Catalyst

Disclaimer: I don\'t own any of the Harry Potter characters, nor do I make any money off of it.



Eventually Hermione’s sobs filtered out and she became painfully aware that she had buried her face in Draco Malfoy’s chest. She kept her eyes screwed shut and debated the best way to disentangle herself with the least humiliation possible. Clearly he had been moved by her tears, and now that she wasn’t crying anymore, she doubted if his goodwill would last, and she didn’t relish the imminent return of his biting sarcasm. She pulled away slightly, swiping at her eyes. He let his arms fall away, releasing her.

“Are you alright?” His voice was quiet, his pale grey eyes intense with concern as he watched her.

“Fine,” she replied with false brightness. “Don’t know what came over me.”

He rolled his eyes in annoyance. “Right. Can’t imagine.” Despite his sarcasm, his eyes were alight with humor.

She started to respond angrily before meeting his eyes and realizing that he was teasing her. She looked at him in amazement for a moment, wondering at the idea of Draco Malfoy making a joke that wasn’t intended to send her into fits of tears or anger. She gave him a small smile and decided to take the opportunity to change the subject.

“Well, anyhow, I’m sure that you have plans for the rest of the evening. I’m sorry for my… rather dramatic entrance.” She looked a bit sheepish.

He arched a pale eyebrow at her understatement and gave her a slight smile. “I would expect nothing less from you, Granger.”

She laughed nervously. “Yes, well, goodbye and thank you again.” She turned to face him once more as she stepped into the fireplace and found him watching her, a serious expression on his handsome features.

“No gratitude necessary,” he replied, looking uncomfortable with the situation. He looked as though he were considering his words carefully, then finally shook his head slightly and met her gaze once more, nodding at her in a dismissive gesture and turning to stride from the room as she disappeared in a burst of green flame.

* * * * * *




Draco was painfully aware that he had all but fled the room. He may have done so with a confident and purposeful stride that was befitting of a Malfoy, but for all intents and purposes he may as well have run from the room shrieking in terror. Something had come over him as he had held Granger, soothing her as she wept, and he was not prepared to deal with it. It was true that she was now far more attractive than she ever had been while they were in school, and she was also far less irritating. But underneath that lovely and becoming exterior, she would always be the same insufferable know-it-all muggleborn that she’d always been. He had no idea why he was suddenly now developing some sort of emotional attachment to the girl, but he was in no way prepared to give in to it.

As she’d left, looking calmer but still visibly shaken, he’d been filled with concern for her, overcome by the foreign urge to take care of her. It was not a pleasing thing for him to realize. He scowled as he stormed through the hallways of the manor, looking for a diversion to take his mind off its disturbing train of thought.

Narcissa drifted out of the study as she heard him approaching with all the stealth of a freight train. “Who was it on the floo, dear?” she asked innocently.

“Granger.” He scowled in what he imagined to be a ferocious way, hoping to deter her from further questioning. He was chagrined to see a sly smile flicker across her face before she schooled her features back into the mask of innocence.

“Really…” came his father’s deep voice from the study. “For what reason would the lovely Miss Granger be calling upon you?” Lucius appeared in the doorway behind Narcissa.

Draco smiled smugly at the memory of Hermione’s burning anger as she had addressed him. He never tired of incurring her wrath- a furious Hermione Granger was always a treat, amusing, and now in later years, truly a sight to behold. He loved to see those dark eyes flash with anger, her cheeks flushed and her voice scalding as the little witch shouted in fury. Mainly though, he enjoyed the fact that he was the only one who knew how to (or wanted to) push all the right buttons to warrant that sort of reaction from her.

He turned innocent grey eyes on his parents. “She wanted to discuss my letter,” he replied simply.

Narcissa and Lucius exchanged a glance. “Letter?” Lucius inquired.

“My owl- I replied to her gracious note with a few well chosen words of advice.” He couldn’t help the smirk now, remembering he carefully he had chosen precisely the words to create the desired reaction of blinding rage.

“Draco,” Lucius began in an exasperated tone, rubbing his temples with one hand, “have I not taught you over the years to play nicely with the girls you like?”

Narcissa snorted as an expression of utmost horror crossed Draco’s face. “Girls you like?” he sputtered, unable to come up with any response other than to repeat his father’s words in disbelief. “I can’t stand her,” he finally retorted.

“Obviously.” Lucius rolled his eyes.

“Darling, you can be very charming when you try. I don’t understand why you insist upon tormenting that poor girl at every possible opportunity,” Narcissa added.

