"Draco, what are we doing here again?" A nervous Pansy asked, her arms wrapped tightly around Draco's lean biceps. "Isn't this where you got caught saving Granger? I don't want to get detention because of this…" Draco rolled his eyes, Granger on his left arm. She too had a tight hold of him, glaring at Pansy with malice.

"Girls, girls, girls, I know that you want me, but right now you'll have to wait. There's plenty of me to go around AFTER I clear my name." Draco smirked and peeled both girls off of his arms. Before the painting even got to ask what the password was, Draco sneered, "Wallabat." The painting swung open and Draco moved his way to the door to the prefect's bathroom, but not before grabbing Granger and ushering her before him. Pansy followed close behind, whining all the while.

"Oh, its so filthy in here! You'd think they'd have cleaned the spider webs before now…"

"Pansy," Draco looked her way, "You DO know they only haven't cleaned it in a day?"

"Well, yes, but I still…" She mumbled to herself, cursing under her breath. Draco looked to the many pools and bath taps with a sudden respect and eerie sort of fear towards them. Hermione, as soon as she saw the taps, widened her eyes and jumped on Draco like a cat on a Christmas tree, arms flailing out and all! Draco managed to catch her just in time before she made them both fall over.

"What the bloody hell-?" Draco cut himself off as Hermione whispered one word cacophonously in his ear.

"Don't."

Draco became confused and didn't notice her arms were tightly around his chest, becoming so tight it was beginning to become hard to breathe. Pansy did notice however. She took GREAT notice to Granger and the scenery around her. "You know, Draco," She said in an attempt to gain attention, "You'd think the professors would be inspecting this place, wouldn't you?"

"They probably already have." Draco rationed, looking to the blood drops on the floor he had seen the previous night. Now they were dried and flaky, a dark almost black red color. "That's just disgusting." He mumbled. Recalling that someone had knocked him down that night, he said aloud, "You've got to wonder if this is Granger's blood or someone else's." Pansy looked to the floor where he was pointing at and shrieked.

"Ah! What is THAT?" She pointed a finger.

"THAT, my dear Pansy, is BLOOD." Draco scoffed, feeling quite pleased as he seemed to be the one with the intelligence in this conversation. "You know, it moves through you all the time?"

"WHO'S BLOOD IS IT?" Pansy asked quite loudly, causing the walls to echo back her shrill voice.

"That's what I'm TRYING to find out." Draco said exasperated. "Now if you'd shut up and quit being daft, maybe we could get something useful done?" He sneered and stripped Granger off of him in a hurry. Hermione shook from head to toe, her eyes staring at the water with such fear Draco even felt, heaven help him, sorry for the poor girl. But he didn't have time for this right now. He grabbed Granger's hand and tugged her down past the taps. She pulled and jerked back, trying desperately to get away from the place Draco was taking her to; the place he had found her. Draco's hand wouldn't let go of hers, however. He dragged her all the way to the end tap, and simpered. "Granger, I know you remember what happened that night. Don't fake it with me, I know all about faking it." He growled, grabbing her by the shoulders and forcing her eyes to stare directly into his. "I want you to tell me who did this to you." Hermione only shook her head and looked confused, innocent; too innocent, in Draco's opinion, to not know anything. "Come on, you can speak, I know you can."

"Draco, come off it." Pansy scoffed. "The Professor said she couldn't remember anything; she CAN'T REMEMBER ANYTHING."

"You heard her speak!" Draco looked to Pansy. "I want a decent answer." Hermione shook her head once more. "No?" He asked. "Why not?" No answer came from Hermione.

"Oh yes, force IS the way to a woman's heart." Pansy sneered sarcastically. "Why DO they call you Mr. Charmer? You can't even charm a defenseless Gryffindor out of information like that."

"And what's the matter with the way I'm handling the situation?" Draco asked, letting go of Hermione's shoulders. Hermione backed away quickly and Draco caught her just in time; one more step and she would have fallen back into the bath. Unfortunately for him, grabbing Granger and flinging her away from the taps caused himself to fall into the bath, water splashing over his body and all. "Ahhhhhhhhhhh!" He screamed, before going under and splashing water everywhere. When he came back up, Pansy was doubled over howling with shrill laughter. "MERLIN!" He screamed, shaking his head to get the soppy water out of his face. He swam to the edge of the bath and glared at Pansy. Hermione was seen smiling softly at the overly dressed while wet Draco Malfoy. "Ah, shit. Why does everything happen to me?"

"Y-You?" Pansy laughed. "Everything – haha – always ha-happe—happens to Harry Po-Potter! You're just –not cut out…hehehe, to be a hero, D-Draco! That's when you- hahaha! Get in trouble!"

"I just didn't want to see her scream like a baby." Draco tried to defend himself. But really why HAD he saved Granger? Maybe throwing her in the bath would have made her talk. Oh well, too late now he thought and jumped out of the pool. Hermione sat on her bum with her arms pushed up behind her back, supporting her as she leaned back. "A simple thank you would have been sufficient." Draco said to her crossly, shaking the water off of him. "Now I've got to take another shower…"

"You should see yourself!" Pansy wailed. "You're soaked!"

"Thank you, captain obvious!" Draco shouted, balling his fists. He wrung out his robe arms the best he possibly could. "This is so humiliating." He grumbled. "Thanks a LOT Granger."

"Well, you cant possibly blame it on HER, now can you?" Pansy all of a sudden spoke up for Hermione. "She can't even think straight! She SHOULD be put in a straight jacket!"

