Harry Potter and The Bound Prince (BP1)
folder
Harry Potter › Slash - Male/Male › Harry/Draco
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
37
Views:
50,974
Reviews:
155
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
1
Category:
Harry Potter › Slash - Male/Male › Harry/Draco
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
37
Views:
50,974
Reviews:
155
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
1
Disclaimer:
I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Not Playing
Chapter Number/Total: 27/37
Chapter Title: Not Playing
Words: 2640 Words
May 10
Harry emerged from the staircase, looking around for Hermione. He wanted to start working on how to get the serpent off Draco's arm immediately. He saw her sitting at a table and crossed the room to her, dragging Draco along with him.
Draco allowed himself to be led over to Hermione. He wasn't resisting, but he was secretly amused by the display Harry was putting on. He noticed that some of the Gryffindors were amused too. Others were not.
Harry ignored everyone in the room. He sat down at Hermione's table and pulled the chair out next to him for Draco to sit in.
She looked up at them, eyebrows raised. "Well, good morning," she said.
"Yeah, morning," Harry said impatiently. "Do you know anything about Draco's arm band? Have you figured anything else out?"
Hermione's eyebrows rose further. "Well, I haven't really been able to read up on too much, because all the books I read that even mentioned anything that might even be related to it led me straight to the Restricted Section. I'll have to get a note from a teacher."
Harry sighed. "I'll have to do that then. Draco, any thoughts about who might give us permission?" He was talking quickly. That morning he had been watching Draco sleep and staring at the serpent and had really realised how close it was to Draco's birthday. He had panicked a little when actually thinking about it.
Draco took the seat next to Harry and sat thinking about it for a moment. "Anyone you ask for permission will likely need to know why."
Harry sighed. "Well, what do we tell them? We certainly can't say that you're going to die if you don't kill someone. The only person who knows is Snape. Would he give us permission?"
Draco frowned, trying to reason through the changes in Snape's behaviour and the implications of the Unbreakable Vow. "I think he has some interest in keeping me alive," Draco said guardedly. "I can attempt to speak to him about it."
"Well, you should -- today, as soon as possible," Harry said quickly. "Hermione and I can go to the library and read up on stuff that may help us, and we'll be there when you get back. If Snape doesn't let you, then I'll use my bloody Invisibility Cloak to use the Restricted Section, although it would really, really help if we could look through books in the day time too, so try as hard as you can to get a note."
Hermione stared at him for a second. "Breathe, Harry, breathe," she said slowly.
Draco sat back with his arms crossed on his chest and listened to the two Gryffindors. "The odds of this place having anything on this kind of Dark Magic aren't very probable," he said.
Harry frowned heavily. "Well, then what do we do?" he asked. "Where could we possibly look other than the library?"
Draco cocked his head, looking at Hermione for a moment. "Well, I already looked through much of the library here. I could have missed something, but .…" He shrugged. "Do any of you have access to a pure-blood family library? The kind likely to have these kinds of books?"
Hermione stared at Draco disbelievingly for a moment. "You're asking me if I have access to a pure-blood library? Of course I don't. I'm Muggle-born."
Harry covered his face with his hands. "You know I don't have anything like that," he said through his fingers. "The only pure-bloods I talk to really besides you are Ron and Neville, and not even Ron anymore. The Weasleys probably wouldn't have anything on this anyway and neither would Neville's grandmother."
Draco huffed. "So how did you end up owning the Black family house-elf? Didn't you say you inherited the estate?"
Harry's hand flew off his face and his eyes widened. "Draco, you're a genius. I didn't think about that at all."
Hermione was looking at Draco appreciatively. She looked a bit put out for not having thought of it herself.
"I bet there are tons of books there," Harry continued babbling. He wanted to hug Draco.
Draco rolled his eyes. "You always say that like you are surprised, Potter." He sat back, pretending to be cross but he was secretly pleased.
Harry grinned. "I'll get Kreacher to go there as soon as possible. Hopefully we can start working on it really soon, probably after breakfast. Hermione, do you think you're --"
"Morning, Harry," Ginny said from above, interrupting Harry.
"Oh, morning, Ginny. I don't mean to be rude, but I'm doing something really, really important right now. Did you want something?"
"Erm, yeah. I just wanted to know if you're having the team go to the locker room early .... I didn't know," Ginny said, raising an eyebrow.
