OI, GRANGER!
HBP compatible to my liking
As usual, I don't own squat! Except the plot
FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE REALIZED THE TITLE CHANGE!
I changed it because I thought this would be cuter, and no one really got the other title. So please, enjoy. A slight change in the plot too. But that's for me to know, and you awesome readers to find out. This story is dramatic, but in a funny way! LOL!
About the chapter: a lot happens in this chapter. I wanted to split it in half, and leave it like that, but I want to get it all out and about! So, enjoy.
AND REVIEW!
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I WILL LOVE YOU ALL! And I hope you like the flyleaf lyric. I thought it fit the chapter.
Also: some Latin terms!
Chapter 3: Fire, Foes, and Friends
Sometimes I'm selfish fake
You're always a true friend
And I don't deserve you
'Cause I'm not there for you
Though I wish I would be.
—Flyleaf
"So…I don't have a lobster burn?" Hermione's legs were hanging over an Infirmary bed, swinging them carelessly as Madame Pomfrey investigated her back. It had only been two weeks into the school year, and she had come crying to the nurse in fear of an infection of some sort. Surely, she was cursed if her back pained her this much!
"No, no Miss Granger, it's something else…" the nurse said, tilting her head to the side, deep in thought. Her eyes raked up and down Hermione's burned skin, fidgeting. She couldn't figure out what had gotten on the poor girls back to make it so red…and according to her, so painful.
"Have you been under a lot of stress lately?" asked another voice. Hermione and Madame Pomfrey turned their heads to the entrance to see Malfoy leaning against the doorframe. Immediately Hermione wrapped her arms around her chest, she was only in a bra. Finding it difficult to cover everything, she pulled up her school blouse and covered herself. She could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks. Madame Pomfrey however, did not pause in shock.
"MISTER MALFOY! HOW DARE YOU COME IN HERE WHEN THERE'S A SIGN ON THE DOOR!" she gasped, seeing that Draco had the sign clenched in his hand. He glanced carelessly down at it, and tossed it onto the nearest bed.
"Honestly? I thought it was a joke!" he said, walking towards the two women. He eyed the bushy haired Gryffindor with an uninterested stare, and focused his attention mostly on the aging nurse. She took a step back when Draco came around the bed to her.
"My Gods!" the nurse gasped once again. He pointed at his nose. A large purple bruise was surrounding the area around it, she hadn't seen it from where he was standing, but now it was clearer than the day's sky. "What happened to you!" she asked wildly. Draco sneered at her.
"Does it matter? Just fix it!"
"But Mister Malfoy, when I see these types of injuries, I have to report them!" Draco turned his face up in a thoughtful way. He shrugged his shoulders.
"I guess you're right. Weasley did it, and I want to see just punishment." Hermione now turned to face him, struggling with the fact that Malfoy could see her red back.
"Why would Ron hit you? You're Head Boy! He's going to get in so much trouble!" Hermione said, mostly to herself. Draco had now turned his attention back to the nurse.
"Fix it and report it. I think it's broken, I couldn't snap it back in place, so I brought it to you…and Granger's suffering from a stress burn," he said all of this in one breath. Madame Pomfrey's eyes grew wide with realization.
"YES! That's it…it's a simple stress burn my dear…good eye Mister Malfoy! Five points to Slytherin!" she said happily. It was so rare that a student earned points from her, but even rarer that a student was able to pinpoint a medical problem before she did.
"Thank you, I would have smiled or something, if my nose wasn't broken!"
"Alright! Alright! Miss Granger, let me go get a solution for your burn, and Mister Malfoy, I need to get a numbing solution!" she said, turning around to walk towards her office. Hermione was now buttoning up her shirt, fully aware of Malfoy's eyes on her. She knew that when she turned around, he would have a giant smirk on his face. She didn't have to wait; he had come from behind her.
She was right.
