Disclaimer: Nope, not mine, folks. Although I wouldn't mind at all owning some... aspects of J.K.'s work. Hehe.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

No. Please. No sun. Wanna sleep. Just snore on for a few more moments. Pleeeeeaaaase!

But seemingly, Ra had no mercy, burning down and heating up the sheets until Hermione felt like she was having a fun time in a stove pipe.

She sighed and turned around, trying to avoid the cruel sunrays.

And found her self face-to-chest with a solid, very much male body. Oh shit.

What had she done now? Retreating to the far off side of her part of the bed, she looked up. But only to herself paralysed in another one of those shock-of-your-life moments. This was none other than Draco Malfoy, lying in bed beside her and sleeping. White like a ghost, the girl jumped up and let her gaze wander frantically to find at least one clue as to where she was.

Moments later, she realised that whatever would happen, Draco Malfoy would not have his room decorated in Gryffindor colours, and almost blushed for panicking so quickly.

Still, she had no intention whatsoever to get caught in the same bed with him,  mostly because she was sure he'd kill her straight away.

But still, now she had the perfect opportunity to get him back for all these years of taunting and humiliating her. The thought made her smirk in a manner close to his, betraying the slightly evil thoughts swirling through her mind.

She went over to the chair over which she had carefully draped her robes over, checked them for any crinkles and pulled them on again. Picking up her wand, she quietly summoned a pot of water, lifted it from the table and walked over to Malfoy's bedside. Still smirking, she announced in a high, sugar sweet voice:

"Wake-up call, sweetie!"

Draco Malfoy had been woken up roughly a lot in his life. But his father had always opted for the Crucatius Course. Being startled awake by a splash of ice cold water was something new, but definitely not any more pleasant.

"What the fuck-"

A giggle caught his ear and his head snapped up. Granger. That damn bitch! Oh, wait. Granger?! Where'd she come from? And more importantly, how dare she wake him up? With cold water no less?!

He leaped from the bed and advanced at the girl whose giggling lessened considerably. He hid his smirk, satisfied at her obvious fright.

"Hello, Mudblood. Care to explain why you considered it essential to wake me up? In such a ...cold manner, no less?"

She backed up as he came closer, eyes wide. She was scared. It was wonderful watching people that were scared of you. It gave the young man a feeling of power, and power was the one thing that was considered important in his world.

"I'm waiting, bitch."

"Don't-"

"Don't call you that? You're hardly in the position to give me orders, Granger. Now, tell me why you did it."

Her back collided with the wall and with his arms enclosing her shoulders, she was cut off any means of escape. She swallowed and looked up at him, hatred shining in her bright brown orbs and outplaying her fear.

"I did it because I hate you, and because you deserved it, and because I wanted to get you back for how much you made us suffer!"

"Unfortunately, 'us' is not existent at the moment. Sadly, your two morons are completely absent. Which means I could rape you right at this moment and nobody would help you."

She scoffed and gave an angry growl.

"You wouldn't. I'm filthy and dirty and ugly and, oh, what else was it? You wouldn't touch a mudblood if your life depended on it, asshole."

"And we would know because?"

His face inched closer as he slowly leaned in, enjoying the looks of intense anger and fright fighting to take over her expression. He smirked, straightening up and pushing her away.

"Don't worry, Granger. You're right, I wouldn't touch you for the life of me, for a variety of reasons that are too exhausting to name right now."

"Oh, fuck off."

"Oh, getting violent, eh?"

He raised one pale silver eyebrow, causing hers to knit together in anger and annoyance. But she saved her breath, knowing that he was not worth any trouble.

Instead, she turned for the door, opening it and carefully peeking out.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

She looked back over her shoulder and said with a derisively raised eyebrow:

"Grilling frogs. What does it look like, git?"

"I suggest you hold your tongue while you're at my mercy, Mudblood!"

"And I suggest you hold yours, too, because at this moment, you are very much on mine."

"And that would be because?"

She smiled smugly while throwing another glance backwards.

