Ok, here's my first update. Sorry it took so long, I will try to update more frequently in the future. If you're still reading, thank you! And please review.
*NOTE: I do not own anything; I owe everything to the fabulous J.K. Rowling.
End of chapter 1:
Hermione began to read the final portion of the letter out loud to the boys:
"…We expect you to view the other student from Hogwarts not as your ally, but as your direct competition. ("No problem there!" she thought) However, we are certain that since you both share pride for your school and your educations, you will be able to collaborate as a team when assigned. ("Fat chance!" she whined in her head). The name of your fellow Hogwarts intern is…"
"Well, go on then! Who is it?" Ron questioned. She hesitated before biting out the last words, pausing to swallow thickly:
"…Draco Malfoy."
It was going to be a long summer.
Draco folded up his letter and glanced across the Great Hall towards the table where Hermione sat gathering up her things hastily, looking rather flustered. The Weasel was making large motions in the air with his arms and, from what Draco could see, turning purple with fury. Potty looked more composed, but no more enthusiastic than Ron. Hermione stood up and turned to make a quick exit, but not before sending a fleeting look in Draco's direction. He smirked callously as their eyes met, and she flung him a nasty glare before passing through the heavy doors and out of the Hall. Draco didn't bother to look back at the other two-thirds of the Golden Trio; no doubt he could guess their reaction. Instead he chuckled to himself, rather pleased, and returned to his unfinished pumpkin juice. "This is going to be a long summer", he thought to himself.
He had been as surprised as Hermione to find that Saint Mungo's had selected two students from Hogwarts. He knew she had applied several months ago, and that based on school marks and recommendations, she would probably beat him yet again. Not that his marks weren't good. In fact he was second to her in every subject, all except potions of course. And his recommendations had been carefully selected; Professor Snape had written him a very respectable letter, and Professor Sinestra had always seemed to like Draco despite his reputation and he had done rather well in her advanced Arithmancy seminar, so he got a letter from her as well. But Hermione was much more well-liked, and her obnoxious goody two-shoes personality always seemed to seep through into everything she did. While Draco's personal statement had been pithy, factual and probably read more like a demand that he be given the internship, he was sure Hermione's had been flowery, dripping with her desire to "help people" and over-achieve, and earnestly asking for an "opportunity to learn and put her knowledge to use". He couldn't understand why that kind of writing always seemed to impress people; he thought it a far greater skill to be able to be concise and say exactly what you mean. So in order to swing the votes in his favor he had his father pull a couple of strings for him.
Several months earlier…
Lucius was a bit taken aback by Draco's interest in an internship in Healing. Draco mentioned it over dinner one evening quite out of the blue. Lucius paused with a bite of pheasant smothered in cranberry sauté halfway between his plate and mouth to comment. "Surely you mean to internship in St. Mungo's administration and business division?" he had asked. That was something he could understand. The Malfoy's owned hospitals, they didn't work in them.
"Actually father, I'm not interested in the administrative careers at St. Mungo's. I would like to try the Healer internship." He tried to sound nonchalant, but he was really quite anxious that his father would forbid him from doing the internship at all. He was certain he would end up spending his summer at Malfoy Industries, as he had every summer since his first year at Hogwarts, fetching his father coffee and struggling to stay awake in boring business meetings that made him want to tear the hairs from his platinum head one by one. After graduation he would have to step into the role of a Vice President under his father, a job that was predestined for him at birth, but until then he wanted to try and experience the things he could never have. And being a Healer was something that Draco admired, much to the astonishment of many of his professors and friends. He had always respected Madame Pomfrey who had fixed him up more times than he could remember after some of the more violent quidditch games he played in. And he was good at potions, which was an important part of treatment of magical maladies. If he was the son of another wizard perhaps he would have a bright future as a Healer, maybe become a world-renowned Squib researcher, or maybe a famous Curse-Reverser…
Draco was brought out of his musings by his father clearing his throat. Lucius had been studying Draco curiously for the last few minutes. Draco's face was impassive and aloof. He knew Lucius couldn't tell what was going through his son's head, but he supposed that meant he had taught him well in the ways of being a Malfoy. One must shield his natural reactions and emotions at all times; a Malfoy never reveals his inner thoughts.
Lucius cleared his throat again and replied, "Well I suppose that can be arranged. May I ask why you need me my assistance? Certainly your marks are excellent." He resumed delicately eating his pheasant.
