Who's Watching Me?
Forum/Thread: Writing Challenges/Who's Watching Me?

Creator/Judge: EternalOphelia
Writer: EternalOphelia
Pairing: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy
Setting: Hogwarts/6th Year
Genre: Drama/Humor
Rating: T
Length: One-shot
Summary: Hermione and Draco must spend time together (doesn't matter why) and are being followed. Why are they being followed? Do they find out?

P.S. As creator of this challenge I am only writing a story to see if I can follow my own guidelines. Obviously I cannot be the winner of the challenge.

It's About Time

Draco Malfoy awoke to the unpleasant feeling of being knocked in the gut; and none too gently. He bolted upright and glared at his attacker, his enemy: Hermione Granger.

"What?" he scoffed, and rubbed his wounded stomach when it was clear that she wasn't going to look at him when she answered.

"I didn't agree to this so that I would be stuck with all the work while you caught up on your sleep," she shot back, then did turn around and shoved an enormous leather-bound book into his lap. A book that happened to have several different kinds of gooey substances of various colors dripping from it.

"Gross! What gives, mudblood!" He threw the book on the table before them, subsequently gaining the attention of an already annoyed Madame Pince.

"If you had been awake and listening," Hermione said, using her usual know-it-all voice, "then you would be wearing gloves too." She motioned to a pair of dragonskin gloves in front of him. Without a word he slipped them on, though never planned on touching the disgusting book again. "Come on Malfoy!" she groaned. "You're Snape's golden boy. He instructed us to write this essay together. That means you have to put in some effort."

"Right, because Snape is really going to believe you when you tell him I didn't help. Face it, mudblood, he loathes the sight of you. But who could blame him? I'm finding it difficult to keep my supper down as it is."

"I think he might," and she said it in such a way that could not be ignored.

"What are you playing at, Granger?"

"Don't do the work and find out for yourself, Malfoy." She then proceeded to collect her things, the last being the oozing potions book which she lifted carefully with gloved hands and held out in front of her to return to the shelf. She was already in the hall and in the middle of a yawn, when something, or someone, darted in front of her. "What?" she sighed. It was already almost curfew and she desperately needed sleep for an exam tomorrow.

"What will happen if I don't help with the stupid essay?" Draco demanded.

"Out of my way, Malfoy. I'm going to bed."

"No. Not until you tell me."

"If you really want to know, ask Snape."

"Granger—"

"Good night, Malfoy," she said through her teeth, then pushed him aside and went on her way.

By lunch the following day it was obvious that Draco had gone to Snape and found out the reason he couldn't simply skate by and do no work. It was quite simple, actually. The essay they were working on was designed for inter-house cooperation. Everyone in sixth year was required to do one, and their class happened to be Potions. Two identical essays were to be handed in, one by each student, and written with quills to ensure that both students did equal research. The pairing of students had been random and there was no switching. Apparently Draco had been dozing in Potions, as usual, and missed this information.

"Look at him," Hermione laughed, nudging Harry with her elbow as she pointed to the Slytherin table. "He's absolutely furious."

"Well I'm happy to see you're enjoying this stupid assignment," Ron groaned. "I'm paired with Millicent Bulstrode and I think she's past due on a bath."

"Oh, it can't be that bad," Ginny piped in, ecstatic that she didn't have to do their assignment. "Who knows. Maybe you two will get married."

"Shove it Ginny!"

Lunch went on pretty much in this fashion, and then it was off to Transfiguration. Thankfully Gryffindor didn't have this class with Slytherin, and were spared having to spend any more time with their patterns than necessary.

By the end of the day everyone was exhausted. But then they still had mountains of homework to do, and then there were those essays, due in two weeks. Hermione, for the first time in her life, wanted nothing more than to forget about the essay and just sleep. But, of course, that wasn't possible and after she finished a particularly challenging Ancient Runes assignment, set off for the library. She was hoping to be alone, but the luck of the draw was against her.

