Secrets From Beneath

Notes:

rising waves - Thank you for your comment! :) I think that's a good idea; it's definitely the most realistic way to write their relationship. Oh, you gave me so many ideas! I'll give you credit on that ;)

Karana Belle - Hello! Don't feel bad.. at least you left me a review, and I really appreciate that! Draco seems to be in his "own world" so I thought it was pretty cute how he agreed with Hermione without knowing what it was. I'll give you a bit of clue about it: the thing that he agreed to isn't a really big factor to the plot of this story, so you shouldn't worry about it too much, but I think it'll help push him and Hermione's relationship in the right direction a little;)

Hafthand - Thank you so much for reviewing. I hope you like this story so far; I'm totally in love with all of your stories! I seriously can't wait until YOU update your story! ;)

Chapter 4

Well, believe it or not, I was wrong.

I came to work late this morning due to sleeping in for a bit longer than I thought, and hadn't had much time to change my clothes from last night. Thankfully, when I made my entrance "fashionably late", I hadn't spotted my boss anywhere. Thinking it must be my lucky day, I slumped on my chair, slowly organizing my papers that I had left in cluttered stacks the previous night. I had been busy doing this for several minutes that I hadn't noticed that someone was approaching me.

"Malfoy," Granger hissed in my ear. I turned around, managing to conceal my shocked expression from her unexpected call.

"What do you want, Granger?" I asked lazily. "I haven't got the time for a chit-chat right now."

"Why did you arrive so late?" she inquired curiously.

I only shrugged my shoulders in response, which seemed to have made her a bit upset. What, did she actually expect that I would reveal my whole life story in front of her? I think not.

"Malfoy…" she said in a displeased tone.

"What is it?" I said impatiently. "You know, I'm beginning to reconsider your hard-working and devoted appearance."

"Why would you think that?" she asked, confused that I would say such thing to her.

"Well, you're always around me when you're supposed to be completing your work. Is there something that I should know about?"

She didn't respond for several seconds, and looked surprised at my sudden question. Then, without a warning, she suddenly blew out an aggravated sigh and walked off, causing quite a few stares at my direction from a couple of other co-workers. Well, it was entirely Granger's fault for trying to converse with me when I was clearly busy. That should teach her to stop talking to me whenever she wanted to; I don't think that I could be around such a mad woman.

There was hardly any cool air circulating around the floor, so I decided to take my robe off and hastily placed it, using my wand, on one of the new hangers that my department floor had purchased not long ago. I then went back to my work, but when I stared at the endless amounts of paperwork that I had to accomplish within a day, all the focus and concentration that I had minutes earlier had disappeared. All I could do was gape at how much time that I would have to spend completing them, instead of doing something even more interesting. Well, that just basically described my whole, entire life.

I will do this, yes I will. I will complete every task that was expected from me, and surprise each and every one of my co-workers, especially Granger and Olenair. I will do such an excellent job that would make Granger full of pure jealousy, while the boss would give me a raise, promotion, or any similar sort of reward.

Now that I had my mind extremely determined and motivated, it was time to set my plan into action.

Except for the fact that I couldn't. My hands remained in the same place, instead of reaching for my quill to start the day's work. I reckoned that I just couldn't motivate my body as easily as my mind.

I guessed it was time for a break.

I leaned back on my chair carefully as to not break my wooden chair, closed my eyes, and began massaging my temples. In an attempt to decrease the amount of stress I was having from my work, I tried to imagine a small, serene place to clear my mind. I pictured myself wandering around in a forest, breathing in nature's scent and marveling at the scenery. The sky would be a clear blue colour with few white clouds lingering about; the trees were marvelously tall and full of healthy, green leaves and birds that were perched upon the branches, singing out loud for the whole world to listen. I could hear the sound of water splashing about in the river near by, and for once, I actually felt at peace.

"What's this?" a female voice asked.

Who was that? Why was there a female voice inside my head, inside my imaginary forest? I should be the only one in that place!

"It's so pretty," she cooed.

There she was again. I looked around my forest, but saw no one. This was not right. This was supposed to be MY imagination; I invited no one into my "secret" place!

