Chapter Eight:: Mistaken Identity

Hermione marched up to Malfoy who was in a crowd of Ravenclaws. He stood out due to Velkan's tall frame and midnight hair.

"You can't say something like that and just leave," Hermione hissed when she was within his earshot.

The Ravenclaws stopped chattering and focussed all their attention to her. Some of them looked confused but most of them look bemused. There were one or two who looked slightly uncomfortable and fearful. Oh right, she'd forgotten she looked like Malfoy.

"And I thought no-one would ever leave you, Malfoy," said a squared-faced Ravenclaw, whom Hermione did not the name of. She immediately disliked him.

"There are exceptions I'm willing to make," Hermione said stiffly, imitating Malfoy's voice to perfection. "You included."

Despite how Ravenclaws were supposed to be the smartest clan in the school, almost all of them looked confused as if she was speaking in another language. Mafloy excluded. He was smirking and if the two of them didn't have a mutual feeling of dislike, she was sure he looked slightly proud.

"There's no need to hassle my fellow friends," Malfoy said smoothly. He nodded at the Ravenclaws, before leading the two of them to a more secluded area.

He then cocked his side and peered at Hermione amusingly.

"I know how annoying 'I-told-you-so' can be but since pleasing you is not one of my wishes, I told you so," Malfoy said smugly. "Can't stay away from me, can you?"

Hermione let out a breath of frustration.

"You can't just leave when there are so many things unexplained!" she huffed. "If you didn't come up with the proposition of a dare, there would be no reason for me to talk to you anyway! So now that I decided to call it off, there's no need for me to talk to you any longer!"

Malfoy's eyebrows were shooting higher and higher with each passing word.

"Of course it's your call," he drawled and it might have been her imagination but he looked slightly crestfallen. "But look at the time."

Hermione immediately whipped her head to the right and saw that there were only twenty more minutes until the class ended. How did time pass so quickly?

"You enchanted the clocks to display the wrong time!" she accused, slightly panicking. How could she identify two more students in that time?

"Did you forget that Snape warned how wands were not needed for this lesson?" Malfoy smirked.

Hermione glared at him.

"Fine, tell Snape who I am!" she hissed. "I'd rather not get Credit points than go on a date with you!"

Malfoy chuckled, the sight and sound mesmerising due to 'Velkan's' features.

"Too bad we couldn't use Veritaserum this lesson," Malfoy mused. "You're so serious; a date would've lightened you up. Just know this: I always get what I want."

Hermione looked at him incredulously.

"And what do you want in this case?" she scoffed.

Malfoy's eyes glittered mysteriously.

"You'll find out eventually," he replied in that smooth voice that did not quell her curiosity. "Excuse me but I have to speak to the teachers."

Hermione reframed from making a sound as Malfoy once again parted from her and made his way to Snape and Slughorn.

She knew it would be considered some sort of cheating if she took up Malfoy's preposition just so she could earn Credit points. It would be the easy way out. Well, perhaps not if she had to endure some sort of 'date' with Malfoy.

But it was too late to change her mind now. Malfoy was animatedly whispering to Snape, who had raised his black eyes to focus on her. There was triumph in those black eyes as if he hadn't wanted her to succeed.

"Are we supposed to be admiring Velkan?"

Hermione turned to the side to see 'Harry' but she remembered it was actually Luna, one of the few and first she had correctly identified.

"Just don't let him know," Hermione murmured, unable to tear her eyes away from him. Malfoy seemed to glance over at her position every now and then and Hermione shot disgusted looks in his direction. He didn't have to know her thoughts mostly consumed of him during the whole lesson.

"Velkan is such a nice boy," Luna mused. "He's always helping anyone who asks for help."

Hermione shifted uncomfortably on her foot. Luna was her friend and she respected her. Could Luna possibly have feelings for Velkan? Luna didn't often spoke fondly of other males and it was rare that one of them would capture her attention.

"Poor Draco though, he is portraying – " Luna suddenly cut off with a frown on her face.

"What about Dra – me?" Hermione hastily covered her tracks. As soon as she heard Malfoy's name, her attention was fixed on Luna and she craved to hear what her friend was going to say. If she thought Luna liking Velkan made her feel uncomfortable, the thought of Luna liking Draco Malfoy was intolerable.

Something Hermione wasn't sure she wanted to understand.

"Hmm," Luna said with a frown. "I think the teachers must have cast some sort of charm to prevent me from saying what I've discovered: who each person really is. Such a shame. I guess Velkan can't help people in this case…"

Hermione blinked at Luna. 'Harry' did look kind of funny and cute when he looked confused. Most the time, her best friend looked blank.

But was what Luna was saying true? No student can tell another student who each person really was?

She might as well try the theory.

"Draco Malfoy is – "

Immediately, Hermione's tongue dried and stuck to the roof of her mouth. For a second she thought she would suffocate as air failed to leave her mouth. A second later, she felt as though she was thrown into ice-cold water before she regained mobility of her tongue.

Hermione was not stupid enough to try something like that again.

Luna was watching Hermione amusingly and she giggled. Giggles did not suit the physical appearance of Harry. In fact, it made him resemble a little toddler girl.

"Potter's blushing in front of Malfoy? Oh dear."

It was kind of ridiculous that Hermione can now identify Velkan's voice and Malfoy's tone. She tried to ignore how she felt an immediate thrill knowing he was in close proximity.

"Look who's following whom now," Hermione shot back. Malfoy smirked.

"Today's lesson was rather interesting," Luna ranted on, oblivious to the tension rising between Hermione and Malfoy. "To be honest, I thought the lesson would be rather difficult when I read the note. But it was tremendously easy. I suppose most people here would suffer in the face of the Dark Arts."

Despite how Luna was Hermione's friend, she still had difficulties understanding her most of the time.

"No need to look so confused, Malfoy," Malfoy said silkily. "What Potter means is that he has identified most, if not all, the students here. If he can, surely the Dark Lord can."

Well, if someone put it like that, it would be rather easier to understand.

"I thought we concluded that this lesson would not change how the two us normally interact," Hermione shot back.

"No, no," Malfoy said shaking his head. "This lesson will change how we interact. I believe we'll be talking to each other a lot more."

"Because you keep following me for no apparent reason so I have no choice but to talk to you. When you accuse me of following you, it's because you leave me confused and only you know what on earth you're talking about!"

"I have a message for you," Malfoy said softly. For some reason, she was intrigued by the shape of his lips. Velkan's lips, she had to remind herself. It was getting rather confusing distinguishing between who he really was. She knew it was Malfoy but she had a feeling it was Malfoy's personality that enhanced Velkan's admirable physical features.

"What?" She found herself whispering and hearing her use Malfoy's voice coming out so soft and alluring made her shiver.

"Ding-dong," Malfoy whispered back.

"What…?" Hermione asked, once again confused.

But then there was the shrill alarm indicating that their lesson was over. Snape seemed to tower over them, black eyes gleaming menacingly.

"Back behind the curtains," Snape ordered curtly.

Malfoy gave her a soft smile. It was strange, Hermione had never seen Malfoy give a 'soft' smile and due to him using Velkan's features, she wondered whether that counted.

"See you on the other side, Granger."