Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine. I did not create them, I am only taking advantage of pre-established fictional characters in order to write a decent story.

___

She sighed, closing the Standard Book of Spells, grade 7. She knew them all by heart now. And she wanted more. She still felt unequipped as a witch.

Her gaze strayed again to the Restricted Section. It would be easy enough...

But no, she really shouldn't. What would Harry and Ron think if they knew she was reading up on dark magic?

She smiled, bitterly. Like they would really care. Who were they to talk about breaking the rules? And would they really stop to think about her if they wanted to learn about something illegal?

She gave a half-hearted laugh. Like they ever wanted to learn anything aside from Quidditch.

****

Hours later, Hermione was curled up as comfortably as she could be on the cold stone floors of the Restricted Section, tucked just far enough behind some shelves to be hidden from the aisle leading into it.

She had already memorized half of Spells for Power and had just begun taking notes on An Idiots Guide to Dark Magic. She paused, thoughtfully nibbling on the end of her quill. These really weren't so bad. What, exactly, was the problem? What was the Ministry's problem?

She sighed and rubbed her eyes. It was probably well past curfew, and now was not the time to begin questioning everything she had been taught since her entry into the wizarding world.

After carefully replacing the books surrounding her hiding spot and tucking her notes and quill into her bag, she headed down the aisle towards the red rope, wand ready.

She heard the footsteps around the corner too late. Before she could retreat, Draco Malfoy rounded the corner.


"Well well well. What, may I ask, is little miss mudblood doing in the Restricted Section at two o'clock in the morning?"

Her stomach churned and her eyes flashed as her mind raced across all of the spells she had learned tonight. It would be so easy...

She smiled. "Why... Draco Malfoy! Just the wizard I wanted to see."

***
Minutes later, Hermione was whispering a rushed "Flibbergibbish" to a drowsy Fat Lady and Draco Malfoy was planted in the middle of the Restricted Section, muttering a nonstop, in detail explanation of every rule-breaking he had ever committed.

She knew his punishment would come soon. She had escaped the library just before she heard Filch reach it.

She smiled as she slumped against the portrait hole, safely inside the Gryffindor common room. Ah, revenge was sweet.

The sensation at the back of her mind that perhaps it hadn't been wise to use the TattleTale Curse she had just learned on Draco nagged her slightly. She brushed it away, knowing that there was nothing permanently damaging about the curse. She wondered again why it was considered "dark" magic. Why was there even a difference? Magic was magic, right?

"Hermione?"

Ah, blast that voice, filled with fake concern. With a heavy sigh, she turned to Harry, who was quite awake on the couch.

"Oh, hey. What are you doing up?"

"Nightmare. What were you doing out?"

She paused, realizing too late that this would make any excuse seem implausible.

"Just studying. I fell asleep in the invisibility section. I'm still a little disoriented."

That was almost true. She had been almost invisible in the Restricted Section, she was tired and her little Malfoy-hexing had made her a bit disoriented.

Harry gazed at her for a moment, then "...You seemed rushed."

"You would be, too, if you were out hours after curfew." She groaned inwardly. Her voice had been far too harsh. Why did she have to be such a lousy liar?

Since when had she needed to lie to Harry?

Since when had she needed to use dark magic on Malfoy? After all, a simple slap seemed to suffice.

She sighed, pulling herself up from the floor. Harry's silence was making her very uncomfortable. She didn't want to apologize, though. Why should she?

"I'm going to bed. See you at breakfast."

It took several minutes for Harry to nod in response, and by then she had already mounted the steps to her dormitory.

***

Ron had gotten to Harry first.

When he had come in, late as usual, Harry was sitting placidly by the fire.

"Harry?"

"Mmph."

Shaking his head at his friend's brilliant articulation, he mounted the steps to the dormitory and slung Harry's cloak back into his chest. His nighttime rendez vous' had been made so much easier with that cloak.

He couldn't remember why he hadn't used it all along. Something nagged at the back of his mind, like a forgotten dream or the fragment of an interrupted thought, but he couldn't place it.

Briefly, he considered going down to retrieve Harry. He doubted that Harry knew how late it was.

On second thought, Ron's bed looked awfully inviting. And Harry was a big boy; he could take care of himself.

Attempting to ignore the part of his mind that worried about his friend's recent behavior, Ron climbed into bed and went to sleep.

***

Draco Malfoy had never been so angry.

He had, of course, told Dumbledore right away who had performed the curse on him. The following discussion consisted of a series of "Are you sure?"s and "I think perhaps you may have been dreaming"s.

His embarrassing confession had only compounded the Headmaster's distrust. His tales of verbal and magical battles between himself and the trio and his assistance with every one of Lucius' plots to have Dumbledore removed did not help his case in the least.

