Classes resumed with little fanfare. Divination progressed onto palmistry, which wasn't very interesting, in Hermione's opinion. There was little left to interpretation for it, and it seemed very arbitrary. Surely one's hand and fingerprints were a result of genetics rather than Fate?

Trelawney lost no time in informing Harry that he had the shortest lifeline she had ever seen, which made both Harry and Hermione roll their eyes.

"The lifeline doesn't even indicate how long you live," Hermione told him afterwards, pointing to a section of their book. "See? It's these other lines – rascettes, the bracelet ones on your wrist – that allegedly determine how long you live."

Harry started to grin. "So Trelawney doesn't even know her own field?"

"Trelawney will say whatever is the most dramatic that she thinks will get a reaction," Hermione said flatly. "Saying that you have a short lifeline sounds much worse than her taking the time to explain all of the minor lines, and then judging that you'll die tragically young."

Harry peered over the book, looking at his wrist.

"I've got four strong ones," he said. He laughed. "That means I'll live a long life."

"If this nonsense means anything at all," Hermione huffed.

Ancient Runes picked back up with combining runes or marking them as merkstaved to curse objects. Different combinations of Elder Futhark runes meant different things, and it was fascinating to see how different runes influenced each other. It was a lot more memorization, which Hermione wasn't thrilled with, but each time she learned more about runes, the more tools she was learning to use in ritual magic, so it was well worth it in the end, she thought.

Hermione fell back into the rhythm of school very easily. Arithmancy had moved on to the creation of 'if-then' statements within Arithmantic Sequences, which Hermione found fascinating. Professor Vector taught them how to frame binary statements and then use Arithmancy to discover the truth of them. It was a little like a computer program, to Hermione, but it was very neat, and she could see the applicability in more advanced Arithmancy – she would be able to string sequences together later in much larger, giant equations, where they would be much more powerful.

History class was unusual – Lockhart didn't seem inclined to teach them anything their first class back, instead demanding everyone get up and tell the class about the most dramatic thing they had done over the winter break. He was insistent, saying how the smallest choices made by individuals could eventually result in massive events in History, but Hermione secretly thought he was probably tired from the holiday and hadn't solidified his second-term lesson plans yet.

The most unusual thing about the term resuming, however, wasn't directly related to classes at all.

It was Malfoy.

It was very odd, having Draco Malfoy suddenly try to openly be her friend.

Well, maybe it wasn't that odd, for him to try, given he did genuinely seem to want to be her friend. What was odd was Draco seemed to presume he was now her friend immediately, and as such, he kept inserting himself into Hermione's discussions with her other friends at odd times, catching Hermione off-guard repeatedly.

A conversation with Blaise to help clear up his confusion about a term he came across in Muggle Studies ("It seems barbaric! They don't even see their mates?" "They're not literally blinded, Blaise. That's not what 'blind date' means—") became a sudden argument when Draco Malfoy popped up, offering his unwanted opinion on the topic ("Muggles can't even see anything magical, so they're practically already blind, aren't they?") and Hermione suddenly had to defend muggle culture to someone who clearly still thought of muggles as odd, useless humans scurrying around like rats. It was frustrating, time-consuming, and not at all what she had intended to be doing that day when she'd thought to take five minutes to help out Blaise — who'd smirked through her fight with Draco the whole time.

Hermione had rolled her eyes when Draco barged into a gossip session with Tracey, but he'd been aghast at the topic of discussion ("You're talking about witches' cycles? In public? Is this normal?" "It's not like this was a public conversation, Draco!") and had scurried off as quickly as he'd joined. Tracey had been suspicious of Draco, curious why he was trying to figure out why Millie had gone to the Hospital Wing, and Hermione had to explain to Tracey she thought he was just trying to make conversation without really knowing what conversation he was attempting to join.

He'd butted his way into a conversation she was having with Theo, as well as into a tutoring session during Charms for Goyle and Crabbe. It was as if his position as little pureblood princeling made him think he could just swan about and join any conversation he desired, because clearly, his opinion was valuable on everything.

It wasn't quite as much of a big deal when she was just talking to Blaise, or when she was gossiping with Tracey, but when Draco suddenly piped in on a conversation Hermione was having with some of her coven members during Care of Magical Creatures, as they gathered dry wood and leaves for Hagrid's fire full of fire lizards, it was decidedly odd — especially given she had been talking to Harry.

"It's a lot of chanting and focus, but that's mostly it," Hermione explained to her coven friends, testing a branch to see if it was damp. "We might need a blood replenisher at some point, but I doubt it. We'll mostly need to be ready with our wands. There's only one thing we still have to get."

