Disclaimer: El maravilloso mundo wizarding y los carácteres (aparte de aquellos que son originales) pertenecen a J.K. Rowling.
"The consequences of our actions are always so complicated, so diverse, that predicting the future is a very difficult business indeed." – Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
The rest of the school day passed rather quickly, Hermione slipping easily back into the rhythm of life at Hogwarts. This was what she enjoyed, the timetables and the books, the learning and the notes. It was vastly different to the lack of rigid routine they had had while on their hunt for Horcruxes, however, and while Hermione enjoyed the scheduled day, both Harry and Ron, despite only doing five N.E.W.T. classes in total as compared to Hermione's ten, complained throughout dinner. Both had found it difficult to concentrate during Potions and Herbology, their only classes that day. The situation hadn't been helped much by the fact that they had had rather large servings during lunch, leaving them in a food-induced dreamlike state during both classes.
When they finished all had finished their dinner, the boys went off to the Quidditch pitch with Ginny and Dean, and Hermione went off to meet Malfoy for their first study session. It being early still, she had considered walking with them to the pitch and watching them play for a while, but had decided against it in favour of being able to be earlier than Malfoy, which, she thought, would give her the upper hand.
When she arrived at the spot in the corner of the library that they had agreed upon, however, she was surprised again to see that she was not the first one there, even though she was still more than half an hour early.
Being beaten to class was one thing, but being beaten to a study session was another thing entirely. Hermione frowned in frustration.
Draco was sitting there, reading a copy of Introduction to the Muggle World: World War II, totally absorbed in the book. Hermione had never seen that particular title before, and was surprised that he was doing extra reading. He's not second in our year level for no reason, she supposed, so he must actually study quite hard on his own accord. It was strange, though, she had never really considered that he might have a work ethic. She had never really considered that he have any traits other than that of a bully and a coward, actually, until sixth year.
She slipped into the booth, sitting across from him. He did not acknowledge her presence, merely turning a page and continuing to read, and they sat in silence while she arranged her things. When she was done, she fiddled her fingers and waited for him to look up, but he did no such thing.
'Can I ask you something?' said Hermione, finally breaking the palpable silence. Draco lowered his book reluctantly and raised an eyebrow.
'Well, you just did.' Hermione rolled her eyes, ignoring the snide comment.
'Why ever did you ask to take up Muggle Studies this year?' she wondered curiously. 'No offence, but you've never really liked Muggles, never mind shown any bit of interest in their ways of life. What changed?' Draco regarded her for a moment, before marking his page with a slip of parchment and closing his book, giving her his full attention.
'Have you heard about the rising discrimination against those on the wrong side during the war?' Hermione nodded silently, wondering how this related to anything. The issues of discrimination had been widely covered in The Daily Prophet lately; wizards and witches who had been accused of being Death Eaters during the war, even if the accusations were false or if they had been pardoned, were finding it increasingly hard to get jobs or even walk into a public place without being treated with contempt. This had even been encouraged by one Rita Skeeter as a trendy method of retaliation against those on Voldemort's side, much to Hermione's disgust.
'Well, I figured that if being accepted in the wizarding world might prove impossible, then I'd better have a good back-up plan.' Draco continued, shrugging impassively, his face a mask. Hermione's eyebrows shot up towards the ceiling, not believing her ears.
'Really?!' she exclaimed loudly in absolute surprise. 'You're thinking about living as a Muggle?' She was immediately hushed by both the ex-Death Eater and Madam Pince, who had been glaring at the two students throughout most of their whispered conversation.
'Well, it's not as if I have many options anymore!' he hissed defensively. 'I lost everything in the war – the family fortune, which was earned honestly, I'll have you know, was taken by the Ministry, and the Malfoy name went from being revered to something that the cat dragged in, a taboo even! I – '
His voice cracked and he broke off, staring resolutely in the opposite direction, and she sat silently, stunned by his emotional outburst. He was usually so calm, so careful, but now his mask had slipped and the vulnerability underneath could be seen plainly. Hermione pretended not to notice a tear slowly tracking down the side of his face, and she pretended not to notice as he brushed it away roughly and took a deep breath.
'We'd better begin studying,' she said finally, changing the topic after a pregnant pause. 'Shall we start by going over the coursework?' Draco straightened, steeling himself, and turned back towards her, mask securely back in its place.
'Yes, let's do that.'
They both took out the handout which Professor Hope had given to them earlier, and began to read it over. As she had said in class, the course was split into theory and practical application. Theory included an assortment of topics, all coming back to the overarching investigation of how Muggles cope without magic, split into the categories of electricity, communication, transportation, entertainment, and daily life. Practical elements would be taught with each theory section, and practical assessments would consist of putting what had been learnt in class to the test, either in class tasks or in real Muggle situations on class excursions.
'Rocket ships and submarines are covered under the topic of transportation,' noted Hermione aloud, giggling slightly. 'How amusing!' Draco shot her a confused look, the terms clearly entirely foreign to him. She bit her lip and tried to explain.
'Well,' she said hesitantly, 'it's funny because neither are really used very often by normal Muggles at all. Rockets bring people into space, and submarines are for underwater travel.' However, Draco was clearly becoming even more confused, so she hurriedly changed her approach. 'But never mind, you'll learn more about that when we get there. Let's cover electricity tonight?' Draco sighed, feeling a mixture of relief that they were returning to vaguely familiar territory and frustration at his lack of knowledge.
'Alright.' Hermione leaned over to compare Draco's notes, which were rather thorough, to her own. Finding that he had not fully grasped the concept of the different ways in which a circuit could be arranged, she explained it to him to the best of her ability, and was pleased to find that he caught on very quickly.
Soon relatively relaxed and with a sense of harmony between them, the two students decided to collaborate, and began to compile notes on the first topic. Draco took on the role of a scribe, writing everything down in his neat, slanting cursive, with Hermione adding interesting and relevant facts as they progressed. Draco was far more tolerable than Hermione had anticipated, actually, and she found herself slowly but surely becoming comfortable in his presence and enjoying his company over the course of the night.
Time flew by as they worked, and by the time the library closed and they were told by a fairly annoyed Madam Pince that they were soon going to be out past curfew, they had finished their notes on the topic. By the end of the session, they were no longer sitting up frigidly and regarding each other with suspicion. Draco had even smiled at one of her puns about how the lack of understanding about electricity in the wizarding world was shocking, and he replied by saying that he could not understand watt had prompted her to make such a terrible joke. It was the first time she had ever seen him smile, Hermione observed. Draco had a nice smile.
'You're not bad at Muggle Studies,' Hermione assured him as they were packing up. 'For a pure-blood, you grasp the concepts very quickly.' Draco paused, unsure as to how he should respond to the compliment.
'Well,' he said slowly, slipping the last book off of the table and into his bag and meeting her eyes. 'You're actually a really great teacher. Really, thank you.' Hermione blushed and smiled, looking away shyly.
The walk back to the Eastern Tower was a quiet one, but unlike before, they walked by each other's side. When they reached the split stairs to the dormitories, they said goodnight and parted ways, and there was an undeniable sense of understanding and perhaps even hint of amity between them.
Something had changed between the two of them, thought Hermione as she got ready for bed that night. They may not be friends yet, but something had definitely changed.
A/N: How exciting, Draco and Hermione are finally getting along! Next week will be a rather hectic one for me (arghhh) but I'll try to update, regardless. Thank you again for your kind reviews, follows and favourites, they're so encouraging and I really appreciate the support! I can't believe that I've written more than 10K words for this, it's the most I've ever written for one plot!