The Devil Next Door

By: dolce-bebe

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and its characters. As much as I would love to own Draco Malfoy, he is a fictional character who strictly belongs to JK Rowling. Den Grudge is my made up character, other than that, all characters are from the book. (if you've read my other fics, Den Grudge is always in them)

Summary: It all started when she walked in on him. Face burning red from embarrassment she threw herself into her pillow, screaming. Honestly! Only Draco Malfoy would invite some girl to his room for sex and not lock the door. And she was the one who had to see it all.

A/N: Thanks for the review everyone ) So... who else saw the fifth movie? I have to say that I was surprised the way people said they didn't like it. The fifth book was always the most 'boring' to me, but the movie, in my opinion, was done pretty well. Not a lot of action, but it really showed a lot of Harry's personality. I don't know, but I was getting very teary-eyed near the end! But enough about that, by the way, this story takes place after the fourth book, so hence Snape is still the Potions professor and what not. I might add some few things related in the fifth and sixth book, but not anything drastic. Hope you enjoy! R&R )

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Insults, Mockery and Bittersweet Smiles

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Hermione's day was officially ruined, but that did not stop her from dashing through the now empty, dark halls of the school. She knew she was going to be late and hated herself for it. Overcoming the shock wasn't extremely hard for her and she wondered why she was even surprised at all by the situation. She had heard the rumors herself, well not heard per say, but overheard them and frankly she should not have been so shaken up by the fact that she had just seen her sworn enemy locked in a fiery passion with another woman. Hell, he probably did it all the time and didn't give a rat's ass about it.

Mind made up, the petite, brown haired Head Girl hurried towards her peers. She had quickly set up the prefect pairs by herself deciding that Malfoy would be preoccupied with his own business to care at all about his Head position and duties. Maybe Harry and Ron had been right after all. Was Dumbledore really losing it? Although Malfoy's grades were a little bit above most students (except hers), the old Headmaster had to have considered who he was putting in charge. The Head Boy had to disciplined, mature beyond all the others and responsible. Draco Malfoy was none of these things; surely Dumbledore had to have known that. He was smart, yes, but that fact did not make up for his arrogance and his total lack for hostility.

Brushing the thoughts out of her mind, Hermione made her way to the west wing tower and sprinted up the stairs. They had to have all been there by now. How embarrassing, the very own Head Girl being late on the first night of rounds. What would people think of her then? Silently she cursed Malfoy for her little fault and opened the door slowly.

There they were. Some were sitting on the floor and some had their faces buried in the pillows lying on the couches. They looked simply bored out of their minds and glanced up at her when they heard the door creak open. She wasn't that late was she?

"Good Gods Granger, what possibly took you so long to get here?" a Hufflepuff said.

She heard snickering from the far corner of the room. "Probably couldn't take her eyes away from those horrid books."

Hermione shot the young Slytherin a glare but decided not to say anything back. They were running late as it is and the horrifying picture of Dumbledore shaking his head in disappointment vaguely came into mind. It was time to get down to business.

Quickly, she paired them up into twos and sent them in all directions of the school. There were exactly twenty four prefects, two from each house and ranging from fifth year to seventh. Hermione couldn't say that most of them were disappointed with their partners as she heard fair amounts of groaning from all houses. Slytherins complained most loudly about being "stuck" with someone from another house (mainly Gryffindor), but it went around vice versa. Apparently neither Gryffindor, Huffplepuff, nor Ravenclaw, wanted to be partnered up with Slytherin; not that Hermione couldn't blame them, she was stuck with her very own Prince of Slytherin in her dormitories. It didn't matter. They could complain all they wanted. It was simply just rounds anyway, all they had to do was check the corridors that they were assigned to and report back to her if they've seen anything, if not, they were free to go back to their dormitories. Hermione was the one with the longest route to take, not them.

Deciding that she did not want the hassle of sending off prefects to search about outside school walls and off school grounds, she took the challenge in doing it on her own. Malfoy or no Malfoy, she would do absolutely fine without him... right?

Grasping her wand tightly, she muttered a spell and her wand instantly illuminated the corridors. Declaring that she was not nervous was probably a complete lie, though Hermione would never admit it. Outside the school grounds were known to be danger zones to anyone that came by. Sometimes, dark creatures would stroll by from the Forbidden Forest and lurk about in the dark, some searching for prey and some others simply lost in the wide open fields.

