A/N: For those wondering why I have started this with a Ron/Hermione storyline, well it's just something I thought was so realistic from the actual books and they had always been best friends for so long. I couldn't see a Dramoine happening without starting with a hermione/ron pairing. Anyway, just my thoughts, we can agree to disagree :) Happy reading!

DISCLAIMER: All characters belong to the fabulous J.K Rowling.

Chapter 3: The Strength of Peaches

"Ron you spoiled EVERYTHING"

Hermione was shrieking with embarrassment as Ron fled up the stairs with Harry. "They get scary when they get older" he nudged at Harry as they both fled out of the Great Hall, where the Yule Ball was taking place. Hermione remembered waiting weeks for Ron to ask her to the ball. Instead she went with Victor Krum, a good looking chap no doubt, but not the man she wanted dancing with her. She also couldn't comprehend a word he was saying, so there was that.

Hermione crouched over the foot of the stairs, hands hugging her knees as she sobbed quietly into her lilac chiffon dress. Her parents had sent it to her for this fine evening, Ginny had even taught her a nifty spell to turn her bushy mane into soft curls. All of it was for nothing.

"Well well, look what the cat dragged in. Looks like nobody wants to dance with the mudblood" came a snarky comment from across the hall; the infamous blond Slytherin strolled in, accompanied by pug faced Pansy Parkinson.

"Oooh! Good one, Drakie" Pansy giggled against his ear.
Draco flinched.
Hermione noticed.

Hermione rose up from the stairs, smoothened out her dress and walked straight towards the unhappy couple. Pansy was distracted, but Draco's eyes were glaring at his nemesis, preparing himself for her retort. Hermione brushed past his shoulder and simply said "I guess I'm not the only one who doesn't like nicknames".
Silence.

Splash

Hermione washed her face for the third time that morning, attempting to get the sleep out of her eyes. It was her first day of classes and she didn't want to look like a visual representation of a hangover.

After her not-so-friendly encounter with Malfoy yesterday morning, it seemed as though the entire day went downhill from there. Malfoy had left right after their little spat, for his Auror training, so Hermione decided to take advantage of the space and do some light reading from the vast collection of books in the Head's common room. It was nearly dinnertime, and Hermione was flipping to the 246th page of "Weird Wizarding Dilemmas: Vol 2" when she received a note from McGonagall that she had to monitor the detention of two cheeky sixth years, who had slipped a homemade potion in a boy's pumpkin juice that got him sent to Madam Pomfrey's. The detention lasted till 3 in the morning, and Hermione was furious that there was no sign of the Head boy amidst this chaos.
She had slugged into the kitchen at half past 3 AM, ready to scream at Malfoy, but to her disappointment, the common room still showed no signs of the arrogant prat.

'Nevermind all that', she said to herself, as she was recounting the long night. She was going to be late!

Her first class was Advanced Herbology and it went swimmingly, despite the fact that there were only two students that took this class, her and Neville. Once class was over, Hermione went into the Great Hall to find none other than her best friend waiting for her, his green eyes glimmering in excitement.
"Harry! Its so good to see you! What brings you here?!"
"I can't check up to see how you're doing?" He smiled goofily per usual, and Hermione gave him a big hug.
"I'm happy you did, because there's been something I've been meaning to ask you…" Hermione began as Harry cut her off. "Not here. Too many people" He said curtly, and walked towards the courtyard. Hermione followed behind him, and waited till they were in a more secluded place before continuing her question.

"Like I was saying, I wanted to ask you something, its about Malfoy"
"Right, you're probably wondering why I spoke in favor of releasing him from Azkaban."
Hermione nodded profusely, surprised that he already knew what she was going to ask.

