A/N: Thank you all for the love you've given my story! I promise, this story will NOT be abandoned! (That was for you, concerned reviewer :D)
I know that you guys probably want Hermione and Draco to just get together, but don't worry, the buildup will be worth it! I'm very excited about the direction I want to take this story!
At the Slug Club meeting on Sunday evening, Hermione didn't say much. Harry had landed himself in detention with Snape after bad mouthing him during D.A.D.A. earlier that week.
Cormac McLaggen, sitting across the table kept wiggling his eyebrows suggestively and smirking. Hermione cringed slightly at this, knowing how vile he was from when she went to the Slug Club party with him in the original timeline.
Speaking occasionally to Ginny, Hermione decided that she was not a fan, per se, of being a member of the Slug Club.
Following Monday's breakfast, Hermione was standing in the queue, first in line to enter the Ancient Runes classroom. She was rummaging through her bag, searching for a hair tie when she realized that Draco was not there. Meaning he wasn't early like he had been for every class for the past six years of schooling.
I guess the mission is finally getting to him, she thought to herself with a grimace. Although she honestly didn't care much about Draco's feelings, the fact that he was late meant that she was, in some ways, failing her mission.
When the rest of the class showed up and Draco was nowhere to be seen, Hermione frowned, wondering if he'd bother to attend their meeting to work on the charms assignment later. Fifteen minutes into class, in the middle of note taking and Babbling's presentation, Draco lazily sauntered through the doorway, taking his seat with a small sigh. Babbling looked up and raised an eyebrow at his dramatic interruption but said nothing and continued lecturing.
Hermione, pretending not to notice him, was trying to indiscreetly check on him out of the corner of her eye.
Draco noticed, however, and sneered at her prying eyes. He pushed his white sleeves up to his elbows and crossed his arms angrily. Slumping back in his seat, Draco stared at the ceiling, not taking notes and very obviously miffed.
How curious.
In D.A.D.A, Ron still refused to speak with Hermione. To make things even more awkward, her, Harry and Ron's seats were all next to each other, meaning that they were forced to pretend that the others weren't there. It seemed that Harry had given up on trying to talk to the two of them, knowing what disastrous results that would have.
In Arithmancy, Hermione took notes diligently but her mind was distracted as her meeting with Draco crept closer. Draco was also in that class, but so was Theodore Nott, so he didn't pay much attention to her at all, thankfully.
In Charms, also shared with Draco (how many classes could the two of them have together, honestly?) Hermione demonstrated an excellent knowledge of non-verbal casting of charms, which the Professors had been offering extra house points for. Earning 15 points from the small, elf-like Professor Flitwick, Hermione felt very happy with her work.
After Charms, however, was her bi-weekly meeting with her least favorite Slytherin. Once again arriving at the Room of Requirement earlier than Draco, Hermione got to choose the room for the day.
I need a place where I can both further the success my Order mission and work on Runes with Draco.
A door, this time wooden and weathered, appeared. Hermione waited by the entrance for the sight of Draco's tall figure to appear round the corner, but the only people to walk by were a couple of first years and Luna Lovegood.
"Hello, Hermione," Luna drifted toward her and spoke in a soft voice. "What are you doing up here?"
"Luna," Hermione forced herself to smile kindly, not having the best relationship with the Ravenclaw, "How are you? I'm waiting for Draco."
"I'm fine, thanks. Are you alright? The Wrackspurts are surrounding you today." Luna didn't comment on Draco's name.
Hermione took a deep breath, determined not to tell Luna that none of that nonsense was real. Once composed, Hermione suggested, "Perhaps it's from stress. I thought you needed glasses to see the Wrackspurts, though?"
Luna nodded, her toadstool earrings that dangled from her ears swaying with the motion, appreciative of Hermione's memory, "Yes, Spectrespecs. I could get you a pair if you'd like. And I'd say it's possible that stress could be causing the infestation that's surrounding you."
Luna didn't answer her question about needing glasses.
"Where are you off to, then?" Hermione asked with a cheerful tone.
Luna was staring at something out a nearby window and Hermione followed her gaze, confused at what she was seeing.. "Oh, nowhere, really," Luna ventured over to the nearby window to take a casual glance of the view. Hermione followed, doubtful of what Luna was supposedly seeing. "I have a free period. I think I'll search for some fairy rings; the weather is perfect for it."
