ROYALTY (Editing)

Are We Friends? (edited)

Hermione's p.o.v.

Malfoy and I were patrolling the corridors and asking the students to move back to their dorms. Oddly, it was not uncomfortable walking around with Malfoy as we quietly did our duties, though I felt that the silence had to be broken.

"So, what colour do you prefer?" He asked, the question seeming so obvious to me because he knew the answer already.

"Red and gold, of course," I said, chuckling lightly. "I know yours is green and silver so I am not asking. Instead, what was your most embarassing moment?"

"The day you punched me and when Moody turned me into a ferret."He said, pretending to be angry, but failing miserably.

"You deserved that, Mr.ferret." I laughed at my own joke. We settled in a silence before I decided to speak.

"How's your family?"

One of my worst questions ever. I regretted asking that immediately because his face darkened. Oh boy, why was I so stupid?

He hesitated a bit before answering. "Father went to Azkaban though Mother and I were forgiven,"

His tone was stiff so I decided that it would be best if I avoided the topic whenever he's around because I could see the difficulty, pain and anguish in his eyes.

"I am sorry," I said rather awkwardly.

"No it's not your fault," He paused and said,"If I could go back in the past and undo something then that would be undoing the trouble I caused for you. I didn't want any of you to be the victim of my verbal abuse. I cannot ever justify what I did to you and now I cannot offer you anything but a sorry. Its worth nothing but all I can do."

His words seemed sincere and I was so touched that I ended up blushing. I hoped he couldn't see me blushing but unfortunately, he did because he gave me his signature Malfoy smirk.

"Can we be friends now?" He asked.

"Yeah, but there's a problem," I said, teasingly.

"What is it?" He looked genuinely scared and I had the urge to laugh out loud but I kept the seriousness in my voice.

"We need to go on first name basis now, Mal-Draco." I replied and I could see his tension dissipating.

"Oh, alright then Hermione."He smiled.

"You are the only one who talks to me so openly now," He continued, "Thanks, Hermione." He said, and I could swear that I saw a little twinge of blush on his cheeks.

"Alright, then."I picked up my pace and yelled back to him, who looked confused at this sudden action of mine. "Catch me if you can!"

"Granger you are gonna lose terribly, and I will make sure of that."He yelled back picking up his own pace to complete the challenge I posed him with.