I don't own Harry Potter or anything related to it.
Authors note: For this story, I made up extra characters and things to fill in needed elements of the story. If you see anything or anybody you don't recognize, that's the reason. Also, I read the books along time ago so my memory of all the stuff isn't as great as it used to be so if anyone sees any major mistakes or even little things, be sure to put it in the review, if you do decide to review.
THINGS CHANGE
By Red Tide
Chapter 1: You've got to be kidding.
Herbology class.what a waste of time.
Draco Malfoy sat with his shoulders sagged in the outside classroom, the sun shining down from the windows upon him, highlighting his profile. He was having a revelation. Of course, it was more like something he had known his whole life. This class was a complete waste. He would never in his whole life use herbology. He thought about it for a moment. He never was going to enter into any sort of career having to do with this, and even so, he was extremely rich, so any plants he had around a servant who would no doubt take care of it. So what in the world was the point of any.
"Ahhh!"
Draco turned his head, along with the rest of the class, staring down at the north end of the long table at which the students sat. The Gryfinndors had taken that end of the table. As he scanned the students, he saw Granger, messing up, the plant she was working on falling to the ground, smashing.
He blurted out in laughter, along with the other students, and then laughed even harder because he realized it was in fact Granger, the girl who got everything right and never messed up at all. He laughed louder then everyone there, and Granger actually looked down at him. She shot him a glance of ice cold hatred. Looking back, Draco only laughed harder, even when he saw Potter and Weasel looking at him too.
Before he knew it, which he was thankful for, the class was over. Draco gathered his things and went towards the door, hoping to pass Granger and say something to make everyone laugh, but she got out the door before he could. He shook his head, smiling and walked out the door.
Crabbe and Goyle took up the normal positions on either side of Draco, walking in his wake. It was when they were almost a hundred yards from the castle that Dillon McCray, a fellow Syltherin, came up beside them, looking past Crabbe and Goyle. "Hey, Malfoy? Can I have a moment?" He called.
Malfoy looked over at him. McCray was widely known for his gambling ways about Hogwarts, helping people place bets on events and running his own rings of betting on certain school activities, like the Quidditch matches. Malfoy had won numerous bets with McCray, never really for the money, more just to get some enjoyment out of his stay at Hogwarts, which was at most times boring to him. Sometimes the only fun he got out of school was making fun of other students there, his constant target being Harry Potter and his two friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.
Malfoy tilted his head aside at Crabbe and Goyle who stepped back, letting McCray walk beside him. "What do you need, McCray?"
"I got a proposition which I think you might find interesting."
Malfoy smiled thinly. "Go on." He replied.
"Well, I was offered a bet today which was to be offered to you, and here I am to offer it."
"Well?"
"That bet is about a girl."
"What about a girl?"
"Well, the bet is to see if you can get with this girl."
"If I can get a girl to go out with me, or me to go out with a girl?" Malfoy said. "What are you saying McCray, that I can't get any girls in a place like this?"
"No, no, Malfoy. You didn't let me finish." McCray replied. "I have no doubt you could have any girl in the whole school if you wanted to, but this bet struck a cord with me and made me think twice."
"Who's the girl?" Malfoy asked.
McCray was silent for a moment. "Granger."
Malfoy looked at him. "Granger? From Gryfinndor?"
"That's the one." McCray said.
Malfoy just started to laugh. His laughter began to rise and after a long moment, he calmed down, looking over at him. "You've got to be kidding."
"That's why it's an interesting bet I must say." McCray replied.
Malfoy looked down at him then continued to walk forward, laughing again. "Who's idea of a bet was this?"
"The person wishes to remain anonymous." McCray replied. Malfoy looked at him. McCray shrugged his shoulders. "Allright, it is my own idea." He nodded. "I knew it'd be interesting. So, you up for it, Malfoy? Or you don't think you could beat this one?"
Malfoy again laughed, then looked forward. He peered over the students and saw Granger walking beside Weasel and Potter. He started to laugh and then said, "How much is this bet for, McCray?"
"500."
Malfoy raised his eyebrows. "You have that kind of money?"
"I always have that kind of money." McCray smiled.
Malfoy smirked and glanced down at him, then looked forward again. "So, what do I have to do to win?"
"Well, you get with Granger and then ask her to the Ginger Ball. You dance with her, and at the end of the ball I pay you your money. Simple as that."
