Disclaimer: I...don't...own...anything.

Chapter 3 – The Encounter

Previously: The pure menace and hate in Malfoy's voice, not to mention his words, made Hermione gasp in shock before she could stop herself. Her eyes widened in realization of what she'd just done and she clapped a hand over her mouth, but judging by the sudden silence in the compartment, she had definitely been heard.

She searched frantically for a hiding place as the sound of quick, heavy footsteps drew close to the doorway.

Hermione managed to jump into the adjoining compartment and hide behind the half-open door just as Malfoy quickly slid his door open, not 2 feet away from where she stood. Her heart was pounding in her ears and she held her breath as she heard him shuffling around, looking for the uninvited listener. She felt like a small, terrified mouse being prowled by a large, deadly snake as she heard Draco stealthily moving around, listening for any clues that might give away his prey.

After what seemed like an eternity, she heard him move past her compartment and on down the corridor in the direction of the bathroom. She breathed a small sigh of relief. As quietly and swiftly as possible, she poked her head out, saw that his back was turned, and snuck out into the corridor, trying to walk as normally as possible away from him so as not to appear suspicious.

She had only gotten a few feet away, however, before she was grabbed roughly from behind by arms of steel and shoved against the wall. She looked up in shock into the face of Draco Malfoy, only inches away from hers. The look on his face was deadly.

"Granger," he hissed venomously.

She hoped she was covering her fear with anger as she spat back, "What do you want, Malfoy?"

His hands gripped her shoulders painfully as he slammed her against the wall again. "What did you hear?"

Hermione glared daggers at him for a moment and tried fruitlessly to pry his hands off her shoulders. "Get off me."

He leaned closer and his voice was dangerously calm. "When I ask a question, I expect to get an answer, Mudblood. I will not ask again."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Malfoy," she said coldly, hoping her eyes weren't betraying her.

His grip on her shoulders became even more painful as he pulled back for a second before slamming her into the wall once again, harder than before. Tears stung her eyes and she gasped as her already injured ribs were jarred painfully. She gripped her ribcage with her arms, trying to stop the pain from overtaking her.

"I didn't hear anything!" She gasped out. She looked up into his eyes to see that he was staring down at her arms around her middle, an unreadable expression on his face. His hold on her shoulders loosened considerably, and suddenly he looked...almost regretful of what he'd done.

But as quickly as it had come, it was gone. His eyes turned ice cold again as he looked back to her face.

"You better not have heard anything. I swear, Granger, if any of this gets out, I'll make you wish you were never born. Though, yours doesn't count as a significant life anyway, does it little Mudblood?"

"Fuck off, Malfoy," she gritted through her teeth.

He sneered at her before leaning close to her ear and whispering, "Pity he didn't get rid of you while he had the chance. I don't know anyone besides Potty and Weasel who would miss you."

At this, she pushed at his chest violently and tried to shove him away. She got one arm free and her fist was halfway to his face before he caught it deftly in his own hand.

"Such anger, little Mudblood," he whispered silkily. "Tell me, do you really think you could hurt me if you tried?"

"Malfoy," she snarled, "I am this close to hexing you into oblivion. If you know what's good for you, let me go right now."

He shook his head, smirking amusedly as he released her hand. "You don't have any idea who you're dealing with, do you? Well, run along little Mudblood, and tell dear Potter that if he knows what's good for him, he'll watch his back, and," his eyes looked her up and down disconcertingly, "his friends."

"You sick son of a bitch," she hissed. "You are in no position to do anything to us."

"Oh, that's where you're wrong, Granger. Your precious old fool of a headmaster begs to differ."

He smirked smugly as he reached in his pocket and pulled out a shiny badge with the words "Head Boy" engraved under the Slytherin emblem.

Hermione gaped at it in shock for several moments, lost for words. The very idea she had thought ridiculous last night, was a reality! She sputtered, "But...but...you...you can't...I..."

"Tsk tsk Granger, didn't your parentsever teach you to speak properly? Oh wait, then again, those muggles are quite uncivilized...perhaps they haven't mastered the use of the English language yet," he said, shrugging his shoulders and sounding falsely sympathetic.

