Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me in anyway nor do the songs I quote in each chapter.

Chapter Four

Fake it

"Who's to know if your soul will fade all
The one you sold to fool the world,

Fake it, if you're out of direction,
Fake it, if you don't belong here,
Fake it, if you feel like infection,
You're such a fucking hypocrite…"

Fake it by Seether

Friday September 20th, 1996

In the Hallway- Late to potions class

With the squeaking sound of shoes against tile flooring, and a whooshing cloak, the fast pace set by a determined Slytherin increased as he sharply rounded a corner. As quickly as he could, Draco made his way down the rather empty hallways, whilst tightening his green tie properly. He then turned to his right, climbing the set of stairs just outside his potions class.

Today was a bit of an off day for Draco, the fact he over slept and missed breakfast all together made him furious. Not only was he late to class, he was also devastatingly hungry, and had stupidly miss placed his potions textbook somewhere. The reason for his already bad day was because of how late he had been up the night before in search of a certain room of requirements. The room, he would like to add, refused to show altogether, and forced him to give up just after two thirty in the morning. He needed the room of requirements because of his first task as a death eater. Draco found it highly annoying that he was having such a difficult time finding the damned room, but it also worried him. He has been trying to find a way into the stupid thing since the first week back at Hogwarts, and could not help but feel nervous after two weeks of nothing.

Reaching for the handle, he pushed the door open a little harder than originally intended, then stepped inside to see he had startled his classmates and Professor Slughorn. With all eyes on him, he sneered, and then almost groaned aloud as he went over to the only open seat, besides Pansy.

"Ah yes, Mr. Malfoy, so glad you could finally join us. We are on page two hundred and thirty one." Slughorn chimed awkwardly. He then gave Draco an odd look and went back to the potions he was showing the class.

Draco felt Pansy's burning stare, as he gritted his teeth looking at her soft somewhat worried eyes. She then took out a folded piece of old parchment, he watched her scribble down something, and slid the paper towards him. He rolled his eyes, opened the folded note begrudgingly, and read the somewhat messy handwriting.

'Why in Salazar's name, are you late? Where were you? Are you all right? Where is your potions book?' With an extremely exaggerated eye roll, he shifted in his seat, reached in his bag to pull out some ink and a quill. In his somewhat delicate penmanship, he wrote back quickly hoping she would take the answer, and leave it.

'I over slept Parkinson didn't sleep well, and I'm fine. I forgot my book in the dormitories.' He sighed shoving the paper back at her; he then got out new parchment to take notes. About fifteen seconds later a smaller hand dropped the note onto his paper, yet again. Draco found this highly annoying but with a huff, he opened it.

'You never oversleep; therefore, you are not fine. Why are you not sleeping well? You know you can tell me anything Draco.' He wanted to ignore Pansy's incessant pestering by tossing the note in the rubbish bin. Instead, he just scratched an angry reply, and faked it best he could.

'I said I am fine, therefore, I am. There is nothing to tell. So stop pestering me Parkinson.' He passed the note to her looking up at what Professor Slughorn was saying.

"Gather round everyone, gather round." Slughorn called as all the students got up from their seats. Draco exhaled loudly, finding his class utterly ridiculous, and then made his way to the cluster of students before the table at the front of the room. "Now these potions are all quiet difficult to identify really, all of them may look somewhat similar. Any ideas what they might be?" Slughorn awkwardly over looked everyone as Draco watched a hand shoot up just on the other side of the room, but could not see just who it was exactly. "Ah, yes, Miss Granger." Draco froze at the name, and then sneered quite obviously.

"That one there would be Veritaserum, a truth telling serum. And that one, would be Polyjuice potion, it's terribly tricky to make." She paused with a small laugh, as Draco still held sneer from the second he had heard her voice.

'It's not difficult to identify those potions, but then again Potter probably had no idea what they are...' He thought with a snort, and crossed his arms. Over the past two weeks, both of them, Draco more than her, went out of their way to avoid one another. He was still livid with what had happened upon the train about the things she had said to him.

