, "I'll get those books for you." she said, standing up.
"Thank you." I said, also standing.
"You'd better get back to that other homework, Malfoy. Wouldn't want you to lose second place, would we?" she asked, smirking.
I scowled, "Whatever you say, Mudblood."
"Ferret." she was still smirking - the Mudblood remark hadn't fazed her in the slightest. On the other hand, the ferret remark still hurt. I glanced around to see there was no one else here, then pulled my shirt up to reveal the bruises that were just starting to fade, "That hurt, you know." I said simply.
"Every time you call me Mudblood, I'll call you ferret." she said calmly, but there was a faint frown that looked like worry or concern, hiding under a really weak mask of indifference.
I shrugged, fixing my shirt, and taking a step towards her, and leaning over the table that was between us, "I'm not your enemy, Granger."
"Are you my friend, then?" she asked.
"No. But you don't need to hurt me."
"I don't particularly want to ... unless you insult my friends."
I shrugged, and walked away, "Too bad." I said, over my shoulder.
* * *
End of chapter 9
Author's Notes: This chapter is filling time that GoF seemed to miss out altogether. Between the first DADA class and the other schools arriving. I felt there should be some padding there (says she who wishes OotP was a longer book).
Starre: I really don't have time to watch any more TV ... sorry.
Exodia Himself: No ... he might be confusing to a Legilimens, but think about this - Voldemort's insane too - so no, not immune to that.
Princess of Darkness: Thank you.
Vu: What AU are you reading? Any more Draco/Hermione than what I've already done (plus the Yule Ball) isn't really possible when I'm sticking to canon.
Andraste: Thank you ... I'm glad you liked it.
Akuma-sama: What was the twitch for? And how did you forget about Theo? Cat doesn't know who he is or what he's up to ... but she does know he's not who he looks like, and she got a hint that the Cruciatus Curse was involved (see ch7 where they were talking about the Unforgivables). That quote wasn't mine anyway *shrugs* I guess you can use it.
Devi: About the fact he's insane making him immune to mind-control? Yes he's telling the truth. The scary thing is he knows he's insane so he can adjust his behaviour accordingly and get away with it in normal society without getting committed ... I'm the same (seriously - no kidding). I like rambling reviews ... although I can't think of anything to say in response to it. I just got around to reading the reviews for the Lockhart Quiz, and I never wrote any essay about Weasley.
duochang97: Cat only knows he's not who he looks like - she doesn't know who he is, or what he's up to. Luna's not insane, she's just odd - the Imperius may or may not work on her ... depending on if JKR says it works on her or not. Draco was not better at it than Harry - he just had a different way of resisting the curse - Harry thought "I don't really want to do this, silly thing to do" ... Draco on the other hand thought "this isn't real, this is a trick, I'm not stupid enough to fall for it" both, you might note, thought the curse-caster was stupid.
dstrbd child: The fact Theo knows he's insane is the only reason he's not been committed to the mental ward of St Mungos. *sighs* when will people realise I'm not trying to write Draco as better than Harry? They're equal, sorta. Harry does have amazingly good luck while Draco has determination to get what he wants, and Harry is a bit better at Quidditch while Draco's a bit better at schoolwork, but all in all they're sorta-equal ... except for Harry's whole "powers the Dark Lord knows not" thing, but with Lucius as a father it's not surprising Draco's a bit unloved. I'm rambling *shuts up*.
Elizabeth: Yeah, well I saw him nicking something in the CoS movie, and had to use it. Thank you so much! I was hoping someone'd get that trick Moody tried to pull - yay!
Bob: Draco is not a Mary-bloody-Sue! For a start he's a guy. But other than that *sighs* he's Harry's closest school rival -it stands to reason that he is close to Harry's level. Plus my version of Draco is very willful, and always gets HIS way, he wouldn't like to be controlled like that, and is determined enough not to be. And anyway, even Crouch Sr eventually learned to resist the curse a bit - Draco has cast the curse on small animals, he knows how it works. As for finding out about Moody, Cat only knows he's not who he appears to be, and there's a lot of dark magic in his aura - that's it - reason to be suspicious, nothing else. *sighs* sorry if I sounded pissy, I was just trying to counter the points you made ... I really do appreciate constructive criticism, it's just I thought I was right this time.
