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That is my reasoning for why it would/could have worked. It's all there in the books, you just have to be not blind enough to see it. Over the time span of the first 4 books you can tell that Draco gains a sort of respect for her. Of course, Hermione would get a lot of crap from Ron and Harry, but she could handle that. They'd been in a few big fights in the past. I don't think they'd ever be all buddy buddy (Ron, Harry and Draco I mean) but I think they, at least Harry, could be civil around one another. I really hate Ron's character though. There are no similarities between him and Hermione, and she is just way too smart for him.