A/N: I AM BACK AND JUST WANT TO SAY THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR KIND WORDS. I genuinely believe they helped me pull through. You are all so amazing. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter... It's a lot and you can blame 'Rona brain for that, haha. I hope you all are doing well!

Last chapter synopsis: Lucius faces several boggarts. Hermione's birthday. Hermione pitches S.P.E.W. to Harry and Ron. Theo makes a scene by publicly reading a Skeeter article and Draco gets turned into a Ferret. Draco and Hermione kiss, but Draco also confesses to knowing about the World Cup.

Certo is Italian for certainly.

Non fare di una mosca un elefante is Italian for "don't make elephants out of mice."


Draco rubbed his eyes, refusing to open them as he tried to imagine the fingers running through his hair belonged to the one witch who still refused to talk to him, even a month after he made the worst confession of his life in the privacy of the string music room.

"What's wrong today?" Pansy hardly looked up from whatever novella had caught her fancy this week when Draco threw himself on to the couch where she was sitting and through his head in her lap. It had almost become routine over the course of the month. Pansy had decided to make what she had decided to be her last shot at Draco, a half-arsed one this year. She kept her distance and dialed down her clingy behavior a lot and it seemed to have worked. Last month on September 19th, she had been in a similar position on the couch when he had approached her. Draco hadn't exactly thrown himself into her lap then, but when he collapsed on to the cushions by her side and Pansy saw the mix of emotions on his face, she dared to ask him what was wrong.

"What's wrong, Draco?" She noisily flipped to the next page before looking down at him from the corner of her eye. He looked nonplussed at her question and she snapped, something she had never done to the Slytherin blonde before. "What?"

"You didn't call me 'Drakey.'"

Pansy corrected her relaxed posture, not expecting the direct call out of her actions from another Slytherin. "Yes, well, you've told me several times not to call you that and I like to think I've started to mature over the Summer." Pansy told herself she would stop the shenanigans over the holiday – and not just in regards to Draco. She was tired of putting on most of the acts she thought she needed to live by. She wanted to maintain the unassuming air, but felt it was time she became a lady. Daphne apparently had the same idea over the Summer and both girls were keeping an eye on each other, making sure that they didn't slip in public.

"Thank Merlin for that." He muttered, but not low enough that Pansy could not hear him.

Pansy placed her book in her lap, her thumb securing the page she was on as she glared at him. "If you're not going to tell me what's wrong, get off my couch. You've taken up far too much space."

There was a glint in Draco's eye after the initial surprise of her not treating him as she usually did, before he quickly laid down. With the growth over the holiday, he had to place his head on her lap as his feet dangled off the arm of the antique furniture. "What about now?"

She rolled her eyes and lightly scoffed before looking at the entrance to the girls dormitory. There was only one person she wished would act this way with her and they were tucked beneath the covers of their four-poster bed, sound asleep after rejecting Pansy's confession earlier that day. "I'm happy to see you've recovered enough to make my life miserable instead." The deadpanned joke left neither of them laughing and soon she was trying to get up so she could retire to her sleeping quarters. The only reason why she was only up so late in the common room was to avoid facing her crush a second time after she had been rejected.

"Wait, don't go." Draco put more pressure on his head as he looked up at her, a silent plea for her to sit a little longer. "I like your hair, by the way."

Mum and Papa would be thrilled if they could see him now, she remarked with a frown. Using the re-opened book as a barrier between her and Draco's face, she replied. "Blaise calls it the 'bisexual bob.'"

There was silence for a moment before Draco asked, in a quiet and hesitant voice she would have never believed he had the humility to portray if she had not felt the vibrations of his voice through the thigh he occupied: "Is it an accurate name, then?"

Pansy moved her book to the side, eyes wide, but brows pinched as she tried to discern what Draco's motives were before she answered. "Yes."

Due to her honesty, a genuine friendship had been struck up that night. She and Daphne weren't the only ones who were putting their best foot forward to change, there was also Draco. In the spirit of making confessions that night in the Slytherin common room, Draco informed Pansy that he was actually having a rough time with coming to terms with who his parents were – something she herself could relate to.

"I received another letter from father." Draco opened his eyes then. As much as he wanted to pretend Pansy was Hermione, he couldn't. Not even the pattern she stroked his hair in was the same. He hated that Hermione still refused to talk to him, even a month later.

"Oh, did you reply to his last letter?" Her voice implied she was disinterested, but he knew better.

"No." He answered immediately, a light shake of his head as if to say 'why would you even ask that?'

Her fingers stopped and she lifted her hand of its place in his hair to lay it on the back of the couch cushions. "Draco -"

"No, he can piss off." Draco shot up and Pansy held in a sigh, already used to the hearing the angry tirade Draco would be entering in mere moments. A tirade that was almost immediately followed by guilt. "He wants me to be this perfect, miniature version of him. What if I don't like him?" Draco had gotten up entirely to pace in front of the coldest wall of the dungeon – the one that held the view of the black lake. "Lucius Malfoy is a bastard. He doesn't deserve the title of 'father' and I am tired of bending to his every will. He's horrible to me -"

Pansy ignored Draco as she opened up the letter Lucius had sent. Her lips moved as she focused on the words on the fine, heavy parchment, before she interrupted Draco's rant. "He sounds like my father."

She heard the pause in his step, right before he snatched the parchment out of her hands. "I didn't say you could read that - Don't look through my things."

Pansy could see she crossed a line, but while she still had yet to grow any romantic feelings for him, that didn't mean she didn't spend the last couple of years caring for him. The tears she shed with his fight with Crabbe and Goyle last year were in fact genuine. "You refuse to tell me why you hate your father so much, and I thought I could find some answer in his writing. You can't expect me to listen to you complain about your home life and never give me details, Draco. How am I supposed to help if you don't open up to me?"

Draco huffed. I wouldn't have to tell Hermione, but then again, opening up to the witch is what hurt me. He felt sadness wash over him. I suppose that was my fault. He sat there in his own thoughts before he was pulled out by the guilt he felt after talking negatively about his parents. My father fed me, bathed me and clothed me. I shouldn't speak bad about him. Maybe I am just like my father already. Cold, willing to betray those closest to him... "I'm just being an ungrateful brat, there's nothing for me to complain about."

