Would You Like A Hand?

28 | into

He just had to ruin her mood every time, didn't he?

Hermione replayed the last couple minutes in her head: she had been laughing with Ron because he hadn't known how to properly chop his share of veggies. And then he had told her how glad he was to find out she was still alive.

"Of course," she had told him, "I'm the brightest witch of our age. It's you and Harry that I was worried about."

Afterwards, she had admitted that she was glad to see them alive, too. She had been worried when she had been unable to find them in the ministry building.

They talked a little more, and then Ron said, "What's with you and Malfoy, anyway?"

"What do you mean?" Hermione had asked. She had already told him and Harry that Draco had helped her out after running into her.

"Just... what made you two decide to team up? He could've easily been out to hurt you."

"He's been through a lot, Ron. Just like us. He's not what you seem to think he is. Sure, he's made mistakes, but he's not evil. We've made mistakes, too."

"I'm just worried for you, Hermione. If it had been me-" I wouldn't have given him a chance.

"I can take care of myself, Ron. Draco helped me get here, so stop being so harsh on him."

She could hardly believe she hadn't originally wanted to travel with the Slytherin - just because she didn't want him to find out about her nightmares.

Ron only continued, "And you two're on a first name basis! What happened in the past couple of days that-"

"Ron! Why does this matter at all? Do you see the state of the world right now? Everyone is dead or dying! Why are you so upset over such small things?!"

Hermione didn't wait for an answer. Ron never listened anyway, so spending more time arguing with him wasn't going to get anywhere. She stomped away, towards the other two boys.

About to stand right between them, she changed her mind last minute and moved closer to Draco out of spite for Ron.

"Veggies are done!" she announced, as brightly as she could, placing a bowl of assorted and diced ingredients down.

"Hey," Draco smiled at her, "What exactly are we doing with these anyway?"

"It will be a hassle to cook these over a fire, I think. So we can just snack on them, I guess?" Hermione suggested.

"I'll go look for some veggie dips. You two watch over the meat," Harry stood up and stretched, flashing a lazy smile at them before grabbing Ron and heading to the pantries.

Audibly, Hermione's stomach growled again. Draco told her, "These won't be done for another little while. You might want to start snacking on those veggies."

Her bowl was filled with carrots and broccoli. Ron had been chopping up celery, but his plate was still on the counter. Grabbing a small piece of carrot, she popped it into her mouth and chewed.

"Ugh, hopefully there are some kind of dips around here somewhere. Eating these plain is just gross. I guess I shouldn't say that though, we haven't had a real meal in too long."

"You're talkative again," Draco observed.

"Huh?" Hermione swallowed the dry carrot.

"You haven't stopped talking since you found Potter and Weasley."

A small smile flickered over her face, "Yeah, and they still talk more than me. It's hard to not talk when those two chat so much."

Draco chuckled.