"What's this really about?" Malfoy said, sensing something.
McCray looked at him and then looked down. "Yeah, I knew I couldn't just get this by you, Malfoy. Well, you see, I have this friend of mine, not really a friend, an associate."
"Who?" Malfoy said.
"Well, it's my sister." McCray replied. "She's uh, well, she fancies Potter."
"C'mon, then!" Malfoy laughed.
"Yeah, I don't know. She wants to ask him to the Ginger Ball and well, she thinks Granger is competition, so needs her out of the way."
"I see." Malfoy said. "How brotherly of you, McCray." Malfoy said. "Having a celebrity in the family would be great, wouldn't it?"
"You never cease to amaze me, Malfoy." McCray smiled. "So, do we have a deal?"
"I get my money once the ball is over, right after, no later."
"I'll have it in my pocket at the ball." McCray said.
"So I have two weeks to get this done then?" Malfoy said.
"Yes, that's how long till the ball."
"That'll be quite a challenge." Malfoy replied.
"So we have a deal?"
"Deal." Malfoy said, shaking McCray's hand.
Draco walked down the hallway toward the great hall where lunch was being served with his head down. Crabbe and Goyle had run up ahead, as always, smelling the food.
Draco went over his options in his head, looking down. He had only one class with Granger that he could take advantage of. His Medical Arts class, the final class of the day where Granger was the only Gryfinndor there, and the rest of the students made up mostly of Syltherin. Draco and her were the only ones of the same age in the class, and the other students were all years younger then them.
His medical arts class wasn't till after two more periods and Draco also had lunch. He could think more then.
Funny enough, the first thing Draco did was to look toward the Gryfinndor table as he entered the great hall. Granger was in her normal place, seated across from Weasel and Potter. Suddenly, the urge to get behind another table and hurl a piece of food over at them rumbled in Draco's veins, and he could already hear the laughter of the surrounding tables as the piece of food landed on the table and splattered their drinks all about them.
Draco shook his head, smiled and walked toward his table. He sat and began to eat slowly, every now and then looking over at Granger from across the way. Staring at her, Draco remembered suddenly all the times they had had encounters. He remembered making fun of her the first year, and then calling her a mudblood to her face finally the second year. That had certainly done some damage, Draco was sure. But the moment that struck the most was when she had slapped him the third year. He had been going on about the oaf Hagrid, one of the teachers and groundskeeper for Hogwarts, saying how he thought he was a pathetic teacher. He had said it straight to them, wanting to make them angry. It had worked, and Potter and Weasley charged him, but it was Granger who was there first and she had slapped him, clear across the face.
Draco remembered how stunned he had been by it, how absolutely amazed. A fire had suddenly erupted in Granger, as she even tried to hit him again but Weasley even had to hold her back. She had totally lost it, and Draco had liked that.
He looked up at her again and saw she had opened a book and was staring down at it. Draco shook his head and returned to his eating.
The last class finally came and Draco took up his normal seat in the back, and spent most of the class staring across at Granger, who sat a few rows to his right. He had never found her truly attractive; yet he wouldn't say she was ugly. He thought her pretty, perhaps, for a mudblood. Her long, curly brown hair and nice little face, even her smile might have been nice looking to members of her own kind, but Draco never had thought that way about her. All he saw when he looked at her now was the image in his head of the fire in her eyes the day she had slapped him, the one thing that had attracted him to her.
It was then that Granger turned her head, actually catching Draco looking at her from the corner of her eye. She turned and stared straight back at him, at first curious, then staring harshly into his eyes. Draco just continued his stare at her, not reacting in anyway at her glance and she, for a moment, looked deep into his eyes, then grimaced and turned away. Draco couldn't help but smile again.
All through the class a boy by the name of Frank Dolby made fun of Granger, making little jokes about her and laughing whenever she gave an answer, causing ripples of laughter to spread through the class.
Draco realized then that Frank Dolby was the key to his plan. Frank Dolby had been a school jerk, too small a size to be a bully, but clever enough to make jokes about any person he could and always got quite a laugh out of it. He usually picked on girls and had made a habit to make fun of Granger in the class, most people even looked forward to it.
