Everything Changes (A Dramione fanfic)

Chapter Twenty

Wow! Chapter twenty! We have made it this far...thanks to all still reading. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

    The day was full of classes and piles and piles of bloody homework. Draco felt as though he was drowning in it. Hermione Granger may be brilliant,  thought Draco, but no person in their right mind could get this all done and still manage to be perfectly sane. She even got amazing grades! Draco thought of her right away as his rolled up parchment floated to his desk, he opened it to find the terrible "T" for Troll on his quiz. He sighed, looking up to find Hermione beaming with pride at her "O" for outstanding.

....

It wasn't a bad day. Hermione was feeling like her old self again. Grades had been her top priority like always and she was doing extremely well, even for Hermione Granger. Harry was even doing pretty well, considering the work was now coming from him, and not the bloody Half Blood Prince. This was not the only change she had seen her best friend, he was falling further and further for Ginny. Hermione couldn't believe Ginny had yet to notice it. She was so obviously wasting her time with other boys, but still, Hermione thought it better not to meddle with others and their love lives. She then thought of Ron, who to her amusement, was in a crazy relationship with Lavender.

...

  "Thought I might find you here." whispered Draco. Hermione looked up from her parchment and offered a small smile. "Ever since the...task...I haven't done so well in my classes," Draco admit right away. "Which I suppose given everything going on, that shouldn't matter, but I really don't want to spend any extra time with any of the professors for tutoring. I failed my herbology quiz, and like Professor Sprout pointed out, you got an O. So I was wondering what  book you were using to study. Everything I read is never on the tests." Hermione set down her quill, and nodded with a smile. She reached into her bag, and pulled out a heavy green book. "This is my favorite Herbology book. It actually saved my life once...but that's a long story." she said, and he could almost see her memories in the loving look she held when looking at the book. "Anyway...it is really great, but it's almost always checked out by someone because there is only one copy and a lot of Ravenclaws put it on hold." she explained. "Well I guess it's pretty lucky you've got it checked out. Would you mind letting me know when you are ready to turn it in?" he asked. "Oh this isn't a library book. This is my copy." Hermione said, and held it out to him. "Take it, I don't need it right now." "Are you sure?" he asked, "I don't want to take it from you if you were planning on studying. She nodded, jerking the book forward once more. "Thank you, Hermione." he said quietly, taking the book with both hands, "I'll...see you later."  he added before turning away awkwardly. 

...

"Draco!" Hermione exclaimed suddenly, startling both of them. He turned to look at her. "I just..um..if you need any help...well I could..." Hermione was stumbling on her own words. "Oh! Um...yeah I...I would appreciate that." admit Draco. "I could set another..you know charm..and nobody would see us..actually nobody really comes to this part of the library anyway." she said. "Well only if you don't mind." Draco said, setting the book down in front of her. Hermione smiled to herself, looking down at her lap, thinking it all over. She was doing the right thing. "That's what friends are for." she said then, looking up to meet Draco's grey eyes, and that was the first time she had seen such a special smile from him. 

Hours later, and the sun was going down, Hermione had never felt so at ease. "Okay focus!" she giggled, throwing a licorice wand at Draco who was laughing in front of her, sitting back in his chair laughing so hard tears were coming from his eyes. "Okay!" he replied, laughing still, and taking the licorice wand she had thrown. "I'm going to keep this one, since you ate all the other ones, Granger." he teased. "I did not!" she insisted. "Right." he said chewing at the tip of his red licorice wand, smirking all the same. Hermione found herself blushing. "I only took a few!" "You owe me a pack of licorice wands." he added. "Okay fine, but only if you answer this question correctly." she said looking smug. Draco sat up in his chair, now confident. "In what year did Ann Shroom discover Gillysprouts?" she asked. "1785!" he exclaimed. "Alright alright you'll be getting your licorice wands." Hermione said, with a small grin. "Ha!" he cried, spinning the red candy around. "Oh calm down." she replied, but she was quite proud, she knew he was ready for herblogy. He took a bite from the wand, then sat forward in his chair. "Thank you, Hermione." he said, his expression changing. "Really. I feel a lot better...and not just about herbology. I mean thanks for everything." Hermione nodded, looking down at her book again, the color rising in her cheeks. "You're welcome." she replied, looking up at him. 

...

Falling into bed, Hermione thought the evening over, and found herself smiling. After spending time with him, Hermione realized with surprise, that Draco was actually really easy to be around. She found herself very comfortable around him very quickly. It was a great surprise. 

Yay! Loved writing that...they are finally really getting along...anyway thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed it! Please leave a comment with your thoughts! Thanks! -jazzyjstar*