Unexpected (Drarry)

The Power of Invisibility

Weeks had gone by since Draco apologized to Hermione, and during that time something truly unexpected happened; they became great friends.

Countless letters had been delivered back and forth between the two. Hermione found that Draco was far more than he appeared to be. She figured he could have easily been sorted into any house; especially Gryffindor.

Aside from Harry, she had never met someone so brave. Not only that, but he had top marks in his lessons and seemed more loyal to her than any Hufflepuff. He was intelligent, witty, generous (he always offered to study with her, he constantly offered her anything she needed or wanted, and surprised her with little gifts), and, above all, he was kind.

He would always be there whenever she had a problem and, without judgement, help her through it by any means necessary. Whether it be another fight with Ron, as Draco quickly found out happened quite often, or Hermione missing her parents, he was there. They would even meet up after hours to talk in person, and when that happened, he also happened to be a great shoulder to cry on and hearing his voice reassured her everything would be okay even more.

There was something truly special about him. Hermione had never met anyone like him before. She had grown to love the Slytherin, but solely in a platonic way. It was more of a sibling type bond than any other. The only other person she ever felt this way with was Harry, which was strange as Harry and Draco were almost polar opposites in her eyes.

However, she was quickly learning that maybe that wasn't really the case. They were more alike than they would ever know, and Hermione wondered what life would be like if the two just got along.

Yes, it was true. The Draco Malfoy that Hermione knew was someone completely different than how he presented himself. She thought maybe she could help him change that.

As for Draco, Hermione was the best thing to happen to him at Hogwarts thus far. He finally had someone he could confide in, and someone he could trust. She was also someone who could appreciate his humor and keep up with him intellectually. This made him wonder how different his life could have been had they become friends sooner.

The only problem was that several times when they were alone he found himself almost revealing his true feelings about Harry to her. He wasn't sure how she would react and he would not allow himself to lose something so beautiful in his life, so he simply kept his feelings about the boy to himself.

~

By this time Hermione had already forgiven Ron and all was well. Harry had not missed breakfast since and nothing eventful happened in the Great Hall, except perhaps a breakup or two.

Then, as usual by this point in time, Hermione received a letter one morning. She read it eagerly as she could not wait to see what it consisted of. These letters were one of the best parts of her day.

Ron and Harry eyed the letter suspiciously. Neither knew who was behind all of these secret letters and Hermione always played them off by making offhand comments such as, "It's nothing," or, "Just mum and dad," but they knew this couldn't be the case.

It was the weekend so after breakfast Hermione told the others she was off to the library to study while Ron and Harry went to the Common Room instead. The last thing they wanted to do was study.

Once they arrived Ron spoke, breaking their thoughtful silence. "What do you suppose Hermione's gotten herself into?" He asked while pulling out his Wizarding Chess Set.

Harry sighed. He was terrible at muggle chess and he was terrible at wizarding chess as well.

"Blimey, who knows? Do you reckon she has a secret admirer?"

Ron visibly went tense but brushed it off hoping Harry hadn't seen it. Thankfully for Ron, he hadn't.

"No, this is Hermione. If it was a secret admirer, she would have told us. Unless her admirer isn't secret to her."

Harry looked confused and sat silent for a moment while Ron made his first move.

"Why would she not tell us about her admirer if she knew who they were, Ron?"

The two continued the game in silence when after several minutes, Ron finally spoke up again.

"Maybe she fancies them as well. Maybe she thinks we'll tease her until the end of time about her having a crush or a relationship or maybe she thinks we won't approve of the person. That's all I can think of."

Harry noticed that he seemed especially somber when he spoke these words and he wondered why. Shouldn't Ron be happy for Hermione?

"Well, I doubt she's snogging Draco Malfoy, so who else wouldn't we approve of?" Harry asked. He decided not to question Ron's sudden change in behavior.

"I don't know, Harry but I think I know a way we can find out."

Both Harry and Ron had seemingly lost interest in the game, and now focused solely on each other.

"How do you reckon we do that?"

"I've spoken to Lavender asking her if she's noticed anything strange in Hermione's behavior and she's told me that Hermione has been sneaking out after hours. What if we take your Invisibility Cloak and follow her?"

By the time lunch rolled around, their plan had already been solidified.