Some Things Aren't Meant to Figure Out
Disclaimer: You know the drill. Harry Potter isn't mine or yours… unless you happen to be J. K. … in which case I apologize in advance for this crap I've been scribbling down in my free time.
Chapter 2: Old Habits are Tough to Break
"So," Malfoy said icily. "There is a designated carriage for the Head Boy?" Hermione didn't even bother to answer him. She found the right carriage marked by a Hogwarts crest with a lion and snake on either side of it and climbed in. Malfoy carefully arrived a little after her.
Probably to make sure no one sees him consorting with the likes of me, she thought irritably with a flash of bitterness.
The carriage ride was the most awkward experience in her life to the date. They both sat in utter silence with nothing to say and determined not to look at each other.
Malfoy gazed out the window at nothing in particular, absorbed in his thoughts and, for once, quiet. Hermione puzzled him greatly. Well, it wasn't so much her personality as it was her self confidence and… there isn't a word to describe how comfortable she seemed in her skin.
She seems so composed. Maybe that's the word I'm looking for, Draco mused. Not a bit the twitchy know it all she's been the past six years. Maybe she's even a little prettier now that her hair doesn't have its own atmosphere. The thought made him snigger, and Hermione glanced indifferently in his general direction at the sudden sound..
Well, Malfoy thought maliciously, this year might be fun after all.
The carriage shuddered to a stop and the two entered the school with their fellow students. Hermione found Ron and Harry, who offered no explanation as to why they hadn't ridden the train with everyone else. They bombarded her with questions about her summer and sympathy for being stuck with Malfoy for an entire year.
They're carefully avoiding the subject of what they did, though, Hermione thought with a wince. They went searching for Horcruxes and didn't find me suitable to come with them. It seemed that she could feel her heart breaking in her chest. My two best friends in the entire world, and they don't trust me enough to come with them now that we're grown.
She looked over at Malfoy and saw that he'd found his faithful band of followers and worshippers. Pansy Parkinson saw Hermione and whispered something in Malfoy's ear, who in turn laughed. Parkinson smirked gloatingly at Hermione, who was already deep in thought. Something on Malfoy's face gave her so much to contemplate that she completely missed Dumbledore's speech. Maybe it was all in her head, but right before he laughed in her face Hermione could've sworn she saw a flash of regret in his eyes. True, it was gone as soon as it appeared, but she was almost certain it was there, and that's what puzzled—
"Hermione!" Harry hissed as he elbowed her shoulder. "Stand up!" Numbly, she did so and then sat down with a bright red face.
'Thanks, Harry," she mumbled.
"It's nothing," he replied with a grin. "But it's not like you to miss anything in Dumbledore's speech. Are you feeling well?"
She smiled guiltily, "I'm just a little tired, that's all. Keeping Malfoy in his place is exhausting." Harry and Ron laughed and began eating.
After the feast, McGonagall beckoned Hermione and Malfoy over to her.
"The heads are required to reside separately from their houses," she explained. The look of horror on their faces was genuine and extreme. Irritated, McGonagall snapped, "It was clearly stated in the letter, if either of you bothered to read it!" She led them to the same hallway as the kitchens, but instead of turning to the fruit bowl painting, McGonagall faced the painting opposite of it; a man eating grapes in a vineyard.
"Password?" He inquired. McGonagall turned to them with a look that said, "I'm waiting."
"Loathing," Malfoy said dryly, without missing a beat. "The only thing we can agree on." Hermione stifled a giggle but couldn't fight the grin on her face; she had been thinking along the same lines.
McGonagall eyed them suspiciously, "Very well, then. Loathing." The portrait swung open. The three stepped inside and Hermione couldn't contain the gasp that slipped between her lips. It was a truly beautiful room. The walls were deep green and burgundy with mahogany floors and tables. The furniture was alternating burgundy and green and the huge windows that took the entire length of one wall looked out over the trees of the looming Forbidden Forest. The large common room had three doors leading out of it, and on closer look, Hermione saw a lion engraved on a plaque on one of the doors. Another was blank, while the last one had an ornately engraved snake on its plaque. McGonagall left as Hermione and Malfoy explored their respectable rooms. Her room had warm, golden walls and a cream carpet, on which was a vanity, desk, dresser, and large bed with burgundy satin sheets. She wandered out to the common room and sat delicately on one of the couches with her Arithmacy textbook. Before she had the chance to open it, the day caught up with her and she curled up in a ball. Not surprisingly, she promptly fell asleep where she was.
