A/N: My apologies over being absent for so long and not updating. I received a new laptop for Christmas and haven't yet begun the transference of all my documents. In addition midterms are starting (ridiculous I know) and have been working on a few papers.
Hopefully you will enjoy this, and the next chapter (which should be up in a few days) as much as you have thus far! Thanks again for reading!
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He glanced at the desk he'd dropped her notes on and smirked. Everything was going according to his plan, despite the little witch being completely unreasonable and a bitch to boot. He let out a dark chuckle. Granger was going to owe him, and he would enjoy every minute of it.
*~*~*~*~*
Hermione raced around her room, throwing yesterday's clothes off and pulling new ones on. A quick scourgify took the place of a shower, and a tooth brushing later, she glanced at her watch as she headed out the door. Her class had ended almost an hour ago and lunch was in 15 minutes. Quickly she grabbed her bag and ran as fast as she could to Professor Sinistra's classroom.
*~*~*~*~*
"Professor! I am so incredibly sorry that I missed class today! I was up late getting a very specific ingredient for my potion project and I didn't hear my alarm go off!"
The professor had been startled when the door had burst open, but looking up, there was Hermione Granger complete with a ruffled look and a flushed face.
"It's quite alright Hermione. It's the first class you've missed in almost 3 years. What can I do for you?"
Hermione gave him her best pleading face.
"Well I was hoping that you would have a copy of the notes for today's class, or some diagrams or something…"
The professor thought back to the end of the Seventh Year's class.
"Professor you are not allowed tell Granger that I was here today. I don't want her to know that I helped her. I'll even pay you money to keep your mouth shut."
Malfoy glared at the professor fiercely. Granger could not be allowed to find out!
The professor was curious as to what was happening between the two Head students, but nodded in acquiescence. Ms. Granger would come asking for notes no doubt. Some lie would have to be thought up so she couldn't get them…
"Unfortunately Hermione, I am still in the habit of using the blackboard for all my notes and illustrations. And as such I had to erase the old notes to write the new. I also had a beginner class right after yours. So I have nothing to give you. I would suggest getting a copy of the notes from one of your classmates."
Hermione sighed. "Okay, thanks Professor." She walked dejectedly out the door.
In her haste to get to the classroom, Hermione failed to notice the incredible lack of energy in her body. And so, now that the adrenaline had worn off, her body lagged and her stomach was pitching fits and rolling about like a ship in a storm.
Hermione paused to lean against a wall as her vision swam. Waiting for it to clear she thought of possible ways to get the notes. She'd beaten so many of the Ravenclaws in her Arithmancy class (she was the only non-Ravenclaw) that she highly doubted they'd be willing to help her out.
When she was able to see the world around her again, instead of blank whiteness, Hermione fought off the light-headed feeling that was crushing down on her and struggled to make her way to her bedroom.
*~*~*~*~*
It was very fortunate that a certain blonde Slytherin was walking in a similar direction and happened upon her form, sprawled against a suit of armor.
Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair and bent to pick up the muggleborn witch and carry her back to their rooms, for the second time in under twelve hours.
And just because he felt spiteful, he purposefully took the long, and very public, route. A great many students saw Hermione Granger passed out in Draco Malfoy's arms that day. And just as many, if not more, explanations of how she came to be that way sprang into being.
Several students notice her haggard appearance, which brought the older student to believe she was unused to the late nights spent in Malfoy's bed. Some thought Malfoy had found her under attack from some unknown monster and fought it off to protect his lady-love.
The younger student, especially impressionable, young Gryffindors were angry at the thought that the Head Boy had attacked one of their own. Who also happened to be the current Head Girl of Hogwarts.
Draco sneered at the students who were staring in astonished wonder and then smirked about the rumors the mudblood would hear when she woke up.
*~*~*~*~*
Hermione awoke floating above the ground. Blurry spots of light and dark filled her vision. She shivered at the cool breeze and snuggled even closer to the warmth at her side, fingers wrapped in a smooth material.
Draco almost dropped the witch in his arms when she snuggled into his side. Catching his stride, he walking purposefully to the Head entrance just down the hall. Draco called out the password so the portrait would be open when he got there.
