Raw

"Him?" Hermione stepped away from Megan and pointed at Malfoy, who had just jogged up beside them, with a disgusted look on her face. "HIM? He is your other student? YOUR OTHER STUDENT IS DRACO MALFOY?"

"Obviously, Granger. For the smartest witch in your year you sure can be a dumb ass sometimes," said Malfoy.

"Megan, you clearly don't know Draco Malfoy. Because if you did, there is no possible way you would agree to train him to be an Auror."

"Hermione," Megan began gently. "Clearly you have some personal issues with Draco. However, I promise you he is fully qualified to undergo Auror training. I wouldn't have accepted him otherwise."

"He tried to kill Dumbledore last year! His father is a Death Eater!"

"Granger, will you just lay off my family for one sodding moment," bellowed Malfoy. "You don't know the first thing about me or anyone in my family."

"I know enough," snapped Hermione, turning to face him. "I know you planned to kill Dumbledore last year. What kind of Auror does that? Aurors are supposed to want to protect other wizards, not spend all year plotting to kill them. Aurors work against wizards like you."

"Well since you're so bloody smart, I reckon you know that I didn't actually kill him," Malfoy replied, his voice dripping menacingly with sarcasm. He circled around her slowly. "You think you have every right to judge, because you were on the winning side; you think the rest of us are scum and deserve to be thrown in Azkaban for the rest of our lives. Well let me tell you, little Gryffindor princess, you had it easy during the war. You wouldn't be able to understand the first bit of what I went through."

"Oh yeah, trying to fuck up our plans and torturing Muggle-borns must have been really awful for you," Hermione spat out.

"That's just what I'm saying," Malfoy hissed at her. "You can't understand and you refuse to open your mind for just one second to hear why I would want to become an Auror. You're just as bad as the Death Eaters you condemn - instead of your prejudice being against blood impurity, your prejudice is against those on the losing side of the war. You don't think we deserve the same quality of life as you - the pure, the innocent, the victorious," Malfoy sneered.

"Oh stop trying to vilify me, Malfoy," Hermione snapped. "It's incredible that you're trying to make me feel bad for judging you when last year you tried to kill Dumbledore, tried to kill Harry, Ron and me in the Room of Requirement, and spent all year playing lap dog to Voldemort in your home where he tortured and killed people. What in the world makes you think that you possibly deserve a fresh start? There's a reason your dark mark is forever - you can't just erase your past deeds and pretend they never happened."

"All this is easy for you to say, coming into this world with no expectations, no family to protect, no one to influence your decisions besides yourself," Malfoy shot back. "You know how many nights last year I laid in bed and WISHED I had it easy like you and Potter? You both got to come into this with no family to protect, no death threats over your heads..."

"No death threats?" shrieked Hermione. "Harry's entire life was one huge death threat. You know how many times we almost died last year trying to escape Voldemort's henchmen, who your family willingly hosted?!?"

"Yes, it's rather unfortunate that you had some close encounters with a few inept death eaters, while luckily I was cooped up in my house with the most powerful wizard in wizarding history who tried to off me by forcing me to attempt to kill Dumbledore. My life was all peaches and cream to you last year, wasn't it? I was just reveling in my evil little heaven, licking the bottom of Voldemort's robes while he crawled around my childhood home. I never intend to explain my reasons for becoming an Auror to you; I wouldn't want to lower myself to the task. However, they're good enough for Megan, which means they should be good enough for you."

They both turned, finally realizing that Megan was standing behind them. She was standing with her arms crossed, staring at them coolly. "Are you two finished?" she asked, her voice dangerously low. Hermione and Draco stared at her. "Because that was the biggest waste of my time that I could have imagined. I don't care if you two have personal issues with each other - you are here to learn from me together. To lose your heads and tempers like that in front of me is incredibly disrespectful and rude. I know I'm not much older than you and I seem like I'm just here to be your friend, but disrespect me like that again and I will drop you from Auror training faster than you can apologize. Seeing as you are both seventh years, I expected you both to have a little more maturity. Feel however you want about each other on your personal time, but when you are with me, you will respect each other."

