Chapter 14
That night during their patrol Hermione and Malfoy didn't speak a single word to each other. Still seething over the fact that he could be so arrogant and snide while he was a disgrace to the wizarding world was a complete mystery to her. How was it possible for both McGonagall and herself to put so much faith into this one person? A person who had done so much wrong and so little right.
The corridors of Hogwarts were entirely empty; save for Mrs. Norris and the Bloody Baron. Their footsteps seemed projected through the school as they walked as fast as they could through the halls, hoping to be finished with their rounds as quick as possible; not able to spend another minute in each other's presence.
After what seemed liked five hours of patrolling, which was really only an hour and a half, Hermione and Malfoy finally made it back to their common room.
Without a single glance or word Hermione walked to her room and shut the door, locking it instantly. She did the same with the bathroom door as well.
Hermione sighed and dropped herself in her desk chair. Several pieces of parchment and books were already scattered over her desk, obscuring the fine polished wood underneath.
Knock. Knock.
Why was Malfoy knocking at her door? Several seconds later she realized she didn't care.
"Go away!" Hermione yelled.
"Trust me Granger I don't —" whatever Malfoy was about to say he had clearly caught himself before saying anything stupid. He cleared his throat and tried again, "I just wanted to say that I asked Weaslette—"
"Ginny!" She corrected.
Hermione could have sworn she heard him scoff behind her door, and would have been willing to bet that his eyes had almost rolled out of their sockets.
"Yes, I spoke to her and she — well she couldn't make up her bloody mind about what she wanted so— so just tell her and the rest of your crew to be ready to pick something — that uh that's all," two seconds later she heard his door slam and the lock clicking into place.
••••••••
The next morning Hermione was eager to speak to her friends, maybe with her help they could choose something truly awful to do to Malfoy. Once in the Great Hall, Hermione wasn't surprised to see Ron sitting with Dean and Seamus again, he seemed to be in a very deep conversation as she passed.
Hermione took a seat beside Harry and reached for some toast; a mug of steaming tea appeared before her. "Morning," she yawned before she sat straight up suddenly alert. "How was Hagrid's? Did you give him my regards?"
"It was fine," Harry shrugged. "He told us about his Care of Magical Creatures classes."
"And how was it going?" Hermione asked curiously. With Hagrid, you never really knew what might happen.
"It seemed alright. He said he found some unicorns in the forest, was probably going to have a lesson on them soon."
"Thats nice. I feel horrible that I couldn't go with you two," she said solemnly to Ginny and Harry.
"He said it's fine, figured you were busy with Head Girl duties. . . He's really proud of you Hermione, Hagrid is, told us he didn't know anyone else more responsible than you. McGonagall couldn't have picked anyone better."
Hermione smiled sadly as she ate; Hagrid's words meant so much to her. After several minuets she finished breakfast and promised Harry and Ginny that she would accompany them next time they visited their giant friend.
"Well I'm off to class, see you two later. Oh and try to think of something good for Malfoy to do. He's done a rotten job at keeping his promise," Hermione said grabbing her bag. "And tell him to think of one as well," she motioned towards Ron as she began walking out the Hall to her first class of the day.
•••••••
"Alright Weasel, you have thirty seconds to tell me what you want or else you don't get anything at all."
"Okay, okay, I'm thinking."
Draco had come across Weasley who had been sitting by the fountain in the courtyard during their free period that afternoon. He had been standing there for what seemed like twenty hours waiting for the dumb prick to make up his mind about his one wish Draco had granted him and his bloody friends.
"Five, four, three, two . . . One. And your wish is. . ."
He felt like a bloody genie.
Weasley snapped his fingers as if for the first time in his life he had he had come up with a good idea. "I've got it."
Draco had to admit, he was a little weary as to what his and Potter's wish would be. Granger had gotten to him.
"Do tell," he drawled.
"No Quidditch."
"Huh?"
"You can't tryout for your Quidditch team, you can't coach them or anything." Weasley crossed his arms as if he had actually bested a Malfoy.
Luckily — well sort of — McGonagall had told him, back on the Hogwarts Express, that he was not allowed to be part of any school activities, Quidditch included, due to his circumstances. Surprisingly he hadn't minded all that much. She had even permitted him to keep his broom.
Draco clenched his fists in mock anger and scowled at the ginger. "Fine," he said slowly, enunciating with as much malice as possible. "I won't tryout."
Weasley smirked, "Brilliant."
