When Harry and Ron had gone home for the Christmas holidays, they'd expected the Order would have had a solid plan with how to deal with Voldemort. However, when they arrived back at Grimmauld Place, they'd discovered that the group were no further forward. As it was pointed out to them, it was hard to know how to deal with a dark wizard that had barely been seen since his return. Following his appearance at Hogwarts there'd been no sign of the dark wizard. He certainly wasn't attacking like they'd expected. Instead it appeared as though he was lying low, although the Order did believe he was quietly gathering forces.
By the time they returned to school, Harry and Ron were determined to get people to see Hermione for who she truly was. They'd decided that the reason Voldemort was keeping a low profile was because he was trying to keep people from targeting his daughter. However, they thought if Hermione showed her true colours, people would target her anyway and Voldemort might just make a move. Maybe then, the Order would act as they seemed hesitant to strike first in the inevitable war that was going to rage across the wizarding community.
The only problem was that Harry and Ron didn't know how to get Hermione to show her true colours. The previous term they felt as though they were on the verge of getting her to reveal herself, but then she got all cosy with Malfoy, and forgot about them. Even when they insulted her, she just ignored them and carried on with her new life in Slytherin.
After discussing their options on the train, while bringing Ginny properly into things, the trio were still fresh out of ideas as they joined the queue for the carriages to take them up to Hogwarts. They ended up in line a little way back from the Slytherins, and they were intrigued to see that Hermione wasn't with Malfoy as they'd expected. The blond Slytherin was standing with the boys, laughing about something, while Hermione was whispering and giggling with Daphne Greengrass.
"Maybe they broke up," Ginny suggested with a shrug as they observed the Slytherins.
"That could be good for us," Ron theorised. "For some reason Malfoy seemed to keep her calm. Maybe without him, she'll let her nastiness out for everyone to see."
"Don't get your hopes up," Harry cautioned. "Just because they're not all over each other at the minute, doesn't mean they've broken up."
Of course Harry was right, and by the time they settled down in the Great Hall it was clear Hermione and Malfoy were still very much an item. Seated at the Slytherin table, the pair were sitting with their heads close together as they whispered about something, and more than once the Gryffindors spotted them exchanging a quick kiss.
"Damn, I thought we had her," Ron grumbled as he eyed the pair with distaste. "Whoever would have thought that Malfoy would be a calming influence?"
"Don't worry Ron, we'll get her," Harry vowed. "She can't keep us this angel act forever. Sooner or later she'll slip up, and when she does, we'll be there to make sure everyone sees her for the monster she truly is."
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Less than a week into the new term, Harry and Ron were heading back to Gryffindor Tower from checking a book out of the library when they were accosted by Pansy Parkinson. The Slytherin girl took them so much by surprise that she'd managed to bungle them into an empty classroom and close the door behind them.
"What are you playing at Parkinson?" Ron demanded as he pulled out his wand and pointed it at the raven haired girl.
"I'm here to give you what you want," Pansy replied, eyeing Ron's wand warily.
"And just what is that?" Harry asked as he also produced his wand.
"There's no need to get nasty," Pansy said nervously as she took a step away from the two Gryffindors. "I just want to help."
"Help us how?" Harry asked with a bitter laugh. "Defeat your precious Dark Lord?"
"No, I'm not helping with that," Pansy replied. "But I will help you get rid of his bitch of a daughter."
"You expect us to believe you'd go against him and target his daughter?" Ron asked with a laugh. "Pull the other one, Parkinson."
"I'm deadly serious," Pansy snapped. "I don't care who she is, I want her gone. She's wrecked my life."
"And what has she done to you?" Harry asked in amusement. "Stole Malfoy from you? Take my advice, Parkinson, he's not worth it."
"Draco's ten times the wizard you are, Potter," Pansy sneered.
"So why are you here offering to help us?" Harry shot back, unimpressed with being compared unfavourably to the boy he detested more than anything.
