All Is Fair

"In love and War"

All characters belong to J.K. Rowling, I did not own those characters or the original story/plot.

Five days until classes at Hogwarts started up again. That meant five days for Hermione to become incredibly well prepared for the rest of her final year. Five days until she would begin what would be the end of her time at Hogwarts. Yet what replayed in her head was how two days ago Draco and her characteristically yelled at each other. He had shown a range of emotion that Hermione didn't know he had in him, yet it was barely even noticeable. This was when Hermione noticed the wall he had put up between him, his emotions, and everyone else. He hadn't hurt her. He hadn't tried to hurt her. He had just indulged them both in a fight that never should have happened in the first place. A fight where she couldn't decide how it even started. She looked up from her shoes, staring at the entry way to the dungeons. She had no idea what she was doing here. Hermione was smart. She knew that, and everyone else knew that. She knew that whenever she would see Draco next, it would be awkward, and there would either be aggravation or a strangeness. Both situations would be terribly awkward in any case, so rather than allowing that to happen in five days if they find that they are in a class together, she thought she'd tackle it face on. Because that's what Hermione does. But now that she was here, she wasn't entirely sure what her next step would be. This was probably why she didn't do to well at chess.

A brown haired girl with green eyes wandered out of the dungeons. Her hair was long and tied back neatly. Quite the opposite of Hermione's wild ponytail. The girls stopped when she saw Hermione. She wasn't wearing her Slytherin robes, but rather a long black dress, that was simple yet charming.

"Hermione Granger?" the girl questioned, her voice was quite soft.

"Astoria," Hermione smiled. Astoria was a year below Hermione, but she made a note to remember her due to the fact that out of all the Slytherins, Astoria had always been the kindest.

"What are you doing around the dungeons?"

"Exploring, I suppose, you know, before everyone else starts arriving at Hogwarts."

"Oh," she smiled, "that sounds quite interesting."

"Hopefully it is, but I guess I'll just have to wait and see."

A blonde girl with similar features to Astoria Greengrass came out of the Slytherin common room. She wore her Slytherin colours with pride as she walked towards Astoria and Hermione.

"Hermione," she acknowledged. She appeared to be in a rush.

"Daphne," Hermione replied.

Daphne took Astoria by the arm and they scattered off. Hermione wondered for a brief second where they were going, before turning back to look at the entrance of the Slytherin common room, which had been left open by Daphne. She saw the green colours that decorated the entire common room, with deep green chairs by their own fire place, book cases lining the room and Slytherin banners shown their house pride. She walked towards the entrance, close enough to step in. Her hand held the wall beside her as she continued to peer into the common room. She wondered if she was even allowed inside there without the strict permission of another Slytherin. And it would be strange if she was just to wander in there.

Hermione barely even noticed that she had already stepped inside the common room. There were a lot of things that had been slipping her mind lately, and apparently walking into another houses common room was one of them. She quietly walked around the common room, peering at the books and boxes on the shelves, while scanning the elements that made up the room. The fire and few green lights from above were the only things to light up the room, giving it an eerie feeling as Hermione continued walking around the common room. It was nothing like the Gryffindor common room, which felt so vibrant and cheerful. She saw the eyes of some of the portraits following her. She really hoped that none of them would say anything. She heard quiet whispers build among them. Hermione knew she would be found out now. She should've just waited outside until Draco had come out. Then again, she felt that that might've been even weirder. She quickly made her way back towards the entrance. She walked up the stairs and towards the door, which now rapidly, was closing on her. She cursed under her breath. She'd have to try and heave the heavy door open. Annoyed at herself she got her wand out, just in case the door wouldn't budge.

"Now I know you're stalking me," Draco called, and Hermione just knew that he was smirking.

She turned around. He was on the opposite side of the common room, his hands in his pockets as he looked at her, as if nothing was strange about this situation. Hermione had realised that Draco probably would've just played it 'cool' if they saw each other in class, and it wouldn't end up being awkward at all, purely because Draco wouldn't want others to see awkwardness there. She felt a little sheepish.

"I thought we should talk," she sighed.

"Talk?" he started walking towards her.

"Yeah, talk," she crossed her arms.

"Last time, I remember, we weren't so good at talking. Actually you told me that we've never really had a conversation. Isn't that right, Granger?"

"Draco."

"And wasn't it you that told me that I think it's normal to just fight all the time, rather than chat?"

She swallowed.

"Alright, Hermione. Let's talk."

He walked past her and opened the door that lead them out of the common room. Hermione followed him as they made their way out of the dungeons. They walked the halls side by side for a while. They were supposed to talk but it seems as though neither one of them knew how to start. Hermione had a million things going on in her head at once and Draco wasn't prepared enough to disrupt any type of reconciliation. They continued outside in silence. They were out on the grounds, heading towards Hogsmeade it seemed. They both looked at each other for a moment before pretending they hadn't. They both needed a drink.

Hermione sat down at a small table in the bar, and Draco took the seat in front of her. She rested her elbows on the table and ran her fingers through her hair as she looked down. Draco took the opposite approach, leaning back, looking as comfortable as ever, one hand on the table, the other propping himself up on the chair. Hermione let her hands run through her pony tail before taking in a deep breath and looking at him. Their two drinks had arrived. Hermione, a butterbeer, and Draco, a fire whisky.

