Chapter Three – Shattered Glass
Time passed, and Malfoy's grades began to plummet. Although it seemed that he was trying on some level, his blindness made it nearly impossible for him to succeed in some of his classes. McGonagall decided that Hermione needed to tutor him in Transfiguration and Charms, the two that seemed to be most difficult. Hermione had been tempted to protest on account of Malfoy's horrible behavior, but kept her mouth shut and made up her mind to deal with it.
One afternoon in between classes, Hermione went upstairs to drag Malfoy out of his room to work on the Transfiguration he hadn't been able to accomplish that day. She knocked on his door, and then stood outside waiting for an answer. She waited for a while before knocking again.
"Malfoy?" She inquired. No answer. "McGonagall's asking me to tutor you in Transfiguration. You need to come downstairs now." There was still no answer.
She slowly pushed on his door, wondering if he was asleep. She saw him lying on his back with his arm covering his eyes. He didn't acknowledge her entry at all, but shifted slightly on the bed, letting her know he was awake. Hermione was surprised. Was he sulking?
"You need to stop ignoring me. Come downstairs and we'll get this over with."
"Go away," he grunted.
"This is going to happen eventually, Malfoy," she said.
"Whatever." He didn't move.
She sighed. "Look, I'm sorry if you're in a bad mood, but if you don't improve you're going to begin failing."
There was a pause. "Ugh, fine," he said, getting up from the bed, stumbling, and putting on his little glasses again.
"Thank you," she said.
Hermione walked slowly in front of him on the way downstairs. They sat down in two chairs she had pulled up. She put a table in front of them that held an encaged rat. Malfoy would be turning the rat into a handkerchief. It was a relatively easy task.
"Do you remember what to do? Just think the incantation, and point your wand in the rat's direction." She touched his arm and attempted to point it at the rat, but he jerked it away.
"Don't touch me," he said coolly.
"Erm, it's just right in front of you, then."
He pointed his wand at the rat. The rat's tail made a small popping noise as it turned in to a wispy piece of cloth.
Hermione clapped her hands. "That's great Malfoy! You actually hit the rat! Only his tail though. I think you might almost have it. Just a few more times probably."
Malfoy pointed his wand towards the rat again, and suddenly the rat squeaked as its cage collapsed in on it. The bars had turned to rope. The rat squirmed to get through the small cracks, so Hermione quickly flicked her wand to fix the cage.
Malfoy sat stiffly in his chair. "Didn't work?" he asked.
"No, you almost transfigured the cage, though!" she said, trying to sound enthusiastic. "Just think more strongly of the rat, maybe. Let's try again."
Malfoy continued to be unsuccessful at transfiguring the rat. He came close a few times by changing its fur, or hitting its tail, but during the other times he missed by a lot. He continued to hit the cage, and at one point even ended up changing the table into a large piece of silky cloth.
"Okay, this isn't working," said Hermione, finally. "I don't quite think your problem stems from an inability to transfigure a rat, but from an inability to aim. I think if you just let me direct your arm…" she trailed off.
"Damn it, Granger, always trying to find an excuse to touch me," he said mockingly, nearly snapping out of his moping.
"No, Malfoy. If you don't practice actually hitting the rat, there is no way you can improve," she said. She refused to let him get a rise from her.
Malfoy aimed his wand towards the rat. The rat made a yelp before exploding.
"Oh my!" cried Hermione in surprise. Malfoy stood up from his chair.
"You know what, screw this." He stormed back upstairs to his bedroom, tripping on the third step. Hermione rested with her face in her palm for a few minutes, and then flicked her wand to clean up pieces of rat gut.
---
Another week went by, and Draco Malfoy became outright mean. His sarcasm had gotten to the point where it left Hermione not only angry, but with hurt feelings as well.
One windy November day, she was sitting next to Malfoy and the other Slytherins in the greenhouse. Malfoy was ignoring her for once to talk to Blaise Zabini while they repotted Chinese Chomping cabbages. She was glad that his attention was elsewhere, but caught glimpses of their conversation through the commotion.
"…been really unhappy recently. Father says he's been in a bad mood after the whole ministry thing." Blaise was doing a poor job of keeping his voice down. Hermione continued to dig through the foul smelling dirt, but started listening intently.
"…heard any news, though?" came Malfoy's anxious voice. Hermione craned her head closer.
"Something about an internment camp, there was nothing I heard for sure though," said Blaise.
"For mudbloods? Why an internment …"
"…labor, torture, information, at least from what I've –"
Hermione felt her hair suddenly jerk forward and screamed. She had been leaning so far towards them that the Chomping cabbage had gotten hold of one of her long curls. It was pulling her head towards its mouth. She panicked, reaching around for her wand, and not finding it.
"Help!" she yelled.
Blaise Zabini pulled out his wand and flicked it at her hair, severing it where the cabbages teeth were. Hermione barely had time to sit back up before the insults started flowing from Malfoy.
"Can't believe I'm stuck with this piece of scum," he said loudly to Blaise. "What a stupid, ugly, mudblood. Can't even repot a plant with that hideous mass of hair. That might be the one thing I'm glad I can't see anymore -"
Hermione heard Blaise snicker. She didn't wait to hear any more of what Malfoy said, and stood up and ran out of the greenhouse, back towards the castle. Tears welled up her in eyes as she searched for Harry and Ron.
