Harry Potter - Series Fan Fiction ❯ Through Her ❯ The Plan ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Disclaimer: No... I don't own a single character... sigh...

Chapter 3: The Plan

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It was set and ready. They had gone over it a million times. It was flawless. Of course, that's how it always was.

"Okay Draco, you're sure you remember everything?" Blaise asked.

"Blaise, we've been getting ready and rehearsing this for a week now, believe me, I know what to do." Draco told him, grabbing his cloak.

"Alright, it's almost curfew, positions?" Blaise suggested.

"Positions," Draco confirmed. "Remember, the code word for my entrance is 'time,' and please Blaise, don't slip up by accidently using it in a random sentence."

"Ouch, Drake, that hurts." Blaise threw his hand over his heart pretending to be hurt, "This was my plan, with a few additions by you, but mostly mine, so in other words, it's idiot proof," he turned around to walk to his position, but turned and added over his shoulder, "Remember, wait ten seconds, no longer, no less!" with that he turned the corner. Draco shook his head and headed to his position.

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Hermione glanced at the clock, Damnit, she thought, I guess I didn't notice how late it was getting. She gathered up her books and exited the library.

CRASH!!

"Whoa!" she exclaimed as someone ran into her, sending her books all over the floor. She looked over at the culprit.

"Whoops, sorry Granger, guess I didn't see you there," Blaise said, picking up some of her books while she grabbed the others.

"Don't worry about it," she said. Even otherSlytherins were being tolerable?

"Alright, well I've got to get going, I was just worried about the time," he said, running off towards the dungeons.

Hermione looked after him for a second before gathering herself together again and heading towards Gryffindor tower.

About ten seconds, (literally), later, she saw someone stumble out of a corridor, practically running into another wall, groaning and holding his stomach. As they leaned on the door of an empty classroom, it was apparently already slightly open because they fell in, crashing to the floor and groaning again.

Oh my gosh! Hermione thought rushing over to them. By the time she got there the person was lying, head in their arms just inside the room. She entered quietly and shut the door, she didn't want to be caught out of bed since she was sure it must be a few minutes past curfew by now.

"Excuse me, are you alright?" She asked, taking a cautious step towards the person.

Bingo, Draco thought, smirking into his arms, but quickly going back to the act that had been preplanned out by him and Blaise.

He groaned again, flipping over and looking at her.

Malfoy? Hermione thought, I wonder what happened to him. She took another cautious step towards him while his eyes never left her.

"Malfoy, what happened?" she asked, bending down to get a better look at him. The only light in the room was a few lit lanterns hanging on the walls.

"Granger... is that you?" he asked.

"Yeah, it is, don't freak out Malfoy, I saw you fall into here and I just wanted to make sure you're okay, you looked like you were in pretty bad shape," she said, examining him. He didn't look too bad, besides the fact that his eyes looked slightly out of focus and glossy and as she got closer she noticed a hint of alcohol on his breath; his clothes were ruffled too.

"I don't know what you're talking about, I'm fine," he said, turning back over.

"You're not fine, Malfoy, tell me what happened." Hermione said, putting a hand on his shoulder to try to turn him to face her again, he smirked at this, it's working like a charm, he thought.

"Well if you really want to know, I may have gotten into an argument with someone and decided I didn't want to think about it anymore, is that a crime?" he said matter-of-factly, and a bit slurred.

"Malfoy, I have a feeling you've been drinking, come over here," she said, helping him up and directing him to a chair. She got him a cup of water and walked back over to him. "If you don't mind me asking, what made you so angry?" She asked, pretty sure he would just laugh at her, but to her surprise, he didn't.

"Well, that's a bit of a bold question don't you think?" he started, but before giving her a chance to answer, he continued, "I got into a bit of an argument with my father. He's not the greatest person you know." Draco knew that his father was disliked, and he wasn't exactly lying by using this excuse anyways. He also had high hopes that this might just be the way to help him gain her trust. "We just have different views... about practically everything."

Hermione sat there listening to him, afraid to interrupt in case he snapped back to reality and realized what he was telling her.

"Well, let's just say he wants me to do something that I just don't want to do, the argument got pretty heated, so I just wanted to forget about it, you can understand that, right?" he finished, looking at her. Again, he wasn't really lying, he really didn't agree with his father on anything. Funny, he thought, I imagined this would be harder than it is.

"You know, Malfoy, maybe there's more to you than people think." She said, looking into his deep silver eyes. Those eyes were usually closed off and guarded, but right now they looked honest and pleading.

Draco didn't even notice that she was studying him, nor did he realize that he had let down his guard and was being sincere. Of course, he just kept telling himself that it was all for show, just to complete the task, sure he knew that most of what he was saying was true, but he was obviously just saying it because that's what he'd rehearsed, not because he felt he needed to tell someone the truth, and definitely not because he actually felt comfortable telling her this, no, it was all for show.

"Well, it's about time someone noticed that," he said, smirking.

She almost laughed, but then remembered who it was she was talking to and held it back, giving a crooked smile instead.

"Maybe we should get together some other time, talk about things, I'd like to be able to get stuff out of my mind. None of the Slytherins really listen to me, all too scared I suppose," Draco said, hoping she'd bite the bait he'd set for her.

"Look Malfoy, it's nice to know that there's another side to you, but you've been drinking. I think it's best if we just leave it at that," she grabbed him another cup of water, "Get some rest," She said. With that, she opened the door and left.

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Shit! Draco thought. He punched the table in front of him and put his head in his hands. Maybe acting drunk wasn't the best way to go, maybe he should have tried something else. She was a Gryffindor, she was supposed to care about everyone, obviously she had cared enough to stay with him for a little while, but she was also very conservative, he should have known she'd be put off by the drinking. Oh well, they'd have to come up with something else.

He was still upset though, he couldn't even remember the last time a plan he and Blaise had come up with hadn't worked out perfectly. Back to the drawing board, he thought, getting up and heading towards the dungeons. In all actuality he'd only had a shot of Firewhiskey to get the smell on his breath so Hermione would buy it.

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What just happened? Hermione thought as she made her way up to Gryffindor tower. She had not really just had a conversation, a real, civil, conversation, with Draco Malfoy! Obviously there was a side to him that no one saw, but it was a lot for her to process, all she'd ever known him as was a heartless Git. She really had felt bad for him when he told her his predicament, it must be hard living with someone you don't agree with on anything. The hardest part for her to accept was that she had actually cared, truly cared, and that scared her.

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A/N: hey again! Hope you liked this one! Please review!

Jenny