tw : emetophobia at the end of the chapter (beginning of the last Draco's POV)
.
.
Draco
.
.
Draco was already seated at the secluded table in the Library for almost an hour. Dinner was over and there was hardly anyone left to study. He tapped his fingers on the edge of the table without realising it.
Maybe she wasn't coming?
Maybe she'd had enough of studying in the Library after that week of hard work with Potter? Perhaps she wanted to enjoy a quiet evening without homework?
Or, and this thought frightened Draco terribly... Perhaps she had decided to stop coming to study with him? Maybe she thought it was too dangerous? That Potter and Weasley would hold it against her? Perhaps she hadn't even realised she wasn't spending her evenings with him any more?
"Malfoy, you owe me 10 Galleons!" came a voice from behind him.
He hated to admit it, but hearing it coming from behind him had to be the most exciting moment of his week. He immediately stopped tapping the table with his hands, and couldn't suppress the smile that formed on his lips.
"Good evening, Granger." he replied in a voice that betrayed no joy at all.
Granger sat down opposite him with a stack of books in her arms. She didn't have a bag; she must have dropped it off in her dormitory before coming down after dinner. There were only two hours left before the Library closed.
"You owe me 10 Galleons." she repeated, proud of herself.
She put her books down on the table and Draco knew she was arranging them in reading order without realising it, probably in order of the classes that were coming up.
"And why would I owe you ten Galleons?" he asked.
"Because Harry won." she replied, as if it were obvious.
Draco leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest.
"He won the first Task, and he tied with Krum." he corrected. "The bet stood for the whole Tournament, Granger. And, besides, it was five Galleons."
"Then I'll change it to 10."
"That's not very fair." he said with a smirk.
"Why, are you afraid you'll pay too much when he wins the whole Tournament?" she asked mischievously.
Draco chuckled. If she knew how overflowing his chest was at Gringotts, and that 10 Galleons was only a tiny fraction of his wealth...
"Not at all. I'm just saying Potter was lucky, you shouldn't bet all your savings on beginner's luck."
She burst out laughing, a sudden, punctuated laugh, like an audible "ah!".
"Beginner's luck? He made the best time!" she said.
"Oh Granger... Don't you dare tell me he managed that all by himself?"
"What do you mean?" she asked, falsely surprised.
"You helped him."
"No I didn't."
Again, he could detect what she was thinking just by watching her face. He could see that her lips threatened to stretch into a guilty smile, which she tried vainly to hide by lowering her head to her books.
"Stop it, Granger. At least admit you've been studying with him. I saw you the other day."
"For your information, I was practising casting Accio, and it turns out he needed it too, so I invited him to join me." she explained in a voice far too squeaky to be sincere.
"You've known how to cast Accio since first year." Draco said, unfazed. "And I've never seen Potter spend so much time in this place since we were at Hogwarts. You can give that sort of crap to Weasley or Longbottom, but not to me, Granger."
His tone was defiant, and she responded with equal vigour:
"You're talking nonsense, Malfoy. Besides, since when do you think I'm that bright? You've always said I didn't deserve top place in the rankings."
Draco gave another mocking laugh.
"I'm not saying you do, I'm just saying that you're definitely more talented than Potter. That's obvious. Now, about the rankings, I'm still convinced you're cheating."
Granger raised his eyebrows and held back a laugh. He didn't really think she was cheating, you only had to count her hours in the Library to realise she was the most studious girl at Hogwarts, but seeing her reaction to that kind of theory was so funny he couldn't get enough of telling her.
"I'm cheating?" she repeated. "Come on. You can do better than that."
She pretended not to be interested, but he could see it piqued her curiosity. Granger rummaged in her bag for a few seconds and retrieved her timeless green cup of tea. She placed a tea bag in it and added hot water.
"Yes, like last year, with your little Time Turner..." (she twitched very slightly at hearing this) "The fact that you were born into a Muggle-born family is plausible enough evidence to say that you're cheating."
"I think you and your friends just aren't capable of understanding how a Muggle-born can beat you."
This time Draco's arrogant smile disappeared. She was right, and she hadn't even flinched when she'd said that, she was so sure of it. She swirled the tea bag around in her cup, watching Draco, who wasn't sure what to say in reply.
"See?" she said after several seconds of silence. "I know deep down you know I'm not cheating. You just don't understand how I do it. And by the way, I'm also sure that you were a little nervous, even just a little bit, about Harry yesterday."
"No, I wasn't." he lied.
"Stop it. I'm sure that when you saw that dragon, you were afraid for your enemy. Deep down, I know you care about him enough to hope he doesn't die."
"That's not true." he said, slightly disturbed that she could guess such buried feelings. "I knew he wouldn't die, because I knew he'd be helped by you, that you'd probably come up with a plan to get him out of there."
Granger didn't comment, though she was still smiling, and opened the first book in her stack. From where he stood, he couldn't see what subject she wanted to work on. He pretended to read the book he'd brought too, which he'd only just looked at since entering the Library. But he hadn't even read the first line of the chapter before Granger interrupted him:
"You're studying Astronomy? Seriously?"
