Hermione walked quickly down the corridor towards the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. She rounded the corner to see the class still waiting outside the door. 'Good. I'm not late' she thought.
She leaned against the wall and waited for Harry and Ron to arrive, hoping they made it before Snape came. Professor Snape had finally been made the DADA teacher in Hermione's sixth year. Another subject in which he could yell and remove points from the Gryffindor's. Out of all the Professor's that had taught this class, Snape seemed to be the one Professor who would stick with it for a long time. Which was not a good thing for the future generations of Gryffindor's.
Suddenly Hermione was shoved hard on the shoulder. She lost her balance and fell to the floor, scattering her books around her. She looked up with a glare to see a blond haired Slytherin standing over her. Malfoy looked about at the mess her belongings had made, then glanced at her legs which had been exposed by her robe when she fell.
"Watch where you're going next time, Mudblood." Malfoy threatened, meeting her eyes. "You seem to be going out of your way recently to get my attention. Is there anything you wanted to tell me Granger? "
"You bastard, I wasn't even moving! How dare you push me like that." She fumed.
"You think I did that on purpose?" Malfoy asked innocently. He turned to the group of Slytherin's gathered around him. "I'm a nice guy, right? You all know I would never knock a girl off her feet on purpose." They nodded in agreement.
"Get over yourself, Malfoy." Hermione sneered, standing up quickly to face him. "You've always been an evil prick and you always will be. Don't fool these poor thick-heads into believing you're a 'nice' guy."
Malfoy took a threatening step forward, his hand sliding into his pocket. "You want to say that again Granger?" He asked quietly.
"Say what?" She retorted hotly, her hand also making a reach for her wand. "That you're a prick? Or that you're a bastard? Which one would you like me to repeat?"
Malfoy's eyes widened then narrowed dangerously. He raised his wand and bowed his head slightly, looking her in the eye challengingly.
Hermione realized that his unspoken gesture was a challenge to a duel. She quickly glanced down the Hall for Professors, but none were in sight. She lifted her wand and bowed her head, not losing eye contact with Malfoy.
They turned and walked slowly away from each other. The other students in the Dark Arts class gathered around the two retreating students. Hermione stopped after ten paces and turned to face Malfoy. Behind Malfoy she saw Ron and Harry come around the corner talking to each other.
After dinner last night, Harry had pretended to forget about Ron pushing him out the carriage, although Hermione knew he was only doing this because he had thought of a way to get back at Ron.
The two boys stopped as they took in the scene in front of them, then looked at Hermione questioningly. She shrugged her shoulders at them then turned her attention back to Malfoy who was raising his wand.
She quickly aimed her wand at him. "Expelliarmus!" They both shouted in unison. The spell hit Hermione with full force in the chest and sent her hurtling backwards into the wall. She whacked her head on cold stone and slipped down to the floor, blood trickling down her neck.
Hermione looked dazedly over at Malfoy to see him rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. The spell had hit him, but obviously not as hard as his had hit Hermione. Malfoy's other hand was holding his wand and aiming it at Hermione again.
But Hermione wouldn't let him curse her again, because then he'd win the duel. She raised her wand rapidly and fired the first spell that came into her mind. "Ricochetus!" The bolt of purple light hit Malfoy directly in the stomach. He doubled over and fell to the floor; only to find himself rebound off it and bounce up to the ceiling. He ricocheted off the ceiling and hit the wall. From the wall, he fell back down to the ground and bounced right off it again.
Hermione loved that spell. She had never used it before, but had read of it in a book and decided to memorize it for a time like this. It made the receiver of the spell ricochet off every surface they hit.
"That will be enough!" Snape's voice sounded from next to Hermione. "Finite Incantatem!" He stopped Malfoy rebounding about the corridor then glared hard at him and the fallen Hermione.
"What exactly do you two think you were doing, dueling in the corridors? You are in seventh year. Both of you should know that magic is forbidden outside of class, especially if it is being used against another student. I am disgusted at your behavior. For it you will both receive a detention, and I will make sure it is not a nice one."
"She started it." Malfoy protested weakly. He had bruises and cuts all over himself from hitting the stone surfaces so many times, and he was having difficulty breathing.
Hermione scoffed. "I didn't do anything to you Malfoy. You're a liar!"
Malfoy's face darkened. "You stupid Mudblood. You don't know what's best for you."
"Shut up both of you! I don't care who started it, because you both participated. I will alert you of your detention very shortly, but for now you will both go to the Hospital Wing." He glared at them both, daring either of them to refuse. "Now get out of my sight!"