“Tormenting!” exclaimed Draco disbelievingly. “Not only did I come to her aid, I actually comforted her!” He regretted the words immediately as he saw a triumphant gleam in his father’s grey eyes.

“Comforted her?” he began silkily. “Now why would you do that for a young lady that you couldn’t stand.”

“I was feeling generous,” replied Draco unconvincingly. “It was the courteous thing to do.” He realized that this sounded even more out of character. “I wanted her to shut up.” There. That sounded appropriately intolerant of the girl.

Lucius and Narcissa exchanged equally smug glances, infuriating Draco further.

“You know,” he told them peevishly, “it wouldn’t hurt for you two to get hobbies outside of playing matchmaker. It isn’t healthy to fixate on me and indulge these delusions you have.”

Their responding snickers were too much too bear. “Gah!” A strangled cry escaped his mouth. He gave them one last glare before spinning and storming away, muttering under his breath. He loved his parents, and he was happy that they seemed to be enjoying each other’s company in the years since Lucius had been released. But sometimes he really did long for the days that his father’s plots involved the forces of evil rather than ill-conceived manipulations of his personal life.

* * * * * * * *




The next morning at breakfast, Draco found a message waiting at his spot at the table. His parents watched him enter the room, looking too eager for his comfort. He sighed and sat down, breaking the seal on the parchment and quickly reading it. He forced himself to stay blank-faced as he read the note, all too aware of the calculating gazes upon him. He tossed it aside carelessly, picking up a fork and serving himself breakfast.

“Well?” Narcissa’s voice was eager.

Draco looked up, feigning ignorance to her impatience. “Oh, just a memo from a client.”

The disappointment was tangible as Narcissa pouted and Lucius frowned slightly. Draco was suddenly struck with curiosity.

“Why are you two so delirious with happiness at the prospect of Granger writing to me? I would have thought that her parentage would be more than enough to put both of you off.”

“Oh darling, we’re only teasing you,” she replied dismissively. “Besides, it could only help to restore the Malfoy name. You know- putting old prejudices behind us and all that. And Miss Granger is one of the most beloved witches in wizarding society.”

‘Ah, there it is,’ he thought wryly. He knew there had to be some sort of motive behind the sudden goodwill towards a muggleborn. Malfoys were nothing if not opportunistic, and his parents likely viewed Hermione Granger as a golden opportunity. Not only was she the darling of the wizarding world, her prominent status as a muggleborn would send a clear message as to the reformed nature of the Malfoy family. ‘Or at least the desire to appear reformed’ thought Draco, doubting that anyone would truly believe that the Malfoys had dropped their elitist views.

Truthfully though, he did believe that neither of his parents had a big problem with Granger’s parentage. While they were undeniably elitist, Granger’s status was more than enough to make up for being a muggleborn. In recent years they had seemed far less concerned with such things. Draco supposed this may be yet another change brought on by the repercussions of the war. Experiences such as theirs didn’t leave anyone unchanged. Anyhow, either way, they were salivating over the prospect of a romantic union between Granger and himself, and it was too much for him to take.

Between his parents unbridled enthusiasm and his own conflicting reactions to the undeniably attractive (but often insufferable) little witch, he was becoming increasingly frustrated. He’d had no desire to get attached to her that night in the Leaky Cauldron, but was finding it more and more difficult to avoid it.

* * * * * * *






Draco, feeling the need to escape the Manor, was out with several friends later that evening. They were at the Leaky Cauldron, sharing their third round of drinks when he caught sight of a familiar head of coffee colored curls across the room, staring for several seconds before Adrian Pucey snapped his fingers in front of his pale grey eyes.

“What the hell Malfoy?” he laughed, following his gaze. “Oh...”

Marcus Flint strained to see what they were looking at and caught sight of the group of Gryffindors. “Hey, isn’t that the bird that you found with Nott a few weeks ago?” Several of the members of the group had been present that evening, though most of them had been leering at the former Head Girl’s appearance rather than finding themselves disturbed by her out-of-character behavior as Draco had. While had been initially impressed, he quickly recognized something was off with the young witch. Watching her now, he was gratified to see that she seemed to be her usual self as well as being surrounded by veritable army of bodyguards. She was flanked by Potter and Weasley, wedged into a large booth with the littlest Weasley, Seamus Finnigan, Neville Longbottom, and several other people he didn’t recognize from across the room.

Flint gave a snicker and turned back to the group of men he was sitting with. “I guess I can see the attraction. Nice tight little body, all those wild curls, and bedroom eyes. If she weren’t being guarded by the heroes of the wizarding world, I might give the little mudblood a second look too.”

