Author: I own nothing but my plot! Yay, me! 

~* 11 *~

Hermione reached into her pocket early the next morning. She had changed from her pajamas when Professor McGonagall had taken her to the girl's restroom. Now there was little for Hermione to do. Her eyes wandered back and forth from Draco to the quivering hologram in the window facing the other room.

She sighed and then yanked the object in her pocket out, fully exposing it. It stank of things more foul then a normal handkerchief would. The tiny, neat 'DM' in the corner was blurred with thick patches of blood. She felt a familiar tingle at her forehead and she knew just what - or who - ruined the crisp little sheet of cloth.

There was little she could do about it now, but for some reason, she felt she ought to repay for Draco's handkerchief. He voluntarily gave it to her, and it would be honorable to get him a new one. She grinned as the idea struck her with its absurdity. Her blood was on Draco's things, and it wasn't through an act of violence this time, but an act of random charity.

Hermione didn't notice she had laughed softly until she heard: " What's so funny?"

Draco was awake, or at least, he was speaking through his sleep.

" Nothing." Hermione said, immediately.

He shrugged and then pulled the blanket over his face. He laid like that for a while, hoping to fall asleep again, then he stood up, the blanket still draped around him. " Where's McGonagall? I want to change."

" She came earlier today. She'll be back by lunch."

" So I'll sit here dressed like this until lunch?" He asked.

" Most likely."

Hermione looked down at the handkerchief in her hands. She slowly crumpled it to hide it from Draco's view, since she was almost afraid to remind him of what he'd done. He might be angry about it for one reason or another.

" That's absurd. Father says only Muggles would sleep until noon and then spend the rest of their day trying to decide whether they should change or not." Draco murmured. " No wizard..."

" ... Nobody will see you." Hermione said. After a moment, she corrected herself: "Except me."

Draco's eyes rolled past Hermione as if not seeing her. He fixed his cold, hard gaze on the door. " She better come."

" You don't think she'd forget? Professor McGonagall says its a minor sensation in school, with people going so far as betting how long we'll last in here."

" Ages." Draco fell back onto the cot, his knees bent upwards, his back flat and straight on the sheets. " I want out."

" It isn't too bad." Hermione said, finally. " I mean, it's in the way of everything, and it's unfair, but it isn't as bad as we thought it would be, don't you agree?"

" No, I don't agree." His eyes closed as he thought hard about something. " I'd be in class right now, gluing Neville to his seat. Instead, I'm here, practically deteriorating in a tiny little classroom, with YOU."

" Well, I'd be in the library, working on a paper, and Ron would be pestering me, and..." Hermione grinned happily. " ... Harry would be winning another Quidditch match, and..." The change in her voice was evident as she spoke fondly of Harry.

Draco's eyebrows raised. " You really like him, don't you?" He asked, propping his chin up with his palm, the weight of his head on his elbow.

Hermione was caught off-guard with the question. She didn't know what to say, then finally consented his question with a small nod of her head. Then, she bit her lower lip firmly and vowed to say little of her affections for Harry.

Draco smirked. " Harry Potter, with his messy hair and scarred face, his skinny little body and his huge black glasses, and..." He paused short of his description to say one word: "Why?"

" Why?" She repeated.

He nodded curtly. "That's what I said. Why?"

" Because!"

Her hands shot up to her cheeks, and she put a hand on each one. She could feel how hot they had grown.

" No, really. What's so exciting about him? What makes a girl like someone like him?"

Draco looked honestly curious.

" Well..."

He nodded to encourage her on.

" I don't know. He has this bravery in him, this valor. It's interesting." Hermione paused. " His eyes are so green..."

Draco's velvet blue eyes shone brighter. He looked ready to laugh.

" They look like grass."

" Emeralds." Hermione berated him. " Don't call them grassy."

" What else?" He rested his chin on his brought up knees now. He seemed to hug himself together tighter and tighter as their conversation wore on. His body was obviously tensing. " What else is there?"

" He's nice and kind. He can say nice things and you know he means it." Hermione gushed.

" I mean what I say."

" You don't say nice things though!" Hermione ignored his reference to himself.

" So then, that's all?" He asked, his smile just slightly warmer than ice.

Hermione nodded. " Isn't that enough?"

" But... he looks..."

" He looks fine to me." She said, angrily.

He raised his hand in a surrender, and then said, jokingly: "Whew, sorry for asking."