"That doesn't seem so bad," Harry said. "What are you worried about, then?"

"Yeah, Hermione," Draco said suddenly, pushing in between Harry and Susan. "What do you need?"

Harry's mouth fell open. "…I beg your pardon?"

Hermione stared at Draco, incredulous, but he seemed insistent.

"We were just discussing an ingredient we need for a ritual," she said slowly, watching Draco's face, "that we're going to have some difficulty obtaining."

"Oh?" Draco said, intrigued. "What is it?"

Hermione watched Draco, curious to see his response. "Virgin blood."

Draco and Susan winced, but Harry flinched, turning a dark red.

"Err—does it need to be from all of us?" he asked, not looking at her. "Because if we only need it from one of us—I mean—I haven't—"

"Not that you're a virgin, Potter," Draco said, rolling his eyes. "Virgin blood."

Harry frowned. "What's that mean, then?"

"It means blood that's never been used in a ritual before," Hermione sighed. "Which is distinctly harder to get. As we've all used our blood in rituals before, all of us are out of the running as candidates."

"Ohhh…" Harry's face was red. "I thought—"

Hermione smirked. "We all know what you thought, Harry."

To Hermione's surprise, despite the topic at hand, Draco seemed determined to be helpful and contribute to the conversation.

"I… I think most of Slytherin's out, at least in our year," Draco said, wincing. "Maybe Davis?"

Hermione shook her head. "Tracey and Millie and Blaise are all out. And I doubt Daphne and Pansy made it this far without—"

"Yeah, you're right." Draco frowned. "That'll be tricky."

Harry was staring at Draco.

"What do you care?" he asked finally, blunt. "This is Hermione's ritual. You're not invited."

"Hey!" Draco protested. "I'm just offering my help and services!"

"Why?" Susan's eyes narrowed behind bright lenses. "Your help and services are not required, thanks."

Draco looked put out, but he shot Hermione a meaningful look as he walked away, going back to the other end of the field where Hagrid was hovering over the bonfire full of tiny fire lizards. Harry watched him go, before turning to Hermione incredulously.

"What was that?" he asked, astonished.

Hermione winced. "Malfoy's determined to be my friend, apparently."

Harry looked astonished, but Susan started to snicker.

"Does he just entirely lack social graces, then?" she asked. "Not realize how friendships tend to arise naturally?"

"Apparently not," Hermione snorted.

Harry was still watching Draco suspiciously. "Is Malfoy going to say anything? I know you said ritual magic isn't exactly the most accepted—"

"Malfoy already knows I do ritual magic on occasion," Hermione reassured him. "He's known for a while. It doesn't faze him. And if he wants to be my friend, I can't imagine he'd betray me over something as minor as this."

Harry was frowning. "I still don't like it."

"Regardless of Malfoy, we're going to have to get virgin blood from someone," Susan said, pursing her lips. "I don't think I could ask Hannah – she'd be uncomfortable, and I think she helped restore her family's safety wards over the summer, anyway."

"My other friends are out," Hermione said, wincing. "The only candidate I've got, really, is Cedric Diggory, which… I'd really rather not."

Susan winced with her, nodding, while Harry looked thoughtful.

"I don't think Ron or Neville has ever used blood in a ritual," he said, "or even done a ritual. I could ask them?"

"You don't think they'd object to ritual magic?" Susan asked, surprised, and Harry's lips quirked.

"Honestly, I don't think they know enough about it to have much of an opinion," he said. "Well, at least Ron doesn't. Neville might know more."

"It's worth a shot," Hermione encouraged. "With them, though, it's a matter of them trusting you with their blood without you telling them what the ritual's for."

"To avenge a blood debt?" Susan frowned. "What's wrong with that? That's not Dark – that's righting the scales of justice, practically—"

"They don't want me going after Sirius Black," Harry said plainly. "They'd probably think this is me doing just that."

"Oh." Susan paused. "Well, you are, in a way – just – doing it safely, magically. That's different than chasing after a madman in the hills."

Harry snorted. "That's not what they would think."

"Why don't you ask them?" Hermione said. "The worst they could do is say 'no', and even if they do say no, they're not likely to betray you and turn you in, right?"

"Right," Harry said, nodding decisively. "I'll ask them tonight." He paused. "Oh, did I tell you? I talked to Lupin – he's willing to teach us about the Patronus charm starting Thursday night, at eight, after dinner."

"Already?" Hermione asked, her face spreading into a wide grin. "Excellent!"

"I'm glad of it," Susan said fervently, nodding. "I don't like being vulnerable to those creatures one whit."

Hermione could not possibly agree more.