"Nothing!" Hermione exclaimed. Draco startled awake as the Gryffindor dropped a pile of books onto the little table they had been frequenting over past few weeks. There had been a worrying lack of Sensieve, and the Memoria Luxareo stubbornly refused to open, so Hermione had roped him into the next best thing, research. He'd been convinced some time ago that he'd maxed out on the average amount of research any one person could ever manage in a lifetime, but he'd been not so pleasantly surprised to find that he'd been wrong.
The extortionate amount of reading and late nights was taking its toll and, coupled with the constant effort of dodging an inquisitive Pansy, he found himself teetering on the edge of comatose. Any classes that he'd actually made it to were spent unconscious until his friends decided to elbow him back into the real world. Granger, annoyingly, had remained unnervingly awake, channeling energy from some unknown source, and managing to zip around as if she didn't need sleep. Infuriatingly the skill seemed to come with the belief that everyone possessed such power and any evidence of him flagging had been met with a slap across the back of the head. He'd beaten through a good proportion of the Easter holidays, her wittering on about how important it was that they maintain their efforts.
"Were you sleeping?" Hermione scoffed, taking in his unkempt appearance and the glazed look he was giving her.
"If I said no, would you believe me?" He mumbled, using his arms as a pillow, wincing when Hermione smacked the back of his head, "Ow what was that for?"
"You need to wake up, this is important." Draco didn't move.
"Just let me sleep, Granger, just for a moment," He mumbled, his eyes falling shut.
"Wake up, Malfoy." Hermione punctuated her words with another slap across his head.
"Ow, ow, ow, okay, calm down. What is so important? As far as I can see you've found nothing, I've found nothing, so according to my calculations..." Draco rubbed the back of his head slowly, "...forgive me, I may be a little rusty due to sleep deprivation, but that equates to a grand total of absolutely nothing." Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Exactly," Hermione stated, staring at him meaningfully.
"Alright, I'm clearly missing something.'"
"Well duh, you're missing everything."
"Duh, Granger? Really? I'm semi-conscious and even I know that's just - there's a word," Draco clicked his fingers, giving up after a moment, with a sigh "insert witty comment here," Malfoy added lazily, covering his mouth as he yawned.
"Don't you see it?"
"See what?"
"It's really quite simple," Hermione sniffed, flicking through the book in front of her with a knowing smirk.
"Fine Granger, astound me."
"Well think about it, we research Arden, hardly anything, the same goes for Tharin and the Sensieve, and pretty much anything from around that time. Once is pure coincidence or bad record-keeping, but this, it's almost as if the people never existed." Draco shrugged, too exhausted to contemplate what it could actually mean.
"Right, vague books, no information, blah de blah de blah, your point is?"
"Don't you see what this means?" Hermione shuffled forward in her chair, her eyes bright with excitement. Draco blinked tiredly. "It means that all these things, all these people, had to have been deliberately forgotten for some reason or another."
"So, what? Witches and wizards, from all over, decided to have amnesia en-mass? Oh yeah, sounds plausible," Draco ground out drily.
"There's always obliviate,' Hermione said with a grin.
"To use a spell like that, on that scale - that's a big deal Granger, it would have to take something massive, something like…"
"Like witches and wizards going into hiding?" Hermione suggested, raising her eyebrow and smirking smugly.
"Okay, say that you're right, that they did just obliviate every witch and wizard. What about all the magical objects, you know the several lifetimes' worth of shit? Where would you hide that?"
Hermione slouched back into her seat, "I hadn't thought of that."
"Do my ears deceive me? Did I actually think of something swot extraordinaire didn't? This could just be the end of life as we know it."
"Laugh it up Malfoy."
"I will, thank you," he chuckled, sobering when he noticed the slim book that sat apart from the others. "What's this?" Hermione looked up and immediately moved to snatch it out of his hands. "Woah." He quickly pulled it out of reach and read the title down the length of his nose. "Speculandi; The Magical Art of Eavesdropping, by Jogaeous Spudge.. Got some snooping planned?"
He casually opened the small book, leafing through the thin pages. Speculandi was a tricky spell to perform. Though it allowed the caster to blend almost seamlessly into their surroundings, it required them to keep perfectly still. His father had told him of a rather amusing occasion when a wizard had been caught, mid-snoop, during a sensitive council meeting due to an itchy nose.
