The Internal Devices

Chapter 11

"Shut up!"

"Oh, yeah, real dignified of you, Granger."

"I said shut up, Malfoy! I'm trying to focus."

"Well if you don't know how to use the muggle science thingy, that's all you have to say."

"I know how to use it! I'm just trying to...calibrate it."

"Just admit it, you've never used a bloody ass-slay before."

"It's an assay!" She was shrieking at this point.

"Levi-O-sa, levio-SA."

She scowled at him. How did he even remember that from first year? The phrase was so like the muggle "tomato, tomato" phrase that she was genuinely unnerved. He was always surprising her, she just hadn't determined if that was a good thing or not.

"Just hand me my wand, will you?" Thankfully, he obliged. She tried not to look at his face. She was almost certain he was wearing his famous smirk. The equipment had come in the next day, just like Madam Pomfrey had promised, but Hermione couldn't seem to get it to work. Every time she set it up, it seemed to be working fine. Then she would load Theo's sample and everything would go wrong like the machine was short-circuiting or something. She and Malfoy had been working on it for hours now, and it was well past one in the morning. She was exhausted and exasperated, but mostly a sense of urgency was rising in her gut. Spending time with Theo was wonderful last night. They had finally established a relationship that was more than just friends, and she was so incredibly happy, but now everything felt too real.

Theo was running out of time, and she was wasting valuable seconds fiddling with this stupid assay. Hermione slammed her fist on the table in frustration.

"Hey," Malfoy reached over and gently pushed her away from the table, "we'll get it to work. Go sit down for a moment, and I'll have a go at it." Hermione didn't even bother arguing that there was no way Malfoy would know what to do with muggle equipment and sank into a chair. He pulled out his wand and began running a complicated diagnostic test. With his back to her, he cleared his throat.

"So...how did it go with Theo last night?"

She stared at his spellwork. On one side, the charm turned a violent red, blinking a strange symbol. Before she could read it, Malfoy flicked his wrist and muttered something under his breath. It turned an icy blue. She had no idea what he was doing. Madam Pomfrey taught her how to run diagnostics on patients during her sixth year as a precaution. Madam had believed there would be a day that Hermione might need basic healing knowledge to help Harry. How right she was. Malfoy's diagnostic was nothing like the ones she knew, however. She stood and shuffled closer to inspect it.

"Well?" Malfoy grunted, not taking his eyes off his work. She had forgotten to reply. "Oh," she stuttered, "sorry. It was great, thanks." He glanced to the side, lifting an eyebrow.

"It was great, thanks?" He repeated. She slapped his arm, sending a ripple through the sprawling charm above them. "What do you want me to say, Malfoy? That my time with Theo was lovely because he is lovely and his music is lovely and he makes me feel lovely?"

Malfoy faked a gag and lowered his wand. She chuckled. "That's what I thought."

For a moment, it struck Hermione how odd this conversation was. Before this term, she could never boast even a casual friendship with any Slytherins, but here she was, talking about her feelings with Draco Malfoy. How the tables had turned. Although Malfoy was intolerable most of the time, he definitely had his moments. After all, he was helping her with this research project and she didn't think it was only for his love for Theo. Sometimes, she suspected he actually enjoyed her company.