Dumbledore did not seem angry, however. In the end, he smiled, his eyes twinkling, and ushered Draco out of his office with a lemon drop in hand.

"Don't worry, Mr. Malfoy. I'll speak to Miss Granger and we'll shortly have this all straightened out."

***
Thank god she had taken notes.

With the next morning's hubbub over what had happened to Draco the night before, there was no hope of making it back to the Restricted Section anytime soon.

Throughout a boring Transfiguration lesson on a spell she had mastered last year, she ran the spells she had memorized through her head, to make sure they were still there.

As if she would forget. As if she could forget.

"Miss Granger!"

Hermione snapped out of her thoughts. McGonagall's voice never failed to ground her in reality.

"Um..Yes Professor?"

Well, almost never.

McGonagall did not look pleased. She cleared her throat, pointed to the door and glared at Hermione.

"As I stated before, the Headmaster requests your presence in his office."

Hermione's face was a whole new shade of red as she rose from her seat and stumbled down the aisle, towards the door.

This would not be pleasant.

***

Hermione's retreating figure caught Harry's eye. He wondered absently why she was leaving in the middle of what he had always thought was her favorite class.

Confused, he turned to Ron.

Following a few incessant whispers, Ron sighed and scribbled his reply to Harry's questions.

If you weren't being such an incredible dolt and you had any semblance of an idea about what is going on in your surroundings, you might have noticed that McGonagall sent her to Dumbledore's office.

Harry frowned at the note, then at Ron (who was blatantly ignoring his gaze), then finally at McGonagall. With a sigh and a shake of his head, Harry's thoughts slipped once again to his daydreams.

***
"Miss Granger! I'm so pleased to see you. Lemon drop?"

Hermione smiled, politely refusing Dumbledore's Candy of the Week.

Sobering quickly, the Headmaster motioned Hermione to a chair facing him. "I'm afraid I've summoned you here to face some rather serious charges."

Hermione tried to continue breathing evenly and nodded. "I've heard the rumors, sir."

"May I ask you for your version of last nights events?"

Hermione slowly nodded. With a deep breath, she began the most difficult task of her life. She was about to lie to the Headmaster.

"You see, sir... I was studying in the invisibility section last night, to avoid any interruptions, and I'm afraid I fell asleep in the middle of some particularly difficult History of Magic reading." At this, she paused, closing her eyes. It was easier to lie with her eyes closed. That way it seemed like a daydream. Or something.

This invisibility section excuse was a really great idea.

She opened her eyes.

"When I woke up, it was quite late and I heard noises coming from the Restricted Section. I went to check it out and I found Draco Malfoy. He had a few insults for me, as usual… I decided to leave, realizing it was after curfew, and wanting to avoid any confrontations. I saw him reach for his wand, so I put a full-body bind on him to avoid another incident with my teeth..."

At this, she gave him a weak smile and wondered how plausible this really was.

"When I realized how much trouble I'd be in, I ran. I'm sorry sir... I know I broke several rules last night and I hope you can forgive me. " She paused, trying her best to remain calm. "But I had absolutely nothing to do with - with whatever it is they're all saying I did. I only performed Petrificus Totalus."

And then; "Is it true that he's accusing me of committing dark magic?"

This was much easier than it should have been.

Dumbledore remained quiet for many minutes as he regarded Hermione. Finally, he sighed. "Yes, Miss Granger, I'm afraid that is the case we're dealing with. Thank you for your time. I'll let you return to your classes now. If I have any more questions, I trust you'll be willing to answer them?"

Hermione nodded and smiled weakly before standing and exiting the Headmaster's office. The gargoyle closed behind her and she sighed, almost relieved.

There was no turning back now.

**

Dumbledore removed his spectacles and rubbed his tired eyes, now completely devoid of twinkle.

Something was very wrong here.

If Hermione hadn't performed the curse on Draco, then who had? She admitted to Petrificus Totalus, which would have made him vulnerable for attack, but it certainly didn't make him blind. There was no evidence that a memory charm had been used on him recently. Moreover, Draco was quite convinced that she had used the Tattletale Curse. He even quoted the words she had spoken.

What if Hermione Granger was lying? He knew it wasn't impossible, although it was entirely unlikely. And as much as Dumbledore disliked Lucius, he had never allowed this to affect his opinion of Draco before. He didn't want to believe that Draco was lying… But… Hermione Granger? Performing the Tattletale Curse?

Furthermore, what had Draco Malfoy been doing in the Restricted Section at two o'clock in the morning? Part of him wished he had left the curse on until Draco had confessed to that bit of information. He had no doubt now that it would have proven useful.

