A/N: Eeeee! Thank you all so much for your reviews and support, you're awesome! Special shout-out to OuiSexSi, for the continued support by reviewing every chapter and the touching words of the last review in particular. (Just putting it out there I'm very flattered about the JKR comment but really, I'm nowhere near as awesome as her :'D) Quite honestly, before I read that review I was having serious writer's block, but your enthusiasm motivated me!
Note to readers: I just want to let you all know that whilst this is a romance story, things aren't going to happen really quickly. The story is about how the relationship between Draco and Hermione develops, so try not to hate me too much if I keep you all in suspense. It may be an A/U but I still want to make it as believable as possible for everyone... you probably guessed as much anyway but I just wanted to put it out there :)
Happy reading! (I own nothing)
Common Room Conversations
12 days until the Yule Ball
"Morning Greengrass." Draco smirked as Daphne emerged from the dormitories; he was still relishing his success in actually getting somewhere with Granger the previous day. It was a baby-step, but a step in the right direction nonetheless. Daphne sent a rude hand gesture his way in response and marched towards the Common Room door. She was in too much of a bad mood to grace him with words.
"What's with her?" Draco asked as the door slammed shut.
"Maybe it's her special time if you know what I mean." Blaise replied, raising an eyebrow at him.
Draco shuddered slightly, "What a lovely thing to be thinking about first thing in the morning," he said sarcastically.
"You asked," his friend shot back with a smirk.
At that moment the door was flung open again, and Daphne reappeared. She was holding a rolled up piece of parchment. Stomping back through the room towards the boys, she threw it unceremoniously in their direction. It bounced off Draco's hand and fell to the floor.
"Flitwick said to give you this," she said to Draco. Her brown eyes were stony as they met his despite the obstruction of her glasses. In Draco's opinion, they made her look more sinister, though he would never admit it out loud.
He merely shrugged and Daphne turned sharply, her blonde hair flipping around her shoulders as she did so. In a matter of seconds the boys heard the sound of the door opening and closing once more. Blaise let out a breath and stared at Draco, his expression was easily readable: 'yeah – definitely her special time.'
Pansy decided to take that moment to emerge from the dormitories. "What's up with her?" she said. Blaise would have thought she was concerned for Daphne had he not turned to look at her and witness an amused smirk spread across her pug-like face. He frowned in confusion, whilst beside him Draco was trying not to laugh at Pansy's question: he and Blaise's previous conversation topic was still fresh in his mind.
"No idea," he said, coughing to hide his amusement, "she just assaulted me with this." He waved the parchment in the air, having just picked it up off the floor.
"Oh you poor thing," Pansy said sarcastically.
"I know," Draco replied seriously. "first that bloody Hippogriff, now I could potentially suffer severe blood loss through paper-cuts." He examined his hands intently.
Pansy rolled her eyes. Usually Draco's over-dramatic tendencies didn't bother her, for it gave her the chance to bask in the attention he would give her for being so concerned about him. It had become sort of a routine of theirs over the years that they had been at school; she got the attention and he would get an ego-boost whenever he would suffer an 'injury'.
Up until this point, until this stupid bet came about, their unspoken arrangement meant that Pansy had always been under the impression that Draco harboured romantic feelings for her, as she did for him. But ever since Daphne had called him out on his bluff, she knew the truth and had therefore given up hope on such an event occurring (at least for now). In Pansy's opinion, that was just another strike against Daphne's name.
"Bit weird that he's sent you a note don't you think?" Blaise's voice interrupted Pansy's thoughts, "What could be so urgent that he can't wait to tell you until next lesson?"
Draco shrugged and slowly unravelled the parchment, his eyes scanning the words upon it.
He scoffed and scrunched the parchment up into a ball once he had finished.
"Bloody stupid teachers." He muttered under his breath, along with some cruder words.
"What?" Pansy asked, barely hiding her smile. She may want Draco to win the bet but that didn't mean she also didn't want him to suffer a little; she just felt that Daphne deserved to suffer more.
The blond wiped his hands down his face and rested his chin in his palms. He opened the parchment back up and read aloud to Pansy and Blaise. His tone was almost condescending.