"Yes, why?" asked Draco.
"You don't have to, we're studying your constellation!" she said with a laugh.
"It's not really my thing."
Granger frowned.
"You can't find your constellation, can you?" she asked.
A little embarrassed, he turned back to his astral map with a sarcastic laugh.
"I do, I can find it perfectly, thank you very much..."
"Oh, really? Well, show it to me on the map, then?" she asked, suspiciously.
Draco gazed at the expanse of stars on his astral map and realised he was unable to do so.
"I... I can hardly see, it's upside down."
Granger rolled her eyes and pulled the map towards her to place it in the centre of the table.
"Why do you have such a hard time saying you don't understand something, Malfoy?"
She rested her finger on a cluster of stars to the right of the card:
"That's Ursa Minor. If you follow from the second star on the branch, you'll find the top of the Draconis."
She showed him what he was looking for and Draco could only say piteously:
"Oh. Thank you."
Granger handed him back his map and added:
"I thought that of all the subjects, you wouldn't need to study Astronomy this week. Didn't you have Astronomy before Hogwarts?"
"No. At least, not with a teacher. Pansy was teaching me. She's always been good at Astronomy." he explained.
"And she never showed you yours?"
Draco almost laughed at this. She must have pointed her finger at his constellation a good hundred times, he was just too rubbish to visualise it.
"I did, but I never remembered its shape."
"If I had a constellation to my name, I'd know it by heart." Granger said. "I'd want to know everything about it."
"Pansy thinks the same. That's why she goes out of her way to show it to me every time."
He suddenly thought of something and felt compelled to let her know. He wasn't used to doing this sort of thing, so he took time to replay the sentence in his head several times, while Granger read her book. Her hair was held back by a golden clip and he stared at it until he blurted out in an insecure voice:
"By the way... Granger, speaking of Pansy..."
She looked up and her eyes crinkled at Draco's embarrassment.
"Yes?"
"I wanted to tell you..." he coughed, hoping to dispel his embarrassment, to no avail. "I'm sorry for what she said to you, last time, during Astronomy class."
"What are you talking about?" asked Granger, genuinely confused.
"When she read Skeeter's article in front of you, and made fun of your teeth."
Granger didn't hide her surprise.
"Nothing I haven't heard before." she said.
"I know. I just wanted to apologize, it wasn't nice of her to throw that at you."
Granger was so stunned that she nearly cornered her book without realising it as she bent over it:
"Since when does Draco Malfoy apologize for something he didn't even do?"
"Since now." he admitted.
"You know you've said far more horrible things to me than a quote from that bloody article?"
He swallowed hard. Why had he wanted to talk about that?
"Yeah, I know, I just wanted to... I don't know, I thought it would be the right thing to do, I won't do it again if it bothers you!"
He crossed his arms against his chest again.
"Why do you shut down every time I make the slightest comment?" she said with a sigh. "Thank you, Draco. It's very kind of you to apologize, even if it's only on Parkinson's behalf."
He nodded and they didn't speak again for a long time. Draco soon gave up Astronomy, it was definitely a subject he didn't like and reading the names of constellations gave him a headache.
When a student in the Library screeched his chair backwards, Draco stopped reading his Potions book and realised it was closing time. He could hear the clicking of Madam Pince's heels inspecting the stacks.
"Granger, it's about to close."
She emerged from her reading, her features still marked by concentration.
"Oh, right."
As usual, she had forgotten her tea and drank it cold. It must have been over-brewed, because she grimaced slightly as she drank it.
Draco was putting his things away when she coughed slightly. This time she was the one who was embarrassed, her cheeks were pink and she avoided looking at him.
"Hm, I wanted to tell you... As you apologized earlier, there's something I've wanted to tell you for a long time, but I've never quite... found the right time... or the courage..."
She mumbled more than she spoke, he could barely hear what she was saying.
"What, Granger?" he pressed.
He was afraid Madam Pince would see them both sitting at the same table.
"Er, yes, actually... I just wanted to say thank you."
Draco arched an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue.
"This summer." she said in a high-pitched voice. "When the Death Eaters arrived at the World Cup, and we bumped into you at the entrance to the woods, you suggested I go into hiding, and even though you disguised it with your usual disdain, I know it was to hide real advice, so... Thank you. You helped me realise that I was in real danger and that I needed to be careful."
He was so shocked by her words that, at first, he said nothing. Hearing her talk about it brought back a memory he'd tried to keep as far away as possible. He could almost still smell the burnt canvas in the air, the screams coming from both sides of them, Granger's worried face in front of him, his own heart pounding in his ribs as he had been so afraid for her.
He shook his head slightly. Granger's cheeks were red now, but she was facing him. He'd never thought she'd be talking to him about this. How long had that thank you been on her mind?
"Oh. Well... I suppose I didn't want to lose my sworn enemy, even if she can be unbearable, when she wants to." he said in a breath.
She smiled, her face burning, picked up her books and scurried off.
.
Hermione
.
.
