Thank you for sticking with me. I hope you didn't go crazy waiting for this, but I went crazy writing it. This chap is in Draco's POV then it switches to 3rd person POV, i think that's right... Then it switches back, but I'll tell you if it does!

Anyways... I don't own anything, and most likely never will. Please RR!

----- Chapter 8: Dirt ----- (Draco's POV, mainly)

I saw the figure step into the room. 'Just great. Granger falls asleep and leaves me to deal with her midnight visitors.'

Hermione's 'guest' wandered over to the bed and bent down. He/she inspected her face which was lit by the moonlight coming in through the open window above her bed. By doing so, he/she shed some light on him/herself as well. (haha, get it? I know, I know, shut up.) A spark of recognition flared in my mind, it was Raz!

(Now I switch to 3rd person, k?)

Draco decided to see what would happen before rushing, though reluctantly, to Hermione's rescue. Then, she would have to repay him.

Tossing his carkeys onto the bedside table, Raz lifted the sheets and climbed into bed next to Hermione. He moved her limp, sleeping form into a position so that he was cradling her in his arms while her head rested on his chest.

Draco was so surprised, yet strangely outraged and possibly even... jealous?, he tried to stand up too quickly. He banged his head on the bottom of the desk and promptly knocked himself out.

(Next Morning)(Draco's POV)

I woke up with a major headache. I looked around for what had woken me, immediately finding the source. Hermione had woken up and found Raz. She now had him at wandpoint, and was yelling at him.

I walked up behind her and grabbed the wand.

She jerked her head towards me, shooting daggers with her eyes, "Give it back, Malfoy, I'm not gonna hurt-"

"-If you're not going to hurt him, then why do you need the wand?" I cut her off.

"Him? Ha!" Raz speaks for the first time, "Your little friend is funny, 'Mione. Or did you tell him I'm a guy?"

His voice was soft, just loud enough for us all to hear. He sounded just like a guy, but also a girl. I find myself longing for him to speak again, the voice was so... so... intriguing. It was so soothing, I felt myself waver, knees shaking slightly.

"Stop it, Raz. You're doing it again," Hermione scolds.

He laughed at this, his laughter sounding like a spring brook flowing over smooth stones down a mountain, into a valley pond, then running into a- 'Wait, wait, this is a girl I'm talking about... Hermione said he's a girl.'

"He's a GIRL!?!" I yelled.

Casting an Imperturbable Charm on the room, Hermione said calmly and quietly, "'He's been a girl the whole time. I thought that you would remember that small bit of Latin we learned last year. If you did, you would know that 'Raz', in Latin, means 'my secret'. I gave her that nickname because only she and I know that she's a girl." She smiled.

So that was what they'd been talking about last night on the phone. But, if Hermione had protested against her, Raz, coming over, then why had she come anyways?

"I'm leaving," Raz said, exiting through the door Hermione unlocked for him-sorry-her.

"Good," Hermione said, opening the door.

"You can't be angry about this, Hermione," Raz said.

"Don't tell me what I can and can't be angry about, Raz."

"Please. I can't leave with you like this."

"Raz. It's okay. But you should probably leave for work now."

Hermione pulled her into a hug as Raz nodded. Then she grabbed her keys, waved to me, and left.

As soon as the door had closed, I spoke, "Well. Now we're even."

"Even for what?"

"Dirt. Secrets. Possible rumours. You know what I mean."

"Oh no you don't," she said. She grabbed my hand and pulled me all the way down the hall, down the stairs, and into the pub. It was actually quite painful.

Sitting down abruptly at a vacant table, Hermione motioned for me to take the seat across from her.

"What was that about?" I ask, rubbing my wrist as Hermione poured us a cup of tea. I looked around. The pub had been transformed for breakfast; a steaming pot of tea had been placed on each table, as well as the kind of menus they had used at the Yule Ball, but with breakfast items.

"You will not tell anyone about what you saw last night or this morning. Alight?" she said nervously.

"What about the kiss at the rave?" I leaned forward, grinning. Shouldn't have done that. I should've expected the slap, but it still stung and left a red, handprint-shaped mark.

"Raz and I are just friends, Malfoy. And if you wanna keep that pretty hair of yours, I suggest you find something more substantial about me to go shouting about." Having said this, she stood up to leave. "Right, then, I'm off. Again, if you tell a single living soul about this, I'll make your life miserable."

"I'd like to see you try," I replied.

"Well, I seem to recall a little incident I walked in on involving you and a certain red-headed Gryffindor." She smirked, and with that, she started off, only to be stopped by two owls carrying Hogwarts letters.

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There ya go! I'm not going to dwell on the 'incident' Hermione mentioned at the end, so don't bother asking me. If you think hard, you might figure out who it is. I stopped typing here 'cuz my Nirvana cd ('Nevermind') is only about an hour long. Plus, it was a good cliffy. I guess...

Ah, well, don't let me waste your time! PLEASE REVIEW!

Love and kisses to my reviewers!
(Sorry, there goes my sanity again. )