The Cave
by H of monini
Disclaimer: I sadly do not own any of the below characters (not even Draco), and accept that they are all J.K. Rowling's.
Summary: Malfoy was looking at the professor with an intensity she recognized as competitive. Sensing her gaze, he turned his own eyes to hers, and raised his head in a challenge he knew she'd accept. They were off to an interesting start.
A super duper thanks to M, who taught me the great importance of having an ending far before a beginning.
***
"Would you stop grumbling Malfoy? I'm not any more happy about this than you are."
"Why wouldn't you be happy about this? You've found yourself partnered up with the most intelligent and pragmatic in our training class, and I've got...you." He spat the word distastefully, as though he had tasted something particularly bitter.
She rolled her eyes, "Yeah that'd only be true Malfoy, if you weren't second in the class." He promptly shut up.
She looked around, trying to make out anything from the darkness that surrounded her. They continued to walk forward, carefully so as to not disturb anything or any creature it would be best to avoid.
"I think...we're in a cave." She scrunched up her face thoughtfully.
He looked at her, a blank expression on his face, "Really Granger? No shit. How the hell did you become first in the class? All those late nights getting 'extra help' from the professors?" He said bitingly. He was not happy to be here.
"Oh shut up Malfoy, I know you're jealous but you really ought to keep yourself in control. Let's just get through this."
"Fine, whatever Granger."
They were both frustrated - somehow partnered up with each other in Auror training which was ending today in a final "test" that they were supposed to get through successfully in order to become full-fledged Aurors.
They didn't know what it was to get through it successfully, but after encountering hexes and jinxes, and creatures that ought to have been left alone, they figured getting through it alive would be success enough.
They had been in the cave now, for almost three hours - they were not only being tested on knowledge, and practical skills, but their endurance as well.
***
She remembered when she had first seen Malfoy at the beginning of their Auror training. He had sauntered in early, to find Hermione already sitting at her desk absorbed in a book, until the scent of sandalwood hit her, and she looked up and found Malfoy sitting across from her, a sly smirk on his face.
"I wondered how long it'd take you Granger."
She couldn't help a surprised grin from forming on her face, "Malfoy! What are you doing here?"
It'd been almost a year since she'd last seen him, and she remembered their last meeting well. They were all gathered around the large table in 12 Grimmauld Place, discussing their final strategy meeting before the War. She looked around the table, and found comfort in the familiar faces she saw - Harry, Ron, Lupin, Tonks, the Weasleys. And in the far corner of the dimly lit room, she saw a figure leaning against the wall, his silhouette lit by the blazing fire under the mantle. He looked far older than she had remembered, beaten down by the things he had seen and done as a spy for the Order. He had fought that night, not with his aunt or uncle, but with the Order. She had heard his clear voice shouting spells and hexes and cursesm, and had felt just a little more hope. She hadn't talked to him since that night.
Of course, she had heard of him. Articles in the paper about the Malfoy Industries and the way that Lucius had opened his company up, 'tolerance' becoming the key word. Pictures in the papers and silly gossip magazines that she'd seen witches read of the younger Malfoy grinning charmingly at the reader, always with a gorgeous woman on his arm at some charity ball or another. His face showing the obvious signs of war - older, and his eyes more knowing, but his expression was as boyish as ever. Even Harry and Ron would talk about him "He's really changed Hermione! He's not half the prick he was in school", and she had learned that they would sometimes even "hang out" as they called it - attending quidditch matches or catching a quick bite to eat, though she hadn't ever met up with the mysterious young Malfoy. It was quite bizarre, but she had come to accept it all.
"Same thing you are Granger," he drawled, "training."
She began to sputter "You....are...wait...Malfoy, what?"
He smirked, "training Granger, to become an auror, you know? Those magical people that capture the bad guys? I thought you'd have heard about them by now." He explained slowly.
She scowled, "I know what an auror is Malfoy. But why are you becoming one? I never thought your number one ambition would be to to put your friends in Azk-" she trailed off, realizing her mistake, seeing his face lose the easy smirk, in favor a far darker expression in his metal eyes.
He spoke very quietly, "I've seen the horrors that are in the world Granger. I fought on your side. I don't call the people who cause such death and destruction my friends." His eyes were dark, the color of gun metal, with an intensity that burned, inflaming her cheeks with a bright red color.
