Messing Around

Summary: Hermione Granger along with Draco Malfoy becomes invisible for some time. "No we can't do that Draco!" "Come on, don't be such a spoil-sport Granger. And anyway, they would never know! It'll be fun!"... "I wonder why I trusted a Slytherin..."

Disclaimer: Harry Potter © J.K. Rowling

"…Two Phoenix feathers, one cup of saw dust, a snail's shell, fairy nails, unicorn's hair, a cup of spider's web, a pinch of salt… wait, salt? What is salt needed for?" Hermione looked up from her book to face her partner, Draco Malfoy.

"Shut up mudblood and continue reading the ingredients" her partner, Draco Malfoy, glared at her. She scowled and turned her eyes back to her Potions book to read the ant sized letters.

"…a cube of sugar, two freshly cut leaves of Mandrakes and one cup of the drinker's blood. In a cauldron, heat about two liters of water…" she took the measured water from Draco and poured it in the cauldron to heat, before continuing with the instructions. "…till it reaches its boiling point and add the leaves along with a cup of saw dust. Brew it well and let it cool down. Once at room temperature add in it powdered snail's shell, fairy nails, spider's web and brew well before putting it to boil again. Let it boil until the color changes to a light shade of red. Now, add unicorn's hair and the phoenix feathers. The color by now will become a crystal red shade. Keep boiling until you see bits of fire enveloping from your potion. Now add the drinker's blood, a cube of sugar and a pinch of salt. Let it boil before enclosing it in a glass bottle. The color by now will be a silvery-white. Be careful not to touch the potion, to avoid…"

"It's boiling Granger" Draco interrupted her reading, partly because he didn't want her to read any extra, useless things and partly because he really didn't remember what to add next.

She sighed before putting the book back on the table in front of them and turned to him.

"Add the leaves and saw dust…" she instructed and helped him out in collecting and adding all the ingredients according to the instructions. It took about a half an hour to be done with half of the ingredients. Till now it was going well but the next ingredient proved to be a challenge. Both, Hermione and Draco glanced at each other...

"You!" they shouted at the same time, making the whole class jump and their Potions Professor, Slughorn stop his flirting with a young Slytherin student who herself had jumped back in surprise. All eyes were staring at the pair. Draco rolled his eyes while Hermione blushed scarlet, letting out a small apology before turning back to Draco.

"I am not putting in my blood!" she hissed.

"Neither am I, Granger. I wouldn't want my pureblood to go to waste. Your blood is already filthy, you'll just get a bit cleaned up after getting rid of some of your filthy blood." He sneered.

"If your blood is so pure Malfoy, then shouldn't it do us more well when your magical and clean blood gets into the potion?"

"It would, I completely agree but nowadays there is so much filth around the Wizarding World that its better we preserve the clean before they extinct"

"You are so prejudiced Malfoy!"

"I only state the truth Granger" he smirked. She growled.

"I suggest, we settle it down with Rock, Paper and Scissors. Whichever person loses will put their blood in the potion"

"Whatever Granger" he rolled his eyes.

"So ready…? Rock, Paper, Scissors!" Hermione called before drawing out her fist. Draco stared at her fist and then at her determined yet confused face blankly. "What? Aren't you going to draw your hand out as well? Merlin, are you trying to cheat? Listen Malfoy, according to the rules you'll be disqualified if you don-"

"Shut up, will you Granger?" he growled.

"I would if you would follow rules!" she glared at him.

"What rules Granger? I don't follow any rules, especially not the ones made by you! And you do realize that I'll hex you to the next millennia if you try punching me again, right? I might have not extracted my revenge in our third year but that doesn't mean that I'll-"

"You don't know about Rock, Paper and Scissors?" she asked trying to stifle back her laughter. He snorted.

"Of course I do Granger. I am not your Weasel of a boyfriend. Rock is a hard substance which when you throw at someone can hurt them pretty bad, paper is this…" he pointed at his parchment. "… and scissors are… something…" he narrowed his eyes in concentration, trying to remember what exactly scissors were.

Hermione could not take it anymore; she burst out right there, laughing loudly while clutching her stomach tightly. Malfoy raised an eyebrow at her insanity and bit the inside of his cheek trying to keep the blush slowly creeping to his cheeks away.

"What is so funny may I ask, Miss Granger?" Slughorn asked her as he approached their table.

"N-nothing…sorry…Professor" she apologized in between laughter and gasps.

"Ten points from Gryffindor Miss Granger, for not being serious in class" The Gryffindors all looked at Hermione curiously and angrily while the Slytherins looked at Draco appreciatively and curiously. "Get your attention back to your potions class" The class nodded and concentrated on their potions, making a mental note to ask their prince/princess after the class was over about what happened.

Hermione groaned once she had got back her control on herself and realized that ten points had been deducted from the Gryffindors because of Malfoy.

"Gee, thanks" Hermione muttered sarcastically. Draco scoffed.

"I didn't ask you to laugh Granger"

"But you made me"

"And whatever I did to make you go insane?"

