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Hermione gulped as she felt Lucius Malfoy's cool eyes appraising her. She smoothed her skirt awkwardly under his scrutiny. After what felt like years he finally sneered and gestured for her to follow him inside. She nodded and scurried after him, struggling to keep up with his quick pace without running.

The inside of the manor was just as impressive as the outside. The parlour was enormous with a huge staircase leering in front of her, splitting into two directions at the top. As she followed him, she passed many large, spacious rooms with high ceiling and vast windows. Each room was filled with antique furniture and fancy possessions, and Hermione could only attempt a guess as to how rich this man really was. Apparently being a high-end drug lord resulted in this kind of finance. The world was a cruelly ironic place at times.

After following him through multiple hallways and up various staircases, Lucius finally stopped outside a large set of mahogany double doors. Throwing them open dramatically, Lucius strode into the room with an arrogant spring in his step. He strode behind the massive oak desk and sat down on the leather chair behind it.

Standing in the doorway awkwardly, Hermione shifted, unsure of what to do. They hadn't warned her that this man was a glorified shark. Well they had actually, but Hermione had zero experience with dealing with sharks. And this shark was currently staring at her like she was stupid.

"Are you going to sit, or not?" he asked her in a smooth voice, dripping with sarcasm. Everything about this man screamed aristocrat.

She gulped and nodded, nervously sitting down in a small red chair in front of his desk.

Just breathe, Hermione. You can do this! For heaven's sake, you are able to take down a full grown man, you can recite Greek verbs backwards, you know the exact weight down to the last milligram of the Eiffel tower! Who else in the world is crazy enough to know that? If you are crazy enough to know that, you can certainly-

"So, girl, tell me your name, age and three reasons why you are here." Lucius drawled, interrupting her mental pep talk. Her eyes widened, he didn't do things halfway! She really wished she was wearing an earpiece, but the Order hadn't wanted to risk it.

"Well," she started nervously, "my name is Hermione Rivers and I am eighteen years old. I am here because it is valuable work experience, I can speak the three languages you require plus two more and my head teacher recommended me to do it before I go to University."

"I see," he said, "tell me, what other languages do you speak?"

"Spanish and Chinese, sir."

He nodded, looking vaguely impressed.

"Very good. Now, Miss Rivers, I'm sure you understand that I am a very important man with enormous influence over the country. So therefore, I hope you will not be offended if I ask to look through your handbag." He said, holding out his hand for her handbag. She handed it over quickly. She had been expecting this, but she hadn't though he would do it himself.

He started rifling through her bag, pausing every now and again to inspect an object. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he pushed her bag to the side to inspect her phone.

Not looking up from it, he spoke lazily. "The only informal text conversations you seem to have are with Ginny, Samara, Toby and Danny. Tell me, who is your closest friend out of the four of them?"

"Ginny, sir."

He nodded, "Good, if you get the job I have no problem with female visitors. Male visitors will not be permitted. Which leads on to my next question, which of the two boys is your boyfriend?"

He really was a nosy git. But Hermione sighed and said, "Neither, sir."

"Hmm, I guess this is a good thing, it means you won't whinge as much when I don't allow either of them to visit. Though, judging by your posture around this ginger one in this photo, I think you have a thing for him."

Hermione blushed, in the photos she hadn't done that on purpose. It was just that fact that she had a thing for Ron. "I'm sorry sir, but I don't see how this affects the job one way or another."

He sneered at her, "You are right, it has nothing to do with the job; it is to do with you. You will find I excel at reading people, Miss Rivers, and the type of boy you like is extremely relevant to the type of person you are which will affect your performance levels. Tell me about this red-head."

Hermione sucked in a breath; she hadn't thought he would be so perceptive." We've been friends for years, sir. Since childhood. His name is Danny, and he likes football, computers and spending time with his friends. He's really funny and sweet, but obnoxious at the same time. He can also be seriously oblivious and annoying at times. Heck, he is downright infuriating when he wants to be!" Hermione stopped, sensing she was babbling.

Lucius smirked; apparently making her babble was the aim. That skill was something that couldn't be taught, you either had it or you didn't. Lucius Malfoy had it in droves.

"Clearly this boy had no idea of your feeling towards him," he sneered, "anyway, I am not an agony aunt, get over this boy."

