Author's Note:

'This is a contest entry for the Dracolov challenge! If you would like to enter you must e-mail Dracolov, her e-mail is in her profile. The last day to enter is 12/1/04. Please R & R (read and review) and thank you for reading my story.

Disclaimer:

I don't own any of the orginial Harry Potter character because I am not that creative...but I wish i was...I only own the plot and my characters.

Chapter 3: The Hunter or the Prey

When Draco arrived back at the Berkeley, he went directly to his room, which was the Wellington Conservatory Suite and sat on the chaise at the foot of his king size bed to change. While changing his clothes, he found himself lost in thought, replaying the evening's events in his mind. She was the same, yet different, than the Hermione he remembered from school. She was still wickedly intelligent and fiercely competitive but honest, kind and considerate all at the same time. How could she offer her help to him so effortlessly without the slightest hint of a warning to him? Draco had always been able to anticipate other people's thought and actions with ease, but she never failed to surprise him with his complete inability to read her. Once upon a time, this small fact had incensed him, but tonight he had felt aroused by it. Maybe that was because it happened so rarely that the mere possibility of a challenge awakened his primal instincts ever so slightly?

As he looked at his reflection in the bathroom mirror, the sight of a broad and genuine smile interrupted his moment of reverie by a hint of doubt creeping into his soul. But almost as quickly as it appeared it was gone, and he began to convince himself that half a decade around muggles was beginning to cloud his sentimentalities. He walked out of the bathroom, willing himself to a good night's rest, and promised himself a regrouping in the morning by revamping his original plan to include a little recon mission into Hermione personal life. Seduction of a lonely workaholic would be ticket to unlimited access to not just the Ministry but the other two thirds of the Golden Trio, with a bonus of bedding the former Head Girl.

Prepared for a night of explicit dreams, Draco slipped in between the cream colored covers of the king size bed, making a mental note that this would be the perfect place for the consummation of his plan as there was ample leg room, so to speak. When a pang of pure emotion passed over him such as desire, lust or sincerity, he would remind himself of the mental picture of her in her school robes standing before him with pure disgust in her eyes as she looked down upon him. Feeling as though he had sufficiently suppressed any weak sentiments, Draco closed his eyes for a much-needed rest, only to be sucked into a night of fitful dreams about the new object of unforeseen desire.

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Several miles and a lifetime away, Hermione was having second thoughts about her own mission set before her by the Ministry. In just a few short hours, she would be back at her desk, surrounded by her superiors wanting updates on her progress with the new devil incarnate – but how would she be able to explain an enjoyable meal with him to them? Everyone would just assume that she was taken by his charm or that he had put her under some sort of spell, but in truth, she had walked into that dinner meeting with her own set of doubts as to his guilt. In the end, she decided to leave out the more enjoyable points of the evening and only report on some of his more arrogant moments with the result being that he would contact her later to give her his decision. For the first time in her life, Hermione was about to lie to those that she respected most in order to protect someone she never liked or trusted.

When she arrived at her office, the first thing she noticed were messages from Arthur Weasley, Harry, Ron, and Ginny strangely enough. She responded to the messages in order by leaving rather obscure replies that held minimal details and even less emotion. Although she knew that this was not normal for her, she couldn't in good conscience write anything else. It was impossible for her to blatantly lie in a convincing manner, so she had to manipulate the truth just a bit. Ginny's was the last letter she had to write but Hermione wasn't sure what she wanted, so she just sent an owl asking to meet for lunch today at the Ministry. After all was said and done, Hermione sat back in her chair and looked around, lost in thought, going over the previous night's events and the real effect it had on her. If she'd told anyone about the urges she was having right now, they would have her committed before she could finish the sentence.

Hermione spent the rest of the morning going over all of her investigative materials, looking for anything that would have indicated that Draco was trying to perfect body and mind transfers, but couldn't find anything even close to it. According to her research, most of their new product development was focused on beauty enhancements. Those procedures included non-surgical solutions for such problems like breast augmentation, liposuction and rhinoplasty; nothing more complex than what Madam Pomfrey had done to reduce her front teeth after Malfoy had enlarged them in their fourth year. It was becoming more and more clear that she was going to have to talk to Mr. Weasley about where their information had come from, so she would know where to look if Draco ended up giving her access to his company's developmental projects. She decided to look through the mountain of technical data one last time before requesting the meeting, just to be sure she hadn't missed anything, when Ginny interrupted her obsessive-compulsive search through her files with the prospect of lunch. Hermione absent-mindedly closed her files and grabbed her purse to leave as Ginny watched her quizzically.

