18 September 1998

"Occluding?" Blaise's voice cut through his train of thought.

He scoffed and took the bottle of firewhiskey from his hands, taking a long swig.

"Is she that horrifying?" Blaise chuckled, watching him drown the bottle to the last drop.

"Horrendous," Draco responded.

The door creaked open and Draco felt his heart plummet to the pit of his stomach. He hadn't placed his Occlumency walls yet. Hadn't arranged his features into a mask that he required to face her presence.

"Drinking in mid-day," Pansy's voice reached him from the entrance of the empty classroom they were in. "You both have reached a new low."

He felt a surge of relief but knew it was short-lived.

"Don't you two have any work to do?" He asked.

"Well, torturing you is much more fun," Blaise said off handedly and Draco scowled, throwing the bottle towards him.

Blaise made it float mid-air with a simple swish of his wand.

"We have and I'm here to fetch Blaise," Pansy said pointedly.

"What work do we have?" Blaise questioned, frowning at Pansy.

"You said you'd help me with potions," she hissed.

"Oh, right," Blaise grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Good luck, mate," Blaise said to him, giving him a hard encouraging shove.

"I'll need it," he mumbled more to himself than anyone else.

It was useless to deny the fact that Hermione Granger's confession about how much she hated him two days earlier hadn't affected him. He couldn't stop thinking about it. How she had burned with fury, ready to consume everything around her. How her words were laced with poison. She was lethal when angry.

Somewhere, a small part of him had thought that if anyone in the entire castle or the wizarding world of London could find it in themself to not hate him, it would be her. He knew it was stupid. After everything he had done to her, he deserved every last bit of her poison.

But it didn't mean he hadn't been furious at her as well. He disliked her just as much as she hated him and she was right. There was no need for them to interact unless absolutely necessary.

Like this dueling session they were supposed to lead.

He took a deep breath and collected his thoughts and emotions, locking them in a box that he placed at the furthest corner of his mind. He arranged his face in a practiced mask just in time as the door swung open and she walked in.

She wore a blue top with jeans and her hair was up in a bun, held securely at the top of her head with her wand.

"Hi," she greeted as she took an unsure step toward him. Her eyes scanned the room before coming to rest on him.

"No one's here yet?" She asked and he shook his head.

He could see her trying to read him but he was well-practiced in this game. He met her gaze with a glare of his own.

"Well, they were supposed to be here at 4," she said, checking her wristwatch. "There are still five minutes left."

The silence seemed to stretch forever, broken by her breathing and the scuffle of her shoes against the floor as she paced the length of it.

"Malfoy?" she called and he noticed the lack of hostility in her voice. It made him roll his eyes before he turned around to face her.

He glanced over his shoulders towards her in question.

"I wanted to..." her sentence was cut off by the door swinging open and students spilling in.

This week's class was for first years.

The students were tiny, scrambling inside as they took in their surroundings.

"Hello, everyone," Granger called loudly, turning everyone's attention toward the two of them standing at the other end of the room.

She had a smile on her face and silence followed her words. He could see the nervousness among the younger kids dissipating at the sight of a warm smile.

She was good at this.

"Are you all excited?" she asked and there was a chorus of 'yes' around the room.

The nervous energy had now turned into one of anticipation.

"I'm Hermione Granger and this is Draco Malfoy," she said, pointing at him and he gave a stiff nod in greeting.

He was rubbish with kids.

"Okay, then. We'll start easy. Everyone, arrange yourself in groups of five," she called and the disfigured mass started breaking apart, forming little circles instead.

Draco waved his wand and the empty desks transfigured themselves into practice dummies.

He levitated them from the back of the room towards the front and arranged them in a neat line.

He tried to ignore the impressed 'oohs' and 'ahhs' that followed and little faces turned towards him with awe.

There were six groups cluttered across the room with three students that had been left behind. They had now formed their group.

"Everyone's sticking with their house," Granger said, loud enough for only him to hear.

"And you want to break them apart?" he asked coldly.

"It could be a good moment to promote inter-house friendships," she shrugged and he rolled his eyes.

