A/N: Just a fair warning, in this fic, I'm writing the Slytherins really OoC... I want to try making them nice in this story, at least sort of. I think it's refreshing to see them behave nicely and not like prejudiced little assholes! Hope it doesn't mess with the story too much. Anyways, here is the first drabble scene that takes place after the events of The Dungeon Club!

Setting: Immediately after detention, Hermione goes to the Gryffindor Common Room to meet up with Harry and Ron before dinner.

Hermione paused in front of the Fat Lady, smoothing her hair down and attempting to slow her breathing. She wasn't that good of a liar, not when it came to her two best friends, and she wasn't going to take the chance of them asking her what was wrong if she came in short of breath and with flushed cheeks. She had to bite the insides of her cheeks as the memory from just moments ago surfaced again, of how Draco stole a kiss from her in detention.

"Coming in Dearie?"" a voice asked, startling the young witch.

Hermione gave the Fat Lady a sheepish smile, "Yea, sorry, just have a lot on my mind, Pumperfluffin."

The portrait swung up and Hermione climbed inside, the voices of her best friends carrying to her ears.

"Don't want to do that Mate, you'll leave your bishop wide open," Ron advised.

Hermione tried to hide a smile as she approached their corner of the Common Room, "Did you boys even try to get some homework done?"

Harry looked up from the chessboard, smiling at his friend," Honestly we did, but we were so worried about you, we just couldn't concentrate."

"Likely story," she shot back as she sat down.

"So, you survived, what was it like? How many people were there?" Ron asked.

Before she could answer, Harry added, "Did Malfoy leave you alone?"

"Please, it's not like we were allowed to roam free during detention; it wasn't that bad. Although Snape gave us the weirdest assignment, we weren't even allowed to work on our homework! And there were only five of us, so we were all left to our own devices pretty much," Hermione fibbed. Luckily both boys had refocused on the chess game as she had started talking, so they missed the nervous lip biting.

"Well, I'm glad you made it out alive, and that Malfoy left you alone, you know we wouldn't hesitate to curse him one day after potions if he tried anything," Harry assured her, trying to decide which piece to move.

Hermione hummed in agreement, her cheeks flushing as she thought of how well Draco had left her alone. She made an excuse to head upstairs to drop off her stuff and change before dinner- hopefully that would give her mind some time to calm down. As she entered the room, she placed her bag at the foot of her bed and flopped down, happy that she could grin as much as she pleased and knew her pillow wouldn't judge her for it. With her face guarded by said pillow, she allowed herself to recall the last half of detention, wondering if it was really going to be that easy to tear down the boundaries that have built up between them. Hermione wanted to give Draco the benefit of the doubt, she'd let him make the first move; she really wanted to see if he'd be nice to her in front of the other Slytherins or if he'd just politely ignore her. Hermione hoped that he'd at least not call her any names the next time they saw each other, she didn't know if she could handle that after the moment they shared. Lost in her thoughts, she stayed on her bed until she heard the telltale signs of everyone leaving the tower for dinner. Hopping off the bed, she straightened her skirt and went back down the stairs, ready for food.

"Hey, I thought you were going to change?" Ron asked as she appeared.

Hermione screwed up her eyes in confusion and looked down, yup, she was still in her uniform, "Oh, wow… I guess I had my mind on my homework. You know, organizing it so I know what to finish first, must have totally forgotten to change. It's fine though, I'm hungry, let's just go…"

She was ready to push past them but as she finished talking, she saw Harry's face get dark, a very accusing look on his face. Doing her best to stay calm, Hermione asked him what was wrong.

"What the hell are you wearing Hermione?" Harry asked, voice dangerously low.

"My… uniform? That I had to wear for detention…"

"I'm talking about that!" Harry stated loudly, reaching out and tugging on her tie.

Hermione's eyes widened, she'd forgotten all about that! How in the world could she forget that? She wracked her brain, trying to find a suitable answer, knowing that there wouldn't be one at all that would appease Harry and Ron.

