Chapter 8

Later that day after Transfiguration class came to an end Malfoy bid Granger farewell with a simple, "See you later." During his break he did his usual studying and dinner went along without anything unfortunate happening. Things really were boring without Potter around to mess everything up.

Later that night while getting ready for bed he decided to stay awake and read up on some spells. In particular he was researching for the one Potter used that nearly killed him. Snape had saved his life that day in the bathroom with a counter curse. He had been too preoccupied until now to research where on earth Potter had learned such a deathly curse.

He thought on Granger's words, 'he got that information and more from Professor Snape's old textbook…' Did Snape make that spell? This idea of creating a spell was foreign to him. Of course all spells were created at some point. He just didn't think about linguistics of making a spell until now.

Most wizards who tried to create new potions or spells on their own didn't live to tell the tale. Take Luna Lovegood's mum. She was a brilliant Alchemist but all it took was one adventurous exploratory potion making and she died.

He kept that idea of asking about the spell tucked in the back of his mind to perhaps ask Granger about at a later time. If Potter confided in anyone it would probably be Granger. At 11:25 PM he stayed dressed in his silk black green pin striped pajama pants and matching button up, short sleeved, shirt.

Throwing on a nightwear robe of black coloring he headed down into the potions classroom. It wasn't exactly chilly enough to wear the robe. If anything it was pleasantly cool. He was self conscious of his faded Dark Mark. The image was distinct as ever. But it now appeared red in color (like a normal scar). Only when it was 'active' did it turn black. Since Voldemort was dead, he guessed it would never be active again. He waited for Granger to arrive, before he would knock upon the classroom door.

Hermione ran down the corridors. A little light reading before her rendezvous at the potions classroom had turned into a lot of light reading. She was finished with her homework and decided to try a romance novel by a author she had never heard of before. It got very interesting, very quickly. She had lost track of time and before she knew it, it was already 11:30. She grabbed her bag and rushed out of Gryffindor tower. She rounded the corner and slowed to a trot. "Sorry… I'm late," she huffed between gasps of air, "I hope I haven't kept you too long." She was still in her school uniform, since she thought that wearing pajamas outside of the dorms, especially to do school work, would have been improper. She noticed that Draco had the opposite notion. "What are you wearing?" She asked.

Draco was surprised to see Granger one minute passed 11:30pm obviously running to her destination. "Not long. Just one minute." He answered and raised his eyebrow at her when she asked what he was wearing.

"It's called a robe and sleep wear. I see you decided the uniform was more comfortable to wear at this late hour." He stated as he knocked on the classroom door. "Come in." Professor Flamel answered sitting at her desk. She too was in business casual attire that she usually wore for teaching, like Hermione in her uniform for learning.

'Alright, maybe sleepwear wasn't the best of ideas.' He thought to himself as he and Hermione approached the professor at their Potions station. "Welcome, I believe you two are competent enough to prep your ingredients. In 28 minutes time one of you will need to add the 15 ingredients one at a time while the other stirs. Once all ingredients are in you can switch out who stirs. For some reason if the stirring isn't done manually the potion doesn't work for the full amount of time. Call out if you need me. I'll be in the office with the door open keeping an eye and ear on you from afar." The professor said and departed.

"Alright, let's get to it then." He agreed and followed the instructions of the seven ingredient preparation duties Hermione had given him.

"Very well." Hermione responded. She starts working on the remaining ingredients. They work in relative silence, the only sounds are their utensils against the ingredients, the bubbling of the cauldron, an occasional mumble of vocalized thought. Hermione didn't particularly care. She was a bit tired and didn't feel like talking to the pajama clad bloke. This wasn't her ideal potions homework, but just as their professor had said, they were required to work as a team due to school rules. She wondered for a moment why such a rule would be necessary. But then remembered something she read in one of her romance novels about relations between teacher and student. She blushed at the thought and continued working.

They worked quietly until they both finished, with plenty of time to spare before they had to add the ingredients to the potion at midnight. "Ugh, finally. That's it on my end. How are you doing?" She asked, wiping sweat from her brow with her school robe sleeve.

"Just about done." He answered carefully reducing the heat of one of the liquid ingredients that needed to be warmed to a certain temperature then brought down to a cool before being added into the main potion. He checked the clock. "Ten minutes to spare. Not bad. I'll take the first fifteen minutes of stirring when it's time?" Draco offered, wiping his forehead carefully with the back of his left hand. His robe sleeve fell down and revealed his mark.

"Thank you, Malfoy. I'll look over the procedure to make sure…" That's when she spotted his mark on Draco's arm. She knew it was there, what it looked like, but she'd never actually seen it in the flesh, so to speak. It shouldn't have shocked her, but it was just odd seeing the brand- like scar on his arm. She couldn't help but stare. Not out of fear, more out of curiosity; Her eyes following the snake as it slithered out of the skull's mouth.

Draco didn't realize that his mark was showing just by the look in her eyes. Fear and or disgust were the immediate emotions that he saw in the eyes of those that had the opportunity to look upon it up close. The curiosity in her eyes caught his attention as he wiped his brow, and then dawned on him what it was she was staring at.

