A/N: YAYYYYYYY! Chappie 7 is finally here, and the LEMON has started. I know, this here chapter took me forever to write, but it is ungodly, extraordinarily long.

Disclaimer. I own it all. I own what J. K. Rowling owns. I own Draco, and Snape, and Harry too. Ok, ok, so maybe I don't. But I have written about them enough to where they should be mine!!! evil laugh... eyes the authoritive figures coming towards her ready to stuff her in a jail cell uhh... But alas, they belong to J. K. Rowling instead. Sighs loudly But I DO own Elhys Capivah and Professor Lonsiel, so please don't take them. I love those two…

Anyways. I suppose that after a few weeksheh few... of waiting, you would rather read the chapter instead of my ranting ways, so here ya go.

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Chapter 7: The Beginning of the End

What he seen was impossible. Now way in hell was it actually anywhere near plausible for this to exist. Yet, right there before his very eyes, it lay there. Pretending to be innocent, and fragile. It made his heart leap into his throat. A piece of stationary carrying that script… but it wasn't in his handwriting, nor was it anything he had ever written before. He brought his hand down to the message, tracing his fingers over the elegant script. Strange, it was written on silk, or more accurately, it was embroidered onto it so delicately it looked as if it were actually written upon. How anyone could have done this, was completely beyond him. He had never told anyone about the script or of its translations. He pursed his lips into a thin white line, after all the years he had used it, no one had ever been able to decipher any of it, the character of it were vast and many, based upon sounds and syllables instead of and alphabetical lettering. It had taken him months to perfect it, and burned everything after he memorized it that might have hinted on the meanings of the symbols. At least… He thought that he did until this moment. How else could have this script appear here, like this? He clenched his jaw tightly, and picked up the silken letter, and slowly deciphered it.

Dear Draco Malfoy,

You are probably wondering how it is that this appears to you in your personal writing, so I will assure you that I did not invade your things to know this script. Though, I did look through your minds eye to know what only you would read, as there will be wondering eyes and this is meant for you alone. Please, do not feel like you have been intruded on, the knowledge of this script is safely tucked away within my mind. I have no reasons to share with anyone. That settled, I will return to the main issue at hand. Inside of this box is something I myself have invented, though what it is I will not yet reveal to you, for this you must find out on your own. Though, I will tell you this, wear it at all times, as you may find a use for it at some point. Also, it holds a small protection spell of sorts, so it is best if you were to wear it. Keep it hidden though, and stay safe, young Malfoy.

Take Care- Elhys Capivah

He stared at the message a moment, and then looked back down to the box. Sure enough there was something else inside of it. It was a necklace, and a beautiful one at that. It had a thin silver chain with a dragon at the end of it. Made of silver, it held onto a large deep violet colored crystal. Its eyes were made of rubies, teeth of diamonds and wore a miniature pendant that held an emerald. He picked it up, and to the back of it, it had a place that if you stroked your thumb down, an opening to the back of the dragon's head would reveal itself. In curiosity, he did just that, and the dragon's talons dug into the crystalline stone, and the opening on the back of its head revealed itself. He tipped it slightly, and a deep purple looking liquid seeped out of it.

"What is that?" A voice sounded from slightly behind him, causing him to jump. He turned to see Hermione, donned in a clean school uniform, and glared at her. He brought his new trinket closer to himself almost defensively.

"It's mine, and none of your business." She rolled her eyes and walked to her bed.

"Honestly, I was only asking a simple question, and you try and bite my head off. Next time, I will keep quiet then." He smirked at her.

"I could only hope." She turned to him sharply.

"You're insufferable!" This caused his smirk to turn into a full out grin. She had never seen a true grin on him before, and momentarily wanted to stare at him. Then she remembered she was angry. She suddenly smiled, turned her back on him, leaned forward, and slammed against the barrier. Draco fell promptly to the floor, immediately losing the grin that had just a moment ago donned upon his face.

"Damn it Granger, can't you take a joke?" She smiled at him and tried to look perfectly innocent, cocking her head slightly to her right, even though he wasn't even looking towards her at that moment. Oh well.

"Obviously not, as I don't see it all that funny." He picked himself off of the floor and took the necklace out of the box and hung it around his neck. "Is that what she gave you?" He didn't bother to face her from the way he had fallen.

"Didn't I already tell you that it's none of your concern as to what this is? And yes, this is it." He took the box over to his bed, not really worrying too awfully much, as he already hidden the silken message within one of his numerous pockets of his cloak just a moment ago. "Mind if we go to dinner now?" He walked towards the door, trusting her to follow him without having to look behind him. She didn't move until she felt the barrier closing in, and then quickly followed him out.

"How far do you think our tables are from each other?" Draco stopped abruptly and went even paler then he already was naturally.

"Farther than twenty feet." His eyes grew wide and panicked at the realization. He couldn't very well have the mudblood sit with the Slytherins, nor could he sit at Griffendor, though tat sounded more pleasing to him that the first option. Except for the fact that every living person living that sat at that table hated him, despised him, and most likely wanted him dead.

"How about we figure this out AFTER we get there? I'm sure Harry would have a reasonable solution for this one. He turned to her coldly; a grimaced expression filled his face.

"Potter? You're going to ask that little scar head friend of yours of our predicament? I think not, agree you wont tell him or else I will not move from this very spot." He crossed his arms stubbornly.

"Fine. We ask Professor Lonsiel then, but don't think that Harry won't find out that we're tethered though."

"That's NOT what I was talking about."

"Ok then, what WERE you talking about?" She also crossed her arms.

"Asking him for help of course, what are you, dense?" She rolled her eyes at him.

"Must you be so proud Malfoy?" She hissed out his name as if it left a bad taste in her mouth.

"Yes actually, Malfoy's never ask for help, and I am not breaking that tradition, especially not to him." She smiled sadistically.

"You asked me to help you up…" He gave a half growl.

"It was different! I only offered you my hand. I wasn't expecting any help." She turned on him then, walking again towards the dinner hall.

"Good, then I won't find it necessary to do such a thing again." He grumbled to himself and followed her, knowing if he stayed put he would be hit with the barrier and ho, how he was not in the mood for that right now. Soon they reached the room and entered it, knowing full well that they were late. Hermione stopped dead in her tracks as soon as she entered the large room, causing Draco to walk directly into her backside. After a small shockwave of pain in his back from the sudden jolt, he groaned almost inaudibly.

"Damn it Granger, warning would be nice." He hissed at her.

"Shut up Malfoy, there is something going on…" He peered around her and noticed what it was she was talking about. Everyone in the hall was standing around the sides, looking either rather confused or rather angry. Hermione entered, and worked her way over to Harry and Draco near to where Crabbe and Goyle were, but stopped about one foot short of the twenty-foot restriction.

"Crabbe, Goyle, over here. Now." Her jerked his head to the side to motion them over to him. They exchanged a look between them, shrugged, and then walked over to him.

"Where've you been? How come you didn't walk over to us?" Draco donned the know it all, and better than thou look. Goyle raised his brow.

"I like this spot. Not moving from it until we sit. By the way, what's going on?" He avoided the first question, not really wanting to have the bulky buffoon yell at him in front of everyone in the school. That explanation would simply just have to wait until later.

"Oh… Well… I don't think anyone really knows. When everyone arrived, Dumbledore just announced for everyone not to seat themselves, but to stand as we are now. We were sort of hoping that you would know, but I take it you don't though." Crabbe pouted slightly, which annoyed Draco a bit.