"Locker room ...?" Harry said confusedly, but then he slapped his hand to his forehead. "Oh, Merlin, the Quidditch game is today," he groaned.
Draco had a hard time controlling the smirk and keeping it from becoming a grin. The idea that Harry Potter was so concerned about him that he actually forgot about Quidditch, well, that was bloody fantastic.
"Yeah ..." Ginny said slowly. "Don't tell me you've forgotten the Quidditch game?"
"Well, I have had a bit on my mind," Harry said, putting his face in his hands again. "I can't play, I can't."
"What? What do you mean you can't play? This is the last game of the season! We can't play without you!" Ginny cried.
"You're going to have to," Harry groaned. "I have too much to do. I'd explain it to you, but I don't want people overhearing."
Ginny put her hands on her hips. "It better be bloody well important if you're going to skip out on the game!" she said angrily.
"It is important. Life or death important."
Ginny stared at him for a long moment. "Well, what are we supposed to do then?" she asked, still not sounding very happy.
Harry sighed. "You play Seeker, get Dean to play Chaser or something. I really wish I could play, but I just can't."
Draco listened to the conversation and wondered at the strange twists of fate. Harry Potter wanting to spend the day reading books instead of playing Quidditch. Their previous conversation about Polyjuice came to mind. It was no wonder people were confused by them.
Ginny huffed. "You could've said something. Getting Dean to play at the last second is just wonderful, Harry." She scowled.
"I know, and I'm really, truly sorry, but I can't play."
Ginny frowned. "Oh, fine," she said with a huff. "McGonagall's not going to be happy."
"Making people happy is the farthest thing from my mind right now," Harry said seriously.
Ginny huffed one more time. "Well, I'll go and tell everyone else then." She turned and began walking over in Katie Bell's direction.
"I really am sorry!" Harry called to her back before turning back to Draco and Hermione anxiously.
Draco watched her go and frowned. There was definitely something there with her. What was it about Harry and the Weasleys? He looked about and it appeared her brother was not in the room.
"Okay, so anyway, Hermione, do you think you can look through books with Draco and me today? I know we'd get so much more done if you were helping."
"Do you even have to ask?" Hermione said, smiling gently. She reached a hand out and patted his arm.
Harry was just about to say something else when there was quite an uproar from across the room. He looked up and saw Demelza, Katie, Coote and Peakes stomping over to him.
"You're not playing, Harry?"
"Why not?"
"What's the deal?"
"Has this got to do with Malfoy?"
Harry looked up at them all, overwhelmed.
Draco's face was the impassive mask again, and he sat up. He watched Harry's teammates and waited for word to spread. He knew it was probably only a matter of time, if that, before another confrontation with the Weasel.
Harry let them shout things at him, soon the whole room was staring and other people had begun to shout at him once they knew what was going on.
His face turned red with anger, and he jumped to his feet. "Shut the bloody hell up!" he yelled very loudly. A few people gasped, and some kept chattering angrily, but most did shut up. Perhaps Harry had more influence over his house than he'd thought. "You all want to call me a bloody queer, and a poofter and a ponce, but you want me to win you a Quidditch game? Well, fuck all of you! See if I do one more bloody thing for any of you! Even if I didn't have something important to do I wouldn't play! Not for a thousand Quidditch cups! I'm sorry to my team, I know that most of you are on my side, but I'm not bloody playing, so leave me the hell alone!"
Draco shook his head, standing up behind Harry and laying a hand in the small of his back, a gesture of support and comfort. He worried about Harry alienating his housemates unnecessarily.
Harry swallowed, breathing heavily. No one said anything; they just all sat staring at him and a few looked guilty. Harry looked around at them all and then spotted Ron in a corner leaning against the wall. He was staring at Harry, but he wasn't scowling or red or shouting, just staring. He pushed off from the wall and frowned slightly and left the common room through the portrait hole.
Harry dropped down into his seat and took his glasses off, rubbing his temples.
Draco stood behind Harry, even after the other boy sat. His face was impassive, but he regarded the other students. Then he placed both hands on Harry's shoulders and gave a gentle squeeze.
Harry sighed and kept his eyes closed. "I can't take this," he said quietly. His head was so full of things he was surprised it hadn't split open. There was always Voldemort in the back of his mind, but now there were Horcruxes. There was Draco now and keeping him alive and the binding that they still hadn't figured out completely. There was this whole fight with Ron and everyone being horrible to him. It was all too much.