"I wonder if it belongs to anyone," she said, her voice penetrating through my mind.

I suddenly woke up, my eyes alert and searching the surroundings. I was still at Gringotts, but I must have slept for a few minutes and dreamt about exploring the forest. Hmm, I should do this more.

"Oh, I want to keep this very much," the female said.

My ears heard that same voice again, and I looked for any woman whom it may belong to. My eyes rested on Granger, who was not far from me, holding something in her hands. The sight seemed very peculiar to me, so I tried to figure out what exactly she was doing for several moments, before I finally figured it out.

She was stealing my necklace! The same girl who believed in morals, ethics, and laws; the same girl who scolded me whenever I did something "wrong"; the same girl who was the first to complete any task assigned to her! That girl was currently taking an item of mine, without my consent, which by the way, I would never give to her.

"Accio necklace!" I said, pointing my wand at her. The necklace flew right out of her hands and into mine, to which I then placed the piece of jewelry in the pockets of my pants where it would be much safer from Granger's dirty hands. If she ever tried to steal it again, she better think twice.

"Malfoy, what do you think you're doing?" she asked, questioning my actions. I knew what she was up to; there was no need to use those tricks of hers.

"What are you questioning me for? I should be asking what you were doing!"

She walked a bit closer to where my desk was, and placed one hand on her hips. "For your information, I was just observing that object, which was on the floor. Is that some sort of crime?"

"However, it was mine. I caught you stealing MY necklace! So to answer your question – yes, it was a crime!"

She only rolled her eyes, which made me feel even more infuriated. Honestly, how could anyone like that woman?! She was obviously a nutter.

"Well, I didn't know that it belonged to you, otherwise I would've left it alone. What was it doing on the floor anyway?"

It must have fallen from my robes while I was sleeping… er, I mean, working. "I have no idea. I should ask you that."

"Really, Malfoy," Granger sighed. "Don't you think you're blowing this out of proportion? I really didn't do anything wrong."

Why must she sound so innocent all the time?! I know her little secret she was keeping from everyone: she may seem polite and ingenuous on the outside, but deep inside, she was full of defiance that was ready to come out of her. I can just feel it.

"You don't call embezzling my necklace wrong?" I said with disgust. "Well, Granger, I'm afraid of what you do think was right."

She looked defeated, but she wouldn't admit to it. I could sense how stubborn that woman was.

"What exactly do you want me to do, then?"

Ah, that particular sentence was music to my ears. I was more than pleased at the amount of possibilities that were going through my mind at the current moment. There were just too many situations that I wanted to torture Granger with that I couldn't think straight. Now, what was number one on my list again?

When I didn't answer her straight away, she continued on. "Do you want me to apologize? Do want me to beg you for forgiveness? What Malfoy, what, pray tell, do you want me to do?"

I do wish that Granger would calm down for once. I mean, she had never, and probably never will, ask these questions again, so I needed time to think of the perfect answer. Maybe I could have her beg on her knees or find another way to humiliate herself in front of the people who she admired. I glanced at her appearance; I think I could have her participate in any tasks that I need, to have my Manor spit-spot clean since she seemed to have already dressed similar to the fashion style of my house-elves. I grinned devilishly at my ingenious plan.

"I thought we agreed to something!" she exclaimed.

"What are you talking about, woman? I could never agree on anything with you! Well, except for your extremely outdated sense of style," I sneered. I always found it amusing when I made fun of Granger; the look on her face made it worthwhile.

"I knew it," she whispered, almost tearfully. "I knew it was too good to be true. How could I have fallen for your ruthless tricks? Some things can never change."

Before I could let a word out of my mouth, she had walked off and disappeared into another room. I doubt I could ever understand women.

Just to make sure, I checked the pockets of my pants to verify that my necklace was still there. Yes, it was, safe from prying hands. Satisfied, I turned back to the work that I still had not completed. I checked the time and saw that I still had seven more hours until I could return back home.

I think it was time for another break.

TBC.
please R&R.

(oh, by the way, I'm just curious but is there any other evil villain besides Voldemort??)