Draco decided, for once, to ignore the fact that the letter was already read by someone. Although, who would? It was difficult to suppose that someone was still interested in him or his affairs. Anyway, he picked up the envelope and pulled out the message. He knew who the sender was just by touching the parchment. There was something about it that felt like his mother.

He began reading:

Draco,

I know you've been at Hogwarts just one day and probably haven't even adjusted fully yet. Still, knowing the turmoil raging inside you, I couldn't bear not talking to you.

Also, part of the reason I wrote was to congratulate you. You never told me you were Head Boy! I expected to be the first person to know; anyway, I do have my sources. I know you've been dreaming about this for so long, Draco. I'm so, so happy for you. You've made me very proud. Even Lucius momentarily was.

Draco noticed the use of the word 'momentarily'. He almost knew what was coming next.

Well, yes, Draco, I know you've already guessed it. You know I'm going to talk about Lucius next. I simply have to, because it'd be a great weight off my chest, and you're the only one I freely talk to. Besides, if I had not mentioned it, I think you'd have written to me, asking about it. Well, that wasn't going to happen anytime soon, Draco thought.

So, there's actually not much to tell except that Lucius is the same. No more, no less. For an instant, he genuinely seemed happy when he got the Head Boy news. I really thought things might get okay. But the other Death Eaters seem just as furious with you. Some of them came in the next second and instigated Lucius against you again. You have to believe me when I say I tried hard to prevent it. I'm still trying. I'll succeed soon, I promise. 

Draco didn't know why, but this news had no effect on him. Perhaps it was because he didn't care about Lucius anymore, or he was too sure that nothing was going to change. 

I hope you're with friends though, not alone. Your friends - Blaise, Theo, Pansy - really love you. Stay with them and share your thoughts with them. Tell them everything you want- they will gladly help you. And whenever you need me, I'm just an owl away.

P.S. I sent you another pouch of Galleons. It should do nicely for all your Hogsmeade weekends.

N.M.

Draco knew there was no chance he was telling all of this to his friends. That was simply out of the question - 

"Hey."

Theo stood at the dormitory door, leaning against the doorframe. Draco didn't hear him come in so he wasn't sure how long Theo had been standing there.

"Well, you got some really messed up life, man."

Draco frowned. "How can you say that?"

Theo shrugged. "Just by how you've been behaving."

Suddenly Draco knew. "You were the one who read my letter before me, weren't you?" Theo shrugged again. "How can you?" he fumed angrily. 

"I did it because I knew something was up. The others have noticed it too. And of course, you didn't trust us enough to tell us what was wrong, so I thought I'd find out for myself. That letter arrived around half an hour back. I was the only one in the dorm since my counseling stuff was over pretty soon, so I opened and read it. Not much specific information, but now I know a lot more than before, at least."

"Do Blaise and Pansy know?"

"Not yet. But you're going to tell them - and me - everything, and that too pretty soon. Leaving out nothing. That's what your mother wants you to do."

"And suppose I don't?"

"Well," Theo reached for something from his pocket, "I don't know why you need your mother to send you money, but," he pulled out a black velvet pouch and juggled it alluringly in one hand, "I guess we're going to find out."

***

"So, you're telling me," Pansy said, pacing around the Common Room, "that over this summer, you abandoned your home, your dad disowned you, he cut off your access to your money, and still you didn't tell us a single thing?"

"Believe me, I genuinely thought it wasn't the best thing to do," Draco said.

"Best thing, my foot!" Pansy shrieked. "We're your friends, Draco! Do you even know what that word means? We've been so worried for you ever since the holidays began, we wrote you letters, asking how you were, inquiring if everything was fine, and we asked you to tell us what was on your mind dozens of times since we met, and still, you thought it was better not to trust us?"

"Seriously, Draco," Blaise said, sounding disappointed, "we've been here for you. Haven't we done enough to prove that you can confide in us?"

"It's not about trust, guys," Draco stood up from the emerald-green sofa, trying to explain.

"I know," Theo said slowly. "I think that after all this happened you started feeling so low and inferior that you didn't want to admit to anyone that you were no longer rich or had an influential father. Those were the things you prided yourself upon, but you still couldn't face the fact that you'd had so many losses one after the other. And so you couldn't tell anyone about it since you hadn't fully realized it yourself. I think I get it now."

Draco didn't know what to say. His behavior was being analyzed from all angles. Still, he felt good to hear everything his friends had said.

"Draco," Blaise said, sitting him down again, "you must know that there's a lot more to you than money and fame, and everything that has happened has not changed you - the real you. We love you for yourself. Even if you'd be broke - which you're not, I mean, look at that pouch, I bet it contains enough Galleons for the entire year - my point is, money does not define you. What you are is the factor that does."

