A/N: Two chapters in ONE day, my goodness! Haven't done that in forever!

Chapter Four
You Don't Have Henchmen

And thus began the timid friendship of a reluctant snake and a wary lion.

Hermione found herself bemused every night at the telltale flutter of the curtain around her bed. He'd come enough nights in a row now for her to know that he hovered on the other side for a few minutes before sighing and crossing over to the chair beside her bed. His internal debate soothed rather than aggravated her. Too dramatic a change in the boy would alert her to something suspicious. His honest hesitation and reluctance in joining assured her that this was no ploy to humiliate her.

"Hey there, ferret," she greeted cheerily. While he narrowed his eyes warningly and scoffed rudely, Draco was pleased to see the Gryffindor slowly returning to her usually peppy state. It grated on his more reserved personality, but he also found it oddly endearing.

He could never explain to her why he had come back every night since he admitted to her destroying his delicate, superficial world. Draco knew he should have been furious, hated her more even. But every night found him beside the girl he always swore to hate.

She couldn't explain why her heart fluttered whenever he took the chair by her bed any more than she explain why he was there. Yet, Hermione didn't mind. She looked forward to their talks.

"Please, I'm begging you. Tell me what I'm missing out there! I've been here for nearly two weeks now, it's killing me," she cried dramatically, throwing herself across her bed in fake distress. Draco rolled his eyes to show his amusement.

"The whole castle is falling to pieces without you, Granger," he informed her in a mournful voice. The said witch childishly stuck her tongue out at his following words. "I mean, with no insufferable know-it-all practically falling out of her chair to answer all the questions, us mere mortals are forced to do it instead."

"I'm not that bad," Hermione tried to argue. She let out a laugh when she took in Draco's blonde eyebrow raised in disagreement. "Okay, so I am. Sorry I like to know things."

"I like to know things, too, Granger. Yet, you don't see me falling all over myself to answer every damn question," he said.

Their banter continued for the next hour or so. After the initial awkwardness of the first few nights, having been enemies for the previous three years, they made a surprisingly good pair.

Hermione really didn't know much about the boy other than he was the prejudiced git who taught her what the word Mudblood meant. But after the first night, she realized there was so much under the surface that he never let anyone know about. And she couldn't wait to drag it out of him. Draco had known she was smart, after all, who didn't? What he didn't know was that her wit was deadly sharp and her sense humor, while slightly off, was brilliant. He didn't get away with a single comment without some intellectual insult or praise in response. All their previous conversations were traded insults, and as such, their new conversations still remained much the same.

"So, tell me, ferretface, don't your friends wonder where you go every night. I mean, aren't Crabbe and Goyle worried?" His murderous expression at the nickname had her smiling devilishly.

"Friends?" Draco echoed in disbelief, choosing to ignore the ferret comment for a moment. "Crabbe and Goyle are more like my henchmen than they are friends."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Malfoy, you're 14, you don't have henchmen."

"I do so have henchmen, Granger!" he cried indignantly. Hermione rolled her eyes. "Please, Malfoy, don't pout."

"Malfoys do not pout, thank you," he snapped irritably. Merlin, she knew how to get under his skin.

She gave him a look.

"Fine. We pout. Loads," he scowled. Under his breath, he muttered, "Can't even let a man pretend to keep his dignity."

Hermione bit back a blossoming smile. She was softening the frigid Malfoy and she loved it.

"But really," Hermione turned serious, "you're always bragging about Slytherins being so cunning and ambitious and all that nonsense."

"It's not nonsense!" Draco cried indignantly. She shushed him. Bless him and that Malfoy pout. She couldn't contain her giggles as she watched him realize he was pouting and try to stop without her noticing. "Oh, quit your giggling, you mental Gryffindork."

"Malfoys don't pout," she mocked in imitation of him. His glare was legendary. "I do not sound like that, Granger!"

"So, Slytherin," Hermione began again. "You all make it sound like you haven't got friends, like you've allies or something instead. And I've never talked this much to a Slytherin before, let alone the poster boy for them. So, tell me, is that true. Do you guys really not have people you consider actual friends?"

"Oh, enough with the pity. We aren't friendless losers. God, you sound like a bloody Hufflepuff," Draco admonished. "We do have actual friends, thank you. We're just not as obnoxious as you Gryffindors are."

"Crabbe and Goyle, then. While they are not your henchmen-no, shut it, you don't have henchmen-would you really consider them friends?" she wondered curiously, having to scold him halfway through her question. He sighed and crossed his arms. She folded her legs and leaned forward.

"No, I wouldn't really. Their fathers and mine are good…allies, I guess. So, they just follow me around. We certainly don't talk about much to each other. I can't say I know all that much about them. Pansy, on the other hand, she's actually a friend. Hey, don't give me that look. Until two weeks ago, you thought I was a spineless, bigoted prick, and look how utterly fabulous I turned out to be! You'd never know that Pansy is actually a sweet girl."

