Chapter Two: Private Lessons

G.

Forget about meeting me tonight. Instead, look up whatever you can about Legilimency. I want you to help me learn Occlumency. We'll meet tomorrow night. I'll let you know where later.

-M.

Hermione and McGonagall once again found themselves in Dumbledore's office. It was during the lunch break, and Hermione had just told them Draco's terms. McGonagall looked worried, but Dumbledore smiled. He stood up and walked over to a cupboard. He pulled out a shallow stone basin with odd runes and symbols carved around the edge.

Hermione's eyes widened. "Is that a... a Pensieve? I've read about them but I've never actually seen one before."

"It is, and I think you may find it quite useful."

"You mean you're going to allow this?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"Of course," Dumbledore explained, "Mr. Malfoy wants to learn Occlumency. What reason could he have for that other than to hide something from Voldermort?"

"Maybe he's trying to hide something from you, Albus," McGonagall insisted. "Miss Granger said his letter did not give a reason for wanting to learn it."

"True, but what else could he hide? Now, Miss Granger, you'll want to concentrate on our past few meetings and anything else you do not wish for Mr. Malfoy to find out-"

"But I'll be doing the Legilimency," Hermione said.

"Yes, and if he does learn to resist, the spell can backfire. You still need to do more research. We do not need him to know that we know what he thinks we don't know."

"I still think this is a bad idea, Albus," McGonagall interjected. "He may have more to hide from you later."

"My dear Minerva, it's like I said before. This is not about me. In that regard, nothing harmful can come from him learning Occlumency."

"I hope you're right, Albus. I hope you're right."

"Professor Dumbledore," Hermione began. "What if I cannot convert Malfoy? I mean, even if he has agreed to help me, there's no way I could influence him enough to make him change his mind completely."

"That is not your purpose. Don't worry, I don't expect that he will completely renounce his ways. But you will plant the seeds, Hermione. You will help him. Trust me. Now, practice this a few times right now, and come back tomorrow night before your session."

xxxx

Hermione stood in front of the door to the Room of Requirements. She checked to make sure no one else was around before she knocked twice, waited three seconds, then knoced twice more. The door opened slowly and revealed Draco standing in the room. He had apparently been reading, his thumb kept his page.

"Nobody's going to walk in on us, right?" Hermione asked.

"That was one of my requirements," Draco smugly replied.

"Of course," Hermione looked around the room. There was a table (like one that would be found in the Potions room) in one corner. Various Potions materials and texts were set around there. At the other end was a sofa and a table. Hermione walked over to the object on the table. "Is this a Pensieve? I've read about them but I've never actually seen one before," Hermione said with all the earnestness she'd had the day before. She smiled and turned to Draco. "Have a few secrets you don't want me to find out?"

Draco smirked. "A few," he handed Hermione the book he had been holding. "I assume you did some research last night."

"I actually began right after I got your letter in the morning," she admitted. "I had some free time after breakfast and I headed straight to the library. Occlumency is quite interesting, really. I think we should consider teaching it, at least at O.W.L. level. Only, in order to teach it-"

"Someone would have to use Legilimency. Which is... a questionable skill, at best. Hence the reason I agreed to help you if you would help me. If you get really good at Legilimency, I know I can trust you not to use it against anyone else."

Hermione smiled.

"What?" Draco asked, surprised. "I didn't mean that as any sort of compliment."

"I figured as much, but I just thought of something. I came to you with my Potions problem because I didn't want to admit that there was a problem to my best friends. And you, well, you trust me to help you learn Occlumency more than you trust your best friends."

"No, you're just much cleverer than them. Again, that's not a compliment. I could say the same thing to my sock, and it would be just as true. Could you imagine Crabbe or Goyle casting such an advanced spell?"

"Parkinson could," Hermione said, honestly referring to the girl's skill. She was not exactly the brightest, but she could possibly learn if she practiced enough.

