Hey everyone! I love all you reviewers. Just wanted to say....I swear this isn't another fluffy Head Boy/Head Girl story. Much as I enjoy those. I really do have a plot, and it will get darker. May have to up the rating waaaayyyy later. But for now, enjoy! (woohoo!)

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Last chapter: "Draco Malfoy is the sexiest, most charming and devilishly handsome man that I've ever seen," said Hermione Granger in a rush.

Whether it was Fate, luck, or some freak accident, Draco would never know, but just as Hermione spoke, the entire square fell silent.

Hermione's words were heard loud and clear by passersby on all sides, several of whom attended Hogwarts.

And at that precise second, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley walked up to the table, mouths hanging open.

Draco felt all warm and fuzzy inside.

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Disclaimer: Not mine, yada yada yada, *shakes fist at sky* All gods suck!

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Chapter 3

No sooner had the words left Hermione's mouth than Ron Weasley let out an ungodly howl and darted the few remaining feet to Hermione's side.

"What in bloody hell was that?!" he demanded furiously.

"Blackmail," said Draco helpfully.

"You be quiet!" Hermione ordered. "Hello Ron, Harry. Err...um, well...yeah."

"Did you just call Malfoy *sexy*?" Ron asked incredulously.

Harry looked somewhat shellshocked.

Hermione let her head fall back. "Curse you, irony gods, curse you," she said feebly.

"Are you *eating* with Malfoy?" (a/n: The horror!)

"....Malfoy...." Harry seemed incapable of speech.

"...sitting at the same *table* as Malfoy! Talking to Malfoy!" Ron looked slightly apoplectic.

Finally, Ginny came to the rescue. "Well, Harry, Ron, we have to go shop now! See you later!"

She leapt to her feet and took Hermione and Draco each by the arm, dragging them behind her as she hurried away from the boys.

Harry and Ron were left, standing rather desolately by the table. Hermione doubted that they could have moved if they had wanted to.

She snickered to herself.

I hate, *really, really* hate to admit it, but that was just slightly hilarious. She gave herself a good, sharp, mental kick. Not that I'm forgiving Malfoy for it, of course. He's still a bastard.

The words "sexy bastard" invaded her mind in an insistent manner, but she banished them determinedly.

Ginny finally released them in front of Flourish and Blotts.

"We really do have to do shopping," she announced. "Malfoy, you'll be shopping with us? That was one of your conditions, right?"

Draco made a sweeping bow. "Of course," he said. "Even if I do have to spend a totally inordinate amount of time in the robe shop later on."

Hermione stuck her tongue out at him, and he started laughing.

She stared at him in amazement. This was possibly the first time in her life that she had seen Draco laugh, really laugh, free of sarcasm or bitterness.

What happened to him? Why is he so changed?

His eyes lit up, twin pools of brilliant silver, and his golden hair fell over his forehead, casting thin, sharp shadows across his face in the noon sun. His entire body looked different when he laughed, the long, lean lines relaxed, and the habitual tension left his pose. It was like watching Pygmalion's statue come to life, the last ingredient added, this transformation of Draco Malfoy.

"Are you two coming?" cut in Ginny's voice, and Hermione suddenly realized that he was no longer laughing, but standing still, watching her watch him.

She shook herself inwardly, and followed Ginny into the store.

They purchased their books quickly, and Hermione hated to admit it, but there was nothing of interest; the "Standard Book of Spells: Grade 7" had long since ceased to hold interest for her. She contented herself by flipping through an enormous, musty old book without a title, until an illustration caught her eye. She let the book fall open, and stared. And stared.

"Bloody hell," she breathed.

The book depicted a hand, palm up. On the inside of the wrist was a tattoo of some sort. She peered at it. She couldn't be sure, but it looked remarkably like...

Draco Malfoy wandered over to her and looked over her shoulder. "What's so fascinating, Granger?" He fell silent as he saw the illustration.

"That!" she said pointing to it. "Tell me if I'm wrong, but-" and she pulled up the sleeve of her jacket to reveal a creamy white wrist.

With a birthmark on it.

"Look," she said breathlessly. "It's the same, isn't it? It's exactly the same as the picture."

Draco bent over to read the caption printed below the picture. "'Likaelors are often marked from birth by a dragon-shaped mark on their left wrists.'" He turned the page. "It's been ripped off here. There's a page missing."

"Dragon-shaped?" Hermione mused. "I never thought it was like a dragon. I always thought it was more of a...oh, I don't know, a cloud or something. It's a birthmark for heaven's sake." She tilted her head and went slightly cross-eyed. "I guess if you look at it like this..."

"I can't believe it!" Draco was saying crossly. "There's a page missing!"

"Oh calm down," Hermione told him. "We'll just ask the store owner about another copy. Why are you getting so worked up about it anyways? It's my dragon-y birthmark."

Draco stuck his wrist out at her sullenly, and she noticed what she hadn't bothered to see before: pale skin marred only by a shape that she would now describe as a dragon.

She raised her eyes to his. "Oh."

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Hermione was looking a little edgey, and Draco didn't blame her.

She had talked to, laughed with, and started a tentative friendship with her bitterest enemy. Then she discovered in an acrcane book of lore that, not only is her birthmark really a dragon, but she shares the mark with said enemy.

In fact, Draco sympathized completely.

He flipped pages frantically, looking for something like the missing sheet. Not only was the next page missing, the previous 7 pages were also, and the sheet with the illustration on it seemed ready to fall out any moment.

The book seemed to be written on magical myths and legends. He let it slam closed.

