Of Regrets, Chances, and Fate

AN: I’m choosing to ignore most of the last two books of Harry Potter. I’ve had this story tossing around for a while, and have decided not to try and change everything to suit HBP and DH. It will be a HG/SS story. Not sure of whether or not I’ll decide to inject this story with smut. If I do, you’ll find it under the same author name and title at AFF. Enjoy.


"Hermione, great news!" Teresa exclaimed to her daughter upon hanging up the phone. Hermione glanced up from the backgammon board and over her father’s shoulder.

"What’s up, mum?"

"Alyssa got into private school this year!"

Hermione grinned, thrilled to receive this news. Her cousin, Alyssa, was always a brilliant child. Hermione knew it had been difficult for Teresa when Alyssa’s mother had contacted her earlier this year with questions and concerns about private school. Alyssa’s mother wanted to put her youngest daughter in a school that better guided her abilities, but was worried – and, having heard that Hermione was top of her class at private school, wanted to know what Teresa thought. Of course, Teresa had never mentioned to any of her extended family that Hermione was in a special sort of private school, and had to come up with some vague answers and quickly-thought out lies to keep from revealing the truth.

"That’s fantastic. Did she say the name?"

Teresa frowned as she came and sat next to Hermione, before shaking her head. "As a matter of fact, she didn’t. That’s all right, I’ll remember to ask her next time she phones."

The conversation drifted to other matters, before it was completely forgotten about.

As Hermione got off the train that year, her Head Girl badge glinting in the moonlight, she followed her friends to one of the boats. This was her final year as a student here, and while she was excited to see the rest of the wizarding world through the eyes of an adult, she knew that more than a few tears would be shed over leaving this place. It was home. It was the background for her life; it held the greatest memories, both good and bad.

As she sat at the Gryffindor table, her back to the incoming students, she chatted animatedly with Lavender Brown about the girl’s summer. As the new first years began to file in, she turned to get a look, straining to see across the Ravenclaw table.

"They are so tiny!" Ginny exclaimed, laughing. "It’s hard to believe I was ever that short!"

Hermione turned, giving Ginny a glare. "You have no room to talk about being short! You’re more than 10 centimeters taller than I am!"

She turned once more, shifting to find the first years bunched together like animals facing a slaughterhouse. Professor McGonagall began calling names. "Adams, Jacob."

The Gryffindors cheered when one of the first years was sorted into their house, welcoming the newcomers with high fives, or congratulations. Hermione turned to welcome a short girl, with long brown hair and inquisitive eyes.

Within seconds, she became aware of the hush that fell over Gryffindor table. She glanced around, finding all eyes on her. She heard whispers of "Granger" scattered all around here. Without speaking, she glanced up at the sorting hat, only to feel her jaw drop.

"Alyssa!" she said loudly, causing the blonde to look up just as the hat slid over her eyes. Within seconds – "Slytherin!"

The hall was dead silent. Eyes were shifting between Hermione and the Slytherin table. Alyssa jerked the hat off her head and pumped a fist into the air, before glancing at the source of the voice that had said her name.

"Hermione!" she said loudly just as several of the Slytherin house began to cheer wildly. Soon, the entire house was cheering for the young girl, watching as her eyes locked with her cousin’s.

Hermione stood and made her way to the front of the room, grinning madly. She grabbed her cousin in a hug, laughing happily. "Congratulations!" she said loudly, no longer caring that all eyes were on her. "I’m so excited for you! And to think, you got into Slytherin house! That’s fantastic!"

Alyssa smiled a bit vacantly, clearly still shell-shocked. "Why… What… How did you get here?"

"I’ve been here all along, silly. This is the school I’ve been at since I was your age. To think, neither of our mothers mentioned the name." She took in the glances her way, and the teachers watching the happy reunion, before sighing. As much as she would love to drag Alyssa to the Gryffindor table and tell her everything she could manage in one meal, she knew the younger child needed to go to her own table and make friends there. Tonight would be an important night. "Alyssa, why don’t you go head over to the Slytherin table? I think there are some people over there who want to meet you."

Alyssa smiled, before flouncing off to her own table, greeting the other students happily. Hermione returned to her table, often glancing over to check on Alyssa, and see how her cousin was faring.

"Wow, you really didn’t know about her?" Ron asked between bites of chicken later that evening.

"Nope. I mean, I knew she’d been accepted into a private school, but nobody mentioned which one. Nobody in my family knows about me except my parents. It’s difficult for them to lie sometimes, but so far, nobody has suspected anything." She laughed to herself. "I’ll have to send my mother an owl. This is fantastic, I’m sure my Aunt Cindy is worried, maybe my mom can help her through this."

