A/N: Ok, so, let me get something straight. Hermione's under an "obedience charm" but this is nothing like the Imperius Curse. It only lasts a week and, even though she has to obey all direct commands, they eventually wear off after an hour or so. Does that seem to make sense?

Chapter 8: The Kiss

Hermione rubbed her eyes sleepily as she sat in a fairly quiet Great Hall. She sat across from Fred and George, who were avidly devouring everything in sight. It wasn't that early, but for some reason she had had a restless sleep.

"Are either of you planning on telling me why I'm up early this morning?" asked Hermione sarcastically.

Fred finished the last of his orange juice and watched as his empty plate disappeared. "We want you to nab him by his weekend," he said bluntly, watching Hermione closely for any signs of resistance.

Hermione knew there was no point in objecting; they could command her to do it. Leaning back she shrugged, "But how?"

George pulled a piece of parchment out of his robes and unrolled it to show Hermione its contents. It was a flyer for a "night of wizarding fun" at The Three Broomsticks.

"Live music, dancing, and butterbeer at half the price," read Hermione aloud.

"It's the perfect atmosphere to have some fun, eh?" encouraged Fred. George remained silent.

Hermione knew that she couldn't outright refuse to go to such a ridiculous thing. She would have to be sneaky…

"But Fred, George, this wouldn't help our plan at all," Hermione said softy, leaning in so that only the two of them could hear, "shouldn't Dra…er, Malfoy and I spend more time alone? Strolling through the Hogwart's grounds hand in hand…"

"Time alone!" George looked taken aback. "Wouldn't this be a much better place to bond with Malfoy than –" Fred cut him off.

"Hermione might be right. She is a girl. She would know these things." Fred nodded his approval.

"Do what you think is best, but here is the flyer if you decide to go." Hermione nodded and put the rolled up flyer in her bag.

"Trust me, everything will work out," she said, with a lot more confidence than she actually had. "Now, if you two will excuse me, I have to check over my homework before I get to class."

"Alright then, let us know if you need any more of the potion," Fred said.

Hermione nodded and, getting up, she headed out of the Great Hall.

"Harry! Ron! Wait up!" Hermione ran to catch up with her two best friends. It was Friday afternoon and the three had double Potions with the Slytherins.

"Hey Hermione," said Harry brightly, "we haven't seen you around as much, where have you been lately?"

"Oh, you know, studying," she said offhandedly. Turning to Ron she was shocked to see his left hand bandaged up and an ugly bruise by his left eyebrow.

"Ron! What happened?"

Ron looked down sheepishly. "atbreakfasttheycameandIhitmyself," he mumbled.

"What?"

"Let me explain," Harry cut in, "he was attacked by an owl this morning at breakfast. He pecked at his hand after Ron stuck his tongue out at him."

Hermione stifled her giggles and was somehow able to maintain a straight face. "And the bruise?"

"That he can blame himself for," Harry said with a grin, "he was trying to get the owl off his hand and he accidentally hit himself."

This time Hermione couldn't help it. She giggled. Ron scowled as he looked at his two friends.

"Loads of help you two are," he said sarcastically, "can't you see that every single owl in the world is at war with me?"

"Oh please Ron," Hermione rolled her eyes, "stop being so dramatic. There is an easy way to fix all this, and you know it."

"What?" Ron looked at her hopefully.

"Go to the Owlery and formally apologize to them all. And stop teasing them."

Ron shook his head fervently. "Apologize to a bunch of bird! NEVER!"

And with that he stormed ahead of the two towards the Potions classroom.

Harry laughed. "I know I'm a horrible friend to say this, but Ron's war with the owls is quite amusing."

Hermione grinned, "It is, but poor guy! His pride is going to get him pecked to death."

"I sure hope not, Ron'll wise up before then."

Entering the classroom, the two took their seats next to Ron at the table.

"Everyone should be seated," spoke up Professor Snape, moments later. The few students who weren't in their seats scampered quickly to sit down.

"Today we are making a potion that, when made correctly, can temporarily change wood to gold. Instructions and ingredients are on the board. Begin."

The class broke up into pairs. Hermione moved her cauldron near Neville, and began to copy down the instructions.

"Go get the ingredients Neville," she said, looking up, "and please be careful."

As they worked, Hermione couldn't help but steal glances at Draco as he worked. He was so focused and dedicated…

'Pay attention!' she scolded herself. And with that she snapped back to her potion

An hour later Hermione and Neville were cleaning up their workplace as their yellow potions simmered merrily in the cauldron.

Hermione heaved a sigh of relief. It had turned out perfectly, even with Neville's tendency to turn everything into a disaster. Now all she had to do was wait for it to turn into a golden color.

"Professor Snape, will you come and…hey, watch it," Draco sneered. Hermione watched in shock as Draco bumped into her table and her cauldron spilled over onto the floor, turning the table legs to brass.

"Ms. Granger, you should watch where you put your cauldron," Snape snickered. Looking down he noticed the brass table legs. "You'll have to clean this mess up and make a new potion in detention. It looks as if your potion was flawed."

