The weekend passed in a haze for Sia, who couldn't thank her lucky stars enough for getting out of the mess she had created for herself that day. Ginny had thought she was really cool, hurting Malfoy where he didn't expect it. Hermione was a bit horrified at Sia's actions, but wasn't being too harsh about it as in her eyes, Sia was defending her honour, with that entire 'mudblood' thing mixed up. Sia would have begged to differ if she hadn't wanted to hide the truth so much.
The truth was, it was her attraction to Malfoy plain and simple that had made her kiss him. It was triggered by a whole host of things-her anger and frustration and his being a prat, but the idea had insinuated itself into her mind just because of her physical pull towards him. But she knew she was going to take this particular secret with her to the grave.
As she relived those few moments in her mind, she realized how much she had been enjoying the kiss, and how much she wanted to do that again. Also, how much panicked she had become upon realizing her predicament, and how much important it had been to take some drastic action. And drastic it was, no doubt about it. But while she had made it this time through the skin of her teeth, she doubted she would get as lucky another time. The only thing to do was make sure there was no repeat performance. Involvement with Malfoy in any way was not feasible; there was just too much pride and antagonism mixed up. And then, he was a budding deatheater.
Monday would've passed uneventfully if it hadn't been for two people. One of them was Ron.
Hermione had straightened her hair today on Ginny's insistence. She looked striking, no doubt, but also very un-Hermionish. Just as she and Ginny started on their porridge under the disapproving glare of Sia who still thought hair straightening was a bad idea for Hermione, Ron and Harry came up behind them. Ron whacked Hermione hard on her back, and added brightly, " Budge up, Ginny, I am starving."
Hermione turned a beetroot red, as Ginny looked up from beside her and addressed her brother, absolutely livid. "Ron, you prat, cant you tell your sister and Hermione apart, considering that you have grown up with one, and spent nearly seven years with the other!" She said waspishly.
Now it was Ron's turn to resemble a beetroot. As Harry laughed and Sia sniggered into her porridge, Ron began sputtering and stammering to a steaming Hermione.
"I am so sorry…Its just…you know, Hermione…your hair…I mean, its different…I thought Ginny had colored her hair…she does silly things all the time, you know…I didn't mean no offence…I swear…"
Even as Ginny glared at him with a what-do-you-mean-Ginny-does-silly-things look, Hermione got up regally from her seat and spoke with a quiet restraint, "Its quite alright, Ronald. I don't blame you in the slightest. Anyone can make that mistake, I'm sure. It was just a silly idea of Ginny's." And at that, she sent Ginny a look cold enough to make Malfoy proud. Sia raised her eyebrows at Ginny, and she looked slightly abashed.
Hermione by now had started picking up her bag and seemed to have abandoned her barely touched breakfast. She flung her bag on her shoulder, sent a fake cheery, "See you later" at them, and departed with a dignity only she could've managed. Sia rather thought she saw the hint of a tear in her eyes as she had turned, and was reminded rather harshly of her own commitment to the 'Ron-Won Project', and how badly it seemed to be taking shape. And with her recent escapades, it had totally gone off the track, not to mention out of her mind. And there was only one person to blame for it-Malfoy.
As Sia sent a death glare at the Slytherin table towards the one person she thought most deserved it, she found him totally engrossed with something that Pansy was telling him. It only served to irk her more. What does he see in her, for Merlin's sake? She must be awesome at blowjobs, that has to be the only plausible reason, she thought, and smirked at the idea. Just then, Malfoy looked up and his gaze collided with hers. Sia's smirk widened and as she was reminded irresistibly of how he had stepped back like a scaredy-cat after getting his tongue bitten off, she actually smiled. She fully expected him to scowl or look away, and was taken aback when he smiled back. It was a naughty, knowing kind of smile, and it spread on his face slowly…enveloping her in its warmth. Sia tingled all over just looking at him smiling like that; it made him look very boyishly cute and irresistible. And then he winked at her, and became the second reason to make the day eventful.
