Unlikely Friends

Part 8

Draco hadn’t shown up the next evening. He had decided it was best to wait a few days before trying to talk to Hermione again. Now he was sitting in Snape’s chambers again waiting for her to come out. Snape had said she was willing to see him now, she was jumpy again but that wasn’t entirely unexpected. Dumbledore had also suggested that they begin working on spells right away. It would take her mind off what she had learned. Draco wasn’t sure he agreed with that but he would do what the older wizard wanted for now at least.

The Headmaster had suggested they start with the simplest spells, nothing more complicated than second year stuff for now. Then progress as needed until the reached the level of current studies. Snape had also given him the ingredients for a healing potion. Again nothing too difficult, as he wasn’t anxious to see his room covered in a potion gone wrong.

As far as Draco was concerned he needed to talk to Hermione about his father. Pretending it didn’t happen, or that she didn’t know wasn’t going to work. He also didn’t know how to approach the subject without upsetting her again. He was pulled out of his thoughts when the bedroom door slowly opened and Hermione walked out carrying her spell books in one hand and her wand in the other.

“Granger,” Draco said quietly.

“Malfoy I’m…” Hermione set her books on the desk and began pacing the room, “I shouldn’t have…I know you’re not your father.”

“I’m not but… I can’t blame you for thinking I would do something like that.”

“No, Professor Snape was right, you’ve never done anything that…”

Draco walked around the large table and approached her from behind. As soon as his hand touched her shoulder she jumped away. Draco dropped his hand, they had been past this, and she hadn’t shied away from him in days. They had unbelievably enough even sort of become friends. He turned and walked back to the couch in disappointment.

“God, Draco I’m sorry I…” Hermione moved quickly to the couch and sat next to him.

“I understand, you still see my father when I get near you.”

“No, I don’t,” Hermione sighed, “It’s not about what I think that’s the problem, it’s emotions and right now my emotions see…”

“A Malfoy?” Draco suggested frowning.

“Well, yeah.”

“Its fine, are you going to able to work with me, or should I ask Dumbledore to come down here and tutor you?”

“No, I’ve hurt your feelings?”

“Surprised I have them?”

Now it was Hermione’s turn to frown. Sure at one point she questioned whether he had feelings but that was…before. Her concerns over hurting his feelings were, however, quickly turning to anger. He was making this her fault. She wasn’t responsible for any of this anymore than he was.

“Draco, I’m sorry I upset you. I want you to tutor me,” she finally said, “But if you’re going to get angry every time I something happens because of what your father did, then I guess maybe someone else should come down here instead.”

“I’m sorry,” Draco said so quietly Hermione almost didn’t hear him.

“What?”

“I said I’m sorry, and yes a Malfoy can apologize,” Draco answered, “At least this one can, not often, as I’m not often wrong but…”

Hermione raised an eyebrow at his statement.

“What I’m still a Malfoy and we aren’t accustomed to being wrong or comforting or any of those things that you probably need right now. If you need cruel and cold I can help but comforting is a whole new thing for me.”

“I don’t need you to comfort me, just try to not be cruel okay?”

“Fine, want to do charms or potions first?”

“Snape is letting me do a potion?” Hermione asked surprised.

“A first year one but yes.”

“Does it need to simmer?”

“Yes,” Draco said after a moment, “So we should do that first then.”

He opened his bag and pulled out the necessary ingredients while Hermione went back to the bedroom to find her cauldron in her trunk. Once she returned, they quickly prepared the ingredient. Draco watched quietly as she quickly added the ingredients to the cauldron stopping to stir when necessary.

“Did you do all that from memory?” He asked when she wiped the end of the wand after she finished stirring in the final ingredient.

“Yes why?”

“We haven’t done that potion in five years.”

“Still we had to learn the properties,” Hermione pointed out, “That just needs to simmer for a while.”

“I could name the ingredients but I would need my notes to actually put them together properly.”

“I enjoy potions,” she replied. “It’s interesting.”

“I’ve never heard anyone say they enjoyed Snape’s class before.”

“I didn’t say I enjoyed his teaching methods just that I find the subject fascinating.”

“So then, ready to move on to charms?”

