Disclaimer: This disclaimer will now carry out through the rest of the story, because disclaimers are tedious and tiresome. We do not own any creation of JK Rowling. So there.

Chapter Three: Underestimated

After what felt like an eternity of brooding but was really only a few days, Draco Malfoy was sick of thinking. It seemed clear to him that he was getting nowhere and would just have to deal with whether or not he wanted to hate non-purebloods when the situation arose. After coming to this decision, he decided to take a walk around the halls. In a moment of silence, he checked that no one else was there before speaking a name clearly. "Dobby."

To Draco's surprise the house-elf appeared. As soon as Dobby saw Draco, he squeaked in surprise and a bit of terror, "Young Master Malfoy?!"

Draco was still slightly taken aback that it had actually worked. Unsure what to do now that Dobby was there but not wanting to show it, he demanded, "Dobby… bring me some hot chocolate."

Dobby still cowered but was nonetheless defiant. "I doesn't have to do that, sir. You is not my master now."

"But you work for Hogwarts, and I'm a Hogwarts student. Isn't that why you appeared?" Draco pointed out.

The house-elf sighed, looking guilty, and Draco took this as Dobby's way of accepting defeat. "Sir, you's doesn't like hot chocolate. What does you really want?"

There was a moment of stubborn hesitation before the Slytherin gave in. "I- just wanted to see you," he muttered.

"To see ME, sir? But why?" Dobby asked, looking shocked at this.

But before Draco could reply to this, there was a familiar shriek of indignation that stopped him. "MALFOY! What are you doing to that poor house-elf? Leave him alone!"

He turned around to see none other than Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, both glaring at him intensely. "I'm not doing anything to him, Granger," he said through his teeth, "which you would realize if you didn't just jump to conclusions."

"Right, because we all know you're just the most innocent person we know," Weasley replied sarcastically, reminding Draco why he hated the red-head so much.

He glared in return but looked down when Dobby murmured a feeble, "Sir?"

"Just- never mind," he told the House-elf, frustrated on many levels. He turned back to Weasley, who seemed to be waiting for a reply. "You don't know anything, Weasley, except for jealousy."

In an effort to focus on the original problem, Hermione burst out with, "Just because you're a pureblood snob, that doesn't give you the right to mistreat a house-elf like that!"

However, her boyfriend and Draco ignored her vitriol, their eyes focused on each other as Weasley replied, "Better than being a bloody Death Eater."

At the last two words, Draco stiffened. "Do you really think I would be here if-" He stopped mid-sentence, seeming to realize what he was saying. Instead he shook his head, looking angry. "You're both blind."

"It doesn't take sight to know you belong in Azkaban, Malfoy," Weasley retorted, his fists lying white and clenched at his sides.

Rather than continuing the exchange, Draco quickly turned around and walked off. He wasn't sure how much longer he would have been able to maintain his façade of indifference, and he wasn't about to let them see the guilt or pain in his eyes. His pride wouldn't allow him that. Especially since the only reason he was here in the first place was because of Potter - a fact that every part of him despised.

Lately it seemed as though all of Harry's time was spent in classrooms or the library. It was especially wearing as even though he had put a sizeable dent in the number of books relating to what he was looking for, he felt as though he had found nothing. Harry muttered under his breath, "Well, that didn't help any," tossing another book aside. He reached his hands up to his temples in an attempt to ward off the headache he could feel coming.

Harry wondered how much longer his two best friends would be. Ron and Hermione had been offered Head Boy and Girl when they had agreed to come back to school. All three of them had only agreed to come back when Professor McGonagall had assured them she wouldn't hinder them on their Horcrux search. And really, what better place to begin their search than the huge Hogwarts library? It contained many books with the information that had helped Voldemort become what he was, so there was a very good possibility that they could find something to help destroy what he was too.

Their new duties kept them busy, but Harry wasn't annoyed or irritated at all. Harry had known how much Hermione had wanted this position, and when they tried to argue with him, he had made the excuse that it would be too suspicious if they didn't take the positions. He knew they wanted to help him and would come as soon as they could, but this was his responsibility anyway. And Harry didn't want them to put their budding romance on hold just for him... just because he had put his own on hold. It was his duty, not theirs.

After almost another hour, Hermione rushed into the library, her bushy hair frizzing wildly behind her. "Harry! I'm so sorry; that took longer than we expected! Did you make any progress?"

Ron was strolling behind her and came up to the table at a slower pace. "Don't mind her… she's been wound up all evening."

Harry looked up from the books he had been focused on to see his two best friends. "No real progress," he said in a tired tone of voice. "What is she wound up about?"

"Malfoy… he was pestering a house-elf," Ron said. He went to share the look he always shared with Harry at times like these, a look of loving exasperation… but to his surprise Harry seemed extremely distracted.

Hermione was about to retort angrily when Harry interrupted with, "Hermione! Can't you focus a little here? You can worry about the house-elves later."

Hermione met eyes with Ron, silently communicating to each other that Harry seemed to be unusually irritated… even for researching. "I am focused, Harry," she said gently.

"What's the matter?" Ron asked with concern.

Harry moodily flipped the pages for a moment. "Nothing. I'm just tired."

The two of them pulled out chairs and sat down, both taking out what they needed. "So what are we studying tonight?" Ron asked, loyally resigning himself to doing whatever was necessary to help his best friend.

"Still the Founders and how we can destroy Horcruxes," Harry said half-heartedly. He knew the research was critical, but he'd been at it for so many hours; he wasn't sure his brain had the energy to make the necessary connections even if he were to find something.

"Any luck with R.A.B.?" Hermione asked.