Pansy didn't believe his mumbling, not one bit of it. When he entered his temporary 'regret stage', as she had come to dub it, he never made eye contact with her and clammed up even more. She noticed it wasn't the usual confidence he portrayed for others at all and while she recognized there was usually a slight personality change once a Slytherin dared to call someone a friend, this was a much larger shift than 'slight.'

"Draco..." Pansy stood and approached him. She took a leap of faith that she hoped would not ruin how far they had come as friends. "How bad is it when you're home? Does your father hit you or something?"

"No, don't be stupid." He rebuffed. Panic started to fill him. I can't tell her. I can't tell anyone. She might say something and he'll start hitting me again. Maybe mother won't stop him because I would have embarrassed the family and if Hermione noticed – Draco thought about last Christmas when she saw Lucius punch him. She was beside herself with concern over his safety and all he did was push her away so he could hurt her. "Honestly, Pansy. I'm just being dramatic." He waved his hand at the notion. "We should head to bed, we have Defense Against the Dark Arts and Double Potions tomorrow with the Gryffindors. I want to be well rested for our verbal sparing matches."

He didn't wait to hear her reply as he retired for the night and she didn't chase after him, although she did watch him disappear in the boys dormitory.

"You still down here, Pans?" Pansy whipped her head around to see Millicent Bulstrode standing in the doorway of the staircase to the girls dorm, trying and failing to stifle a yawn.

Pansy ran a hand through her bob, making sure it looked as perfect as the day she had it cut. "I was just heading up." She flashed a smile and started to walk towards the stairs, ignoring the fluttering in her chest as the thought that her friend cared enough to check in on her.


Hermione wanted to say she couldn't believe that it took her almost a month to be able to corner Ginny to talk to her, but being that she had been hit with a Bat-Boogey hex every week she had tried beforehand would have been too obvious of evidence to overlook. "Please don't hex me and let me explain."

Maybe it was because Ginny had just woken up, or maybe it was because Ginny had secretly missed Hermione, but the younger Gryffindor didn't reach for her wand. "Fine." Hermione glanced around the third year dorms, making sure they were in fact alone before she took several steps closer to Ginny, but she was far enough away to leave a respectable enough distance between them. "I thought you were my friend, Hermione. You were the first person I told -" Ginny's voice broke and she had to clear her voice to continue. "You were the first person I told about Harry and now you're trying to steal Luna from me, too."

Horrified, Hermione's mouth fell open. "What, no! I don't actually fancy Harry and I asked Luna to invite you every time we made plans to meet in the library!"

"I heard you tell Parvati and Lavender you fancied him, though."

"Yes, and that was because they were badgering me on who I had a crush on. I just wanted them to stop and Lavender fancies Ron so I couldn't say that I had a thing for him instead."

Ginny watched Hermione for a moment, considering what Hermione was saying. Ginny rubbed her nose with the back of her hand and then her eyes to rid herself of unshed tears. "Then who do you fancy?"

Hermione gave pause before she said anything. Luna warned her that Ginny, who was still plagued with the fears the Chambers of Secrets would instill in any eleven year old would not react well to hearing Hermione and Draco were friends. Hermione couldn't imagine that Ginny would react well to hearing her best friend fancied the son of the man who nearly had her indirectly killed. Oh, what does it matter anyway. Ginny is right to think that Draco is a prat. "It doesn't matter." Hermione didn't stop the bitter look that appeared on her face. "He doesn't want me, and honestly, I rather not have him." This was what she was telling herself as of late. She refused to let herself miss Draco, despite Dr. Augsen saying it would be impossible to not shut down such strong feelings.

Hearing Ginny's indignant scoff brought her out of the rabbit hole of anger she was beginning to fall down. "Just tell me who it is!"

Hermione shook her head. "It doesn't matter. It wouldn't work out and -"

"Do you honestly expect me to just forgive you when you know almost everything about me, yet you won't even trust me enough to know who you fancy?" Ginny's eyes were bright again, but this time it was with fire instead of tears. "You and Ron always treat me like some stupid kid that needs protecting and that's not true!" Ginny threw her pillow at Hermione who caught it and held it before her as if it was a shield. "If you were really my friend you would just tell me who it is!"

At this, Hermione peered over the edge of the pillow and threw it back at Ginny. There was a lot less force than Ginny had thrown it with as she didn't throw it to hurt Ginny, but it still left the red head in shock. "I don't owe you anything more than the explanation I just gave! If you don't want to believe me -" Hermione stopped herself from saying what she was going to say next. Speaking out of anger always leads to regret, her father would say. "Then fine! I'll be here when you're done acting like a child." With that, Hermione stopped out of the dorms and started down the stairs to go to breakfast. She was already in uniform as she had planned to visit Ginny in her dorms before leaving Gryffindor tower.

When she reached the common room, to her immediate right, she saw Angelina Johnson twisting the individual strands of hair on Lee Jordan's head. Hermione had never seen anything like it before and stopped at the foot of the stairs to watch Angelina work.

"Can I help you?" Lee Jordan's eyes flicked over Hermione, a look of mild annoyance on his face. It caught Hermione off guard as he was nearly considered to be the jovial, unofficial Weasley triplet.

"Jordan, be nice." Angelina said with a smile, but Hermione thought Angelina was more amused with the small scene rather than anything else. "It's rude to stare, Hermione."

"Sorry, Angelina." She did mean it. Hermione wasn't ignorant enough to ask if she could touch his hair or ask how he keeps it clean, but seeing a new technique in maintaining hair caused questions to form in her mind. "I had never seen Lee get his hair done is all." Hermione was aware of the tension that started to settle between her and Jordan. Her eyes settled on the growth of hair that Angelina was re-twisting after she dipped her fingers into several different concoctions. "Is it a hairstyle meant to protect your hair?"