Hermione snapped abruptly out of her dumbfounded daze at these words. Her cheeks flushed in anger and her brown eyes snapped as she snarled, "They damn well have, you arrogant, nasty, pasty-faced ferret! Remember that you can't buy your way out of trouble anymore Malfoy, not with your daddy gone." And with that, she turned on her heel and stalked back to her compartment, slamming the door behind her.

Draco stood stunned, rooted to the spot for several seconds as he watched her bouncing brown and caramel streaked curls moving down the corridor until they disappeared into a compartment, followed by a loud bang as she slammed the door.

That stupid bitch. Who did she think she was, talking to him that way?

He stalked back to his compartment in a filthy rage, unconsciously imitating her behavior exactly as he slammed the door behind him as well.

Harry and Ron jumped about a foot in the air as Hermione burst into the compartment, slamming the door as hard as she could in her rage. Then she winced, and moved one hand up to hold her ribs tightly, willing the pain to go away as she bent over.

"Hermione?! What's wrong?"

"What happened?!"

The boys moved quickly over to her and helped her sit down slowly. Her breathing was fast and shallow as she held onto them for support.

"'Mione, what happened to you?" Ron reached a hand up to cup her cheek and tried to look into her eyes, but she wouldn't look at him or Harry. He lifted her chin, forcing her to meet his concerned gaze.

She gazed back at him for a moment, trying to decide whether to tell him the truth or not. After quick consideration, she decided that she didn't want WWIII on her hands just now.

"Oh, I um...I tripped and hit my ribs just wrong when I fell...it's nothing really, Ron, you don't have to be so worried, I mean it's not like anything terribly bad happened..." she realized she was beginning to ramble and quickly clamped her mouth shut.

Harry was looking at her skeptically. "Then why did we hear you yelling at someone out there?" Ron's eyes narrowed as Harry said this, and he nodded emphatically.

"Yeah, what Harry said."

Hermione sighed. She'd have to at least mention Malfoy now. She tried to steel herself for the explosion she knew would come as she looked at the ground, muttering, "Well, Iwasyellingatmalfoy."

"What?"

She sighed again. "I...was...yelling...at...Malfoy."

"MALFOY?! HE'S HERE???" Ron demanded furiously, eyes blazing. Harry said nothing, but there was something close to disbelief, quickly becoming dread in his eyes.

Ron jumped up and began pacing the small compartment. "I don't believe this! Bloody hell, I thought we'd gotten rid of him for good when his bloody Death Eater father stuffed it in our own school, trying to kill..." he broke off abruptly, looking anxiously back over at Hermione. She stared at the floor, jaw quivering slightly.

He hurried over to her, sitting beside her and laying an arm across her shoulders. He didn't notice her slight wince as he said, "I'm sorry 'Mione, I just..."

"It's ok," she said quietly.

It was quiet for a minute or so as Hermione continued to stare at the floor, Ron looked increasingly more confused and angry, and Harry shifted around uncomfortably in his seat. Finally Ron could stand it no longer.

"But Hermione, why were you even talking to Malfoy in the first place?"

Hermione's eyes went wide and she tried to think quickly. She couldn't tell them about Malfoy's threat...it would only make Ron furious and Harry even more troubled. She couldn't tell them she had been eavesdropping on his conversation, or that he had probably caused extensive bruising on her shoulders, as she had felt them when Ron had put his arm around her. She went with the first excuse that came to mind.

"He was standing...out in the corridor...when I tripped...and, erm...he started making fun of me." She hoped they were too concerned to recognize the pathetic lie.

Apparently they were. Ron looked furious. "Why that slimy-faced, greasy-haired, lowdown, good for nothing bas–"

"I handled it," she interrupted quickly. "And you have to leave him alone, Ron. He's...he's Head Boy."

"HE'S WHAT?!" This time there were two shocked, angry boys yelling.

Hermione sighed once again. "He's Head Boy. I don't know how it happened, or what Dumbledore was thinking...but Malfoy showed me the badge. It's true."

"How could this happen?" Harry groaned. "This will be worse than 5th year when he was on that stupid Inquisitorial Squad!"

Ron nodded in agreement. "We're doomed."