"Oh, Harry," Hermione said softly across from him.
Draco stepped closer, pressing his front to the back of Harry's chair. "I am sure," he spoke into the silence, "that all of you are aware that Harry would rather play Quidditch than study." He paused for a moment for the few chuckles in the room. "Yet, circumstances are such that he needs the time at this point. I am sure he trusts you to carry on without him."
There was muttering all around the room. Some students were still obviously confused over the whole Malfoy thing.
"Yes," Harry said loudly from his chair, sighing. "I'm sorry for shouting -- I just -- I just have a lot on my mind right now and, Merlin, I wish I could play, but I can't. Believe me, I really wish I could play. I wish I could do a lot of things, but it's out of the question right now. So I would really appreciate it if you could just play without me. I hope we win, and I'm sure the team'll be fine. Ginny's an excellent Seeker. You all know that." Harry stared tiredly up at all of them, grateful for Draco's hands on his shoulders. They probably all thought he was mad. Maybe he was.
There was more muttering, but everyone slowly went back to what they were doing. The team all said that they were sorry and that they understood, even though some of them were bitter. Finally, Harry, Hermione, and Draco were left alone again.
Draco sat down but kept his hands on Harry's shoulders, rubbing them a bit. He nodded an acknowledgement of her help to Hermione.
Harry sighed and shook his head. "Thank you, Draco," he said quietly. "I swear I'm going mad."
"I think they would agree with you," Draco said, smirking. "So, can I look at this library? I am not sure a house-elf will know what to look for."
Harry winced. "Erm, no actually," he said, looking at Draco. "I can't even tell you where it is."
Draco's hands stilled and he slid them off Harry's shoulders and sat forward to he could see the other boy's face. "Why?"
"It's protected by a Fidelius Charm, and I'm not the Secret Keeper," Harry said glumly, wishing that Draco could go and look at the library.
Draco nodded. "Can you?" he asked Hermione.
Hermione nodded. "Yes, but I think it would be really helpful if you gave me some tips on what to look for. I could find it myself eventually, but it would be much faster with you helping."
"Will the house allow ..." Draco paused, looking for a polite way to ask. "Will it allow someone not of the Black lineage access?"
Hermione nodded again. "Yes, I spent the entire summer there last year. As long as you know it's there, you can get in."
"Look for books that give instructions or theory on blood magic, bindings, control forms, and animate serpents," Draco said. "It might be pretty obscure, and it might not even be there."
Hermione nodded, pulling out parchment and quill to jot down what Draco said. When she finished she looked to Harry. "How am I going to get there?" she asked.
Harry frowned. "Well, you know how to ... Apparate."
Hermione looked a bit frightened by that. "Yes ..." she said.
Harry winced. "The only way I can think is if you Apparate there from Hogsmeade or something," he said. "I don't want you to have to do it, but I don't know how we'll find anything otherwise."
"Add serpents and their venom to that list," Draco said, frowning.
Hermione sighed and wrote that down too. "I'll do anything to help," she said, looking up again. "Should I go today?"
“Yes, go today," Harry said quickly. "As soon as possible. We don't have much time. Draco, your birthday's on the fifth, isn't it?"
Draco sighed, but nodded. "Is this risky for you?" he asked Hermione.
"Of course it is," she answered. "I'll get into a heap of trouble if I get caught sneaking into Hogsmeade and then leaving Scotland completely, but I'm willing to do it. What's getting in trouble to saving a life?"
"I am not comfortable with you taking risks on my behalf," Draco said, frowning.
Hermione sighed. "It's fine," she said. "I wouldn't do it if I didn't think you truly cared about Harry and that you really don't want to do what Voldemort has told you to do. Besides, I'm sure you could be a very strong ally in future."
Harry smiled at her. He felt bad for asking her to do this too, but he was willing to do anything.
"Granger, I need to be clear with you about this. I don't expect this to actually work. It is not about your abilities, but about the skills and obscurity of the spell used." He had leaned forward dropping his voice. "I am going along with this for Harry's benefit."
Hermione's eyes widened and her eyebrows pulled together. She was silent for a moment before, "I'll go," she said firmly.