Reuniting with her two friends was like a breath of fresh air. Ron and Harry were reconciled, they could finally be together like before. They ate together, sat together in lessons, spent their free time together, and Hermione enjoyed it. She had realised how important that friendship was to her, and she never wanted them to fight like that again.
With the first task of the Tournament over, Hermione had lost the daily anxiety that had plagued her for weeks. She no longer had an ounce of stress, and neither did Harry. He was laughing again, which finally relaxed his face, which had been tense for too long. Having Ron around had lifted his spirits. And Hermione too, because if Harry and Ron were happy, then so was she.
But having her two friends back also meant that she spent fewer evenings in the Library, and her sessions with Draco were considerably rarer than before. At first, she didn't pay too much attention to it, until she soon realised that she enjoyed spending time with him. She thought it was just a distraction from Harry and Ron's arguments, when in reality, she was really looking forward to going to the secluded table.
Talking to Malfoy was different, captivating. When they did talk, they rarely agreed, and often their discussion erupted into debates, or scathing retorts that stimulated Hermione far more than she cared to admit. She loved talking to Harry and Ron, but this was different, because with Malfoy, she wasn't afraid to speak her mind, and that was... liberating.
She didn't go to the Library much at the end of November. Malfoy came every time she sat at their table, though. They didn't talk much, but it was always nice to look up and watch him read, almost soothing.
December arrived, dropping the few remaining degrees on the thermometers and bringing a new layer of deep snow to the area around the Castle.
Life at Hogwarts returned to normal: Harry and Ron still didn't study, Neville excelled in Herbology, she and Ginny all had breakfast together, some students still quoted Skeeter's article to Harry, Krum still sat at his table in the Library, and Hermione recounted all of Harry's adventures to her parents and Danny in long letters.
On the first Thursday of the month, Hermione was having breakfast with Ginny in the Great Hall. Ginny was studying the Full Body-Bind Curse that she was supposed to be able to cast in her morning class. She was reading the definition over and over again, sighing:
"I can't do it! This is the only time I can't cast a spell in Charms, and you'll see that Flitwick is going to make me practice in front of the whole class!"
"Ginny, relax. Once you get the gesture, you'll get it. Try again." encouraged Hermione as she ate her porridge.
The redhead sighed, picked up her yew wood wand and pointed it at the jug of pumpkin juice in front of her:
"Petrificus Totalus!"
Then she inspected the jug.
"It looks exactly the same." she lamented. "How am I supposed to know if I've managed to petrify an inanimate object?"
"I'm sure this jug is even more frozen than before." Hermione said with the shadow of a smile.
Ginny plunged back into her reading and Hermione quietly ate the rest of her porridge. At the end of her reading, Ginny sighed again:
"I'm going to make a fool of myself."
"Why are you going to make a fool of yourself?" asked Fred, who had just arrived, followed by George, Harry, Ron and Neville. Everyone sat down around the two girls.
"Because I can't cast the Full Body-Bind Curse, and I've got Charms class in 20 minutes!" said Ginny. "If only I could try it on someone alive..."
All the heads around Ginny rose abruptly and each of them spoke in the same voice: "Not me!" Ginny looked at Neville, the only one who hadn't thought to say it, with a look of torment.
"No! No, no!" exclaimed the boy in a panic-stricken voice. "I've already contributed. Remember, in first year?"
"Come on Neville, please! I need it for today... I'll make it up to you..."
"Sorry Gin'." said Neville with a firm nod.
Ginny turned to Ron, Fred and George.
"Why us?" exclaimed Fred.
"Because you're my brothers?" offered Ginny.
"No way. I just woke up." said Fred, spreading butter on his toast.
"I won't do it." said Ron firmly.
"Please!" begged Ginny. "I've always passed Charms class, I don't want Flitwick to know I can't do this spell... I'll make it up to you, I promise!"
"Sorry." said Fred.
"I'll buy you some Canary Creams!" added Ginny to Fred and George's address. "I'll convince some first years to be your guinea pigs for your inventions..."
They looked hesitant, but continued to refuse. Ginny played her last card:
"You promised Mum you'd help me!"
"We promised to keep you away from bad boys and not have your face disfigured in a wand duel, not serve as statues!" protested Fred.
"Please..."
"Well, all right." conceded George, to everyone's surprise. "I agree. After all, it's true that we swore to Mum that we'd help you, that we'd support you through thick and thin, that we'd always be there for you when you needed us..."
He'd said the words in a dramatic tone that made Harry, Hermione and Ron burst out laughing, and made Ginny frown.
"Okay, so you accept?"
To prove his bona fides, George rose from the bench and stood in the middle of the aisle, drawing stares from the other students.
"Go ahead." he said.
Ginny didn't hesitate. She immediately picked up her wand, pointed it at her brother and shouted:
"Petrificus Totalus!"
The Charms flew out of her wand and smashed into George, who instantly froze from head to toe, his legs and arms clenched. He didn't even have time to widen his eyes. As he swayed slightly backwards, Ron caught him at the last moment with one hand and carried him to the ground.
"There, I told you you could do it Ginny!" cried Hermione. "Perfectly well executed!"