"Look Mione, I know this may come as a shock to you but he's on our side, I think he always has been"
"But..hes a death eater! Or, was one"
"Malfoy was actually crucial in helping bring down all the dark wizards. Once the war was over, the Order only managed to imprison some high-ranking purebloods. The Malfoys, along with many others in Voldemort's army of followers, had gone into hiding. It was Malfoy that helped us locate everyone's whereabouts, including his family. He was spying for the Order all summer while in hiding with the rest of the deatheaters"
"That…that's incredibly dangerous. That could have gotten him killed"
"It nearly did. When they found out, Lucius was about to cast the killing curse on his own son. But… we got to them just in time" Harry finished, with a small smile.

Hermione was in complete shock. She didn't know how to process this new information, and her face flushed a bright crimson as she thought back to the first night outside the Headmistress's chambers when she wished for Draco to face the same justice as his father. She wondered why he didn't just tell her.
"Oh Harry. I really didn't know" Hermione was ashamed of herself. "Malfoy has been head boy and we have to live together. And I would be lying if I said I've been making it easy for him".
Harry laughed, "He's a git no doubt, but he has a good heart".

Harry wanted to visit some other 8th years, and asked Hermione to join him, but she no longer felt in the mood to socialize with anyone. She couldn't bring her mind off what she had just heard. Malfoy had gone behind the back of everyone who raised him, and all she had contributed to the aftermath of the war was to leave it. Maybe Malfoy was right, maybe she was a coward. Hermione felt sick to her stomach, and decided to head straight back into the Head's common rooms.

Once she entered through the portrait hole, she spotted Draco in the common room, reading a book. Upon seeing Hermione he began to get up and walk into his room, but Hermione protested.

"Wait"

Draco stopped.
"Malfoy, I owe you an apology."
Draco turned around to face her. "What are you talking about?"
"Look, Harry told me everything you did after the war. How you turned your back on the rest of the deatheaters, even your father. I imagine it must have been very hard for you, and I-"
"I don't need your pity, Granger"
Hermione glared. He wasn't making this easy for her.
"I'm not pitying you! I was just going to say that I understand it wasn't easy for you. And that I misjudged you"

Moments passed, and neither of them knew what to say. Draco decided to break the tension.
"The things I said to you yesterday. About Weasley. They were uncalled for"
Hermione cut him off "No no, I can see why you thought it –"
"Still, it wasn't my place. For all I know he could be out somewhere waiting for you. Anyway, I had gone to the Manor last night and am going to go tonight as well. Figured you don't want me here"
So that's where he was yesterday, Hermione realized. She wondered what the manor must be like with all its members in Azkaban. It was probably dark and alone.

"Well, this is your place as much as it's mine. So you don't have to do that", she replied.

As Hermione turned around to go back into her room, she suddenly stopped in her tracks and turned back at him. He was still standing there, looking at her. And so she asked him the thing that had bothered her all day.
"You called me Hermione yesterday."
Draco raised his eyebrow. "Yes. And? Did your name change to Salazar?"
Hermione frowned. "You never call me by my name. That just isn't…our thing"
"I figured it was about bloody time we grew up!" Draco said defensively.
"Easy for you to say Malfoy, you weren't the one being tormented all those years" Hermione muttered under her breath. Draco heard her and rolled his eyes.
"Merlin, forget I said it. Back to Granger then. Are we done here?" Hermione could sense his annoyance, and it in turn riled her up even more.
"Yes fine!"

They both stormed off into their rooms, frustrated at each other. 'How did I manage to make it worse than before?' Hermione threw her hands up in the air in defeat as she collapsed onto her bed.

Draco sat down on his bed wondering the same thing. He knew that Hermione was only trying to make amends, but he wanted to be hard on her. He cursed under his breath, knowing that there was no logical reason behind his behavior towards her. He had reconciled with most of the Gryffindors, and even started to become cordial with Harry, something that 5th year Draco would never have believed could happen. So what was it about Granger that just made him want to torment her?

-.-.-.-.-.-

The next few weeks went by rather uneventfully for Hermione, particularly because Draco wouldn't stay at the Head's dormitory, and would only share one class with her, Advanced Potions, which they would sit at opposite ends for. Their Heads duties went by smoothly as well. They would alternate rounds around the halls with the other prefects, and Hermione had created a schedule in her spare time, one that involved minimal contact with one another. Draco knew it was no coincidence, but didn't protest to it.