"Honestly," he said, annoyed. "This book is falling apart! How old is the bloody thing?"

Hermione opened it to the title sheet and showed it to him wordlessly.

"Sileni and Satyrs: An Essay on Magical Facts and Legends" it read. "Written by Euphrosyne Pintar in the Year of Our Lord Sixteen Hundred and Thirty-One."

"Oh," Draco said. "Well I think that we're living proof that this whole Likaelor deal falls under the 'fact' catagory."

He flipped through the book again, futilely, and sighed.

"All right, let's go ask the store owner if he has another copy."

The store owner was a distant descendant of the original Blotts, and his name suited him. The plump, little old man was extremely polite, and extremely unhelpful.

"I bought that there book at a junk sale over by Hogsmeade. It was in a whole barrel of books, all thrown in together. I don't know of any other copies, but if you want to buy this one, it's only 3 Galleons."

"No thank you, we-" Hermione started, but Draco cut her off.

"We'll take it. Thank you for your time," he said, tossing the coins onto the counter. He strode out of the store with Hermione, to where Ginny was waiting outside.

"Why did you do that?" Hermione hissed as they left. "There's nothing else in there! That was a waste of money."

"There might be a clue somewhere," he objected. "Besides, it looked interesting."

She cut her eyes over to him, but said nothing.

Besides, Draco thought to himself, It's my father's money. Not like wasting it's a crime in that case.

He grinned. The kind of grin that frightened small children and sent minions diving for cover.

What I wouldn't give to have been a fly on the wall at that Death Eater meeting last night. Bet Father didn't even notice I was missing until he sent for me. He must have had a load of explaining to do to old Voldemort...

"What was that all about?" Ginny asked when they reached her.

"Oh," Hermione said hastily. "Malfoy just wanted to buy this book for some light reading."

Ginny accepted the explanation, and as they set off towards the robe shop. Malfoy stole a few glances at Hermione as they were walking. She met his eyes once, and he could read her expression.

If we tell Ginny, she'll tell Harry, and he'll be convinced that it's some sort of evil plot of Voldemort's. Best not to worry them until we know what we're talking about.

Personally, he agreed. Potter was just too paranoid about such things.

When they reached Madame Malkin's Robes For All Occasions, Hermione perked up, and almost forgot about the mysterious book. She and Ginny loaded their arms down with robes. Draco warily took a chair outside of the dressing rooms.

The girls emerged periodically to ask him for a guy's point of view; sporting identical black robes, they inquired, which was better? Ebony or dark slate? Fitted or regular? Cotton or synthetic?

"I don't bloody know!" he exclaimed finally. "They're all exactly the same! Black, black, black!"

Ginny put her hands on her hips. "Are you *really* that dense?"

Hermione hid a grin. "Maybe we should buy our stuff and go. Malfoy's looking a little nervous."

"I do not look nervous," he said indignantly. "I love shopping. I could shop all day. I could-"

"Oh, you're gay? That's so *cute*. Slightly disturbing, but cute."

"I am a non-gay, *manly* shopper," he amended. "I shop for very straight and manly things such as, er...oh, can we just go?!"

(a/n I wrote this at 2 o'clock in the morning. I thought it was hilariously funny. Now, I can't decide if it's funny or stupid. Oh well.)

About 10 hours later (according to Draco) they emerged from the store. Draco heaved a great sigh of relief.

"Blessed, blessed freedom," he said, extending his arms to the street. Several shoppers passing by gave him odd looks and veered around him.

"So," he said, turning to Hermione, "What's next on the schedule?"

"Well, we're done," Hermione said, glancing at Ginny. "Right?"

"Mmhmm," Ginny agreed.

"So," Hermione said, looking over at Draco. "I guess we'll see you at school...or, well....oh, this is bloody weird isn't it?"

He grinned, a little relieved that she wasn't going to go all polite and distant on him. "I'll see you there...wait, Hermione, can I talk to you alone for a minute?"

She assented, and he pulled her a few steps away, where Ginny couldn't hear them.

"I'll talk to you about the Likaelor thing on the train," he said in a low voice, "and if we can't figure it out, then we can ask Dumbledore what this whole thing is about when we get to school."

She nodded wordlessly.

An irresistible impulse struck Draco. "Granger...well, thanks for the whole day and all. It was fun."

"You're welcome," she told him, looking suprised.

"Of course," he added, "You should be grateful to me, being allowed to spend a day with a sex muffin such as myself."

He winked at her, and turned on his heel to go, ignoring her snort and exclamation of "sex muffin?!" as he left.

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Hermione walked back over to Ginny.

"See?" said Ginny as they watched Draco leave. "I told you so, didn't I? That was great. He was really nice."

"*Too* nice," said Hermione darkly. "I'll bet he's planning something really evil, just wait and see."

Oh, it wasn't any use. She didn't even believe herself.

"What did he want to talk to you about?" Ginny asked curiously.

"Oh," Hermione said. "He professed his undying love to me and offered to whisk me away to Hawaii on a romantic love voyage."

"Really?"

"What, you didn't see the flying pigs?" She sighed at Ginny's confused look. "Nevermind."

"I'll take that as a 'no'."

"Please do."

They set off to find Harry and Ron and return to the Weasleys'. Hermione just hoped they wouldn't be too mad about the whole Malfoy thing.

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(a/n: Well, I can't write any more tonight. I'm so depressed because I just read ColdCoffeeEyes25's "Roman Holiday". I'm so bad in comparison. I want to go crawl under a rock and shrivel up. But! I'll update soon!)