"Yes, I suppose I did." she replied, proud of herself.
George was still lifeless on the floor. Hermione was about to cast the counterspell when Fred suggested:
"Shall we leave him there for a bit?"
Everyone nodded vigorously in agreement and continued eating. If he had been able to speak, George would probably have uttered a faint complaint, but his lips were as sealed as his body.
The owls all rushed out of the windows at once. Harry looked for Pigwidgeon, Ron's owl, in the hope of a reply from Sirius, but it was far too early for that. Hermione, however, received a letter from her parents, along with one from Danny. She intercepted it and noticed that Malfoy, on the other side of the room, had also received a letter from his family, as he did every week.
He snatched it up and read it over his coffee. Hermione could see Pansy Parkinson leaning towards him to read the letter as he did so.
Hermione unrolled her letter and read news of her parents and Danny with a smile. Danny asked her to pass on his congratulations to Harry, but she didn't, because she'd never really told Harry and Ron about Danny.
When she finished reading, she returned to the conversation at the Gryffindors' table:
"-little demonstration of our Canary Creams to the students, to try and sell a few more." Fred finished.
"Tonight? All right." said Ron with a shrug. "I won't be buying any, but it'll still be fun to watch first years turn into canaries."
"And you, Hermione, will you agree to buy us a cream or two?" asked Fred snidely.
"I certainly won't. And besides, I won't be here tonight, I have to study my Transfiguration lesson in the Library for that essay due before the holidays."
"Perfect, no one to bother us with school rules! Eh, Georgie?"
Fred turned to his left, before remembering that his twin was still immobilised on the floor.
"Oh, sorry Georgie." said Fred with a wicked grin on his face. "Didn't see you there."
Hermione took her wand and pointed it at George:
"Finite Incantatem."
George rose painfully to his feet to the laughter of the Gryffindors, and even the Hufflepuffs next to them. He scowled and didn't even look at Ginny when he announced:
"That was the last time I helped you with your homework."
.
.
Draco
.
.
On Thursday evening, after their Transfiguration class and a quick dinner, Draco had no trouble getting away from his friends. Over time, they had got used to Draco's escapades and no longer even asked him where he was going. Pansy went outside to smoke a cigarette in the snow with Blaise and Theo, and Draco headed for the Library after checking that they were no longer paying attention to him.
She was already sitting at the table, her tea ready and forgotten beside her. When he arrived, she looked up and gave him a small smile.
"Good evening." she said.
"Good evening Granger. Here already? Potter and Weaselbee got off your back at last?"
Granger's friendly face sagged slightly.
"They haven't "got off my back", I'm just spending time with them. Are you jealous, Malfoy?"
"Not in the slightest." he affirmed as he took a seat across from her. "I'm just saying they seem to be talking again, that's all."
Granger smiled ever so slightly and swept her hand across her parchment to remove the gum residue in an automatic gesture:
"Yes, you could say that. Ever since the First Task, they've been talking again."
"They've finally opened their minds to the possibility that the other might be right?" scoffed Draco.
Granger arched an eyebrow immediately:
"You're one to talk about closed minds. You're the most stubborn person I know."
Draco decided to ignore that last sentence.
"So, Weasley and Potter are talking again, so you're spending all their days with them now, is that it?"
"That's right." she said decisively. "Do you have a problem with that?"
"No." he replied. "Not at all. I was just surprised you weren't working at the Library as much as you used to. You must be weeks and weeks behind schedule by now. Have you finished the Herbology essay by Tuesday?"
Her eyes widened and she immediately looked for her homework planner on the table, which she brought every time and refused to show Draco. It was hidden under a parchment, she pulled it out and quickly read a few lines.
"We don't have an essay in Herbology." she said, frowning.
"No, I made that up." he said, just to savour the fear on her face.
Granger put his schedule back on the table with a sigh:
"Ha-ha-ha-ha. Very funny. If I were you, I'd start studying Arithmancy for the exams instead, I'm not the one who has trouble reading a charter."
"Exams? Granger, it's December."
She shrugged and refocused on her essay. He already knew which one it was: the McGonagall one, due before the holidays. She had finished it early, as usual. He could make out a few illustrations she had added to explain the theory of Evanesco Charm.
Draco preferred to get on with the Potions syllabus rather than listen to Granger and study Arithmancy. His aim was to finish the fifth and sixth year syllabus ahead of schedule, partly so that he could overtake Theo and Granger next year, but also because he wasn't interested in the other subjects. In any case, he already knew that he would specialise in Potions after Hogwarts, so he didn't need to get top marks in the other subjects.
They worked in silence, as usual. For once, Granger had not forgotten her tea; she drank it from time to time without taking her eyes off the text. Then, an hour before the Library closed, she put her parchments away. Draco noticed that she had two Transfiguration essays:
"Why do you have two different scrolls for the same assignment?" he asked.
Strangely, she blushed a little.
"Er... I'm checking Ron's."
"You do that every time?" he asked with a mocking laugh. "Correct Potter's and Weasley's essays?"
"No, of course I don't. Only in the subjects they're struggling with."
