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Hermione returned the next day and after an uncomfortable night of sleeping upright with his head drooping, Draco agreed to take her stupid pill, just as long as he could relieve himself.
Releasing the spell on him, he fell hard to the floor. Suppressing a groan, Malfoy pushed himself up and to his feet. Immediately, he was faced with a glass of water as he straightened.
Hermione gazed at him from behind it. "Drink this and you can wander wherever in between training sessions."
Malfoy merely glared and snatched the glass from her drinking it all down in one go. He made a face at the glass when he was finished.
"Ugh," he exclaimed.
"Betrayal is just as bitter," Hermione quipped, amused. "Go, before you piss your knickers." She turned her back.
Thoroughly dismissed, and none too happy about it, Draco headed out the door and down the hall to the lavatory. When he got out he considered checking out his surroundings but didn't have a wand and decided against it and headed back to Granger.
He turned to her as he closed the door. She tossed him something that turned out to be a wand.
"As long as you're in here, you can use magic against Order members for practice purposes," said Hermione. "Outside of this room, only healing spells are allowed towards Order members. You may keep your wand for defensive purposes at all times, but if you try to leave this place, you forfeit our protection. You may be successful in killing Nott on your own, but I doubt you'll live long afterward and the Order can assure you backup. So if you want to go get yourself killed, go right ahead."
Raising her wand and getting into dueling position, Hermione cocked an eyebrow at him. "Now, shall we?"
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They practiced for only an hour, considering Draco's less than optimal condition and his stomach kept growling and making Granger laugh. Plus he was getting frustrated at how good she was and infuriated when he noticed she lightened up considerably once getting the measure of his weakened abilities. He did not want nor need her pity.
"The kitchen is to your left down the hallway. Or if you prefer to eat in your room, pull the robe cord next to your bed and Dobby will bring you something." She walked to the door while she talked. As she opened the door she looked back, and was momentarily startled to find Draco right behind her, but recovered quickly. He lifted his brows at her for pausing in the doorway.
"I suggest you steer clear of Ron. Although he's been warned not to, he can still hex you while you cannot."
Draco's gaze narrowed.
This made Hermione smile.
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They continued training everyday, a little longer each time. Hermione found he grasped the spells quite fast, and since he had regular meals now, the power of his spells grew rapidly. She placed a charm on his wand to control the power of his spells while he practiced with her, but when they took to the Destroy Room, she watched him destroy the little stone gargoyles with accuracy rivaling her own.
Their verbal interaction consisted of her instruction and execution and his many gripes about being an upstart, mainly spoken in mumblish.
She had him do endurance training as well, where she conjured a treadmill. He had done everything she'd said without protest up till then. But this…
"What in Merlin's name…" he mumbled.
"Get on," she said gesturing to the machine.
"What is it?" he asked, frowning.
"A Treadmill. It's a walking machine," she supplied.
His brows rose.
"Let's see you try first," he said, very skeptical.
Rolling her eyes, Hermione actually stepped on and he heard beeps as she pressed on the panel in front of her. He noticed a whirring sound and saw her slowly start moving backwards without lifting her feet, before she began walking at a steady pace.
As it was summer, she wore Muggle cut-offs and a regular dark purple tee and running shoes. Malfoy watched her long legs as she stepped up the pace by pressing another button on the panel and started jogging. He met her gaze as she turned to look at him. Pressing another button, she slowed and jumped off the machine in a smooth practiced move. She looked up at him, hands on hips to judge his reaction.
He gave her an incredulous look.
"You've got to be joking."
Hermione huffed and rolled her eyes heavenward.
"Just try it. Stop being a baby."
Malfoy took offence. "I'm not being a baby." He gestured to the tread mill. "That looks like a liability waiting to happen."
"It's less dangerous than a wand," she argued.
"Yes and we go through years of school to learn how to use our wands so that measure is no comfort."
Hermione folded her arms. "Oh, is that what you want? Comfort, Malfoy? Tell me again you're not being a baby."
He scowled at her.
"I'm not using that thing."
