TEN
Friday, 5 September 1944
When Hermione emerged from the bathroom the following morning, her roommates were just getting up for the morning. When they saw her, they waited a full moment before pouncing on her. They told her how worried they were when she didn't come back before curfew. She was surprised to hear how worried Malfoy had been when he approached them asking if she was in her dorm.
They hounded her for every detail and she gave it to them. She had already spent half the night lying awake replaying the incident in her mind. Half of her was ready to do it again while the other was berating her for betraying Ron in such a manner.
When it was time to get to breakfast, they told her about the little plan they had tried to come up with and that they would call it off for now. Hermione's heart skipped a beat as she followed them out of the dorm and down the corridor. She hadn't thought about what it would be like to see Malfoy again.
When she entered the common room she was a little taken aback to see him with Riddle and his group again. Their eyes met and she felt her stomach flip. She wasn't sure what to make of the situation, but he was right back where he had said he didn't want to be. And he was looking at her as if nothing had really changed between them.
Her gaze slid from his to Riddle's. As usual, his gaze was intense as it swept over her face as if she kept him enthralled. She squared her shoulders and marched up to the group. "Good morning," she said to them.
A few of them ignored her; they might not even know her blood status, but she knew it was also because of her gender. She could only recall Bellatrix as a Death Eater. If there were more females that had taken the mark, they never crossed paths. Some of them mumbled hello as well. Riddle nodded at her. "Will you be eating breakfast with us?"
Us.
Hermione shook her head. "No thank you. I'm going to eat with my roommates. I just need a word with M-Draco first," she said, giving him a thin smile. "I don't want to intrude on your boys club."
He inclined his head and then gestured for his friends to take their leave. "Then I shall see you in Charms, Miss Granger. Draco, we will see you in a moment."
Soon after that, the common room was empty except for Hermione and Malfoy. The moment they were alone, Hermione's lips parted, ready to rip him a new one. He sensed that was the case and held up a hand as he glared at her.
"Before you blow your gasket, hear me out."
She folded her arms in front of her and tapped her foot. "I suggest you hurry."
He gestured to his left arm where she knew the Mark lie. "This means that I have to obey his every whim. The magic that created it doesn't care that I got this in the future. Last night, when he and I got back to our dorm, he made it very clear that he doesn't care that I've labeled you my girlfriend. He took that as a challenge."
Hermione felt as though the floor had disappeared from beneath her feet. Malfoy's eyes were simmering with rage that she knew wasn't directed at her.
"This morning he told me that he thought I would make a great addition to his group. That I got along swimmingly with the others and with my background being Durmstrang, we probably had more in common. He said that he could feel the Dark Magic in me and insisted I take him up on his offer." He paused and tapped his forearm beneath his sleeve.
Fear gripped as a thought occurred. "So if he tells you to break up with me…"
"I wouldn't have a choice," he confirmed.
She shook her head. "He won't." Malfoy scoffed and began to speak, but she rushed on to continue. "You said he took it as a challenge. Even if he did know that he had that kind of power over you, it would be too easy."
He sighed and scrubbed at his face. "That doesn't make it better," he groused.
"I know," she said and shook her head. "But like we talked about, maybe this is a good way to get closer to him; to learn. If this is the way we have to survive, then so be it. You join his inner circle and I'll endure his obsession."
He groaned. "This is like Sixth Year all over again. I don't want this, Granger. Potter was supposed to win and this was all supposed to be over."
"And I want his attention?" she asked, taking a step back from him.
"I didn't say that," he snapped, glaring at her. "I'm just sick of the games."
She took a deep breath and nodded. "We should head to breakfast before I miss a third meal." He gestured for her to lead the way. When they were out of the common room, she told him about her morning. "I told the girls. You were right. They called off their plan."
"Good."
She paused once they had reached the Great Hall. "Are we going to talk about it?"
"Talk about what?" he asked, eyes searching hers with a dash of amusement.
She swallowed and shook her head before looking at the floor. "Never mind," she muttered, feeling foolish. "I'll see you in Transfiguration," she added and ducked into the Great Hall.
She put on a brave, happy face and surprised her roommates by sitting with them. They accepted her right away and launched into all of their usual gossip.
The morning went pretty much as it had on Wednesday. They spent an hour in Transfiguration listening to Dumbledore and practicing the skill. On their way out, she reconfirmed their tea date in his office the following day. They found themselves in Charms later that morning, going through the same motions. Only this time, Malfoy was more or less paying attention and didn't ditch her after class.
