Turning Points: Chapter Five
Unbeknownst to anyone but himself, Headmaster Dumbledore kept a close watch on the two students after witnessing their walk on the grounds. How he wished he had had an extendable ear to hear their conversation. It was driving him mad that he, the omniscient headmaster, did not know what the two students were up to. They were as different as night and day and he could find no reason for their sudden closeness.
'Perhaps,' he wondered, 'it would be a good idea to give them more opportunities to be together without causing suspicion. Miss Granger must be doing a world of good for Mr. Malfoy. It can only help our side in the upcoming war if they team up and he does know a lot about Voldemort and his supporters,' Dumbledore mused. 'Yes, they would make an excellent pair for Head Boy and Head Girl. Mr. Malfoy is, of course, a Malfoy and would expect nothing less than this prestigious title.
'It'll also keep Lucius from trying to overthrow the Board of Governors again if young Mr. Malfoy is in a place of power where he can "spy" on me... And Miss Granger... well, Miss Granger is the brightest student Hogwarts has seen since Tom Riddle. It's only natural that she should become Head Girl. How fortunate it is for us that she is on our side.'
The next night, in the Room of Requirement, Draco was grilling Hermione on the uses of different curses. He already had them all memorized; one can't grow up with Lucius Malfoy as a father and not learn how to inflict pain on an opponent. 'How strange that the goody-goody Gryffindor's favorites are all hexes used to inflict the maximum amount of pain and leave no evidence whatsoever that anything was ever used,' he thought.
Hermione, however, wasn't paying much attention to Draco's quizzing. She knew it all by heart already as well. After all, one can't study something for a year and not learn it. It's impossible.
"Malfoy," she started, "Can we cut it out with the constant drilling? If I didn't know better, I'd say you were trying to act like a prat."
"I just enjoy taking my daily frustrations out on you dear."
"No, you're just a prat," she said, smiling. Hermione often wondered why she ever let Draco in on her plans. To her, he was nothing but an annoying inbred pureblooded insufferable git and she regretted her decision almost every minute she was in his presence. Then again, she figured he still thought of her as some insufferable and bossy know-it-all.
'Maybe if I had let the Zabini's cat out of the bag instead of acting like a good little subservient mudblood, things could have been different for Dra— Malfoy and myself. He is kind of nice when he keeps his mouth shut... No, he is not cute. Ever,' she reprimanded herself. 'But still, what happens when we defeat Voldemort? I don't think I'll want to just disappear into some boring Ministry job. This power thing is a bit addicting and I'm sure my want for more of it won't dissipate after the job is done...
'Malfoy and I could rule this place. Fudge is basically in the Malfoys' back pocket anyway, and I'm sure he'd love to hand over his power to Drac— MALFOY, if given the right incentives. But do I really want to battle my only supporter? No, we'll have to be joined. Before that happens though, I'll have to make sure his darling father is out of the way; Fudge surely favors him more. And Lucius himself would be opposed to such a marriage, I'm sure.
'Hmm... marriage... to a Malfoy...' a giddy feeling rushed through her at the thought of being wed to Draco. 'Ugh,' she thought. 'I'm calling him Draco and feeling giddy at the thought of marrying him. I've definitely lived in the same room as Lavender and Parvati for way too long...'
Her head dropped into her hands and she groaned, causing Draco to look up at her with a questioning look. When she didn't look up, he cleared his throat and raised an eyebrow. "I didn't' know Dark Ladies groaned like schoolgirls," he whispered.
In reply, she stuck her tongue out and told him to go stuff himself. "Very mature, Granger. Am I supposed to be the grown up in this relationship? Do you plan on regressing all the way back to childhood? Be sure to let me know so I can leave," he sniffed.
"Relationship, Draco? Why sweetie, I didn't know you cared," she said, monotone, while batting her eyelashes.
"Care? As if. You may have pure blood, but that doesn't mean my standards have lowered any."
"Hah," she snorted, "If your standards are so bloody high, explain Parkinson to me."
"That was completely my father's doing," he grumbled. "The Parkinson family is very high up in society, I'll have you know."
"Funny... I could've sworn the Zabini's were better off than the Parkinson's..."
"They are." When she looked at him questioningly, he added, "You are a Granger. Of the muggle Grangers."
"I'm sure a simple blood test would prove otherwise."
"So would a lot of other things..." he trailed off.
"Such as?"
"Well, your appearance definitely doesn't coincide with the Zabini appearance. All old pureblood families' children look just like that," he explained.
"Maybe I'm the exception to the rule—" she started.
"Granger," he whined, "There are no exceptions to the rule.
"And why not," she demanded
"Exceptions to the rule are taken out into the forest and left to die," he explained, narrowing his eyes. Draco was beginning to doubt the validity of her claim. No Zabini would be allowed to live if it had such disastrous hair.
"Must you be such a difficult git?"
"It's a gift. Comes with being a Malfoy," he said proudly.
"Then I surely pity whomever gets stuck with you," she retorted.
"As much as I enjoy these verbal sparring matches, are you going to explain or am I going to tell the world that you're studying the dark arts?"
"Hogsmeade weekend."
