Two weeks had passed since the first training. Each night, Draco and Hermione met on the 7th floor, and each time, they expected that this would be the last training they had to do, but Draco could not seem to find a memory good enough to create a Patronus. He had tried, though. They had almost got one when he had thought about his parents and him doing shopping and eating ice-creams down Diagon Alley. Hermione had a lot of troubles imagining the Malfoy family, especially Lucius Malfoy, eating ice-creams.

Most of the time, he just got annoyed by Hermione telling him that his memories were shitty – she did not say they were shitty, but to him, it was the same thing – and he started to thought about something that made him utterly happy when it happened – like when Weasley threw slugs up in second term, or when Potter got attacked by Dementors in third term – and even if it was still not enough, telling Hermione what he had thought and seeing her reaction was memorable. They eventually started to argue, but it never lasted long.

Once, nevertheless, they had a huge fight about the lack of efforts of Draco. He had called her a Mudblood – it was a slip of the tongue, he could swear. She did not show up for two nights.

oOo

"If ever I do not succeed tonight, let's say that all of this is over. Okay ?" Draco asked.

Hermione nodded. She was facing him from across the room. She could see his hand gripping his wand, and his knuckles going white as he gripped tighter and tighter. His eyes were closed. He frowned slightly. A blur appeared slowly in his mind. He saw a slight smile, and then, a lock of brown, bushy-hair. Then, he could see someone lending him a helping hand. His eyes suddenly widen, and he yelled the spell.

A silver wave escaped from the tip of his wand, and slowly turned into a stately wolf. The beast was breathtaking. It walked a moment around Draco, acquainting itself with its wizard. The Slytherin was not daring to make a move. From the other side of the Room, Hermione was staring at the scene, motionless too.

The wolf walked back in front of its "owner". It sat, and started to howl, in the middle of the silent Room, before it faded away. There was a brief silence between the two students. Hermione walked straight to Draco and took his hand in hers, squeezing it gently.

"You did it Dra – Malfoy !" She mumbled.

She was wearing one of her most beautiful smile. Hermione felt a common feeling of pride bursting from inside her chest. She was proud of him, and of course, of herself. Draco glanced at her hand in his, before looking back at Hermione with a slight smile.

"Yes. I did it."

Hermione let go of his hand, a bit disturbed by her own gesture, and stare at him, still wearing her smile.

"What did you think about ?" She asked, thrilled.

Draco hesitated. He was not sure it was a good idea to tell her that he had thought about her.

"Well, I… I thought about…"

He felt stupid to be that disturbed because of her. She was the stupid little Mudblood, was not she ?

"You." He announced with a blank voice. "I thought about… you."

Hermione took a step backwards, and felt the blood rushing to her cheeks.

"M – Me ?" She mumbled. "Why ?" She inquired, practically dying from embarrassment.

"I don't know !" Draco exclaimed. "If it reassures you, I don't know myself !"

They both felt awkward. He could not think about her as the happiest memory he had. It was not possible.

"You don't have – even, like – the tiniest bit of an explanation, don't you ?" She stammered again. "Because I think it would be useful, huh ?"

Her eyes met his as she looked up from the floor.

"Well…" He began.

Draco was not even sure if he wanted to know why the only thing that could make his Patronus appeared was Hermione Granger. It was unhealthy. It was beyond madness. But he had to admit that something was actually making its way to his brain, so he could explain what was going on.

"I think – I think it had something to do with the fact that you are the first person that had ever helped me. That had ever paid attention to me, not because I am Draco Malfoy, but because I… I needed attention."

Hermione stood still. They held each other's gaze for a moment. She could not believe how much he was confessing to her on that very moment. It was unbelievable.

"And why – why did you choose me ? To teach you this ?" She asked. Maybe it was asking too much of him, but if it was the moment of truth, it was also the moment to ask the good questions.

"Because you were the only Gryffindor I knew who could be generous and nice enough to pay no heed to prejudices and smart enough to teach me something." He said, making her understood that it was plain as day.

"Okay." She replied softly.

They stood there during a few seconds, and Draco finally started to walk back to the door of the Room of Requirement.

"Malfoy !" Hermione called.

He turned his head to the side, so he would be able to hear what she had to say.

"Last question, before we go back to our normal lives. In which case will you use the Patronus ?"

He thought for a second, before answering.

"If ever I lost myself in the dark." He said with a genuine voice. "Goodnight, Granger."

A/N : I have chosen the wolf for Draco because I think it suits him very well, not because it is a beautiful beast, and so is Draco. (hahaha)

The wolf is a very mysterious creature, and is also unapproachable. I truly think that Draco can't be completely known by the people surrounding him. Plus, the wolf is very protective with its family, and Draco wanted to protect his parents from the wrath of Voldemort in HBP. Well, I think it explains it all…

I hope you enjoyed this short story, thanks for reading, and don't forget to review ! 3

Shapeless Heart