Draco didn't hesitate to burst out laughing, ignoring the dark look she gave him.
"Oh, Granger, please, give me one subject where Ron Weasley isn't struggling. Just one."
She thought, and he could see she couldn't think of one. Her lips pursed and she didn't answer the question:
"I have every right to correct my friends' homework. I've got the time, I don't see why I shouldn't help them."
"Then make them pay, at least."
She squinted.
"Excuse me?"
"Theo does it. He makes other people's assignments, in exchange for money."
"Is that true?!" she asked, surprised.
"Yeah. He's been doing it for Crabbe and Goyle for at least two years. Might as well tell you they need it. Theo does three essays every time." he replied jokingly.
"And how much do they pay?"
"I've no idea. 10 Galleons a scroll, I think?"
Draco shrugged, while Granger looked as bemused as ever. Clearly, she was both impressed by Theo's amount of work and his place in the rankings, but at the same time disgusted by such a practice. She alternated between the two behind her veiled eyes.
In the end, she decided:
"I think it's dishonest. If he wants to help his friends, he shouldn't make them pay for it."
"Crabbe and Goyle aren't Theo's friends. Only I get on well with them."
Draco had a way of revealing much more of himself to Granger than to others, as if he couldn't control his flow of words. He had no idea how the conversation had got through to Weasley and onto his friends, but in any case, Granger's unhealthy curiosity had got the better of him:
"And Parkinson too?" she asked. "Does he do her homework too?"
"No." he said, though he wasn't sure. "She doesn't pay him, at least."
"Why would Nott ask Crabbe and Goyle for money?" went on Granger, puzzled. "He doesn't need to, he must be excessively rich, right?"
Draco preferred not to answer. Theo's money problems were nobody's business but his own, he wouldn't have liked it if he'd told Granger. After all, no one at Hogwarts apart from Blaise, Pansy and himself knew that Theo had been cut from the family line.
"You should do that for Weasley, you can be sure he won't ask you again," he said with a mocking laugh.
"Shut up." she blurted out harshly to stop him continuing to talk about the poverty of the Weasleys. "I'll never do that."
She rolled up the two essays, then pulled her house elf association notebook and the book she often read about inferior magical creatures from her bag. She began to read, but he could see that she wasn't as cheerful as she used to be. She even looked a little sad.
Draco often looked at her, unable to detect what was wrong. One minute she was teasing, the next she was withdrawn. He didn't like that very much, he felt he'd hurt her feelings and it made it hard for him to concentrate.
When she sighed, a long desperate sigh, he jumped in:
"What? Did I say something wrong?"
He tried to replay their conversation in his head. Was it the remark about Weasley being poor? Yet that was nothing new, he had to refer to the Weasleys' empty Gringotts coffers at least once a week.
"No." she said without looking up. "It's just... Never mind."
Now sure it wasn't his fault, Draco was suddenly more interested.
"What's going on, Granger? You only got Exceeds Expectations in one subject? Longbottom cancelled your last study session? A teacher hasn't given you any points in over two days?"
"No, nothing like that. Leave me alone." she blurted.
Too late, she'd piqued his curiosity. He wasn't going to stop asking her what was wrong. Maybe if she looked up from her stupid book, he could read it on her face.
"Granger? Hello?" he called several times. "Granger? Are you going to explain?"
"No!" she snapped.
"Careful, you'll end up making too much noise and get kicked out of the Library." he advised, more as a tease than a real threat. "You'd better tell me right away, otherwise..."
"What do you care?" she cut in, looking up.
"I don't. I'd just prefer to have someone friendly at this table, not that garden gnome."
"The only person who isn't friendly at this table, Malfoy, is you, and always has been." she retorted. "Besides, I can't tell you what's wrong, because you'll laugh at me, as usual."
"No, that's not my style at all."
She rolled her eyes and plunged back into her book. She was really upset about something. He tried to take the notebook from her hands, but she slapped the back of his hand to make him stop his gesture.
"Ouch! Okay, Granger, tell me what's wrong or you're not getting out of this Library. I'm going to laugh at you anyway, it's only a matter of minutes, so give it up."
She was divided, then resigned:
"It's just... the S.P.E.W isn't working as well as I wanted it to, that's all."
"What? What do you mean?"
"I was hoping more people would be more invested in the project." she explained, pointing to the book she was reading. "I feel like I'm the only one who's genuinely revolted by the treatment of house elves! Nobody cares!"
He wanted to tell her that she was indeed the only one, but the mockery suddenly couldn't get past his mouth. Seeing her so troubled made it hard for him to be derisive, he didn't know what to say, so he simply said:
"Oh."
"I'm well aware that some people have joined, but none of them show the slightest interest in it. I'm starting to lose my motivation." she finished, biting her lip.
She pointed to her notebook, open to the page of names. He could see Potter, Weasley, Ginny Weasley, Longbottom, and a few other names he didn't really know. The whole page wasn't even filled in.
"There, you can laugh at me now. About my pathetic association that nobody cares about." she said with a shaky voice, sipping her tea, ready for the sarcastic Malfoy retort she was expecting.