"I'm...I'm sorry Malfoy. I never meant-"
"Save it Granger. I'm not here for your pity and I don't want your forgiveness."
She continued to look down, unsure of what to say or do.
"Calm down Granger, there's no need to wet yourself," his face returned to his normal expression, grinning at her, his eyes back to their usual silver color.
She glared at him, grateful to be back on familiar ground, and opened her mouth to retort, when the auror in the front of the class began to speak. She looked around, and saw that the room had filled up completely without her even realizing it. She was so focused on Malfoy. Odd.
"You are all here to train to become aurors. It's a wonderfully gratifying field, and it is one of the most noble occupations there is. But I must warn you, this job will become your life, and you must be willing to let it become so..."
Hermione looked around the room, and found most absently staring at the auror a vacant expression in their eyes, and turned to see Malfoy looking at the woman with an intensity she recognized as competitive, and knew it explained how he was always second to her at Hogwarts.
Sensing her gaze, he turned his own eyes to hers, and raised his head in a challenge he knew she'd accept.
They were off to an interesting start.
***
They had journeyed through the cave for another half hour, avoiding any significant damage, though Malfoy had "suffered" the wrath of a particularly upset blast-ended screwt. She had heard him mumbling something along the lines of "never did like those damned things."
She sighed, it didn't look like they were getting closer to whatever they needed to find. "I think we need to figure out what the final task is and find it."
He glared at her, "Tell me Granger, what is this obsession of yours in pointing out the obvious?"
"I'm sorry Malfoy but I'd prefer discussing it rather than walking around the dark in complete silence. We're not achieving anything!"
"Fine Granger. The final task has got to be something that'll be the biggest and toughest thing we've ever faced."
She smirked, "what was that about pointing out the obvious Malfoy?"
He ignored her, and continued walking forward, "It's probably not something physical, we've been at this damned thing for almost four hours now...it's probably mental. To see if we're fit."
She looked at him thoughtfully, he had a point. He saw her looking at him appraisingly, "glad to have me as your partner are you Granger?" he smirked.
She was.
***
"But I can't work with him!"
"I refuse to work with her!"
They had simultaneously expressed their dislike of their new partnership.
The auror smiled at the them, humorlessly, "I'm sorry, but the decision has been made, and we cannot change it. You will need to work through whatever it is that prevents you from working together, or you will not be successful in your training." She gave them a hard look and walked past them, and through the door.
They watched her as she left, but didn't dare to stop her. They knew a threat when they heard one.
She looked back at him, seeing a displeased expression on his handsome face. She glared, "Malfoy there's no point in fighting it now, we don't have a choice but to work together. Let's just get past it okay?"
"Fine Granger, but I will not have my work suffering because of you," and with that he brushed past her, leaving her with a scandalized expression on her face and a dying retort falling from her lips.
They found themselves a month later, no better than where they had began. They fought, bickered, bantered, quarreled, and did basically everything they could to get on each other's last nerves. Yet while they outwardly appeared frustrated, internally they seemed to quite enjoy their partnership, finding the other intelligent and resourceful and gaining silent mutual respect.
She didn't think he was the bane of her existence anymore, and he could stand to be with her in the late hours of the night practicing and researching when she was at her grumpiest.
They found that they were equally skilled, and fairly matched, each complementing the other. They both were logical and analytical, but while she studied books and techniques, he used his practical experience and knowledge. Their partnership was the envy of the rest of their class.
***
"Do you think it'll be an Unforgivable curse? Maybe they'll want to see if we can fight it off."
"Don't be daft Granger, they're not going to do anything illegal. I don't think the Ministry wants the people they're trusting to protect the Wizarding world from dark magic with poor brain function due to one of their own tests."
She groaned, "then what Malfoy? I don't understand it could b--"
He quickly turned his head at her sudden halt, and found her sprawled on the ground, her shoulder in contact with the earth.
"What the hell are you doing Granger! You can't be falling and tripping over yourself all over the place! Here let me look. Nice job Granger, you've got yourself cut. No stop, you won't be able to heal it properly, let me."
She heard him mutter "episkey" under his breath, as he touched his want to the wound on her shoulder, and she felt a quick tingling sensation coursing throughout her body. She looked up at his face while he quickly took out a handkerchief from his pocket and worked on removing dirt. She saw his concentrated expression, and felt a sudden warmth, this time not from the spell, at realizing that he was actually worried about her.