"And this one," she continued and walked up to the table as Slughorn lifted the lid to it. "Is known as Amortentia. The most powerful love potion in the world. It is rumored to smell differently to each person according to what attracts them. For example, I smell," she inhaled deeply, as Draco watched her closely. "New parchment, spearmint tooth paste, and a rather expensive musky… Cologne." Her voice was almost breathless as she backed away quickly, right next to him, and Draco could finally see her face.

"That's correct Miss Granger. Fifteen points to Gryffindor!" Slughorn beamed as Draco noticed that Granger's flushed cheeks were dusted in a pink tone, and it made him wonder why.

'Saint Potter or the Weasel probably wore some cheap cologne and she must have given herself away or something.' Draco thought to himself, watching the color in her cheeks start to fade, as he decided he somewhat liked the color in her cheeks.

"Now, let's have one more student let us know what the potion smells of to them, yes? How about- uh, yes, Mr. Malfoy! Would you care to have a go? "Turning away from Granger as quick as he could, he then looked at the Professor. Draco hoped no one had seen him stare at her as he swallowed with a nod.

Taking three quick steps towards the table, Draco bent down slightly, letting the warm fumes from the potion bathe his face. The scents that hits him full force made his mouth water, as he felt tingly inside. Closing his eyes, he spoke, picking apart the distinct savory spells.

"I smell, the books in the library back at the manor, fresh rain, and a fairly distinct hint of cinnamon-" he opened his eyes wide, at the last word, trying to cut it off by biting his tongue but it was already too late. He sharply bowed his head, made his way to the other side Pansy, as he avoided eye contact with everyone.

'Cinnamon? Cinnamon! That's delightful, that is. Announcing that to the whole class, an actually getting lost in the smell, of, of her…' He spat to himself, his jaw clenched tightly. 'Stupid Granger… Stupid cinnamon.'

"Wonderful!" Slughorn remarked with an excited clap of his hands. "Now, Amortentia doesn't create actual love. That would be quiet impossible. However, it does cause a powerful infatuation or obsession. For that reason, it is probably the most dangerous potion in this room." Draco watched Slughorn place the lid back on it, as many girls backed away from the table, suddenly close.

Draco glanced to his side to find Granger staring at him quiet intently, and then when she realized he caught her, she turned away briskly. Bending her head forwards, he guessed she was attempting to hide behind her messy curly brown hair. Her actions amused him a little, as he shifted his stance almost smirking. When he then remembered her venomous words in his head, he stopped himself. With an internal sneer, he quickly looked back at Professor Slughorn who was motioning them back to their seats.

"Now that everyone is back to their seats, we may continue." The professor sighed and lifted his finger to write the word 'animosity' upon the black board with chalk magically. "I'd like to inform everyone, that I don't condone all the different houses' animosity. Therefore, I have decided to change seating arrangements, and assign each and every one of you, a preselected lab partner." Slughorn said, and the classroom erupted with disagreements and arguments. Draco frowned at the thought of some sniffling Hufflepuff or worse, some annoyingly stupid Gryffindor as an assigned partner. He wanted to be out of this class for good, but knew that was not an option. Therefore, he settled for the only other option, and hoped he was with a Ravenclaw, because if anything, at least they were smart.

"Quiet now!" Slughorn bellowed. Everyone stopped talking at the booming sound of the Professors voice, as he then proceeded to sigh. "I will not, tolerate, my students acting like this. This is my final decision; there will be no changes or negative complaints about your assigned partners." Draco felt the sudden tug upon his right arm, to see Pansy giving him an alarmed yet serious look.

