Poker Face, by Lady Gaga

   Draco entered the Dark Arts classroom and grumbled. There stood Weasley and Potter in the front of the classroom, waiting for the new professor to begin his lesson. The perfect attendants. Draco scoffed. Since when? Scar Head and Weaselbee always made it a habit to be late. Draco shook his head. He didn't understand why a brilliant witch like Granger would choose to spend her time with the likes of Weasley. Though Draco knew she had feelings for the weasel, it did not explain her attraction. She was smarter than that, the weasel had less brains than a brick. It was obvious she cared for him, yet he was painfully oblivious.

Potter laughed at something Weasley said and Draco cringed. Though he was not much better than Weasley, Potter cared about Granger's feelings which made him at least decent in Malfoy's book. Draco couldn't say that he didn't envy him, that he hadn't wished to be in either one of their places. Even when his parents were dead, Potter had more than Draco ever had. And Weasley, even penniless as he was, his life had more value than Draco's own. Surrounded by friends and family, he had everything Draco had ever wanted. And he had Granger.

   Draco shook his head. It didn't matter. Draco didn't belong in that world, he could never have the life he wanted. Draco had always been destined for Slytherin, no matter how deeply he wished things had been different. No matter how many times he would dream about what could have been, had he been sorted into Gryffindor instead. Or even Hufflepuff, or Ravenclaw. Draco chuckled softly. Hufflepuff was not likely. Ravenclaw, though not impossible and less so unlikely, was most likely not plausible. His cunning came before his wits.

   Though Draco did often wonder why Granger had been sorted into Gryffindor. Her wisdom and knowledge obviously came before all else. She would never act upon a whim unless she had thought it through. That's why, though she may have courage, bravery was not her most amiable feature. Still, he couldn't help but wonder, what would have become of himself and Granger. Would she have cared for him the way she cared about Potter or Weasley? Would they have been friends? Or more? Who was he kidding? Draco Malfoy would always be a born Slytherin. He wasn't meant for anything else. A true Slytherin. Did he really think he could have passed for anything but? No. He was lower than low. Just like his father. And he could never change that.

   Before long, Professor Lupin entered the room and tapped is wand against the desk, bringing their attention to the front of the room. A large cabinet sat in the center of the room that Draco had not noticed before. It trembled and shook, it's hinges creaking. The professor smiled. "Intriguing, isn't it?" He rounded the cabinet. "Would anyone like to venture a guess..." he stopped in front of it. "As to what's inside?"

"That's a boggart, that is." A student Draco didn't recognize spoke up.

"Very good Mr. Thomas. Now, can anybody tell me what a boggart looks like?"

   "No one knows." Draco smirked. There was his little know it all. He knew she would be chiming in with her two sense soon enough.

"When did she get here?" Weasley looked at Hermione, his face twisted with confusion. She had appeared out of nowhere at the front of the class. Her sudden arrival was suspicious but Draco admired her ability to confound the weasel.

Granger looked a might different from their earlier encounter. She had taken the time to tame and roll her hair up neatly. Her face was unblemished and her lips were a new shade of pink. "Boggarts are shape shifters, they take the form of whatever a person fears most. That's what makes them so..."

"So terrifying. Yes, yes, yes." Lupin nodded to Hermione. "Luckily, a very simple charm exists to repel a boggart." He stepped in front of the cabinet. "Let's practice it now." Half of the class began to pull their wands from their robe pockets but the professor shook his head. "Without wands, please. Now. After me. Riddikulus!"

   The class repeated several times and Draco noticed Zabini staring at him. He smirked and decided to make a fast quip. "This class is riddikulus." Granger looked back and gave him a dirty look. He grinned in return and leaned back against a wooden beam. He pouted his lip and cradled his injured arm and Granger rolled her eyes and turned back around.

The professor nodded. "Very good. So much for the easy part. You see, the incantation alone is not enough. What really finishes the boggart is laughter. You need to force it to assume a shape that you find truly amusing." The professor smiled kindly and called Longbottom to the front. "Now Neville, what frightens you most of all?"

