Draco was left sitting at the Gryffindor table, his face had turned a very telling shade of pink and although he could have killed her for it, he admired the fact that she could be devious when she wanted too. He took a second to compose himself before he turned to his hungry eyed friends across the room. They all stared at him, examining his body language to see if he would do anything to let them know he was making an attempt to set up some kind of trap. Draco stood up and walked over, putting on the mask of indifference that he usually wore when talking to anybody. That was rule number 1 of being a part of an affluent pure-blooded family: never let anyone see your weakside.
"May I ask why you all are staring at me like I have slugs falling out of my ears?" he snapped at them, causing most of them to look away from him at last. Pansy was the only one who bravely glared at him, her jaw stuck out in defiant anger. It was no secret that she had been madly in love with Draco and expected to become his wife someday, something that Draco himself found absolutely appalling. There was no doubt that she would make some stuffy pure-blooded elitist, but Draco had more planned than just that.
"Because you are dressed like some kind of common trash and you decided to sit with the trashy low-class Gryffindors instead of your own kind" Pansy snapped, clearly even more angered by the fact that Draco would question them when it was so obvious what they were so upset about. "Not to mention that little publicity stunt Granger pulled with that no-so-innocent kiss she planted on you before she flitted out of here on her high horse." Draco had to hold himself back from full forced laughing at the bitterness that was nearly dripping over her words.
"I will have you know what this is a very fine sweater that my mother specifically picked out for me when we visited Paris last Christmas, so by no means is it common as you so graciously accuse," Draco spit out, "and even though it is none of your business, I sat with them because I just so happen to be going out with Hermione Granger." He had a tough time holding back his delight at the fact that Pansy's face turned bright red and looked like she were about to pop. Blaise Zabini's head shot up and he gave Draco a wicked grin that he quickly hid with his napkin. "Hermione will be coming to eat dinner with us tomorrow night and I expect everyone to be on their best behavior and treat her kindly" the authority in his voice came from his father and everyone knew it. That is what allowed Draco to have such a pull in the Slytherin house, you could do nearly anything when your father was the right-hand-man to the Dark Lord.
Without giving them a chance to argue with him or question him further, Draco pun on his heel and walked away from the table and out the doors to the great hall, Blaise Zabini close at his heels.
"So, you are really dating Hermione Granger? This isn't just some weird and twisted joke that you've put on?" Blaise asked a smile cracking across his face. Blaise had always been a considerably friendly person, especially for a Slytherin. A fact that Draco had hated up until this moment. It seemed like he at least had one person to support him, and for that he was grateful.
"I am, though I'm sure everyone in this castle has something negative to say about it" Draco commented dryly. It was easy to be happy when he was with Hermione who radiated sunshine even on her bad days, but when he was alone he found himself slipping back into his old ways of being cold and calculated with people. It was what had protected him all his life and it was a hard habit to let go when it had once been so successful.
"I think it is fantastic, Hermione is a great girl" Blaise noted happily, picking up his pace a little bit so that he could keep up with Draco's fast pace.
"And why would you think that?" he questioned harshly, wanting to know why he could possibly know anything about Hermione.
"You don't have to be so defensive about it, man" Blaise laughed, "we have studied together a couple of times. I was struggling in potions class and I asked her for some help. The girl is a great teacher."
"How come nobody knew about this?" he questioned, wondering how the two had kept something like that away from all the nosy people who were attending Hogwarts.
"We studied in the potions lab after hours, I never knew Hermione Granger could be such a rule breaker, but she really desperately wanted to help me out. The girl has a heart of gold" Draco laughed at that, because learning was one thing he knew Hermione would willingly break the rules for.
"Yeah, don't I know it" he smiled wistfully. Blaise clapped Draco on the back playfully and they both disappeared inside the portrait hole to the dungeons.
Hermione and Harry walked slowly back up to the tower, both of them clutching a plate of left overs meant for Ron. Hermione thought dinner had gone exceptionally well, and even though she did not want Draco to change for her, she couldn't help but admire the softer side of himself that he was beginning to show everyone.
"I think we could survive this whole thing" Harry aid out of the blue as they were walking back.
"I think so too, I just think it will take a really long time for him to get over all of it. Draco and his family have never been nice to Ron, so it makes sense for him to be betrayed." Hermione wanted to understand how her friend could turn himself against her so easily, and she was doing her best to allow him to have his space to think about everything.
"Well we both know how stubborn he is and how much he hates Malfoy" she nodded slowly and then looked up at Harry.
"I don't want you to think that I'm not grateful for how easy you took this whole thing, but I was wondering why it was so easy for you. You hated Draco just as much as Ron did, and he has always been so hatful toward you" she questioned. Harry smiled and thought for a moment.
"Draco wasn't always bad, and I don't think it is his fault that he acts the way he does sometimes. When I found out I was a wizard Hagrid took me to Diagon Ally to get all of my robes and Draco was there in the shop being fitted for his. He was really nice to me and I think he wanted to make new friends as bad as I did, but his whole life has been filled with these nasty ideas about what people should be and how they should act that I really think he might have been brainwashed into the whole stupid idea of it all. I always wanted a reason to like him, because he seems like a nice guy underneath all the crap he says to make people think otherwise" he explained, using his free hand to ruffle his hair in the nervous way that he had.
"I'm glad I'm not the only person who thinks that way" Hermione admitted happily, letting out a small sigh of relief.
"It also doesn't hurt that I have been fooling around with Ginny for about a month and a half" Harry admitted, his cheeks turning bright red as he refused to meet his eyes.
"Wait, was that supposed to be a secret?" Hermione asked and began to laugh.
"Of course it was supposed to be a secret. Ron would kill me if he knew! Did she tell you?" he asked quickly, worried that his little secret was out.
"No she didn't tell me, but you did. The way you look at that girl is ridiculous. You two were obviously having some sort of feelings for one another" she said reaching over and patting his back. "I'm sure Ron has no clue about it though, he can be so unobservant when it comes to these kinds of things."
"I hope you are right about that one" he said as they reached the portrait hole. Harry whispered the password and it swung open to reveal a barely occupied common room. Ron was seated in one of the high-backed chairs by the window and he was gazing out, holding his stomach.
"We thought you might be hungry" Harry said as he sat the dinner plate down in front of his friend. Hermione gave a small nervous smile as she slid the plate of deserts onto the table. Ron looked at the food and bit the inside of his cheek.
"Thanks" he grumbled as he uncrossed his arms and picked up the fork that they had brought him. He glanced at Hermione and for the first time in days she saw sadness in his eyes when he looked at her.
"I know that I'm dating someone who has been particularly rude to you and I know that really sucks, but I still want to be your friend so I hope you will talk to me soon" she said before turning to leave. It hurt that Ron was so obviously hurt by what she was doing, but she also did not want to give up what she had with Draco just to make Ron happy. They were all in a tough situation and that was something that she absolutely hated.