"Hermione," she turned to the girl, "I am upset that you do not trust my judgment about Draco. I have eight years of experience under my belt - you just started Auror training one week ago. I think I have a better idea of whether or not he is suitable for Auror training than you do. If you yell at me again in that disrespectful manner, there will be consequences."

"And Draco. There really isn't any justifying your actions last year to the wizarding community, and you need to learn to admit that you made some huge mistakes. There is always room to move past them, but no excuse to try to validate them. By taking you on as my mentor, I am sticking my neck out in the wizarding community. Do not disappoint me."

"I know you both had a turbulent and disruptive year, and it may have perverted your views of your professors as authority figures. Believe me, I understand what it's like to realize your teachers aren't infallible. But this year, it's back to reality. I am your mentor and your professor, and I deserve to be respected as such. As your mentor, I am here to help you with your personal life as well as your professional life, but I don't want to hear literally one more second of your bickering about some petty childhood feud. Understood?"

"Yes. Sorry, Megan." Hermione looked down at the ground, her face ashamedly turning a light pink.

"Sorry." Draco looked away, his expression slightly shell shocked.

"Don't apologize. You are going to work your asses off this session to make up for all the time we wasted. And one more thing: from now on you are to address each other by first names only. I won't have this childish fight continuing on my time."

"Okay, we're going to go ahead and start with sparring. You each have only fought against me, so you're going to notice some differences fighting against each other. I only used defensive stances against you, but when fighting against each other you are going to be forced to constantly switch between offensive and defensive stances. Your defensive stance won't be very well developed yet - just try to read each other's moves before the strike. You will also have to adjust to the size difference and skill level difference in your opponent. Above all, work as hard as you possibly can. If either of you are slacking off, I will run this session longer. I will literally miss our Defense Against the Dark Arts class to train you if it takes that long, so keep that in mind. Furthermore, do NOT be afraid to hit each other as hard as you possibly can. If you don't do it now, the others at the Academy will. And believe me, they will be able to hit a lot harder than either of you can. I'll have my wand out and I'll periodically heal each of you as you take hits. This will take some of the stinging away - it's not to baby you, but to ensure you train at maximum potential for the entirety of the session. Okay, go ahead and start."

Hermione leapt at Draco, putting her leg between his and forcing him to stumble backwards. He recovered and attempted to grab her wrists, but she whirled around out of his grasp and came back with a low hook, hitting him squarely in the ribs. Draco exhaled painfully and ducked away from her next blow, an uppercut on the opposite side. He caught her wrist and used it to balance himself as he attempted to kick her feet out from under her, but she predicted this move easily and jumped over his foot, landing strongly.

"Good read, Hermione," Megan called. "Draco, move more quickly so she can't get ahead of you."

Hermione used her advantage to slip her wrist from his and throw a right-handed jab. She missed his face but half-connected with his neck. Draco kneed her gut in retaliation and Hermione dropped to the ground in surprised pain.

"Good recovery, Draco. Hermione, I know it's very painful but you can't drop like that. Fight through it - if you get thrown off for a second your opponent has the chance to kill you." Megan pointed her wand at Hermione and she recovered.

Hermione stood up and slugged Draco as hard as she could in the side of the head. This time Draco fell to the ground.

"Solid hit, Hermione. Draco, you watched her come at you like you were frozen. Be more prepared." Megan healed Draco.

Draco made the first move, going for a body uppercut, but Hermione read him and blocked with her upper arm. Draco spun and went for a hook, but Hermione ducked and grabbed his wrist, retaliating with a low kick. Draco sidestepped her leg and pulled his wrist free, pushing her off of him and throwing his shoulder into her chest. She clumsily stepped around the blow so that it only glanced her, quickly recovering and wrapping her arm around her neck. However, he used his strength advantage to flip her around and catch her in a headlock. Hermione stomped on his foot and as he released her, she whirled out of his grasp.

"Don't give him the opportunity to use his weight like that, Hermione," yelled Megan.

They both came at each other at the same time and simultaneously blocked each other, their lower arms clashing against each other. Hermione's face was right next to Draco's and she could see him gritting his teeth in frustration. She ducked out of the bind and tried to land a punch on Draco's middle, which was blocked. He attempted next a hit on her head, which she ducked around.