Draco had remembered the first day class had begun, the look on Granger's face when she saw no one she knew in the class, the look when she saw Draco, and the look when she saw Dolby. It had made him laugh and he sat back and watched the show as Dolby made Granger's life a living hell in the class. He even remembered how Dolby would follow Granger out of class down the hall and continue to taunt her, for Dolby could always stand up to a girl.
So Draco didn't laugh at all that day, and it made things a lot different. Dolby had grown a respect and admiration for Draco and always looked back at him to see if he was laughing. And today Draco did not, so Dolby tried even harder, making harder and meaner jokes. He even made a joke and spread it from student to student, passing it to the student right beside Granger so she could hear it well enough herself.
When the joke had made its way to Draco, he sat back after leaning forward to hear it, and then looked back at the teacher, his face emotionless. He hadn't actually even found the joke that funny and noticed that the laughter in the room had died down quickly after everyone had seen he did not laugh.
Draco looked forward and caught Granger looking at him, and had realized she had been looking at him when he had been told the joke. When he had not laughed, Granger gave him a curious stare, but had quickly looked away when Draco glanced at her. Draco almost smiled at this.
When the class had ended, Dolby still went on, just as he expected. Dolby followed Granger down the hall, just as he expected. He watched them head down the hallway then followed after them.
Dolby was leaning close to Granger, almost yelling in her face, wanting to get her to cry it seemed. A crowd of three other people had followed them, laughing so loud at each of Dolby's remarks it echoed through the hall. Draco advanced closer and as Dolby made another joke that made the other surrounding three actually stop in their tracks and lean over, laughing so hard. One of them turned, gasping for breath and froze, seeing Draco. The other two had frozen too, looking up and seeing Draco. He rushed passed them as they stepped out of the way and stared at him.
Dolby had almost got Granger to cry now, perhaps trying to make up for the missed events in class that day. He swung his arm out and knocked some of Granger's books down, laughing louder and louder.
As Draco approached, he actually felt something swelling his chest. He didn't know what it was at first, but he actually wanted to stop this, he wanted to hurt Dolby. He liked the feeling as his hands clenched and he rushed forward.
Dolby was now laughing at Granger as she bent down to pick up her books, and was almost about to knock her down it seemed, when a blur passed by his face and something grasped his robes roughly, pulling him back. He felt himself fly through the air for a brief second then land hard on the ground, scraping his shoulder and elbow, straining his wrist. He was dazed for a second and looked up, just to see Draco stepping toward him and reached down and grab him again, swinging him up and slamming him into the rock wall of the hallway.
Draco caught Granger staring at him from the corner of his eye and jabbed Dolby hard in the stomach. As Dolby bent over, coughing, and Draco grabbed his robes and sent him flying forward and he rolled on the ground and slid to a stop. Draco turned to him and said with a cold stare and his face hard, "Get out." And then smiled as Dolby got to his feet as quick as he could, moaning, then ran down the hall, tripping and falling, then running again. Draco turned around.
Granger was standing in the middle of the hall staring in amazement at Draco, a look of total confusion on her face. This amused Draco for a moment as he was so used to a look of total confidence of her face in class as she answered almost every question.
Looking at her, Draco almost couldn't think of anything to say, then finally said, "You ought to be more careful, Granger." He almost said 'Mudblood' but had stopped himself. "I can see you can't protect yourself, not even against skinny little boys like that punk." He walked toward her. She still remained motionless, staring at him. "Well, you gonna' pick up your books or you want me to do that to?"
She suddenly snapped to life, looked at him then bent down and picked up the rest of her books. He picked up the last one and handed it to her. She took it and looked up at him, but suddenly a look of anger shot on her face as she looked at him. It was the beginning of the fire he had so loved to see. "That wasn't necessary." She said, then turned and walked away from him, her robes swaying.
"That's all I get? I help you, protect you from that rat and don't even get a thank you?" Draco called after her.
She stopped in her tracks and turned to him, almost rushing toward him. "No, because you weren't helping me." She said, the anger covering her face, pointing at him. "You're just evil, Malfoy, you're mean. You enjoy hurting people, that's all that was." She turned to walk away again.
"I should have known that would be the thanks I get when I stick my neck out for a filthy mudblood like yourself." Draco said, and it made her absolutely freeze in her tracks.
She turned fiercely and stepped forward, then swung an open palm at him. Malfoy grasped it in mid-air, making her freeze. He was even surprised himself that he had caught it.