"Fine," Hermione threw her hands up at him. "Then I'm going to use it now, so if you'll excuse me," she got back on and conjured a box and some earplugs, setting the box on the tray in front of the panel, and starting up the…machine once again up to high. Watching her running with her ears plugged, Malfoy wandered away. He headed down to the Destroy Room and stayed practicing for a while.
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Later that night, Hermione stepped into the observation room. Ron looked up at her sleepily. Sitting up he stretched and yawned widely.
"Hey, Hermione."
"Hey. Anything interesting?"
Ron shook his head.
"You look beat. I left some sandwiches on the kitchen table for you. I can take over for the night," Hermione said sitting down.
"Still can't sleep?" Ron asked.
"Not tired," she answered.
Ever since her magical ability had increased in power, she often didn't get tired or need to sleep as much.
"Alright then." Ron slowly eased himself out of the chair he'd been dozing in and headed out. "Goodnight."
" 'Night Ron."
Settling back, Hermione stared through the glass that connected to Malfoy's room. He was lying back on his bed staring up at the ceiling, wide-awake. Her and the boys decided surveillance was necessary for the time being, till they were sure Malfoy wasn't suicidal. Besides finding it morally wrong for someone to do such a thing, it would not help the morale of the Order so close to the battle.
After a while, Malfoy finally moved and got off the bed. Hermione looked mildly alarmed as he played with his wand, causing bubbles to rise out of it. He soon grew bored of this and looked antsy as he paced the length of the room. Hermione was disturbed as his gaze fell on the mirror as he suddenly seemed interested in his appearance. He pulled on the unhealthy circles under his eyes and tugged on his hair. He even smelt his under arms, much to Hermione's dismay. She watched him shake his head then, muttering to himself and pulled his door open to leave.
Where are you going?
Hermione stood and carefully peeked out her door. She watched Malfoy turn the corner and slipped out to follow him. Peeking around the corner, she saw him go into the magically sealed room. Frowning, Hermione followed. What she saw, however, made her smile.
Draco Malfoy stood on the conveyor belt of the treadmill, staring down at the button on the control panel. He pressed one and the machine started up quickly at a high speed. Malfoy started sliding backwards and tripped off the end, falling on his face.
Hermione clapped her hands over her mouth to hold her sudden laughter at bay. He was so out of his element, it was hard to take him seriously much less be mad at him, lately.
He apparently wished to kill Nott very badly if he was willing to try a Muggle machine to get in shape for it.
He'd called her horrible names, told lies about her to the press, wished her dead more than once, hurt her physically and emotionally, but that was when he had everything and knew no better than what his parents taught him. Plus she had repressed those memories so she could move on and control her emotions better. So what if some little boy called her names and tried to break her. He didn't succeed and now karma was taking care of it. He had nothing, no one, nowhere to go. He lost everything and now was in a strange environment. She had bigger and more important vendettas to deal with.
His goal was aligned with hers and right now he desperately needed help. Fighting seemed stupid and after all this was over they could simply go their separate ways, no regrets on either of their parts. Well, assuming Malfoy ever regretted anything he did to her.
Pushing the door wide, she asked, "Need some help?"
Startled, Malfoy spun awkwardly and tripped over the corner of the machine, falling face-down.
Hermione instinctively hurried forward to help him up.
Gripping his arm to help him up she asked, "Are you okay?"
He stood and yanked his arm from her grasp, not looking at her.
"Fine," he muttered.
Hermione looked at him bemused. "I can show you which buttons to push, if you want."
He glared at her sideways but didn't say anything. He got like this when he didn't want to ask for something he needed.
She brushed past him and turned the machine off.
"Step on up and I'll put it on the lowest setting. I promise," she added cheekily.
Draco had been watching her actions and continued to give her the stone-face look as he slowly stepped onto the now still conveyor belt. He wore Muggle clothes as usual nowadays. He'd bought a set with the money he had on him when he ran away, to try and blend in. Amazingly, they didn't look bad on him. He'd even found sneakers that served for basketball and running.
Hermione made to push the on button, but Draco grabbed her arm to stall her. She looked at him for explanation.
"Wait. How do you turn it off?" he asked.
