Hey everyone, I haven't updated in a while but here's the next chapter!

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Of Hippogriffs and Mudbloods

3:00

She stared at the blinking digits on her clock. It was pretty late at night. She couldn't get out of bed even though she wasn't tired. She had been thinking of him, and of what must be happening to him right now. She hoped that he was safe.

She clutched her stomach as she began to feel queasy. She got out of bed quickly and hobbled to the bathroom adjacent to her room. She opened the toilet lid and heaved out her insides over and over again until she felt better. Hermione just sat there for a few moments as she flushed the toilet, and remembered him some more. She smiled as she remembered how helpless he really was. That had become apparent in that one year. The year that she finally acknowledged her true feelings.

"Do you think that Professor Trelawney actually knows what she's talking about? This grim business seems a little queer to me," said Ron thoughtfully as they made their way down the grounds towards Care of Magical Creatures.

"Oh please. It's pure rubbish! I've never heard of a dodgier subject. 'Use your inner eye to see the future!' That old bat has no idea what she's talking about. She's all talk I'm telling you. Honestly, see into the future?" Hermione shook her head in laughter.

"You just don't like her because she said that Divination couldn't be learned through books," Ron said pointedly.

Hermione ignored him and stared at her watch, "We had better hurry up if we want to get down to class in time for Hagrid's first class."

They continued to descend towards Hagrid's hut where a group of students had already assembled.

"Gather roun', gather roun'. Got an excitin lesson today. Follow me," said Hagrid as he led them into a small clearing in the forest. "Oh and open your books to page 384."

"And exactly how do we do that?" said Malfoy as he stepped haughtily into the clearing.

"You stroke the spine o course!" said Hagrid as if that were the most obvious thing in the world. Malfoy stroked the spine and saw his book begin to relax; he then sneered and continued on his way to put his bag down.

A sudden commotion caught everyone's attention. Neville's book had begun to snap wildly at him as pages flew in every direction and he fell to the ground.

"Don't be such a wimp Longbottom," Malfoy said.

"I'm ok! I'm alright!" said Neville before he fell to the ground again.

"You're supposed to stroke the spine!" said Ron with a smile.

"Yeah, right," said Neville out of breath.

Hermione put her bag down on the ground, "I think they're funny."

"Oh yeah, terribly funny. Really witty," sneered a voice from behind, "Wait till my father hears that Dumbledore's got this oaf teaching classes," Malfoy said nodding his head toward Hagrid.

Harry advanced menacingly, "Shut up Malfoy."

"Oooooooh," said Malfoy and his two cronies, Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy took off his bag and began walking toward Harry in a very arrogant manner. He strode until he was a few inches from Harry and looked up. A sudden look of terror overcame his immaculate features and he started yelling, "Dementor, Dementor!"

Everyone looked around in fright and once it was realized that this was some kind of joke, they heard laughter from behind. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were laughing as they began imitating dementors.

Hermione dragged Harry off, and scowled at them before walking off.

Hagrid was ready to begin the lesson. He had brought in a creature that Hermione ascertained to be a Hippogriff.

"Tada!" said Hagrid happily.

"Hagrid! What exactly is that?" asked Ron in wonder.

"This, Ron, is a Hippogriff. Very proud creatures. You don ever want to provoke a Hippogriff. It may very well be the last thing you ever do."

The entire class shuddered.

"Now, I reckon we should have someone come up and demonstrate!"

Everyone stepped back except for Harry who was unfortunately left at the front.

"Good on yeh Harry!" boomed Hagrid cheerfully.

Harry looked back and finally noticed that the entire class had moved back. Ron gave him a slight push to get him going in the direction of the Hippogriff. Harry advanced slowly and Hagrid gave him directions on how to act with the Hippogriff.

Harry bowed and waited for it to bow back. Once it did, Hagrid told Harry to go and pet it. Hermione could see the terror on Harry's face but knew that he was all right when he went up to pet it and nothing happened. Hagrid then suggested that he ride the Hippogriff and proceeded to lift Harry up onto its back.

The entire class waited and watched in wonder as Harry and Buckbeak went around the grounds of Hogwarts and returned a few minutes later. Once Harry was back on the ground, the entire class began cheering and congratulating him on his courage and bravery.

"Oh please," Draco said in an arrogant manner.

He got up and began striding toward the Hippogriff.

"You're not dangerous at all are you, you filthy animal?"

"Malfoy, no!" Hagrid yelled, but it was too late.

Buckbeak reared and struck Malfoy with its big talons on his arm. Draco fell back to the ground and began writhing in pain.

"It's killed me, it's killed me!" he screeched over and over.

Suddenly, Hermione snapped to her senses and realized the sheer magnitude of the situation.

"Hagrid!" she yelled, "he has to be taken to the hospital!"

She didn't care if anyone else noticed the concerned expression in her voice. All she cared about was making sure that Draco was ok.

"All right then, I'll do it," Hagrid said uneasily as he lifted Malfoy up and began walking in towards the castle.

