Of Reforms and Rings

Draco Malfoy

I decided that all of my actions were due to some sort of mental illness I had developed since leaving Hogwarts. Under normal circumstances, Granger wasn't someone I would spend time with.

These were not normal circumstances.

Perhaps it was some sort of post-traumatic stress disorder. After all… I witnessed many deaths, was responsible for one, and my entire lifestyle was changed. And I also had screwed up eating and sleeping habits now.

Another, more horrific thought occurred to me as well. Maybe Ben was some sort of sick, twisted person. Maybe he wanted to kill us all… drug us, play with our minds, and leave us to die.

Okay, maybe not.

Maybe that was just another deranged invention of my twisted brain. I didn't know what to think anymore. I didn't know what to do anymore. But most of all, I didn't know who to be anymore.

I threw that ring into the lake, and it was something I began to regret. Not only was it in my family for generations upon generations, but it was worth more than my life!

And so, I got up off the ground, dusted my self off, and wandered over to the lake. Luckily for me, no one was there. They were probably preparing lunch or something. I looked around until I figured out where I was standing. Then I picked up a rock and tossed it into the lake, just like I did with the ring. I took off my shirt, slipped into the cool water, and dove under.

The water was like ice. I shivered, sure I was turning blue, but I looked on anyway. I fumbled around blindly, too afraid to open my eyes underwater. Though the water was clear, it was up to a little over my waist, so I couldn't really see below the surface.

I finally took a deep breath, went under, and opened my eyes. It stung at first, but I got used to it. I kept going up for air and repeating the process with no results.

And then I felt something under my foot. It was small, round, and hard. It was the ring… it had to be. I dove under, squinted into the water, and spotted it. The rock I tossed in was off to the side a little. I grabbed the ring and came to the surface.

"Going for a swim?" It was Ginny. I scowled.

"Actually I'm getting out, Weaselette."

She smirked at me, not amused or offended. "I want to ask a question, if I can be so bold."

I knew what was coming, so I said, "shoot."

"What exactly do you think of Hermione?"

I frowned. "Well, she's a mudblood. And she's a pretty bad kisser. And I don't want anything to do with her, really."

"You're a liar," she accused, smiling. "You like her a lot, don't you?"

"I don't," I persisted. "I really don't like her at all."

"Then why'd you kiss her?"

"She was there. And she kissed me first."

"Right," she shook her head. "I think it's quite romantic, really."

"You're the oddest person I've ever met. You need mental help," I told her honestly.

"Whatever," she said nonchalantly. "I think the fact that you're mortal enemies only makes this cuter."

"And I think that only makes more proof that you're insane."

"Right," she said.

"I'm going to go see if lunch's ready."

"We could've used your help, you know," she said.

"Malfoy's don't cook."

"I thought you were done with that," she said, raising her eyebrows.

----

Back at The Blaze, lunch was ready. I grabbed a plate and ate it up eagerly. I saw Granger's eyes flicker over me for a moment, and stop at my hand. She saw the ring back on my finger. She frowned a little bit and went back to her food.

Serves her right. I don't know what she was playing at, trying to kiss me like that. She was the deranged one… not me.

And I thought happily, I'm normal. All of my theories were wrong… this new one was right. Granger was the screwed up one. I was the sane one. Maybe that was insane in itself.

I didn't know anymore.

----

It was driving me crazy that the war was happening so far away. We had no way of knowing what was happening.

Well, until Susan Bones stumbled out of the woods with Blaise. I wondered where he disappeared to. It was hardly believable we'd been there a week. "Only one this time," he said as they walked into the main cabin. "And she's got a lot to tell us!"

Everyone gathered around her. We wanted to know what was going on in the real world. Our world was like an entirely separate place… one that was so exclusive and excluded that it was either a great thing or a terrible thing.

"Things are insane back there," she said slowly. "There are dead bodies everywhere. It's nothing I ever could've imagined. It's still pretty hard to see a clear-cut 'winner,' per say…"

"What about Harry?" Granger asked hysterically. I rolled my eyes.

"Harry is…" Susan shook her head. "Harry's acting strange."

"Strange?" Ron asked, taking a deep breath. "Strange how?"

"I don't know… he's just," she paused, looking for the right word, "he's just acting deranged… killing everyone. It was really scary. Whenever someone tried to comfort him, he just isolated them." She stopped when she saw Granger, Ron, and Ginny's expressions.

Granger wiped away a tear.

"Well, well," I cut in snidely. "I suppose we all knew that deep down, Potter would eventually go off the deep end. I mean, when your parents are killed so young, and you're living with muggles, and—hey, didn't they lock him in a closet or something?"

Everyone looked at me with hatred. "You really are a complete asshole, aren't you?" Susan asked.

The old Malfoy was back.

----

Later that night, I saw noticed Granger didn't go to dinner. She didn't even offer to help cook anything.

I left early, taking an extra plate with me. I don't know why I did it… it just seemed like the right thing to do. But Malfoys don't do the right thing, I argued mentally. Whatever.

