Change and Differences

Change and Differences

Everyone is different from the next person. It's a known fact. Some are so different that you don't see how they could ever get along with you, while others are so similar that it scares you. Then there's the phrase "Opposites attract". Do they really, or is that just someone's analogy after one tiny little experience? If you put two very different people, perhaps even enemies, in the same room and left them there, alone, for a few hours, would you come back and see them on a totally different basis?

...

As Hermione Granger stepped into the Potions dungeon, where she was to be serving her detention in, she was quite shocked to see her arch nemesis Draco Malfoy sitting at a table in front of Professor Snape, the evil Potions master. Snape looked up as she entered with a foul expression crept onto his sallow-skinned face.

"Miss Granger," he said in an icily cold tone, "how nice of you to join us - finally."

"Sorry, Professor," Hermione apologised. "I bumped into Professor McGonagall and she started informing me of my next Prefect duty."

Snape looked at her coldly for a moment. Hermione knew that he had been looking for a reason to take points from Gryffindor - he always was.

"Very well," he said spitefully. "I shall leave Malfoy and you to your detention than. I've already given Mr. Malfoy the instructions. I'll be back in a few hours." With that said, he swept passed Hermione and out of the dungeon, slamming the door behind him.

Hermione turned her head to Draco, whose eyes glistened maliciously. "Well, Malfoy, what's the instructions he gave you?" she asked bitingly.

A smirk came to his lips. "Oh, you have to brew up a large batch of the Pepper-up Potion for that Pomfrey woman in the hospital wing," he said.

"And you?" Hermione asked pointedly.

"I, Granger, am here to supervise you," he said with relish. "You honestly didn't think that I was here to help you, did you?"

"No, of course not," Hermione snapped sarcastically. "How could I have been so stupid? You're so nice and innocent, why in the world would you get detention?" She gave him a cold glare and looked away.

Draco gave a chuckle. "But I did get detention, Granger and I'm serving it right now. Snape just thought that a filthy little Mudblood like yourself deserved the job of making the potion rather than someone like me."

Hermione's eyes angrily shot up to meet his. "You have absolutely no heart, do you Malfoy?" she asked, her eyes narrowed. Draco's smirk faltered and Hermione continued. "You're always insulting or teasing someone as if you actually feel as though you have the right. You always walk away from an upset being with a selfish, triumphant smile on your unnaturally pale face. You are truly evil Draco Malfoy and you deserve to rot in hell!"

Draco's face hardened and showed the anger building up inside of him. "Nobody talks to me like that, Granger," he sneered, taking a step towards her so they were merely less than two feet apart. Hermione looked up at him, her expression not changing for a minute.

"Well I have news for you, Malfoy," she said spitefully. "I just did and I think that, partly, you're angry about it, because you know that it's the truth. You know that there isn't many people that actually like you and that's because you're so mean. You make fun of people like the Weasleys because they haven't got a great amount of money in their possession. It's truly selfish and cruel. I'd like to see you take someone like Harry's place, with your parents dead, having to live with a bunch of Muggles that hate the very sight of you and with the darkest wizard known to living-kind after you..." she trailed off and shook her head. "No one deserves your hurtful words."

Hermione turned and headed over to Snape's desk, where an old book lay open, revealing the recipe to the potion she was supposed to be making. She busied herself with gathering the needed ingredients, while Draco sat in his chair, watching her process, but not remotely paying any attention to her.

His thoughts were traveling over her ever word. He knew she was right, but he didn't like to admit it. He was mean, evil, cruel, selfish... He was all that and more. He was turning into the very person his father was and he didn't like it one bit. People always got the idea that he worshiped the ground Lucius Malfoy walked on, when he really did the opposite: he despised his father. Perhaps it was the fact that he was a Malfoy and a Slytherin. All of them had a heart that was as cold as ice and it was only natural for him to as well, but he didn't want to. He wanted to be different from them.

"You know, Granger," he said after a few minutes, breaking the silence. "You truly were right with what you said. I am a pure and utter bastard and I want your help to change that..."

Hermione looked around at him, surprised. "There's only one person that can change the way you are, Malfoy, and that's you ... That and a miracle."

"A miracle? Why would I need that?" Draco asked, slightly confused.

"It takes a lot to change somebody, Malfoy," Hermione said. "It takes a lot of will power as well as other things, like determination, desire -"

"Desire?"

"You have to desire to change to change, if you get my drift," Hermione said. "The thing is, Malfoy, you may want to change, but when and if you do, it'll take time for you to actually make yourself stay that way. It's not an easy process at all."

Draco frowned and looked down at the stone floor. "What about love?" he asked quietly.

Hermione looked up at him abruptly, caught off guard. "L-love?" she repeated, slightly confused.

Draco looked up at her. "Can love change you is what I mean," he said.

Hermione frowned for a moment thinking of an answer. "Love can change a lot of things, including the way you are, yes. It just depends on whom you fall in love with. If you love someone like ... Harry, say, you'd probably become nicer, but if you love someone like your father, you'd most likely become the opposite of nice."

Draco looked at her for a moment. "So if I fell in love with you, I might become less of a bastard?" he asked.

Hermione stared at him, startled. "What, might I ask, Malfoy, are you getting at?" she asked, feeling her heartbeat quicken in her chest.

Draco didn't answer. Instead, he stood up and stood beside her. Her eyes widened and she turned around to stir the bubbling contents of the cauldron. "I think you know the answer to that question of yours, Hermione," he said, letting her first name roll off his tongue, causing her to go slightly red.

"You really must desperate, Malfoy if you're going to turn to me, like this," Hermione replied. "You hate me. You make fun of my know-it-all-ness and my hair. You always say something on the lines of me being ugly -"

"Oh, you're not ugly, Hermione," Draco said, pushing back a strand of her hair. "You're really quite pretty and I honestly don't care that you're a know-it-all and I don't hate you."

"That's a lie!" Hermione said, turning her head to face him.

"If it was, than would I do this...?" He bent in and placed his lips on hers in a soft kiss.

Hermione, stunned, stared at him with wide eyes. She seemed utterly speechless. She kept opening her mouth to speak, but no words came out. A smirk came to Draco's lips, but it turned into a smile as he watched Hermione absently lick her lips, taking in the taste of him.

A long silence followed as Hermione finally found some words to say. "This better not be just another one of your selfish acts, Draco," she said.

Draco smiled. "It won't be," he assured her. "And you better not let Potter and Weasley beat the hell out of me for doing this."

Hermione didn't get a chance to reply, because the moment she opened her mouth to speak, Draco's lips were on hers again, kissing her with more intensity than she ever imagined would come from him.

They may have their differences, but when it comes to change, any difference doesn't matter and opposites can attract...

... The End ...