3. Sweet Revenge
~H`
After Hermione was sure that Professor McGonagall had left, she opened the door. She let a great sigh escape her body. This has been the worst day. She headed over to the giant bathtub, and began turning on several taps. After undressing, she eased herself into the warm fragranced water.
"Ahh," she sighed again, "Finally something good today." She waded around for a few moments, letting the light aroma fill her lungs. Then, deciding to relax her legs, she sat down on one of the seats carved into the tub wall. Hermione started going over the past couple of hours in her head. I thought I would never get off, it if weren't for Malfoy...Wait? What am I saying? If it weren't for those damn Slytherins I wouldn't have been here. But, then again, it was Malfoy who helped me. I wonder if he knew though. Could he really have heard my pleas for help? Or had Pansy told him. No, I don't think so, he seemed genially surprised. And he did make me tell him what happened...
Hermione pondered these thoughts for a while, and then finally concluded that Malfoy hadn't known, and that it was lucky he found her. Maybe I should thank him, but what if he's in there right now, telling everybody? Then I would look really stupid. If had been someone else who had found me, I wouldn't be worrying about it. Hmm, there is a way I could find out though. Yeah, I'll do that first, then plan revenge on Pansy. It had been nearly an hour, and her fingers were becoming wrinkled at the tips. Hermione heaved herself out onto the cold tile. She reached for a self- warming towel, and wrung out her hair. She changed into her pajamas, and went back to the common room.
When she entered, Pansy and Brianna burst out laughing, along with some other Slytherins. Hermione noticed Draco wasn't among them. Trying her best to ignore them, she went straight to her room. She was relieved to see that Hannah wasn't in there yet, because she still felt like being alone. She checked the clock on the wall, it was a little past ten. Since she had no homework left, she decided to go to sleep.
~D~
He lay back and stared at the ceiling. All thoughts were on Granger. I can't believe Pansy did that to Granger. Not that I care about her or anything, but even I wouldn't do that to someone. I just hope Granger doesn't think I was in on it. Draco lie there for an hour, but it seemed like longer. He couldn't get her out of his mind. He finally got up, and changed. When he got back into bed, and the fire in the small fire place burnt down to embers, Draco closed his eyes. He could hear Thomas snoring, but he felt all alone. Here, submerged in complete darkness, Draco finally admitted to himself, something that he never thought possible. Something that he had been struggling with for two days.
He, Draco Malfoy, like Hermione Granger. Even now, the sound of her name in his head made him smile. Now that he convinced himself that it was okay to like her, the only question left was, What am I going to do about it? But when this question swept over his mind, another, mush more frightening thought occured to him. A wave of panic rippled over him. His smile slowly twisted into a frown. Draco rolled over, and opened his eyes. He now voiced in a whisper, the thing that was bothering him.
"What if she doesn't like me?"
~H~
Hermione awoke the next morning, and crept to the window. The dazzling sunlight reflected upon her face. She scanned the grounds below, which were still covered in dew. For a minute, she had forgotten why she was so eager to wake up. Then the events of last night came back to her. Wishing it had all been a strange nightmare, she nudged Hannah, and changed into her robes. The common room was empty when Hermione passed through it. People were either still in their dorms, or heading to Breakfast. Hermione and Hannah made their way down to the Great Hall, and departed when Hannah went to the Hufflepuff table. Hermione got excited when she say Harry at the Gryffindor table. Finally, she could see if her plan would work. She sat down next to him, and pulled some toast in her direction. She waited until he began to scan the Daily Prophet, so she could block their conversation, without having to whisper.
"Harry, can I ask you a favor?" she said in a low voice.
"Sure, what?"
"Well, I need to borrow your invisibility cloak, if that's okay." She said unsurely. Harry had never let anyone use it without him.
"I guess, what for?" He asked.
Hermione felt too embarrassed to tell them what happened, so she simply replied, "I need to check out a book in the restricted section."
"Oh, ok, I should've known," Harry laughed. Hermione did not find this funny. Uhh! What's that supposed to mean? People think that's all I care about. Books, Books, Books. Homework, Homework, Homework. I'm so sick of this! She gave him a weak smile, grateful that she could use it.
"Great, I'll come get it after dinner tonight," She said. Now all I have to do is talk to Hannah, and it's all set! They finished their toast, and set off for their morning classes.
~D~
Draco headed down to breakfast the next morning in a very subdued state, daring to believe what had happened last night. He sat down next to Crabbe and Goyle at the Slytherin table, and forced himself to eat. Pansy and Brianna were sitting across from him, and Pansy shot him a malicious grin.
"Where were you last night hunny? You missed what happened to Granger. Oh, we got her so good!" She giggled.
"Yeah," added Brianna, "Wonder who got McGonagall though."
"Probably another Gryffindor," stated Pansy knowingly. "Well, where were you?" She looked at Draco, and he realized she was expecting him to answer.
"Oh, umm, I was really tired, so I went to bed early," He said. Pansy nodded as if that settled it, but anyone with even half a brain would have noticed that this was a lie. Draco was unaware that as he lay up half the night contemplating his feelings for Granger, light circles had formed under his eyes. After that, the day went by in a hazy blur. Much to his displeasure, they had no classes with Gryffindor today.
Hermione's absence in his classes didn't matter much at all though, he still thought about her constantly. He was in his last class, History of Magic, when Professor Binns mentioned Grendal the Great. When Draco was packing up his things to leave, he glanced down at his notes. Everywhere that he should have written "Grendal the Great," he had subconsciously wrote "Granger is Great." Father would kill me if he saw this. Draco went down to dinner in good spirits. In about an hour, he would be in the prefect common room, with a chance to see her.
~H~
The rest of the day was uneventful, except when Hermione passed Pansy in a corridor, and Pansy burst into giggles. You can laugh now ,but we'll see who's laughing in the end. Hmm, that's reminds me, I still haven't figured out how to get her back. I'll deal with that later. Hermione breezed through the afternoon. She had Ancient Runes last, so she told Harry, Ron, and Lexi she'd see them at dinner. When she found them there an hour later, Ron was shoveling food in his mouth like he'd been starved for a week, as usual.