Hermione scowled at his rude bluntness, but he just carried on talking.

"Moving on, tell me about you. What is your favourite book?"

For questions like these, she knew to answer her own opinions. This was an easy question for her.

"Macbeth, sir."

His eyebrows twitched slightly in surprise, but the haughty smirk remained on his face.

"Really? I have to admit, I did not expect that. Please, walk me through why it is your favourite."

"Well," Hermione said, thinking deeply, "I think I like it because it tells the absolute truth about the worst parts of people; how things like wealth and power drive men to heinous acts. It is brutally honest about the divider between men who let themselves be ruled by their greed, and those who don't. The style of the language also fascinates me; Shakespeare had a magic way with words. I love how the beauty of the words almost hide the brutality they are meant to convey. I think it is a metaphor for how we cannot trust outward appearances, we must look beneath the surface."

"Well Miss Rivers," he said, looking impressed, "you are clearly quite the scholar. Do you have a reference from your head teacher?"

She nodded and drew an envelope from her pocket, handing it to him. He opened it and skimmed it over.

"Very impressive, Miss Rivers. I would hire you right away, if it weren't for one thing. I can clearly see you are in a prime physical shape, a body such as yours does not belong to a scholar, rather to a professional athlete. I am not a trusting man, Miss Rivers, and I would like you to explain this peculiarity.

Hermione nodded, she had been expecting this. He was too perceptive to miss it. "I am a black belt in karate, sir. My mother had an abusive boyfriend for five months before she married my father. She wanted to make sure I would be able to defend myself if I found myself in that position. I also like to use a running machine whilst studying."

Lucius nodded, clearly believing her story. The part about her mother was partly true; the only detail she had missed out was that her mother had married the abusive boyfriend before he became abusive.

"I have to say, Miss Rivers, you are almost too good to be true. You speak five other languages, you are highly educated and you know karate. Is there anything you can't do?"

"I happen to be rubbish at cooking, sir, plus I have zero knowledge of team sports."

He smirked at her, "It is reassuring to know you are not perfect, but you are good enough for the job, congratulations. You start now."

She sighed in relief and terror.


Flopping down on her bed, she mused on her day so far.

After the interview Lucius had summoned a maid to show her to her room. Although she worked there now, apparently she didn't qualify as a 'servant', meaning she got to stay in a guest room. The maid had shown her to it and arranged to have her bags delivered later that day.

The room itself was absolutely beautiful. It was square-shaped with an en-suite bathroom. The far wall was almost completely windows, and there was a glass door leading out to the balcony. Heavy floral green curtains hung either side, ready to be drawn at night. Against the middle of right wall was a king-sized four poster bed with pink floral covers that matched the pattern of the curtains. There were white bedside-tables either side of the bed, each with a lamp.

Against the left wall were the two doors leading to the bathroom and the walk-in wardrobe. There was also a long, white bookshelf that only reached to hip-height, the top of which could be used for placing things.

There was a pink, shag rug in the centre of the floor in an oval shape that looked all too comfortable. The floor itself was light wood planks that were smooth and slippery. The walls and ceiling were a nice cream colour. A large white desk stood a little way back from the windows, not quite in the middle of the room. There was a large, leather spin-chair tucked under it facing towards the window.

In the left corner of the room there was an assortment of bean-bags and floor cushions that looked ideal for burying herself in and reading. Two more formal light green armchairs were placed either side of the shag rug facing each other, a small coffee table in the middle of them.

Although it contained a large amount of furniture, it was still very spacious as the room was just so vast. The balcony was the same, with two sun loungers that overlooked the gorgeous property.

The room was amazing, Hermione admitted to herself. At least she would be spying in comfort.

She decided she would read for a bit until her luggage arrived, Hermione ambled over to the bookcase, bending over to inspect the books available to her.

She had just settled down with a copy of Pride and Prejudice when a sharp rap on the door disturbed her. Assuming it was her luggage, she skipped up to the door to open it, only when she did a tall boy about her own age barged past her into the room, sending her a winning smirk.

The messy white-blond hair and piercing grey eyes told her that this had to be Draco Malfoy. He was even better looking up close and in person.

He was tall; about a head taller than her. He was wearing a plain green t-shirt that hugged his chest tightly enough for her to see his lean, muscular form. He also wore loose black slacks and black converse, and several chains and leather cords swung from his neck. One in particular caught her eye; it was a small pendant with a silver dragon figurine on it. She decided she very much liked the look of Draco Malfoy; until he opened his mouth.

