Fire and Ice

These page numbers all correspond to the United States edition of OotP, so some countries may have different pages to look up.  I've quoted all but one of the scenes we are examining. 

Again, explanations are in bold red.

Page 194

Harry looked around; he had expected this but that did not make the sight of Draco Malfoy smirking at him from between his cronies Crabbe and Goyle any more enjoyable.

“What?” he said aggressively, before Malfoy could open his mouth.

“Manners, Potter, or I'll have to give you a detention,” drawled Malfoy, whose sleek blond hair and pointy chin were just like his father's.  “You see, I, unlike you, have been made a prefect, which means that I, unlike you, have the power to hand out punishments.”

“Yeah,” said Harry, “but you, unlike me, are a git, so get out and leave us alone.”

Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville laughed.  Malfoy's lip curled.

“Tell me, how does it feel being second-best to Weasley, Potter?” he asked.

“Shut up, Malfoy,” said Hermione sharply. 

“I seem to have touched a nerve,” said Malfoy, smirking.  “Well, just watch yourself, Potter, because I'll be dogging your footsteps in case you step out of line.”

“Get out!” said Hermione standing up.

Sniggering, Malfoy gave Harry a last malicious look and departed, Crabbe and Goyle lumbering in his wake.  Hermione slammed the compartment door behind them and turned to look at Harry, who knew at once that she, like him, had registered what Malfoy had said and been just as unnerved by it.

“Chuck us another Frog,” said Ron, who had clearly noticed nothing. 

Draco is here to gloat over Potter, now that he's finally managed to do something that The Boy Who Lived didn't.  He doesn't back down in the slightest when Harry tells him to leave.  He finally leaves after Hermione tells him to though.  Once again, while never backing down for the boys, he backs down for our favorite Gryffindor witch! 

Page 197

A short distance away, Draco Malfoy, followed by a small gang of cronies including Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy Parkinson, was pushing some timid-looking second years out of the way so that they could get a coach to themselves.  Seconds later Hermione emerged panting from the crowd. 

“Malfoy was being absolutely foul to a first year back there, I swear I'm going to report him, he's only had his badge three minutes and he's using it to bully people worse than ever…. Where's Crookshanks?”

And here we find Hermione has possibly faced Draco again on her own.  We never hear more of Hermione reporting Draco though, so she must not have really been that upset with him. 

Page 258

She indicated a heap of twigs in front of her.  Hermione's hand shot into the air.  Behind her back, Malfoy did a buck-toothed imitation of her jumping up and down in eagerness to answer a question. 

Perhaps, not all imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but we know where Draco's attention is directed rather than on his lesson.  Also, notice that it's “behind her back” rather than to her face.  Does he have a bit of a problem doing anything insulting to the boys to their faces?  Not that we've ever seen. 

Page 261

“Harry, don't go picking a row with Malfoy, don't forget, he's a prefect now, he could make life difficult for you….”

“Wow, I wonder what it'd be like to have a difficult life?” said Harry sarcastically.  Ron laughed, but Hermione frowned. 

Hermione knows full well that Harry has dealt with things far more difficult than Malfoy in his life.  Is she thinking about the warning of the Sorting Hat and trying to find ways to avoid arguments?  Has Miss Granger been considering taking the first steps to unify the houses? 

Page 309

He smirked as Malfoy sniggered and said in a carrying whisper, “Some people got D's? Ha!”

Harry realized that Hermione was looking sideways to see what grade he had received; he slid his moonstone essay back into his bag as quickly as possible, feeling that he would rather kept that information private. 

Ever feel like there is a separate way that Draco and Hermione communicate?  It probably doesn't take a genius to know that Draco likes to insult no one more than Harry and Ron, but you've got to find it cute that as soon as Draco sets the barb Hermione is already figuring out what he means. 

Page 334

“He said he was tipped off you were ordering Dungbombs?  But who tipped him off?”

“I dunno,” said Harry, shrugging.  “Maybe Malfoy, he'd think it was a laugh.”