He laid the young woman on her bed, 'For the second bloody time today. Didn't she realize she was unconscious for a reason!?' And shook her shoulder to wake her up.
"Huh..? Whaa..?" Her voice was drowsy and slightly gravelly.
Malfoy glared at her. "Shut up. Do not move. Eat the damn food the house elves made. You were magically exhausted last night. You only slept for 7 hours. And then you wake up in a tizzy and sprint to a classroom that's on the other bloody side of the fuckin' castle!"
He stalked over to the desk which still had the tray of food on it. House elves were smarter than he gave them credit for really; there was a heating charm over all the hot food.
He snatched the tray up and plonked it on the bed by her lap. He glared at her. "Eat."
It was a tone that brooked no arguments. Meekly, the exhausted witch pulled the tray closer and began to eat.
The majority of it was fruit, exotic fruit at that, and a bowl of a thick beef stew sat, still steaming, waiting for her to eat it. A roll helped her to sop up the last of the stew juices and Hermione closed her eyes in contentment.
"I'll tell the professors that you're sick and won't be in class today. Don't move around too much and sleep as much as you can. I'll be back after dinner and we can discuss our plans."
He was out of the door before she could manage a thank you. Hermione checked her clock before closing her eyes. She'd made it to Sinistra's classroom in record time. The way back made another record, for the slowest time. She must've been passed out for almost an hour. She was lucky Malfoy had found her, and carried her, back to their rooms.
She had a soft smile on her face as she fell asleep. That was how Draco found her when he popped in between classes to make sure she was doing what he told her.
*~*~*~*~*
Hermione woke up around dinnertime, the delicious aroma of meat and spices filling the air. The house elves must have brought something up from the kitchens.
She smiled. Grabbing her favorite muggle book and the tray of food, she made her way to the chaise lounge in front of the fire and sat down. She ate the spiced meat and mashed potatoes (with gravy) while reading Jan Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice'. Some scenes were remarkably similar to her life with Malfoy.
Once she finished the food, she moved the tray to her study desk so she wouldn't knock anything over as she read. As she put the tray down, a glimpse of white caught her attention. Looking into one of her shelves, there was a sheaf of parchment notes. Taking the bound pages, she read through the elegant script.
They were notes from her Arithmancy class today. Hermione quickly untied the knot and flipped through the stack. Diagrams, spells, wand movements, everything. It was all there! Unbidden tears pooled in her eyes. Someone had taken notes for her!! And then gave them to Malfoy to pass on.
'Or…' She looked closer at the writing. 'I know that penmanship! It's Malfoy's!'
"You called?"
Hermione shrieked and whirmped around.
Whirmp (v.)
1) The combination of jumping and whirling about, at the same time. Usually occurring immediately after one is startled.
Malfoy smirked at her and then walked impossibly close. Hermione breathed in a gasp at how close he was. She had to tilt her head just to see his mouth!
"You called Granger?" Draco smirked as the girl began to stutter. "Oh…I-um… I wasn't… I didn't mean…" She took a deep breath and looked at him through cool eyes.
"I hadn't realized I'd spoken out loud."
"So long as you remember that talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity." He turned and moved away.
Hermione huffed at the insanity comment but her arm snaked out and caught the sleeve of his shirt before he could move out of reach. Draco froze at the thought of mudblood germs on his new shirt. Hermione seemed to realize her mistake and hastily let go of the garment.
Before he either stormed off in a huff or started yelling at her for touching his clothing, Hermione opened her mouth.
"I just wanted to say thank you for taking notes down in class today. I'm very grateful to you for doing that. I'm also quite sure that you carried me back to my rooms, both last night and this afternoon." Her voice lowered in sincerity. "Thank you."
The Malfoy heir looked at her and nodded. He had seen her tears from earlier. He motioned for her to come to the lounges by the fire. Before she got there he picked up 'Pride and Prejudice' and read the back summary.
He snorted when he finished. "Kind of sounds like us doesn't it? Except we won't ever fall in love."
Hermione looked at him with a half smile. "It does indeed. You can read it if you'd like. I think there are some conversations you'd find particularly amusing." Draco gave a minute nod and settled down at one end with Hermione on the other.
