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Draconis Narcissa Malfor stomped up the stairs of the Ravenclaw Tower with a fury that overwhelmed her tiny frame. Even older housemates realised it better to jump out of the way of the dark heiress— 11 years old or not.
Not that they interacted with her usually. The daughter of the Dark family may have been sorted into the house of Eagles but she’d always be seen as a snake.
‘Merlin!’ Draconis groaned internally when she finally reached the top of the godforsaken stairs, at least if I were in Slytherin i would be going down!’
“ I am easy to lift an-”
“A feather.”
What a stupid concept to have the only protection to be a bet on a battle of wits. Everyone knows not to underestimate your opponents and to Draconis, these riddles were child's play that only annoyingly deterred her from reaching the source of her rage.
Why couldn’t she have been a Slytherin!?
Be with her friends(who quickly abandoned her flanks once their ties didn’t match), instead of in a house of stuck-up know-it-alls and the worst know-it-all was around Draconis 24/7.
Draco was already annoyed to be roomed with a muggle-born who knew nothing of pureblood culture yet felt the need to insert their stupid nose in every little thing. With her opinions and ‘why not’s’! Oh, how Draco despised Hermoine Granger and she is going to show that insufferable brat why no one corrects Draconis Malfoy, especially in front of Gryffindors.
Draco made it to her dorm with only 4 people shoulder-checked in the process but that is their fault for not moving out the goddamn way!
“Granger! I have a bone to pick wi-”
Draconis was fully sized up and ready. She had spent the entire march here with layers of insults and criticism against Granger’s character but just as they were at the ti[p of her tongue, the scene before her did something not even her father could do— shut her up.
“Leave me alone.”
Draconis's main issue with Hermoine Granger was how large of a presence she was. Despite it only being them in the room, it felt like she took up the whole space. With her big hair and teeth, never even allowing a second to breathe before shooting a thousand more questions, Draco’s only sanctuary was an overstimulating hell in which she was forced to exist in.
But right now…she seemed so small.
The smaller girl was buried under her blankets and if it was not for her chestnut curls sticking out, Draco would not have realised the tiny lump in her roommate's canopy bed was her. Her order was barely an order. No longer had the confident know-it-all tinge that felt like nails on a chalkboard in the early mornings when Draco was always rudely pulled out of her slumber by its jarring sound.
It trembled and there were little hiccups at the end of each word.
Draco realised she still had their door in her hand. She had originally planned to slam it shut before beginning her verbal onslaught.
She instead closed it quietly before —despite her better judgement— approaching the trembling mass.
“...Granger,” Draco approached cautiously both out of care and general confusion on how to handle saddened people— especially when it is rare where it is not her fault that they were crying in the first place, “Are you…ok?”
That may be a good start.
“I said,”, As if sensing her approach, Granger extracted herself from her cocoon and sat up just to fling one of the silly teddy bears she had brought with her(which Draco had mocked, obviously ) at Draco, “Leave me alone, Malfoy!”
Now, Draco knew something was wrong.
Granger found the use of last names “too formal” for “friends” and actively chose to ignore Draco’s boundaries and continue to not only call her by her first name but the shortened version reserved only for friends and family.
Draco decided to ignore that the Muggle-born technically just attacked her and continued to approach.
Curiosity got the best of her, ‘ maybe I do belong in this House. ’ she mused as she parted the curtains that obstructed her from seeing her roommate clearly and only then could she see the damage.
The first thing Draco noted were big red puffy eyes that glimmered with more unshed tears. They trembled more when both girls finally made proper eye contact and Draco knew she had 5 minutes to wrap this up before another waterfall erupted from them again.
“Come off it Granger,”, Draco hissed gently as she sat at the further corner of the bed from the emotional girl, “clearly something is bothering you.”
With that, Draco used one hand to indicate with a wave at Hermoine’s appearance. As if it would help, Granger began to furiously wipe at her already irritated hands to the point that Draco thought she might hurt herself.
“W-w-why do you care?” The bushy-haired girl snapped with a level of aggression Draco did not know she was capable of, “I thought you hated me!”
This caught Draconis Malfoy off guard. Granger was not far off, but Draco prided herself on treating everyone with the same level of disdain that one could not truly tell who was her friend or foe.
So she deflected, “What? That does not have to do with anything I am asking. Can one not want to know why they might have to sleep with deafening charm due to insistent sobbing?”
That was not the right answer.
Granger’s eyebrows scrunched up with clear irritation at the reply before returning to under her cocoon with a huff and a whoosh of blankets, “Just go away, Malfoy.”
