Who stole the cookie?

"GINNY!" Hermione squealed.

The red head looked up at her, face pale, and afraid. Her dark eyes searched the dark behind the girl frantically, praying she didn't bring the hounds with her. Nope, no Harry and Ron.

"Hermione…" she began, but Hermione stopped her.

The area was a mess. It was cozily nooked between two large and looming shelves. A torch lit the corner, swelling as a small bubble of light. A petite cauldron hovered over a small, magical fire, and books were strewn everywhere, pages, ink, and quills poking out over numerous pages.

Ginny snatched up a leather bag, and stuffed a weathered journal of the same skin into it, while unobtrusively sweeping stuff behind her into the bag.

Hermione threw her hair over her shoulder.

"Would you mind explaining what this is about?"

Ginny stiffened.

Hermione tapped her foot.

"Oh, stop it Hermione, you don't intimidate me." The younger female finally snapped, slamming down her bag and wiping at her tear streaked face.

Hermione arched an eyebrow.

Ginny stood and paced the small study-circle, biting her lip, and shooting Hermione suspicious, but murderous glares.

"I'm waiting!" Hermione said, surprising herself at the way she talked. Well, she figured if Ginny was going to be a nasty kelpie, why couldn't she? Ginny stopped, and openly glared.

"FINE! I'll tell you everything! And then, you'll be absolutely horrified, and you'll run, and you'll tell HERO HARRY and RAGEING RONALD, all about it, and the Helping Hermione won't ever have to worry about the Jumpy Ginny, because SHE'LL BE DEAD!" she began, starting in on a rant that bordered a hysterical sob.

Hermione was lost. Apparently the look on her face said, so.

"You don't understand, do you? Of course you don't! You're only just growing some spine…" Ginny muttered, the last couple words melting into the darkness.

"What's that?" Hermione growled.

"I said YOU'RE JUST GROWING SPINE!"

They sized each other up, Ginny considering Hermione's knowledge, and Hermione taking into account Ginny's upbringing.

Taking a deep breath, Hermione tried to sound logical.

"Gin. We're friends. Why've…what's…Look! I'm not the same! Anybody can see that! Malfoy screwed me up or something…So…Uh…" Hermione said, throwing her hands up above her head in frustration.

"You think I can tell you?" Ginny asked flatly, the look on her face betraying the outright doubt.

Hermione let her arms slap her thighs.

"Yes."

Ginny snorted, resuming picking up books.

"Never mind."

"Ginny, tell me."

"NO."

Her harsh, but firm word echoed with a booming sound in the cavernous library. The redhead was rigid, and had her own palms flattened against a book, having slammed it down. Hermione took a step back.

"Gin?"

"I don't have to tell you anything Hermione. Just forget it. You wouldn't be able to wrap your head around it. You'll never understand, and don't think you will. You won't. Suck it up, buttercup." Ginny cut her off swiftly, severing her words, and making Hermione shiver with the angry glare she was giving her.

Hermione shrugged, finally giving in. Obviously, this wasn't going to get her anywhere.

"Okay. Ya see? Oh-kay. I'm giving up. I won't talk about it, if you won't. See? Now that we're at a mutual agreement, I gotta go. Seeming as I can't do anything. See you Ginny." Hermione said dryly, backing up, and scooping the loose black robe back onto her shoulder, before turning around, and scuffing her feet as she receded back into the darkness, and approached her table.

Ginny sighed, and looked at the empty space where Hermione was.

This was gonna escalate. She could feel it.

Hermione crept down the moonlit corridor. Her ears were pricked for any sound, and her eyes were scanning frantically for any movement.

Nothing so far.

Taking a deep breath, she quickly flit to an alcove, and peered around the corner, her heart in her throat. The last thing she needed was Snape or someone to show up. She pat inside her robes, and found her wand, running her nervous fingers over the smooth wood. She bit her lip, staring hopelessly into the blank black of the end of the windowless corridor up by the portrait. Ginny hadn't passed, and she was forcing herself not to think about her. Screw Ginny and her bitchy-ness.

Hermione surprised herself by thinking that.

'Dear God, I'm turning into Lavender!' she scolded herself, narrowing her eyes, looking harder, and STILL not seeing anything.

Suddenly, two arms wrapped around her upper arms, pinning them in place. A sharp pinch made her gasp and drop her wand, which clattered to the stone floor with a loud wooden sound. A hand covered her mouth before she could scream.

Hermione struggled, letting all her weight fall and making her legs not support it and throwing her head viciously back into her attacker's face. They both fell, sliding down the wall, Hermione ending up struggling on her back, while they held her on top of the fruitlessly, probably dazed from the back of her skull connecting with their face. Hermione bit down on their hand, causing a deep curse, before she whipped around onto her knees.