Instead of going to the library between classes, they went to the Room of Requirement so she could explain what she had been doing there the day before. Since he was the one that had found the door, she had hoped it would increase their chances at finding it, but when lunch came, they were still unsuccessful.
He ate lunch with her despite Kerus stopping by and asking if he was joining them. They took their usual spot at the end of the Slytherin table where they mostly sat in silence. The little conversation they did have came from her about their lessons to which he only made snarky comments.
Hermione was relieved when Potions was uneventful. This time, she and Malfoy worked well from start to finish. To ensure there wasn't a repeat performance in the supply closet, he went to collect the ingredients and even took over most of the work. She let him and found herself enjoying this side of him.
After Potions they took their bags back to the common room and, much like last time, were roped into a conversation with their fellow housemates. It carried on into dinner until finally they broke away to go to the library until curfew.
"I think we should work on your Occlumency," Malfoy said as they found their usual secluded spot. "Especially since you're to meet Riddle at the Astronomy tower tonight."
Hermione stilled with her hand on a book. She had nearly forgotten about that. "We need to get as much research as we can in before we speak to Dumbledore tomorrow," she argued.
"We'll have all morning to do that. Besides, we've looked at every book you can think of already. The only ones we haven't are the ones in there," he said, pointing towards the Restricted Section.
"I'm sure we'll get in there soon."
He smirked at her. "You're hoping Dumbledore will give you a pass, aren't you?"
"Why wouldn't he?"
He snorted. "Right. I forgot who I was talking to. Dumbledore will do anything you ask of him, I'm sure."
She stared at him with enough pity that he glared at her. "What?" he asked, clearly irritated.
She shook her head and tore her gaze away from him. "We should check out all the books that we can and after breakfast we can go outside. Some time outside the castle will do us both some good, I think. We'll get our notes and a list of questions for Dumbledore tomorrow."
"Will you tell me about Horcruxes?" he asked.
She tapped the spine of the book she had taken from the shelf and nodded. "Yes."
He nodded, but continued to stare at her.
"Out with it," she said without looking up from the book.
"Riddle and his friends are having some sort of get together tomorrow after dinner. It came up when Kerus asked if I was coming."
"What kind of get together?" she asked.
There was worry on his face as he shook his head. "They didn't say, but I doubt it will be about assignments and girls." His tongue snaked out to wet his lips and Hermione's eyes tracked the movement. It wasn't until his tongue disappeared that she realized she had forgotten to breathe. When her eyes jumped up to his she let out a tiny breath of relief that his had closed.
"Maybe you'll get lucky and it will be about assignments," she said, looking back down at her book.
She could feel a searing heat creeping up her neck and onto her cheeks as he peered at her through narrowed eyes. Her thoughts were already running rampant imagining them talking about girls. She wondered if she would be brought up. What would he say about her? What would-
She snapped the book closed and jumped to her feet. She pushed back with as much mental force as she could muster and glared at him. "You do not have permission to be in there, Malfoy!" she hissed.
"At least you noticed."
"Of course I noticed!"
He looked around and saw a couple of heads turned their way. "Calm down, Granger. You're making a scene."
She grabbed her book and marched over to the shelf she had plucked it from. She roughly shoved it back into place and moved to leave, but he was there to block her path. "Move, Malfoy."
"What bothers you more; the fact that I won't talk about it or that fact that it's all you've been thinking about all day?"
"Talk about what?" she challenged, echoing his words from that morning. "I simply can't recall anything worth thinking about all day that would involve you."
He gave her a thoughtful look and she jumped a little when his hand came up to play with the ends of her hair. He was staring at his fingers, watching as he continuously curled and uncurled a cluster of strands around his index finger. Slowly, his eyes traveled up until they locked with hers and she heard her breath hitch. He held her gaze for a moment and then pulled his hand away before shrugging his shoulders.
"I don't know what kind of game you think you're playing at, Malfoy, but I don't like it. You kissed me so that I had some reference material to stop teenage girls from making a big deal out of it," she said, pressing herself closer to him so she could lower her voice even more. "But this is still a fake relationship. We can work on being acquaintances, but we'll never be more than that."
He glared at her, but he didn't say a word.
"And stay out of my head unless you have permission to be there," she said as she pushed past him. She shouldered him, knocking him into the bookcase as she went.