"Hey Herm," he managed to say through a mouthful of potatoes." Hermione greeted him, and sat down. And people actually think I like him? They think that's the best I can do? Imagine kissing him. You'd be able to taste what he had for lunch, Eww. I'd much rather have someone more sophisticated, like......"Malfoy."
"What?" Hermione said looking around. She had been so lost in thought, she didn't know what was going on around her.
"I said, look at Malfoy," Lexi replied, as she pointed towards the doors. Malfoy had just entered, and was heading to his table.
"What about him?" Hermione asked.
"Well, he just bumped into a third year, and said "Excuse me" and picked up the book she dropped." Lexi explained.
"Oh," Hermione smiled, "That's not like him, strange." Hermione spent the rest of the meal listening to Harry and Ron talk about the upcoming Quidditch tryouts, and who they thought was good; Harry was now the captain. When they had finished, Hermione followed them to Gryffindor tower. While Harry had gone to retrieve his cloak, Ginny approached Hermione.
"Hey, can you help me with this Potions essay?" She asked.
"Um, sorry Ginny, I have something else I have to do. You can ask someone else though," Hermione added, seeing Ginny's face.
"No, that's ok," She sighed, "It's only one grade." I'm not the only one who could've helped her. People just think I have no life, and I can help them with all their homework whenever they want.
Harry came back downstairs with the cloak. Hermione took it, and placed it in her bag. As she was turning to leave, Lexi confronted her.
"Hermione, can you help me with my Muggle Studies?" She asked.
"No!" Hermione snapped, more meanly than she indented. Lexi looked offended, and strode over to Harry. Uhh! Whatever, I don't care. I'm not just some textbook people can open and get information from whenever they please. Hermione turned again, and left the room. When she entered the prefect common room, she scanned it for Hannah. It was fairly empty except for some Slytherins, who laughed upon her arrival. Hermione went up to her room, where she found Hannah.
"I have a favor to ask you," she stated.
"Sure, what is it?" Hannah asked.
"Okay, I need you to go down to the common room, and talk to Malfoy." Hannah scrunched her nose at this statement. Hermione pretended she didn't notice, and continued. "Bring up what happened with the bathroom last night. Just ask him who's idea it was and stuff. You don't have to be nice, i just need to know," She finished. Hannah looked puzzled, but nodded. When she left the room, Hermione pulled out the cloak, and out it on. In the common room, she saw Hannah approaching Draco nervously; as she was in Hufflepuff, he was usually mean to her. Hermione walked over to them, and sat down. Hermione didn't want to sit in a chair, afraid someone would sit on her, so she plopped down on the floor right in front of Malfoy.
~D~
Draco saw Granger enter the common room. She looked around, as if trying to find someone. His heart leapt. She might be looking for him. I'm right here! Over here! Draco almost had the urge to wave his hands in the air, but resisted when Granger swept past him, and disappeared up the staircase. Who was I kidding, what would she want from me. He pulled out his charms homework, and occupied himself with that. He was trying to remember what the drying charm was, when he heard, "Oy, Malfoy!" He looked up to see Hannah Abbott walking towards him.
"Yes?" he asked so surprised, that his voice lacked it's usual drawl. She sat down next to him.
"Well you know what happened with Hermione? Last night?" She asked nervously.
"Yes," Draco forced a small smirk, "That was rather, er, unfortunate."
"Do you know whose idea it was?" Hannah continued. When Draco asked why she wanted to know, Hannah shrugged.
"It was Pansy's."
"So you didn't have anything to do with it?" Hannah asked suspiciously.
"No, I just heard her yelling as I was passing by the bathroom," Draco sighed.
"That was nice of you, I mean, you are normally really mean to her," Hannah gave him a weak smile.
"Well I couldn't tell who's voice it was from the outside," Draco lied. Hannah then ended the conversation by getting up, and going back upstairs. Draco looked back down at his Charms review, wondering what that was about.
~H~
As soon as Hannah stood up, Hermione jumped off the floor, and shot past her up the staircase. She had just enough time to stash the cloak, when Hannah opened the door. Hermione made Hannah tell her everything. I'm glad I went down there myself, she didn't say anything about his tone or facial expressions. Then they said good night, and climbed into their beds. Well since he really didn't have anything to do with it, and was genially trying to help, then I will thank him tomorrow after all.
The next morning Hermione woke up, and made her way down to breakfast. She handed Harry the cloak under the table, and sat down. She noticed Lexi avoiding her eyes, so she apologized for snapping at her. Ron and Harry were discussing the potions essay they had to write over the summer, and hand in today.
"So Hermione, where does fluxweed come from anyway?" Ron asked. Hmm...fluxweed...
"I'm not sure," Hermione frowned. Harry and Ron exchanged glances.
"What? Hermione doesn't know something?" Harry laughed.
"She must not have swallowed that book yet," said Ron, as Lexi put her hand on Hermione's forehead.
"Well, she's not sick." She stated.
"I don't know everything you know," Hermione shot at them.
"Is someone writing this down?" laughed Ron. Hermione felt her temper rising. Am I their friend, or their library? Just ask Hermione, she'll know. Hermione ate the rest of her breakfast in silence, and then they headed off to Potions. The Slytherins were already in the dungeons, outside the classroom. Snape opened the door, and Hermione sat down in the back. He started the class by telling them what to expect now that they were in N.E.W.T. Then he instructed them on how to make a Forgiveness Draught, and they set to work. Hermione went up in line, to ladle out some stewed lacewings. Brianna and Pansy were right behind her, whispering. I have to think of something good to get her back. When everyone had been up there, and settled back into their seats, Pansy started in a carrying whisper.
"Eww, I touched the ladle after Granger, I think I have Mudblood on my hand."