"When I call you and your partners name, both of you will come up here. You both will receive your seat assignment, which will not change until Monday. You will also get your homework potions packet, and then you both will shake hands once in front of the class to show that you all can work together. After Hogwarts, in the wizarding world, or even in the muggle world, you will have to work with others you may not like. What is a better way to go about it? Learning to deal with others while being graded is most effective. Yes?" Draco exhaled, clenched his jaw and was silently thankful Pansy would not be his partner.

"Professor." A familiar and obviously frustrated voice called out, as Draco turned towards none other than Granger with her arm raised. "I think, putting some students, the ones who honestly care about receiving better grades, into less motivated students hands, is completely unfair. Some of us will have to do more work than others." She continued, and for once Draco completely agreed, not that he would say it aloud.

"That would be correct Miss Granger. Had I not spent the past two weeks deciding upon each and every students' best fit, I would not be doing this. Academically, everyone has been paired with someone who has not only the same goals in this class, but also has skills that could also potentially help their partners succeed far better than if they were to do the class alone . Now if I may, I'd like to start announcing partners." Slughorn gave a forced smile, which came out more of a grimace, nodding his head slowly. Looking down at the clipboard in hand, Slughorn cleared his throat, and Draco wished the class would just end already.

Waving two of his fingers, Draco levitated his things back inside his bag, pursing his lips tightly. He did not need nor want a partner. He was perfectly capable of doing all of the work his own, even whilst fallowing through with his task. Draco gritted his teeth at the thought of getting some pushy Ravenclaw as a partner, telling him when to do his work, or even going as far as correcting him. None of the houses would do, the only people he would be fine with, would probably be Zabini, or even Theo Knott, but they were all in the same house.

"Rupert Wallenby." Slughorn's voice drew Malfoy's attention back as he watched the Weasel stand. Smirking at the name Slughorn called him, Draco watched Weaslebee ask if he was talking about him. "Yes, yes Wenby, come here." Slughorn said as 'Wenby' walked towards the desk slowly, and the class snickered quietly. "And Miss Pansy Parkinson."

The snickers stopped completely as Draco turned towards his friend, her face was still besides a small twitch of her lip, probably from anger. Scooting his chair away just a little, Draco raised his eyebrows, feeling suddenly somewhat bad for her. She had to deal, with that bumbling idiot, and did not have a way out for the rest of the term.

Pansy threw her chair back harshly, quickly making her way to the front of the class to get her things. Draco grimaced at the sight before him, as Pansy took Wenby's hand, shook it, and raced away quickly. Draco old hoped his partner was someone who he could deal with to a degree at the very least.

Still Potion's Class

"Who's to know if your soul will fade all
The one you sold to fool the world,
You've lost your self esteem along the way,

Good God, you're coming up with reasons,
Good God, you're dragging it out,
Good God, it's the changing of the seasons…"

Potions, was not, in any way, Hermione's strong suit, nor was it particularly her favorite class, in fact it was actually her least favorite. The being beside the point, she could not believe that earlier in class when talking about what she smelt, accidentally saying that 'expensive musky Cologne' attracted her. What would Harry think about her saying it, would they question her about it? Would they be angry she had not told them about her attractions? - Which was completely stupid, because she was not attracted to anyone…? It took her a moment to remember who wore any type of cologne, and almost could not think of a single person.

Then the cretin blonde Slytherin's scent had come flooding back to her in an almost dreadful but oh so delicious memory of his delectable Malfoy scent. She blushed furiously, when he had caught her staring at him before she even realized she was.

'Honestly! It is Malfoy! Stop acting as if you're some floozy, and pay attention to what the Professor is saying…' She chastised herself, and began chewing upon her bottom lip.

As Professor Slughorn proceeded to have them go back to their seats, she sighed looking at Harry beside her. With a shrug, they both turned to look at what the professor had written upon the board.

'Attempting to settle the animosity between houses', really?' She thought bitterly, almost scoffing aloud. When he brought this up, she could not help but think of Malfoy. He had been avoiding her since the train incident, it was obvious and it was only somewhat bothered her. Not that she actually cared that he was ignoring her, but she still noticed it nonetheless. She also knew she should apologize for what she said back on the train, but she did not think he deserved any type of apology.

