Chapter Four

There was a knock on Draco's dormitory door before a silent figure, not bothering to wait for an answer, slipped in. It was Silas surely coming to see if Draco was okay. He had a shoelace in his hand and was silently tying knots with expertise before pulling them apart and starting over. Draco felt grateful for his friend, that he would come to check on him even when he was so uncomfortable. He sat up to allow room for his friend to sit on his bed. They sat in comfortable silence for a while. That was one of the best things about Silas, his ability to allow silence. Most people would feel the need to say something, provide advice or consolation. Silas, however, understood the importance of supporting someone simply by being in their presence.

"So erm, how'd you find out? Did someone get a humiliating picture of the Dark Lord's underling for the Daily Prophet?" Draco's voice was bitter, more so than he meant it to be. He knew he shouldn't take it out on one of the only people who would willingly associate with him, but he couldn't help the hurt he felt knowing that his prospects would only become worse after that incident.

"Hermione." Silas replied simply. He hadn't looked up from his knots once since sitting on the bed. His face seemed tranquil in comparison to the movement of his hands.

"That's just peachy. Sent you to make sure I hadn't offed myself, did she?"

"Wanted to know if you were okay."

This had not been the response Draco had been expecting. His ears turned pink as he thought about Hermione Granger concerned about his well being. He imagined her face, her eyebrows scrunched together leaving a line right between them, maybe even tears in her eyes. Then she would wrap her arms around his neck, forcing his head into her shoulders, allowing for his own arms to wrap around her waist. Then she would whisper something in his ear about how everything would be okay. Shaking his head to clear the image from his mind, Draco searched the face of his friend. Their eyes met briefly before Silas redirected his attention to his knots again.

"Are you?" Silas' voice came out barely above a whisper as the shoelace whirled faster in his hands, "Okay?"

Touched by his concern, Draco allowed his body to relax a bit, letting the tension slip from his limbs before responding.

"I'm okay mate, thanks for asking." Silas didn't seem totally convinced. "It's not like I don't deserve this. I was a big reason why most of them will be traumatized for life. People are dead because of me. Besides, I've done just about as much back in my day. I can deal with a bit of humiliation." The smirk didn't quite meet his eyes, and he could feel Silas' defiance to his words. His eyes burned angrily for a split second.

"Don't let Leanne hear you say that. You'd never hear the end of it."

Draco couldn't hold back the laugh that sprung from his stomach. It was true. If Leanne ever heard him say anything degrading about himself, she would never shut up about how he was being mean to her friend and she wouldn't allow it. It had been an almost constant comment the first month of their friendship. His laughing seemed to ease Silas' tension, which allowed them to sink back into their comfortable silence. Draco did feel better. At least he knew two people who would stick up for him.

Three now, he mused. Hermione continued to surprise him. Forgiving him privately and defending him publicly were two entirely different things. Draco wondered how it was possible that she was still capable of surprising him. The thought made him smile. He promised himself that from then on, he'd work as hard as he could to surprise her too.

After the students had been thoroughly chastised, it seemed that the students of Hogwarts had stopped bullying Draco. In a matter of a couple days they had calmed down exponentially. There was still the occasional bump to the shoulder or name calling under their breath, but for the most part they just ignored him. The old Draco would have hated being ignored more than anything in the world. His ego would have preferred the bullying, but the new Draco preferred to be ostracized. As long as he had Silas and Leanne he would be okay.

On a particularly beautiful October afternoon, Draco was sitting with Leanne in one of the greenhouses while she told him all about a project she was working on in Herbology. The warm sun heated up his skin enough for him to roll up his uniform sleeves and open his shirt slightly. He had his eyes closed, but made sure to grunt in approval every once in a while to assure Leanne he was still listening, not that she would mind either way. The girl needed no audience to talk a mile a minute.

