Work Text:
The chill cut through the air, even for early December, was harsh. The fact they were heading to Diagon Alley seemed to be lost on the boys, who both wanted to sleep more than Hermione thought humanly possible. Making her way into the kitchen, she smiled at Mrs. Weasley as she started loading Hermione’s plate. In usual Molly fashion, she overloaded the plate before setting it down at Hermione’s place at the table.
“At least you’re up and moving. I swear the rest will be the death of me.” The fact Hermione was the only one up wasn’t lost on her. It was already seven in the morning, and she’d heard no signs of movement from the rest of the house. “Arthur isn’t even up yet. If he’s late for work again they’re going to sack him.” It was said with a pinch of desperation, which Hermione understood. He was the sole breadwinner for the family. Arthur Weasley losing his job would be the death of the Weasley family. Hermione knew enough to know that much.
Feet hitting the floor above them caused Molly to let out a sigh of relief.
“At least there’s that.” She’d lived in The Burrow long enough to know people by the sounds of their feet it appeared. “Best eat up love before the boys wake up.” Molly winked, but Hermione could see the worry lines that etched her face. While the food had been as excellent as always, it wasn’t of the same quality. It meant there were disruptions in the supply chain, more than likely. It was something small that most people wouldn’t notice, but Hermione had had several summers of Molly’s meals as they were not up to their usual standards. Having found no ill besieging Molly, it was safe to say it boiled down to a supply chain issue.
Accepting the cup of tea that Molly pushed her way, Hermione gave her a smile before she tucked into her breakfast. There was only so long before the house descended into the chaos that was the Weasley Family's Annual Diagon Alley trip.
Nearly four hours later, they found themselves wandering Diagon Alley. It was as packed as it always was the Saturdays before Hogwarts started back. Why the Weasleys waited as late in the year to go shopping was lost on Hermione. It would make more sense to go almost as soon as they got their Hogwarts letters, but it seemed every year they waited until the last minute. She figured money could play a factor in it, but Hermione just wanted to pick her books up earlier to avoid the crowds and have plenty of time to read them over.
Sure, there were still a few weeks left till school started, but Hermione found herself rushing to finish everything she wanted to finish before the term started. Turning her attention back to Molly, who was dividing out money to her children, Hermione piped up.
“Mrs. Weasley, I wanted to pop over to Slug and Jiggers first, would that be alright?” She hated having to ask as if she was one of Molly’s children, but it was the polite thing to do. Hermione had gotten used to a certain level of self-sufficiency living with her parents, and it was startling to have that robbed from her by her best friend's mother.
“Of course dear, take Ginny with you. Best not to be wandering alone in times like these.” The fact nearly an eighth of the alley was empty shops wasn’t lost on Hermione. Giving Mrs. Weasley a tight smile, Hermione turned towards Ginny, who shrugged as she started to follow Hermione toward the apothecary.
“Don’t worry, I placed my order ahead of time.” Hermione gave Ginny a tight smile as they started towards the end of Diagon Alley that held Slug and Jiggers. The fact they had nothing to talk about on the trek grated on Hermione’s nerves, but she found the quiet to be pleasant enough.
When they passed the Quidditch shop, Ginny turned to Hermione with hope in her eyes.
“Don’t tell your mother but meet back here in an hour?” An hour would be plenty of time to gather what she didn’t order ahead. The Weasleys couldn’t make a trip to Diagon Alley without it lasting for at least four hours, so Hermione figured an hour was a safe bet.
“Deal.” The grin Ginny gave her wasn’t lost on Hermione as they went their separate ways. Finishing her trek to the potions' apothecary on her own, Hermione let her mind reveal in the silence inside her own head. Sure, the crowds were dense and loud, but it was nice not being constantly talked to for once.
Slipping inside Slug and Jiggers, Hermione wiped her feet on the mat at the door before she picked up a shopping cauldron. Casually browsing, she picked up a few pieces here and there before she heard the bell chime indicating another customer had walked in. Turning, she caught sight of blonde hair before scrunched her nose and returned to shopping.
It wasn’t until she saw Malfoy slip past the curtain in the back that Hermione gave him another thought. Shaking her head to clear it of such thoughts, she scolded herself before returning her attention to her shopping at hand. She did her best to focus on what was in front of her, but when Malfoy didn’t return within twenty minutes, her interest peaked. Making her way towards the back of the store, she tried to see around the curtain but found that she couldn’t entirely focus on itit, her mind slipping to other things every time she tried to focus on the curtain.