They spent the next few hours working on their Head activities; prefect patrolling schedules, finishing touches for the Hallowe'en Dance and of course, organizing their schedule for the next set of ingredients for their potion. Hermione reminded him of the specific timing for several ingredients in the next batch.
They way they had it worked out, the potion would be finished three weeks before Christmas Break started. That would allow them some experimentation with the results written down.
*~*~*~*~*
And so the next three weeks passed in a blur of quizzes, studying, Hallowe'en preparation and working on their potion project.
Finally it was Friday and if that wasn't enough to get the students excited, the Hallowe'en dance was the next night.
During breakfast, Hermione overheard Seamus telling Dean how much he loved the rule that allowed the students the day after Hallowe'en off!
Hermione smirked and calmly pointed out that since the Hallowe'en was on a Saturday, their day off was a Sunday. A day they had off every week. A number of groans were heard once she finished.
She spent the day taking notes and marking down due dates for quizzes, projects and assignments so she would be able to get them done as early as possible. There was still a lot that needed to be finished for the dance tomorrow.
She made small talk with Harry in between classes, both of them wondering what Ron was up to. When they met up with Ginny at lunch, she pulled a letter out of her bag and read it to the two older teens. It was a letter from Mrs. Weasley on what she and Mr. Weasley had been teaching Ron; his improvement in certain lessons and how they spent their days.
It was refreshing to know that her plan had gone fluently and Ron was improving, however minutely, without too many relapses in his behavior.
Saturday afternoon, as soon as lunch was cleared off the tables, Hermione and Malfoy began throwing out spells and arranging the room to match their floor plan. Dumbledore and McGonagall re-sized the hall while Flitwick and Snape cleared the house tables and brought out the party tables (8 people could fit comfortably at one table) on one side of the Hall with the dance floor closer to the front.
When the hall was finished re-sizing, McGonagall conjured up hundreds of pieces of paper and began to transfigure them into the designs and ornamentation that Hermione had given her.
While the Transfiguration professor worked her magic, the rest of the assembled professors and Draco and Hermione worked on creating the haunted house that marked the entryway to the dance.
Draco had an explicit map of the different areas he and Granger had worked on and each section could be magically enlarged to see which spells were needed. Each professor got a section and set to work.
Snape looked at the section his student had given him. It was the torture chamber. He snorted. The boy didn't trust one of the other professors not to harp on him for it. Oh well. He cracked a few knuckles; well he was the resident expert in torture. Let's see what horrifying images he could come up with. That would, of course, be allowed for young children to see… He smirked. In an almost childish voice (in his head of course) he thought about how fun it will be doing this.
It was a few hours later when the haunted house was set up, food and drink was ready and waiting to be set up, and the decorations were complete that a one Hermione Granger collapsed. McGonagall noticed her first and rushed to her side.
A quick enervate work her up and she gave a weak apology that was cut off by a hacking cough. Draco was told to walk her to the Hospital Wing. Knowing that she would collapse again at some point he rolled his eyes and picked her up to waste less time.
The professors chuckled at that, though Snape sneered disdainfully at the muggleborn witch being carried out by his prize student, and they all went to change into their costumes.
*~*~*~*~*
"Madame Pomfrey!" His call echoed in the large hall that most students learned to dread by their second year at school.
The medi-witch poked her out of her office door and then rushed over to place her on a nearby bed.
"What happened Mr. Malfoy?" Her wasn't accusatory, something he was slightly surprised at.
"We had just finished making up the Great Hall for the Hallowe'en Dance tonight and she collapsed. Professor McGonagall woke her up with an enervate and then she began coughing. It was more of a hack than a cough really. I think there might have been some blood that came up, but she probably swallowed it."
Pomfrey nodded. Pulling out her wand, she ran a few diagnostic charms over her body.
"She seems to have a low magical core right now, as well as a mild fever and a cough. I'll give her some potions and then let her sleep for a while. Looks like you won't have a partner for tonight Mr. Malfoy. Sorry."
Malfoy nodded and walked out of the wing. He quickly relayed the message to the remaining professors in the hall and then moved on to his tower. He needed to look good tonight. Not just because of his vanity, but he was representing Hogwarts' student body, he was the Head Boy and he was still a Malfoy.
Opening his closet he pulled out his costume and smirked. The student body wouldn't know what hit them.
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