Disclaimer: Nope, still not JK Rowling, although I sincerely wish I was. Then I would be both an incredible writer and own all of the HP characters. Although there's really only one character I'm interested in owning…*Wink Wink*

Chapter 6

The First Phase

Hermione and Draco sat together at their usual table in the far back corner of the library. An entire month had passed by since Nutricius' death and neither Hermione nor Draco had found a single piece of information regarding the mysterious word 'Lacrimosus,' or the equally mysterious plant. Every free moment they had was spent in the library attempting to discover even a mentioning of either the word or the plant. They had been searching through dozens upon dozens of books in the library, yet had barely made a dent in the number of books there.

"I never would have thought there would be a day where I wished the library didn't have as many books," Hermione groaned, rubbing the back of her neck. She had been bent over, scanning through books for over three hours.

"Yes, well look at it this way. The more books there are, the more likely we will find what we are looking for. I just wish there was a faster way to discover whether or not the book mentioned 'Lacrimosus'," Draco responded, leaning back in his chair.

The chair let out a squeaky groan, causing Hermione to cringe at the sound and clench her fists. Normally she would have been able to ignore the irritating noise, but having spent three hours sitting on her arse, she was bound to be a bit testy. That added to the fact that she had noticed that whenever he got tired or bored he liked to lean on the back two legs of his chair. And every time he did that, the legs would whine in protest. She could handle it every now and then, but for some reason that day he continued to do it every few minutes without fail. Listening to that for three hours was nearly driving her insane.

In a blissful moment of self-indulgence, she imagined him falling backwards only to come crashing down on the library floor. His perfectly immaculate appearance would have to be quite ruffled by the fall. Hair likely out of place, and robes falling over his head. Of course Madam Pince would have to be in the area and hear the noise and come to chastise him for it, while he tried desperately to regain his composure.

'Oh, yes. Just imagine perfect Draco Malfoy falling on his arse because he's a stupid git, who doesn't know how to sit on a chair properly,' Hermione thought with a smirk, but quickly rethought her previous imaginings.

'Wait a sec. You're obviously just irritated. Sitting here for so many hours has made you grouchy, and now you're being a bitch. Or well, at least thinking like one,' she reprimanded herself. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she took a quick glance out the window. Hoping that if she focused on something other than the incessant squeaking of Draco's chair that she would be able to get the noise out of her head.

Surprisingly, it worked. As she gazed out of the frosted window, she could actually feel her pulse relax. Already the snow had begun to melt, and was dripping off the roof of the castle. The sun had finally come out from behind the winter clouds, bathing the Hogwarts grounds in its light.

'I would so much rather be outside right now than in this stuffy library,' Hermione thought wistfully. The dust from the books had given her a headache that continued to get worse with every passing moment. She knew that if it didn't get any better, she was going to have to see Madame Pomfrey.

"I would have thought that with all of the genius spells those stupid witches and wizards have invented over time, they would have discovered something that would help in our search. They have spells for the most bizarre and mundane things so surely they devoted a few moments of their time to the problems of research. You know, like something that would highlight phrases you were looking for, rather than look at every page of a book and hope that the word or phrase was mentioned," Draco moaned, as the chair landed back on all four legs again.

Hermione had been so engrossed in her headache and looking out the window she really hadn't listened to what Draco had just said. She only managed to catch the last bit.

"What did you just say, Malfoy?" Hermione asked, shaking herself from her thoughts.

"You know…Dumbledore did tell us to use first names…" Draco said with a smirk.

Hermione stared at him in shock. She had almost forgotten that Dumbledore told them that. For some reason, Hermione was just incapable of calling him by his first name. She had grown so used to their calling each other by last names, that first names just seemed weird.

'Yet he has no problem calling you by your first name,' Hermione reminded herself. 'Obviously it's just a problem you have.'

"Come on Her-mi-o-ne," Draco taunted with a smirk, "Surely you can pronounce my name. It really isn't that difficult. You've managed to get this far is school, pronouncing even the most complex spells and charms. A name like mine couldn't possibly be more troublesome than those. Say it with me. Dr-a-co…I know you can do it…Dr-a-co."

