Disclaimer: all characters and the wider wizarding world belong to J. K. Rowling.

Theo and Hermione left the Arithmancy classroom chatting about the project they'd just been assigned. After finding out Theo's preferences didn't include Hermione, Ron had felt it was no longer necessary to accompany her to and from all classes, so she was able to talk to him with ease.

Hermione had bristled at the idea that her ex-boyfriend was only protecting her from a guy who might be interested in her as a woman.

They were chatting so animatedly, it wasn't until Theo moved to the left and Hermione to the right that she realised they had walked all the way to the Great Hall for dinner.

They looked awkwardly at one another for a moment before laughing.

"Hermione, care to join me?"

Hermione's eyes quickly flicked to the Gryffindor table where she could see Ron busily stuffing his face already, and Harry and Ginny were deep in conversation.

"If you're sure that's alright, Theo, I'd love to."

"Pansy will probably throw a fit again, but just ignore her - Merlin knows the rest of us do."

Theo made it clear to the table that he had invited Hermione and he successfully distracted her from Pansy's complaining by chatting about Arithmancy at length.

She was so distracted she didn't notice that someone had sat down next to her with a very full glass of pumpkin juice until she managed to knock it over all over them.

Mortified, she turned to face the grey eyes of the one Slytherin she could have done without pissing off.

"I'm so sorry Malfoy!" She yelped as she tried to pick up the goblet with the rest of his drink and assess the damage. Despite being a witch, Hermione Granger had grown up a muggle and her immediate instinct was to use her napkin to dab at the rather large wet patch on his jumper.

"Oh look, the mudblood is trying to clean up the muggle way!" Pansy screeched.

Hermione halted immediately. She could sense everyone stopping around her. Even those nearby on other tables were listening now. Theo moved to say something but stopped, sharing a look with Draco and Blaise.

Taking a moment to compose herself, Hermione withdrew her wand and, after a small nod from Malfoy, wordlessly cleaned up the mess and put her wand away again.

"Pansy, could you please pass the pumpkin juice so I can refill Malfoy's glass."

Pansy made a disgusted snort-like noise, before flicking her hair and turning away. Theo moved to defend her again, but Hermione stayed his hand.

Without touching her wand, she non-verbally accioed the pitcher to her and poured a glass of pumpkin juice for Malfoy, and then another for herself.

The silence had been noticeable before, but now it was deafening.

"Granger, did you just cast wandless, non-verbal magic?" asked Theo.

Hermione was blushing a little, but Theo actually sounded impressed.

"It was just an accio. I've been practicing wandless magic for a couple of years now, and I can cast most of them non-verbally, if I know them well enough."

Pansy got up and stormed out of the Great hall, followed, slowly and somewhat reluctantly, by Blaise. The rest of the table went back to their dinners, whilst the small group of seventh years smirked at her. Someone let out a low whistle.

"Ok, why do I feel like that whole thing was a test?" Hermione mumbled, shaking her head.

Draco raised a perfect pale eyebrow at her.

"Brightest witch of your age, really Granger?" he drawled.

Hermione's face must have shown her confusion because Daphne took pity on her and reached across the table, offering her hand.

"Because it was, silly. Welcome to the Slytherin table, Granger."

Hermione shook the offered hand, which was followed up by a similar offer from Millicent and Tracey, and then Theo clapped her on the shoulder and picked up their conversation where they had left off. The only one who didn't directly congratulate her was Malfoy. He thanked her for the pumpkin juice and went back to his dessert, smirking all the time.


Hermione huffed under the weight of the advanced ancient runic text she was consulting. She had hoped to find the answer quickly, so she hadn't dragged the significant tome to a study desk. She propped the huge book on the shelf and rolled her shoulders. It was hopeless, the index itself was written in runes and she was too tired to keep this up. She dragged her bag and the book to the nearest table and dropped them both, causing a bang.

"For Merlin's sake!"

Hermione's head whipped round to the harsh whisper, about to apologise profusely for the unintentional disruption when grey eyes met brown.

