Disclaimer: Don't own any of J.K. Rowling's characters, but Larry is mine, aaaaall mine.

A/N: Again, sorry this took so long. Let me clarify: I am not "IN Junior High School"; I am a "JUNIOR" in High School. As in 11th grade. As in one year left til I graduate. Wooohah! Yeah, okay. Alright. Here's Chapter Five, hope ya like it! Thanks to all who've reviewed!

Chapter Five: Draco Lost In Hermione's Territory

Hermione felt very lonely, even though she was surrounded by all of her friends. The Great Hall was echoing with the chatter of excited students, but Hermione herself was silent. Harry and Ron sat opposite of her and were engrossed in their conversation. Hermione was dismayed to realize that she didn't even care what they were talking about. Over the summer, Harry had stayed at Ron's house, and the two had grown closer than ever. It seemed they had forgotten about Hermione.

            Harry and Ron were still Hermione's friends of course, and they would always stand up on her side. But Hermione found that they just weren't much to talk to anymore.

            It surprised Hermione even more to realize that the only thing she found interesting this year was Draco Malfoy.

No, no, not Malfoy himself; Malfoy's little creature. Yes, that's all.

            Hermione pretended to pick at her food as she let her eyes wander around the hall. Sure enough, there was Draco, discreetly slipping pieces of bread inside his cloak. Hermione watched with growing interest as Draco frowned and pulled the bread back out, uneaten. He then picked up a grape and slipped it inside. That too, came back untouched. Draco was getting frustrated. Hermione noticed that there was a small pile of food next to his plate; everything from carrots to apples to pieces of lettuce. It appeared that the little purple fuzzball was a picky eater.

"'Myknee, what're you grinning at?"

Hermione hadn't even realized that she had been smiling. She let the grin fall off of her face as she turned her glance to Ron. He and Harry had stopped talking and were looking at her curiously.

"What were you looking at?" Harry asked as he turned around in his seat, craning his neck too see across the tables. Ron, who was much taller than Harry, just turned his head around, eying the Slytherin table across the room.

"The Slytherins?" Ron asked in disbelief, "I don't see any Slytherin that would ever make me smile like that." Just then a wide grin broke out on Ron's face. "Well, except Malfoy." Hermione felt a blush start in her cheeks and prayed the boys wouldn't notice.

"M-Malfoy? Why Malfoy" Hermione asked innocently.

"Malfoy the bouncing ferret, of course." Ron answered, his grin becoming more of a smirk. Ron and Harry burst out laughing at the fond memory, while Hermione giggled with relief.

"But really Hermione, what was so funny?" Harry asked.

"Oh,… it was just… Goyle. He had food all over his face. That's all." Hermione struggled to look casual.

"Well that's an every-day thing now, isn't it?" Ron laughed, scraping the last bits of food off of his plate.

"Hey Ron," Harry said, "We've got an hour to kill until we have to put up with Snape."

Ron scowled with disgust, "Ack, Potions. Thanks for reminding me, Harry."

"Yeah, I know. Anyway," Harry continued, "Do you want to go out on the Quidditch field and practice a bit? You're still going to try out for Chaser, aren't you?"

Ron suddenly looked a bit nervous. "Yeah, I am." He sighed resignedly. "All right, let's go. You coming 'Myknee?"

Hermione glanced to the entrance of the Great Hall in time to see Draco leave and turn down the hallway in the opposite direction of the front door. "No," she replied, "You guys go ahead. I'm going to the library, I'll catch up with you in Potions."

"All right," Harry said as he and Ron got up from the table. Ron rolled his eyes and muttered something to the effect that "only Hermione would spend her lunch hour in the library on the first day of school." Hermione smiled at them as they walked away, casually gathering up her book bag.

* * *

            As soon as Hermione walked through the heavy doors to the library she knew there was only one other student in the huge room. The room was as quiet as a tomb. Even the librarian, Madame Pince, was absent from her post near the door. Hermione slowly and silently closed the door behind her. An amusing sight met her eyes.

