Comforting the Enemy

A/N: Finally! I apologize for how long it took me to update this story. I was about two hundred words into this chapter when I got completely stuck. Anyways, here it is.

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When Draco left the Potions classroom, he found Hermione pacing the hall.

“Draco—”

She stopped when they heard two male voices coming from around the corner.

“That must be Harry and Ron. We usually meet here for lunch. Let’s go. We need to talk.” She took his hand and they moved in the opposite direction of Harry and Ron. She didn’t let go until they got through the portrait hole and inside their shared common room. She found it odd that holding his hand felt so natural to her.

“Are you all right, Draco? I um... I heard what Crabbe said...”

“Oh, yeah. I’m fine,” he replied sarcastically. “I feel like sinking his face in with my fist, but I’ll be okay.”

She stepped forward to place her hand on his shoulder comfortingly, but he brushed it away. His jaw was clenched, and his knuckles were white from the tight fists he was holding at his sides.

Hermione stood aside as he paced around the common room angrily. She kept her eyes cast down towards the floor while he blew off some steam by screaming random insults throughout the room. She was surprised by his rather colorful vocabulary. Finally, frustrated with his unproductive vent of anger, he picked up the first thing in sight and threw it against the wall. It happened to be Breaking Blood Bonds and Other Bothersome Bindings, and as it hit the wall, several ancient pages burst out and fluttered down to the floor.

Now exhausted and slightly embarrassed from his outrage, Draco threw himself down on the sofa in front of the fireplace to calm down a bit. Hermione picked the book and its many scattered pages up from the floor and walked over to join him on the sofa. She realized that the book was probably extremely overdue by then, but knew better than to mention it at that moment.

“Dammit!” Draco picked up a pillow from the couch and threw it right into the fireplace, which caused sparks to rise and blow into the flue. “Those bloody wankers, blithering on like they know what...” His words dissolved into incoherent mutterings.

Hermione could see an angry fire in his eyes. His shoulder blades were tight, and he was clenching and unclenching his fists. His bottom lip began to tremble with a suppressed desire to cry for his mother. Hermione wanted to calm and comfort him, but wasn’t sure how to go about doing so. Before she could think much about it, she pulled him into an awkward hug.

“It’s okay, Draco.”

The tension in his muscles began to dissipate as he realized the sincerity in her comforting gesture. He relaxed into her form and allowed himself to be comforted. Comfort was something that he hadn’t been the recipient of since his mother’s death.

After a moment, he slowly pulled away. He was a little startled by the fact that he had begun to enjoy the feel of her embrace before he ended it.

“Now.” Hermione sighed audibly and asked, “Are you finished tossing pillows into the fire, or would you like to ruin the nice down ones next?”

He looked up at her with a halfhearted glare. “Yeah... I’m done.” He rested his chin in the palm of his hand and leaned forward with his elbow on his knee.

“Good.” She smiled warmly at him and relaxed back into the couch. “I was hoping you might have some news from Snape that you might want to share with me.”

His head shot up, and he suddenly remembered what Snape had suggested earlier. “This isn’t good, Granger,” he said in a serious tone.

“What?” Her spine became ramrod straight. She hadn’t expected there to be bad news, but his tone definitely indicated bad news.

“You were right about Voldemort hiding information from Snape. I’m afraid he may not trust him.” He stood up and walked to the fireplace, resting one hand on the mantle. “What if he doesn’t have a way out? The Dark Lord isn’t the forgiving type. I know if my father hadn’t killed her, my mother would have learned this firsthand.” The last sentence was practically forced out through gritted teeth.

Hermione joined him at the fireplace and covered his hand with her own. “I’m sure Dumbledore has already realized all of this and already has some kind of plan underway.”

Draco stared at their hands. “Granger, I’m sure you’re right, but I can’t help but worry. Severus is more of a father to me than Lucius has ever been.”

A silent moment passed between them. Neither knew what could be done for Snape at the moment, but Hermione thought of something that could help Draco. “You know, I’ve been thinking about your blood bond problem...”

*****

With unfinished essays due the next day, Harry and Ron reluctantly joined Hermione in the library where they could finish their assignments.

Ron nibbled on the end of a Sugar Quill as he idly flipped through a book. Harry was finishing up his History of Magic essay, and Hermione was walking back to the table, carrying several more books. She had been looking through any book containing charms that required blood, hoping she might find the original charm Narcissa used. Finding the original charm would make the work of finding something to counter it much easier.

Tossing down his quill, Harry leaned back in his chair, stretching with a groan. Quidditch practice had been tedious that day, and sitting in a wooden chair for an hour and a half afterward made his muscles stiff.

Interrupting her work, Harry asked, “Hermione, where did you wander off to after Potions yesterday? You weren’t in the hall to meet us for lunch.”

Faking a yawn, Hermione quickly thought up an excuse. “Um... detention with Professor Snape after class...” She knew it was a terrible lie, but her brain was swimming with everything she had been reading, and nothing else came to mind.

Ron and Harry both raised their eyebrows at each other, and then frowned at her.

“Detention?” Ron questioned.

Hermione slumped her shoulders and faked a shamed and defeated look. “Yes. For being ‘an insufferable know-it-all,’” she said, mimicking Snape’s deep voice at the end.

The two boys nodded knowingly. Harry rolled his eyes. “That’s Professor bloody Snape for you. Punishing someone for being intelligent.”

Hermione smiled at the compliment, but it quickly faded. She hated lying to her friends. Even if she did have a good reason.

She flipped open Potions for the Blood Captive.

“Oi, Hermione.” She looked up at Ron. “You been getting any... er... investigating done?” he asked, looking around cautiously.

Shite! Hermione thought. She hadn’t expected them to bring it up so quickly. “Well, there was a letter, but not much to it.” She told them what she could remember of the letter Draco had showed her from Lucius. At least it wasn’t a complete lie, and she wasn’t giving them any information Draco didn’t want them to have just yet.

“Hard luck,” Harry said. “I should have known he was too smart to reveal anything in an owl.”

“Well, keep looking,” Ron said. “You’re bound to find something sooner or later, Hermione... Hermione?”

Ron was trying to get her attention, but Hermione’s mind was already somewhere else entirely. She had come across something quite interesting and needed to look into it quickly.

“I’ve got to go.” She gathered up her things and prepared to check out the book from Madame Pince.

“Where you off to in such a hurry?” Ron questioned her.

“The dungeons. I’ve got to talk to Professor Snape.”

Harry and Ron gazed after her confusedly as she rushed from the library.

TBC