september 9, 1996
Professor Snape announced that the students were to pair off and attempt nonverbal spells. Hermione watched, unenthusiastically, as Ron and Harry began pestering her, then went at each other. Hermione backed away from them as both cried that they needed her help. She wished them good luck and approached Neville, who sat alone and had yet to find a partner.
"Neville," Hermione greeted him, "All right, then?"
Neville turned at the sound of her voice, a smile over his lips as he replied. "'Mione, I reckon you will have much more luck at this than I will. You might need to find another partner."
"Oh don't be nervous, Neville," Hermione cheered for him, "You'll be great. Plus, everyone else is already partnered." After a bit more coercing Hermione had convinced Neville to pair with her and they joined the other students. With half the class on on side and half the class on the other, partners stood about ten feet away from each other. Hermione smiled at Neville, who looked pale and a little afraid. "Alright, Neville, why don't you give it a go. I'll deflect it if I need."
Neville's wand raised and his face distorted with focus.
Hermione watched him politely. She glanced down the row of students and, at the very end, Harry and Ron stood with their faces scrunched and confused. Hermione stood a little straighter, glancing back at a Neville who still looked confused and constipated. She looked to the other side of the classroom.
At the opposite end of partners, Draco had paired with Blaise. The two Slytherin's stood ten feet apart and Blaise, who stared Draco down, looked hungry. What a prick, Draco thought to himself as he stared back. Blaise's upper lip curved into a smirk as he glanced around, eyes landing on Snape.
"Professor," Blaise called with enthusiasm, "come to see the show?" Not only was Blaise an ass, but he was also a suck-up. Draco knew Blaise wanted to see him humiliated. Blaise was cunning and deceitful, but he covered it so well. Truthfully, they were quite alike.
Draco felt the heat rise to his cheeks and, out of his peripheral vision, saw the movement of Snape's hideous cloak.
"Of course," Snape droned, "Anything to see two Slytherin's excel."
Just hours before, Snape and Draco stood just like this. At six in the morning, Snape had lured Draco into his office, where he silently moved tables and shelves of potions out of the way, with only a flick of his wand. Snape had slugged hexes at him until he had sweat through his dress shirt, blonde hair a mess against his forehead.
"Enough!" Draco had yelled back at Snape after one of his professor's jinx had struck him at his feet, sending him flatly to the floor. His elbows would be bruised, if they weren't already.
"If you cannot handle this, you haven't a single clue what is coming to you, you fool."
"You're supposed to be protecting me. Helping me. Not taking your anger out on me."
"You dare speak to me like that? After the sacrifices I've gifted to you. Get up, child. Get up. We still have work to do."
Snape told Draco it was for his own good. This was the only way to learn. Told him that this was the only way to survive. Told him–
"Mister Malfoy," Snape's voice yanked Draco from his memories. Draco met his gaze and could tell that his professor was still enraged with him. "Go on then."
Draco's feet were glued to the floor. He swallowed, feeling the pain from this morning resurface and rise into his stomach. His focus darted from Snape to Blaise, then back again. The students nearest to the pair had stopped trying and begun watching the scene that Blaise had caused.
He raised his wand and slightly bent his knees to the "proper dueling style" as Snape called it. Blaise followed, a dirty grin over his lips, as Draco sucked in a breath.
He wasn't even sure which spell had come into his head when he raised his wand, aimed at Blaise, and sent the Slytherin backwards into the set of wooden chairs behind him. Blaise landed with a thick thud and Draco was certain it had hurt, or at least been quite unpleasant.
The smirk had disappeared from Blaise's face the moment Draco's hex landed, replaced by nothing less than absolute resentment. Students around the room gasped, now staring at the young man tangled in the chairs.
"Someone been practicing, then!" He shouted, vengefully, crawling to his feet.
"Well done," Snape said sharply, pacing beside Draco.
Just before Blaise was able to return to his position, there was another thud, this time at the other end of the room. The tension dropped between the two Slytherin boys as the room's attention snapped towards the sound.
The blonde haired boy watched as the Gryffindor girl extended her hand to a brown headed boy- Longbottom, perhaps, and picked him off the floor. Draco's unbroken fingers ached as he watched her, inspecting her movement. He could see the smallest smile, formed out of pride, slipping across her lips.
"Well done, Hermione," Students called, as if she wouldn't have been the first to succeed. Of course she was, she was the smartest which in their grade, probably the smartest out of the seventh years too. Draco was fixated on her, as if the sight of her blushing and smoothing the hair against her shoulders was something he wasn't supposed to see.
"Yes," Snape's voice made Draco's skin crawl, but quieted the other students with his monotone, "Well done, Miss Granger." His compliment more sour than normal as he turned back to Draco, then spoke louder, "Obviously, you did not picked suitable pairings. Mister Malfoy, Miss Granger, pair off and continue." Snape's black eyes blinked at Draco, suffocating him.
