Chapter 6

The next day, Ron, Harry and Hermione came down to breakfast in the Great Hall. Hermione was reluctant to leave the common room again, but after a lot of coaxing (it involved chocolate!) Harry and Ron had managed to convince her to come out of hiding.
As they entered the Hall, Hermione looked around nervously to see if anyone laughed at her. To her great relief, nobody had, not even the Slytherins.
She concluded that Dumbledore must have preformed the memory charms on all that were there.
Her eyes flicked to Professor Snape, who was 'cheerfully' (as cheerful as Snape gets) eating his porridge. He momentarily looked up from his bowl and spotted Hermione.
Hermione gasped out loud and turned to leave, but Ron and Harry caught her and turned her around to face the Teacher's table.
Snape was still watching her, then, to her horror, he stood up and walked towards them.
Ron and Harry stood behind her as Snape strode towards them. Ron gave her a push forward.
When Snape arrived, he ignored Harry and Ron.
"I will be needing my robe, Miss Granger, have you brought it with you?" He said shortly.
Hermione blushed. Obviously, Snape still remembered yesterday's awful events.
"I- I did, Professor!" she answered. She turned to Harry, who handed her a bundle and held it out to Snape.
He took it and tucked it under one arm.
There was an awful moment of silence, in which Hermione wished for nothing more than the ground to open up and swallow her. "Thank you for…covering me in my hour of need."
Snape softened just a little. This poor girl had been humiliated in front of him and the whole class. Memory charms had been preformed, only he, Hermione, Harry and Ron remembered what had occurred. Then, in a very un-Snape like fashion, he reached out and put a hand on Hermione's shoulder.
She flinched, surprised and looked up at him wondering what he was going to say or do.
Snape's cold expression left him and was replaced by an expression of pity and understanding.
It was then, Harry realized why Snape was doing this, He remembered his adventure into Snape's pensieve, and recalled the scene of his father tormenting and humiliating Snape in front of half the school. Harry realized that Snape was sympathizing. He knew how she felt.
"There's no need to be embarrassed, Miss Granger," Snape told Hermione somewhat gently. "In all my years as a potions master, I can assure you, I have seen some things that, had they been you, would have made you want to crawl into a hole and never come out! But you are stronger than that."
Hermione looked at Snape, and oddly enough, what he had said made her feel a little better about the whole thing. After all, what happened to her seemed mild compared to what could have happened to other wizards and witches.
"Thank you Professor," Hermione said gratefully. "that means a lot to me."
Snape nodded, turned and swept off back to his porridge, his mission complete. Now things could go back to normal!
"Blimey!" Ron said in wonder. "Never thought I'd see the day when Snape would be nice!"
Harry laughed lightly. "Miracles do happen!"
Hermione laughed at Harry's comment. She felt much better about herself now. Snape was right, she was stronger than to let a little embarrassing event that all but 4 people remembered anyway, get in the way of her life. She was over it!
With a sigh of liberation, she joined her friends for breakfast.

Malfoy picked at his bacon with his fork, his head leaning on one of his hands, he looked thoroughly depressed.
Pansy sidled up to him and cooed in his ear. "What's bothering you, my little Drakey Wakey?"
Malfoy shrugged her off. "Leave me alone, Parkinson!" he snapped.
Pansy put her nose in the air and stalked off.
He needed distance, from everything to clear his head. He needed to go over the plans he had created, re-assess the situation. Everthing was going wrong with this plan, nothing was going the way it was supposed to! Sure, he was beginning to gain the trio's trust, but that was tainted by the fact that he had felt something totally unfamiliar to him, whatever the strange feeling was, it terrified him! He didn't like it, he wanted it to go away. He needed someone he could talk to about this, someone who could identify the feeling and tell him what it was. Someone who wouldn't judge him or think him weak for seeking help on the matter! Then, it hit him! Parents! Parents always wanted their children to come to them with problems, so they could kiss it and make it better!
If he told his Father about this, he would surely remind him why he had concocted this engenious plan in the first place and refresh the memory as to why he hated the golden trio, especially the mudblood, in the first place! Yes, that was it! He would talk with his father tonight!
Malfoy's spirits lifted somewhat and he felt a little more cheerful, thus, he began to munch happily on his bacon and eggs.

Back at the Griffindor table, the Trio were discussing Malfoy's odd behavior.
"It's a bit too weird if you ask me!" Ron said in a low voice.
"I agree," Said Harry "People don't just change overnight!"
"It's been a whole summer, you guys! What if he does want to change?" Hermione put in.
Harry shook his head. "I don't know Hermione, it is Draco Malfoy we are talking about!"
Hermione shrugged. "So? What's your point?"
Harry ran a hand through his messy dark hair and leaned in closer, the other two mimicked him and moved closer also.
"My point is, Mione, that it's quite possible that Malfoy, just because he's…well, Malfoy, is trying to lure us into a false sense of security!" Harry said in a low voice. He looked at his two best friends for feedback.
Ron's brow furrowed in thought. Hermione also looked thoughtful.
After a minute, Ron put in his thoughts.
"Yeah, I could see him doing that!" he agreed enthusiastically. "I think Harry could have something there, Mione!"
Hermione shifted uncomfortably. "Yes, I can see why you would come to such a conclusion, but really! What if he has changed? Won't you guys feel bad for not giving him a chance to show us that he wanted to be friends and we just pushed him away without a second thought?"
Ron and Harry thought about this very carefully. They both agreed that they would feel bad if that was to be the case, but Harry said he still felt wary about the whole thing.
After discussing it for another 10 minutes, they finally came to an agreement.
"Okay, here's what we do," Harry said importantly. "We give him a chance to prove to us that he really has changed or wants to, but we keep an watchful eye on him as well! That way, we avoid the guilt of not giving him a chance, but we don't have to trust him either!"
Hermione and Ron smiled in agreement.
"You're brilliant, mate!" Ron praised.
"I agree!" Hermione said giving Harry a big smile of appreciation.
"So, that's the plan, agreed?" Harry said happily.
"Agreed!" Ron and Hermione chirruped in unison.
With that, they left the Great Hall to prepare for Charms, giving Malfoy a friendly wave as they went.
Malfoy returned the wave, smirking to himself. Oh, yes, if he could make the plan work, with minimal, preferably no damage to himself, things were going to get very interesting for the Golden Trio!

A/N: - So, whaddaya think? any theories as to what Malfoy could have up his oh so big sleeve? What do we think he is up to? I know Hermione hasn't stepped out yet, but she will! I promise!! I'm Scottish, so if any of you think my sense of humour is strange, you know why!