She sat quietly for a moment after his declaration, taking in their whole conversation. She began to think about everything that could go wrong, and there were plenty of what-ifs to consider.
What if she couldn't convince Harry and Ron to go along with the plan and play nice with Malfoy?
What if they couldn't convince the committee to approve their project?
What if something more horrible happened? Something that her tired brain couldn't think of right now?
What if they couldn't put up with each other for the whole three months?
It was this last speculation that caused her the most worry. Sure, they had been sitting here together in relative harmony for the past half an hour or so but this was hardly a success story. They were in private, away from everyone else and no one knew they were even talking. Malfoy was right about one thing, she admitted, it would indeed be a whole new ballgame if they were able to pull this sort of thing off in front of everyone.
Suddenly she wasn't so sure this was a good idea. And then it occurred to her that Malfoy hadn't gotten a chance to say what he had wanted this project to entail before she had jumped in. Maybe his idea was better. Well okay, maybe better was stretching it but perhaps his had the redeeming quality of not requiring them to spend quite so much time with each other.
She realized that she needed to hear what his idea was before agreeing whole heartedly with the option they had before them.
Draco watched the emotions flit across Hermione's features. Normally he would have been insulted that someone could tune him out so effectively but he recognized his own fears in her face. He thought about the same what-if s that she did and was also unable to find any reassurance.
"What was your idea?" she broke into his thoughts.
His looked at her hard for a moment, waiting for his brain to process what she had said. When it did it still made no sense.
"My idea for what?" he responded with a confused look that at any other time Hermione would have found quite humorous.
"Your idea for the project," she told him. "What were you going to suggest we do when I first came down here?"
His mind went blank. What had his idea been? Why did she assume he had one in the first place?
Probably because you sought her out, genius. His mind mocked him.
She's scared of following through with the idea we came up with, he realized. At any other time it was a sure bet that he would tease her mercilessly about such a revelation but right now he was just as apprehensive about the whole thing.
As he struggled to come up with another idea he discovered that he felt more than a small tinge of pride in her assumption that he would come up with a suggestion. She didn't assume he was stupid. She believed that he would pull his own weight. It was somewhat of a novelty for him.
Most people were so scared of him (or his reputation, or of his father, or of his family's connection to the Dark Lord—and the list goes on, his mind taunted) that when they found themselves as his partner they automatically did all of the work, assuming he wanted it that way. And for the most part he did. But there were times when he longed to challenge himself and show everyone what he was made of. The only time he came even close was Quidditch, and even then he had to deal with the rumors that he had bought his way onto the team.
Granger was presenting him with a terrific gift and she didn't even know it, he mused. She was giving him the chance to stand on his own. Granger was probably like this with everyone, he admitted. He could imagine that when people asked her for help with their homework that she pointed the way but made sure the person understood the material and could do it themselves. She didn't give anyone a free ride.
He shook his head at the direction his thoughts were taking and scowled. He was never touchy-feely and indeed prided himself on his aloofness and yet here he was, sitting in a kitchen after hours, drinking hot cocoa and thinking about nothing but his emotions. It was disgusting.
Well, maybe that was too strong. It was disturbing. Yes, that was it. Before he ceased his internal exploration he gave in for a few moments more. While he would never go so far as to publicly announce these feelings he was grateful for them, and if he were being completely honest he was glad he had asked Granger to be his partner. Realizing that she was still waiting patiently for an answer he found that the answer was Granger herself.
"Well my first idea had been for us to combine our knowledge and offer to tutor people together," he said, unconsciously adopting ownership of both ideas on the table.
Hermione narrowed her eyes at him and thought about the suggestion. It was all right, not nearly as dramatic, but it would mean a lot of work for both of them. Before dismissing it out of hand she tried to be diplomatic.
"So how exactly would this work?"
Thankfully once the idea had occurred to him he had been thinking of exactly the answer she was searching for.
"Well the way I see it we would divide the classes we have together and accept responsibility for the ones we don't."
"Hmm," she mulled over the response and started calculating times and materials necessary. Then she picked up on something he had said.
"What classes don't we have together?"
"Oh. Well I don't know." Neither one of them had ever noticed when the other was absent from a class, only the opposite. So they took a moment to run down their list of classes and found they only had a few apart from each other.
"So you would handle anyone needing help with Divination." She stated.
"And you would handle anyone wanting help with Arithmancy." He replied.
"Uh-huh. Hey wait! We have that together. Why do I automatically get that one?" she whined.
"Probably because you have the top marks in that class." He sneered and she felt defensive.
"Yeah, well." As comebacks go it was pretty lame. Before she had the chance to think of a more suitable reply he spoke.
"Look Granger, it doesn't matter who would take what class anyway because that idea is not going to work."
She was stunned into silence. But not for long.
"And why not? What's wrong with it?"
He rolled his eyes and forced his hand through his hair. He heaved a great sigh and Hermione wondered what the problem was. He seemed loath to tell her.
"Because no one is going to want to be tutored by me when they could be tutored by you."
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Disclaimer: I. Do Not. Own. The. Characters. The End.
Author's Notes: You guys are the best! Thank you so much for your patience!
Mme Plot Bunnie—I'm so glad that you continue to find this humorous. Hopefully these couple of chapters will tickle your funny bone, even if just a little. Good question about the cookie thing. It may indeed come into play later but I admit it was originally introduced in large part by my conscious hunger for cookies when none were to be found. Thanks for doing that r&r thing!
Venus Smurf—By the gods my days are made infinitely more enjoyable by your reviews! I'm so glad that you enjoy the plot of this one! Sorry that I haven't made it through the weekend yet! Thank you so much for providing me with the best encouragement I have ever received. You are a writer's dream come true!
aku-neko—Thank you so much! You are so sweet and I really appreciate you saying that! I hope that you do indeed enjoy these next couple of chapters as much as the first few!
tainted black—Wow! It's practically never that someone says I made their day! Thank you so much for saying that! I really appreciate you! You're terrific!
::enVy::--You have my gratitude for reading and reviewing so far…I hope the story gets better for you!
sgt pepper—I appreciate your comments! I am especially grateful that you find the premise to be creative, that means a lot to me! Thank you! Thank you!
Exlibris—Holy wow! It's rare for me to get such a serious review but I took it to heart. I hope these next few chapters come close to your expectations for the story! Thank you for holding me up to a standard! I will endeavor not to disappoint you!