He thought about it, but came up with nothing. Actually, he felt a little sorry for her, because he could see all the effort she was putting in and it hadn't worked. To see her give up was so sudden and unexpected that it took him by surprise.
"You tried to do... actions? To claim your cause?" he offered.
His serious tone surprised Granger, who straightened in her chair. She gauged whether this was an attempt to mock her as she eyed him suspiciously:
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, did you try to get people on your side by showing them, rather than explaining? Half the students at Hogwarts have never seen a house elf in their lives, if someone was working for me and I didn't see them, I'd have a hard time realising the conditions they live in."
"I've asked Fred and George to take me to the kitchens at Hogwarts, but they won't let me go, because they're afraid I'll start a rebellion among the elves and they'll refuse to feed them."
"And? Isn't that what you want?"
Granger was puzzled. She was thinking, so Draco continued:
"When you started your association, you wanted to give house elves more rights. We don't care about members, the most important thing is that you succeed in what you set out to do in the first place. Go to the kitchens, talk to the elves, and decide on a plan of action from there."
Suddenly, Granger seemed slightly more convinced than at the start of the conversation. He had no idea how he'd got her to do something like this, he didn't even agree with her principles in the first place. But seeing her frantically nodding her head, determined, was enough to sweep away his own convictions.
"You're right! Thank you, Draco!"
She hurriedly put her things away and stood up.
"I'm going back. I'll think about what you said. Thanks!"
And she left, and Draco felt a strange sensation in his stomach, like watching Pansy open a present she'd been waiting a long time for, or giving his mother good news. Gratitude.
.
.
Draco
.
.
The last class on Friday was Potions, shared with the Gryffindors. It was undoubtedly Draco's favourite subject, because it combined: a subject he loved, a teacher he liked, and the fact that he could watch Granger chop the ingredients of her potion as if her life depended on it, which always made him laugh.
He was mixing the blue mixture of his paralysis potion, which he was supposed to hand in at the end of the class. Granger was cutting flower roots impatiently, glancing at the other cauldrons in the class to check she wasn't late. Next to her, Weasley was chatting with Seamus Finnigan, and Draco could see that it irritated Granger considerably that her friend was talking while she was working. Yet she did not protest.
He was so amused by the sight that he didn't notice Pansy's elbow in his ribs until she did it harder and he let out a strangled complaint.
"Hey!"
"Sorry, you weren't listening to me." Pansy said in a whisper. "I wanted to let you know that there's going to be a party, tonight, at the Common Room."
"There's a party every night at the Common Room, Pansy, I don't see why you should tell me about this one?" asked Draco in an annoyed voice.
"Because apparently this one's going to be huge. You don't want to miss it."
He considered the offer. He wasn't particularly a fan of parties, but if it took his mind off his problems by drinking and turning off his brain with far too loud music, why not. Besides, he'd been faking far too many headaches lately to let go of Pansy again.
"Okay, I'll be there."
"Cool." she said with a smile. "Even Theo's agreed to come, he's promised me at least one shot."
"That's just because that Maia will be there, that's for sure." he said mockingly.
"Yeah, but whatever, as long as he's there."
He finished adding the last ingredients to his potion, which took on the same shade as the one in the manual. Just as he finished it, Snape passed by him in the row and inspected his potion:
"You added mint stems, didn't you?" the professor asked in his deep guttural voice as he sniffed the potion.
"That's right, I read in a book that it could have paralysing properties if added to valerian root..." began Draco.
"Excellent, Mr. Malfoy, excellent." said the Professor. "Outstanding for this potion, top mark in the class."
He noted something in his notebook as Draco's chest swelled with pride.
"Mr. Zabini, your potion is too purple, you forgot to turn it counter-clockwise." Snape indicated as he looked at the other cauldrons. "And Mr. Crabbe, your cauldron has melted. Fetch another from the back of the room."
Draco met Granger's angry gaze, just behind Snape. She must have heard the compliment, and the top mark in the class. He grinned proudly and she hurriedly finished her potion.
.
.
.
.
Once dinner was over, Pansy tried her best to drag her three friends to the Slytherin Common Room to join the party that had already started, but Theo and Blaise wanted to digest their food, and Draco was discreetly watching Granger.
He wanted to see if she was going to the Library tonight, or if she was going to walk with Weasley. And indeed, when she got up, she walked with the redhead, and she had no bags, no books in her arms.
"I'm coming, Pansy." Draco informed her.
Pansy was gloating. Or maybe she desperately needed her nicotine, because she was stamping her feet. Finally, after ten minutes or so, she couldn't stand it any longer, so she forced them to get up, and they followed her to the dungeons with weary sighs.
When they entered the Common Room, Draco understood why Pansy had insisted on such a large party. The Slytherin Common Room was packed to the rafters with students from other Houses, creating a riot of green, yellow and blue everywhere Draco looked. There were no Gryffindors, of course.
The music was even louder than usual, more crashing, as if someone were banging on a metal object in a loop. Cigarette smoke and other strange smells wafted over the students, making the atmosphere even more oppressive than usual.