            Draco Malfoy was standing at the ends of the rows of shelves. He had his back to her, but Hermione knew it was Draco. His long arms hung at the sides of his black cloak. His head was tilted back and the fluffy edges of his platinum hair were skimming across his hood as he turned his head slowly from side to side. He was staring in disbelief at the dozens of rows of shelves that towered before him.

            Hermione watched as Draco's fingers began to play nervously with the edges of his cloak. He sighed audibly and started to walk to his right. He stopped abruptly and changed directions. Then he stopped altogether and leaned over to peer down the long aisle before him.

"Looking for something, Draco?" Hermione giggled.

Draco jumped and whipped around, his cloak billowing around him then wrapping around his knees. His eyes were wide with surprise as he nervously licked his lips.

"Just…" he started, but then gave up and glanced at the floor. With furrowed brow he gazed up at the bookshelves again.

"You look lost, Draco. Here, let me help you." Hermione set her books down on a table and started to walk briskly in Draco's direction. Draco regained his composure and crossed his arms, glaring at her as if to say he didn't need any help.

"Don't look at me like that, I know what you're here for." Draco kept his arms crossed defiantly before him, but his sharp gaze softened a bit and he began to look worried.

"Come on," Hermione said, walking swiftly past Draco, "I want to know what that animal is, too."

Draco stared at her in disbelief and dropped his arms to his sides.

"Come on," Hermione called over her shoulder, "You're in my territory now."

Draco sighed and began to shuffle slowly behind Hermione. Hermione smirked and turned sharply down an aisle, increasing her pace. "You have to keep up!" she called out. Hermione's smile broadened as she heard Draco start to jog behind her, trying to catch up. 

* * *

I can't believe I have to have the Mudblood help me, Draco thought as he struggled to keep up with Hermione. It was no easy task when Hermione kept on quickly turning down different aisles and changing directions. Draco was glad he couldn't see the smirk that he knew was on her face.

            Suddenly Hermione came to a dead stop at the end of one row of shelves and Draco plowed into her from behind.

"Oomph!" Draco said as he quickly tried to pull back and regain his balance. "Sorry," they both muttered quickly.

Draco raised his eyebrows in surprise and shot a glance at Hermione's face. She was frowning and chewing her lip in concentration, oblivious to Draco's slip of politeness. Hermione was squinting at the call numbers and letters scratched on parchment on the end of the bookshelf. "Here," she muttered as she started off down yet another aisle. Draco followed closely behind her. He watched in amusement as Hermione's eyes darted across the dusty volumes as she walked slowly between the shelves.

"You mean to say you don't already know?" Draco asked quietly, a smirk playing across his face.

"Know what?" Hermione asked distractedly.

"What Larry is," Draco replied simply.

Hermione stopped dead in her tracks and turned to face Draco. A smile was tugging at the corners of her mouth. Draco realized his mistake.

"Larry? You named it? You named it… Larry?" The giggles escaped Hermione's throat and her hand shot up to cover her mouth. She was turning red with the effort to keep quiet.

"Well I couldn't just keep calling him 'Fuzzball' now, could I?" Draco asked indignantly.

Hermione's eyes widened and she began to shake with silent laughter.

"You," she managed to gasp out, "You called it 'Fuzzball' too? That's… that's just so cute!" Hermione kept on laughing until she saw the look of shock on Draco's face.

"Cute?!" Draco asked as he stood up straight. "Draco Malfoy is not… cute."

This only made Hermione laugh harder. Her long curly hair shook as she leaned against the bookshelf, struggling to hold her laughter inside. "You…," she said as the laughter began to subside, "You speak about yourself in the third person too."

"Anyway," Hermione said, wiping at her eyes, "I didn't say you were cute, it's just that I had been calling it a fuzzball, too."

"So you really don't know what it is?" Draco asked, glad that the topic of conversation was no longer his cuteness, "I thought you knew everything."

Hermione smiled broadly, and Draco realized that to Hermione's mind that had qualified as a compliment.

