8
Malfoy's eyes closed and he inhaled slowly.
"No need to apologize Granger. I upset you, my fault for getting angry about something I did to you. I understand you're tired and angry and on top of that you're risking your life for the people you love, I respect you for that," he says slowly.
Hermione stared back at him in shock. What the fuck?
"Did you just say you r-respect me?" She asks feeling sort of silly for asking.
He laughs. "I did. I knew you loved Potty and The Weasel but I had no idea you would literally sell yourself for them. You've got some pretty big balls,"
"Apparently you do too," she said. Fuck. That sounded wrong. Her cheeks immediately flushed red. "As in you're doing the exact same thing as I'm doing, you know? Like- erm- risking your life for the person you love,"
She can be so fucking dumb sometimes.
Malfoy had started to grow on her. She enjoyed his company, having someone to talk to. He knew what it was like to be throwing yourself into danger to protect people.
Most of all, he treated her like an adult. He talked to her without making her feel like a stupid little girl.
It was nice to have someone, even if she did still hate him.
Hermione thought back to what she'd said that night. She told him that he used people and made them feel small. She said he was just like his dad.
"I really am sorry Malfoy. You're not your dad," Hermione says while stepping towards him. Usually being close to him made her nervous, it made her want to vomit. But now, it was different. Being near him was comfortable, it felt natural to her. She wasn't terrified of him like she should be. But the thought of her being comfortable with him made her nervous. She is supposed to hate him, she does hate him. So why doesn't she feel scared around him? Why don't her hands shake at the thought of him anymore?
"You do not know me Granger. I am exactly like my father," his voice sounding abhorrent.
She takes another step towards him. They were only a foot away from each other now. Hermione's hand reaches up and rests on his shoulder. "But the difference is you're doing something to save the ones you love,"
His lips draw into a hard line. "He's not a good person. I know that. But you don't know the circumstances of his situation. You do not know everything Granger,"
"Then tell me," she says softly.
He lets out a small huff of air through his nose. He was annoyed with her. "Stop. Please stop pretending to care about my pitiful little life. I'm a monster. You know what I am. We have a deal. You come see me and I give you information. You don't have to act like you care,"
The thing was, Hermione wasn't sure if she was pretending anymore.
"Are you scared? What if I share a secret with you?" Her words were spoken in a hushed, soft tone.
His eyes drop down to meet hers and something flickered in them. "I'm not scared. I just don't want your false pity," he says in a small voice.
"I obliviated my parents. Even if we win the war I doubt I will be able to reverse it. I'll be alone," Hermione says while staring at him.
She studies his beauty. She wishes things could have been different. They could have been something so great in another life.
His face shifts into a state of slight shock. He takes a moment before responding to her. "You won't be alone. I own you remember? You'll get to spend forever with me," his lips lift into his Malfoy smirk.
"Oh great. So excited," she says with an eye roll. "Now your turn. Tell me your biggest, deepest, darkest secret,"
His body tenses and he breathes in deeply. "You know, Granger, you really know how to push my buttons," Hermione snorts. "I had to join the Dark Lord. It wasn't a choice. It was punishment to my father for fifth year at the ministry. I had to kill Dumbledore or the Dark Lord would have killed me. If I had a choice I wouldn't be here right now doing this,"
He turns away from her leaving her staring at his back in disbelief. Everything had changed now. Everything she thought she knew what wrong, her perspective of him was wrong.
She was completely and utterly speechless.
Why had this made her feel different? He was still a villain, he killed so many people. He killed her friends... kids. She hated that she felt differently now.
"Oh Malfoy," she huffs while pressing herself into his back and wrapping her arms around his waist. His body immediately stiffens at her touch.
"I said stop with the fake sympathy or whatever your doing, Granger," he snaps at her and pulls himself from her arms.
"You're a foul bloke you know that? Whoever said this was fake? Maybe I enjoy spending time with you because you treat me nicely sometimes. I don't feel like I'm constantly letting you down like I do with everyone else. Stop being such a nasty git and accept that maybe someone could actually enjoy your company arsehole," tears were prickling at her eyes.
"Your friends don't treat you nicely?" He asks.
Harry and Ron didn't treat her badly per se, but they did not treat her well. They were frequently avoiding her because it always ended up with them fighting. They fought a lot in school but never to this point. Ron had actually called her a 'stupid bitch' at one point because of her persistent recommendation of using magic that could be lethal. She was constantly pointing out how they could not win a war by only using stunners and jinxing them.
