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A/N - sorry about the length of time between this update and the last, but real life does go on sometimes. Also this chapter is longer than the others, so it took me longer to edit. Plus I had a touch of writers block if I'm honest.
Anyway, enjoy.
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The slam of the bedroom door reverberated off of the cramped walls forcing Draco to suppress a wince. He dropped his bag to the floor and gave the room a slow, deprecatory once over. Much like the hallway, the room was plain and boring; simple white walls, dirty brown carpet and a horribly tacky knotty-pine set of furniture.
So, this was to be his prison cell for the next year.
Not only was he forced to live without magic, but confined to a hovel with the Mudblood scum.
He could taste the bitter tang of despondency on his tongue.
He'd only been here five minutes and it already felt like the small room was getting smaller. He felt sick and light-headed. Though that could also be the hangover.
Tired from his sleepless night, Draco opted against unpacking his things, he kicked off his shoes and collapsed onto the tiny bed, annoyed to find that the mattress was hard and lumpy. Merlin forbid The Ministry to allow him some luxury or creature comforts in this miserable sentence... If only to stave off the impending brain attack he was sure to suffer under the watchful eye of the bushy-haired ballache in the next room.
Regardless of his current discomfort, exhaustion soon took over and Draco's eyes slipped shut.
But, just as he fell on the precipice of sleep, a small but echoing bang, followed by an odd whirring sound seeped through the thin bedroom walls, forcing his eyes open again.
What the fuck is that stupid bint doing out there?
Draco flipped angrily onto his back, grabbing a starchy pillow and smothering his face with it in an attempt to drown the noise out, though only succeeding in muffling it slightly. A minute or two later, a loud ding irked him into throwing the pillow hard across the room. He jumped up, now in a fully-fledged fit of rage, and stomped over to the door, ripping it open so violently that it bounced against the wall.
He beat the urge to smirk as the Mudblood whirled around, gasping loudly. He kept his eyes hard with venom but internally relished the fear he'd managed to etch into her features.
He composed his face to one of indifference before he folded his arms and leant against the doorframe.
"You know, Granger, I didnt know you had an affinity for playing the Musical Saw... Or were you, perhaps, attempting to set off some fireworks indoors?" he asked, quirking a brow as he watched hers frown in obvious confusion.
Just as she opened her mouth to respond, he swooped on her like a bird of prey.
"I am trying to get some bloody sleep! You are being obnoxiously fucking loud! "
This time her eyebrows frowned into disbelief.
"What? I am not being loud, Malfoy," she replied in that irritatingly priss tone he had come to know and loathe "I was simply making some-"
"Shut up! I'm tired, and it's impossible to get any rest with you galumphing around like a waltzing troll!"
Granger's mouth opened into an 'O' shape at his troll comment as she yelled back at him.
"It's my flat, and I will do whatever I bloody well please!" she seemed to falter when Draco started towards her and she tripped back into her table, almost taking her porridge with her as she went. "What are you doing? Don't come near me-"
"Trust me, Granger, when I say I don't even want to breathe the same air as you," he sneered, stopping a few paces from her defensive form. "Let alone be anywhere fucking near you."
"Then go back to your room!" she countered, straightening up.
"How dare you tell me what to do? You don't fucking own me, Mudblood, your kind-"
"My kind? That, Malfoy, doesn't have any bearing on the fact that, at this moment, I actually do get to tell you what to do!" he visibly stiffened at this statement. "You are in my charge and, again, in my home-"
"And mum was the conditions of exactly what I can and can't do while I'm stuck in this shit hole! I wasn't left with the instruction that I was to be babysat by a dirty fucking Mudblood!"
Draco watched her rake in a breath in an attempt to calm down before she spoke again. "It's my day off, Malfoy, and I'm not going to tiptoe around my home all day just to appease you!" She squared her shoulders in a pathetic attempt to make her tiny self look more intimidating. He almost laughed at that. "Besides," she went on, "It's almost ten in the morning. It's not my problem if you chose such a ridiculous time to go to bed."
He took a few menacing steps towards her again and her palm jutted out against his chest, whipping her other hand around her back.
"Malfoy, I swear if you touch me I will hex you so fast, you won't see straight!"
"Again, Granger, I wouldn't debase myself in such a way. Touch you?" Draco snorted, plastering on a look of revulsion "I'd sooner cut off my hands-"
"That can be arranged." she snapped.
There was a few seconds of silence as they panted out ragged breaths, his gray eyes locked in a glaring match with Granger's muddy-brown one's.
Very fitting colour.
Draco registered Granger's hand then, still pressed firmly into his chest, the other still reaching for her wand. He flicked his eyes to his chest, then back to her face and she quickly removed the offending hand, her cheeks tinging pink.
He roved his eyes over her form and sneered at her. "Keep it down, Mudblood."