He sighed, fingering the vial of Veritaserum Professor Snape had given him at breakfast that morning. He had never resorted to such…drastic measures concerning his students, although the Ministry certainly sanctioned them in the investigation of dark magic, especially in times like these. He was still unwilling to use it on a student.

Nevertheless, dark magic was dark magic. No matter how…insignificant…it seemed. Some one had still interfered with Draco Malfoy's free will. He certainly wouldn't have confessed to every crime he had committed on his own.

The irony of what he was considering suddenly struck Albus. He set the Veritaserum on his desk. He wasn't going to play the role of a hypocrite. He smiled, replacing his spectacles. Perhaps the truth would reveal itself in time.

**

Ron ate quickly and quietly at lunch. There wasn't much point in conversation with either the incompetent daydreaming fool that Harry had lately become or the withdrawn distant stranger that Hermione now embodied.

He wondered if perhaps he should owl Sirius about Harry. Something was definitely wrong here. All Harry cared about was Quidditch. He couldn't focus on anything else. But even at practice he didn't seem focused. It was as if he was constantly half-asleep.

Come to think of it, Ron couldn't honestly say whether or not Harry had slept in the past few weeks. Ron's entire term had consisted of late nights thus far, yet Harry was always awake, at the common room fire, when Ron came in.

He would be there most mornings, as well.

Frustrated cursing brought Ron's attention to the table. Hermione had spilled pumpkin juice down her front.

He didn't think he had ever heard her utter a curse word before.

She was changing too. He couldn't even pinpoint when it had started… Sometime in fifth year, most likely. God, that had been an awful year for their friendship. He hadn't really noticed her distance until the end of the following summer, though. It was then that he noted the lack of correspondence with her cute little Granger seal. It was during their shared Diagon Alley trip that he noticed how utterly… bored… she seemed.

He had, at the time, chalked it up to nerves about the upcoming year, to his and Harry's constant Quidditch talk, to anything but the thought that she was bored with them… or with her life, for that matter.

He watched her solemnly now, as she gathered her books, nodded her goodbye and strolled from the Great Hall. If only he had said something sooner.

It seemed as if the rest of the students were following Hermione's cue… with the exception of one. Sighing heavily, he nudged The-Boy-Who-Never-Paid-Attention. He didn't want to be late to Herbology again.

**

The rest of Hermione's classes moved by very slowly. As fervently as she took notes, the events of the last day refused to leave her. By dinnertime, she was convinced that there had been a hole in every lie she'd told Dumbledore. Her lips twitched into what was almost a smile. She was more upset about holes in her lies than in the fact she had lied to the Headmaster. How ridiculous.

The rumors were growing worse – she had turned Draco's ears inside out – she had used the imperious on him and forced him to do some utterly unspeakable things… The most ludicrous one she'd heard yet was that she had turned Draco's feet into hamsters and forced him to tap-dance… She had a feeling she knew a few sixth years responsible for that one.

She had yet to see Draco.

That was the one comfort the day brought. She really wasn't sure how she could defend herself against him. He, for one, knew she was lying.

"Done ruining my life, you filthy mudblood?"

How awkward.

Slowly, Hermione turned around to face the sneering Draco as a few frightened first years rushed by in the otherwise empty hall. Great. Perfect chance for him to kill me.

Oh, but he can't, not really. I've got so many powerful spells up my sleeve it isn't even funny. She smiled. "Why Draco, I hear you've been spreading the most awful lies about me. Why on earth would I turn your ears inside out?"

She had never seen him so shocked. Catching him off-guard was definite proof of some sort of imbalance in the universe.

"Since when have you taken to calling me Draco, Granger?"

Now it was Hermione's turn to be shocked. When [I]had[/I] she started calling him Draco? There was definitely something wrong with the world. Perhaps it was spinning backwards now. Determined to keep what remained of her cool, she ignored his question. "Why are you spreading such terrible rumors about me?"

Hell, she might as well keep her story the same across the board.

Draco looked as if he was torn between slapping her and vomiting. Thankfully, he did neither. "Granger, I don't want to play games. What you pulled was completely uncalled for and you'll certainly be repaid for it… many times over." He grinned. "But what I really want to know is when a little mudblood like yourself decided to learn some dark magic."

Part of her wanted to slap him. Part of her wished this conversation – no, this day – had never happened.

And part of her wanted to tell him everything.

After all, he'd understand so much more than Harry and Ron. She was sure he'd understand about a thirst for knowledge of the dark arts. And he probably knew so much already – so much that he could teach her.

"Granger! Malfoy! What reasons do you have to loiter in the hallways? Get to your dormitories!"

At McGonagall's reprimand, Hermione was brought back to the present. She mumbled a hurried apology and rushed down the hallway towards Gryffindor Tower. She never looked back to see a very perplexed and irritated Draco Malfoy watching her.

The world was definitely spinning backwards.