"This button," she pointed to it. Then she turned it on. "Now, these buttons increased the speed. You can hold on to here," she gestured to the arm handles and was amused to see him give them a death grip. She pushed the speed button. "Now 1 to 2 is walking speed. About 3 or higher is full running speed. I suggest 2.5 for your warm-up run. You can increase the speed by .1 with this button. I don't suggest going higher than 3.5 if you are not in condition and even then, someone should be here to turn it off for you." She turned it up to 1.5. Malfoy started walking. "See, not so bad. Now, I think a five minute run on 2.3 will do for warm-up. Afterward, I can show you proper stretching techniques."
"No thanks," Malfoy mumbled.
"Okay," Hermione shrugged. "But if you plan on doing this everyday, stretching makes sure you aren't too sore the next day to continue. Plus if you don't stretch proper, you could very well pull a muscle or twist your ankle and then you're up shit creek. It won't take very long."
Malfoy just stared ahead walking.
Rolling her eyes, Hermione said, "How bout I leave you to do your warm-up and I'll come back in five and show you real quick. It won't take long."
She headed out the door before he could respond. Rolling his eyes he looked down at the panel and tried increasing the speed to where he could run.
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Five minutes later, Hermione re-entered, water bottle and towel in hand. Malfoy carefully glanced over at her as she stopped next to him. Setting the towel down, she pushed the off button. As his stride slowed rapidly, Hermione handed him the bottle.
"Here. You need to stay hydrated or you'll make yourself sick."
Malfoy took the bottle and drank, while watching her. Then he took the towel and wiped the back of his neck.
"Why are you helping me?" he asked.
Hermione looked bemused. "I'm in charge of your training."
"So you don't sleep?" he cocked an eyebrow at her.
She shook her head. "I'm not tired. Okay, now step down here." She conjured two blue mats for them to stand on. "Now stretching is very important. You don't want to rush it and you want to be thorough or you'll be able to feel for sure the muscle you forgot to stretch the next day. You stretch right after a warm-up and after you're done working out. It's recommended you do all standing stretches first before you sit down and do those stretches." She proceeded to show him all the standing stretches. When she bent over to touch her feet, Draco glanced at her and gave her a look of horror.
"Granger, I can't do that."
Hermione looked over at him through drape of her hair. "Do what?"
"That?" He pointed.
She looked down at her hands flat on the ground in front of her, her legs straight.
"Oh, well you're not expected to. Just reach down as far as you can until you feel the stretch but not so much that it's painful. The more you do it, the farther you'll be able to reach after a while."
Malfoy did. He could only reach mid-shin.
They moved to the sitting stretches. He found the butterfly stretch very uncomfortable. Granger seemed to be able to bring her feet all the way in, lay her knees on the ground and lay her face in between. Malfoy could only watch in fascination and disgust. He didn't see how that'd ever become a comfortable position for him.
The last stretch was odd, called the 'glute' stretch, in that he had to peek around his own body to see what she was doing and was greeted the sight of her jean-clad butt. Being male, he thought it a very nice behind but huffed at such a thought and quickly looked away.
After that they stood and Granger told him to go for a moderately faster paced ten-minute run.
"Then repeat the stretches I just showed you. Oh, and try to slow the pace of your run for the last minute. Don't forget to drink all your water. I'll just be in the destroy room if you have any questions."
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Draco continued running at night and training with Hermione by day. In one week, he'd improved considerably. Even his mood improved and once again he could be seen sporting his cocky little smirk as he performed spell after spell flawlessly. He was almost…pleasant, in a way.
That was…until Ron came to visit one of their training sessions.
"Hey," he greeted Hermione. "How's it going?"
"Good," she smiled. "Really good. He's quite improved."
Ron looked at her skeptically. "Really?" he snorted. He glanced at Draco. "After only two weeks?"
Hermione saw the glare Malfoy was giving Ron and stepped in their line of vision.
"Ron, we need to finish up here, so maybe you should…"
"If he's so good let me have a go at him," Ron interrupted her, still staring down Malfoy.
"Ron, I don't think…"
"No…Hermione," Malfoy drawled, drawing her name out on purpose. "I don't mind the practice."
Ron huffed at his familiarity.
