I don't actually like this much, but oh well. It's something.
Hermione ate breakfast with him.
At the Slytherin table.
Hermione Granger.
Slytherin table.
Somehow Draco managed to be mostly nonchalant. But certain questions needed to be asked in the interest of self-preservation.
"Er...won't your friends come beat me up?"
She flashed him a sunny grin and chirped, "Nope! They're very concerned about you too, and they understand completely. I explained it to them."
He glanced across the hall, and Harry Potter waved to him. Ron Weasley blinked owlishly. There went his self-respect.
Surprisingly enough, none of his friends seemed to mind Hermione being there. She seemed to completely escape Crabbe and Goyle's notice, and apparently Blaise and Pansy didn't much care either way. Millicent was even on nodding acquaintances with her.
"So!" He flinched at the tone of her voice. It harbored doom beneath deceptively cheerful tones. "Are you ready to try out the spell?"
"Um. I guess." Draco felt a sharp twist of panic.
"We've got a while before classes start. We can do it now if you like, but I imagine you'd rather not perform in front of all Hogwarts."
A realization slowly rose through the murky waters of his consciousness: Those within earshot were staring, and occasionally giggling. And, oh Merlin, he felt himself blushing. Because of a bit of unconscious double entendre. Things used to be so much simpler when he was an arrogant Pureblood arse.
"Okay let's go now," he said very fast.
The library, of course. Hermione'd brought along a satchel that appeared to be stuffed with papers, which she set on a table and sat next to.
"Before we start, do you mind if we talk a little bit about your situation? You should try to be focused and relaxed for the spell, which you clearly aren't right now."
He would have argued, but she was right. Besides, it would delay the spell.
At his nod, she continued. "All this--acting--won't help. It hasn't. It's just escapism, which you have taken to an extreme because you're an exhibitionist like that."
"It's true," he interjected modestly.
"If you really want to be more comfortable with yourself, try meeting a lot of different people and trying a lot of different activities. Figure out what you like, what you really believe, that sort of thing. Or you could take a shortcut." She tapped her wand. "But all this will do is help you identify your priorities. You have to decide which ones to act on by yourself. You have to shape the person you want to be by yourself. Okay?"
"Thanks, Granger. I'm so very relaxed now," he snapped. She didn't deserve it, but he'd been getting exponentially more nervous and edgy.
She sighed. "Come here, Malfoy."
"What?"
"Sit on the table."
Nerves like bunched springs, he sat next to her. She scooted back until she was sitting behind him. "Relax, Malfoy."
He tried, he really did. He closed his eyes and thought about bunnies and rainbows. He hummed under his breath tunelessly and tried to clear his mind.
When she touched him he jumped.
"Stop that. You're not relaxed." Her hands began kneading his shoulders gently, thumbs pushing at his spine.
Fifteen minutes later, he was as relaxed as a cat on a sunny windowsill. He thought he might melt into a puddle of Malfoy goo, but decided it would be too much effort.
He actually whimpered when she stopped.
"Don't be a brat, Malfoy." She rolled her eyes at him, but he could tell she was pleased. "We haven't actually got much time, so I'll have to alter this a bit. I just hope half an hour's enough."