Jordan was surprised to hear that Hermione wasn't inquiring about his locs from a completely ignorant place and his demeanor shifted from defensive to hesitant. "It is." It wasn't the friendly demeanor she and the rest of Gryffindor was accustomed to, but she took it as a sign that he wasn't going to tell her to shove off any time soon. "It keeps the scalp moisturized without putting much stress on it."

I see. Hermione wrapped a finger around one of the curls that landed over her shoulder. She had been looking for new ways to maintain her own hair as it was still bothersome, despite Narcissa's help with it. She tried to imagine how she would look with her hair done like Lee's, but couldn't imagine it. "What about braids that are done close to the scalp? Putting my hair up everyday is a bit of a hassle-"

Whatever progress she thought she was making with Jordan vanished. "Do you want your hair to fall out?"

Hermione didn't know what to say to that and instead touched the bobble that held her hair in its pony tail in fear of his threat.

Angelina shook her head at them. "What he means is Locs and Cornrows are protective hairstyles for our natural hair. While you may have curly hair, it's not..." Angelina rotated her wrist in a circle several times to think of the word she needed. Hermione didn't dare open her mouth, realizing that she shouldn't have contributed to the conversation in the first place.

"Nappy? Or should we use the 'correct' word 'kinky'?" Jordan offered with an eye roll that Angelina unknowingly mimicked.

"Yeah, that word." Angelina re-twisted one of his locs as she continued to educate Hermione. "Listen, I know you well enough that you're probably just curious about something you're not familiar with. I'm going to have to tell you to read a book on what little of our history wasn't destroyed by colonizers because it really should be well-known information."

Hermione sheepishly nodded her head, feeling like she had been properly scolded. I should know better. I reckon I sounded like a Pure-blood first year asking questions about what color a Muggle-born's blood really is.

"And if you're having trouble with your curls, stop washing them everyday, stop brushing your hair when it's wet and use a wide tooth brush. It'll also help to keep it long and let the weight of your hair stretch out your curls." Hermione nodded once more at Angelina and rushed out of the portrait hole, much like a dog would if they had their tail between their legs.


Professor Snape stood with the tips of his fingers pressed against the top of the table he was standing in front of. Draco looked up at his godfather, a silent plea in his eyes that he let him go, but Snape's black eyes offered no mercy.

As the bell rung, signaling the end of the school-day, Draco sat in his seat and watched his classmates leave – specifically he watched her leave. Hermione didn't spare him a glance until she was nearly out the doorway, and once their eyes landed on each other, she immediately looked away. Draco sighed and crossed his arms over his chest as he looked up at the Potions Master.

"Mr. Malfoy," even in an empty classroom, Snape refused to drop his insipid persona. "You've been distracted lately."

Draco waited before he started talking again, hoping that his godfather would continue, but Snape was only waiting for Draco to speak so he could interrupt him. "Sir, -"

"Does it have anything to do with why you will not reply to your father's letters?"

Draco's pale blonde eyebrows drew together. "He asked you to check on me?"

"In so many words, he said he was concerned about you." Snape tilted his head to the side. "But you have yet to answer my question."

Draco inhaled deeply through his nose. It was either confess the real reason that Draco was distracted in potions, or he started talking about his familial issues. Neither were appetizing to him in the least. "I had a falling out with a friend."

"It wouldn't happen to be Miss Granger, would it?" Snape raised an eyebrow and gave a slight purse to his lips when Draco gave a quick nod. "Yes, her concentration slipped around the same time yours did." Snape returned to the seat at his desk, picking up a quill as he did so. "Next class, I'll be changing partners around so you and Miss Granger can sort out whatever spat you two are having."

Draco gathered his things and stood thinking that Snape was done, but instead of leaving, he walked to the edge of the desk where his professor sat. "I don't think that's necessary, sir. She doesn't want anything to do with me. I'd rather just give her the space instead of forcing her to talk to me."

"I didn't ask what she wanted, nor did I ask what you want." Snape didn't lift his head as he jot down whatever he had intended to write in the first place, but he did allow his eye sight to land on Draco between the strands of his greasy hair cut. "What I want is for two of the best students in your year to make-up so I may have adequate potions in my stock again without having to brew them myself."

Snape's message was loud and clear, but so was Hermione's. The relationship went past ignoring each other, they were now having open rows in class and in the hallways again. Draco tried not to say anything too harmful, but he couldn't say the same for Hermione. There were even times when she looked at him like he was nothing more than a roach that was crawling around for shelter from her shoe. "What if I said that we're no longer on good terms because of something I said?" Talking to Professors, even if it was his Head of House was not something Draco typically did, but he felt he was in limbo with Hermione. Along with the looks of utter disdain she gave him, he also caught her giving him looks that looked a lot like longing in his eyes. Blaise is the only one Draco had confided in, but he didn't offer any advice like Draco had expected him to. "What if I have to choose between... What I was raised to believe and her? And what if I already made my decision, but it's not what she wants and she hates me for it?"

Snape's full attention was on Draco now. Draco could feel there was a change in the empty potions room, but he was unable to pin point what it was. Snape had actually been the one to teach Draco how to use his natural ability for occulemency, so it was not a surprise that he was just as stone faced as Narcissa could be. "Have you considered apologizing?" Snape was careful as he spoke, the situation that Draco spoke of was all too familiar to him. "Perhaps that's all she really wants."

Draco bit the inside of his lip. He knew Hermione. An apology over something that big was not going to cut it and Draco blamed his inability to verify what should be done next on his parents. His father would try to bribe her and his mother would somehow manipulate her feelings or use magic in to being forgiven. Now that Draco was at Hogwarts where he could take a step back and assess the situation at hand, he didn't want to be anything less than honest with Hermione. "Perhaps," he finally agreed.

Snape didn't need to use legilimency to know Draco was only agreeing with him to end the conversation. For the first time in a long time, Snape felt uneasy. The day he first crossed a line with Lily came to the forefront of his mind and he knew that he could not leave their discussion at that. He was old enough now to realize that their relationship did not fall apart in a single moment, rather it crumbled in a collection of events he caused before he realized that he was in too deep with a crowd who only wanted to see him fail. "Whatever the circumstances are, if she cares for you as much as you do for her – which seems to be so considering her quality of work as differed without any signs of improvement – then the relationship is still salvageable." Snape looked down at the unfinished letter to Lucius he was working on. "You may leave."