Dragona 2007: Erm ... I don't remember saying I'd do Severitus Challenge ... I did try to write it, but I failed miserably. Sorry.
"those of us who fail History ... are doomed to repeat it in summer-school" -BtVS
Chapter 9 - Muggle Studies
I sat down next to Cat, in the common room, "Want to use the spy ball again?" I asked smirking evilly.
"No thanks." she said, not looking at me.
"What're you doing?"
"Divination homework." Cat replied, "Do you think she'll like it if I say our Defence teacher will meet a grizzly end? I think it'll happen."
"If you See it, say it." I said, shrugging.
"The problem is, this teacher doesn't have real Sight - she liked horror stories ... Dementors, that'll work." and she started writing quickly.
"You have a frightening imagination." I noted.
"I didn't make that up." Cat said ominously.
"That's good - serve him right." I muttered - I still have a couple of the bruises from the ferret incident.
"Don't you have to be in Muggle Studies in five minutes?" Cat asked calmly.
I just made it to class in time. Crabbe and Goyle weren't taking this class anymore, because they failed it last year.
"I'm going to go easy on you all, because I know perfectly well your other teachers are piling on the homework for OWLs." Professor Savage said smiling.
"Thank you, sir." Theo said loudly.
Professor Savage smiled - he likes and encourages the troublemakers to a point - it's a good strategy for an authority figure, really. "Instead of many essays and deadlines, I am going to give you a project each term, which you can do in your own time, and fit in around your schedule - it's a Muggle-originated teaching strategy, and it's supposed to help you learn responsibilities by organising your own workload - it works." he said, levitating pieces of parchment out to each of us, "Your assignment is written on this parchment, including set dates when you will be required to show up for this class. Other than those dates, this class period is now a free period during which you can work on your project, other homework, or play Quidditch with the Giant Squid. It's your choice ... it's also your grades. Class dismissed."
As we left class, I read the assignment, "Five rolls of parchment on a specialist Muggle profession of our choice, information to be gathered from Muggle sources." I read, "Oh crap."
"Well, on the bright side, it's all we have to do for this class all term - History's been giving us a roll a week." Theo said cheerfully.
"Where are we supposed to find 'Muggle sources'?" I asked.
"Muggle-born friends?" Theo suggested.
"I don't have any." I replied.
"What about Granger?" Theo asked, grinning.
"I am NOT going to ask her to help me with a school project - it would be embarrassing." I said coldly.
"She'd like it - it'd show you had some humility."
"I don't, though."
"We know this, Draco ... but trust me, girls like it when you need something."
"How would you know?"
"Luna."
"Are you dating her, or something?"
"Something."
* * *
During the Muggle Studies period, the next week, Theo and I could be found in the Library, finishing our Transfiguration essays, "Think this'll do?" Theo asked.
"If you put enough errors in your copying of my work, yes." I said, smirking.
"Who says I copied you?" Theo asked, affronted.
"You kept peering over my shoulder every few minutes."
"Oh. You saw that, did you?"
"Yes."
"What's next?"
"Charms. Then Potions. Then History. And they're all due tomorrow." I said, reading off the list I'd made of homework to do.
"Great. Just great."
"At least we finished the Transfiguration in time for this afternoon's class."
"True ... when are we gonna do our Muggle Studies project, though?"
"You're not going to get Granger to help you too?" I asked.
"It was my idea." Theo whined.
"Use the Slytherin Mudblood." I replied.
"Ok, I will."
"We'll do it tomorrow after classes - without the Quidditch practice, we have the weekend free to catch up on homework."
"Fun, fun, fun." Theo muttered sarcastically.
* * *
The next day, I had told Crabbe and Goyle to "be good henchmen and go away and practice henching for a while." Cat and Blaise had been bribed to give Pansy a makeover - that'd keep them all busy for a good few hours. Theo made himself elsewhere - I have no idea where he went, or what he was doing. I was in the Library, alone. Noctowl had been sent to deliver a letter to Gryffindor tower.
Mere minutes passed before Hermione appeared. "How did your owl get into my room? All the windows were locked." she asked immediately.
"He can get into anything, if he wants to. I still don't know how he got the bag of owl treats out of my locked trunk." I said, shrugging.
"Well, what did you want? Do you know what would happen if someone had recognised your owl giving me a letter?" she asked, sitting down.