The two continued sparring for over an hour, with Megan yelling instructions and sporadically healing them. Hermione had never felt so tired and utterly frustrated. As soon as she landed a hit, Draco would come back with a counter hit. Neither of them gained much of an edge for long, and defending against the constant blows was impossibly hard. The sweat streamed off her body and got in her eyes, making it hard to see Draco. She began punching blindly, landing a strike almost as much as she got hit. Finally Megan called time.

"Alright, that's good enough. You both worked hard." She conjured two towels and threw one to each of her students. Hermione hurriedly mopped her face while Draco threw his over his shoulder, apparently too tired to move much more.

"I know you are both exhausted, but this will get easier. You both have only had practice being on the offensive, which today meant you landed many more punches than you defended. Constantly getting hit was what tired you out so much. Eventually you both will be able to defend much more readily. Hermione, come here. I need to perform a spell that will prevent bruises from forming."

Megan moved her wand slowly over Hermione's face and body, murmuring a soft incantation. Hermione felt like a cold liquid was running through her body, and she shivered at the strange sensation.

"Draco, now you too." Megan performed the same action on Draco, and Hermione saw his eyes flutter closed with relief.

"Okay, I'll meet you both back here at the same time tomorrow. Let me know if you have any pain tonight so I can heal you before morning. You both worked hard today...you made up for your fighting earlier. I'll see you later."

Hermione and Draco nodded at Megan, and she walked away from them. They turned and walked back to Head Tower in dead silence - not out of anger, but rather from exhaustion and pure shock at all that had happened over the last hour.

When they reached Head Tower, Hermione walked straight to her room and closed the door, immediately lying down on her bed. She closed her eyes, and sleep washed over her almost automatically.

************************************************************************************

Hermione awoke later in the day, completely disoriented. She felt as if she had been sleeping for days - however, a glance out the window showed it to only be slightly past noon. She sat up in bed and squinted, looking out the window across the Hogwarts grounds.

She still felt dazed from that morning's training session. She had never had a teacher raise their voice to her in the six years she had attended Hogwarts, and furthermore, she had never felt so embarrassed for her behavior. She had thought she was in the right to be angry and mistrustful around Malfoy; however, she felt badly for disrespecting Megan. It was going to be hard to work with Malfoy as the other student. She would just have to focus on being civil - it was more of a matter of being respectful to Megan rather than being friendly to Malfoy.

Hermione got up and walked into the bathroom connected to the Head Tower chamber. Their bathroom was similar to the prefects' bathroom, but slightly smaller. It boasted a luxurious bathtub, complete with all designs of jets and bubble sprays. However, Hermione wasn't in the mood for a relaxing wash. She just wanted to leave her room and find Harry and Ron - she was in need of some reassurance. She opted to wash off in the smaller shower on the side of the bathroom.

Hermione quickly showered, feeling better as she washed the sweat and stickiness off of her body. She felt some of the upset and shame from the morning lifting off her shoulders, and by the time she stepped out and toweled off, her mood had lightened considerably.

She dressed in comfortable clothes quickly and headed towards the Gryffindor common room. "Novus," she whispered to the Fat Lady, and the portrait swung forward to let her through. She saw Ron and Harry sitting by the fireplace talking as she entered.

"Hey, there she is," said Ron, throwing his hand up. "Where've you been all day? Harry and I went everywhere looking for you."

Hermione gave him a quizzical look. "I slept in my room for four hours...where else would you possibly have looked?"

"Well, you know...the breakfast hall, the Gryffindor common room...Head Tower is awfully far," said Ron.

"You slept for four hours?" Harry asked. "How come?"

Hermione looked embarrassed. "Let's go somewhere more private to talk," she said, looking around at the various other Gryffindors in the common room.

"Sure, let's go to the bedroom," said Harry, giving her a curious look. The trio walked into Harry and Ron's bedroom, climbing into Harry's canopy bed and pulling the red curtains shut around them for privacy.

"I dunno, this whole morning was just shocking and kind of embarrassing for me," started Hermione, rubbing her hands over her face. "So first off, you know how I told you that there was another Auror student that I would have to work with?"

"Yeah," said Ron.

"Turns out it's Malfoy."

"Malfoy? Bloody hell, the Ministry must have gone crazy if they're letting him train to be an Auror."

