Hi! I do not own Harry Potter! How are we all? My WiFi is currently off until Monday or Wednesday next week, so, unfortunately but realistically, this will be the only chapter I can post until I get a connection. Also, I will not be able to Beta very quickly, so I'm just going to pause that. I will, however, take requests for one-shots, so I can read them when I get a connection. Thanks for the reviews and enjoy the chapter.
"Now, Mr Malfoy, what I want you to do is turn all of the tables over and scrape all of the gum off the table. Without magic. Once you have finished then you may go." McGonagall told Hermione a couple of minutes later.
"OK." Hermione sighed, sounding as much like Draco Malfoy as she could. She got to work turning the first table over and beginning to scrape whilst McGonagall marked work.
Hermione worked for an hour and a half until she was finished. "I'm finished, Professor."
McGonagall checked the tables quickly. "Very well, you may go." Hermione could tell that she had a slight hatred for Draco. She left and went to the library to talk to Draco, who had promised to cheer her up after the detention.
"How are you doing?" Draco asked, smirking slightly.
"Don't laugh. I was scraping gum off tables for a fucking hour and a half! You would have had a ball! It was meant to be you doing that, not me! You know, this could just be an elaborate way for you to get out of doing that detention!" Hermione fumed. Draco laughed. Hermione glared at him.
"Trust me, I may be a horrible, spiteful, cruel shadow of a human being, but I'm not that mean." Draco promised.
"I don't believe any of that for a minute. Maybe... a bit mean but very misunderstood." Hermione smiled at him. He smiled back. God, how am I supposed to be mad at him when he's trying so hard. He wouldn't do this. His words stuck with her for some reason. She'd never call him any of those things no matter how mad she was. She didn't know how anyone could. Not now she was beginning to get to know him.
"That means a lot. To have someone who doesn't believe all the bad things about me is nice." He was beginning to like her a lot. She was beginning to like him a lot, too. It was truly a comfort to him to have someone who didn't think he was evil or horrible or spiteful.
Before they knew it, it was the week before the Christmas holidays and there was no sign of them changing back. Although they were growing closer, they were still anxious that they may have to spend Christmas at each other's houses and they were hastily trying to teach each other everything they might need to know.
"So, are you clear on what to do?" Draco asked Hermione the day before they left when they were in the library on one of their quiet, cosy meetings.
"Yes." Hermione replied confidently. "Are you?"
"Yeah, pretty sure of everything."
"Remember: if my parents ask you anything you're not sure on just say that you don't know and change the subject to something you're confident on like school." She reminded him.
"Yeah. And you can't be too nice. You can guess how I act in front of them, just improvise."
"Yes. Good luck." She said. They weren't going to see each other until they got back.
"Good luck." He replied. Fighting the impulse to hug him, Hermione got up and left. Draco watched her. He didn't like to admit that he was going to miss her, nor did she him.
The next morning the students all hurried to finish packing and raced to the Hogwarts Express. Hermione and Draco were both equally nervous. They sat tentative and quiet, Hermione occasionally saying something mean about a passing Hufflepuff, Draco with his head in a book, frequently saying something clever sounding. Eventually, the train stopped at Kings Cross. They both took a deep breath and exited the train. Draco went through the barrier to meet Hermione's parents, whilst Hermione met Narcissa by herself, as expected, on the platform.