Im here!! XD This chapter took me a while to actually write. Sorry for the delay! Please enjoy this chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not make any claims on anything but the idea for this story... and a couple of my OC characters that will eventually be brought in to this story.
Warnings: There will be HPDM slash. As in BoyxBoy love. Don't like it, don't read it. Also, I will be adding a couple (one in the least) OC characters to this story, But rest assured, none will be Mary Sues or Gary Sues, okay? Oh, and some things in the later chapters could be taken as incest (Not between close relatives!!! Ewww! More like cousins). It's not really incest, but some people might take it as incest.
Potter had been unable to say anything, and Draco had grown tired of waiting. With a shaky huff, the blond had flounced down the corridor, trying to get as far away from his Gryffindor rival as possible.
Until he realised he was alone again, and Regulus was probably waiting for him in Slytherin.
Draco shuddered at the thought of seeing his cousin again. He came to a full stop, and, after taking several calming breaths, thought about what he was going to do.
He couldn't go back the way he came, for it would be horribly embarrassing to run in to Potter again. It would probably lead to Potter asking him all sorts of unnecessary and annoying questions that the blond truly had no time for. Although, the embarrassment was probably better than the alternative that was waiting for him in Slytherin.
Draco stayed still for a moment, quietly weighing the pros and cons of each path.
Regulus.
What was he planning? What horrible fate awaited Draco if he were to return to his dorm?
Well, Draco wasn't in Slytherin for nothing. His sense of self-preservation kicked in, and he turned and fled back in Potter's direction, hoping the other boy had already gone to bed.
Draco spent the night wandering around the dungeons, dodging Filch and patrolling teachers.
It was fine. Draco was fine. He could handle this.
He was used to insomnia by now.
It was the self-hate a guilt that came to him like tidal waves of pain that he couldn't bear.
*
Harry glanced at the Great Hall's giant oak doors for the twenty-fourth time. Hermione knew this, because she had been counting, slyly observing her friends increasingly perturbing actions. She could only wonder who he was watching for. Slowly time passed by, and Harry only seemed to get more and more agitated.
Hermione let her focus shift from Harry to Ron, who was munching away (Still? Honestly...) on...whatever he could fit into his mouth, oblivious to the oppressive silence at the Gryffindor table.
Hermione glanced again at Harry. Make that the twenty-fifth time. What was Harry waiting for?
Hermione glanced around the Hall, mentally scratching off every person who could be missing breakfast. She made her way through the Hufflepuffs, and then the Ravenclaws, then squinted her eyes to try and see who could be missing at the Slytherin table.
Hermione almost gasped.
In the seat Draco Malfoy had claimed rightful ownership to since his first year, sat the new transfer student, Regulus Black. Laughing at some joke Parkinson had made, and taking small sips of what appeared to be pumpkin juice.
It was, for some twisted reason, a very alarming turn of events. Naturally, if Malfoy had been here, he would have hexed the new Slytherin to oblivion and back, and yet...there was Regulus, safe and sound, and appearing to be having a grand time.
Ron, who had noticed (finally) Hermione's sudden interest in the Slytherin table, snorted when he saw the new student.
"Ugh, can you believe we actually fell for that good guy act? He's a bloody snake, that's what he is," Ron spat nastily, "A liar, just like the rest of 'em."
Hermione looked back at her friend and reprimanded him, "We don't know that! For all we know, he really is a good guy. We should give him the benefit of the doubt. Besides..."
Harry, finally taking a slight notice of the conversation, said in an offhanded and distracted manner, "His name, that's the weird thing about him. We don't even know if he has any real relations other than claiming to be Malfoy's cousin. Because if he is..."
"Then who are his parents," Hermione finished for him.
The Slytherin dubbed "Golden Trio" fell into a thoughtful silence.
*
Draco felt like hell, he had spent the night wandering, and not even a Pepper-up Potion had really helped him.
He stifled a giant yawn as he listened to Madam Pomfrey prattle on about the safety precautions that came with using Velox Vigoratus, an easy and utterly boring spell.
"Velox Vigoratus is commonly used by Healers when quick and easy is necessary. It is a simple spell that offers the injured victim a temporary relief from the wound. It can be used in many situations like evacuation or..."
Draco yawned again.
*
Hermione had chosen to sit behind Malfoy to keep an eye on him. She was curious as to why he had been absent from the Great Hall during breakfast, and now she was even more curious as to why the blond was so obviously exhausted.
Malfoy kept yawning widely and stretching out every now and then.
Hermione was also suspicious as to why Harry had been so perturbed this morning over the disappearance of his rival. The smart Witch was never one to ignore a puzzle, and this was truly a difficult one to decipher.
"Now, I would like you all to pair up into groups of two and work on practising Velox Vigoratus. Please exercise caution for this spell has been known, when the healer applies too much power accidentally, to cause fainting and nausea. Begin."
Hermione gathered her parchment and quill, and, as quickly as she could, seated herself beside Malfoy, claiming him as her partner. Malfoy was giving her a, albeit exhausted, confused look.
"Are you mad?" he asked her, quite frank and to the point.