"I know, that's what I thought. So anyway, he walks up to us and I'm practically speechless over his presence. But unfortunately, I found words. I started yelling at Megan for allowing Malfoy to train with me and then he started yelling back at me. We basically stood there insulting each other for about five minutes while Megan watched."

"Sounds about right," said Ron.

"Anyways, when we stopped, Megan was furious. She lectured us, calling me disrespectful and rude and telling Malfoy he was wrong to try to justify his past actions. She basically told us to end our fighting or else she would drop both of us as her students."

Harry whistled lowly and Ron stared at her in shock. "You got chewed out by a teacher? Wow, she sounds like a hard ass," said Ron.

"That's why it was so surprising - she seemed so mild-mannered at first. But it worked. She made me feel really guilty for fighting him in front of her. I was literally so embarrassed I could barely talk for the rest of the session. Then she made us fight each other for over an hour. At the end I felt like I was going to pass out from the mixture of exhaustion and shock."

"She made you fight a boy?" Harry asked, frowning. "That sounds kind of messed up."

"If I'm going to be an Auror, I'm going to have to be able to fight anyone. It's better that I'm training against a boy: it will make me stronger. Plus Megan stands right next to us with her wand ready. If one of us gets hit, she charms us to remove the pain almost immediately. It's really not bad," she said quickly, trying to reassure both of them.

"Did he hurt you?" asked Harry.

"No, not really," said Hermione. "Neither of us can really punch well enough to do serious damage yet. Megan removed any pain before it had the chance to set in."

"I can't believe that happened this morning. If I had found out I had to train with Malfoy I wouldn't have even wasted time yelling at him; I would have just gone and given him a bloody nose without warning," said Ron.

"Well, it helped that I got to try to hit him for about an hour afterwards."

"Maybe I'll take up Auror training," joked Harry. "Using Malfoy as a permanent punching bag would have its perks."

Hermione groaned and threw herself back on the bed. "You guys, I don't know what I'm going to do! I don't know how I can spend that much time with him every day without going insane. I really don't want to lose my cool in front of Megan again - that was one of the most embarrassing moments of my life. I don't know how I'm going to face both of them tomorrow."

"Cmon, Hermione," said Ron, lying down next to her. "I know it seems embarrassing, but I bet Megan understands. No one's perfect - everyone loses their temper at some point. Just work your ass off tomorrow, kick Malfoy's ass at training, and Megan will go back to thinking you smell like roses. There's no way a teacher could possibly hate you. There's like some magical law or something against having a grudge against the Head Girl."

"Hermione, I agree. She's not going to hold this against you forever. Just keep working hard and don't fight with Malfoy again, and she'll be happy with you," said Harry. Ron rubbed her arm supportively.

"Ugh. You guys are right. I know it will blow over in a few days, it's just the waiting part that sucks," Hermione said, covering her eyes with her hands.

"Hey," Ron shook her shoulder gently. "You know what would make you feel better?" Hermione turned her head to look at him. "If we went to Hogsmeade to get ice cream."

Hermione laughed. "Oh to be so lucky as to be able to eat away my emotions like you, Ron."

"Worth a shot," Ron grinned at Harry. "Let's go anyways!"

The trio got off the bed and headed out of the boys' bedroom. "It's the last day before classes start," explained Ron. "It's my last chance to bulk up."

"Your stomach, maybe."

"Shut up."

************************************************************************************

Hermione had a dreading feeling in her stomach as she woke early Monday morning. She and Malfoy were scheduled to train with Megan that morning before classes, but she was still feeling uncomfortable from the events of the day prior. She had managed to completely avoid Malfoy for the rest of the day after their morning workout - only returning to Head Tower at the very end of the day and passing quickly through the common chamber straight to her bedroom. She wasn't looking forward to spending the next two hours with him.

She moved slowly so as not to disturb Ron, who was snoring lightly beside her. He had slept over last night for emotional support. She greatly appreciated his gesture, but it was proving to be difficult to get dressed without waking him. She stumbled in the dark, nearly crashing into her dresser but saving herself at the last second. She managed to quietly rummage around in the drawers and pull out a clean sports bra and tiny shorts. She slipped her clothes on quietly and tiptoed out the door.