"Yes, Professor."

It wasn't until the door behind Draco had closed that Snape allowed his lips to purse once more in thought, wondering if his advice may have been too strong for the conflict Hermione and Draco were dealing with.


Harry and Ron were currently staring at Hermione with wide eyes and open mouths.

"Hermione, you can't be serious." Harry eventually said with a quick shake of his head.

"It's obvious she is! She brought us down here, didn't she?" Ron waved an arm to motion to the kitchen they were currently standing in, one that was busy with house elves, just like Fred and George had promised.

"Drugging the entire house though?" Harry asked as they looked at the tables in the kitchen. The room was beneath the Great Hall and had tables in the exact same area the house and staff table was positioned in. Hermione learned by asking the elves in her second trip to the kitchens that they placed the food on these tables around meal times so they would appear on the table on the Great Hall tables when it was time for their meals to be served. It wasn't long after mentioning the magicked tables that a new plan to get revenge on Nott had hatched.

"Not the entire house." She held up the vial of the potion she suggested slipping into the Slytherin cups. "It's potent and while Slytherin house is the smallest, I hardly believe this vial would be enough for the entire -"

"Where did you get that?" Ron's voice cracked and his blue eyes glanced from Hermione to the corked vial at a sharp speed.

"What is that?" Harry asked, not liking he was being left in the dark. "And what did Malfoy do that has you wanting payback?" Harry had a glint in his eye that meant he was ready to fight.

"Yeah, we can just catch him in the hallways, 'Mione. I don't think we should take out half of his ruddy house just for him. Even if they deserve it." The last part was mumbled and earned Ron a look from Harry that implied he wasn't helping.

Hermione frowned at the rapid fire questions. She had anticipated that the conversation would go this way, but she still was put out by it.

It had taken her a couple weeks to decide if she was going to let Harry and Ron in on her plan of revenge, but she decided that they would be more cross with her when they found out she had been the mastermind behind her plan, but kept them in the dark. "It wasn't Malfoy. I'm mad at several people from that house."

"But you are mad at him?" Hermione bristled under Harry's direct questioning. "You've been different lately and he stares at you in class."

"He does not stare at me." Hermione crossed her arms, even as she felt the familiar flutter of butterflies within her. He's a horrible person, whom I should not have feelings for! It shouldn't matter that he lets himself get distracted in class by me.

Harry let out a breath that sounded suspiciously close to a scoff. "Uh, yeah. He does. It's sort of creepy."

Hermione rolled her eyes. Ron tried to say something, but she cut him off knowing she would quickly loose control of the conversation if she allowed him to derail them anymore. "It's Nott I'm mostly after." Hermione clasped her hands in front of her and stared at the space between the two of them. It was hard talking about the Summer – specifically what had happened to her, but she told herself that not only would it have her plan run smoother if they knew, she also told herself they deserved to know. She trusted them with her life and they would want to know she had been in danger in the first place. "He tampered with... He tampered with the calming draught he gave me. I knew I shouldn't have drank it, but I did, not knowing it was altered."

"Why did you take it in the first place?" Ron blurted out the question and her gaze fell to the ground.

"Because I wanted to forget." Admitting that there is a problem is the first step to finding the solution to said problem. Hermione remined herself of this, trying to fight off how shameful she felt. Never before had she felt so small before Harry and Ron. She was supposed to be the mature one, the level-headed older sister they needed at worst, but a third parental figure at best.

At least that's what she held herself to.

"I can understand that." Harry admitted, and she looked up. It was then she realized that she had anticipated being scolded by them for indulging in, what was essentially, a drug. She was elated that Harry did not try to reprimand her. "What happened afterwards?"

A shiver ran through her as Hermione recalled the visions that quickly turned into something out of a horror film. "It was horrible. I saw the Basilisk and – and I saw him. The man who murdered my parents." Her mouth felt dry saying those words. She made eye contact with Harry and she knew that he was remembering having to confess something similar to Hermione last year when the dementors came to the conclusion that Harry was open season. Reliving your parent's murder wasn't something that should be possible, but in the magical world they were introduced to at the age of eleven, they quickly learned a numerous amount of things were possible that shouldn't have been.

Harry nodded as his eyes focused on a crack in the orange non-slip tiles and Hermione looked up at Ron's face. He had yet to react to her admission and she found herself eager for his acceptance, too. Wasn't Arthur against me being prescribed calming draught in the first place? Ron is bound to have the same opinion.

Ron obviously didn't know what to do with himself, and she could practically hear the internal conflict he was having on what he should say. In the end, he settled on letting Harry handle anything that concerned her parents. "I can see why you want revenge." Feeling safe with his answer, he lifted his head as the anger she had felt became his own. "You say you're not Ginny, and I get that, but you're still vulnerable, Hermione. I don't trust their lot and this is exactly why."

She cringed at his words, but decided it was best to avoid an argument at this time. "So you're going to help me?"

Ron looked over at Harry who reassured him with a nod that they were on the same page. "It's no bouncing ferret, but it should be fun."

She almost slipped then and was about to lecture Ron about how rude it was to refer to Draco as such, but then she remembered that they were not friends. She didn't need to defend him and somehow, that left her feeling sad. She mentally shook herself of the feeling and lifted her chin as she looked at her best friends. "So the plan then."

Hermione felt sick as she made her way to back to the main corridor that would lead her to the Great Hall. Her anxiety left her in a bundle of nerves so intense that she could feel her palms tingle. Harry and Ron were still in the kitchens, administering a drop to as many cups as they could on the Slytherin table.

To be specific, Harry was adding a drop to as many goblets as possible while Ron distracted the other house elves. Hermione was surprised to find that she was not a nervous wreck due to the fact she was doing something that was going to earn her detention, but that Harry and Ron were going to be caught before she could enact on the second part of her plan – or technically Ron's plan.