"I agree, but it still was her fault." He shook his head once more to get all the water out of his ears. "Where's my wand?" He suddenly asked, patting around his robes for his wand. He looked to Pansy, who was holding back several giggles as she shrugged. "Granger, do you know…" He stopped and turned back to the taps. "Oh shit. This day just keeps getting BETTER and BETTER." It all suddenly made sense to him. Where was his wand, you might ask? Of COURSE in the bottom of the last bath: it had fallen out of his robes when he had fallen in. Draco muttered a few cuss words before peeling off the top layer of his clothing, including his tie and robes.

"And just WHAT do you think you're doing?" Pansy smirked, moving over to Draco and pinching his ass. "Giving us a strip tease, are you?"

"For your information," Draco jerked away from her, though he couldn't deny the pinch on the ass wasn't appealing, "My wand is at the bottom of that pool."

"Are you sure?" Pansy raised an eyebrow. "Isn't this whole hero thing getting a little old?"

"I'm telling you, it's got to be down there." Draco groaned. "So much for staying dry." He took off his shoes that when 'slosh' as he peeled them off of his feet, as well as his socks that went 'squish.' Hermione watched from afar, eyes glued to Draco's body as he stripped down to his black slacks and white long sleeve cotton shirt. "-You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Draco asked both Pansy and Hermione. Both girls were too busy biting their lower lip and fantasizing to react to him. With a heavy sigh Draco slipped back into the water and swam out to where he estimated his wand would be. "Right." He dove under the water and refused to open his eyes, in fear that the soap bubbles might irritate his eyes. He felt around and felt something brush across his hand. But, unfortunately for him, his air supply gave out fast because he didn't take in a deep breath and he returned back to the top empty handed.

"Did you find anything, Draco?" Pansy asked, sitting at the edge and dipping her toes in the water.

"I felt something." Draco nodded, glancing once more at Hermione. She was staring at him nervously; obviously she didn't like him in the water. "I'll be fine, Granger." He said softer than normal, before diving back under the water. This time he had taken a larger breath, and in doing so was able to obtain the object and rise back to the surface. But when he swam to the edge the thing that resided in his hand was not in fact his wand, but something else. Draco didn't even have to look; he could tell before he opened his hand. He had gotten something small enough to fit in the palm of his hand. Hermione bit her lower lip and was near in tears as Draco climbed out of the pool. "Oh come off it Granger, I didn't drown." He said. Hermione shook from head to toe, before jumping up and hugging him with all her might. Draco cringed at the touch but still allowed her to comfort him. "Alright, alright, I get the point." He grumbled. "Let go of me!" Hermione complied and Draco opened his hand to see what artifact he had in fact pulled up.

The object was a small ring with a Quidditch broom shape in the center. Draco studied the object a moment before shrugging and putting it away in his pocket. One man's loss was another man's treasure, he always said. Some prefect must have dropped it… hold a tick. He pulled the ring of his pocket again and examined it. The thing was made of a copper looking substance, yet seemed as heavy as gold. Who could have such a thing… and why would it be at the bottom of the same tap Granger had been raped at? Was it all some big coincidence?

Pansy tapped her foot behind Draco's back. Apparently she had not seen the artifact. "Well Draco, I'm guessing it wasn't your wand?"

"Er…" Draco didn't feel like telling Pansy. She'd want to keep it 'as a token of love' or something. "No, it wasn't."

"Well, what was it then?"

"Someone's class ring, no big deal." Draco shrugged it off and decided he'd show Granger later when he could get something out of her. Seemingly she wouldn't be talking while Pansy was around.

"Hmm…" Pansy's annoying voice caught in Draco's ears. "Oh Draco! Will you look at what the mudblood has?" He could detect the happy sort of smirk in Pansy's voice that told him that Granger was obviously going to upset him. He turned around and saw Granger holding his wand timidly.

"You little…" He growled. Hermione stood innocently and gave him puppy dog eyes. "Give me my wand RIGHT NOW, Granger."

"Hermione," She corrected him, blowing Pansy and Draco's minds, "My name… is… Hermione."

"Bloody hell, she's getting smarter." Pansy said in astonishment and backed up against the wall.

"Right, Hermione," Draco replied automatically, before the real effect sank in. Had she just given him a full sentence? Draco smiled and grabbed the wand out of Hermione's fingertips. "Ha, I knew she could speak!"

"Bloody fucking hell." Pansy shook her head.

"I'm proud." Draco smirked to Hermione. "I'll have Pansy in the Great Hall with a tutu in NO time!" And with that he shook Granger's hand. "Bloody Fucking Hell is right." He pulled out the ring and showed it to Hermione. "Gra—I mean, Hermione…" He seethed the words out of his mouth with fake sweetness, "Do you know whose ring this is?" Hermione's eyes went wide and her mouth opened agape. But no matter what she looked like, her vocal chords made no words. She merely stood in shock and that was enough for Draco. He knew Granger knew whose ring this was. But the question was: was she going to TELL him? "Granger?"

Silence.

Obviously not.

"Ha, if you cant get a simple answer out of her, then how the HELL are you going to teach her a whole culture?" Pansy sniggered.

"I'll do it, don't worry." Draco placed the ring back in his pocket, whispering, "You're going to tell me before the end of this month, Granger." And with that he took Hermione's hand and pulled her out of the bathroom, leaving Pansy to straggle behind. As they got out of the portrait hole, they being Draco, Hermione, and Pansy, a small cat with beady red eyes was there to greet them with a human like smile. "Oh shit." Draco grumbled. "Filch."