Blood Bonds

Hermione went through each of her classes the next day dwelling on the night before. She had not seen Draco that morning while leaving her room or across the Great Hall at breakfast. She never thought that she would find herself worrying about the feelings of Draco Malfoy.

After her classes, Hermione entered her common room and shivered. The house-elves had kept the fire burning all day, but the room was still cold with emptiness. She tried to work on her homework, but found the silence of the room was too much to take at the moment. She gathered her things and headed down to the library.

On her way there, she ran into Ron.

"Oi, Hermione. Where you been? Harry and I haven't seen you all day."

"I've just been... distracted today," Hermione answered carefully. She brought one hand up to the back of her neck and massaged it lightly. Her muscles had been tense with guilt all day.

"Everything alright?" Ron had just noticed the dark circles under her eyes and her oddly stiff posture.

"Yeah. Just... homework," she said, holding up her satchel.

Ron rolled his eyes. "Hermione, you really need to take it easy on yourself. School isn't everything, especially right now. Which reminds me... Harry and I need to talk to you later. It's rather important. After dinner?"

She nodded and quickly ended the conversation. She didn't feel like worrying about the war at the moment, but she also knew that war wouldn't accommodate itself for her schedule.

*****

Upon entering the library, Hermione glanced around for the best empty seat. The first thing that caught her attention was a bit of a surprise though. She saw the back of his familiar blond hair and immediately darted behind the nearest row of shelves.

Draco was standing at Madam Pince's desk. She was reading a note he had handed her. She looked up at him suspiciously, but walked him over to the restricted section anyways.

Hermione waited in her hiding place. She was desperately trying to think of something she could say to him, but her thoughts were interrupted by some giggling nearby. Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil were huddled together over a magazine. Hermione had to laugh to herself when she noticed Viktor Krum's picture was on the cover, smiling at her. She rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the entrance of the restricted section.

Draco was now leaving it and headed over to an empty table in the corner. Hermione noticed that something seemed different about his movements. She couldn't quite place what it was, but something was definitely different.

Brushing off the thought, Hermione looked at his table. She could tell he had already been there for a while. His satchel was sitting in the chair next to him, and he already had books and parchment spread out in front of him. He had a book with him now, but Hermione could not see what book it was from the distance she was at.

She took a deep breath and headed over to his table. She sat down lightly in the chair across from him and began removing books and parchment from her bag. He didn't show any sign that he had noticed her arrival at his table.

Draco was scribbling notes down on a piece of parchment. Hermione glanced over at the top of the page he was currently looking over. In the header, Hermione could read the title of the book; Breaking Blood Bonds and Other Bothersome Bindings.

Hermione took another deep breath. "I don't believe that's being covered in any of your current courses."

His quill stopped scratching away at the parchment, and his hand hovered over it for a moment. Hermione suddenly worried that her interruption was going to anger him.

"No." He continued to stare down at the book. "Personal interest." His quill found the parchment again, and he continued to take notes.

She relaxed slightly when he answered her. "I assume Snape gave you the note for that."

He gave an irritated sigh and looked up at her. "I didn't forge it, if that's what you're asking."

"Oh, no! That's not what I meant. I just..." She didn't know what she had meant. She had just been trying to make conversation.

Hermione quickly began flipping through one of her textbooks. She could sense him still looking at her. Settling on the correct page, she looked back up at him and met his quizzical stare.

"What?"

Draco shook his head and went back to his notes. Hermione buried her face in a book and began her homework. The two were silent for a while, working diligently on their work. Finally, Hermione's curiosity got the best of her.

"I don't mean to be nosey..."

"Yes, you do," he interrupted. "It's part of your character," he mocked, never looking away from his notes.

She rolled her eyes and chuckled a little. He was absolutely right. Of course, he didn't need to point it out, but he was right. "As I was saying... what, exactly, would you need that book for?"

Draco stared at his parchment for a moment before lightly setting down his quill and folding his hands together on the table.

"I'm going to assume Dumbledore showed you the memory..."