"What's got you so riled, Hermione?" Ginny inquired.

"Nothing much really, just trying to figure out why the Ministry is on a witch hunt against Draco Malfoy," she stated without thinking.

"Excuse me? Did you just refer to Malfoy as the victim of a witch hunt? The same Draco Malfoy who tormented Harry, Ron, you and all other muggle born witches and wizards at Hogwarts for seven years? The son of an executed Death Eater and an attempted thief? Do I have this right?" Ginny pressed.

"The sins of a mother and father do not automatically make the guilt of the son. Dra – Malfoy was the product of his environment, not his own choices. I am not excusing his actions, per se, but it's not enough to convict the man of any crimes against humanity. I basically helped destroy his life and now I'm not so sure it was justified… and that's all." she reasoned.

"Sounds to me like someone fell victim to his charms over just one dinner. Not that I don't understand, as I heard the rumors of his various talents throughout the school," Ginny mused.

"It wasn't anything close to that. He was combative and unforgiving from start to finish, but he did make a convincing case for guilt by association only. Not only that, but when asked if he'd changed his views on muggles now that his company catered to them, he simply stated that he didn't have to like them to make money off them. His arrogance made him believable. Do you know what I mean?" Hermione explained.

"Sure. Did you stay the night or leave right after?" her friend teased.

"Very funny. I went home right after dinner. I may question the man's guilt, but I'm not smitten with him or him with me." Hermione chastised her. "Why is all this so hard for everyone to believe?"

"You mean outside the fact that we're talking about Draco Malfoy, Slytherin Prince and enemy of all non purebloods? Not really sure." Ginny replied sarcastically.

"All right, I get it, but I think you're wrong. Now can we just drop this?" she asked, flustered.

Ginny opted to let it go for now but mentally made a note to talk to Harry about this turn of events. She postulated that Hermione's hectic work schedule and virtual seclusion from the social scene my have left her susceptible to Malfoy's legendary allure. Following Hermione's break up with her brother, it was widely accepted that she had chosen her career over love, but it was also feared that eventually it wouldn't be enough to satisfy her. And it seemed at this moment that they were correct; but now the question was, could they sway her away from him? From the look of concern on Ginny's face right now, Hermione wondered if anyone would believe her if she found out that Malfoy was innocent. That possibility terrified her to no end. Malfoy may have picked the wrong ally in this circumstance...

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Back at his hotel room, Draco requested that Parisa fax all the research and development files to him so he could look them over before meeting with Hermione again. Since he had awoken this morning, one thought had been plaguing him. Why now? Why was the Ministry sending her to nose around now? He began to wonder about some of the new research projects that the Priory was working on. Could they be working on something that could put him or his company in jeopardy?

Draco's most recent project had been to pioneer the cosmetic industry with non-evasive plastic enhancement. Formally referred to as plastic or elective surgery, his innovation would be to use magic to therefore avoid the dangers of cutting and healing. Dentistry, breast augmentation, and liposuction called for simple reduction and growth spells, so they were already in the test phase for the mortal realm. Seeing how the magical community knew of their existence, discretion was the main focus for him there. More complex charms and potions were needed for reconstructive procedures though. Regrowing and mending of bones, cartilage, and joints were common practice in magic, but shifting or removing those things without incisions was going to be the true genius of the century.

While waiting for his files to arrive, Draco unwittingly allowed his mind to wonder once again to his former nemesis, Miss Granger. In all the years of planning and plotting, he had never considered the possibility of her not presuming his guilt. He never would have thought it, as he had made it his personal mission to torture and torment her on a daily basis for seven long years. Was it really feasible that someone could be so kind as to just forgive all those insults and allow themselves to help the object of their torment? No, it's not, so this must be some sort of trick. Well, it's only fitting he considered, with what his intentions were with her. But the real question on his mind was how to gain her trust more so that she would drop her guard and bend to his every will and whim.