'Mr Malfoy,
As you are probably aware, you have consistently been one of the highest achievers in your year group in Charms classes, and have demonstrated your natural aptitude for the subject on numerous occasions. However, as of late I feel that your performance and effort levels in class have been lacking, and I'm afraid to say that it shows in the marks of your recent essays, although this could be nothing more than the excitement of the Triwizard Tournament getting the better of you.
Nevertheless, your apparent struggle to perform a summoning charm in yesterday's lesson was enough to convince me that a few tuition sessions could benefit you, because as it stands, you are at risk of falling behind, and I am not the only Professor to have noticed your grades have been slipping this year. I apologise for dropping this on you so close to the Christmas holidays, but I'd like you to be caught up by the time you take your end-of-term exam next week.
Of course, it is entirely your decision to accept the offer of tuition or not; it would only be a couple of hours during the week. Let me know what you decide at our next lesson.
Professor F. Flitwick.'
Blaise burst out laughing as he finished, and Draco scowled. He scrunched the parchment up again and threw it at him.
"This is all your fault," he whined, "If you, Crabbe and Goyle hadn't sabotaged me yesterday morning I wouldn't have had any trouble being able to summon Crabbe's quill, and this wouldn't have happened."
"For your information, I was trying to stop them from making a scene. And this is mostly your fault anyway. You're the one who spent about three weeks not doing your homework to make those 'Potter stinks' badges."
Draco rolled his eyes. "The man obviously has something against me," he shot Blaise a warning look when he saw that he was about to make a snarky comment, "hear me out: it's really no secret that I'm the one who charmed all of those bloody badges in the first place, using spells that aren't even on the fourth year curriculum I might add, and he wants me to have tuition? The irony is almost poetic."
Blaise again found the funny side, and in that moment Draco almost missed Pansy's insufferable sympathy. He looked sideways at her in arrogant hope but she seemed lost in thought and wasn't looking at him.
"I don't know what you're making such a fuss about – you don't have to do it." His friend said.
"You're missing the point, Zabini. Just the suggestion that I need to play catch up to the likes of Potter and the Weasel is almost insulting."
"They might have got letters too." Blaise shrugged. He clapped Draco on the back and started walking out of the common room to get a late breakfast before classes began.
"You know, this tuition thing may not be that bad." Pansy mused aloud when she saw Blaise leave.
"What do you mean?" Draco asked wearily as he turned to face the girl again.
"I have information," she said airily, blowing on her freshly painted fingernails.
Draco narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "What is it?" He highly doubted there was anything that would make Charms tuition a good thing.
"How are you doing on the getting-Granger-to-go-out-with-you front?" Pansy changed the subject.
Draco started. Since when did Pansy know it was Granger? "Why do you care?" He evaded answering her previous question, knowing that Granger was probably the worst person Daphne could have chosen in Pansy's eyes, and therefore knowing that she was bound to want to sabotage the outcome somehow.
"Oh I don't," she snorted unattractively, "just answer the question Draco, and I can decide if the information would be of any use to you."
He hesitated. This could well be a trap, for he knew that he would now be in Pansy's bad books, having admitted that there were never any true feelings behind his years of flirting with the brunette, apparently unbeknownst to her.
"Okay I suppose."
"Didn't sound like it from what you said when Blaise was here. I could swear I heard you accuse him of sabotage..." Pansy's voice trailed off.
Draco sighed, "Fine, maybe the day didn't get off to the best start. Besides, you aren't exactly the right person to judge since you decided to bunk off Charms yesterday," he shot Pansy an irritated look, "But, you were in Defence and so witnessed what happened." He didn't elaborate but Pansy knew to what he was referring.
"Oh yeah," she said with mock admiration, "that was really something. You picked up her wand, that's bound to convince her to go to the Ball with you."
"I do have a plan you know, you've got to be patient with these things, like a Slytherin should be. The house symbol is a snake for a reason; they don't go in for the kill straight away - they analyse, assess, weaken its prey's defences, and then they strike. Don't underestimate me, Parkinson; the whole point of this bet is to prove how my charm can win over anybody."
