Title: All's Fair in Love and War

Author: Silverhair Theory

Disclaimer: I own nothing. J.K.Rowling owns everything. If you sue me, all you'll get is my sweet stash and my teddy bear, and he bites. I wouldn't advise it.

Chapter Three

The next morning when Draco was woken up by an owl tapping on his window. He scowled and got out of bed, walking over to let the owl in. He ripped the letter off its leg and practically threw it out the window.

"That's for waking me up!" He yelled after it.

"Draco, go back to sleep." Blaise mumbled from his four poster. "It's not the owl's fault."

Draco gave Blaise's curtains a very dirty look and flumped down on his bed to read the letter.

Mr. Malfoy,

I am under the impression that your potion brewing session with Miss Granger did not go amiably. This is not acceptable behavior. I must ask you to meet me in my office at 2:00 this afternoon to discuss how you two can work together in a civilised manner. I have sent Miss Granger a similar letter to this one.

Professor Dumbledore

Draco groaned. He was going to regret ever agreeing to brew that potion. He didn't even know what it was for! Looking at the clock, the time blinked impertinently at him. 6:45. He had just known it was some god-forsaken hour in the morning. He dropped the letter by the side of his bed in disgust and pulled the covers over his head.

After a few moments he realised this was pointless as the renewed stress had made him fully awake. He grumpily put on his robes and retreated down the corridor to the common room. He sat in front of the remains of last night's fire, and leaned back in his chair.

He wondered if Potter and Weasley knew about the visit he'd paid to Granger when she was in hospital. He suspected that they did, but that they couldn't do anything about it, judging from the looks of loathing he got from them every time they passed in a corridor. Hermione seemed to be avoiding his gaze, and was always deep in conversation with Potter or Weasley. And it wasn't as if he'd even done anything. Much.

As the body of students woke around him, he listened to people talking and as the hum of chatter grew, he thought he heard someone screaming. He sat upright and listened hard. Yes, there it was again. Other people were also appearing from other dorms, looking curious about who was making such a noise so early.

It was coming from Pansy's dorm, but Draco knew it wasn't Pansy screaming. With a sense of foreboding, he pushed through the crowd spilling through their door and almost yelled himself.

Maria, one of Pansy's friends was backed against the wall next to the window, screaming. The other girls were all clutching their bedcovers to them and looking fearfully out from between their curtains. Pansy was the only one apparently asleep. She was half-falling out of her bed and had her eyes closed. He pale arm was lying across the floor, and on the forearm was an ugly black mark.

The Dark Mark. As the students around Draco registered the mark, many of them started murmuring and backing away, especially the younger years. Soon only Blaise, Crabbe, Goyle and Draco were left in the room.

What most people didn't know was that although Slytherin house had been linked with Voldemort for many years, most of the students in the house had very little to do with the uprising. The only ones properly involved were all the boys present, Pansy and her friend, who was looking nervous but not scared.

"What's going on here?" Draco heard Snape call from the common room. He didn't have much time. With haste, he strode across to Pansy and pulled out his wand. He muttered something and touched his wand to the Dark Mark on Pansy's arm. It vanished and a purplish bruise appeared there instead. He quickly gathered Pansy up in his arms and started stroking her hair.

"Mr. Malfoy, what in Merlin's name is going on?" Snape was standing in the doorway.

"I don't know sir. I woke up to screams from Pansy's room and I came to see if she was alright."

"And is she?"

"I think so, sir."

"She's not!" Maria cried, hysterical. "She was lying across the floor, with...the...Dark Mark on her arm!"

Snape looked stunned. Then he turned to Pansy and turned over her arm. The bruise shone at him. "Are you sure you saw the Mark, Miss Mallard? Its seems to me that Miss Parkinson has simply got a large bruise."

"Ask anyone!" Maria shrieked. "Ask them!" She pointed to Blaise, Crabbe and Goyle.

"Well?" Snape said, "Did she?

Crabbe and Goyle shook their heads. "No sir." Blaise said. "We just saw that bruise. I think Maria may have had too late a night." He gave a suitably nervous glance at Maria, who blanched.

"They're lying!" She yelled. The girls in the beds around them were looking unsure, cautious and Draco saw some curious faces appear behind Snape's back.

"Miss Mallard, I think you need some more sleep. You are excused from all lessons this morning." Snape looked dubiously towards her. "And if you persist in making trouble then I shall have to send you to the hospital wing."