"Merlin! I don't know EVERYTHING that goes on around here, ask the Bloody Baron if you're THAT curious, the ghost always seems to know more about what is happening in the school then everybody else does." Crabbe simply shrugged, and then once again turned his attentions to the front to see what announcement would be made. Draco grinned, and then also turned this attentions towards the teachers' table, backing up to the wall so he could lean on it, which made him very near the barrier.

Hermione looked over to Draco as she felt the barrier start to get near her. Just as she had thought, he had gone over and surrounded himself by his two goons, Crabbe and Goyle. She had just heard Ron tell her about finally making it on the quidditch team as the new keeper. Oh joy, that meant even more talk about quidditch. Not that she didn't like the sport- in fact it was an awesome one that was better then any muggle game she ever seen. But when your two best friends were constantly going on about it, one loses ones interest in such things. "Congratulations Ron! I'm sure you'll be the best keeper Griffendor has ever seen, I'm sure." Ron beamed at her, and she smiled at him. She knew how badly he wanted to be on the team, and he deserved it.

"Thanks 'Mione, by the way," Oh dear, please don't ask, "Where were you yesterday? Did you get hurt or something? You were released from ALL the classes." She frowned at the question; it wasn't exactly what she wanted to hear at the moment.

"Oh, that." Ok, Hermione, act casually… "Well, about that, it was for my project for Defense Against the Dark Arts. Seems that we didn't have enough of the ingredients on hand, so we had to go to Diagon Alley." Ron mouthed an 'oh' and Harry decided to ask the question she was starting to dread.

"Why is it you moved from Griffendor Tower?" She groaned, stealing another glance towards Malfoy.

"Um…" Dumbledore then clapped for the attention of the students, and she sighed relief. "I will tell you later." He nodded to her, and she smiled. He wouldn't have the chance to ask her for at least another day. The entirety of the room hushed down from the roar it was in just a short moment before, as Professor Albus Dumbledore stood.

"Attention students, I understand you are all confused about the situation at hand. I assure you it is nothing too awfully serious. It has come to my attention that the house divisions have become very severe as of late. In a light attempt to ease this problem, we have decided to alter the seating arrangements for the rest of this term. Were you stand now will determine the table you shall be seated." He paused a moment, waving his hand as if giving permission to something. "Hagrid, please show them their seats." Hagrid nodded.

"All right then, I've got it then Professor Dumbledore." He smiled, giving him a bit of a wink, and then started to show them all to their new tables. When Hagrid got to Draco, he motioned him towards the table, and he casually followed. Being that the tether was unfortunately present at the time, Hermione followed him. As she did this, Ron grabbed her shoulder and held her back, as at the moment, it seemed like a perfectly normal thing to do. In a quick moment, oddly enough the barrier passed over her as Draco moved farther away from where she was.

"We have to wait our turn!" This was all she could make out of what Ron was saying because pain quickly followed after the barrier as fire started burning hotly within her veins, and was accompanied by an irresistible pulling sensation coming from the direction of Malfoy. Every second that passed seemed like an eternity of torture as she felt like the molten lava had poured directly into her being. Not only this, but the feeling was amplifying with every second that passed. Her breath became fast, as the world began to become a tad fuzzy to her, yet she fought the desire to fall unconscious, letting out a squeak as she did so. Ron turned her around and gave her a funny look. "What's wrong?" She mustered up a glare, and clenched her jaw from the pain. Oh, the damned, wand breaking, no good...

Draco felt the wave of the barrier wash through him, and stopped short the moment the pain hit him. He paled as he concentrated on something other than the pain. How did she get past the barrier? He slowly backtracked, attempting not to stumble as the mind-numbing pain engulfed him. Slowly, the feeling dissipated, and then finally disappeared altogether. He breathed a sigh of relief and looked to his left at the table where Hagrid was sitting his group. Goyle walked up to him, noticing that Malfoy had fallen behind, and was followed by none other than Crabbe. "What are you doing? We always sit at that end of the table, just because we are switching tables, shouldn't change anything, so-" Malfoy cut him off.

"Shut up Goyle, I like it here. Sit." He walked over to the table and sat and his two followers continued to sit themselves to either side of him. Soon he could no longer feel the tug of the barrier and knew Granger had come well within the twenty-foot restriction, and felt himself smiling. "Yes, definitely like this spot." Crabbe looked over to Goyle and shrugged.

Hermione had seated herself exactly across from Malfoy at the corresponding table behind him, the closest she could she could come to him without sitting net to him, really. Harry had given her an odd look when she had sighed relief when she noticed him backtrack towards her, then sit down when back inside the barrier. She had just shrugged it off, and then continued on until she stopped abruptly when she reached the spot that would make her back to back with Malfoy and promptly sat down.

Of coarse Harry and Ron followed her example, and sat themselves as Crabbe and Goyle did Malfoy, to either side of her. Ron looked at her questioningly, "Well, there is a very clear view of the teachers area from here." She felt the need to explain her seating choice, and it was partially truthful anyways, what else was she supposed to say? That it would make her closer to Malfoy? Definitely not. Actually this rearranging of seats was something of a relief for her. At least she didn't have to figure out this entire thing on staying within twenty feet of Malfoy without it looking oddly suspicious.

Speaking about the tether, how was it the barrier past over them so easily? Something she would definitely have to research… Before anyone knew it the food apparated onto the tables, and everyone carried on like always. Hermione and Draco's groups were more silent than usual, and ate slower. When the majority of the room emptied, Draco became tired of picking at the food, and gulped down what was left of his pumpkin juice, stood and found a certain someone sitting directly behind him. He loomed over the girl a moment, watching her slowly eat her food in silence. He poked her shoulder. "Hey!" He had done that rather hard, and it smarted. Harry and Ron both turned to see the culprit and see Draco, Ron stood.

"Watch it Malfoy. What do you want?" Slowly, Harry also stood next to Ron, glaring at him for his intrusion.

Draco sneered in response to them. "I see your two bodyguards are in attendance, Granger."

"They are not my bodyguards, Malfoy." She also stood.

"Oh really…" He cast his gaze over them all, in amused disbelief.

"Must you always be an ass Malfoy?" Harry sighed, "What do you want?" Harry had gotten over the majority of his anger towards the blonde haired brute sometime ago. At about this moment two figures came up behind Draco and pulled him back.

"What are you doing?" Goyle whispered to him, his mouth full and lightly spitting morsels out as he did so. Draco scrunched his nose in disgust.

"Disgusting!" Ron also scrunched his face up at the glutton, not that he wasn't one, but that was just a bit wrong…

"Learn to chew your food first, BEFORE you speak will you? And what is with all of you? I happen to have a major project I must work on, and to my misfortune, it must be with…" he pointed at Hermione, "THAT. SO if you don't mind, I will take her now to go and work on this project."

"I'm still eating." He glared at her, walking up to her, uncomfortably so, staring deeply into her eyes. Suddenly she felt oddly weak in the knees… He had such beautiful eyes… Oh Merlin, what was she thinking? Ron clenched his fist, readying himself to lunge at the blonde haired git, but Harry stayed him for the moment.

"Well, I desire to work on it right now, and I am heading there this moment. So I suggest YOU follow me. That is…" He smirked, "unless you have a desire to have interesting conversations with the floor." He turned, walking away from the 'perfect golden trio' and Hermione growled, grabbing a roll from her plate, shrugging towards her two friends, then glaring at Crabbe and Goyle as she passed them. They started to follow the two, as did Ron and Harry. Draco heard the crowd behind him and groaned. Could he do nothing without being followed constantly? Hermione was one thing, Crabbe and Goyle he was used to, though at the moment he was in no mood for them.

