Hermione was sat in the library, it was the only place she could ever find comfort. As a child she was bullied for being so smart, so she often took refuge in the library; in books you could enter a different world and forget about your worries, that's what she always thought. Hermione was trying to read 'House-Elves & Self-Hatred' but so far had read the same sentence 7 times for every time she tried to read it her eyes filled up with tears.
The librarian came over and told her it was time she went back to the common room because the library was closing. Hermione sighed and put the book back on the shelf 'poor house-elves, they have it worse than us' she thought to herself. Hermione nodded good night to the librarian and went on her way back to the Gryffindor tower, she dreaded going back there. She had managed to avoid Harry and Ron for most of the day but now she had to face the music. She stood staring at the fat lady's portrait for about five minutes. "Are you coming in or are you just going to stand there?"The fat lady snapped. Hermione looked at her watch, she had just over an hour before she had to be back in the common room, that's an hour she could avoid confrontation with the boys. "No thanks, I think I'll hang around somewhere else first" "Oh for goodness sake! Make up your mind!" The fat lady said sharply. Hermione made her apology and wandered off.
Hermione didn't know where to go, she normally just hung around with Harry and Ron or went to the library, but now she didn't want to speak to them and the library was closed! She dawdled around for a little bit but then decided it was a lost cause and she would have to go back to the common room. Hermione turned around and almost bumped noses with Draco Malfoy. "Sorry, I didn't see you there" Hermione tried to carry on walking, she didn't want Draco to see that she had been crying again. However Draco knew something was wrong, grabbed Hermione by the arm and spun her around. Draco looked into her eyes "Twice in one day ,Granger? I didn't know you where such a soft touch" He said, trying to make her smile but failing. Sensing that she could burst into tears at any moment, Draco took her by the shoulders and steered her into the nearest classroom.
"What's wrong Granger?" Draco asked. He looked into her eyes with genuine concern and Hermione knew he wasn't playing games with her. She suddenly burst into tears, her eyes becoming waterfalls, she leaned against the wall and slowly sunk down to the floor. Draco crouched down in front of her. "Hey now, what's all these tears for?" When Hermione didn't reply Draco came and sat next to her, leaning against the wall. "Never thought I would see you cry Granger, you always seemed a tough cookie." Draco paused and looked at the girl "Which actually makes this harder to see, because it means that it's serious". Again receiving no reply from Hermione, he put his arm around her. "Come on, it'll all be okay". Hermione's tears finally slowed down and Draco handed her a tissue. "Dear me woman, carry on like this and I wont have anymore tissues left!" Hermione smiled faintly. "Now, come on. Tell me what happened."
Hermione told Draco all about Harry and Ron making accusations, Lavender coming in and telling them what the 4th years had said and hers and Harry's shouting contest. She started to cry again. "Don't start crying. He isn't worth your tears, he may say you're one of his best friends but no best friend treats you like this" Draco stood up and extended his hand to Hermione, she took it up. "Right, I'm gonna cheer you up! Come with me." Draco -still holding Hermione's hand- opened the door to the classroom and ran down the hallway, down several stairs and stopped when they reached the ground floor of Hogwarts. "Draco, where are we going" Draco just smiled and they finally came towards a picture of a fruit bowl, Draco tickled the pear and it turned into a door handle which he consequently opened.
A fume of sensational smells filled Hermione's nose, roast chicken, chocolate pudding, cakes being cooked, and all other sweet smelling food. "Where are we?" She asked Draco. "The kitchen" Draco smiled. Hermione looked around and saw that all this food was being prepared by house elves, she gasped "Draco, what are they doing here?" She pointed to the house elves. "Well, they work here" "WORK HERE?" Draco chuckled "Well who do you think prepares all the food for every meal?" Hermione was at a loss for words "Enslavement of House-Elves is evil and horrid!" She managed to croak. Draco raised his eyebrows at her "You do fascinate me, you do truly believe that everyone should be equal. Don't you?" Hermione looked shocked "Of course I do, just because they're not the same as us does not mean we should not treat them as equals! The working conditions for these poor creatures must be terrible and it must mean that they don't get holidays--" "Granger! Calm down, they like working here!" Hermione looked at him confused and suddenly caught something out of her eye "DOBBY" She cried. Dobby looked over and saw Hermione and smiled but his smile faded when he saw Malfoy next to her. Hermione looked over to Draco and saw that he was staring at the floor. "Dobby, it's okay. He wont hurt you, come and say hello to me" She smiled as Dobby ran over to her and excitedly told her all about his new job at Hogwarts.
*
"Did that cheer you up, Granger?" Draco asked, Hermione smiled. "How did you know Dobby and I were Friends? And that he worked here?" Draco tapped his nose and said "It's a secret, but I do know absolutely everything" They both laughed "Is that why I beat you on every test we take?" "You've got me there Granger, but you're so smart! I have no idea how you learn all of it" Hermione hoped she wasn't blushing. They were once again nearing the Gryffindor common room "Now Granger, next time I see you I don't want you to be crying. Got it?" Hermione smiled "Got it" Draco smiled a cheeky smile. "I'm sorry again, by the way" "For what?" She asked. "For being a foul loathsome, evil little cockroach for years" Draco looked at his watch "Ah, I better get going, I have five minutes to run down to the dungeons or I'll be late"
Draco stared into Hermione's eyes "You look very pretty today, Granger" Hermione put her arms around Draco and hugged him "Thank you for today, Draco" she whispered, Draco hugged her back "You're welcome" They drew apart and suddenly saw Harry standing right beside them, looking furious. "What the hell do you think you're doing?". "What I'm doing is none of your concern, Potter" Draco practically spat his name. "Keep away from her" Harry said. "Hmm, last time I checked you and Granger weren't very friendly" Harry smiled "If I ever see her near you again, I wont hesitate to punch you. Daddy's boy." Harry grabbed Hermione's arm and started dragging her towards the Gryffindor common room. Just before she was pushed into the open portrait she managed to mouth "I'm sorry" to Draco.
Harry kept hold of her until they were in the common room. "What the hell was that about?" Harry hissed. Hermione ignored him and started walking towards the girls dormitory stairs, Harry wasn't going to give up that easily. He grabbed her and spun her around. "What is going on between you--" Harry didn't get to finish that sentence, Hermione had slapped him right around the face. "Butt out of my love life Harry! You don't get to control who I go out with, who I hang out with or who I like. Nor do you have permission to drag me away from people while we are still talking! I don't care who they are or who you are!" Hermione was fuming. "In future please just stay away from me!" Hermione ran up the stairs to her dormitory and slammed the door shut.