Hermione angrily stood up. "Our potion wasn't done! It still had five minutes left until he was fully complete, and we can not be blamed for something that was not our mistake."

"Ten points from Gryffindor," said Snape smoothly, "for raising your voice at a professor." With that, Snape turned around to criticize another pair's potion, leaving a fuming Hermione glaring at Draco Malfoy.

"Well Granger, looks like you'll be cleaning the filth off the floor," Draco sneered, looking down at the mess. Leaning in, he gave her a trademark smirk. "But what else can you expect from a mudblood? Good thing I 'accidentally' bumped into that table, or else you would have never know that your potions was flawed." he whispered.

Hermione quivered with rage. The nerve of that boy!

"Malfoy, you are the most despicable, lowly, rude coward I know," she fumed, "and mark my words, I will have my revenge."

Feigning fear, Draco's eyes grew wide. "Oh, I'm scared mudblood. But wait, why should I be? You wouldn't dare."

Hermione cursed under her breath as he walked away. She would show him. More precisely, Nia would show him.

It was Friday afternoon and classes had ended for the day. Harry and Ron were out practicing Quidditch, so Hermione decided to do some studying in the library. Better to get homework out of the way.

Walking into the library, Hermione was about to sit down at her usual table when she heard the distinct voice of Madam Pince.

"Hermione Granger," she called, "come here for a moment."

Hermione complied, walking up to the librarian's desk. "According to my records, you have checked out Binding Legal Documents of the 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th Centuries, am I correct."

Hermione froze. A memory flashed in her head of a pile of burning books. 'oh oh…'

"Yes Madam Pince," she gulped.

"There is a certain professor who has been in search of those books for the past few days. He would greatly appreciate it if you could return them to the library as soon as possible."

"Yes Madam Pince, I'll return them as soon as I can." Hermione turned to leave but Madam Pince wasn't done with her yet.

"Let me make myself clear Ms. Granger. When I say 'as soon as possible' I mean now."

"But Madam Pince," Hermione stammered, confused by Madam Pince's decree.

"Those books are not usually checked out of the library, which is why I allowed you to check them out in the first place. Now that someone else needs them I am sorry to say that I can not allow you to check out another book until those ten are returned."

Hermione was about to protest when an idea popped in her head. She meekly hung her head. "Yes Madam Pince." Turning around, she walked out of the library and straight into the girl's bathroom.

Rummaging through her bag, she pulled out the potion vial that would change her into Nia. Closing her eyes, she drank the potion in one gulp.

Moments later, she looked at herself in the bathroom mirror and smiled a devious smile, dimple and all.

'Now I can study in the library in peace!'

Walking into the library once more, now as Nia, Hermione sat at the table furthest from Madam Pince.

Settling down, Hermione opened up her transfiguration textbook and began her homework.

Draco walked into the library, furtively looking around to see if anyone he knew was around. He didn't want to be seen in the library, especially on a Friday afternoon. No one was around except for a few first years. He gave them an icy glare to keep them quiet. 'They wouldn't dare breathe a word,' he thought with a smirk.

Draco headed towards the back of the library to sit at the table he always sat at. But when he got to the back he stood still for a moment. He had found none other than Nia sitting at his table, her back to him as she intently did her homework.

'The perfect way to start my weekend,' he thought, grinning to himself.

"Why hello Nia." Hermione looked up to see Draco sitting across from her with a smirk. Did he have a tracking spell on her or something?

She felt a surge of hate as she remembered her encounter with him during Potions. Her hate gave her a new will; she would show him.

"Why Draco, it's so nice to see you," Nia smiled, dimpling prettily.

"So, what are you doing here in the library?" he asked, looking her up and down.

"Oh you know, homework," she said simply, quickly putting her books away in her bag.

"Homework, and on a Friday afternoon?"

"Well, I was hoping to get it out of the way. So I could spend the rest of the weekend having fun."

Draco nodded in agreement, leaning back and crossing his arms. "Sounds like a good idea. But how about taking a break?"

"A break?" she said innocently, "but what would I do?"

Now was a better time than any. Getting up out of his seat, he leaned over the table to kiss her.

Nia's eyes grew wide.

Hermione took in a deep breath. It was time. After this it would all go uphill. She closed her eyes and prayed that it would end quickly.

And then Draco kissed her. It didn't last long though.

"What is going on here?" squawked and outraged Madam Pince. "If you children want to experiment and listen to your hormonal urges, then DO IT OUTSIDE!" Draco and Nia broke apart suddenly.

Draco grinned and grabbed his bag and hers. "We were just about to leave Madam Pince," he said.

"Coming Nia?" he asked, turning to see Hermione sitting dazed at the table. She nodded mutely, getting up as if in a trance.

He grinned and put his arm around her waist. "Goodbye Madam Pince," he called out, earning himself a multiple "shushing" noises from people around the library.

"We could have a lot more fun somewhere else anyways," he whispered in Nia's ear, "let's go to my room."

A/N: REVIEW! REVIEW!