"We're at Gryffindor Tower, my dear. And I don't think a guy looking and acting as if he was very much member of the Dark Lord's inner circle, in Slytherin robes no less, would be certainly welcome."

He sneered at her.

"And you think I can't take these idiots?"

"That's precisely what I'm saying, ferret boy."

"Don't you dare-"

"Shut up, there's someone in the corridors!"

She closed the door with a small clicking sound and whispered a locking spell before she turned around to him, shooting him a venomous look.

"Listen, I intend to stay hidden until I solve this mystery, and I expect you to go along. No, don't interrupt me! We are at a place neither of us knows a thing of, so it would surely do no good for you to run out in the open. We have to do this together for a while, so I suggest you decrease your insults to a minimum, and we will be able to get along. Are we clear?"

"Granger, you expect me to stop insulting you? I'd have to stop addressing you at all!"

"So stop."

"Whatever."

"I'll go to Dumbledore."

"How do you know he's not evil?"

"How do you know he is?"

"I don't."

"So let's find out."

He didn't answer her, but grabbed his robes and pulled them on.

She nodded and reopened the door, looking out and signalising him that everything was calm and quiet. He came up next to her and the two left their shelter, set out to find where they were and whatever it was that had brought them here.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"How may I help you, my children?"

The wise old Albus Dumbledore switched his wake gaze between the petite brunette and the tall blond standing before him, other students springing to his mind that looked exactly like them. 

They had basically stormed his office, eager to flee the eyes of anyone that could be watching and now he was interested, to say the least.

"Sir, I will tell you a story, and this is as much the truth as I know it. Please do not interrupt or question me until I finished. Is that alright with you?"

The girl seemed anxious, nervous. Evil was never nervous, so she was out of the question. The air of the young man beside her was quite mystifying, he did not seem to be on either of sides, so Dumbledore decided it was worth the risk just to see what this girl was playing at.

"Shoot, my child. I will listen and reply in all my might."

"Good. So, one thing first. I am Hermione Granger and this is Draco Malfoy."

She pronounced the words clearly and loudly, but it did not seem to help the slight frown on the headmaster's forehead.

"Are you from Lucius' family?"

The two intruders shared a confused look.

"Yes, sir, he's his son. But back to topic. We..."

Hermione did not notice the ever so slight widening of the old man's eyes since she was searching for the right words and Draco, who did, kept it to himself, quietly observing the bearded wizard's reactions.

"Well, obviously you don't know us, so I'll just tell this from where I think it began up to now, alright?"

"Do go on, my dear."

"Well, sir, yourself- from a different universe or whatever and no, please do not interrupt me- sent me and Malfoy up to Astronomy Tower to observe some kind of star constellation. We accidentally touched and somehow both lost consciousness at once. When we woke up we were here, over there by the lake, but we knew we were not in our own, uh, home dimension because we weren't on the tower anymore. We spent the night in one of Gryffindor Tower's secret rooms, and then we went straight to you. Frankly, sir, we have no clue where we are, but we'd like to return to our- timeline, universe, whatever."

"So I assume that you both are Hogwarts students, are you not?"

"Yes sir, I'm in Gryffindor and he's in Slytherin, we both are of the class of 2004."

Again, only Draco noted the old headmaster's barely noticeable surprise and saw no urge to make Hermione notice. He just continued to watch the girl and the headmaster before him, face blank and a mask of obvious disinterest.

Hermione, having finished her report and waiting for questions from the old man, let her gaze sway to the window. Outside, the lake and grass were crowded with laughing, happy students, joking around and just enjoying themselves on this warm Sunday.

"Hey, Malfoy, look! That's Ginny and Harry!"

She turned her head and met his gaze, silently stating that he did not give as much as a shit to come see Harry and Ginny.

"But really, it's them! If they exist here, why wouldn't we?"

He sent her another menacing glare, but sauntered over to her side.

"I don't see them."

"Look, over there, next to that silver-haired- Oh my god, that's you!" 