"The idea is that if you wear the oil that I've taken from the bark of a Wiggentree like you would a perfume, it will have a similar effect to touching the bark. Of course, it wouldn't protect you quite as well as the real deal, but dark creatures would still have a run for the money if they get too close to you. The only problem is I haven't quite figured out how to prolong its effects. Right now I find its effectiveness only lasts for a minute, but I truly believe with a little bit more effort I can make it last a much longer time!"

Draco had opened his eyes to watch her swing her arms around with excitement. She had been working on her theory since the summer, and had apparently used Silas as an unwilling guinea pig a couple times. She had agreed, after a particularly sobering lecture from Mrs Greene on the importance of consent, to acquire willing participants in her study. Ginny and Silas had already refused, so Leanne was on a mission to convince Draco.

"You know" he said, "instead of trying to convince me, someone with both a brain and a will to live, why don't you try asking the first years for some help. There's always one brat or another willing to participate in anything. Even the Weasels were able to persuade them to test their products."

A mischievous light flashed behind Leanne's eyes at the idea. Draco shut his eyes again, letting his thoughts drift as Leanne began to list possible victims-erm- subjects to recruit. He wondered what Hermione was up to at the moment. Surely she would be busy with one task or another as Head Girl. She had had to cancel their tutoring session the week before for the same reason. He tried not to be too upset with her, but the next day he had ignored her when she passed him in the hallway. As soon as he was in his class, he felt horrid for his rude behavior, but the moment had already passed and could not be undone. He tried to find her to apologize the same day, but was unsuccessful. Instead he opted for having Leanne pass on an apology note. He could only hope it was received well. He guessed he would find out that night, as she had not canceled this week's tutoring session. Still, the idea of having made her angry made Draco nervous for their time together.

After another hour in the greenhouse, Draco decided to go to the West Tower so he could send an owl to his mother before his lesson. When passing by Hagrid's hut he saw something that surprised him. Through the window, he could see Harry, Ron, and Hermione, sipping tea and laughing. The scene made Draco tense. He wasn't surprised that the trio would come to visit Hagrid, they had done so quite a lot when they were all in school. However, seeing Ron with his arm wrapped around Hermione's shoulder left a sour taste in his mouth. He watched as Hermione threw her head back laughing at something Harry had said. They were clearly happy, now that all of them were back together. The golden trio, lighting up any room they were in with the power of friendship. How disgusting.

Draco was so focused on what was going on within the hut, he almost hadn't realized Ginny coming down the path from Hogwarts. He had just enough time to hide in the shadow of the forest before she passed where he had been watching. She continued down, only taking a moment to stop at the door to collect Harry before they continued on the path towards the lake. The image of the two holding hands, talking lovingly to each other made Draco want to gag with annoyance. Ron and Hermione left too, opting to turn the other way, towards the forest. Though he tried his hardest to remember he was a good person now, Draco couldn't help but to follow them.

Before they were even in the forest, Ron whirled Hermione around pushing her against a tree, and connecting their lips in a forceful kiss. Draco could feel Ron's hunger even from where hid, but before he could even begin to feel anger, Hermione had pushed him off.

"What the bloody hell Ron?! We're not alone for more than a minute and you want a snog? You haven't even asked me how I've been!" Hermione was clearly pissed, making Draco feel slightly pleased. She crossed her arms defensively in front of her.

"What do you mean 'Mione? I asked you how you were!"

"No! Harry asked me how I was. I asked you how you were. You never asked me anything! Honestly Ronald, it's like you don't even care!"

Ron had seemed to realize his mistake. He pulled her into his arms, kissing her playfully all around her face, whispering something that Draco couldn't hear. A smile slowly began to edge the frown off of her face before she finally laughed, giving into his antics. It was clear that he was buttering her up now, and she seemed to be easily letting go of her anger. Draco couldn't stand to watch anymore, so instead, careful not to be seen, he slipped off, back in the direction of Hogwarts. He wasn't sure if he was angry, or just depressed. One thing was for sure; he was no longer excited for the night's tutoring session.