Hermione glared at him, resisting the temptation to growl at him. He was sitting across the table smirking and taunting her while her head pounded against her skull. She had a strong desire to hex him. Perhaps she should hex his clothes off and let him run through the corridors in the nude. She wouldn't be the only one who got a laugh out of that. Of course she would have to get a hold of his wand so he couldn't get his clothes back or hex hers off. Unfortunately, that would definitely result in a detention for her, and she really did want to know what he just said.

"Draco…What was the last thing you were talking about?" Hermione said in a sickly sweet tone. However, there was no mistaking the hidden annoyance behind it. Had it been Ron or Harry, they would have known that she had been pushed too far and that it was best to do exactly what she said, and then run as fast as their legs would take them.

"See, that wasn't so hard." Fortunately Draco wasn't entirely dense and picked up on her masked annoyance. Yet he couldn't pass up the opportunity for one more tease. At her continued glare, he got back down to the business at hand.

"Anyway, I was just complaining that all of the past wizards have managed to invent some of the most complex spells, for the oddest things, and that I would have thought they could have come up with something to help with our research," Draco answered, not quite understanding why she wanted to know so badly.

"Oh my gosh! Why didn't I think of it earlier? How could I be so stupid?" Hermione nearly cried out in frustration as she quickly put her book down and stood up to leave in a flurried rush.

Heading towards the library exit, Hermione turned around to Draco who was still sitting in his chair staring at her in confusion. "Get your arse out of that chair and follow me. I just thought of something that is totally going to help us. But I need your help, and that requires you removing yourself from that chair," Hermione called to Draco.

Draco continued to look at her in confusion, making no effort to stand up. Glaring at him for a few moments, Hermione nearly screamed at him, "NOW!"

Watching him hastily make his way over to her, she continued to practically sprint out of the library, as though she were running from a fire. She vaguely felt guilty for the piles of books they left on their table for Madam Pince to put away. But then again, she was a librarian and didn't really have anything better to do with her time.

'What the hell is she talking about?' Draco wondered as he followed the quickly retreating girl.

"So are you going to explain what this thing is that is going to help us so much, but requires my help?" Draco asked once he reached her, matching his strides with her own.

"Well, you know the last essay we had to turn into Snape regarding every witch and wizard that contributed to the discovery and use of fluxweed? Well, he had begun grading them just as I was leaving the class, and I noticed that every paper he came across, he muttered a quick spell that highlighted every name mentioned. I'm thinking that the spell he used could be used to highlight the word 'Lacrimosus' in any book we come across. That way, we would just have to look for a highlighted word, rather than read almost every page," Hermione said quickly as they headed down to the dungeons.

"Okay…so why do you need my help. Just ask Snape what spell he used and if we could use it with the books in the library," Draco said.

"Right. Because Snape just loves me so much that he would do anything to help me. In fact, he'll probably offer me milk and cookies while I'm at it," Hermione sneered sarcastically, giving Draco a look that clearly said he was an idiot for even suggesting it.

"If I asked him about the spell, he would probably tell me that I should know about it by now. He would then likely go to say that by not knowing the spell I'm demonstrating that I'm obviously not cut out to be Head Girl. In the process of telling me how I lack even the most remote form of intelligence, he would find some excuse to take points away from Gryffindor. You, however, are one of his favorite students. If you asked him about the spell, he would be more than willing to tell you everything about it. He would probably even reward you for being so observant to notice his use of the spell with points for Slytherin," Hermione said not attempting to disguise her annoyance towards their teacher.

"Yes, well you can't blame me for being his favorite student. He just obviously recognizes intelligence," Draco said smugly.

"Rather, he probably fancies you," Hermione retorted.

"Yes, well I can't blame him for that either. If I were him, I would probably fancy me too. I'll just have to think of a delicate way of letting him down gently," Draco said with ill-disguised arrogance.

"Why? Are you too busy with Crabbe and Goyle?" Hermione shot back.

"No, I'm afraid I don't swing that way. Much to your pleasure I assume…" Draco said as he turned his smirk on full force and directed it toward Hermione.

"Why would I find any pleasure in knowing your sexual preference? It's not like I would ever be interested in sleeping with you. Truth be told, I would be much more relieved knowing you were gay. That way I wouldn't have to worry about you ever coming on to me," Hermione said haughtily.