"He's right," Pansy said. "We're with you. Always."

***

After dinner that night, Draco remembered with an unpleasant jolt that he had to meet Hermione in the Head Common Room.

"Cheer up. You know what, I forgot to tell you, we have a Hogsmeade trip this weekend. Think of that and get it over with," Pansy said. 

"I don't know how I'm going to stand that Mudblood once every day," he grumbled, dragging himself up from his seat in the Great Hall.

"Come on, it's going to be over in a few - er - minutes," Blaise said. "You don't have to talk to her."

"Of course not," he replied. He bid his friends goodbye and headed for the sixth floor. He'd seen the painting of the mermaids before. He'd always found it ugly, but he never knew there was a room behind it.

As McGonagall had instructed him, he walked by the painting four times and an ornate door appeared. He said the password - Dumbledore - and the door swung open. So did Draco's jaw.

It was a beautiful room, even by Draco's standards. The door opened into a large and spacious room with soft sofas by the fireplace on one side. On the other side, there were two desks and four chairs, with tall bookshelves lining the wall, stacked full of all kinds of books. On the far end was a huge window overlooking the Great Lake with a seating platform where one could rest with a Butterbeer and a splendid view. From both sides of this platform, there arose two twisting staircases that led to two different rooms - he could see that one had a red placard and the other, a green one. The whole place was decorated in red and yellow and green and silver - the house colors of Gryffindor and Slytherin, obviously. Draco actually felt that even though he'd felt so hateful about this place, he could practically live there forever.

Till the time he stopped thinking so. Because what he hadn't noticed was Hermione sitting at the corner desk with several rolls of parchment and some books. 

It seemed that she hadn't even noticed him. Or if she had, she was ignoring him completely. Which was convenient enough for Draco. McGonagall had told them to meet in the Common Room each night. Conversation was not part of the deal.

Still, Draco felt like clarifying something. He said, "I'm not going to do any of this stuff, patrol duties and all, so you can struggle on yourself."

"Oh no, you've really winded me up because I was completely relying on you," Hermione said sarcastically, not looking up from her work.

"I know," Draco smirked. He walked across the room to the window. It was by far his favorite place in the room. Might even be one of his favorites of the entire castle. He sat down and stretched his legs. The Lake looked beautiful, reflecting the moonlight.

Hermione had already decided that window to be her reading spot. She had arrived much earlier than Draco, had explored the Common Room, her private room upstairs, and of course, the books. She'd never found such books in the library and she could bet they were very interesting reads. The room was perfect for almost anything. Reading, focused studying, or inviting Harry and Ron over.

She had made a list of the Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw Prefects, to assign them patrol duty. She didn't know about the Slytherins though.

"Who are the Slytherin Prefects again?" she asked Draco. Maybe he knew.

"Why, couldn't bother looking up for them in a book?" Draco sneered.

"Obviously not, Malfoy. Slytherins don't usually make it into books unless it's Voldemort."

"Who did do some remarkable stuff, by the way. Like getting rid of that werewolf guy. Was too old to get married anyway."

At this, Hermione's fist clenched tightly around her wand. She knew that provoking her was exactly what Malfoy wanted, but recently she had not been in very good control of her emotions. How dare he insult Lupin? 

"You better learn to keep that mouth of yours shut, Malfoy, or you'll land into trouble," she said angrily.

"Like what? Dueling you? I don't know if I can call that trouble, Mudblood. You won't get out in one piece if we did."

"We can only find that out in a real duel, Malfoy. It's no good dreaming like that while sitting cozily by a nice view."

"Oh, so let's find out, shall we?" Draco got up, wand in hand, pointing towards Hermione's neck. Unfazed, she said, "Sure. Glad to tackle you any day."

"So let's meet by the Shrieking Shack this weekend, yeah? Wasn't it your werewolf buddy's favorite place? Only if he could help you now."

"He doesn't need to, Malfoy. You're weak enough for me alone," Hermione said. Draco was not getting away with that taunt at Lupin. How dare he? Couldn't he let him rest in peace even after he was no more? She was going to do this. For Lupin.

And five minutes later, she thought that it was indeed a pity to waste a good Hogsmeade weekend like that.

***

A/N: Yeah guys, that was a long chapter. But I really loved writing this one. It was the first proper interaction between Hermione and Draco, after all. And the first time they meet, they decide on a duel! To think that these two would have to meet every night! Okay, this might get scary.

So, one thing which my genius mind came up with. The name Verlosser Bescherming, our DADA teacher, actually translates into something in another language. Does anyone like a guess?

Till next time, then. Vote, comment, and follow!