I'm glad you liked it!

Here is the last (and the longest) part of chapter one. I originally intended to make two parts from this one but... oh well. I hope you'll like it.

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Chapter One: "Bottle fame, brew glory, put a stopper in death..." - Part three


"He’s mental, that one," Ron said at lunch, in the Great Hall. He was obviously talking about professor Snape.

"Ron, he’s not that bad," said Hermione, shocked of her own words.

"On whose side are you?" Harry asked, trying not to burst into laughter.

"You know, Weasley, she’s actually right. Just because you can’t understand what professor Snape teaches in Potions, it doesn’t mean he’s... what did you call him? Oh, it doesn’t matter. And I was not listening to your lovely chat, just passing."

"What was that all about?" Ron asked with a slight shrug. "Malfoy just loves being in the center of attention."

"Stop it, Ron!"

"Hermione, what’s wrong with you? Since when are you on Malfoy’s side?"

She didn’t say anything. Harry was looking at Ron with a Just-Let-It-Go look, while Hermione got up and almost ran out of the Great Hall. "You don’t think -" the red haired boy started, but didn’t continue, because his best friend was thinking about the same thing he did. "All right, that’s it -" he said angrily, getting up and following Draco outside. "Ron!" Harry tried to say, be he was already gone.

"Malfoy!" Ron shouted, when he could finally face him alone.

Draco wanted to pretend he didn’t hear, but turned around to face Ron anyway.

"What did you do to her?" Ron asked, still shouting. "Since when is she on your side?"

"On my side?" Draco puffed, as Ron had clearly managed to catch his attention. "Maybe she’s not that stupid after all. Maybe she can tell who’s wrong and who’s not."

That was it. Ron was about to explode.

He punched Draco, first in the face, and then in the ribs.

"What’s your problem?" Draco asked as he was rubbing his left cheek, but not fighting back.

"I was wondering the same thing, young Mr. Malfoy," said Snape, hissing every word patiently. "In fact, I am wondering what is Mr. Weasley’s problem for six years. And where is Mr. Potter? They are usually together in everything."

"I’m here," said Harry, "but -" he paused, shocked. "Ron, what did you -"

"I think your friend here was practicing a muggle duel. Too bad he chose a student from my House," said Snape satisfied. "Fifty points from Gryffindor and a month of detention with me, Mr. Weasley. You should be grateful you are not in Slytherin."

Ron didn’t even dare to open his mouth, because that might cost him another fifty points from Gryffindor and about a year of detention.

After that, Draco thought about looking for Hermione. He was walking towards the Great Hall, hearing Harry and Ron’s conversation behind him. "How many times do I have to tell you he’s not worth it?" Harry’s voice said. "How many times do I have to tell you I hate the guy?" Ron’s voice interrupted.

Draco simply shook his head, deciding to ignore them. Now, where would Hermione be?

The library, of course.

It took him some time to get to the fourth floor, but at least he was right; Hermione was in the library. She was just sitting alone at a table, face-to-face with Hogwarts, A History, but not actually reading. Anyway, she must have read that book at least twenty times.

"That’s a great book," said Draco as he took a seat beside her, with one eyebrow slightly raised. "But I thought you already knew it by heart."

A pair of brown eyes looked around to see whose voice it was. She had red circles around her eyes, like she had been crying, but the girl actually laughed. "Did you read it?"

"Of course I have."

"Wow," said Hermione, really surprised. "You’re the first one, except me." Draco was almost blushing, but that was impossible, of course; his skin was too pale for that. "So, are you alright?" He asked, in a very unexpected way. "Your friend Weasley almost broke my ribs for you," he added with a big grin on his face, before she could ask him whether he cared or not. It was weird seeing Draco smile.

"What did he do?"

"Almost broke my ribs," he repeated patiently, still smiling. "Oh, and my face too."

"Oh my God," she muttered for herself. "I’m so sorry."

"Don’t be. But anyway, what’s up with you? You don’t seem to be very... yourself lately."

"It’s... nothing," she hesitated, and then looked away from Draco. She was expecting him to ask more questions, but he didn’t. He was just looking at her for a little while, then glanced around, trying to fix his eyes on Most Potente Potions. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t stop thinking about Hermione, but he also didn’t want to annoy her with stupid questions. After a few moments, he decided to leave the library.

"Hey, Draco," he heard Hermione’s voice, when he was about to leave. "Do you want to... hang out?"

He looked up at her, amazed of what he had just heard. She called him by his first name. She called him Draco. He spoke without even thinking. "Now?"

"It’s fine if you have something better to do -"

"Sure. Why not?" He smiled again. Hermione was simply amazed. She had never seen him smile so much in all these years. "Coming?" Draco added, waking her up, probably from her day-dreaming.

"Oh, yes."

They walked around the school grounds for hours, without saying a word. "Draco?" Hermione suddenly whispered, looking up at him and noticing that his grey eyes were already fixed on her.

"Yes?"

"In the library, you told me I’m not being myself lately. How do you know how... I am like when I’m being myself?"

"Just because we’re not friends, or we weren’t, it doesn’t mean I can’t watch you being yourself," he said, shoving his hands into his pockets. "And, you know, you’re not hard not to notice in classes, when you always know the right answer," he said, laughing, but then suddenly thought that he might have said something wrong, as Hermione seemed to have turned red. "Did I say something -"

"You didn’t- N-no, no. It’s just -" she paused a moment, "we weren’t friends?"

"Well, I guess we are now. Or going to be," he said. "Or not?"

"Oh, no. It’s just weird. Us. Friends."

"Yes, I’m really ashamed of this," said Draco, trying to sound serious. "And I’m joking," he added, seeing Hermione’s face. She would have even hugged him if he was Harry. But hugging Draco... no, it was too much for the same day.

"I suppose we should go inside," he spoke all of a sudden; glad to break the awkward silence. "Professors Snape or McGonagall are not going to be happy to see their favourite Prefects outside at this time."

"You’re right," the girl agreed with a weak smile on her face.

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I was writing earlier and I think I made a mistake putting this FF in the Character category. It's still about Draco's life but it also becomes a romance and I don't know what to do. What do you think? Should I ask a moderator to move it?