Usually she found the fact that he was a better strategist than she was to be an annoyance, as she was used to being the one who knew best, but when he suggested a much more simple plan than what she was originally going to try, she nearly knocked him over with the force of her hug, before she called him brilliant. Ron turned a bright shade of pink before he turned around to start a distraction.

Hermione took a deep and calming breath, effectively soft resetting her emotions before she walked into the corridor. When she did, she nearly collided with Blaise and Draco, who were leisurely making their way to the Great Hall for dinner. "Oh!" Hermione jumped back and the large wooden door slammed behind her.

"Hermione." Draco said her name softly and Blaise nodded in greeting.

I wonder if he told Blaise about what happened. Her eyes narrowed as her anger at Draco returned to her. Probably not. He's just feel of secrets, I'm sure. "Malfoy." She made sure she pronounced every vowel and consonant perfectly, ensuring he was aware of where he stood in her eyes. She then turned to Blaise with a bright smile. "Hello, Blaise. It's nice to see you."

"You know the pleasure is all mine, Cheshire ."

Hermione paused. "I'm sorry, did you call me 'Cheshire'? As in the Cheshire cat from Alice, Through the Looking Glass?"

"Certo." Blaise was pleased she caught on and his posture became more relaxed as he shifted towards her, a move that translated as flirtatious.

"Isn't that a muggle book?" Hermione was delighted to hear that another wizard her age, especially one from Slytherin as they were known to rebuke anything having to do with non-magical humans, was interested in muggle work when they weren't muggleborn.

If Hermione hadn't been paying such close attention to Blaise, she wouldn't have caught the twitch in his smile. "I haven't told you too much about my mother, have I?" Hermione wrinkled her nose at the memory of Mrs. Zabini. "Perhaps I'll need to make time to change the impression she left you with." He winked at her and Draco threw his head back before he cut in.

"Blaise's mom is the best, Hermione, you'll love to hear all about her and her love for all things muggle." Draco looked at Blaise when he said the last word. A warning he needed to back off of Hermione before he confirmed Ron's accusation she murdered muggles for their money. It didn't matter that Blaise wasn't interested in women, but it hurt to see him interact so freely with her.

Blaise glanced over at Draco, acknowledging what was unspoken and decided to move the conversation along. "'Cheshire', because when I see you grin, I know you have something up your sleeve." Blaise's smile was back to his full wattage as he crossed his arms, a knowing look on his face. "Which makes me wonder why you were in the hallway you were just in. You're not a Hufflepuff or a prefect, so I find it difficult to come up with a reason on why you were down there when Gryffindor's are often found in much higher places." Blaise wiggled his fingers against his arm towards the direction of a staircase where she saw that Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan had just appeared, walking hand in hand.

The sight of the couple caused her stomach to drop. "Oh, what a cock-up." Hermione said to herself before a hand flew to cover her mouth. Draco was jealous of her finger tips and nearly groaned as he was aware his feelings for her were getting out of hand.

"Sorry?" Blaise looked at her with a confused expression and Draco was utterly surprised at her language.

"Don't drink anything off the Slytherin table today, Blaise." Hermione looked at him with so much intensity, she thought she would be able to cast LegimensI easily. I can't believe I forgot about Blaise! He would be cross with me for outing him like that.

"What do you mean by that?" Draco cut in, suddenly alarmed at what Hermione was warning Blaise and not him of.

"Promise me you won't." Hermione's eyebrows came together with her plead as she laced her fingers together as if she was about to beg. "I can't - you'll see, but do not drink anything."

Blaise only had time to let his smile falter as the door behind her burst open again, revealing a disheveled Ron and Harry. "Oof, sorry! - Hermione!" Ron sounded slightly exasperated even though he was the one who hit her with the door.

"All clear, then." Hermione grabbed the sleeve of Ron and Harry's robes to drag them away from the two Slytherin boys. Being as they were already her friends, they would automatically be put under suspicion after Hermione played her part and a confrontation with Draco and Blaise would not help their case either. Neither Draco nor Blaise tried to stop them, and Hermione held her breath as she silently hoped Harry and Ron wouldn't say anything to them as she pulled them towards the Great Hall.

Once she was past the large double doors and in public view of the whole school, she let out her breath before releasing her grip on her friends. "Hermione." Harry quickened his pace to match hers and Ron did the same to flank her on the opposite side Harry was on. "What did I just put in their drink?"

Her cheeks burned and she suddenly felt an itch to glance at Professor Snape. She regretted it the second she did. He was watching them cross the room from his seat at the staff table, a look of utter disdain on his face. "It's Veritaserum. You should really learn to ask questions when someone asks you to do something, Harry. Even if it's me."

"I did and you didn't tell me when I asked." Harry replied, but it didn't sound like he was really taking her advice to heart anyway. They parted ways for a brief second so Harry and Ron could sit with their backs to Slytherin, and she sat facing them. Once Hermione was seated, she immediately looked for Draco and Blaise. The warning she gave Blaise seemed to have shaken Draco into not eating, but Blaise gave no hesitation as he stack food on his plate.

"Veritaserum forces the drinker to tell the truth, right?" Hermione nodded at Ron eagerly, grateful to have a distraction. "I remember Moody said it was closely related to the Imperius curse and that skilled Occlumens can fight the effects." Hermione wrinkled her nose, but nodded. Moody had decided that they needed to do an in depth study of the illegal curses and everything related. Usually Hermione would have enjoyed a curriculum structured this way, but it seemed to only drag out the talk of the illegal curses longer than was comfortable. "Where did you get it?"

"I brewed it, obviously. It only takes a single lunar phase to complete." Hermione willed herself not to break eye contact with her friend. A lie was much more simple than the entire back story she would have to give if she told them that Lucius gave her the potion with the intent that she take it. She watched as Marcus Flint sat several seats down from Draco, right next to Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle. That would would be perfect if Harry had drugged all of the goblets in that area. "Harry, did you put the potion in the section I told you to?"

Harry and Ron exchanged a look before Ron broke out into a grin. "I told Harry to place it in the pitchers. Turns out we targeted the entire house anyway."