Then there was another set of footsteps. Most likely suspects- Potter and that damned Weasley. Potter he could tolerate, Weasley… No, definitely not, never, that damned creature needed to get away from him. He swiveled on his feet, not realizing how close his two 'friends' were to him at the time and they smacked into him, jarring his back enough to send a fresh wave of pain down it. Ouch. That damned well hurt, and here he was, starting to forget he was a little bit injured. SO much for trying… The wince he obtained as they bumped into him, faded into an annoyed sneer. "Watch where you're going. Speaking of going, that is what you SHOULD be doing. Don't you have a project to do yourselves?" Crabbe frowned, looking down slightly as he did so.

"Yes, but it's hard…" Draco rolled his eyes, as well as Hermione at this statement. They knew about the charm put on the assignment, and whatever it was they drew was in their combined average capabilities. Draco decided not to ask of what it might be, afraid about how simple the answer might be. Might as well let them have a LITTLE self-esteem. He just simply smiled to him.

"Yes, I'm sure it is." Ron snickered at the statement as they all knew the pair was a bit dense. Draco ignored him. "Besides, I left you two some sweets mum sent me by my bed. I'm sure they are still there…" He trailed off as a lighted expression flashed across his companions' faces and watched them half-run towards the common room for Slytherin. He laughed lightly at them. It was sometimes easy to get rid of them.

"I can't stand it... Your friends are so completely dense." Harry blurted out before he could stop himself, and Draco turned to him, quieting his laughter and sneering.

"Perhaps. Though the friends you have are dirty." Harry's jaw clenched at this, as Ron stepped towards him.

"Take that back, Malfoy."

"No. It's true, she's a mudblood, and don't even get me started on you." Ron stepped closer, anger evident on his face.

"What about me, MALFOY? We might be poor, but at least my dad isn't a death eater." Draco's face blanched at the statement. It was true, as much as he hated and despised Ron, he was a bit jealous of him. He had a family, one that wouldn't torture him if he said or did something they didn't approve of. Anger seethed through him, how dare he bring his personal life into this? Before he could stop himself, he lunged at the red-haired weasel, pushing him to the ground as he did so. Ron stood and swung a fist at him, which Draco expertly maneuvered around with ease.

"Is that all you got Weasley?" Before he could turn around to face him, a deep blinding pain shot up through his back, and his knees buckled. Spots started to form in his eyes as the pain consumed him, and he screamed out. Damn it, he should be able to take this, if his father were here... He left that thought to it self as tears formed at the corners of his eyes, but he refused to shed them. No, he wouldn't give the vile red-haired Weasley the pleasure of knowing he caused a Malfoy to cry. Hermione gasped at the sight.

"Oh Merlin... Ron! What did you do?" He looked at her confused.

"I only pushed him. Not even all that hard either..." She groaned.

"That explains it then. Now we have to go and see Madame Pompfrey again."

"Don't even think it." Draco half hissed half ground out as he forced himself to stand, jaw clenched in concentration. He moved his head over to Weasley, giving him a death stare. He was going to kill the bastard... Oh yes.

"How are you going to concentrate on the project if you're in pain?" she paused, then quickly added, "It's not that I care otherwise." He turned to her then. Oh how he hated the little mudblood.

"I'm FINE."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Sure you are."

Harry tugged on her sleeve. "HERMIONE!"

She turned to him sharply. "What? He is an arrogant ass, and he knows it, I'm sure."

Yes, it was now certain, he was going to kill that pretty little mudblood, then Weasley... No wait. First immobulus Harry and Ron, make them watch him have, then kill their precious little mudblood, turn on Weasley, gut him slowly, indulging in the warmth of the blood over his hands, laughing at the way he screamed out in pain, making Potter watch as he did it. Then when his body finally went limp, he would turn on Harry, stick his tongue down his throat in a deep kiss. Just so that he could wear the 'I Kissed Harry' hat that was given to him on his birthday as a gag gift in the afterlife, and perhaps to give Harry nightmares for the rest of eternity. Then of coarse, he would turn his wand backwards, and then kill himself. Oh yes... a plan.

"Yes, I am, very proud of it too, thank you." Of coarse, he would never have enough nerve to actually do it though, but dreaming was always nice... Ron acted surprised.

"Oh Merlin! He admits it! Never thought I'd ever hear that in my lifetime."

Draco glared at him. "Do you have an intense desire to meet the afterlife, Weasley?" Ron snickered at him, he was much better at retorting to Draco after five years of dealing with the blonde. Naturally, they only egged each other on, and when they confronted each other, there was always a fight.

"Maybe, want to make something of it, Ferret boy?"

"Is that a challenge?"

Harry started to rub his temples as Hermione walked over to him. "Should we break them apart? At the rate they are going, one of them is going to end up dead, and Draco's practically crippled already, and I don't want to do my assignment alone..." She sighed, "What do you think?" She whispered to him.

Harry nodded. "Yah, you're probably right. Well, wish me luck. Hope I don't seem to mental for this..." He went over to Ron, firmly placed his hands on his irrational friends shoulders, and yanked backwards. After a startled yelp coming from Ron, Harry proceeded to push Ron down the hallway as Ron firmly objected to this, and oh how he could of SO whooped Malfoy this time. Harry looked back and called out to them. "Sorry about that, a bit temperamental this one."

Hermione waved back to them, knowing Ron would vent his frustration out at a game of wizard's chess with Harry later on. "Take care now! Don't worry, I will see you tomorrow in class!" She turned around to Draco, raising her eyebrows briefly, and then averting her eyes while sighing lightly. "Well, that was interesting." Draco stood there a moment a bit stunned and completely in shock. One moment he was about to be in an all out fight with the 'red haired wonder' Weasley, and the next moment the boy was being dragged off by none other than Mr. Perfect himself. Was it just him, or had Potter actually APOLOGIZED for Weasley's behavior? Wonders never cease… "Don't you ever go without picking a fight with him?"

"Well, he started it." Nothing like sounding childish to one of your most hated foes… He groaned.

"Actually, YOU did, you called us dirty, and he compared his father to yours." She paused, remembering how he had lost it. "It was true anyways." Draco turned away from her. It wasn't a subject he cared to think about, let alone discuss. It made him remember the past, and mostly the future. His jaw clenched at that thought. No, he was definitely NOT going to think on it.

"We are going to the library." He snapped at her as coldly as he could. The mudblood didn't know anything about him, not really, nor did she deserve to know.

She followed him silently, realizing she had struck a chord with him when she mentioned his father. As far as she knew he prided himself in being a Malfoy, always flaunting the fact around, besides, the way he always acted, one would only think he would be all to happy to become a deatheater himself after school. She shrugged any thoughts of this away. The boy was far too confusing. "Attempting to find answers on Elhys Capivah?"

He ignored her, though it was true. She had brought the subject back to his father, and he wasn't going to forgiver her for that. Their words set, ringing over and over within his head. 'At least my father isn't a deatheater' 'It was true anyways'. Yes, it was true; there was no denying that fact. He knew that his father was a deatheater, in fact he knew it all too well. Too bad he couldn't forget…

They continued to the library and both started to search on something about Elhys. They found nothing, absolutely nothing. After about two hours, there were promptly kicked out of the library, and they headed back to their room. It would figure, it wasn't going to be easy to find anything on her. Silently they entered the chamber as when Dorian was about to ask for the password, he received 'the look of death' from Draco. So he opened up the passage for them without a word. They fell into their own nightly routines, and went to bed without a word to each other, checking only once on their potion before doing so.

