FANTASY. BY ILUVRONWEASLEY

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing mentioned in this piece of fanfiction – this excludes the plot.

Chapter Three: The start of Torture and Suspicion.

"This is all your fault, mudblood." Draco muttered as he and Hermione left Dumbledore's office and made their way down the stairs.

"How is this all my fault, Malfoy? You have something in this as well you know!"

"If it wasn't for you taking a bloody walk at that time, then I wouldn't have thrown all the rats in the lake and the squid wouldn't be bloated right now!"

"You can't blame everything on me, Malfoy! It's not like you're perfect!" There was silence as Hermione jumped the last few steps. For a while, she thought that she had shut him up. But, alas, she was wrong.

"I'm more perfect than you'll ever be, mudblood." He mumbled. Although it was only a mumble, she heard it quite clearly. Abruptly, she stopped walking.

"And what, pray tell, is that supposed to mean?"

Draco laughed cruelly. "Well, let's see." He paused. "I'm young, good at mostly everything I do, rich, handsome as well, and brilliantly charming." He paused again. "And, what are you? Sure, you have good grades, but you are not rich, handsome or even able to fly, let alone play quidditch. So what does that make you? Hmm, let me think. A ugly, filthy, disgusting, little mudblood."

Hermione glared at Draco and used all her strength to keep her tears inside. She knew she wasn't perfect, but nobody was. Normally, she would strike back at Draco, saying that at least she had true friends who cared about her, whereas he merely had brainless cronies that followed him wherever he went. But, she couldn't say that now – after all, she wasn't even sure that she had any friends anymore.

She clenched her fists, ready to wipe the smirk off Draco's face.

"Hermione?"

She spun around to find Ron and Harry, and the rest of the Gryffindors and Slytherins heading towards her and Draco.

'I guess we must have been in Dumbledore's office longer than I thought,' She thought, as Ron gazed down at her (he was a good four inches taller than her and still growing).

"What's the matter?" Ron asked, frowning. If hethought that Draco had done anything to her, he would kill him for sure. Hermione smiled weakly. She didn't see the point in telling them what Draco had said.

"I'm fine, Ron, thanks for asking."

Ron and Harry gave her a small smile and a nod. "Well, we'll be seeing you then, Hermione."

The two boys steadily walked away from her, muttering something under their breath as they went.

"Father would never let me be near a mudblood," Draco muttered to himself, leaving Hermione to stare longingly after her two best friends as he headed towards the owlery. "I'll just write a letter to him. He'll get me out of this."

When he arrived at the owlery, he hurriedly summoned a piece of parchment and quill from thin air, and wrote:

'Dear Father,

Dumbledore has given me detentions (he says they shall be 'fun') for me accidentally making a giant squid bloated (it deserved it anyway). He said the detentions would only stop when the mudblood Granger andI can become friends. You know as much as I do, father, that this will never happen. Please speak to Dumbledore and persuade him to cancel. It is only a waste of my precious time and it will get my robes dirty by letting the mudblood near me.

Your only son,

Draco.'

He tied the letter to his black-feathered owl and it soon took flight. Draco smiled to himself, sure that his father would get him out of his disgusting punishment. He left the owlery and began making his way to the Great Hall for lunch.

Hermione stuffed the food down her throat. She didn't feel like eating but she remembered that she had not eaten much for breakfast, and she needed the energy. After that little question Ron had asked a while ago, Harry and Ron were once again ignoring her. The funny thing was, they didn't ignore her in a way that made her feel as though they hated her, they ignored her in a way that made her feel as though someone was ordering them to. Although she was sure that idea was ridiculous. Who would order her two best friends to ignore her?

The thought made her rather confused, and it didn't help matters when she thought of what was awaiting her at four thirty that afternoon. She wasn't looking forward to her 'detention' with Draco, and she knew that he probably wasn't either. As this thought ran through her mind, Draco Malfoy entered the Great Hall, looking as smug as ever - his trademark smirk in place.

Hermione swallowed her mouthful, picked up her book bag and decided to wait in the Charms classroom. 'At least Charms' is with the Ravenclaws and not the Slytherins.' She thought. Two teachers watched as Hermione left the Great Hall.

They began to talk quietly amongst themselves.

"Are you sure about this?"

"Yes, Severus, you will see."

"But Albus, it seems…how can I say it - Impossible."

"Yes, I know, Severus, that is what everyone says."

"And you're sure that if your plan works, we will have an advantage?"

"Yes, I'm almost certain of it. The hard part is keeping it from Lord Voldemort."

"And I thought the hard part was actually getting them two together . . ." Snape muttered. Dumbledore chuckled with amusement.

"Well, yes, I guess that as well. But you don't realise, Severus, that they already have feelings for each other."

"Feelings of hatred, yes . . ."

Dumbledore chuckled again. "Indeed. But, Severus, do not forget - it is a thin line between love, and hate."

"My Lord."

"Yes, Lucius? What is it?"

"My son has sent me a letter from Hogwarts today, My Lord. It seems . . .strange."

"So? Get to the point, Lucius, I have no time to deal with matters that aren't important."

"It seems that Dumbledore has set something up for him and a certain mudblood. It seems a little suspicious, My Lord. I think he may be up to something he doesn't want us to know about."

"Hand me the letter."

His snake-like eyes scanned the parchment.

"Very good, Lucius." The Dark Lord hissed. "It seems that the old fool is up to something again. You shall be rewarded most handsomely. Now leave, I shall take care of things from here. You, meanwhile, shall take care of your son. I expect you know what to do."

Lucius Malfoy bowed down to the man in front of him. "Yes, My Lord."

(For those who are wondering how Lucius is with the Dark Lord again, let's say that Lucius was released from Azkaban by Fudge because he managed to convince Fudge that he was innocent. I would also like to note that as I can find barely anything on the four founders, I have had to make most things up for that. Please keep this in mind, as this little bit of information will be needed in order to understand Chapter Four.)

Edited Version: 28th July 2005