Hermione looked down at her plate in utter disbelief. "Why didn't I think of that?" Suddenly, she was embarrassed by her initial idea of using Harry's invisibility cloak to check where the Slytherins were sitting, before sneaking back into the kitchens to drug their goblets as they ate to make sure she targeted the right students. It would have taken too much time and the house elves would have been less likely to be distracted once supper was served. "The potion would mix in perfectly." Hermione nodded her head to the side as she calculated the suggested dosing ratio. The potion that Lucius gave me was altered, but Veritaserum is so powerful that the altered properties of it being easier to resist would have expired by now, reverting it back to its pure state. Hermione watched with eager eyes as the Slytherins passed around the pitcher and filled their goblets to the brim. none of them the wiser about what was to happen. Her eyes flicked over to Blaise and Draco. She noticed that their eyes bounced around their table, waiting for something to happen, and Draco's shoulders pulled a little higher than usual. He was on guard and she found herself starting to wonder what he would confess to under the potion. "Did you use all of it?" Harry swallowed his bite of turkey leg in his mouth while started to dig in his robes to return the vial to her. "Under the table."

It took several tries, but eventually Hermione was able to coordinate retrieving the vial from Harry's out stretched hand. She tried to look inconspicuous as they did it, but when she was bent forward to the point her chin was touching the table, she knew she only looked ridiculous - especially if the weird look she was getting from Draco was anything to go by. When she felt the warm glass back in her hand, she slipped it into her robe pocket, but not before verifying that it was completely empty. Perfect. The rest was now on her. It was the only part of the plan they did not figure out how to alter so the three of them would get off scott free.

Hermione withdrew her wand to roll it between her hand and her thigh to help calm her nerves. The only thing she tried to stomach was a dinner roll as she watched the Slytherin table eat, drink and laugh their way through the meal. For the first time since she and Draco had their blow out in the music room, her eyes didn't repeatedly wander over to his strong, and fine profile. Instead, she was keeping track of who drank from what the elves served them; Crabbe, Bulstrode, Parkinson... Flint! Yes! Hermione felt a spark fly out of her wand due to her excitement at seeing he drank from the laced pitchers. Goyle, of course - oh, the Greengrass'. Hermione made a face. That's unfortunate, they're rather polite, but she felt no real remorse as she suspected most of the innocent Slytherins to have rather mundane and childish secrets. Sitting between them was Nott, and she watched him drink from his goblet and refill it before she thought it was time to move on to the next part of her plan.

Waiting around was hardly an option though. Whether Hermione was ready or not. She noticed that several of the Slytherins were looking at each other in alarm – no doubt saying something they had not meant to say before the person or group of housemates they were talking to would laugh, or worse, yell at them. It was now or wait until hexes started to fly.

Don't be nervous. This is like any other competition or recital you had when you were a child, Hermione. She stood from her seat, although there really was no point as she pointed her wand at her neck and cast sonorus on herself. "Hey Slytherins," The voice of her voice reverberating off the walls of the castle silenced everyone. She wouldn't have doubted she could have heard a pin drop from across the room if one was dropped over by the staff's table. "Why don't you tell me your most well-kept secrets, one by one?"

Before Hermione could lift her wand from her neck, the potion had already gone into effect with Graham Montague, a fifth year chaser for the Slytherin Quidditch team, yelled his secret for everyone to hear: "I still sleep with a stuffie!" Hermione couldn't help the cheshire grin that appeared on her face as she watched her plan fall into place. Veritaserum forced the questioned person to answer the inquirer's question directly – even if that person was seated across the room.

A first year Slytherin was next to belt out a secret, "I'm a half blood!" There was a chorus of other Slytherins repeating that particular secret and Hermione's grin dimmed a little. I hope their house won't hold it against them. She felt the early inklings of guilt within her as she remembered how she lectured Professor Lupin in front of her classmates on thinking a practical lesson involving a boggart was a good idea. It is possible that Blaise isn't the only with a innocent secret he would want hidden.

"I want everyone to call me Maximilian!" The formerly named Millicent Bulstrode proclaimed, and Hermione winced. Oh, no!

Then, to most of Gryffindor's amusement, Pansy sounded off with a "I fancy Maximilian!" She then stood and bolted from the Great Hall, both hands covering her mouth as snickers sounded off from several tables in the Great Hall. Maximilian immediately followed, looking scared out of his wits about what was happening with his house.

Slytherins were breaking their shock and started to bolt from the Great Hall, rushing to leave before they confessed something they did not want the entire school to hear. "I'm selling illegal performance drugs to my housemates, and not just the older years like I let others believe!" Marcus Flint looked horrified at his admission and practically ran out of the Great Hall, but not without being closely followed by a Professor Snape.

After a sixth year admitted to regularly skinny dipping in the black lake causing the entire room to share a laugh, Nott finally belted his secret when he was only several steps from the Great Hall's doorway. "I wish my father died instead of my mother!" That wasn't what Hermione had expected at all. She watched him curiously as he pushed his way past several students, grabbing them by the collar to shove them out of the way. The rest of the Slytherin table promptly got up, leaving several plates with food still on it as they tried to get out of the Great Hall.

Despite some of the heavier confessions, the rest of Hogwarts was enjoying the sight of the most hated house panicking while screaming about how they had hexed each other's clothing to be too small or how they had defaced Hogwarts' property somehow. Laughter was almost as loud as the noisy Slytherins in the Great Hall, but Hermione was hardly satisfied with the results she had gotten. She had wanted Nott to confess his knowledge about the World Cup - she thought that surely that had to be a fourteen year old's biggest secret. A small thought at the back of her mind said she was projecting Draco's consciousness on to Nott and she squashed it, despite that she was left feeling mild concern for what was going on in Nott's home life. What did Nott, Sr. do to his son that would have made Nott wish his father was dead?

"Miss Granger," Hermione jumped at Professor McGonagall's harsh voice behind her. While Harry and Ron tried to hide their smiles, Hermione put her shoulders back before looking up at her Head of House. She was ready to face her fate.