Before she had a chance to respond, he turned on his heel and stalked back to his room, slamming the door behind him.
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Her home felt decidedly less spacious now, even as Malfoy vacated her area and confined himself to his room once again. Her anger still simmered beneath the surface of her skin long after the door closed behind him, and she was overtaken by a sweeping of relief flooding her body from her head to her the tips of her toes.
Hermione sat down at her table, sighing over her cold coffee and ruined porridge as her heartbeat slowed. She picked up her spoon and began mashing grumpily at the skin that her breakfast had developed.
For a split second, she had actually been grateful that Malfoy had gone back to his room under the mere threat of using her wand... because she actually didn't have her wand on her. It was still in her room.
But that feeling of gratitude had soured into utter repulsion. She shouldn't have to feel grateful that she wasn't attacked in her own home!
She was most definitely going to have to carry her wand around with her from now on. She couldn't take the risk of being unarmed when another inevitable confrontation happened, courtesy of her brooding house-guest.
Having had enough of her mulchy porridge, Hermione took the dish over to the kitchen, pouring the sad remains into the bin and setting the bowl in the sink. She then headed to her room to retrieve her wand from her nightstand, making quick work of pulling it from the drawer and shoving it into her back pocket so as to avoid the little wave of nausea she always felt upon picking it up. Then she wandered back out to her living room, quietly, and a little begrudgingly, shutting the door behind her.
Hermione hadn't used magic much since the end of the war and it occurred to her that she was most probably a little out of practice. She didn't like the idea of handling her wand, but conceded that she would have to reacquaint herself with it if she was going to keep Malfoy at bay.
Just for emergencies.
She took a few sobering breaths as she reached for her wand once again, doing her best to ignore the tingle in her fingertips as she pulled it from her back pocket.
She settled herself on the sofa, staring at the magical apparatus she used to be so familiar with for a moment. But when the uninviting feeling washed over her, she snapped herself out of her thoughts with a shake of her head and quickly cast a simple silencing spell on the room.
Hermione could feel the magic shift the air around her and she knew the spell had taken effect. Despite her now consistent feeling of anxiety, her mood lilted at the accomplishment. She lifted her wand once again, pushing down her warring emotions and resuming her practice some basic charms. With another deep, cleansing breath, she spoke an incantation.
"Hipparchious"
She smiled faintly as she beheld a beautiful string of gold light, spiralling from her wand, slowly forming a smattering of earthy-brown butterflies. Hermione watched them flutter gently in the air before her.
Successful casting, the beauty of the spell... they really did nothing to abate her discomfort, but she was pleased with the results, nonetheless.
Baby steps, Hermione. Baby steps.
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Hermione was feeling drained. She had spent the last few hours practing her wand-work, only faltering with her Patronus Charm. She surmised though, that that was probably to be expected, given the state of her thoughts since the war. Happy memories were a far-reaching concept to her now. Plus, the ferret prowling his cage a few short feet away didn't exactly help her focus.
She pocketed her wand and eyed Malfoy's door warily. She hadn't heard a peep from him since his outburst so she assumed he had fallen asleep. She was actually a little irked by this, as she really did need to have a conversation with him about his impending stay. Checking the clock, she decided that at almost four in the afternoon, waking him now wouldn't be unreasonable.
She stood from her sofa, taking cautious steps over to his door and putting her ear against it...
Nothing.
She blew out a puff of air and squared her shoulders. "Give me strength." she whispered, rolling her eyes upwards briefly before tapping her knuckle softly against the door.
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A soft tapping stirred Draco into lifting a heavy eyelid. As his thoughts came into focus, he noticed first that he was cold and his neck was stiff. He realised then that he'd fallen asleep atop the covers and on his face. He pushed himself slowly up into a sitting position and massaged the tendons on his aching neck, trying to centre his vision when he realised that he was also a little shaky.
Draco knew that this was a definitive sign that he'd had a nightmare. Though he couldn't remember what it was about this time... Not that he was inclined to try and remember it.
This was the best Draco could hope for when it came to peaceful sleep.
The tapping was there again, making him internally flinch as he rubbed at his eyes. Then again, but amplified.
Remembering then where he was, he registered that the tapping was actually someone knocking on his door.
Granger.
"For fuck's sake." he stood from his bed and stalked over to the door, almost ripping the handle off as he opened it.
Granger stood at the edge of his threshold, a little too close for his liking, her hand still flexed in the air where Draco had interrupted her knocks. Her cheeks seemed to glow red as her eyes shimmied quickly down his half-naked form. She was quiet for too long before Draco became irritated and snapped down at her.
"I thought I told you to keep it down, Mudblood." he said, scowling down at her.
She looked up at him then, furrowing her brows at the slur as she lowered her hand.
"What do you want?" he pressed, impatiently.