Harry stiffened a little before catching himself and forcing himself to remain casual. He wasn't ready to tell them about Pansy, knowing that they would probably overreact with suspicion and dismay that he had trusted a Slytherin. "Not yet… I still need to know how to destroy a Horcrux when we find one… preferably so I don't lose any limbs like Dumbledore. The diary was pure luck."

"But, Harry, if Dumbledore didn't know how to do it without losing limbs…" Ron looked rather ill at the thought of something like that happening to his best friend before an odd thought occurred to him. "Wait, was it his wand hand that was cursed?"

"I destroyed Tom Riddle's diary without losing limbs," Harry pointed out in exasperation before Ron's question registered. "Yeah… yeah, it was. Why?"

"I was going to say, if it was his wand hand that was cursed… maybe all we would need is someone who can do wandless magic," Ron explained, looking excited.

Harry simply stared. "But, Ron, no wizards can do wandless magic."

"But, Harry, what about house-elves?" Hermione interrupted.

Ron hadn't been expecting this and rolled his eyes. "Oh, Merlin…"

Hermione sent a short glare at him before continuing. "No, really. House-elves don't use wands at all!"

Harry considered this, a feeling of success dawning on him. "Yet they have strong instinctive magic. Ron, you may have just solved it!"

Far from looking happy at this (probably because he didn't want to bring house-elves anywhere), Ron changed tactics. "But what about that boat thing?! You said it only carried one person at a time!"

"Only one person Voldemort considers an equal," Harry reminded him.

"Honestly, Ronald. Do most wizards consider house-elves equal?" Hermione asked, rolling her eyes.

Ron had the grace to look a little sheepish. "Well, still… I mean, a house-elf?"

"No, Ron, it's perfect. You're doing exactly what most wizards have done and still do in overlooking other sources!" Harry said.

"But I wasn't talking about house-elves!" Ron sighed. "I just meant with wands, the magic connects the person and the object until the spell is finished, so that's how Dumbledore could have been cursed."

Hermione gazed at him affectionately. "Ron, you do have a tendency of making the most brilliant observations without realizing it."

Ron was slightly miffed by the comment but flushed all the same. "I guess that's supposed to be a compliment?"

"Of course, mate," Harry laughed, slapping Ron on the back. "Now that we've come up with a possible solution to that problem though… we need to find the Horcruxes."

"Well, I think we should try tomorrow when we all will be rested. I mean, right now if there was a book that specifically said, 'Here are Voldemort's Horcruxes, you great big prat,' I would skip over it because my eyes can't focus," Ron said, laying his head on his book bag.

Harry sighed. "I've been at it for hours, and you just got here. But you're right; it's late…" I just hope you guys aren't still busy tomorrow, he thought to himself.

"Come on, mate; we've made tons of progress! We know how we might be able to destroy them!" Ron reasoned.

Hermione, who had been busy ticking off the things they had to do the next day, looked up. "Although we still have to do more research to solidify that as an option…"

She went on, but both boys were far too tired to listen. Harry happened to glance at Ron. There must have been some form of pleading in his eyes, because when Ron caught his look, he grinned.

"Hermione, please don't take this the wrong way, but you're going to make me pass out. We all need to sleep." Ron chuckled.

Hermione scowled at Ron and then noticed Harry's look of exhaustion. She sighed and relented. "Alright, alright. I expect to see both of you here tomorrow morning, bright and early!" she said, wagging a finger at each of them.

"Like you wouldn't wake us up if we weren't anyway," Ron noted with a smile on his face.

"True," Hermione conceded, and her hair seemed to calm down as if she were a cat relaxing from bristling its back.

Ginny Weasley was in a fairly good mood when it finally came to Saturday. She had managed to finish all her homework early and was ready to simply relax. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were in the library working; she wasn't sure on what, but they did have N.E.W.T.s this year. So when it finally came to lunch that afternoon, she was left sitting by Neville… but she didn't really mind.

"Hey Neville," she greeted him as she sat down next to him.

He smiled, looking happy to have some company. "Hello Ginny."

She saw that he had been reading a Herbology book while eating and smiled. It seemed like everyone was glued to books lately. "Do you like that book?" she asked, filling up her plate.

He nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah, it has tons of information on the rarer plants of the world, and it also points out a lot of-" he stopped, looking embarrassed for a moment, before finishing off with a dull, "Yeah, it's good."

"It's okay, Neville, you won't bore me that easily." She grinned, and he flushed. "So how's your seventh year so far?"

He shrugged, looking a little unsure. "Well, it's only the first week. I've liked the Herbology lessons though."

"That's good. Do you like Professor Weasley?" Ginny asked with a smile

Fleur, now her sister-in-law, had taken the Defense Against the Dark Arts position. Professor McGonagall had been hesitant to ask Fleur about it, but all of them (except perhaps Harry) had been surprised when she had responded so eagerly. Fleur was most likely spending time with Bill today, who was usually busy with the Order.

"She's okay, I guess." Neville flushed, and Ginny gave a small laugh. It wasn't surprising that suddenly a large percent of the male Hogwarts population were interested in Defense Against the Dark Arts. "Where are Harry, Ron, and Hermione?"

Of course he would ask like they would only be somewhere together… "Oh, off researching something," she answered lightly.

"They do that a lot now." Neville noted.

Ginny nodded in agreement. "Well, I know at least Harry and Ron hope to become Aurors."

"That's a difficult career path," Neville commented.

But as the conversation continued, Ginny's mind wandered off. Yes, becoming an Auror was a career choice that involved a lot of work, but somehow she suspected that wasn't what they were focusing on so often in the library. She would be willing to devote hours to reading books if she thought it would help him, no matter what the subject. Maybe she'd just have to show him that.