Maria sobbed and flung herself down on her bed. Draco watched Snape leave and heard him rounding up all the eavesdroppers. He saw Pansy's friend making her way across the room towards them. They both looked at her while the other girls in the room fussed over Maria.

Pansy's eyes flickered open. She grinned up at them.

"Pansy? You were awake the whole time?" Pansy's friend sounded curious rather than shocked.

"Yes I was. I woke up when stupid Maria started screaming but I heard her shout something like 'She's got a Dark Mark on her arm' and I figured that meant me, since Persia hasn't got it yet." She looked at her friend, who nodded. "I thought it would be simpler if no-one asked me any questions. By the way, I assume you removed it Draco?"

"I did." Draco said. "But Pansy, the Dark Lord put a spell on them to make them invisible to the naked eye. Why was it showing in the first place?"

"I don't know! I had a dream though. About the Dark Lord. I was at Malfoy Manor, In that purple study that your father likes so much and the Dark Lord was there, with your dad. They led me down the corridor, to a long low room with..."

"...Red walls the colour of blood. They then sat you down at a table with the rest of the Death Eaters and made a plan to conquer Harry Potter." Draco finished.

"How do you know?" Pansy gaped.

"I had the same dream." Draco muttered. "Wait, that means..." He lifted up the sleeve of his robe and saw the Dark Mark burning there too. "The same thing. I think that dream was instructions. For all the Death Eaters who weren't there at the actual meeting. Can you remember what he said at the end?"

"Yes, he said that anyone who was listening should hold their arm out and touch the Mark on the 24th of December, at Midnight. Wait, that's Christmas eve!"

Draco brooded over this for a while. "Pansy, Persia," He said, "Get dressed. Then meet me and the other guys in Dungeon five after breakfast. We need to have a serious talk."

SGSGSGS

"Hey Harry, did you hear about what happened in the Slytherin dorms this morning?" Seamus asked eagerly at breakfast.

"No. Hey Ron, listen." He punched Ron in the arm and he turned around from talking to Gabrielle. They were both smiling.

"What?" Ron asked.

"Apparently something happened in Slytherin House this morning. Go on Seamus."

"Well," Seamus began, and took a deep breath. "According to Parvati, who heard it from Padma, who has a friend who knows someone in Slytherin's sister, someone woke everyone else up by screaming this morning, apparently, someone saw the Dark Mark on someone else's arm!" He finished without drawing a breath and grinned at them.

"The Dark Mark?" Hermione looked extremely worried. "It can't be. Someone would have noticed it before now!"

"Yeah..." Harry said, suddenly wondering. "I'm sure Snape or someone would have done something about it if the rumour was true."

"What was that about me, Potter?" A voice drawled from behind him. Harry slowly turned round and saw Snape standing over him, looking furious.

"We were just talking, Professor, about the person who is supposed to have the Dark Mark on their arm. Is it true?" Hermione said sweetly.

"Certainly not!" Snape said scathingly. "We would have noticed before now, you silly girl. A person who I fancy had had too late a night got a little hysterical over what turned out to be a rather nasty bruise, not a Dark Mark at all."

"Alright then, Professor." Harry said, giving a false smile, and turned around again. Snape stalked off. "So, do you think it's true?"

"I s'pose so." Ron said, glumly. "It's a pity though. It's been ages since we had a decent bit of gossip." Gabrielle whispered something in his ear and Ron grinned evilly. They glanced each other, nodded then got up and left the Great Hall.

"What was that about?" Harry asked.

"Dunno." Hermione replied. "Oh Harry, I can't bear to have to go to that meeting with him today. I just can't!" Harry gave her a long hug, then kissed her forehead.

"You'll survive. I'm sure you will." He gave her a champion smile and she smiled feebly back. "If he gives you any trouble, just turn him into a ferret. I'm sure that'll work."

Hermione chuckled. Then she sighed and rested her head on Harry's shoulder.

Pansy and Persia entered Dungeon five after breakfast to find Draco and the boys waiting for them. Someone had conjured up some chairs and they all sat.

"So." Draco said. "For those of us who are unsure, Pansy and I had had dreams last night which were exactly the same, about the Dark Lord giving us orders. I suspect he was using the Dark Mark as a signal, to show us the dream had meaning. I think we ought to do what he told us on Christmas eve.

You guys who don't have the Mark can hold onto us when we 'port there. That should make you come as well. It will mean us all staying at Hogwarts over the holidays, so we can be together to get there. Is everyone ok with that?"