The meal continued much in the same fashion, until Headmaster Dumbledore stood up once more, gaining the students’ attention. When the hall was quiet, he glanced to Hermione, before beginning to speak. "Students, now that we’ve all been able to enjoy our meal, I’d like to announce your head boy and girl. Later this evening, you all will meet with your head of house, who will introduce the prefects. Head girl this year is Hermione Granger-" he was cut off by the loud cheering that erupted from all parts of the room. He cleared his throat before continuing. "Your head boy this year will be Draco Malfoy." Draco received almost as much cheering as Hermione, taking it all in with a small smile. He met Hermione’s eyes and stared blankly for a moment before glancing back at his table, acknowledging the congratulations from his friends.

Hermione found Professor Dumbledore after helping get the students back to the dorms. She found him waiting outside the doors of the great hall, speaking with Professor Snape and Draco Malfoy.

She walked up, shifting her purse higher on her shoulder, waiting for Professor Dumbledore to notice her. His eyes met hers and he offered a smile as she approached, the conversation falling silent before she could hear what was spoken. Professor Snape glanced her way, giving her a dispassionate "Miss Granger," before turning and stalking away.

Professor Dumbledore began to lead them away from the great hall, speaking animatedly as he did so. The defeat of Lord Voldemort the year before had left a spring in his step that had, in the months leading up to the final battle, disappeared. As he came to a stop before a single door, he turned and took in the two students.

"I know you’ve had differences. I don’t know where you stand now with each other, and it doesn’t matter. I know you two will live up the high standards I have come to expect from each of you." He gave them both a look, before smiling brightly. "The password is strawberry. Feel free to change it as you both see fit. It will accommodate a different password from each of you, if you so choose." He pushed the door open, leading into a small but furnished common room complete with a large fireplace and two doors.

"This is your joint common room. You are allowed to have other students here. The fireplace is connected to the offices of Professor Snape, Professor McGonagall, and myself. Please use it only in emergency." He gestured to each of the doors. The first, he identified as Draco’s, while the second was given to Hermione. "You both will be given a list of decorating spells. You have until the end of the evening to decorate the rooms in any way you see fit, but only until midnight tonight, which leaves you over four hours." With that, he gave them both a smile, before leaving the area.

"Well, I suppose we’d better go see what they’ve given us," Hermione said quietly, before slipping through the door. She shut it quietly behind her, sighing quietly. This new Draco Malfoy frightened her. When war finally openly broke out, he was nowhere to be seen. His father, ever the death eater, had gone down in flames with the rest of them. His mother, Narcissa, was found murdered several weeks later, presumed by a death eater who had yet to be caught. Draco was the only one left, and, after proving his neutrality in the war, inherited his parents’ vast fortunes.

Where he had once been a cruel brat, he was now a silent observer. Hermione knew that words could not help and therefore chose to say nothing. If he ever wanted to talk to her about what had happened, he would come to her. 'Like that'll ever happen,' she thought with a short laugh of mock amusement. For now, she was perfectly content with his ignorance of her existence.

The next morning, Hermione sat at the table with her friends, glancing over her class schedule. First class of the morning she noticed was N.E.W.T. level Potions. After checking with her classmates, she found that she was the only seventh year to take it. The others grimaced, before turning and comparing their own schedules.

Soon enough, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning she found herself face to face with Alyssa, who was smiling broadly. Dean shifted to make room, before resuming talk of Quidditch tactics with Harry.

"How are you doing?" Hermione asked the younger girl, pouring her some pumpkin juice into the goblet that had quickly appeared there, and forking some eggs onto her plate.

"I don’t know. There’s so much here… It's so much to think about," she said, swallowing a bite of eggs before putting her fork down. "I met two girls who are really nice. One is a second year, and the other is another first year. The second year asked me so many questions about you. I didn't understand half of what she was saying."

Hermione took a bite of toast, before shrugging. "I'm not sure why she would be so interested. Maybe because I'm head girl?"

Ron interrupted, after hastily swallowing his mouthful of food. It took years, but they managed to drill a few rudimentary manners into the redhead. "If those Slytherins give you any trouble for being a Granger, just tell me, I'll give 'em hell."

"Ron!" Hermione admonished, shaking her head. "The Slytherins won't give you any troubles, Alyssa. You'll be fine."

