Everything Changes (A Dramione fanfic)

Chapter Twenty-Six

        Before Hermione knew it, four days had gone by and she had not touched a book once. How could she make time to read when she was too busy having fun? Fun! Books! Separate thoughts in Hermione's head! It was the most scandalous thought ever to enter her mind. She hadn't finished a single book from the enormous pile, and she wasn't even thinking about it now as she walked with Draco leading the way.

       "Where are you taking me?" Hermione asked. "Well first we are going to Honeydukes so you can get those licorice wands you owe me," he teased with a smirk, making her laugh. "And then I'm going to throw you into the Shrieking Shack all on your own and never let you out!" he exclaimed. "As if you could get a step away without me hexing you into oblivion." Hermione replied causally. "Hmm....I supposee there is a chance that could happen...unless..." he said with a smirk, and suddenly her wand was in his hand. She gasped, "How did you do that?" and just as he was about to reply, she matched his smug expression and held up his wand. "Oh wait-I know exactly how you did that." she said, amused with her own tricks.  "Oh yes...I almost forgot of the Diagon Alley incident." Draco replied. Hermione thought back to when she bumped into Draco in the dark alley. It seemed like such a long time ago. So much had changed since then. "You're very bad at keeping your wand at your side then." she said. "And you're very bad at paying attention to where you're going, or you're very good at it and just wanted to be near me. You did do it twice. Oh I see, Granger, you always did have a thing for the Slytherin boy!" he teased. Holding her wand up in the air. "Oh, please! We all know you fancy me." this new confidence was new to Hermione, but she did enjoy teasing Draco just as he seemed to enjoy teasing her.

...

        Draco had forgotten what it felt like to smile for long periods of time and soak up the joy of being with a friend. This past week had been so much fun. "What's going to happen when you're friends come home to find you've been fraternizing with the enemy all this time?" To Draco's amusement, Hermione's cheeks grew red, though she quickly recovered and they were back to their playful arguing after she reminded him he was no longer the enemy. Teasing was a never ending event as they trudged up the snowy path to Honey Dukes where, Draco snatched the red licorice wands from Hermione's hands and paid for them himself. It was the same package of licorice wands that they ate together that afternoon as they stood in front of the shrieking shack and dared one another to take a trip inside.

        "Are you really challenging a Gryffindor?" Hermione asked. "I do believe I am," he replied.  "Though I don't see the significance in the Gryffindor status at the moment when you wouldn't even get on a broomstick." he added. Hermione gave him a look just before hopping the fence and walking the path to the shrieking shack. Draco stood dumbfounded for a moment staring at her from behind in complete shock and bewilderment. What wouldn't Hermione do just to prove someone wrong? "Hermione!" Draco exclaimed when he finally recovered from his brief moment of oblivion, but she just kept on walking. He jumped the fence and ran after her. "What are you doing?" he asked when he caught up to her non hesitant stride. "Going into the Shrieking Shack." she replied as though she were stating something as simple as going to Hogsmede. "But-" "What?" she asked, stopping now rising her eyebrow at him. "Are you afraid?" she challenged. "No! I just..." "Just?" Draco sighed, Hermione could be quite intimidating when she wanted to be. "Well I know you'll be scared." he lied. "Me? Nope!" and she kept walking. There was no stopping her. "Oh come on, Hermione!" Draco exclaimed, and nothing. He sighed. "Okay fine! I was wrong!"and then she came back practically skipping. This is what Draco got for being such a big talker. "So....now that I've proven you wrong...dinner?"

...

        Every evening so far they had shown up separately at the great hall, packed a meal, and met on the Quidditch field. It was an entertaining  routine, and it meant neither of them had to eat dinner alone. Not that they were doing much alone anyway, as they were always together. The two had become quite good friends in the short amount of time, each learning more about the other with every passing minute. The stars were already out when Hermione found Draco at the center of the field, a far walk for the best view. "You're late." Draco pointed out, they normally showed up at the same time. "Well, I went to go have a friendly conversation with the house elves and got us some dessert." she explained.

...

        "House elves?" Draco echoed, then thought better than to give his opinion on the subject, as Hermione had just shot him a look. "House elves, like Dobby, who Harry freed." she said, her voice thick with an emotion he couldn't quite place. He got the feeling Hermione had strong empathy  for house elves. He himself had never really put much thought into the way house elves were treated. He had been raised to understand that house elves were put on this world to serve, and that is all there was to it. Never once had it crossed his mind that they had lives, feelings, everything that he did. Thinking about it now made his stomach twist, as he remembered times where he was quite rude to Dobby and other house elves that came after him. Of course Hermione would have thought all these things over. Hermione had a heart like no other Draco had met before. Draco decided as they sat on the soft patch that cool evening, that everyday he would try to be just a little more like the amazing Hermione Granger.

Hello! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, sorry it took so long to publish. Hopefully I will be able to write more now that winter break has started. I really am enjoying writing this chapters so I do hope you like them. Please leave a comment with your thoughts! Thank you! -jazzyjstar*