"Gross!" shrieked Brianna, "don't touch me, it might be contagious." The Slytherins erupted with laughter. Hermione rolled her eyes, and they stopped on Draco. He wasn't laughing. In fact, he wasn't even smiling, he looked deep in thought. Hermione spent the rest of the lesson thinking of what to sat to him. When the bell rang, she caught him right outside the door.
"Malfoy!" she called, and grabbed his shoulder uncertainly.
He spun around, and she quickly jerked her hand away, for fear of what he might do to her for touching him. "Yes?" he asked, in a drawl that wasn't quite as evil as usual.
"I just wanted to...to say thanks for yesterday," she said slowly.
He nodded. "Well you've said it. See you around Granger." He lousily turned away and began to climb the stairs leading to the Great Hall. Hermione watched his retreating figure wild mild interest. See you around Granger? Was that all he had to say? Not even an insult? He's been acting odd allot of late...
She shifted her book bag on her shoulder and followed suit, questions roaming through her mind all the while.
Just as she turned a corner, she saw a tall seventh year with bright purple hair. And suddenly a plan to get back at Pansy formed in her mind...
At lunch, Hermione could hardly sit still, anxious for the night to hurry up and get there. She would need help with the revenge, and knew just the right person. Ginny Weasley had helped Fred and George Weasley with tons of pranks. Hermione was sure that she'd help, especially since she was getting Pansy back.
After making a mental note to find her in the common room after classes, Hermione stood up, threw her book bag over her shoulder, and set off to Care of Magical Creatures.
~D~
The day seemed to drag by slowly. At lunch, Brianna came over and sat beside me, going on about how she and Pansy had gotten Granger good. I forced a laugh, but it was really getting old. If I would have been Granger, I would have kicked both of their ***es when I got off of that seat. Or I at least would've done SOMETHING.
And she had actually thanked me...
Somewhere along that thought, I let my eyes drift over to Gryffindor Table. Granger was sitting between Weasel and some girl, who was talking avidly, but she didn't seem to notice. She looked rather irritated.
"...you think so, Draco?" came Brianna's voice, snapping me back to reality and making me drag my eyes away from Granger.
"Huh?"
She rolled her eyes. "I said, don't you think it'll be fun in Care of Magical Creatures, since we're wearing bathing suits and all?"
"Oh," I said slowly, imagining Granger in a bright pink, string bikini, similar to Pansy's. "Yeah, it'll be really fun..."
After lunch, the Gryffindors and the Slytherins all headed down towards the oaf's house. Granger was already there when I arrived. She was talking to him. The sight of him made me want to gag...
He was wearing brown swimming trunks and a white, huge muscle shirt. It was absolutely disgusting.
"All righ' class, settel down," he said when everyone had arrived. Granger walked over to where Potty's girlfriend stood. "Now, remember, I told yeh to bring yer swimming suits. Today we'll be studyin' lamours. Can anyone tell me what a lamour is?"
Granger's hand shot up in the air, as usual, and he nodded at her. "The lamour is similar to the leech. They inhabit the shores of large bodies of waters, and survive only on plankton. Though the lamour is similar to the leech look wise, it is considered by many to have healing powers. If the blood of a lamour is applied to a cut, the cut will heal instantly."
"Righ' ye are, 'ermione," the oaf said beaming. "Ten points ter Gryffindor." All of the Slytherins glared at her, while the Gryffindors cheered.
"All righ' now class, get down ter yer bathin suits as we can get started."
Everyone shuffled out of their robes and uniforms. Right when Draco had shimmied down to a pair of clue swimmers, his eye traveled to Granger, and he nearly fell out. It was way better than he had imagined. She was wearing a bright red, two piece bikini that showed off her figure excellently. And he had just noticed how tan she was. To put it simply, in his mind, he was thinking, D*** Girl!
Several of the other boys were looking her direction as well, and a few of them, including Potty, got smacked on the arm by their girlfriend. The ones that weren't looking her direction, were looking behind Draco. He turned around to see Pansy and Brianna wearing identical pink, string bikinis. But they still didn't look as good as she did.
"All righ' now," the oaf said, getting all of their attention again. "I've paired yeh up with partners fer this. But don' worry, you'll only be workin' together for two days." He pulled a parchment out of his pocket and began to read it aloud. "Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom; Brianna Johnson and Parvati Patil; Lavender Brown and Blais Zabini..." The list went on and on, and Draco's mind didn't snap back to reality until he reached his name. "And last but not least, Draco Malfoy and 'ermione Granger."
I must be dreaming. Dreaming the best dream I've ever had, that is. Granger and I partners? In swimsuits? Draco glanced over at her. She wore an odd expression. Slowly, he walked over to her.
"Granger," he said curtly.
"Malfoy," she said nodding.
"Now that you've got yer partners, go ahead and get in the water. Try and find a lamour so ye can study it."
Draco and Granger obeyed. But all the while, Draco's eyes were fixed on her body.
~H~
After performing drying charms on themselves, the class re-clothed themselves and headed back to the castle. Hermione still couldn't get the image of Malfoy's chest out of her mind. He was friggin hot!
Directly after her last class, se made her way up to the Gryffindor common room. It didn't take long to find Ginny, who was sitting near the fire doing her homework. Hermione walked over to her and sat beside her.
"Do you know what the properties of a Bratcher are?" Ginny asked without looking up.
"No," Hermione replied, trying not to sound irritated. How many more people were going to ask he for help? "Listen Ginny, I need your help with something."
Ginny looked up. "What sort of something?"
She glanced around the room to make sure no one was listening before answering. "A prank."
Ginny raised her eyebrows. "A prank? Who's it for?" she asked grinning maliciously.
"Pansy Parkinson and Brianna Johnson." She told her about what they had done to her. And when she finished, she could tell that Ginny was trying her best not to laugh.
But instead of laughing, she said, "Well what do you have in mind?"