"Yes, ma'am?" Hermione made her voice sound as sweet as possible, knowing it would do nothing to help her.

"Follow me, please." Hermione did not hesitate to stand at her Professor's command. "Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley, do not even think about returning to the common room without speaking to me first." The smiles that they were trying to hide immediately died and they cast their gaze down to the food in front of them.

McGonagall started walking and Hermione quickly followed. Instead of leading her out of the Great Hall through, Hermione was brought into a room located to the right of the staff table. She spared a glance to look at the Professors lining the dinner table. All of them were whispering amongst themselves, either unsure of what to do to assist the Slytherins or unsure if they really believed Hermione of all the students had caused the spectacle.

Once the click of the latch was made, ensuring their privacy, Professor McGonagall turned to face Hermione. McGonagall held her disappointed stance, the one where she tilted her head to the side and clasped one wrist in her other hand. "Do you want to explain what I had just witnessed in the Great Hall?"

Hermione reminded herself that there was no way around the repercussions of her actions. Even in her original plan, she knew she would need to practically martyr herself to get the results she sought by publicly asking the Slytherins her question. It gave her little reassurance though as Hermione had always been more concerned with letting down others rather than serving a punishment. "I slipped Veritaserum into the Slytherin's drinks and had them expose a secret."

McGonagall's eyebrows were raised at her honestly, but only slightly. "I gathered that much, Miss Granger. What I want to know is why you did it?"

"I had heard that the student who was distributing the drugs to other students was in Slytherin. I wasn't sure of who it was so I, um, -" Her rehearsals of her confession sounded much better in her head.

"Drugged the entire house?" Hermione's back went rigid at the sound of Snape's voice from behind her. She turned to see he was letting himself into the small room she and McGonagall were in. "Do you have any idea how serious this is? And Veritaserum? Are you not aware of how closely monitored it is by the Ministry? I assure you, if you were in Slytherin, and your fate rested with me -"

"But she is not!" McGonagall cut in, her voice raised from the younger professor attempting to undermine her. "Although I must ask, where did you get such a potion?"

This was the one question that Hermione hoped she wouldn't have to answer. She was aware she was probably capable enough to brew the N.E.W.T.S level potion, but that didn't mean everyone would believe her. Being believed was part of the reason why she worked hard to prove herself constantly. "I brewed it ma'am."

"You brewed Veritaserum?" McGonagall's first question implied that she was in disbelief, but she recovered quickly. "How? Where?"

"In the second floor women's restroom. The ingredients weren't terribly hard to procure."

"Not hard to procure?" Professor Snape drawled, a look of suspicion prominent on his face. "I can assure you that my personal stores are not open to the public."

Hermione eyes cut over to the potions professor. "Then it's a good thing I haven't been in them."

Snape's upper lip curled at her cheek. "And yet, I have been missing Knotgrass from my inventory amongst other ingredients. Have you been brewing polyjuice potions in this bathroom by any chance?"

Hermione's look of confusion was genuine. Is he referring back to Second year? Or is someone genuinely nicking ingredients from him? "Perhaps it would be best to ask Flint if he knows anything, sir."

Snape gave her a once over, but it was McGonagall who spoke next. "Was there something you were needing Severus? I believe I was in the middle of disciplining my student when you barged in."

Hermione looked down at the top of her Mary Janes, not wanting to look at the potion's master when he was being dismissed out of begrudged respect for him.

"No, Minerva."

"Then please leave so I may properly scold Miss Granger without interruption." Snape hesitated, but without another word he left the two women in the room. "While I appreciate your concern over the student body, the faculty and staff here at Hogwarts is more than capable of holding investigations on students who are breaking the rules. It is not your place to get involved in these types of situations and I hope," McGonagall breaking off her sentence in the middle of a scolding caught Hermione off guard. The teen looked at the space between the professor's eyes, still too nervous to make proper eye contact. "I hope causing discord during supper isn't the new way you have decided to cope." Hermione's eyebrows raised at how gentle and pitying the professor sounded. It wasn't anything she or any of the Gryffindor's were used to. Hermione hated it and the fact that McGonagall suspected the scene she made was related to her grief over her parents. "Am I to expect that this type of behavior to be a regular thing from you?"

"No, ma'am." Hermione placed her hands behind her back to hide how hard she was clenching them.

McGonagall nodded her understanding before she approached Hermione. She paused before she pulled Hermione in for a hug. "I – I didn't have a way to step in and adopt you myself. If the Malfoys are mistreating you -"

"They're not." Hermione stepped back and tried to politely remove McGonagall's hands off of her. This is too much. Hermione didn't want to think about the last time she was properly hugged and she most of all didn't want to be treated differently than any other student. "I promise I'm fine, Professor."

Hermione's voice might have been more harsh than she would have regularly used with an authoritative figure, but she was struggling to deal with the overwhelming emotions she was feeling, and hardly had the strength to put a damper on them. Much to her relief, McGonagall returned to her usual attitude, as if the moment of sincerity never happened, minus the slightly wet look her eyes had. "Very well. I will be owling your Healer about your behavior and I will be taking twenty points from Gryffindor. You'll also be serving detention with Professor Snape for a month for embarrassing his house."

Snape? A month? Hermione felt like a deer in headlights as fear of one of the few people who still intimidated her started to seep in. Well, what did I expect? I didn't want to be treated differently, did I? "Understood, Professor."

McGonagall regarded her with one more nod before she waved a hand to the door, where Hermione heard the latch release. "That is all. Please send Potter and Weasley in here on your way out."

"I can't believe she did that." Blaise stared at the floor in disbelief as Draco pulled several dress shirts from his trunk.

"Why not? You saw her with your own eyes, didn't you? She made an entire scene in front of the bloody school, right?!" Draco didn't process he was yelling until he found himself staring at Blaise, chest heaving.

Blaise just looked at Draco with shock, not having it within him to snap back. "What are you doing with those clothes?"