Longbottom cowered. "Professor Snape."

"Sorry?" Lupin said.

"Professor Snape."

"Ah! Professor Snape. Yes, frightens all."

   Draco snorted. Oh yes. The cruel, unjust, dreaded Professor Snape. The dark and mysterious teacher they had all so come to loath. The very same man who had allowed a three year old to hide from a thunderstorm in his robes. Who had spent his Christmas with a lonely little boy instead of at Hogwarts amongst his colleagues. Draco was certain he was the only person alive who could say they had spent holidays with Severus Snape and enjoyed it. Would a cruel man sacrifice his own holiday for that of a three year old? No. He wouldn't. Severus Snape was not a cruel man. Perhaps a little bit of a bully at times but not a villain.

In fact, Snape was more like family to Draco than his own father. Draco remembered, when he was very young, Professor Snape had come to watch him while his mother and father were gone on a business trip across the country. Draco's father wanted Snape to teach him the basics of Dark Arts, but Snape refused to teach Draco at such a young age. Though the potions master did oblige to take care of Draco for the time his parents were away, due to a debt. At first, Draco had been hesitant, but soon he warmed up to Snape. Draco was not scared away by the older wizard's dark appearance, but was rather drawn to him.

It was upon the first night after Draco's parents had left, that a terrible storm rolled in. Lighting illuminated the sky, followed by a clash of thunder that shook the mansion, scaring the young boy and causing him to hide inside the older wizard's robes. Draco remembered how shaken and frightened he had been. At first Snape had seemed perturbed by the boy's frightened manner, but soon relaxed and coaxed Draco out from his hiding spot. He reached out and took the boy onto his lap and calmed him, telling him that the storm would soon pass.

After that, Snape began making regular visits and taught Draco the ways of magic. But rather than teaching the Dark Arts, he taught him Defense Against The Dark Arts. He taught him defensive and protective spells so that Draco could fight against the Dark Arts and protect himself as well as those he loved. Had Draco's father known, he would have been furious. But he never found out, and Draco preferred to keep it that way. He respected and looked up to Snape and viewed him as a father figure of sorts, and Draco knew deep down that he was not the man who had followed the Dark Lord all those years ago.

    "Wand at the ready!" Lupin shouted and looked at a frightened Neville. "One, two, three." He pointed his wand at the cabinet and it swung open. From the darkness, Professor Snape emerged, a scowl decorating his face. He approached Longbottom with a sneer and Lupin stepped back. "Think, Neville, think."

Longbottom held his wand out, shakily and stuttered. "R...Riddikulus!" The boggart froze and stumbled backwards as Professor Snape's black robes contorted into the ugly representation of Neville's grandmother's clothes. The room burst into laughter at the image of Snape wearing an old woman's clothes.

Draco watched, disgusted as the students laughed and cheered. Even those of his own house. Blaise doubled over in laughter and Crabbe and Goyle sniggered at the display. It angered Draco that they would disrespect Professor Snape in this way. If any of them knew the kind of man he really was, knew the things he had done, they would not dare mock him. He deserved respect. Not to mention the fact that he was a teacher and house leader.

   "Everyone, form a line." Professor Lupin nodded. "I want everyone to picture the thing they fear the most..." he grinned. "And turn it into something funny." Draco looked back to Professor Snape... er, the boggart. It stumbled about, confused, as Longbottom moved away.

Weasley stepped up and whimpered. The boggart, still in Snape's form, approached Weasley with a scorn. He drew his want as the boggart turned into a giant spider. Draco sniggered. An acromantula? That was the weasels biggest fear? Draco contained a snigger and Granger shot him a warning look.

   Student after student faced the boggart. It transformed into each and every student's fears. Ridikkulus rang through the classroom as it changed from form to form. Shapeshifting into multitudes of frightening beasts before becoming something absurd. Draco could not believe the stupidity of some of the students fears. You would think, seeing as how their was a mass murderer on the loose, dementors circling the castle day and night, and the rise of the Dark Lord on the verge, these students would have a lot more to fear than giant snakes and spiders.