Taking a skeptical glance out the window, Hermione raised an eyebrow, "But it's raining."
"Yes! I just have to be careful not to venture into the ring lest the Fae cast a sleeping charm on me for centuries. Goodbye, then, Hermione. It was lovely talking with you," the strange girl, wearing a chartreuse dress made from velvet, black tights and a pair of tall, rubbery purple boots, waved.
Hermione smiled, waved and watched with confusion as Luna skipped jovially away, presumably to search for fungi in the middle of a rainstorm. "How peculiar," Hermione sighed.
When she turned around to return to the door, she nearly walked right into Draco, who was standing with his arms crossed behind her, a look of petulant displeasure plastered on his pale face.
"Loony Lovegood? Really, Granger?" Draco rolled his eyes and walked up to the door, pushing it open casually.
Trailing behind him, she tried, "Luna has her...quirks, sure. But she's nice and doesn't have many friends."
Draco scoffed and Hermione entered the room, noticing that it was different than last time. The room was very tall, like the Gryffindor Tower, and had castle-like windows lining the walls a few meters above where they stood. Bookshelves, presumably with books about Runes lining their shelves, were placed on most of the walls, except for the wall that the crackling fireplace was incorporated into.
Most surprising of all was the color scheme. Green walls were accented with gold embellishments, like the window trim and the ceiling. A silver rug lay beneath the red sofa and emerald armchair near the blazing hearth.
"Good Godric," Hermione let out her words in a slow exhale, peering around the room, "It certainly has a...unique color scheme."
"For fuck's sake, Granger," Draco threw his bag down as he sprawled lazily out on the sofa. "It looks like Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin threw up all over the room. Entirely distasteful."
Hermione shook her head, not commenting, and joined Malfoy, sitting on the armchair placed across from the sofa. She tucked her feet up, sitting criss-cross in the comfortable chair and pulled out her Rune's textbook, as well as a piece of parchment and a ballpoint pen.
Draco looked at the pen with a strange expression, probably remembering the conversation they had shortly after discussing what a ballpoint pen was.
Disregarding his odd reaction to the pen, she placed the supplies on a small side table and began to write.
"Seeing as the last time we met, we were slightly," she searched for the correct word and winced at her choice, "distracted, I think we should split the assignment up and form a schedule."
Draco groaned dramatically and sat up from his sprawling position, leaning back against the maroon couch. How ironic that he, a Slytheirn, was sitting on the red sofa while Hermione occupied the deep green seat.
Despite his melodramatic and loud protest to the work, he didn't explicitly oppose the idea of figuring out a schedule so Hermione got to work.
"Draco," Hermione asked, looking up just in time to see him cringe at the use of his first name, "do you prefer translating or note-taking?"
"Neither."
Hermione glared at him and he gave in, "Fine, I'll take notes. I'm sure my handwriting is much more legible than that chicken scratch you call writing."
"Excuse me," Hermione argued, "but I think my handwriting is perfectly fine."
Draco shook his head, "You would, Granger, what with your upbringing and everything."
Hermione, about to dismiss his petty insult, realized what he was insinuating. "Say that again?"
"Oh, come on," Draco sat up straight and crossed his arms, "do you honestly think that you, a girl from some random Muggle school, has better penmanship than me, a pureblood that was raised with tutors forcing me to learn all the forgotten arts of Italy, France and England?"
Hermione was indignated at that response, "No, I don't think I do. But the fact that you think our blood status has anything to do with that baffles me! I could have had rich Muggle parents who would have forced me to be tutored as well! Don't you hear how ridiculous you sound?"
Draco replied, "I'm not saying Muggles have inherently bad handwriting because I'm sure statistically, it's a similar ratio. I just think that Purebloods raise their children with higher standards and this results in pureblood children developing more skills. Which is better for the child, meaning that purebloods traditionally make better offspring."
Hermione wanted to shake him and make him realize how brainwashed he sounded, but restrained herself. The sad part was that Draco honestly sounded as though he honestly saw nothing wrong with that world view.
