Parcheesi

Chapter 2: Working Side By Side. How Cliché.

By: Keiko

Disclaimer: NOT MINE. THIS IS THE FIRST AND LAST I WILL EVER DO!

Hermione exited the Grryfindor Tower well hidden, using Harry's invisibility cloak that he received in first year, before the Golden Trio's first adventure.

She traveled light, with only an advanced Potions book (level-6), and a cauldron that she bewitched to make it smaller.

Hermione silently mumbled to herself, preparing, and stabilizing herself for her little meeting with Ferret Boy. She knew that she had to watch her words and tone of voice, especially when responding to the insults that she was sure to come. If she didn't, it could turn into another 'mudblood- Ferret Boy' fight. Hermione didn't want that. She preferred an A-plus, to an A-minus, and fighting would guarantee an A-minus. Of course, if they did happen to mess up, Malfoy would just blame it on Hermione, and Snape would believe him and give her a detention. And then Harry and Ron would catch themselves suppressing the strong desire to murder Malfoy- but that was no way to think. Thinking like that would put her in the wrong frame-of-mind.

Before she knew it, Hermione was stationed at the entrance of the Tower, that led to a long set of spiraling stairs. 'Well, this is it.' she thought to herself. She made a silent prayer to god, asking HIM to help her control her instincts.

She continued her journey by walling up the steps, mustering up as much confidence as she could. Not that she had much to muster up.

As Hermione reached the top of the stairwell, she noticed that the tower seemed deserted, Sort of damp, and dark. She felt a chill roll down her spine, as her imagination took over the logical part of her mind. Her breath started to deliver in ragged rounds, and just as she was about to start running, a light flicked on revealing Malfoy's face. Hermione shrieked and grabbed the banistar to stop her from falling back from the force of the shock. She grabbed her chest in fright, and when she came to, half a second later, she shoved Malfoy in the chest. He laughed, and pushed past her to continue up the stairs.

"You evil, deplorable, pathetic, pitiful, son of a Death Eater!" Hermione yelled, her hands shaking.

Malfoy laughed, "Once again, Mudblood Hermione Granger states the obvious."

They had both reached the top of the tower already and were inside of the room overlooking the quidditch field.

"I hate you Malfoy. I really, really hate you." Hermione said, her eyes narrowed to tiny slits as she emptied her bag of its contents, and returned her cauldron to its original size.

"Well," Malfoy started from over by the window facing the forbidden forest, "That's not very nice. The feelings' mutual, though. Thought you knew that by now."

"Whatever." She said, slightly avoiding insulting him, and trying her best to stick to the vow she made to herself.

"Can't come up with anything better, aye? Who's the pathetic one now." He said still not looking at her, but staring out of the window.

"You." She said, "You are the pathetic one, and you always will be."

Malfoy laughed again, barely paying her any attention.

"Let's just get on with it already. That's what were here for." Hermione prompted.

"Fine." he drawled, "What's the first combination?"

The Astronomy Tower has always been kind of like the Room Of Requirement, the only difference being that in each room held a theme, and contained the thematic elements. The particular room they were in held their needs, so they were lucky to be able to have all the ingredients for each potion. Very few people knew about that room, since the door had always looked slightly dingy. As if it hadn't been opened in years.

"Um, Newton foot, Gambier leg, sense of dog, Tenny flower pollen liquid…" as Hermione read the list of ingredients to Draco, he retrieved them from the many cabinets and shelves, and within fifteen seconds all of the ingredients sat between them, next to the cauldron.

"Okay" she started, "The instructions say to add two units of the Tenny Flower pollen liquid first, and then stir counterclockwise twice."

Draco did what she said, and motioned for her to continue.

"Then add four Gambier legs, stir clockwise once, wait until you see blue streaks stand on end, and then collapse." She said becoming excited.

Draco completed the round of instructions, and then told her to go on.

