Unauthorized Surveillance

Chapter 2

Time sped by, and soon it was November, about a month after their lessons had first begun. They met in the library at their usual time, at their usual table. Hermione was, of course, early. In the beginning, once Draco had figured out she always arrived early, he had made it a point to be at least ten minutes late for every session. However, when he found out that it didn't bother her to wait (she brought her own homework to work on, and when she finished that, would grab a random book off the shelf and begin reading it, desperate to absorb knowledge), he started showing up on time.

"So what are we studying today, Hermione?" Draco asked, setting his notes on the table and sitting beside Hermione.

"What do you need to work on?" she asked. He shrugged. She nodded. "Nothing. Just what I thought." She sighed. "Draco… you don't need me any longer. You're just fine by yourself."

"But I do need you!" he whispered urgently.

"Why? You've got the second-highest grade in Potions now!"

"But what about our bet?" he asked knowingly.

"The bet? Are you serious?"

"We shook on it, didn't we? And are you going to try to tell me you honestly don't want to know? Give me a little credit, Hermione! I think I know you a bit better than that! You want to know everything!"

"Well, yes, but--"

"But nothing!"

"But it's not our business!"

"Then you lose the bet."

"Fine, give me your assignment list. I'll not invade my friend's privacy!" Hermione held out her hand for his list. Draco looked at her outstretched hand, then up at her face. He pushed her hand back toward her, still empty.

"No Hermione. You're right. But when the curiosity starts killing you, you know where to find me."

"He's my friend, Malfoy! It was a poor choice to take your bet, and it would be a worse one to follow through."

"Hermione, I'm not suggesting that we betray him or spy on him during 'private time' or something. I've thought about this. There's a way we can find out without embarrassing him or anything. And I swear I'll never tell, regardless of the outcome. I give you my word."

"And how much is your word worth, Draco?" Hermione asked harshly.

"More than yours, I'd venture," he responded in kind. "I keep my promises. We made a bet. We had a deal. We shook on it. Now who is backing out and who is standing by his word?"

Hermione closed her eyes. "…Fine," she whispered bitterly. "I made you a promise, and I will keep it."

"Of course you will," Draco said surprisingly kindly. "I knew you would. You have honor and all that noble crap you Gryffindors are so proud of."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Did you just give me a compliment?"

"I suppose I did," Draco smiled. "Now, I have a plan, and it's going to take a lot of work, but I think it's pretty solid. And if we do it right, we're bound to find out the answer."

"How many rules are we going to break in doing this?"

"Probably less than you, Potter, and Weasley break in a given week."

Hermione chuckled. "Okay, so what's the plan then?"

"I knew you were curious," Draco smirked, jostling her elbow gently to show that he was actually trying for friendly banter, and not trying to make her feel guilty.

She smiled faintly. "Yes, it's one of my less-than-admirable qualities."

Draco grinned. "Well I for one am glad you're curious. I couldn't do all these spells without you." He pulled from his robe a detailed list. "I've found all the spells we'd need, but unfortunately, most of them have to be cast within about ten feet of their targets, which means I can't do them."

"Why?" she asked, looking over the list. "They're not too complicated."

"Yes, but I can't get into the Gryffindor rooms. You, however, have access. Granted, you'll have to sneak a bit, since you're not to be in the boys' rooms…"

"I'm putting a spell on the boys' rooms?"

"Well, just Harry's, really. …Don't you think you could sneak up there?"

Hermione thought about Harry's cloak. 'But how would I get it without him noticing? And he might notice it being gone…' "I honestly don't know."

Draco sighed. "My plan revolves around that point. If you can't get in there, we're screwed."

"…What if we had a third party assist us?" she asked slowly.

"I'll assume you mean to recruit Ron?" Draco asked, raising an eyebrow.

She nodded. "Well, he can obviously get into the Gryffindor boys' rooms, and he could cast the spells easily with a bit of practice."

"True enough, but would he be willing to help? With this? And if he didn't want to help, would he tell Harry about the plan? They are best friends, after all."

Hermione thought for a minute. "I don't know. And we probably can't afford that risk. …But if he won't help, I think I know who will!"

Draco sat forward, intrigued. "Yeah, who?"

"Let's just say I know a couple of pranksters who would love a reason to burst a water main."

Of course, the pranksters she spoke of were none other than Fred and George Weasley. When Hermione approached them, they were, of course, quite keen on the idea.

"Let me get this straight…" said Fred, grinning at George. "You're going to pay us to 'borrow' Harry's wand, lock him in his room, and then burst a water pipe in his ceiling?"