Draco's gaze darted to Hermione. She looked shocked, her eyes were suddenly confused. Then he looked back at Snape, who was seething. The students between Draco and Hermione, who were also very confused, began to part.
"Sorry, Professor..." Hermione stated in a high voice, "What?"
The students had made a clear path between Draco and Hermione now. Snape still stood close to Draco, but he was looking at Hermione.
"What did you not understand, young lady," Snape groaned in a very demeaning way. Hermione shrunk, her wand hand was loose by her side and her eyebrows were furrowed. Draco knew that she could sense something wrong. She was clever, too clever for her own good, and Draco knew that she was replaying the picture of Snape throwing him into the hallway.
Hermione didn't speak. Draco swallowed. By the way Snape was glaring, there was no way out of this one. Snape backed away, out of the dueling zone. He wanted to see Draco put up a fight, wanted to see him embarrassed, bested by a Gryffindor. The boy's stomach churned, tightly, angrily.
Hermione stood, unmoving, but Draco raised his wand. He would not let Snape intentionally humiliate him. He could not let a muggle-born best him in front of his classmates, even if she was highest ranked in the class. He couldn't tell why his cheeks were suddenly so warm.
She followed his lead, bending her knees and tightly raising her wand.
"Professor Snape, you can't mean for us to truly duel?" Hermione tried, the sound of her voice hollowing in Draco's chest.
"There is no pity in the Dark Arts, Granger." Snape barked, interrupting her without even looking at her. "Step closer. Fifteen feet," He demanded. The students obeyed. "There will be no spoken spells. Miss Granger will cast first. Mister Malfoy, defend yourself."
"Malfoy, I-" She spoke so softly. Hearing he confusion and sadness in her voice made a hole in Draco's stomach. He couldn't let anyone see.
"Now, Granger." Snape demanded like the sound of death.
Her lips tucked tightly together, the brown haired Gryffindor sent a hex soaring across the room. The spell rebounded against Draco's defense, knocking against the wall to the left of them.
"Again."
The girl steadied herself and took aim once more, this time casting with force that made her jaw clench. Draco rebutted her jinx, this time sending it straight to her. The jinx landed firmly against he shoulder, knocking her backwards. She gasped, but reeled her wand back.
Something had turn vicious in her brown eyes. Without any warning at all, Draco collided with the stone floor. Without even looking at him, Draco knew that Snape was enjoying himself.
"Alight–" Hermione's voice leaked with regret and penitence. Draco's ears brunt at the sound. How dare she pity him. How dare she belittle him, a pureblood, a Malfoy.
The students, who wrapped in a circle around the pair, watched with silent alarm. Draco jumped to his feet. This couldn't be happening.
"Again." Snape sneered.
Draco was tense. His shoulder was on fire, just like his face. He kept his eyes low, trying to hide the anguish. No one could know. In fact, no one did know. Draco looked as cold as ice, even when he had been knocked to the ground. To the rest of the world, especially Hermione, he looked heartless.
"But..." Confusion pounded through Hermione. She didn't want to hurt anyone, no matter who it was.
"Now!" Snape urged.
Hermione deflected Draco's silent spell just in time. His spell bounced off of her wordless deflection and, with its force, bumped her another foot backwards.
For a spilt second, her eyes widened with shock. Then her face went stern. As vexation grew in her chest, she realized that Malfoy had intended for his spell to cause pain. She could see it in his demeanor, a sick smirk hiding on his pale face.
He didn't care; he wanted her to hurt.
Without a second thought, Hermione flicked her wand. Her jinx flew across the room and reached Malfoy, he deflected it like it was nothing. It was his turn now and he was feeling relentless. Hermione deflected his ferocious hex. Before she knew it, Malfoy cast again.
Hermione deflected.
Malfoy raised his wand again.
Again.
Again.
"Malfoy!" Student's gasped at his outrage. Hermione though she could hear Harry and Ron calling out. Malfoy couldn't hear anything over his own rage.
Again.
Hermione was shoved backwards but still on her feet. Her hair leaked out of the clip that held it together. She was astonished. Malfoy raised his wand to hit her again, but he was too slow. Anger flowed through her chest, down her arm, through the tips of her fingers, and out of the end of her wand.
Her jinx disarmed the blonde boy. It hit him without mercy, taking his overpriced dress-shoes out from beneath him, landing him flat on his tailbone.
"Class dismissed," Snape called out, and there was a tinge of satisfaction in his voice, but no student moved.
Hermione stood up tall, unable to take her eyes off of where Malfoy sat on the floor. He was propped up on his elbows, staring back at her as his wand rolled somewhere behind him. His hair was, once again, disheveled. His eyes looked stunned, she noticed, but wished that he wasn't so good at hiding it. Her wand hand dropped to her side, with her other, she swiped the back of her palm under her nose. He had made her bleed.