"What are you doing here?"

"Researching this ridiculous essay," Draco bit. "And I'm going to go out on a limb and say that's why you're here too."

"Whatever," she said and sat down as far from him as possible. "Just...Let's work separately and write down everything we find, then compare notes later."

"Considering that involves the least amount of interaction, I'm going to have to agree."

"Great. Shut up and get to work."

He was about to retort, when something caught his eye. But it wasn't only something he saw, or thought he saw, but this creeping feeling that he was being watched. He looked up from a boring passage on the uses of rat tails and was struck with an almost crippling sense of déjà vu. His eyes searched the cases and when he found no one, no one that wasn't hard at work and paying no mind to him or anyone else, he nudged Hermione in the side.

"Find something interesting? Or do you just love working on this essay so much you want it to take as long as possible?"

"Shut up, Granger," he snapped. "Don't you feel that?"

"Feel…what?"

"Like someone's watching us."

"No, Malfoy. My ego's not big enough that I think I'm the center of attention. So could you deflate yours for a few hours so we can get some work done?"

Draco begrudgingly conceded and went back to his book, which thankfully wasn't the oozing one from the night before. He managed to find several usefull facts and jot them down before the feeling returned. This time he actually got up and looked around the bookshelves until he was satisfied that no one was there. That didn't mean he was any less confused and when he sat back down Hermione had fresh insults to serve him.

"Couldn't find a mirror?"

"How can you not feel it?" he asked as he continued to look around.

"Are you having that difficult a time with this assignment? Or is your brain starting to malfunction from all the blows to the head during Quidditch?"

"I'm telling you, someone is watching us."

"Right," she yawned, and slammed her book shut. "You know what? Forget working on the essay tonight. Clearly you have more important things on your mind. Let me know when you can focus for more than three seconds so we can finish this in time."

"Granger!" he almost yelled and grabbed her arm, forcing her (though only because she was so shocked that he would actually touch her) to sit back down. "I'm not hallucinating and I'm not stalling. Someone is watching us."

"What are you trying to do, Malfoy?" she sighed. "Because if your goal is to irritate me, then you've succeeded."

"While I'm thrilled at that," he said, clenching his fists in annoyance, "I'm not trying to do anything."

"Look." She stood back up and swung her bag over her shoulder. "I'll be here tomorrow night, same time."

"I'm not making this up!" he insisted, and snatched up his belongings as well. "There is some—"

"Shh!" For an instant Draco actually heeded her and stopped talking. That is, before he remembered he hated her and took orders from no one.

"I do not listen to mudbloods, mudblood. Never shush me again."

"You wanted me to believe that someone was watching us," she said, giving him a small shove in the chest. "Well now I do, so shut the hell up so I can listen."

For close to three minutes the pair stood in silence, their ears and eyes straining to catch whoever was spying on them. Though because they were looking for the culprit, the person probably gave up whatever they'd been up to and left them alone.

"Who—" Hermione began, but was cut off abruptly.

"I told you someone was watching us. Crazy, bloody muggle-born."

"If that person comes back tomorrow night, I'm going straight to Dumbledore. I can't concentrate in these conditions."

"Whatever. I'm leaving."

For the next three nights Draco and Hermione met in the library to work on their essay. And every night the same thing happened. Hermione would have gone to Dumbledore, but he hadn't been around in over a week. A teacher would have been the next best choice, but everyone she went to was either too busy to listen to her or simply didn't think it was urgent enough to take up their time. And so night after night they sat in silence, feeling more and more exposed.

"I can't stand this," Hermione whispered, because they'd gotten in the habit of whispering so that whoever was watching them wouldn't hear. "It's impossible to work with someone watching over you."

"You know," Draco said, not daring to look up. "They seem to like that space behind the bookcase over there." He motioned with his eyes, though Hermione knew the exact one. "These shelves have dividers in them, so they can't see through."

"What are you getting at?"