"So?" Draco asked after he swallowed his own drink.

"I don't know," she was staring at her own drink.

"Goodness, Granger, we get all the way here to talk and you have nothing to say?"

"I just, I didn't want it to be awkward if we ran into each other, that's all."

He didn't reply.

"Everything has been still, since the war, we both have noted that. Yet we broke that stillness in an argument, at least, we broke the stillness that surrounds us and now we're in full motion. That means that there are movements happening one after the other, and they're going to happen fast, because she allowed emotion back in. Did we not? Anger, annoyance. And then," she took another deep breath, "and then you stopped. You stopped fighting. You made me look at you, and you made it stop. You don't back down from fights, Malfoy. We've all been fighting each other for so long, and you gave me a look that I'd yet to have seen. It was bound to be awkward at our next meeting. What were going to say to each other then?"

Draco played with his glass, spinning it around, allowing the ice cubes to move.

"Maybe we wouldn't have to say anything, Granger. No one else would notice, anyhow. I wouldn't have allowed it to seem awkward. And it's not."

"It's not?"

"It's not awkward."

"Then what do you call this?"

"Well, we are chatting aren't we? It's not that awkward, Granger. It's all in your head. It's not like we haven't fought before. Who hasn't when we're all thrown together here at Hogwarts. What's awkward is the fact that you're trying to reconcile the situation. That hasn't happened before."

"I shouldn't have spoken about your father. I shouldn't have even mentioned it."

"You can say whatever you want to say."

"No, I," she paused, "I have to watch what I say. Otherwise I'll push everyone away."

"You've been bossing people around all these years, doesn't look like you've pushed anyone away."

Hermione smiled a little.

"Anyway," Draco continued, "Slytherins and Gryffindors fight all the time. It'd be weird if we didn't. And if we had just bumped into each other in class, it'd be like everything was back to normal, now wouldn't it, Granger? It'd be the same rivalry we've all lived with. And I'm sure you're smart enough to know that that's not what you're know-it-all brain is thinking about."

"Maybe this is my peace offering. I'm offering you a branch, or whatever the saying is. I don't want it to be normal for us to fight, for all of us to fight, Slytherin, Gryffindor, I'm done. I want it all to end, and I want to be cohesive."

"So maybe yelling does knock some sense into people."

"We need a truce, Malfoy."

"Well, Granger. I suppose I can allow for a truce between us, but I can't speak for my fellow Slytherins."

"They'll see that you have no hate towards us, that'll cause them to follow."

"Flattering, how much influence you think I have."

"It's not flattery, Malfoy."

"Well, I'm just going to take it that way."

They sat in silence for fifteen minutes.

"So what happens next, Granger?"

"I'm not sure."

"My my, you don't seem to be so sure about things these days."

"I grew up, Malfoy, there's more things to learn about, than the amount of things I can retain in my brain. Though that doesn't mean I can't retain more than the rest of you."

Another few minutes went passed.

"Did you just kick my leg, Malfoy?"

"No?"

She felt something hit her leg again.

"Now I have."

Hermione felt a few minutes go by, yet again.

"So, how's Potter, and Weasley?"

"Harry's good, just trying to do whatever he can to help, I think he's just a bit lost right now."

"Yeah he would be lost wouldn't he. Never quite learnt anything that boy."

"Okay maybe we should talk about my friends."

Draco tapped at the table as minutes went by.

"So uh, how are the Greengrass sisters? I saw them the other day. Daphne and Astoria both said hi before they rushed off together."

"Well last time I saw them, Daphne was yelling at me because I was fooling around with her younger sister. Maybe I should choose a place less public next time."

"Okay, that's definitely off the table too."

Hermione felt like this was more awkward, then her thinking that bumping into each other would be awkward. With Ron away and Harry trying to find her place, she didn't exactly have her best friends around. Not even Ginny was there to talk to. She'd rush in to hang out with Harry for a short while, from time to time, before rushing out to help her family. She knew that the two houses needed a truce, because war ends in two ways, division or unity. She wanted unity. And perhaps, even a friend.

Draco stood up. He found the silence much too confronting, in an odd way, so he decided it was time to exit. Yet when he went to the door, Hermione was standing behind him with crossed arms. He smirked a little. Of course, she wasn't stupid, and she was definitely stubborn. He opened the door and gestured for her to walk through. She did and Draco shut the door behind them. He wasn't going to get rid of her. It wasn't enough to just say there was a truce, he knew that they'd have to find a way to solidify that, and Hermione wasn't going to leave until that happened.

Hermione noticed a drop of rain hit her nose. She looked up, and a few more drops came down. It was about to start raining. Hermione frowned as the forecast had said nothing about rain today. She was always prepared for these things, yet everything seemed to be falling more and more out of her control. Her frown deepened when she saw rain falling around her but none of it was reaching her. Draco had already taken out his wand and created an umbrella above them. She looked up at him before taking out her wand and making an umbrella of her own.

"So that was, um…" she didn't know how to continue her sentence.

"You know," he was looking out at the rain, "you're the only non Slytherin to come into the Slytherin common room for seven centuries."

Hermione frowned again before speaking, "that must be why the portraits were whispering about me."

"They were whispering about you?"

"Yeah."

"I can't wait to know what they were saying."

"Shut up, Malfoy."

The words that had once come from hatred now had a playful ring to them.