As they worked at their respective tables in Potions, Sia pondered over what Malfoy's smile and wink could've meant. Technically, the last round had belonged to her, so he should be really pissed off. Which means, he shouldn't really be smiling at her, or if at all, it should've been a tight, ugly sort of smile. Or he could have come up with some truly ignoble plan in response, but then it should've been a smirk, or a sinister or twisted smile. But it wasn't any of those…it was a mischievous smile, as though he knew some secret about her, and that wink suggested they were co-conspirators in something. Of course he knew a secret about her…but he hadn't smiled like that at the quidditch pitch that day when the secret was fresh in his mind. And there was nothing under the sun that would get them together to be co-conspirators…except that kiss.
Sia's mind went cold as she came to realize what his smile and wink could've meant. He knew. He knew that all that had happened that day between them, including their war of words, was just a façade. He knew she had kissed him because she had wanted to. He knew she had bitten his tongue later just to save face. He knew it was all just a big sham to cover up her…alright, her lust for him. He would know, wouldn't he…she had been behaving like some star-struck teenybopper around him…melting at his smiles, going weak at his nearness. And there was that kiss. He would know how involved she was, how much she was enjoying herself. That was the reason…and she had thought he had looked cute! Oh, the horror of it! And she had thought it was a secret she could carry to her grave; well, the grave was here, and all she had to do was jump into it after having dug it up herself.
Sia closed her eyes tightly for a few seconds, and tried to steady her breathing. In, out. In, out. In, out, she repeated to herself like a mantra till her breathing eased up.
She had to do something to make it appear like she wasn't interested…she just had to. How could she face him otherwise! Now that she felt better, and certainly sharper than she normally did when faced with extreme emotions, she forced herself to think. As she looked around, her gaze settled on Hermione, who had tied her hair behind her to make it less conspicuous. She looked definitely downcast, and Sia guessed she might've been crying to herself. And directly opposite her, standing on Slytherin side, was Malfoy, as afflicted with the Can't-see-Granger disease as ever. Time to kill two birds with one stone, and prescribe Shock Therapy to her patient.
She looked around quickly to cause some distraction, and saw Snape bullying Neville who was today thankfully standing some way further from her. She looked at the potion bubbling in her cauldron thoughtfully…a pinch of dried powdered bat wings more should do the trick at this stage. She surreptitiously took out her wand, and carefully levitated some bat wing powder into Millicent Bulstrode's cauldron, who was busy batting her eyelashes at an uninterested and thoroughly irritated Zabini. Instantly, a lot of smoke started issuing from her cauldron that also caused everyone who inhaled it to sneeze. Sia held her breath, looking at Hermione with intense concentration for the right moment…she didn't want to sneeze just yet, and she didn't want to miss the moment when Hermione did.
At precisely the moment Hermione sneezed, Sia sent a spell at her causing her drab cloak to open from the front and for the top three buttons of her shirt to come undone. She also made the scarf tied to her hair to fly away. Right at that time, Snape was waving his own wand at Bulstrode's cauldron, clearing the air and causing all the sneezing to immediately stop. Sia saw one of the buttons from Hermione's shirt lying on the ground…she must have been a bit over-enthusiastic with her spell. She aimed a spell cautiously at it, causing it to fly straight at Malfoy and hit him squarely on his forehead as he bent down to peer into his cauldron.
Draco immediately looked up, raising his hand to rub his forehead where the button had hit him…but it never got there. Instead, it remained suspended rather comically in midair as he froze at the sight before him.
Granger was standing there, working at her potion with full concentration. But she looked so…hot. Her hair was different…but it wasn't that. It was her cleavage that had got his attention. He couldn't believe what she was doing. She was no Raisingh…but here she was, doing exactly that! And looking like a million galleons too! He could see her sensible bra shielding her assets from his eyes. He could never have imagined Granger to be carrying that under her uninspiring clothes. All he wanted to do right now was push her against a wall and tear off her shirt and that wisp of a cloth and make her moan in ecstasy.