"Temper, Granger." Draco said, still holding her hand and smiling a bit. Granger looked at him, their eyes connecting.
"Let go of me." Granger said, fighting to free her hand.
Draco moved his fingers on her hand, felt her soft skin. "Why?" He said, looking deeper at her and moving her back, against the wall.
Granger looked at him. "I don't like you touching me." She said, but this time her voice had slowed and become softer. She stared into Draco's eyes.
Draco moved his head closer to hers, their faces inches apart. "Why?" He said, looking over her face, at her lips, then at her eyes. She still stared at it him.
"Because I-" In that instant, Draco brought his lips to Granger's. Her lips were soft and full, and he enjoyed the feel of them. Their eyes closed and he felt Granger stop fighting and kiss him, but neither of them were really kissing, their lips just pressed softly together.
It lasted for a brief moment, which seemed to last longer in Draco's mind. He pressed against her, pushing her against the wall, holding her hand up against the wall. She seemed to succumb to him in that moment, letting him kiss her, and then suddenly snapped and pulled away, turned her head aside. She pushed him back and stepped aside, holding her head down.
Draco had looked at the wall where Granger had been standing. He had actually enjoyed that, Granger had great lips. He looked over at her and was about to say something, but couldn't think of anything, and then in that moment a familiar voice yelled down the hall from them.
"Oi!!" Came the voice. Draco looked up and saw Weasley charging down the hall toward them, with Potter beside him. "Malfoy, get away her!" Weasley roared, his fists clenched. Before anything even registered in his head, Weasley had pushed Malfoy back roughly, and he almost tripped on his own two feet. His mind was flying, thinking of what had just happened, feeling the tingling on his lips. When Weasley had pushed him, he seemed to come back to life.
"Are you allright?" Potter had asked Granger behind Weasley who was staring down at Draco. He didn't hear her say anything and jumped to his feet, stepping close to Weasley.
He looked over Weasley's shoulder at Hermione, who was looking at him with Potter. He looked at her, then at Weasley in front of him, and then walked away. He felt their stares behind him and smiled to himself as he walked around the corner. He had enjoyed that. This was going to be fun.
TO BE CONTINUED.
Authors note: For this story, I made up extra characters and things to fill in needed elements of the story. If you see anything or anybody you don't recognize, that's the reason. Also, I read the books along time ago so my memory of all the stuff isn't as great as it used to be so if anyone sees any major mistakes or even little things, be sure to put it in the review, if you do decide to review.
THINGS CHANGE
By Red Tide
Chapter 1: You've got to be kidding.
Herbology class.what a waste of time.
Draco Malfoy sat with his shoulders sagged in the outside classroom, the sun shining down from the windows upon him, highlighting his profile. He was having a revelation. Of course, it was more like something he had known his whole life. This class was a complete waste. He would never in his whole life use herbology. He thought about it for a moment. He never was going to enter into any sort of career having to do with this, and even so, he was extremely rich, so any plants he had around a servant who would no doubt take care of it. So what in the world was the point of any.
"Ahhh!"
Draco turned his head, along with the rest of the class, staring down at the north end of the long table at which the students sat. The Gryfinndors had taken that end of the table. As he scanned the students, he saw Granger, messing up, the plant she was working on falling to the ground, smashing.
He blurted out in laughter, along with the other students, and then laughed even harder because he realized it was in fact Granger, the girl who got everything right and never messed up at all. He laughed louder then everyone there, and Granger actually looked down at him. She shot him a glance of ice cold hatred. Looking back, Draco only laughed harder, even when he saw Potter and Weasel looking at him too.
Before he knew it, which he was thankful for, the class was over. Draco gathered his things and went towards the door, hoping to pass Granger and say something to make everyone laugh, but she got out the door before he could. He shook his head, smiling and walked out the door.
Crabbe and Goyle took up the normal positions on either side of Draco, walking in his wake. It was when they were almost a hundred yards from the castle that Dillon McCray, a fellow Syltherin, came up beside them, looking past Crabbe and Goyle. "Hey, Malfoy? Can I have a moment?" He called.
Malfoy looked over at him. McCray was widely known for his gambling ways about Hogwarts, helping people place bets on events and running his own rings of betting on certain school activities, like the Quidditch matches. Malfoy had won numerous bets with McCray, never really for the money, more just to get some enjoyment out of his stay at Hogwarts, which was at most times boring to him. Sometimes the only fun he got out of school was making fun of other students there, his constant target being Harry Potter and his two friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.