An annoying but familiar series of beeps tore Draco from his reverie and alerted him to the transfer of the documents that he'd been waiting for. In his primary review of the files, Draco saw nothing out of the ordinary, and was about to put them away when something caught his eye. It was the confidential document describing Voldemort's final tactic to try to transfer his mind and spirit to a healthy vessel for a rebirth of sorts to spawn his second coming. Why would a document like this appear in these files, and could this be what the Ministry was looking at or for? Draco decided to get in contact with Jacq and approach him on the matter. He called Jacq's private line at home immediately to set up a meeting.

"Hello, old friend. After my dinner with the flunky from the Ministry, I elected to do some research of my own into our research affairs and came across something that puzzled me. I was hoping to meet with you to discuss this as soon as possible," Draco greeted his friend.

"What could be so urgent that you would tear yourself away from a victim so abruptly?" Jacq asked.

"She's for revenge only...no entertainment value like that. Don't change the subject as it only makes this seem even more urgent. When will be good for you?" he forced the issue.

"Alright, how about this evening? Say, 8 o'clock at the place of your choice."

"The Night Owl in Diagon Alley here in London. See you then," Draco said as he hung up the phone.

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Later that evening, Draco was once again executing his grooming rituals, but was becoming more distracted each time he touched himself. Thoughts of Hermione were aggravating him at every twist and turn almost to the point of obsession. While taking his shower, he couldn't escape visions of her in there with him and what it would feel like to have her touch him and for him to touch her. He was deriving such pleasure from these fantasies that what normally took him 10 minutes now took him almost 30 minutes, and Draco was having to chastise himself for such childish behavior. Yet in the back of his mind, he was slightly aware of the fact that this was the most alive he had felt in years, but wouldn't openly allow himself to admit it.

Since the extended shower caused him to run late, Draco discovered that he was going to have to apparate to the Leaky Cauldron so that he would be on time for his meeting with Jacq and, although he hated to do it from muggle surroundings, allowed himself this one indiscretion. With a loud pop, he found himself at the Leaky Cauldron at 7:45 and quickly walked to the Night Owl for his meeting. As he walked into the club, it became obvious to him that the popularity of the club had grown immensely since the last time he was there. In the corner of room at a private table, his friend sat with about four girls that Draco had never seen before, but was quite eager to do so.

"Well, I see you've made yourself at home here, old man. Care to introduce your entourage?" Draco drawled with the greatest of ease.

"Yes, yes. Mr. Draco Malfoy, I would like to introduce you to Amy Edderly, Marguerite Taylor, Tara Richards, and you already know Parisa. Ladies, please excuse us for a few minutes while we attend to some necessary business before the night's entertainment can begin," Jacq said with an air of sophistication.

"Sure, no problem. Let's go get some drinks and do a little a dancing while the gentlemen do a little bonding," Parisa directed them on cue.

"So what's with the formalities? Why did you bring Parisa with you?" Draco inquired to Jacq impatiently.

"She was concerned after your request for the research files and asked to come. Being the consummate gentleman, how could I resist the request of a lady with such powerful connections? If you get my meaning," Jacq confessed. Draco took that to mean that if he didn't comply then she would have alerted her father to the turn of events.

"Yes, I see your point. Well, as to the matter I wanted to discuss with you, do you why the Priory would be interested in the body exchanging aspirations of the former Voldemort? And how was a confidential file of the Ministry in our possession?" Draco asked.

"The Priory is always interested in new spells and potions, so my guess would be that they were doing some research on his plan and why it failed. As to why or how they would obtain a sensitive file, I can only say that they have many resources at their disposal," he replied coyly.

"Don't play me, old man. What are they up to?"

"Why are you so quick to jump to conclusions? The Priory has always been good to you, and you would do well to remember where you loyalties should lay, dear sir," Jacq quipped.

"Body exchanges are highly illegal matters and could prompt a lot of unwanted attention from the Ministry. Does that not jeopardize the Priory interests and my company's stability? Besides, what good would it do to practice this? It's extremely dark magic and Voldemort lost his life trying to perform it," Draco returned.

"That is at the Priory's discretion and not up for you approval or concern." Jacq warned.