Although Hermione would never deny that she wasn't doing well in her Defence Against the Dark Arts classes, nor any other subject, there was an extent to what a student could learn and how to use that talent to fight off brutal advances. She swallowed hard and made her way to the gates. It would just be a quick stroll, but the Head Girl shook herself silly of such terrible thoughts. The wind blew coldly and Hermione shivered reaching for the front gate lock. Almost suddenly, a hand gripped her arm tightly pulling her back.

She let out a small squeal flailing her free arm about and shutting her eyes tightly waiting for the blow. Nothing came. Finally realizing that her assailant hadn't any intentions on harming her she opened her eyes wearily. She gasped and her lips twisted in a frown. Honestly, Hermione swore she could have hexed him where he stood and pondered to why as hell she had not.

Draco Malfoy stood merely a couple of inches from her his eyebrows knitted together in a death glare as he loomed over her small figure. "And when was it up to you to decide to hold these meetings without my presence?" he hissed, gripping her arm all the more tighter.

He really was an arrogant prick. How dare he blame his lack of judgment on her? Hermione growled and shook her arm away from his grasp, staring daggers. "Well I'm so sorry Malfoy that I didn't include you in our little meeting," she retorted back.

Draco seemed taken aback by her sudden outburst; although, he didn't expect much from Hermione Granger. Heck, after all the bloody years he had known the little bint, she had always been the one to fire back insults at him and not give a second thought. "Bloody hell Granger, I'm Head Boy!" He snarled angrily.

Hermione almost shrunk back... almost. She could have sworn that it was the angriest she had seen the young Malfoy and was most certain that if he had been a raging animal, that foam would have started spewing out of his lips from the way he was snarling and yelling at her. Unfortunately, he wasn't. The Head Girl huffed and held her head up high. "Well, as far as I know, you were pretty preoccupied with your little guest." Making her way pass the gates she noticed him trailing behind her. "Frankly I'm quite surprised that you bothered coming down here at all." She continued.

"That," he said sneering, "is none of your business." He subconsciously made his way to her side, holding his wand up high for a clearer view ahead. "I told you to never step foot in my room, Granger." He shot her another icy glare.

Hermione could have laughed at him, but she didn't. She really wanted to point out the fact that when people shared intimacy, that they usually locked their doors to prevent embarrassment from happening on both parts. Not that if she said this to him he would end up caring. She knew that it probably did not matter to him at all. In fact she guessed it wasn't the first time he—

She let out a small gasp and stopped walking abruptly as the realization came pouring down on her. It caused Draco to look back at her in confusion and annoyance. "Don't waste my time," she heard him say, "I just want this to be over and done with."

"You!" Hermione knew it was overly wrong to point fingers, but she simply could not help herself and raised her arm to point her index finger in front of his pale, glaring face. "This wasn't the first time, was it?" she started, "This morning I heard rustling in your room! You had someone up there last night, didn't you?"

Draco slapped her hand away, "Like I said before, it's none of your business." A scowl appeared on his face. "And don't you ever point those disgusting mudblood fingers at me again," he spat.

She snapped her mouth shut and growled again, but it had honestly took a fair amount of patience and control for Draco to simply just let her walk past him and continue on with their rounds. She was the one that had first pried into his business by rampaging into his room, without knocking to keep in mind, and simply had the intention to just bark out orders for him to obey like she was some royalty and he, the servant. And now, she had the decency to point her nasty little fingers around blaming him for her own fault. Filthy mudblood.

Rolling his eyes, Draco decided not to say anything else to provoke an oncoming argument with the Gryffindor Head Girl and tried to conceal his anger. The commotion she had caused earlier had definitely turned him off his task, thus ending with Draco getting dressed and the angry Ravenclaw girl to storm out. Yes, Granger had definitely killed his mood, and as much as he wished to pick a fight and to insult her to his fullest extent, he was burned out and was dying for some sleep.

He raked his fingers lazily through his hair and watched her walk ahead, muttering angry curses to which he supposed were aimed at him. He smirked proudly. It was probably the most action Granger had ever experienced in her life, but at least she had Draco to thank for that. Silently, he wondered if she had the guts to open her mouth and tell on him. She had always been a goody toe shoes ever since their first year, never disregarding any school rules, but she hadn't told anyone so far, had she?

