Okay, so this chapter was originally about 11 pages long. DO NOT WORRY! I split it up into two chapters to make it more bearable. Besides, I couldn't come up with a way to end the second half, so I figured I'd post the first bit and wait for some feedback before putting up the rest. Perhaps that will help.

Shanterria Draconia Malfoy. SORRY! I misinterpretted your comments. Your review did make me feel that my portrayal of Draco was being mocked, though. (Yes, I am slightly sensitive about my writing. Okay, so I'm extremely sensitive.) Again, I apologize, since that was not your intent.

Chapter Three: Rumors

Hermione sat in the library surrounded, like always, by numerous books and parchment. She and Draco had been meeting in the Room of Requirements for nearly a week now. Today, Saturday, they decided to take a well-deserved break. Their second meeting was by far the most awkward. Draco still regretted his slip-up, but they both eventually accepted that it couldn't be changed. By the end of the night, they were laughing at each other's memories again.

From then on, they had few hitches in their plans. In Potions, Hermione was doing much better. Not quite as well as Harry yet, though. As for Draco, he gained a better control of his emotions. The fact that Hermione was a better Legilimens than he was an Occlumens only helped Draco. After all, Hermione was still an ameteur. How could he defend himself against a practiced Legilimens if he still struggled against her?

"You're getting good at that Granger," he said one night. "You're not practicing during the day are you?"

Hermione smiled mischievously but did not answer. Of course, she hadn't. But, Merlin, was it tempting. All those unwitting students walking around. And it would help so much with her duties as a prefect. Let one of those little first years try to lie to her, she'd see right through them. Hermione fought the temptation all the same.

Especially now as she sat in the library. She just saw Lavender Brown and Parvatti Patil walk in. Lavender kept looking Hermione's way and she was dying to know what the girl could possibly be thinking.

"Don't even think about it," came a voice.

"What are you, my conscience?" Hermione asked, mockingly.

"Isn't that a scary thought," Draco pulled up a chair next to her. "Let it go, Granger." He continued at her look of confusion, "I mean about Brown over there. I saw you watching her. What good would it do to read her mind anyway?"

"Wow, you are my conscience. Anyway, what's up? I thought we were taking a break today."

"We are. I just wanted to know how you did with the hat yesterday. I didn't get a chance to ask you earlier."

Yes, hat. Hats and scarves. They decided to speak in code if they ever talked in public.

"Oh. Er, it looked great! One or two things were still a bit off, but it turned out fine for the most part."

"That's good."

They sat in an awkward silence for a few minutes. The kind of awkward silence where one person knows the other person has something he wants to say but he won't just come out and say it.

"Is there something else you wanted to ask me, Malfoy? I'm not trying to get rid of you or anything, but I do have an essay to work on for Arithmancy."

"Oh. Sorry. Well, yes, I did have something else to ask. I feel like a jerk saying this, especailly since I wasn't going to help you unless you could help me but... You know. You're doing fine with hats now, and soon you won't need a tutor anymore. For me, though, I'm not going to get a handle on the scarves as quickly or as easily. So, maybe we can find something else, other than hats, that I can help you with so you can keep helping me with scarves."

"How about socks?" Hermione asked. Draco raised a brow and she shrugged. "It was supposed to be a joke. But sure, I can still help you. And if I don't need help with socks, whatever that may be, right away, I can still help you with scarves. No problem."

"Thanks Granger. I owe you one."

"Don't you forget that, either. I'm holding you to your word."

"I would expect no less. Meanwhile, don't be tempted to do anything. Such behavior just would not be very fitting of you," Draco stood up and left Hermione alone. Wow. Draco Malfoy just discouraged Hermione Granger from doing something dubious. What next? Snape inviting Harry Potter over for tea? Or worse, Harry accepting that invitation.

Hermione snapped out of her musings when she heard giggling. She just remembered Lavender and Parvatti. They saw her talking to Draco, no doubt. Oh well. What could they possibly say? She could always find out- NO, STOP. They looked her way once more and Hermione merely smirked before returning her attention to the books before her. She had nothing to prove to them.

After finishing her essay, Hermione headed to the Great Hall for some lunch. She caught Draco's eye and he nodded a hello to her before conversing with his fellow Slytherins again. Hermione smiled and took a seat next to Ginny. Draco seemed more human in this past week than he had ever in the previous years Hermione had known him. At least he wasn't above acknowledging her in public.

