Disclaimer: Once again the only thing that belongs to me is the plot, the characters all belong to J.K. Rowling.
Hermione woke up the next morning, and pulled the blanket over her head to block out the sun. She opened her eyes and saw that she was sleeping on the couch in the common room. 'How did I get this blanket on me. I don't remember getting up.' she thought to herself. She rolled over and looked around the room. She saw Draco asleep on the couch across from her. 'Did he get my blanket for me? I can't imagine him doing that. Maybe I did it, and just don't remember.' She looked at her watch. It was 9:30 she rolled off the couch and got ready to get in the shower. She wanted to make it down in time for breakfast this morning.
She finished up with her shower and slipped into her favorite outfit. A black see through tube top with a black lace bra underneath, and a pair of black low rise pants. She went to the mirror and took out her wand and magically dried her hair. It now fell in curly black ringlets, perfectly framing her face. She did another spell to put on her makeup, and walked out of the bathroom. She was going to need to hurry to get down in time for breakfast. Draco was still sleeping on the couch in the common room when she came down. She thought about waking him up for breakfast, but thought better of it. She didn't want to disturb him.
She left the portrait hole, closing it quietly behind her. She walked down to the great hall and stopped by the Gryffindor table to greet her friends. "Hey guys. Good morning. How was your first night back?" She sat down for a second to visit before going to her table at the front of the room.
"Good morning Hermione. How was your first night with the ferret? He didn't do anything to hurt you did he?" Ron greeted his friend. "We had a great first day back. I already beat Harry at about 10 games of wizard's chess."
"Malfoy is fine. We actually didn't fight at all, even about the colors for the common room. It was very weird really. Is that all that you boys ever do is play wizard's chess?" Hermione answered all of his questions. Shaking her head at how predictable her best friend could be.
"No we don't only play wizard's chess. Tonight we are holding quidditch tryouts. We have quite a few spaces to fill this year. Since I'm the new captain I have a lot of work ahead of me this year. Why aren't you filling your plate 'Mione?" Harry added in.
"I can't stay long I have to go up to the new heads table to eat. They set up a special table up next to the teachers for the new heads. It should be just me today, when I left the common room Malfoy was still asleep on the couch."
"You should have hexed him 'Mione, then maybe he wouldn't wake up all day and you wouldn't have to put up with him. It really is horrible that you have to stay in the same room with him. I don't envy you at all," Harry gave her a very sympathetic look.
"As long as he stays out of my way I'll stay out of his, though I don't know how that will happen. We have to sit together at meals, share a common room and a bathroom, and we have all of our classes together. He's going into a career at the ministry as well. Dumbledore also wants us to be paired up for all group projects. This is going to be one long bloody year. Well I'm off to my table. Maybe I'll stop by the Lion's Den later tonight and we can visit. Talk to you guys later." Hermione stood up and started to walk up to the front of the room to the heads table.
Ron shook his head. "It's mental what Dumbledore is doing to poor 'Mione. I would like to see him share a room with his worst enemy. She can't even get away from him at meals or classes either. That's really rough. Poor 'Mione." He didn't dwell on it long before shoveling more food into his mouth. Ron always ate like he hadn't had anything to eat in days.
Hermione had finished breakfast, and made a quick stop at the library to check out a couple books on ministry jobs. She walked back to the portrait and said the password. When she walked in Draco wasn't on the couch anymore, but she could hear water running in the bathroom. She took one of the books and went over to lay on the couch and start to do some research. She knew she wanted to work for the ministry, but she didn't know which department.
Draco stepped out of the shower and pulled a towel around himself. He walked out of the bathroom to go to his room and grab some clothes. He was shocked to see that Hermione had returned. He didn't hear her come in. He was happy to see that she was reading, this would give him a chance to sneak back to his room to get dressed before she saw him. Too late. Hermione peered over her book and smiled at him blushing a deep red. Draco smiled quickly and headed straight for his room. In two minutes he was back in the common room wearing loose fitting jeans, and a Slytherin t-shirt. He walked over and flopped down on his couch. He was hungry, but he knew that he had already missed breakfast. He would ask the house elves to send something up in a little bit. Right now he just wanted to relax and enjoy the warmth of the fire that was already burning in the fireplace.
Hermione set her book down on the couch next to her and turned to look at her new roommate. She wanted to ask him about the blanket, but she didn't know what to say. "Um...Malfoy? Did you get my blanket for me last night? I woke up this morning and couldn't remember how it got there."
"Yeah I summoned it down here for you last night. I figured it would get cold in here, and I couldn't just let you freeze. It was no big deal," he answered without even looking at her.
She smiled to herself. He had never done anything that nice for her before. "Thanks. I think that you missed breakfast. You might want to go to the kitchenette and see if they sent anything up to our rooms." She couldn't think of anything more to say, so she turned over and picked up her book again.
"Yeah I forgot that we had our own private kitchen," Draco replied. He got up and walked over to the kitchen and pulled a jug of pumpkin juice from the refrigerator. He poured himself a glass and grabbed a muffin, and walked back over to the couch. He sat down and looked at Hermione. 'Always reading. That girl never knows how to kick back and have fun. Hmm...stupid little mudblood.' "You know Granger we haven't even started classes yet this term. Don't you ever do anything but read. What's the matter Potty and the Weasel too busy for their little mudblood friend this year?" He smirked at the hurt look on her face.
"What are you doing hanging around here Malfoy? Shouldn't you be down in the Snake Pit snogging Pugface Parkinson or something? Don't tell me she finally realized that you are nothing but a disgusting little ferret." Hermione could feel her face getting hot with anger, but she managed to give him a smirk that rivaled his own.