They walked between the tall stone pillars topped with winged boars and turned left onto the road into the village, the wind whipping their hair into their eyes.

“Malfoy?” said Hermione, very skeptically.  “Well…yes…maybe…”

And she remained deep in thought all the way into the outskirts of Hogsmeade.

Hermione is always the one to be skeptical when Draco is accused.  She doubted him being the Heir of Slytherin in book two and again she seems to have the measure of him better than to think that he did the dungbomb tip off.  How much is she thinking about Draco here and how much about the dungbombs?  At the very least she is trying to figure him out further. 

Page 625

“Lording it over all the other teachers, the stupid puffed-up, power-crazy, old—“

“Now do you really want to finish that sentence, Granger?”

Draco Malfoy had slid out from behind the door, closely followed by Crabbe and Goyle.  His pale, pointed face was alight with malice.

“Afraid I'm going to have to dock a few points from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff,” he drawled. 

“It's only teachers that can dock points from Houses, Malfoy,” said Ernie at once.

“Yeah, we're prefects too, remember?” snarled Ron. 

“I know prefects can't dock points, Weasel King,” sneered Malfoy; Crabbe and Goyle sniggered.  “But members of the Inquisitorial Squad—“

“The what?” said Hermione sharply.

“The Inquisitorial Squad, Granger,” said Malfoy, pointing toward a tiny silver I upon his robes just beneath his prefect's badge.  “A select group of students who are supportive of the Ministry of Magic, hand picked by Professor Umbridge.  Anyway, members of the Inquisitorial Squad do have the power to dock points…. So, Granger, I'll have five from you for being rude about our new headmistress…. Macmillan, five for contradicting me…. Five because I don't like you, Potter…Weasley, your shirt's untucked, so I'll have another five for that…. Oh yeah, I forgot you're a Mudblood, Granger, so another ten for that….”

Ron pulled out his wand, but Hermione pushed it away, whispering, “Don't!” 

“Wise move, Granger,” breathed Malfoy.  “New Head, new times…Be good now, Potty…Weasel King…”

Wow, Harry and Ron both get nasty nicknames out of that one, but where is Hermione's?  Surely Draco is enjoying getting back at them all for all the points they've earned for Gryffindor over the years.  Yet he doesn't take nearly so many as he could have.  This is the only time he does it to them too.  The Mudblood line seems rather an afterthought, and it's probably about the nastiest thing he does to her in the entire book.  (It's the only time he says the word at all in the book.)  He seems less and less nasty to her all the time doesn't he?  Especially, after we've seen him very publicly humiliating Ron and Harry all the time.  No songs or buttons have come her way in five books now.  He doesn't call her by nasty nicknames all the time.  Curious. 

Also, when Ron goes for his wand, Hermione again stops it from going into a fight.  We could say that it was to protect Ron from losing more house points, but she's already warned Harry against fighting with Draco too.  It seems that Hermione and Draco both understand the situation at the school on a level that the others don't, despite the different ways they approach it.  Is that one of the reasons he doesn't feel the need to include her in his final warning to be good? 

Page 742

Now this is the scene where the Inquisitorial Squad captures everyone in Umbridge's office.  It's the one section that I'm not quoting because the section is quite long.  Draco and Hermione don't have any direct interaction with each other, yet there are still some interesting D/Hr implications. 

During the scene all his ire is trained on Harry and the Weasleys.  He laughs at having a Weasley free school and looks on eagerly to see what Umbridge has in store for Harry.  He doesn't do anything to Hermione though.  Since Harry wasn't able to see it, we aren't sure if Draco was the one to disarm both him and Hermione or only Harry. 

It's rather surprising that only Harry seems to notice the distinct lack of tears from Hermione.  Perhaps Draco gets all his best hints from Lucius, but his constant baiting of the trio would lead one to think he'd be pretty observant.  Especially as a master of faking!  (Remember the Buckbeak attack?)