Draco scoffed. "I'd be creating a monster. I wouldn't trust her with that sort of ability."

Hermione nodded and thumbed through the book. "I wish you had another Pensieve so I could remove some of my, er, rather embarrassing memories that I don't want you to see. The spell can backfire, you know."

Raising a brow, Draco said, "That's right. I hadn't even thought of that." Draco hadn't thought about someone else? Big surprise. Then, when he turned back to the table, there sat another Pensieve. "I'll remember for next time, too."

Hermione smiled. "Oh, I do love this room. Let me see," she opened the book she held to a page about Pensieves. She read over the instructions for extracting memories. She put her wand to her temple and drew a silver strand and placed it into the basin. She repeated this several times. Of course, it was all for show. She had already extracted the important memories in Dumbledore's office. He had advised, however, only to store the few conversations and musings she had recently had about Draco. He had guessed Draco would use a Pensieve, and it would seem only natural for Hermione to want to use one as well. "That should do," Hermione stated as she put one last memory into the shallow basin. It swirled with a silvery light.

"Then let's get started," Draco stood opposite Hermione. "Ready?"

"This is the first time I've ever cast this spell," Hermione said uneasily. "I hope I don't mess up too horribly."

"You won't," Draco assured her with something almost like kindness.

The next ten minutes were spent in fits of giggles or laughter by one or the other of the students, never both at the same time. Draco and Hermione were equally skilled in their respective spells, which is to say that they were not skilled at all.

"I can't believe I forgot about that one," Draco scowled after Hermione had seen a memory of him holding a yellow blanket and sucking his thumb at the age of nine.

"Maybe we should take a break from this for a while," she offered between giggles. "It seems we lose focus every other time we do it. Also, we know we're more vulnerable when we're laughing than when we're angry or embarrassed, but we're still vulnerable, all the same. Any kind of emotion is, I think."

"Agreed. Well, at least one good thing came of that. We now know how important it is to stay focused. No emotion... I can't believe I forgot about those," they flopped next to each other on the couch and helped themselves to the pumpkin juice that had appeared on the table when neither of them was looking.

"Well, you won't have to worry. I'll promise not to tell if you don't."

"No problem," Draco replied. "Okay. How about we work on Potions for then next half hour or so. We'll keep alternating until it gets too late," he accio-ed a book from the other side of the room. (Trying to defend one's most embarrassing memories is an exhausting task.) "By the way, I just thought about this, how is Potter doing better than you in Potions? Just last year, he was taking remedial Potions with Snape."

"Therein lies the problem," Hermione answered smoothly. "Harry could care less about the subject when Snape was teaching. Slughorn, on the other hand, actually likes Harry, so he's putting forth an honest effort. He is rather smart when he applies himself," not to mention when he has his convenient cheat book with him, Hermione added to herself.

"True," Draco consented. "Anyway, I figure we can read and take notes for a while before we start the experiment," Hermione accio-ed parchment, a quill, and ink. "We'll do simple potions first, just so that you can research the materials and find the best way to prepare them. The procedures we're given work well enough, but every potion has room for some improvisation. Er, intelligent and reasonable improvisation."

Hermione instantly knew that, by the look on his face, Draco was referring to the incident where Goyle thought he could make a few substitutions. That was not a pleasant day for anybody. Even Peeves complained about the mess.

The rest of the night was, more or less, a success. Hermione actually, and much to her surprised, learned a lot of basics about Potions that had not been taught in class. In addition, she became increasingly better at Legilimency. Draco, on the other hand, struggled. He could hide his emotions easily enough, but Hermione was a determined opponent. He did not complain. After all, this is why he agreed to help her in the first place. He needed someone to help him become better. Besides, he did well for his first time.

Probably the best part of the night, from Hermione's point of view, was the fact that they did not fight. She was actually amazed at how mature Draco could be when he had a goal in mind. He was determined to improve, and was not about to slack on his end of their deal. He was an excellent tutor.