"Granger," he warned, but all she would do is repeat "Hogsmeade weekend" so he eventually gave up and turned to head back to the Slytherin dorms, leaving the cleaning up to Hermione. Before he left, though, Draco couldn't resist the chance to taunt her a little.
"Why Granger, if I didn't know better, I'd say you were jealous you don't have a chance," he said with a wink.
"Where did that come from?"
"Just continuing our original conversation..."
"Okay... That's right. I'm jealous. Draco Malfoy please be mine! I want to love you forever and ever and—"
"Stop it, Granger. You're making a fool of yourself," he growled.
"You asked for it." And with a smirk and wave of her hand, Hermione left Draco standing alone in the center of the messy room.
"That utter witch," he fumed.
Professor McGonagall was waiting for her when she got back to her common room. "Miss Granger, please come with me. Headmaster Dumbledore wishes to have a word with you."
"Am I in any trouble, Professor?" Hermione inquired.
"No, dear. This is something completely different altogether."
They walked the rest of the way in silence, McGonagall brimming with carefully contained excitement and Hermione filled with fear that she and Draco had been found out. If Dumbledore knew the nature of their relationship, or that they were civil to each other at all, he would surely be suspicious and make it his goal to discover the reason. And, since Dumbledore was good at finding this sort of stuff out, she knew their wands would be snapped and they'd be expelled. She couldn't go back to the muggles. Now that she knew she was a true witch, Hermione wanted it to stay that way. She needed it to stay that way. For him.
"Jelly Belly," Professor McGonagall said.
Hermione raised an eyebrow, "Jelly Belly?"
"Yes, you well know the Headmaster has an affinity for sweets," McGonagall said.
Draco and Professor Snape were already there when they arrived at the office door. Hermione and Draco were sure to throw each other looks of disgust, but inwardly were both a little frightened. What cause did Dumbledore have to bring them both up to his office? With their heads of houses, no less!
"Malfoy," Hermione spat.
"Granger," he replied, tipping an imaginary hat. She snorted. "How... ladylike," he drawled.
"You'd know, wouldn't you ferret?" she asked.
"Now, children, behave yourselves!" McGonagall sternly interrupted.
Professor Dumbledore chose that exact moment to step into the outer office from a room in the back.
"Good afternoon, children," Professor Dumbledore started, "I'm sure you're both wondering why I've called you here tonight."
'Afternoon? Is the man completely daft? It's ten o'clock at night! And it's a given that we're wondering why we're here... he's the omniscient one,' Draco thought.
"Yes, Mr. Malfoy, I assume you are doubly curious. In that case, let me begin. But first, would anybody care for a lemon drop?" he asked, holding out the tray. "No? Okay then. First, let me just say that you are both extremely intelligent individuals. In fact, I find it quite hard to believe that neither of you seem to care too much for one another. You're actually very similar," he said, giving Draco and Hermione knowing looks. They looked at each other with fake disgust before looking at the ground, knowing where this was going.
'Oh Merlin, he knows. He knows and he's going to expel us and then it'll be over and I'll have to live like a muggle in a suburb and I'll end up like Harry's Aunt Petunia and be one of those nosy people who smell like cabbage with a hundred cats and thick glasses and neon pink blazers..." she trailed off as Professor Dumbledore started speaking again.
"That is why I believe you would make an excellent pair for Head Boy and Head Girl," he ended.
Both of their heads snapped up, shocked, and they said, "What?!"
"Yes, yes, you would be fine examples for the students. I do, however, expect you to control your fighting in the halls, Mr. Malfoy. And you, Miss Granger, will have to cut down on your study time to make time to plan all of the activities we will have going on next year. I suspect it will be the busiest either of you have seen."
"C-cut down on my st-study time?" she replied, incredulous.
"Oh, come off it Granger. I'm sure you know all the books in the school by heart by now anyway," Draco said.
Both Hermione and Professor Snape looked at him with shocked faces clearly evident at the obvious complement. If Snape hadn't known any better, he would have sworn he saw something flash between the two. 'No,' he thought. 'There's no way a Malfoy would associate with a mudblood. Especially not when that mudblood is best friends with Harry Potter.' Snape also knew that Lucius had put a charm on Draco's family crest ring to make sure he spent his time in the company of purebloods and there was no way to detect or remove the charm.
"Now, let me tell you that this is still only a possibility. We still must speak with the Board of Governors for the school and have them approve the appointments. Do know that I fully expect them all to agree with me and that you two will end up in these positions. This will mean that you will both be spending a lot of time with one another. The Head's common room connects to each of your respective rooms and common rooms, however only a Gryffindor will be allowed into Gryffindor and only a Slytherin into Slytherin. The same rules will apply to you both.
"You will, however, have the ability to deduct points, assign detentions and miss class when necessary to take care of anything that falls within your responsibilities."
Hermione looked ready to interrupt when he continued with, "Class can be made up with the respective teacher, with me, or with another teacher adept at the subject at your leisure, should you need it. You, Miss Granger, will undoubtedly do fine without even needing the make up time. Just be sure that, should you miss class, you find out the homework assignment from another student or the teacher before the next day to ensure you remain caught up."
Professor Dumbledore continued explaining the responsibilities and it was after eleven o'clock when they were finally released and escorted back to their common rooms by their professors.