"Add the sense of dog, rat fur, metallic oil, stir once, either direction, and let simmer for one minute. Then, it's finished." Hermione clapped her hands together in excitement.

Draco smirked at her for a moment, wondering to himself how anyone could be so enthusiastic about schoolwork. Just when it really started to intrigue him, he suddenly remembered that it was Granger, and that anything having to do with books and school were her escape from becoming a complete freak. She was a complete freak already; she just managed to hide it from so many people. Her books were her only cover.

"Malfoy, the potions ready." She said as she lowered the ladle into the potion.

"Who is observing and who is trying it?" he asked in the same bored tone of voice as before.

"Well, I guess you can try it and I'll observe." She answered

"Fine. Whatever. I don't really care." He said

"I know you don't." Hermione said under her breath, voice full of scorn. Lucky enough for both of them, he didn't hear it.

"Alright, then. It says that you're only supposed to drink one unit." She said, offering him glass already filled with the correct amount.

He grabbed it from her, and in a split second he realized whom he was accepting a drink from. His nemesis.

"You better not have spiked this, Granger."

"Please. That is below the level of mere child's play. I would never stoop so low just to sabotage the likes of you." She said smugly

With one last meaningful glare, he gulped down the concoction.

"Did we do something wrong?" he asked after a few seconds "Because I don't feel any dif-dif-dif-ferrrrrrrrrrrr…"

"What happened?" she asked, and then she realized that he was probably suffering the effects of the potion. She quickly grabbed her clipboard and starting scribbling.

"Wh-a-a-at d-d-d-doooo y-y-y-o-o-o- se-e-e-eeeeeeeee?" He stuttered out slowly.

"What did you say?" she asked, genuinely sincere, because she really didn't know what he was saying.

"I said 'what do you see'." He stated, clearly this time.

"Oh, the potion must have worn off." She said, a little disappointed, but convinced that she got the info she needed.

"Really?" he asked, voice laced with sarcasm.

"Oh, there's really no reason to be difficult at this moment." She said, not wanting to get distracted again.

"What did you get, Granger?" he asked, impatient.

"I got that your speech slows and stutters, and your body goes rigid, just as you turn a gruesome shade of orange."

"Good."

"What did it taste like?" Hermione asked, fished.

"Carrots."

"Figures. That's probably why your face turned orange. Tenny Flower pollen liquid usually conain a trace of carrot extract. This particular flower, or branch of breed probably had a high extract count."

"Makes sense." He said

"Any side effects?" she asked, much like a professional.

"I felt kind of woozy, and my tongue felt abnormally heavy."

"Alright," she settled "let me look that up."

She reached for her potions book and started to look up the symptoms to make a diagnosis.

After a few minuets of writing and reading, she came up with something. "Aha!"

"What!" he asked, alarmed.

"It's called a linguaggio defezione potion. It causes momentary speech deficiency, and one reason why this might be used is to force someone to keep a secret. The time of someone's impairment depends on the amount the person has drunk. It can range from 5 minutes to 30 hours in one dose. It is very strong, and if not brewed correctly, it could be very dangerous, even fatal."

"Oh. Well, that explains it." He said, rather un-interested.

"What is so interesting in the Forbidden Forest that makes you stare at it so much." Hermione asked, intentionally being nosy.

"None of your business, mudblood." He answered wearily, but scornfully and forcefully.

"And I thought the potion managed to correct your attitude, too." She said, not bothering to hide her comment under her breath.

"It didn't. Tough luck." He said angrily. Here the mudblood was again, bothering him.

That was where Hermione dropped her well-rehearsed act, and burst.

"Why do you always have to be so evil? Everything about you is just mean. I've never seen you be nice to anyone or even show them the slightest bit of respect! Even Parkinson! You would think that you treat your own girlfriend better than you treat everybody else!"

"First of all MUDBLOOD", he started with the same angry force as Hermione "Don't talk what you don't know. Pansy Parkinson is not, and never will be, my girlfriend. That's how daft you are. She's just another person who has added herself to my fan list without my permission. You don't know me. You don't know anything about me!"