Draco hadn't meant to start preaching but truthfully he had no plan. His initial thought was to have civil interaction with Granger little and often so as to not make it painfully obvious that it was all for a bet, but when he saw it from Pansy's perspective it didn't seem enough.
Pansy was very unconvinced by his claim, and it showed on her face.
"Speaking of your charm, I'll get back to my point about this Charms tuition,"
"I'm all ears," Draco said unenthusiastically.
"Don't you give me sass Draco Malfoy," Pansy snapped, "I don't think you're doing as well as you thought you were going to, and this information is going to help you."
"Why would you help me?" He replied with caution, "what's the catch?"
"No catch, for you winning the bet will benefit both of us," she said. Draco decided not to press her further; he sensed her willing involvement meant that she had a score to settle, and once Pansy started bitching, it took a great deal of time and effort to get her to stop.
"Go on," he drawled.
"Whilst I was 'bunking off' as you put it-"
"You were bunking off."
"Shh," she hissed, "I came back here and hung around for a while. After first lesson was over I took a long walk around the grounds and I didn't come back in the castle until about ten minutes before lunch. I ate, and then began to wander the castle. I overheard a conversation between Granger and Weasley's sister. Your little bookworm mentioned that she was going to be tutoring Potter for Charms."
"I'm not seeing how this will help me," Draco said.
"Honestly do I have to spell everything out for you?"
"Usually you wouldn't, but you frazzled my brain for a moment there. Don't make a habit of referring to Granger as 'my little bookworm'."
"Fine. Your little flobberworm, then," Pansy replied. She continued with her explanation quickly so Draco had no time to make another remark, "why not ask her to tutor you as well? Flitwick wants you to anyway so surely that would be a good enough reason for you to ask. Plus she'll be less likely to refuse you on that basis."
Draco suddenly perked up; maybe Pansy wasn't as dense as she appeared to be. It wasn't a sure thing that Granger would say yes, but Draco was confident in his abilities to talk her round.
"I'm still not totally sure why you'd help me, but I'm sure as hell not complaining. Thanks Parkinson."
"Don't mention it. Now remember I'm on your side, so you better not screw this up," she warned. She blew a kiss his way and strolled out of the room, leaving Draco with his thoughts.
He watched as she walked away and shook his head. Could the girl not take the hint that he wasn't interested in her? If Granger was as complex and confusing as Pansy could be, he was in for a long two weeks.
Draco decided to take a break from worrying about the bet; it was Saturday tomorrow and so he would have to wait until Monday's Charms lesson to take advantage of the information Pansy had divulged. Merlin knows he'd need a couple of day's peace if he would have to endure Granger's know-it-all attitude at length next week, and indeed, the week after that when – not 'if', but 'when' - he would accompany her to the Yule Ball.
The fourth-year Gryffindors were also discussing the Ball. The boys were sitting on the squashy sofas in front of the unlit fireplace waiting for Hermione so they could go down to breakfast. Well, that's what Harry and Ron were doing. Dean, Neville and Seamus on the other hand were willingly hanging back to postpone the inevitability of having to go to Potions for first lesson as long as they could.
Hermione and Ginny meanwhile, were talking in Hermione's dorm, which was otherwise unoccupied.
"So have you selected your victim yet?" Hermione asked the redhead, secretly hoping the answer would be 'no' so she wouldn't have to worry about kissing her date at the Ball, hell she didn't even have a date to kiss yet!
"I've narrowed down my options to a Gryffindor in your year, since they're the ones whom I'll know the best through you, Harry and Ron," she answered. Evidently, Ginny had been giving this a lot of thought.
"Harry's a no-go," she continued, "I hear that the Champions have to dance with their partners first in front of everyone. I'm not the best dancer and from what you've told me, neither is Harry, so I imagine we'd be made a laughing stock if I went with him. Usually that wouldn't bother me but those Beauxbatons snobs irritate me enough as it is without giving them reason to look down their noses at me even more."
"Don't tell Harry that, he's just as stressed as I am about finding a date," Hermione laughed humourlessly.