Shortly after, Malfoy walked out. Seeing her sound asleep, he was surprised at how soft around the edges and vulnerable she looked. He tried to shake and poke consciousness into her, but she wouldn't wake. For some reason unbeknownst to him, he gingerly picked her up and carried to her room. He gently set her down on her bed and muttered "Don't expect this again, Granger. Today was your first and last favor." With that, he stalked out of the room scowling furiously, as if someone were watching him.
When Hermione woke up the next morning, she didn't know what to think. The logical part of her brain said that Malfoy had obviously carried her to her bed, but the reasonable part of her asked, "Why on earth would he do that?" She couldn't think of a likely answer for that one.
Later, she told her stubborn thoughts and shoved it to the back of her mind, where it stewed discontentedly. She quickly showered and donned her robes, leaving time to wrestle with her unruly hair.
Twenty minutes later, Hermione emerged into the common room with slightly more controlled hair and a tough of makeup. Malfoy was sitting on the couch she'd fallen asleep on the night before, reading a book and eating a piece of toast. He looked up and said drawlingly, "What a shame, I thought you'd fallen and hit your head while getting out of the shower."
Hermione scowled slightly but shook it off. "Well," she started, unsure of what to say. "Thank you for last night, I'm going to breakfast." She said this all very fast and sped out of the portrait hole, leaving Malfoy to blink in confusion.
She practically ran down to the Great Hall, hoping desperately that Ron and Harry were there to anchor her reeling mind.
They're here! She had never been so happy to see her friends, a bit of stability in this utterly befuddling life she lived. She raced over to the Gryffindor table and hugged them both. They looked at her strangely before Harry made the connection and said, "Malfoy's that bad, huh?"
Hermione was about to say that he was horrible, but then she stopped and thought. He really isn't all bad. Yeah, he's obnoxious, but not always. It seems to me like it's more of a front than anything.
"He's pretty bad, but bearable, I suppose," Hermione said resignedly, faking the pain in her voice. She was tentative about the reaction she'd get, for she really wasn't in the mood to jeer at him, but she also knew that he'd say horrible things about her.
She is positively strange, Draco Malfoy mused as he strolled into the Great Hall. It was interesting to see her flustered, of all people! She has gotten prettier, though. There's not doubt to the matter. I'll take this to my grave. He looked around in a bored way and saw that she was, not surprisingly, with Potter and Weasley and determinedly not looking at him. He gave an indifferent shrug and sat down with the Slytherins. He wasn't especially fond of any of them, but as long as he had followers and faithful lackeys then he was satisfied. One with the status of Draco Malfoy doesn't need friends. Friends cause weakness, fault lines, vulnerability. Followers, on the other hand, were expendable and plentiful. After his grand escape with Snape, he had returned home to scorn for not being Dumbledore's end and applause for his cleverness. Upon returning to school, all the Slytherins adored him and he was feared by all the rest.
Except Granger, He thought, confused. The object of Malfoy's confusion was sitting discontentedly across from Harry and Ron. She loved her friends but this was another of the numerous times she felt excluded and alone.
Hermione scanned the Great Hall and found a silver pair of eyes locked on hers. She held his glance for about ten seconds before abruptly grabbing her bag and fleeing the table.
Once she left the hall, she broke into a dead run until she reached the library, her safe haven. She took an isolated table and rested her head in her hands.
She didn't know how long she sat there with anger and frustration festering somewhere in the region of her stomach and kidneys when she heard the chair next to her scrape across the floor. With great difficulty, she raised her eyes to those she had been expecting. Malfoy was gazing in furious intensity at her.
"What's your problem, Granger?" Malfoy said. He looked at a loss for words and irritated.
"Nothing to do with you," Hermione mumbled in a sulky way.
"Really," said Malfoy skeptically. "Because you've been acting insane and it's getting quite tiring." Glowering, Hermione snatched her things and stormed out the door.
I can't run forever, she berated herself. But I'm not even sure what it is that I'm running from, and that's what terrifies me. Malfoy grabbed her wrist and yanked her towards him.
"Nobody walks away from a Malfoy, you disgusting Mudblood," he snarled in rage.
The Mudblood insult didn't faze Hermione, who came very close to him and whispered in his ear, "Draco, all the name calling in the world won't make you feel better about yourself. You're the one resorting to childish games, not me." With that, she turned on her heel and strode confidently out into the hallway.
A/N: Well there is chapter two. It was longer, but still not very long. I'm terribly sorry for how slow the story's going, but I really want to make it seem in character. And by the way, this was started before HBP came out and I slightly manipulated it to fit a little bit with book six. I was distraught about Malfoy leaving Hogwarts and refused to accept that ending, basically. Please review me and tell me how to make this better!