"Are you the best father could do? Honestly his standards are sinking. Still, if you did something about that rat's nest on top of your head, you could have potential." His voice was the same confidant drawl as Lucius. In fact, he was very similar to Lucius; Arrogant, haughty and superior.

"I am not here for you viewing pleasure; I am here to teach you various languages." Hermione exclaimed angrily. "Speaking of, exactly how advanced are you?"

He grinned at her, and she couldn't say in wasn't utterly beautiful. "Down to business already? We haven't even had a formal introduction. My name is Draco Malfoy. What's yours?" he asked, sticking his hand out for her to shake.

She accepted it shyly, and looked him right in his gorgeous eyes. "Hermione Rivers. Pleased to meet you, I think."

He grinned like a shark and kissed the back of her hand, making her blush. "Believe me, the pleasure is all mine."

She blushed fiercely, pulling her hand back. "Er, thanks? Um, so, when do I start teaching you?"

He chuckled low in his chest, "I see you are a woman of business. My friend Blaise is coming tomorrow for a couple of days, and one he's left we can start. That will give you a few days to settle in."

She nodded, and watched him sit down on her bed.

"Father asked me to go over the house rules with you. No boys upstairs," he sniggered at this, "no disturbing him whilst he's working, ask him before inviting female friends around, don't bother asking if male friends can come. Breakfast and lunch are informal and you can eat anywhere, dinner will be held in the dining room every night but it is your choice whether you attend or not, apart from Wednesdays and Sundays when you will be required to dress up and attend dinner with us."

Hermione nodded, "Understood. What about our working time-table? Where shall we work?"

He shrugged, "My office, your room, the library, wherever really. As for the time-table, we shall work from two till five every weekday and five till four at the weekends. Unless I want to do more, the rest of your day is yours to do with what you will. We have a massive library, extensive grounds and a gym that are all available to you."

This pleased Hermione greatly, a library and a gym! "Those timings work for me. Will I be staying here until you're fluent?"

"Yep," he said, grinning wickedly, "buckle up, sweetheart, because I'm not exactly an 'easy' student. You might be here for longer than you think."

This was fine with Hermione, as she could do with all the time she could get.

There was a knock at the door, and Hermione opened it to reveal a maid with her luggage. She thanked the woman, and dragged the large suitcase into her room.

She opened it and started ferrying her clothes into the walk-in wardrobe. After hanging some dresses up, Hermione walked back into her room to see Draco inspecting some of her underwear.

"Hey! Give those back, you perv!" she yelled, swiping for the panties in his hand. He grinned like a snake and held them above her head, teasing her mercilessly.

"Didn't take you for the type of girl to wear thongs!"

Hermione narrowed her eyes, he was right. She was going to kill Ginny and Lavender.

"Give them back! I don't wear thongs, my friends packed them as a joke! Stop it!"

As if summoned by magic, her phone rang from her pocket. When she pulled it out, she saw it was Ginny. As soon as she answered it, Ginny chirped in her ear, "How'd it go? Did you get the job?"

Hermione scowled, "Yes I got the job, but more importantly; thongs Ginny? Really?"

Ginny squealed excitedly in her ear, "You should see the matching bras! You are such a prude we thought we would liven up your underwear ourselves. Every girl needs some exciting panties, 'Mione! Plus, if the son is hot, it could help your chances!"

Evidently Draco could hear what Ginny was saying, as he was grinning evilly at Hermione, making her blush.

"I'm not here for that, Ginny! Honestly, sometimes I feel like I don't know you at all!"

Ginny giggled maniacally in her ear, "Maybe, but if he's hot, it could be an added bonus! All you have to is-"

"Goodbye, Ginny!" Hermione cut her off, quickly hanging up. She groaned in frustration and threw the phone onto the desk.

"I like her; you should definitely have her round." Draco smirked cockily from the side. Hermione sent him a withering look and snatched her underwear from him.

"For your information, these are going in the bin. Or being burned, either way I'm going to get rid of them."

Draco mock pouted, "Such a waste."

She finished unpacking her clothes, and started on her possessions. After she picked up a fifth pile of books from her suitcase Draco exclaimed; "Bloody hell! How many books do you need?"

