Well, here's the next chapter. I'm terribly sorry I didn't post yesterday, like I said I would. So to make it up to you, I'll be posting twice today! Once now, and then later on today.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or The Twelve Days of Christmas!


The Twelve Days of Christmas: Hogwarts Style

Chapter four: Four Bouncing Ferrits

Draco

What on earth possessed me to say something like that? It was completely abnormal, if you catch my drift. The moment it was out of my mouth I felt like hitting my head against a wall, in a very house-elfish style.

Well, yes, I was just trying to get under her skin, but that little phrase could be taken completely wrong, if it got to the wrong ears. Unfortunitely, the 'wrong ears' were all there when I said it. Lavender Brown, and Pavati Patil included.

So, now, because of my little slip up, someone in that crowd might actually think that I...actually like...love...Granger. The mere thought sends a shiver down my spine, and not the pleasant kind, mind you. It's one of those shivers that tell you that nothing worse could ever befall you, or if something more grotesque does happen, you would not live to care.

I know you're all probably thinking how overboard I'm taking this, but this is a disaster! If it goes around the school that Draco Malfoy said something even remotely romantic to Hermione Granger (whether it was to bait her or woo her would not matter), my reputation would be ruined! Everything that makes me, me, would be shattered. I'd never be able to show my face at home if they ever even thought I'd declaired I had a crush (let along loved) a Mudblood. Father would kill me. And I'm not being overdramatic, I'm dead serious. Pun not intended.

I suppose Granger was the one that got me thinking like that anyway, what with all her 'Why are you so interested in my love life?' questions.

I'll admitt, that had stumped me for a moment, but not because I was trying to think up an excuse. No, it had just startled me to see that I had indeed been picking on her lack of a love life and her romantic idea's. Not that I care.

I've actually begun planning my new prank already. Oh, yes, make no mistake, Hermione will retaliate. She has too. It's a sort of unspoken challenge now. Hm...I wonder what he prize will be for whoever wins this little war...


"Draco, are you even listening to me?" Blaise asks from next to me, snapping me out of my thoughts. Actually, no I hadn't been listening to him, and he knew that, "Or are you too busy spying on that little Gryffindor bookworm."

I shrug absently, my eyes returning to the girl across the room. Somethings up. She is actually at breakfast today, for one, and yet she hadn't touched her food at all. She seemed to be...waiting.

For what I wasn't sure, but she seemed awefully exsuberent about something. Somethings deffinitely up.

"You are, aren't you?" Blaise interupts me once more, his voice holding both amusement and disbelief.

"Are what?" I ask, looking over at him.

He shakes his head, "If you keep that up, Draco, people will start to think you fancy her."

"Fancy who?" I ask, confused. He raises an eyebrow at me and gestures, I follow the movement. I look back at him in discust, "Her? Are you kidding, Zabini? That's sick. Why on earth would anyone fancy Granger?"

Blaise shrugs, "I just call it like I see it." He returns, offhandedly. Blaise returns to his meal, and I ignore him and focuse instead on Granger.

No! I don't fancy her, so you can stop looking at me like that. The only reason I return my attention to her is that she's just recieved an owl. It wasn't carrying much, only a thin scrap of parchment. But when the girl read that thin scrap of parchment she practically glowed in delight.

Granger glanced over at me with a devilish expression on her face.

Yep, she's up to something. Something big.


I'm sure you'll all be as proud of me as I am when you here this. I know what those two balls were that she sent me. It had baffled me for the longest time yesterday, and I finally couldn't stand it any longer and did a Granger.

That's right, I went down to the library and looked it up. It took me agest to find it, as I wasn't looking in the right section. I probably should have been looking in the Muggle section, not the Quidditch section.

But how was I supposed to know it was a muggle party decoration, and not some type of ancient quaffle? It's not like my family goes to all that many muggle parties, or even cares if muggles do celebrate at all.

When I take her last prank into consideration, I can say her next one will most likely be along those lines. After all, she is from a muggle family, therefore most of her possessions are muggle things. But what exactly her next prank will be, I don't know.

That is why I am once more in the library.

Don't give me that look, it can't come as that big a surprise that I study. What else do you expect from a Malfoy. My father demands perfection on all fronts, including education. So I can honestly say I know my way around the musty old school library.

Besides, Granger's last 'gift' had scared me to death...well, not really. In order to scare me to death I would probably have to be, 1: scared of snakes, and 2: dead instead of alive. And I most certainly am not afraid of snakes. I'm in Slytherin for crying out loud! If I was afraid of snakes, I'm sure Mars would be rather offended. Mars, you see, is my pet snake.

I'm not allowed to bring him to school, of course. So he spends most of his time in the back yard at the mannor. It's like his own pesonal paradise.