Draco followed her finger to where she was pointing at with a bewildered expression.

Oh, yeah, there was that idiot Potter and the little Weasley, but... Then a silver glow caught his gaze, finally letting him know what had petrified the girl next to him.

What the hell...? That guy really looked like him, and he acted just like him, too. What could this mean? He racked his brain for a sensible answer, frowning in confusion. He hated to be confused. It robbed you of the control of the situation.

And suddenly, a little alarm went off in his head, signalling that his brain had found the answer, and he scolded himself for not seeing it sooner. It was the only way this was possible, since there did not seem to be any Granger or Ron Weasley.

He turned to Hermione with a serious, somewhat foreboding expression.

"That's not me, Granger."

"But-"

He held up his hand to silence her.

"Shut up, will you? That," and he pointed outside to his clone, "is my father, Lucius, with an exact of seventeen years."

"What?!"

"That is correct, young Mr. Malfoy." Dumbledore seemed to process the information relatively well, looking a bit perplexed, but composed.

In contrary to Granger, who was gaping at him like he had just announced that he has immortally in love with McGonnagall. 

"But... but who's that, then?"

She pointed outside to the couple she had mistakenly identified as Ginny and Harry, and now she realized that it could not be correct. They were doing something she had never seen her two friends do: They were fighting, yelling at each other like no tomorrow.

Dumbledore approached her, following the direction of her gaze.

"That's Lily Evans and James Potter. They are both Gryffindor students, Lily being one of the brightest, and James being one of the most impish."

"That is James Potter?! Oh my god!"

"Do you know him?"

She turned her melancholic, wistful gaze to the old man, nodding and smiling sadly.

"Oh, yes, I do. And yet, I do not. You see, James and Lily are the parents of the world's future saviour, and my best friend by the way."

"Oh."

"Yes. He never knew them..."

She felt her eyes start to burn, and damned herself for it.

"What he would give to be in my place now..."

"Stop whining, Granger!"

She whipped around and glared at him, leaning lazily against the wall.

"You shut up! How would you react if you never knew your parents, never got to play with your father, never got to be hugged by your mother?"

As if I ever had. My parents are loveless assholes, both of them, and if it did not involve my own non-existence, I would gladly see them dead in this time.

"And? You won't change it, Granger, it's their destiny. Imagine they hadn't died. Voldemort would reign the whole world, both Muggles and wizards, and I can't imagine that this would cause either Potter or you tremendous pleasure."

"Don't you want him to reign?"

"No. He's as much a filthy Mudblood as you are, and I'm not going to be ordered around by someone who's inferior to me."

"Oh, come on, stop lying. I bet you already have the mark!"

"Don't assume things about me, Granger. It could end badly for you."

She rolled her eyes and turned to Dumbledore again.

Sir, do you have any idea as to how we came here?"

"Unfortunately, no. I have never heard of any time travels without a Time Turner which you obviously do not own. I also do not know how I could help you, I'm afraid."

Hermione nodded and sat down on one of the chairs.

"What are you doing, Granger? Don't you think we should go?"

"I'm thinking. And no, I don't believe so."

She brought her hands up, one arm supporting her head while her right thumb stroked her nose lazily, a habit of hers when thinking.

"Maybe we have a purpose here." 

"What?"

She didn't respond, seemingly talking to herself.

"We were brought here because we have a task to accomplish. Something to fix, or to take care of, so that the future will take its correct course."

Her mumbling continued on for a few minutes, but she didn't seem to find a satisfying answer. Draco was getting impatient and thus irritated.

"Come on, Granger, let's go. I'm tired."

She looked up as if startled awake, then glared and switched her gaze to Albus.

"Sir, how far are we into this term?"

"This is the twenty-sixth of September, Miss Granger."

"Hmm. Would it be possible to have any exchange students come here at this time of year?"

"Well, technically, of course. But where would you pretend to be from?"

"Durmstrang. No, that's not good. Sir, do you know any school you have never had any transfer or exchange students from?"