"Class dismissed!" he boomed.

Hermione had tears in her eyes as she began picking up her bags to continue on to her next class. She wiped at them furiously as she looked up at Harry and Ron.

The incident still brought tears to her eyes. Draco was hurt pretty badly, but Madame Pomfrey was able to heal him in a few minutes. She couldn't believe how stupid he was back then. Yet again, they were only 13 year olds; veritable children in her eyes. He, of course, had to blow the entire situation out of proportion and keep everyone thinking that he was actually still in pain weeks after the incident. He had even tried to get Hagrid fired and Buckbeak executed, but, again, he was only a child back then. With maturity comes wisdom.

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3:00

It was actually quite late now. Draco had been staring out the window thinking about nothing in particular because thinking was too painful. Speaking of pain, nothing was more painful physically, or so it had seemed back then, than that day when that Hippogriff had attacked him in third year.

"I can't believe that Dumbledore is letting Hagrid teach classes!" Draco muttered angrily as he, Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle were walking down towards Hagrid's hut. "I mean, it's not like the bumbling idiot knows anything about teaching!"

"You're so right Draco," purred Pansy.

That purr of hers was really beginning to annoy him. It always felt like she was trying to seduce him or something.

"I know I'm right, which is precisely why I bother stating my opinion," he said haughtily.

They walked through the rest of the grounds in silence. Once they got to Hagrid's hut, they joined the crowd as Hagrid explained something about going into the forest.

He followed the crowd and heard Hagrid say something about opening the books that they were assigned. Draco winced as he recalled when he first attempted to open the book. The bloody monster tried to bite his…well, a very important member of his body.

"Exactly how do we do that?" he grumbled angrily, the thought of the book trying to bite his privy member fresh on his mind.

"You stroke the spine o course," said Hagrid matter-of-factly.

Draco stroked the spine and watched as the book relaxed in his arms. He sneered before walking into the clearing ahead.

As he was walking, he heard Granger mention something about the books being funny.

"Oh yeah, terribly funny, really witty," smirked Draco.

The trio turned to look at him, and he figured he couldn't let them down if they wanted to hear a speech from him.

"Wait until me father hears that Dumbledore's got his oaf teaching classes," he sneered.

"Shut up Malfoy," Potter said angrily.

"Ooohooohoooo," Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle said.

Draco took off his bag and tilted his head to one side. He began strutting towards Potter. When he was a few feet ahead of him, he faked an extreme look of terror on his face and began screaming, "Dementor, Dementor!"

Everyone turned around as they fell for the trick and Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle burst out laughing as they began imitating Dementors.

Hagrid then called the class to order and introduced them to the dreaded Hippogriff. He began explaining certain characteristics of Hippogriffs but Draco didn't bother listening. His eyes instead focused on Granger standing a few feet ahead.

He stared at her for a while contemplating why she was such an interesting character. Was it because she was a mudblood and a relationship between them was unimaginable? Or was it because he wanted to do something impulsive for once in his life and defy the odds? Whatever it was, it was eating at him from the inside.

Draco then heard Hagrid call Harry's name. He snapped to attention and saw Potter approaching the Hippogriff. Draco smirked, this should be rather funny, especially if he got hurt. Hagrid told him some instructions on proper etiquette with the beast. How absurd! It was a bloody animal, but here they were discussin on how to treat a Hippogriff with respect.

The next thing Draco saw was Granger's hand grab Weasley's impulsively. Draco heard himself growling unintentionally at the display. He couldn't explain why it felt like a monster was suddenly being unleashed within him. He stared at Granger and Weasley for another few minutes, and he missed Potter ascending into the sky on Buckbeak's back.

Now there was something you didn't see every day! When Potter returned to the ground after a few minutes, everyone cheered and rushed to greet him.

Draco was Disgusted, with a capital D.

Still annoyed from Granger and Weasley's display from before, he stood up suddenly.

"Oh please," he began striding toward the Hippogriff muttering, "You're not dangerous at all are you? You filthy beast."

Draco felt a sudden jab of pain in his right arm, and he felt himself being pushed backward. The pain was so excruciating that it blinded him.

"It's killed me, it's killed me!" he screamed over and over.

He could hear Granger's voice in the distance, "Hagrid! He has to be taken to the hospital!"

Draco then felt himself being lifted by two big arms. That was his last coherent memory before he blacked out.

Draco laughed at how stupid he was back then. Thirteen, what an immature, young teenager he had been. But none of that mattered now. He was older and wiser. He knew what the sole purpose of his life was now. He was different. To Draco, that transition from his old young self to his new old self was the most life changing experience that had ever happened to him. More specifically, she had changed him and had put more meaning in his life than he could have ever hoped for.

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Sorry for not updating in such a long time. It's just that no one really reviewed so I felt like no one really liked the story. Well, I like the story so I'm going to continue. I have a lot of work these days so I cant promise I can update quickly, but I'll try my best. Enjoy!