"If you're just going to be mean, then I won't talk to you." She said.

"Okay, okay! I'll be nice…" he grumbled.

She took a poster of Coldplay out of her bag; McGonagall had though it would be a good idea. She started blue-tacking it to the door of the wardrobe when Draco commented on it, "You like Coldplay?"

She nodded, "Yep, they're my favourite band."

"Me too. What' you're favourite song? No wait, let me guess, is it Paradise?" he asked her.

"Yes," she said incredulously, "how did you know that?"

He shrugged, "Just a hunch, I like that one as well, but my favourite is Viva la Vida."

"Yeah, that's a good one." She said.

Having finished packing, she sat down next to Malfoy and considered him. When he wasn't being arrogant, cocky or making fun of her underwear, he was surprisingly pleasant company. He was hot too, she couldn't deny that fact. Intelligent as well, and they shared a favourite band…

She mentally shook herself out of her thoughts. She couldn't afford to get attached in any way to any of them. That would make this job so much harder than it already was.

She sighed and made a mental agreement with herself. No matter how appealing it would be to become friends with Draco, she would resist the temptation and bottle up her emotions. She realised that she was going to be very lonely.


Sunshine danced through the cracks in the curtains, forcing Hermione's eyes open. She instantly remembered where she was and groaned into her pillow.

Glancing over at the clock on the bedside table, she saw it was seven thirty. Having never actually done it before, Hermione didn't know how to lie in, so she got up straight away.

She walked into the bathroom and appraised herself in the full length mirror. As she had expected; her hair was an absolute monster. Yanking a brush through her hair, she decided she was too hungry to wait for the official breakfast; she had missed supper last night because Draco had shown her the library and she spent five hours in there.

Pulling on some black leggings and a baggy pink jumper that was too big for her, she made her way down to the kitchens, ignoring the monstrosity that was her hair.

As she walked in, a woman with grey hair and a nervous face scurried up to her and asked her if there was anything she needed.

"Could I please have some toast and jam; nothing fancy just something to fill me up."

"Of course Miss," the woman stuttered, looking down nervously at the floor. Hermione frowned; Lucius must be really harsh to his staff.

In a kind voice, she asked; "What's your name?"

The woman looked at her in amazement, "It's Mrs Dobbs, Miss."

"Well, Mrs Dobbs, thank you very much indeed. My name's Hermione." she said, sticking her hand out.

Mrs Dobbs looked very pleased as she shook Hermione's hand firmly. She then set about making her toast at a very quick pace. Ten minutes later Hermione was sitting cross-legged at the table talking to all of the staff in the kitchen. A guest like her was apparently a rarity; Hermione guessed it was because the only guests who came to visit the Malfoys were snobbish aristocrats. Maybe if she played her cards right; the staff would help her out with her mission.

The sound of heels clacking into the kitchen behind Hermione made all the staff jump up and scuttle away like beetles.

"There you are, Miss Rivers, I have been looking for you everywhere." Came the smooth drawl of Lucius, only this time it was laced with irritation. Hermione sighed and braced herself for a fight.

"I was just eating my breakfast, sir. What is it you require?" Hermione asked, turning to face him.

He huffed and approached her quickly. "It is unbecoming, Miss Rivers, to associate yourself with the servants."

Hermione narrowed her eyes; he spoke as if the servants were little more than the scum on his shoe. "They happen to be very pleasant company, sir, better company than some is this house."

Scowling, he towered over her menacingly, "Remember, girl, you are in my house and you are hardly worthy to make such suggestions. Watch your steps, or you may find yourself beyond the pale. You may be smart, but not enough to outwit myself"

Hermione grinned. Hardly worthy, I'll show him who is hardly worthy. And he has given me the perfect opportunity.

"Beyond the pale? That's a rather unusual saying. I do believe it happens to originate from two places. The first was in Russia when all the Jews were kept in one place surrounded a white fence, hence pale, and if they went over it they were breaking the rules. The other was in Dublin back when England controlled it. There was a white fence bordering our territory, and if you went beyond it you were no longer under the law or protection of England."

He sneered at her. "Nobody like a know-it-all, however I do find myself impressed, but you will have to do more than that to gain my respect enough to break my rules. You will not go beyond the pale again, do you understand me?" he added in a threatening tone.