Hermione felt the heat of Malfoy's gaze on her and looked up to find him staring at her, frozen in shock. Well, maybe Ginny's idea did have some merit to it, she thought. But then, as she saw his gaze fixed at her breasts and looked down, she nearly cried out with mortification. She immediately grabbed at her cloak and buttoned it up hurriedly, fumbling a little in embarrassment and turning a bright shade of magenta. She didn't know how it had happened…but she was surprised she hadn't already died of humiliation. And now she so wanted to die.
Meanwhile Pansy, who was standing right next to Draco, had stopped sneezing and had looked up at him ruefully, only to find him still as a statue with his hand frozen in midair. As her gaze followed his, she found Hermione showing a great deal of her assets, and then fumbling to cover herself up. Her mouth opened into an 'O' of amazement at what she saw. Before she could analyze what had happened, she saw Sia looking at Hermione and Draco almost adoringly, as though they were her favorite children. And then she saw Sia clasp her hands as though in a silent thanks to heavens for granting her most fervent wish. Then Sia suddenly looked at Pansy, and smiled dreamily, gesturing towards Draco and Hermione with her eyes, as though to ask; don't they make a cute couple?
Pansy was suddenly blinded with rage and jealousy; she forgot where they were, she forgot that Draco and Hermione had on principle loathed each other since forever. All that she saw was the mudblood trying to snare her Draco by displaying her charms so blatantly, and Draco falling for it. And by the looks of Sia, something had been going on between them for sometime…they shared a dormitory, after all. Who knows what they have been up to…!
Pansy could bear to think no more. She would show them who Draco belonged to! She would remind Draco why he had liked her so much! She knew a lot many girls had come and gone in Draco's life…but hadn't she remained a constant factor! But those girls had only been good for a few rolls in the hay, and Draco had always returned to her. But she instinctively knew that the Gryffindor was different…she was no roll-in-the-hay material. Either she was up to something, or she had really fallen for Draco. Her Draco. She would show them, she seethed with blazing anger.
Sia watched Pansy boiling with rage with growing amusement. She had noticed Pansy looking, and had attracted her attention with some rather melodramatic movements. Luckily, Pansy was so distracted that it had worked. She waited for the angry Slytherin to do something drastic, and was not disappointed.
Pansy suddenly launched herself at Draco, who had not yet managed to put his eyes back in completely, and was caught off-guard. As Pansy pulled his head to her, leaning into him, trying to kiss him belligerently, he lost his balance and fell back with an almighty crash, taking Pansy with him. The whole class, that had miraculously failed to notice the entire affair so far, looked around, as did Snape.
Snape turned at the sound to find his prodigy on the floor sprawled on his back, with his supposed girlfriend on top of him, glued to his lips. For a moment he couldn't believe it. Draco wouldn't do this…not here. He had an idea that Draco got up to a lot many things…but certainly not in a class…his class! As Snape's eyebrows disappeared in his greasy hair, the class erupted around him. Even the Slytherins were laughing; they were never really given a chance to laugh at Mr. High and Mighty Malfoy.
"Silence!" Snape's cold voice rang out in the dungeon, and immediately all noise of mirth ceased as though a switch had been turned off. He fixed the pair on the floor with his cold gaze, and remained silent as he saw Pansy struggling to get up, red faced and mortified. Once she had managed it, she quickly moved behind her desk, her eyes downcast on her flaming face.
Draco got up after her, still dazed and confused as to exactly what had happened. He met Snape's black orbs and felt heat and color steal up his cheeks. He had never been subjected to this look from Snape before, ever. It was full of disbelief, disappointment, and a cold anger.