"Well... the only one I can remember is Ephesos Academy. It's in Australia, an old friend of mine is headmaster there. We planned an exchange a couple of times, but our ideas could never be implemented."

"Perfect! We could pretend to be from Australia, and that we have a weird schedule down under and thus are late, and just wait until we now more."

"Well, then, which House would you like to be put in?"

"Gryffindor."

Draco snorted derisively.

"Please, you can't expect me to spend even one week with that bunch of losers."

"That bunch of losers is the only option we have."

"I'm a Slytherin, so why would I prefer Gryffindor?"

"Because you can't simply expect Lucius to be unsuspecting when you look and act like an exact replica of him? Which you are by the way."

"Shut up."

"So, we have chosen Gryffindor, then? Great. But you will need new robes, young Mr. Malfoy."

"There is no fucking way I'm going to wear gold and scarlet. That's ridiculous."

"Stop whining, Malfoy."

Narrowing his eyes dangerously, he spat in a venomous tone:

"Stop imitating me, Mudblood."

"Please, do try to be civil to each other."

"I'm sorry, Professor."

Malfoy obviously saw no need to apologize, never changing his position, his back still supported by the wall.

"I will call a House Elf to fetch you an uniform. Would you please sit down meanwhile?"

Hermione, still sitting in the big armchair, smiled up at the man while Draco didn't budge.

"I'm more comfortable standing."

"Well then, alright."

The man turned around and proceeded to look over something on his desk when Hermione stood up and addressed him once again.

"Sir? We have another problem."

"And that would be?"

"Well, we cannot keep our actual names. In our time, we both are relatively famous. I am because I am best friend to the world's strongest wizard, and he is because he's the son of one of the biggest assholes alive and will shortly be outplaying his father by far."

"Oh, what a compliment."

"Yeah, worse is, you probably believe it to be one."

"Fuck off, slut."

"Ah, no witty comebacks anymore? Poor boy."

He sent the girl a vicious glare, warning her to go any further and amazingly, she responded to him.

"Anyway. Sir? We need cover identities."

"Have you thought of your preferential name possibilities?"

"Yes, sir, I have indeed. From now on until I get back to Harry and Ron, I want both of you to call me only by Mia Stewart, because a slip up could be fatal in certain circumstances. You too, Malfoy, you heard me?"

"Didn't I tell you once that I do not take orders from things inferior to me?"

"Sure, ass."

"What name have you chosen, Mr. Malfoy?"

"Darius Stowe."

"How very cliché. I figured you'd pick something silly like Draco."

"I believe I already told your little love puppy that I will not have my name joked with by you idiots."

"And what are you gonna do? Call Daddy? Look, he's right over there!"

Now she was leaning against the wall in this lazy, superior demeanor while he stood in front of her, frowning angrily. She seemed to be unfazed by his advance at her. That is until his fist connected with the brick wall beside her. Again her eyes widened to the deer-in-headlights look, the fright creeping back onto her expression. He smirked.

"Don't piss off people you're scared of."

"I'm not-"

"Please, my children, I do not want any violence in this office."

Draco backed off and reclaimed his stance of utter disinterest while Hermione once again fled into the chair beside the desk.

The House Elf arrived, handing several Gryffindor robes over to Dumbledore who held them out to Draco.

"Take them to your room in Gryffindor Tower again, and try them on. Then I wish you two to go over to the sixth year common rooms and introduce yourself as Mia and Darius. Your beds will be taken care of."

"But, professor, we don't have any luggage. Doesn't that seem weird?"

"Do you have money?"

"Yes, sir, a few galleons."

Draco merely nodded lazily.

"Then you had a problem with the Apparition of your things. They got lost and you will be excused tomorrow to shop for new things."

"Thank you, sir."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Hermione lay on the bed in the Secret Room, completely engrossed in 'Hogwarts: A History', which she miraculously had found on the huge, dusty bookshelf while Draco sat in another one of those huge armchairs, glaring at the blazing fire. He was still trying to find out just how they had been brought a good twenty years back into the past and why. And these fucking robes were hurting his eyes.