Hermione suddenly had an idea. " What kind of girls do you like?" Her eyes rested right on his, trying to keep his attention. He shook his head, and then looked down. He had very light-colored eyelashes, a faint blonde-white, and very thick, so that they formed a very intricate fan over his eyes when he looked down. She couldn't tell whether he bore a look of embarassment or one of shock due to her asking of the question. Finally, he said: "What's it to you?"

The bitter snap in his voice sent a shiver down her back. " To me?" She sat back onto her heels. " It's nothing to me. You asked about Harry. I should have the right to ask about your love life."

Draco shrugged. " I don't have any written rules about girls."

" Oh?"

He looked up. " What? Is that bad?"

" No, it's good... I think it means you're open." Hermione grinned. "There's books for you. I read that somewhere."

" You read too much." Draco said.

" Well, everyone has their own idea of how much reading is too much, don't you think?" Hermione then fluffed the pillow on her cot. "Everyone must have some requirements for the opposite sex."

" She can't be an idiot." Draco proclaimed. " And not too short, I don't want to bend over to kiss her." He laughed. Hermione did, too. Draco then cleared his throat, dignified as ever, and continued: " A Slytherin. Definitely not a Gryffindor, above all!" He looked at Hermione nervously.

" Hmm." Her smile broadened. " You sound so nervous."

" Me?" He nearly squeaked.

" Yep. I bet you like a Gryffindor."

" That's... blasphemy." He muttered.

" It's called the truth." Hermione then scoured her mind, trying to find a possible Gryffindor match for him. " I bet it's a gorgeous girl - Ginny, right?"

" Are you kidding me? The only boy she sees past her nose is Harry." Draco huffed.

" Don't you think she's pretty, though?" Hermione asked.

" She's a Weasley."

" Still!"

Draco nodded reluctantly. " I only like Slytherin girls. Get over it."

His fingers pulled the blanket up over his knees again, the smooth silky feel of the fabric a comforting soft through the pajamas he wore. " It's cold in here!"

" That's only because you're still in your pajamas."

He nodded and then asked: "What time is it?"

Hermione held up one finger in signal to wait a second. She took her wand and then swung it through the air, chanting a little spell. Four digits floated in a cloud smoke in the air. " It's ten in the morning."

" Might as well be. I can wait until noon, for McGonnagal to come down here." Draco wrapped the blanket tighter around him. He felt embarrassed, being in his pajamas in front of Hermione. He almost felt alienated, being near-bare, and her all dressed up. Usually at this time of the day, Draco would be freezing in the Slytherin Common Room, but at least he'd be dressed.

" I forget. What day is it now?" Hermione asked.

" Wednesday." He replied. " I think."

" I'm so bored." She mused. " I want to go back into the hologram. Please?"

" Go alone. I don't need you squeezing the blood out of me every time the time shifts in there." Draco said.

" We need two people, since the first time we came in, there were two. If only one came in now, it would disrupt the process of the memory cycle and start over. Remember, this room exists so that the memories these two people saved could live on."

" I remember." Draco turned away from her, trying not to see the begging in her eyes. " Oh, what the hell. I'll come along."

" Thank you." She smiled.

He tried not to smile back but failed.

~*~

After Professor McGonagall came to get Draco, and once he was fully dressed in Slytherin robes, Hermione said to him: " Do you want to go in there now?"

" When else?" He pushed by her and then looked at the hologram. "I'll go first, I fit better."

Draco then sped up and did his best to throw his body through the shimmering image and into the unknown beyond of the room. His body slipped in easily, and soon he was gone. Hermione bit her lower lip, trying to get her courage up. She wondered if Draco would pull her in again like last time, or if he'd watch her hands struggle to pull into the parallel world without help. She rested her knees on the parapet and took a deep breath.

With a quick lurch, she let her body somersault into the hologram before the suction in the room could react. The balloon-like pop filled her ears again and before she knew it she was kneeling behind a stack of boxes with Draco at her side. He turned his head to look at her and said: "Look." He motioned over the boxes.

Hermione leaned her head out just a bit and caught sight of Lily and James, sitting next to each other and laughing while playing cards. Lily tossed her hair back over her shoulder and then said, softly: " Full house."

" Damn it, you win again." James tossed his five cards down beside her. Hermione could see an ace of spades, a jack of spades, two queens of hearts, and a two of spades. Tough luck.

" What do I win?" Lily asked.

He grinned at her. " Win twice more and you'll see."