Again, Hermione looked around before replying. "I want to slip them a sleeping draught. You see, this summer, my cousin gave me some free bottles of muggle permanent hair dye. If I can get them to sleep, I can dye their hair hideous colors and they'll never know what hit them when they wake up. And the good part is, they won't know how to remove it since it's muggle." Ginny started laughing.
"That's a good idea, Hermione. I can't believe I haven't thought of that one."
"So you'll help?"
Ginny nodded, but the smile son drifted away. "But how are you going to give them the draught?"
Hermione stood up. "Oh, I've got that covered. The potion will make them feel sleepy before actually conking them out. When they leave the Great Hall after dinner tonight, meet me in the Entrance Hall and we'll go from there. Ginny nodded, and Hermione exited the portrait. Then she headed for the kitchens.
Hermione paced back and forth in front of the blank wall, thinking the same thing over and over. I need a room filled with shelves of Pracium sleeping draughts.
When she stopped pacing, she stood before the wall and a door formed out of nowhere. She turned the handle and stepped inside. The walls were lined with shelves, all full of bottles containing the same purple liquid. The Pracium Sleeping Draught. She walked forward, grabbed one of them, and stashed it in her pocket.
Then she left the room and headed for the kitchens.
As soon as she stepped into the kitchens, a group of house elves came running toward her. "How can we help Miss?" one of them asked.
"I'm looking for Dobby," she replied.
One of them curried away, and returned a few moments later with Dobby. "Hi Dobby," she said cheerfully.
He smiled up at her. "Harry Potter's friend," he squealed and wrapped his bony arms around her. When he pulled away, he led her over to a small table. "Can Dobby get some food for Harry Potter's friend?"
She shook her head. "No Dobby, but I need to ask you a favor. Can you do something for me?"
"Anything for Harry Potter's friend!" he squealed without hesitating.
"Good." She reached into her pocket and pulled out the small bottle. "I need you to slip this into someone's drink for me. It's just a sleeping draught. Can you do that?"
He nodded. "But who?"
"Their names are Pansy Parkinson and Brianna Johnson. Both on the Slytherin table. Do you know them?"
Dobby shuddered. "How could Dobby not? They chase Dobby from common room while cleaning every night."
She smiled. "Thanks Dobby. Now, I'd best be going. Good bye."
"Farewell, friend of Harry Potter!"
Hermione entered the Great Hall looking quiet smug. She placed herself beside Ron and began to eat quickly, all the while shooting glances toward Pansy and Brianna. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ginny doing the same.
The two were giggling about something as usual, and it seemed as though they were never going to touch their goblets. But just as Hermione was about to give up hope, they both drank from their goblet at the same time. She grinned evilly to herself. This was so much easier than she would have thought.
"What are you looking at, Hermione?" Lexi asked.
Hermione pulled her eyes away from them. "Nothing, I was just thinking."
"Oh," Lexi replied, though by her tone, Hermione could tell that she didn't believe her. But she didn't care, because both Pansy and Brianna were leaving the Great Hall, both yawning.
She glanced down the table at Ginny, who nodded. Then the two exited the Great Hall as well. "Excellent plan," Ginny commented when they were out of earshot of anyone else. They let the other two girls get a few corridors ahead of them before continuing to the prefect common room.
"Thanks Gin. But as soon as we get it done, you have to leave the common room. you'll probably get in trouble if you're caught." Ginny nodded.
"Where is the dye?"
"In my trunk. I think I'll go with deep red (the real red) for Brianna, and maybe a shocking blue for Pansy. What do you think?"
Ginny laughed. "It's going to be priceless seeing their reactions." Hermione nodded in agreement.
They had reached the common room now. Hermione muttered the password and ascended the spiral staircase, Ginny following close behind. When they reached the landing, they saw that both of the girls were already asleep in the couch. "We need to get them to their room," Hermione instructed. "I'll get the arms, you get the feet."
They approached Pansy's sleeping form, and Hermione placed her hands under her arms. Ginny lifted her feet, and they slowly began to climb the staircase.
When they had finished dragging both of the girls into the room (they left them in the floor), Hermione told Ginny to go and get a bucket of water. While she did that, Hermione ran upstairs to her bedroom to retrieve the dye. It was crammed into the very bottom of her trunk, and by the time she had found it and returned to their room, Ginny was already there with a large bucket of water. "I found the bucket in a broom closet, but
I had to levitate it up here, it was really heavy."
Hermione nodded. "All right, help me get Pansy's head into the water." She tilted her head, trying to figure out exactly how they were going to do that.
"Maybe we should levitate it over them and pout it into their head. It would be easier that way," Ginny suggested. "We could clean the spills with a drying spell."
"Good idea." Hermione pulled out her wand, pointed it at the bucket, and muttered, "Wingardium Leviosa." The bucket lifted off of the floor and she directed it directly over Pansy's head. "Tilt the bucket, but leave enough for Brianna." Ginny did so, and the water drained over Pansy's head.
Next Hermione directed it over Brianna's head. Ginny tilted it, and the last amount of water drained out.
They lay the bucket aside and Hermione handed Ginny the red dye. "I'll do Pansy's. I hate her more than Brianna." Ginny laughed and set to work.
Soon the strong smell of hair dye wafted through the air, and Hermione and Ginny stood back to observe their work. Ginny performed a drying spell on the carpets. "Uh-oh," Hermione said quietly.
"What?"
"You're supposed to rinse it out."
Ginny shrugged. "Who cares? We can just leave it. And besides, dinner is almost over."
Hermione's eyes widened. "It is? Ginny, you've got to get out of here, and I've got to get out of here or they'll know who did it!"
Ginny grabbed the bucket up off of the floor and they exited the room. "I'll see you at breakfast," she said waving. Hermione ran up to her room without replying and sat on the edge of her bed. The two girls wouldn't wake up until the next day most likely. It was going to be hilarious seeing them walk into the Great Hall. Hermione chuckled to herself.
Ahh, sweet revenge...