"You know, Malfoy, eventually, we'll have to go and face them."

"I can't take all that scarlet and gold right now. My eyes need adjusting time."

"Oh, come on, let's go. I'm tired of sitting around."

"And I care because?"

"Because I can associate with Gryffindors a lot better than you do, due to the fact that I am one." 

"Who said I had to associate? We only have to sleep in the same room and participate in the same classes."

"Maybe because anyone in Gryffindor would? Look, you have to accommodate to your surroundings for a while, which happen to be Gryffindor all the way."

"Do you have to remind me of that? I'm miserable enough with only you around, I don't really need crowd of idiots alike."

"Oh, just go kill yourself, idiot."

"I would have other suggestions, but they include homicide none the less."

Without even so much as acknowledging his threat, she snapped the book close and stood up, mentally revising everything she had to keep in mind to bring the right performance. Then she nodded, contented with herself, and sauntered over to the door.

"You know Malfoy, you better come with me now."

"And why is that, Mudblood?"

"Because Gryffindor Tower has its perfidies. You'd certainly get lost, so come on."

He pushed himself off the chair, a deep growl eliciting from his throat.

Hermione paid no attention, just opened the door and stalked out.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Hey, Lily, look! Who's that?"

The redhead looked up from her homework, eying the couple that stood in the door. A petite brunette, looking cute and a little lost, but resolute none-the-less, and a tall blond who held a mystifying resemblance to the stupid git Lucius Malfoy. His air seemed to be less cruel though, in a way. But hostile none the less.

She rose from her chair and walked over, catching the girl's gaze.

"Hello you two. Can I help you?"

The girl smiled in what seemed like relief and extended her hand.

"Yes. I'm Mia Stewart, and this is Darius Stowe, we're exchange students for this year."

Smiling, Lily grabbed her hand and shook it, sending an inconspicuous glance to the young man beside her. His arms were crossed over his chest, his glare swaying from her to Mia again in an apparent display of dislike and snideness. They really did not seem to like each other.

Lily thought about holding out her hand to him, too, but he did not seem as if he would take it. So she let the topic go, instead turning to the girl again.

"By the way, I'm Lily Evans. Say, you're pretty late for an exchange, aren't you?"

The girl smiled, oddly almost blushing.

"Well, yes, but that's due to the schedule differences between Scotland and Australia... and frankly, I didn't even want to participate, due to... certain circumstances," at which she cocked her head in Darius' direction, who was standing with his back against the wall and calmly surveying the scene, "but we have some problems at home and so I volunteered to come."

"Volunteered. You say it as if you had agreed to brush a crocodile's teeth every morning."

"Have you ever seen a blond crocodile?"

Lily giggled and gestured for her to sit down next to them. The girl seemed nice enough.

"Hey, Remus. Look, this is Mia. She's an exchange student from Australia."

"Hello Mia, my name is Remus."

Mia smiled again.

"Yes, I heard."

She sat down next to the two, glancing over Lily's shoulder to catch a peek at her homework.

"Uh, sorry if I'm impolite, Lily... but you made a mistake there, and I heard Prof. Snape does not tolerate them from you Gryffindors too much. That's three slices of goat-beard, not two. Otherwise you'd end up green."

Lily smiled up at the new girl, surprised.

"Hey, thanks. Are you good at potions?"

"Relatively, I guess. Why?"

"Well, uh... could you help me out with my homework?"

"Oh, sure. Hand it over, I'll do it for you."

"Oh hey, you're nice."

Mia smiled.

"No, I'm a bookworm and bored, that's all."

Lily grinned back. She was beginning to like that girl.

Within half an hour, Mia had a three pages essay written and spell-checked. And she'd found a fan. Two fans, actually. Remus and Lily were really nice, and they liked her for being her, and they loved her for doing their Potions homework.