Their rounds didn't take as long as Draco thought it would have had. However, he did notice Hermione's hurried expression to get around the fields and back inside the safety of the school walls. Perhaps the little Miss-Know-It-All wasn't so brave after all. Draco sniggered quietly to himself as they slipped back through the front gates. What ever would she have done if he wasn't there? Not that Draco would have taken in any liberty to defend her at all if they came across some raging beast, but it gave him utter satisfaction to know that Hermione Granger was scared of something.

It was probably since she always hung out with Potter. Draco snorted at the thought; Saint Potter and his Golden Trio. Honestly, how absurd, with all their wacky adventures, getting awards and house points for their so called act of "courage." Draco almost gagged. Obviously fighting beside Potter gave Granger an impression that she was something, or just perfectly acting out to be as brave and annoying as Potter, but certainly was not. All an act. Draco shook his head.

'Serves her right,' he thought smugly.

Without Potter around or that red headed monkey, poor old Granger was defenseless. She may act all prissy and a smart ass, but Draco guessed that it was all a cover up for her unfortunate lack of a pretty face, lack of a good figure and to hide the fact that she was a complete coward. Draco couldn't help but smirk and held his head up high reimbursing new thoughts.

"What exactly are you smirking about?" he heard her snap at him.

He raised his eyebrow questioningly at her. "Nothing," he answered with a slight laugh in his tone and continued on his way back to their Head dormitories, hands in his pockets.

Hermione glared at his back as he made his way past her. She guessed that he had probably been thinking about snogging his little whore or shagging her once they got back to their dormitories. Honestly! How rude! He was Head Boy for crying out loud. He was supposed to be setting a good example for all the students, not inviting some brunette for a quick shag every night. What would he think she was going to do? Just stand there and hear them roll around their sheets?

"Malfoy!" she called out running up to him.

He had already muttered their password and stepped in, not hearing her. She called out to him again and angrily crossed her arms over her chest when he turned around to face her. "What now?" he drawled, fighting the urge to roll his eyes at her.

"You think I'm just going to let you walk up back in there," she motioned to his room, "and continue on with your little charade and not do something about it?" Hermione growled when she noticed that he had simply just rolled his eyes at her now. She hissed angrily, "Don't think that I won't hesitate to report you straight to the Headmaster, Malfoy. Don't test me."

Couldn't she just mind her own business for once? This is why he had rather been a prefect instead of a Head Boy. It would have been no surprise that Granger got the position of Head Girl, thus he knew from the very beginning that his life would be completely and utterly miserable. How could he honestly get some privacy with her insufferable yabbering and her so called modesty in pointing out all things he did wrong. It was impossible. She was impossible.

He would just have to think of a way to get her to mind her own business. The edges on Draco's pale lips twitched slightly, his eyebrows knitting together pondering before ever so slowly walking towards her. He glared down at the once bushy hair and plain face and a sudden devilish thought made his face break out into a mischievous grin.

Hermione stiffened when he leaned down and brushed his lips gently near her ear, so close that she could feel him breathing down her neck. "I don't think so, Granger." He replied slowly.

Hermione's eyes widened. 'What is he doing?!'

Draco only smirked and continued, whispering, "See, I figured that if you went on and told on me that they would look at you differently, your friends, the professors..." He purposely took her earlobe in between his lips and nibbled gently causing her to jump in alarm. "They would stare at you wondering if you would catch them in the act next. Tell me, what kind of friend could you possibly have left when they will believe that you will turn around and backstab them, hmm? What kind of trust and loyalty would they see in you?" Draco licked the lobe again and softly blew into it. "Frankly, I believe that you would be too embarrassed to tell anyone what you saw in the first place. I rather believed you liked seeing me, am I not right, Granger?"

He chuckled softly and pulled away from her before climbing up his stairs and slamming his room shut leaving Hermione in a state of shock. She grabbed the nearest piece of clothing or cloth that she found in her room and began scrubbing at her ear.

How dare that little prick make advances towards her? Did he simply believe that he could just have his way with her and play her around like he did with all the other girls he's had? Hermione shivered slightly and sat down on her bed chewing down on her lower lip, face flushed a deep red.