Perhaps, Draco is too overcome with all the excitement of the “weapon” or with Potter being expelled to notice.  He certainly seems interested on accompanying Harry, Hermione, and Umbridge into the forest.  He couldn't disguise the look of “eagerness and greed” fast enough for Umbridge, but what would he have had planned?  Despite using Umbridge's agenda to gain power for himself, Draco probably would like her less than any of the other students.  After all, now he's not even getting to learn about how to defend against the Dark Arts!  And we all know about his fascination with the subject.  Despite the fact that Draco would probably not be crazy enough to attack a ministry official in the Dark Forest, Hermione finds it easy to turn Umbridge against her own squad as a result by knowing the weaknesses of his character. 

How cunning is that?  Only Hermione is good enough to out-Slytherin the Slytherins.  Once again we are finding that Draco and Hermione are deeply alike at the core of things.

Citation: "D/Hr Moments In OotP" Contra Veritas. 2005. 17 Sept, 2007. http://www.contraveritas.com/whydhr02.php

We'll begin with Sorceror's Stone/Philosopher's Stone:

I. Introductions

A. We first meet Draco at Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions (p. 77, paperback edition). He talks of bossing his parents around ("I think I'll bully father...") and of how good he is at Quidditch ("...it's a crime if I'm not picked to play..."). He asks Harry what house he thinks he will be in, and he insults Harry's friend ("He's [Hagrid is] sort of a servant, isn't he?"). It does not seem this way to Harry, but he is quite obviously trying to become friends; Harry does not like him.

B. We first meet Hermione on the train, (p. 105, paperback edition). She insults Harry's friend (Ron, this time- "...it's [Ron's spell] not very good, is it?"). She brags about how good she is doing with her schoolwork ("I've learned all our course books by heart, of course...", "...it's [spells she's tried] all worked for me..."). She asks them what house they think they will be in, just like Draco did. She bosses them around ("You two had better change, you know..."). We can tell that in an inexperienced, shy way she is trying to make friends with them. Harry does not like her either.

II. More Similarities

A. As discussed in Introductions, Draco and Hermione are both bossy. They both insult Harry and his friends. They are both pompous and brag about their skills. They even both ask the same questions! Neither is, quite obviously, experienced at making friends. This is evidenced by the roundabout way in which they hint that they would like to be Harry's friend. It is also evidenced by the friends that they have already chosen- Draco has picked Crabbe and Goyle because he is better than they and they do not mind his bragging tendency. Hermione has chosen Neville for the same reasons (as well as her nurturing tendency- I never said she and Draco were clones of one another).

B. They are both liked by teachers who are usually very hard to please- Hermione has charmed Professor McGonagall ("...[McGonagall] gave Hermione a rare smile..."), and Draco has pleased Snape ("...criticizing... except Malfoy, whom he seemed to like...", "... look at the perfect way Malfoy had..."). Both have done so by doing exceptionally well in the subject.

C. Harry does not like either of them (in the beginning)- "[on Hermione] Harry could not believe anyone could be so interfering" and "[on Malfoy] ...liking the boy less and less every second."

D. Both are very controlling. Draco is shown to be controlling, obviously, because of his choice in friends- he has picked friends that he can boss around. Also, he tells Harry about how he bosses his parents around. Hermione is constantly telling Harry and Ron what to do before she even knows them! Admittedly, this could lead to a power struggle in the relationship, but I believe that since both of them are so pompous and self-important, they would very much enjoy being around someone who was so much like themselves.

E. Clever and manipulative. Draco thinks of a plan to get Harry and Ron in trouble (the fake duel); Hermione flatters Hagrid in order to milk information out of him (p. 231-232, paperback- it's too long to quote). They also both like to eavesdrop to find out about others' plans (Hermione- "I couldn't help overhearing what you and Malfoy were saying...", Draco- "Malfoy...had stopped dead listening."). There are several other examples of both Draco and Hermione being manipulative in the other books, but since this is the PS/SS bit...