"Why in the world is your tie green Hermione?" Ron practically bellowed.

"I-I can explain, honest!" Hermione said, holding her hands up and gently taking the end of the tie back from Harry. Come on Hermione, say something, anything; that damned whiskey was muddling her brain! "It was a dare, a-a stupid dare… honestly I'd forgotten all about it, just you know, glad to be out of detention."

"I thought you said Malfoy left you alone," Harry accused, eyes narrowed.

"He did, honest, it was nothing. We were all there a little early, before Snape arrived, and you know how D-Malfoy is, always wanting to cause trouble," Hermione babbled, barely forming a plan as the words tumbled out of her mouth. "He asked the 4 of us if we wanted to be a little daring, to shake things up. And suggested that we all swap ties, to see if Snape would notice… So immediately Cho said called dibs on Luna's tie, you know, since they are the same. Can't say she doesn't deserve to be in Ravenclaw! And Luna of course went along with it-"

"Luna was in detention?" Harry interrupted. "Why?"

"No clue, we didn't really talk about that before Snape came in, but I doubt it was anything exciting," Hermione lied, taking a deep breath. Thankfully neither of them noticed her almost slip up, calling him Draco, seriously? That would have been a big give away.

"Who was the last person then?" Ron asked.

"Cedric Diggory," Hermione admitted, glad to at least tell some of the truth at this point. "So anyways, Cedric said he wasn't game, just wanted to mind his own business and not create trouble. So that left me, and of course Malfoy goaded me into it, asking if I was truly a Gryffindor or maybe I belonged in the Hufflepuff house with the rest of the chickens. I… I don't know what came over me, I mean, I was already in detention for talking back to Snape… I just took off my tie and grabbed his and put it on."

Ron looked flabbergasted, but Harry was still processing the whole story, "So he just put on your tie, no remarks about it being gross or filthy?"

Hermione blushed, knowing she should have expected one of them to ask the obvious question, "No, I think he was surprised that I had actually agreed to do it so he just stayed quiet about it. We all sped out of there when we were dismissed… I wonder if the other Slytherins have noticed his tie."

"I'm sure Crabbe and Goyle haven't, those two are more dense than a brick wall," Ron chuckled. "But I still can't believe you did that Hermione, what if he had cursed it or something? Or what if he curses your tie and then gives it back to you?"

"Uh, I don't know… he'll probably just throw my tie away, it's whatever… I have other ones."

Harry stepped forward and made to grab the offending garment again, "Then you should throw his away too, no point in keeping it."

Hermione stepped back, "No! I-I mean, I'm not going to do that. I have no guarantee that he's actually thrown it away, and I mean to return it. I'm an honest person after all. Let's just go eat yea?"

Ron seemed to agree readily, although he still seemed slightly disappointed in Hermione's actions. Harry grumbled, not understanding why she didn't get rid of it, but turned away and made for the portrait hole. Hermione breathed out a heavy sigh of relief as she turned to follow them, she'd feel just awful if Harry had taken it away. Now she just had to find a way to return it to its rightful owner, she did promise after all.

*Slytherin Dungeons*

Draco strode into the Common Room and straight back to the Dorms, passing by some 3rd years on his way. They gave him some puzzled looks, but Draco didn't stop to give them the time of day, he knew what they were staring at. The whole way back to the dungeons, he was doing his best to come up with some reason for why he'd be wearing a Gryffindor tie, let alone Hermione's. He knew Vince and Greg wouldn't care at all, they were his best friends after all, they knew about the face he put on when everyone was looking; Blaise probably wouldn't care either, although he was bound to make a joke or two. He was mostly worried about Pansy and Theo and for two very different reasons… Theo would be jealous- it wasn't that big of a secret that he had a crush on Hermione, at least half of the Slytherins knew about it. Pansy on the other hand would surely start berating him, she knew how his parents treated him and she would be furious that he has done something else to earn a beating. But at least she cared about him, which was comforting. They spent a lot of time together over summer breaks, both just wanting to escape their parents for as long as possible; it didn't take long for them to confide in each other about their parents' unrealistic expectations of them. In fact, a lot of the Slytherin were in the same boat, expect some of the 1st years maybe.