"Anything that could destroy my company and my reputation are of my concern. I want to talk to them. When is the next meeting?" Draco pressed.

"That I can't help you with, Dragon. No one, not even you, questions the Priory's decisions. I'm sorry, but once the wheel starts turning only the heads can stop them. Don't worry, they are not fools and would not place such a lucrative asset in harm's way for anything mundane," he assured Draco.

This, however, did nothing to ease Draco's concerns. If anything, it only heightened his anxiety, but what could he alone do at this point? Draco berated himself for having been so blind as to not keep a closer watch on them, but he had made his bed and now he had to lie in it until he could figure a way out. He was still a Malfoy, and reasoned that his intelligence and cunning would afford him his opportunity, given the proper time and planning. But for now, he needed a release, a befitting distraction and, as he scanned the room, he gaze fell back upon Marguerite and she was his virtual polar opposite. She was a mere 5' 3" with a slender build but loads of curves in all the right places. Her waist-length jet black hair fell in sheets of waves that reminded Draco of the lake at Hogwarts in the dark of midnight, and cool emerald eyes that could rival his own in the secrets which laid behind them. Most awe inspiring for him, though, was the ever present smirk which danced across her face that lead him to believe that she was cut from the same stone as he was. He would have to tame this wild young thing at once and rid himself of the demon imagines and desires for the goody-goody Granger forever.

He slithered across the dance floor and came up behind her to whisper ever so softly in her ear, "Hello, my pet, care to join me for a drink?"

"With pleasure," she replied and glanced back at the other girls with the infamous smirk as if to say, "Hate the game, not the player".

This was a game that Marg and Amy played practically every weekend, but Marg was very good at it when it came to the notorious. Amy was much more understated in her conquests, tending to gravitate towards the more respectable wizards and reveling in her corruption of them. She valued her more chaste appearance with her short brown hair with highlights that framed her face elegantly and accentuated her large chocolate colored eyes and come hither lips. The unintimidating air surrounding her afforded her the chance to reel in the suckers and milk them for all they were worth, whether it be money, influence, or best of all information, which was a precious commodity there in the underbelly of magic. All the while not raising any suspicion because she was too sweet and innocent to do such things. Morons, she scowled to herself, as she surveyed the room in search of her next victim.

Now, Tara was the most complicated of the group as her role in the group was not as it seemed at all times. She was the toughest of the group by far and the most secretive. Outside of the weekly club hopping and socializing in that atmosphere, they had no contact with her. No one even knew what she did to earn a living as she never picked up on anyone or talked about her private life in the slightest. She appeared to be very dark because of her black/brown hair with red highlights, ivory complexion and all black clothing. Yet in stark contrast to the apparent gothic exterior, she had pale blue eyes which seemed to chill one to the bone while reading deep into one's soul. Her expressions bounced between warm and inviting to cold while dissecting one's every thought and desire. A walking contradiction told of a constant battle between good and evil, the story of a lifetime never to be completely revealed.

The last and most deadly of the group was Parisa. As daughter to one of the most powerful men in the world (magical and mortal alike), she was ambitious, devious and opportunistic. The ends always justified the means, and no one or nothing could stand in her way. To say that she was good or evil was not possible as she was nothing more than self promoting and didn't care to label herself one way or the other. But she did have one very profound weakness, and his name was Draco Malfoy. She watched his rise to power and notoriety with great interest, as he would make the perfect match. His classic good looks, money, fame, and drive was tailor made for her vision of dominance while building the greatest empire known to man and magic kind alike. Best of all, her father felt the same too. The only problem was that Draco didn't see the same picture. That was what she was in this wretched place to fix but, once again, another snatched his attention away at the last moment. Marg would be the least of her concerns, as she would find out in just a short time...

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Back at the Ministry

Later that afternoon, Hermione was surprised to receive a visitor, especially since she hadn't seen this person since her wedding almost six months ago. Standing in the doorway to her office was Whitney Weasley, Fred's wife and a friend of Hermione's since the final battle with Voldemort. Most everyone called her Sammy, but Hermione preferred her given name. She was an attractive woman standing at 5' 5" with a thin but muscular build, sandy blonde hair and the most expressive hazel eyes Hermione had ever seen. She had a frightful wild streak that made her and Fred the life of the party, but was also one of the kindest people you could ever know at the same time. Following the wedding, she and the twins had been dreadfully busy opening a new store for the boys in Hogsmeade, so no one had a chance to spend anytime with her, but it seemed that Hermione's luck was about to change.

