A Gryffindork and Brain Damaged

A/N: I really enjoyed writing the second half of this chapter so I hope you guys like it!

I apologize for not answering to individual reviews. I would love to, but I never know what to say! So here is a collective "thank you" to everyone who reviewed. I'm glad to know that people are enjoying the story. Thanks!

-----

The soft knocking on his door stole his attention from the essays he had been correcting. Not that he was about to complain. He could definitely use a break from reading the ridiculous and repetitive garbage the dunderhead first years thought they should actually get a decent grade for. But he had wanted to be done correcting the assignments half an hour ago, and interruptions were not going to help.

"Enter!" he barked from his parchment-strewn desk.

The sight of the bushy-haired head that peered around the door made him roll his eyes.

"What do you need, Miss Granger?"

She stepped inside his office shyly. She closed the door behind her and cleared her throat before she began to speak. Snape noted the large tome in her arms. "I was wondering if I could possibly get your help on something that..."

He cut off her last words. "Miss Granger, you are doing just fine in my class, and I don't see what you could possibly need help with."

"Well, Professor, perhaps if you would not interrupt me, you would see what I need help with." Her cheeks reddened. She was embarrassed of her slightly disrespectful tone, but this was important, and he needed to listen. "There is a certain potion I have come across that I need to brew. Unfortunately, it's rather advanced, and, while I do not doubt my ability to make it, many of the necessary supplies are not exactly easy for a student to obtain on their own." Hermione set the book down on the edge of his desk with a hard thud and began flipping through the old, yellowing pages.

Snape was somewhat surprised by her boldness but did not show it. He remained quiet as she skimmed through the book. Finding the page, she turned the book so her professor could see it, and smiled triumphantly.

He leaned closer to skim over the page. He raised an eyebrow then looked back up at her. "Why, exactly, would you need to make yourself such a complex potion, Miss Granger?"

Her smile faded. "It's not actually for me, sir. It's for Draco Malfoy. For weeks now, he has been searching for a spell or potion that would break his blood bonds with his father."

"So you decided to stop liberating house-elves in exchange for helping Slytherins?"

She opened her mouth to answer, but stopped when the office door crashed open and Draco rushed across the small dungeon room. "Severus! I..." He stopped when he realized Hermione was standing beside him. "Hermione?"

"Can I help you, Draco?" Snape asked, impatiently.

Ignoring him, Draco looked at the book then back at Hermione. "You found something?" he asked hopefully.

A large grin broke out across her face. "Yes. It's exactly what you've been looking for. I was just here to ask Professor Snape to..."

Snape asked again, in a much louder voice, "Can I help you, Draco?" He was now standing, obviously irritated by the two interruptions standing before him.

Tearing his eyes from Hermione's triumphant smile, he looked to the annoyed Potions master. "Er... yes. I received an owl this morning." He pulled an envelope from the pocket of his cloak and handed it over to Snape.

Snape slipped the folded parchment out and quickly read over it. He looked up at Draco with a stern expression. "I need to take this to the Headmaster." He stepped around his large desk and ushered the two students out of his office. Before turning to leave he said, "Miss Granger, we'll speak tomorrow." And with a curt nod and a swirl of dark robes, he was hurrying down the corridor.

Hermione was surprised by his quick exit. "What was in that letter?" she asked Draco.

Draco scratched the back of his head. "My father... he's very angry. Someone has said something to him. What they told him, I don't know, but I'd guess it was either Crabbe or Goyle."

Hermione looked worried, but didn't say anything. Instead the two turned in different directions to do their nighttime rounds.

*****

After classes the next day, Hermione found Draco back in their common room. It was the first day of December, and the house-elves had already set up decorations in the large room. Draco was currently glaring at a portrait of himself hung among the ornaments on the tall Christmas tree. The picture was glaring right back at him, and it was charmed to show Draco with a shiny red nose and reindeer antlers.

Besides the glaring, the real Draco looked comfortable. His shoes were off, and he had pulled his shirt from his trousers where the bottom had been tucked in.

Hermione stood beside him and studied the picture for a moment. "Disturbing, and yet it's somehow adorable." Both Dracos turned to glare at her. She smiled sweetly and turned to set her satchel down.

"You only have to wear a Father Christmas hat," he said, gesturing towards Hermione's smiling picture. Draco shot one more glare at his charmed image then sat down on one of the sofas. "Did you talk with Severus?"

She sat at the other end of the couch, arranging her uniform skirt neatly. "Yes." She sighed. "Unfortunately, it won't be ready until April."

Draco's shoulders slumped. "What? Why?"

"Greater Celandine is one of the main ingredients, and it must be picked between April and July," she replied. "Professor Snape contacted every place he knows of that sells it, but nobody keeps track of when they collect it."