His other hand rose to lower his sleeve but he stopped himself. Taking care to slowly drop his arm so it was extended out so he too could look at it. "Awful isn't it? I've tried everything to be rid of it. It doesn't matter though. I'd still be branded even if the bloody mark wasn't upon my skin."

"Did…Did it hurt?" Hermione asked. She was a bit surprised by the way Draco reached. She wasn't sure exactly how she thought he should act. He seemed remorseful to her, but in the way a soldier would talk about a war wound, a missing limb, or a bullet wound.

Usually he recovered the mark as fast as possible if it showed. But the curiosity in her eyes had made him pause. She hadn't been repulsed by it. That surprised him. He pulled his sleeve back down over it and dropped his arm to his side. "Yes. It wasn't as intense of physical pain as a Cruciatus Curse. It was more painful in other ways. As if a piece of my soul was forever being tainted, making it feel like the way a Dementor makes you feel, reliving only the worse experiences of your life." He answered, his eyes lingered on her left arm. He had his own curiosities but wouldn't dark ask.

Even though it was out of sight now, she still gazed in its direction, lost in thought. "I'm sorry that you had to experience that." She finally said, "I really don't think you deserved to be branded by such dark magic. I think you're truly a good person at heart." She admitted. Despite his nasty past, there was enough evidence for her to support this theory.

"A good person? Yeah right. A selfish person, that's a much better description. I probably do deserve it after everything…Oh look at the time, it's nearly midnight." He said and got ready to commence stirring duty.

Professor Flamel came out just then checking in on them, "Awe, I see you two have followed directions splendidly. Well done. Keep at it."

Hermione stopped herself from arguing, she could do that later. Right now, the potion was their priority, and she didn't want to foul it up. They set to work; she added the carefully prepared ingredients while he stirred. Back and forth and around the cauldron he stirred. A stony look of concentration on his face, she couldn't help but notice, suited him. She wasn't distracted, she was sure, just making an observation.

When it was time to trade jobs, she kindly accepted the stirring rod, stirring just as he did. Since the job required less minding, she caught herself staring at his face again, studying every detail. He looked like he was enjoying himself, in his element.

When Granger took over stirring, Malfoy occupied his mind with reading her notes, the professor's notes once again, and did some clean up. After a few minutes he caught himself glancing over and met Granger's stare with his own. He wasn't sure how long she had let her gaze linger on him, but for some reason he found it amusing.

His eyebrow raised up slightly as he asked, "See something you like, Granger?"

She blushed and looked away, but kept stirring. She was an excellent multi-tasker, she'd be able to read two books at once if she had to sets of eyes. "Um, no you had a drop of Sopophorous bean juice on her left cheek," she lied. Why was she suddenly captivated by Draco Malfoy of all people? She was already…Well they weren't officially together, her and Ron, and every day that passed without one scrap of paper from him reminded her of that fact. What could that git be so busy with that he can't even take two minutes and write his friend?

"Hmm…you don't say." He replied, his authentic smirk peeked out of the corner of his lips as he made only a small notion to wipe his cheek with a finger, clearly humoring her. Madam Flamel came out at 12:30am. "Excellent work! You two are dismissed." She told them and Draco nodded once in acknowledgement and departed from the classroom.

"See you in class." Draco remarked once he and Granger were outside the classroom and headed back to their respective dormitories. As he climbed into bed and closed his eyes to sleep, he couldn't let go of the image of her eyes. The look of curiosity in them at his mark. The look they had as their eyes met after a long period of comfortable silence and observation.

Even he was wondering why he was amused at Granger noticing him, beyond their previous routine of mutual dislike. She had even voiced her thoughts of him being good person in heart. He chuckled at this. He wasn't the arrogant brat that he once had been. But he certainly didn't think himself a good person. By the time he drifted off to sleep he wasn't sure if this associating with Granger more than usual was a good thing. He reasoned it was all for a grade. Nothing to worry about. It's just staring, sometimes that happens. No need to panic.

Sleep came easy after that and for the first time that year he wasn't the first one up to shower just to hide from others seeing his arm.

"Good night, professor." Hermione waved to Madam Flamel as she left the classroom. "Yeah, see you in class." She mumbled. The long walk to Gryffindor Tower filled Hermione's head with crazy thoughts. What if she grew attached to Malfoy? He seemed alright enough, and he might even have more hidden underneath his still cold exterior. But what if there were bad things hidden…What other skeletons could be hidden in Draco's closet? Her mind continued racing as she reached the Gryffindor dorms. She decided to distract herself by finishing the chapter of her book she started before the potion project.

That didn't help. So she thought perhaps writing another letter to Ron might do the trick. She desperately missed her friends. She was worried that this pattern of separation would continue after the school year. But she soon snapped herself out of her delusions when one of her roommates stirred. Of course things would change for the better, they usually always did. She didn't fall asleep till late, and what rest she did get was full of strange dreams fueled by anxiety about Ron and Draco, and images wrought by her readings.