"I was hoping I could talk to you Malfoy, I-"
"I thought I made it pretty clear that I don't want you anywhere near me." he cut her off, raising his voice. "I told you, I am trying to sleep. What, has that bird's nest on your head finally overflowed with information so badly that you can't retain anything new?"
She scowled back at him, straightening her back as she did before, but still only coming up as tall as his chin. "In fairness, Malfoy, it's almost four in the afternoon." She nodded her head towards the clock. "It won't do you any good to sleep much longer or you'll never sleep tonight."
This actually made sense to Draco. He was almost grateful that she'd woke him. But he wouldn't tell her that. "Why the fuck do you care?"
"I don't."
"Well then, fuck off and don't wake me up again." he shoved hard at the door trying to shut it when she slammed her hand against it.
"Malfoy, wait, I still need to-"
He sighed dramatically, re-opening the door a touch. "What?
"Well, as I said, I think we ought to talk. I want go over a few ground rules-"
That piqued his temper. "Ground rules? Who do you think you are, Granger?"
She crossed her arms and tilted her head condescendingly. "I think that I am the owner of the place you are staying in and I wanted to make a few things clear-"
"I told you before, don't tell me what to do! You don't get to fucking boss me around, muggle-spawn!" he shouted, towering over her. "I don't have to do a damn fucking thing you ask me to do!"
"If you just let me finish, Malfoy, you'll find that I'm not telling you to do anything!" her fists had come to clench down by her sides now, her face had become flushed and her voice became shrill.
"Fine then," Draco stepped out of the doorway and slammed his door behind him, forcing Granger back a few paces. "I'll humour you. This better be fucking good, Granger." He folded his arms across his chest and stared derisively down at her as though he were a parent waiting for a child to explain why they'd drawn on the walls.
She took a deep breath and uncurled her fists as she stared at the ground. "Thank you."
His face flashed in confusion. Thank you?
"As I said, I wanted to go over a few ground rules." she flicked her gaze back up to his face. If she noted his confusion, she didn't say anything. She moved her eyes away again, seemingly unable to settle them anywhere. He obviously made her nervous.
Good.
"Firstly, this is my home, Malfoy. It should go without saying that I want you to respect it. You are welcome to make use of every room and anything in it as long as you put things back when you are done. I don't expect to come home to find the place trashed or in too much of a mess."
Draco snorted at that but she ignored him.
"Secondly, the only room you are not to go into is my bedroom." she looked to his eyes again. "And in turn, I won't go into your room either."
"I thought you weren't telling me what to do?" he admonished, quirking an eyebrow.
"I'm not. I would just appreciate the respect on your end of permitting me my privacy, as I will for you." she finished with a nod of her head.
"Whatever..." he scoffed, rolling his eyes and shifting his feet. "Anything else?"
"Yes. I work from Monday to Saturday and I'm usually gone between eight and half-five. The flat is warded so you won't be able to leave-"
"I'm aware of the fucking wards Granger." she really was pushing his buttons right now. "And why should I care about your work-"
"But if there were an emergency," she hollered over him, "I have something for you."
She held her hand up and small object flew into her outstretched fingers so quickly that by the time she closed her fist around it, Draco missed it.
He shouldn't have been surprised that the know-it-all could perform wandless, wordless magic but he had to suppress the astonishment that almost betrayed his features.
She pulled her wand out of her pocket and opened her hand, revealing a small, almost gold coin. Not a galleon though... something else. Something Draco had never seen before.
Granger pointed her wand at it and muttered something under her breath, her eyes focusing so hard on the object in front of her that Draco thought she might have an anyeurism.
Wishful thinking.
The coin glowed red for a few seconds as if it was heating up. Then it faded back to normal as she lowered her wand. She extended her arm, holding the small coin in her palm out to him.
Draco merely quirked his brow again.
"It's a Muggle coin," she explained when he didn't take it. "I've placed a Protean Charm on it. Like we used in the DA in fifth..." she trailed off, averting her eyes from his and her cheeks heated again.
"Fifth year? Wait, that stupid club with all your idiot friends? Is that why you were all carrying those Galleons we found on you in Umbridge's office?" he asked, incredulous.
"Yes. Well... Um, anyway," she pressed on quickly, evidently embarrassed about giving that little tidbit of information away. "Should you need me, you hold it in your hand and think of a short message you want to send. That message will then appear on it's brother coin, which I will have on my person's. So, this one is yours."
He stared at her in bemused disbelief. It was odd that she would think of something so... considerate? Draco was met with an unwelcome sense of admiration and he balked. In the last five minutes, she had thanked him, impressed him and made him feel admiration towards her. He didn't bloody like it. She didn't deserve any of that. She was just a Mudblood.
He snorted. His face fell into a stony glare, shifting his eyes between her expectant gaze and the coin in her hand. "What is this, a pity-parade?"