Hermione then decided that she was not going to apologize, not until he at the very least stopped treating her as if she were rubbish. 'He was asking for it. It really shouldn't surprise him that he is going to end up like his father if he is going to treat people like he does.' She sighed and raised her hand.

"Professor." She finally called out, lowering her hand back to her desk, causing Slughorn to look up at her. "I think, putting some students, the ones who honestly care about receiving better grades, into less motivated students hands, is completely unfair. Some of us will have to do more work than others." She stated forcefully, raising her brows, hoping he would at least take this into some sort of consideration, but also knew he would most likely be set in the disastrous idea.

"That would be correct Miss Granger. Had I not spent the past two weeks deciding upon each and every students' best fit, I would not be doing this. Academically, everyone has been paired with someone who has not only the same goals in this class, but also has skills that could also potentially help their partners succeed better than if they were to do the class alone . Now if I may, I'd like to start announcing partners." Slughorn said then flipped through some papers. Looking down at the clipboard in hand, Slughorn cleared his throat, and she sighed.

Her mind drifted back to both of her encounters with Malfoy for some odd reason, he was really the center of her thoughts lately. Thinking of him, she noted when she pushed his buttons enough, he would get particularly physical. With the two encounters they had, he had shoved her into a wall one time, and the other he had yanked her backwards into him. She could still remember the feeling of his toned body pressing into her backside, and smelling him for hours afterwards. She felt her face warm at those thoughts, and she bit her lip yet again.

'Stop thinking of the bloody ferret that way!' She wanted to scream at herself, but stopped when she felt Harry nudge her sharply.

"Miss Granger?" At her name, she looked back towards Professor Slughorn who was staring at her, along with half of her classmates. She realized he had been calling her name, more than once. Hermione just stared, slightly frozen, and forgetting what she was supposed to do. "Come here Miss Granger..." He said slowly shaking his head, probably because she was not moving.

"Right, uh sorry…" She mumbled, her face hot with embarrassment, as she awkwardly stood up from her chair. Some classmates snickered at her as Hermione walked up to his front desk stopping, and then she was suddenly curious whom she was going to have as a partner.

"And who else…" Slughorn paused looking down at his list of names clicking his tongue. "Ah, yes. Draco Malfoy." The second the name left his mouth, Hermione's eyes went wide as a rush of fear overcame her whole body; it felt almost like a stunning curse had hit her. Her tongue went dry, and she could not breathe, let alone come up with a plausible way to refute.

After what felt like several long minutes, the sound of fancy dress shoes echoing behind her increased causing her to let go of the breath she had been holding. When she felt the warmth of him just behind her, she wanted to jump away, but could not think, let alone move. His familiar delicious musky scent filled her senses completely making her dizzy and causing her mouth to water.

'No… No! Anyone else, any other student but him!' She thought closing her eyes, feeling his cloak brush against her arm as he stopped at her right. Hermione wanted to scream, she wanted to shout, and to back away from the Slytherin with her wand at the ready.

"Here are your packets, your seats will be in the back left corner of the classroom. I put you two together because I believe, houses aside; you two would work wonderfully together." Slughorn said grinning, as Hermione moved her hand to snatch the paper from his hand. On one hand she wanted to stun that grin right off his face in disagreement, but on the other hand, did not want to risk expulsion.

Grinding her teeth together, with a sharp inhale, Hermione dreaded shaking his hand, touching him, feeling his skin. Shivering at the thought, she turned extending her hand towards him, but refused to look in his eyes. It was bad enough they had to shake hands, and she did not want to look into his eyes. Not after what she felt stir inside her the last time she had.

"I am not going to shake your hand, Granger…" He drawled through his teeth so quietly, she was probably the only one who had heard it, and his voice made the hair on the nape of her neck raise. Begrudgingly, she turned her head up towards his, raising her eyebrows at him, and her eyes met his. When she looked into them, she was met with that same feeling as the last time, and then decided that the grey eyes before her did have a rather nice sparkle about them.