She smiled sweetly, "Of course, Mr Malfoy. I understand completely. What did you need me for?"

"I wanted to tell you that regardless of what Draco tells you, you start tomorrow, even if Blaise is still here." He aid and then swiftly left, not giving her a chance to reply.

She smirked to herself, she had won that battle. Maybe this mission would be easier than she had originally thought.

She turned around to see every member of the kitchen staff gawking openly at her.

"What?" she asked innocently.


Hermione was walking to her room when she spotted a woman walking towards her.

The woman was impossibly beautiful, with flowing golden hair and a thin-willowy frame. She was wearing a royal purple dress with sparkling jewellery to match. Her elfin features were pointed with high cheekbones and a rosebud mouth. Her eyes were a shocking blue, and they were trained on her.

Hermione suddenly felt very ugly compared to her, with her wild hair and baggy jumper. The woman smiled tightly at her.

"Hello, I assume you are Miss Rivers. I am Narcissa Malfoy, Draco's mother."

That explained Draco's shocking good looks. He had inherited Lucius' hair and amazingly sharp grey eyes, and Narcissa's elfin beauty.

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs Malfoy." She said nervously, feeling like a child.

"Likewise. Tell me, did Draco fill you in on the rules?" she asked haughtily. Hermione sighed, these people were so austere, and she thought she was obsessed with sticking to the rules.

"Yes, Ma'am. Mandatory formal dinner on Wednesdays and Sundays, no disturbing Mr Malfoy, stick to the day's timetable, no boys in the house let alone upstairs and ask before inviting female friends."

No breathing, either she added mentally.

Narcissa nodded her head, "Yes, I think that pretty much covers it, apart from a few things. No leaving the grounds without a chaperone and don't go anywhere in the house you are not supposed to be. Also no hanky-panky with Draco himself."

Hermione blushed and stuttered, "What! No, I would never!"

Narcissa looked at her witheringly. "It's not you I'm worried about, dear. Draco isn't exactly picky when it comes to girls, even though he is supposed to have a girlfriend."

Narcissa sighed, and Hermione tried not to dwell on the fact that Draco had a girlfriend. Or on the fact his own mother had basically just called him loose.

"Walk with me." Narcissa commanded, walking briskly down the corridor. Hermione ran to catch up with her. So much for going back to her room.

"So tell me, how is it you speak so many languages?" Narcissa asked.

It probably wasn't a good idea to tell her that it was because she was part of a spy organisation that operated in multiple different countries, so she went for another option.

"Languages always fascinated me, at my school they taught a wide range of them. Having already learnt French at my previous school, I decided to be brave and try Spanish and German as well. Having become fluent in under a year, I decided to do Russian. By then I was pretty good at learning languages, so I picked that up very quickly. I did Chinese in my final two years, which was more of a challenge because it has no roots in the European languages but I did it."

"Very impressive! And you did that alongside Maths, English, Science, History and Politics. You must have had no time at all!"

Hermione shrugged. "I'm just good at time management."

Narcissa chuckled. "I studied English, History and Geography myself. I could never stand languages; I found them impossible. I guess it is just something you are born with, either you have it or you don't. You evidently are gifted with the ability to speak many tongues!"

Hermione chuckled at this, indeed she did.

They continued talking until they reached the library, where Hermione decided she would read a bit. She said goodbye to Narcissa and set about choosing a good book to loose herself in.


She was reading a book about the origin of mathematics when he phone rang. She answered it, slightly annoyed at whoever had disturbed her reading.

"Hello, lass! How did yer interview go?" Seamus asked.

"Toby! It's great to hear from you. It went really well, thanks. I got the job! How are you all faring without me?"

They had agreed on using codenames via phone, in case her calls were being monitored, so she had to call him Toby.

He chuckled loudly, "Aye, yer know Danny, always finding a way ter make trouble!"

"What's he done know?" she laughed.

"Well, we had a bloody massive water fight and he managed ter soak Samara's blouse. Couldn't stop ogling her. She has a nice rack, did yer know?"

Hermione grimaced; she didn't really want to know about Ron's interest in Lavender, as it cut her deeply.

"No, I didn't know actually. Nor do I want to know, particularly. Tell me about something else please." Hermione said in a clipped voice.