The next morning, Hermione woke with the sun. No wonder Malfoy woke so early the day before. She sat up and blushed. Malfoy was in this bed only one day before… It was still an uncomfortable thought; oddly exciting, but uncomfortable all the same. She looked over to him. He had changed some since she first had met him. Well, physically anyways. He was taller, his face had thinned some, and his platinum blonde hair had grown a little longer. She blushed even brighter as she noticed she had been staring at him. Oh dear. She looked away, knowing she would wake him up soon. He groaned, and threw his arm over his eyes, perhaps she wouldn't have to wake him after all. He sat up slowly, bracing himself on one arm, wincing slightly as he did, and looked over to her. He smirked.

"I suppose I am now obligated to go and see Madame Pompfrey then?" His back was throbbing, though he hoped she would give him some good news. Hopefully he would be able to fly soon, which brought his thoughts to Madame Hooch and whatever it was she wanted to have him test. Suddenly a throbbing sensation filled his head, almost numbing. Holy hell, coherent thoughts as soon as you woke up wasn't healthy. He brought a hand to his head as the feeling passed, then stood. "First dibs on the bath." He picked out his school clothing, and headed to the bathroom.

"Fine then, I will change in here." She also picked out her clothes. "Then we will go see Madame Pompfrey, then go to potions. That class shouldn't be a problem, I don't think, as I thing our seats are within twenty feet of the other." He shrugged.

"Do whatever you want." He disappeared into the bathroom, and she sighed. He was so strange, but then again… He was Malfoy. She quickly changed into her uniform and waited for him. After several minutes of waiting, she heard a loud crash.

"Awe, Hell!" She burst into the bathroom to see Malfoy shirtless, and with his hair down. It was strange, she never seen his hair without it slicked back before, even when he slept it never seemed to move. She smelled her perfume she had received over the summer from her parents. Then she noticed the bottle on the floor. He turned to her then, his face red. "PERFUME!?" She blushed.

"Y-yes… I am a girl after all." He grabbed another bottle that looked identical to the oner her perfume was in.

"Then why don't you have a spray bottle like normal people do? Do you have any clue to what it is that I have just done?" She stared at him, obviously bewildered as to what it was he was getting at. "This bottle happens to contain the holding potion for my hair, just in case you were wondering." Oh dear… She just realized what must have happened. She started to laugh. "What, you thing this is funny Granger?" She quickly shook her head 'no'. "Liar." He quickly dumped the liquid in the bottle on his hair, and slicked it back like normal. Hermione walked around him as he did this, and cast a quick charm to clean up the spilt perfume, and salvage as much as she could. The sweet intoxicating smell soon dissipated… Well mostly anyways. Malfoy gave her a quick glare. "What WAS that stuff anyways?"

"Voulus l'importun no.11, my parents had it imported for my birthday. It happens to be my favorite." He shrugged.

"Muggles are so strange." Then he left the bathroom. She stared after him, then followed, not really having a choice in the matter. "We should see Professor Lonsiel today too. There is something about this tether I wish to know."

"Fine. But right now, you're going to see Poppy." He rolled his eyes.

"Can't let me forget now can you?" She crossed her arms.

"Of coarse not, if your not healthy, then how are we supposed to finish the potion? And if we don't he might very well tether us for another three and a half weeks, until it is done. Personally, I don't wish for that to transpire."

"Fine, I'll go." He half slumped in good humor, and shuffled playfully out the door. Once again, Hermione laughed at him. Who knew he actually had a personality under that god-awful sneer of his?

He caught himself halfway to see Poppy. What was he doing? This was mudblood Granger he was doing this in front of! If she let out about his play tantrum, his reputation would be lost, not to mention Greg and Vinny would go off and tattle on him to his father. He could imagine the sour words coming from him…

-You irresponsible prat, must you insist on indignifying me in front of that mudblooded wench? Why must I put up with such an unworthy son?- In which would follow a small repelling spell where he would promptly hit the opposite wall.

Quickly, he hunched his shoulders and returned his sneer to his face, better not get TOO comfortable with the mudblood… When they arrived to the hospital wing, Hermione noticed that Malfoy returned to normal, and sighed quietly. It would be easier to get through the three weeks if he wasn't such an oaf ALL the time. Poppy was standing there, waiting for them impatiently.

"Well, it took you long enough, Mr. Malfoy. I will need to put more ointment on that immediately, lest you DESIRE to have even MORE injury to that back of yours." She waved her had to the nearest bed. "Take off your shirt, and lay on your stomach." She walked to the small bed table next the bed she had pointed him to. "Quickly now, I don't have all day." Draco mumbled, drawing in a sharp breath as a small sharp pain flowed down his back as he lifted his arms up over his head to remove his shirt. "I told you to be here first thing in the morning, but no, instead you…" She sniffed the air, and then gave him an odd look. "Instead you try on perfumes." He groaned at that one. Great, he was hoping his little 'accident' for hope of a better word, wouldn't have had a potent smell to it after he added his hair holding potion. Oh well, this would make out for an interesting day. "Hold still." He felt the liquid being poured on his back again, and heard Poppy mumbling something under her breath. It almost sounded like 'foolish boy' but then, he could have been wrong. He could hardly even here her after all.

"What did you say?" Hermione was curious as well. Poppy turned to her.

"This boy is hopeless." She enthusiastically threw her hands up into the air for the point of it.

"Why do you say that?" At this point, Draco decided to ignore them.

"I don't want to know how he did it, but he made it worse. I'm putting him on purely an academic schedule. Do you hear me Malfoy?" When he said nothing, she pushed very lightly on the top of his back, where the deep purple bluish looking bruises started. He squeaked loudly, then grunted.

"I'm listening." She smiled.

"Good. Now then, MR. MALFOY, you will NOT, and I repeat, NOT do anything besides your schoolwork. This means no quidditch, or anything remotely resembling the sport. This includes flying, running, stretches and otherwise." To this Draco moaned. "This isn't the end of the world, boy, it is only for a week, and you will get along fine. Also, if you feel so inclined to disobey your obligations to the school, please, PLEASE don't get yourself into any fights?"

"Don't you think I can behave myself for a week?"

"In a short answer to that… No, but I will leave you to prove me wrong, Mr. Malfoy." She turned to Hermione and smiled sweetly at her. She bent down to her ear and whispered; "I hear you're stuck with him for a while. I do hope you can keep him out of trouble." She turned back to him. "Sit up Mr. Malfoy, you're set to go. Come here every morning, which IS an order. Have a good day now." She left them to go attend another student, who accidentally turned himself green in his first year potions class by mixing a potion wrong. Draco noted this, Snape would be in a bad mood toady. Soon he returned his shirt to his back, and they left the infirmary to go to motions. Snape was oddly standing by the door, and was waiting for them.

"I see you have come early, like usual." He scanned them both over. "I'm NOT in the mood to answer your questions now on WHY I did what I did, but I assure you, I have my reasons. As such, I have talked to Professor Dumbledore, and it seems it is best if you go to Ms. Granger's classes for the unfortunate duration of this horrible predicament. Do try and get along…" With that, he gave a long glare at Malfoy, and turned into the classroom. Hermione turned to Draco.

"Well, that takes care of that." Draco just shrugged in response, and walked into the potions room. Just as they had suspected earlier, their seats in potions were within twenty feet of each other, and they were both relieved to this fact. Thanks to that, their class went smoothly, aside from Crabbe and Goyle giving Draco the 'third degree' that consisted of only about four or five questions, which were about where he had been, and why, and did he have any more of those sweet biscuits anyway? Lets just say Draco had a skill at subject changing. Oh yes, and don't forget the odd glances Draco received, as he was not looking as everyone in the class smelled the air. Was that perfume he was wearing? After class, and another assignment to research yet another potion, they went to the rest of their classes. None of these were truly eventful, except for the fact that everyone glared at Malfoy for being in the cases he shouldn't have been, and the fact he smelled rather nice. But then again that was Malfoy; so most everyone shrugged it off. TO be honest, he was getting rather sick of the odd looks and the sniffing sounds. By the time dinner hit, the rumors had been spreading throughout the school about him sharing the same classes as know it all Hermione Granger from Griffendor. (This is the point I would have done a five day fast forward... but I was threatened… sniffle) Draco was able to keep his own house happy about the rumors when they heard that Snape ordered the switch himself, yet the rest of the school kept talking of it; especially those from Griffendor.

