Author's Notes: Greetings, Gentle Reader! Congratulations to FriskyHam (giggle) for being the first to figure out the connection! It was, of course, paying off Arnold Yodle. And also medusaasaphoenix, Wopsidaisy, and Hanna28, who figured it out shortly after.

Special thanks to Akasha for putting up with my constant badgering for help and opinion, and as always, Ellae! And Elle, your vote doesn't count because you cheated. You still get a nose scratch though!

And now…on with the chapter! Enjoy!

-Manda.

Changing the Rules

The next day Hermione couldn't help but feel a bit nervous about her and Malfoy's broom closet conversation. She'd sort of…implied that she might want it to be more.

Which was not true. Not even a little bit.

Oh dear. This could be a problem.

But wait! If he thinks I want this to be more…that might actually scare him off. Surely Malfoy isn't looking for a commitment of any sort. There have been plenty of rumors of his conquests. He wouldn't want to give that up.

Reassured, Hermione grinned.

Maybe this was a blessing in disguise.

-------------------------

Meanwhile, Draco was brooding in the Slytherin common room. And wishing he knew more about females.

Did she want it to be more?

Surely not. She'd done nothing to suggest anything but that she wanted him to leave her alone.

Then again, she was a girl. That spoke for itself; girls always did confusing shit like that.

Scowling to himself, Draco got up and schlumped to his dormitory. All this wondering was giving him a headache.

-------------------------

Wednesday, Granger was looking annoyingly chipper and happy. She'd probably been rolling about in the snow with Weasley again.

"Draco, you may want to put that down…" Pansy ventured, reaching over to take the glass he was holding out of his hand gently. He looked at her moodily. "It was about to shatter," she explained slowly.

"Oh. Thanks."

"You're welcome. Any particular reason you're staring at Granger so hard?" she asked conversationally and looking over at the Gryffindor table as well. Granger was sitting with her usual group, all of whom were laughing heartily at something the Weasley girl was saying.

"No," he said hastily, piling bacon onto his plate and tearing into his eggs with venom. Pansy blinked a few times and raised her eyebrows before shaking her head and going back to her own breakfast. She knew better than to try and pry him out of a mood like this.

What in the hell did Granger have to look so happy about anyway? He shot her another angry glance and went back to taking his frustration out on his eggs.

He'd find out, one way or another.

-------------------------

"Oh for Heaven's sake," Granger said, rolling her eyes at Draco as he stepped in front of her. "What are the chances of you leaving me alone until I'm ready to talk to you?"

"Slim to none," her replied drily. She sighed and started to push past him, but he grabbed her arm, spinning her around.

"Let me go!" she said angrily.

"Fine," he replied, taking the book out of her hand and holding it up. She rolled her eyes at his immaturity and swiped for it, but he was too tall.

"Give it back."

"When you're ready to talk to me, I'll give it back."

She sighed in exasperation and glared at him. He merely smirked and swept an arm toward the back corridor he'd come out of.

"After you." She scowled and stomped into it, leaning against the wall and looking at him resentfully.

"What?" she asked moodily.

"What game are you trying to play?" he hissed.

"What on earth are you talking about?"

"Don't you 'what on earth are you talking about' me, Granger. What the hell was that on Monday afternoon?"

"What are you babbling about?" she asked in a bored way.

"Answer the question. What the hell is it that you want?"

"Haven't I made it abundantly clear already?" she asked, straightening again and crossing her arms.

"You'd think so, until that little display on Monday."

"What display?" she asked exasperatedly.

"You implied that you want more. Do you?"

"Of course not!" she exclaimed.

"Then why put it that way?"

"Well…I…what does it matter? It's not as though you want it to be more!" She glared up at him and put her hands on her hips.

Draco spluttered for a few seconds. "Well…of course not, but I can't exactly go around with some Gryffindor pining after me, either, can I?" he cried, throwing his hands up.

"Oh, please," she scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Gryffindors do not pine. And even if we did, it certainly wouldn't be after arrogant big-headed Slytherin prats! Aside from that, let's suspend reality for a moment. If I, Merlin forbid, did want it to be more, what would you do about it? Knowing you as well as I do, I highly doubt you would do anything but ignore or take advantage of it. So, that said, if I did, I shouldn't think it would be a big problem for you."