Malfoy tilted his head aside at Crabbe and Goyle who stepped back, letting McCray walk beside him. "What do you need, McCray?"
"I got a proposition which I think you might find interesting."
Malfoy smiled thinly. "Go on." He replied.
"Well, I was offered a bet today which was to be offered to you, and here I am to offer it."
"Well?"
"That bet is about a girl."
"What about a girl?"
"Well, the bet is to see if you can get with this girl."
"If I can get a girl to go out with me, or me to go out with a girl?" Malfoy said. "What are you saying McCray, that I can't get any girls in a place like this?"
"No, no, Malfoy. You didn't let me finish." McCray replied. "I have no doubt you could have any girl in the whole school if you wanted to, but this bet struck a cord with me and made me think twice."
"Who's the girl?" Malfoy asked.
McCray was silent for a moment. "Granger."
Malfoy looked at him. "Granger? From Gryfinndor?"
"That's the one." McCray said.
Malfoy just started to laugh. His laughter began to rise and after a long moment, he calmed down, looking over at him. "You've got to be kidding."
"That's why it's an interesting bet I must say." McCray replied.
Malfoy looked down at him then continued to walk forward, laughing again. "Who's idea of a bet was this?"
"The person wishes to remain anonymous." McCray replied. Malfoy looked at him. McCray shrugged his shoulders. "Allright, it is my own idea." He nodded. "I knew it'd be interesting. So, you up for it, Malfoy? Or you don't think you could beat this one?"
Malfoy again laughed, then looked forward. He peered over the students and saw Granger walking beside Weasel and Potter. He started to laugh and then said, "How much is this bet for, McCray?"
"500."
Malfoy raised his eyebrows. "You have that kind of money?"
"I always have that kind of money." McCray smiled.
Malfoy smirked and glanced down at him, then looked forward again. "So, what do I have to do to win?"
"Well, you get with Granger and then ask her to the Ginger Ball. You dance with her, and at the end of the ball I pay you your money. Simple as that."
"What's this really about?" Malfoy said, sensing something.
McCray looked at him and then looked down. "Yeah, I knew I couldn't just get this by you, Malfoy. Well, you see, I have this friend of mine, not really a friend, an associate."
"Who?" Malfoy said.
"Well, it's my sister." McCray replied. "She's uh, well, she fancies Potter."
"C'mon, then!" Malfoy laughed.
"Yeah, I don't know. She wants to ask him to the Ginger Ball and well, she thinks Granger is competition, so needs her out of the way."
"I see." Malfoy said. "How brotherly of you, McCray." Malfoy said. "Having a celebrity in the family would be great, wouldn't it?"
"You never cease to amaze me, Malfoy." McCray smiled. "So, do we have a deal?"
"I get my money once the ball is over, right after, no later."
"I'll have it in my pocket at the ball." McCray said.
"So I have two weeks to get this done then?" Malfoy said.
"Yes, that's how long till the ball."
"That'll be quite a challenge." Malfoy replied.
"So we have a deal?"
"Deal." Malfoy said, shaking McCray's hand.
Draco walked down the hallway toward the great hall where lunch was being served with his head down. Crabbe and Goyle had run up ahead, as always, smelling the food.
Draco went over his options in his head, looking down. He had only one class with Granger that he could take advantage of. His Medical Arts class, the final class of the day where Granger was the only Gryfinndor there, and the rest of the students made up mostly of Syltherin. Draco and her were the only ones of the same age in the class, and the other students were all years younger then them.
His medical arts class wasn't till after two more periods and Draco also had lunch. He could think more then.
Funny enough, the first thing Draco did was to look toward the Gryfinndor table as he entered the great hall. Granger was in her normal place, seated across from Weasel and Potter. Suddenly, the urge to get behind another table and hurl a piece of food over at them rumbled in Draco's veins, and he could already hear the laughter of the surrounding tables as the piece of food landed on the table and splattered their drinks all about them.