He looked her up and down; taking in her shiny black shoes which had no heels like the other girls, but was flat and small, to her moderately lengthened, pleated school skirt. It fell just above her knees, very conservative. His eyes then moved to rest on her now buttoned school shirt and Gryffindor tie. He had seen her in a perfect white bra. He silently thought about her cup size as she snapped him back to reality.
"Malfoy! Are you even listening to me?" she asked, straightening her tie. He saw her glaring at him, and his smirk grew. He hadn't realized she was talking.
"Yeah, I'm listening Granger…"
"Why did he hit you?" Hermione asked. "I thought we were going to try and be nice to one another this year?" she said, her voice dripping with anger and frustration.
"We were! But your blasted boyfriend—"
"He's not my boyfriend!"
"—got in my face about Snape…calling me his pet—"
"Well…" she said, with a thoughtful smile. "You kind of are…"
"—and I had to deal with him. It's not my fault he keeps messing up in Potions…It's not my fault that I'm a genius in Potions either." Draco ignored her input.
"And that you're a complete brown-noser…" she added. Draco's eyes narrowed.
"You've got some nerve Granger, calling me a brown-noser. You're the one with the know-it-all trademark." Hermione's brows knitted together in disagreement as her face scrunched up. "See, there it is! That look!"
"I'm a know-it-all if you make me a know-it-all…" she said. Draco had glanced behind Hermione, seeing pass Pomfrey's slightly ajar door, looking through her shelves of potions. Draco had now placed his hand on both of Hermione's knees. She became stiff under his touch, and quickly slapped her thighs together. "Malfoy!" she hissed. His eyes twinkled innocently.
"I'm just being nice Granger, some friendly touching, eh?" Draco said persuasively. Hermione felt the rise of color enter her cheeks once again. Hermione felt his hand snake mischievously under her skirt. She inhaled a horrid gasp and smacked away his hand.
"Would you like another broken part on your body?" Hermione threatened. Draco withdrew his hands.
"Calm down Granger, calm down…just some harmless fun!" Hermione couldn't begin to understand how she had come to terms with the mudblood-hating, muggle killer, trio-destroyer Malfoy. Two weeks alone in a large Tower gave her ample time to get to know the once deemed blonde 'ferret', but he had matured after their last encounter; he had become human.
Madame Pomfrey came from out of her office, finally.
"Sorry! I've got them now!" she said, smile in place.
"Malfoy…" came a whisper. Draco was trying hard to pretend he was interested in what Snape was saying. The man simply had a voice to keel over and die to. From his large crooked nose, to his ghastly greasy hair, there was absolutely nothing attractive about this man. Draco had turned around to see Blaise Zabini's face upturned in a smile.
"I have a little wager for you, mate." Draco love playing for wagers with Zabini. Both were frantic over competitions, and almost played for anything. Miraculously, one would get hit with an idea, and almost definitely needed to present it after such epiphany.
Draco smirked, "and what is it this time?"
"Fifty galleons…for the first person to piss the hell out of Harry Potter in class," Blaise glanced over at a half sleeping Potter. Draco shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't know why…it's just Potter. It's not that hard to anger him or the Weasel. Why don't we humiliate Pansy, or something of the sort?" Blaise shook his head.
"Can't…me and Pansy are on a shag-a-thon, it's getting pretty serious."
"With each other?" Draco asked, disgusted. Blaise nodded. "Gods, you guys have nothing better to do!"
"We're doing each other, so obviously there's something!" Blaise snickered, biting his lower lip to keep back a real laugh as Snape shot daggers at Potter, who was now out cold.
"MR. POTTER!"
Draco watched as Potter's head snapped up from its position on the desk. He looked around the room and paled, seeing Snape's angry eyes fall on him.
"Twenty points from Gryffindor for sleeping in class…now tell me, how many times do you stir a Wolfsbane solution?" Potter gave him a dumbfounded look, and turned to see that Hermione was absent from beside him. She was usually shaking with the answer, but she was at the infirmary now.
