Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling nor do I own Harry Potter. See previous chapters.
Last time:
"Oh and Granger," Draco's voice stopped Hermione from opening the door. "Thank you."
Hermione, knowing how hard it was for Malfoy to thank her, nodded in acknowledgement and walked out the door.
Chapter 14
It would be nice to say that things changed between Draco and Hermione after the day he told her about Sophie. However, real life was rarely that simple. Malfoy was just as mean to her as ever and Hermione simply dealt with it as she usually did. Hermione still remembered the first time they saw each other after she left the room…
Hermione was walking to class with Harry when she bumped into someone and fell to the ground.
"Watch it Mudblood!" Draco sneered at her from above.
Hermione was so surprised at his hostile tone, she just stared at him for a few moments. While Draco kept the sneer painted on, his eyes begged Hermione to not let anything slip.
"You watch it Ferret!" Hermione exclaimed once she regained her composure.
"Are you alright Hermione?" Harry asked helping Hermione up.
"Yeah," Hermione assured him. "Clearly, this hallway isn't big enough to let Malferret and his big head to walk by without hitting something."
At that the Gryffindors in the hall sniggered.
"Well maybe, if you just stop trying to pull that stick out of your ass for a moment you might actually be able to watch where you're going," Draco countered.
It was the Slytherins' turn to laugh.
Luckily, the bell rang to signal the start of class, preventing the situation from escalating.
Hermione sighed. Who was she kidding? She didn't honestly expect anything to change did she? And Malfoy had his reasons. After all, he still had to protect Sophie.
Sophie. Hermione sighed. She had tried to delay visiting the little girl because of her brother. She didn't know what to expect if she came into the room and found Malfoy there. The end of their conversation was awkward enough and Hermione did not want to relive the experience. Nonetheless, she did promise Sophie she'd come back and she supposed now was as good a time as any. She only hoped that Malfoy wasn't there.
When Hermione walked into the suite, the place was quiet. She breathed a sigh of relief thinking Draco wasn't there. Her relief was short lived when she heard Sophie scream. Alarmed, Hermione ran to the open door of her bedroom. The sight in front of her stopped her in her tracks.
"Oh no, the dragon is getting closer!" Malfoy, the Draco Malfoy was currently chasing a little girl around a pink bedroom while imitating a fire-breathing dragon, claws and all.
"Ahh!" Sophie squealed with delight. She climbed onto her bed where Draco finally caught her.
"Got you!" He declared with a smile. "Where is the prince that will save the fair princess from the evil dragon?" He asked as he tickled Sophie who was giggling and laughing.
Hermione wouldn't have been able to move even if a Hungarian Horntail was right behind her. She had never seen Draco Malfoy smile. She had seen him smirk, sneer, snigger – everything but truly smile. His smile lit up his whole face and transformed the hard angles so that Hermione saw a 16 year old boy and not the devil incarnate. Not that she was suddenly falling in love or anything. That would just be stupid. But Hermione knew she was seeing something different. She was seeing Draco Malfoy with his guard down – shirt untucked, hair in disarray, no pretenses, and no walls. It felt so private, Hermione felt like she was intruding.
The sudden silence made Hermione realized that Draco had looked up and seen her staring. Their eyes locked for an infinitesimal moment before Sophie thankfully broke the silence.
"Hermione!" She called as she realized the reason her brother stopped.
"Hey Sophie," Hermione smiled. "It looks like you and your brother are quite busy so I'll come back another time," she said, hoping to get out of the situation.
"Nonsense Granger," Draco interrupted her. "I have some homework I have to finish anyway." Draco stood up and got off the bed.
"Granger?" Sophie asked looking between Hermione and Draco.
"It's, erm, my nickname for her," Draco explained.
Hermione wanted to snicker at the thought of Malfoy giving her a nickname that wasn't derogatory but she kept her face impassive.
"I'll see you later Sophie. Be good," Draco said as he walked towards the exit. "Granger," he acknowledged her with a nod of his head.