"Granger?" she was in her bed, wrapped in blankets and her eyes were puffy. Her hair was a mess, as usual.

"Leave me alone," she remarked bitterly.

"I brought you food," I said, holding up the plate.

"I'm not hungry."

"You have to eat something," I told her forcefully.

"I told you to get out."

"Look," I took a deep breath. Comforting people wasn't a strength of mine, but I figured I should do it anyway. "I know it's probably hard not knowing what your best friend is doing… or how he's doing, but…"

She looked away from me, and I noticed the tears starting again.

"But you have to think about other things, now, Granger. You have a new life, one without war or problems or grades… you have a chance to start over. You have to forget—"

"I can't forget Harry!" she burst out. "He was my best friend! I was supposed to help him when this happened! We had a plan! You ruined it!"

"Granger," I shook my head, trying not to lose my patience. "Granger, I know you want to blame someone, and I'm easy to blame, but you can't seriously think I—"

"I do," she said. "I honestly think it's your fault I'm here."

"Well," I argued, feeling the kindness rubbing off, "it was your brilliant mind that remembered this place was here!"

"And you found the directions!" she pointed out.

"Well you didn't have to follow them!"

"Well it's your fault that—"

I held up my hand. "This is stupid," I said.

She looked down at the food in front of her. "Thanks," she whispered.

"Yeah, well, Malfoy's are chivalrous."

She smiled. "I like Draco better when he's not being a Malfoy."

"So you like me, then?" I prodded, wondering why that mattered to me.

"Yeah," she said slowly. "I think I do."

"I somehow don't think your Weasel friend would approve," I said, smirking.

"Well…"

I wanted to kiss her, but I didn't want to. It was like I was being pulled in two different directions. I knew it was wrong in the real world to kiss her. But out here? It was okay. Besides, I didn't even think she wanted me to kiss her.

But she did. She proved it when she carelessly knocked the plate over as she leaned in and kissed me. The plate smashed on the wood floor, the glass of water spilled over, and peas rolled under the bed. But neither of us made a move to clean it. As the silverware clattered loudly to the ground, I felt like things were moving in slow motion, even though they happened so fast.

We pulled away, a little stunned, a little worried, a little overwhelmed. I bent down to pick up the pieces of the plate, and she leaned over to help.

"What happened?" it was Ginny, and I silently said thanks to the powers that be for not letting her walk in three seconds earlier. "We heard a crash…"

"Was it that loud?" Granger asked, grabbing the fork off the floor.

Ginny looked out the window. "Okay, no… no one heard anything." I looked at her with raised eyebrows. "I just saw Malfoy get up and leave with a plate of food after he already ate, so I just sort of… followed him."

"You were here the whole time?" I asked, feeling the nervous.

"I heard everything…" she admitted.

Granger stopped picking up the broken plate. "Ginny!" she wailed. "I can't believe you! You're my best girlfriend, and you really violated my privacy!"

"Hermione, I just wanted to make sure you were okay!" Ginny insisted.

"He was brining me food! What in the bloody hell did you think he was going to do?"

"I don't know!" Ginny whined, throwing up her hands. "Is this how it's going to be?" she said quietly.

"What are you talking about?" Granger asked.

"I mean, are you going to snog him, and forget about us? Are we just in your way or something?"

I dropped the knife and fork. They both looked at me as if they'd forgotten I was there.

"Sorry," Ginny said, sitting on the edge of Granger's bed. "I'm sorry, Hermione."

"It's okay, Gin." I wanted to throw up, actually. So I picked up the remains of the plate, the silverware, and some of the food and went back to the cabin.

"What happened?" Blaise asked when he saw the ruined dishware.

"Mudblood threw a plate at me," I lied nonchalantly.

"What?"

I laughed. "Only kidding, mate," I said. "Hey, can you keep a secret?"

"Sure, anything," he assured me.

"I brought the food to Granger, since she seemed upset over Potter," at this, Blaise raised his eyebrows and smirked. Even though he claimed that all of the pre-The Blaze stuff didn't matter, he really hadn't forgotten it. "And then she leaned in to kiss me and she knocked the food over."

Blaise laughed. "Good for you, mate," he said. "Hermione Granger is quite the catch."

I rolled my eyes. "Please. I was just having some fun with her."

"Okay, Draco," Blaise said. "I know it's happened before."

I couldn't answer, so I put the broken plate in the wash basin and scrambled back to her room to get the glass I had forgotten.

But I didn't get back to the room right away. Someone met me half way, dragged me into the forest, and started kissing me.

And it wasn't Granger.

Author's Note: Thanks for all the great reviews! I'm glad you don't think it was too rushed. In that case, things will pick up speed once more! NEXT CHAPTER SPOILER: In case you didn't figure out already who dragged Draco off, you will soon. This person also has a wand. And this person uses the wand, putting The Blaze in danger. What will be the consequence of this forbidden wand use? What will happen between Hermione and Draco when they're sent on a mission together? I'll update soon!