A/N: Argg! Sorry guys, this should have been posted days ago but my internet went out on Tuesday.(Which is more of a pain in the ass then you can imagine!) Lucky for all of you though, I was soo anxious to get it up that I put it on floppy and brought it to the library (my current location).: )Thank you reviewers! And (hopefully) enjoy this installment!

Disclaimer: All characters, places and main events belong to J.K. Rowling. Only the words are mine.


The Game

Just before the feast ended, Professor McGonagall walked to both Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger, instructing them to follow her. They quickly bid their friends good bye-not willing to disobey the stern faced Headmistress-and trailed her out of the Great Hall.

The trio soon found themselves outside a portrait of two faeries; one a male with blond hair and steely grey eyes, the other a female with curly brown hair andchocolate eyes. The two seemed to be frolicking in a forest until McGonagall got their attention.

"Armonia," she stated, and the faeries looked at her resentfully but swung open the portrait nonetheless. Before Draco and Hermione could step inside the room, McGonagall looked at them sternly.

"You two have been awarded a great honor that you have both proven to deserve-academically speaking. But if I hear that there has been any abuse of the power given to you, or of any misdemeanors in general, I will feel no remorse in revoking the title and awarding it to the next most qualified student. This means you two are to set an example to the other students and be civil with one another. Prove to me that I really have appointed the right students to these positions. Am I clear?" she looked pointedly at Malfoy as she spoke, making it clear to both students exactly what she was referring to.

"Yes Professor," Hermione nodded her head vigorously.

"Of course, would you expect anything less, Professor?" Draco taunted and McGonagall scowled at him.

"Very well, have a good evening then," she responded stiffly. "And I expect you both to be present at the first prefect meeting tomorrow night," turning on her heel, she marched down the corridor. Hermione didn't waste a second and scampered into their new common room.

"Oh, it's wonderful!" she gushed, scuttling around and examining the new place.

"And clean. Don't get your filth all over it, Mudblood." Draco said angrily, and walked towards the room with his name on it.

"At least I deserve it," Hermione replied nonchalantly, the horrendous name bouncing right off of her. "You shouldn't even be here in the first place, so don't go telling me what I can and cannot do in this room. Apparently it's mine just as much as it is yours," the retort was clear, but Hermione's back remained turned to Draco as she examined the bookshelf.

Draco stood and looked at her, a smirk plastered on his face. "Funny, I quite agree with you. I was the last person to guess that I would get this, because I am quite sure that I shouldn't be here after last year. It seems to me though, that these Professors revere those that try to kill their headmasters. And who am I to argue?" Draco watched Hermione turn around in an instant, the bookshelf forgotten. He wanted the last word in this conversation though. As she was fuming and would need a minute to sputter out anything, he grasped the opportunity and walked swiftly to his room, slamming the door behind him.

"You PRAT!" Hermione exclaimed as the door to Draco's room shut. His smirk grew and he couldn't help himself from sticking his head out the door for one more comment. Finding her standing in the same position he had left her with her fists clenched and her face flushed with fury amused him even more.

"For such a clever little witch, I would think that you could come up with a much better response then "prat"!" this time though, Draco didn't get a chance to shut the door. Hermione ran to the door in an instant and pushed all of her weight against it to keep it open.

"I most certainly can! I'm just left without words when someone can talk about trying to kill someone else without any remorse. I think prat perfectly describes everything I was feeling," her eyes shown brightly with anger. Draco, on the other hand, seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself.

"Goody-goody Mudblood Granger," he shook his head condescendingly at her. He then shut the door with little trouble even though she was still leaning against it.

"Malfoy!" Hermione shrieked in an annoyed voice as she toppled backwards from the force of the door closing. "Ug! This is going to be a miserable year!" she fumed and stomped off to her room, slamming the door defiantly behind her.


Draco was thinking quite the opposite though as he went to sit on his bed. He despised Granger with all of his might, she was a Mudblood after all, but it was incredibly entertaining to get her riled up. That's what he wanted out of her. In a war of words, she was dangerously close to his equal, so it was an accomplishment for him if she was the one to lose her temper.

This "competition" was not something he had ever shared with anyone though-it was simply required of him to chide Granger according to everyone else. Draco was sure even Granger herself wasn't aware of his little game.


After Hermione reached her room she sat down on her bed with a 'humph!', trying to calm her rage. Malfoy was one of the few people that could provoke her so much with so little, and it bothered her endlessly that he could. He was exactly what Harry had said-a bastard-and she shouldn't be able to let him get to her.

But he was scary. Hermione had never expressed it to anyone, and tried to hide the fact when she was around him, but she was slightly frightened of Malfoy. When he was a little boy she had been sure that he couldn't truly harm anyone. As he grew older and got bigger, her presumptions all of a sudden seemed very-presumptuous. He had proven last year that he had the brains to kill, it was just the nerve that he lacked. And nerve, unlike brains, was easily acquired under the right circumstances.