"So Sophie," Hermione began when Draco left. "What do you want to do today?"
oOoOoOoOo
Over the next few weeks, Hermione's life went on as usual. She went to her classes, hung out with Ginny (and Harry when he wasn't with Ron and Genevieve), studied, and did some research for the Horcruxes. She regularly went to see Sophie and was quickly becoming attached to the adorable girl. They would play with Sophie's many toys and often Hermione would read her stories. Sophie was quite the little actress and she would act out bedtime stories and fables of the wizarding world to a captivated Hermione who hadn't heard of most of them since she didn't grow up hearing them. While helping Sophie learn how to read, Hermione had a brilliant idea. She came back the next time with a box of books filled with muggle fairy tales and stories from Snow White and Sleeping Beauty to Aladdin and Peter Pan. She hoped that Malfoy didn't have any objections to her exposing Sophie to muggle things. Hermione half-expected Malfoy to be waiting for her when she came back the next time to give her an earful or at the very least send her a Howler. When he didn't do either, Hermione took it as a sign that he was okay with the situation. Speaking of Malfoy, Hermione still made every effort to avoid meeting him in Sophie's room. She only visited Sophie when she was fairly sure that Malfoy had class, quidditch practice, or was otherwise occupied. It seemed that Malfoy had a similar idea since they never crossed paths in Sophie's room again. Of course, they still saw each other in class and in the halls, where he was still Malfoy the Ferret and she was still Granger the Mudblood.
Hermione still thought of Cedric everyday but much to her chagrin, her daydreams were now interrupted with images of a smiling, carefree Draco Malfoy and his molten silver eyes that locked with hers. Whenever that happened, Hermione took it as a sign to focus back to the lesson in front of her or her homework at hand. She thanked her stars that her dreams were still only of Cedric because she wasn't sure she could handle seeing Malfoy in her sleep.
The day before Valentine's Day, Draco and Hermione were stuck on patrol duty together. Draco could've sworn Dumbledore had something to do with that week's Prefect schedule but refused to dwell on it. When they had reached a deserted hallway, Draco broke the tense silence with a question.
"Any plans for Valentine's Day Granger?"
Calm down! Hermione's heart started to beat so rapidly, she was surprised Malfoy couldn't hear it. Idiot! He probably just wants to mock your pathetic, dateless situation.
"No," Hermione said slowly, dreading the inevitable insult that was sure to follow.
"Good."
Hermione's stomach did a flip. "Good?" she asked. "What's it to you?"
"Actually, I was going to ask you a favour."
Figures. "Oh," she replied trying to hide the disappointment in her voice. Disappointment? You know you're getting desperate when… What the hell is wrong with you? Get a grip Hermione!
"I won't be back until late and I was hoping you can visit Sophie and put her to bed and stuff," Draco said. At Hermione's arched eyebrow he added, "I have to take Pansy out to dinner." Hermione's eyebrow rose even higher. "Get your mind out of the gutter Granger. Dinner, that's it. Pansy will try to make it more and prolong the agony, but I'll make sure it stops with dinner. That's why I'll be back late."
"You don't seem too excited to take Pansy out," Hermione observed. "Haven't you guys been together for a long time?"
Draco sighed. "It's just another of my many responsibilities."
Hermione didn't know what to say to that. She was however, glad to have something to do that night. Harry and Ginny were of course, going out, as was most of the student population. Hermione didn't think she could handle the stares of pity she would get if she stayed in her dorm room as the other girls got ready, nor would she be able to handle watching Genevieve primp herself for Ron without ripping the girl's hair out. It would definitely be an all-time low if she received a pity stare from Madame Pince if she chose to go to the library.
"Granger?" Draco's voice broke through her thoughts. "So, can you do it?"
"Sure, Malfoy."
oOoOoOoOo
After a painful date with Pansy, Draco headed to Sophie's suite to check on his sister. He expected Sophie to be asleep by this time. What he didn't expect, however, was for Hermione to still be there. As he looked into Sophie's bedroom he saw something that made him catch his breath. On her bed, Sophie was cuddled against a sleeping Hermione Granger with a book still open beside them. Sophie had her back to the door where Draco was while Hermione was facing him. The moonlight streamed through the bedroom window and illuminated Hermione's face, making her look ethereal. With her hair softly fanned out around her head, Granger looked almost…pretty. She had her arm protectively around Sophie and Draco couldn't help but think that she looked like she belonged there. Aside from Sophie, Draco had never seen anyone look so peaceful when they slept. Not wanting to disturb them, Draco used his wand to levitate the book back to the shelf and he summoned the blanket to cover both of them. He then quietly left the suite and walked back to his room.
oOoOoOoOo
"Cockroach clusters," Hermione said excitedly to the gargoyle guarding the Headmaster's office.