"Well as it turns out, this internship is the most competitive. They only select one student from each school. And that smarty-pants mudblood Hermione Granger has her sights set on it." And then so that his father wouldn't think he was worried that a mudblood might beat him, he added, "not that I think she's any competition at all really, I just want to make sure I won't have any trouble securing my place." He smirked and straightened up smugly, like a proper Malfoy heir.
As anticipated, Lucius' connections were exceedingly helpful in swaying the St. Mungo's internship committee. When the letters arrived Draco read his privately, careful not to give away it's contents by his facial expression. Not that anyone would have noticed. Crabbe and Goyle were busy fist pumping and making ear splitting, animalistic whoops of joy for having been accepted to the glorified camping trip internship, and Pansy was gushing, all false modesty, to the rest of the table about how she never thought she would get the internship in Madame Bijoux's House of Magical Fashion, "considering", she said, "that her looks were perhaps too classically beautiful and refined for a position at the Mecca of modern fashion". Classically beautiful is not how Draco would have described "Pugface"- yes, he knew what those outside of Slytherin had nicknamed her, and frankly he thought it very fitting. She looked rather more like a miniature mountain troll and he had a hard time imagining anyone finding her beautiful. But his opinion was somewhat tainted by the fact that Pansy was always hanging off of him and trying to impress him; she wasn't subtle about her feelings for him and it disgusted him. Draco sat, quietly observing his friends. When everyone calmed down they all finally looked to him, curious to know if he got the coveted St. Mungo's internship. They all knew that the Gryffindor Princess had also applied, and they were certain that their Slytherin Prince would beat her. But Draco's face remained expressionless as he waited to have all eyes on him.
"Well Draco, darling sweetness, did you get it?" Pansy cooed sickeningly as she sidled up next to him.
Draco checked to make sure he had everyone's full attention then allowed himself to slip into his trademarked smirk, his mouth tugging upward at one corner, the eyebrow above it arcing into his brow, his features settling into a practiced imperiousness. "Of course I did," he answered her arrogantly. The table broke into loud applause and cheering, and several of the other boys came to slap him on the back. He was now King of Slytherin for the moment, and he figured telling them that Granger had also gotten the internship could wait.
He hadn't expected he would get the internship only to have to share it with someone else, the mudblood no less. But as much as she irritated him like a stone in his shoes, she was an easy target for Draco. She reacted explosively to his insults and taunts, much to his and the other Slytherins' amusement. She was his opposite in every way. Where he was controlled, calculating, and cruel, she was emotional, reactionary, and far too nice. In fact, her over-developed sense of kindness was what irked Draco the most. She treated everyone with the same syrupy sweet attitude, always willing to help out a struggling classmate or encourage a downtrodden friend. "She cares too damn much about people", thought Draco, while also registering that he was the only person she didn't seem to reserve her insufferable brand of benevolence for. She had once even helped Pansy when she was failing Ancient Runes, of course Draco was sworn to secrecy and it was a guarantee Pansy would slaughter him if anyone ever found out. And according to Pansy, Hermione was rather nice to her despite the fact that Pansy had treated her horribly for years. Draco had hoped that maybe Hermione was secretly getting her revenge on Pansy by giving her all the wrong answers to the homework and making up absurd translations that Pansy would then repeat in the classroom and look like a buffoon. But Pansy's marks had improved dramatically, and Draco confirmed what he always knew; that Hermione was way too nice. Nice to the point of idiocy. And she was far too trusting as well. And that can get a person into quite a bit of trouble.
Not that Granger wasn't quick-witted and sharp-tongued when she wanted to be. She often had very clever, and sometimes downright nasty comebacks for Draco's slurs. On occasion they would get into epic verbal battles before class began and the teacher had not yet arrived, battles that would heat up very quickly and were watched by their classmates who were fervently keeping score. She was the only person he knew that could match him insult for insult, and as hard as he tried he could never make her cry. Some of things he said were so horridly personal they could possibly have made his sadistic Aunt Bellatrix cry, but not Granger. She clung fiercely to her pride and would never give Draco the pleasure of taking it from her. "There's always a first for everything", he thought, as he considered having to spend everyday of the summer working closely with Granger. Maybe once he had her a bit isolated from her friends he could break her, maybe the pressure of the internship would wear her down, maybe… and then suddenly Draco had a wonderful, and awful idea. He latched onto an image of a trusting Hermione, a Hermione that was willing to let down her guard so that they could work together and both get through what was going to be a very difficult internship. Draco began to hatch a plan to exploit that little fault of Hermione's this summer. He was going to enjoy his summer for once, and he knew just what would make him happiest. He would befriend Hermione Granger.
