Chapter 2

Draco was back at Grimmauld Place the next morning. Hermione saw him as she came down to help Mrs. Weasley with the cleaning, and she knew her day was ruined.

She was not disappointed.

"Hey Granger," he called as she scrubbed the inside of a musty cabinet, "I think I see a rat in there. It's just a lit-tle way from your hand."

He cackled when she jumped—and hit her head on the ceiling of the cabinet. Dust and cobwebs rained down on her.

"Becoming a ferret not good enough for you, Malfoy?" Hermione snarled as she reached for her wand. "Would you like to turn into a rat too?"

Draco smirked—then he yelped and leapt behind a couch when she actually shot a blast of something at him.

The spell missed Draco, but it hit someone else entirely.

Fred Weasley had been coming over with an extra bottle of cleaning potion for Hermione when a jet of orange light struck him square on the chest.

The next thing the Weasley twin knew, he was squeaking up at the pale, pointed face of Draco Malfoy.

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"Nice job, Granger," Draco drawled as he peered with interest at a fully-rat-ified Fred. "Have you been studying in advance?"

Hermione gulped as she lowered her wand. She hadn't been expecting the jinx to actually work! She had never even practiced it, only read about it.

"Have fun figuring that one out." Draco laughed as he started to stroll out of the room.

"Get back here, Malfoy!" Hermione spat.

"Sorry. Won't be of any help in the matter."

"Oh? I seem to remember a bleach-blonde ferret bragging about how darn good he was at magic!"

Draco gritted his teeth and prepared to launch his comeback.

Just then, Mrs. Weasley came in to look for her son, followed by Lupin.

"Fred?" she called. Then she noticed the huge red-furred rat at her feet and jumped. "Eeek! Get that thing away from me!"

Lupin leapt forward, wand at the ready.

"I would advise you to put that away, Professor," Draco remarked. "We wouldn't want to injure your son, wouldn't we, Mrs. Weasley?"

Mrs. Weasley shrieked. "What happened? Who attacked him?"

The pale blond Slytherin struggled to hold in his laughter.

Hermione swallowed. "Erm, me."

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"It was done unintentionally," hErmione was explaining as Professor Lupin turned Fred back to human. "Malfoy was provoking me, and well, he ducked, so the spell got Fred instead."

Fred looked a little woozy when he finally returned to his original form. "Who do dat?" Then his eyes fell on Draco, and he found his brain instantly. "You slimy, worthless…"

"Why look at me, Weasley?" Draco asked very calmly as he inspected his fingernails. "I'm not the one who just turned you into a rodent." He pointed to the bushy-haired Gryffindor.

"Hermione?" Fred exclaimed in shock. "Why?"

"I'm sorry, Fred!" she apologized. "I was aiming for Malfoy!"

"What's going on?" George Weasley called out as he swaggered into the room. "Whoa—yeow!"

With a loud crash, he landed on the floor.

"Alright, which one of you left the cleaning potion on the floor?"

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"You aren't pulling our legs, are you?" Harry gasped.

Ron was laughing his head off as he imagined his older brother as a rat. "Hey, why'd you turn him back? He'd make an excellent replacement for Scabbers!"

Hermione gave him an exasperated look. "I don't know, Ron. Maybe because your mother would have something to say about that?"

The three of them were having lunch outside the house. Realizing that having Draco and the Golden Trio at the same table would cause something ugly, the other Order members had made absolutely sure the four of them were far apart.

Fred and George approached them, plates of food in hand. Hermione started to look wary.

"Hullo!" George called.

"May we join you?" his twin continued as he sat down beside Hermione.

"Um…alright," Hermione replied slowly.

"I could seriously hate you for what you did, Hermione dear, but I've decided to forgive and forget," Fred stated. He pulled out a chocolate. "Peace?"

Hermione edged away. "Peace."

Fred shook his head. "Relax, 'Mione. This is a peace offering. It's just a chocolate, I promise."

"Um…"

"Come on," he coaxed.

Finally, Hermione took it. Very hesitantly, she put it in her mouth.

And chewed.

And chewed.

Relief flooded through Hermione. It was just a chocolate!

Then her eyes flew open. Her temperature rose as fire seared her tongue. Sweat poured down her face. She grabbed her mug of butterbeer and downed it.

George tsk-tsked. "Wrong move."

Harry and Ron watched, wide-eyed, as their best friend jumped up and ran around, fanning her burning mouth.

The twins burst out laughing. "How'd you like our new Scorching Sweets?"

"Wicked," Ron mused. "It'd be great to throw some of those down Malfoy's throat."

"Actually…" George began.

"We did," Fred finished. "And he should be paying us a little visit right about…now."

As if on cue, Draco came running out, red-faced and fanning his burning mouth.

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AN: THANKS BE TO GOD!

To my dear reviewers:

Dk Lili- Nice to see you! :) I'm glad you liked my portrayal of Draco. It really took me a long time to get the character right. I think it's an author's greatest challenge—to keep Draco nasty while making him good.

AraelMoonchild- Thanks! I hope I don't disappoint you! :)

FoolishlyBraveDarkStar- Nice to see you again! :) I'm glad you think it's interesting, and yes, it's a Draco/Hermione.

Alcapacien- Hi again! :) I patterned the conversation after how I usually talk with my best friend, and I'm glad you thought it was funny. I'm also happy that you think it's really good. :)

American-born-confused-desi- Thanks!I'm glad you thought it was very original! :)

Crimson Girl- Nice to see you! And thanks :)

Avadne- Thanks! :) And don't worry, I won't make him go nice for no reason