"Hey there, stranger. What have you been up to?" Whitney greeted her.

"Oh my, Whitney, you're the last person I would have expected to see in my doorway today. Is everything finally ready for the opening? I have missed you so much, how long are you here for?" Hermione blurted out without even taking a breath.

"Fred and George gave me a break for the weekend at Ginny's urging. Seems my sister-in-law is worried about you. Why would that be, do you know?" she prodded.

"Well, I think she is having some misgivings about my latest project and it appears she's sent for reinforcements," Hermione mused.

"And what project might that be?" she implored further.

"Draco Malfoy. But it's not what you think. The Ministry believes that he's dabbling in illegal activities, and I'm trying to infiltrate his company to find out for sure. So last night I agreed to have dinner with him to discuss a plan to cooperate with us to unite the magical and muggle communities. After having dinner with him and listening to his side of story about his family and his connections to Voldemort, I began to question if he was really guilty of wrong doing back then. When I told Ginny about my doubts, she began to think that he had worked some kind of charms on me and thought that I might like him... as in the biblical sense," Hermione explained.

"Do you? I mean, he is a very attractive man and you haven't dated in what, 2 or 3 years now?"

"Not you, too. Just because I have my doubts that he's a criminal, doesn't mean I want to bed the git. Why don't any of my closest friends believe me? Do you all think I'm that easy or hard up?" she groaned.

"It's not like that, Mya, we just don't want him to be the only male that you're exposed to. Loneliness can cause people to do strange and silly things," she replied.

"Oh, so now I'm lonely and foolish because I had one dinner with Draco?" she fumed.

"Draco, now is it?" she teased and Hermione realized she slipped up.

"Ok, maybe I do need a break. What do you say to a girls night out?" Hermione confessed.

"I think that may be just what the mediwitch ordered. I'll call Ginny and the others... let's say we meet at the Leaky Cauldron at 8:30?" Whitney suggested.

"Sounds great. Let me finish up here and I'll see you then." Hermione agreed while trying to quickly finish up her work so that she could hurry home to get ready. She needed a little R and R to get Draco... argh... Malfoy out of her mind and quickly.

When Hermione got home, she showered and stood in her closet for the second night in a row trying to decide on the perfect outfit. In the end, she opted for a metallic silver halter top that tied at her neck and across her shoulder blades with a pair of black metallic pants and the same black strapped sandals from the night before. She chose to put her hair up in case they went dancing and applied some light makeup. After surveying her reflection one last time, Hermione grabbed a jacket and her purse then apparated to the Leaky Cauldron where the other girls were already waiting for her. Katie Bell, who was currently dating George, suggested that they go to the hottest dance club in Diagon Alley, which was the Night Owl. They all agreed and made their way to the club.

As the girls walked into the club and made their way to the bar, Ginny was the first to notice the handsome blonde man on the dance floor and couldn't help but wonder if this wasn't such a grand idea after all. Maybe she wouldn't notice and even if she did, he's with another girl, so nothing will happen, right? Ginny busied herself instantly telling the others girls about who was there and that they had to keep her away from him, which aroused Hermione's suspicions. What's the big secret, she thought to herself as looked around at the crowd, doing a double take when she caught sight of him. Involuntarily, she felt her stomach drop with disappointment and wondered where that came from, when she realized he was looking at her and she was staring at him with her mouth wide open. Oh no, this doesn't look good.

Unbeknownst to Draco, he was having the same feeling, only he felt as if he'd been caught doing something behind her back. Now why would I think that, he pondered to himself. I don't even like her. She's a mudblood and the instrument for my revenge, nothing more, right? Merlin, she definitely doesn't look like a neutral party, does she? No, she did not, and what was that feeling he was having in the pit of his belly? Was it guilt, remorse, or something more? It couldn't be, he scolded himself, it can't be any of those things. No, he was the hunter here... not the prey, right?