A/N: Alright I just want to say that I basically know the plot of the entire fic, but I don't know how many chapters long the fic will be, I'll know once it is all written out. Alright in this chapter…some characters are left in rather tight situations.
Disclaimer: Same as always…LOOK AT PREVIOUS CHAPTER!
Credits: PREVIOUS CHAPTERS!
Thanks too: Junsui Chikyuu, Undercover Kitty, Slytherins Angelz, Slytherin Vixen and Raven for reviewing the last chapter!
Chapter 5
The three of them walked into Potions all sitting next to each other, and Draco seated in the front of the classroom, much to Hermione's relief.
Everyone was getting out their herbs and ingredients as their cauldrons smoked, just then Professor Snape walked in, his long black robes flowing behind him as he put a hand through his greasy black hair and turned a heel to face the class. He put on his usual scowling face as he began to speak, "I'm sure you all remember that today we are going to be reviewing for our test tomorrow, and please be aware that anyone who fails will be removed from this class and placed back in Potions with the 5th years. For if none of you can make an invisibility potion by now then you are all truly hopeless." He then looked around the room, "Does everyone have all their ingredients?"
Everyone in the class nodded.
"Very well…to review for the test tomorrow you must attempt the invisibility potion…for those of you who have been paying attention in the class." He said loudly looking at Neville who ever since first year has done terribly in every potion class.
Suddenly Lavender Brown raised her hand up, "Mr. Snape sir."
He glanced at her, "Yes, Ms. Brown?"
"Sir, we're missing an ingredient." She said counting only seven ingredients when there should be eight.
"Oh? Which one?" He asked coolly.
"I think we're missing the rosewood, sir." She said in slight hesitation, for she wasn't sure if she was correct or not.
He arched a brow up at her, "That is correct Ms. Brown, at least one student pays attention in this class. For if you all had been paying attention you would've spotted that instantly. Five points to Gryffindor."
All the Gryffindors frowned, they knew that if it had been a Slytherin who had figured that out they would've received like fifteen or twenty points.
"I'll need two students to go retrieve it…and just to insure no mistakes," better make it the two top students, so that there's no foul ups he thought, "Ms. Granger, Mr. Malfoy," the two of them glanced up at Snape, "Go to the potions storage closet and retrieve twenty-five bottles of rosewood, here take these bags."
Hermione could not believe it, why did it suddenly seem like she was always being paired with Malfoy for everything? It isn't fair, she thought to herself.
Draco was thinking the same thing practically, I have had enough of Granger to deal with in Magic of the Minds, I can't believe I have to deal with her now too. Her very presence irritates me.
"Well hurry up, you two take the bags and come back as soon as possible!" He said in a commanding voice, as he watched the two teens get up very reluctantly.
They grabbed the bags and headed out of the room.
They walked in silence, silence Hermione hated…but what else could she do? She didn't know what to say to him, she was partially furious having to hang around him so much now…plus his arrogance was very overwhelming…she figured the best way to deal with this small trip was to say nothing at all.
Draco wanted to just get the potions and get out. He up until last night thought he could deal with Granger as a partner, but now he didn't think he could without exploding from anything she might say. Cause obviously she spoke of things she didn't understand at all, and he knew that his personality was a perfect example of something she spoke of but knew absolutely nothing about.
They eventually after what felt like an eternity reached the potions storage closet, Draco pulled the door open without even realizing what the sign on it said:
For any student who is running a task for a teacher please keep the door open until you leave. Thank you.
Neither Hermione or Draco, read the sign as they angrily walked into the closet and began collecting rosewood bottles to try and get back to their class as quickly as possible. The closet was awfully small and cramped, their backs were squeezed up against each other as they grabbed bottles on opposite sides of the closet. When they finally got the last bottles the door closed since no one kept it open. Which didn't phase them a bit, Hermione squeezed herself through between Draco and the shelves to make her way to the door, she gave it a good yank, but it wouldn't open, she tried a few more times and still the door wouldn't open. Draco rolled his eyes in annoyance as Hermione tried again and again to open the door, he finally had enough of her trying to open the door, "Oh, step aside Granger…obviously your not making any progress." He said squeezing past her and handing her his bag, he then pulled, and again it wouldn't open, he tried with both hands but nothing.
Hermione could not believe this, "I can't believe this, we're locked in." She said walking three steps to the back of the closet and sinking down the wall to sit on the floor.
Draco kicked the door in frustration, "Stupid door!"