"Yes. …So you'll do it?" she asked eagerly.

"Hell, we'd do it for free!" George exclaimed.

"Great! Here's a list of the spells and instructions on how to use them." Hermione handed the twins a list (obviously, not the one Draco had given her. There were a few too many details on that list, and besides, Draco's list was obviously not in her handwriting, and Fred and George may have figured out something was going on if she had given them a list in someone else's writing.).

The twins whistled in awe at her preparation. "Wow," commented Fred. "What did he do to you?"

Hermione thought fast. "He… er… He got a better grade than me in Charms!" The twins looked incredulous. "I couldn't believe it either! I guess it's because I've spent so much time tutoring Draco that I haven't quite had time to work on my other classes." The twins nodded in understanding and Hermione heaved a silent sigh of relief.

"How much did he beat you by?" asked George.

"Er… three points."

"Lucky for him he didn't beat you by more. If your revenge is this planned out for three points, I'd hate to think of what you'd do to him if he'd beaten you by ten."

"And for the record, if he ever does beat you by that much, we are absolutely not available for cut-rate castrations or anything of the sort," Fred said, grinning. "Now, if you wanted us to, say, steal all his underwear and replace it with lacy black thongs or something, that's do-able."

Hermione laughed. "Let's save that one for next time, if there is a next time."

"Right then. So when are we to do this?"

"The beginning of Chrimbo hols. I know you're all just spending the hols here, because Ron told me. And this is perfect, because we can fit it right into the plan. You can pull the prank when practically no one else is around."

"Why pull a prank when no one's around?"

"Because I'm paying you?" Hermione suggested. The twins laughed. "Seriously, though, I don't want to embarrass him too much."

"All right. Chrimbo it is."

"Excellent." Hermione grinned deviously.

It was all she could do the next day in Potions not to pull Draco aside and tell him the great news. Granted, she was 'tutoring' him now, so it wouldn't have been too out of place to speak with him, but they had never before approached each other in class, and were, in fact, still pretending to hate each other passionately, so she forced herself to wait. Once, when no one was looking, she dared to take a furtive glance. He happened to look at her at that moment, and slowly raised an eyebrow at her, questioning. Hermione winked as slowly and discreetly as she could, and Draco fought to keep the grin off his face. After class, they both tried to linger after their friends left to have a couple words, but Crabbe and Goyle were too dense to take Draco's hints to leave, and if he told them outright to go, it was bound to make them (and others) curious.

The day dragged on, but finally, it was time for their daily tutoring session. They both fairly ran to the library. "Well?" Draco asked in hushed tones, breathless from his frantic run to the library.

Hermione grinned. "They're in! They loved the idea!"

"Great! And I've found out for sure that er, the bait will be here, at least for the first part of hols. I overheard someone ask him about his plans for Christmas. Turns out his parents have to work for the first few days of the hols, so he's going to stay here and they'll pick him up when they're free."

"Excellent. But how are we going to get 'the bait' to him?"

He grinned smugly, pleased with himself for having taken care of such details. "I've got that covered as well."

"How?"

"If I tell you, you'll be able to guess who the bait is."

"Why can't I know?" she asked a bit petulantly.

"You might object to my choice of bait."

"I would not. It only makes sense for you to choose. It'd be too difficult to trap him with a girl. People might notice a girl in the boys' dorms. And since you're the one who insists he's gay, you should have the right to choose your… weapon, if you will."

"Weapon?" a deep voice drawled behind them. "You wouldn't be plannin' an unsupervised duel, would you?"

Hermione and Draco's eyes grew impossibly wide, and Draco reddened slightly. "Um, er, hi Oliver! We were— that is— erm— I have to go to the bathroom!!!!!!" Hermione blurted, anxious to avoid explaining what they were talking about. She rushed out of the library, leaving her books behind. Oliver stared after her.

"What the hell was that about?" Oliver asked.

Draco was tempted to also run for the bathroom, but he stayed put and put on his most convincing face. "Probably women's troubles or something. She's been pretty weird lately."

"I see. And why have you two been spending so much time together? Somebody got a crush on Hermione?"

"Unless you're referring to Weasley, no. Granger's …tutoring me," he admitted grudgingly.

Oliver nodded. "Makes sense. She is fairly brilliant. Very wise of you to seek a Gryffindor for help. Goin' to ask Potter for any pointers on snitch-catching?"

"Go to hell."

Oliver smirked. "See you there!" Oliver walked away cheerfully, grinning broadly at Draco.