“Don’t call her that.” Draco didn’t raise his voice, but there was a hard edge to it. He lifted his glass and turned his steely gaze on his friends, challenging them to question him.

“Easy, Malfoy,” Adrian intervened. “Just old habits and all that.”

Draco’s posture relaxed slightly and he nodded, feeling suddenly self-conscious that he was defending Granger.

“Just out of curiosity,” Marcus began, somewhat cautiously but with a bit of annoyance in his voice, “when did that become an unacceptable title?”

“She’s not so bad, that’s all,” Draco answered cryptically. He was filled with a mixture of guilt for calling her a mudblood in the past and irritation that he now felt the need to defend her.

Adrian snickered, trying to hide it behind his glass. The pale grey eyes snapped to his face instantly, narrowing at his laughing friend.

“Something funny, Pucey?” he asked lowly.

“Course not.” Adrian’s green eyes were sparkling with mirth. “Could the fact that she’s ‘not so bad’ have something to do with the fact that you realized that the bossy little know-it-all is wrapped up in one sweet little package?” He watched Draco becoming increasingly fidgety in his seat. “Maybe the hat should have put our little Draco into Gryffindor- he’s got a full-fledged hero complex. He’s falling for the rescued maiden and everything.”

The entire table had to hide their chuckles now. The icy blonde sunk down into his seat, scowling furiously and cursing his luck. He was being thrown into the very situation he’d been trying to escape. Deciding that it would be futile to try and change the subject, he rose from his seat, glaring at his friends. “I’m going to the men’s room. Feel free to get it out of your systems while I’m gone. When I return, I’ll expect to find the group of men that I came here with, rather than a bunch of cackling hens.” He strode off to the sound of their mocking laughter.

He entered the bathroom, undoing his zip in front of one of the urinals. As he relieved himself, the door opened and he heard familiar voices behind him.

“Uhh Harry, that’s my sister you’re talking about!”

A gleeful chuckle followed the statement. “And you should be VERY proud of her.” Potter was slurring his words. Clearly the golden trio (at least the male portion) had been hitting the bottle this evening. Draco rolled his eyes, waiting for the inevitable moment when they spotted him. Three, two, one…

“Malfoy!” Did the Weasel sound happy to see him? ‘He must have been drinking quite a bit,’ he thought to himself. He rolled his eyes and zipped himself up, turning to face the two staggering men. “Potter, Weasley,” he greeted them.

“Just the man we were looking for!” Potter was positively beaming now.

Weasley was looking confused. “We were? Oh yeah- because we were talking about…” He was cut off with an “oof” as he received an elbow to the stomach. Draco watched as Potter leaned in and stage whispered an exaggerated “Shhh….”

Draco was exercising what he considered to be an extraordinary amount of self-control in putting up with the two of them. At the moment, his curiosity was outweighing his desire to escape their company.

“How may I help you?” he decided the most direct route would be best.

“Hermione told us you were nice to her.” Potter’s smile grew even brighter, his green eyes shining with drunken delight.

Draco cringed. ‘I guess that it’s true that no good deed goes unpunished,’ he thought, trying to decide how to respond without further incriminating himself. He needn’t have worried, as the two Gryffindors seemed content to do all of the talking.

“She said that you’ve been surprisingly decent, and that for such an evil bastard you were being very understanding,” Weasley too was now beaming at him.

Draco’s lips twitched into a half-smile, torn between being pleased and offended by the description, finally deciding on pleased.

“We think that she kind of likes you, even though she won’t admit it. She gets all starry-eyed when she talks about you, and she blushes when we tease her about it. Won’t say we were totally happy about it at first, but then we realized you obviously care about her. You get all protective of her AND you’re nice to her!” Potter was stabbing a finger into the air to emphasize each of his thoughts, obviously feeling that he’d proved his point.

Draco winced at each statement. ‘Nice?! It’s a sad day when Potty and the Weasel not only deem me suitable for their best friend, but they seem excited about the possibility.’ He sighed, gradually realizing that they had a point, unpalatable as it was. She did seem to have some sort of effect on him. He found himself thinking about her frequently, and he had trouble maintaining his stony exterior when she was around. She would look at him with those deep brown eyes that held such a wide range of emotions, and he would see the tinge of fear that was so uncharacteristic of the bossy girl he had known. It stirred something within him that he hadn’t been ready to think about, but despite his best efforts to steer clear of her he had been unable.