It was a male, she could tell from his arms, and she could see his knees splayed out pointing down opposite ways of the hall, with her balanced vicariously on her hip to face his shadowed face. He had a bruising grip on her arm, which was making tears appear in her eyes.

"Let me go!" she snarled shrilly, twisting, and letting a cry of pain escape when he pressed harder on her arm, and a white stab of pain shot from her twisted elbow.

With a growl, she brought her free elbow down between his legs.

A howl of complete pain filled the corridor, and he recoiled into a fetal position letting her arm go, which she drew to her breast, massaging it.

He let out a groan of pain, after the echoed died.

Hermione snatched up her wand, and lit it, pointing it at him.

Malfoy's pain scrunched face swam in her blue lit vision.

"Malfoy? What the hell, you little creep!"

"Urgh… Granger…What the hell…"

They were both breathing frantically, Malfoy's a little more labored then hers, his hands tenderly drawn between his legs, which were drawn up, obscuring her vision.

"Oh, god, I'm so sorry!"

He brushed her prying hands away.

"What're you gonna do, kiss it better?" he spat, glaring at her. Hermione sat on her heels.

"In your dreams! Fine! WHO grabbed me? Who TOTALLY deserved that!"

"The sonofabitch you think was gonna rape you! I thought you were the student I'd followed!"

"Well, GUESSWHAT! I'm NOT!" Hermione snarled, smacking his shin.

"WOW! You'd think I hadn't thought of that!"

"Shut your face serpentine, you got nothing to bitch about."

"I just had my nuts crushed by a mudblood's elbow." He gasped, indicating.

She raised her fist. He glared icily at her.

"I'll do it again if you call me that."

"Mudblood? What's the matter, Mudblood? Does the Mudblood get offended when I call it Mudblood, Mudblood?"

Hermione hauled off and punched him right below where'd she'd gotten him before.

He screamed.

"Salazar and Merlin drinking Scotch!"

Hermione has to smile at this.

When he was done cursing, he gasped and glared at her.

"You, my darling, are a first class bitch."

Hermione angled her jaw, and jutted it at him haughtily.

"Yes. And I was before I took that potion too." She said, nudging his foot with hers.

He snorted.

"It's all that damn potion's fault. 'Cause it MADE you." He said scathingly.

Hermione remained silent.

He grunted as he pushed himself up the wall. Hermione followed him up, picking up her bag, and holstering her wand at her hip. He paused, wincing, and moving his legs gingerly, as if testing the sensitivity of the organs between his legs. Hermione smothered a snicker. Draco Malfoy, wincing, and moving like he had just been forced a suppository, it was just too good to give up.

He glared at her in front of the window anyhow.

She gasped as she saw a dark bruise forming on one of his aristocratic cheeks, marring the perfect skin. It did, however, give him an alluring sexually appealing leg-up, which made her want to hit him again, just to cross it out. She looked like hell when her face got cut up, how come it just made him play even more of a bad boy? Not allowed.

"What?"

"I…your bruise…" she started, fumbling for her wand. He watched her warily.

"What are you going to do?" he asked, eyeing her drawn wand.

"Fix it."
"How touching."

"Not really." She answered, reaching out and brushing his cheek with her fingertips. It was warm, and smooth. It took all her self-control to not blush like a love-struck schoolgirl.

Malfoy.

Malfoy.

Malfoy.

So, she ignored the small tingle of electricity that was racing up her skin and invading her spine.

"Malheure…" she whispered, and a calming beam of soft white light touched his skin. It was really quite cool to see this spell in action. The bruise receding as if it weren't there, like rewinding a film of ink staining paper, under skin. The dark recoiling, and moving towards it's middle underneath his pale cheek.

"I can't believe I'm letting you heal me." He muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets and scowling.

Hermione made a noise of disgust.

They both said the name of each other's house with exasperated disgust at the same time.

They looked at each other. He peered nastily.

"Don't look at me like that. I'm not your long-lost soul mate. Go moon over Weasel." He said, as she returned to finishing the spell.

Hermione chose to ignore this comment.

"So, what pissed in your tea?" she asked, after a thick set of silence had settled over them.

"Granger, you need your head examined, using expressions like that." He answered her dryly.

"How's your little thief doing?"

"They stole a load tonight. Which is why I'm out. I'm not out gazing at the stars, charting their movements, and writing our loving horoscope together, if that's what popped into your head." He replied quickly. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Malfoy, to be honest, I was hoping you'd gone to hang yourself off the owlry rafters but that's asking too much isn't it?"

"What was it again? Who pissed in your tea?" he shot back, while she now checked to see she'd gotten all the bruise. She had.

"What did they take?" she asked absently, testing the cheek for faults, which he ignored.

"Our stuff. Some muggle stuff we use for fun."

Hermione stopped and ogled at him.