Ron and Harry rushed to Hermione's side and helped her to her feet. "Are you alright Hermione?" Harry asked quickly.
"My head is pounding, but other then that I should be ok. I'd better get to the Hospital Wing now though. Can you take my books back to the Common Room for me?" They nodded at her. "Great, thanks. I'll see you two later."
Hermione began walking off to the Hospital Wing at the same time Malfoy left his friends to go there. After walking down the first couple of corridors, Hermione realized they were walking side by side.
They walked in silence.
Malfoy walked with such sure-footed confidence, that Hermione couldn't stop her eyes wandering over to him. His black cloak billowed out behind him as he limped down the hall. His face was battered and had blood running down it in a few places. Hermione suddenly felt guilty for being the cause of it and almost apologized, but caught her tongue when she remembered how irritated he had made her just a few minutes before.
"You really put up a fight, Granger." Malfoy admitted quietly, smearing a drop of blood across his forehead with the back of his hand. "Remind me not to duel with you again."
She looked up at him in surprise. She wasn't sure whether she could trust herself to speak, so she just nodded and kept silent.
Malfoy looked over at her with his cold gray eyes. He glanced her up and down, noting the blood smear on the back of head and her holding her chest where the spell had hit her. "Did I hurt you, Granger?"
"Not as much as you would have liked, I'm sure." She replied tartly.
"That's probably true." He smirked. "You definitely have a sharp tongue on you. I don't come across many people who can keep up with me in an argument."
"I have had seven years of training." Hermione said. "I don't come across many bastards like you who get my temperature up to boiling point."
Malfoy's smirk widened as they approached the Hospital Wing. He opened the door and walked in, leaving it to close behind him. Hermione drew in a deep breath, trying to keep herself from making a comment about his lack of manners. She knew he had done it on purpose, so there was no point in letting Malfoy have the satisfaction of knowing his action had antagonized her.
She grabbed the door and walked in. Madam Pomfrey was walking over to Malfoy and herself to see the havoc they had wrecked on each other. She grabbed Malfoy and began examining him. She pulled up the sleeve on his arm and prodded his bruises and cuts.
"Were you hit anywhere directly?" She asked Malfoy. Hermione was always amazed at how Madam Pomfrey never asked any questions to the patients, but always knew what had happened to them.
Malfoy nodded and opened his robe to bare his stomach. Hermione watched Madam Pomfrey examine the massive blue-black bruise she had made, and unconsciously noted his toned stomach muscles.
When it was her turn to be examined and Madam Pomfrey asked whether she had been hit directly with a spell, Hermione told her that it had hit her chest. Malfoy's eyes lit up instantly and he casually looked over from the bed he was sitting on, hoping to catch a glance.
"Fat chance you pervert." She told him, smiling slightly at his disappointment then turned around to show Madam Pomfrey so he couldn't see.
Malfoy scowled at her then turned his head aside, mumbling something about not wanting to see an indecent Mudblood any-way.
Once they had creams and ointments applied to the worst of their cuts and bruises, Madam Pomfrey left them sitting on the beds and went into her office and closed the door.
Hermione looked longingly towards the door then sullenly back at Malfoy who was sitting across from her.
"Why do we have to stay in here to heal instead of the nurse healing us magically?" Malfoy asked her.
"I think she said if we feel the pain of our wounds healing then it might teach us not to duel again." She looked up at him. "But I don't think that will work."
"How long do we have to stay here?" He asked her with narrowed eyes, as if daring her to answer more then a couple of hours.
"Don't you listen at all?" Hermione asked exasperatedly. Malfoy just looked at her with raised eyebrows. She sighed. "Madam Pomfrey said I need to stay overnight incase I have a concussion, and she told you to stay for two or so days. You did get beaten up pretty bad."
Malfoy's jaw dropped and he looked at Hermione incredulously. "Are you serious? I have to stay a night here with you?" He scoffed and stood up as if to leave.
The door to Madam Pomfrey's office opened and she came bustling out with a glass of tonic and a tube of cream. She noticed Malfoy heading towards the door. "Where are you going Mr. Malfoy?"
"I'm not staying here with a Mudblood." He sneered.
"I'm afraid that fact in not negotiable. You will stay here for two nights until your wounds are healed. I will not have you walking around the school leaving a path of blood behind you. Now sit down." She commanded firmly.
Malfoy glared at her then walked slowly over to the bed and sat down unwillingly.
Hermione frowned. It was going to be a long day.
A/N-Thanks for all your reviews! They're fabulous, I love them, so please keep them coming.