"I've told you, I want rid of Granger," Pansy spat in frustration. She really hated the fact she was dealing with Gryffindors, but they really were the best people to carry out her evil plan.
"We've been trying," Ron said. "But she's doing a damn good job of hiding her true colours."
"Exposing her for the dark witch she is won't get rid of her," Pansy said, chuckling at the Gryffindor duos stupidity. "Sure, you'll turn people against her and she'll drop the act, but she won't leave. We need to take her out of the game."
"Kill her?" Harry asked, sounding unsure of what he was hearing. Despite everything Hermione had done, it felt slightly wrong to discuss killing her in cold blood.
"Why not?" Pansy smirked. "She'd be gone, and just think what it would do to The Dark Lord."
"Yeah, he'd swear revenge on everyone and we'd all die a horrible death," Ron grumbled.
"He'd be in no fit state to swear revenge on anyone," Pansy said. "He'd be lost if anything happened to his precious brat. Sure, he'd recover and likely be pretty dangerous, but while he was mourning you lot could take him out."
"So you are helping us defeat him," Harry said, giving Pansy a smug smile.
"If that's the end result, fine," Pansy huffed. "But I'm only interested in Granger. Do you want my help taking her out, or not?"
"In case it escaped your notice, she's protected," Ron sneered at the Slytherin witch. "We can't hurt her."
"No, you can't hurt her by hurling a curse or a hex her way," Pansy corrected. "The protection spells only work against magic cast from a wand."
"So what do you suggest we do?" Harry asked.
"Poison her," Pansy hissed malevolently.
Ron shot Pansy a disbelieving look. "You want us to poison the daughter of The Dark Lord? Now why does that strike me as a plan to set us up?"
"Yeah, we're not doing anything that could be traced back to us," Harry said. "Even if Voldemort would be devastated, he would come after us without thinking if we poisoned her."
"He wouldn't if he didn't know who to blame," Pansy said with a chuckle. "Settle down boys, and listen to my plan. Then tell me what you think."
Ten minutes later, Harry and Ron had to admit Pansy's plan was pretty impressive. Her idea was to poison Hermione on the next Hogsmeade weekend. Voldemort might want to blame someone from Hogwarts, but he'd have no proof. Hogsmeade played host to plenty of witches and wizards with no ties to the school, and any one of them could easily take against Hermione and poison her.
"Where do we get the poison?" Ron asked. "We can't just go and buy it, and if we steal it from Snape's stores, he's going to know."
"I have that all in hand," Pansy replied with a smirk. She had a small bottle of poison in her trunk that she'd swiped from home. The house elves used a diluted mix to get rid of vermin, but she knew in its pure form it was deadly to humans. "I'll give you the poison, once I know you're on board."
"And what happens if it all goes wrong?" Harry asked. "Or what if this is a trap? What if you give us the poison, and then turn us in?"
"I guess we're just going to have to trust one another," Pansy replied with a casual shrug of her shoulders. "We'll just have to trust that we'll all keep quiet. Our hatred of Granger unites us, and that's why I'm trusting you two. You want rid of her as much as me, and this could be the way."
"Say we agree to help you, how do we slip her the poison?" Ron asked.
"That's for you to figure out," Pansy said. "I'm providing the poison, and I'll make sure she's in Hogsmeade on the first trip. It's up to you two to slip it to her somehow. But given that she'll likely eat and drink while she's out, it shouldn't be too much trouble."
"We'll think about it and let you know," Harry said.
"Don't take too long," Pansy said as she stalked over to the door. "And just think about what you're letting yourselves in for if you don't take this opportunity. Granger is every bit as dangerous as her father, and she has you two in her sights. Believe me, it's either her or you."
Leaving Harry and Ron to digest her tiny lie, meant to urge them to come to the right decision, Pansy sauntered out of the empty classroom. Left alone, Harry and Ron remained in the classroom for another half hour as they debated Pansy's offer. It was very tempting to join in with her wicked plan, but could they really kill the girl they'd been friends with for the last four years?