They started circling each other, so Hermione sighed and moved out of the way.
She had barely made it a safe distance out of the way when Ron yelled, "Stupefy."
Malfoy shouted, "Protego," at the same time.
Ron shot off another spell right away, which Malfoy ducked and rolled away from, before jumping up, pointing his wand at Ron. A spell shot from his wand without any verbal, which Ron jumped away from.
Malfoy also had been practicing non-verbal spells and apparently it was not his first time.
"What's the matter, Ferret-Face? Afraid I'll copy your spells," Ron taunted as they went back to circling each other.
"You're awfully intense for a practice duel, Weasel. Jealous your girl is spending all her time with me? She certainly hasn't complained."
Ron shot another spell at him, which Malfoy dodged while sending a silent expelliarmus, which cost the angry Ron his wand. Draco accio'd it into his hand.
Ron stood huffing and glaring at Malfoy. Draco gave him a triumphant smirk.
"Ya know, Weasley," Draco said, "I really hope you aren't part of the front line."
Hermione stepped up to him and snatched Ron's wand out his hand. She turned and tossed it to Ron, who caught it, while still managing to keep up his glaring at Malfoy.
"Now are you two happy?" Hermione said looking at both of them. "You had your little testosterone fest. We all know how manly you both are. Ron, you can—Ron? Ron." Hermione tried to get his attention as he quickly strode up to Malfoy til he was in his face.
"Like I'd ever imagine her with you of all people," he spoke low, but Hermione heard him nonetheless.
She looked around and down at herself in disbelief. Hello, I'm right here. Do you see me?
"You're just an unwanted circumstance, Malfoy. The only way people'd be nice to you is because you're motherless."
Hermione stepped up to them.
"What no thank you? Next time I won't go so easy on your poor, hand-me-down ass."
"That's enough," Hermione spoke in a hard tone, looking between the two of them. "Ron, go. I need to finish up with Malfoy." Ron didn't move.
"You heard her," Malfoy said. "Go. Though maybe you should stay and I'll go since you're the one who needs the practice."
"Ron, come on," Hermione tugged on his arm. Then she yanked when he wouldn't move and succeeded. She pulled him outside and shut the door behind both of them.
Facing Ron, she said, "What is wrong with you?"
Ron gaped as if the problem was obvious. "He's Malfoy."
"How could mention his mother like that? Do you have any sense of decency? No matter what he's done in the past, there was no call for that." She scolded.
"Are you defending him?" Ron exclaimed.
"No. I'm pointing out what an immature ass you can be. Merlin, simply because he beat you at a practice duel. You know you can fight better than that; I know you can control your temper. Go cool down and grow some, Ron." And with that she turned and went back into the room, leaving Ron in the hall feeling properly chastised.
Inside the practice room, Hermione strode across the room to face Malfoy.
"Okay, let's try some more reflecting spells."
"Your boyfriend's an ass," Malfoy said.
"He's not my boyfriend. Ready?" she held out her wand. "Reducto."
Draco deflected it. "Really? Not surprised."
"Oh? Stupefy."
He jumped as it was aimed at his feet. "Yeah. He's definitely not up to the responsibility of a girlfriend."
"Missing Pansy, eh?" she shot a silent curse at him, which he returned and she deflected.
He snorted. "Hardly. She wouldn't even look at me last time I saw her."
"Aw, young love," Hermione cooed. "Everti statum."
Stone from the ceiling burst and Malfoy leaped forward to dodge the falling debris. From the floor he watched the rocks fade and the damaged ceiling appear repaired as if nothing happened.
"Accio wand."
Malfoy's head shot around to follow his wand's progress to Hermione's hand. She gave him a bemused smirk when he wouldn't say anything. He huffed and got to his feet.
"You could've warned me," he griped.
"Your dear old friends won't. And you learned your lesson didn't you?" she lifted her brows at him. His response was to exhale deeply through his nose while scowling at her. "Good." She tossed him his wand. "I think that's good enough for today. Same time tomorrow."
Malfoy watched her leave, noticing the satisfied sway of her hips. After she closed the door behind her, he mumbled under his breath about smart-ass Muggles.
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