After finishing, Hermione threw a quick glance over at Draco, who still stood against the wall in his trained loner stance, but occasionally, he would answer one of the boy's questions, and mostly he did without too much insulting or hostility, which was a pretty good sign.

Lily had followed her gaze and spat:

"Yeah, I figured he'd be over there with the bunch of morons. Looks like he's in good company."

"What?"

She curled her lip derisively, then went to enlighten poor, confused Mia.

"That over there are Sirius Black and James Potter. Members of the ridiculous formation 'The Marauders', sorry, Moony, and the biggest prats I have ever got the chance to make acquaintance of."

"What are 'The Marauders'?"

Remus smiled at her and answered for Lily.

"'The Marauders' consist of me, 'Moony', Peter, 'Wormtail', Sirius, 'Padfoot', and James, 'Prongs'. The nicknames refer to us in Animagus form, and we like to play pranks. And I'm the only one Lily officially tolerates."

"Yes, because you're the only one of them that can be classified as actually thinking once in a while."

"Ohh, right. Lily? Could it be that I saw you and James fighting some hours ago?"

"That's the only thing you see them doing together."

Lily, desperate to get the conversation on to another topic, leaned over to Mia and asked:

"Say, do you know if your Darius has anything to do with a Lucius Malfoy?"

No. Just father and son, you know, nothing serious.

"No, I don't think so, but I can't tell for sure since I don't know Lucius and quite frankly, I don't know Blondie over there any better."

Remus nodded as he looked over to him.

"You're right, Lily, he has a fascinatingly close resemblance to Lucius, both in looks and demeanor."

"Yeah, have you seen the way he glares at Mia from time to time?"

"Hey, guys, I'm still right here, stop talking as if I was absent."

The two looked at each other, then answered her with a sheepish grin:

"Sorry, Mia, old habit."

"Hey, it's still warm, can we go outside for a while?"

"Sure, you in, Moony?"

"But of course, darling."

Lily giggled, then extended her hand so Remus could lift her up. Then he did the same to Hermione, eliciting a small, surprised cry from the girl and thus, more giggles from Lily.

"Don't mind him, he does that sometimes."

"Please follow me, Your Highnesses."

The girls smiled and walked after him, passing by the couch where the boys were.

"Stewart!"

Had it been only for the name, Hermione would have just continued on her way. But it was the way he spat it, just like Granger.

"What do you want, Stowe?"

"You should watch out for your hair, the bush could mutate and eat you alive."

She sent a derisive scowl his way, beginning to walk again.

"And you should watch out for your humour, before it manages to escape completely."

With that, she waved her hand in an arrogant, dismissive manner she knew would piss him off to no end.

Draco scowled, turning back to nothing in particular.

"Damn bitch."

James made a confused face and asked:

"Hey, Darius, what is it that you two have? Some kind of family feud or something?"

No, it's more about blood and the product of you and that redhead.

"No, she just gets on my nerves."

"Why? She's nice. Beautiful, too."

He raised a sceptical eyebrow, and James was proud to think that he had caused the only change in facial expressions they had seen the young man do up to now.

"If she's beautiful, I'm gay. In all my life, I have never seen anyone as ugly."

Besides Bullstrode and Parkinson.

James looked pensive as he tried to explain his point:

"No, I mean, she's not beautiful in the common sense, but there is something about her... her aura or something..."

Wrong woman, Potter. You have some history- er, future with pretty Lily out there.

"Should we follow them? Play some pranks?"

James' face broke into the same mischievous smile that was evident on Sirius' and he nodded.

"Come on, Darius, let's get some fun."

Draco sent him a glare.

"So that's what you Scots call fun? Play pranks on some stupid girls?"

"Well, yup. Come on, you should see the way Lily gets when she catches James trying something. It's ridiculous."

The glare was transferred to Sirius, immediately slightly dimming his bright grin. Ah yes. Another one of those idiots.

"Alright, pal, if you want to stand here all evening and stare at the admittedly incredibly interesting couch over there, be my guest. But believe me, the fights of James Potter and Lily Evans are worth missing at least five Quidditch World Cup Games!"