It was no secret that most of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's old followers were the Pureblood Slytherin families, so of course most of the kids were raised the same way. But once everyone got to Hogwarts, they all kind of came to the conclusion that the old rules kinda sucked. Blaise was the first to voice his opinions, saying that he found this cute witch in Hufflepuff that he was thinking about dating, but when he wrote home, his mother told him that he wasn't allowed to speak with her. Apparently she wasn't a Pureblood and that made her unworthy of his time; Blaise of course rebelled, saying that he was going to date whomever he wanted to. After that, a lot of other Slytherins started to realize that they didn't have to live in their parents' shadows, they just… weren't going to invite trouble. So they put on the façade of being haughty prats, so word wouldn't reach their families.

Draco was pulled out of his thoughts as a voice spoke up, "Whoa, no way, you hooked up with Granger?"

At Blaise's words, Theo of course looked up from his bed, eyes narrowed, "You better not have!"

Draco rolled his eyes, "We didn't 'hook up' in that sense, although, we are most definitely better acquainted. Don't really know what happened, we just kinda hit it off in detention."

"So why do you have her tie?" Theo asked, crossing his arms.

"It's a promise, to see each other again, she has to return my tie after all."

Theo growled in anger, this wasn't fair, everyone knew that he liked her, why did Draco have to go and make a move on her? Did this mean they would start dating? Theo stomped out of the Dorms, he didn't want to look at Draco's face anymore.

"Someone is a little testy," Crabbe chuckled.

Greg scowled in response, "Well what do you expect, he's only had a crush on her for years, and now he thinks Draco has gone and stolen her away. But that's not quite true yet is it Draco?"

"It's not like that, I mean… this was the first time we really had a peaceful conversation, and the first part of detention was the usual name calling and scathing attitudes. But she's at least open to seeing me again, so I've got my foot in the door. And besides, it's not like Theo hasn't had time to woo her, he just never took the chance."

"Obviously that's because most of the other Houses hate us!" Pansy interrupted, storming into the Boy's room. "There are only a handful of people in the other Houses that realize we're acting a majority of the time. Although a good portion of the Ravenclaw students like us, since they're half Purebloods in there. Some of us grew up together so it's not surprising. But still, Drake, did you seriously swap ties with Granger? You know that this isn't going to stay quiet! I mean, you're wearing a Gryffindor tie for Salazar's sake! Even if we weren't pretending to hate on Muggleborns, they are still our big House rivals."

"What's going to happen Pans? Dad's in Azkaban… it's not like he's going to break out just to come teach me a lesson! And Mum loves me… she might seem disappointed in me, but maybe she'll come around."

Pansy crossed her arms, "No she won't. You know she's been planning your marriage since she found out she was having a baby boy! How many different families is she talking to? I mean, I know she's got my parents in the top three choices, the Bulstrodes are up there too. She won't let you tarnish the Malfoy name by hanging out with 'her kind' if you know what I mean."

"Then I'll deal with that when it comes up I guess. I mean, nothing is set in stone here. It's not like I proposed to her this afternoon and we're running away to get eloped!"

"No, but you know the way gossip works, by the time it reaches your mother, that will be the least of what is being said!"

Draco groaned and covered his face with his hands, she had a point, gossip could spread like wildfire and the truth was always being embellished. Mum might just have a heart attack if she heard something like that; at the very least he'd be getting a Howler. He sat down on his bed, wondering what kind of story he could come up with that would explain why he was wearing Hermione's tie for now.

"I wonder how the Boy Wonder is taking the news… I'm sure he's seen Granger's tie by now…" Pansy thought aloud, sinking down onto one of the other beds.

"I hope they haven't tried to destroy it, that would be rather rude of them," Draco commented.