Alyssa shrugged nonchalantly, before grabbing a piece of toast herself, and finishing her pumpkin juice. "I'm going to go sit with them. Everyone is really nice over there. Can we hang out this weekend?"

"Sure. Come find me on Friday, if you would like, and we'll figure out what we want to do."

With that, Alyssa was off, bouncing happily over to the Slytherin table, where she called out greetings to several people. Hermione watched as Pansy Parkinson pointed out several of the dishes on the tables to Alyssa and another young girl Hermione remembered as a first year who was sorted last night. She turned away, relieved. She had been worried that Alyssa would be harassed in her own house for being a muggleborn, and related to the most obnoxious of all Gryffindors. It appeared that house meant more than name.

It was comforting.

"Malfoy, we need to work out schedules for rounds by this weekend," Hermione said quietly as the blonde walked through the common room, carrying a sack full of what appeared to be books. He paused briefly, looking at her, before nodding.

"Tonight?" he asked. Hermione nodded, trying to remain composed. This new Draco was enough to throw her off kilter. He continued on to his room, and she left for hers.

Hermione sank into the chair, kicking her feet up and opening the bottom drawer. Time to see if her hard work over the summer had worked. She pulled out a thick black laptop, and gingerly set it down. It was a rather weighty thing, but she knew there was no way possible to sneak an entire desktop onto Hogwarts’ grounds. As it was, all she really wanted was a word processor. That wonderful device invented by muggles would make even the most daunting paper a cinch. Typing was faster than writing, any day, and less messy to boot.

She momentarily crossed her fingers, before pressing the on button, and listening intently for the hum of the internal parts. It took a few seconds, and then she heard this sort of groaning noise, before the laptop booted up. Before she could help herself, she let out a loud "Yes!" and jumped up to do a little dance around her room.

She and the twins had spent the entire summer, using her knowledge of spell crafting, and their knowledge of the Hogwarts wards, for the three of them to secretly design a spell that would do two things – allow mechanical objects inside magical borders and create a power source for them, since most magical places were lacking in electrical outlets.

It had been quite a tiring time, but the three of them did it. Their best guess around the barriers was that the grounds didn’t completely disallow electricity; it was just too much intense magic for a piece of machinery. Hermione had brought her laptop, and her discman. She quickly scribbled a note to the twins informing them of their tentative success. Soon, Hermione knew that the twins would begin marketing it, specifically gearing their sales towards Hogwarts' students, dying for a change of pace.

The first week flew by in a whirlwind of books and papers. Hermione found herself blown away by the sheer enormity of it all – not that she was not ready and willing to tackle everything. This was her time to shine. She would prove to everyone that she could handle it all and still be a functioning human being.

Alyssa approached her at lunchtime on Friday, her step containing a confidence some of the senior students did not even possess. She had two other girls and one boy in tow, all of whom looked a bit terrified. Hermione was proud of her cousin for being so sure of herself, while others in her position were often too afraid to enjoy themselves. Hermione tried not to think back to her own first week of school.

"So, would you like to hang out this weekend? We can go sit down by the Quidditch pitch and watch some of my friends play." She took in the other three, who were looking around them, as though afraid someone would attack from any side.

"Yeah, that sounds like fun. Meet at breakfast tomorrow?" Alyssa asked, poking one of the females in the side. Hermione nodded.

With plans set, Alyssa shot her cousin a grin before leading the group back to the Slytherin table. As Hermione watched out of the corner of her eye, something she had taken to doing almost immediately, she saw one of the fourth years say something to Alyssa. A frown crossed her face, and she turned away. Hermione's concern was immediately piqued, but she refused to step in – Alyssa needed to learn how to handle her housemates on her own.

The boy said something again, this time gesturing to the other side of the room, towards the Gryffindor table. Alyssa snapped something back, before someone intervened. The boy and Alyssa looked up into the stern face of Draco Malfoy. A few seconds later, Draco moved away, going to sit with his friends.

"Did you see that?" Harry whispered, causing Hermione to jump. She did not even realize that Harry was watching as well. "Wonder what’s gotten into Malfoy."

Hermione shrugged, returning to her meal.

"Wow, I can't wait to be able to do that!" Alyssa exclaimed, watching Harry and Ron toss around a quaffle, each performing daring dives and loops, hoping to outdo each other. Hermione grimaced, her stomach turning at the thought of being up there.

"You wouldn't catch me dead up there," she exclaimed, shaking her head. Alyssa laughed.

"So, Hermione, now I know your secret. Mom always wondered why Aunt Teresa was so close-lipped on the subject of your education. Does anyone else know about this?"