"Alright! Forgot how stuck up yer really are…" he muttered before continuing, "In other news, Ginny has found a new romantic interest. By the name of Harry."

Hermione's jaw dropped open, she couldn't believe it! Then again, Ginny didn't exactly take relationships seriously; this was probably just another one of her whims. She'd be moving on in less than two weeks.

"I wasn't expecting that, but you know Ginny. She's a free spirit; the day a man is able to hold her down is the day I will admit to not knowing everything."

"Wow, yer must really mean it. But I see yer point, lass. Speaking of Ginny, she wanted me ter tell yer that if yer bin the thongs, she'll only bring more."

Hermione groaned; of course she would. The thongs and bras she had previously sneaked into Hermione's bag were already in the bin. Aside from that, she could practically hear Seamus' grin.

"I cannot believe she asked you to tell me. No doubt you'll be holding it above my head for years to come."

"Yer hit the nail on the head, lass! Yer will never forget it if I have anything ter do with it!" he chuckled boisterously and Hermione resisted the temptation to bang her head against a bookshelf.

"Can we move on, please? How is Samara, other than being soaked by Danny?"

"Aye, she's fine. Misses yer, I think. She said she'd call later but is busy studying at the moment. Which is coincidently what I should be doing. But instead yer get the joyous pleasure of me company."

"Yes, how joyous it is indeed," she muttered darkly, "why are you not studying? Your whole future may rely upon you learning the periodic table by heart."

"Hydrogen, Helium, Lithium, Beryllium-"

"Yes okay! I get the picture! You already know it. But can you list all known types of anteater?"

He scoffed loudly, "And do yer know that!"

"Naturally. You insult my intelligence by thinking I don't!"

He chuckled, "Only yer would that, Hermione! I wasn't aware there was more than one type of anteater. What even is an anteater?"

Hermione laughed out loud, "I miss you all so much. I don't have the opportunity to boast my knowledge at least seven times a day here. Though I did one up Lucius earlier."

"Was it by defining long words like Hippypottermonstersiskippydaliphobia?"

"It's Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia actually, and no. Just the origins of a rare saying."

"Brilliant- yer really are the brainiest brain ever ter walk this planet! Oh, Ginny wants ter say hi. I'll hand yer over. Good luck!" he chuckled at the end and Hermione scowled and braced herself.

"Hermione! Tell me you didn't throw them away!" Ginny's hysterical voice sounded on the other end of the phone.

"I did Ginny, I did." Hermione said solemnly, trying not to laugh. She could see through Ginny's 'hysterical and miserable' façade any day.

"Even the red lacy ones?"

"Yes, especially the red lacy ones!"

"No!" wailed Ginny, "Do you know how hard it is to get Victoria's Secret stuff all the way out here! Damn near impossible. And it is humiliating to ask one of the drivers to go and pick up three lorry loads of lingerie! You could have at least saved them and given them back!"

Hermione snorted, "Just for you to sneak them back to me, not likely."

Instantly Ginny's hysterical façade dropped, "Damn, I was hoping tears would render you gullible. I hereby make it my personal mission in life to get you in sexy underwear at least once!"

Hermione laughed, "Fat chance Ginny, find another life goal. Now, moving on from my underwear, tell me about Harry!"

"You know Harry, what's there to tell?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Gin. I know you are seeing him."

"I'm going to kill Toby." she muttered, "It's not any permanent thing, Hermione. He just has a puppy crush on me and it is getting annoying. I want to get it out of his system. Danny's not too happy about it, me being his sister. I think he was close to punching Harry when he caught us snogging."

Hermione giggled, she would have killed to see that. "That doesn't sound like Danny; I thought his mantra was 'bros before hoes'."

"It is, he threatened to punch Harry and then congratulated him on getting some!"

Hermione shook her head. "That boy gives me whiplash, wait, did you say you got some? Tell me you didn't, Ginny that would confuse things way too much!"

Ginny scoffed, "As if! I might like flitting from boy to boy, but not for that! I like Harry, but not that much!"

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief; she really didn't want to deal with inter-friendship drama. She had enough drama on her plate as it was.

"Speaking of boys," Ginny continued, "tell me all about Malfoy junior! Is he hot?"

Hermione groaned, "I knew you would ask at some point Ginny, you just can't seem to stop yourself! In answer to your question, he is hot and he asked me to invite you over at some point, he likes you."