There was a general mumbled agreement. Draco nodded and pulled out his wand.

"Now, you guys, we need some way of contacting each other wherever we are, so that if anything happens we can all be informed quickly. With your permission, I want to use a charm my father taught me over the summer. Its like a less powerful version of the Dark Mark. It's not permanent, and it doesn't teleport you anywhere. What it will do is allow you to speak telepathically to any one of us, at any time. Look, I'll do it to myself first to show you. It needs to be somewhere no-one with see it, so on the forearm is probably not a good place."

Draco unbuttoned his shirt a little and pulled the collar down at the back. He pointed his wand in the middle of his back and said "Signae" he then turned around so they could see.

It was a picture of a snake attacking a lion. The lion was on its back and the snake was wrapped round it, about to strike it's throat. Pansy recoiled from the picture and shuddered.

"Its so...gory." She said. "can't it look like something different?"

"I can't change it. It's always the same when I cast it. If we want to be able to speak to each other then we all have to bear the same mark."

"Okay mate. Here, do me." Blaise said and bared his back to Draco. Crabbe and Goyle did the same and soon all four bore the gory tattoo. Draco turned towards the girls.

"You next, ladies." Persia sighed and pulled her t-shirt up until it was just underneath her bra. Draco tried not to look but branded her too. Then it was just Pansy left.

"Fine!" She said, and did the same as Persia. When Draco was finished, they stayed silent, getting used to the feeling of the mark on their skin.

So, is everyone all right? Draco said, and Pansy squealed.

Wow, this is seriously cool man. Blaise said, looking impressed.

Okay guys, so if we find anything out we think the others need to know, just broadcast the thought and we'll all hear it. Now I suggest we leave, I think the first lessons start soon. Draco thought, and they all trooped out, and headed off to their separate lessons.

SGSGSGS

Lessons that day were torture for Draco and Hermione. They could hardly concentrate, knowing that they were going to be forced to work together later that day.

As the time inched round to 2:00, Hermione left Harry and Ron talking about Quidditch and dragged herself to Dumbledores office. Malfoy and Dumbledore were there waiting for her.

"Have a seat, Miss Granger." Dumbledore said, pleasantly. Hermione sat, not looking at Malfoy. "Now, I understand that last night did not go as well as planned. Am I correct?"

They both nodded sullenly. "I must tell you that this is unacceptable. People's lives may depend on whether you get this potion right and I am afraid that if you persist in not working together I shall have to dismiss you and find another pair of willing students, though I don't know who..."

"It's okay professor." Hermione sighed. "I'll try to work with Malfoy." She glared pointedly at Malfoy, who shrugged.

"I will too, Headmaster." He drawled.

"Excellent!" Dumbledore said, smiling. You can begin work properly tomorrow night. Good Luck!" And he ushered them out of his office.

Out in the corridor Hermione turned to Malfoy. "Malfoy, you know as well as I do that it's a great honour to be trusted with making this potion." Malfoy nodded warily. "It would be terrible if we were not allowed to do it because we fight so much." Malfoy nodded again. "So I think it would be best If we didn't talk about subjects which we disagree on, such as my friends or my blood..."

"...or my friends or my family." Malfoy finished. He nodded again. "Much as I hate to agree with you, you're right. I don't want to be dishonoured like that." He shuddered at the thought of his father hearing of it.

"So it's agreed. We will not try and antagonise, irritate or annoy the other one." They both nodded and turned to go.

Draco had only gone a few steps before he thought he heard Granger say "Thanks Draco." He stopped and turned around but she was already gone.

SGSGSGS

The next evening Draco once again arrived at Dungeon four. He was bundling all the ingredients they would need into little piles as Granger came in and so heard her gasp before he saw her. He turned around and saw she, like him, had chosen to wear muggle clothes rather than robes.

He caught his breath as he looked her over. She was wearing a dark red short sleeved shirt and black corduroy trousers, her hair in a loose ponytail with strands hanging by her ears. She looked beautiful.

Hermione was eyeing Malfoy as well, with equal interest. He was wearing a black turtleneck and black jeans with a silver and green dragon wound round one leg. He looked gorgeous.

They simultaneously noticed the way they were looking at each other and busied themselves getting things ready for the potion, blushing madly.

As they started preparing the ingredients, Hermione noticed Malfoy sneaking glances at her under his eyelashes. She suddenly realised she was doing it too. Blushing, she tipped the prepared ingredients into the cauldron.

