The Astronomy Tower
Hermione woke up to the sound of rain hitting the window outside of her dormitory on the morning of September 9th. She glanced at the clock on the wall and groaned before rolling over in bed. There was a beam of sunlight coming in through the window by her bed highlighting the messy state of her bunk. She burrowed back into her covers trying to trick her brain into going back to sleep. September 9th. The day she had been dreading since the third day of term. Professor Slughorn took over as Potions master since Snape has resorted to Defense Against the Dark Arts and while class is much more enjoyable, Professor Slughorn suggested that she tutor her nemesis, Draco Malfoy.
Draco has always been an expert in potions class, because of Snape favoring him. Now that Slughorn has taken over it’s not been so simple. He’s been struggling to memorize draughts, failing exams, and barely passing the class according to Slughorn. Slughorn had taken a liking to Hermione on the first day of classes. He immediately recognized her hardworking nature and seemed to like it. On the third day of classes he called her in his office and suggested that she tutor Draco. Hermione was very quick to decline but Slughorn insisted. He promised extra credit on her end of term exams and thus she had no choice but to accept the offer.
Harry and Ron were elated when she told them the news.
“Mione, this is brilliant! Now we can find out if Draco really has become a death eater,” Harry exclaime.
“Harry, I will not be finding out anything of the sort. And I’ve told you to drop that theory. He’s not a death eater,” she replied.
“We just don’t know that do we? But now we have a way into his private life.”
"Death eater or not, it doesn’t change the fact that I will not be investigating further into Draco’s private life."
Ron elbowed Harry and chuckled, “Maybe slip him some veritaserum and get him to slip up eh?”
“Ronald! This isn’t a joke. Think about how I feel having to spend my Wednesdays and Fridays with Draco Malfoy.”
Draco had done nothing but taunt and degrade Hermione since 1st year. His blood purity rubbish has left her feeling less than about herself a number of times. So why did she agree to tutor him?
“Maybe it won’t be as bad as you suspect, maybe you’ll warm up to the bloke,” Ron said as he and Harry laughed.
"Oh I assure you it will be as bad as I suspect," Hermione said with her arms crossed.
After breakfast she made her way to the Astronomy Tower where Slughorn said Draco would meet her. Hermione allowed herself to leave breakfast a few minutes late knowing Draco would make no effort to be there on time. But to her surprise when she climbed to the top of the tower he was sitting on the floor with his books spread open in front of him. He looked up silently and said nothing before he looked back down.
“Good morning, Draco,” Hermione said.
“Morning to you as well,” he said curtly.
Hermione sat down and opened a text book, “Let’s get this over with, shall we?”
“Be my guest.”
Draco was wearing a Slytherin quidditch jumper under his robes. He opened his bag and took out some fresh parchment. He offered her a quill which she politely accepted.
"So what is it that you're having trouble with?" Hermione asked, feeling very uncomfortable being alone with Draco Malfoy.
"Nothing really, I don't see why Slughorn thought this was necessary," he said with a hint of annoyance in his voice.
Hermione wasn't sure what to say to that. She looked up at his face for the first time since they had gotten to the Astronomy Tower and she realized his face was looking rather gaunt. When he pulled up his sleeves to dip his quill into ink Hermione realized he had bruises trailing up his arms.
They went over the steps of making various different potions and Hermione explained the properties behind them while he nodded as she talked, but he remained very quiet.
“Is this all becoming clear to you?” she asked him
“Crystal” he replied.
He never asked a question, he never took notes, and he barely ever looked up. Before Hermione knew it the clock chimed 5:00.
Draco heard the clock a millisecond before she did and quickly packed up his things and nodded swiftly to her before he left.
“Good day to you,” he said before walking away so fast she hardly noticed that he had left.
“Good day,” she replied to nobody but the books on the floor.
When I arrived back at the Gryffindor common room Harry asked how the tutoring session went. Hermione stopped for a moment to think.
How did it go exactly? He barely said two words, which is a step up from the words he usually says. He barely looked at her, which is a step up from the murderous looks he usually gives. It was oddly professional and she was oddly disappointed about it.
“It was good,” she replied, “Very professional. Better than I expected.”
“Malfoy being professional? That’s a first,” Harry scoffed.
“Yeah…. yeah it is,” she said.
“So did you get a chance to talk to him about what we saw that night at Borgin and Burkes? Or about what I overheard him saying on the train?”
“No Harry, I told you everything was very professional and civil. I’m getting extra credit from Slughorn to do this so I am not going to spoil it just to ask a silly question that he’s not going to answer anyway. Now if you’ll excuse me I have studying of my own to do.”
She walked up to my dormitory as Ron said “What’s with her?” right on cue.
Hermione tried her very best to study for her exam in Defense Against the Dark Arts, but she couldn’t. Her tutoring session with Draco plagued her mind. Something about his cold, yet civil demeanor intrigued her. He was almost pleasant to be around, and she was dying to find out why.
As Hermione drifted off to sleep that night, she slipped into a nightmare that she in the forbidden forest by herself running from god knows what. It seemed that no matter how far she ran this creature wouldn’t disappear. It didn’t matter how many blood curdling screams she let out, nobody heard anything. No matter how many times she pleaded with the creature to leave her alone it stayed persistent on her tracks. Every corner she turned looked the same and she couldn’t find her way out of the maze. Then eventually somebody saved her. Somebody she couldn’t quite place. He was familiar though. She recognized the roughness of his hands and the edge to his voice. Hermione woke up in a cold sweat and made a promise to herself never to think too hard about the stranger from the dream who saved her.