~H`
After Hermione was sure that Professor McGonagall had left, she opened the door. She let a great sigh escape her body. This has been the worst day. She headed over to the giant bathtub, and began turning on several taps. After undressing, she eased herself into the warm fragranced water.
"Ahh," she sighed again, "Finally something good today." She waded around for a few moments, letting the light aroma fill her lungs. Then, deciding to relax her legs, she sat down on one of the seats carved into the tub wall. Hermione started going over the past couple of hours in her head. I thought I would never get off, it if weren't for Malfoy...Wait? What am I saying? If it weren't for those damn Slytherins I wouldn't have been here. But, then again, it was Malfoy who helped me. I wonder if he knew though. Could he really have heard my pleas for help? Or had Pansy told him. No, I don't think so, he seemed genially surprised. And he did make me tell him what happened...
Hermione pondered these thoughts for a while, and then finally concluded that Malfoy hadn't known, and that it was lucky he found her. Maybe I should thank him, but what if he's in there right now, telling everybody? Then I would look really stupid. If had been someone else who had found me, I wouldn't be worrying about it. Hmm, there is a way I could find out though. Yeah, I'll do that first, then plan revenge on Pansy. It had been nearly an hour, and her fingers were becoming wrinkled at the tips. Hermione heaved herself out onto the cold tile. She reached for a self- warming towel, and wrung out her hair. She changed into her pajamas, and went back to the common room.
When she entered, Pansy and Brianna burst out laughing, along with some other Slytherins. Hermione noticed Draco wasn't among them. Trying her best to ignore them, she went straight to her room. She was relieved to see that Hannah wasn't in there yet, because she still felt like being alone. She checked the clock on the wall, it was a little past ten. Since she had no homework left, she decided to go to sleep.
~D~
He lay back and stared at the ceiling. All thoughts were on Granger. I can't believe Pansy did that to Granger. Not that I care about her or anything, but even I wouldn't do that to someone. I just hope Granger doesn't think I was in on it. Draco lie there for an hour, but it seemed like longer. He couldn't get her out of his mind. He finally got up, and changed. When he got back into bed, and the fire in the small fire place burnt down to embers, Draco closed his eyes. He could hear Thomas snoring, but he felt all alone. Here, submerged in complete darkness, Draco finally admitted to himself, something that he never thought possible. Something that he had been struggling with for two days.
He, Draco Malfoy, like Hermione Granger. Even now, the sound of her name in his head made him smile. Now that he convinced himself that it was okay to like her, the only question left was, What am I going to do about it? But when this question swept over his mind, another, mush more frightening thought occured to him. A wave of panic rippled over him. His smile slowly twisted into a frown. Draco rolled over, and opened his eyes. He now voiced in a whisper, the thing that was bothering him.
"What if she doesn't like me?"
~H~
Hermione awoke the next morning, and crept to the window. The dazzling sunlight reflected upon her face. She scanned the grounds below, which were still covered in dew. For a minute, she had forgotten why she was so eager to wake up. Then the events of last night came back to her. Wishing it had all been a strange nightmare, she nudged Hannah, and changed into her robes. The common room was empty when Hermione passed through it. People were either still in their dorms, or heading to Breakfast. Hermione and Hannah made their way down to the Great Hall, and departed when Hannah went to the Hufflepuff table. Hermione got excited when she say Harry at the Gryffindor table. Finally, she could see if her plan would work. She sat down next to him, and pulled some toast in her direction. She waited until he began to scan the Daily Prophet, so she could block their conversation, without having to whisper.
"Harry, can I ask you a favor?" she said in a low voice.
"Sure, what?"
"Well, I need to borrow your invisibility cloak, if that's okay." She said unsurely. Harry had never let anyone use it without him.
"I guess, what for?" He asked.
Hermione felt too embarrassed to tell them what happened, so she simply replied, "I need to check out a book in the restricted section."
"Oh, ok, I should've known," Harry laughed. Hermione did not find this funny. Uhh! What's that supposed to mean? People think that's all I care about. Books, Books, Books. Homework, Homework, Homework. I'm so sick of this! She gave him a weak smile, grateful that she could use it.
"Great, I'll come get it after dinner tonight," She said. Now all I have to do is talk to Hannah, and it's all set! They finished their toast, and set off for their morning classes.
~D~
Draco headed down to breakfast the next morning in a very subdued state, daring to believe what had happened last night. He sat down next to Crabbe and Goyle at the Slytherin table, and forced himself to eat. Pansy and Brianna were sitting across from him, and Pansy shot him a malicious grin.
"Where were you last night hunny? You missed what happened to Granger. Oh, we got her so good!" She giggled.
"Yeah," added Brianna, "Wonder who got McGonagall though."
"Probably another Gryffindor," stated Pansy knowingly. "Well, where were you?" She looked at Draco, and he realized she was expecting him to answer.
"Oh, umm, I was really tired, so I went to bed early," He said. Pansy nodded as if that settled it, but anyone with even half a brain would have noticed that this was a lie. Draco was unaware that as he lay up half the night contemplating his feelings for Granger, light circles had formed under his eyes. After that, the day went by in a hazy blur. Much to his displeasure, they had no classes with Gryffindor today.
Hermione's absence in his classes didn't matter much at all though, he still thought about her constantly. He was in his last class, History of Magic, when Professor Binns mentioned Grendal the Great. When Draco was packing up his things to leave, he glanced down at his notes. Everywhere that he should have written "Grendal the Great," he had subconsciously wrote "Granger is Great." Father would kill me if he saw this. Draco went down to dinner in good spirits. In about an hour, he would be in the prefect common room, with a chance to see her.
~H~
The rest of the day was uneventful, except when Hermione passed Pansy in a corridor, and Pansy burst into giggles. You can laugh now ,but we'll see who's laughing in the end. Hmm, that's reminds me, I still haven't figured out how to get her back. I'll deal with that later. Hermione breezed through the afternoon. She had Ancient Runes last, so she told Harry, Ron, and Lexi she'd see them at dinner. When she found them there an hour later, Ron was shoveling food in his mouth like he'd been starved for a week, as usual.