She glared at him.

"You don't know what scissors are!"

"It's some muggle object isn't it? Of course I don't know! I wouldn't want to know anything about those lowly creatures!" he shuddered.

"Shut up Malfoy!" she growled. He opened his mouth to retort but she cut him off. "Scissors are hand-operated cutting instruments. They consist of a pair of metal blades pivoted so that the sharpened edges slide against each other when the handles (bows) opposite to the pivot are closed. Scissors are used for cutting various thin materials, such as paper, cardboard, metal foil, thin plastic, cloth, rope, and wire. Scissors can also be used to cut hair." Draco sneered.

"Thanks for the useless information Know-it-all"

"Now about the game" she continued, ignoring his statement. "Rock-paper-scissors is a hand game played by two people. The game is also known as roshambo, or another ordering of the three items (with "stone" sometimes substituting for "rock").The game is often used as a choosing method in a way similar to coin flipping, drawing straws, or throwing dice. However, unlike truly random selection methods, rock-paper-scissors can be played with a degree of skill, especially if the game extends over many sessions with the same players; it is often possible to recognize and exploit the non-random behavior of an opponent."

"I got it Know-it-all, but would you mind explaining the rules?"

"The players count aloud to three, or speak the name of the game (e.g. "Rock Paper Scissors!" or "Ro! Cham! Beau!") each time raising one hand in a fist and swinging it down on the count. After the third count (saying, "Scissors!" or "Beau!"), the players change their hands into one of three gestures, which they then "throw" by extending it towards their opponent.

"Variations include a version where players use a fourth count—"Shoot!"—before throwing their gesture or a version where they only shake their hands twice before "throwing." The gestures are:

"Rock, represented by a clenched fist.

Scissors, represented by two fingers extended and separated.

Paper, represented by an open hand, with the fingers extended and touching (horizontal).

"The objective is to select a gesture which defeats that of the opponent. Gestures are resolved as follows:

Rock blunts or breaks scissors: that is, rock defeats scissors.

Scissors cut paper: scissors defeats paper.

Paper covers sands or captures rock: paper defeats rock.

If both players choose the same gesture, the game is tied and the players throw again." Draco looked at her stunned but covered his face with his usual mask just as soon as it was gone.

"Granger, don't tell me you have learned the definition of every other thing that exists in the world" he sneered. She blinked for a few minutes trying to feign innocence but when he just scoffed she smiled sheepishly.

"So, are we…?" she trailed off.

"Fine" he said nonchalantly.

"Aw, come on Malfoy, admit that you are excited to try something new" she shot at him.

"Shut up Granger! I am not excited to do anything Muggle! If that doesn't get inside your little brain then I may as well not play this idiotic game"

"Fine, fine, whatever, so… ready? Rock, Paper, and Scissors!" she chimed as she drew out a fist while Draco drew out an open hand. He smirked. She groaned.

"You are so predictable Her-Granger" he stammered. She ignored his almost slip up and drew in a sharp breath.

"Oh and just so to tell you, we'll be doing it for just five times. Whoever loses-"

"I know, I know, will have to draw out blood whatever. Rock, Paper and Scissors"

Scissors (A/N: Draco)

Rock (A/N: Hermione)

.

Paper

Scissors

.

Paper

Paper

.

Rock

Rock

.

"Ha! I won!" Hermione cheered. Draco groaned.

"Whatever, not like I am going to draw out my blood, anyway."

"What? But the rules…"

"Rules may go to hell Granger. Why would I lose my blood for such a stupid game?"

"You... you cheater, ferret-faced, arrogant, toe rag, git, prejudiced, insolent, cocky, big-headed, fool…"

"Will you cut off with your synonyms?" he frowned.

"No! You idiot, snot, stuck-up, good for nothing, useless creature! You are just so… self-centered, brash, egoistic…"

"Shut up!" he yelled as he banged his hand on the table angrily.

"Five points from Slytherin Mr. Malfoy" Slughorn sighed in vain. He should have known better than to make them do this project did he make them do it together in the first place?

"Sorry Professor" Malfoy muttered without any sincerity. Hermione scoffed.

"You can't even apologize properly! How can you be…"

Before she could complete her sentence or question someone in the class decided to speak up.

"Excuse me, sir" It was Harry, who was sitting on the bench right ahead of them with his partner Ron.

"Yes, Mr. Potter?"

"Do we really need to draw out our blood?" he asked.

"Yes Mr. Potter, both you and your partner have to draw out your blood and add it to the potion since here both of you are the drinkers" Harry nodded and sat down, throwing a glance at her when Slughorn wasn't paying attention.

Hermione blushed, knowing that he had asked this question just so she and Malfoy would shut up.

"I guess… there was no need of an argument…" she started softly.

"Yeah and neither for the stupid game"

"Oh just admit it already! You had fun!"

"I didn't"

"You did!"

"I did NOT Hermione Granger!"

"You did TOO Draco Malfoy!"

