A/N: Don't sue me, I don't own Harry Potter!
Quick note: This doesn't apply to all of my faithful viewers I love you all, but tothose who are incapbable of reading dates, (especially a certain '? ()') I started this story before the 6th Harry Potter book was released, when we were unsure of whether Balise Zabini was male or female, now we know he is male but in my story he is female, so sorry but unless you really want me to change it it's gonna stay that way.
"You want me to do WHAT?" He said in disbelief, as he tried not to choke on his pumpkin juice, after all people were watching, it wouldn't do him any good if his reputation lowered because he'd sprayed all those sitting near him with juice. He had come to expect ideas as hare-brained as this off of Pansy, stupid ideas came like second nature to her, but Blaise? She was usually shrewd and levelheaded, that is, until she was "in-love" with one of the hundreds of geeks or idiots that she unbelievably found attractive, then her brain turned to mush. This month's chosen hunk was none other than…scarhead, brilliant. Oh the shame, a Slytherin pureblood indecently lusting after a Gryffindor, it had been bad enough with Neville Longbottom last month, the stupid idiot had thought himself cursed and had locked himself in his room for a month, but Harry bloody Potter? It was humiliating.
"I can't get anywhere near him, but something could happen if I got HER out the way. Besides, he groped me yesterday." Blaise said almost swooning.
Pansy snorted, "You mean he passed you your quill, that you 'just happened' to drop on the floor directly near him"
"Our fingers touched, it was heaven, pure heaven, until that girl burst in on us." She growled, shooting a venomous look at Hermione.
Malfoy inwardly groaned, now that she was on the subject of the sainted Potter, she won't give up for hours. Quick, he thought, think of something. "He can't have groped you," he said grinning evilly,
"And why not?" Blaise said threateningly.
"Because Potter is as bent as a corkscrew. Sorry Blaise, but the sooner you face it the better." The small thin girl with long dark hair ran out of the Hall wailing as he and Pansy laughed themselves sick.
"So, let me make this clear, you want me to, date Granger to take Potter's attention off of her and on to Blaise. Are you nuts? Don't answer that! I am a Sytherin pureblood, she is a Gryffindor mudblood, how different do you get? I am handsome interesting and brainy; she is unattractive, boring and a bookworm with too many brains. I don't like her, and she prays for my death with a vengeance that scares even me." He thought back to last year, he had been in the hospital ward eleven times because of her hexes, curses and tricks. But, he thought with a smirk, she had been in there right alongside him.
"She'd pay you." Draco rethought him answer, the last year had been hard on him, and not just financially, he now lived with Snape, who had a generous pay package, but was a tight-fisted git, and what Snape gave him to live on for a month was nowhere near enough, Draco was in debt to at least three people. He hated owing people something, it just wasn't what Malfoys did, they didn't borrow lend or owe, it just wasn't done.
"Okay, but why do you care if Blaise gets it off with goldenboy or not?"
"I hate Granger even more than you do, which you might find surprising, but she just gets on my nerves big time, like you and Potter, she's smart and I'm not, and brains are the only thing I lack, after all, I have influence, money, dress sense and beauty. But I suppose we can't all be perfect like she's trying so hard and yet failing to be." Draco snorted, a half rotting cow was more attractive than Pansy, and her clothes! He grimaced, vile lime robes on top of a tee-shirt that was the colour of sick, not to mention her shoes! He shuddered.
And she continued, glaring at him, "All I want to see is her, humiliated and shamed in front of everyone, and heartbroken inside, I'll get pleasure from seeing her pain." Pansy's eyes gleamed maliciously and she shot a look filled with hatred towards Hermione. Draco was mildly disturbed by that vehemence inside her, but chose to think about other things.
"So, how much will I be paid?"
"We think five gallons per date with two gallons for anything…extra, and three gallons for any time she spends away from Potter. That enough?"
Draco thought and tried not to look desperate. Five dates and six 'surprise' meetings that take Granger away from Potter and he would have his debt cleared. Not to mention any money made from anything 'extra.' He dread to think what Pansy and Blaise classed as 'extra.'
"Not to mention she's one of the few girls over age that you haven't dated, and she has a reputation of being stubborn, a prude. Think about what a challenge it'll be, you'll be known as the boy who cracked Granger's defences, you'll be as famous as Potter!"
"I'll do it." He said as his eyes shifted over to where she was sitting, did she have any idea about what was in store for her? He watched as she laughed a something weasel had said to her. No, he thought not a clue, he almost felt sorry for her, almost, but not quite.
"Just one problem," he said, "How am I meant to convince her to go out with me? She hates my guts."
"That's your problem. You're supposed to be the best at doing this, so do it. I mean,her bedroom is next to yours, you share a study, you're Head Boy sand she's Head Girl, you meet once a week to talk about rubbish, talk about something more interesting."
"We don't actually talk, she sits there and ignores me and I try my best to annoy her. It's begun to be quite a ritual." Draco thought about the cold silences between and the way she sent him looks that could pulverise stone when he tried to annoy her. She was trying to control herself because she was Head Girl, but one day soon he'd get her to snap, and she'd never hear the end of it. He grinned evilly.
"Oh and Draco," Pansy said as she got up to leave,
"What."
"I've seen the way you look at her, don't go and do something stupid…like, falling in love with her…right? 'Cause we really wouldn't want that now, would we?"
He fought hard to keep his composure, what did the stupid cow know, "I quite frankly have no idea what you're on about."
"I think you do, I watch you Draco, more than you know," She said softly near his ear, her eyes gleaming with spite, "And I've seen the way you look at her when you think no-one's watching. Anyone would think you almost like her. Ridiculous…isn't it?"
"I think you need to go and have your head examined by the nurse, that was your most stupid idea yet, well done Pansy you've broken your stupid idea record. I repeat, I hate Granger, she hates me, I don't watch her, and I am not interested in her, she repulses me, and I disgust her."
"I hear you Draco," she said, "But me thinks the gentleman doth protest just a tiny bit too much."
He gritted his teeth and managed something that resembled a smile.
"Bye Pansy"
She smiled sweetly at him and left. Draco groaned and rubbed his temples, he could feel a headache coming. But he had more important things to worry about, like how he was going to convince Hermione that he was a human being with feelings and emotions, not just a Slytherin boy who could feel nothing, the popular stereotype for Slytherins, how wrong were the people who held those ideas, just because he didn't show his emotions, didn't mean he couldn't feel emotions…how wrong they were.