As part of an ongoing effort to keep my creativity flowing (and to take a break from the heaviness of my long fiction) I'm participating in several challenges on Live Journal. This is the first of, I think, three. It's the 2011 Halloween challenge at DramionDrabble. The idea is that a prompt will be posted, and a story has to be written using that prompt. Quite simple. There should be seven mini-stories when I'm done - if I can get them all written in time. The first prompt was niffler. Drop me some love guys - this can be challenging, lol! And, I love reviews. Thanks for reading!

LCailan

For Hagrid

The sun was setting behind the castle as two people moved towards the Forbidden Forest, their feet crunching under the leaves that had fallen from the wide, treed canopy.

"Can you move any slower, Malfoy? I'd like to be back before the Halloween feast!"

"Actually, Granger, I think I can. And what's the huge deal about a meal in the Great Hall? Last time I checked, you're there breakfast, lunch and supper!"

Hermione turned up her nose at him.

"Oh, so you've been watching me?"

He flushed a pink color, which wasn't altogether unpleasant. In fact, Hermione thought it was a nice change from the pale, pinched face she was used to. He looked rather nice with some color.

"I can't help that you've got the bushiest head of hair I've ever seen! It's beyond unsightly, Granger. Has that oaf, Hagrid been giving you grooming tips?"

"Piss off, why don't you?"

Hermione stomped ahead of him, until her heavy school robes got caught on one of the bushes. Draco found himself smirking, but offered a helping hand.

"Can't quite get away from me, can you, Granger?"

She ignored him, going deeper into the forest, hoping to finish the awful task at hand, so she could get back to the Great Hall and her friends. If only Hagrid hadn't been her friend! If only Malfoy hadn't had to serve detention! It was the most awful day.

"Hurry up!"

Her shriek made him laugh, and he hurried to catch up with her.

"Tell me, how did you get roped into this? It's my detention, but, surely the Gryffindor Princess would never do something heinous enough to warrant that?"

"If you must know, I'm doing this for Hagrid. Because he's my friend."

"Your sentiment makes me want to puke."

"That's why you won't ever have any friends!"

"No, I won't have any friends like you, which is quite fine by me."

After this, neither student spoke, and Draco followed Hermione all the way into the Forbidden Forest, where there were only glimmers of light from the setting sun.

"There!"

The Gryffindor pointed with triumph.

"See that? That little hill is how you know a niffler's burrow."

"Oh, good," Draco drawled with sarcasm. "Go ahead and dig."

Hermione turned around, folding her arms across her chest and glaring at him.

"This is your detention, Malfoy. So that means you dig!"

Draco's face was marred with a scowl, but he hid an amused smile at her vehemence. It was rather a nice change from her usual superiority complex.

Just as his hands touched the dirt, one of the creatures skittered through the trees, and stopped a few feet from him, watching with round, beady eyes.

"Ugly little things those are," he muttered.

"Funny, as they're cuter than you are."

"Your sense of humor has me in stitches, Granger."

Niffler and boy studied one another.

"So, how do I catch him?"

Hermione considered the question as she lay down the small wooden box they would use to carry the creature back to Hagrid.

"They're friendly. Just be nice," she said, hiding a smile. "And walk slowly."

She thought it would be funny to see him chase after the little furry creature, even though it wasn't necessary.

"I'll find some berries for him to eat, while you…do what you have to do."

Smirking, Hermione moved away, giving herself a full view of the mayhem to come. Much to her disappointment, the niffler in question was quite tame under the circumstances, and Draco managed to capture it with minimal effort.

Bloody hell. Stupid prat will always have it easy, won't he?

She began scrounging the leaf-littered ground, wondering what the niffler would eat.

Oh, well. At least we're nearly finished.

Holding a handful of berries, Hermione straightened up and looked in Draco's direction. She paused, her mouth open to say something snide, but wasn't able to speak for a few seconds.

Draco had knelt down on the ground and slipped off the silver ring he always wore – the one with the Malfoy family crest – and was dangling it for the little creature, who was trying to get it away from him. It was a game, Hermione realized.

He's playing with it!

There was something so unassuming about Malfoy in that moment, his smirk, and the way he was playing with the creature. Hermione thought of her father and the family dog. And the scene before her made her feel warm, in spite of the falling autumn temperatures. A smile formed on her lips, and she bit her lip to keep from laughing as she began to walk back towards Malfoy and the niffler.

When he saw her, the smile disappeared, and he snatched his ring back, ending the game that Hermione knew he thought she hadn't seen.

"Wretched, nasty creature," he spat, his lips forming a sneer. "Can we leave now, Granger?"

Hermione gave him a knowing smile.

"I saw what you were doing!"

"What are you talking about?"

"You were playing with that niffler!"

"I was not!"

"Malfoy, I saw you! You were dangling your ring for it, weren't you? You knew nifflers like shiny, little things. It was cute."

"I was tormenting it, Granger!"

"I say you have a bigger heart than you want to admit."

"We won't ever speak of this again."

When she turned to gaze on him, his cheeks were pink. She found herself smiling once more.

"Come on, Malfoy, it's not so bad."

"What's not so bad?"

"Having a heart."

He stopped just as they reached the clearing that led to the castle. The sun was now behind the horizon, and the sky was a brilliant mix of purples, blues and pinks.

"It's Halloween. This is the night when all of us pretend we are something we're not. So, I pretended to have a heart, and you're going to pretend you never saw it!"

Hermione giggled.

"That's silly, Malfoy."

"Granger, I'm warning you!"

They stared at one another, both trying to hold back smirks.

"Come on, it was cute!"

With a groan, Malfoy stalked away from her, holding the small box that contained the niffler.

"You insufferable, annoying, bushy-haired bint!" he snapped over his shoulder.

"You big softie!" she called out after him, hesitating only a split second.

Then, she dashed after him.