"Shove off Malfoy." She growled under her breath through her teeth and proceeded to give him forced pleasantries. Hermione then wondered why Professor Slughorn would force students from different houses' to work together. This would never work, no matter how hard they were to try. "I am fairly sure that I don't like this arrangement any more than you do. There is also nothing we can do but endure it the best we can without trying to maim one another. So for now, shake, my, hand." She said through her teeth, hoping he would just do it, even if it he only did it in front of the class just once.

Hermione stood hand extended towards Malfoy, waiting for him either to make a scene or to get it over with. Suddenly feeling small under his intent stare, she shifted slightly, swallowing her urge to yell at him. With a challenging raised eyebrow, he took a step closer towards her and looked her up and down. Rolling her eyes, she scoffed, as he shook his head no. Finally having enough as he was about to turn and walk away, Hermione took matters into her own hand. Quite literally, as she reached for the sleeve of his cloak, grabbing hold of it with a tug, caused him to stop moving.

Spinning to face her once more as she ground her teeth in irritation, his grey eyes met her brown ones and she proceeded to grab his wrist with one hand. With the other, she slid her other hand against his palm wrapping her fingers around his. The second his hand met hers, she felt it burn. Not in a particularly painful way, but more of a silky heated kind of way. The feeling of his skin upon hers made her almost light headed.

Hermione wanted to gasp at the tingling sensation she felt from his skin touching hers, it was mouthwatering; it also made her knees want to go weak. Instead, she just stood straight, and bit her lip to stop anything from slipping out. Their eyes still locked, as her grip on his hand tightened for only a second, shaking it twice. He looked at her with a mix of shock and anger, which was not a surprise to her. Then the contact was gone, Draco pulled away from her faster than you could say snitch. As quickly as the feelings came, they left, and she turned away, making her way back to her seat. She was not looking forward to what he was going to say about the handshake.

'Stupid Slughorn… Stupid Malfoy and his dumb cologne…' she wanted to scream but decided it was best to stay silent.

Hermione then plopped into her seat, groaned quietly, feeling her friend beside her nudge her. Looking up to her right, she saw Harry's features knotted in concern, and she sighed. She then gave him the best reassuring smile she could muster through her irritation. Not only had she forced him to shake her hand in front of people she also had said hateful things to him. She could tell he was still furious with her about what she had said, and to top things off, she pulled that, in front of some of his housemates.

'I should not have to apologize for what I said when he would never apologize for what he has said to me for years. He needs to move on already and stop being such a hypocrite.' She thought angrily, crossing her arms putting them upon the desk. Leaning her head forward, she rested her chin against the cool black desktop, and began to nibble upon her bottom lip. Chewing upon her lip was a rather nasty habit that she started, along with thinking too much. 'I do need to say sorry if we are ever going to work properly together though… and apologize about the handshake thing…' she thought bitterly, as she started to feel somewhat guilty. Guilty or not, she really did not want to apologize to him for being a right arse. She also did not want to have conflict with her 'Lab Partner' for the rest of the term. With that she decided she was going to fake her apology the best she could.

Whatever she was planning on doing about him, she decided she needed think quickly, as she watched the time for potions ending. She needed to talk to him alone somehow and knew that it would be harder said than done. Hermione packed her bag slowly, nervous, but then remember she was not going to have that. It was only Malfoy, and she was after all a bloody Gryffindor.

'Time to start acting like one Hermione. You tell Malfoy what you need to say, and you stop hiding from everything that you are not sure about. Pluck up the courage I know you have!' she thought to herself as the clocks chimed. Looking up to the right of her, seeing Malfoy already staring at her. With a swallow, the two of them waited for the other students to clear out, besides their friends. 'Everything will be fine…' she reassured herself the best she could.