Draco glared at him as he walked away. "Just you wait, you smug bastard. You're going to play right into my hands."

Five minutes later, Hermione returned, checking for Oliver's presence before heading back to Draco. "Sorry to dash out on you like that, but I'm no good at lying! I couldn't have come up with a convincing story! …I do hope you could handle him," she said apologetically.

"Oh, no problem. I told him you were having your monthlies and then cordially invited him to go to hell."

"Draco!"

"What? I was cordial!"

Hermione opened her mouth to reproach him, but couldn't be properly stern, since she was trying not to laugh. She chuckled. "Who would have ever thought you'd have a sense of humor?"

"Who ever would have thought we wouldn't have killed each other by now?" he replied dryly. She laughed again. "So do we have an exact date for the plan?" he asked.

"Twenty-second. Most everyone leaves the morning of the twenty-first. Will that work for our mystery man?"

"Sure. He's not due to leave until late on the twenty-third. Do we have everything we need for our spells?"

Hermione nodded. "I have a looking glass with the appropriate charms already placed on it. And I've managed to get hold of an invisibility cloak for that day." To herself, she thought, 'Of course, I had to tell Harry I wanted to sneak into your room and switch all your knickers with frilly thongs in order to get it… And then of course he wanted to help… luckily I convinced him that under no circumstances would I allow him to see my unmentionables. Of course, I don't actually own any thongs, but Harry will never have to know that…'

"Really?" Draco asked, interested. "How'd you manage that?"

"Um… I'd prefer not to reveal my sources."

Draco shrugged. "Your call. That's fine with me."

"Oh!" Hermione exclaimed. "I almost forgot! I promised the twins I'd pay them for their help. …And of course, their silence as well."

Draco nodded, reaching in his pocket for some coins. "How much do you need?"

"Ten Sickles apiece. I've got enough spare to pay one of them, but do you think you could pay the other?"

Draco pulled a handful of Galleons from his pocket. He flushed, embarrassed at doing something kind to the Weasleys. "Give them those. I don't need it."

"Draco…" Hermione whispered, awed by his generosity.

Draco shrugged uncomfortably. "I've got more money than I can squander in a lifetime. Might as well go to someone who needs it…"

"That's so sweet, Draco." He turned red and looked away. "…But they'll never accept this much from me. I didn't tell them you were part of it, and they'll wonder where I got so much money. They'd insist on giving it back to me."

"You Gryffindors and your damned big hearts," he said kindly, but with an edge of frustration. "Can't you leave the money in their shoes at night or something? Or better yet, tell them you borrowed the money from Potter. They'll get a kick out of him paying for his own pranking."

"Brilliant!" Hermione beamed at him and took the money from his hands, scooping it into her cloak's inner pocket. "That's simply brilliant, Draco!" He shifted uncomfortably. Hermione smiled. "I can't believe it. You're actually… pretty decent, deep down."

"Yeah, well, let's just keep that our little secret, hmm? Can't have you ruining my reputation as a heartless bastard."

Hermione laughed. "As if anyone would believe it anyway." Draco chuckled at this, and his blush faded.

Meanwhile, across the library, someone was watching Hermione and Draco. Someone who didn't like their friendliness one little bit. "Something's wrong with this. They… they can't like each other! It's Malfoy, for God's sake! She's got to have better taste than that!" the watcher muttered to himself. "But… they really do seem to be getting on nicely." He sighed, and sneaked out of the library. It wouldn't do to have Draco and Hermione see him there, staring at them. "I've got to do something about this. He's got to be using her to find out some dirt on Harry or something. Malfoy never laughs at anything except Gryffindors or muggles. He's faking being sweet and kind and then he's going to hurt her. Damn it Hermione, you're supposed to be the smart one!"

When Hermione entered the Gryffindor common room later that day, she was immediately ambushed by Ron. "Hermione!" he exclaimed as he pulled her aside to speak with her.

"What is it? Is something wrong?" she asked worriedly.

Ron shook his head. "No, not really, but… something's been bothering me. A lot." Hermione tilted her head at him, a questioning look on her face. "Well, you've been spending a lot of time with Malfoy lately."

"Ron, I'm tutoring him! How am I supposed to teach him if I don't spend time with him?"

"It doesn't seem like you're tutoring him very much. It seems more like you've traded in your friends for a new one. Malfoy version two-point-oh is much better than the Weasley beta version, right?"

"Ron— " Hermione broke off, not knowing how to continue.

Ron walked away, not caring to hear the rest of whatever she might have to say.

"I'd never trade you in… You and Harry are my best friends…" she whispered to his back.