As he sat and thought about how that conversation would have gone, he started to get an inkling of an idea. Surely Hermione would have pinned the tie-swap on him, it made the most sense since he was a troublemaker, but how would she have spun it? He doubted that she'd be mean about it, no point in making her two friends even more suspicious of him.

"I bet she said it was a prank or something like that, and that I goaded her into it. Not in a mean way or anything, that would just cause trouble, hmm I don't want to spread something that's too different from what she might say," Draco mused.

"Just make sure you shut down any rumors that have to do with her 'honor' because then Potter and everyone else will be on your arse. But of course, don't go too far to shut them down, then of course you'd be resorting to calling her filthy and that won't make our relationship with the other Houses any better. Ugh, why did you do this Drake? You've just made everything so hard for us!"

"What can I say, I like to stir the pot," he smirked in response. "Come on, it's dinner time, let's go see how many people notice."

Pansy and the other rolled their eyes, there was no way this was going to go unnoticed. Once two people started talking about it, the other tables would catch on and look and then it would be over the entire Great Hall. Might as well get it over with, maybe if they ate really fast, they could leave before too much gossip got started- Pansy was not in the mood for this tonight.

*Great Hall*

By the time Harry and the gang got down to the Great Hall, Draco had already arrived and it hadn't escaped anyone's attention that he wasn't wearing the right tie. Most of the Slytherins had apparently commented about it rather loudly which meant some Hufflepuffs had heard and it just spread from there. Hermione could see everyone craning their necks to look around the Gryffindor table, trying to figure out who the tie belonged to, but they hadn't figured it out. Well, that was until everyone caught sight of Hermione… The Great Hall quieted down instantly, Hermione's face burning from all the attention; but she held her head high and continued to make her way to her usual spot at the table, Harry and Ron on either side of her.

"Why is the prat still wearing your tie anyways? What's he playing at?" Ron asked, glaring across the hall at the blond wizard.

Hermione shrugged, trying not to smile, "He probably doesn't want me spreading rumors about him being a chicken or something. He most likely realized that I would see this little dare through to the end, and there is no way he'd let me win."

"Is that really Malyfoy's tie?" Dean asked, butting into the conversation.

All the Gryffindors around them huddled in closer, wanting details of what was going on; Hermione glanced around and sighed. She should have realized this was going to be an issue. Steeling herself for the slew of questions, she began serving herself some dinner as she repeated the lie she'd told moment ago. She could practically see the story spreading across the room, heads crowded together as they discussed what was said. Hermione couldn't help but shake her head, this school had the fastest gossip- things just got ridiculous when it came to scandal.

Draco had to hold in a smile when he saw the Trio come in, although he wished not all that attention was put on Hermione. He'd noticed the glances come his way the last few minutes, but she was standing in front of everyone! But she didn't let it get to her, she marched right on over to her table and sat down, like everything was normal. It wasn't hard to see why Theo had such a big crush on her. Draco and his group remained quiet, knowing that the story would spread fast enough, the Gryffindors would hound Hermione until she spilled the details. So far they'd been able to fend off any questions by just giving the other students sly smiles or aloof attitudes.

"So you really think that she isn't painting you into a bad guy?" Pansy asked as they waiting for the gossip to reach their table.

"Pretty sure, I thought things ended nicely between us so why would she do that?" Draco responded.

Pansy shrugged and Blaise offered an answer instead, "To save her reputation. It wouldn't do for part of the Golden Trio to be associating with a Death Eater's son."

Vince and Greg both scowled at him as Draco looked down at his plate. Blaise had a pretty valid point, and he was fairly certain the others from detention would readily ignore him, but he was hoping Hermione would be different. Just then a 2nd year came over and was shaking his head.

"A dare? That's it? Why didn't you tell us that, you made it seem like it was some big secret Malfoy."

Draco laughed, "Well it's not my fault you think I'm always up to something devious. It was way more fun to watch you come up with guess after outrageous guess. Besides, what's wrong with a dare? I obviously got my way didn't I, I doubt either of you could have gotten her tie."

