wildflowers // dramione

Chapter 3

Hermione and Draco's experience together at Hogwarts was definitely not what either of them had predicted during their first meeting on the train. Hermione soon became best of friends with Ron and Harry, which Draco was secretly extremely jealous of. Not only of the strong bond the three shared but of their popularity. By association with Harry Potter, Hermione Granger became a name almost as well known as Harry's. Of course, the Malfoy name was infamous as well, but Draco felt he needed to prove himself alone, and Hermione's ability to do so, so quickly, tortured him. He grew to hate the group of friends, and most Gryffindors. At least he told himself that. The liking Draco had taken to Hermione and his admiration for the witch dimmed but remained vibrant, though only fueling his anger towards her more. Hermione's friendship with The Boy Who Lived made her a usual topic of conversation with the powerful professors at Hogwarts, but it also made her her first enemy; Draco Malfoy.

The white-haired boy she had talked to for what felt like hours in that loud train car, despised her. The feeling was mutual for the majority of the time, and their hidden, fading connection only made the mean words they spoke to each other sting more. By the end of their sixth year, Hermione had punched the blonde boy in the face, Draco had called her a mudblood at least a thousand times, and an endless amount of spells had been cast at each other. The memory of Draco casting a Densaugeo spell on Hermione's front teeth, making them enlarge at an alarming speed, particularly prominent. Her humiliation from the incident in their fourth year had been severe. She still cringed when it would replay in her mind. Draco's memory of the incident definitely differed greatly from Hermione's.

Draco and Harry had been arguing about who knows what, when they began to cast spells at each other. The spells ricocheted and hit other students, though neither of the boys would admit it, and Hermione happened to be the victim to one of them. Draco truly did feel guilty for his spell hitting her, especially since her front teeth were an insecurity of hers he'd learned about on the train ride. He cursed himself for weeks about hitting her instead of Harry; embarrassed on his own account for missing his intended target and worried she may never speak to him again. Spitting insults at each other or not, his enemy in Hermione mattered a great deal to him. A very small part of him even considered apologizing, but "sorry" was not in his vocabulary, especially not to a mudblood.

Hermione never knew about Malfoy's mistake or his feelings of remorse. If she had known, her feelings of betrayal by him might have not been so strong. By their fourth year, she wasn't surprised anymore by his hateful comments towards her, but they still managed to cause her pain. Sometimes tears would even form in her eyes at the sound of "mudblood" leaving his tongue, always without any hint of hesitation. But, she knew he'd never notice. Malfoy never looked her in the eye when he said it.

The prejudice he was raised with made it easy for Draco to insult Hermione. He rarely mentioned something other than her blood status while bickering. Hermione on the other hand, constantly beat down Malfoy's ego with her smart, though unkind remarks. The wizard and witch were both extremely bright, making their quarrels ones that never failed to leave one, or both, of them melancholy.

It was now March of the second semester of what would've been their seventh and final year at the Hogwarts Academy, but neither of them were in attendance.

Draco was now a Death Eater, spending his days with the other supporters of Voldemort at his childhood home, the Malfoy Manor. The Dark Lord had made the estate his headquarters, where he and his followers planned their attacks on the Ministry and Harry Potter. Draco was usually silent at Death Eater meetings, not wanting another task to complete for Voldemort. His failed attempt at killing Albus Dumbledore weighed on his shoulders every day, and visions of that night in the Astronomy Tower haunted his dreams. He worried he or his parents may be killed if he made another mistake. He simply nodded along with the other Death Eaters and never protested, even when Voldemort would torture his father into insanity.