It took her long enough to figure out that a notice-me-not spell had been placed on it, that by the time she had, the shop keep had noticed her interest.
“You’re the Granger girl, aren’t you? The one everyone talks about?” Hermione scrunched her nose at the comment but nodded, shrinking back when the shop keeper gave her a genuine smile. The first she had ever received from the man in all her years shopping here.
“Yes sir. Hermione Granger.” The man nodded before waving his wand in a complicated pattern and nodding toward the curtain.
“Go on then. Keep my best stock back there, but I should warn ya, it’s costly.” Hermione nodded before stepping through the curtain that she could now focus on. Inside was a much larger showroom, filled with jars upon jars of potions ingredients. Malfoy was in the back corner, sorting through a wooden crate that was sat on the floor.
Hearing the curtain move, Draco whipped around, rolling his eyes at the sight of her.
“Of course he’d let you back here.” It wasn’t said with disdain, as much as Hermione expected it to be. More boredom than disdain. “Suppose if there was anyone that deserved it, it would be you.” The backwards compliment wasn’t lost on her, but Hermione found she wasn’t sure what to do with it.
Choosing not to say anything, Hermione began browsing the ingredients, which she found were of better quality than those stocked out front. It bristled her feathers that the store owner kept the best for select people, but in theory, it made sense. Potions Masters needed better quality ingredients than those meant for homebrew as they were the ones that were brewing for the hospitals.
“I’m still trying to figure out how Harry has the best grades in the class.” Hermione snorted as she picked up a glass of pickled newts eye and added it to her cart.
“You and me both.” However upset she was about Harry cheating with the Half-Blood Prince’s book, she wasn’t about to out him to Malfoy, of all people. Draco laughed, a true laugh before he seemed to catch himself. There was only so much that joking with Malfoy was appropriate. As she continued shopping, she could feel his eyes on her as she picked through her selections.
When Malfoy left before her, Hermione didn’t think anything of it. Yet when she exited the secret storeroom and went to pay for her purchases, she found that Malfoy had already paid for them.
“Don’t know what to tell ya Miss. He said add it to the Malfoy account.” The shopkeep shrugged as Hermione stood puzzled.
For the life of her, she couldn’t figure out why Malfoy, of all people, would pay for her shopping.
The next time Hermione saw him was back at Slug and Jiggers. She had been shopping in the back room for nearly forty minutes when he entered. The fact they had run into each other twice during the summer was unusual. She had had to practically beg to be able to return to the apothecary so soon, but the fact Professor Dumbledore had her brewing around the clock for the Order helped.
Certain ingredients had to be picked out in person, but even Hermione could tell an increase in her ingredient quality on her mail in orders. It helped that she was probably the only Granger currently in the Wizarding World. She knew nepotism played a part in it, but if it helped the Order of the Phoenix, who was she to turn it down?
They picked through ingredients silently for nearly thirty minutes before one of them finally spoke.
“The Burrow is a target.” Draco had spoken so quietly that Hermione wasn’t sure she had heard him correctly at first.
“Come again?” Draco glanced around, a nervousness to his demeanor before he repeated himself.
“The Burrow is a target. Be prepared.” Hermione stood, shocked at his boldness, causing him to look at her in concern.
“Who…what…” Draco sighed before he picked up a jar of seaweed.
“I don’t know the answers to any of your questions. Just that it’s been brought up a couple of times. Be ready for it when it happens.” When he practically fled the back room, Hermione didn’t bother following. She had seen Malfoy senior waiting in the main showroom.
It was better not to bring the spotlight too close to Draco if he was actually trying to help.
The question was, why would he be trying to help them?
Returning to Hogwarts meant a return to the status quo. They didn’t speak. Nor did Draco seek her out again at first.
The library was quiet in the late evening. It was why Hermione enjoyed it. The closer it got to curfew, the fewer people seemed to haunt the library. Enclosing herself in a corner, she began pulling books when a voice behind Hermione startled her.
“I don’t hate you, you know?” It was a voice nightmares were made of and when she turned around to face him, it was with a look of confusion on his face.