As she turned into the common chamber, she almost walked directly into Malfoy, who was shuffling out his door at the same time. They both looked at each other, and Malfoy greeted her silently with a curt nod. His hair was tousled and his eyes were bloodshot, as if he'd had trouble sleeping. Hermione walked behind him out their door and down the steps away from Head Tower.

They walked outside of the castle and stood by the Hogwarts bridge, waiting for Megan. Hermione stole a glance at Malfoy while he wasn't watching. In the morning twilight, he looked almost young and vulnerable. She noticed that he really was thin for a boy of his age, and his pale blond hair and tired eyes made him seem almost childlike. When he was quiet, it was easier for her to forget that she hated him.

They heard footsteps approaching quickly behind them, and they turned in unison. Megan was jogging up to them. "Ready? Let's go," she called as she passed them, and they both started after her in solemn silence.

Megan immediately started firing questions at them. "Hermione," she said, "is it warmer or cooler than it was at this time yesterday?"

Hermione tried to think. "A little bit cooler."

"Yes. By how many degrees?"

"I'm not sure, maybe three?"

"Five. So what does that tell us about the weather?"

"A storm front just passed through and sunny, clear weather is likely for the next few days."

"Yes. Draco, what is significant about periods with calm, sunny weather?"

"Less opportunity for crime?"

"Yup. Crime usually drops slightly during good weather because visibility improves, meaning the number of potential witnesses is higher. Unfortunately, it also makes it harder to track suspects without detection. We rarely get much intel done during these periods. Hermione, do you hear any birds?"

"Yes."

"How many?"

Hermione listened for a moment. "Maybe five?"

"Close. I'd say seven to eight. Draco, what kinds of calls are they exhibiting?"

"Mating calls."

"Six are using mating calls. However, one is emitting a distress call. Can you pick it out?"

Hermione and Draco listened more closely and then noticed the bird's distress call.

"Can you tell why the bird is distressed?"

"I saw a peregrine falcon several minutes ago; it's most likely that the distress call is in response to the falcon, and not to a human disturbance," said Draco.

"Good, Draco. It's important to know the cause of animal distress and whether it's simply a natural environmental stressor or something more malicious that could be a danger to you as well."

Draco and Hermione followed Megan around the woods for several more miles, working their senses furiously. Each was determined to be extra alert to make up for their transgressions the day before. Megan led them down a previously untraveled path, and Draco and Hermione were surprised to find them heading towards the outside of Head Tower.

Megan stopped running in front of Head Tower. "Recognize your quarters from the outside?"

Hermione and Draco nodded, panting.

"This is going to be the site of your training today. I'm going to warn you beforehand: this session is going to be very, very difficult. If you're going to finish this, you are going to have to work your body both physically and mentally. Are you ready to hear your task?"

Draco and Hermione nodded somewhat hesitantly.

"You're going to have to scale Head Tower."

Hermione gasped out loud. Head Tower was over three stories tall, and the outside composition was of tightly compacted stones. There were very few usable ledges, and the rock was tough and unyielding. She didn't see how they would be able to complete this.

"Erm, Megan." Draco cleared his throat and shifted his feet uncomfortably. "I am a little bit frightened of heights."

"The Academy doesn't have the time to wait for you to get over your fears," said Megan, "so you are going to have to get over it today. This will be your chance to conquer it - if you're scared of heights, you should climb the highest building you can find. Plus, heights should be the least of your fears if you are going to be an Auror. Wizarding criminals are going to be shooting deadly curses at you almost daily. Now get ready to climb that wall. I'll be standing here exclusively watching you. I promise to immediately catch you when you fall. Also, I promise you: you will fall. If you don't, you aren't trying hard enough. Well, what are you waiting for?" Megan asked when Draco and Hermione continued to stare at her. "Start climbing."

They both ran up to the wall and started digging their hands into the stone at eye level. Hermione's feet slipped on the wall as she tried to support herself on the way up. Draco wasn't doing much better. Both of them floundered on the wall, barely a foot off the ground.

"Think!" called Megan from behind them. "In the real world, you're going to encounter many physical obstacles that you're going to have to conquer quickly. If your method isn't working, TRY ANOTHER."