A few minutes before midnight, they returned their memories and the two of them sat back on the couch. Draco and Hermione were mentally drained. The mind games seemed endless, not to mention they made two potions and prepared the ingredients for a third.

"You didn't tell anybody did you?" Draco suddenly asked.

Hermione shook her head. "I haven't spoken to Harry or Ron in a few days, honestly. Anyway, I wouldn't really be able to slip that into a conversation. I don't intend to tell anybody, either. I think we can keep this pretty low-key. Otherwise, people would start to talk. How about you? Did you say anything?"

"And let anybody know that I was getting help from a mud- er... a Gryffindor?" Hermione got very quiet after that. Draco scratched his head. "Sorry, Granger. You... you didn't deserve that. You never did, really. I just... I was just-"

"You were just playing your part," Hermione said, understandingly. "You're from a very prestigious, pure-blood family and you were taught to think of muggleborns, people like me, as inferior. I understand. You have to uphold that image."

Draco, feeling rather stricken, did not speak again until they heard the clock strike midnight. They both stood and looked at each other. Hermione picked up her Potions notes and Draco picked up the notes he'd written about Occlumency. "Are you free tomorrow night? Or would you rather take a break-"

"Tomorrow night's fine with me. Same time?"

Draco nodded. "Sure."

They walked together in the corridors for a while until they came to the hallway where they had to go their separate ways. Draco turned to Hermione to apologize again but before he could say sorry, she said: "It's no big deal, Malfoy. I mean, it's not like we're friends or anything. Thank you for helping me, though. I can't believe how much I didn't know!"

She said a quick good night and walked away before Draco had time to respond. She made it to the Gryffindor common room in time to see the last of the students climb the stairs to their dormitory. Hermione smiled to herself. She'd never thought of herself as much of an actress, but she was positive she had Draco completely fooled. This deceitful game was actually fun. And that was perfect timing! They'd just had that relatively pleasant evening together, and Draco let that word slip from his mouth. He actually thought she'd been offended! How perfect! And how innocently she pouted. If Draco Malfoy could feel guilt, he was probably swimming in it now.

"Hah," Hermione whispered to herself. "As if I would actually care that he called me that after how many years of hearing it? One night doesn't change a thing, no matter how well we seemed to be getting on," she looked down at her notes. "Draco Malfoy, I'll have you believing every word I say. You'll never suspect a thing. Don't worry though, it's for your own good. I promise I won't hurt you."

Hermione climbed the stairs to her room and got ready for bed. She fell asleep with visions of a certain blonde boy racing in her mind.

xxxx

Draco Malfoy still stood where Hermione left him. He watched her retreating figure until it faded into the darkness and then listened to the soft thud of her footsteps until the silence around him devoured them. He looked out of the window and saw the stars. His hands shook as he whispered, "Yeah. Not friends. But you helped me. You helped me too. I can't believe I didn't know..." Draco let the words diminish in the lonely corridor. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and finally returned to the Slytherin common room, guilt following him. "You never deserved it. And I am sorry."

xxxx

End chapter number two. Don't worry. If you're confused about why Draco's being all emotional and sappy, it will be explained in later chapters. It's not OOC, trust me. Not even for this early in a fic.

Let me know what you guys think, by the way. I personally think that I have too much dialogue and not enough... depth. Dunno. I tried to even it out. Anymoo, I would like to know what YOU think. Trust me, an author needs to hear these things. Otherwise, I'm just writing for my own selfish amusement, and this fic will be of no use to anybody who is not of my kindred spirit.

Thanks for reviewing! Sammie the Marauder, (Lucky. Marauder. And woot to the this-fic-is-pre-RL/NT, because we all know how silly that pairing is. RL is so totally, obviously, undeniably gay.) and Gwinna, (Thank you!).

COMPLETELY RANDOM: o.O I have a Marilyn Manson song stuck in my head. I can honestly say that that has never happened to me before. His is not a name which frequents my playlist. Until now, that is.