"Okay," Hermione took a breath and said, "Sure, the way purebloods, half-bloods and muggleborns grow up vary in many ways. But does that really mean that muggleborns are lower and lesser than the rest?"
"By default," Draco staed, "yes."
"But are there exceptions?" Hermione pried, finding herself curious about just what he really thought about the blood-status based hierarchy of the Wizarding World.
"Well," Draco thought, for a moment before answering, "A muggleborn can obviously be smart and study hard to do well in school, just like a Pureblood can simply not apply themself and be stupid, but inherently, purebloods have a line of blood that is of higher quality than muggleborns."
Hermione honestly just felt bad for the boy sitting opposite her. He had clearly been misguided his whole life. Draco Malfoy was a prime example of the bias that stems from parental failures.
"But why?"
"Why?"
Hermione nodded.
Draco explained again, "From the beginning of the time of wizardry, every wizard in our world was a pureblood. But when the purebloods began marrying into muggle families and inbreeding, many bloodlines were ruined. The purebloods left decided to preserve their purity and live with higher standards. The half-bloods, and eventually muggleborns that entered our world, left the traditions in the past, but the purebloods kept them alive, raising their children to be the best they possibly could. So, now, hundreds of years later, the pureblood genepool is vastly superior to any other blood status, and we intend to preserve it as such."
Draco finished speaking and Hermione couldn't help the grimace that formed; he sounded like a brainwashed robot repeating whatever unscientific nonsense his father had forced down his throat.
"So, ignoring the way genes really work and assuming that the shit you just said is true," Hermione said, earning her a glare from Draco, "how do you explain the pureblood exceptions? Like, Ron, for example. I'm sure he doesn't live up to your standards. How do you explain the genetic failings of another pureblood?"
Draco smirked, "There's always a runt in the litter, right?"
"Fine. Then how do you explain the number of pureblood wizards and witches that aren't following these traditions and are still, somehow, superior to me?"
"They still have that blood in them, even if they disregard their history. And that means that they had the potential to be among the best, such as the Malfoys or the Blacks. So even if they aren't acting like a true, proper pureblood, they still are, according to their blood, higher than half-bloods or muggleborns. But we won't regard them as higher than the inferior blood ranks if they don't act like it," Draco said as if it were a no-brainer.
Hermione had so many questions. She leaned forward in her chair, asking, "So, let me get this straight. Some purebloods, blood traitors, don't act like purebloods, so they are as low as muggleborns. They still are better than me, because they could have been traditional purebloods, according to their blood, but you don't acknowledge that unless they act like it?"
Draco nodded.
"Okay, then explain Voldemort," Hermione intensified her glare, not missing the look Draco made after hearing Hermione say his full name. "He's a half-blood and yet purebloods worship him as if he was the model pureblood. How can you justify that yet hate people like me without coming off as hypocritical?"
Draco scoffed, "The Dark Lord isn't a half-blood, Granger."
Hermoine copied him and mockingly scoffed back, "Yes he is, Draco."
"Well, even if he is a half-blood, which he isn't, he still hates muggles and muggleborns. And his family tree goes back to Salazar Slytherin, himself," Draco stated, not even open to the idea of Voldemort not being the ultimate pureblood.
Hermione shook her head, disgusted and saddened with his outdated, cruel and outright wrong beliefs, "Draco, I don't think I can work on Runes right now. But maybe I could suggest you a book?"
Draco looked slightly concerned at her sudden change of topic and watched quizzically and Hermioned stood up and walked quickly toward the bookshelf.
"Aha," she exclaimed, happy to see the Room had just what she needed. "Read this, Draco, and let me know what you think of it."
"Why do you think I would have any interest in reading this?" Draco said, holding the book carelessly.
"Just," Hermione exhaled, "just read it. Please. I'll see you in Runes tomorrow."
As she left, Hermione saw Draco turn the novel over and read the cover: The Diaries of A Young Girl by Anne Frank.
Although a far-fetched plan, it was a plan, and that was a start. She only hoped that Draco didn't come out viewing Jewish people as he did muggleborns.
A/N: (wow end of the chapter extra A/N!) I want to encourage you to leave feedback for this chapter due to the material in it. How do you think the bloodline stuff sounded? If it was unclear, please let me know and I'll fix it! :)