Hermione broke eye contact and nodded. She felt another large pang of remorse.

"Well then, since you must know, and seeing as how you already know so much," he said this offhandedly, "I might as well explain the rest."

She looked down at her hands resting in her lap, regretfully. His tone softened, "I can trust none of this is getting to Potter or Weasley?" He spat the names like venom.

Hermione shook her head emphatically. "Of course not." She wanted to tell him that he could trust her, but she felt that it would sound too forceful and eager.

He nodded slowly. "Currently, I am held in a blood bond to my father, and he can use it to my advantage or against me. With it, he can track me and control what places I can and cannot Apparate to."

"But if the two of you are bound, won't he know instantly when you break it?"

"Although, I am bound to both him and my mother, she was the one to perform the actual charm so she would have been the one to know. Unfortunately, when he tries to track me or uses it at all, he'll definitely know when it won't work."

"I'll assume that since it was your mother's idea, it was placed for protection rather than control."

He nodded solemnly, remembering the loving way his mother would be so protective of him.

"She seemed to have loved you very much."

"Isn't that what mothers are for?"

"Oh, of course. I just thought that since your father..."

He held up one hand. "I know. But she was nothing like my father."

In a comfortable silence, Hermione finished the rest of her homework, and Draco finished his notes. They walked back to their common room together. Neither said anything on the way there.

Once inside, she turned towards him. "I'm really sorry. There's not much else I can say. I was completely out of line, and I should have trusted Dumbledore's judgment." She felt uneasy saying it, but she knew that she needed to apologize.

He looked away, but nodded thoughtfully. "I understand. I'm a bloody git, not to mention the son of a Death Eater, and I don't exactly deserve anyone's trust or respect. Especially not yours."

He had accepted her apology, but she still felt terrible about what had happened. She looked down sadly, and chewed at her bottom lip.

"Besides, Granger, isn't jumping to conclusions a Gryffindor trait?" he mocked, feeling he needed to break some of the tension.

Hermione looked up, casting a small smile at him. She took a deep breath and stuck out her hand. "It's Hermione."

This time, he accepted the hand she offered. Hermione thought she saw a small smile tugging at one corner of his mouth. "Draco."

*****

When she sat down for dinner that night, Hermione was already feeling much better. Draco had forgiven her. She wished she could tell Ron and Harry about everything. They would not take the news well, but if they saw the memory, they could at least begin to see Draco's new view on things. It would definitely take a long time for them to actually trust him, but if only they could see the memory, that process could begin. She highly doubted that they would ever come to like him, but people don't have to like each other to work on the same side.

Hermione turned and spotted Harry and Ron entering the Great Hall together. She waved them over to where she was seated and they hurried over.

"You look better, Hermione," Ron said while sitting down across from her.

"Yes, well, I finished my essay for Advanced Potions earlier," she replied. Well, it wasn't a complete lie. She had finished her Advanced Potions essay, but the essay was not the reason for her stressed state earlier that day.

"Oh," he said in an understanding tone. "If I had an essay for Snape, I would be stressed out too."

"Professor Snape," Hermione corrected him.

"Anyways, I'm just glad I don't have to take Potions anymore," Ron said, and Harry nodded in agreement. Then, they both began to shovel food greedily onto their plates.

Towards the end of the meal, Hermione began to get rather anxious. Neither Harry nor Ron had mentioned anything about what they needed to talk about, and she was terribly curious.

"So, what is it that we need to talk about?" she finally asked in a low voice.

Harry and Ron looked at each other. "How about we leave now so we can get back to your rooms before Ferret Face gets there?" Harry suggested, jutting a thumb over his shoulder in Draco's direction.

Hermione nodded. Ron looked a little disappointed because he hadn't finished with his third helping yet. He quickly grabbed three more rolls, and they headed out of the hall.

While leaving, Hermione glanced at Draco, but quickly turned away when she realized he had been looking at her. The three of them left the Great Hall and started towards Hermione and Draco's common room.

TBC