"Fuck, no, yes. They treat me fine. I don't know why I said that. Can we just carry on with training or something?" She says trying to shift the conversation.
"Yeah yeah, though you are the one who started this whole sappy conversation, and you confessed your love for me,"
"You wish! I merely stated I enjoy having conversations with you because you are intellectually stimulating," Hermione says.
A cheeky grin paints his face. "I can also be stimulating in other ways,"
Hermione leans in and repeatedly pounds her fists lightly on his arm. "Would you stop that!"
He laughs but not just his normal snort. He actually laughs. His smile gave Hermione a tingly feeling in her stomach. She could do nothing but admire his beauty.
Most men were not beautiful, they were good looking or handsome. But Malfoy was truly beautiful. Everything about him had the perfect amount of elegance and grace, mixed with rigidness and hardness.
She hated that she loved looking at him. She wanted to touch him and feel the warmth and softness of his body, she wanted to trace his scars and know what every one of them was from. She wanted to know his story, every detail that made him as hard and relentless as he is today. She also wanted to punch him in his perfect face and tell him how much she hated him.
She had to force herself to push whatever these thoughts were far back into her mind. She couldn't let this get in the way of what she needed to do.
"Any information this week? I have work to finish tonight," She lied.
He shook his head no. Hermione turned to leave when he spoke. "Granger?" She stopped and turned to face him again. He looked uncomfortable and slightly awkward. "I'm sorry for what Aunt Bella did to you. I would have stopped it if I could," Hermione had never heard his voice so soft.
"I know," She said before apparating away.
_________________________________
Hermione sat on her bed reading a book on dark artifacts. The trio needed to find the last few horcrux's. Finding them was a life or death situation. Without destroying them all, they would never be able to defeat the Dark Lord. She wondered if Malfoy would know about them. After all, his father did slip Ginny the diary in her second year, and his aunt was very upset they had been in her vault. Bellatrix was in love with the Dark Lord, she was one if his most trusted followers. It would make sense for him to trust her with something as valuable as a horcrux.
She rubs the coin in between her fingers. She felt proud of herself every time someone successfully used the coins, she had only been fifteen when she created them. Dumbledore's army had been amazed she could come up with something as useful as the coins.
"I need you to kiss all of my sensitive areas now."
She felt bad, they had just left each other but this was important. She apparates to the empty shack. What if he can't come? Did he understand her message meant it was important? Hermione's heart was racing as she paced the small room. Suddenly there was a loud crack and Malfoy was there. He was in pajama bottoms and a button down shirt. His hair was quite messy.
"Granger is everything alright?" He asks while scanning her body for injuries.
"Yeah- yeah I'm fine. I have something very important to ask you. But you cannot tell anyone that we are looking for it or I am dead along with the entirety of The Order," her words come out so fast she wonders if he could understand anything she'd just said.
Malfoy stood for several seconds with his brows furrowed and his lips drawn into a hard line. "So this is important?" He asks. His hand comes up and rubs the sleep out of his eyes.
Hermione nods her head and catches the time on his watch. It was nearly one in the morning.
Harry and Ron would be pissed if they knew she was bringing Malfoy into this, but he had insight they needed.
"So um. Tom Riddle has these objects called horcrux's, they contain fragments of his soul. So as long as these objects are around Tom will live," she says.
Malfoy stares back at her with confusion. "Who's Tom?" He asks slowly.
"Vol- you-know-who,"
"What?" His voice shifts into coldness. "No. That's not right,"
Hermione had assumed all of the Dark Lord's followers knew his story and who he was.
After she explained Tom's story, Malfoy stared back at her with an angry look. "You cannot act like you know this, it might set him off and he will hurt you- or honestly kill you. Just pretend I never told you. Listen, your dad had a horcrux. That's how Ginny Weasley got possessed during our second year. He slipped it to her in the library. We've already destroyed three. We know there are three left and then you-know-who himself. They'll literally be a random object but the person who guards it won't let anyone near it. I think your aunt has one in her vault. She thought we had been in her vault and thought we had taken something, so obviously there is something valuable in there,"
"What would they look like?" He asks.
"Anything. There was the diary, a ring and a locket. Please don't blow your cover over this, it's important but without you we have no chance of winning this war,"
"Don't worry Granger, I wont," Malfoy says with a sly smile and that tingly feeling finds its way back to Hermione's stomach.