It had felt somewhat strange when Malfoy had been too close, or to put it plainly, when he purposely shoved his tongue in her ear. She felt disgusted, it was absolutely revolting, foul, horrific and vile, but at the same time, Hermione could not help but feel... somewhat excited. She gasped and mentally slapped herself for the thought. She wasn't going to deny the fact that the situation Malfoy had placed her in was the closest she had ever been with a man. Truly it was sad, but Hermione felt ashamed. The first guy to make her feel excited and make her heart pump wildly in her chest was her sworn enemy! That slimy little git!

Hermione groaned and buried her face in the covers. She could not help but be attracted to him! Yes, he was handsome, smart, brave and cunning, but he was also a pathetic little arrogant prick! Not to mention that he hated mudbloods and muggles; which was what she was! So why had he touched her then if she was so bloody repulsive?

Staring blankly at the ceiling, Hermione sighed. This had probably been the most humiliating day of her life, not to mention the worse. She had barely gotten any sleep the other night with Malfoy's insufferable ranting then she is publicly humiliated by Snape in Potions, went to take a quick nap, but only to find Malfoy naked with some girl then have him try to feel her up by licking at her ears! Honestly! What had she done to deserve this?

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Hermione tried avoiding him in every circumstance the next day. She found it rather difficult though, what with their shared common room and the fact that they had most classes together. It really hadn't made things easier and it really wasn't as if Hermione had become a stalker, because she wasn't! But she could not bare to keep her eyes from him.

When she had woken up, she half expected him to be in his room, but he sat lazily in the love seat couch of their common room staring blankly at the blazing fireplace. Hermione froze at the top of the stairs and dared not utter a single word. He didn't seem to notice her however and hurried to pick up his bag before stepping out of the entrance.

He was a prick, nothing more, a mindless little prat who had nothing better to do than to toy with her emotions. She shuddered at the thought and made her way to the Great Hall for breakfast, sitting herself beside Harry who nodded at her arrival, but only to continue his conversation with his red-haired best friend.

What did a girl need to do to get some attention? She grasped the fork with her right hand, but didn't feel like eating. She scanned the Great Hall quickly and subconsciously, her eyes slowly drifted to the far corner of the Slytherin table where he sat. Malfoy didn't seem too keen at breakfast. In fact, he seemed to be seething at Crabbe and Goyle. Hermione bit back a giggle. They had probably done something stupid again to have Malfoy's temper flare up at them.

Come to think of it... he actually looked better with that scowl on his face. Hermione had never realized it before, but she could never, ever picture Draco Malfoy with a huge, sloppy grin on his face, like most men in Hogwarts. He always seemed to have a scowl, a sneer, or a blank face plastered for his features. Always yelling and insulting others, picking fights and flirting outrageously with the female population... Hermione suppressed the urge to vomit. In fact, he wouldn't be Draco Malfoy without those qualities. Just the way his jaw clenched when he was angry was...

Malfoy seemed to have noticed her staring and gave her a long hard look, before smirking and turning over to the ragingly petite Slytherin girl next to him.

Hermione scrunched her nose as she watched his pale hand slide slowly up Pansy Parkinson's thigh, making the pug-faced, raven haired girl burst into a fit of giggles. The Head Girl nearly gagged and turned away almost instantly, but found her eyes reverting back to their table just as fast. The prissy girl was whispering something in his ear now. Oh Gods, Hermione felt sick. She would probably have to hear them later on, she was sure of it, judging from the smug look on Malfoy's face and Pansy Parkinson's high pitched giggling.

"Been busy lately?"

Grinning happily and turning away from the horrid sight, Hermione was certainly glad when Harry's voice halted her from further gagging in disgust over Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson.

"Very!" she exclaimed suddenly, gritting her teeth and gripping her goblet rather tightly.

She was exhilarated, she really was! Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson really were meant for each other. They were both arrogant little pricks who had nothing better to do than to boss those who they thought were inferior to them. It was sad really, especially when all the two could do to make up for their lack of a brain was to gawk in front of their mirrors all day admiring their I'm-Too-Attractive-To-Notice-Those-Who-Aren't reflections. Honestly, how absurd. Hermione couldn't help but roll her eyes.