Then came a Friday afternoon in potions class, and Slughorn decided to pair up the students for their potions assignment. "Our head girl and head boy received top marks on their NEWTs last year, so I expect them to set an example for the rest of you lot. Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy, you will be partnering up for this assignment"

Hermione reluctantly gathered her things and walked over to Malfoy's desk, where he had an empty seat next to him. The two of them began working on the potion immediately, neither of them saying a word to each other.
As Hermione was cutting up the Moly plants, Draco could tell that she was struggling and couldn't help but smirk. The mighty Hermione, knower of all things pertaining to wizarding education, didn't know how to chop a plant correctly.
"May I?" He offered.

Hermione handed him the knife, and Draco finely chopped the plant within seconds.
"How did you learn to do that?" Hermione asked, in amazement.
Draco shrugged. "Practice. I guess you're gonna have to get used to being second best from now on"
Hermione let out a laugh, "As if". She let her laugh echo as she realized, were they actually being civil with one another?

Draco felt the tension too, as he almost immediately handed her the chopped plants and went back to his desk. He liked hearing Hermione laugh, he couldn't recall if he had ever heard it before. Either way, he figured it was the first time that he was the source of making her laugh, and he rather enjoyed it. That was, until a voice inside of him said he was being ridiculous.

They both completed their potion first, naturally. Slughorn was in a particularly cheery mood that day, as he gave them 50 points towards their respective houses, and dismissed them from class early. The two of them realized that they were both headed in the same direction, to their common room, so decided to walk together. Left and right, students were stopping to turn around and take a look at the couple. Hermione could feel all the eyes on her and frowned.

"Honestly, its ridiculous the little things that spew gossip in these halls"
Draco looked around and smirked. "You wish they gossiped about us, Granger"
Hermione's face flared up again and she shot a glare at Draco, which made him smirk even more.
"Must you always be this insufferable?"
"It's just too entertaining to not be"

Hermione could feel something different in the air with their banter. It was lighthearted and jovial, as if they had been friends for ages. She couldn't pinpoint a reason as to why it felt so natural, but it just did.

They arrived to their common room, and Draco gathered his things and left for Auror training. Hermione was looking forward to the trip to Hogsmeade planned with Lavender and Parvati. She missed Ginny dearly in moments like these, and wished for anything to be able to see her best friend again, but Lavender and Parvati had matured significantly since the war began. They were no longer the annoying gossips she used to see them as, and she began to enjoy their company.

After visiting four boutiques and spending 45 minutes in a bookshop per Hermione's request, the three of them were exhausted. "Lets hit the Three Broomsticks. First round's on me!" Lavender exclaimed.
The girls were on their third round of 'Fleur de Firewhisky", a deliciously potent cocktail, when Parvati decided to spark up the conversation a little.

"So Hermione, tell us about Draco! What's going on between you two?"
Hermione looked puzzled at both the girls "Nothing at all! What makes you think there is?"
"We just heard rumor that you walk to and from classes together." Lavender winked.

Those darned corridors and the nosy students that roam it! Hermione took another sip of her drink.
"Merlin, that was one class, and one time! We live in the same dormitory, but I assure you, there is absolutely nothing going on over there. I mean its Malfoy for goodness sakes" Hermione defended.
"No need to get defensive! You must have seen how much he's changed since he joined the light side."
"I know the kind of change you're talking about Lav" Parvati said with a wink. "That kind of change doesn't happen overnight! He was always attractive"
"Yes, but now he's attractive and also attainable" Lavender giggled. Parvati echoed with more laughs.
"Honestly, you two" Hermione huffed. She had realized that there is clearly still quite a bit of youth left in her two friends, and though it was annoying, she was happy that they could talk about anything but the bloody war, for once.

