The Purist / DRAMIONE (COMPLETE)

Dangerous Beasts and Where To Find Them

Draco hadn't had much excitement since Rita Skeeter's article had come out, and spiting Harry was still the best thing to do. He hadn't seen Hermione since hexing her, which was probably a good thing, and then she was quoted in Skeeter's stupid report, labelled as a 'stunningly pretty Muggle-born girl, who, like Harry, is one of the top students in the school', which Malfoy as well as other Slytherins, had made snide comments about, but Hermione, it seemed, didn't care. She was the one telling Potter to stay calm as people told him to bring a hanky into Transfiguration in case he started crying over his dead parents.

He found himself sitting in the library, wondering for the life of him what to do (he'd managed to shake off Crabbe and Goyle by telling them that Millicent Bulstrode was waiting for them in the common room and just wanted some peace and quiet), when he thought of the bookshelf Hermione kept going to. It was just round the corner from the table by the window that was favoured by both of them, and he had often seen her flipping through the books there with a hungry expression of desire on her face. Knowing Hermione as he did, the chances were it was something uncommonly boring, but it may be interesting. Draco walked over to the section, selected a book and sat down to read. House Elves and their Hobbies by Timothy Ornery. House elves? That definitely was classed as incredibly dull.

"Finding that interesting?" Malfoy's head snapped up and he saw Hermione, leaning against the bookshelf, watching him.

Draco hadn't got past the first page which was describing what a house elf looked like. "Yeah, it's relatively fascinating, Granger," he lied. As if! He felt like rolling his eyes when Hermione's eyes lit up.

"I'm campaigning for house elves," she announced proudly. "Want to join? It's called S.P.E.W. The Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare. I've got badges," she added brightly.

Draco tried to look as if he was captivated. Why would Hermione start by campaigning for half-breeds? He would assume that she would want to raise awareness about Muggles and Mudbloods. "Do I have to wear the badge? It just, might ruin my reputation, supporting a Mudblood," he replied airily.

Hermione's face fell. "Well, that is the point," she said dully. "But if you'd rather not."

"You shrunk your teeth," he said, changing the subject. "I guess I didn't assume you'd wander round for hours looking like a beaver. I was trying to hit Potter – Densaugeo would've looked better on him."

Hermione let out a giggle against her will. "I've wanted them smaller for ages," she explained. "But my parents wouldn't let me. As they're dentists, they wouldn't let me use magic on them."

"Dentists, Mudblood?" Malfoy was confused.

"They tend to people's teeth," Hermione answered. "They're still trying to get their heads around magic, let alone shrinking teeth."

Draco smiled reluctantly. "Must be quite hard for them. To get used to the wizarding world, only to find a common prejudice against them."

Hermione frowned. "I haven't told them, and I'm not going to," she said stubbornly.

"Oh, I think they know, Granger," Draco stated quietly. "Flourish and Blotts, before second year. My father insulted your parents, and they were there to hear it. They just kept quiet. Wouldn't want to scare their only daughter, would they, Mudblood?"

"Leave my parents out of this, Malfoy!" Hermione said angrily. "That was uncalled for."

"I'm telling the truth, Granger," Malfoy insisted.

Hermione bristled. "And as I keep telling you, the truth isn't always a good thing!" She stormed out, leaving Malfoy once again wondering why he couldn't have a normal conversation with Hermione without insulting her or her status.

"Maybe it's me that needs to change," he said to himself, suddenly rather shocked. "Not the Mudbloods. It's our prejudice, not theirs." And he too left with the book on house elves tucked under his arm, finally understanding the truth in the words Hermione spoke to him.

Hermione returned to the common room and went straight to bed after reminding Harry about Dungbombs if people were hanging around before his appointment with Sirius. It was only the next day she found out the shocking news – the First Task was dragons and Igor Karkaroff was a Death Eater. She and Harry went straight to the library and found nothing but unhelping facts about dragons in books like Men Who Love Dragons Too Much.

"Let's try some simple spellbooks, then," Harry said desperately, throwing the book aside. Sirius had said a simple spell would do it. He needed a simple spell. It was only the day before the task that Harry entered Herbology ten minutes late and whispered to her:

"Hermione, I need to learn how to do a Summoning Charm properly by tomorrow afternoon."