"Obviously acting like that will get us nowhere." She replied.
He turned and glanced at her, it was rather dark in the closet except for two candlelit lamps which hung from the ceiling, giving the closet an orange glow. Draco's eyes looked dark in the pale orange light, "Shut up, Mudblood! I've had enough of what you have to say!" He said in a harsh tone.
She just then lost any guilt she had felt for Draco since last night, "Yea well by judging from every other pure-blood around here I'd say being a Mudblood was the best thing that could ever happen to me!" She said getting to her feet and staring Draco right in the eyes with a fiery anger, Draco had never really seen before.
"No Mudblood has ever amounted to anything in the wizarding world, once you leave here…you'll be just as insignificant as you were before you came here!" He spat back.
She was beyond furious at this point, "And from what I gather nearly every pure-blooded Slytherin to ever leave Hogwarts has turned towards the Dark Arts, I really don't think I need to strain my brain figuring out which one of us has the more disgraceful outcome! Life or Death, really tough to see isn't it!?" She shouted not backing down from him, but ready to take whatever else he had to throw at her and then she'd throw it right back at him.
"Well considering the way you have been raised, to be so blinded by what the world is really about…you would think of my future to be what it is! Your just a girl who talks about things you don't really understand, so go on…talk more about these unreal things in that ignorant little head of yours!…Well, go on!" He shouted.
"I have been raised, in a loving home, with loving parents…sure they're muggles and they don't know much about the magical wizarding world, which means I had to learn most of what I know on my own, but I most certainly didn't have to make up in my head the fact that all you pure-blooded Slytherins are headed down a road of darkness and death…and that is nothing to be proud of. And it is most certainly not something I had to imagine to know that's the facts!" She shouted with the same intensity he had previously.
They just glared at each other after that, forgetting they were stuck in a closet with no way out. Hermione waited for his retaliation, for something to just come out of his mouth that would attack her in some way, but what she was about to hear next was definitely something unexpected.
Draco glared at her not changing his look of anger as he spoke, "You really are clueless Granger," he began in a calm and cool tone, as the fire in his eyes faded, "don't talk about what its like to be a Slytherin and what we want and believe, cause you're not one of us. Your not me, you don't know what its like on the other side, so don't talk to me about right and wrong, dark and light or any other bloody thing…cause you only know half of everything, if even that." He then looked away at Hermione and kicked the door in frustration before leaning against it and sliding down to the floor, Hermione was speechless. She sat five feet away from Draco at the end of the ridiculously small closet, and she sat and glanced up at him.
So what does he know that I don't? What was he referring too? How much more to him can there be? What could Malfoy possibly be hiding or not sharing with anyone? How bad could it really be to be a rich boy and a pure-blood, with girls throwing themselves at him and being everyone's Slytherin idol, honestly?
Draco was glancing down at the floor sightlessly, he wasn't thinking about much except for the argument he just had with Hermione. He got personal, even though this wasn't a meeting he had gotten personal, they both did. Draco didn't seem to care that he had gotten personal he just wanted to know if the know-it-all Gryffindor realized that. He looked up at her, she was looking down at the floor but she managed to feel the weight of his stare on her and she looked up at him. Neither one of them looked away, for what seemed an eternity they just looked at each other both trying to see the person that was really in front of them, for it was obvious that after their argument, neither one could see the real person they were partnered with.
Hermione felt the silence again, that awkward silence which she only had when she was around Draco. She hated it, "The silence is unbearable," she began, Draco raised a bored brow up at her, "I wonder how long it'll take before Professor Snape realizes we aren't coming back. Figures this bloody door cannot be opened with magic."
"Longbottom is probably keeping him occupied with another idiotic mistake." He replied, flatly.
Hermione frowned, "Can you just for once, not say such things about people?"
"Why should I stop? Perhaps I do it cause I enjoy it…right Granger?" He said, trying to make a point about what she had said last night about him being cruel cause he enjoys it, which wasn't entirely the case.
She glanced at him, realizing the point that he was trying to make, "So why do you act this way then?"
Draco felt his stomach drop, why should he say anything…then again why shouldn't he? Then he thought back to the conversation he had had with Lucia the previous night. She had made a very good point with him, getting personal is part of the assignment.
"I am the way I am, cause its all I sometimes can be." He replied in a low voice, he didn't even look at her when he said it.
Hermione's brows came together in confusion, what was that supposed to mean? She sincerely wanted to know, it sounded like this was part of what Draco keeps hidden about himself. She couldn't believe he had answered her question, she could tell he was being honest with her for he looked rather uncomfortable after answering her.