"If one of us stands up," he continued, annoyed that she'd interrupted, "then whoever it is will duck behind the bookshelf until they know we're seated again."

"What—"

"You're a stupid genius, you know that?"

"Screw you, Malfoy," she scoffed. "I have better things to do then play hide-and-seek with some lunatic."

"Just follow my lead."

"Excuse me? I just said—"

"If we figure out who it is, then they'll stop."

"Fine," she sighed. "What do we do?"

He didn't answer though, and instead stood from the table and pretended to be looking at a book on the shelf their stalker liked to hide behind.

"Granger," he called and motioned her over. "Can we use this book?"

She rolled her eyes at the table, then stood and joined him some five feet away.

"No," she groaned, maybe a little too dramatically. "Put it back and grab the one above it."

"Above," Draco whispered, a grin curling at his lips. "Brilliant, Granger."

"Uh, what?"

"Give me your hand, I have an idea."

"My what!"

"Shhh! Just do it," he groaned. When she didn't comply, he grabbed her hand and pulled her in front of him so she was trapped between him and the bookcase, her back to him.

"What the hell—"

"I'm going to cup my hands," he said slowly. "Put your foot in them and I'll hoist you up on top of the shelf."

"Malfoy, what the hell are you trying to do? Kill me!"

"Not today, no," he laughed. "Whoever it is will be behind this shelf, waiting. Look over the side and you'll see them. It's that simple."

"I'm not risking breaking my neck—"

"You'll be fine," he said, having a hard time keeping his voice low due to his aggravation. "I'll be here if you fall." But what he was really thinking was, "I'll be here to watch you fall."

"I—" But before she could finish her sentence he pulled her back and cupped his hands beside her. She took a deep breath, then slipped her foot into his hands, using his shoulders for leverage. With hardly any effort she scaled the shelf and was able to successfully look over. But unfortunately their spy was nowhere in sight. No one was in that row at all. "There's no one there," she called down, and went to slide back, when she lost her balance and went careening over the edge.

She let out half a scream before she realized someone was holding her and she wasn't dead.

"Granger?"

"What?" she whispered, her heart nearly bursting from her chest. But a second later she jumped forward and out of Draco's arms. "Uh! Never touch me again!"

"Gladly," he spat. "How muggle of you to be so ungrateful to your savior."

"Oh I'll be sure to send you a fruit basket as a thank you. Then later maybe we could have a picnic and hold hands as we skip through the halls—Grow up Malfoy. I hate you, you hate me. That's how it's always been, that's how it should be. Let's just get back to work before the library closes."

For the next hour they worked in silence, having completely forgotten about their stalker.

Hermione worked diligently on her assignments in the light of the fire, her friends working around her. Well, working as much as humanly possible for them, which meant Harry and Ron were now engaged in a game of Wizard's Chess and Ginny had drifted off to chat and whisper with her girlfriends across the room. She kept her eyes on her books, not daring to look at the clock until she heard it strike eight when she was to meet Draco in the library. And her head would have stayed down, if not for a fourth year girl who walked by, the collar of her robe not quite concealing a gleaming gold chain that reflected off the firelight. A gold chain Hermione was very familiar with. A Time Turner.

She was now so excited, that when she finished her work early at seven-thirty, she raced down to the library to wait for Draco. Eight o'clock on the dot and he strolled in, chewing on an apple. Madame Pince abruptly scooped it out of his hand and into the nearest trash bin.

"Witch," he muttered under his breath, then went to join a very eager Hermione at their usual table.

"What are you so chipper about?" he scoffed. "Finish the essay?"

"Hardly." She grabbed his arm and forced him to sit down, then sat herself and leaned in as close as possible without being too close. "I figured out how we can find out who's watching us."

"Hopefully nothing that involves more climbing," he grunted, as if it weren't his idea to push her up on the shelf.

"No, of course not," she said, then lowered her voice even more. "I saw one of the Gryffindor girls wearing a Time Turner this evening. This will mean she's exhausted, so in about an hour she'll be fast asleep. I borrowed Harry's Invisibility cloak and at nine I'm going back upstairs to get the Time Turner."