He walked sedately back to his desk, his face impassive, none of the conflicting emotions going through within him showing on his face. He walked behind his desk and turned to look at Snape, eyes lowered to a point on his collar. Snape walked up to them, and spoke in clipped tones he had never used before with Draco, "Detention, both of you. For every night this week." Draco looked up and saw that Snape was addressing him, as though he held him solely responsible for the entire episode. It was so unfair that he wanted to protest, but took one look at Snape's expression and desisted.
After that, Draco could not look up from his cauldron the entire remaining period, but neither could he concentrate on his potion. He was burning inside with humiliation, seething with an anger that had started like a small flame and was now sneakily spreading throughout his body, rapidly building up into a conflagration. He could feel the amused and mocking eyes of his classmates on him, feel their ridicule, and it drove him mad. Nobody laughed at a Malfoy, and nobody ridiculed Draco Malfoy. And the worst part was it was not his fault in any way.
As the full realization of the last thought hit him, he stole a glance at Hermione, and saw her looking determinedly into her cauldron with a red face. The anger that was bubbling in him against her subsided a little to find her uneasy with the entire situation. Maybe she wasn't at fault…maybe it was an accident. It was then that he saw Sia.
Sia was standing behind her desk, her eyes streaming with tears that ran down her cheeks. Before Draco could delude himself into thinking she was sad at his plight, however, he saw her shaking with mirth at the same time. She was crying because she couldn't give vent to her overwhelming amusement. The bitch, Draco suddenly thought viciously. He was ready to bet she had something to do with it all, although exactly what he couldn't really imagine; after all, it had been Granger and Pansy who had done everything between them. Damn them all, he raged silently.
Thankfully, the bell rang just then, and under the malevolent eyes of Snape, everybody packed their bags and tried to depart quietly while trying to catch Draco's eyes at the same time. Draco, however, did not look up again, and tried to take as long a time as possible.
The class was nearly empty when a pair of footsteps stopped beside him, and he looked up, instantly regretting it. Sia bent down beside him, and came up with something in her hand. She opened her palm to show him what it was- a button- and walked away, smiling innocently. It was then that it occurred to Draco exactly what she might have done.
Draco hurried along the corridor, trying to find Zabini. Crabbe had told him this was where he had come. Then he saw him up ahead, charming a pretty Ravenclaw with curly hair. She had actually let him curl a strand of her hair around one index finger, while his other hand was sneaking towards her shoulders. For a moment, Draco wondered how he himself had failed to notice the girl earlier…she was rather pretty. But then, his book had been a little full last year, so he mightn't have found the time. And this year…well, he had been just plain busy, hadn't he!
As Draco walked towards them, he saw Zabini pull the girl towards him and start to kiss her passionately. Doesn't believe in wasting time, this guy, Draco thought wryly. But then his thoughts returned to his purpose, and his amusement was replaced with cold fury.
"Blaise!" Draco called rather loudly, considering it was a very quiet corridor, full of only couples who had their mouths too full to speak. A few couples broke apart at the sudden disturbance, but Zabini seemed oblivious.
"Blaise!" Draco was even louder this time, and nearly upon them. He saw the girl fidget, and more couples broke apart around them.
Finally, Zabini surfaced, wearing a most annoyed look on his face as he contemplated Draco. "What?" he asked rudely.
Draco caught him by his hand and pulled him away instead of answering. "Hey!" Zabini protested. Draco, however, continued to pull him along till they were out of the love lane, Zabini looking over his shoulder rather longingly.
"Look, mate, if you can't do better than Pansy, it doesn't mean none of us can. I was just getting warmed up, you know…" Zabini started complaining the moment they stopped, but Draco cut across him.
"Are you still serious about that bet concerning Raisingh?" he asked with barely suppressed anger.
"Wha…Rai….yeah…I guess so. But so what?" Zabini was nonplussed.
"So", Draco moved closer to him till they were nearly nose to nose, "Its on."
A/N: Angry, angry Draco, naughty naughty Sia, and poor, poor Hermione! :-) Hope all of you are having wonderful holidays. Wish you all a very Happy New Year in advance.