"Fine, but do me a favour and stop talking for a while. You're annoying me."

"Gee, you're uptight, man."

No, but I'm sensitive about my name. Among other things.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Wow, it's so beautiful here! Much better than in Australia! There's nothing green where I live, all red and dusty."

Despite the fact that Hermione had seen Hogwarts and its surroundings countless times, she truly was amazed.

In her time, she never really got to admire the beautiful landscape.

"Yeah, it is. Come on, let's go over to the lake, it's great."

The three walked over, eying each other and grinning, speeding up little by little. Then suddenly, Lily broke out into a run, trying to be the first to arrive. Remus and Mia followed suit, and they ran for what they were worth.

Finally, Hermione managed to put a shaking hand to the trunk of the tree she leant on, signalising that she'd been first. The three collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath and laughing like mad.

"Have you seen the 'Strong Sex' lag behind us like an old cow? That was so-"

Remus glared and pouted and the girls giggled again.

Yeah, it's something different than listening Ron and Harry talk about Quidditch the whole time...

Hermione was beginning to like Lily. And Remus. And the whole being here thing, having a female friend other than the one ogling after your best friend. It was a nice change.

Finally, when all their laughter had died down and their phrenics hurt like hell, Hermione sank back into the tree and sighed blissfully, her eyes drifting close. This was so nice...

"AAAAH!"

Lily's cry made her eyes snap open, but before she had the chance to do anything, she was lifted up by two strong arms and felt herself flying through the air, until she hit the water.

Gasping and spluttering, the two girls broke through the surface again, glaring straight at four intensely satisfied looking boys.

"Who threw me?"

The boys looked at each other, then back at Hermione, trying to fake an innocent expression and failing miserably. Her gaze switched to Draco, observing his sneer. If he had done it, he'd try to look innocent and succeed. Nope, all spiteful satisfaction. So what were the options? James. Well, she didn't know him, his grin was more turned into Lily's direction. And Sirius, well, Sirius was trying hard to feign ignorance to both her angry and wet looks and the glare of suspicion she had glued to him.

"This was your doing, wasn't it? You know, it's common practice that you introduce yourself to a girl before throwing them into a lake."

"Oh. Whoops. I'm Sirius Black and this is James Potter, best friend to me and dearest foe to cute lil' Lily over there."

"Oh, shut up, Sirius, and Potter, if I ever get out of this damn algae again, you are so dead!"

"Oh, honestly, you really terrify me, Lily. See, I'm running already, looking for shelter."

Sirius chuckled as he watched Lily grow angry. Her cheeks flushed and she waded towards the shore, shooting daggers at the young men.

"Remus, dare grin like that for another second and I'll so very much kill you. As to you, Potter, run!"

Hermione watched as her new friend grew madder and madder, and she found herself reaching for her arm and addressing her:

"Don't, Lily. It's not worth the energy. That's all he wants anyway, seeing you react to him. The worst you can do to him now is ignore him."

Lily's face turned to hers, and she nodded with a surprised expression.

"You're right. Hey, you're good at this. Being all sensible and convince me not to do something stupid, I mean. Would you like to have a full-time job?"

Hermione smiled, but she could not help feeling slightly bitter. Yeah, that's all I'm capable of, studying and being sensible, huh?

"Anyways, let's get outta here. I'm getting awfully cold in this water."

Lily linked her arm through Hermione's and they went ashore, after a small struggle with very possessive water plants, while the boys kept watching them, grinning once in a while.

"Lily?"

"Huh?"

"Are you strong?"

Lily looked at the girl beside her, sending her a funny look.

"More or less. Why?"

"Think you could take Sirius and James if we paired up together?"

A mischievous smile fought its way onto the young woman's face.

"Depends. I never really tried if I could take them on, but besides, what do we have to lose? We're wet already anyways."

"Exactly my train of thought."

"So... try them?"

The girls stepped out of the water and looked at the unsuspecting guys standing a few feet away. Then they turned to each other again, grinning widely:

"Most definitely!"