He dried his hands and turned back to the two grinning idiots who seemed to be waiting for a reaction. He wondered how much trouble they would be in if Hermione knew what they had told him. Deciding to take pity on them and keep it to himself (at least for the moment) he bid them goodbye and left to go say hello to the little witch. He wasn’t sure exactly what it was between them, and he doubted she was ready for a relationship after what she had been through, but they had become somewhat important to each other somewhere along the line of heated interactions and owls. He was dismayed to realize how excited he was at the prospect of seeing her again, noting a slight flutter in his stomach. “No need to act like some sort of bloody Hufflepuff…” he muttered under his breath.

As he exited the restroom he caught sight of the gleaming curls again; she was now standing a few yards from him, engaged in conversation with Oliver Wood. She looked slightly uncomfortable and he quickened his pace, drawing up behind her to intervene if necessary. He caught the last of what Wood was saying as he came closer and came to a halt, not wanting to eavesdrop, but riveted in place by what he heard.

“…meant what I said that night- it wasn’t you. Harry was so angry when he confronted me, and I feel horrible about what happened that night. Actually, I thought about it all week and felt like such an ass about everything. There really was something between us and I’d love to… explore it further.” He reached out to her, about to touch her hair when Draco decided to make his presence known.

Draco coughed irritably and both Wood and Hermione’s eyes flew to the spot where he was standing. His pale grey eyes were icy as he took in her flushed cheeks and disconcerted expression, noting the guilty look in her brown eyes. He felt like he’d been kicked in the stomach suddenly.

“May I help you, Malfoy?” demanded Wood in a tone that clearly indicated his irration at the interruption.

Draco, ignoring Hermione’s protest at Oliver’s brusque words, quickly replied, “I must apologize. I didn’t realize I was interrupting something so personal.” His tone was dripping with disdain as he spoke, immediately turning and striding away towards the exit, ignoring both Hermione’s plea for him to wait and his friends still waiting for his return.

He exited the bar, taking in deep breaths of the night air and allowing the anger to override the hurt he was feeling. He supposed that he didn’t have a right to be so angry- it wasn’t as if they were dating or even friends. Perhaps the drunken ravings of her friends had been only that- drunken lunacy. Clearly he had been under the influence of some sort of ridiculous romantic illusion. The guilty look in her eyes had been almost too much to bear. It was obvious that she something was going on between her and Wood and he suddenly felt foolish, realizing that whatever attraction he’d felt had obviously not been reciprocated. He apparated home, resolving to forget the entire mess. It was, after all, what he’d been telling himself all along. His life was simpler when it was free of the messy entanglements and drama that followed Hermione Granger and company.

* * * * * * * *




A/N- Please read and review!

In regards to the reviews- thank you so much to everyone who has been reviewing! It’s really helpful to hear all the reactions, plus it makes me SO happy- so thanks!

Leli and Irene- Thanks for the encouragement!

Alicia- I also love a put-out Draco! Thanks for reviewing so much- it’s awesome.

Lemonade- I’m glad that you forgave Harry- I love Harry too much to let anything bad happen to him! I’m with you about setups. As for her self-esteem issues- hopefully she’s working some of that out.

Cappucino- I do love exploiting Draco as the savior- I’m glad you’re enjoying it!

Ancientgirl- It IS awful that so many women feel that way. I’m trying to hit an appropriate balance with Hermione- she’s very levelheaded, but that sort of experience has to take a toll. Hopefully its believable. Thanks for the comments.

Liz- I like the “jousting” too- they are both so feisty!

DB2020- Thank you so much! I’m really glad that you are enjoying it.
Kbluesmom- That would have been a good idea. Now I kind of wish that there had been some vigilante justice.

Moxie- Thanks! That is hard for me to do- I tend to over-romanticize him in my mind, so I’ve tried to watch it.

Petalsoft- Thanks- that’s good to hear. I’m currently still reeling over how fiendishly clever you are, by the way. I was in a slight state of shock after I read your latest chapter.

Lorett- Wow-thanks! “It had to be you” was one of the first stories on aff that I ever read and I fell in love with it. I’m feeling star-struck right now- I’m so glad that you like it so far!

Bambu- I’m glad that it came across as believable. At least for me, rejection is a very powerful thing (as you said- even if it is just timing) and can make even very intelligent women do out-of-character things to confirm that they are desirable.

Your stories are so beautifully written- I really appreciate your comments.

Sommer- Will do- thanks!

PolarThestral- It is a tricky thing isn’t it? Definitely something I work on trying to balance. Glad you like the family scenes (I love all things Malfoy).
Thanks for the feedback- very helpful!

John the heavy- Thanks- I will try to continue to suppress any urges of nobility…

Kristal- I will do that, and thanks!

Serendipity- I totally have a thing for them too. Thanks for the vote of confidence!