Harry didn't catch the last bit of what Draco had said, and he sat staring confusedly at him and Hermione. "He hasn't been expecting this to work from the beginning," he said dismissively, "but he hasn't ever seen you research anything, Hermione."
Hermione's eyes seem to grow shinier at that for some reason.
Chapter Title: Not Playing
Words: 2640 Words
May 10
Harry emerged from the staircase, looking around for Hermione. He wanted to start working on how to get the serpent off Draco's arm immediately. He saw her sitting at a table and crossed the room to her, dragging Draco along with him.
Draco allowed himself to be led over to Hermione. He wasn't resisting, but he was secretly amused by the display Harry was putting on. He noticed that some of the Gryffindors were amused too. Others were not.
Harry ignored everyone in the room. He sat down at Hermione's table and pulled the chair out next to him for Draco to sit in.
She looked up at them, eyebrows raised. "Well, good morning," she said.
"Yeah, morning," Harry said impatiently. "Do you know anything about Draco's arm band? Have you figured anything else out?"
Hermione's eyebrows rose further. "Well, I haven't really been able to read up on too much, because all the books I read that even mentioned anything that might even be related to it led me straight to the Restricted Section. I'll have to get a note from a teacher."
Harry sighed. "I'll have to do that then. Draco, any thoughts about who might give us permission?" He was talking quickly. That morning he had been watching Draco sleep and staring at the serpent and had really realised how close it was to Draco's birthday. He had panicked a little when actually thinking about it.
Draco took the seat next to Harry and sat thinking about it for a moment. "Anyone you ask for permission will likely need to know why."
Harry sighed. "Well, what do we tell them? We certainly can't say that you're going to die if you don't kill someone. The only person who knows is Snape. Would he give us permission?"
Draco frowned, trying to reason through the changes in Snape's behaviour and the implications of the Unbreakable Vow. "I think he has some interest in keeping me alive," Draco said guardedly. "I can attempt to speak to him about it."
"Well, you should -- today, as soon as possible," Harry said quickly. "Hermione and I can go to the library and read up on stuff that may help us, and we'll be there when you get back. If Snape doesn't let you, then I'll use my bloody Invisibility Cloak to use the Restricted Section, although it would really, really help if we could look through books in the day time too, so try as hard as you can to get a note."
Hermione stared at him for a second. "Breathe, Harry, breathe," she said slowly.
Draco sat back with his arms crossed on his chest and listened to the two Gryffindors. "The odds of this place having anything on this kind of Dark Magic aren't very probable," he said.
Harry frowned heavily. "Well, then what do we do?" he asked. "Where could we possibly look other than the library?"
Draco cocked his head, looking at Hermione for a moment. "Well, I already looked through much of the library here. I could have missed something, but .…" He shrugged. "Do any of you have access to a pure-blood family library? The kind likely to have these kinds of books?"
Hermione stared at Draco disbelievingly for a moment. "You're asking me if I have access to a pure-blood library? Of course I don't. I'm Muggle-born."
Harry covered his face with his hands. "You know I don't have anything like that," he said through his fingers. "The only pure-bloods I talk to really besides you are Ron and Neville, and not even Ron anymore. The Weasleys probably wouldn't have anything on this anyway and neither would Neville's grandmother."
Draco huffed. "So how did you end up owning the Black family house-elf? Didn't you say you inherited the estate?"
Harry's hand flew off his face and his eyes widened. "Draco, you're a genius. I didn't think about that at all."
Hermione was looking at Draco appreciatively. She looked a bit put out for not having thought of it herself.
"I bet there are tons of books there," Harry continued babbling. He wanted to hug Draco.
Draco rolled his eyes. "You always say that like you are surprised, Potter." He sat back, pretending to be cross but he was secretly pleased.
Harry grinned. "I'll get Kreacher to go there as soon as possible. Hopefully we can start working on it really soon, probably after breakfast. Hermione, do you think you're --"
"Morning, Harry," Ginny said from above, interrupting Harry.
"Oh, morning, Ginny. I don't mean to be rude, but I'm doing something really, really important right now. Did you want something?"
"Erm, yeah. I just wanted to know if you're having the team go to the locker room early .... I didn't know," Ginny said, raising an eyebrow.
"Locker room ...?" Harry said confusedly, but then he slapped his hand to his forehead. "Oh, Merlin, the Quidditch game is today," he groaned.