"Quick," the redhead said to her, "pick a number between one and one billion."

Hermione blinked, caught offguard by the random statement. "Two," she said slowly.

"Times a million, plus five billion, and that's about how many times I've felt like puking around Won Won and his girlfriend," Ginny made a face. "I mean, seriously. That's my brother she's snogging, or trying to eat, or whatever the bloody hell she's doing. You'd think they'd at least have the decency to use discretion," she stabbed her turkey. "I don't want to see that," Ginny continued to mutter and she began to lose steam. In a few moments, she'd calmed down a considerable amount. "So, how have you been Hermione? I haven't seen you in the common room in a while."

"I've been studying a lot lately."

"Now why didn't I think of that?" Ginny joked.

They finished their meal and decided to take a walk around the grounds. It was a cool day with a gentle breeze. As long as they kept moving, they stayed warm. They were outside for about half an hour when they saw Harry running to meet them.

"Hey Harry," Hermione said rather awkwardly. She still hadn't really talked to him in a while. "What's up?"

"Is it true?" Harry asked accusingly.

"Excuse me?"

"What are you talking about?" Ginny raised a brow.

"Hermione. Is it true? About you and that git, Malfoy?"

"What about Malfoy?" What did he know? Hermione wondered.

"There's a rumor that you two are dating," Harry explained. He looked angry and betrayed. Ginny's jaw dropped.

"No doubt a rumor started by Ron's girlfriend," Hermione muttered. "No, Harry, we aren't dating. I can't believe you would think that we were. Draco was talking to me at the library today, nothing spectacular, but Lavender and Parvatti saw us and I can only guess they started talking."

Harry, much to Hermione's surprise, nodded. It was good to know that he still believed Hermione over others. "I see. Well, you'd better get inside, then. He and Ron are about to get into a row."

"What?" Hermione screamed and began running inside. "Why?"

"Well, Ron thought the rumors were true and he just started swearing and went looking for Malfoy."

"Why would he do that?"

"Because he doesn't want that slimy git around you?"

"Don't call him that," Hermione snapped. "And what I meant was why didn't he come to me first?"

They pushed through the doors and Hermione asked Harry where they were. He produced an old piece of parchment from his pocket, careful to make sure no one else saw. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," Harry muttered. "They're both on the second floor. They're close but not in the same hallway yet. Ron's on his way," he said this all while running up the stairs. "Follow me," Harry ran to the left and tucked the parchment into his pocket after saying "Mischief managed."

Ginny ran into a third year Ravenclaw when they turned one corner and she swore loudly. "Watch where you're going!" He yelled after them.

"Drop dead!" Ginny retorted, becoming red in the face.

They turned another corner and finally found Draco and Ron who were surrounded by a large group of students from all four houses. More arrived every second. Hermione started shoving saying, "Prefect, coming through. Out of my way."

"They have their wands drawn," Harry yelled above Hermione's head as he pulled his own from his robes. He aimed it at Draco. "Stupefy," he cast the stunning spell.

"Protego," Hermione yelled, concentrating on setting the shield in front of Draco rather than herself. It worked and dispelled Harry's curse. She'd drawn her wand the second she saw that Harry drew his.

"What are you doing, Hermione?" Harry and Ginny both asked.

She did not answer them. Lavender, looking rather vexed, stood behind Ron. Hermione pushed her aside in order to point her wand in Draco's direction. "Expelliarmus," she hexed both boys and their wands went flying. She stepped between them. "WHAT is going on here?" Hermione demanded in a loud, authoritative voice.

"I could ask you the same question," Ron scowled. "Did you just use a shield charm on Malfoy?"

"Harry was going to curse him!" Hermione defended herself.

"So?" Ron remarked.

"Accio wands," Hermione said. The fallen wands flew to her. "I want everybody out of this corridor RIGHT NOW!" Less than a minute later, Draco, Crabbe, Goyle, Ron, Harry, Ginny and Hermione were the only ones who remained in the hall. Lavender had stomped away though Hermione could not guess why. What was in her head? Too late to find out now. "Get out of here," Hermione handed Draco's wand back to him. She said it in a noncommital tone, neither angry nor sympathetic.

