Disclaimer: Except for the Morsus plant, this isn't mine.

Pansy told her she was to 'show Draco she was interested'. Hermione, either being frustrated, over tired, or both, figured the only way to do that was to paint the words in bold lettering across her forehead. In the dreadfully unproductive hour she spent with Pansy, Hermione had felt more and more like this was a set-up, and that Draco had put Pansy up to this in a desperate attempt to get her attention. Unfortunately, Pansy was disinclined to let her go, continuing on with 'helpful' information that may have worked if Hermione wasn't a boring know-it-all, but instead, a foreign, exotic goddess often referenced to in romance novels. Seeing as this was not so, Hermione kept her mouth and ears shut until she checked the clock and realized she had missed History of Magic.

"Pansy, honestly, you've been at it an hour. I've got to get to class!" she cried in dismay, the good student in her reawakening.

"But Granger, you haven't even heard the best part yet!" Pansy whined, indignantly.

"Fine, fine. You can tell me – later." She reasoned. "I've made a habit of missing classes lately … I don't want people to think something is up. Oh, God, I'm going to be late as it is!" She wailed, gathering up her books which had been abandoned the night before. If this was going to be her morning routine from now on, she had better be getting up earlier. She realized she hadn't showered or been to the Great Hall for breakfast. Oh, well. No one cared if she was presentable or not, did they?

Hermione, ever so desperate to please her teachers, went flying into Herbology just as the lesson had begun. Anyone else would have been cautious about entering Greenhouse 3 unarmed, but Hermione was too worried about receiving detention or loosing house points to take any precautions. Professor Sprout frowned at her, and Hermione winced, expecting a reprimand, but her teacher hesitated; they smiled.

"Ah, Hermione! I was just talking about you! I expected you were ill when you didn't show up! Could you come help me with a demonstration? Yes, yes, come right up here …"

They plant that was on display in front of Hermione was unlike the rest of the plants in the greenhouse in that it was not ugly, shrieking, or deadly poisonous. This made Hermione even more nervous – if she couldn't immediately tell what kind of unpleasant traits it possessed just by looking at it, she couldn't imagine what kind of murderous properties it held within. It was green, not an unusual colour for a plant, and had long, wide, flat spikes protruding in a cluster from one side. It looked vaguely like a stiff husk of corn. Once Hermione was over her panic, she realized that this plant had been referenced to numerous times in her copy of Flesh-Eating Trees of the World.

Morsus Plant. Instantly, Hermione began to panic again. Whatever she had to do, it was going to hurt. The plant wasn't fully mature, as it was only two foot tall, but when she considered the size of a wasp compared to the pain inflicted with a sting, the size didn't comfort her at all.

"Right, right, no need to worry – I'm sure you've read about this plant before, all of you! The Morsus Plant, though it is technically not a tree, is listed on page 127 of your Flesh Eating Trees of the World textbook. Does that ring any bells?" Sprout looked at Neville hopefully, and she was certain by the way he was staring at the plant that he knew exactly what it was. "The Morsus is used, primarily, as a sedative. Miss Granger, if you'd be so kind as to hold out your hand …"

Hermione closed her eyes, but complied. It was written quite clearly in her textbook that on top of the pain the needle would cause when it pierced her flesh, the plant's essence was usually too strong for a human without being distilled, and could potentially knock her unconscious – if only for a brief period of time. Hermione looked behind her to make sure nothing would be in her way if she fell over suddenly. Taking a deep breath, she felt the needle penetrate the skin of her hand.

-

Hermione woke up to see Blaise looking down on her, frowning, and Draco looking down on her, smirking. She immediately recalled the earlier Herbology lesson, and squeezing her eyes shut, she mumbled a request for the time.

"Lunch is almost over," Blaise replied cheerily. "I brought you this," And he produced a typical sandwich from his robes.

"Gonna curse Sprout …" Hermione mumbled under her breath, sitting up and blinking in the light. "What was she thinking? She knew what the plant could do to a person!"

"She knew what it could do to a person who was deprived of sleep, food, and was considerably stressed, yes," Draco began, speaking for the first time. "But you're Head girl. You're supposed to be 100 all the time! Of course she didn't think the Morsus would affect you."

She glared over at the still smirking Draco, and, mouth full of bread, asked, "What are you doing here?"

Draco grinned evilly. "Blaise wasn't at lunch. Came here to look for him. Found him bent over you, all worried about your 'well being'. When I asked what the Hell had happened, he said something had gone wrong in your Herbology class, and all you could do was sleep it off. I thought I'd wait so I could rub it in your face."