III. Misc./Other

A. Hermione worries for Draco's safety in the forest ("You don't think they've [Neville AND Draco] been hurt, do you?").

B. When Draco sees Voldemort, he screams (and runs for his life). When Harry tells Hermione what he was under Quirrel's turban, she also screams; Hermione is scared of Hagrid's dragon and the mountain troll (obviously); Draco is scared of the creatures in the forest. This one is sort of insignificant, but I think it shows that neither of them is as self-assured and confident as they come off as.

IV. Conclusion: SS/PS had very little D/Hr interaction, but it showed that they have LOADS in common.

Chamber of Secrets time!

I. In Relative to Each Other

A. Draco mentions Hermione, calling her by her first name (almost), when the subject of school comes up with his father. Lucius becomes upset that she beat him in every exam, which implies that he was probably second in his class (or otherwise close to Hermione's level). That means that they are equal in intelligence.

B. Hermione likes blondes. There is a chance she might try to get to know Draco simply because of his looks- as evidenced by how blindsided she was by Lockhart- and then realize how much they have in common, allowing the relationship to last.

C. When Crabbe!Ron and Goyle!Harry are in the Slytherin common room, Malfoy says "[on Muggle-borns being let in] A decent headmaster would never've let slime like that Creevey in" (p.222). Why is this significant? Hermione is not his example. Yes, he does mention her later, but only as an insult. He does not choose her to represent the worst of Mudbloods. (Later on, of course, he says he hopes the creature will kill her. Anti-D/Hr-ers like to point to this passage as though it broke our entire case. But, really, how many times have you wished death upon someone? Did you honestly want them to die?)

II. Interactions

A. The first time Draco calls Hermione a Mudblood-

1) When Hermione insults Draco on the Quidditch patch ("No one on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in." p. 112, hardcover edition), Draco is more insulted than he is when Ron or Harry fights with him ("The smug look on Malfoy's face flickered." p. 112, hardcover- we've never seen that happen before. Also, he makes a desperate attempt to defend himself by calling her "the most insulting thing he can think of." p. 115). This implies that he is caught offguard by Hermione's seeing through him, that he cares that she insulted him, or both.

2) He has never called her by this before, so it is obvious that the scene with his father in the beginning sparked it (when he talks about how Muggle-borns are lesser wizards, p. 50-51). He is only repeating what his father said, not necessarily what he would find that he believed if he ever thought about it for himself.

B. Hermione does not think that Draco could be the Heir of Slytherin (" 'Malfoy, the Heir of Slytherin?' said Hermione skeptically." p. 158). Obviously, she does not think he is pure evil the way Harry and Ron do. Yes, she agrees to make sure it isn't him, but she does not think it is.

C. Though this is not an interaction between Draco and Hermione, Hermione smiles at Millicent Bullstrode when they are partnered up for dueling club: she obviously does not hate Slytherins just because of their House. She even suggests to Harry that he might be related to Salazar Slytherin on page 196.

III. Conclusion: Draco and Hermione do not have much potential for romance at this point. We know from the PS/SS analysis that they are very compatable, and we know now that there is a potential for physical attraction as well; but now that Draco has been taught to look down upon Muggleborns, he might stop himself from engaging in a relationship with her later on due to his lack of paternal approval (for the relationship).

Continuing our journey through the series, our next stop is Prisoner of Azkaban ...

I. Interactions

A. When Draco comes into their train compartment, as he always does, he says, "Well, look who it is... Potty and the Weasel." (p. 80, hardcover edition) He does not insult Hermione.

B. "Malfoy elbowed past Hermione..." (p. 87, hardcover) Physical contact.

C. Hermione does not respond to Malfoy's teasing. This is why, throughout the book, he keeps moving it up a notch in order to get her attention.

D. "Hermione ran to hold open the gate as Hagrid lifted Malfoy easily." (p. 118) Hmm? HMM? (My margin note for this one says, "SQUEEEE!!!") And that's not even all: afterwards- " 'D'you think he'll be all right?' said Hermione nervously." (p. 119) I know she was also scared for Hagrid's job, but if that was the only concern on her mind, she would have phrased this statement very differently.

