After their last odd lesson, Hermione didn’t know whether or not to go to the library. She hadn’t told Harry or Ron about what had happened in the last week, so she couldn’t even ask them for their advice. Not that their advice would be extremely helpful. They would just say to forget about him.
But she couldn’t forget about him. She didn’t even know why. As much as she tried to concentrate on her schoolwork, Draco just kept invading her concentration. She felt as if she was letting Professor McGonagall down by not going to tutor him, which made Hermione feel even worse. Laden down with guilt, Hermione trekked off toward the library, pretending she had to finish her Defense Against the Dark Arts homework. It was a terrible lie because she had finished that homework last night.
When she entered the library, she saw Draco sitting at their customary table, waiting patiently. As Hermione approached him, he said, “I thought you forgot about me!” And with that, he pretended to cry.
‘Well at least he’s back to normal. Or as close to normal as Draco can be,’ Hermione thought to herself.
As they laughed, joked and finished their schoolwork, Hermione could sense a difference in him. He was evidently trying very hard to hide it, but, having spent nearly seven years in the company of friends that didn’t always say what they were feeling, Hermione could tell something was wrong. Whenever they weren’t talking, Draco’s face fell back into depression as it had their previous lesson. He brightened up when Hermione said something funny, but it didn’t convince her. Something had come between their would-be friendship, and she wanted to know what it was. But she also didn’t want to make Draco angry again. She didn’t want to watch him fall again.
Draco was also sensing a change in Hermione, but it was not like his change. Beneath her happy shell and joking face, he sensed she was trying as hard as she could to understand what was bothering him. But even she, the brightest witch of her age, couldn’t penetrate his stony face. Not showing your real emotions was a gift. It was a skill he had inherited from his father.
‘No, Draco, don’t think about Father. It’s not healthy,’ he thought to himself. But it was too late. The letter he had just received from his mother was swimming through his mind’s eye.
Dear Draco,
We have a job for you. The Dark Lord needs someone at Hogwarts, and, seeing as this is your last year, we need to hurry. This job will put you in the inner circle, and it will help get your father back on the Dark Lord’s good side. It will be explained to you when you come home for the holidays, and your Aunt Bellatrix will help you for as long as you are at Malfoy Manor. Destroy this letter as soon as you are finished reading it.
Love from,
Mum
The Dark Lord had released his father from Azkaban, but he was still mad about the entire Ministry fiasco. The Malfoys needed him to help bring their name to good terms. But somehow Draco knew that this job might include Hermione. Hermione, in the Dark Lord’s eyes, was a very important asset to Potter. Being the fool that he was two years ago, Draco had told the Dark Lord about Harry Potter’s genius best friend. With those arrogant words, he had condemned the girl sitting across from him to death.
“Hey Draco? Are you listening?” Hermione said, snapping her fingers in front of his face.
“Oh, sorry. I was… thinking.”
“Wow, that’s surprising,” she said with a smile. He smiled back at her, but it did not reach his steely eyes.
*************
That night, Draco stayed up late, thinking again about his mother’s mysterious letter. However hard he tried to keep it out of his mind, it just kept coming back, connected to everything he tried thinking about. He tried to ponder over today’s lesson, and he wondered if Hermione had figured out what was bothering him. He thought of Hermione and his heart leapt. It was an odd feeling he had never encountered before. His heart usually wasn’t part of his day-to-day activities. It was just there.
A sudden image swam before his mind’s eye. It was of Hermione during one of their lessons. Her brown hair was falling over her eyes and she was laughing. The picture abruptly changed. It was the Dark Lord with his red eyes, laughing like there was no tomorrow.
Draco jerked awake. He was on the verge of sleeping until that terrible picture came into his mind. He tried to ignore it and tried to sleep again.
*************
Hermione has departed from their lesson that evening with her brain whirring. She was dying to know what was on Draco’s mind. She thought they were friends now and she at least deserved some of the truth.
‘We are friends, aren’t we?’ she asked herself. ‘We have fun together, don't we?’
‘Of course you’re friends. He probably won’t die for you, but you are friends.’ Another voice woke up inside her head. It was the practical voice that she usually listened to most of the time.
As she fell asleep that night, a thought crossed her unconscious mind.
‘I want to be more than friends.’
*************
A/N: If anybody wants to contribute to what happens next, please email me or something. Sadly, my muse is still on vacation.
Teaching the Dark by BittersweetLove
Chapter Notes:
I was listening to Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side of the Moon' while writing this. So if it seems a little odd, let it go.