Hermione spread her arms and legs further apart, trying to get a stronger grip on the wall. She found she could hold on better to the stone that way, but she didn't have enough power to propel herself off the wall. She let go and dropped a foot to the grass beneath her. To her left, Draco was using a running start to try and work his way higher up the wall; however, he wasn't able to get a solid grip on the stone to hold himself up.

"Keep trying," yelled Megan. "It IS possible. Think creatively."

Hermione blew her breath into her hair in frustration. Her fingers ached from clawing at the stone walls. She inhaled and placed her hands on the wall above her head, feeling for a strong ledge that would support her fingers. When she found one, she placed her feet on a ledge barely a few inches off the ground and rested, searching above her on the wall for a new ledge. When she found one, she pushed off the ledge her feet stood on to send her higher. She grabbed the new ledge and pulled herself up, sticking her feet into the building to support her. She glanced down and noticed she was almost three feet off the ground.

"YES, Hermione. Good thinking," Megan yelled.

Hermione took her time adjusting to the new position, and then thrust herself higher to grasp onto a new ledge. She used this method slowly but surely to inch higher on the stone wall. She glanced down below her to see Draco making progress - he was using a modified version of her movements to climb the wall. She was determined to beat him, and moved forwards. In her haste, she slipped off the wall and screamed.

"Levicorpus!"

Hermione was jerked up by her foot, and then gently lowered the ten feet to the ground. When Megan set her down, she immediately attacked the wall again. Draco had a whole body's length advantage on her. She chased him doggedly until he made a mistake and fell. Megan supported his fall on the way down, and he climbed back up as soon as his feet hit the ground.

Hermione made sure her movements were solid and careful. She didn't want to waste any precious advantage by falling again. Her hands were becoming slippery from the sweat beading on them, but she tightened her grip on the wall. Soon she reached the third story window. As she passed by it, she glanced in her bedroom, noticing Ron still asleep on her bed. She admired his ability to sleep through Megan's incessant yelling.

Hermione was almost at the roof. She could feel Draco on her heels - he was only about three feet below her. He had the advantage of longer limbs, so he could catch up quickly - but she had a better center of balance, which she used to make sturdy advances up the stone. She grunted as she pushed her feet off the last ledge and felt her hand scrape the edge of the roof of Head Tower. She pulled her other hand up and walked her feet up the stone wall under the roof. She dragged her stomach onto the brick roof and practically rolled her body onto it. It wasn't a very graceful finish, but she had done it.

"Good, Hermione! Great persistence," cheered Megan. Draco's hand appeared on the edge of the roof, and he slowly pulled himself up to the top as well. They both sat on the edge, their legs dangling off as they panted.

"That was great, you guys. You did that really quickly," called Megan. "You can jump down now. Hermione, you first."

Hermione inhaled deeply, closed her eyes, and pushed herself off the roof. She felt a thrilling falling feeling for three seconds before Megan's spell kicked in, slowly lowering her to the ground. She looked back up at Draco still sitting on the roof.

"Okay Draco, your turn."

Draco had turned ashen. "Can I just climb through the third story window and come back outside from the castle?"

Hermione's heart raced. If he climbed through the window, he would run into Ron in her bedroom. She didn't want Ron to lose his temper at Malfoy and a fight to ensue.

"No, Draco. You need to get over your fears now - they won't have time to walk you through this next year," Megan said impatiently.

Hermione relaxed. She could see Malfoy shaking slightly from the ground. He inhaled deeply and practically fell off the roof. Megan waited a good five seconds before she slowed his fall, and he looked almost terrified as he came into contact with the ground.

"Sorry to scare you there, Draco, but it's important that you aren't scared of heights anymore. I'll work with you privately until you get over this. Don't worry, it won't take long." Megan smiled at both of them. "Great job. Scaling that wall is very hard. I'm impressed with how quickly you both did that. On the job, you'll have to deal with all kinds of physical obstacles. Unfortunately, none of them come with instruction manuals. Being athletic and being able to think on your feet is necessary to be able to get wherever you need to go. This challenge teaches you how to start thinking like that. We'll be doing a lot more physical challenges like this, but it was a very good start."

"I hope you both aren't too tired, because you're going to spar for a bit longer to finish off our session."

Draco and Hermione turned to face each other and wearily put their fists up.