Draco shook his head, smiled and walked toward his table. He sat and began to eat slowly, every now and then looking over at Granger from across the way. Staring at her, Draco remembered suddenly all the times they had had encounters. He remembered making fun of her the first year, and then calling her a mudblood to her face finally the second year. That had certainly done some damage, Draco was sure. But the moment that struck the most was when she had slapped him the third year. He had been going on about the oaf Hagrid, one of the teachers and groundskeeper for Hogwarts, saying how he thought he was a pathetic teacher. He had said it straight to them, wanting to make them angry. It had worked, and Potter and Weasley charged him, but it was Granger who was there first and she had slapped him, clear across the face.
Draco remembered how stunned he had been by it, how absolutely amazed. A fire had suddenly erupted in Granger, as she even tried to hit him again but Weasley even had to hold her back. She had totally lost it, and Draco had liked that.
He looked up at her again and saw she had opened a book and was staring down at it. Draco shook his head and returned to his eating.
The last class finally came and Draco took up his normal seat in the back, and spent most of the class staring across at Granger, who sat a few rows to his right. He had never found her truly attractive; yet he wouldn't say she was ugly. He thought her pretty, perhaps, for a mudblood. Her long, curly brown hair and nice little face, even her smile might have been nice looking to members of her own kind, but Draco never had thought that way about her. All he saw when he looked at her now was the image in his head of the fire in her eyes the day she had slapped him, the one thing that had attracted him to her.
It was then that Granger turned her head, actually catching Draco looking at her from the corner of her eye. She turned and stared straight back at him, at first curious, then staring harshly into his eyes. Draco just continued his stare at her, not reacting in anyway at her glance and she, for a moment, looked deep into his eyes, then grimaced and turned away. Draco couldn't help but smile again.
All through the class a boy by the name of Frank Dolby made fun of Granger, making little jokes about her and laughing whenever she gave an answer, causing ripples of laughter to spread through the class.
Draco realized then that Frank Dolby was the key to his plan. Frank Dolby had been a school jerk, too small a size to be a bully, but clever enough to make jokes about any person he could and always got quite a laugh out of it. He usually picked on girls and had made a habit to make fun of Granger in the class, most people even looked forward to it.
Draco had remembered the first day class had begun, the look on Granger's face when she saw no one she knew in the class, the look when she saw Draco, and the look when she saw Dolby. It had made him laugh and he sat back and watched the show as Dolby made Granger's life a living hell in the class. He even remembered how Dolby would follow Granger out of class down the hall and continue to taunt her, for Dolby could always stand up to a girl.
So Draco didn't laugh at all that day, and it made things a lot different. Dolby had grown a respect and admiration for Draco and always looked back at him to see if he was laughing. And today Draco did not, so Dolby tried even harder, making harder and meaner jokes. He even made a joke and spread it from student to student, passing it to the student right beside Granger so she could hear it well enough herself.
When the joke had made its way to Draco, he sat back after leaning forward to hear it, and then looked back at the teacher, his face emotionless. He hadn't actually even found the joke that funny and noticed that the laughter in the room had died down quickly after everyone had seen he did not laugh.
Draco looked forward and caught Granger looking at him, and had realized she had been looking at him when he had been told the joke. When he had not laughed, Granger gave him a curious stare, but had quickly looked away when Draco glanced at her. Draco almost smiled at this.
When the class had ended, Dolby still went on, just as he expected. Dolby followed Granger down the hall, just as he expected. He watched them head down the hallway then followed after them.
Dolby was leaning close to Granger, almost yelling in her face, wanting to get her to cry it seemed. A crowd of three other people had followed them, laughing so loud at each of Dolby's remarks it echoed through the hall. Draco advanced closer and as Dolby made another joke that made the other surrounding three actually stop in their tracks and lean over, laughing so hard. One of them turned, gasping for breath and froze, seeing Draco. The other two had frozen too, looking up and seeing Draco. He rushed passed them as they stepped out of the way and stared at him.
Dolby had almost got Granger to cry now, perhaps trying to make up for the missed events in class that day. He swung his arm out and knocked some of Granger's books down, laughing louder and louder.
As Draco approached, he actually felt something swelling his chest. He didn't know what it was at first, but he actually wanted to stop this, he wanted to hurt Dolby. He liked the feeling as his hands clenched and he rushed forward.
