Don't own characters
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"What's that?" Pansy asked, screwing her nose up at the unfamiliar word.
"Well, a dentist is someone who fixes muggle's teeth when they break them or the teeth grow oddly or something like that." Hermione explained.
"Oh, so like a healer for muggle teeth?"
"Basically, yeah."
"Huh. Why don't the 'doctors' do it?"
"Ms Parkinson, Ms Granger, care to share your conversation with everyone else, as it is so important?" Professor Flitwick cut in, staring pointedly at the pair until they'd really got the message.
Hermione turned and gave her friend a look as she thought over the odd past few weeks. Harry and Hermione weren't exactly as close as they used to be, but they still talked at meals and if they ever came across each other. As for Ron, it was safe to say that that bridge had been burnt. Hermione had also had no further luck with Draco, although recently, because of her connection with Pansy, she was seeing more and more of him - which she hoped would at least mean they may be able to be friends eventually, and then he'd tell her about his past and she could finally know the truth. Hermione smiled at the thought of Harry and Ron always twisting everything about Draco negatively - even when it was something little, and she supposed that was why she was so keen to hear his side of all of their encounters. It wasn't exactly a good idea to relieve all of the things that made Draco hate the trio in the first place, but Hermione just had a feeling it would be the only way to really just put all the fighting behind them and start over - as adults.
~
Draco bit his lip in thought as he too went over the past couple of weeks' events - albeit his slightly resentful nature to them. Where the brilliant idea to suddenly become friends with Hermione came from, he was unaware, but also uncomfortable, as he always seemed to be running into her. Draco could never take the chance of being her friend himself, in case his lack of control over his emotions as of late caused him to tell her about himself. Annoyingly enough - she just seemed so trustworthy - not that he'd put that to the test. Draco sighed and zoned out of the lesson, Flitwick already didn't like him, he wasn't bound for a great NEWT in charms anyway - potions was more of his strongpoint.
~
Felix Felicis.
"Why didn't I think of that!" Hermione mumbled under her breath as she noticed the golden vial on Slughorn's desk.
"I could use some of that for when we take our NEWTs." Pansy whispered in Hermione's direction - causing the girl to laugh awkwardly in response.
Taking no notice, Pansy wandered forward into the classroom and sat down at a table near to the back - no doubt near where she assumed Draco would sit. Funnily enough, Hermione felt like Draco didn't really like Pansy as much as Blaise made out, not that she'd ever voice such a claim. Just as Hermione leaned over to talk to Pansy, the door opened and Draco and Blaise sauntered into the room.
"Boys!" Slughorn called welcomingly.
The pair just nodded in response and dropped their books on the desk behind Hermione and Pansy.
"You're just in time! Today class, I would like you all to create a small vial of amortentia and write a roll of parchment describing how it looks and smells - the brewer of the best potion shall win this-" He held up the glass of felix felicis and Hermione's eyes widened - she had to brew the best potion if she wanted any hope in getting Draco to open up to her.
~
Of course. Love potion. Draco just flipped his book open and began to brew begrudgingly - Pansy kept turning around and batting her eyelids at him as if that would cause him to use his on her or something. He just turned his face down and set to work, at least he'd win some liquid luck to use for his next quidditch match or something.
After several minutes, Draco's potion was complete and he was filling out his roll of parchment without any problems - he'd just completed the paragraph on how it looked and began the one on smell when he felt eyes scanning his work.
"Smells like honey and roses, hey?" Blaise noted, laughing to himself.
Draco's back stiffened as he realised that Blaise had read those words. Draco knew it was someone he sees a lot that smelt like that - and he had a faint idea of who, but it would never be her! To make matters worse, if Blaise found out who Draco was reluctantly guessing it was, he'd hold it over him for life.
"Whatever, what does yours smell like then?" Draco shrugged, waiting for his friend to fill out his parchment.
Blaise leaned over Draco's cauldron and took a huge sniff before turning to his friend slightly red faced.
"What?" Draco huffed, wondering why the boy was so shocked.
"Honey and roses. I can't believe it!" Blaise teased, his eyes alight with mischief.
"Oh for merlin's sake, I must have made it wrong!" Draco spat, making to tip out the cauldron just as Blaise stopped him.
"Oh no you don't, you are just in denial. I knew it too! I bloody knew it!" He grinned, placing the cauldron back on the table.