"Hey Herm," he managed to say through a mouthful of potatoes." Hermione greeted him, and sat down. And people actually think I like him? They think that's the best I can do? Imagine kissing him. You'd be able to taste what he had for lunch, Eww. I'd much rather have someone more sophisticated, like......"Malfoy."
"What?" Hermione said looking around. She had been so lost in thought, she didn't know what was going on around her.
"I said, look at Malfoy," Lexi replied, as she pointed towards the doors. Malfoy had just entered, and was heading to his table.
"What about him?" Hermione asked.
"Well, he just bumped into a third year, and said "Excuse me" and picked up the book she dropped." Lexi explained.
"Oh," Hermione smiled, "That's not like him, strange." Hermione spent the rest of the meal listening to Harry and Ron talk about the upcoming Quidditch tryouts, and who they thought was good; Harry was now the captain. When they had finished, Hermione followed them to Gryffindor tower. While Harry had gone to retrieve his cloak, Ginny approached Hermione.
"Hey, can you help me with this Potions essay?" She asked.
"Um, sorry Ginny, I have something else I have to do. You can ask someone else though," Hermione added, seeing Ginny's face.
"No, that's ok," She sighed, "It's only one grade." I'm not the only one who could've helped her. People just think I have no life, and I can help them with all their homework whenever they want.
Harry came back downstairs with the cloak. Hermione took it, and placed it in her bag. As she was turning to leave, Lexi confronted her.
"Hermione, can you help me with my Muggle Studies?" She asked.
"No!" Hermione snapped, more meanly than she indented. Lexi looked offended, and strode over to Harry. Uhh! Whatever, I don't care. I'm not just some textbook people can open and get information from whenever they please. Hermione turned again, and left the room. When she entered the prefect common room, she scanned it for Hannah. It was fairly empty except for some Slytherins, who laughed upon her arrival. Hermione went up to her room, where she found Hannah.
"I have a favor to ask you," she stated.
"Sure, what is it?" Hannah asked.
"Okay, I need you to go down to the common room, and talk to Malfoy." Hannah scrunched her nose at this statement. Hermione pretended she didn't notice, and continued. "Bring up what happened with the bathroom last night. Just ask him who's idea it was and stuff. You don't have to be nice, i just need to know," She finished. Hannah looked puzzled, but nodded. When she left the room, Hermione pulled out the cloak, and out it on. In the common room, she saw Hannah approaching Draco nervously; as she was in Hufflepuff, he was usually mean to her. Hermione walked over to them, and sat down. Hermione didn't want to sit in a chair, afraid someone would sit on her, so she plopped down on the floor right in front of Malfoy.
~D~
Draco saw Granger enter the common room. She looked around, as if trying to find someone. His heart leapt. She might be looking for him. I'm right here! Over here! Draco almost had the urge to wave his hands in the air, but resisted when Granger swept past him, and disappeared up the staircase. Who was I kidding, what would she want from me. He pulled out his charms homework, and occupied himself with that. He was trying to remember what the drying charm was, when he heard, "Oy, Malfoy!" He looked up to see Hannah Abbott walking towards him.
"Yes?" he asked so surprised, that his voice lacked it's usual drawl. She sat down next to him.
"Well you know what happened with Hermione? Last night?" She asked nervously.
"Yes," Draco forced a small smirk, "That was rather, er, unfortunate."
"Do you know whose idea it was?" Hannah continued. When Draco asked why she wanted to know, Hannah shrugged.
"It was Pansy's."
"So you didn't have anything to do with it?" Hannah asked suspiciously.
"No, I just heard her yelling as I was passing by the bathroom," Draco sighed.
"That was nice of you, I mean, you are normally really mean to her," Hannah gave him a weak smile.
"Well I couldn't tell who's voice it was from the outside," Draco lied. Hannah then ended the conversation by getting up, and going back upstairs. Draco looked back down at his Charms review, wondering what that was about.
~H~
As soon as Hannah stood up, Hermione jumped off the floor, and shot past her up the staircase. She had just enough time to stash the cloak, when Hannah opened the door. Hermione made Hannah tell her everything. I'm glad I went down there myself, she didn't say anything about his tone or facial expressions. Then they said good night, and climbed into their beds. Well since he really didn't have anything to do with it, and was genially trying to help, then I will thank him tomorrow after all.
The next morning Hermione woke up, and made her way down to breakfast. She handed Harry the cloak under the table, and sat down. She noticed Lexi avoiding her eyes, so she apologized for snapping at her. Ron and Harry were discussing the potions essay they had to write over the summer, and hand in today.
"So Hermione, where does fluxweed come from anyway?" Ron asked. Hmm...fluxweed...
"I'm not sure," Hermione frowned. Harry and Ron exchanged glances.
"What? Hermione doesn't know something?" Harry laughed.
"She must not have swallowed that book yet," said Ron, as Lexi put her hand on Hermione's forehead.
"Well, she's not sick." She stated.
"I don't know everything you know," Hermione shot at them.
"Is someone writing this down?" laughed Ron. Hermione felt her temper rising. Am I their friend, or their library? Just ask Hermione, she'll know. Hermione ate the rest of her breakfast in silence, and then they headed off to Potions. The Slytherins were already in the dungeons, outside the classroom. Snape opened the door, and Hermione sat down in the back. He started the class by telling them what to expect now that they were in N.E.W.T. Then he instructed them on how to make a Forgiveness Draught, and they set to work. Hermione went up in line, to ladle out some stewed lacewings. Brianna and Pansy were right behind her, whispering. I have to think of something good to get her back. When everyone had been up there, and settled back into their seats, Pansy started in a carrying whisper.
"Eww, I touched the ladle after Granger, I think I have Mudblood on my hand."