E. THE SLAP. Draco can't forget it. Hermione can't forget it. We most certainly can't forget it. It's unforgettable, that's why:

quote:

She had slapped Malfoy across the face with all the strength she could muster. Malfoy staggered. Harry, Ron, Crabbe, and Goyle stood flabbergasted as Hermione raised her hand again...

Hermione pulled out her wand. Malfoy stepped backward..."C'mon," Malfoy muttered... all three of them disappeared... (p. 239)

Why is this a hugely good sign for us? She left him speechless. I'd venture that no one in Draco's entire life has ever rendered him speechless before. He didn't even attempt to fight back, either. Of course, later on we have, "Oh, it was Malfoy, I was thinking about him and I lost track of things" (p. 295) to explain why she MISSED CHARMS. Can I get a, "SQUEEE"? As Molly585 said in a reply, it is very Out-Of-Character of her to miss a class. And she missed her only class ever thinking about Draco.

II. Conclusion: The hints to pointing to D/Hr are becoming more and more common and obvious as the story goes on. PoA contains physical contact and many other favorable interactions for us.

Goblet of Fire is next!

I.Interactions

A. "Mr. Malfoy's eyes returned to Hermione, who went slightly pink, but stared determinedly at him" (p. 101, hardcover edition) Harry assumes that Mr. Malfoy is glaring at Hermione because she is a Mudblood. He might not know the whole story, though. For all we know, Hermione could've come up in conversations back at Malfoy Manor...

B. The Warning. This, along with The Slap, is a favorite of the D/Hr shippers:

quote:

"You wouldn't like her spotted, would you?" He nodded at Hermione...

"What's that supposed to mean?" said Hermione defiantly.

"Granger, they're after Muggles," said Malfoy. "D'you want to be showing off your knickers in midair? Because if you do, hang around... they're moving this way, and it would give us all a laugh." ...

"Keep that big bushy head down, Granger."

Excuse me? Did he just say he wanted to see Hermione's knickers? Not to twist his words... either way, he is reciprocating her concern from third year (see PoA, section one, part D). Some of you may say that he insulted her, but come on! He had to! Harry and Ron were there, and he had an image to maintain.

C. " 'He could have really hurt Malfoy, though," she said. 'It was good, really, that Professor McGonagall stopped it.' " What's this, more concern? This seems to happen a lot... also, I'd like to point out that Draco just got turned into a ferret by a psycho and bounced around the Great Hall in front of everyone. What did he do? He stood up and and threatened Moody. And yet The Slap left him speechless for several minutes, and he never even tried to fight back.

D. "Really witty." This phrase has been used by only two characters in the entire series- Draco (PoA p. 113, hardcover) and Hermione (GoF, p. 299).

E. Draco asks Hermione if she wants a "Potter Stinks" badge. He does not ask Ron. Yes, this could be because he knows Ron would attack him- but, as she has proven in the past, so might Hermione. When he fights Harry, his spell hits Hermione. It was quite obviously never meant to hit Harry- why would he curse Harry to make his teeth grow larger? Perhaps he wanted Madam Pomfrey to fix them. That, admittedly, is rather far-fetched; but teasing a girl about something that is wrong with her appearance is common in young boys who do not know how to act around a girl that they like.

F. Pansy makes fun of Hermione because of the "stunningly pretty" quote from Skeeter's article (p. 316). Draco doesn't - not even once. He also does not make fun of her for being Harry's "girlfriend." Only Pansy does.

II. Misc./Other

A. Draco cares that Hermione has a date to the ball (p. 404). When he makes it into a joke, her reply is to play a trick on him (who else plays tricks? Oh right...) by waving to an invisible Moody. Then, she says "Twitchy little ferret, aren't you, Malfoy?" which is positively dripping with sexual innuendo.