She ended up back at the Gryffindor Common Room. She said the password and walked through the portrait, relieved to see Harry sitting at one of the overstuffed armchairs. He looked up, an alarmed look on his face at the sight of her.
"Hermione!" he said.
He stood up and walked over to Hermione, giving her a hug. She stood there for a few minutes, crying on his shoulder. The words she tried to choke out were muffled by Harry's robe. He didn't say anything, but his arm awkwardly patted her back.
Finally Hermione stepped away from Harry, wiping her eyes. "I'm sorry," she sniffled.
Harry scratched the back of his head. "Eh, don't worry about it. If you ever need anything, Hermione, you can always find me or Ron. Or Ginny, even."
Hermione gave a small smile. "What are you guys doing, today?"
"We were going to head to Hogsmeade. Do you want to come? I guess we assumed you'd be with Malfoy," said Harry.
"I'd love to come!" she said, cheering up immensely at the thought of spending time with her friends.
She almost forgot about Malfoy for the day, and spent time catching up with Ron and Harry. Ginny caught up with them in the Three Broomsticks about an hour later. They laughed and drank butterbeer, and by the end of the day, Hermione had forgotten about her anger towards him.
She entered her common later that night, exhausted from the day. Malfoy wasn't there, which made her happy. She went straight to her room and fell asleep on her bed.
---
Hermione awoke to the sound of Malfoy's voice from the common room. It must have been two hours since she had lain down. She didn't even want to know what Malfoy was doing, and put her head down, trying to go back to sleep. Ten minutes later, Malfoy cursed loudly, awaking her again.
She slowly got out of bed, putting on a thin blue robe, and walking downstairs to see what Malfoy was doing. She quietly peaked her head around the corner, not letting him notice her presence. Malfoy was standing in his pajamas in the middle of the common room, his glasses on the sofa. He stood surrounded by shards of broken glass, pointing his wand furiously across the room at a teacup that lay on the floor.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" he yelled. The teacup feebly teetered over. He cleared his throat. "Wingardium Leviosa,"he said determinedly. The teacup raised itself in the air, but Malfoy lost control and sent it soaring at the wall. It shattered loudly.
"FUCK!" he roared. He threw his wand across the room and kicked the ground furiously. He moved away angrily and blindly hit the sofa, falling flat on his back onto the jagged pieces of glass. He let out a moan that was now filled with pain as well as frustration. Malfoy turned himself over and put his head in his arms. His shoulders began to tremble. Traces of blood showed through his shirt where the glass had cut him.
The knot of pity from last night returned to Hermione's stomach. She stood looking at him, not knowing what to do. Would he be angry if she came down there and helped him? Should she pretend she hadn't seen him? He looked so completely miserable, but his cruel voice from earlier that day rang in her ears. She backed away slowly, trying not to make a noise.
Malfoy's head rose as she climbed the stairs again. Did he know she was there?
"Granger…?" he said weakly. The knot of pity in her stomach grew.
She awkwardly cleared her throat. "Erm, yes. It's me."
Malfoy didn't say anything, and put his head back down. Hermione changed her mind. She walked down the stairs, flicking her wand to gather all shards of glass on the floor and move them to the garbage can. Malfoy must have heard her cleaning the common room. He tried to get up, but his face winced in pain. The dark eyes were wet and clear.
"Let me help you up," Hermione said softly. She held onto an arm and helped heave him up. Malfoy accepted her help without a word. "You're bleeding, Malfoy. You should go to the infirmary."
He shook his head. "No, can't do that."
"Okay. Let's go upstairs and we'll take care of it…" She led him upstairs. Hermione noticed his left hand was bleeding as well.
Hermione opened the door to the bathroom and ushered Malfoy inside. "You should probably pull your shirt down in the back," she said.
"Okay," he said, trying to unbutton his shirt. He winced again and clenched his fists in pain. "I can't," he said after trying a second time.
She got closer to Malfoy. "Okay, let me do it. Don't be rude, though," she said, looking up at him. A half-hearted smirk broke out on Malfoy's face, but was replaced by a look of sadness. Hermione put her hands on his first button, undoing it, and worked her way down his chest. When she finished undoing the last button, she placed her hands on his shoulders and slowly pushed it off of his body, taking care not to hurt him. Malfoy sucked in breath quickly as the shirt unstuck itself from his back.
"I'm sorry. Just turn around. I'll try to make this as painless as possible," she said. He turned around and faced the mirror. His back was covered in red gashes. Hermione took out her wand, pulling the tiny shards of glass out one at a time. She could see his face grimacing in the mirror. At the end she disinfected the area and gently bandaged it.
"Can I see your hand?" she asked. Malfoy turned around to face her, and placed his hand into her palm. She used her wand to remove the glass, and again pushed the bandage onto the wound. Malfoy let out a small cry. She pressed her hand against his, putting pressure on the gash. She looked up at his face.
"I'm done."
Malfoy nodded, taking his hand back. He looked at the floor. His face held a hint of misery.
"I think you should go get some sleep, Malfoy," Hermione said quietly.
Malfoy turned and walked cautiously away from her towards the door to his bedroom. "Don't say anything to anyone, Granger," he said without looking at her.
"I won't."