“Come again?” Draco stood there, leaning against the opposite shelves as he thumbed through a worn potions book. He sighed as he shut the book before facing her head on.
“I don’t hate you.” The shrug he gave only further confused Hermione, as her eyebrows pinched together and her mouth twisted up in confusion. “It’s just the way things are. Christmas. They’ll come at Christmas. Be prepared.”
Before she could open her mouth to reply, Draco had disappeared around the corner with his new book in tow.
Leaving Hermione as confused as she had ever been.
True to his word, The Burrow was attacked at Christmas. Hermione remembered the utter helplessness she felt as she watched her best friend's home burn to the ground. It didn’t help that she had run to tell Dumbledore what Malfoy had told her.
It didn’t help that there were extra Order members there when the attack happened.
They hadn’t been able to prevent the attack.
Why they hadn’t put protective enchantments around the Burrow was lost on Hermione, but it wasn’t her call to make. She had informed Dumbledore of what she had been told.
It was down to the Order to do something about it.
In the end it didn’t matter.
It hadn’t been enough.
The Burrow had gone up in flames, but the advanced warning had been enough to see that no one had lost their lives during the attack. That in and of itself was a mixed blessing. While Hermione was grateful no one had lost their lives, the fact they had had advanced warning and the Burrow had still been hit as hard as it was upset her.
It was as if Malfoy’s warning meant shit all to Dumbledore when the Malfoy heir had gone out of his way to warn them of the attack. When Hermione received an owl post nearly a week after the attack with no signature, she immediately knew who it was from.
I’m sorry. I tried.
It was obvious it was done with an autodictation quill. Hermione had seen Draco’s handwriting enough to know it wasn’t his handwriting. The nondescript bird that delivered it was another means to throw off detection. But the man wasn’t wrong.
Draco had tried to warn them. In fact, he had gone out of his way to warn them.
The Order hadn’t taken the warning as seriously as they should have.
It made Hermione wonder.
Returning to school for the spring semester, Hermione felt out of sorts. After the attack on the Burrow, the nightmares started to settle in. She knew it was something that would be classified as a traumatic event and that it would take time to heal. What she didn’t know, was how much time it would take to heal. She kept seeing Bellatrix around every corner; as if the crazy woman was going to pop up out of nowhere. That made for a lot of sleepless nights.
Hermione found herself taking more prefect rounds than was normal; it helped to have something to do during the late hours. The fact that over half of her spring patrols were with Draco once she picked up the extra shifts was something that slipped her mind. She couldn’t understand how Harry and Ron seemed to bounce back as if nothing had happened.
It was as if it didn’t affect them, yet she was, fighting nightmares that hadn’t been a problem before. Dreamless Sleep could only be taken sparingly, leaving her with many extra hours to fill. The closer her first patrol with Malfoy came, the more sleep eluded her.
He had tried to warn them.
They just hadn’t taken it seriously.
By the end of the first week back at school, Hermione had spent more hours awake than she had asleep. Running on fumes and a prayer she dragged herself down to the library corridor where she was supposed to meet Draco for their rounds.
The fact he practically jumped out of his skin when she approached told Hermione how worried he was.
“Were you alright?” His eyes shifted every which way, making sure they were alone, even as his body stood poised for an answer.
“No one was permanently injured. There were a few minor injuries.” They began walking their usual path when they had been stuck on rounds together before. It was the fastest way to clear nearly the whole of the castle without wasting any time.
“I take it the Headmaster didn’t head the warning?” At Hermione’s startled look, Draco chuckled. “I know you Granger. I know you went straight to the headmaster with it. The fact you had some adults there, but not enough to fight off Bellatrix tells me that old Dumbles didn’t take it as seriously as he should have.” Draco had a nervous edge to him that no amount of walking could seem to overcome.
“You’ve got that damn straight. I talked to him several times about it, and he said it would be handled. You heard how well they handled it.” Hermione snorted, even as she rubbed her temples to stave off a headache.
“You know this is only the beginning right?” They rounded a corner and started making their way to the next level. “I wouldn’t put it past them to try again. I can try and find out more but there’s only so much I can do.” Hermione sighed, knowing very well Draco had risked a lot to warn them the first time.
“So does this mean you’re on our side now?”
Draco didn’t answer. He didn’t have to.
His smile said it all.