Draco had a hard time controlling the smirk and keeping it from becoming a grin. The idea that Harry Potter was so concerned about him that he actually forgot about Quidditch, well, that was bloody fantastic.
"Yeah ..." Ginny said slowly. "Don't tell me you've forgotten the Quidditch game?"
"Well, I have had a bit on my mind," Harry said, putting his face in his hands again. "I can't play, I can't."
"What? What do you mean you can't play? This is the last game of the season! We can't play without you!" Ginny cried.
"You're going to have to," Harry groaned. "I have too much to do. I'd explain it to you, but I don't want people overhearing."
Ginny put her hands on her hips. "It better be bloody well important if you're going to skip out on the game!" she said angrily.
"It is important. Life or death important."
Ginny stared at him for a long moment. "Well, what are we supposed to do then?" she asked, still not sounding very happy.
Harry sighed. "You play Seeker, get Dean to play Chaser or something. I really wish I could play, but I just can't."
Draco listened to the conversation and wondered at the strange twists of fate. Harry Potter wanting to spend the day reading books instead of playing Quidditch. Their previous conversation about Polyjuice came to mind. It was no wonder people were confused by them.
Ginny huffed. "You could've said something. Getting Dean to play at the last second is just wonderful, Harry." She scowled.
"I know, and I'm really, truly sorry, but I can't play."
Ginny frowned. "Oh, fine," she said with a huff. "McGonagall's not going to be happy."
"Making people happy is the farthest thing from my mind right now," Harry said seriously.
Ginny huffed one more time. "Well, I'll go and tell everyone else then." She turned and began walking over in Katie Bell's direction.
"I really am sorry!" Harry called to her back before turning back to Draco and Hermione anxiously.
Draco watched her go and frowned. There was definitely something there with her. What was it about Harry and the Weasleys? He looked about and it appeared her brother was not in the room.
"Okay, so anyway, Hermione, do you think you can look through books with Draco and me today? I know we'd get so much more done if you were helping."
"Do you even have to ask?" Hermione said, smiling gently. She reached a hand out and patted his arm.
Harry was just about to say something else when there was quite an uproar from across the room. He looked up and saw Demelza, Katie, Coote and Peakes stomping over to him.
"You're not playing, Harry?"
"Why not?"
"What's the deal?"
"Has this got to do with Malfoy?"
Harry looked up at them all, overwhelmed.
Draco's face was the impassive mask again, and he sat up. He watched Harry's teammates and waited for word to spread. He knew it was probably only a matter of time, if that, before another confrontation with the Weasel.
Harry let them shout things at him, soon the whole room was staring and other people had begun to shout at him once they knew what was going on.
His face turned red with anger, and he jumped to his feet. "Shut the bloody hell up!" he yelled very loudly. A few people gasped, and some kept chattering angrily, but most did shut up. Perhaps Harry had more influence over his house than he'd thought. "You all want to call me a bloody queer, and a poofter and a ponce, but you want me to win you a Quidditch game? Well, fuck all of you! See if I do one more bloody thing for any of you! Even if I didn't have something important to do I wouldn't play! Not for a thousand Quidditch cups! I'm sorry to my team, I know that most of you are on my side, but I'm not bloody playing, so leave me the hell alone!"
Draco shook his head, standing up behind Harry and laying a hand in the small of his back, a gesture of support and comfort. He worried about Harry alienating his housemates unnecessarily.
Harry swallowed, breathing heavily. No one said anything; they just all sat staring at him and a few looked guilty. Harry looked around at them all and then spotted Ron in a corner leaning against the wall. He was staring at Harry, but he wasn't scowling or red or shouting, just staring. He pushed off from the wall and frowned slightly and left the common room through the portrait hole.
Harry dropped down into his seat and took his glasses off, rubbing his temples.
Draco stood behind Harry, even after the other boy sat. His face was impassive, but he regarded the other students. Then he placed both hands on Harry's shoulders and gave a gentle squeeze.
Harry sighed and kept his eyes closed. "I can't take this," he said quietly. His head was so full of things he was surprised it hadn't split open. There was always Voldemort in the back of his mind, but now there were Horcruxes. There was Draco now and keeping him alive and the binding that they still hadn't figured out completely. There was this whole fight with Ron and everyone being horrible to him. It was all too much.
"Oh, Harry," Hermione said softly across from him.