"Speaking of, what are you going to do about Viktor?" asked Ginny.
"I figured I'd just you know…go with the flow until you get a date," she replied weakly.
Ginny rolled her eyes at her friend, "Come on Mione, Parkinson or no Parkinson you still have to get a date because of what you told my brother."
"I know," Hermione sighed. She knew Ginny was right, but she wouldn't know how to go about asking a boy out, let alone hinting about wanting to be asked out. She and Viktor had never even spoken to each other all that much before; they said the occasional 'hello' and acknowledged one another's presence but that was the extent of their interaction, despite how much time he spent in the library.
"Let's go down to class, breakfast would have finished by now," the younger witch said. Sensing her friend's anxiety she put a hand on Hermione's shoulder, "we'll figure something out later. You will get a date, Hermione. Don't worry too much," Ginny smiled and walked towards the door that lead to the steps down to the Common Room.
Hermione grinned, beyond grateful to have a friend like Ginny who seemed to radiate positive energy and determination. She followed the redhead down the stairs and raised her eyebrows as snippets of the boy's conversation came into earshot.
"Actually now ye comes to mention dates, I was thinkin' o' askin' Hermione," came Seamus' Irish lilt, much to the surprise of the girls. They had by this point, reached the bottom of the stairs but Ginny held Hermione back so they could continue to eavesdrop.
"Sorry mate, she's taken. Allegedly," Ron muttered. His tone suggested that he didn't believe the statement, though.
Thanks Ronald, that's one potential date down the floo. Hermione thought.
"Aye, that's fair enough. Lavender's bin droppin' us hints this past week anyways," said Seamus, "Then again, I could always ask yer sister."
Ginny took a sharp intake of breath and waggled her eyebrows triumphantly at Hermione at his words.
"Hey!" Ron's voice almost shouted.
"Oh, do you mind not asking Ginny out, Sea? I was planning on asking her." Neville said at the same time.
Harry, Dean and Seamus burst out laughing. Hermione noted that Neville and Ron were not joining in and she was willing to bet all of her savings that Ron's ears would be scarlet by this point.
"Mate I was jokin'," Seamus said between laughs, to both Ron and Neville.
"Can you lot please stop talking about going on a date with my sister?" Ron said sharply.
Ginny decided to take that moment to make an appearance.
"Boys, no need to fight over me," she declared as she swept gracefully into the room, demonstrating her talent to make such comments without sounding arrogant. Hermione followed her.
"How much of that did you hear?" asked Ron, whose ears were indeed, bright red.
"Enough." Ginny said evasively. She turned to address Neville, "and Neville, I'd be delighted to go to the Ball with you. That is if no one has any objections to it," she shot Ron a warning look at this statement.
Hermione gaped at the forwardness of her friend. How a girl two years younger than her could have that much confidence was a mystery. Then again, Hermione supposed that growing up with six brothers would toughen you up quite a bit.
Neville looked just about as shocked as Hermione felt. A blush had spread across his cheeks and it took a while for him to compose himself. After a few seconds had passed, Ginny's words had sunk in and he smiled up at her and nodded, apparently at a loss for what to say next.
Again, Ginny picked up on his nerves and broke the silence. "Great," she said, smiling at Neville, "I should really get going to class now, see you all later." She walked past Hermione on her way to the door, "see how easy that was." She said in a low voice. She winked at Hermione and left the room.
Of course it was easy; it was Neville. Hermione thought with a slight hint of bitterness and envy at how effortless it had been for Ginny. She thought her point was valid though; Neville was about as intimidating as a Pygmy Puff.
"We should probably get going too." Hermione announced. She wanted to scurry away before Ron had time to start moaning about what had just occurred. The boys nodded and hauled themselves off the chairs and began trooping towards the door. Harry and Ron were the last to move, so Hermione waited behind.
The trio began walking down the grand staircase to the dungeons in silence for a while before Ron spoke up.
"So who are you going to the Ball with, Hermione?"
"I don't think its any of your concern really, Ron." She said. She didn't like how uptight and aloof her response made her sound, but she didn't want to provide a name until she had definitely secured a date with someone.