"Really? I know that you're a Death Eater wannabe, and I know that you are jealous of me because you rank number two in this school and I rate number one! I know that everyday you see Harry Potter's face you hate him more and more because you know that you wont ever be half the man that he is! I know how much you crave power, that's why you joined Doloris Umbridge's Inquisitorial Squad fifth year, and even then you didn't get what you wanted! I know how much you wish that you could have someone on your side all the time! I know much more than you think Draco! It's all in your eyes. Every time I pass you I can feel it. It's all on the surface!"

Draco let her last sentence ring through the room before he took action. He grabbed her and rammed her into the stone wall. He pinned her to the wall with his body, resting his entire wait on her to make sure she couldn't move.

"Not such a smart move, Hermione. Potty and Weasel aren't here to rescue you this time are they? You should really watch your mouth. It can get you in allot of trouble.

"I think it's about time for me to say my piece. Do you want to know what I know about you? I know that you are a pathetic McGonagall wannabe, and I know that you are an annoying know-it-all freak. I know that the reason you read so much is because books manage to cover you up. You are a nothing. The only reason why Potter and Weasel hang out with you is because they know that they don't have a chance of passing if they don't knick off of your work. That is the only reason why they hang out with you. You are a weak, sad, lonely bookworm with no life. The only reason Weasley even bothers with you is because he knows that you are so desperate that you'll do anything for company. People only talk to you because they feel sorry for you. You- what's that muggle word? Oh I remember. YOU SUCK. You are a nothing."

Hermione started to feel the tears well up in her eyes, partly because she thought he was right and partly because she wanted to kill him. But, she refused to give Malfoy the satisfaction of watching her cry.

Draco released her, and as soon as he did she served him with a right hook straight to the face.

Draco just stood there for about ten seconds with his head cocked to the right. Then he slowly turned his back around to meet Hermione's eyes. That is when she felt afraid of Draco Malfoy for the first time in her life.

"That was the last time," Draco started "that you will ever place your filthy hands on me again."

"I am not afraid of you Malfoy. I'm not afraid of anyone." At least she was a good liar.

"Yeah? Well, by the time I'm finished with you, you will be. You will learn that I am the exact definition of pain. You will wish that you had never crossed my path. Ever." he said calmly, but dangerously and convincing.

Hermione felt the tears threaten to fall, so with a sweep of her long forgotten wand, all her things were packed safely in her bag, and her bag in her hand.

She defiantly looked Draco in his eyes and bid him goodnight, and not waiting for a response, she left.

When she got to the third landing, she began to run, and ran until she got to the deserted girls bathroom on the third floor.

She went into one of the stalls, closed the door and reached into the bottom of her bag, where her dagger lay.

Hermione rolled up one sleeve and wasted no time as she pressed the blade to her skin,a nd proceeded on. When she had stopped herself, she had produced seven moderately deep cuts, that she was sure would leave scars later.

The last time Hermione had cut herself had been at the very end of last summer when…. no. She wasn't going to think about that or him.

Hermione sat in the bathroom for a little while longer, with surprisingly no visits from Moaning Myrtle.

She decided to go back to the Grryfindor tower, but not bfore pointing her wand at her arm and muttering "nascondere cicatrice." To conceal her cuts, she couldn't risk any mistakes.

When she had reached the Tower, she noticed that Ron and Harry hadn't even waited up for her, like they promised they would. And it wasn't even that late! Some friends.

That definitely added to her horrible night. But, she had school the next day. She couldn't let her emotions take over. She decided that a nice long nap in her bed could possibly make her feel better. Possibly.

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A/N: Well, that took long. Sorry. Okay, let me be honest. I know I said that I didn't mind if you sent reviews or not. I just realized that reviews would be nice. Really nice. Okay I'm begging. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!

Goodnight. Thank You my last reviewer, I don't have your name off the top of my head right now but, thanks.