I wonder what Granger would say if she were to take a walk through my little paradise (and trust me on this one, it is simply breathtaking), and found a snake lounging languidly in a nearby tree. Oh, and not just any snake, a six foot python. Now wouldn't that be a sight?

I'm interupted from my thoughts by a loud crowd gathering outside the doors to the library. Criousity get's the better of me and I go over to investigate.

What I see makes me momentarily sick. Four white furred creatures were flying around the corridor. Upon closer inspection, I can see that they are ferrits. My mind flies back to when Moody-Crouch turned me into a ferrit and had me bouncing around the Great Hall. I was black and blue for a week, and by the time he was done with me I was so sick and dizzy that I couldn't even worry about my own injuries.

Once I'm over my momentary bout of sickness, my blood begins to boil. Those little animals do not diserve to be thrown around the hallway like that, no creature should. It's cruel, and whoever set this up should at least get a detention.

"Malfoy?" A voice askes from next to me, a voice that I recognized, but I'd never heard that tone before. I turned to find Granger staring at me with a strange look on her face.

"Did you do that?" I ask gesturing to the flying ferrits, hardly believing that the girl before me would do something so terrible. Maybe she had a mean streak that I never knew about.

"Yes. Are you alright? You look pale?" She paused, a frown marring her face, "Well, paler then usual."

I swear I saw red for a moment there, "Make them stop."

Granger stares at me for a moment, as though trying to figures me out. She waves her wand at the bouncing animals, she looks concerned, and slightly alarmed.

I roughtly grab her arm and drag her towards an empty classroom (I don't want to be gawked at when I start yelling at her). She tries to pull away from me, but I hold firm.

She seems to see that I'm not playing any games and gives up, but she does motion over her shoulder with her wand. Her bag and the four ferrits float after us.


Once in the room I reliece her and slam the door shut. The four ferrits are comfortably situated in her backpack, looking perfectly fine after their mistreatment.

"What's wrong Malfoy?" Hermione asks, bringing my attention away from the ferrits.

I glare at her cooly, "Who gave you the right to treat those animals like that?" I demand angrily, stepping towards her menicingly.

She looks alarmed, and takes a step away, "What are you talking about?" She asks, as though confused.

"Those ferrits. Did you think I wouldn't mind you treating them like that? Did you think you would get away with it? Just because your the smartest witch in school, and in Gryffindor doesn't mean you can get away with Animal Cruelty!" I tell her venemnetly.

"Animal Cruelty?" She says, puzzled, "I wasn't being cruel, I didn't hurt those ferrits at all." I snort at that.

"I saw it, Granger. I saw what you did to them, everyone in the hall saw what you did to them!"

"Now wait just one minute Malfoy!" Granger says, finally getting angry herself, "I didn't do anything to them other then put a flying charm on them." A look of understanding comes over her face, "Did...did you think I...?" There was a look of sorrow and hurt on her face, as though she were sorry that I would think like that. "Malfoy, I would never hurt those ferrits. Look." She poits her wand at her bag, and I stiffin.

The ferrits bounced out of the bag, and...start jumping around. What I had taken for throwing, had actually been jumping. Huge leaps that normal ferrits would be unable to do without the help of a high level jumping charm.

I feel the tention leave my body and slump against the wall, one of my hands coming up to cover my face. I felt spent, completely drained.

"A-are you alright?" Hermione asks, touching my arm with a tentative hand.

I jerk away from her and walk out the door, not even looking at her.


I lay on my bed late into the night. My mind can't seem to comprehend what had happened. I knew I needed to sleep, there was a test tomorrow (only Snape would give a test on the day before Christmas break). And yet, my mind remained glued to the incedent with Hermione.

I owed her an appology.

I never apologize, though. It shouldn't matter, and yet it does. I can only imagine what she felt like, and knowing her, it was pretty bad. Especially after I left when she was trying to help me. I think that's what is getting to me so much.

Why would she care what I think, what I feel? I hate her, and she hates me. So she shouldn't have cared that that prank had hurt me. But she did. Granger had acted like she was concerned about me. I could feel it in the way she touched me, in the tone of her voice.

It was...odd...thinking that one of my worst enemy's could...care...about my feelings. But...why now?


On the fourth day of Christmas my true love sent to me four calling birds


Well, I didn't plan that. stares at screen in compete bafflement. If you think that is a bit fast, please tell me. Usually I save things like this for later chapters, but this is just the way it came out. Besides, now I can start on the love stuff (and I said start...it'll still take time...cus now he's going to be a bit cautious around her and she's going to be really confused) I really really hope that wasn't to fast...and if it was, remember that there are only going to be 12 chapters, and I have to start it somehow.

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