"Is it true Hermione?" Harry whispered to her in her ear. She turned to him irritably.

"Is WHAT true Harry, I've been hearing more than one rumor going around." Yes, it was true… There were many rumors floating about the school, everything from Malfoy getting his schedule changed to up his curriculum to him dating her. It was getting to get a bit annoying really.

"Any of them?" This time it was Ron who pitched in. She turned to him.

"No, actually, most of them are NOT true. Yes, he is sharing my classes, not to everything else." Harry looked completely baffled, as well as Ron.

"Then... Why-" She cut Harry off.

"Honestly Harry, give me a chance to fill in the blanks. It has to deal with the assignment from Lonsiel-"

"But what does that have to do with anything?"

"Ron, please! Just let me finish!" He lightly nodded in agreement and she took a deep breath. They were going to flip out. "Just promise me, you will be quiet while I tell you… both of you… please?" Harry nodded.

"Of coarse Hermione." Ron just sat there with his mouth slightly lopsided as if he were yet debating this.

"Ron?"

"Why is it I'm always terrified at anything that you are about to say when you ask questions like that 'Mione?" Harry intervened before she was able to say anything.

"That's because it is usually followed by bad news Ron." Hermione glared at him as Ron smiled.

"Yes, that's right, now I remember…" Both Harry and Ron started to laugh as Hermione groaned. It would figure, them making a joke of all this. It just wasn't fair…

"Would you hush? I'm trying to tell you something important..." For some reason it made them laugh even harder. She put her hand to her temple and started to massage it gently. "Forget it, you're both hopeless." Harry nudged Ron, as he noticed the look on Hermione's face.

"Sorry Hermione. Harry gets a bit carried away sometimes." Harry gave him a disbelieving look.

"I get carried away?" Ron smiled, and then shrugged. They turned to face her. "All right, we're listening now. Go on." Harry smiled sweetly as he urged her on.

"Ok, fin then, I will tell you, but do you promise?" They nodded. "Good. Now then, as I have said before we have a rather difficult assignment. I really don't need to go on about what it is or anything but for the fact that it requires me to…" She took a deep breath, knowing the onslaught that would most likely come from the pair seated to either side of her. "It requires that I be tethered to…HIM." She brought her thumb toward her shoulder motioning to Malfoy who sat directly behind her. Ron's eyes got wide, and both their mouths nearly fell to the floor in surprise. Harry was the first to recover, and nodded slowly.

"I see, that would explain quite a bit. How… How long do you have to be stuck with him?" She groaned at the reminder of it. "That bad?"

"Worse. It will be three and a half weeks." Ron half jumped out of his seat.

"THREE AND A HALF WHAT?!" He growled out. To say the least, he was just a little bit perturbed by this little announcement. Harry reached over and pulled him back to his seat.

"Ron! You promised you wouldn't do that…" Ron turned to her sharply.

"I know Hermione… but… but that is just inhumane! How could something like this happen? I mean Professor Lonsiel isn't that much of an ass is he?" Hermione glared at him.

"I think he is worse than, per say, an ass, actually."

"How come you didn't object to it then?" Harry actually thought Lonsiel was an interesting character, and the class seemed like it might be fun.

"I did, we both did. Unfortunately he already had everything worked out with Dumbledore, and everybody else. Even quidditch was taken care of. By the end of it all, we really didn't have much of a choice really." Harry and Ron were dumbfounded, how could this be the simple assignment there were supposed to have?

"I thought this was supposed to be a simple assignment." Hermione nodded lightly.

"So did I, actually. SO much for presumptions I suppose. The potion itself I don't think will be overly hard, it's mostly I have to one, do it with Malfoy, and two, be within twenty feet of him or a whole three and a half weeks." She sighed, lowering her head at her own words.

"I swear, if he even thinks about hurting you…" She hushed him; Ron was a bit overprotective sometimes.

"Actually, I think I'd deserve it, after what I've done to him already."

"His back?" She smiled at Harry, happy that he was able to decipher her clues so easily most of the time.

"Yes, actually. It was my fault, and Ron didn't help any last night." Ron breathed an 'oh' and focused on finishing his food. Well, that wasn't so bad after all; nowhere hear the reactions she was expecting.

The rest of the dinner was eaten in silence and as soon as they were done, Draco came over to the table. "Well, are you finished YET, Granger? In case you've forgotten, we have a potion to tend to. That is, unless you desire it to fail." She turned to him.

"Actually, I've finished." She stiffly pushed her plate from herself, and then stood. "Ron, Harry, have a food night, but I must go now." To this Ron and Harry said their good nights and Hermione let the way to their quarters. Once there, they checked the potion, which was still bubbling quite nicely and readied themselves for bed. She was about to go to bed, when she decided to voice something that had been bothering her. "I'm curious, do you know HOW it was that we traveled out of range of the tether? I mean, it seems rather odd and all, since we can't seem to break free of it any other way, so why was dinner any different?"

He turned to her, actually, he had been wondering the same thing, but wasn't about to ask her if she knew… that would mean confiding that he thought her smarter than he, and this he would never do. He sneered at her. "Do you expect me to know everything that you don't? Why don't you just look it up in the library? I refuse to go and see Professor Lonsiel, he's already ruined our lives enough as it is, and don't you agree?" She nodded dumbly, and he smiled. Ah, desired effect, to make her look like she didn't know everything. How very cute of her to… ack. He looked away from her. "Tomorrow we search, I'm not about to have a similar incident happen after we take the bloody potion." He walked to his bed, ignoring anything she might say. He placed himself on his sleeper and lie down for the night. "Goodnight, Granger." He mumbled before he could stop the words from leaving his lips. He clenched his jaw at this fact, and then forced himself to go to sleep.

She stood there staring at him a moment. He had told her goodnight, and it even sounded like he had meant it. How strange… Deciding not to think on it, she herself went to bed.

The next three days were uneventful. Draco had went each morning to see Madame Pompfrey who told him that he was starting to heal up nicely now, and due to the fact he was still forbidden to do anything 'strenuous' agreed to follow Hermione to the library and helped her search fort he reason why they head been separated that brief time; this taking on a more important role to them then they mystery of Elhys Capivah. Unfortunately, even after these three days, they had found nothing yet. The time passed so quickly that before they knew it, it was Sunday – the sixth day. There would only be one more day before they could drink the potion, and they knew right after dinner, the first part of it would begin. It would be time to take the side spell.

"Do you happen to know what all the side spell does exactly? It doesn't say anything in the texts of its complete effects, just that it is needed to connect our minds." Draco groaned, again with the questions.

"Will you stop already? All your questions annoy me, and I thought Crabbe and Goyle were bad…" She clenched her jaw. Did he just compare her to Crabbe and Goyle? "What I have already told you is mostly what I know about it. The only other thing I know of it, is that it is too dangerous to try on most potions, for the simple reason that it reacts rather unpredictably with everything. That is the reason you only hear of Mandrake Root in anything after it is fully matured." She stared at him.

"Too dangerous?" He smirked.