"Nope. There hasn't been a reason to tell. My grandparents on my mother's side are strictly religious, and would not approve of witchcraft. Our grandparents, well… They never asked. There isn't a need to tell."

Alyssa fell silent. She had two younger sisters, both of whom were, at the moment, unaware of Alyssa's venture into magic. "I miss my friends. They said I couldn't tell anyone. I'm happy to be here, but I wish they were here too."

Hermione wrapped her arm around her cousin’s shoulders, and fell silent for a few minutes.

"Alyssa, you will have the greatest time of your life. Things are scary now, but I promise, they will get better. I can't describe what an amazing place this is. This life, this magic… It's like love. One day, you'll look back and wonder how you ever existed without it." Alyssa did not respond, but there was no need to. They sat in silence, before another young girl came and joined them. Hermione shifted over to make room for the new girl, who was already groaning about a Potions lesson.

Harry landed and walked up to the girls, trailed by Ron. The girl took notice of Harry's scar, and her eyes went wide before she choked on a sip of her soda.

"Alyssa! That's Harry Potter!" she whispered, her voice squeaking and cracking. "What is he doing here?"

Ron laughed and elbowed his friend in the ribs. "Blimey, Harry, what are you doing here?"
Harry rolled his eyes, unsure of how to respond to the little girl. Alyssa eyed him, before shrugging. "So? He’s not going to eat me, is he?"

The three older students burst out laughing, with Harry doubling over his broomstick, tears forming in his eyes. "That's the best response I've ever heard. Alyssa, you're all right. Come find me sometime, I'll teach you Quidditch moves."

"Harry James Potter, you will do no such thing!" Hermione exclaimed loudly. "Aunt Cindy will skin me alive if she so much as catches word of me letting Alyssa do something so dangerous!"

"Oh, come on, my mom doesn’t have to know."

Hermione groaned, before covering her heart at the thought of Alyssa plummeting to her death, and instantly imagined her funeral – her aunt would indeed murder her.

"Don't let me catch word of you doing any such thing," she muttered. "If you die, I want to have at least some hope of survival."

"Oh, come on, Hermione, don't be such a stubborn pain in the arse," Ron said, picking a piece of grass out of the ground before throwing it. "We won't let her get hurt."

Hermione didn't answer. Instead, she leaned back onto the cool lawn, pushing away the worry that filled her mind. Within minutes, the conversation moved away from the subject, and ventured onto classes. Alyssa and her friend were telling a story about a girl in their class managing to melt a cauldron on the first day of potions, and the resulting temper tantrum Professor Snape threw.

Ron laughed, before telling them various stories of his days in the class – exploding cauldrons, and matching tempers. He had the others in tears, including Hermione.

By the time supper rolled around, the small group was starving, and trudged their way back up to the castle. Alyssa gave her cousin a hug, before she and her friend went back to their own table. Hermione helped herself to a piece of chicken, for the first time not once glancing over to the Slytherin table to check on her cousin.

Severus Snape scowled, handing the weighty silver disc back to the student, taking ten points from whatever house the demon came from. This was the twentieth student he had caught this year, trying to hide that damned thing from sight. He had confiscated the first five or so, before Albus bemusedly stepped in and informed him that the students were indeed telling the truth – it was a muggle music device, charmed to work within the confines of Hogwarts' wards. The twins were marketing it, though he knew they had at least one partner in this escapade. One person had to have designed the spell; Severus knew that the two did not have a quarter of the intelligence between the two of them that it took to do this work. Another associate within Hogwarts' walls who was distributing the products.

Each time a student was caught after his chat with Albus, Severus demanded to know who had created such an abomination of a spell, but nobody knew. Severus tried everything he could think of – trying to steal into the affairs of the Weasley brothers, asking several associates to discreetly inquire around, even venturing so far as to delve into several minds using legilimancy. Nothing. He could not find one scrap of information about the spell's creator.

It was infuriating. Albus knew who designed it, that much he was sure of, but the old bastard refused to divulge. Once more, Severus contemplated his life once he was to be free of this school over a glass of firewhiskey. It had been a long time since he had been able to daydream, but upon Voldemort’s defeat, he was finally able to breathe.
He knew the students hoped he would lighten up once the war was over, but they were sadly mistaken. He was still a bastard, and enjoyed it.

"Granger, follow me."

Hermione set her books down onto the table in their common room, her mouth opening to ask the Head Boy what he wanted, before he spoke once more, his tone clearly annoyed.

