The End's Intent

Prologue

Draco liked the study sessions they had every Tuesday and Thursday evening. Getting paired with Granger for a potions project had at first seemed boring, but now he rather looked forward to the times he worked with her. Merlin, his father would have a fit to know he'd somehow befriended a muggle-born girl during the second semester of his first year, but perhaps the fact that she was the smartest in their class would make up for it.

"Hey, Granger," Draco said, poking her with his wand from across the table. She looked up from where she was hunched over her work and gave him a dirty look. He grinned and asked, "What do you reckon would happen if I replaced the goat mucus with sheep mucus?"

"I think you'd ruin the potion," she replied matter of factly. Draco's grin widened but she had already returned to her work.

"Do you think, " he asked, wiggling in his seat when she let out an irritated huff, "A snail without its shell would be an adequate replacement for a slug?"

"I think I'm going to ignore you and finish my work, Malfoy," she said, not looking up for where she was scribbling down notes from a nearby book.

This just encouraged Draco who leaned onto the table and tucked his legs up under him on the library chair. The table wobbled but Granger didn't look up to scold him. Her frown deepened and she grabbed her quill tighter, but she didn't say anything.

"I think replacing a bezoar with any old kidney stone would work," he whispered conspiratorily. Her writing paused for just a second before continuing, but Draco knew he had her attention. "I've done it in other potions and it only changes it a little. Like instead of turning someone blue, the potion will make them green! Though, don't mention it to Pansy as she still doesn't drink lemonade and will hex you if you do, but it was a funny joke. If we could replace bezoars, though, just imagine how much easier certain potions could be!"

"I'm imagining how much easier homework would be without your chattering about," Granger replied, looking up with a scowl.

Draco grinned at her and stretched over the table to pluck her quill from her hand. She tried to snatch it back, but Draco sat far back in his seat and held it out of her reach.

"Just think about it for a minute, Granger," he insisted. Granger hoisted herself onto the table and strained for her quill as he said, "If we could prove its efficiency, then we could—Hey!"

Granger had lunged for her quill and Draco threw himself further back to avoid her. Both of their eyes widened as Draco's chair tipped over and he landed on the library floor with a loud thud.

Draco groaned and reached back to rub his head. When he opened his eyes, Granger was looking down at him from on top of the table. Before he could grab her quill from where it had rolled out of his hand, Granger jumped off the table and snatched it back. She hesitated before returning to her seat though and continued to just stare down at him.

"Do you think the kidney stone could replace a bezoar in complicated potions like the Wolfsbane or Amortentia?" she asked. Draco frowned and nodded, still on the ground.

Granger chewed her bottom lip for a moment then nodded to herself. She reached out her hand to help him up and after considering it for just a second, Draco accepted and let her pull him to his feet.

"Let's try it," she conceded. Draco's face lit up but she held up a hand to stop him. "But if you turn me into a dog or make me spin in circles, I'll hex you."

"Deal."

* * * *

When Draco was forced to spend Christmas at Hogwarts during his third year, he grumbled about it for an hour. Blaise finally sent him out of their dorm and it was on his way outside that he found Granger. She was sitting on a snowy bench wearing a thin cloak and reading furiously. With a smirk, he slowly crept up behind her before lunging forward and yelling at her.

The next thing Draco knew was that he was sitting in the snow and his face hurt. When he blinked again, Hermione was kneeling beside him frantically apologising for punching him in the face.

"You snuck up on me and I panicked!" she explained. Draco wriggled his nose and sat up, looking at Hermione.

"Good to know you can defend yourself even without a wand," he said. She rolled her eyes and pulled him to his feet, apologising again when she saw he was covered in snow. "I'm at least dressed for the weather. Aren't you freezing?"

Hermione looked down at herself as if she had only just then noticed what she was wearing. She shrugged.

"It's got a heating charm," she told him. Draco smiled at that and nodded to the book she was holding. "Oh, it's a gift from my parents. They're traveling to America for the holidays, so I'm staying here. I convinced them to send my gift early."

"You're staying too?" Draco asked. Hermione nodded and pulled her cloak around her tighter. "Does that thing really have a heating charm?"

"Kind of," Hermione said hesitantly. "It's old and doesn't hold the spell very well; I got it from another wizard. It's fine when I don't think about it though."

"We can go inside," Draco suggested. Hermione shrugged, but Draco pulled her inside nonetheless.

When Christmas did come and Draco walked into the Great Hall, he smiled at the sight of Hermione sitting in his usual seat at the Slytherin table, wearing a new cloak. She scowled up at him and stood up, saying goodbye to the first year she had been talking to.

"Happy Christmas, Hermione," Draco said cheerfully, snatching a muffin from the table before Hermione had pulled him out of the Great Hall.

"You bought me a new cloak," she accused. Draco raised his eyebrow at her.

"I wasn't aware giving you a present was a crime," he replied, "You needed a new cloak, so I got you one. Happy Christmas!" he repeated with a shrug.

Hermione rolled her eyes and summoned a box tied neatly with a ribbon. Draco narrowed his eyes at her as she passed it to him with a smug look. Warily, he opened the box and pulled away the tissue paper to reveal what looked like a large bracelet with a circle in the center. He gave her a weird look, but she just snatched the thing from him and grabbed his wrist.

"It's a muggle contraption," she explained. She twisted his wrist so his palm was facing up and pushed back his sweater sleeves. "It's a clock, but on your arm. Muggles call them watches."

"Watches?" Draco asked, lifting his arm after she'd fastened the thing to his wrist. He looked at it closely, watching the small clock arm tick in its muggle prison. "What does it watch?"

Hermione laughed and shook her head.

"It watches the time I suppose," she said. The gift box vanished and Draco smiled as he admired his new watch.

"Thanks, Granger," Draco said, hugging her quickly before returning to admiring his watch. Her face turned red but Draco didn't notice, instead asking her how muggles had managed to come up with such an idea as they left the castle to walk around the grounds.

A/N: I just wanted to give you all a brief idea of what Draco and Hermione's revised history will be like in this story. I know it wasn't super expansive, but I just wanted to let you know the past history I will be basing the rest of this story off of. Enjoy!