There was absolutely no reason to be even thinking of him at all. Nope. Nada. If she had gotten through her life the past six years without so much as thinking of the blond haired little git, she certainly could do it again. Who was he to oppose such actions towards her? Spoiled brat.

Being lost in thought, she didn't notice her two best friends giving her such worried looks, frowns appearing on their faces. It had only been the second day of classes and they swore to God that Hermione had really gone down hill. Having been harassed by their favorite Potion's professor then being overly stressed with her new role as being Head Girl, they didn't know if she would survive the whole year, judging by the death grip she had on her goblet and the huge bags under her eyes.

"It's probably because she's sleeping with Malfoy," Ron nodded and whispered just loud enough for Hermione to hear.

She ignored the little comment and turned to them smiling. "I think I'm going to have a great day today," and with that she simply gathered her things and trotted off to class, leaving Harry and Ron's eyebrows raised in question.

And what a great day it was, or at least until Potions came. She dreaded the class and hated it with a passion. So far, she had managed to avoid Malfoy, but it was utterly impossible for her to cut him from her life when he did the most stupidest and most annoying things to irritate her.

Example one, Potions Class part one: She had merely been minding her own business, raising her hand promptly trying for her professor's attention to answer the questions to which she knew every answer to(but he still ignored her anyway), when a small paper ball was shot straight at her face hitting her nose. It had not left a mark nor hurt in any circumstance but caused her eyes to close and her nose to scrunch up so suddenly that it caught the eye of her favorite professor. Snape had only glided ever so slowly nearby and smirked mockingly to say that she should try and control the rather disgusting smell she had under her nose, thus it ended with the Slytherins bursting into laughter and Hermione's face to turn beat red. No surprises there. Number-One-Tiny-Paper-Ball-Flicker Award went to Draco Malfoy, who had just crossed his arms over his chest smugly and smirked raising his head up high to show superiority.

Hermione growled at the thought.

Example two, Potions Class Part two: Brewing potions was her specialty. Hermione was actually good at everything really, but her efforts or hard work were never at all appreciated in the disturbingly cold dungeons of Snape. Perhaps he and Malfoy were long distant relatives who were just bent on destroying her life and making her miserable, but no, Malfoy was worse. She would have certainly gotten a nearly perfect grade on her potion(nearly, because Snape never gave her a perfect mark), when his tall blond figure had hurriedly walked past her, bumping and tipping the very edge of her cauldron over, her potion sinking into what Hermione wished most of all could have been hard wood flooring, but was sadly carpet. The death glares that she had sent out to the back of his head could have very well pierced through his thick blond locks if he wasn't careful.

And example three... Well, it couldn't really count as an example since it was happening at the very moment, but as she had finished her struggling with scrubbing the floors and obtaining her detention, the exhausted Head Girl was at least relieved that the day was over.(well not completely over until she had gone back to her dorm and fell upon her bed, dead asleep)

Swinging her bag over her shoulder and picking up the extra thick books, Hermione hurriedly scampered out the doorway. Unfortunately for the poor girl, she had not noticed the foot sticking outside the door frame. It all happened in a flash and ended in a matter of seconds. Books came flying out of her hands, papers scattered all over and she gave a loud squeal before landing flat on her face.

She could have really screamed at someone at this point and she struggled to keep in control until she heard the familiar sniggering coming from behind her. Hermione propped herself up with her elbows, sitting up and used her right hand to push the hair away from her face. Yes, she would definitely give him a piece of her mind this time.

"Y-You!" If Hermione had been clearly in control of her emotions, she would have noticed how close she dared to approach Draco Malfoy's face, but as she was not, her glaring, snarling face remained mere inches from his. "You infuriating little brat!" She wanted to so badly pick him up by the collar and throw him into the nearest wall if she had the super strength, but could only manage to point her index finger at his chest, digging it deep into his robes. "Do you honestly have no respect for anyone in this school other than yourself? Do you really think that you have the right to do this to me? Hm? To harass me like this? Hmm?" Her eyes remained stretched open wide. "Do you?"