"Is the mudblood scared of a little potion?" She crossed her arms over her chest… Oh dear… Draco look away now…

"No of coarse I'm not. Besides, I'm sure that it is basically safe because it was given as an assignment." He raised an eyebrow and looked sardonically at her.

"You're kidding, you DO know your talking about Lonsiel don't you?" Her face faltered, and she then, to Draco's relief, returned her hands to her sides.

"You're right, I don't think he would care if it were dangerous." She started to gather her books. "Are you about ready, I would like to try and see if we can find the answer before we take the potion." He shrugged.

"Fine." He himself picked up a few books and followed Hermione to the library. Once there, they returned the stacks and went to the next section of books to continue with their research. A few more hours passed as well as stacks and stacks of books, and then finally, Hermione slammed her book down.

"I FOUND IT!" Draco looked up from the book he was thumbing through, and smiled. His eyes grew wide a moment as he realized what it was he was doing, and erased it from his face. He was enthusiastic for this, but he wasn't going to show it.

"Really, do tell." She rolled her eyes before continuing.

"It says here that the Mendella Tether has only one flaw. When a witch or wizard with descent magical ability, as well as knowledge of one of the tethered in question that they themselves do not know of, can pull them outside of the tether. The only reason this is, is because it holds the reactive ingredient of baby mandrake root, and it is a side effect for this potion." She sighed, shaking her head.

"Does Lonsiel have an obsession with that?" Draco groaned, and she nodded.

"It appears to be so…" She frowned. "I don't understand, it was Ron who pulled me out. What could he know about me, that I myself do not?" Draco shrugged indifference.

"How in the bloody hell should I know? He's YOUR friend, not mine." He smirked. "Maybe he's been snooping, he's a Weasley, can't put nothing past them." She glared at him.

"I happen to like the Weasley's." He rolled his eyes. "And I happen to think Malfoy's are more prone to snooping."

"Your damage." He paused a moment, comprehending more of what she said past the Weasley bit. "That's what you think is it? He stood up and half circled her, looking at her as he did it, and she followed him with her gaze when he did. "Just so you know, you don't have a damned clue about me." She smiled.

"Maybe not, but you DO snoop, I've seen you do it." He gave a half nod.

"Perhaps you've seen me, but I spy, not snoop; and trust me, there is a difference." She shrugged, and focused back at the task at hand.

"Fine, have it your way." He smirked, joining in the cleanup of the many books they had retrieved.

"I always do." She rolled her eyes at him once more, and went to return the books, she carrying half and he carrying the other. "

So how are we supposed to keep Weasley, or anyone else for that matter from pulling you, or even me, from the tether? It is rather… Unpleasant, to say the least." He shrugged.

"Turn and blast him?" She frowned, if there was no other way to do it, she might have to do just that if he off and tried to pull her from the tether again - even if it were unintentional. She sighed.

"I believe it is time for dinner. We should probably be going."

"Yes, lets." In which they went to the dining hall and ate a relatively silent dinner, the only talking being from Harry and Ron about the quidditch match the following Saturday. Draco, since that he had the luck of having to sit directly behind the two, ended up eavesdropping on their conversation. He picked at his food, not having much of an appetite. This Saturday's game would be Slytherin vs. Griffendor, and he had to bloody well miss it. This game could have been it, the game HE caught the snitch, not Potter. It was completely unfair, now he would never know.

He threw the fork down onto his plate, his appetite completely leaving him. He pushed the plate away, ignoring the questioning glances of his companions and sighed, putting his elbow on the table and resting his forehead in his palm. He wouldn't go to the game; he refused, and wouldn't even ask the results. If he weren't playing the game himself, it would only torment him later knowing what happened – especially if Slytherin won. What was it Madame Hooch had planned for him anyways? After brooding about this for a while, tuning out the world, he felt a warm, small hand on his shoulder, just briefly to grab his attention. He looked behind him to see Hermione. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Yes, Granger?" She blushed.

"Well… I… You…" She closed her eyes briefly, taking a deep breath. She suddenly became nervous when every single Slytherin at the table he sat at turned and glared at her for disturbing them, even though it was only really disturbing Draco, really. "If you are done eating, we need to work on our assignment. I would start it without you, but you know I can't." He smirked, about to give a smart retort, when he seen the aggravated look in her eyes.

"I'm done." He stood, "Let's go, mudblood." They then headed back to their rooms. Once there, they quickly gathered the ingredients together for the mind spell. He noticed as she measured ingredients and crushed wings and other things without once looking at the paper. He frowned. "Do you always memorize EVERY aspect to the potions you are doing, or are you just over confident that you THINK you remember every last measurement to every ingredient that this potion needs?" She finished crushing her petrified bat wings, and looked up to glare at him.

"Actually, I can't remember how much Sky Bane sap needs to be put in. Other than that, I remember it ingredient per ingredient, thank you." He rolled his eyes.

"Well, don't we have too much time on our hands." She crossed her arms over her chest. Oh, how he loathed such an action. He was already at the end of his rope. It had only been a week, and he was already feeling the heady effects of abstinence. How in the hell was he supposed to last when the most gorgeous girl in the school kept inadvertently showing him hints of her figure underneath? He half growled as he tore his eyes away from her form. No, he couldn't. He mustn't think of such things; especially about HER. He had to concentrate on the potion. First, he had to take crushed petrified bat wings, and mix it with … Pineapple juice? Ah well… Strange, but that is what it had said…

"I never knew that you were so academically… well?" He looked up at her curiously then.

"Why do you say that? Never really looked at the list of academic high achievers?"

"Well, no… I just know I am at the top of it." He smirked.

"If you ever looked right below it, to 'number two' I think you would see none other but my own name there, Granger." She breathed an 'oh' and continued on with the side potion. When she go to the last ingredient she dawned a blank look, and frantically searched her things for the ingredient listing. Draco smirked, picking up the small bottle of Sky Bane Sap and delicately measured in two and tree quarter ounces of the thick syrup like liquid. When she found the paper and looked up, she had seen Malfoy carefully measuring in the substance in the same careful and loving precision as Snape had done numerous times. Her mind wondered briefly – were his hands so delicate in everything he did? She blushed suddenly and shook her head to erase the horrid thought from her mind. It was Malfoy… MALFOY! Ugh, how disturbing! Clearing her mind of her perverse thoughts, she walked over to him.

"I thought you said you didn't memorize the potion." He didn't look to her.

""I never said I didn't" She pursed her brows momentarily before joining him once again. She wasn't about to question him; she had better things to attend to - like the side potion. What were the effects of the side spell anyways? Well, she was just about to find out. "Now, we have to divide this into two…" She picked up a large cup and they divided the gross looking lumpy goop. Hermione grimaced at it.

"It looks rather… unhealthy." Draco smirked.

"Probably IS unhealthy. It is most likely Lonsiel's way of getting rid of the two smartest students in the school. Payback maybe." Hermione squinted her eyes at him. Was he joking, or did he actually mean that? Draco raised a brow. "What?"

"Nothing. Now we divide one of the half into two portions, and unfortunately, consume it."

"I know, rather disturbing, isn't it?" He sounded all too happy when he said this with a bit of a lopsided smile, and she herself smiled.

"Is perfect pureblood Malfoy afraid of a simple potion?" She blurted out. He sneered at her, grabbing the cup, once again splitting it into two and gulped it down, all while glaring at her. He suddenly turned a bit peeked, and choked a bit. It was utterly disgusting. Perhaps it tasted like paper machete mixed with a bit of bat guano, and that was about the best he could do to describe it. As much as the stuff wanted to come up, he forced it to stay down. He clenched his jaw, and smiled.

"Your turn now Granger." She pursed her lips and followed his example with similar reactions, except she choked more on it in the struggle to keep it down. After a while, she finally gained enough composure to speak.