"What!" Ginny's voice raised an octave, "How on earth do you know that?"

"I know everything. Plus he was there when you called me yesterday and he thought it was hilarious. Thanks for that, by the way Gin."

"Anytime, Hermione! I might just have to come over if he really is hot. What does he look like?"

"Tall, blond and pale."

"Hmm, not really my type. I like the darker ones. I might just have to leave him to you, Hermione. Here's what you have to do. When he's in his room, go in and-"

"Ginny, stop!" Hermione commanded hastily, she knew where this was going. "Can you please put Toby back on the phone before this conversation strays into banned territory."

"Oh," pouted Ginny, "but I was just getting started! Fine, talk to you later Hermione!"

"Bye Ginny! See you later." Hermione said, before Seamus' thick Irish accent came back.

"Red lacey ones? I might just have ter go through yer panty draw, Hermione!"

"Oh don't you start! And if you want proper lingerie look in Samara or Ginny's draws. They own the mother load of underwear."

Seamus chuckled, "Thanks for the tip, lass. Now tell me, when do yer start yer job properly?"

It was at this moment that Draco barrelled into the library, necklaces swinging from his neck, followed closely by another boy the same age as him. They stopped, panting for breath, in front of Hermione.

Raising an eyebrow at their display, Hermione said to Seamus, "I might have to call you back." She hung up cutting off Seamus' complains.

"You," announced Draco pointing a finger at her, "are my bloody hero!"

Hermione looked confusedly at him, causing him to sigh and run his finger through his tousled hair.

"Everybody in the kitchens was talking about it, how you stood up to father like that! 'I find myself impressed', do you not realise how rare a compliment that is and you received it on your second bloody day! You must have some serious balls to pull that stunt on him!"

Hermione raised an eyebrow at his language, "I just did what I always do, spout knowledge like a fountain."

The other boy, who Hermione assumed was Blaise, laughed deeply. He was tall, taller than Draco, but he had dark hair and mocha skin. She assumed he was an Italian, and he certainly lived up to the reputation. Like Draco, he was absolutely stunning. Deep brown eyes fringed with thick black lashes appraised her, a full mouth turned up in a smirk at her. He was lean and muscular like Draco, and he carried himself with the same cocky arrogance.

"It must be a pretty large fountain, love." He chuckled. His voice was smooth, like velvety cream.

Is there something in the water or are all the members of the aristocracy painfully good-looking?

Draco shook his head and smiled at her, making her heart flutter. Blaise may be just as gorgeous, but he was more Ginny's type. She made a mental note to inform her friend of this latest revelation.

"Hermione, as I'm sure you've guessed, this is Blaise Zabini. Blaise, this is Hermione Rivers."

Blaise stuck his hand out for her to shake. "Pleased to meet you, Hermione. I hear you are quite the scholar; I await long conversations of the academic genre."

"Blaise is also bit of a bookworm, hates his phone," Draco interrupted, "you should get on perfectly."

"Nice to meet you Blaise. It is nice to know there is somebody else who respects the fine art of knowledge. Will you be joining our language classes?"

Blaise nodded his head, "Yeah, I'd quite like to learn French. That would mean I spoke both languages of love!" he exchanged a grin with Draco, and they seemed to be communicated silently. Hermione coughed, and they turned back to her. Blaise smiled apologetically.

"Sorry, love. Draco and I have known each other for years and we kind of know how to read each other. I hear you have a rather extensive knowledge of languages, tell me, is Italian one of them?"

Hermione shook her head, "No, but I've always wanted to learn it. I take it you know it?"

"Yes, I do. Tell you what, you teach me French and I teach you Italian. Deal?" he asked.

"Deal!" said Hermione eagerly, ignoring the sound of Draco groaning.

"Am I the only one who doesn't fancy sitting inside all day looking over verbs when we could be outside?" he moaned, poking Blaise in the side. Blaise in turn grinned like a shark and tackled him and the two began wrestling on the floor.

Hermione sighed and walked over to a bookshelf. She was used to such displays of testosterone. Usually it was her breaking Harry and Ron up, but she didn't fancy tearing apart Blaise and Draco. They had obviously been trained, and they were sparring expertly.