The only thing holding her back from cowering away from him was the fact that she was never able to truly get to him. Their spats were frequent, but they were never serious. And even if they were, Hermione was sure Malfoy was never fazed by them. He was just playing a game; a game he thought he could win. 'Well he's wrong!' she thought. 'He said he shouldn't be here, well he is bloody right. First thing tomorrow I will be paying Professor McGonagall a visit to talk some sense into her!'

And with the comforting thought that she would have a different roommate the following evening, Hermione had little trouble laying back and quickly falling asleep.


Draco slowly woke up the next morning. It was early, much too early to worry about classes, or even breakfast yet; but that was the norm for him. He had always been a morning person, and assumed Granger was too when he walked into the bathroom and found her standing there in a long robe with wet hair.

"Get out Malfoy! Ever heard of knocking?" Hermione shrieked.

"It seems to me, that even though this was an accident, I didn't barge in on anything, so stop that ridiculous screaming. And don't even think for a moment that I harboring some kind of fantasy of seeing your filthy self naked, if I had known you were in here I wouldn't have come. But now that I'm here, I have every intention of staying," he sneered at her attire, very thankful indeed that she had been decent. He then casually walked past her and to the sink. "Do you mind?" he said looking at her with contempt.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me. You seriously think that I'm just going to leave, after you walked in on me? I'm not finished yet, so get your arse out before I report you for harassment. That is harassment you know, just walking in on someone in the loo," Draco looked ready to kill her for the smug look on her face. "And you wouldn't want to loose your well earned spot as Head Boy, now would you?"

"Fine," he angrily turned away from the sink and stalked to the door of the bathroom, pushing Hermione as he walked past her. Draco stopped right before he shut the door and turned around to look at Hermione. "But I will have you know my place as Head was well earned. Check your facts Granger. My grades are almost the same as yours, so stop trying to strut your stuff as if you're the only one that gets high marks in class. Not all of us choose to flaunt it is all."

"Just because you get good grades doesn't mean you're a decent person. That's what being a Head is; setting an example, being a role model, being a good person. You are no where close to a role model, Malfoy. Check your own facts, because last time I looked you were a pompous arse. Now please, I need to finish doing my hair. Don't let the door hit you too hard on the way out," she said, almost cheerfully, and began to attempt to brush her hair.

"Oh, and what a role model you are. You hide your ugly, bushy head either behind Potter or a stack of books. You're the little-miss-know-it-all that always has the answer and is teacher's pet. But that's all you have. Your muggle family can't do anything for you anymore. Potter and Weasley only hang around you because you always give them the answer. And Weasley, the stupidest git I've ever had the misfortune of meeting, and you don't even have a chance of getting in his pants.

At least I'm respected Granger. It may be for the wrong reasons, but people do look up to me. I want to screw a girl, all I have to do is step out the door. I want to throw a party, and everyone wants to come. Granger, I have more influence in this school than you'll ever have, and that's why I'm Head Boy. McGonagall more than likely has the very misinformed idea that I'm going to go join Dumbledore's ranks and then get all of Slytherin to follow me. That being stuck around your people all the time will somehow make me want to change my ways. Even though that's far from what will ever happen, she knows that's the kind of power I have; I'm a Malfoy. I do something, and everyone follows. I am a role model.

So get over yourself and live with the fact that we both got these positions because of our marks, which are clearly the best in our year, and there's not much you can do to change it. No matter how much you whine and bitch, we're stuck with these accommodations," Draco looked at Hermione, daring her to speak. But her face was set in a scowl that could rival even McGonagall's. "And I would get a much bigger brush if I were you. That thing that died on your head will probably just eat the one that's in your hand."

"At least my parents love me, Malfoy," Hermione said in a quiet, yet powerful voice. Draco had been about to shut the door when he heard the statement and he quickly opened the door back up ready to yell, but Hermione continued and cut off any chance he had of responding. "They may not be able to help me all the time, but they love me. When I go home during break they hug me, kiss me, and tell me that they missed me. My mother and father are proud of me Malfoy, they are truly proud of everything I've done. When was the last time any of that happened to you? When was the last time daddy told you he was proud of you?

As for your ridiculous comments about Harry and Ron, you're just infuriated by the fact that a lowly Mudblood is able to have friends. Sure Malfoy, you're respected; you've had sex with a few girls, but do you have any real friends? Do you have any friends that will give up their lives to save yours? Or would they save themselves first? And as you so pompously stated yourself, you're a smart boy Malfoy. I'm sure you know that I have more influence in this school than you'll ever admit. So before you begin to throw absurd statements around about topics you really have no information about, I would watch your words Malfoy. As you said, I always have the answer." Hermione huffed and turned to face the mirror once more, signaling to Malfoy that the conversation was over, and he was dismissed.

As he closed the door he realized that he had once again been beaten. He was never able to leave that bloody girl speechless, it just wasn't fair. He leaned up against the bathroom door and mumbled something almost incoherent under his breath.

"And the game continues."