"They are kids. They'll warm up to each other in their own time," he said and was startled by the look she gave him.

Surprise and something like confusion.

"Now, me and Malfoy will show you how to perform the spells and then you'll try them, one by one, on the dummies," she explained to them.

Draco left seven dummies in a straight line while he transfigured the rest into wooden sticks that he levitated and stuck onto the dummies' chests.

He turned to face Granger, wand raised in a dueling stance. She stood across him, her wand out from her bun and her hair cascaded down her back. They were tamer than he remembered them ever being.

"Now, the spell is Expelliarmus," she called so that her words were loud and clear.

"Anyone know what this spell does?" she asked and almost all hands shot up. She laughed at the eager faces before she picked out a Hufflepuff boy to answer.

"It disarms your opponent," he said softly.

"Yes, very good. And what's your name?"

"Daniel Owen," the boy replied.

"That was a very good answer, Daniel," she smiled at the boy and he grinned in response.

Draco had the sudden thought that she would make a good teacher. Or a mother.

"And now, watch the hand movement very closely," she instructed as she slowly dragged her hand downwards and then made an inward swirl.

"Now, look at this," she called the room before offering Draco a nod. He nodded back.

"Expelliarmus," she said, and even though Draco didn't have much of a grip, to begin with, his wand flew out of his hand and into her outstretched arm.

The students whooped and clapped and Draco had to stifle a smile. That was what he would have looked like back in first year. Overly excited for the simplest of things, full of light and hope.

His heart ached for that boy. He wished he could somehow protect him from the doom that had followed him.

"Now, try it on your dummies one by one. No fighting now," Granger called as she began walking around the group of students, fixing their grips and teaching them the correct hand movement.

He took the other part of the room. The children didn't gravitate towards him like they did towards her but he couldn't blame them. In front of her warmth, he was nothing more than a cold entity, void of anything remotely humane.

"Hey," a soft yell caught his attention and Draco walked towards the source.

He spotted a girl in the Slytherin circle, her little face folded with distress. She stood on her toes, trying to snatch something from a boy in her group. Jeering laughter echoed around her.

"What's happening here?" he called and the boy nearly jumped out of his skin, the girl's wand clattering from his fist. The others immediately turned the other way as if they hadn't witnessed anything.

The girl hurriedly picked it up and rushed towards him. Her eyes searched his face before stopping on the Slytherin emblem on his chest.

"I didn't do anything," the boy said, looking at Draco with what appeared to be a glare.

"What did he do?" he turned to the girl who was now clutching onto his trousers. The softness in his voice startled him.

"He took my wand," the girl whispered, trying to hold back tears. "He said I had no right to practice along with the others."

"Why is that?" He asked the boy. He held himself defiantly, staring back at Draco.

"She's a mudblood," the boy whispered and Draco flinched at the sudden wave of Deja Vu.

He searched the boy's face and found an eleven-year-old Draco looking back at him. He had the same contempt and disgust in his voice that he himself once carried.

"You do know that that's a bad word and you can get expelled for using it?" Draco said, steel in his voice.

The children's eyes widened with fear and the boy recoiled as if wanting to melt into the shadows.

He kneeled down and held the girl's hand in his own. "What's your name?" he asked, smiling at her.

She visibly relaxed, scuffling closer to his legs. "Olivia," she whispered.

He chose his words carefully as he addressed the other Slytherin kids.

"Blood does not measure anyone's worth. She is just as much magic as all of you are, if not more. And she is one of you, does everybody understand?" He questioned and the boy immediately nodded.

"Now, Olivia, do you want to practice with them or do you prefer doing it alone with me?" he questioned and saw her face lighten up.

It healed something in him.

"With you, please," she asked timidly and Draco smiled. A real, full smile.

"Let's go," he took her hand and led her away, quickly transfiguring a dummy and a wooden stick for her.

He turned back to see Granger taking over the rest of the room. She looked at him but on seeing him looking, immediately turned away. And he knew from that one look that she had heard everything.

Word count: [1,734 words]