The 2nd year and her friend laughed and conceded his point, only slightly grumbling about the lack of excitement. Pansy raised a brow as they walked away, pondering what the details of this dare might be, although they didn't have to wait long. Soon the table was buzzing with conversations about what happened in detention-

"Cedric didn't want to join in? Typical, Hufflepuffs like to stay neutral. And if he had switched with Cho, I'm sure his new girlfriend would get suspicious."

"Luna was in detention with them? Wow, that's weird, I wonder what that must have been like."

"Granger just switched ties with Malfoy? No fighting or anything?"

"Are you kidding me, Snape didn't notice? How could he not notice, he always seems to know when one of my shoes comes untied!"

It didn't take long for Draco's group to dissolve into fits of laughter, Hermione managed to stay pretty close to their personalities, without really offending anyone. And of course she had kept their crazy adventures a secret, the whole castle didn't need to know that they had wandered out in the halls. Nor did anyone need to know they'd had Firewhiskey! Now that the secret was out, Draco was able to focus on eating and he let everyone talk around him; eventually most of the students moved on to other topics. But there were a few dedicated students that kept looking at the pair of students, wondering if there was something else that might be going on. By the time dessert rolled around, Draco was debating if he should approach Hermione after this or if he should wait awhile… The rest of his group finished and started to get up so Draco made a choice. He'd wait for Hermione out in the hall, hopefully Potter and Weasley wouldn't be with her. But he definitely wasn't going to sit at the table by himself, and he really wanted to talk to her, so going back to the Common Room was out. He waved off his friends as soon as they were in the Entrance Way, finding a Griffon statue to lean up against while he waited. Thankfully he didn't have long to wait, Hermione and her friends usually seemed to eat fast (Weasley was always stuffing his face like there was no tomorrow). He heard her two friends before he saw them come into view as they passed the statue; Draco stood still, not wanting to seem like he was going to ambush them. After they were a few feet beyond his position, he let out a low whistle to catch their attention.

"Hey Granger, I was hoping we could talk?" he asked, still leaning against the statue. When Hermione lit up at the sound of his voice, Draco had to dig his fingernails into his palms to control his smile.

"Piss off Malfoy," Weasley interrupted.

"Now Ron, that's rude, Malfoy is being rather cordial."

"Have you lost your mind Hermione? It's Malfoy!" Ron snapped.

"What do you want Malfoy?" Harry asked, stepping forward, ignoring his two friends and their bickering.

Draco sighed, "I thought I made that clear? I wish to talk with Granger. In private."

"Fat chance of that happening! You're probably going to curse her as soon as we're out of sight," Harry accused.

"If I wanted to curse anyone, I would have done it when you walked by the statue and were unaware of my presence. If she were to randomly get cursed now, of course all the blame would be on me, so why don't you try using your brain for once."

"Harry, really, it's fine. Besides I'm sure I'd be able to handle myself if he were to try anything. Go back up to the Common Room and I'll be right behind you. No arguing!"

"What?!"

"Go! I'm a big girl, I'm capable of having my own private conversations with whomever I wish."

She crossed her arms and waited for them to walk away, staring them down as Ron opened his mouth to argue. When they finally walked away, Hermione turned back to Draco and smiled at him openly.

"Long time no see Hermione, I'm glad you managed to make them leave."

Hermioe giggled, "Yea, it might have been a little awkward otherwise. How come you wore the tie down to dinner?"

"Why did you?" he countered.

"I was too caught up in my thoughts to change, I forgot about it, and then I was hungry so I didn't feel like changing at the last minute."

"I felt like causing a stir, why else would I continue to wear it? I thought you might have changed though, I didn't think everyone would spot you. Sorry about that."

She shrugged, "It's no big deal, I've already had my fair share of the spotlight, a few stares is nothing I can't handle. Besides, it feels kinda nice to be in the spotlight that isn't because of Harry or evil people attacking the castle."

"Understandable. Now, I'm curious, if I take my tie back now, would you still talk to me?"