"I don't know what 'Larry' is," Hermione replied, letting a half-smile creep onto her face, "but, I know where to look."

Hermione started back down the aisle, her fingers trailing across the books. Draco was shocked to realize that he found this action seductive, and he stumbled backwards a step.

"Come on, Draco," Hermione said over her shoulder without glancing away from the books, "I realize you've never been in the library before, but it's really not a scary place. The books don't bite… well, most of them anyway…"

Draco was grateful that Hermione was so focused on the books that she couldn't see him fiercely blushing. He wished she would stop letting her fingers slide gracefully across the thick volumes. It was such a simple unconscious act, but Draco couldn't pull his gaze away.

Draco let out his breath in a whoosh as Hermione's hand stopped on one heavy book and pulled it from the shelf. Hermione began muttering to herself as she flipped open the book, "Now he's nowhere in our textbook, because I would know if he was." Draco struggled to keep his breathing normal as Hermione slid her slender fingers down the table of contents in the book. To distract himself, Draco searched for the title of the book in Hermione's hands. Her slender hands… Stop it!! Draco found the title: "Magical Creatures of the Mid-Northern Hemisphere".

"Ah," Hermione muttered as she began to flip through the pages. She walked slowly down the aisle and set the heavy volume down on a small table at the end of the shelf. She pulled out one of the two chairs and plopped down. Draco stood awkwardly next to the other chair for a moment before deciding to sit down, too. He gazed at the pages slipping between Hermione's fingers. Draco sighed as her fingers became blessedly still on a page with the words "Small Mammals" in green lettering at the top.

It was only then that Draco remembered Larry. He had been awfully quiet since lunch. Draco reached into his pocket and pulled out the furry creature. Larry wasn't moving at all, but he wasn't sleeping. His bright violet eyes had a droopy look to them, and his little feet hung limply in the air. Draco let out a concerned-sounding "Oh!", which made Hermione glance up from her search.

"Ooooh," she cooed, "the poor little guy looks sick!" Hermione reached for Larry, but Draco was reluctant to let him go. But when Hermione began to slide her fingers through Larry's soft fur, Draco quickly shoved the fuzzball into her hands.

"He… he wouldn't eat anything," Draco said quietly.

"I know, I saw you," Hermione whispered softly as she gazed into Larry's eyes with concern. "Well, if we can find out what he is, we can find out what he eats," She said, handing Larry back to Draco. She went back to flipping through the pages. Draco glanced at the pictures as the pages turned swiftly between Hermione's fingers.

"There!" they both shouted suddenly as the page turned to reveal a picture of a creature just like Larry.

Hermione began to read aloud the script on the page: "'Pidwink. Found mostly in Northern Ireland.'"

"Hey, you came quite a ways, didn't you little buddy?" Draco asked, gazing into Larry's eyes.

Hermione continued: "'The Pidwink is a small, furry purple or green creature with large purple or green eyes and small, tan four-toed feet…' blah, blah, blah. We already know that…. Oh, here: 'Diet: The Pidwink can survive on a diet of Fozwonk leaves, but its favorite meal is owl meat..."

Draco and Hermione gasped. "Owl meat?!" they cried in unison.

 "Draco!" Hermione hissed, "What were you thinking, bringing that into school?! Hogwarts is full of owls!"

"I know!" Draco hissed back, "But I didn't know he would eat owls! He doesn't exactly look harmless!" As if to prove the point, Larry yawned.

"You have to give him over to Dumbledore, Draco," Hermione stated firmly.

"No way! Larry can eat some, Fuzzbonk leaves, or whatever the book said."

Hermione allowed herself to laugh. "Fozwonk leaves. But Draco, those leaves are really rare, and they aren't used in many potions. I know for a fact that Professor Sprout only has three of the plants… oops."

Draco had a broad, toothy grin on his face. Hermione noticed, not for the first time, that Draco's canines looked an awful lot like little fangs.

"Well," Draco said, running his hand over Larry's fur, "we'll just have to, er, borrow some then, won't we?"

"We? What's this 'we' business?" Hermione asked, waving her hands in front of her.