"I'm not going to murder you. Stop asking questions and just do it. Come on, grab your coat, there you go." He led the way out of their common room, not even checking down the hallway to see if anyone saw the two Head students leaving together. It wasn't forbidden, not on a Sunday afternoon during the winter holidays, but it would most certainly be a sight unseen, fit for gossip amongst anyone who knew of their history.

He led them outside into the frigid air, and down the path towards Hagrid's hut. He veered around it, leading them off to the west side of the castle, to an open field that overlooked the trees below. He produced a large blanket, and cast a charm under his breath, before sitting. Hermione waited a beat, and then followed.

Silence fell over them for an agonizing ten minutes, before he opened his mouth.

"I wanted to be just like him," he said quietly. Hermione wisely kept her mouth shut, knowing instantly who that 'him' was. "It took me a long time to understand that he was not a good person."

He turned to her, searching her eyes. She held no pity for him. His choices were his own, as were the consequences. He spoke once again. "How do you do it? How can you be so fucking happy all the time? You and your little friends are practically perfection rolled up into a tidy little package. You're the apple in the world's eye. That isn't how it should be, not in the world of Draco Malfoy. I should be the one revered by all others. I am, after all, a Malfoy. I have money, looks, charm, intelligence, and influence. And yet, I can't help but compare myself to you, and find myself to be lacking. It's not a good feeling. In fact, it's downright degrading."

Hermione waited a beat, before shrugging. "My friends and I, we're not perfect. If you stopped hating us for a moment, you would understand that we make mistakes, just like everyone else. And, as for being the apple of the wizarding world's eye? I don't give a shit about all of that. I want to do the best I can, so that when I'm looking death in the eyes, be it tomorrow or a hundred years from now, I can accept my end without regrets."

It was her turn to assess him. His shoulders slumped slightly, though he held her gaze. Proud to the end. He was begging for answers and help, giving her the power to cut him deeply, and he did not show a bit of fear.

"As for the world of Draco Malfoy? If it has brought you happiness, then by all means, continue. If you feel secure, knowing that all of the pieces fit together appropriately in your mind, then don't change a thing. But if something is missing, if some of that puzzle that is your world is not matching up, then you need to step back and change things. You know, Draco, you have to figure out what matters to you. I may not have what you do, but it doesn't mean I have nothing. I come from an incredibly wealthy family. My parents are both dentists. My grandparents were doctors and lawyers. My aunts and uncles? All politicians, scientists, business executives. I may not be gorgeous, that's okay. I'll never be a model. But I know I'm pretty. I might not have the influence of the name of Malfoy, but I don’t need it."

She paused again, drawing a breath. Her voice had become quite a bit passionate at the end. "I don’t let any of that define me, because I know that in the end, none of it matters." Standing, she nudged a bit of snow with her foot. "Draco, you have everything. Now, you have to decide how much it means to you. Nothing in this world is permanent."

Turning, she left him sitting by himself there, lost in his own thoughts.

"So, Granger, care to explain this damn piece of machinery to me?" Draco said, tapping his finger on her laptop. Hermione gasped, pushing her way into the room, dropping her books on the desk. She hadn't meant to leave the door open, but this morning had been such a rush that she must have forgotten.

The blonde gave her a half amused smile, crossing his arms and waiting. Hermione shrugged. "What does it matter to you?"

Draco immediately knew he had her backed into a corner, and his grin grew. "Come on, Granger. Everyone knows that someone with brains had to have been the one to devise that brilliant spell behind the Weasley twins' latest invention. While brilliant, their minds were never sharp enough for spell design of this magnitude. So, tell me, what is this lovely thing sitting here, buzzing away on your desk?"

Hermione closed her eyes, before motioning him into the room and sighing. She shut the door, before lifting the screen. "It's a laptop. A muggle device for storing information." The screen blinked to life, and Hermione felt it was taking all of Draco's willpower not to let his jaw drop. She touched the small red button in the center, showing him how the cursor scrolled around the screen.

"See this? Each of these little pictures represents a different file. Think of it as… each file is like a physical file, like the ones I organize my things in." She gestured to the plastic bin Draco had failed to notice, summoning it and indicating to each envelope. "I might have a file containing all of my potions notes, essays, tests and quizzes. There is another one that contains various transfiguration notes. Another one might contain letters from my mother, while another contains pictures of friends."

Pointing back to the computer once more, she showed him what happened when she clicked on one of the folder icons, pulling up several word documents.