"Oh, it's you."

The words were out of his mouth before his mind had even registered her presence fully. He cringed slightly.

"Yes, Malfoy, it's me," Hermione whispered back, anxious not to upset Madam Pince any more than she already had. "What of it?"

"I didn't mean it like that."

Hermione was about to retort when he held his hands up in surrender. It was such an unusual move from him she had to pause. She studied the man before her. He was surrounded by books; far too many for just one sitting - it was most probably the reason she hadn't noticed him before. It was mid-afternoon on Saturday, but he seemed to still be in his uniform. He had a faint sheen of sweat on his pale skin and his stubble was starting to show through. She'd never seen him so unkempt.

"How long have you been here, Malfoy?"

Draco shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"Prefects are allowed in the library after it closes, you know," he replied cagily. "I'm sure you've pulled enough all-nighters to recognise one."

She was about to defend herself when she saw his mouth turn up in a small smirk.

"Well, I-" she cleared her throat to cover her embarrassment and smiled. "That's a fair point."

They both returned to their books at opposite ends of the table. After a few minutes, her curiosity got the better of her.

"So how long have you been here, Malfoy? I don't remember seeing you at dinner."

"Often stare at the Slytherin table during dinner, do you, Granger?"

Hermione flushed a little at the insinuation, but after seven years of Ron and Harry she wasn't about to be put off by a single comment.

"No, but that hair of yours is quite the spectacle. Hard to miss, especially when you consider the way I was facing and the fact I was there reading before dinner and-"

"Alright, Granger!" He snapped, rubbing a hand over his tired face. "Merlin, let it go."

"So, when did you last eat?"

Grey eyes flashed as he calmly set down his quill and leaned back in his chair to stare at her.

"You literally can't help yourself, can you?"

Hermione sighed.

"Even when I get really involved in my research, Ron and Harry always come and drag me to meals or make sure the elves bring me something," she explained quietly. "I'm sorry, but unless someone's been sneaking you food then I feel duty bound to make sure you're ok."

"Duty bound?" He scoffed. "Don't worry yourself, Head Girl. I've had worse."

"I'm not duty bound as Head Girl you idiot," she hissed. "I'm duty bound as a human being!"

She faltered for a moment, his words sinking in and the memories bubbling to the surface.

"And we've all had worse. Doesn't mean you aren't hungry."

Standing, she straightened her jumper and jeans and waited for him.

"Well?"

He gestured to his books, spread in messy piles all around him.

"I'm not exactly ready to go anywhere, am I?"

Hermione drew her wand and pretended not to notice the slight flinch it garnered. She wordlessly cast the stasis spell she often used when she needed to return to research after dinner and resumed her previous stance, which she sincerely hoped portrayed her impatience.

"It's a stasis spell - Madam Pince lets me use it when I need to leave research half-completed. She's not a fan of the mess but she has a soft spot for me so I can get away with it. Nobody will be able to disturb the books until we get back."

Draco tried to ignore the lump in his throat when she said 'we'. It had been a while since anyone had cared like that. He shook his head and reminded himself of his mother's words to focus his mind - she was stopping him from drowning, he wanted to be rich in honesty and she was a good means to an end.

"Alright, Granger, I give in. But dinner isn't for a few hours-"

"Oh, that doesn't matter, Malfoy. Come on!"

The walk down to the kitchens wasn't a particularly long one and being a relatively warm October weekend, the corridors were empty. The sight of Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger walking together did still cause a few students to stop and stare, including an unfortunate incident with a young Gryffindor who walked into a wall.

On reaching the portrait, Hermione turned to Malfoy and smirked, before tickling the pear and gaining access to the kitchens beyond.

"Winky!"

A small house elf appeared before her with a pop. He was dressed in a smart-looking tablecloth.

"Miss Hermione!" he exclaimed. "Winky is by the fire. She overindulged again, Miss. Please don't give me clothes, Miss."