"Wait, slow down. What in the name of Merlin is a Time Turner?"

"It's used to go back in time," she said simply. "I figure that whoever is following us will show up tonight, so all we have to do is go back to eight o'clock then hide out under Harry's cloak to see who's there. Simple as that."

"Yeah, simple as that." He rolled his eyes and opened one of the books Hermione had already taken from the shelves. "Absolutely nothing could go wrong."

"Oh stop," she sighed, and opened a book herself. "I've used one dozens of times. They're perfectly safe."

"Whatever you say, mudblood."

As Hermione had predicted, the fourth year with the Time Turner lay sound asleep amid a heap of books, her roommates nowhere in sight. But she remained under the Invisibility Cloak, just incase someone were to come in. Very slowly, she reached over and pulled the necklace off, only causing the unknowing girl to mumble something about a test, then turn over and continue sleeping.

Ten minutes later and Hermione was back in the library, but still under the cloak. Draco sat, looking bored and annoyed, and so she decided to have a little fun. Creeping up beside him, she leaned in and softly whispered, "I'm back."

He jumped so far out of his chair that there was no use in his trying to cover up his fear. He'd bitten down on his lip to keep from screaming, and when he regained his composure, he reached in the direction he knew Hermione to be in and yanked the cloak off her.

"Foul witch," he hissed.

"Oh Malfoy, you should have seen your face. Better than the time you were turned into a—"

He ran at her and clamped his hand over her mouth so fast that her lips accidentally curled around his fingers. He pulled away immediately and frowned, wiping his hand on his robes.

"Disgusting…"

"Come here," she sighed, tired of wasting anymore valuable time. They went to the back of the library, where few students ever needed to search for books. After a few unsuccessful attempts, Hermione was finally able to get Draco under the cloak with her. "You're such a child. Honestly, the sooner we get this over with the sooner we can go back to not having to be around each other."

He had no comment, however, and instead grabbed at the chain around Hermione's neck.

"How do you get one of these?"

"Well being a decent person is right up there with actually having a use for one," she shot back. "Here." She slipped the rest of the chain around his chain, causing them to be as close as possible, then turned the knob on the side so many times that Draco wondered if she really knew what she was doing.

"How many times do you have to spin that thing?"

"We're going back to the first night we noticed the person."

"Wouldn't that mean we'd have to be stuck hiding out for four days while time caught up with us?"

Hermione's face paled.

"Yeah, didn't think about that."

"You're mental! How could you—" But just then everything around them began to swirl and with a small whoosh of air it stopped.

"Think of it this way," Hermione said. "You can spend four days in Hogsmeade without having to do any work."

Draco's mood brightened considerably at this, and they pressed on with their plan. Seconds later and they were standing behind the very bookcase their stalker liked so much. They carefully looked around the side until their other selves were in view, working and arguing at the far table.

"There we are," she said triumphantly.

"Right, but where's the other person?" He looked right and left, but saw no one.

"They should be right here," she sighed.

For the remainder of the night, Draco and Hermione stood in silence, watching themselves work. When it was apparent that the person following them wasn't going to show, they called it a night.

"Where are we supposed to sleep?" Draco snorted once they were alone in the empty corridors. "I'm already in my bed."

"We can go to the Room of Requirement," she stated nonchalantly. "And seeing as what we required are warm beds and privacy, it should work out perfectly."

"Fine. Just don't wake me up in the morning. I'm sleeping in."

"Great. But tomorrow night—"

"Yeah, yeah."

For the next four nights things went on much in this fashion. By the time they reached about a half an hour before the time was supposed to run out, they were so irritated by one another that Hermione nearly took things to the next level and clocked him good in the head. She refrained herself, however, and instead focused on calling him every name imaginable.

"This was a brilliant idea, Granger. Not only do we get to spend oodles more time together, but we're no closer to figuring out who the hell is watching us!"