He leaned back and sank into the cushions. "Well, waiting for the solution is better than not having a solution at all, I suppose."

Hermione leaned forward to dig through her satchel that was sitting on the floor. Pulling out her Potions textbook she asked, casually, "What did your father's letter say yesterday?"

"What d'you mean?" He knew she was going to bring it up, but he desperately did not want to answer.

"Professor Snape just seemed so perturbed. It must have had more than just some angry and suspicious remarks."

"It was nothing," he said with the best "don't overreact" tone he could muster. He didn't want to worry or upset her. The letter was mostly about Lucius being suspicious and angry towards Draco, but some of the letter had been about her. Lucius had mentioned that he might suggest to Voldemort that it would be wise to get rid of Hermione as soon as possible. "That disgusting Mudblood is almost as big of a threat as Potter," Lucius had written.

Hermione's expression conveyed disbelief. "Relax, Granger. It's not something you need to worry your frizzy little head over."

She hit him in the face with a pillow for his playful insult, but seemed to accept the answer. "Too bad you no longer wear that helmet of gel. It could have protected you from any further brain damage." She laughed.

"For your information, it wasn't gel; it was a hair-holding charm, Gryffindork!" And he smacked her square in the face with another pillow.

Pulling the pillow away, he saw that she looked stunned. She just stared at him for a moment.

"For once in your life, are you actually at a loss for words, Granger?" He smirked as she narrowed her eyes.

Hermione jumped up and pulled out her wand. Before Draco could even react, she had yelled, "Levicorpus!" And Draco was now dangling by one ankle in the air.

"Bloody hell! Granger! Put me down!" His wand fell from his pocket, landed on the floor, and rolled under the sofa.

She doubled-over laughing at him. One leg was stuck in the air while he kicked the other one around. His fingertips were three feet away from the sofa but still desperately trying to reach for his wand under it. The bottom of his shirt had fallen to his chest. She thought his revealed chest and stomach was a rather nice view and figured it would probably look even better right-side-up.

"Granger!" He looked absolutely ridiculous flailing about. "PUT...ME...DOWN!" After a moment of continued struggling, he relaxed. Hermione was still giggling, and hanging upside-down with his arms crossed, he asked, "Is this enjoyable for you?"

"Yes, it is rather funny."

"Will you put me down, Granger?"

"Aw, but you looked so cute with your face all flushed," she cooed at him.

Draco scowled at her.

"All right." She slowly lowered him down.

His feet were on the floor for less than a second when he jumped at her and tackled her down. She was sitting on her knees and bent forward. His chest against her back, he had his arms around her from behind, holding her to him and gently gripping her wrists. They were both laughing and yelling. He tried to reach his wand under the sofa, but they were too far away. Pulling her wand from her tight grip, he let her up, and she ran to duck behind a chair.

"Your turn, Granger!"

Hermione's eyes widened. He gave her an evil grin and she dove behind the sofa.

"I'm wearing a skirt, you pervert!" she screamed.

Draco chuckled at her and sat down on the sofa. "Fine, I won't do it." He looked at her over the back of the couch. She was lying on her back looking up at him, and her curls were a wild. "But only because I'm such a gentleman." He held out her wand.

Hermione took it back while smiling and rolling her eyes at him. She stood up and circled the sofa to sit beside him.

Draco leaned forward and grabbed his wand from under himself. "You're lucky I didn't know about that little trick when we were enemies. I would have been getting an eyeful of your knickers every chance I could get!" Hermione swallowed hard and blushed. Draco cleared his throat nervously when he realized what he had just said. "Oh... no. I didn't mean it like..."

"I know what you meant." She laughed which relaxed him, but he could still feel the heat in his cheeks. He chuckled along with her.

Since when am I 'Draco Malfoy the amazing blushing idiot'? he asked himself.

Picking up her Potions text again, Hermione sighed and said, "I guess it's time for my schoolwork."

"Let me get mine." Draco hopped up and headed to his room. "We can do Potions together," he called out to her.

Hermione smiled to herself. Harry and Ron were never fun like that. They always joked and laughed and had a good time, but they were never playful like that.

When Draco came back, they did their Potions work together and then worked in a comfortable silence for the next few hours. Hermione's work was only interrupted a few times when she looked up to study the way Draco's brows furrowed and lips pouted when he was concentrating.

Hermione came back into the common room after putting her finished work away. Draco looked up at her. "Hermione? Why exactly are you helping me? I mean, with the potion and everything."

She stared at him for a moment then smiled. "I don't know."

He chuckled at her uncharacteristic response, and they left the room to go to the Great Hall for dinner.

TBC