"It's - It's none of your business," Hermione sniffed.
"Going to spy on unsuspecting prefects as they bathe? Or maybe you want to follow me around, to find out how I make myself so devilishly good-looking?" He grinned, pressing his open palm against his chest dramatically.
"As if," Hermione snorted, "If you must know, it's to test a theory I have. Well, sort of a theory, more like a suspicion."
"And this suspicion would be?" Draco prodded, placing the book down on the desk in front of them and raising one blonde eyebrow.
"Just a suspicion, centred around a rather nosy reporter who likes to make up stories." Draco started laughing.
"Are you kidding me? You're going after Skeeter, aren't you? What, you think she's somehow found a way to listen in on all your private conversations?" Hermione eyes blazed.
"Yes, I do. Her articles have detailed information that just - that no one could have heard, and then she twists it in the most horrid way." Draco sighed, leaning back in his chair.
"So, she stretches the truth a little, what reporter doesn't?"
"Stretches the truth?" Hermione shrieked in disbelief, "stretching the truth suggests that there is some modicum of reality involved. What Skeeter does is - is- is not right, people are getting hurt because of her fantasies."
"Don't you think that we've got enough to worry about without adding a flamboyantly dressed reporter into the mix?" Draco asked drily, gesturing to the full table in front of them.
"She's hurt too many people I care about," Hermione muttered, thinking of the way recent articles had hurt both Harry and Hagrid. The article about herself she could cope with, being the frequent victim of bullies had given her a thicker skin than most, but people hurting her friends she just couldn't abide.
"Perhaps they had it coming," Draco said with a shrug, lifting himself out of his chair, getting out of the blast radius before the Gryffindor could explode at his words.
"You would say that - you practically wrote the article about Hagrid."
"The man is a buffoon, he has no concept of soap, let alone the nuances of teaching."
"You take that back," she hissed, standing up and pointing a finger at him, Draco stared at it, then stared at her face, wondering how one person could be so infuriating and so attractive all at once.
"Why should I? It's the truth. The half-giant may have some qualities under all that hair and general dirt, but personal hygiene and good teaching practice don't make the list."
"I don't expect you to understand, Malfoy. You don't have any concept of people thinking badly of you," She scoffed, busying herself with clearing the table.
"Wow if that's a little taste of Gryffindor humour no wonder you guys are a stuck-up bunch." Hermione's head whipped round to look at him, a small frown creasing her forehead, "means it's not funny, Granger."
"I know what it means, Malfoy, I was being deadly serious. You're a pureblood from a renowned pureblood family, with connections and all that crap you like to bang on about so much. You have no idea what it's like to have everyone against you." Draco laughed bitterly.
"And I suppose you're going to tell me that you do?"
"You can't be that dense. Have we forgotten about my little blood issue?"
"Have we forgotten about my little Slytherin issue?"
"I don't –"
"Here come the Gryffindors, snotty, heroic, shysters, who's goodness glimmers in their freshly groomed mains, sn shining out their furry lion arses."
"Bitter much?"
"Truth much? You might not think it, but the rest of the wizarding world certainly does."
"Now you're just being dramatic."
"Am I? Really? Let's think about this for a moment, shall we? Whose house is associated with goodness, nerve, save-the-frigging-day-la-de-da-and-all-that-stupid-crap heroism? Give you three guesses," Draco said sarcastically, sitting back down and looking up at Hermione with a satisfied smirk. She ground her teeth together, looking away from the Slytherin in annoyance. "I'll take your silence as Gryffindor, and you would be correct. 10 points to Gryffindor, because you guys can't get enough of those."
"Is there a point to this Malfoy? As much as I enjoy your petty monologues, they do get tiring after the first hour."
"Never fear, Gryffindor Princess, there is a point," Draco answered, making himself comfy on the wooden chair again, tapping the table with one long finger as he continued, "May I draw your attention, to the grand ole qualities of the Slytherin house, would you happen to know what they are?' Hermione let out a long sigh, but answered him, pointing at her fingers as she listed each one.