"Err…three times sir?" Potter was obviously pulling from his arse. Draco coughed loudly, in place of what would have been a laugh.
"Never be bitten by a werewolf Potter, you'd never know what to do, insolent boy!" Draco smiled and raised his hand. "Mr. Malfoy."
"Sir, you should stir the potion exactly fifteen times, anything more or less could ultimately cause a deadly explosion…hopefully Potter was paying attention," Draco added in the last part in spite of himself. He glanced over at a gloomy Potter. His wild forest green eyes were boring hatefully into Draco's.
"Good job Mr. Malfoy, and yes, I agree completely about Potter," Snape spat, glaring at Potter. "Twenty points to Slytherin." Snape had turned his attention back on the cauldron in front of the class. Draco still felt Harry's eyes on him, and turned to see the same glare on his face.
"Cheer up Potter! Stop getting off on looking at me," Draco said with a smirk. Potter hid an angry blush, and Ron scowled.
"You're going to get what's coming to you prick, leave Harry alone!"
"Oh, your lover's speaking up for you now, eh Potter?" Draco muttered. Snape had now turned around again.
"You're the one that's queer Malfoy!" Harry hissed. Draco smirked.
"I want a fifteen foot long explanation on Wolfsbane. I want to know when and where it was created. Don't make the mistake Potter did today." The bell rang, and the students, with a groanabout Snape's assignment, Draco grabbed his bag and parch pad. He didn't wait for Blaise, but wanted to get to lunch immediately to start on his homework. He felt a hand clap down on his shoulder, and he spun around to see Weasley's red face.
"Get off me, Weasel!" Draco shouted.
"Just because you've been nice to Hermione doesn't mean we have to put up with your bollocks Malfoy!" Ron growled. He pushed Draco back, making him drop his parch pad and quill. Draco scowled at the red-haired monster.
"Get off me WEASEL! Don't touch me! I don't need you ruining my robes with your dirty hands…and let Potter pick his own fights!" Draco growled back. Harry was leaning up against the wall behind Ron, obviously frustrated.
"I'm not going to let you upset my friend, or humiliate him in class!" Draco hated Weasley. He wasn't ever going to change for him, even if Voldemort was well in his grave, and there was no Death Eaters plaguing the Wizarding World. He wasn't about to shake Weasley's hand, or Potters for that matter. "You're a piece of shit, Weasley, and I don't appreciate shit getting on my things, so please remove your hands!" Before Draco could push Ron off of him, Ron had punched Draco squarely in the face. A loud crack emitted from Draco's nose. Immediately, blood began to pour onto his robes.
"How's that for dirt, eh Malfoy?" Ron asked. Harry had pushed pass Ron to help Draco, who had backed into the opposite wall, holding his nose. Harry had waved his hand over Draco, cleaning the blood and stopping its wild flow.
"RON! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR!" Harry bellowed, watching as Draco tried to snap his nose back in place.
"I gave him what he deserved!" Ron shouted. Suddenly, Harry was pushed away and Draco pointed his wand in the middle of Ron's face.
"Bloody monster…I'm tired of saving your arse…I should have left you in that forest to bleed to death Weasley!" Draco felt his hand shake as he tried to steady himself. With one last intake of breath, he sent the spell that was clogging his mind since the red-haired monster punched him.
"INCENDIO!" fire lit to Ron's robes. He began screaming as the fire nipped at his skin. Harry went to him, pulling off the burning robe. Draco began to walk away from the scene. He almost wanted to obliterate their memories of having punched him. He glanced back at Harry nursing Ron's burns. Draco accio'd his patch pad and quill without worrying about looking back again. As his stuff found his way, he tenderly touched his nose. He couldn't snap it back, and he could feel the pulse in his nose, he wanted to get rid of the bruise he knew would be coming. He made his way to Madam Pomfrey. He surely won this wager.