The girl blinked up at him, pulling her hand back slightly and tipping her head, seemingly not understanding his question.
"I don't need your bloody protection Granger. I may not have a wand, but I am perfectly capable of handling myself. I don't want-"
"It's just for emergencies. I prefer you to have it and not need it, than need-"
"Fine Granger," he tutted, growing irritated with her incessant goody-goody innocence bullshit. She was beginning to suffocate him with it. "Give it over."
He held out his hand and she placed the coin in his palm, lightly grazing the tips of her fingers over his skin as she released it. At her unwelcome touch, Draco snatched his hand back violently, closing his fist and dropping the coin in his back pocket, proceeding then to wipe his hand on his trousers as if he'd touched something smelly.
Granger rolled her eyes at him. "I don't have germs, Malfoy."
"And how would I know that, Granger?" he countered. A sardonic smile played across his lips whilst he continued wiping his hand, making his palm feel raw. "Do you have any more Gryffin-bore lectures you want to preach to me?"
"You know, you could at least try to be nice to me." she said, crossing her arms, clearly getting wound up. "We do have to live together-"
"Don't remind me," Draco interrupted. "As if I would have any inclination to ever be nice to you, Mudblood. You don't deserve the civilities one would give to a proper witch or wizard. The way I see it, you deserve less than one would give a house-elf. And that's a fair cop, because I wouldn't bloody give them anything. Except maybe a swift kick."
Draco knew a split second too late that he'd pushed her too far when her eyes licked with fire and she had her wand out and pressed against his chest before he could blink. His smirk promptly fell from his face.
"That's enough!" she hollered. "Enough about my heritage! The war is over! Or don't you get that? You foul, despicable little ferret twat! Your side lost! Your Master is fucking dead! Defeated at the hands of Harry Potter and his Mudblood friend!"
Draco wasn't sure he'd ever heard Miss Priss use a swear word before. It caught him off guard to the extent that his ready return died on his lips. Whilst he kept his face in a mask of carefully trained indifference, he was most definitely a little shocked. He very strongly hoped that she wouldn't notice.
"You, Malfoy, have been given a chance like no other!" She continued her rant. "You avoided a long sentence to Azkaban on the good faith of The Minister because he saw potential-"
"Well, more fool-"
"I AM NOT FINISHED!"
Sparks from the tip of wand began singing his bare chest, but Draco dared not move. He would be damned if he would show fear... But that didn't mean he wasn't shitting himself a little.
"The Minister saw potential for change in you..." Her eyes flailed madly over his form as she gestured at him with her other hand. "somewhere... and you ought to bloody well show your gratitude for this opportunity! No other Death Eater got that chance! And all you've done for the whole half a day you've been here is act like your usual, bigoted, small-minded, spiteful self!"
"Is there a point to this bloody speech, Granger?" he asked, examining his nails, trying to feign boredom.
"Yes, Malfoy," a strange smirk settled on her mouth as she calmly answered him.
But Granger wasn't calm.
He could still see the solar-flare ignited behind her golden gaze. She stepped towards him slowly, menacingly, digging her wand hard into his sternum, but Draco's stubbornness wouldn't allow him to step back. To show weakness...
She was so close now that she was starting to blur before his eyes. The scent of coffee and something lightly floral invaded his nose as her hot glare scorched him like a bonfire and her wiry curls tickled his cheeks.
"If you continue down this road... If you show no reform... I will be forced to report my findings to Minister Shacklebolt. Findings that say you cannot be changed. Won't be changed. They'll send you to Azkaban. You'll be locked up for the rest of your pathetic life."
Draco tried to summon anger at her words, but instead, he gulped. His mouth had gone dry at the sound of her thinly veiled threat. The Mudblood's smirk widened.
"So behave." she said, stepping back slightly.
She stood before him, still staring him down with her wildfire eyes, wand now marginally lowered.
Draco composed himself as quickly and quietly as possible under her stare. When he decided he'd found his voice, his mouth loaded up a retort. But before it could cross his teeth, Granger swished her wand around her head and fired a non-verbal Impedimenta straight at him.
Her powerful spell hit Draco square in the chest, knocking the wind out of him. He was lifted off his feet and swatted backwards into his bedroom door, the weight of his body combined with the force of the spell splintering it from its hinges.
As his body crashed to the bedroom floor, his head cracked sickeningly against the end of the bed frame.
Then Draco saw black.
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A/N - The Butterfly making charm Hermione uses is actually a real spell. However the incantation was unknown, so I had to make that up.
Interestingly though, I chose that particular wording because there is a species of butterfly called Hipparchia Hermione. They are brown butterflies with a white band across their wings. Very earthy, very pretty and very becoming of our Hermione, I think.
... Okay, so maybe it's not all that interesting, but incase you were wondering where the spell came from, now you know. :-)
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