Chapter Four

The first time she'd encountered him at night there was in the Restricted section of the library.

It'd been right before the OWLS exam and Hermione had needed to do some cross-referencing before she could confirm everything was right. It'd was just her luck that the book she'd been seeking was in the Restricted section, as it also contained some dangerous insight on the Unforgiveable Curses.

So what was she to do? Fail her OWLS because she'd been too frightened to sneak in? Of course not! She'd prefer a detention any day of the week.

And that was exactly how Hermione ended up "borrowing" Harry's invisibility cloak as she hurried through the maze of bookshelves in the moonlit library. After unravelling the protective and complex spells that managed to keep most students out, she stepped out of the cloak and gazed in wonder.

The cozy nook she was in was deeply disorganized. Books were scattered everywhere; bookshelves were missing shelves and empty. Her gaze fell upon a small glow coming from the hallway directly in front of her which led to what looked like the place to study.

Her heart pounding with the risk of getting caught, Hermione silently crept forward and was amazed to see that the glow was actually a warm fire flickering in a stone fireplace. A comfortable-looking armchair was perched in front of the grate, with a small side table perfect for placing books on. Hurrying back to the main room, she grabbed the book she needed and hurried back, sinking into the warm leather chair.

It seemed she'd only been reading for a few minutes before she heard a shocked exclamation from behind her. Heart pounding, she started up, turning towards the sound.

Malfoy stood right behind her chair, looking straight down at her, his eyes cold with anger. Their noses were almost touching and Hermione could feel his breath against her cheek.

Any other girl in Hogwarts, and perhaps, all of the U.K. would've felt as if they'd been blessed by fate and taken advantage of the situation.

Hermione, on the other hand, let out an uncharacteristic shriek and slammed her book into his face with unchecked force.

"Damn it woman! Was that punch in Third Year not enough for you?" he yelled in rage as he straightened again, his nose starting to bleed and an eye turning purple.

"Why are you here, Malfoy? This is the Restricted section! It's against the rules!"

"I'm not the goody goody Gryffindor, am I? I'm not the one that's staying up past bedtime to sneak in here to read porn and Merlin knows what!"

Hermione gasped in outrage. "I am not sexually desperate enough to read that..that junk! That's why you're here, isn't it? I should have known that you would try to supplement your...sparse knowledge of the opposite sex with that!"

"Are you calling me a dud?" To her surprise, he laughed. Not in a friendly way, either. "Ask any girl you see in the hallway, and they will tell you I'm – "

"Frankly, I don't care, Malfoy," Hermione interrupted, picking up her things and stuffing them carelessly into her bag. This was a mistake, she thought. I'm paying for being careless enough to stay more than a minute in this place. She frantically cast a glance around, searching for the cloak.

"Looking for this, Granger?" Malfoy sneered, as he held it up with a finger.

"Give me that!" She swiped at it.

"I just did a Healing spell on myself, don't you dare break my nose again!"

"Here's the deal: I leave you unharmed and you give me that back."

He smirked. She, in turn, was struck by the expression on his face.

"You don't want anyone to find out you've been here, do you, Mudblood? It's the reason Firves was expelled last year. And I'd bet you would do just about anything not to go the same way."

Hermione froze for a long moment. "What...what do you want, Malfoy?" She'd heard about George Firves, but she'd also heard he'd trashed a major portion of the library. Whereas she'd wanted to just breeze in and out with the book. She was pretty sure she wouldn't be expelled...but with a little less than a year until her graduation, would she really risk that?

He leaned in. "You will meet me here at midnight, every Monday. Don't get caught."

He couldn't want her to...He didn't mean that she'd have to..."And what precisely am I to do? Cater to you while you read your porn?"

She saw a flash of irritation in his eyes, and he took a deep breath as if to calm himself. "You shall do anything I ask of you."

Her eyes widened in shock.

He read her expression with amusement before smirking again. "You actually think I'd make a move on you. How pathetic. You poor poor Mudblood, suffering from unrequited – "

Hermione had had enough. She snatched the cloak out of his hands and marched off into her dorm, swearing never to return, consequences be damned. Of course, little did she know that the next Monday, at midnight, she would meet him there. Again...and again...and again...without fail.