Draco stormed away, sniggering to himself once Weasel King was out of earshot, and began his search for Potter.
It didn't take long.
Draco spotted the Chosen One skipping some rocks down by the Black Lake.
"Oi Potter!" He called.
Scarhead glanced at Draco and continued throwing rocks. As he got closer, he noticed that Potter was chucking the rocks into the air and the giant squid was trying to bat them away with its tentacles. It seemed as though the creature and Potter had played this game before.
"Hey Pothead — damn it — Potter!" He corrected. "Think of a way to torture me yet? Oh and remember your lucky, you get two requests." Draco added, his voice dripping with malice.
"Ron told you his already I presume?" Potter asked still throwing rocks.
"Uh huh," he grunted. "You know what you want—"
Potter spoke before Draco could even finish, his words came out clear and confident. "You know those Potter Stinks badges you bewitched in fourth year? During the Tournament? I'd like you to fix them up a bit if you know what I mean."
To be honest Draco had completely forgotten about those badges. He had made fun of Potter so much he almost failed to remember one of his best digs at the Triwizard champion. Draco almost laughed at his past brilliance but pushed it away once he realized what he was now being asked to do.
"What would you like it to say?" Draco asked clenching his fists. He really wanted to break something at the moment.
Potter seemed ready for this answer as well, he even smirked as he spoke, "Potter's Better."
Draco looked at the ground and laughed as if he could believe his ears. And for the record, he couldn't. He so badly wanted to hex Potty into the lake and have the bloody squid beat him to pulp.
"As for the picture of me on it? It'd like one taken of me just as I catch the snitch after the first match against Slytherin."
Draco clenched his teeth, "Cocky are we?"
"I prefer the word 'confident'."
"I prefer the word 'confident'." Draco mocked in his head. He never hated a Gryffindor more.
"And your second wish?" He asked with the fakest smile imaginable, his voiced oddly pleasant.
This time Potter seemed stumped. He even stopped throwing rocks. "I dunno. Maybe I'll just keep this one for a while."
Malfoy, enraged that the bloody Gryffindors could never make up their minds, held his tongue, glad that he'd only have to follow one request for now, and walked up toward the castle full of loathing. "Oh and by the way!" He called back, "Your wish expires in a month."
••••••••
When Draco got back to the common room he had to blow off some steam so he yelled at Granger for the mess she was making on their table; books and parchment were scattered everywhere, quills and several inkwells were littered across the table and couch. "How do you already have this much work? Look your making a mess of things."
Granger scribbled a few words on her scroll of parchment before looking up and swiping a strand of hair out of her face, "Don't you have some promises to break?" She asked in attempt to get him to leave.
"Don't you have some friends to ditch?" He retaliated.
She looked livid, "Piss off Malfoy."
"Nothing would please me more," he bowed sarcastically and turned into his bedroom slamming the door.
It was hours before Draco finally went to bed. He threw off his shirt and pants, put out the lights, and jumped in his bed, laying in the darkness. Except it wasn't completely dark. There was a sliver of light shining through the bottom of his door, and it was that ounce of brightness that set him off.
"Granger!" he shouted, "Put that bloody light out!"
There was no answer.
"Granger! I'm trying to sleep in here! My rest is more important than your work, go to sleep already!"
More silence . . . And then—
"I'll turn off the bloody light when I want to turn it off!" She yelled back. "Switch clothes, put on your big boy pants, and ignore it!"
"Ha jokes on you! I'm not even wearing any pants!"
He heard her gag and scoff. Draco grinned and considered his job to make her uncomfortable done. He turned on his stomach to cover his head with his pillow and cleared his mind.
Just before he fell asleep Draco remembered to take a gulp of his dreamless sleep potion, thanking his brain for reminding him and wondering how horrible it would have been if he had forgotten. What snippet of reality would have haunted him as he slept?
••••••••
Days at the castle droned on, the heat getting hotter and hotter as the week went by. Classrooms were unbearable to sit in, save for the potions room in the dungeons. Hermione was glad she had dropped Divination years ago for Harry, Ginny, Neville, and even Malfoy always seemed to be complaining about how stifling hot it was in the old frauds room.
Ron still had not spoken a word to her and vise versa. Harry and Ginny still begged Hermione to make amends with him, but she was adamant about her views on apologizing and wouldn't budge when they told her the first Qudditch match was just around the corner.