"Yea, I mean, we're past the name calling at least right?"

Draco nodded his head quickly, "Yea, of course. I'd only continue with that if you would have preferred to keep our new acquaintanceship quiet, but nothing malicious. I know that you're probably catching a lot of flak for being seen wearing a Slytherin tie."

"And you aren't? Especially since it's my tie?" Hermione asked, brow raised.

"Come here, I'll let you in on a big secret," Draco said, leaning towards her. When Hermione stepped closer, he tucked her hair behind her ear and whispered, "Most of Slytherin doesn't really feel that stuck-up or prejudiced, we just have to act like it so our families don't get mad. I promise, I've never referred to you as a dirty name when talking to my friends, and neither have they."

Hermione stepped back and looked at him, eyes full of surprise, "Really? Like, most of the Slytherins are putting on an act? Why?"

"Well, most of our parents are supporters, or were supporters, of the Dark Lord, so we have certain expectations we're supposed to live up to. After we came here and started making friends, we all sort of realized that the world shouldn't be that way. I mean, sure I'm a Pureblood and you aren't yet who's first in our year? We can't control who are parents are, and I feel like it's pretty messed up that there are people out there that feel like you shouldn't be able to learn magic just because of your heritage. Magic is a gift you know? Not everyone has it, and not everyone cherishes it- but you do, and so do the other Muggleborns," Draco tried to explain. He started to shrug because he knew he was doing a horrible job but then he heard a small noise come from Hermione.

She was staring at him, tears in her eyes, was that really how he felt? After all these years, she finds out that he's not even remotely like he's led everyone to believe? She jumped on him, wrapping her arms around him, mumbling something into his shoulder.

"Are you okay? I can't understand what you're saying?"

"I'm just… surprised. I mean, I know I learned a lot about you in detention today, but I had no idea that was how you truly felt about all of this. You really think I deserve my magic?"

"Yea, I do… and I'm sorry for all the times I called you a mean name… and that I took out a lot of my anger on you. None of that was fair for you, and it was totally uncalled for."

"Apology accepted!"

"Say, how about next Hogsmeade trip, we all meet up, I know I'd rather not face Potter and Weasley alone. Pansy wouldn't mind meeting them, and maybe Blaise. I'd say Vince and Greg, but they are always hanging out in Honeydukes, so they won't be much company."

"That sounds like a great idea, I'm assuming that Pansy feels the same way you do?" Hermione asked.

"Mostly, I mean she's mad at me over this whole thing, but that's because she knows how my father can be and she doesn't want me to get into trouble with the wrong people. But I think you'd really like her once you see past the act she puts on. How about we meet at outside The Three Broomsticks around noon?"

"That sounds awesome… wait, the trip is next Saturday, and you'll be in detention!"

"No I won't, I'll talk with my Godfather and do some extra work, maybe switch my detention night. He'll give in, he has a soft spot for me after all," Draco assured her.

Hermione shook her head in bewilderment, "If you say so, he seemed really mad at you today."

"Yea, that's because he was having a bad day, and I was totally being on my worst behavior. I can be well behaved when I want to be and I know how to butter him up. Don't worry about it, I'll be there next Saturday."

She nodded her head, trusting him to know what he was talking about, she stepped back, realizing she still had her arms wrapped around him. So she busied herself with taking off his tie, hoping he wouldn't notice the flush on her cheeks. But the smirk on his face told her that he'd seen it; he leaned down and dropped her original tie around her neck, stepping in close. As he tightened it, he leaned down to whisper in her ear again.

"See you in class, Hermione," and he pressed his lips to her cheek before he walked away.

In a daze, Hermione watched him walk away, not realizing until after he disappeared that she still had the green and sliver fabric clutched in her hands. As she tucked it into her pocket and made her way up to Gryffindor Tower, she started contemplating how she was going to return it to him.

A/N: The next chapter will be completely different, more than likely it's going to be a scene between Luna and Cho at some point during the week. It may or may not be as long as this chapter, it all depends on how the story flows =D