"Gross!" shrieked Brianna, "don't touch me, it might be contagious." The Slytherins erupted with laughter. Hermione rolled her eyes, and they stopped on Draco. He wasn't laughing. In fact, he wasn't even smiling, he looked deep in thought. Hermione spent the rest of the lesson thinking of what to sat to him. When the bell rang, she caught him right outside the door.
"Malfoy!" she called, and grabbed his shoulder uncertainly.
He spun around, and she quickly jerked her hand away, for fear of what he might do to her for touching him. "Yes?" he asked, in a drawl that wasn't quite as evil as usual.
"I just wanted to...to say thanks for yesterday," she said slowly.
He nodded. "Well you've said it. See you around Granger." He lousily turned away and began to climb the stairs leading to the Great Hall. Hermione watched his retreating figure wild mild interest. See you around Granger? Was that all he had to say? Not even an insult? He's been acting odd allot of late...
She shifted her book bag on her shoulder and followed suit, questions roaming through her mind all the while.
Just as she turned a corner, she saw a tall seventh year with bright purple hair. And suddenly a plan to get back at Pansy formed in her mind...
At lunch, Hermione could hardly sit still, anxious for the night to hurry up and get there. She would need help with the revenge, and knew just the right person. Ginny Weasley had helped Fred and George Weasley with tons of pranks. Hermione was sure that she'd help, especially since she was getting Pansy back.
After making a mental note to find her in the common room after classes, Hermione stood up, threw her book bag over her shoulder, and set off to Care of Magical Creatures.
~D~
The day seemed to drag by slowly. At lunch, Brianna came over and sat beside me, going on about how she and Pansy had gotten Granger good. I forced a laugh, but it was really getting old. If I would have been Granger, I would have kicked both of their ***es when I got off of that seat. Or I at least would've done SOMETHING.
And she had actually thanked me...
Somewhere along that thought, I let my eyes drift over to Gryffindor Table. Granger was sitting between Weasel and some girl, who was talking avidly, but she didn't seem to notice. She looked rather irritated.
"...you think so, Draco?" came Brianna's voice, snapping me back to reality and making me drag my eyes away from Granger.
"Huh?"
She rolled her eyes. "I said, don't you think it'll be fun in Care of Magical Creatures, since we're wearing bathing suits and all?"
"Oh," I said slowly, imagining Granger in a bright pink, string bikini, similar to Pansy's. "Yeah, it'll be really fun..."
After lunch, the Gryffindors and the Slytherins all headed down towards the oaf's house. Granger was already there when I arrived. She was talking to him. The sight of him made me want to gag...
He was wearing brown swimming trunks and a white, huge muscle shirt. It was absolutely disgusting.
"All righ' class, settel down," he said when everyone had arrived. Granger walked over to where Potty's girlfriend stood. "Now, remember, I told yeh to bring yer swimming suits. Today we'll be studyin' lamours. Can anyone tell me what a lamour is?"
Granger's hand shot up in the air, as usual, and he nodded at her. "The lamour is similar to the leech. They inhabit the shores of large bodies of waters, and survive only on plankton. Though the lamour is similar to the leech look wise, it is considered by many to have healing powers. If the blood of a lamour is applied to a cut, the cut will heal instantly."
"Righ' ye are, 'ermione," the oaf said beaming. "Ten points ter Gryffindor." All of the Slytherins glared at her, while the Gryffindors cheered.
"All righ' now class, get down ter yer bathin suits as we can get started."
Everyone shuffled out of their robes and uniforms. Right when Draco had shimmied down to a pair of clue swimmers, his eye traveled to Granger, and he nearly fell out. It was way better than he had imagined. She was wearing a bright red, two piece bikini that showed off her figure excellently. And he had just noticed how tan she was. To put it simply, in his mind, he was thinking, D*** Girl!
Several of the other boys were looking her direction as well, and a few of them, including Potty, got smacked on the arm by their girlfriend. The ones that weren't looking her direction, were looking behind Draco. He turned around to see Pansy and Brianna wearing identical pink, string bikinis. But they still didn't look as good as she did.
"All righ' now," the oaf said, getting all of their attention again. "I've paired yeh up with partners fer this. But don' worry, you'll only be workin' together for two days." He pulled a parchment out of his pocket and began to read it aloud. "Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom; Brianna Johnson and Parvati Patil; Lavender Brown and Blais Zabini..." The list went on and on, and Draco's mind didn't snap back to reality until he reached his name. "And last but not least, Draco Malfoy and 'ermione Granger."
I must be dreaming. Dreaming the best dream I've ever had, that is. Granger and I partners? In swimsuits? Draco glanced over at her. She wore an odd expression. Slowly, he walked over to her.
"Granger," he said curtly.
"Malfoy," she said nodding.
"Now that you've got yer partners, go ahead and get in the water. Try and find a lamour so ye can study it."
Draco and Granger obeyed. But all the while, Draco's eyes were fixed on her body.
~H~
After performing drying charms on themselves, the class re-clothed themselves and headed back to the castle. Hermione still couldn't get the image of Malfoy's chest out of her mind. He was friggin hot!
Directly after her last class, se made her way up to the Gryffindor common room. It didn't take long to find Ginny, who was sitting near the fire doing her homework. Hermione walked over to her and sat beside her.
"Do you know what the properties of a Bratcher are?" Ginny asked without looking up.
"No," Hermione replied, trying not to sound irritated. How many more people were going to ask he for help? "Listen Ginny, I need your help with something."
Ginny looked up. "What sort of something?"
She glanced around the room to make sure no one was listening before answering. "A prank."
Ginny raised her eyebrows. "A prank? Who's it for?" she asked grinning maliciously.
"Pansy Parkinson and Brianna Johnson." She told her about what they had done to her. And when she finished, she could tell that Ginny was trying her best not to laugh.
But instead of laughing, she said, "Well what do you have in mind?"