   When Granger stepped up, the boggart shifted and staggered while rapidly changing forms. She winced as the rest of the class watched with interest. They were all dying to know what the top students fear was. Draco himself became very interested in the idea of knowing. He had never thought of her as the kind of girl to be scared of anything. He supposed everyone had a fear but he couldn't quite place hers. It took much longer for the boggart to figure out her fear than any other student. It's black configuration twisted and contorted, taking several forms before landing on Granger's exact fear.

Draco leaned forward and watched with interest as the creature suddenly stopped and took on the appearance of Miss. McGonagall. Granger watched, bewildered, as the boggart approached her. Confusion swept over Draco. Why didn't she pull out her wand and cast the incantation already? He knew she had practiced it by herself for hours already, knowing what the lesson would be about. It was only McGonagall, surely she couldn't be Granger's biggest fear.

   Hermione stood, frozen, staring at the boggart with wide eyes. McGonagall pulled out a piece of parchment and unrolled it before Hermione. Draco silently urged her to cast the spell, afraid of what could become of the boggarts form. He watched with confusion until he saw what the paper said. In deep red writing was a big, fat, F. The Professor shook her head. "Such a disappointment Miss. Granger. You could have been a great witch. I had such high hopes for you." It was her N.E.W.T's. Her biggest fear was failing her N.E.W.T's. But Draco didn't understand why that was so bad, that test was years away. Granger was the brightest witch of their age, surely she knew that failing could never be a possibility.

   But then it dawned on Draco, it wasn't just failing her N.E.W.T's. It was failure in general. Draco knew all about failure. His father told him he was one about fifty times a day. Because it was an everyday occurrence, the words did not faze Draco as much. But it seemed to affect Granger on a much more personal level. If the boggart had taken this kind of form as her biggest fear then it meant that this would hit her deeper than others. Draco couldn't help but wince at the harsh tone McGonagall was using with Granger. The words seemed to bite a bit harsher than they would coming from his father. Draco knew had they come from someone whom he respected they would lash a might harder.

    The boggart hovered over Granger as she cowered, whimpering slightly. A cruel grin crossed McGonagall's lips. "Such a poor excuse for a witch. If only your blood was purer, perhaps you'd have been able to perform the magic needed to pass." Hermione gasped and curled into a ball, holding back choking sobs. Draco watched as tears streamed down her face. 'If only your blood was purer.' Was that what this was about? She was afraid of failing because she wasn't a pureblood or even a half-blood. Did she think that had she been born into a Wizarding family she'd be more worthy of her magic?

Then Draco realized something. She thought she was less able because she was muggle born. Draco winced as if he'd been slapped in the face. It was his fault. If he hadn't called her that name so many times she wouldn't be this self conscious. Because of him, she thought she was inferior to purebloods and half-bloods alike. That had been his initial intention hadn't it? No. This had not been his goal. This wasn't what he wanted.

   Hermione let out a small scream as the boggart got closer, hovering over her. Draco looked furiously at Professor Lupin, who stood on the sidelines. Why didn't he do anything? Potter stepped forward but Lupin held up a hand. What was he waiting for? She was obviously unable to control the boggart herself. How could he stand back and watch her suffer? Draco held his breath and willed her to fight back. As if she had heard his plea, Hermione looked up. With a shudder, she stood. Her breathing was heavy and ragged and tears streamed down her face. "R...riddikulus!" She said weakly.

The boggart remained and McGonagall seethed, causing Hermione to cower. "Failed again." McGonagall smirked. "But what did I expect from such a tainted bloodline. Your nothing but a filthy, dirty, little mudblood!"

   That was the last straw! Draco stormed forward. "For crying out loud!" Draco stepped in front of Hermione and the boggart faced him. It's form began to twist and shape but Draco held out his wand. "Ventus!" A jet of wind shot from the top of his wand, blowing the boggart back into the cabinet. "Colloportus." With a flick of his wand, Draco closed the door and locked it, sealing the boggart inside the cabinet. He turned to Hermione who stared at him amazed. "When were you going to fight back, Granger?" She stared at him blankly.