Daphne Greengrass was already there, in the middle of a group of fourth-year students. She had tucked her straight hair behind her ears in a "casual" hairstyle, even though Draco knew she must have spent hours in front of her mirror and an impressive amount of Sleekeazy's Hair Potion.
"Come, here!" she called as soon as they entered.
Blaise had a big smile on his face and came towards her first, champion of sociability that he was, while Theo was more shy. They sat down on the floor around a low table, because there was no more room on the sofas. Next to them, the dancers were going wild to the music.
Pansy and Daphne spoke in low voices very quickly, as if they hadn't already spent the day together, and Blaise turned to Draco and Theo:
"What are you drinking?"
Draco shrugged: he always took the first bottle he saw. Theo asked, a little hesitantly:
"Can I have a Butterbeer?"
Blaise's eyes widened. He might have had the same reaction if Theo had just insulted his entire family tree.
"Theo, there's no way you're drinking Butterbeer, you're not 11." he said in a whisper, as if he was afraid the other students might hear such an outrage. "I'll get you something, stay there."
Blaise stood up and skilfully made his way between the dancers to the drinks table. Draco considered that Blaise could really change his face depending on the situation he was in: when he was surrounded by other people, he had no trouble smiling and chatting, so much so that he didn't know whether he really liked it or not.
Theo, on the other hand, was clearly uncomfortable. He kept changing position and staring at everyone around him. On top of that, he didn't know what to do with his hands.
"Stop it, we'll end up thinking you hate parties." Draco scoffed.
"But I do!" exclaimed Theo, who hadn't caught the sarcasm. "I hate it, the music's too loud, and it smells bad."
Pansy already had a cigarette in her hand, from which a grey smoke was escaping, which she was blowing at them without realising:
"No, Theo!" she cut in from across the coffee table. "You said you'd stay until the end!"
"I never said that." Theo replied. "I promised I'd take a shot. After that, I'm going to go read in my dorm."
Draco and Pansy rolled their eyes at the same time.
"You're too uptight, Nott." Draco said. "Where's your Maia?"
Theo frowned under his chestnut curls that fell over his forehead.
"Why are you asking me this question?"
"Well, I don't know, she's cute, isn't she? Don't you want to go and have a chat with her, and... you know?" urged Draco.
"Nonsense." replied Theo, who had turned a little pink. "I'm helping her with her homework, it's got nothing to do with..."
"Here are your drinks!" declared Blaise as he sat back down.
He handed a glass to Pansy, Theo and Draco, then they toasted with Daphne who was already drinking.
Draco took a sip from his glass and enjoyed the very strong taste of the green apple on his tongue.
"What's that, Blaise?" he asked his best friend.
"It's apple liqueur, I thought you'd like it. Theo, I got you cherry mead, and Pans', it's your favourite, vanilla whisky."
Draco took another sip of the liqueur and was surprised to find that alcohol could taste good. He'd never really tasted it before, just a strong liquid that burned his throat. This one was definitely strong, but at least he was enjoying the flavour.
Theo enjoyed his too. Probably to make himself more comfortable, he finished his drink a little too quickly and went off to get a refill.
After several cigarettes and a finished drink for Draco, who was already feeling the first effects of the alcohol making his head spin, someone in the group suggested a game of Truth or Dare and everyone agreed. Draco joined in, more out of obligation than anything else.
The rounds began and Draco was only half listening. The actions were all pretty much the same: drink a shot, kiss someone, do something shameful. Theo was forced to admit to everyone that he was a virgin, Pansy took three shots without batting an eyelid and Blaise had to point out the most beautiful girl of the evening.
When it was Draco's turn, he chose Dare, and was forced to finish his second glass in one go. The tangy taste of the green apple remained on his tongue, intoxicating.
It was Pansy's turn again. She was already drunk, that was obvious, she was giggling like crazy.
"Pansy..." asked Tracey Davis. "Truth or Dare?"
"Dare!" replied Pansy quickly.
Tracey scanned the room with her eyes. This time, there were a lot more people for Truth or Dare. Before, when they played, it was only with students from their year, but now there were much older students, and above all, much more drunk.
Tracey stopped at a fifth year boy, Leo Hills, who Draco had never spoken to.
"I dare you... to kiss Leo!"
It was well known that Leo had a thing for Pansy. For the past few months, he'd been trying to talk to her, and he didn't hide the fact that he found her extremely pretty. Pansy had always been indifferent until now.
The boy straightened up, not daring to look at Pansy. Pansy sat on his lap and glanced at Draco, who shrugged. She didn't need his approval to kiss anyone. She arched a defiant eyebrow, clearly disappointed at his lack of reaction.
"All right." she said simply.
Draco could feel heads turning towards him. They must have thought they were a couple. He showed nothing on his face except deep boredom. He watched as Pansy approached the boy, who still didn't realise how lucky he was, leaned over and kissed him passionately.
The people around the coffee table let out exclamations of surprise and encouragement. Pansy raised her hand and ran it through the boy's hair, without letting go of his mouth, sticking to him more and more as the seconds passed.