"Malfoy, who said I used to think that?" Hermione teased, the corner of her lip twitching upwards into a smile.

He reached forward and grabbed one of her outrageous curls. He pulled it down gently before releasing it, watching in fascination as it sprung back into place. Her teasing smile had vanished, her heart pounding so hard she thought it would burst through her chest. It was such a simple action, yet it was so intimate. It screamed how comfortable they had gotten, that he had done it without thinking, and that she had let him.

Suddenly aware of what he had just done, she watched as the telltale crimson blush colored his pale cheeks. She stared at him in wonder. He cleared his throat, refusing to look at her, and continued, "As I was saying…You used to think I was a spineless, bigoted jerk, etc, but I'm less of that now. And though, Pansy seems, well, bitchy, on the surface, she's really not. We're quite close."

"You call her Pansy, not Parkinson?" she observed a little breathlessly. His grey eyes finally met hers, his brow scrunched in confusion. "Obviously, she's my friend."

"Then, I think you should call me Hermione, not Granger."

Her bold tone made him smile. There was the Granger he'd been waiting for. He knew she couldn't stay down forever. Then her words sunk in.

"What?"

She blushed and became very interested in her folded hands. "I was thinking. You've come by every day now for a while. And we've had some great talks, you've been really nice. Nice like a…friend."

"So, you don't want me to call you Granger anymore because you think we're friends now?" He threw her idea back at her to clarify. Draco didn't realize the significance of his word choice until he saw the hurt flash across her sweet face. He shot forward in his chair and, without thinking, grabbed her folded hands in his. Startled by the contact, she gazed down at him with an unfathomable expression.

"That's not what I meant, Granger. That sounded awful. What I meant was, does this mean that we're friends?" he rushed to explain.

The blonde would never understand how expressive her face could be. He could actually see as the defeated sadness melted away into an innocent delight.

"Of course, you goof. I was hoping, anyway," she admitted with a happy smile. A smile reserved just for him. Then some doubt crept its way in. "Unless, of course, you don't really want that."

Draco squeezed her hands once before pulling his hand back into his lap.

"I've spent three years of my life utterly despising you, but I think I could up for being friends instead." He attempted to shrug it off as if it were nothing, but the both of them knew it was anything but. It was the total admission of wrongness from a prejudiced boy. The shedding of the beliefs he had held for all his life. And it all came down to the moment that shortly followed.

"Well, goodnight, then," Hermione yawned as she fell back into her pillows. Draco nodded as he stood to go. "Will I see you tomorrow?"

Draco paused and turned back to her with a secret smirk gracing his lips. "I'm afraid it's going to be rather hard for you to get rid of me now, Hermione."

She could live without one or two heartbeats, couldn't she?

"Thank Merlin, Hermione, glad to see you back where you belong," a friendly voice greeted her as the small girl made her way through the Gryffindor Tower portrait. "Aye, we were rather missing our favorite bookworm. Aw, look at that Gred, she's blushing!"

And blushing she was. The Weasley twins had taken a fancy to the young girl especially after the World Cup. And after seeing how Harry and Ron were putting her between them. As frustrated with them as she often was, she adored their attention. They were the older brothers she never had.

"It's so good to see you boys! Although, you might have come visited me!" she scolded, a little disappointed in their failure to see her. After they attacked her with hugs and sloppy kisses to her scarlet cheeks, the stepped back and had the sense to look sheepish.

"Wull, we tried to see you the day after it happened-"

"But then, Pomfrey went mental when she saw it was us-"

"Like we'd blow the place up again or something-"

"I mean, honestly, it was only a very minor explosion-"

"Hardly any physical damage to anyone-"

"And yet she still won't let us anywhere near the hospital wing anymore-"

"Distrustful bat, Pomfrey is."

Hermione, now more than used to their back and forth manner, followed their explanation with an amused smile on her lips. "I don't even want to know what you did to get banned from the hospital wing, but I'll have you know I was fine without you." They exchanged a look at her secret smile, but thought better than to pry. "I had some excellent company. Now, what have I missed?"

And so when Harry finally trudged through the portrait door, shoulders slumped in defeat, he found one of his best friends fast in a Weasley twin sandwich fast asleep. The twins were bickering about something in low tones, presumably the leprechaun gold mess, while Hermione slept on, curled up against Fred.

Not expecting such an intimate scene between his friend and the twins, Harry fell to a halt in front of them, one dark eyebrow raised inquisitively.

"Hullo, Harry. Hermione was waiting for you and Ronnykins to get back-"

"But she was tired as anything you see. Soon as we sat down-"

"She was out cold. Hasn't moved in a good two hours and-"

"My bum is completely numb, thanks for asking," Fred finished with a wolfish grin. He gently shook Hermione's shoulder. She jumped with a start, her bush of curls a wild mess. George reached over and attempted to smooth it down only to have her smack his hands away. Chuckling, both boys held their hands up in surrender, letting her wobble to her feet.