She grinned up at him, unable to help herself, "don't tell me you care Malfoy."
He looked down at her, as he finished wiping away the remnants of the earth, and scoffed, "Hardly. If you had died I wouldn't have anyone to sacrifice if I needed to."
She continued to smile, the slight pinkness in his cheeks not going unnoticed by her, and allowed him to grasp her arm and pull her up with a graceful ease she had come to admire.
***
It had been the week before their final practical exam, and they were sitting across from each other at the library. They both had their heads bent over thick volumes, trying to grasp as much as they could before the actual exam. It was late, and she was tired, and she needed a break - they had been at this for over two days.
She glanced up at the late hour, and noted the late hour, and took the chance to examine Malfoy. She wasn't obsessed with him or anything, he was just a fascinating person when he was concentrating, and she had found him quite interesting.
He was wearing a pair of thin silver wired frames, and his pewter eyes were alive with a certain intensity she come to realize he had when he was concentrating on something he couldn't figure out. His platinum hair would constantly fall on his face, not heeding his long, weathered fingers when they brushed the strands back into place.
Everything about him was so light, so pure. Such a contrast to who he was, and what he had experienced. He didn't like talking about it, and he certainly hadn't been one to go around volunteering stories of his past. But he had talked to Hermione about some of it, shocking both of them. He had told her that he was, contrary to popular belief, a loved child by his parents. Too much of their misguided love, he had said, was the reason why he was taught the ridiculous morals as a child. His parents were trying to shield him. He told her that he had believed them until it was too late to turn back, already in Voldemort's (he had spat his name) inner circle, trying to repay him for his father's "mistake."
She had asked him when he realized what he learned about muggleborns was wrong, but he had just brushed her off, and she let it go, realizing that was as much as he was willing to open up for that day.
He looked up at her, finding her staring at him. "What's so fascinating Granger?"
"Certainly nothing to do with you Malfoy," and she went back to her studying.
***
He had motioned her to continue following him, "Wait Malfoy stop!"
"What is it Granger?"
"I didn't trip over myself Malfoy! I tripped on something, look!"
She had bent down, and saw a small latch on the ground, inviting them to open it. He studied it closely, and nodded slightly at her, and they both quickly whipped out their wands and sent spells flying at the door checking to make sure it wasn't a trap of any kind. When it seemed that they had exhausted all spells, they deemed it safe to open. She reached out, ready, when Malfoy quickly pushed her hand aside, "Wait Granger, let me go first." He looked at her, and silenced her protest.
He opened the door and looked down, and saw a faint light at the end.
"Listen, Granger. We tried everything, it should be safe. But just in case...just let me go first and call you down, okay?"
She looked at him, surprised by the sincerity in his voice, "o-okay Malfoy."
He nodded his head again, and lowered his body into the opening, and let go, allowing himself to fall down the narrow tunnel. She listened for just a few seconds, and heard his body hit the ground.
She could tell he was taking his time looking around slowly, assessing any dangers, and then called up "Okay Granger, you can come down now."
She didn't waste any time following, and braced herself for a hard fall, but opened her eyes to realize that she had fallen on a soft surface and looked down to find some sort of couch, and knew that he must have moved it under the opening so that she wouldn't fall onto the ground.
She took in her surroundings, and saw a sparsely decorate room with just a door next to a table with a cauldron and several potions ingredients on it.
They walked closer, and saw a piece of parchment on the table.
"Of the pair of you, you must choose,
one to brew the potion,
the other must look, behind the door,
and bear all the emotion,
yet neither must stop, or the other will fail,
and neither will be the same,
If you follow the rules, and both succeed
then both will win the game."
It must have been some sort of two-person test, the potions aspect practical, and whatever was behind the door, mental.
They looked at each other, not sure which way the division of labor should fall.
"Listen Granger...I don't really know who should do what, I mean I guess I could..."
She knew that Malfoy was one of the strongest men she knew, but she couldn't put him through the mental test. Not when he had seen so much already, "I'll look behind the door Malfoy, just start on the potion, and just...don't stop okay?"
He nodded at her, and she knew he wouldn't.
She took a deep breath and walked towards the door, not afraid, but wary of whatever it was that behind the door. She reached out a hand, and grasped the knob, and turned to look at Malfoy, and found that he had already started on the potion. If it was anyone else, she would have warned them to be careful, but she knew Malfoy. She knew he never did anything without thinking first, and she remembered that potions had been his favorite subject in school. She was in good hands.