Draco stepped closer, pressing his front to the back of Harry's chair. "I am sure," he spoke into the silence, "that all of you are aware that Harry would rather play Quidditch than study." He paused for a moment for the few chuckles in the room. "Yet, circumstances are such that he needs the time at this point. I am sure he trusts you to carry on without him."
There was muttering all around the room. Some students were still obviously confused over the whole Malfoy thing.
"Yes," Harry said loudly from his chair, sighing. "I'm sorry for shouting -- I just -- I just have a lot on my mind right now and, Merlin, I wish I could play, but I can't. Believe me, I really wish I could play. I wish I could do a lot of things, but it's out of the question right now. So I would really appreciate it if you could just play without me. I hope we win, and I'm sure the team'll be fine. Ginny's an excellent Seeker. You all know that." Harry stared tiredly up at all of them, grateful for Draco's hands on his shoulders. They probably all thought he was mad. Maybe he was.
There was more muttering, but everyone slowly went back to what they were doing. The team all said that they were sorry and that they understood, even though some of them were bitter. Finally, Harry, Hermione, and Draco were left alone again.
Draco sat down but kept his hands on Harry's shoulders, rubbing them a bit. He nodded an acknowledgement of her help to Hermione.
Harry sighed and shook his head. "Thank you, Draco," he said quietly. "I swear I'm going mad."
"I think they would agree with you," Draco said, smirking. "So, can I look at this library? I am not sure a house-elf will know what to look for."
Harry winced. "Erm, no actually," he said, looking at Draco. "I can't even tell you where it is."
Draco's hands stilled and he slid them off Harry's shoulders and sat forward to he could see the other boy's face. "Why?"
"It's protected by a Fidelius Charm, and I'm not the Secret Keeper," Harry said glumly, wishing that Draco could go and look at the library.
Draco nodded. "Can you?" he asked Hermione.
Hermione nodded. "Yes, but I think it would be really helpful if you gave me some tips on what to look for. I could find it myself eventually, but it would be much faster with you helping."
"Will the house allow ..." Draco paused, looking for a polite way to ask. "Will it allow someone not of the Black lineage access?"
Hermione nodded again. "Yes, I spent the entire summer there last year. As long as you know it's there, you can get in."
"Look for books that give instructions or theory on blood magic, bindings, control forms, and animate serpents," Draco said. "It might be pretty obscure, and it might not even be there."
Hermione nodded, pulling out parchment and quill to jot down what Draco said. When she finished she looked to Harry. "How am I going to get there?" she asked.
Harry frowned. "Well, you know how to ... Apparate."
Hermione looked a bit frightened by that. "Yes ..." she said.
Harry winced. "The only way I can think is if you Apparate there from Hogsmeade or something," he said. "I don't want you to have to do it, but I don't know how we'll find anything otherwise."
"Add serpents and their venom to that list," Draco said, frowning.
Hermione sighed and wrote that down too. "I'll do anything to help," she said, looking up again. "Should I go today?"
“Yes, go today," Harry said quickly. "As soon as possible. We don't have much time. Draco, your birthday's on the fifth, isn't it?"
Draco sighed, but nodded. "Is this risky for you?" he asked Hermione.
"Of course it is," she answered. "I'll get into a heap of trouble if I get caught sneaking into Hogsmeade and then leaving Scotland completely, but I'm willing to do it. What's getting in trouble to saving a life?"
"I am not comfortable with you taking risks on my behalf," Draco said, frowning.
Hermione sighed. "It's fine," she said. "I wouldn't do it if I didn't think you truly cared about Harry and that you really don't want to do what Voldemort has told you to do. Besides, I'm sure you could be a very strong ally in future."
Harry smiled at her. He felt bad for asking her to do this too, but he was willing to do anything.
"Granger, I need to be clear with you about this. I don't expect this to actually work. It is not about your abilities, but about the skills and obscurity of the spell used." He had leaned forward dropping his voice. "I am going along with this for Harry's benefit."
Hermione's eyes widened and her eyebrows pulled together. She was silent for a moment before, "I'll go," she said firmly.
Harry didn't catch the last bit of what Draco had said, and he sat staring confusedly at him and Hermione. "He hasn't been expecting this to work from the beginning," he said dismissively, "but he hasn't ever seen you research anything, Hermione."
Hermione's eyes seem to grow shinier at that for some reason.