"Did not"

"Did too"

"Not"

"Too"

"I didn't and that's final Granger!"

"You can't final it when I am not agreeing yet. Since the argument was between us and since I have not ever planned of stepping out yet, its not final Malfoy"

"It so is final Granger. It does not matter if you back out or not. I ALWAYS win"

"Always?" she scoffed. "Keep dreaming Malfoy"

"Say that to yourself"

"Whatever do you mean…?"

"Oh, so now the Hermione Granger, brightest witch of our generation does not understand what a ferret-faced arrogant toe rag means to say?" he raised an eyebrow at her and smirked. She blushed for a moment but recovered quickly.

"Finally… you finally admit that I am brighter than you and you are nothing but a ferret-faced arrogant toe rag!" she shot back with a smirk almost equivalent to the Draco-Malfoy-smirk. Almost.

His smirk wiped off his face as he scowled at her. He decided it was best not to reply to her and got back to the potion, muttering a spell under his breath with his wand pointed at his left hand to create a gash on his perfect pale skin.

"What? Is the Prince of Slytherin speechless now?" she mocked. When no response came, she gave up and copied his actions, taking a small glass cup and pouring in her blood. As soon as the cup was filled she muttered a healing charm, leaving no evidence that a gash was ever present on her smooth skin. She turned to Draco who had his hand recovered as well and was drinking a blood-replenishing potion. Once he was finished with his share he put it down on the table so I could take it. Obviously, he won't go all out to ask me to drink it. Just imagine him doing that! She chuckled.

Once the blood was added to the ingredients they put in a cube of sugar and a pinch of salt (she still did not understand why they had to put it in, she'll just gave to check the library again.)

The potion turned into a silvery white color as was needed. They poured it down in a vial and closed it.

"Ah, I see you are done. Quite surprising actually… since no one in the class is done yet… and to think you two were making a lot of noise as well…" Hermione blushed. "But good. I expected nothing less from both of you. Now I remember why I paired the two of you… but anyways, you are to take this potion with you and study it well. It would do you good if you put it in two different vials just so both of you work on it" Slughorn suggested. Hermione nodded and poured the potion in one more vial. "Remember, you have to find out its name and all the information about it. You are not to help any other pairs since it is your practice exam. Good work both of you. Ten points each to Gryffindor and Slytherin." She smiled and walked away to the other pairs.

"Well, at least this is done." Hermione smiled to herself.

"Yeah" he nodded with indifference. She rolled her eyes at him as he put his hands behind his head and leaned against his chair with his legs crossed.

"Lazy morons with no manners" she muttered to herself.

"You said something?" he asked eyeing her suspiciously.

"Nothing, oh so charming prince" she snickered.

"Well at least you agree I am charming. Took you long enough Ginger-girl" he smirked.

"Ginger girl?" she raised an eyebrow at him, ignoring his other words.

"Yup, Ginger-head's girl, Ginger-girl." He shrugged. She rolled her eyes. "And anyway, your name starts with 'G' and ends with 'ger'; might as well just call you that since you are dating that weasel"

"I am not dating Ron, Malfoy" she retorted. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"I never mentioned him. How can you assume 'weasel' is Ronal Weasley and not any other Weasley? You really think he's a weasel too, don't you? Ginger-girl?" he smirked as he saw her get red in frustration. He looked in front of him where the supposed 'weasel' was sitting. If his smirk could go any wider, than it did, after seeing 'weasel's' fist clench and his ears and neck go red in anger. He saw Harry squeeze Ron's hand to calm him down. He raised an eyebrow and made a mental note to remember this just in case he needed this information sometime. He turned back to look at Hermione who was still scowling.

"You know if you keep scowling like that, it will stick to your face and I tell you, you'll look uglier than even Pansy!" he drawled seeing her reaction. He turned her head to look at him and glared the best she could but it didn't seem to affect him at all. He tutted as he looked away.

"I can't believe you are so immature with the glare Hermi-Ginger-girl" she raised an eyebrow.

"What's with you and your almost slip-outs with my name?" she asked. He blushed slightly, very slightly. For a moment she though she was imagining it.

He opened his mouth to say something which he didn't know but decided something or the other will come out of his mouth. At least he won't look as though he didn't know what to say…Thankfully though; the bell rang before he could pronounce any vowel. He stood up abruptly and looked at Hermione.

"Meet me in the Library later today." He ordered before moving out of the classroom. Hermione sighed and growled at the same time. 'Thank God he is gone' and 'how dare he order me?' were two thoughts simultaneously entering her mind.

"He is such a git!" Ron barked dangerously.

"I know!" Hermione nodded.

"I'll have my revenge someday"

"Good luck with that" she muttered.

"You two are a disastrous pair" Harry murmured.

"I know!" she said exasperatedly.

"Right" he muttered and walked ahead of Hermione and Ron who started bickering about something Malfoy had said.

What do you think? It won't be a long story but short and sweet one.

Please review! Even if it is just one word. Criticisms, suggestions, advises or any other kind of review are open.