   Weasley sniggered and whispered loud enough for them to hear. "Failing a test is her biggest fear? Boy she's in for a big awakening." He laughed and Hermione burst into tears. She pulled herself to her feet then ran from the room.

Potter looked to Lupin and the professor nodded. "Class dismissed!"

Potter turned to Weasley who was still laughing. "That was a rotten thing to say, Ron."

"But it's true."

Potter shook his head. "It still wasn't right."

   The class shuffled out made their way out the door. Potter and Weasley made an attempt to follow Hermione but Draco stepped in their path. "Haven't you done enough damage, Weasley?"

"Like you care you slimy git."

"I am the one who saved her." He smirked, trying to make a scene. His goal was to make his little act of heroism in the classroom seem like an act of selfishness. He had to make it seem like he'd done it for his own benefit. For the attention. That was the only way to cover up the actual reason.

"Oh yeah, your a real lionheart." Weasley sneered.

Potter stepped in front of his friend. "Give it up, Malfoy. We know you only did it for attention." Bingo. They believed exactly what he wanted them to.

   Draco leered at them, the corners of his lips curling. Students gathered around to watch the scene unfold, but Draco did not care to pay them any mind. He was going to make the weasel pay for making Granger cry. Draco pulled out his want and pointed it at Weasley. "Arachnisortia!" As soon as the words escaped Draco's lips a giant spider sprung from the tip of his wand. It landed on Weasley's face and he screamed. Draco laughed as the weasel ran in a circle, clawing at the arachnid. Potter grabbed at Weasley, trying to get him to stop running. Altogether it was a very amusing scene.

   With the final laugh, Draco spun around and stormed after Granger. He heard Weasley screaming behind him and Potter shouting. "Arania Exumai!" Rang through the halls. Draco made his way down the hall. He knew where she would have gone. He turned down the hall that led to the library and looked back to make sure no one followed. The halls behind and ahead were empty. Draco picked up his pace, hoping to make it to the library before anyone could see him. But something drew his attention as he passed the Astronomy Tower and he slowed. Soft sobbing could be heard from the stairs leading to the tower. Draco looked around the corner and saw Granger's small form, curled into a ball on the bottom step.

   With a sigh, he rounded the corner and approached her. She looked a fright, stray strands of hair that had fallen from her bun, hung loosely in front of her face. She drew her knees close and buried her nose in between them. He hesitated, unsure of how to approach her when she looked up. Her eyes were bloodshot and tears stained her cheeks. "Why did you do that?" She said quietly.

Draco stepped back. "Do what?"

"Step in. Why, when everyone else got a good laugh, did you interfere and stop it?"

"Don't flatter yourself, Granger. I only did it because Weasley seemed to be enjoying himself."

   Hermione gasped and covered her mouth with her hand and a choked sob came out. Oops. Wrong thing to say. Draco sighed and took a seat on the stairs next to her. He looked over at her and tried to look sincere. "Why do you hang around that git anyways?"

"He's all I've got. Him and Harry. It's not like the other students are jumping at the chance to be friends with the know it all muggleborn."

"You're not..." he hesitated then dropped his stance. "...a know it all."

Hermione studied him, skeptically. "Obviously."

Draco was surprised by her bluntness. "What?"

She gestured towards him. "I've tried time and time again to figure you out but I just can't decipher it."

"I beg your pardon?"

"See. Some moments your snarky and rude but then others I get to see a part of you I never knew existed." Draco arched an eyebrow and she continued. "There's a part of you that wants to be good..."

"I don't know what..."

She put her hand on his chin and turned him to face her. "No matter how much you try to deny it."

   Draco was too amazed to flinch or jerk away. And the warmth of her skin against his caused him to freeze. For a moment he wanted to lean in to her, feel her closeness but then reality came into play. He jerked away. "Don't antagonize me, mu..." he froze, halfway through the sentence.

