"...that fucking bitch… doesn't realize what she'd just done… that slut... not forgiving, right?... gonna see who's not forgiving… crazy cunt..."
For the past ten minutes, Draco Malfoy had been pacing around the small book-storing pit, muttering his anger out as he was looking for a way out of his trap.
But there was none.
Hermione Granger, for her part, was busy pacing along with the enraged boy so he would not bump into her invisible self - and therefore probably freak out.
Malfoy suddenly stopped and dropped on the ground, sitting. He let out the most hopeless sigh.
"Good job, Draco. No really, good job…" he mumbled for himself, closing his eyes as he leaned his head against the wall, resigned.
Hermione looked at him with what could have been pity. He really wasn't any close to the arrogant git he usually was, being on his own like this, and that was somehow relieving.
And pleasant.
The corner of her mouth curled a little, for she surprised herself thinking that he could even have been cute, looking that desperate.
"Who's there ?!"
Hermione froze, mentally cursing herself as Malfoy got up on his feet, alert. Of course, breathing normally around someone that wasn't making any sound anymore would be a giveaway. Moron !
She hold her breath and started to step back as he was slowly coming toward her, trying to look threatening. But he looked just as terrified as she was.
"I do hear you, whoever you are…" his eyes searched the room frantically as he kept speaking. "Don't try to play me, I'm not in the best mood right now."
Her mind came out with the craziest idea, but having no other choice, she just followed along.
"Making threats while wandless ? Not very wise, young wizard" she whispered with a voice she tried to make sound deeper.
And Malfoy's reaction told her it sounded convincing.
"Who are you ?" he asked, almost taking a step back. "And how long have you been here with me ?"
"Since you got kicked down by that nice girlfriend of yours" Hermione answered, almost feeling a sadistic pleasure in her trick.
He frowned. "And you're not gonna tell me who you are, I guess…" he tried again with irritation.
"I'm indeed not telling you things you don't need to know."
"Great…"
Malfoy sat back where he had before, and took a deep breath that really sounded like an irritate sigh. "One thing I need to know, however : how do I get out of here ?"
"I don't know" she answered after a few seconds, with a voice that sounded maybe too much like hers.
"Ok, you're probably not a ghost since you look as stuck here as I am" he murmured in a slight smile. "Who did kick you down ?"
"No one. I'm very skilled at getting into trouble all by myself" she almost giggled. But she immediately pulled herself together and added, her voice sharper "What does not mean that I'm not skilled at finding a way out."
"Yet it pretty looks like it."
"I said I don't know how you could get out. Didn't say a word about myself."
"Show me then. Not quite being in a rush right now, I'd be delighted to witness that."
His lips were curved into that smirk she knew too well, that unbearable smirk she'd hated all those years. He was such a prick !
Gods, she could have punched him right in the face, again.
"Okay then, good luck on your own" she uttered, and she hold back her breathing to make it look like she had disappeared.
Childish maybe, but yeah, screw him.
A heavy silence sat through them for a while, only softened by the smooth and regular expirations of Draco Malfoy.
After a short eternity, he murmured, smirking. "Whether you have been or still are a human, you can be nothing but a Gryffindor."
Hermione summoned all of her energy and concentration not to answer to this. He added, quite amused "and I'm pretty sure I still hear you breathing, touchy friend."
She lowered her breathing as much as she could, but the silence was too deep for her to stay totally hidden. He got up on his feet and started walking slowly toward the exact spot where she was standing. She wanted to take a step aside, but making such a noise would have been a giveaway, so she just waited as Malfoy stopped - fortunately ! - a step away.
"I know you are here, fake ghost" he whispered, his eyes scanning almost exactly where her face was standing. "I may be wandless but that doesn't make me any stupid. And I still have all of my five senses." He stopped for a second before adding. "Well, four senses, considering the context. That perfect invisibility of yours is a source of wonder."
"Back off" she just growled, sharp. And he did, probably not certain he wasn't facing some kind of threat.
He laughed a little before saying, his smile back. "You're so stuck here too, new friend of mine."
"The last thing I'll be is a friend of yours, arrogant prick" Hermione spat as she was trying to be threatening.
"Come on, we're both to be here until probably tomorrow morning" he said softly. "Tell me at least what you are."
For a second she hesitated. Improvise.
"I'm a spell, little wizard. I'm a spell that was enacted to keep an eye on this little storing pit, and I'm not the very patient kind" she concluded, trying to sound as convincing as possible.
Malfoy's eyes narrowed. "A talking spell ? Yeah, totally makes sense..." he considered quite ironically, before adding. "So I can guess you're pretty bodiless, too?"
"Good guess" she replied simply, sounding as dismissive as she could.
"How come do you need to breath, then ?"
That smirk. He was trying to play her, she knew it. But on that field she was just as good as him.
"Maybe because I use air to speak, smartass" she smirked back.
She couldn't tell if that was convincing or if that just shut him up, but the boy frowned, not daring any word for a few minutes.
And here they were, just the two of them standing face to face, working on how they could piss off each other in the subtlest way. Almost a usual evening, when you think about it.
Eventually, Malfoy's voice raised again. "Tell me, dear Gryffindorish protection spell of the library" he started, his evil mouth curling along. "If your job is indeed to protect the place, then how did I get down here perfectly unarmed?"
"Because you've done nothing to the books, wizard" she improvised, really hoping he wouldn't request her to prove anything. But obviously, that was too much to hope for.
After quickly looking around, his hand in his pockets, the boy gave a sharp kick to a pile of old books that was laying on the ground. "Done."
Hermione's heart tightened in anger.
"You asked for it, bastard !" she snapped as she stepped forward, trying to push him away by hitting his chest with her hands.
But Malfoy was faster.
He caught her by the shoulders with both his hands and held her still with an unexpected strength.
"Looking pretty human-shaped to me, protection spell" he murmured as his eyes narrowed again. Hermione stood perfectly still, petrified, wondering how she could hope to get away this time.
He started to slide his hands down her arms, whispering softly. "How did you manage to get that perfectly invisible ? That's insane."
As she didn't answer, he pulled her a little closer to him. So close she could almost feel his warm breathing lightly brushing the skin of her forehead.
"Come on, invisible girl, don't be shy" he whispered, his eyes still scanning the empty space in front of him. "Where is your face ?"
His fingers went fumbling up along her arms, her shoulders, her neck. She thanked all the gods for the cloak being so heavy that it straightened her giveaway curls as Malfoy's hands cupped her head.
She stood here, absolutely petrified, as the boy she despised the most got her face between his slender hands, his smile being dreadfully daunting.
But he suddenly backed off, letting go of her as if he got deeply burnt. And his eyes grew wide in umbrage.
"You… !" he started.
The cheesy, sugar-coated boy had vanished in the blink of an eye, replaced by an ireful and disgusted Draco Malfoy. He wiped his hands on his pants as if they were dirty, and he walked back until his back bumped against the other side of the pit.
"Being dipped in shit all by myself would have been too much to ask for, right ?" he spat out, furious. "What kind of radar do you have, seriously ? How are you so talented that you're able to fuck with me even when I'm stuck down a goddamn trap in the middle of the night ?!"
Hermione frowned, not quite sure she was understanding this turnaround. Or anything that was happening.
"What do you…" she started, her voice rough, but he cut her off with an impatient gesture. His eyes were pinned exactly where she was standing, and he uttered, dismissive.
"Don't you even try. I already know it's you, Granger."