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"Stop it." Hermione slapped at the hand that was snaking up her thigh as she looked over her shoulder and shot Draco a warning look.
The pair were on Draco's bed in the boys' dorms, supposedly studying. Hermione was lying on her stomach, reading over a Herbology textbook, while Draco was sitting leaning against the headboard, with his book lying discarded on the bed beside him. Not long ago, Draco had gotten bored and was currently trying to convince Hermione to abandon her homework and spend some quality time locking lips with him.
"You know you really don't want to do this homework," Draco pouted. "It's not due in for another two weeks."
"But I like to be prepared," Hermione argued with a teasing grin.
"We both know you're just teasing me," Draco argued. "I mean, just look at the way you're lying. If I tilt my head to the side, I can almost see up your skirt."
"Pervert," Hermione snickered as she turned around and sat up. Their relationship was still only new, and they were nowhere near the seeing each other's underwear stage.
"It's part of my charm," Draco returned, giving Hermione a wink.
"Idiot," Hermione said with affection as she crawled up the bed until she was kneeling beside Draco. "Okay, you win. We can stop studying for the night."
Draco gave Hermione a smile, before he reached out and grabbed hold of her. Pulling her down onto the bed so she was lying beside him, he leant over her and give her a wicked grin.
"I knew I'd break you," he declared, before gently pressing his lips against hers.
Hermione let herself get caught up with the kiss for a moment, her hand coming up to run through Draco's silky blond hair, before she pulled away with a mischievous smirk. "Since we're not studying, I really think we should go back to the common room and join the others."
"You want to leave?" Draco asked in disbelief. Even though they'd just come back from Christmas Break, during which they'd managed to spend some time alone together, Draco felt as though it had been ages since it was just him and Hermione on their own.
"It's awfully rude to stay up here while our friends are all down in the common room," Hermione replied.
"I doubt they're all down in the common room," Draco snorted. "Last time I saw Blaise, he was challenging Theo to a race on their brooms. And didn't you say Pansy had roped Daphne into doing girly things with face masks and nail painting."
"Yes," Hermione replied with a nod. "Maybe I should go join them."
"You want to go and spend time with Pansy?" Draco laughed. It hadn't taken long for him to realise the two girls just weren't compatible, and it was easier for everyone if they only interacted when the entire group were present.
"Put it like that and it doesn't sound too appealing," Hermione said with a grimace. "I guess staying here with you is the lesser of two evils."
"Nice to know I'm so appealing," Draco retorted with a roll of his eyes.
Hermione chuckled at Draco as she reached up and pulled him back down on top of her. "Shut up, and kiss me."
"You don't have to tell me twice," Draco grinned, before doing as Hermione asked and connecting their lips.
The couple stayed up in the boys' dorms for another half hour, before finally tearing themselves away from one another and heading downstairs to their friends. By the time they re-entered the common room, all their friends were settled down in their usual spot in front of the fire.
"There you are," Blaise called. "We were going to come and get you, but we didn't want to interrupt anything."
"What's going on?" Draco asked as he settled in the only empty seat and let Hermione curl up on his lap.
"We're just discussing Hogsmeade," Theo answered. "Pansy suggested we all go as a group."
"Isn't the first trip not for another three weeks?" Draco asked with a frown.
"Yes, but I thought we could plan ahead," Pansy said. "I also hoped it could be a chance for Hermione and I to start fresh. I know we haven't exactly gotten off on the right foot, and want to change that. Hermione, I want to say I'm sorry for not welcoming you like the others. I really hope we can forget the past few months and try to be friends."
Hermione looked at Pansy in shock, totally taken aback by the other witches dramatic change of heart. When Draco whispered in her ear that she should accept the apology as it was rare to get one from Pansy, Hermione smiled at the other girl and gracefully accepted her apology.
"I'd like to be friends as well, Pansy," she said, even though she wasn't quite sure she meant what she was saying. However, she figured it was better to have Pansy as a friend rather than an enemy.
"Excellent," Pansy said with a wide grin. "I can't wait until out next trip to Hogsmeade."