Dolby was now laughing at Granger as she bent down to pick up her books, and was almost about to knock her down it seemed, when a blur passed by his face and something grasped his robes roughly, pulling him back. He felt himself fly through the air for a brief second then land hard on the ground, scraping his shoulder and elbow, straining his wrist. He was dazed for a second and looked up, just to see Draco stepping toward him and reached down and grab him again, swinging him up and slamming him into the rock wall of the hallway.
Draco caught Granger staring at him from the corner of his eye and jabbed Dolby hard in the stomach. As Dolby bent over, coughing, and Draco grabbed his robes and sent him flying forward and he rolled on the ground and slid to a stop. Draco turned to him and said with a cold stare and his face hard, "Get out." And then smiled as Dolby got to his feet as quick as he could, moaning, then ran down the hall, tripping and falling, then running again. Draco turned around.
Granger was standing in the middle of the hall staring in amazement at Draco, a look of total confusion on her face. This amused Draco for a moment as he was so used to a look of total confidence of her face in class as she answered almost every question.
Looking at her, Draco almost couldn't think of anything to say, then finally said, "You ought to be more careful, Granger." He almost said 'Mudblood' but had stopped himself. "I can see you can't protect yourself, not even against skinny little boys like that punk." He walked toward her. She still remained motionless, staring at him. "Well, you gonna' pick up your books or you want me to do that to?"
She suddenly snapped to life, looked at him then bent down and picked up the rest of her books. He picked up the last one and handed it to her. She took it and looked up at him, but suddenly a look of anger shot on her face as she looked at him. It was the beginning of the fire he had so loved to see. "That wasn't necessary." She said, then turned and walked away from him, her robes swaying.
"That's all I get? I help you, protect you from that rat and don't even get a thank you?" Draco called after her.
She stopped in her tracks and turned to him, almost rushing toward him. "No, because you weren't helping me." She said, the anger covering her face, pointing at him. "You're just evil, Malfoy, you're mean. You enjoy hurting people, that's all that was." She turned to walk away again.
"I should have known that would be the thanks I get when I stick my neck out for a filthy mudblood like yourself." Draco said, and it made her absolutely freeze in her tracks.
She turned fiercely and stepped forward, then swung an open palm at him. Malfoy grasped it in mid-air, making her freeze. He was even surprised himself that he had caught it.
"Temper, Granger." Draco said, still holding her hand and smiling a bit. Granger looked at him, their eyes connecting.
"Let go of me." Granger said, fighting to free her hand.
Draco moved his fingers on her hand, felt her soft skin. "Why?" He said, looking deeper at her and moving her back, against the wall.
Granger looked at him. "I don't like you touching me." She said, but this time her voice had slowed and become softer. She stared into Draco's eyes.
Draco moved his head closer to hers, their faces inches apart. "Why?" He said, looking over her face, at her lips, then at her eyes. She still stared at it him.
"Because I-" In that instant, Draco brought his lips to Granger's. Her lips were soft and full, and he enjoyed the feel of them. Their eyes closed and he felt Granger stop fighting and kiss him, but neither of them were really kissing, their lips just pressed softly together.
It lasted for a brief moment, which seemed to last longer in Draco's mind. He pressed against her, pushing her against the wall, holding her hand up against the wall. She seemed to succumb to him in that moment, letting him kiss her, and then suddenly snapped and pulled away, turned her head aside. She pushed him back and stepped aside, holding her head down.
Draco had looked at the wall where Granger had been standing. He had actually enjoyed that, Granger had great lips. He looked over at her and was about to say something, but couldn't think of anything, and then in that moment a familiar voice yelled down the hall from them.
"Oi!!" Came the voice. Draco looked up and saw Weasley charging down the hall toward them, with Potter beside him. "Malfoy, get away her!" Weasley roared, his fists clenched. Before anything even registered in his head, Weasley had pushed Malfoy back roughly, and he almost tripped on his own two feet. His mind was flying, thinking of what had just happened, feeling the tingling on his lips. When Weasley had pushed him, he seemed to come back to life.
"Are you allright?" Potter had asked Granger behind Weasley who was staring down at Draco. He didn't hear her say anything and jumped to his feet, stepping close to Weasley.
He looked over Weasley's shoulder at Hermione, who was looking at him with Potter. He looked at her, then at Weasley in front of him, and then walked away. He felt their stares behind him and smiled to himself as he walked around the corner. He had enjoyed that. This was going to be fun.
TO BE CONTINUED.