B. "...even he [Draco] didn't seem able to find an insult to throw at her." Look at that... Draco has just noticed that Hermione is pretty as well as smart (as he told his father she was in CoS) and brave (because she stands up to him).

III. Conclusion: There is quite a bit of Draco/Hermione interaction in this one, but it is apparent that Harry is noticing Draco less and less due to his depression. Since the books are from Harry's point of view, it's understandable that we won't be seeing much Draco in OoTP.

Order of the Phoenix:

I. Interactions

A. On the train, the fight is mainly between Draco and Hermione (p. 194). When Hermione tells Draco to leave, he does so without another word.

B. When Hermione kisses Ron good luck, she is not affected by it. She does not turn red, have trouble wishing Harry good luck, or act embarrassed in any way. This is part of my firm belief that, yes, Ron has a crush on her; but she does not reciprocate his feelings. (Yes, I know she does not kiss Harry. This is because he is neither nervous nor in need of good luck. Before the R/Hr shippers all jump down my throat, I acknowledge that we probably cannot get through the series without an R/Hr relationship. It cannot last, however, because the two have absolutely nothing in common.)

II. Misc./Other

A. When Ron and Hermione come back from prefect duties on the train, Ron is very upset that Draco has been made a prefect. Hermione makes no comment about this, however, instead complaining about Pansy (" 'And that complete cow Pansy Parkinson,' said Hermione viciously. 'How she got to be a prefect when she's thicker than a concussed troll...' " p. 188, hardcover edition).

B. The Sorting Hat says that the Houses must unite. This could mean something for Slytherins and Gryffindors, which Hermione is in favor of- "Well, I think it's a pity we're not trying for a bit of inter-House unity."

C. Hermione and Draco both stand up to teachers they do not like. Draco does with Hagrid (PoA p. 112); Hermione does with Umbridge (OoTP p. 241).

D. Hermione tells Harry not to fight with Draco ("Harry, don't go picking a row with Malfoy..." p. 261). I know this is not exactly a display of romantic feelings, but it shows that she, unlike her friends, did not graduate from the "Hurt Malfoy as bad as we can, as often as we can, in any way we can because we hate him!" school of thought.

III. Lily/James-Hermione/Draco

A. This is a great parallel. To emphasize it, I'd like to put in some quotes:

1) "...you're just an arrogant, bullying toerag, Potter. Leave him alone." -Lily Evans, p. 647 OoTP; "Don't you dare call Hagrid pathetic- you foul- you evil..." -Hermione, p. 293 PoA.

2) "She [Lily] had her own wand out now. James... eyed it warily." -p. 648, OoTP;" "Hermione pulled out her wand. Malfoy stepped backward." -p. 293, PoA.

B. The obvious flaw in this logic, of course, is that James is openly showing Lily that he is interested in her. Whether Draco is interested in Hermione or not, he would not openly show romantic feelings for a Mudblood... bringing me to the other flaw: James says that he would never call Lily a Mudblood. But James did not grow up having it beat into him that Muggle-borns are below him (whereas Draco has, as evidenced by CoS p. 51-52, hardcover edition); he was obviously taught that such thinking was unacceptable.

C. This parallel (Lily and James), however, could not even remotely apply to R/Hr: Ron and Hermione bicker, yes, but they certainly do not hate each other. Lily can't stand James: she isn't his friend, and she thinks he is an arrogant bastard. That is exactly what Hermione thinks of Draco. Also, Draco and Snape are not a parallel. I see the Snape in this story as more of a Neville, or a representative of Harry and Ron. Draco picks on them without having any reason to do so- just to be mean and because he is bored. James picks on Snape because he is mean and bored.

IV. Conclusion: it is not a surprise at all that we saw less Draco in OoTP- the books are from Harry's point of view, and he obviously would not notice Draco as much now that he has so much on his mind.

Citation: "D/Hr Is Possible." Contra Veritas. 2005. 17 Sept. 2007.
< http://www.contraveritas.com/whydhr03.php >