"Gladly," he did not even look at her. His eyes stayed on Ron. "We can continue this conversation later if you want to, Weasley."

"No. Believe me, you can't," Hermione interjected as Draco walked past them. She turned to Ron. "What is your problem?" She glared at Ron as she shoved his wand back at him. Oh, if looks could kill.

"I think you're the one with the problem. Malfoy? Have you gone mental? How could you side with Malfoy?"

"I didn't side with anybody."

"You're right, and you should have sided with me since I'm, you know, your friend. You might as well have sided with Malfoy. And what's this I hear about you dating him?"

"Don't believe everything that little bitch says," Hermione spat, unable to control her anger.

"Don't call my girlfriend a bitch!"

Hermione smirked. "So she did start this rumor. Figures," she took a deep breath to calm her nerves. "Ron, I'm not dating anyone. Lavender and Parvatti saw us talking for a few minutes in the library this morning-"

"What were you talking about?"

"Shut your trap and let me finish!" Hermione shouted. "Anyway, that's probably how the rumor got started, though I can't understand why she would say something so ridiculous. And, no, I did not side with anyone. Ron, you were the one who went looking for Malfoy. Don't even try to deny that. And Harry had no business to attack Malfoy."

"My best mate was in trouble, Hermione. Isn't that my business?"

She turned on Harry. "If he was actually in trouble, it was his own stupid fault. You know that wouldn't have been fair."

"When has Malfoy ever fought fair?" Harry and Ron both asked.

"That doesn't mean you shouldn't! Look, the point is that this entire ordeal could have been avoided. Ron, why wouldn't you come ask me first?"

"Well, you were... and then... First of all you haven't exactly been available to talk to recently," Ron mumbled for a while. "Secondly, what were you two talking about?"

"Oh, grow up, Ron," Hermione stormed away, resisting the urge to hex him, and leaving three very confused Gryffindors behind her. "And you should probably pass that message along to your girlfriend while you're at it."

xxxx

"I'm personally proud of the way you handled things," McGonagall told Hermione as they drank tea in her office. "By no means do I trust young Mr. Malfoy, nor do I encourage you to do so, but perhaps this will make him trust you more? For one thing, you stood up to your best friends for him. I see how clever you are. In order to deceive your enemy, you must first deceive your friends. Make everybody else think that you're willing to take his side, and even Draco Malfoy himself will believe it."

Hermione said nothing. Professor McGonagall made her realize something: a week ago, it would not have mattered if he deserved to be attacked by both Harry and Ron or not, she would not have protected Draco either way.

So what did that mean? Had this past week been enough to change Hermione's views about Draco? How ridiculous. Generations of purely bred evil does not just disappear after a week of spending time with a... a muggleborn witch. Surely she had all along been, subconsciously, doing as McGonagall had said. Deceiving her friends in order to deceive Draco. As long as she did not allow herself to be double-crossed, she would be fine.

But is this charade worth the risk of losing her friends' trust?

xxxx

Yeah, that's the first part of the original chapter. I added the bit with McGonagall sorta last minute, so that's why it may seem out of place and such. Ugh. I made this more complicated than I initially wanted. I was hoping to finish it in four chapters or so. Well, that's not going to happen.

Thanks for reviewing! Shanterria Draconia Malfoy, (Sorry about the misunderstanding!) mean-girl123, (Did you get my message? If not, OOCOut Of Character. I didn't know what it stood for for a while either. Thanks for the review!) xxlightningboltxx, (Yeah, it sounded simple to me at first too. I thought it would be. And now here I am in the third chapter and everything's becoming complicated. And now I don't know if I'm going to be able to finish it in as few chapters as I'd hoped. Oops. That's probably my own fault.) Gwinna, (Thanks for your input about the dialogue. You're right, and that comes as a big relief to know I'm not relying on dialogue too much more than I should.) uhhhhh yeah, (Eep. Sorry, but the chapter had to end somewhere! Oh, you probably damned me at the end of this chapter, too. It's rather... abrupt.) and Jessie Bear 16, (I had The Nobodies stuck in my head. I think it's the only Manson song I've really ever listened to, and I like it a lot! Do you have any suggestions as to what other songs of his I might like? Oh yeah, thanks for the review!)