Draco sighed. This is not going well.
For a few minutes, they both just sat silently on the same bed. Except for a few sniffs from Granger, there was not a noise in the room.
Eventually, Draco got tired of looking at the pathetic state that was her roommate, and resolved to try again, “Granger?”
No reply and a sniff.
“Gra-Hermoine?”, No reply but no sniff either so perhaps Draco was getting somewhere, “I know I am not the nicest person to room with-” this time Draco got a sarcastic snort but she’ll let that go, “-but we are going to be roomed with the other for the foreseeable future and I suppose, we sh-no, i should try to get along with you even if it is on the surface level. So, please , can you tell me what is wrong”
No reply.
Draco let out another sigh.
‘What I get for trying to be a good person.’ , she chastised herself internally as she got ready to depart to her bed and go back to pretending the muggle-born did not exist but then she felt movement on the bed that was not from her.
Hermoine Granger was sitting up again. Her bushy hair fell over most of her face as she tried to both push it out the way and rub her somehow redder eyes more, “you said please. ”’
Draco gave her a confused expression before realising the other girl was correct, “Oh…I suppose I did.”’
“You never say please .”
Now Draco is going to get ticked off, “Is that all you wanted to say Gra-”
“I was leaving our last class and I overheard Ronald and Harry Potter,” Draco immediately shut her mouth before she could say something that would re-widen the inch she just received from the darker-skinned girl, “They were talking about the debate we had in Charms and I heard Weasley call you ‘a stuck up pureblood snob’ and I, a ‘big toothed know-it-all’.”
For a second, Draco just digested the information but even after she re-told the story in her head over and over all she could respond with was: “Oh…is that it?”
Granger just stared with widened bafflement, “Is that it!?”
The other girl lifted her blanket as if ready to return to her little cocoon “Oh no you don’t”, but Draco quickly intercepted it by slapping her hands down to pin the blanket down, “All these theatrics because of Weasley? Who cares what Weasley thinks?”
“It’s not about that!” Hermoine exclaimed when she realised that despite Draco’s wispy build, she was stronger than she looked, “Everyone says terrible things about us! All. The. Time. ‘My hair is too bushy or I talk too much!’, ‘Your nose is too pointy or you're stuck-up!’ We are both despised by our entire year group and you don’t even care?!”
Draco only offered the outburst a raised eyebrow at best, “Why should I?”
Hermoine was now huffing at this point. Maybe from the previous crying or the ranting but the girl was struggling to breathe. Draco accio’d a jug of water and a cup from her bedside and offered them to the dishevelled girl who muttered out a flustered, “...Thanks.”
Draco watched the Muggle-born girl gulp the water down and tried to resist the urge to let out a snarky comment about manners.
Instead, she shuffled closer to the other girl and placed an unsure hand on her small back. Which jumped at the sudden physical contact initiation but didn’t move, “I’ll give you advice Gra- Hermoine . I hate to admit it, but you and I are quite alike.”
This caused the brown-eyed girl to side-eye the blond with suspicion, “We are?”
If Draco felt her lips tug upwards, she shoved it down, “Yes, We are,” Draco trailed her hand forward to place it on the girl’s other shoulder like her mom would do to her when she was upset, “Both Brilliant young witches in a school of absolute morons who mistake ‘talent and confidence’ for ‘braggart and rudeness’.”
A shimmer appeared in Hermione eyes that was not from tears for once all evening, “you think I’m brilliant?”
Draco ignored that, “My mother once told me:
‘A strong woman does not fear going to war against the world if she is assured in her mind’
Which is why I will not bow my head to silly opinions from people who could not even hold a candle to my level, and you shouldn’t either.”
Draco was so caught up in his mother's words of wisdom that she had forgotten that Granger was on the brink of another breakdown.
She heard another sniff and prepared her mind. Contemplating just finding Weasley and bringing Granger his head so they could both move on with their lives but when she looked at the other girl, instead of a distraught sobbing, there was a large watery smile on Hermoine Granger’s face.
“Y..your mom sounds cool.”
Draco snorted at such a common person's comment. How would Narcissa Malfoy neé Black of the Ancient and Noble houses, feel about being called…‘cool’?
“I suppose she is.”
Draco doesn’t think she’d mind all that much.
They both just sat in…not awkward but a soft silence.
Draco accio’d tissues and the teddy bear Hermoine had used to originally injure her and presented them to the now slightly less red-eyed girl.
“Thanks, Drac- Sorry, I mean Mal-” “You can call me Draco…Moine.”