"Resourcefulness, cunning, ambition, self-preservation, want me to carry on?" She muttered. Draco waved a hand and smiled.
"You see my point Granger? With Gryffindors, you're looking at your own little collection of soon-to-be heroes. Take a peek at the Slytherins? Well, it's almost like Hogwarts just acquired its own little band of soon-to-be evil masterminds and or cronies."
"There are plenty of good Slytherins."
"Name one." She hated the way he lazily crossed his arms.
"Mina." Hermione allowed herself a small smile of satisfaction as Draco faltered a little.
"So what? Sensieve Witch was a Slytherin, she did good things. I think you'd find Potty and Weasel and various annoyances of that ilk would call her a throwback."
"Okay fine, there are certain - preconceptions towards Slytherins, but you don't help yourselves you know? You and Pansy saying awful things in the Daily Prophet, and how you were at the Quidditch World Cup, not to mention every little mean thing you and your friends have said to Me, Harry and Ron over the years."
"You done, Granger?" Draco huffed, heaving himself back out his chair, to brush past Hermione.
"No, I am not, if you're going to complain, then at least listen to the argument. You could try to be nice, try to change the way people look at you, the way people think of you."
"And what good would it do Granger?" Draco opened his arms out and shrugged, 'You really think that me being nice will change anything?"
"I don't know, it's a start, I guess. Why does any of this bother you anyway? I thought that's what you wanted, people to fear you, to respect you. I thought that's the sort of crap you thrived on."
"And who told you that?" Draco muttered, and Hermione stuttered, unable to find an answer. Now that she stopped and thought about it, she realised that it had never been explicitly said, not in so many words. But he'd hinted at it, no doubt; what with his general behaviour and throwing his pureblood weight around.
"It - it was implied." Draco laughed at her statement, running his long fingers through his blonder hair, mussing it up in the way that she had grown to like.
"Face it, Granger, everything about us 'evil' Slytherins is pretty much determined by a moth-eaten old hat, that makes up crappy songs to beguile us with every year, and the rest of you just kind of go along with it." Hermione spluttered over her answer, shaking her head to dislodge some of the sense Draco was making. She'd never thought of it that way, never even contemplated that Slytherins wanted to be anything but what they were, mean bullies.
"But you- you say such mean things," Hermione whispered, and in the silence that followed she wondered whether she had actually uttered anything at all.
"Well, if everyone is going to think you're an arse, then you may as well be one," He muttered with a shrug, "and you idiots make it so easy." Draco chuckled to himself.
"But if you stopped being mean, stopped being horrible and actually tried to make friends with people-"
"Oh yeah, because then everyone would love me, right? I'm sorry but, Potty made it perfectly clear what his thoughts of 'my sort' were back in first year, I doubt anyone is going to think any differently to the boy wonder."
Hermione's eyes widened as she stared at the blonde, wondering if everything he had ever done or said to her had purely been down to Harry Potter hurting his feelings all those years ago.
"That's what this is about? You know that's really immature right?"
"Almost as immature as planning to snoop on a professional because she said some mean things about your friends."
"You're a git."
"Call it payback for ruining my easter."
"Ruining? This research is important, besides -" she stomped over to her bag, rifling through its contents angrily, after a few moments she made her way bag over to him, opening her palms and glaring at him, "I actually made this for you as way of an apology. Not sure you deserve it now."
Held in her hands was an egg. It wrapped in rich emerald green paper, silver diamonds creating a band around its centre.
"What's this?"
"I would have thought you'd know an egg when you saw one."
"But what's it for?"
"You were complaining about losing your easter, this was to make up for that. You don't want it, it's no skin off my nose," she shrugged, turning away from him, pausing when she felt his hand on her shoulder, warm and humming with magic.
"Woah, slow down there. I was just curious, in case it was some sort of trap."
"I'm a Gryffindor, remember. Traps are far too cunning for the likes of me." Though she still sounded pissed, most of her anger had melted away, leaving her feeling annoyingly self-conscious. She wasn't about to pretend that it made any sense, but she wanted Draco to like his gift, in spite of the fact that only moments before she'd been ready to hex him into oblivion.
Clearing his throat, Draco hesitantly reached out, plucking the egg from her palm and inspecting it.
"Slytherin colours, nice."