'Right, because you don't fantasize about it every night,' Hermione thought secretly.

"Oh? Does the thought really bother you that much?" Draco asked huskily, stopping directly in front of her.

Hermione was forced to stop in her tracks and look up into the ice-blue eyes above her. Swallowing quickly, she tried to side step him, but he countered her move.

"What are you playing at, Malfoy?"

"There we are right back to Malfoy. Perhaps you need an enticement to say my first name, eh?" Draco leaned in and whispered into her ear, "But what would inveigle our dear Hermione?"

Draco was now dangerously close to Hermione and she slowly tried to back away from him. Knowing what she was attempting to do, he snaked out his arm, and caught her own, drawing her firmly against his chest.

Hermione was entirely speechless, her breath caught in her throat. If she attempted to cry out for help, she couldn't have. But the truth of the matter was she hadn't even considered that option. She was far too curious about what he was suggesting, and didn't really think herself in any danger. After all, what could Draco possibly do to her, that she couldn't return tenfold?

Protesting no further, Hermione let her body relax against his. Draco himself relaxed a little when he felt her lack of resistance. She was still looking up at him, with something akin to curiosity and fascination.

"Perhaps, you and I just need to get to know each other on a more personal level," Draco said a he leaned down towards her, his lips only a mere centimeter from her own.

Hermione felt like she couldn't breathe, or move for that matter. Her entire focus was on the Greek god in front of her. She could feel the soft caress of his breath against her skin, and his hand that now rested on her cheek, lifting her lips to his. His incredibly masculine scent was clouding her mind.

Suddenly, the hall was filled with voices, waking Hermione from her temporary paralysis. They were standing in the middle of the dungeons, which meant it must be Slytherins going to their dorms. Abruptly, she pulled herself away from Draco, and once again began heading towards Snape's office. She may have momentarily forgotten their original pursuit, but was now more than ever determined to see him…quickly.

Reaching his office, she turned around to Draco who had followed her closely behind, all the while smirking slightly at her obvious shock regarding the previous event. He had no regrets for what almost happened. 'Well, except for the almost bit,' he thought with disappointment. 'Don't worry, Hermione. I'll get you sooner or later. It's just a matter of time. My plan will be put into action soon enough. And when I'm finished with that, you'll be mine.'

"Okay, I don't know if he's in there or not, but if he is, just tell him that you noticed him using a spell that highlighted certain words in our last essay, and that you were wondering if he could possibly show you how to use it, or tell you where you might learn more about it. If he's not in there, I guess we'll just have to wait for Potions tomorrow," Hermione said in a rush, avoiding actually looking in his eyes.

"As you wish, m'lady," Draco said as he gave Hermione a mock bow, and knocked on the office door. A few seconds later a gruff, "come in" could be heard from the door. Immediately, Draco opened the door and proceeded to enter the dark office and close the door behind him, leaving Hermione alone in the deserted hallway.

Hermione stood outside the door impatiently tapping her foot on the cold stone floor, waiting for Draco to finally come out. If it had been any other professor other than Snape, she would have had no trouble asking them for the spell. But Snape was a professor that she avoided if she ever had the chance.

As the minutes ticked by Hermione's impatience rose to a whole new level. 'I should have just asked one of the other professors if they knew of such a spell. It probably wasn't a secret only Snape knows about.' Hermione thought, leaning against the slimy dungeon wall. 'But then again, it was probably easier sending Draco to do it. After all, Snape will probably be delighted to help Draco. He's always there to help a Slytherin in need.'

Yes, Hermione was slightly bitter about Draco's treatment. She knew that he was intelligent, but it infuriated her with how much he could get away with. He could be disrespectful to the other teachers, and the worst that would ever happen is he'd lose a few points for Slytherin. None of the teachers took out their anger on his grades. She didn't have to do anything to Snape and he'd still be extra picky with her assignments and potions. She was surprised that she had been able to do so well in his class. If she wasn't naturally talented at Potions, she was sure she'd be close to failing.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Draco ambled out of Snape's office with a proud smirk plastered on his face. He continued to walk right past her, without even acknowledging her presence.

"So…did he tell you about the spell?" Hermione asked as she trailed behind him.

"He might have…" Draco responded, his smirk growing even larger. Of course Hermione couldn't see that as she was behind him.