Draco's smirk disappeared and he did not flinching from her sudden aggressive movement and intense screaming. He merely gave a disgusted look slapping her hand away rather harshly. "And you don't call this harassment?" he drawled out. "You are purposely putting your hands on me and you dare claim that I harass you?" He let out a muffled laugh. "Please, Granger. Save us all the trouble or rather, me, the trouble of not having to look at that hideous face of yours anymore." Draco shooed her away with his hand, "Now go on, scamper back to your room like a good little Head Girl."

First harassment then pure, devilish mockery! How dare he? Did he honestly believe that she would simply turn around and stomp back to her room letting him win? It was true that she was still Head Girl, but a person had their limits and if the second day proved to be horribly worse than the first, then Hermione couldn't very well expect her happy-go-lucky life back at Hogwarts for the many months to come. Not with him living next door that is.

"You know what, Malfoy?"

He raised his eyebrow at her seemingly applying, "what?"

She continued, hissing under her breath. "If you're so high and mighty then why do you even associate with a mudblood like me, huh? Do you really have nothing else better to do than make sure my life is completely miserable?" Hermione let out a small laugh. "Well sorry to break your bubble, dearest brat, but I really am unaffected by your bloody attempts!" She pointed the finger back against his chest to prove a point. "Now why don't youscamper back to your room like the spoiled, rich brat that you are and go back to admiring your arrogant, arse reflection! And make sure it stays in there! I'd rather not have it out here!"

Hermione lowered her finger from his chest and triumphantly stepped back, then added, "Save all of us the trouble, or rather, me, the trouble of not having to look at that ridiculously, hideous face of yours anymore!" She stopped her mimicking and gave him a bittersweet smile.

Draco's jaw clenched tightly, his eyes flashing a dangerous glow. The hallway became silent and Hermione was well aware now that the students had all made their way to the Great Hall for dinner. They were completely and utterly alone. She watched him push back from the wall that she had pushed him in to and held her glare as he took steps towards her. He did so casually, not too slow, not too fast, before making a complete stop. Their faces were almost touching. They both remained silent then to Hermione's surprise he bent down and grabbed one of her books and held it out for her to take.

"You're right, Granger," he drawled out, an evil gleam in his eyes. "I am sorry. Allow me to help you pick up all this rubbish."

She did not trust him, but the book was being pressed against her chest that she just had to bring her hands up to grab them. Before she could however, his grip on the old tattered book lessened and it dropped to the floor, echoing through the empty halls. Hermione gasped when the rotten Slytherin brought his foot over the top, his boots twisting back and forth, the mud digging into the pages.

He stopped mid way and spat harshly down on the ruined text book before flashing his eyes towards her again. "This is where you and your books belong, Granger; on the ground to be stepped on by your superiors," he hissed. "So I suggest that you keep it as a reminder of the filthy blood that runs through your veins."

Before Hermione could regain from her shock, he was gone and she tried with all her might to bite back the tears. Her bottom lip was trembling incredibly and she slowly got on her knees to pick up her books and scrolls. The hallway was a complete mess, her homework lying in pieces all over the school floor. Her moment of triumph had been cut short. It always seemed that he knew exactly what to insult her by.

Now she knew that she would never be able to predict Draco Malfoy ever again. One moment he seemed to be the same spoiled, selfish and immature little git that she had known for six years. Everyone knew that he put up an act to be brave and to be better than Harry, but in reality he had been a coward, running in the sight of danger. But now... his words, though only words, struck her heart with a mighty force, ripping it apart into pieces. He was surprisingly very scary when he was angry. Hermione recalled the way his eyes had gone from a dull grey blue to flashing pools of silver. He looked angry enough to simply lay the Killing Curse upon her and not even blink.

The girl cringed and slowly tugged her hair behind her ear with her right hand. Her hand trembled at the movement and she clutched it with her left. She must really look like a complete sore at the moment. Her eyes were tearing up and her face flushed with embarrassment and anger. It was horrible and all because of some pathetic prick who had the decency to call himself a wizard. Hermione sighed, her shoulders slumped over in defeat as she lay on her knees alone in the empty corridors of the school.

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Hope you guys enjoyed! I hope that I get better reviews for this chapter now that Draco and Hermione are arguing like an old married couple. Haha. Like I said before, I don't want to rush things and make them OOC, so you guys will just have to wait until later chapters Please read and review and tell me what you think!