Glancing back, he was doing a good job at looking unimpressed, but she felt it was all a façade. She pulled up her potions folder, before clicking on an essay titled "Grafton's Essay". She showed him her typed essay, once more glancing to him, this time grinning with satisfaction when his jaw dropped.

"You little bitch!" he exclaimed, vehemently, his words containing no malice. Hermione laughed, before creating a new document. Her words flew over the keys, softly clicking as she effortlessly typed a simple paragraph. Draco was struck silent.

"I write all of my essays on this in no time at all, and edit them accordingly. I can organize notes, pull up information, and plan out everything I'm going to write in the time it takes most people to write one page of a rough draft with quill and parchment."
She stood, allowing Draco to sit at the machine, showing him what the various things meant.

Several hours later, her head hurt from staring at the blinking monitor all afternoon, and she wanted nothing more than to obliviate Draco and hide the laptop from him forever. He had already learned how to type and create new documents, as well as how to navigate the icons on the desktop. He was a fast learner, and Hermione was vaguely thankful for muggle ingenuity. Draco had a new respect for the world he had previously disregarded as one not worth a passing thought.

He had already bullied her into ordering him one of the machines, and had pressed nearly double the number of galleons necessary into her hand, insisting on paying her for her spell work. It was a hefty amount, and she crossly promised him several times that she would go to the store that weekend when she visited her parents and bring him back one.
Finally, when she insisted it was time for dinner, she managed to shove him off of the piece of equipment, much to his own annoyance. "Merlin, Granger, you have a fortune sitting at your fingertips, and all you care about is writing a better essay? This could make you thousands of galleons more than whatever deal you have with the Weasley twins on those little music things."

"It’s called a discman, and like I already told you, I do not care for the money. I have more than enough of it. The reason I don't market this is because the only ones who would understand it would be the muggleborn students. I have no desire to spend every spare moment of mine explaining how this things works to the sheer multitude of students who have never seen one before. And besides, why would I give up my advantage? I told you before that I'm not stupid." She powered down the machine, shoving him out of the room before firmly pulling the door shut behind her. She never wanted another repeat of this afternoon.

"Oh, come off it Granger," Draco teased, elbowing her in the side as they exited the common room. "You do realize that I have to tell everyone I know about this, right?"
She whirled on him, pushed to near explosion. She backed him into the wall, poking her finger into his chest as she spoke.

"Draco Alexander Malfoy, you will do no such thing. If I hear of you breathing one word of this to anyone, I'll make sure you regret it. You forget, just because I've shown you a few parlor tricks in no way means that you could hope to beat me in a battle when it came down to it. If you ever want to see your laptop, you'd better make damn sure to keep your trap shut."

Hermione turned on her heel, angry at his idle threats, and even more angered by his continued laughter, only to come face to face with Professor Snape. She stopped cold in her tracks, wondering how much of her vehement words he had heard, and how much he understood.

"Miss Granger, I will only ask you once, and if you do not answer completely and honestly, I will make sure you fail every last one of your classes in most spectacular fashion. What on earth are you threatening Mr. Malfoy over?"

She swallowed loudly, before shutting her eyes. Her stomach chose that moment to growl loudly, much to her embarrassment. Draco stepped forward and slung an arm over her shoulder, his cheeks red from laughter. "Professor Snape, sir, I do apologize. I asked Granger for some help with one of my muggle devices purchased from the Weasley twins, and she graciously accepted. I accept all responsibility for the outburst, I completely provoked it out of her."

Professor Snape simply looked back and forth between the two, before nodding curtly. "Do not let it happen again, or I will be forced to take house points from you both and let the headmaster know of your irresponsible behavior."

After he had long since moved out of hearing range, Draco gave her shoulders a squeeze. "I do believe I just got you out of a world of trouble, Granger. You owe me. Until later!"

She ground her teeth, fuming. This about face in Draco’s behavior lately was infuriating. He had gone from being a right piece of shit, to being sullen and withdrawn, finally transforming into… well, this. It was an about face. He regularly joked with her, drawing her into fantastic arguments about any subject he found vaguely interesting. He sharpened his own verbal sparring skills against her sharp wit, all the while maintaining a friendly disposition.

Hermione feared he was becoming her friend. Neither Harry nor Ron could say the same, but they had warily accepted his change of heart. They ignored Draco’s fascination with anything and everything 'Hermione', preferring to think of him as an invisible fly on the wall.

She sank into her seat the Gryffindor table, joining Ginny in a good laugh over Dean's antics regarding a particularly oddly shaped piece of meat. Her argument with Draco was soon pushed out of her mind.