Malfoy started stirring it, and Hermione mashed up some Chizpurfles. There was an awkward silence, broken only by the scraping of Hermione's pestle.

"Nice weather." Malfoy commented, and Hermione, glancing out of the window, saw that it was indeed a beautiful evening, with a cloudless sky and every star clear and bright. She half-smiled at Malfoy and he half-smiled back, then looked shocked at his own actions and turned his head away, letting his hair fall across his face.

"What are you doing for Christmas?" Hermione asked, in a desperate attempt to make some civilised conversation.

"My family are going to the Caribbean, so I'm staying here." Draco lied, and felt a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. It was a strange heavy feeling, like a large stone was sitting inside him. He realised it was guilt, which was weird, because he felt no guilt when lying to anyone else.

"Oh, same here." Hermione replied. "My parents are going to Leeds for a conference."

"Right..." Draco said. He cast his mind around for another subject. "What are you asking for…for Christmas I mean?"

"Um...I haven't thought about it yet. I'd quite like a copy of this book I heard about on the Wizarding Wireless Network, How to Transform Yourself by Jennifer Gilbert, but it's not in any of the bookshops I've tried, not even in Diagon Alley. What would you want?"

"Well, actually, ever since I was a small boy I've wanted a Moke. It's a lizard which has the power to shrink itself so no-one can find it. The problem is they're really hard to catch, because they tend to shrink when they get scared." Draco smiled ruefully. "That's what I'd want if I could have anything. I've never told anyone else, because Mokes are generally considered to be evil creatures. I think we would go quite well together, don't you?" He grinned at Hermione, who grinned back.

What am I doing? Draco asked himself. I can't have feelings for her. She's a mudblood. He opened his mouth to say something but was distracted by a tapping sound from outside the door. "What's that?" He asked.

"I dunno." said Hermione. "I'll go and have a look." She went to the door and opened it, then jumped backwards squealing as Peeves flew in her face.

"Hehe! Naughty naughty! You students should be in bed!" Peeves cackled. "I'm gonna tell on you!" He took a deep breath, but never got a chance to call as Draco pulled out his wand and shouted "Emittit Phasma!" Peeves flew across the room and through the wall. They heard him cursing in the corridor then zoomed back through the wall and started throwing things at them.

"No, Peeves!" Hermione yelled as the careful arranged bundles of ingredients started flying through the air. "We need those!"

"Do you? Here, have them!" Peeves shrieked and threw four bottles of liquid at them. Draco stopped them hitting the floor with his wand and set them out of Peeves way. Peeves approached the cauldron.

"Don't you dare!" Draco thundered and left the potion to shoot a jet of blue light at Peeves, who doubled over in the air and yelled angrily. Another jet of blue light created manacles round Peeves' hands, and attached him to a wall. With an angry yell, he broke free and started chucking books froim the top shelves at them.

Draco and Hermione were hiding behind the cauldron "Here, hold your hands out!" He said to Hermione, and she held her hands up. Draco shouted "Phasma Manus!" and Hermione's hands started glowing blue. Draco performed the spell on himself too.

He reached up and grabbed Peeves. Instead of his hands going through him, they held and Draco dragged Peeves down to the floor holding him steady.

Peeves struggled out of Draco's grip and started waving his hands around in Draco's body, making Draco feel lightheaded and dizzy. He keeled over and feebly tried to fend of Peeves' attack.

Suddenly Hermione grabbed Peeves round the neck with her glowing hands and held him still. Draco got up and got out his wand again, but Peeves wriggled out of Hermione's grasp and started floating away as fast as he could.

Draco and Hermione grabbed him from behind and tried to pull him back, but he was too strong, and pulled out of their grip and off through the wall and down the corridor, cursing.

Draco an Hermione collapsed in a heap on the floor, panting. Draco noticed Hermione's hair was askew and that she was flushed and hot.

They sat for a moment in silence, but not awkward silence. Then Draco noticed the potion bubbling red and got up to stir it again. As he looked into the boiling red potion, he thought of the blood which would be spilled when the Dark Lord carried out his plan at Christmas. He vaguely wondered why he hoped that Granger wouldn't be one of the ones there.

Hermione gazed at the red liquid. Red, the colour of love.

SGSGSGS

Author's Note: I would just like to say that I am really, really bad at writing het, as you will see when you think that most of my other stories are slash. If you have any ideas on how to make the romance better then I would be most extremely grateful. I just have issues with plotlines.