Lily frowned. " Come on! This is a trick, right? You want to make it best two out of three." She began to shuffle the deck of cards again. An ace fell to the ground and a king of spades, flat as a sheet of paper, hopped from his own card and pulled the ace back up. Lily's laughter bounced off the white walls of the room.

Hermione turned to Draco and then said, in a stage whisper: " They're friends now."

Draco: " Tell me something I don't know."

Hermione felt her hands squeeze together angrily. If Draco was going to keep being so mean when he replied to her, she'd punch his lights out.

James looked down at his cards and sighed. He plopped all five down and took five more. He looked at them and then sighed even louder. " Crap." He said, finally.

Lily flashed her cards to him. " Can you believe it? Full house."

" Plain luck." He said with a huff. " Or, you're cheating."

" Want to make it three to zip?" She teased.

" Sure. Deal the cards."

Lily tossed the cards triumphantly, then began to shuffle them again, and again. " There, now it's shuffled fair and square. You can't say I'm cheating." She handed them to him. " Here, pass them out, if you'd like. Five each."

He nodded and then passed the cards from the bottom, not the top, eyeing her suspiciously just in case. He looked through his cards and cheered: " Ha!" He thumped them down. " Beat this." Five cards fell down onto the cot. She straightened up and then said:

" Alright."

Lily placed two cards back into the deck and then took two other ones. She glanced at them grimly and proclaimed: "You win."

Draco nudged Hermione with his elbow. " Look at Potter."

Hermione saw James go rigid. His eyes fixed on Lily and he slowly leaned forwards. Lily looked up, and then asked:

" What's wrong with you?"

James smiled: " You know what you won?"

" What?" She asked.

Before Lily could react, James was kissing her passionately. She fell back on the cot, and James cupped the back of her head with his hand and then pressed her close to him. Hermione looked down at her hands, which were nervously wringing Draco's handkerchief, however dirty it was. Draco brushed his fingertips on her wrist. " Calm down."

Hermione nodded and then closed her eyes tightly, her lips growing a pale frosting-pink despite how she tried to appear calm. She didn't find it right to watch this intimate moment. Draco didn't watch it much, either, despite how he tried to appear very cool about it.

Suddenly, the whirling of the room around them proved that the time was going to change, but instead of changing, they saw flashes of various kisses between the two. Images of them hugging, kissing, touching, and even sleeping together seemed to flash back and forth so quickly that it was impossible to really distinguish what was going on in them. Draco grimaced as an image of Lily peeling her shirt off in front of James flickered vividly for a moment, a sharp and contrasting image to the dulled, lost memories in the background around them. " Well, I didn't need to see that. I'll never look at Potter the same way again."

Hermione tugged at Draco's shirt. " I'm getting dizzy."

They were floating, and the memories spun around them like a merry go round.

" Don't barf on me." Draco warned as Hermione lurched forwards, her head bumping his chest as she watched the images spin quicker and quicker, and then suddenly, they were floating in pitch-black. With a blink, and a pop-sound, they were once again back in the 'Punishment Room'.

" That was…"

" Stupid." Draco finished before Hermione could voice her opinions. " Completely stupid. Who cares about the Potters getting it on? That was senseless."

" They were precious memories."

" Not so precious to me." He pretended to gag. " What kind of kid can say that they saw their classmate being created?"

" You didn't see it, Draco. It was going too fast."

" But you knew what was happening."

" Oh, grow up." Hermione stumbled to her cot and sat down. She was still dizzy. If she closed her eyes, she could still almost see the dozens of tiny memories fluttering around like a rainbow shattered into a dozen discs, each bright and flashing.

" What did you think of what James did, though?" Draco asked, nonchalantly.

" Well… um…" Hermione blushed. " He did quite a few things – which one?"

" The way he kissed Lily out of the blue." Draco replied.

" I thought it was charming, and very romantic."

" But only if someone like James did it. If my father had done it, she'd have slapped him silly." Draco pointed out.

" That's understandable."

" I guess." Draco went to his own cot and laid down on his side, trying to quench the pain he felt in his stomach suddenly. "I'm so hungry." This was the first time he truly complained about the way he'd gone without food for a while. Hermione felt a smile tug at her lips.

" Are you ready to start eating more then lunch with me?" Hermione asked.

" I don't know. You'll slap me again." He said, pretending to be afraid.

" Maybe I won't this time." She replied.

~*~

A/N: I gotta stop here. My mind's going numb. I can't type so long! Review for all that's good in this world!