Challenges of Character
Chapter Three
Hitting Below the Belt
Ron sauntered into the library, where he was sure that he would find Hermione. He leaned over her shoulder and lowered his voice to a whisper, "I found your challenge."
She whipped her head around, and consequently gave Ron an unpleasant mouthful of hair. "Already? Who is it?"
After spitting out the hair, he flashed her a secretive smile. "Come with me and I'll show you."
Hermione regarded him wearily, as well she should have. "I have to do this now?"
"Yes."
She sighed and gathered up her books and various papers. "All right, but this had better not take long, I have heaps of work left to do…"
"It won't, I promise." She failed to notice his evil smile as he lead her out of the library and back to the Great Hall.
As they entered the Hall, Ron placed an arm around Hermione's shoulders, to which she quickly pulled away from.
"Are you drunk again?"
"Huh? No. Look around, Hermione dear, and tell me who you think your date-to-be is."
"This is senseless, Ron, nearly every male in the school is in here; you cannot expect me to pick out the proverbial needle in the haystack."
"Fine," he relented. Giving her a break, he steered her in the direction of his pick…the direction of the Slytherin table. "He is right over there."
"Ron," Hermione voiced lowly through clenched teeth, "Please tell me that you did not pick who I think you picked."
"And who do you think I picked?"
"At the moment I am looking at one Draco Malfoy whom is the only person in the general area in which you directed me to look. And if that's the case, I hope that you realize that I am going to hex you six ways till Sunday."
"No you won't, because that was the deal, I got to pick someone for you to date. And the ferret is my choice…and I suggest that you get started, Hermione, because if you are going to date Malfoy, then that's something that will require a lot of your precious time."
She searched his eyes desperately, "Ron, why would you do this? You don't even like Malfoy, in fact, you hate him! I am your friend, why would you want me to date him?"
Ron shrugged. Of course, he hated Malfoy, who wouldn't? That was the beauty of his plan though, Hermione hated Malfoy nearly as much as he did…he was the one 'good-looking' bloke in Hogwarts that he wouldn't have to worry about Hermione continuing to date after the bet.
"Hermione," he finally said, "your part of the bet was that you were to date someone that is attractive, not nice. Therefore, Malfoy works."
"Oh yeah?" she raised her eyebrows at him, "So you think Malfoy is attractive, Ron?"
"No! I mean, he has er…nice features? From a female perspective that is, not mine. Ginny told me so."
"Hmm, are you sure that you don't want me to pick out an intelligent male for you to date then?"
"Hell no! That was…low, Hermione."
"Whereas you forcing me to date Malfoy wasn't? Fine, Ron, I'll go on a date with the vile ferret, but you are forgetting that I get to pick your date as well."
Ron swallowed. "Fair enough. Who did you have in mind?"
Hermione dramatically looked over the potential females. "Gee, I don't know…how about Eloise Midgen?"
Ron's eyes widened as he looked over to the acme-covered girl that was currently indulging herself in an array of breakfast meats. "Umm…I don't think that is a good idea."
"I find it to be an excellent idea, Ron."
"Is she smart though? Because the deal was that I had to date someone with intelligence…not someone with their own postal code."
"She has the fourth highest marks of our year, Ron, and she is a very nice girl. And I would suggest," she mimicked, "that you get started, because if you are going to date Eloise Midgen, then that is something that will require a lot of your precious time."
Ron glared at her before stalking out of the Great Hall in unjustified rage.
Hermione shrugged at his retreating figure and peered over at Malfoy once more. She grimaced and returned to the library; maybe she could cast a clone charm on herself…
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"Ron," Harry sighed as he shook his head in disbelief, "have you lost your mind?"
"Of course not, this is a completely brilliant plan on my part."
"You want Hermione, our Hermione, to date Malfoy, and you think that this is a good idea? I ask again, have you lost your damn mind?"
"Exactly the point, Harry. You see, Hermione hates Malfoy--"
"As does everyone that does not belong to the Royal Git Association--"
"So if I pick Malfoy for her to date, then she will hate him even more, and then the whole thing will be over and Hermione will still be just as boyfriendless as before it began ."
Harry simply stared on blankly. "I must say, Ron, the way that your mind must work simply astounds me. You do realize that your little plan makes no sense, right? Hermione is going to hate you as well as Malfoy after all of this, and why do you care if she is 'boyfriendless' anyhow?"
"I don't care per se…it's just that, you know…Hermione needs to…concentrate on her studies. She cannot be running around with some boy, Harry!"
"Yeah, sure. Give it up, Ron; everyone knows that you fancy her."
"What? I do not! Me, fancy Hermione? C'mon, that is ludicrous, ridiculous, preposterous, absurd, and…okay, fine, so maybe I do. You won't tell her or anything, will you?"
"Course not. But you know, Ron, there are easier ways to get a girl to like you than to set her up with biggest imbecile in the school."
"Probably, but I had to improvise. The way I see it, after Hermione goes on just one date with Malfoy…well, guess who'll be looking like good boyfriend material after that?"
Harry rolled his eyes. "That is one of the worst plans ever."
"Oh, what would you know?"
