Chapter 5/./ The Ravenclaw Quintuplets Strike Again

I yawned, looking up at the calendar I had placed on my door. Sunday, September 21st. It had been quite a few days, nearly two weeks, since I had found out anymore about Granger. The Ravenclaw quintuplets' leader, Cassandra, always winked and nodded at me knowingly when I passed her. I wondered what reason she believe I had asked her for. I concluded that she thought I was merely on their side, rebelling against Hermione.

I had tried numerous times to talk to Hermione, or even write. But everytime I found her, and tried to speak with her, she scuttled off in that annoying way she had of being there one minute, and then being gone the next. My anxiety grew as the bags beneath her eyes did. She was never in the Great Hall at meals. Numerous times I stopped down at the kitchen to get her something between classes, but she was never in the dormitory. It was always there after I put it on the table and left. I decided to put the mystery aside for the moment, and focus on other things until something came up, but I found I could not. Even when I was in class, she came back to mind. Sometimes, during class, she would fall asleep. She would not answer a question any professor asked her, and because of this, her grades seemed to be slipping. Her Potions grade was suffering worst of all.

I sat up on my bed, rubbing my eyes and squinting in the morning sunlight. There were giggles from outside on the Quidditch pitch and I groaned. Why were these quintuplets torturing me? I ran a hand through my messy blonde hair as I got out of bed to pull the curtains on my balcony shut. I looked over towards the door that connected the balcony to her room, and saw that she had had the same idea I had. Her black hair, usually sleek, was unkempt and frizzy as she stretched and yawned. She walked out onto the balcony in her long white pajamas, looking over the edge to see who was causing the ruckus. I looked down too, and saw Potter doing tricks on his broom for the quintuplets. I looked up just in time to see Hermione roll her eyes and start back into her room. Her eyes caught mine however, and she made for it more quickly.

"Hermione," I said, pleading. She stopped and sighed, crossing her arms and looking at me expectantly, as though she were saying, well? "We need to plan the Masquerade ball." She nodded. She produced a piece of parchment from her pocket, and scrawled "Next Saturday, 10 A.M., in the library" on it, and showed it to me. She shoved it back in her pocket, and returned to her room, pulling the curtains shut roughly. I sighed. A long, long week awaited me.

The next day, at breakfast, I saw what I assumed was Claire winking at Potter and motioning out the door with her head. She got up and left, after a brief conversation with her sisters. 5 minutes later, Potter followed. Curious about this action, I followed as well. I exited the Great Hall quietly, just quickly enough to find Potter and Claire (what was their surname?) entering an abandoned classroom. I cursed, wondering how I could get in without them noticing. Of course! I cast the invisibility charm I was studying for extra credit in Charms (I was considering writing Hermione's name on the essay) on myself, before sliding in through the slight crack they had left in the door. As the door slid open a little more, they looked over to it, but assumed it was just the wind, as they could see no one.

I crouched in a corner as they began their conversation again.

"I found out more about Granger, Mr. Potter." So I was not the only one they called by a surname.

"Oh?"

"She does not sleep in her own room. I snuck in last night, and could not find her anywhere." So, Granger and Claire had been the reasons the portrait had creaked open so much latethe night before. I had wondered.

"Very well. Thank you, Claire." She nodded, scurrying from the room as though she were afraid of the dark haired boy. He sat, staring at the tinted, dusty windows for a moment. "They will find out what you are, Granger. Your secret will not stay hidden for long." He exited the room, leaving me to wonder exactly what he was on about.

The next day we had Potions. As usal, Granger sat alone in the back of the room. I looked around, surveying the odds, before I went to sit beside her. She sighed, as though she were trying to summon up the energy to glare at me. However, she settled with a frown and went back to her book. Snape swept in, frowning at the quietness of the room. He seemed disappointed at the lack of points to take away. As he began to explain the potion westudying, one I had already made numerous times, I pulled a scrap of parchment quietly from my bag.

Harry Potter is plotting against you.

I pushed it over to Hermione, making sure she saw my exaggerated hand motions. She rolled her eyes, picking it up and placing it on her book, so as to look as though she were still reading.

I am not afraid of Harry Potter, or his annoying quintuplets.

Ha! So I was not the only person who found those Ravenclaw quintuplets utterly irritating. I smirked, but sobered quickly as the previous day's events struck me again.

He seems to want to inform the whole school of your 'secret'.

Her eyes widened at this, and a flash of fear swept across her features, but it passed as quickly as it had come.

He knows nothing about me.

Au contraire, mademoiselle. I think he knows plenty about you.

Very well. I do not care. Thank you, Mr. Malfoy, for informing me. It was very gracious of you. Now, if you would kindly leave me alone.

I did as she asked, and she, instead of returning to her book, pulled out her notebook and began writing in it again.

The elusive notebook. I wanted so badly to know what it said, what secrets it held within, but I knew better than to look over her shoulder. Or to steal it. If it landed in the wrong hands...

Snape dismissed us, and I realized no one had even made a potion. I sighed in relief, glad we hadn't missed anything. A 5 foot essay was posted as homework, however, and that irked me greatly. However, not as much as Ginny Weasley and Harry Potter making out in the corridor just outside of the Potions wing. I gagged the moment I had passed them, wondering if I was going to have nightmares.

The morning passed horribly slowly. I was unable to focus in any of my classes, wondering when Potter would put his plan into action. I soon found out, however, that the quintuplets had been one step ahead of him. Lavender and Parvati met me at the door of the Great Hall.

"Malfoy," they said simultaneously, in greeting, and I nodded to both of them.

"Lavender, Parvati. How can I help you?"

"Tell me," Lavender began. "Are you friends with Potter and those horrid quintuplets?"

"Not quite, Ms. Brown. What is it that you need?" Parvati grasped my arm, nearly in tears.

"They've spread a terrible rumor about her. I know how bad Hermione has been coping with Ron's death, and I don't know how well she's going to take this one..."

"What is it?" I asked, but neither seemed willing to tell me. I went into the Great Hall, knowing I would soon find out. Potter sauntered over to me, smirking.

"Have you heard the latest, Malfoy?" I shook my head.

"What is that, Potter?" He put his arm around the Weaslette's shoulders, pulling her closer to him.

"Hermione Granger was impregnated by Voldemort. Stupid slut," he chuckled. "She deserves to die." He and Ginny were both laughing as they exited the Great hall, and I had the terrible urge to follow them and knock him out. However, I looked around. The Ravenclaw quintuplets, meddling fools that they were, were nowhere to be seen. A foreboding feeling rose in me as I realized this. They were always at meals, ready to spill whatever new rumor they had made up, or their observations of suspicious people to their numerous admirers. I turned, leaving the Great Hall and any prospect of eating, and rushed back to the dormitory.

A/N: Slightly shorter than normal, but I liked it! More about evil Harry in the upcoming chapters. Chapter 6 is already in the makings! And you know what that means!
Preview:

The moment I burst into the common room, I was assaulted by the giggles I had come to recognize as those of the Ravenclaw quintuplets.
"Good morning, girls," I said in the most sarcastic voice I could muster. "You wouldn't happen to have seen the beautiful Ms. Granger this morning, would you?"
"Oh, yes, Mr. Malfoy. We have seen her," Cassandra spoke up. She smirked, pointing to the bathroom. "You may want to hurry, she's made quite a mess in there. Come girls," she said, addressing the others, and they followed her out of the portrait. Before she left, she stopped to make one last remark, "That Hermione Granger will only get you in trouble, Mr. Malfoy. I suggest you be more wise as to how you choose your friends."

Well, I hope you like like like it, so leave a review! Until next chapter!