"Yes well, in light of our recent conversation, it seems a bit thoughtless." Draco couldn't believe it but he detected hurt in her voice, and the way she looked at him, he could have sworn she looked hopeful.
"No harm done, as far as colours go, silver and green is the way to go, it's the colour of winners." He struggled not to glow happiness when he saw her fighting back a smile.
"Just open it."
"Aye aye, captain," He slowly peeled away the paper, hating that he had to wreck something that she'd clearly taken time over. The egg was chocolate and small writing had been engraved around the top. "Stroke me? Really?" Draco spluttered, grinning as Hermione blushed a deep red and bristled.
"Will you just do as it says and stop being an immature prat?"
"Well okay, but for the record I like to be wined and dined first before I'm dishing out these sort of favours."
"That's it, I'm taking it back."
"Now come on, Granger. That's not very giving," Draco whined, lifting the egg out of her reach, "look I'll do it, I'll do it."
Holding back his laughter, Draco ran his finger along the top of the egg, watching with wonder as it began to shake. Suddenly the surface cracked, little crumbs of chocolate falling into his open palm. Another crack opened up and a large piece of the egg dislodged, falling onto the floor. Draco's eyes widened as he looked straight into the eyes of a tiny unicorn, who's moody expression spookily matched the Gryffindors. It dragged its horn across the rest of the egg, obliterating it in a few short seconds, and stood on Draco's palm, stomping its hooves, and shaking its body off to dislodge any extra cocoa that had managed to stick to its fur.
"I couldn't resist, what with your fetish for Unicorns," Hermione muttered quietly, feeling nervous, as the Slytherin was still just staring open-mouthed at the tiny creature. "It is just an enchantment, so you can just get rid of it." The unicorn didn't seem to like Hermione's comment and whinnied adorably, stomping its hooves aggressively.
The constant research had made it easier to be in her company without the idiotic thoughts about kissing her creeping into his mind. But every now and again she would bring it all into heart-stopping reality and he would struggle for breath. Now, as she looked up at him expectantly and nervously, he could hear the thrum of his heart loud in his ears, as if the sound originated outside of his body. He cleared his throat, ignoring the urge to reach across the distance between them, run his finger along her cheeks so endearingly dusted with pink.
"I- I - How did you do it?"
"Oh, it's just something I read in a book, thought I would give it a go."
'You never cease to amaze me," Draco breathed, pausing when he realised what he'd let slip, a blush creeping onto his cheeks, "I mean, well this - this is pretty impressive, I guess." The unicorn in his palm didn't seem to appreciate the lack of attention and so nipped Draco's finger.
"Ow." The unicorn's tail twitched smugly.
"Oh yeah, he'll do that, he's a little bit feisty. Apparently, the creatures take on the emotions of those that make it, and well, I was pretty angry at the time, you know with the whole Skeeter thing." Draco nodded.
"Aren't unicorns pretty adverse to males?" He questioned, drawing the creature closer to his face and inspecting it. As if sensing the attention in turned its back to Draco and revealed its backside.
"Charming sod, isn't he?"
"He's...different. I did the enchantment so that it would only look like a unicorn, I didn't bother with the traits, it would have taken forever," she muttered, amused.
"Well, er…" Draco scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "I didn't get you anything." She grinned, waving a hand in front of her face.
'Don't worry about it, I was making some for Ron and Harry, and I just thought - anyway I best get to bed." She quickly began gathering up her things, making a hasty exit. Draco watched her go, noticing she was a deeper shade of red than normal. He smiled, looking down at the animal snuffling at his palm. Cautiously he lifted a finger and stroked its back, after a moment of serious consideration the Unicorn seemed to reach the decision that Draco paying him attention wasn't the worst idea and allowed him to carry on.
He wondered if this meant that they were friends now. She had made matching eggs for Harry and Ron, and they were her best friends, the three of them constantly attached at the hip.
"I'm an idiot," Draco muttered, shaking his head, knowing that being friends with Granger was probably the worst idea he'd ever had. The unicorn snorted in what seemed like agreement, and Draco grinned.
"Best keep you out of the way of Pansy, she is going to love you," He muttered, laughing when the Unicorn's eyes bulged a little in fright.