"YOU BASTARD!" Hermione screeched. He was in the small library on the second floor of The Tower and just closing in on 15 feet of Snape's homework when Hermione came bursting in to the room. He calmly placed his quill back in its ink bottle, and smiled up at Hermione.
"Well that's not nice, Granger!" Draco said, feigning a hurt expression. Hermione pulled out her wand.
"INCENDIO!" she cried. The flames caught on Draco's homework. Draco jumped from out of his seat.
"YOU BITCH!" He cried. "THAT WAS MY HOMEWORK!"
"I don't care!" she was now advancing on him, her wand still pointed at him.
"What do you mean you don't care?" He hissed, putting out the fire with water from his wand.
"You gave Ron THIRD DEGREE BURNS! He was so badly burned on his arms; Madam Pomfrey said there would surely be scars despite magical treatment, so YES Malfoy! I DON'T GIVE A FLYING FUCK!" she swore. This made Draco raise a brow. She never said such colorful words like that. She kept coming towards him, her wand pointed disturbingly at his heart. "I want you to apologize to him!" Draco's eyes narrowed.
"The Weasel deserved it," he said coldly. "I should have killed him; his existence in the world helps no one…"
"You freak! You're a freak!" she hissed. "You don't think of anything, just how much you can hurt someone!"
She dropped her wand. Her face was turned in the other direction because Draco had slapped her clean across the face.
"I'm not a freak Granger. Never make the mistake of saying that ever again." He gathered his stuff, and the remains of his essay, and exited out of the library. Hermione quickly picked up her wand, knowing better than to have let Malfoy get the best of her. She followed him up the crooked staircase.
"MALFOY!" she shouted after him. He was a good ten steps ahead of her, and she didn't feel like falling backwards if they were to have a row.
"I'm not in the mood Granger!"
"You just can't slap me around, you half-wit!" Draco turned around suddenly, dropped his stuff and moved towards her quickly. He lifted her by the upper arms and slammed her against the wall of the staircase.
"I'll do what I bloody well feel like Granger, and me hitting you is quite appropriate," he growled. Hermione's light brown eyes were now stormy with anger.
"Taking a leaf out of your Father's book, eh?" she snapped. Her voice was so cold, it made Draco shiver. But he was too busy hating the little witch to actually care about the reaction she was giving him.
"You would know all about that wouldn't you Granger? Seeing that I no longer have—" Draco had stopped himself. She didn't remember she killed his father. She had her memory erased of the event, having been too distraught over destroying his family. He didn't hate her for it. Maybe at the moment he did, but now, he wasn't quite sure.That night he had to think only of her. Dumbledore had made him make and Unbreakable Vow with him. He had to promise to protect Hermione that night from any harm. He needed her for the unity of the wizarding world. Something Draco didn't quiteunderstand yet himself. Dumbledore was vague, but he promised more information when the time was right."Just forget it…" he whispered, letting go of her. When he looked away, Hermione took it as her chance to punch Draco across the face. He fell backwards against the banister, nearly falling over. His knuckles turned white as he gripped the banister, staring fearfully at Hermione. "ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?" he bellowed. Hermione stood dumbfound, realizing that Draco could have fallen to his untimely death.
"I just…I just…I'm sorry!" she cried, throwing her arms around his shaking body. "I'm sorry Malfoy…" she buried her head into his shoulder, and he gently brushed her auburn curls with his fingers. He used to hate this girl with all his soul, and he wanted to kill her, kill her in the name of his Father's belief. She would never know, that having killed his father, she released something else in him, something along the lines of freedom. He appreciated her. He...liked her a lot--that's all he would admit to, of course...he was still a Malfoy.
"Yeah, it's okay," he whispered, "Just don't do it again." Hermione smiled against his shoulder.
"So, we're friends?" she asked. Draco gave her a crook of his brow and a curious smirk.
"I thought we were just being nice to each other…but…friends would be nice too."