“We should probably move the cauldron first, in case…”

Draco quickly moved theldroldron to the desk on the opposite side of the room. Coming back to the couch he grabbed several quills and the small pillows on the chair. As well as several small items they could use to practice transfiguration if she wanted to attempt it.

“So Dumbledore says start simple,” Draco pointed out, “floating quills?”

Hermione nodded her agreement and Draco quickly laid out the quills he had brought back from the desk. Hermione eyed them hesitantly, she had tried to float a quill last week and it hadn’t gone well. She knew she had to relax or the results would be just as disastrous.

“Ready?”

“Wingardium Leviosa,” Hermione said moving her wand in the appropriate fashion.

She frowned when the feather simply stayed where it was. She repeated the spell again this time a little louder, still it didn’t budge. She dropped her wand on the couch beside her in anger.

“Well, it didn’t blow up,” Draco pointed out, “So it’s better than last week, and still better than Longbottom.”

“That’s not fair Draco, he hasn’t blown anything up all term,” Hermione frowned, she couldn’t help defending her friend.

“Not true, you haven’t been in Potions all week.”

“But he’s been doing so well.”

“Because you were whispering instructions to him,” he pointed out, “Why can’t he follow what’s written on the blackboard?”

“Snape makes him nervous and he can’t he forgets what he read.”

“Want to try again or move on to something else?”

“One more try,” Hermione picked her wand back up, “Wingardium Leviosa.”

She smiled slightly when the quill rose a few inches off the table before falling back its place beside the others.

It wasn’t much but at least it had moved this time. She tried a few more times with the same results before stopping to stir the potion. After returning to the table they decided to forgo transfiguration for the night and attempted a few more simple charms, all meeting with a small measure of success.

When the potion was done she quickly bottled it and attempted the spell to clean the cauldron. Frowning she turned to Draco who was still seated on the couch laughing at her face when the cauldron remained dirty.

“It’s not funny,” she complained, “What kind of witch can’t do a simple cleaning spell?”

“Well, I can’t really see you as being a house wife so it’s probably not a big deal.”

“We aren’t all wealthy,” she pointed out, “And I may not be able to afford to pay a house elf so I’ll have to clean eventually.”

“You don’t have to pay…never mind,” Draco quickly dropped his statement not wanting to get into that conversation again.

“So when are we supposed to do this Hogsmeade thing anyway?” She asked.

“It depends on you actually.” Draco answered moving next to her and muttering the spell to clean the dirty cauldron.

“What about me?”

“Well, Snape and I discussed it and it’ll probably be best if you’re back in the dorms and at classes before we do it.”

“Why?”

“Well no one knows you’re here so you can go to Hogsmeade anytime, but someone is bound to notice if I disappear for a whole day. If we do it on a Hogsmeade weekend you’ll be seen by the whole school.”

“But how do I explain being with you if it’s during the regular trip?”

“Well, we could um, pretend to be friends before that so that no one will…”

“I don’t think it’ll really be pretending but Harry and Ron are going to be angry if they think we’re friends.”

“That’s a bonus for me but are you okay with it?”

“Yes, they can’t choose my friends for me,” Hermione said after a few seconds thought, “So this will happen whenever I’m ready to go to class again?”

“Yes, not right away, we’ll have to build up the friendship to everyone else first,” Draco said, “That will almost guarantee my father will find out and be in Hogsmeade.”

“How are we going to make sure…. I don’t want you to have to fight your own father.”

“Snape and Dumbledore will be there, as well as Tonks and Moody.”

“Well I feel better I guess, but um, Snape won’t he reveal…”

“Let me worry about that Miss Granger,” Snape said from the doorway.

“Are you finished studying?”

“For tonight yes,” Hermione answered, “I left the potion on your desk.”

“It turned out properly?”

“Yes sir.”

“Very well,” He picked up the small vial as he set some other items on the desk before continuing through the room to his bedroom.

“Well, I better go,” Draco said gathering his things, “I’m sure he has things to do, and there is no sense in angering him by staying to talk. I’ll come back tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow,” Hermione answered.

She finished gathering her things and went into the bedroom as soon as Snape returned. She was late and wanted to finish her papers early tomorrow so she could practice her charms again before Draco returned.