Hermione waited until all was quiet in the corridor before she left the compartment. Dusk was creeping in rapidly and she shivered in the miniskirt and scanty top. There was something to be said for the knee length skirt and thick jumper of her old uniform. The platform was silent. She had waited until the chatter of the students preceded by the nervous whispering of the first-years and Hagrid's boom had faded but now she faced a new problem, much worse than having to face Harry and Ron.

She was wearing stiletto boots and there were no carriages left. Pity. She had never seen a Thestrel before and now she had seen enough death for them to be visable and she'd missed her chance. Hermione sighed, slipped off the boots and started up the path to the castle, her bare feet squishing in the mud and leaf-litter.

She would never let on about having enjoyed any of their time in exile to Harry and Ron but since the war, she had truly missed this. The soft solidity of the forest in the evening, the whispering of the leaves just beginning to turn for autumn. Hermione breathed in deeply and then sighed just as deeply. Then a voice came from behind her;

'Well, would you believe it? I found a pixie.' Hermione span, sending dirt and leaves flying and reaching for her wand. Draco Malfoy stood a few metres behind her. He had grown again, he must have; he wasn't that tall earlier. Hermione looked down at her bare feet and her open robe. Oh, yeah.

Draco began to walk slowly forward toward her. Hermione fisted her wand in her robe pocket.

'Tut, tut, tut, Granger. Don't you know you should never leave a man unsatisfied?' Draco's smile was cold and his eyes were burning. Hermione breathed gently before replying;

'Funny, Malfoy, I could have sworn you got just what you deserved.' Draco's smile stretched to a fully fledged grin.

'Hmmm, Kitty's got claws.' He stopped a few feet away. 'We need to talk, Granger, and I'm not inclined to do it in the castle.' Hermione raised an eyebrow. What was it with all these damn men and why could they never understand when she just wanted to be left alone. She looked thoughtfully at Malfoy and began twisting her wand in her pocket.

Draco smiled at her and said sarcastically, 'Please allow me to escort you, Madame.' He bent into a short sarcastic bow. It was at this point that Hermione struck. The silent jellylegs curse hit Draco solidly as his body was bent in that bow. His legs extending rapidly like a slinky, he didn't stand a chance. As his body shot forward, the bow sent his head powering into the dirt at Hermione's feet. He didn't have a chance to recover though as his legs began to retract, yanking his head out of the mud and rocketing backward.

Hermione watched indifferently as Draco wobbled about like Bambi-on-ice, trying to find feet he no longer had control over. She smothered a laugh when his torso hit a tree and the legs twisted at the same time as retracting and leaving Draco in a shocked heap face down in the mud.

She stepped forward and carefully flipped him onto his back, trying not to laugh as first one leg then the other extended and retracted with sounds like party kazoos. Draco spat a mouthful of rotten leaves and mud and glared unsuccessfully up at her, recognising the telltale twitching of her mouth. Totally winded and his hands clutching his stomach, he had no choice but to listen as Hermione, voice shaking with suppressed giggles leant over him, cradling his head and shoulders off the ground.

'Well, well, Malfoy. I'm flattered but, even if you have fallen for me, I'm afraid I've just plain gone off men for now.' She released him and he fell back into the mud with a disgusted 'Oof!' He struggled to roll over onto his front but his twitchy legs stopped him. Hermione stood up and began to walk away from the floundering Malfoy.

A few feet away, she turned and looked back at him. 'We're not talking, Malfoy. There's nothing to talk about and if you're smart you'll stay away from me. I'm dangerous.'

Draco gave a rasping gurgling laugh, twisting in the rapidly expanding quagmire his thrashing was creating. Hermione again had to cover her mouth to stop the laugh as she watched Draco contort himself into ever more impressive pretzels in the attempt to control his legs.

'The spell will wear off in a few minutes but you may find the effects linger a bit longer.' Then she walked away, her eyes watering in the attempt to stop her laughter as the grunts and swear words became louder and more impressive, in time with the squelching of the mud.

At the point where the track left the woods, Hermione turned back and again her laughter almost exploded as she watched the dark figure in the semi-darkness thrashing and flailing. She cast a silent warding charm on him. That should last until he made it back to the castle. She guffawed as Draco finally managed to get to hands and knees only to be powered back into the mud by an overenthusiastic leg.

This could be a very interesting year.