Chapter 3
Hermione turned back to face Draco with a very unfazed look on her face. The wand was still aimed straight between her eyes. She looked from the tip of his wand up to his piercing gray eyes.
"You won't need that. You can put it away." She said quickly and calmly. The most important thing was to stay calm. She elevated her eyebrows slightly, and rested her hands on her hips. Malfoy seemed to be agonizing over whether or not to hex her, but eventually decided upon the latter.
"What do you want you filthy mudblood?" he asked with a certain bit of sting on the last word. Hermione rolled her eyes before speaking and shifted her weight to the other foot.
"First of all, this name-calling business has got to come to an end. You're making yourself sound like a first year for goodness sakes." She said firmly, gauging his reaction. When he refused to respond and just looked at her silently, she figured that she must have been making some progress if he didn't feel up to making some snide quip. She took it as a good sign and continued on. "Secondly, if we're all to share the prefect's duties and special privileges, we really must find some medium between hate and more hate. If not for ourselves, for the sake of setting a good example for the younger years." She finished. Maybe approaching this logically really was the way to go. He seemed to actually be absorbing some of what she was saying. He looked like he was turning it over in his mind. "Let's try to start this over. For the better. Agreed?" she pressed, hoping to actually get an answer this time. Really any kind of response would do. She held out her hand. Draco looked at it skeptically and made a motion to take it. But quickly, before their hands touched, he pulled his back and folded his arms across his chest.
"Sorry Granger, but I don't make deals with know-it-all half breeds." He said in his most cocky tone. Hermione wanted to hex him with a charm that would make his ears ring for months, but she somehow managed to suppress the urge. Well…she controlled her physical self. Her mind was yelling all sorts of obscene things at him. She could hear it now. Why you evil, conniving, heartless, loathsome, little ferret! Your brain must be the size of a dung beetle, and if you looked in the mirror every once in a while you would realize that that particular bleach blonde color of dead animal perched upon your head actually makes you uglier than you already are! Hermione dropped her hand. Draco turned around to walk away with a very smug grin on his face. Hermione had to use every ounce of self-control to not hex him right then and there. But then, as if suddenly struck by a jinx of some sort, he turned around flashing one of his more charming smiles. "But you know Granger…I might be willing to make an exception. Just for you of course." He added hastily but casually. Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. He must want something.
"Oh spit it out. What do you want Malfoy?" she asked snappily, bitterness still coating her tone. She wondered what his undersized brain had managed to come up with this time.
"Well, seeing as you make top marks in Transfiguration…" he started, rubbing his chin as if he were trying to decide how to phrase what he wanted to say. But Hermione cut him off before he could begin again.
"You want me to write your papers for you in exchange for your civility." Draco shrugged as if he was leaving the decision up to her. She searched herself. Could she really do that? Could she really cheat? Then she thought about Professor McGonagall. She was her favorite teacher. How could she betray her trust like that? She then thought about Ron and Harry. Draco was always teasing Ron about his family, and she knew Ron hated it. She could tell by the way he froze every time Draco mentioned anything even remotely close to his parents or money. She could tell by the look in his eyes every time it happened. That alone made her want to take the deal.
"Do we have a deal Granger?" he interrupted her thoughts as he extended his hand to her. She looked at it as if it would bite her. Never in her life would she have seen him offering his hand out to her. But now he was. She looked him in the eye once more. Then, as if her body took control before her brain could catch up, she reached out and took his hand. Draco let an evil smile cross his lips. She had seen many smirks from him, but this was different. It wasn't a smirk of hate or happiness. It was a smirk of pure conquest. Total domination. Hermione didn't like it at all, and it slightly put her on edge. They released hands with new roles. He was agreeing to obey the rules while she was agreeing to break them. They abruptly turned their backs to each other. Both left the way they had come and preceded back to their respective compartments.