"Oh fine. Just tell me who it is."
"You don't know?!" He practically cackled, causing Hermione and Pansy and a couple of other students to turn around.
"Boys..." Slughorn called wearily across the room as if to ask them to be quiet.
Blaise leaned in close to Draco and whispered two words that made his heart stop - because he didn't know why Blaise liked her, and because he knew he didn't like her.
~
Hermione smiled gratefully at her potions professor as she held the liquid luck in her hands - he truly didn't know the extent to which he was helping her out.
A couple of minutes later, Hermione and Pansy were strolling down the corridor together as Pansy voiced her thoughts aloud, Hermione, on the other hand, was keeping hers locked firmly inside her brain.
"...Maybe they both got me." She was saying casually, "Blaise does look at me oddly sometimes. That's probably what it is."
"Yeah." Hermione replied, although she wasn't listening very well, "probably."
"I bet Drake told him to back off me." She giggled, and her step took on a new spring.
"Most likely Pansy - hey i've got to go up to the dorm for a bit but i'll meet you back in the great hall after dinner" Hermione puffed, slightly hurrying alongside the girl to keep up.
As Hermione ducked off the other way she heard a dreamy 'okay' in response and smiled, now she had the whole of dinner to think about when she could use the lucky potion. Absently, she pulled the vial out of her cloak pocket and twirled it around in her fingers while she walked. She hurriedly whispered the password to the painting upon reaching the door and climbed into the common room.
~
Draco was on his way out of the great hall early, which meant he was by himself - Blaise never skipped meals. He just wasn't feeling as hungry as usual tonight, and he really felt like sitting alone by the fire in the common room, doing his transfiguration homework. The journey to his common room, as usual, was a short one thanks to his secret passage. After about two minutes he was out of the other end of the tunnel and at the end of the hall in the boys dormitory. Casually, he wandered down the stairs, tapping his fingers on his book as he walked. His mind trailed back to the potions lesson and he found himself praying he didn't see the girl for the rest of his life. Sure, he'd been kind of fond of her in their early years at Hogwarts, but his father had warned him about muggle-borns, and now he didn't want anything to do with her... Surely. Draco thought back to how she'd been acting over the past few weeks, all friendly and forgiving to the slytherins and groaned - as if he'd like anyone like that. But, begrudgingly, he remembered the way she'd taken his side in the common room after he was so cold with her at the owlery. For some reason Draco longed to know what she had smelt in the amortentia, obviously not because he cared - he was just curious.
He only realised he was in the common room when he walked straight into the armchair, making his knees buckle awkwardly and causing him to fall ungracefully onto it.
"Long day?" Came Hermione's voice from behind him, and Draco turned so quickly he could swear he'd snapped his neck.
"I fell. But it also has been a rather long day." Draco whined at her, and only after he'd said it did he realise how foolish he sounded.
"Me too." Hermione replied as she sat down in a chair opposite him, beaming as if she knew something he didn't.
"Don't sit there, if someone comes in they might think we're friends, and we're not." Draco snapped, annoyed that she had such a smug grin - surely she couldn't know what he'd smelt in the amortentia?
"We're not?" She retorted sarcastically, feigning shock and hurt.
"Ha. Ha. Has anyone ever told you how funny you are Granger?" Draco drawled, matching her sarcasm.
"Not before today. I'm flattered." She beamed, leaning forward a little bit on the chair. "Why do you call me Granger?"
Draco scoffed in response, "we're hardly on a first name basis."
"I think we are."
"Well we're not."
"Pansy really likes you."
"I.." Draco began, then stopped. "What?"
~
It wasn't even Hermione talking - she'd have never said that, but it was the right thing to say, Felix was telling her that much.
"She does you know, always going on about how you're hers and she's yours." Hermione mused, although really, it was Felix Felicis doing the talking.
"She's mine?" He replied, almost like a question, and finally Hermione saw where this was going - she was finding out if he really liked Pansy.
"Is she not?"
"Well... Not, um, exclusively."
"Really? She says you are."
"Well we're not. You tell her to stop lying to everyone."
"I'm not telling her, she'll hate me - you tell her."
"Why would I care if she hates you? That would be much better - at least I wouldn't see you everywhere."
"Aww, come on, our meetings are great."