"Well do you have a better idea, ferret face! Because night after night we've been standing here and no one—" And just like that it dawned on her. "Oh my…Draco, I figured it out!" she whispered excited, nearly pulling the cloak off them in the process.

"Draco?"

"Shut up," she said. And before he knew what was happening, they were advancing on themselves at the table. Draco's other self jumped and turned around, leaving Hermione's double to gawk at him in frustration.

"What are you doing now, Malfoy?" her other self groaned.

"They—" but before he could finish his sentence, the Hermione under the cloak revealed herself and the other Draco. For an instant time stood still. No one said a word, no word even breathed.

Then both Hermiones burst out laughing, leaving both Draco's confused and staring at each other.

"It was us!" they cried in unison.

"You're both mental!" the Dracos countered. "I'm leaving."

"No you're not," the present Hermione said, and grabbing her corresponding Draco. "We have to get to the back of the library in three minutes."

"Are you serious!"

"Just do it," the Hermiones said together, and then there was only the two of them again.

"I never want to experience that again!" Draco stammered as they waited in the dark corner. "One mudblood is enough for me."

"Really?" she laughed. "So you're admitting that you can stand me?"

"Shove it."

"You know, I think it was fate that did this. Our assignment was to work together, and we did."

"I don't believe in fate," he ground out, clenching his fists. What a useless way to spend four days!

"Come on," she sighed as they walked back to their table, which was now empty. "It wasn't all that terrible. We didn't die."

"No, but I was close to killing myself."

"Let's call it a night then." She was giving up. He was just too stubborn. "Same time tomorrow, though."

"Wouldn't miss it," he said with heavy sarcasm. They were in the hall and nearly on their separate ways, when Draco turned around and said, "By the way, you're wrong."

"About what?" she pouted.

"Everything," he laughed. "But right now, what you said earlier."

"What did I say?" She was going to regret having not ignored him and gone on to bed.

"That it was fate that we worked together. We weren't cooperating for an instant because we wanted to. And we're none the better for it."

"Good night Malfoy."

"I hate everything about you," he said, and to his utter surprise, she flashed him a genuine smile, then disappeared into the darkness. "Except that. That I can live with."

Draco and Hermione managed to finish their essay on time. At the end of their Potions class, they approached Snape together, handing in their identical essays, then left together and went on to lunch. A few days later they received their grades, though Draco wasn't in class to get the news. It wasn't until dinnertime that she saw him, laughing stupidly with his cronies at the Slytherin table.

She nearly turned around, when something pushed her on.

"Malfoy," she said, standing right behind him.

"What?" he sighed as he turned around to give her an icy glare. But, for some reason, he could only hold it so long before he grew frustrated with himself and repeated, "What?"

"We got our grades for the essays today."

"That's wonderful," he mocked. "Now if you don't mind, please leave so I can finish my dinner without wanted to vomit."

She was so furious that she stormed out of the Great Hall without so much as a biscuit.

"Hey!" called a voice after her, but she didn't slow down. "Granger!"

"What!" she snapped, and shoved him back so hard he nearly lost his footing and fell over.

"Thanks," he all but gasped as he righted himself.

"For what?"

"For…letting me be who I am back there."

"Whatever," she said, and started to walk away. He hooked her by the elbow though, and pulled her back. Only he pulled too hard, and she ended up pressed against him as though they were lovers. "You're a foul creature, you know that?"

"I meant it," he said sternly, then took her by the arms, holding her out before him so he could see her face. "I don't just say things like that for no reason," he went on. "So thank you."

"I hate everything about you," she said after a long pause.

"Me too."

And against their will they broke down and smiled, then turned without a word and walked in opposite directions.

I don't know how happy I am with how this turned out, but it fit the guidelines I laid out for the challenge. I started it at 3 am, then went to bed and finished it this evening, so it's very much rushed. Still, I hope everyone enjoys it.

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