They obviously were getting a bit over excited, and weren't paying attention to their surroundings. They were coming closer to Hermione, and she was just about to move out the way when Draco shoved Blaise towards her to reflect a punch. That punch, however, was now aimed at her.

Acting purely on instinct she grabbed Blaise's arm before it hit her and twisted it sharply around, kicking his legs out from under him at the same time. He landed with an 'oof' on the floor, and immediately both sets of eyes were on Hermione.

She realised she was in a defensive position, with her legs braced and her arms in front of her to fight any more attacks. She immediately straightened up and smiled apologetically at Blaise.

"Sorry, didn't mean to do that. It was just you were about to punch me accidently."

They were still both looking at her with incredulous expressions, and she realised they had no idea of her… skills.

"Oh, right," she stammered, "I'm black belt in karate. Can never hurt to be prepared." She offered weakly. She knew that they knew that even if she was a black belt, she wouldn't have been able to take Blaise out with such skill and precision at such a surprise attack. Plus she didn't exactly look like the type to be able to floor a six foot three teenage boy who was also trained at fighting.

Draco shook his head in amazement, "You just keep surprising me. Sorry, by the way, for making it necessary in the first place." He smiled sheepishly.

In a daze, Blaise got up as well and chuckled ruefully. "Remind me not to upset you; you have got some serious moves! I'm sorry as well."

"It's okay," she said, "at least you didn't actually punch me, you two look like you can hold your own in a fight as well."

Draco rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, "Well, languages aren't the only thing my Father wants me to know."

Hermione frowned lightly; she knew exactly why Lucius would want to train Draco up. Well, that explained his physique.

"We were actually just about to go into the garden to fight properly, do you want to come?" Blaise asked, gesturing to the French doors leading into the garden.

She nodded and followed them out into the garden with a book. She knew she couldn't join in if she didn't want the true extent of her talents to be discovered.

She chose to sit under a tree and watch them fight properly, trying very hard to ignore the way their shirts stuck to their skin showing every hard line of muscle in their stomachs…

Instead she focused on their fighting techniques. Whilst she had to rely on speed, they could afford to rely on brute strength. This didn't mean that they weren't incredibly fast, however. Observing their talent, Hermione could easily say their skillset was level with, if not surpassed, that of some of the boys back at Hogwarts.

"Hermione!" Draco yelled, running over. "Do you want to try?"

She sighed but nodded, the temptation to properly spar was too great.

Readying herself, she scowled at the next words out of Draco's mouth. "Don't worry; I'll go easy on you."

Secrecy be damned, she was not going to let that one slip. She motioned for Draco to attack her, and he did, however slower than he had with Blaise.

Scowling harder she decided he needed a good lesson. In five seconds flat he was on the floor groaning in pain. Blaise was also on the floor, bellowing with laughter. "You might not want to go easy on her next time mate; I said you should avoid making her angry!"

Draco scowled and leapt up, readying himself for another fight. "This time I'm not going easy on you, princess!"

Hermione smiled sweetly at him, "I wouldn't have it any other way!"

They sparred for a good five minutes before Draco's height meant he could restrain her, holding her arms behind her back with one hand with his other arm around her shoulders.

"Caught you." He grinned in her ear.

"Yes you did. What are you going to do to me now?" She whispered in a sultry tone to him.

She used his secondary astonishment to head butt him in the chin, causing him to let go of her. She used the opportunity to floor him completely.

He groaned and banged his head back on the ground. "I cannot believe I fell for that one!" he muttered in anger.

Blaise was giggling like a little girl at him. "Serves you right, mate."

"Do you want a go, Blaise?" Draco challenged him.

"No," said Hermione, "I'm tired now. You two continue."

She spent the remainder of the morning reading, pausing for a few minutes to admire Draco when he took his shirt off due to the heat. Blushing slightly she buried her nose in her book. She could not afford to get attached to any of them. No matter how good they looked shirtless…


They do look good shirtless… *clears throat* anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed!;D By the way, I'm not sure whether or not to continue my other 'serious' story, the water's sweet but blood is thicker. Please tell me if you guys want me to continue it, if I get more than five people telling me to carry on then I shall. If not then I shall delete it, I think. Anyways, please leave me a review or a PM, I will reply to any and all PMs because I'm a nice person;P Please also feel free to constructively criticise, I am always looking to improve my writing.

GoldieXx