"Go ahead Granger, I'll be right here."
She nodded, and slowly turned the knob, and opened the door.
She felt herself being hit with something, some sort of dust she couldn't identify. And she found her head spinning, needing to close her eyes to steady herself. She was slowly forgetting why she was even in the cave, slowly forgetting the real world she had just come from. She looked ahead, and gasped in shock at the scene she was faced with.
On one side, a young child was being tortured, by what she assumed was the cruciatus curse. She was being dangled in midair, and her eyes were scrunched up in pain, her entire body convulsing, her small feeble frame unable to fight the curse off. She must not have been any older than seven.
On the other side, she saw Malfoy. His tall frame, upright, and she didn't understand why he had the sinister expression on his face, was he here to help? Had he finished the potion? She walked closer, "Malfoy...what's going on?" And suddenly, she saw it. His hand was stretched outward towards the young child, his wand in his hand. He face was screwed up with concentration, and it was clear to Hermione. He was the one performing the curse. He was the one torturing the poor child, who was helpless, and couldn't do anything but continue to be dangled, hoping that someone would come and stop the pain.
"MALFOY! What the hell are you doing? All this time I thought you had changed! I believed you. I trusted you."
He turned to look at her, his wand still pointing at the girl, a sneer evident on his face, "You were wrong mudblood. It was so easy to deceive you. You were so ready to believe that poor Malfoy had changed, that he had seen the light. I didn't even have to try. Hermione Fucking Granger, the compassionate heroine of Hogwarts, and I fooled her."
She looked at him, shocked. All this time, this past year, she had believed it all. He was right, she had been so willing to trust him with her feelings and her life. She had presented herself to him on a silver platter, and he was getting ready to devour her whole.
He had a cruel smile on his face, and she realized he was mocking her, laughing at her confusion, and her feelings of hurt and betrayal.
"You know what you have to do mudblood. The choice is here for you to make, and you don't have much more time to make it," he said as he thoughtfully looked at the young child, whose cries for help were weakening, her body less violently trashing, as she lost herself in the curse.
"She's so young Malfoy," she said in a small resigned voice, "how could you?"
"She means nothing to me mudblood. I'm not like you, baby animals and sunsets and rainbows don't excite me, they don't mean anything to me. You don't mean anything to me. You never did."
Hermione felt the tears falling down her face, at the deception that this man - one that she'd come to respect and treat as her equal - had caused. And now he was telling her that he hadn't meant any of it. He was fully willing to kill the girl. And this truth shocked Hermione.
But what shocked her more was that the choice that she had to make was not a clear one for her. She knew it should have been. She should have killed Malfoy the instant she saw what he was doing, and freed the poor girl and had taken her to safety. But she couldn't.
She had killed before. She had killed with little or no remorse before, the pros of the death outweighing any con. But she couldn't. She couldn't will herself to believe that this was the same Malfoy she had spent over a year with, that he was the one about to kill the young, unarmed, helpless girl. He was a monster. But she couldn't kill him.
She found her resolve weakening, her upper body feeling heavy, her legs unable to support the weight. Her knees suddenly buckled, and she found herself falling down. She heard someone faintly, from a distance yelling, "Granger! Get up Granger! You can't fail! Kill him Granger, you've got to stay strong! Kill him!..." but the voice faded off before she could make it out, and she found herself wanting to do nothing but continue laying down on the ground, allowing her body to rest.
Her eyes were slowly shutting as she saw a green light pass over her head, towards where Malfoy's figure was. She looked over at him, and found his beautiful evil eyes lose their life, as he fell to the ground just feet from her body. She felt sleep chasing her, and was ready to give up, allowing the steady stream of tears to fall down her face.
"GRANGER! Fuck Granger, wake up! I need you to wake up!" She was being shaken, gently but strongly, her head lying in someone's lap. She had felt a cool liquid being sent down her throat and reflexively swallowed allowing it passage. She shut her eyes tightly at the cooling sensation she felt in her body, so different from the fire hot temperature she had felt just moments before. Someone continued to shake her, and she willed her eyes to open again, but found that they weren't obeying her. She tried with a more concentrated effort, and saw a sliver of light shine in, and continued to open her eyes, and found a pair of liquid steel eyes staring back down at her. They looked concerned.