"You're going to help," Draco replied, grinning. He suddenly switched his expression to one of mock-sadness. "You don't want little Larry to die, do you?" Draco was sticking out his lower lip and gazing sadly into Larry's eyes. "Besides, if I have to feed him owls, that white mass of feathers that belongs to Potter is going first."

Hermione shot forward in her chair. "You wouldn't!"

Draco grinned again. "Or perhaps that annoying little thing that flutters around Weasley all the time. What's that stupid name he calls it? Cow?"

Hermione couldn't help but laugh. "Pig," she corrected. She muttered something under her breath, but Draco only caught, "…can't stay mad…".

"Well, I'm going to have to do it tonight, look at him, he's so sick…" Draco rubbed his hand over Larry's head once more and carefully slipped him back into his pocket.

"So, are you going to help me?" Draco asked. Hermione nervously chewed her lip. Draco was surprised that she hadn't flat-out denied him. "Larry's going to die if he doesn't eat, and I don't know what this plant looks like…"

Hermione sighed and closed her eyes. "Fine," she whispered.

Draco flashed his grin again. "Right, meet me tonight at the front door at, say, midnight?"

Hermione appeared to have a struggle going on inside her. She was fighting with the pity she felt for Larry and the fact that she would have to break the rules to save him. "Alright," she whispered as she closed the book and pulled it close to her body. "But not to help you," she stated, avoiding his eyes, "to help Larry."

"Right," Draco said, still grinning. He started off down the aisle, but only made it halfway before stopping to turn around. "Erm, I don't know how to get out of here…"

Hermione smiled. "You really never have been to the library, have you Draco?"

"Well, not this one," Draco murmured. "I do read, you know," Draco spoke up. Hermione raised her eyebrows slightly. Draco found it odd that he felt he had to prove to the Mudblood that he wasn't stupid. Hermione began to lead Draco out of the library. "What do you read?" she asked, finding it odd that she cared.

"Not these books," he answered quietly, and then clarified, "I mean I don't read 'study' books." Hermione laughed softly. "So you read… fiction?" she asked. "Mm-hm…" he answered distractedly. Hermione was running her fingers along the edges of the books again.

"Right," said Hermione. She could tell he didn't really want to talk about the books he read after all. "We'd better get to class… You have Potions next, don't you?"

Draco murmured an affirmative response.

"So do I."
            Hermione's fingers were driving Draco mad. He quickened his pace and began to walk next to her, forcing Hermione to drop her fingers to her side. "If something is wrong with Larry, you'll let me know, won't you?" She asked.

Draco looked into her face. Hermione looked genuinely worried for the little creature. "Why do you care so much?" Draco asked.

"I don't want him to die," Hermione replied without a pause, "and neither do you. But he looks so sick…"

Draco smirked. "All you girls are alike. Trying to play mother to any cute little thing that comes along."

Hermione smiled, "I guess so…"

They had reached the main desk at the front of the library, and Madame Pince was now busily sorting books onto a small rack. Draco glanced once more into Hermione's eyes and quickly made his exit. Hermione stayed behind to check out the book. Draco's boots squeaked as he shuffled to open the heavy doors, and he saw Madame Pince glance curiously in his direction. Once in the hallway, Draco put his hand inside his inner pocket and softly rubbed Larry's fur. Larry let out a small, sorry-sounding sigh and softly nuzzled Draco's hand. I hope he can make it til midnight…

* * *

tbc

Okay, that came out longer than I thought, but I wanted to get to the "Pidwink" part. Alright, thanks again to all of you who reviewed! Love you all! I found it funny that more than one of you thought Larry reminded you of a Furby. I actually have a Furby, but he's blue, and I hadn't even thought of him when thinking of Larry. Cool. But Larry doesn't sit up like furbies do, he's down on all fours. In my mind he's really just a soft purple hedgehog. Anyway. Thanks for reviewing, please review again. Everyone else, please REVIEW for the first time! Tell me what you honestly think. ^_^

But Siriusly