Hermione looked at him blankly. Suddenly, she grinned evilly back. "Nah, you just wanted to see my pretty face. And maybe check and see if anything Parkinson said had registered," She said, quirking her eyebrow. She so had him.

"I beg your pardon?" He asked, looking completely lost.

"You know damn well," She urged. "You sent her down here to talk to me, to convince me to flirt back with you," Hermione was cheering herself on in her head by now. She was learning to be to the point – just like Isabel. Blaise was looking between the two now, completely baffled at the turn of events.

Draco's eyes shot wide. "Parkinson …" He growled, before turning back to Hermione. "I don't know what gave you that idea, Granger. I have no control over what Pansy does. I say you're just delusional. If I wanted to get into your pants, I would do it by myself." He turned on his heel and strode out of the room in a very characteristic, I'm-a-Malfoy, I'm-better-than-you way.

"Well, you two definitely have a healthy relationship," Blaise commented sarcastically. He sighed. "Ignore what Draco said. You caught him off guard. Trust me, Draco didn't send Pansy. She was there for me. We had had a fight – she told a secret of mine, and she promised she wouldn't. It sounds very juvenile, but …" He sighed again.

"Oh! Well, how embarrassing," She said, blushing bright red, not believing she had just accused Draco Malfoy of pursuing her. "Well … what did Parkinson tell?" She said out of curiosity. Blaise regarded her for a moment. Hermione didn't expect him to say anything, but he leaned over and whispered in her ear. There was no one else in the room, so she found this strange. But then he told her what Pansy had let slip, and Hermione's jaw dropped.

-

Draco found Pansy in the Slytherin girls' dorms. He had to send someone in to get her, because just like the Gryffindor dormitories, they were charmed to disallow allow any members of the opposite sex entry. When Pansy emerged, she smirked. Had Hermione followed her advice and just jumped Draco?

"Parkinson. Out here, now." Pansy frowned at the aggressiveness in Draco's voice. She followed him out of the common room and into a corner of the dungeons.

"Did you tell Hermione I sent you to tell her how to flirt with me?" He said quickly. Pansy stared up at him. Was he for real?

"Um, no. I went to see Blaise. He's giving me the silent treatment for telling you … you know …" she suggested. "I ran into Granger. That girl needs serious help in the boy department. I didn't tell her you sent me."

"So that was her own conclusion?" Draco questioned.

"Must have been," Pansy replied, still uneasy with Draco's behavior. Was that all he wanted?

"Oh. I see." He looked down at Pansy, his usual smirk back in place. "Thanks. Thanks … you know, for talking to her."

"Um, sure … ?" Pansy replied. Draco was already striding down the hallway.

-

When Isabel found Hermione later on in the day, the older girl was returning to her dorms from her afternoon classes. Feeling better after the incident in Herbology, she had gone on to finish the school day, not wanting to miss any more than she already had. Isabel, having heard what happened in Greenhouse 3, flopped down next to Hermione and began a one-sided discussion about it.

"Do you think they'll let us into Greenhouse 3? I mean, I know they don't usually let second years, but you went there to work with the mandrakes in your second year, right? Oh, I heard what happened today. Did it hurt? I'm sure professor Sprout didn't mean to knock you unconscious …" She snickered.

"After today? I wouldn't get your hopes up for a trip into that building." Hermione sighed.

Isabel frowned. "Well Blaise said - "

"When were you talking to Blaise?" Hermione snapped.

"Oh a few times. He's quite nice actually …" She trailed off, a grin on her face. "Anyway, yes, he said that the only reason the Morsus affected you was because you weren't that healthy. So, the teachers could just make sure we were all in our rooms after curfew and present at meals and then we could go to the greenhouse," Isabel joked, giving up hope of seeing the plant that had defeated her sister single handedly anytime soon.

But Hermione hadn't been paying much attention to her sister's logic. "You've been seeing a bit of Blaise Zabini, huh?" She said, looking at her sister critically.

"Oh, lighten up, Hermione! So I have a crush on an older boy. It's not like …" Isabel stopped herself before she got any farther. "Right. You weren't … supposed … to know that …" She trailed off.

"Oh, God, Isabel!" Hermione exclaimed. Then she sighed. "Look, I know you're smarter than that. Blaise is too old for you … or rather, you're too young for him. Besides, he …" She shook her head and didn't continue.

"'Besides, he' what?" Isabel questioned.

"Nothing, Izzy, nothing at all."