Draco opened his mouth, then closed it again with a scowl. She was right, of course. He would be taking advantage if she made any sort of indication that she wanted this…whatever it was to be more than an occasional tumble in the library or snogging in a classroom. But now…what the hell was she saying? Draco's head was spinning, trying to weed out the truth.

"What the hell are you saying, Granger?" he asked finally.

She looked up at him as though she almost pitied him for being so thick. "I want this to be over. I want you to leave me the bloody hell alone."

"Why?"

-------------------------

Hermione blinked again, completely caught off guard. Malfoy wasn't the type to care about reasoning. "Well…because!"

"Well, so long as there's a good reason, Granger…" he replied, rolling his eyes.

"I've already told you why!"

"Oh, right. Sleeping, mirrors. That can't be everything though. You must have something more concrete than that. Afraid Potty and the Weasel won't be your friends anymore?" he sneered.

"Well…that's not the only reason!" she replied.

Suddenly, he slammed his hand into the wall just a few inches from the side of her head. She started and gasped, unprepared for such a physical reaction from him. "Then why, Granger? Why?"

"I…well…it's…it's that…" she stammered, wishing he wouldn't look at her that way.

"It's that what?" he asked, lowering his head just a bit to look into her eyes. His own were burning with…something she couldn't quite place. She sucked in a breath.

"Because I'm scared if you must know!" she finally said.

"Scared? Of what? Certainly not me."

"No…it's…well. I don't know," she finished lamely, even though it was the truth. She didn't know whether she was afraid of so much that she couldn't pick a reason, or if it was that she just couldn't think of a reason at all.

"You don't know," he repeated.

"Is there an echo in here? I don't know!" she replied hotly.

"So it's not that you don't want me anymore" It wasn't a question. Hermione's eyes widened, realizing the trap he'd set and that she'd just walked right into. The hint of a smirk played at the corners of Malfoy's mouth, and he raised his eyebrows, as though daring her to deny it. She swallowed, unable to think of anything to say.

Denying it now would only make her look silly; if it was a matter of not wanting him, she would have said it already. But she certainly couldn't confirm that she did either. Whether it was true or not, it wouldn't make the situation any better or easier. And it would leave her stuck where she started out at.

Better silly than stuck.

She raised her chin defiantly. "Yes, that's part of the reason as well."

Malfoy nodded. "All right then. Why not tell me from the beginning, then?"

"I…well, I assumed that went without saying," she replied, laughing lightly, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Ah. Well, if that's the case, I'm sure you won't mind a small…let's call it a test."

"What do you mean? What sort of test?" she asked, even though the rapid increase in heart rate told her what was coming. He stepped closer to her, closing any and all space between them. Before she had a chance to prepare herself, his lips were on hers and his arms were around her.

She returned the kiss with fervor, uncaring at that very moment that he'd just tricked her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself up onto her toes to kiss him deeper as he pressed her back to the wall.

After a few moments they broke apart. "Well, this changes things a bit, I suppose," he stated, letting her go but not stepping back.

"And why's that, Malfoy?" she asked, not meeting his gaze. He sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Look, Granger. There's no point trying to avoid it. As much as we may not like it, we have this ridiculous attraction to each other."

"And?" she asked, a bit warily, for she wasn't sure whether or not so wanted to hear what he was about to say.

"And, I think we may need to just play this thing out."

"And what, exactly, do you mean by that?"

"We're sure to grow sick of each other soon, but until that time, we may as well enjoy what we're doing."

Hermione racked her brain. There had to be a reason this was a bad idea. It certainly wasn't reasonable or logical. But strangely…she couldn't think of a single reason. If they were, of course, careful.

"I suppose you're right," she said finally. "But no one else must ever know."

Malfoy nodded. "Of course not."

"And when we're good and sick of each other, we stop. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

Hermione took a deep breath; she was sure she would regret this later. "All right then. Now what?" she asked.

Malfoy grinned. "Library, Friday at midnight?"

She considered him for a moment, then shrugged one shoulder and smiled slightly. "Okay."

He held her book out. She took it, but he didn't let go right away. Instead, he kissed her again, hard and quick. He pulled back and smirked as he flicked his eyebrows up.

"Till then, Granger." Then he was gone.