"What do you mean by that? He might have…" Hermione mimicked.

"It means that Snape may have told me about the spell, or he may not have. But the point is I'm not telling…Or at least not yet," Draco said as he turned around to face the flustered girl.

"Why the hell not? I was the one who told you to ask about the spell, and it would help both of us, not just me. There is no reason why you shouldn't tell me, aside from just acting like a complete and utter prat!" Hermione screamed at him. They were still in the dungeons, and every now and then a Slytherin would pass by, giving the two students odd looks. Despite not wanting to attract any undue attention, she was furious over Draco's behavior.

"Well, you may see no reason, but I do," Draco said with a mocking air.

"Would you perhaps mind divulging this mysterious reason?" Hermione asked, desperately trying to maintain her hold over her growing anger.

"You see, I did some thinking over this spell, and I realized that you were quite desperate to discover how to use it, thus it would be perfect for blackmail," Draco stated matter-of-factly.

Hermione stood there in complete shock, but quickly recovered. "Well, I knew you were low, I just never thought you would stoop to this level. So what are you planning to blackmail me for?" Hermione asked, glaring at him and crossing her arms over her chest.

"Well you see, I haven't quite decided what for…yet. But don't worry, I'll decide soon enough." With that said, Draco continued up the stairs from the dungeon to their rooms. Hermione only a few feet behind, boring holes into the back of his skull with her glare.

Draco knew she was angry, and he couldn't help prevent a self-satisfied smile. She may think that he was just being a prat, but he had reason behind it. Having thought long and hard as to how he was finally going to capture the vixen he devised a plan that was guaranteed not to fail, and this was just the beginning of the first phase.

* ~ * ~ *

Author's Note: Oh, my gosh! I owe everyone who reads my story my biggest apologies. I had no intention of taking this long to write this chapter. I mean, it's almost been three weeks. And worse yet, it might be that long, or even longer before chapter 7 is up. I hope not, but I have AP tests coming up that I really need to study for. (For anyone living outside of the United States, AP tests are college equivalency exams that you can take to earn college credit.) Then I have to worry about graduation and everything. I'll try really hard to get the next chapter up soon, but please don't hate me if I take too long.

However, if you all write really encouraging reviews, you just might spur my muse on and get that chapter sooner than I thought possible. So in other words, please review. It's not like I'm going to withhold my chapter until I get enough reviews, but they really do encourage me. I'm sure you're all wondering what Draco's going to blackmail Hermione for, and I promise you'll find out next chapter. And I'm sure some of you might have been a bit disappointed that they didn't kiss yet, but they will…eventually. *Wink Wink*

I still want to hear from you for any scenes or characters you want to see. I still have in-between time that I have to kill before they finish their research, and if other people give me ideas I find that I work really well with them. It also prevents me from having to come up with all of the scenes. So please let me know if you have any ideas, especially any funny ones. I love to add humor into my stories, and I'm sure some of you out there can think of funny scenes you'd like to read about. So, you can either leave them in your review, or email me at MistressDeDraco@yahoo.com I hope to hear some of them.

Moving on, I want to thank everyone who reviewed my last chapter and chapters. I absolutely love hearing from you, and hope this chapter wasn't a complete disappointment.

catherine, I know what it's like to answer the silent call of ff.net. Too often I find myself there when I know I should be doing something else. I'm glad to hear that you like my style of writing and that you can picture the scenes. While I'm writing, that's my intention. I can personally picture everything, and I try to write it so that the readers can too.

avivagirl, I got the DVD for Chamber of Secrets and there was an interview with Jason Isaacs' about why he played his character the way he did, and he said that he wanted to kind of make the viewers feel a tad bit sorry for Draco. So obviously he did a good job at his role to make you feel sorry for Draco. I did too, which is probably why I've written my story the way I have.