Meanwhile…

"Malfoy! A little help here" Harry yelled, stuck knee deep under a pile of rocks. Draco ran over to the scene and, with all his strength, lifted the large rocks off Harry one by one. Field training was considered the hardest part of AIT, since most of the physical exercises prohibited any use of magic. Fortunately, since Draco had spent a significant portion of his summer in Azkaban awaiting trial, he was quite used to being without his wand. He had received several threats daily from Voldemorts army, and needed to stay physically and mentally fit incase a brawl ensued.

"Guess all those push ups in the prison cell did me some good" Draco smirked, his hand extended out to help Harry from under the rocks.

As the two of them re-entered the Ministry in one piece, Kingsley Shacklebolt arrived to congratulate them.
"Well done boys. Off you go." Harry ran off to the pub with Neville and Cormac.

"Draco, a word?" Kingsley called after him.

When the others had left, Kingsley continued, "I want to start by saying you have been doing very well here, Draco, I want you to know that. Although circumstances have proven that you are very capable of making your own decisions" He continued, "you will not be turning 18 for another few months. As such, you need approval from a parent or legal guardian to continue your training here. Your mother has insisted that you resign from our program, and I will need her formal consent for you to continue AIT."

Draco's face stiffened. "Alright. I'll talk to her." He knew this wasn't going to be easy.

As Draco was on his way back to Hogwarts, he began thinking about his early years here, the way in which he was raised, how he felt like the king of the world only to have it all snatched away from him once he realized he was batting for the wrong side. His mind reached places he swore to forget about, and he couldn't help but feel a rage towards his family. They had failed him, he thought.
He slammed open the portrait hole into the common rooms and head straight to the kitchen. Muttering a quick spell, the cabinets revealed a secret shelf, containing a bottle of firewhiskey he had stashed when he moved in. He quickly unscrewed the lid and poured the golden liquid straight into his mouth.

"Has that always been in there?" He heard a slurred voice coming from the sofa.

Draco turned to find Hermione lying down lazily on the loveseat, only, this time she looked different She was wearing a tshirt and leggings, and had a bit of mascara on her eyes.. Her hair was loose and wavy, it graced her face and draped gently on her shoulders. The last time he remembered seeing her hair look like that was at the Yule Ball – he mentally recalled what an arse he was to her that sodding night. And here she was today, looking the same. Unintentionally, beautiful. He was speechless.

"What's that on your eyes Granger. You look…different" It was all he could manage to let out, not a complement, nor an insult. Just a remark.

Hermione giggled at his odd observation. "Its mascara, I never wear it but the girls insssisstedd" she slurred. She was drunk, Draco realized. The night was going pleasantly so far, he didn't want to push it. He concealed the liquor bottle and shut the cabinet.

"Well I'm going to bed. Goodnight, Granger"

"You're sooo difficult to read. You know thattt?"

Yes. He knew it, he even preferred it. "Maybe I don't want to be read"

"I just don't…..get it Malfoy! What makes you….. just…decide to be…good one day…and…" she trailed off into a mutter under her breath. Draco looked over at her, she had fallen asleep. He walked over to her limp figure sprawled on the sofa; she was carefree, pure, innocent. He felt as though even his slightest touch could shatter her.

"Its less of a decision to be good, and more a realization that enough is enough. To make matters more tense, I'll be facing my mother tomorrow in bloody Azkaban for the first time since I exposed them. Honestly…I don't know how in Merlin's name I'm going to pull that off" Draco sighed as he spoke out loud to Hermione's unconscious state.
She looked so peaceful. He thought about picking her up and taking her to her bed, but decided against it. She'd only fight with him again.
As he was struggling in between his own thoughts, Hermione shifted uncomfortably on the sofa. 'Fuck it' he decided, and placed one hand under the nape of her neck, the other under her thighs, and gently lifted her off the couch. He slowly walked her towards her bedroom, all the while thinking to himself 'what are you doing. She hates you. She'll think you took advantage of her' while also wondering 'She smells like fresh linen and peaches. How is her skin so soft?'

As he slowly put her down on her bed, he heard her mutter a name that froze him to his core and knocked him back to reality.

"Ron?"