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Professor Snape had just finished taking twenty points away from Gryffindor because of Neville Longbottom and his failure to follow instructions. Once the students had settled down after Neville's potion exploded Professor Snape went back to his desk just then realizing that his two students had not yet returned after nearly twenty minutes. He raised a brow in curiosity as to what could've happened to them, "Miss Malfoy, Mr. Potter…go to the potions storage closet and see what is taking Mr. Malfoy and Miss Granger so much time, will you?"
Lucia and Harry got up curiously wondering as to what exactly had become of Draco and Hermione. The two of them exited the class and made way towards the closet.
"Why do you suppose they haven't come back?" Harry asked as they walked.
Lucia shook her head, "I have no idea. Its not like they would want to spend any extra time together considering how much they dislike each other."
"I know." Harry said as they turned a corner and were down the hall from the closet.
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"Do you ever think of trying to be nice to people?" Hermione finally managed to ask.
Draco glanced at her, what's with all these questions, "I doubt it." He said with a sigh.
"Being the way you are must be exhausting."
You have no idea how right you are Granger, not that I'd ever tell you that.
"I feel sorry for you," she began and Draco glanced at her curiously, "having to be the way you are all the time. I doubt I could manage it."
Draco looked at her with a strange bewilderment. She felt sorry for him? Did he want that? No, of course he didn't…he wants no ones pity, let alone a mudbloods.
"Save your pity Granger, I for one do not want or need it." He said getting up from his seat to stretch.
Hermione glanced up at him and stood up also feeling the need to stretch, leaving her bag in front of her, "Judging from the brief look on your face…I might have thought otherwise." She said dryly.
He glanced over at her, "I think this eerie light has been playing with your sight." He said, feeling upset that she caught his previous look of bewilderment.
"If you say so, I'm tired of arguing with you." She said as she went to step forward and tripped over her bag of rosewood bottles which she had left on the floor. Draco quickly reacted and caught her before she fell, but since his reaction was late they both fell. She landed right on top of him…
She slowly lifted her head and looked right at Draco who was looking at her with an unreadable face, Hermione's eyes suddenly widened as she felt something hard press up against her thigh, "Oh my…" she began but trailed off as her face became a lovely shade of crimson.
Draco smirked, "Don't seem so surprised Granger, all men have it…some of us just have more there than others…"
Hermione felt so embarrassed as she tried to move her leg away from Draco's manhood which gave Hermione a stranger sensation in her gut and gave Draco a small chill through his spine, which he tried to ignore.
Suddenly the closet door opened and Lucia and Harry looked down to find Hermione and Draco in a very guilty position. Harry and Lucia had their eyes wide and were left speechless.
Draco looked up at the two students and sighed as he placed his head back down on the floor shaking it in disapproval, he knew exactly what Lucia and Harry must be thinking…he had to admit he and Granger's position was very convincing of certain things. He just hoped that both Lucia and Harry had the common sense to realize that it definitely isn't what it looks like.
Hermione broke the silence, "Uh…hi Harry…hi Lucia…everything can be explained."
Lucia raised a brow at the two teens on the floor who still had not moved, "Perhaps once you two get out of the closet." she said hiding the smile dying to come out.
Hermione and Draco glanced at each other and Hermione softly got off of Draco trying not to blush as she went and got her bag of rosewood which she had tripped over. Draco grabbed his bag as he rolled over to get up. The two of them then got out of the closet and Harry closed the door.
"So…what happened?" Lucia asked coolly. Harry was furious to find Hermione and Draco in that position, but he wouldn't say anything until he heard their story.
"We got locked in, end of story." Draco replied, trying to end the conversation while binding his hair back for it had gotten loose during the fall.
Harry glanced at the two of them then at the sign in front of the door, "Are you saying you can't read? The sign in front of the door specifically says to keep it open, perhaps because it only opens from the outside." Harry said pointing to the sign on the wall.
Draco and Hermione rolled their eyes feeling very stupid, how did they miss the sign?
"We overlooked it Harry, honest. Do you think I wanted to get locked in their with…him." Hermione said glancing quickly over at Draco, who just shook his head and rolled his eyes, for lack of anything better to do.
"Didn't look like you minded when we came in." Harry replied, glancing back and forth at Hermione and Draco.
"I tripped over my bag…and I knocked Draco over and that's when you two walked in." She said lifting her bag to show to them.