"I think your right about that maybe killing us…" He forced himself to swallow a laugh at her comment, as he began to feel the effects of the potion start to kick in. His sight went fuzzy and his body suddenly felt like small pins were poking him everywhere. He felt an alien emotion to him, like a sense of a feeling that was not his own. It felt like… surprise, and bit of revulsion? He looked up to Hermione, and realized she must be experiencing the same thing. Wait… Revulsion? It couldn't be coming from her, what could she be revolted by? Him? The nerve of the girl…

In fact, she WAS feeling a bit revolted. And sick. And confused. She hadn't prepared herself for such an odd feeling. She could feel emotions… yet they were not her own, like they were tangible. Malfoy? Another wave of revulsion passed. His emotions were close to hers, except… annoyed. She looked up to him to see him glaring at her. "Well Granger, are we going to finish this, so we can put it in the potion, or do you actually LIKE being personally connected with myself so much as to be distracted with such things?" She scowled at him.

"I wasn't prepared for-"

"Obviously." He took the potion, and added a hair, then pushed it towards her. Never taking her eyes off of him, she also added in one of her own hairs. He took the potion then and poured it into the Diary's Milk Potion, which after a few seconds turned a nice light sea green color. Hermione smiled triumphantly.

"Why, it's turned out perfectly. Now all we have to do is wait a day." Draco gave the potion a stir, making sure it was right, then went to his 'bed' and leaned back into it.

"Yeah, it's definitely the beginning of the end." Of the time with her, of the potion and definitely, and most importantly, his sanity… Oddly, with every passing day, se seemed to look more and more beautiful to him. Perhaps it was because she was truly beautiful in both body and mind. Perhaps it was just because he hadn't been able to lay anyone in well over a week. Yes, his sanity would most likely be the first to go. Soon, he felt the barrier starting to close in, and jumped up just in time before it pushed him from where he was sitting to the floor. He watched her take her semi-revealing bedclothes… and unfortunately her usual robe… with her to the bathroom. He scowled, how dare she? "Learn to say something next time you try a stunt like that." Casually she looked over to him.

"Oh sorry, got your attention the? Honestly, you didn't seem to move when I told you the first THREE times I told you. By the way, I'm using the bathroom, you may want to move." She headed to the bathroom.

"What if I don't want to move?" She swiveled ack to face him.

"Just in case you have forgotten, we happen to be a little bit stuck together. I am going to go and get changed now, that is, unless you want me to sleep in the nude and I imagi-…" She faltered as she seen a brief dreamy look pass across his features, then disappear again. "Imagine that would be… MOST dreadful…" Oh dear, he couldn't. Could he? No, of course not, why would he? After all, she WAS 'a disgusting, annoying filthy little mudblood' his words exact, actually. So why would he… desire her? Oh now, she felt herself blushing. She turned from him hopefully before he saw that her cheeks were hot. Thankfully he followed her as she entered the bathroom. Once there, she mentally berated herself. MALFOY. He was Malfoy, the main archenemy to her, and Ron Weasley. He didn't have a heart, was an ass, and most likely of all the sixth years to become a deatheater.

Yet… now he was beginning to seem a bit more… HUMAN to her than before. Perhaps that she had seen a bit of his humor, so seen him sleeping or that she now could feel what he felt… Or perhaps, it was the bruising and all those small and larger scars she had seen when Madame Pompfrey was helping him. That said, it brought her mind back to the scars. How had he received those anyways? Many of them looked like bit marks… Like those one would receive if bitten by a snake. But if that IS what they were, how did he get so MANY of them? She rubbed her temple as the many possibilities ran through her mind, Right now, she would give up on the thoughts, and some things were better not to ponder sometimes.

Draco sat near the bathroom; tense and attempting to figure out her reaction to the way he reacted to what she said. He was too late to hide the desire he felt with that statement and… she blushed? Was it just him, or didn't she hate him profusely? Not that he had made it easy for her to like him, and not that even if she did, he would like her in return. He sighed. Desired, yes. Liked, no, definitely not. She was the most annoying creature in the world, well maybe except for Dobby, but oh, how he would just love to feel her warmth beneath him, sighing as he moved on… Oh hell! Losing it, definitely losing it. He slumped down until his head was practically between his knees. How he was supposed to last for another two and a half weeks like this was beyond him. It would help if she stopped with her infernal teasing. Not that she did it purposefully, he hoped anyways, or that she would ever just 'let him have his way' with her. No emotions involved, no feeling, no care. It would be perfect. It would never happen.

He forced his thoughts to other things. The necklace. He reached to tug the chain and pull out the mysterious pendant that was given him. What kind of liquid was in it anyways? Yet even more mysteries to solve. As he thought about the necklace, something else popped into his mind. Quickly he foraged though the numerous pockets of his cloak and took out a small vile. Slowly a smile spread to his lips as an idea formed itself within his head. Oh yes, perfectly sinful. He quickly returned the vile to his pocket as she returned from the bathroom, unfortunately over dressed. Or should that be fortunately? He stopped her before she headed to her bed, and went into the bath himself. He was taking a shower- a cold one, preferably. After he was done, and his body back under more of a control, he went to bed for the night, as well as Hermione, who couldn't sleep well. In excitement, but also on the fact she couldn't keep her mind off things better not to ponder.

The next morning they went to see Madame Pompfrey once again, who quickly applied the stuff to Draco's back, then went about her own way, as she had a more serious and needy patient than he. TO spite their hatred for each other, they were both excited… privately and to themselves, sort of, about the potion they would take that night. It wasn't everyday one would have the chance to test out and make such a rare and complicated potion without interference, and as they both had an affinity for potions and the like, they naturally, if even subconsciously, were looking forward to finishing it.

Due to this excitement, the day drug on slowly, yet was a blur to them by the time they had reached dinner. They ate quickly, not finishing most of their food before they left the dining hall. They had gone most of the day without a word to one another, and it was when Draco entered their quarters he remembered what it was that he had planned. He reached his hand into his pocket then, thumbing the vile, and pondered how he could ask her to participate in his plan and actually have her agree to do it. "Granger, I have an idea." Well, that was a bloody good way to start, Draco you git. She turned to him quizzically.

"Yes, what is it?" He sighed. Well, it was now, or forever hold his tongue. He pulled out the vile.

"Well, I remembered I…'commandeered' this vile of twice over powder and I was thinking we might be able to use it on this potion." She pursed her brows and he sighed. He knew this would be hard.

"Why?"

"Because we have to endure each other for a full three and a half weeks, I thought maybe with this, that outside of the 'little secrets' we have to tell Lonsiel for us to get credit, will make it worth our while." She looked at him a moment and he expected her to vehemently go against it. School rules and all, as Granger had to be Ms. Perfect all the time. She nodded, finally, and smiled.

"You're right. Just make it something not totally ridiculous, please." He looked at her in shock at first, and then wiped the emotion from his face, though she could probably feel it thanks to that stupid side spell.

"Don't you make it something droll, like 'mo more saying mudblood' or the like. If you agree to that, then it is a deal. Got it?" She nodded and he smirked. "Good. Now then, shall we?" He quickly went to the cauldron that was brewing the potion and trickled in a few grains of the powder. "Ok, it will be twenty four hours before we can do this again. I suggest the more permanent ones first." She nodded, and he forced the grin he was about to don, into a larger smirk. He had thought about this all day, yet the less time she had to think on what she would do, the better. If she didn't think about it, the secret he would have to keep would most likely be one that wouldn't embarrass him at some point in the future.