"That's alright, Winston. I have no hats with me today," she added, ignoring Malfoy's snickering. "Thank you for telling me where she is."

Hermione led Malfoy to the far end of the room and stopped just in front of the large fireplace. In front of the fire was a small bundle of blankets and Hermione approached and knelt beside them. Unwrapping them carefully she revealed a rather dishevelled looking she-elf.

Winky slowly opened her big eyes at the intrusion. She had been getting better since the battle, and the other elves were helping, but she'd had just a little too much butterbeer the night before and now someone was trying to rouse her before dinner. Looking up she saw a familiar smiling face and a boy she didn't know, but with those features she could hardly fail to recognise - all house elves knew of the Malfoys since Dobby.

"Miss Hermione! Winky is deeply sorry, Miss Hermione, Winky just had a few sips last night, to stop the night terrors, Winky doesn't know how it happened, Miss, she will make sure it does not happen again-"

"Relax, Winky. You're allowed to let loose. I didn't come here to check up on you," Hermione smiled at the little elf. "I actually came because I need your help, well, we need your help, really."

Winky eyed the pointy faced blond wizard before her. She could remember the horror stories Dobby would tell of the Malfoys, but this boy stood, impassive but quiet behind Miss Hermione. She had brought him to the kitchens so he couldn't be all bad. As Winky looked closer she noticed the bags under his eyes, the stubble, and the fact that he was still in robes on a weekend.

He was a wizard in need of caring for, and that was something she could do.

"And how can Winky serve Miss Hermione and the young Malfoy?"

Hermione faltered and her eyes flicked from the small she-elf to the stony-faced man behind her. She didn't think the Crouch family had much to do with the Malfoys, but the old houses had links she would never understand. She was trying to riddle it out when Malfoy interrupted her thoughts.

"I'm famished, Winky, is it?" She nodded. "I missed at least two meals and Miss Granger here has decided I need rescuing, so some food - whatever you have going is fine - and some pumpkin juice. That will probably satisfy her - and me."

Winky beamed at the instruction and got to work, shouting over her shoulder that they were not to worry, the young Malfoy would be well fed in no time.

Hermione rose from the floor and stared at Malfoy.

"What, Granger? Speechless again?"

"I, it's just-" she spluttered. "Winky hasn't been the same for a long time, but you give her an order, without so much as a 'by your leave' and she jumps up to satisfy it."

Draco smirked.

"I know you tried to free all the elves back in, what was it, third year? But most elves don't want to be freed. You may disagree with it, but I have lived with elves a bit longer than you have, so I think I know them better. Winky needs orders - she needs a purpose. Elves that aren't given orders sometimes think it's their fault. They can get pretty low."

Hermione just stared as he made himself comfortable at one of the tables closest to the fire. They made small talk until his food arrived; how he was finding the Arithmancy homework, what possessed him to take Divination, and then when his food arrived, they discussed the virtues of elvish cooking.

Once he'd had his fill and Hermione had picked at a cauldron cake and a glass of pumpkin juice Winky had all but insisted she have, they made their goodbyes to the elves and headed back to the library.

"So how did you find the entrance to the kitchens?"

"Oh, um," Hermione blushed. "It was when I was trying to free all the house elves. I think a lot of Hufflepuffs know where it is, as it's so close to their dorms. Do none of the Slytherins sneak food then?"

"Not that I'm aware." Noticing her flushed face, he continued. "Granger, did we just break the rules?"

"Um, well, yes, technically. But you were hungry so I think I could probably talk the headmistress round if I needed to."

"Well I never - Hermione Granger, rule breaker. Who would have thought?"

She guffawed in a very unladylike manner.

"We broke into a bank, you don't think I always follow the rules, do you?"

At Draco's raised eyebrow she blushed even further, and returned to her work, her hands pinning her hair back as it tried desperately to escape a bun held together with two quills.

He suddenly had the urge to pull out those quills to see if her hair was still as crazy and unmanageable as it always was. He made a note to punch Theo hard in the arm tonight to pay him back for putting these ideas in his head.