She finally realized who she was looking at, whose lap her head was in, and had understood. He had poured the potion - the antidote down her throat. This wasn't evil Malfoy, this wasn't the man ready to kill a harmless young girl. And she felt the tears reemerge, this time not out of fury or hurt, but out of gratefulness. This was Draco. And she smiled a watery smile up at him.
He wasn't used to seeing that expression on Granger's face - a mixture of happiness and gratefulness, and he would have (under any normal circumstances) made fun of her for it. But he knew. He knew what she had been through, and he had witnessed the whole thing, unable to help her from his potion making role, for if he had stopped the potion would have gone out of control and would have impacted them both in a less than desirable position. He hated being so utterly helpless, seeing her so betrayed by him, realizing that she had trusted him so much, seeing her crying for him. It took all his power to stop himself from barging in through the door to finish off evil-Draco, and save her from him. She saw as she fell to the ground out of weakness, and knew he had no choice but to finish the task. He continued to stir, and raised his wand to finish off his sinister alter-ego, and went to go revive Granger with his potion.
She couldn't help it, she hugged him. She felt him stiffen, she knew he wasn't used to this type of physical contact, and she normally wouldn't have done anything of the sort, but she needed to. She needed to know he was real. And when she felt his strong arms come up and wrap themselves around her, she knew it wasn't the fact that they were being transported to Auror headquarters that made her head spin. It was him.
They broke apart, and were suddenly swarmed by mediwitches and wizards, who were ready to examine them. Hermione and Draco continued to look at each other while they were being checked over, and by the time they were finally finished, they both felt normal again. Normal, if not slightly altered by the cave.
They were told that they had succeeded, and were cleared to leave headquarters, to finally get some well deserved rest. But before they went their separate ways, they met in the middle of the empty room.
"You couldn't kill me aye Granger?" He sent a lopsided grin her way.
"Listen Malfoy...I know I never told you, and I'm sorry, but you asked me before, and I have to say - I am glad that you're my partner."
He smirked without malice, "I know Granger, I've always known," he winked at her.
She smiled, and turned around, ready to go home, when she felt her hand being grabbed and found herself being pulled face to face with him again.
"What..Malfoy?" He covered her lips with a single finger.
"Listen, Granger...remember what you asked me before? When you fell?"
She considered his question confusedly, and slowly understood what question he was speaking about, "yeah Malfoy, I remember."
"I do, and not just to have you to sacrifice."
She smirked at him, mirroring his own expression, "I know Malfoy, I've always known." She realized that they had just been through something that would change the entire course of their relationship, friendship or otherwise. And after all this time, she needed to know. "Hey Malfoy?"
"Yeah"
"Why...what made you join the Order? You never told me..."
He looked at her, his expression suddenly somber, loosing its playful quality. She looked serious, and while he wouldn't have told her otherwise, after what had just happened, after who she was, after who he was, she deserved to know.
He took a deep breath, "I grew up learning terrible things about muggleborns Granger, essentially that I was superior to them in every way just because of the blood in my veins. And then I came to Hogwarts, as a disillusioned prat of a kid that went around flaunting superiority that wasn't even mine. And then I saw you Granger," her head suddenly snapped up, "yeah you, and don't go around getting a big head now, but you asked so I'm telling you. You were muggleborn but you were still the top of our class and you knew as much as I did about magic, and for the first time everything I was taught about my power was blown to complete bits, and I found out I was wrong. I hate being wrong. And it made me wonder if I had learned other things that were utter rubbish. Joining the Order was a hard choice, but it's one choice in my life that I'm proud of." His voice died down, and at his sudden admission, she was shocked and completely moved. She felt tears spring into her eyes, "Oh stop it now Granger. I hate people that cry!"
She smiled at him, and he released her hand, but she didn't move. Instead, she did something that was very un-Hermione and shocked both herself and Malfoy more than she thought was possible. She raised herself up on her tiptoes and put her hand on his shoulder, and reached up to kiss him on the cheek.
She lowered herself back down, and looked at him for a moment as her cheeks became tinged with pink, and slowly turned to walk away. She had almost reached the door, when she heard him quietly whisper, "Thanks Granger."
She smiled to herself, and continued to walk to the apparation point without turning back to look at him.
Yes, something had changed down in the cave.
***
Hey all! Thanks so much for reading all the way till the end :) Please do review, I love hearing back from you guys whether it's criticism or praise, it means a lot. Thanks!
~H