Again, Hermione looked around before replying. "I want to slip them a sleeping draught. You see, this summer, my cousin gave me some free bottles of muggle permanent hair dye. If I can get them to sleep, I can dye their hair hideous colors and they'll never know what hit them when they wake up. And the good part is, they won't know how to remove it since it's muggle." Ginny started laughing.
"That's a good idea, Hermione. I can't believe I haven't thought of that one."
"So you'll help?"
Ginny nodded, but the smile son drifted away. "But how are you going to give them the draught?"
Hermione stood up. "Oh, I've got that covered. The potion will make them feel sleepy before actually conking them out. When they leave the Great Hall after dinner tonight, meet me in the Entrance Hall and we'll go from there. Ginny nodded, and Hermione exited the portrait. Then she headed for the kitchens.
Hermione paced back and forth in front of the blank wall, thinking the same thing over and over. I need a room filled with shelves of Pracium sleeping draughts.
When she stopped pacing, she stood before the wall and a door formed out of nowhere. She turned the handle and stepped inside. The walls were lined with shelves, all full of bottles containing the same purple liquid. The Pracium Sleeping Draught. She walked forward, grabbed one of them, and stashed it in her pocket.
Then she left the room and headed for the kitchens.
As soon as she stepped into the kitchens, a group of house elves came running toward her. "How can we help Miss?" one of them asked.
"I'm looking for Dobby," she replied.
One of them curried away, and returned a few moments later with Dobby. "Hi Dobby," she said cheerfully.
He smiled up at her. "Harry Potter's friend," he squealed and wrapped his bony arms around her. When he pulled away, he led her over to a small table. "Can Dobby get some food for Harry Potter's friend?"
She shook her head. "No Dobby, but I need to ask you a favor. Can you do something for me?"
"Anything for Harry Potter's friend!" he squealed without hesitating.
"Good." She reached into her pocket and pulled out the small bottle. "I need you to slip this into someone's drink for me. It's just a sleeping draught. Can you do that?"
He nodded. "But who?"
"Their names are Pansy Parkinson and Brianna Johnson. Both on the Slytherin table. Do you know them?"
Dobby shuddered. "How could Dobby not? They chase Dobby from common room while cleaning every night."
She smiled. "Thanks Dobby. Now, I'd best be going. Good bye."
"Farewell, friend of Harry Potter!"
Hermione entered the Great Hall looking quiet smug. She placed herself beside Ron and began to eat quickly, all the while shooting glances toward Pansy and Brianna. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ginny doing the same.
The two were giggling about something as usual, and it seemed as though they were never going to touch their goblets. But just as Hermione was about to give up hope, they both drank from their goblet at the same time. She grinned evilly to herself. This was so much easier than she would have thought.
"What are you looking at, Hermione?" Lexi asked.
Hermione pulled her eyes away from them. "Nothing, I was just thinking."
"Oh," Lexi replied, though by her tone, Hermione could tell that she didn't believe her. But she didn't care, because both Pansy and Brianna were leaving the Great Hall, both yawning.
She glanced down the table at Ginny, who nodded. Then the two exited the Great Hall as well. "Excellent plan," Ginny commented when they were out of earshot of anyone else. They let the other two girls get a few corridors ahead of them before continuing to the prefect common room.
"Thanks Gin. But as soon as we get it done, you have to leave the common room. you'll probably get in trouble if you're caught." Ginny nodded.
"Where is the dye?"
"In my trunk. I think I'll go with deep red (the real red) for Brianna, and maybe a shocking blue for Pansy. What do you think?"
Ginny laughed. "It's going to be priceless seeing their reactions." Hermione nodded in agreement.
They had reached the common room now. Hermione muttered the password and ascended the spiral staircase, Ginny following close behind. When they reached the landing, they saw that both of the girls were already asleep in the couch. "We need to get them to their room," Hermione instructed. "I'll get the arms, you get the feet."
They approached Pansy's sleeping form, and Hermione placed her hands under her arms. Ginny lifted her feet, and they slowly began to climb the staircase.
When they had finished dragging both of the girls into the room (they left them in the floor), Hermione told Ginny to go and get a bucket of water. While she did that, Hermione ran upstairs to her bedroom to retrieve the dye. It was crammed into the very bottom of her trunk, and by the time she had found it and returned to their room, Ginny was already there with a large bucket of water. "I found the bucket in a broom closet, but
I had to levitate it up here, it was really heavy."
Hermione nodded. "All right, help me get Pansy's head into the water." She tilted her head, trying to figure out exactly how they were going to do that.
"Maybe we should levitate it over them and pout it into their head. It would be easier that way," Ginny suggested. "We could clean the spills with a drying spell."
"Good idea." Hermione pulled out her wand, pointed it at the bucket, and muttered, "Wingardium Leviosa." The bucket lifted off of the floor and she directed it directly over Pansy's head. "Tilt the bucket, but leave enough for Brianna." Ginny did so, and the water drained over Pansy's head.
Next Hermione directed it over Brianna's head. Ginny tilted it, and the last amount of water drained out.
They lay the bucket aside and Hermione handed Ginny the red dye. "I'll do Pansy's. I hate her more than Brianna." Ginny laughed and set to work.
Soon the strong smell of hair dye wafted through the air, and Hermione and Ginny stood back to observe their work. Ginny performed a drying spell on the carpets. "Uh-oh," Hermione said quietly.
"What?"
"You're supposed to rinse it out."
Ginny shrugged. "Who cares? We can just leave it. And besides, dinner is almost over."
Hermione's eyes widened. "It is? Ginny, you've got to get out of here, and I've got to get out of here or they'll know who did it!"
Ginny grabbed the bucket up off of the floor and they exited the room. "I'll see you at breakfast," she said waving. Hermione ran up to her room without replying and sat on the edge of her bed. The two girls wouldn't wake up until the next day most likely. It was going to be hilarious seeing them walk into the Great Hall. Hermione chuckled to herself.
Ahh, sweet revenge...