"What do you know about Parkinson? Besides, for your information I would rather snog a hippogriff then that skanky whore. For a pureblood, Parkinson is just barely a step up from a filthy little mudblood like you. I've got better things to do with my time then snog with that cow."
"Oh that's right you are the Slytherin sex god, you can have any skanky whore that you want. Of course you can't get anyone besides those Slytherin twits. Nobody else in this school would sink so low as to snog someone as vile as you." She stood up to march off to her room, but Draco grabbed her and turned her around.
"Your just jealous Granger. You wish that you could snog with someone even have as good-looking as me. You told me on the train that you thought that I had a sexy bod." He sneered.
"Even if you were the most gorgeous man on Earth, which you are not, I would still never touch you with a ten foot pole."
"Oh please, you know you want me Granger, I can see it in your eyes."
"You are despicable if there is any kind of look in my eyes it is just pure hatred. You are the most loathsome person on the planet to me and I despise the very sight of you. If I didn't have to share this common room with you, I would do everything in my power to never have to look at you." She was really mad now, and she tried to walk away, but Draco was just getting started. He still had a hold of her arm, and he wasn't letting her go anywhere.
"You can't pretend to hide your feelings from me Her...Granger. Your emotions show in everything that you do. I can tell the way that you look at me. When I look into your eyes I see anger, but there is no hate. If you don't want people to be able to read you like an open book, you should try not to mask your emotions better." He couldn't believe that he had almost called her by her first name. He knew that he didn't hate her anymore, but she was still a Gryffindor, and she was still a mudblood, and he couldn't get mixed up with someone like her.
Hermione looked taken aback. 'Did he almost say my name? And why is he looking at me like he can see right through to my soul? How does he know that I don't hate him anymore? How could I hate him after all that he did to help during the war? I was hoping this year he would be different, but he's just the same as always.' "Listen Malfoy, you did a lot to help our side during the war. I thought that maybe you had changed or something. I guess I was wrong. No I don't hate you anymore, but I don't really like you right now either. Showing emotion is not a crime you know. Now would you please get your bloody hands off of me so I can go to my room?" She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes, and she didn't want him to see her cry. She tried hard to fight them back down, but she could tell that it wasn't going to work. The first tears started to spill down her cheeks. She looked down to the ground embarrassed and ashamed of herself for showing her feelings in front of Malfoy.
He loosened his grip on her arm, but didn't let go. 'Damn here comes the water works. Got why do I have to be such a dickhead.' "Look Granger I'm sorry ok. I have changed a lot, but I'm still a Slytherin pureblood, and you are still a Gryffindor mud...um...muggle born. What do you expect me to do? Please don't cry." He couldn't stand the sight of a woman crying. Without thinking he stepped closer to her and wrapped his arms around her.
She was surprised, but she wrapped her arms around him too, and cried into his chest. She couldn't believe that she had gotten so worked up over what he had said to her, she usually didn't let him affect her this way, but this year was different. He had showed that he could be nice. She felt herself being led over to the couch, and she didn't refuse. She sat down and slowly lifted her head. "Dra...Malfoy, I'm not asking for you to be my best friend, I just thought that maybe under the circumstances we could set our differences aside. We're stuck together for the rest of the year, and I think it would be better for both us if we at least tried to be friends."
"I can't guarantee that will work, but I guess if you are willing to put in the effort, I could too. Lets try to start over." He reached out his hand to her. "Hi nice to meet you, I'm Draco."
Hermione eyed his hand at first like she didn't trust him, then took it and gave it a small shake. "I'm Hermione it's nice to meet you...Draco." She reached up with her other hand and wiped the tears from her eyes. She looked up to see a genuine smile on Draco's face, and she smiled back.
"Hermione I'm sorry. I know that I've been a complete arse over the years, but I really have changed, and I want to change even more. Please except my apology and let's try to be friends. Would you like some pumpkin juice? I'm going to the kitchen for a refill." He stood up and grabbed his empty glass and started to head for the kitchen.
"Yes thank you Draco, that would be nice. I suppose I should apologize too. Even though I didn't start it, I didn't really go out of my way to be nice to you either. I'm sorry. I would really like it if we could be friends."
Draco sat back down next to her and handed her the glass. He smiled again, and she returned it. 'Maybe this year won't be so bad after all. I know that she is different from me, but I can't deny how beautiful she has become this year. Besides I don't have to answer to my father anymore. Maybe this friendship will blossom into something more. I can't say that I wouldn't like to snog with Hermione some day.'
Hermione could feel that he was still looking at her, but she didn't return the look. She just continued to drink her pumpkin juice and think. 'I can't believe that he actually made the offer to become friends. He really seemed sincere. I hope so, I know that he has changed a lot over the past year. Maybe one day we'll be more then friends. I must say that I feel like I could get lost forever in those eyes of his. Oh well, let's just take this slow. Friends is better than nothing right. I wouldn't want to scare him away. What if he doesn't think of me like that.'
They both sat like that for a while before Hermione remembered that she told Ron and Harry that she would visit them in the Lion's Den. "Hey Draco, thanks for the juice. I'm going to go visit some friends at Gryffindor tower. I'll see you at lunch ok?"
"Huh...Oh yeah see you at lunch. I should go to the Snake Pit and pay Blaise a visit anyways. Later Hermione." With that they both set their glasses down and walked out through the portrait hole, each heading in the direction of their old common room.
I hope you all liked this chapter. I know it kind of makes Draco seem like Jekyll and Hyde, but I didn't want to make it seem like he just changed over night. Please review. I will hopefully be updating either tomorrow or Wednesday.