"Muggle stuff? What kind of muggle stuff? Handcuffs?" she asked, the last word barely whispered.

"No, not handcuffs, idiot. They call it…Me-train? Me-plane? Met…aine…" he worked on it, going through all of it. It clicked in Hermione's head.

She pushed away from him with a hiss.

"You guys are using that stuff?"

"Yeah, the diamond stuff…"

"Crystal. Crystal Methane. Malfoy, that shit can kill you."

"Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stonger." He recited, and she made a face.

"One of Daddy's life-long lessons, no doubt?"

He slapped his knee.

"Good one Granger, you winded me." He said sarcastically. She propped her hands on her hips.

"Your cheek will be tender for about two weeks. Try not to bash it about more. Don't' go grabbing random people."

"'Cause I could totally see you in the pitch dark." Malfoy countered in low-key.

"Don't be belligerent. So, you know who it was? Where'd they go?"

He looked at her for a moment.

"Into the library. That's why when I saw you come out, I thought they were coming out." He said.

Hermione's lips fell open. Unless there were more than two teenage girls in that library tonight, which made her cold all over, she knew the other person. Malfoy's thief.

"Ginny. Oh no." she whispered.

Malfoy waved a hand in front of her face.

"Hello? Who? Did you see them?" he asked, standing in front of her looking angry. Hermione blinked, then required her frozen mind to work fast.

"Uh, no. I don't. Didn't. I didn't." she stuttered, taking a step back, and biting her dry lips.

"Yes, you did." He said following her, his eyes glowing. Hermione thinned her lips.

"Get away. Do you value your jewels, or are you just glutton for squishing?"

"Tell me! Now!" He snarled, grabbing her shoulders.

Hermione panicked, his sudden animalistic rage scaring her deeper than she let on.

"Malfoy! Get off! Let me go! I'll scream this place down!" she cried shrilly, twisting as his fingers dug into her blades. He shook her.

"Tell me! This stuff! We need it!"

"You're addicted! Let go! You're a bunch of druggies! Argh!" she squealed, kicking at his shins with her Mary Janes.

"Selfish bitch!" he snarled, slamming her into the opposite wall.

Hermione cried out in pain, the force causing a firework of pain to erupt at the back of her head, and the wall to cut into her flesh.

"Malfoy! Stop it!" she said weakly, scratching at him, her feet now dangling off the ground.

"You know! You're doing this because you hate us, you filthy bitch!" he breathed, pressing his weight onto her.

Hermione stretched her head towards the ceiling, her voice making an involuntary noise of pain as air left her lungs.

"I'll kill you."

Her head spun, as she heard these words. She's imagined them. She had to. He wouldn't kill her. He'd been fine three seconds ago! Would he?

"Please, stop. Please, Malfoy…" she sobbed, her tears hitting his twisted face as he looked up at her in fury.

He leaned closer.

Closer.

He opened his mouth to growl something at her, when she brought her forehead smashing into his with all the strength she had.

He dropped her as she stumbled back, clutching his forehead.

Hermione forced her jelly legs to move, and she snagged her bag, and fled down the midnight corridor.

Gasping, everything hurting, she fell in front of the portrait, clinging to the ornate gold frame.

"Plumrose. Plumrose! Plumrose! PLUMROSE! PEASE!" she sobbed, pushing herself up, and fearfully battering at the portrait, which snorted awake.

"S'it? Hello? Dear? What's wrong?"

"Let me in…let me in…Plumrose! Please!" Hermione rasped in hysterics, hearing Malfoy stumbling blindly down the corridor in rage.

The door clicked open, and Hermione scrambled in, slamming it shut behind her, and falling into the empty common room. The merry fire shifted in welcome, the logs causing an eruption of innocent sparks to dart up the chimney. Hermione scrambled up, her breathing so fast a high whine was blending in with it.

She hurtled herself up the staircase to her dorm, and quietly fled to her bed. She pulled the curtains around her and casting a silencing charm.

She promptly broke down, sobbing into her pillow.

Malfoy has scared her. A lot. He was going to kill her then, she was sure of it. And instead of seizing up, like books had described it when the main character dies, she was overcome with a surge of the right to live, and the right to fight him to his death for her life.

She'd gotten too close to him there, during their conversation. Too close. She'd healed him. Entirely too close. He was bipolar, or crazy, or addicted or SOMETHING. Nobody acts like that.

All because of Ginny.

Well, now she couldn't not pretend that she hadn't met Ginny in the library. She'd seen her. And she knew why she was in there. And why she was skittish. Ginny had known Malfoy was following her.

All because of Ginny.

Guess it was those invaders from Bravery.

I'm so sorry! I've been overworked! I'll update more soon. I'm begging forgiveness. I love you all sooo much, and I thank you SOOOO much for all the reviews. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! Keep it up!

-Suzanne