"Ah, Ms. Granger," Dumbledore greeted when Hermione reached the top of the stairs. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"
"I think I know where to find a Horcrux," Hermione replied breathlessly.
"I hope you're not talking about Nagini because we certainly know where to find her," Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.
"Of course not!" Hermione looked affronted.
"I apologize Ms. Granger," Dumbledore said with a laugh. "I wasn't trying to insult your intelligence. I knew you meant a different one. You just look so serious and on edge, I had to lighten the mood. Have a seat. Lemon drop?"
Hermione shook her head politely as she sat down.
"Very well," Dumbledore said sitting down opposite her. "Now, tell me what you have found out."
"As you know, we have been researching the possible whereabouts of Voldemort's horcruxes. I read that heirlooms are extremely important to pureblood wizarding families and they are not only passed down from generation to generation but they are also extremely well-guarded. They are also usually kept in the family's ancestral home since the said home would already have numerous charms in place to prevent unwanted intruders from coming in. So I started thinking, since the pure Slytherin line had long since died out, which Pureblood family currently in existence would most likely have the locket?"
"And?" Dumbledore prompted.
"The Malfoys, of course!" At Dumbledore's questioning gaze, Hermione continued. "It all fits! In order to keep the bloodlines pure, pureblood families have been intermarrying for so long, everyone is related by one way or another. By this time, there's bound to have been a Slytherin who had become related to the Malfoys. Who better than to keep the Slytherin family heirloom than the Malfoys themselves, one of the most elite pureblooded families in existence? Not to mention, Malfoy Manor is the oldest ancestral home still standing. The wards protecting that property are legendary and impossible to get through. Plus, since Voldemort's current headquarters is Malfoy Manor, I'm sure the extra Deatheater security doesn't hurt either."
If Dumbledore was surprised that Hermione knew the whereabouts of Voldemort's headquarters, he didn't show it.
"If Lucius Malfoy was entrusted with Tom Riddle's diary before, is it such a stretch to think that he may be in possession of another horcrux?" Hermione concluded.
After a few pensive moments, Dumbledore spoke. "I think you definitely have something there Ms. Granger. The question is, how would we get the locket? As you have pointed out, getting in and out of Malfoy Manor would be very difficult. "Ms. Granger," Dumbledore paused. He looked at Hermione closely. "How do you feel about going on a mission?"
A/N: ***IMPORTANT: Please READ!***
First of all, thanks for all the support you've given and for reading this far. From the reviews and feedback (you see how important reviews are?) I've gotten, it seems like people like this story because it's unique and different from most Dramione fics out there. For this reason, people have also mentioned that they hope this story won't become cliché.
I just wanted to say that I'm trying really hard to keep this story unique and different from the other fics. With that said, please keep in mind that this is a Dramione story so at some point, there would be moments where they get closer to each other or some fluff will happen here and there. The romantic aspects have to happen for the story to keep moving. On that note, there might be some parts in the future that might seem cliché or familiar. Because they're still in school and it's not a post-Hogwarts story, there's only so many ways and so much I can do in terms of what happens to them and how they get together, if they get together, that hasn't already been done. This is not an excuse and like I said, I am trying very hard to give this story more depth and keep it original.
All I ask is that if you see parts that you think might be cliché, let me know but please be patient and don't immediately give up on the story thinking it has become cliché or predictable. This is where reviews are really important. I know where I want the story to go and a general idea of what happens but if you have suggestions or ideas, feel free to let me know and I'll try to work with it. Like I said, I already have an outline so I can't guarantee that I'll agree to your suggestion but I will consider it. If anyone wants to beta this story, let me know. Of course, if you think that this story is not cliche at all or you like certain parts, please feel free to mention those in your review as well.
First and foremost I'm writing this story for myself but your thoughts mean a lot to me. I can't improve this story without your input so please review and let me know what I'm doing well, what I can improve on, etc. or any other thoughts. Again, thanks so much for sticking with me and I hope you keep reading until this story is finished.
As mentioned in the last chapter, you can also contact me on facebook under "Elizabeth Mal", narrow down your search to the "Portsmouth" network.
Thanks so much for reading!