#

Hermione closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. She had the beginnings of a headache. Meeting him at the wedding and then the Ministry after years of not seeing him had brought all the unwelcome memories back.

Sighing, she reached for her book of fairy tales, unshrank it, and flipped to her last page. To her delight, her correspondent had written something already. This should take her mind off her past.

Hello, Plain Jane.

Hello, Misogynistic Man with Zero Self-Confidence. Hermione smirked. Who was on the offence now?

I have every bit of self-confidence anybody could possibly possess. In fact, ask any girl off the street and they will tell you

Hermione stared with a growing sense of unease. These words were too close, too much like what he would say.

I don't care what they tell me. I've personal experience and no need for your made-up tales. Hermione interrupted, scribbling furiously.

Well, then, since you've made up your mind already, let's talk about you now. There has to be a bloke in your life, no matter how much you deny it.

Oh yes, I'm having a torrid affaire with the mailman. Hermione wrote sarcastically. We meet up every Sunday when his wife's out of town to visit her mother.

If only wizards actually had mailmen instead of owls. Isn't there one REAL bloke you feel a little smidgen of something for in your cold, cold heart?

Hermione paused. She had been noticing John more and more lately...in fact, she'd wanted to catch his eye as more than his assistant from time to time. And wasn't this self-proclaimed womanizer the best source of advice there could be? She could always choose not to take it, and he didn't know who she was.

Fine. His name is...let's call him Sebastian.

#

Draco raised his eyebrows at that. Sebastian? He didn't know of any bloke in the Wizarding World that went by that name.

Well, then. I was right, wasn't I?

When his correspondent wrote back, he couldn't spot himself from smiling at the obvious irritation in her words.

I see we've regressed to being First Years again. In any case, how would Jane go around to getting Sebastian's attention?

Draco considered that for a bit. Dressing scantily was a surefire way, but he himself was put off by girls who came up to him out of nowhere clad only in a t-shirt that passed as a mini minidress and who giggled excessively.

Dress in clothes that are not baggy, dowdy, hand-me-downs from your grandmother. In other words, don't wear anything in your wardrobe.

Ha ha. Very funny. For your information, my wardrobe is sophisticated and extremely suitable for anything, so move on, please.

Draco raised his eyebrows. Touchy.

Well, then, Rule #2: Do not act like Plain Jane. Be adventurous, be exciting. Many men don't want to be henpecked even before they enter that dreaded state of matrimony.

That's it?

Rule #3: Don't be shy. Flirt outrageously with every man in sight. If he's suitably interested, he will no doubt voice some kind of objection.

Draco considered that. Maybe that wasn't the best piece of advice. His past girlfriends had all tried to play the "make him jealous" card, having affaires with other men or even his friends. He'd just broken the relationship without hesitation. And those friends were no longer his friends.

Rule #4: Do not speak of "Plain Jane" scholarly matters unless this man is a professor. Some men are insecure and will be put off by more intelligent women.

Pfft. Tell me about it. So, four rules to remember. This should be a snap.

Draco caught himself smiling again and felt a surge of panic. The only other time in his life when he'd felt this...light-hearted and carefree eventually led him to destruction after everything collapsed around him. He remembered smiling just like this when she had been lecturing him on his ways with women, never realising that there was only one that entranced him for that moment.

Tell me how it goes afterwards, Jane. This should be...interesting.

Is that your way of saying I'll fail? How assuring.

No, it's my way of saying good luck, even knowing that there is a 99.999999% chance you will not succeed.

If my name is Jane, it's only fair that you tell me yours. After giving me all this "valuable" advice, surely you should provide some kind of identification.

He could tell her to call him Dragon, but that was too obvious. Besides, it sounded too common and beast-like, something he would never aspire to. Lucius was his middle name, and he hated sharing his father's name with a passion. Hmm...

But before he could make something up...

You know what? I'll just call you Casanova. For all I know, you could be him.

Draco slammed the book closed with horror as he realised he was doing that forbidden thing: smiling again.

That's it for chapter four :) I'm trying to update more often, so expect chapters to come up sooner

ps. A review would make me very happy *nudge nudge wink wink* ;)