Meanwhile, Draco was constantly being hounded by Astoria to keep the Gryffindor's promises and that his punishment would be over soon.
He spoke with Blaise after each Quidditch practice they held —making sure Weasley wasn't around— and gave his friend, Slytherin's Captain, some pointers on how the team should perform.
Regrettably, during one of his free periods, Draco sifted through the mess in his trunk and found an old Potter Stinks badge. He couldn't do much with it at the moment and had to wait for the upcoming match to replace Potter's photo, so he shut it in his desk drawer facing down until he had to bewitch it again.
Days of keeping promises took all the fun out of life, those days turned into boring nights which included patrols with Granger, boring chats with his friends until curfew, homework and studying, and close calls before bed when he nearly forgot to drink from his potion.
Draco was even having difficulties trying to sleep; Granger was always awake at the latest hours working on who knows what, with her bloody light on that always seeped under his door each night.
It was Friday night when the tides finally changed. Blaise and Weasle— Ginny were to be patrolling this week so Draco was free to do what he liked.
He checked the notice board in the common room and to his delight saw that the Qudditch pitch wasn't booked. Draco snatched his broom from his trunk and bolted out of the portrait door and right into Granger who was in mid yawn.
"Agh!"
"Ouch!"
"Damn it Granger watch where your going," Draco grumbled.
Granger rubbed at her sore forehead and then at her eyes which looked like the could barely stay open. "Sorry," she muttered picking herself up and Draco's broom which had clattered to the ground.
She handed it back then stepped around him to face the portrait of Lupin who had witnessed the scene. Granger mumbled the password and disappeared into the common room.
Draco, dazed by her lack of anger or annoyance, shook his head and forged on down the moving staircases and through the front door of the castle.
Being summer it was still quite warm on the grounds, even with the sun nearly set. A cool breeze tussled his platinum locks as he strolled down to the Qudditch pitch, and just as he had hoped, Draco didn't see a single student on his way.
He mounted his broom and pushed off the ground hard. Soon he was flying through the Keeper rings and zigzagging through the stands. The feel of the polished wood and the smell of the sweet evening air made him forget his lousy first week back. Everything, Draco had decided, was better on a broom. He felt no worry about his school work, no stress about the mysterious letters he had received, but absolutely free as he soared through the sky. He flew for hours, even as his ears and nose grew pink from the wind.
But like all happy moments in Draco's life, it quickly ended.
The sun had set way faster than he had noticed. The moon and the stars told him he must journey back up to the castle, the doors would be closing quite soon.
This time, a gloomy and windswept Draco flew up the grounds and just past the threshold of the castle. Walking as slowly as possible through the corridors Draco headed back to his dormitory, in hopes to catch Blaise patrolling.
Instead, he was unfortunately greeted by Filch, who told him off for being out of bed, but quickly bit his tongue when he saw the Head Boy badge pinned to Draco's chest.
"Carry on," the Squib wheezed.
Draco shoved past him and continued on his way up to the seventh floor corridor. He spoke the password and opened the portrait door. Half expecting to see Granger pouring over her scattered books and parchment, he found her dozing softly on the couch, not a scratching of a quill to be heard.
It was an odd sight, really, Draco thought as he trudged into the room. He'd never seen a girl sleep before, well at least one that he hadn't just slept with.
Upon closer inspection, Granger took up nearly the whole couch. Her head set just below the arm of the sofa and her feet nearly inches from the other end. Her hands were tucked beneath her chin, just barely visible under the quilt that covered her. Her cheeks were flushed from sleep and her breaths were steady.
Draco caught himself staring and shook his head. His stomach leapt when she sighed and her eyes fluttered open. They narrowed at the sight of him, "Can I help you?" She asked groggily, her voice deep from sleep.
Again Draco scolded himself for watching her and replied with the first thing that came to mind, "I'd like to sit."
"So sit," she deadpanned, motioning to his chair.
He shook his head and smirked, "On the couch."
Draco knew he was getting under her skin but decided to piss Granger off even more. He grabbed her feet and pushed them off the couch, making a place for himself to sit.
Granger clenched her teeth and stood up. She threw the quilt at him, but Draco batted it away easily.
"You are unbelievab—" She started.
"Unbelievably attractive? Yes, I know." Draco said with his famous smirk.
Granger made a face then stormed into her room without another word.
••••••••
I'm so beyond sorry that I haven't updated recently!! I'm on my summer break so hopefully that will give me more time to write. Enjoy! X