Granger smirked and nodded. "Mudblood?"

Draco stared at her in complete shock. "What did you... How can you... Why did you say that?"

A coy smile played at her lips before she sunk back down into her depressed bearing. "I said, 'mudblood'. I can say it because it's just a word. And I said it because I know you don't mean it."

   Draco was at a loss for words. He didn't know how to respond. How could she say that? Of course it was more than just a word. It was an insult. A dirty terrible thing to say and he had called her it for years. How could she look him in the eye and tell him he hadn't meant it? Draco sighed. Because he hadn't. Not once. He had only ever used that word to get her attention. The first time he called her a mudblood was out of spite. He was furious that she favored the weasel over him. And yet, even then there had been no truth to it.

   "What about back there? It seemed to be more than a word to you when McGonagall used it."

"That's wasn't McGonagall!"

Draco growled. "Don't you think I know that? I'm not dumb, Granger. And I'm not blind, it still affected you. McGonagall or not McGonagall."

Hermione studied him. "Why do you care?"

"I don't..."

"Yes, you do. You can pretend all you want Malfoy but I'm not blind either. As much as you try to hide it, you care about what happens to others."

Draco shook his head. "I'm done playing games, Granger. What are you getting at?"

She looked him in the eye. "I... I just needed to know why."

"Why what?" He snapped.

"Why do you pretend? You keep up this facade but I've seen the way you act when they aren't looking. I know that you feel like you have to live up to your father's standards... but you aren't your father. The Malfoy name is just a name, and the pureblood title is just a title. They do not make you who you are. Yes, they can make you popular but you could be so much more than that. Your house doesn't define you. You don't have to pretend to be someone your not."

   Draco felt as if he'd been slapped across the face and yet a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He wanted to tell her the truth, to let her see him completely for who he was but he couldn't do it. He couldn't tell her that she'd figured him out. Guessed spot on. That all he'd ever wanted was a friendship like she, Potter, and Weasley had. That he so yearned to be like them and know what that felt like. But he couldn't. She looked at him with those sad eyes. Those big, beautiful, brown eyes and he felt weak. They held so much hope. Hope for a bright future for him. His throat constricted as he tried to swallow. She was wrong. He could never have those things. His name, his family, his bloodline. They all prevented it.

   Draco stood abruptly and prepared himself to lose the only chance he'd ever be given. To push away the one person who understood him. Anger boiled within him. How could he have been so stupid as to believe anything could ever become of pursuing her? Draco clenched his fists. She should have known it was impossible. Yet she decided to make a fool of him by giving him false hope. Draco turned and faced Hermione. "You think you have me all figured out, don't you? Well you know what, Granger? You don't! You don't know me at all! I can never be a part of your world and I couldn't care less." Draco pointed at her. "You thought we could be friends?" He scoffed. "Well why would I want to be friends with a filthy little mudblood anyway?"

   Hermione looked broken and something entered her eyes. Disappointment? Disdain? Fear? She had failed to figure him out, or so she thought. And her biggest fear had come true. But he had to let her believe so. He couldn't give in and tell her that she was right and that he was wrong. He was too proud and couldn't bring himself to get her mixed up in his messed up life.

"Is it more than just a word to you now, Granger?" Draco spat before turning on heal and marching out of the room, his head held high in triumph. Her soft sobs could be heard from the end of the hall and something deep down urged him to turn around, to apologize and fix things. To risk it all and take a chance. But he continued on, past the library, past the dungeons and into the potions classroom where he knew he could find the one person he could confide in.

Authors Note:

I am very happy with this chapter! I feel like that sense of protection and guilt that Draco feels is a key factor to his character development. It was a hard decision on wether to do a Hermione or Draco's boggart as we saw neither in the movies. However, we get a brief look at Hermione in the book. (Page 235 of Prizoner of Azkaban if you want to check it out.)

If you want to see a chapter with Draco's boggart in the future please let me know in the comments and give this story a like! If I get enough feedback I will definitely do a chapter revealing Draco's boggart! Thank you so much for reading my story!