"No," Hermione responded, "but, as you are one of the top students, my marks will be much higher if I were to be partnered with you."
She still couldn't look him in the eye. Malfoy was looking at her incredulously.
Hermione coughed, trying to dispel the awkwardness, and pulled out her parchment and inkwell. She dipped the tip of her quill in the black ink, and levelled an expectant look at her partner.
"Well?" she asked, "Are you going to begin?"
Malfoy, still eyeing the girl suspiciously, began practising the spell, making a small circular motion with his wand around a cut on a grotesque piece of old pig flesh.
"Velox Vigoratus" he intoned clearly on the third, and final, circular motion.
*
Despite the fact that he tried very hard to concentrate on his spell, Draco could not, for the life of him, get it right.
He twirled his wand over the wounded meat, drawing neat circles. When he spoke the spell, a bright shimmer of blue burst out from his wand with a surprising amount of force, Granger, Draco noted absently, had to cover her eyes to protect herself.
Madame Pomfrey was rushing over to the two with a worried look on her face.
"Are you two quite alright?" she asked, face a bit red with worry, "Mister Malfoy, would you like to rest for a bit? That must have taken quite a lot out of you."
Draco shook his head, he could get this. He just needed to try again; he knew he could do this.
"I'm fine," he said, trying to sound condescending, but coming off just flustered, "I am quite capable of performing a simple spell."
Pomfrey nodded in consent, although she seemed a bit worried. She moved away to examine the work of the other partners.
Granger chose that moment to barge in, ruining his concentration.
"Maybe I should try," she said, sounding even more condescending than Draco himself, "You could take notes and have a break from-"
"I'm fine, Granger," he said, gritting his teeth in forced politeness, "I can handle one tiny spell."
Granger looked at him a bit unbelievingly.
The blond drew the three circles with his wand again.
*
By Malfoy's fifth attempt, Hermione was sure that her eyelashes were going to be singed off by the blast of blue light coming from the too-powerful spell. She had enough of it. Plus, she reckoned, Malfoy looked like he was about to collapse from overexertion.
"That's it," she said, her voice demanding no arguments, "It's my turn. You look like you're about to fall over."
Malfoy didn't even protest, he was so exhausted; he sat down, almost collapsing in the chair, and grabbed the quill, ready to jot down any notes. Hermione turned to her piece of scarred flesh, wrinkling her nose at the magically-induced bleeding. She drew, as Malfoy had, three neat circles with her wand, and carefully intoned:
"Velox Vigoratus"
However, unlike Malfoy, her wand barely made a spark. The meat was still bleeding profusely.
Malfoy giggled a bit maniacally from his seat. Hermione just huffed and tried again.
*
By the end of their first Advanced Healing lesson, neither Draco nor Hermione had managed to do the spell correctly. Draco's had been too strong, Hermione's had lacked power, and neither had been able to get it.
Of course, imagine their embarrassment when they soon learnt that the rest of their classmates had managed, not only to do the spell, but to write out several detailed notes on Velox Vigoratus. Both were quite ashamed, and perhaps a tad resentful.
Honestly, they both held the top notes of their year, yet they couldn't even accomplish one spell.
Both left the classroom comparing notes, trying to figure out what had gone wrong. For the first time, for the sake of knowledge, the two had put aside their differences to work towards a goal. The sorting hat would be proud.
*
When Draco and Hermione arrived in Potions, they promptly separated.
Draco, finally taking notice of the fact that he had been, for the last twenty or more minutes, been talking to one of his self-proclaimed enemies, almost went stark white when he saw who had witnessed them together.
Blaise, seated at their usual bench up front to the left, was glaring at him. Draco gulped as he made his way towards his angry friend.
"Look...I can explain-"Draco tried to say in a hushed tone.
"Explain what? What are you doing talking to that...that Mudblood?"Blaise asked, wrinkling his nose in distaste, "Plus, I've heard news from mother that you still haven't-"
"Blaisie-kins, Dee-Dee! How are my favourite boys doing on this fine day?" Pansy asked, as she burst into their conversation. Draco let out a breath of relief, Pansy was his lifesaver.
Blaise winced at the crude misuse of his name, and quickly reprimanded her. Draco smiled, half from relief, half from the familiarity of the situation.
"How was Healing darling?" Pansy asked, completely ignoring Blaise's grumblings.
Draco sighed, and ran his hand through his blond hair shakily, "It didn't go...as well as planned. Neither I, nor Granger-"
"Pfft! See! Draco spends more time with her than with us Pansy." Blaise's eyes narrowed in suspicion.
Pansy swatted him on the nose, "Stop exaggerating Zabini." She turned to Draco, "Where were you at breakfast? You weren't in bed, and you didn't come to the Great Hall. "
The blond tensed, "I was busy Pans, and I'll be there tomorrow."
Pansy went quiet and Blaise watched with a grim look on his face.
Oh Merlin, Draco realised what they must be thinking.
Before either Slytherin could say anything, a disgruntled Snape burst through the door, cursing under his breath about "Dog-brained twits and do-gooder mutts".
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