Hermione could barely believe what she was saying, especially to Draco Malfoy of all people, but it just seemed to be the right thing, and it was working okay. She also wondered why Felix had been helping her find out about his relationship status and not his past - but she was truly enjoying talking to him anyway, she'd worry about the important stuff later.
At this point, the blond-headed boy was just staring at her with a confused look on his face, so Hermione decided to speak again.
"Can I ask you something?" She said lazily, as she leaned back in the armchair.
"No." Draco replied, although he too, looked as though he could use some sleep.
"How do you get here so fast? I know you don't take the halls - is there a secret passage?" Hermione smiled at him, somehow knowing he'd answer.
"Yes, there's a passage, but you're mad if you think I'd show you." He said, eyeing her.
"It doesn't lead here anyway - does it? It goes to the boy's dormitories, I just wanted to know why you take it." Hermione responded casually, remembering how he always came from there when he got back from classes or meals.
"Easier." He replied shortly, then he jammed his head back down into his book.
This peaked Hermione's interest, but she felt the potion wearing off - she had to act fast: "Easier than what, exactly?"
"Seeing it all again, reliving the memories." Draco mumbled without looking up.
"Of the war?" Hermione whispered, her voice catching on the last word.
Draco looked up at this and met her eyes with his own, slowly he nodded his head in response, but looked back down as soon as she went to speak.
"I see it everywhere too, Draco - you aren't alone." Hermione said softly, just as she felt the last of the potion wearing off.
~
The exact words Draco had longed to hear, since he was eleven years old and denied a handshake from the boy who lived; since he was twelve and his favourite house elf was freed and never came back to see him; since he was thirteen and left out of all of the news of Sirius Black, and had to pretend he wasn't scared; since he was fourteen and had to pretend he didn't care if Harry survived the triwizard tournament or not; since he was fifteen and had to agree with his father that Voldemort was who he should follow; since he was sixteen and branded with the dark mark and an even darker task to go with it; since he was seventeen and he had to pretend he was fine to join Voldemort in front of everyone.
'You aren't alone'
The words rattled around inside his head and caused him to feel slightly nauseated. How did Hermione know just what to say all of the time? It was as if a switch in his brain had been flicked and he could see her clearly. He had the sudden urge to leap out of the armchair and hug her - obviously he'd never do such a thing - so he settled for a muttered thankyou that he simultaneously hoped she did and didn't hear and snapped his eyes back to her face. Hermione looked slightly taken aback but she too smiled, just as the portrait hole opened and Harry and Ron stepped inside.
"Hope we're not interrupting anything." Ron snapped sarcastically as he eyed the pair.
"Thankyou for the concern, but you aren't." Hermione replied with just as much venom, and Draco, annoyingly enough, found himself almost proud of the sneer she had on her face.
Ron just pulled a rather unattractive face in response and tore upstairs, Harry in his wake as Hermione pulled out a huge novel and began to read. Draco decided it would be best if he too, looked as though he hadn't been slightly okay with her company and resumed his book where he'd left off. Begrudgingly, he noted that he couldn't focus, as his mind went into overdrive about the girl sitting mere metres from him. It was so unlike Draco to think about her in any other light than hatred that he felt awkward and small, much the same as he did back when he was a first-year around seventh-years. Draco couldn't help it, never before had a girl - or anyone, for that matter - been able to identify the one thing that Draco most hated, and make him feel slightly less bad about it. Since he was young, Draco had despised the thought of loneliness and had clung to his mother and then his two cronies as though his life depended upon it. Ever since he'd returned to Hogwarts he'd felt like an outcast, namely because everyone spoke of his betrayal to Harry Potter, but to hear one of Harry's closest friends say she was with him was more comforting than he'd ever be prepared to admit.
That night, Draco lay in bed wondering why he'd been so stupid to talk so freely with Hermione. He thought over and over again of telling her about how he hated reliving the war and cringed every time. Surely she'd be straight off to Potter with the story. Annoyingly enough, Draco had actually almost enjoyed their talk - although he'd never admit such a thing - and was (again, as he'd never admit) almost hoping they would run into each other again sometime soon.
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A/N: Hi everyone! Thankyou for reading the story, this chapter is a bit longer today (2500+ words!) as I won't be able to update for a couple of days. I do hope Draco's feelings didn't change too fast, but I don't want the story to be too many chapters - so I had to give him a little push.
Happy to accept feedback x