"More than you, my friend. So you said that your bet with Hermione was that you had to date someone smart?"
"Yeah…oh, and you won't believe who she picked. Eloise Midgen."
"Eloise, really? Wow…good luck, mate."
"Thanks," Ron responded dryly.
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Hermione fidgeted nervously in her chair. She should have told Ron that she was in no way going to go through with this bet…how was she supposed to date Malfoy? How does one even go about that?
She twirled a strand of hair out of habit, she couldn't do it…she would just have to tell Ron that he had to pick someone else, or she was out. She breathed a sigh of relief, it was just that simple, she would refuse to go out with Malfoy and everything would be fine.
Moving the chair back, she made her way to the Gryfinndor common room, as that was her best bet to find Ron. She slipped quietly through the portrait and stopped when she heard her name mentioned in a conversation taking place between Ron and Harry.
"I'm telling you, Ron," Harry said, "Hermione is not going to go on a date with Malfoy."
"What, you think she'll chicken out?"
"It is Malfoy…"
Hermione's mouth dropped open in anger; they thought that she was some sort of coward! She stormed out of the common room, refusing to hear anymore of the conversation. Hermione Granger was not some spineless female, and she would show them!
She huffed her way out to the grounds of Hogwarts; the Slytherin's had Quidditch practice on Sunday afternoons. She spotted the team up in the air and slinked under the bleachers where she could remain unseen; it was best to get Malfoy alone if she was going to pull this off.
As she patiently waited for their practice to finish, she formulated a speech in her mind. Malfoy sat next to her in Advanced Transfiguration, and she had seen his test scores…there was definitely a lot of room for improvement. Yes, that was the way to get him…
Her breathing quickened as she saw brooms landing, practice was obviously over. Waiting for every team member to make it into the locker room, she moved over to hide by the door. She could only hope that Malfoy would come out alone.
After spending an hour hiding in the bushes, Hermione decided that Malfoy really was the vainest male alive, every other member of the team had long since went back into the school, and he was still in the bloody changing room!
Deciding that she refused to wait any longer, she threw open the door and went behind enemy lines to find him. Her eyes darted around, he was nowhere to be seen…but there was a shower running…
Well, that was one step that she refused to take to prove a point to Ron and Harry. Running the risk of seeing Malfoy naked was too much to take…she quietly went back to the door, waiting outside really wasn't all that bad, she supposed…except, the door was stuck!
Hermione yanked harshly on the door, but it refused to budge, and the shower had now turned off.
"What to do, what to do," she muttered quickly to herself. She put her hands on her hips and accidentally hit her wand…her wand! Hermione nearly hit herself for her rare moment of stupidity, how could she have forgotten about using a spell?
She shook her head at her antics and quickly pulled out her wand. "Alohomora."
Nothing.
She quickly raked her mind for a stronger spell, it would probably be best to use--
"Granger! What the hell are you doing in here?"
Hermione closed her eyes in disbelief, assessing the best way to get out of this particular awkward situation. Granted, she had wanted to speak to Malfoy, but now she couldn't remember why…
Turning around very slowly she found herself facing Draco Malfoy. Draco Malfoy in nothing but a towel. Now, she had never been one to find a rat such as Malfoy to be attractive, but years of Quidditch can truly do a set of abs good.
Her stare, of course, did not escape the notice of Malfoy.
"I am aware that a mudblood such as yourself is without manners…but it is impolite to stare."
"I was not staring"
"Just keep telling yourself that, Granger. So, should I just go tell Snape now of your trespassing, or would you prefer to grovel first?"
"I am a prefect, I reserve the right to enter any room in the school if I so choose."
"And why would you pick this one? Hoping to see me naked, Granger?"
"Oh, yes," Hermione responded sarcastically, "you caught me."
Draco narrowed his eyes. "You have five seconds before I remove you by force."
"I don't think you're going to do that, Malfoy."
"Then I think you've lost brain cells."
"No, you aren't going to do that because I have a proposition for you."
"Trust me, I'm not interested."
Hermione gave a stare that suggest far more confidence that she felt. She was really going to go through with this… "I am going to help you in Advanced Transfiguration."
He openly began to laugh, "I'll pass."
"That wouldn't be wise on your part. You want to work for the Ministry after Hogwarts, right? Well, I happen to know that you need top marks in Transfiguration for any department there, and we all know that your father's influence is now non-existent, so you cannot count on him. I sit next to you, Malfoy, and your scores aren't good enough. If you want a decent job, you need me to help you."
"Firstly, I do not 'need' you for anything. Secondly, I do not need to work a day in my life, my inheritance has seen to that."
"So you don't want to have any power or influence in the Ministry then? All for the better then, it leaves more jobs for Harry, Ron, and I…" she shrugged and headed for the door.
"Fine," Draco finally seethed. "So maybe I do need help in Transfiguration. But I wouldn't want it from you."
Well, of course, you don't want the help from me, but I have the best marks in the class. And Professor McGonagall is far too busy to tutor anyone."
"What's in it for you, mudblood?"
Hermione closed her eyes and took a gulp of air. "You have to go on a date with me."
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