"So that was it?" Lucia asked.
Draco nodded, not saying anything.
"We better get back to class, Professor Snape sent us to look for you." Harry said turning and walking away. Everyone else followed in silence.
That night at dinner, Hermione kept on replaying the moment where she fell onto Draco and the strange feeling she felt when she was on top of his firm chest.
Oh stop it Hermione, just stop thinking about it. It was an accident…its never happening again. It was Malfoy for gods sake.
She then glanced over at the Slytherin table and watched Draco eat and talk with his fellow Slytherins, but not before glancing over at her with an unsure expression, he seemed to look her over real quick and then he went back to talking with his friends.
"So Hermione, had fun in the closet?" Ron asked with a goofy grin on his face.
Hermione shot cold daggers at him, "Nothing happened, we had one heated argument and then I tripped and fell on top of him…nothing happened, alright!"
Ron shrugged, "Whatever you say 'Mione. Though if I knew that anything had actually happened between the two of you Malfoy would regret it."
"So you going to meet with Malfoy after dinner? Your last meeting didn't exactly go well did it." Harry asked.
Hermione shrugged, "I don't know, perhaps he'll come out of nowhere and last minute decide to have a meeting or something I don't know."
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Dinner finished and everyone headed back to their common rooms. Harry and Ron went ahead of Hermione who thought she had forgotten her mind crystal in the Great Hall. As she turned around she bumped into none other than Draco.
"You ever heard of just normally coming up to people when you want to talk to them, instead of always sneaking around?" She asked stepping back.
He shrugged, "Not my style."
"So what do you want?" She asked, wanting to end the conversation as quickly as possible.
"You left this in the closet." He said taking out her black mind crystal.
"No wonder I couldn't find it here." She said taking the crystal from his hand almost freezing as her skin touched his, "Thank you."
Draco nodded, "Yea, well…I'll see you later Granger." He said turning to walk away when she put a hand to his shoulder and his stomach flipped, he turned to face her.
"Would you want to try and have another meeting tomorrow?" She asked.
Draco was silent a moment as he thought about it. Nothing could be as bad as the last meeting, why not? "See you tomorrow after dinner Granger." He then walked away.
"Good night." She hollered back.
He kept walking without looking back, his response was him lifting his right hand up in acknowledgment.
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Draco laid wide awake in his bed that night tossing and turning shirtless from the heat in the room, as he remembered the strange feeling he had felt when Hermione's soft body fell onto his. She's a Gryffindor…she's Granger! Your better than that Malfoy…much better, aren't you?
Hermione was laying in her bed tossing and turning and trying to sleep, but it was no use. That handsome blonde Slytherin came back into her mind refusing to leave. Come on Hermione, get a grip. It's Malfoy…a Slytherin creep! You hate him, you hate everything about him…don't you?
Eventually the two teens found uneasy rest, both dreading the next time they would see each other in mere hours, they just have to get through one itty bitty little assignment…then after that a year of Magic of the Minds. They hated each other, always have, always will…they were going to make sure nothing would ever change that. Whatever strange things they were feeling was going to be ignored, they were going to act the same way they had since first year, with the 'I hate you' attitude, that way everything will be fine.
They must have been real stupid to think that they could really keep up the 'I hate you with a passion' routine for a whole year. Really, really stupid…for the worst or should I say the best things were yet to come, from the most unexpected places.
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A/N: Alright, that was their first closet experience…will that be the only one? Well…I seriously doubt it lol. The closet triggers the hormones so well lol, this brings in the frustration which is the funniest thing to see in the world. I've seen it before…my cousin and his present fiance where like Draco and Hermione at first lol…then WHOA…change of heart, but they stayed trying to hate each other cause they didn't want to like each other, before having they're change of heart. And as for the stuff to come…that is classified information…you just have to read and find out lol. Now for all of you who are thinking that "oh no, she's making them like each other to soon!" do not worry, feelings are just scratching the surface, but Draco and Hermione refuse to acknowledge anything therefore making the romance come much later. Obviously one closet experience isn't going to start something as deep as love and so on, even liking each other isn't there its simply an attraction. No, I have something better planned for the trigger to romance so don't worry folks, the little attraction that has been started will only be known to you the readers, and individually with Hermione and Draco who plan on keeping it to themselves and hopefully getting rid of it. Cause I hate quick romances too.
Next Chapter: Take two of Draco and Hermione's meeting. Lucia and Harry find out something they shouldn't have, and Ron becomes significant, lol.