"They're for Millic- Maximilian." Draco slammed the trunk lid down and sat on it, trying to lower his blood pressure before he returned to the common room where half of his house was having a sleep over. Usually, it was the first years who would have massive sleep overs at the beginning of the school's term as the atmosphere and view the black lake provided help lulled them to sleep. The older years learned not to sleep in such open areas. Due to Maximillian's confession however, the wards guarding boys from sneaking into the girls dormitory activated. In solitude of the entire house being humiliated, the girls arranged a sleep over in the common room so Maximilian did not have to sleep alone considering he no longer had a bed. "He's going to need men's clothes, isn't he?"

Blaise pondered his next words carefully. "So you're not giving Maximillian male clothing because you want him on Hermione's side?"

The rage that Draco nearly quelled boiled up in him again. "I CAN'T BELIEVE SHE JUST PUT A TARGET ON HERSELF LIKE THAT!" He stood and kicked his trunk, flinging the neatly folded contents in it all over the floor. "What the hell was she thinking, Blaise?"

"I thought you just said it was believable?" Blaise couldn't help the verbal jab at his friend. Whenever Draco started to throw a tantrum, he found it difficult to take the blonde seriously.

"It is, because she's a Gryffindor! She gets it in her head that justice must be served and she just throws herself into the fray, completely demolishing everything in her path."

Blaise made a noise that said he accepted Draco's reasoning. "That makes her the brawn and the brain of the Golden Trio."

"Makes her a bloody idiot is what it does. I threatened everyone last year, telling them to leave her alone and she pulls this?" Draco pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand. It was something he caught Hermione doing and he was surprised he found it helped center him a little. "They're going to kill her, which of course will leave me to explain to my father – No – My mother what happened to her." Draco threw the clothes he planned on gifting to Maximilian on the bed so he could fold them before presenting the clothes to him. "Maybe I can spin it that she was just setting an example." Draco scoffed. "Or I could say it was done as a warning for anyone who messes with a Malfoy."

"I thought she refused to take the name?"

Draco looked at Blaise. "Did you not just see the havoc she caused? Malfoy levels, I tell you. If she just kept herself from getting caught, I would have sworn it was my mother who caused it."

Blaise's laugh caused a small smile to appear on Draco's face. "Your mother was a Black!"

"Even more fitting then, everyone from that house is bloody insane." Draco said this under his breath so Blaise was unable to hear. He was still livid with what Hermione did, and it was more than the fact that she just caused one fourth of the school to hate her guts, she hurt his housemates. While Draco would admit his house was a bit dysfunctional with how they handled their problems with each other, that did not stop him, or the other older Slytherins from creating a 'tough love' atmosphere. A Slytherin will not go out of their way to help others with their uniform, but they will not allow someone to represent their house with their tie improperly tied. A Slytherin won't offer to tutor others for a subject they may be slacking in, but they'll discreetly correct them if they catch the error. In an odd way, Slytherins stuck together. Draco didn't find it too odd to wrap his head around though, when a little over half the school thinks your lot does nothing but churn out evil wizards, you have to stick together.

That last thought caused Draco to freeze right after he folded the last shirt. "Does Mill – Maximilian I mean, Merlin, that's going to be an adjustment."

"Just continue to correct yourself and we'll all get there. You better apologize if you mess up in front of him, I know you don't like to, but you'd be more than insensitive otherwise." Blaise raised an eyebrow at Draco, but Draco waved it off. He didn't know that Draco was part fae and he had every intention to keep it that way.

"Do you know if Maximilian has any Hufflepuff friends? They'll kill Hermione before any other Slytherin can come up with a way to get away with murder. They're as bad as a Gryffindor when they feel the need to come to someone's defense."

Blaise made a face that made Draco's heart sink. "Gwendoline Hedgeflower."

"Shit." Draco resisted the urge to kick his trunk once more. "That one should have ended up in Gryffindor."

"Non fare di una mosca un elefante. Hermione will need to defend herself and deal with the consequences of her actions. We both know that she's aware of that, so you don't need to protect her. She would probably be more upset with you if you tried."

Draco picked up the now folded shirts and took several steps towards the doorway to deliver the shirts to Maximilian. "The fact that you can speak with the confidence of an old soul, but still say nothing more than nonsensical rubbish is a gift, Blaise."

"Don't worry, the irony that you are the most compassionate self-centered pillock was not lost on me, either." Draco laughed as he descended the stairs, leaving Blaise's booming laughter echoing in their dorm.

When he got to the bottom, he was surprised to see Professor Snape, scolding a puffy faced Maximilian. He wasn't crying anymore, but Pansy was still rubbing circles into his back. "You are not the first transgender person to walk these corridors and you will not be the last, Mr. Bulstrode. The girls dormitory will not allow you to pass through them as the castle will no longer recognize you as a woman with your earlier confession, even if it was unwillingly made. Harry Potter has managed to nearly get himself and others killed every single year, yet no one seems willing to expel him for anything. I dare say your fears of expulsion are highly misplaced. Now, get up so I may complete my duties as your Head of House and show you to your new bed so we may all get some rest."

"B-bed, sir?" Maximilian looked positively frightened and Draco grew annoyed with Hermione once again. He knew it wasn't her intention to target Maximilian, but he should have had the chance to come out at his own time like she allowed Blaise to do.

"There's an extra bed in our dorm now that Flint is due to be expelled." Draco cut in. All heads turned to face him and Draco stepped over Daphne's blankets to hand Maximilian the shirts. "These are for you. At the bottom you'll find The Gentlemen's Book of Etiquette by Cecil Hartley. It's the second edition, but it has everything you'll need to know."

"You've never given me anything, and I've been your friend for four years!" Pansy crossed her arms over her chest and he found himself grateful that she decided to grow up a bit over the Summer.

Draco sneered at Pansy. This is going to be fun. "Gentleman's code, Pans. Us men have to help each other out sometimes."

At his words, Maximilian burst into relieved tears and Snape rolled his eyes, entirely annoyed that he was not returning to his sleeping quarters any time soon.


A/N: Oh, I hope you all enjoyed this! Next update should be on 12/13/20.

Special thanks to Elle Morgan-Black for helping me work out Snape's dialog.