"You take James, I'll take Sirius."

Hermione frowned.

"Why?"

"Because I would certainly wring his neck."

"Oh. Sure."

"Hey, wait. What about Darius over there? He's been looking a hell of a lot too comfortable seeing us struggle in the water."

"Well, that wouldn't be as easy. You see, he's strong, and when he's angry, he is downright dangerous. Besides, the surprise effect would already be gone."

"But please? He's as much responsible as those other two morons. Let's say, I try Remus, you try Darius?"

"Deal."

Hermione knew that she did not stand a chance, but something inside her was pushing her to do it. To see how far she could go, how far his limits went. She wanted to see him angry, uncontrolled, human for once. Why she did not know. She threw a quick glance in Draco's direction and discovered that seemingly, he saw right through her. His eyes spoke a warning more dangerous than his words ever could, and despite the fact that she was too sensible to do it, his killer glare would've stopped a rhino. And since she knew James was far less violent, he was more of an option.

She approached the young man, smiling. His head turned down slightly, and she caught a small redness on his cheeks. Her smile widened. He looked so much like Harry.

"Hey, you're James, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am. Why?"

"Well, Lily told me about you."

He chuckled.

"Then I do not want to know what you think of me."

"Oh, I think you're nice. A little-... exhausting perhaps, but still nice."

She meant it. He was too much like Harry for her not to like him. His face brightened in the exact same way his son's would whenever he heard something he liked.

"Oh, hey, you aren't wearing your robes!"

"Uh... no, I'm not. And?"

"Oh, that's good."

She had calmly sauntered over to the lakeside, trying not to be obvious.

"Why is that?"

"Wouldn't want them getting wet, now would we?"

He was too much taken by surprise to fight her, completely caught off guard as he connected with the surface and sunk under it rapidly, while Hermione giggled hysterically, Lily joining in beside her.

The boy came back up again, pouting and glaring at the two laughing women.

"Hey, that was not nice!"

"Your face! You should've seen your face, Potter!"  Lily was laughing tears by now, curling on the ground and gripping her midriff as if trying to ease the sting caused be lack of oxygen.

"Shut up, Evans! I'll get you for that, both of you! Sirius?"

"Bet on it!"

The two boys fought to come out of the lake and eventually succeeded, but the girls had already picked themselves up and run a good distance, still giggling occasionally.

"Stowe?"

The young man looked over to him, fixing him with a gaze of intense disinterest.

"Wanna help?"

"Why would I?"

"You don't like Mia, do you?"

"Not by any means."

"See? You could throw her into the lake! It's fun, really!"

"Once again, why would I?"

"To keep from being petrified in this pose? Honestly, I don't think you moved at all since you came here!"

"And?"

"Aw, come on, lighten up, dude!"

Whatever his heart and mind sought after, it was not 'lightening up' while throwing Granger into a lake. But still, he found himself watching them catch up to the two girls, all four engrossed in their happy mood.

A mood he would never share. No, Draco Malfoy did not know what happiness was, and he had never given much to find out, but somehow, the fact that he could never be more than a spectator while they enjoyed themselves made him feel excluded and bitter. They never even considered that maybe, just maybe, even he could want happiness after all.

He turned around and headed for Gryffindor Tower, not bothering to wait for someone who didn't want him to wait for them, who didn't spend any second thought that he could be not Lucius' son, but Draco, just Draco, human, once in a while.

Whatever, Malfoy. Don't bother. They're not worth it.

And he did not realize that he recited exactly the words Hermione performed in her head like a spell every time he pissed her off, trying to convince himself that he was actually right.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Yeah, so what do you think so far? Thanks to my two reviewers, I was glad someone even read this.

Darius means 'The Mighty' in ancient Greek, and Mia's supposed to be a short form of Maria, 'The Beautiful'.

As for Ephesos Academy, all made up by me. Ephesos means magic in ancient Greek.

So, well... tell me what's on your mind.