Malfoy continued to stare at Hermione for another good minute or so, and Hermione took this time to take him in. he had stopped gelling his hair, but it was still reasonably long. A few locks of that platinum blond hair fell over his eyes. His silver eyes were mesmerizing, if not calculative. With his pale perfect skin and pink lips, he could pass at being attractive- only if he had a personality to complement his looks.

Malfoy broke his gaze away from Hermione and looked at Zabini, his face blank. "I didn't you that you meant unwelcomed people when you said guests, Blaise."

Anger boiled within Hermione. So he still hasn't changed his beliefs….

But before Hermione could say anything, Zabini interrupted, "Draco, be nice to her. She's here as a guest and I expect you to treat her that way."

Hermione was surprised by this. Malfoy looked annoyed. "Since when do I care what you expect of me?"

This time Hermione replied, "Malfoy, I know that you still think I'm beneath you-"

"Do you think I care about your blood status?" Malfoy snapped. "Even if you were a pureblood, Granger, I would still prefer you out of my house. In case you didn't notice, we're not friends. Never were, never will be."

Hermione was again surprised. Maybe he had changed…

"So, get out of my house."

Hermione sighed. Nope, he hadn't changed.

"Look, Malfoy. I don't care whether I'm welcome here or not. But I'm here to ask you something and I'm not going out till you answer it. So you can either be over with this quickly by shutting up or you can whine and make this torture longer for both of us."

Hermione did not waver under the scrutinizing gaze that followed her speech. Malfoy took a whole minute before he spoke.

"Well, then what do you want, Granger?"

Hermione braced herself as she replied, "I want to know about that white jar."

Silence. Malfoy's face was perfectly blank, giving no indication about his knowledge of the jar. Strangely even Zabini had pulled a poker face.

"I've no idea what you're talking about, Granger." Malfoy replied in a toneless voice. "Care to be more specific?"

"You know perfectly well what I'm talking about Malfoy. The jar which was confiscated by the Ministry last week. The plain one-"

"I didn't know you were interested in the Malfoy heirlooms." Malfoy cut her off."Everything the Ministry took had been at least 1000 years in our Manor. They're valued possessions by the Malfoy line. Apparently the Ministry doesn't understand this." He slightly sneered. "And I fail to see why you should care about my possessions."

Hermione knew then. She knew that Malfoy knew exactly what separated that one jar from the rest of its kind. She also knew that Malfoy would not give information about it unless he knew why she had asked for it in the first place. Time for other tactics.

"That jar contained an extremely powerful curse when I checked it, Malfoy" Hermione said in a quiet voice. "As far as I know, the Ministry's keeping it for the time being. You can either tell us directly what that jar is, or we're gonna find out anyway."

Malfoy laughed. He actually laughed at her. Hermione had never been more annoyed, just plain annoyed, at him. Why didn't he want to tell her? What was so secretive about it?

"Hope you Ministry people have better sense than to open a supposedly cursed jar, Granger."

"We're not stupid, Malfoy" Hermione snapped. "I want to know about it."

Malfoy looked at her. "Return all the things that the Ministry stole from my house and I might consider sharing my limited knowledge."

Hermione gaped. That was the proof that she was talking to a Slytherin. Hermione cursed internally for not thinking about a good bargain.

"You might consider?" Hermione questioned. "You might?"

Malfoy rolled his eyes. "Yes, Granger, I might. As you can see, I really find no reason to share my family's history and mementos with you. Everything comes with a price in this world."

"The only price of knowledge is to carry the burden that comes with it" Hermione said. "And I don't think you have fully understood this concept. If you don't want to share your family's secrets, then fine. But remember, you alone will be responsible for any unfortunate incidents caused by them."

Hermione and Malfoy locked eyes, neither showing any signs of breaking eye contact.

"I think I'll carry that responsibility if and when such a time comes." Malfoy said quietly.

"Then coming here was a waste of my time." Hermione said, breaking the eye contact and glanced at Zabini. "Can I request you to escort me back to the gates?"

Zabini looked warily from Malfoy to Hermione. He sighed, and running his hand through his hair he murmured, "I think I'll do that."

"Thank you." Hermione said, and opened the door.

"I hope we'll never meet again", Malfoy's sharp voice reached her as she stepped outside the room.

Somehow I doubt it'll happen, Hermione thought as Zabini shut the door and led the way out of the Manor.

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Hello readers. Hope you're having a good weekend.

The actual plot will start from next chapter. I'm excited for it\(^-^)/

Thank you Hanako(guest) for being my first reviewer!

And tell me what you think of the story. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Till next time, then. keep smiling.:)