"Who could have recognised him?" I asked casually.
"Harry, or Ron." she replied immediately.
"He delivered to your room - boys can't get into the girls dorms. Theo found this out to his expense in first year."
She scowled, "Fine, then ... what did you want?"
"To ask you for some help with a project."
"What sort of project? I'm not getting involved in anything illegal, am I?" she asked warily.
"It's a school project - look." I handed her the parchment Professor Savage gave me. She looked over it and smirked. "Will you help me?" I asked trying to sound plaintive.
"I think I will, yes." she said, still smirking, "What Muggle profession are you going to research?"
"I have no idea, yet. Whichever one is easiest for you to help me research." I replied.
"Dentists." Hermione answered immediately.
"What are dentists?" I asked.
"They fix problems with teeth." Hermione replied, "Both my parents are dentists."
I blinked, "And your teeth are still like that?" I asked.
She glared at me, "My teeth aren't that bad!" she snapped, "And I'm waiting until I'm older, so I can have proper dental treatment." she folded her arms across her chest and huffed.
"I didn't mean to insult you." I said quietly.
"Well, maybe you should learn to think before you speak, Malfoy." she retorted, still huffing.
I sighed, "I'll try. I can't make any promises, though."
She looked at me funny, "You never cease to amaze me."
"What?"
"You always say or do the last thing I expect you to." she said, a bit confused, "Well, when you're not trying to show off for your bodyguards, anyway."
"They're not my bodyguards. They're the children of my father's bodyguards, and they're brain-dead enough to think I want or need them hanging around."
Hermione sniggered, "I think I just made my point - that was the last thing anyone would ever expect you to say about those two."
"Except Theo - you can't surprise him."
"This says you need to gather information from Muggle sources. I'm not a Muggle." she said, turning her attention back to the project.
"But you have connections to Muggles. That's why I asked you."
"Well, I could owl my parents and ask them to send me some leaflets and books about their work." she said thoughtfully.
"That sounds like a good start." I said, smiling.
"If Professor Savage helped, I might be able to arrange for you to meet one of them, to talk about -"
"No thanks." I said quickly. I had about as much interest in discussing her parents' work with them than I guessed she had in discussing my father's 'hobbies' with him. That is to say: none.
"Well, will the paperwork be enough?" she asked. "It's a five-roll project."
"As long as all of the books you get for me are Muggle books, I'm sure I can do something with it." I said, sighing slightly.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Why would anything be wrong?" I said defensively.
"The way you sighed, there."
"I have a lot of other homework to deal with ... plus two personal projects I haven't had time to even think about yet. I'm wondering when I'll get time to deal with this as well." I answered honestly.
"I have the same problem. The days seem to fly by."
"Well, considering you spent half of last year in two places at once, I'm not surprised." I said, smirking.
"You -"
"Know about the time-turner."
"Oh."
"How old are you now?" I asked quietly.
"What?" she asked, surprised.
"How many hours did you turn back? How many more days did you have last year? How much older are you now than your birthday would say?"
"Oh ... I didn't keep count." she muttered, blushing.
"I would have." I said quietly.
"I turned fifteen in September." she said, "But I don't know what the time-turner did to it."
I looked at her for a minute. "It doesn't really matter, anyway ... I was just curious."
She shrugged, "I'll get those books for you." she said, standing up.
"Thank you." I said, also standing.
"You'd better get back to that other homework, Malfoy. Wouldn't want you to lose second place, would we?" she asked, smirking.
I scowled, "Whatever you say, Mudblood."
"Ferret." she was still smirking - the Mudblood remark hadn't fazed her in the slightest. On the other hand, the ferret remark still hurt. I glanced around to see there was no one else here, then pulled my shirt up to reveal the bruises that were just starting to fade, "That hurt, you know." I said simply.
"Every time you call me Mudblood, I'll call you ferret." she said calmly, but there was a faint frown that looked like worry or concern, hiding under a really weak mask of indifference.
I shrugged, fixing my shirt, and taking a step towards her, and leaning over the table that was between us, "I'm not your enemy, Granger."
"Are you my friend, then?" she asked.
"No. But you don't need to hurt me."
"I don't particularly want to ... unless you insult my friends."
I shrugged, and walked away, "Too bad." I said, over my shoulder.
* * *
End of chapter 9