Though, he couldn't have been more wrong about that assumption. In fact, she HAD been thinking about what she would have done had she the chance to use it in real life, and she had figured out a descent one. At least, she thought it was a good one. Draco took two small goblets and poured the light green substance into them. "Now then, you will need to clear your mind and think solely of what you wish the chosen to strike from their vocabulary. I trust you remember the small incantation." She nodded. "Good. Now then, take it." She took the goblet and winced at the goop. It looked even worse than the last part of the potion. She held it up to him.

"Cheers." He turned his lip up at her in annoyance, then concentrated on what it was that he desired her to keep her mouth shut on, then tipped back, just as she did. Oddly, the potion really didn't have a taste to it, and sent a numbing sensation deep within their throats. Draco and Hermione raised their wands and pointed them at each other. Simultaneously they recited the small incantation, "Verbatim infentato."

Fast as lightning the magic shot forth from their wands and wrapped around each other's throats and a bright flash of bright blue light, and then disappeared. Out of instinct, Hermione cleared her throat, trying to rid herself of the odd numbness that was there, and soon Draco found himself doing the same. He looked up to her then, and noticed that her face seemed to be a bit flushed from excitement. Against his will, his mind wondered if it would look that flushed if he were to… He looked away from her. His face fell at his errant thoughts, and backed away from her, as far as he could go without looking oddly suspicious. "Well, that took care of that." He dared himself a look towards her.

"Not quite yet, it twenty four hours, we need to set the next idea." She frowned.

"Almost forgot." He gasped dramatically.

"Never thought I would see the day that Perfect Mudblood Granger would forget something." She stepped closer to him, and then smiled.

"ALMOST. Don't worry, my reputation for knowing all the answers isn't quite over yet." He felt a lump growing larger within his throat at every step she took that made her closer to him. His desire for her rushed through him with lightning quick speed, and he knew what he should do. Needed to do. Go take a shower. A cold one, and it would be helpful if were also long, very long, and perhaps torturous. Oh yes, that would be nice…

"Don't worry Granger, I'm sure you'll get stumped one of these days."

"I'm sure." She rolled her eyes in sarcasm. Sure, she didn't know plenty of things, she wasn't THAT conceited as to not admit such a thing to herself, though there was no way she would concede such a fact to Malfoy. She watched as he half playfully twitched his eyebrows at her and smiled. Realizing what it was she was doing, she turned away, knowing that she was again blushing in his presence.

Oh Merlin! What was she doing? Flirting with him? Him, of all the people that she could flirt with, why did she have to flirt with him? Then again, whom COULD she flirt with really? Not like she was interested in anyone else anyways… Then why flirt with Malfoy? Because he was bloody hot, that was why. And she had lived with him for a week. And she was loosing her mind. Besides, it was not all that long ago he seemed to find her suggestion of going without any clothes on a bit too appealing. Lately it seemed, she probably wouldn't mind HIM saying the same. Oh dear, she was staring to grow tense with all of this.

She needed a shower – no wait, a bath. A nice, long, hot bath and sooth all of her muscles, and perhaps her mind. She grabbed her things, as she was well within the distance, and then headed for the bathroom. "As it seems we are done for now, I am going to go and take a shower."

"What?! No, I was going to go and take a shower!" Oops, she forgot to say bath instead of shower. Oh well, he could wait, she was going to get her long hot bath, and he wasn't going to stop her.

"Then wait your turn, I claimed it first." He grumbled under his breath. Insufferable wench.

"Fine, I'll take one when you are done. Just don't take TOO long." She better not take too long… Otherwise he would burst. He knew he would.

"Good, see you in a few minutes." He watched her enter the room with a halfhearted smirk lying on his features. Soon, minutes passed, then a half hour, and torturously, an hour rolled by. By now, Draco's desire and need were so great he was almost shaking. He wasn't about to relieve himself of it either. Net here in the middle of the room, it would be indecent. Besides, his luck, she would come out while he was doing it, and then what would he say? 'Oh sorry, just relieving myself from the intense desire to screw you senseless'? No, that would NOT be a good thing.

As even more minutes trudged by, he took Neville's remembrall and tossed up in the air over, and over, and over again, for lack of anything better to do. After a while of this, and his frustrations that would not ebb, and his heady needs so high, he tossed it, breaking it loudly upon the wall. After a moment, the door to the bathroom =Finally= slammed open with a scantily clad Hermione peeping out.

"What happened?"

Now Draco was just too angry to notice her attire. "What in the bloody hell took you so long, MUDBLOOD? I have been waiting for well over an hour for you to be done!"

Her eyes grew wide. She hadn't meant to take THAT long… "Oh… I…" She bit her lip, and Draco felt the hot pressure starting to rise within his lower abdomen… Oh hell… "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to take so long. Just that I decided instead on a bath and well… I fell asleep. And-" She rattled on. Her voice. It was annoying. So feminine, and seductive. SO seductive, so damned innocently seductive… He couldn't hear her words anymore; they were melding in together to form a hypnotic sound that he didn't need to hear. He needed her to stop.

"Shut up!" His voice had become musky, though still angry and forceful. Unfortunately for him, it started her into a whole new droll that was most likely a new wave of apologies, though he couldn't really tell. He didn't really care. No, he NEEDED her to shut up if he valued anything of what was left of his sanity. He grabbed his wand and quickly pointed it at her; before she could realize what was happening he shouted, "IMMOBULUS!"

He had only witnessed the spell in his second year when she had used it on pixies, and it definitely shut them up, so why not kill two birds with one stone, as they say? He only hoped it worked on people as well… And worked it did. Her mouth was dropped open in mid word, and having it stuck that way ended in a sensuous display he had not intended. As he looked to her, he finally noticed that in her haste to see what was wrong outside the bathroom, she had forgotten to put on her robes, and could see her very feminine form underneath her off white silken nightgown.

He forced himself to back up to the end of the border. He needed to get away, and fast. Ignoring the commands he was screaming out within his mind, his eyes refused to leave Hermione's form, as if drunken from the very sight of her in her most revealing outfit she had ever worn. The animalistic desire for her rose within him like wildfire, and started to shake, violently, trying to hold onto whatever control he had left over his body. It hurt, intensely hurt, not to do anything… But he had to detain himself… He must…

The small thin strap to Hermione's silken nightgown fell softly off of her shoulder, and the desire rose undeniably from his abdomen. There was no stopping I now, and the fact she couldn't fight back, or say anything to help bring him to his senses, ensured that he would unfortunately be successful. The strap tumbled a bit further down her shoulder.

Damn it… He could feel the miniscule string of what was left of his self control break, and knew for certain there was no turning back when he felt his hand lift up to touch the silky smooth texture of the shoulder he strap had fallen from, though he didn't remember when he had come close enough to do such a thing. Oh Merlin… He wanted… He needed… He slowly pushed his body to her unmoving one, half groaning from the pain of the pressure in his abdomen, adding to the excitement of it all, feeling the waves of desire and need rush through him. As he felt himself fumbling with the bottom hem of her nightgown, he knew only one thing was for certain now.

For him, it was now truly, the beginning of the end.

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A/N: Wheeze, wheeze, wheeze… FINALLY! I AM DONE TYPING! Jumps for joy this thing is over twice as long as chapter 6, and is over 13,000 words long… oy

Well, there is chapter 7. Sorry that it took so long, but I hope it is long enough to make up for the time thing… And there it is, the beginning of the lemon… MWAHAHAHAHA! I promised you all I would get to the beginning of it in chapter 7, so darn it all, I did it.

Sorry if I have any typos in here, I proofread some, but the sucker is too bloody long to completely do it all right now... So for that I apologize. I love reviews, so please, please post them! :)