Ron merely shrugged and continued walking, dragging his feet along the floor. A tense silence fell over them, which made Harry (who was walking in between them) feel very awkward.
"You don't have to be secretive, Mione. We won't make fun if that's what you're worried about," he said, "I mean, who are we to judge when we don't have dates ourselves?" Harry laughed to himself and turned to face Hermione waiting for a response. This meant that he wasn't looking where he was going and subsequently caused him to walk right into the back of Daphne Greengrass.
"Crap not again." He whispered under his breath.
The girl tensed and whipped around, raising her wand to hex the life out of whoever just bumped into her. Daphne was ready to hex anyone considering the mood she was in, whether it have been a teacher or student.
However, as her eyes fell on Harry Potter, the fury vanished. Daphne conceded that she was going to have to force herself to be nice to him and hence prepare herself for having to kiss him, for Pansy had made it perfectly clear of her intentions to sabotage the outcome of the bet in Draco's favour. She had been making snide comments about Daphne's penalty in the event of Draco's triumph all through the night, and it hurt Daphne that her 'friend' could be so cruel, and all because of a stupid boy.
It wasn't her fault that Draco was a pompous arse and made Pansy believe he fancied her! And she had apologised for choosing Granger…
"Are you kidding me? This is the second time in two days. Are your glasses defective or is it just you being a clumsy buffoon?" There was still an edge to Daphne's voice in her attempt to keep her tone calm but she managed to put a smile on her face. On the inside, she was seething and would like nothing more than to use an Unforgiveable on Potter right there, for his mere presence was just another reminder of Pansy's scheming.
"Sorry Daphne." Harry said just as awkwardly as he had the previous day. He didn't understand how girl's brains worked, so thought it best to keep his answers as vague as possible. It was then that he realised that perhaps this was also the reason he was failing to get a date for the Ball.
"I swear to Salazar and Merlin right now, if you do that once more, I will hex your bony arse. Got it?"
Sensing Daphne's temper, the three Gryffindors all moved to grab their wands in case she decided to hex any of them right then for good measure.
"Shouldn't you all be getting to class? There will be more than enough time for duelling in our next lesson," Professor Moody growled from the bottom of the stairs.
"You heard him. Let's just go. I bloody well wouldn't put it past him to make us duel him one-on-one to punish us if we don't move," Ron said quietly.
"I'd take that option over being turned into an animal and shoved down Crabbe's trousers." Hermione laughed, simultaneously shuddering in disgust at the thought.
The trio manoeuvred around Daphne to continue their journey down the staircase.
Hermione had barely got two steps lower when the other girl spoke again,
"And Potter," she began. Harry turned to her apprehensively, and Daphne pulled her glasses down to rest on the end of her nose. She looked at him over the top of the lenses, "let me know if it turns out that your glasses actually are defective, I know some good wizarding opticians." She didn't say anything more, and swept past them, soon disappearing from sight.
"Seriously, what is going on with the Slytherins?" Ron demanded.
Hermione, for once, was stumped. Occulus Reparo would fix any defects with glasses, surely? So why on earth was Daphne tipping Harry off about wizarding opticians, if such a thing existed? Granted, Daphne had never been much of a pain. In fact she hardly interacted with them at all, but her recent behaviour had been noticeably more civil, as had Draco's.
Hermione remained lost in her thoughts as she Harry and Ron finally arrived to Potions ten minutes after the class had started. It hardly registered when Snape promptly docked 50 points from each of them and issued them all with an evening detention; she had been comparing each situation in her mind when slight anomalies in the Slytherin's behaviour had been noticed, searching for an explanation.
Finally, she uncovered a link between all of the instances she knew of, and with it, a possible theory for what had been going on.
To be continued...
A/N: Apologies for the lack of Dramione interaction but the stuff that happened in this chapter is leading up to the stuff that will allow A LOT of Dramione interaction (yay!) Like I said, bear with me so I can set things up :)
Reviews are 'totally awesome' and are always read and appreciated ... (if you got that reference, you are amazing)