Draco felt Theo stiffen beside him.
"What is she..."
"Leave her alone." Blaise advised. "She does what she wants."
"She can't even control what she does, she's too drunk." said Theo through gritted teeth, suddenly furious.
Draco disagreed. Pansy never did anything without calculating something. She wanted to see how he felt when she kissed someone in front of him, that was obvious. She wanted to arouse his jealousy.
Yet he felt nothing. He was watching the girl who had shared his bed for years and to whom he had said "I love you" a few weeks before kiss a boy, and he felt nothing. No anger, no jealousy, just a natural instinct to protect her from doing something she might regret.
She finally broke away from Leo's mouth, who had traces of her black lipstick on his lips and was staring at Pansy with wide, astonished eyes. Pansy gave him a big smile, a cold, false smile, before returning to her seat.
She met Draco's gaze, who could offer her nothing. He wasn't the man she wanted him to be, the one who made a scene in front of everyone to prove that he loved her and that she belonged to him. He felt nothing.
.
.
.
The next day, everyone at the Slytherin table looked terrible. Hangovers.
The only one who wasn't was Blaise, miraculously, because he'd had as much to drink as everyone else. Theo had spent his night throwing up in the dormitory toilets, and Draco hadn't been able to sleep because of the noise he'd made.
Pansy was the worst. She'd spent the night with Daphne and was suffering from stomach cramps, probably because she hadn't eaten enough before drinking so many glasses of that foul vanilla whisky. She couldn't even finish her glass of pumpkin juice without gagging.
"Come on, finish your drink, it'll do you good." Blaise advised.
"You're talking too loud." complained Pansy.
She really did look awful. This vision reminded Draco of the morning of the exams the previous year, when he and Blaise had suffered from a phenomenal hangover and Pansy had cast a spell to relieve them.
"Hey, Pansy, don't you want to cast your hangover-relieving spell?" asked Draco in a hoarse voice.
She raised her head lazily. Her eyes were red, her lips were still stained with lipstick in a few places and her hair was tied up in a vulgar bun with black strands sticking out.
"'Can't..." she muttered. "I tried to do it to Daphne this morning, but I missed and now she's had the hiccups for two hours. She's in the hospital wing."
Blaise took care of it. He tried on Pansy and Draco, who felt a vague relief, even though he still had a headache. Theo was still in bed.
Draco ate his breakfast in a silence interrupted by Pansy's complaints. Blaise was reading the Daily Prophet next to him, and from time to time Draco would glance at a few headlines: "Tutshill Tornadoes crush Portree Pride team from Scotland", "Impressive collection of 492 mandrakes at this wizard's house in the North of England", or a broom accident.
After eating his eggs, Draco felt a little better. He took another glass of pumpkin juice and looked at Pansy, who was still in a sorry state.
"I think I'll go back to bed." she said.
"You should eat something," Blaise advised her without taking his eyes off the paper. "Have a full stomach."
It was a good thing it was Saturday, otherwise Pansy would have had to skip class or go to the hospital wing. As he half-listened to Pansy recount something of the evening, he noticed that Granger was no longer at the Gryffindors' table. She must have been at her study session with Longbottom in the Library.
He made a move to get up and Pansy asked him:
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going back to bed too." he lied. "I still don't feel well."
Pansy took her head in her hands and nodded slightly to show that she had heard. Draco left the Great Hall, but instead of taking the path to the dungeons, he headed for the Library.
He didn't really know why he wanted to go there, but his legs led him. He didn't have to look long to find her: she had taken a table in the centre of the Library, and was talking in a low voice with Neville Longbottom. It was the end of their session: Longbottom was closing the Potions book. He heard her say, "Thank you, Hermione!" as he stood up.
Draco stood behind one of the huge bookshelves. From there, he could pretend to be looking for a book, when in reality, he was watching Granger in the space between the books and the shelf. He watched her close her textbook and take her scrolls out of the S.P.E.W. She flipped through her little notebook and sighed.
She was still discouraged. He felt a pang of sadness for her, to see her so distressed about her project. She opened the box of badges, counted them, wrote something in her notebook, then got up to go and find a book in the Magical Creatures section.
Draco acted without thinking. Just as Granger had moved far enough away from the table, he approached discreetly. The badge box was full and her list of members was as short as ever. Draco checked that no one was looking, then went ahead : he put two Galleons coins in the box, took a badge, hid it in his pocket and returned to his hiding place.
He knew that the price of membership was two Sickles, but he wanted to give more. From there, he could see Granger returning to his table with two books. She placed them on the table, poured herself another cup of tea, and then her gaze flicked to the box of badges.
He watched her jump and her eyes widen. She counted the badges again, twice. Then she saw the two coins of Galleons and opened her mouth in surprise. She took them in her hand, checked several times to make sure they were money, then looked around to see who had put them there.
Draco was too well hidden by the shelves for her to see him, and with Krum gone, there was hardly anyone in the Library.
Her surprise was replaced by joy. She was almost jumping up and down, too happy that someone had joined the S.P.E.W., and Draco was grinning like an idiot at the sight of it.