“Ok…Draco!” The wet smile grew even bigger and just as the bushy girl stood to her full posture and widened her arms to embrace the other, Draco held a singular hand out.
Realising the confusion on the other girl's face was slowly turning into disappointment, Draco quickly clarified, “I don’t… hug . Let’s just shake hands. To a new and exciting opportunity…as friends. ”
That cleared whatever reappearing tears were left in Hermione as she eagerly shook the paler girl's hand, “Wow, my first female friend! We are going to have so much fun! We can borrow each other's notes and swap our favourite historical facts and…”
Draco only nodded along. A part of her brain nagged that this was a terrible idea and her father would never agree but Draco felt the warmth of the other girl's hand and figured all that could wait.
Draconis wanted a friend too.
“Now, from whom did you hear that my nose was too pointy .”
“Hermoine! Please Wait!”
Both girls turned around despite only one being called. Hermoine Granger had a face of sceptical confusion while Draconis had the usual irritated sneer that formed when Ron Weasley and Harry Potter were in the vicinity.
The two boys in question ran up to the Ravenclaw pair from the other end of the hall while Weasley tried to go on about Merlin knows what, “I was trying to find you but there was a troll and then…”
“Oh if it isn’t Weasley… and our Golden Boy too, our lucky day,” Draco’s sarcastic drawl cut the ginger boy off. She and Granger had been friends for 2 whole days and only now the ginger shows his freckled face, “Couldn’t find another little girl to make cry? Back for seconds?”
Hermoine put a hand on her friend's shoulder, “Draco it’s ok…Let him speak.”
Not that he could. Weasley must’ve chased them some distance with how redder his face was than usual. He and his Partner in Chaos, Potter just panted in front of them for a minute with their hands on their knees.
A truly pathetic sight to the Malfoy Heirress.
“If you plan to choke to death today, please refrain from including us in your plans.”
This gained a blue-eye glare from the tallest of the four, “Shut up Malfoy, I wasn’t speaking to you.”
Just as Draco was about to cut Weasley a new one, Hermoine spoke up, “I’ll have you know, Ronald , Draco is my friend and if you want to speak to me you are going to have to speak to her just as much.”
Draco felt a warmth spread through her chest. Was this…pride? No one has ever defended her before except her parents. Draco’s playmates always assumed she deserved whatever dispute she had gotten herself into.
Both Gryffindor boys looked at the pair in bewilderment before turning to the other as if telepathically saying, ‘Are you seeing this?’
Draco rolled their eyes at their theatrics.
“Y-you,” Perhaps it was the lack of oxygen that caused the ginger to splutter out his words as he pointed between the two Ravenclaws, “Are friends with her?”
“Quick as usual Weasley.”
Ron must’ve chosen to ignore that comment, “B-but she is evil?”
Hermione gasped at that, “How dare you! You insult me behind my back then you accuse my best friend of being evil? You haven’t even spoken to Draco or me before this yet you seem very assured of your opinions being fact, Ronald.”
If Draco could cheer she would. She didn’t even have to say anything, Hermoine just backed her despite the fact Weasley had more than enough treason to accuse her of such. Also, ‘best friend’ ?
Draco never had a best friend but if this is what it is then Draco has been missing out.
At the shorter girl's reprimanding, Weasley at least had the sense to look mortified. Ears turned a scorching red as other kids in the hallway gathered to see the cause of the commotion.
“I…I uhm…I…”, His freckled cheeks blew up as he tried to come up with any words but he didn’t have to continue tying his tongue into knots before Harry Potter stepped in.
“Sorry, what Ron meant was you guys didn’t seem particularly close before, what changed?”
The redhead sent his friend an appreciative nod for taking the reigns and Draco scoffed. Of course, Golden-boy Potter had to swoop in and ruin the beautiful scene which was Wesley embarrassing himself.
“Not that it is any of your business,” Draco rolled his eyes as she looped her arms through Hermoine’s open arm, “Granger and I realized recently that we both have something in common.”
Bait .
Potrer raised a quizzical eyebrow from under his glasses, “Which is?”
Catch
“Having absolutely no time for stupid little cubs with their foots in their mouths.”
And with that, Draco spun both her and Hermoine around with a flick of her long platinum hair acting like a whip deterring the preteen boys from following.
“You must show me how you do that hair thing,” Hermoine whispered into the taller girl's ear as they made enough distance between them and the stumped boys.
“Trust me,” Draco smirked at the girl, but not with malice, instead one could say there was pleased joy on her face, “I have so much to teach you.”