All characters and subject matter taken from and used in the following are
from Harry Potter and therefore owned by J. K. Rowling.
A/N: it must be said that I owe most of the writing of this to my biology lessons, if it weren't for revision I never would have got over my writers block. I am aware that this fic is going very slowly to its climax but I think that good things come to those who wait. I will write the next instalment by next week sometime, if people still want it. Right now to my thank yous: thank you to Serena Snape my unbelievably good beta reader and to all those people who added to the story line, they were very helpful in my hour of need. In addition, thanks to those of you out there who reviewed my first chapter it gave me courage to write more.
Malfoy walked away from his encounter with Hermione rattled. He had never been scared by a female Gryffindor before, let alone a mudblood. He walked into the Slytherin common room after giving the password, this month it was "Salazar", and noticed a beetle on the back of a chair. Not that this was particularly unusual for it was a warm day with beetles getting everywhere. Malfoy scrutinised this specimen and then smiled and said aloud,
"There's no one here. Come on, tell me the news." With that he stepped away from the chair and the beetle took flight. It then transformed into an old friend, Rita Skeeter, today in lurid orange robes with blood red nails. She sat down on the chair she had occupied as a beetle and grinned.
"Hello Malfoy," she said cordially, "I have some news for you." Malfoy and Rita had been working together to get Hermione Granger expelled since she had destroyed their plan to ruin Hagrid.
"Well, what is it?" pressed Malfoy, hardly able to suppress his curiosity.
"Investigative reporting doesn't come cheap, you know, Malfoy. I want something for my efforts."
"Ok, ok, I give in. How much?" he said carefully.
Rita was also a shrewd businesswoman so they argued for a while before settling on a price neither was particularly happy about. After telling him about the meeting that night, Rita told Malfoy a few snippets of conversation she had overheard at the M.O.M., which seemed overly interested in the exploits of a 16-year-old witch.
********************
Hermione made her way to the Great Hall reprimanding herself. Her confrontation with Malfoy, while satisfying, had been downright dangerous. She had been so close to revealing what she is when Malfoy had got scared and run away.
She reached the Great Hall and met Ron and Harry.
"Are you alright?" Ron enquired carefully, knowing that Hermione had been working very hard recently she might snap at him if her showed any signs of interfering.
"Fine!" Hermione said brightly and started on the delicious-looking fish and chips which had just materialised before them.
"Are we going to visit Hagrid tonight?" wondered Harry.
"Not tonight" Hermione said, stifling a huge fake yawn.
"Yeah, maybe we could all do with an early night, hey Harry?" agreed Ron.
The friends returned to the common room at eight thirty, which left Hermione plenty of time to prepare for her meeting with Snape. The boys said goodnight and went to their dormitories at nine, leaving Hermione contemplate the immediate future.
********************
Hermione approached the dungeons full of apprehension. She was tired due to the lateness of the appointment and the secrecy of the request. She had never been down here after dark and the corridor was filled with flickering shadows from the candles and statues which lined it. She was so nervous about the encounter with Snape that she arrived ten minutes early and had the misfortune to meet Malfoy emerging after an extra tuition session with Snape.
"Granger?" Malfoy stuttered weakly still remembering their kitchen corridor meeting.
"Leave us Mr Malfoy," came the silky but firm voice of Severus Snape, "Ah, Miss Granger - all ready to start work, I see." Malfoy was still standing outside but Snape cast a soundproofing spell on his room so that try as Malfoy might he would not be able to hear a thing.
The next hour passed in a blur for Hermione, as her teacher and mentor put her through rigorous tests to check she was up to the job in hand. Although intelligent, Hermione's young body still needed a large amount of training to be able to perform the tasks she would no doubt have to perform in the near future. Who better to teach her than the person who has been using the same skills for the last sixteen years of his life?
********************
A/N: it must be said that I owe most of the writing of this to my biology lessons, if it weren't for revision I never would have got over my writers block. I am aware that this fic is going very slowly to its climax but I think that good things come to those who wait. I will write the next instalment by next week sometime, if people still want it. Right now to my thank yous: thank you to Serena Snape my unbelievably good beta reader and to all those people who added to the story line, they were very helpful in my hour of need. In addition, thanks to those of you out there who reviewed my first chapter it gave me courage to write more.
Malfoy walked away from his encounter with Hermione rattled. He had never been scared by a female Gryffindor before, let alone a mudblood. He walked into the Slytherin common room after giving the password, this month it was "Salazar", and noticed a beetle on the back of a chair. Not that this was particularly unusual for it was a warm day with beetles getting everywhere. Malfoy scrutinised this specimen and then smiled and said aloud,
"There's no one here. Come on, tell me the news." With that he stepped away from the chair and the beetle took flight. It then transformed into an old friend, Rita Skeeter, today in lurid orange robes with blood red nails. She sat down on the chair she had occupied as a beetle and grinned.
"Hello Malfoy," she said cordially, "I have some news for you." Malfoy and Rita had been working together to get Hermione Granger expelled since she had destroyed their plan to ruin Hagrid.
"Well, what is it?" pressed Malfoy, hardly able to suppress his curiosity.
"Investigative reporting doesn't come cheap, you know, Malfoy. I want something for my efforts."
"Ok, ok, I give in. How much?" he said carefully.
Rita was also a shrewd businesswoman so they argued for a while before settling on a price neither was particularly happy about. After telling him about the meeting that night, Rita told Malfoy a few snippets of conversation she had overheard at the M.O.M., which seemed overly interested in the exploits of a 16-year-old witch.
********************
Hermione made her way to the Great Hall reprimanding herself. Her confrontation with Malfoy, while satisfying, had been downright dangerous. She had been so close to revealing what she is when Malfoy had got scared and run away.
She reached the Great Hall and met Ron and Harry.
"Are you alright?" Ron enquired carefully, knowing that Hermione had been working very hard recently she might snap at him if her showed any signs of interfering.
"Fine!" Hermione said brightly and started on the delicious-looking fish and chips which had just materialised before them.
"Are we going to visit Hagrid tonight?" wondered Harry.
"Not tonight" Hermione said, stifling a huge fake yawn.
"Yeah, maybe we could all do with an early night, hey Harry?" agreed Ron.
The friends returned to the common room at eight thirty, which left Hermione plenty of time to prepare for her meeting with Snape. The boys said goodnight and went to their dormitories at nine, leaving Hermione contemplate the immediate future.
********************
Hermione approached the dungeons full of apprehension. She was tired due to the lateness of the appointment and the secrecy of the request. She had never been down here after dark and the corridor was filled with flickering shadows from the candles and statues which lined it. She was so nervous about the encounter with Snape that she arrived ten minutes early and had the misfortune to meet Malfoy emerging after an extra tuition session with Snape.
"Granger?" Malfoy stuttered weakly still remembering their kitchen corridor meeting.
"Leave us Mr Malfoy," came the silky but firm voice of Severus Snape, "Ah, Miss Granger - all ready to start work, I see." Malfoy was still standing outside but Snape cast a soundproofing spell on his room so that try as Malfoy might he would not be able to hear a thing.
The next hour passed in a blur for Hermione, as her teacher and mentor put her through rigorous tests to check she was up to the job in hand. Although intelligent, Hermione's young body still needed a large amount of training to be able to perform the tasks she would no doubt have to perform in the near future. Who better to teach her than the person who has been using the same skills for the last sixteen years of his life?
********************