Dreaming One, Yes Ron does have a thing for Hermione still. I think we all gathered from GoF that Ron had a thing for her then, and in my story he's just never done anything about it. You'll see a lot more of that in chapter 8. No, Madam Pince didn't see the kiss, they're in the way far back corner of the library, so she wouldn't bother going back there very often. You'll find out why I've added her point of view later, but a big part of that was just to show how unusual it was for them to be allowed in the restricted section.

harrypotter4ever, Unfortunately it's going to be awhile until we find out more about Lucius. I hate to make you all wait so long, especially because all you know is that he's dead. I hope you won't get too impatient, but when you do find out more about Lucius you'll also find out all about why Draco turned to the "good" side. And no I don't think you're a pervert. This story is a romance between Hermione and Draco, and its also rated R. That rating is not for language or violence (although the first chapter and Hermione's dream was pretty graphic). It's just going to take a little while before they're finally 'together.'

Lady Ashley, You're more than welcome to use that quote, and that probably was the only intelligent thing Pansy will ever say in this story. I really don't have her a very smart girl in this fic. But that shouldn't be much of a problem, most people don't have her down as very smart.

Snakeyes, If you really hate Ron that much in my fic, you obviously haven't read some of them that I have. I know there are a couple where he attempts to rape Hermione, fortunately Draco saves her. However, I'm glad that you think I'm doing a good job with my characters. And Draco is kind of putting up a front. He's still rather cocky, but he's not evil or anything. He just gives off that kind of vibe to people because that's what they expect. Living in a house full of potential Death Eaters would force you to appear evil, even if you weren't.

Babu4490, I'm trying really hard to display Draco as rather cocky and arrogant, just not evil. I hope that with this chapter you can kind of see that, and when you see him interact with students other than Hermione that will become a lot clearer. He's rather nice to Hermione because he likes her, but that won't prevent him from being more Malfoyish in future chapters.

Aphrodite-Rose, Ron's not talking to Hermione because 1) He's a git 2) Somehow he's gotten it into his mind that Hermione doesn't care that Harry's in a coma. He seems to think that if she doesn't spend every free moment by his bedside, she doesn't care. And eventually Draco will carry out his 'plan' to seduce Hermione. We'll just have to wait and see where that goes from there.

HarryPotterWanter, Yeah, I know it was just a kiss on the cheek, but he's got feelings for Hermione, and considering how he's treated her in the past, a kiss on the cheek was an unexpected but pleasant surprise. We will actually see more of Lavender and Dean, but they're not the main topic of the story so it won't be too much. And Elladora will continue to make comments and look after both Hermione and Draco. You'll just have to wait and see what Ron's going to try to do to try and prevent Hermione and Draco getting together.

tainted black, Yes, Draco has changed a lot. After all, he's not the evil git most of us thought he'd grow up to. However, you're going to have to wait a while before I divulge the reason for the change. I don't think it really comes up until about chapter 11. I'm really sorry you'll have to wait that long, but I hope the wait will be worth it. We will also see that tree again. It's her sanctuary, so she'll go there whenever she's upset.

The Charmed One, Basically Ron is a stupid git who's really in love with Hermione, but because she doesn't spend every waking minute by Harry's bedside has convinced himself that she doesn't really care about him. However, he's also in love with her, and therefore is jealous that she's spending time with Draco and had the audacity to kiss him on the cheek.

casper, Ron's basically jealous and stupid, just like I told The Charmed One. Madam Pince has a stick up her ass, and acts like it. I guess this is partially how I see school librarians. At least that's how my school librarians act. She's also there to kind of show how unusual it is for students to be allowed in the Restricted Section. Take into account that in CoS, she got the book for Hermione, so as far as we know, no one is ever allowed to just walk around in there.

tigerbrat88, The whole thing with Lacrimosus will sort of remain a mystery for awhile. Seeing as Nutricius is dead, there isn't really any way to ask him what he meant by that phrase, but they'll discover it eventually. And yes, ff.net is stupid. I know for the last chapter I had to wait almost three days just to upload my chapter. Hopefully it won't take too long for you to read this one, nor that long for me to upload.

aku-neko, Yes, I kind of skipped the whole transition phase where Draco realizes that he's been a total git for the past few years and suddenly decides to change. I just didn't want to have to waste my time with that. I mean, my story's going to be long enough with out it. You will eventually discover why he changed, but the events that led up to it really aren't important to the story, aside from the self-realization bit.

nobody, I promise there will be a lot more than just a peck on the cheek. MUCH more, however, you are going to have to wait a little bit. I know there was an almost kiss in this chapter, but not to worry, I won't leave you waiting too long.