"Oh. Harry," she said in surprise, having only just noticed him. She grabbed her bag off the floor where she left it, amazed how tired she still was. She made for her stairs, dreaming of finally sleeping in her own bed again. Harry trailed after her. "Hermione."

She turned at the sound of his voice, a pleasant smile on her face, though her eyes shouted exhaustion.

Green eyes observed her. "Since when are you so close to Fred and George?"

His accusing tone set her on edge.

"Since they've been the ones trying to cheer me up as you and Ron seem to think it's alright to take your anger at each other out on me. Now, goodnight."

He stared at her retreating form, guilt clawing at him. Another tough day under his belt. Great.

Hermione couldn't help but wonder what her first day back would bring. She wasn't terribly nervous about returning, after all, she'd missed ages of school when she'd been petrified. She was, naturally, ahead in her school work. The only unsettling thing was a certain blonde Slytherin.

Surely, he wouldn't walk over to the Gryffindor table, sit down, and eat breakfast with her, but she wondered about what he would actually do. Her insecurities told her that it was simply a fluke. There was no way he would actually want to be friends. And even if he did, he wouldn't be inclined to announce it, would he?

Her nerves were for nothing. He was a pompous ass and she couldn't understand how she let herself forget that.

"Oh look, Draco, its Granger. She's back," a nameless Slytherin informed the blonde. He turned to Hermione with a vicious sneer. "What a shame, Granger, I rather hoped someone had finally offed you. I suppose even killing Potter's mudblood would dirty someone so badly they couldn't be bothered to finish the job."

Her mouth hung open incredulously. Even her incredible willpower couldn't stop the tears from welling up in her eyes.

"Aw, don't cry, Granger, I'm sure someone will get around to it sooner than later," Draco laughed cruelly, his followers joining in before sauntering off.

She knew it had been too good to be true. It was all just one big joke to him. Distraught, she turned heel and abandoned the Great Hall. Sniffling pitifully, Hermione shrieked in terror when a hand latched around her arm and pulled her behind a tapestry.

"Ow, ow, would you calm yourself, you crazy bint. Quit hitting me," a familiar voice demanded. She paused her frantic flailing arms until she recognized the voice and made his face out in the dim light. And she promptly resumed punching him anywhere she could reach.

Shielding himself the best he could, Draco grunted, "Alright, I guess I deserve it."

"Deserve it?" she yelled, "You bloody bastard! I cannot believe I let myself think you were anything but that foul, loathsome cockroach!"

She was dangerously close to biting him as he risked slapping a hand over her mouth. "Shut it, would you? People will come looking."

Her narrowed eyes were killing him in thousands of horribly creative ways, he could just tell. His shoulders slumped. "I just wanted to get you alone. I need to apologize."

While she still seemed wary, she stopped struggling.

"You have to know after these past two weeks that none of what I said was true. I mean, just last night, you said we were friends. I want that, I really do. But I hadn't thought about what that would really mean when you got better. I just saw you there and everyone was telling me you were back and I panicked. Merlin, I wasn't even that terrible before, I don't know where it came from. Every word tasted vile in my mouth, and I wish I could just take them back, Hermione."

He dropped his hand from her mouth and stepped back, once again running his hands through his hair. His hands were shaking and his bottom lip was caught between his teeth. He looked positively wretched. It made her feel a little better.

"You called me Hermione."

He glanced over at her sheepishly. "I'm trying out the whole friend thing. If you're still willing."

She mulled him over. "Alright. But I swear to Merlin, Draco, if you ever say anything that vile to me in front of anyone ever again I will make sure everyone knows that you're terrified of Pygmy Puffs."

"You wouldn't," he scoffed, though his eyes were not as confident as his voice. He feared the smirk on her face. It almost trumped the thrill he got from hearing his name on her lips. Almost.

"Watch me."

"My dear girl, I dare say you'd have made a fine Slytherin."

Draco frowned at the scrap of parchment in his hand. Becoming friends with Hermione Granger was more than enlightening. With a roll of his eyes, he sent back his reply to her clever drawing.

Hermione smiled to herself at the magical paper airplane that landed on her desk. Lavender, who sat beside her, cooed, begging to know who it was from. She made up a lie about it being from some Beauxbaton girl she met in the infirmary. The girl's disappointed smile told Hermione she wasn't at all surprised by its boring nature.

Sure she wasn't looking, Hermione unfolded it. Sprawling cursive in green ink was neatly inscribed above her picture.

Slytherin indeed, my Gryffindork, a fine Slytherin indeed.

Below his words was a finely, if she did say so herself, drawn cartoon of Draco girlishly batting away a fluffy pink Pygmy Puff in utter terror.

From across the potion's room, she felt grey eyes on her. Biting her lip, she risked a glance over at him. A minuscule shake of the head told her he wasn't quite sure what to make of her.

A/N: Fred and George are seriously some of my favorite characters and I just had to throw them in there! Please let me know what you think of this so far!