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Meeting the Enemy

Hermione sat down across from a tall, strawberry blonde girl. She was extremely beautiful and was fully equipped in the…um, chest area. The girl smiled, holding out her hand.

"Hi," she greeted. "My name's Kate Samuels. Welcome to the school!" Hermione smiled.

"I'm Hermione Granger, of course," she said. "I'm so excited to be here. I've heard a lot about this school and read up on it when Dumbledore told us that we were coming here." Kate nodded. She then gestured to the others who were sitting with her.

"This is Ashley Judson," she said, motioning to a raven-headed girl next to her. "That's Brian Lemies and Jason Gibbons." Hermione nodded to the two boys, who smiled back.

"Who's your friend?" Ashley asked, leaning in. Hermione frowned slightly.

"He's not my friend," she told them.

"That's right. If I was friends with Granger, I'd probably kill myself." Draco Malfoy sat down next to Kate, glaring at Hermione, who glared back. Brian smiled.

"Oh, sexual tension," he crooned. Draco's face twisted with disgust as Hermione's face turned red.

"Ugh, you're filling my mind with disturbing thoughts, Lemies," Draco growled. "She's a-"

"Muggleborn," Hermione put in before Draco could continue. He smiled coldly.

"Precisely," he hissed. "Besides, now that I'm here, I can see that Allenburg has a much more finer choice of women." With that, he eyed Kate before he began filling his plate and completely ignoring Hermione. Kate, who gave Draco a small smile, turned back to Hermione.

"So, you're Muggle born?" she asked. Hermione nodded.

"I don't see why it matters," she muttered. "I get better grades than him, and he's pureblood." Draco didn't look up from his food, but rather made a very rude hand gesture that earned him laughs from the boys.

"Oh course it doesn't matter," Kate said. "I'm halfblood and so is Brian." After that, the subject was changed to the schools and friends. The whole time, Hermione noticed Jason's attention on her. He was taller than Kate was, with black hair and dark eyes. He was very handsome. But the person Hermione found herself watching more than Jason was Draco, who never talked but seemed to also be watching Jason. But this was not with interest, but with an almost questioning look, as if he was trying to figure out where he had seen him before. Then, the conversation got interesting.

Brian turned to Draco, tilting his head. "Hey, I recognize your name now! You're the Draco Malfoy! The one that was found innocent for murdering that guy." At this, Draco froze, dropping his fork. Hermione choked on her orange juice and stared at Brian.

"You know about the trial?" she asked, shocked. Brian nodded.

"I was in London the same time it happened," he said. He turned back to Draco, who had a tight hold on his glass. "Do you know who swayed the court for innocent?" The glass broke and Draco stood, wiping small shards off of his palm and robes. Then, with a cold look, he turned to Brian.

"I suggest you ask the mudblood," he snapped. "Seeing as she was there." With that, he turned on his heel and left the Hall. Hermione, who had turned red in the face again, sighed.

Draco followed Uma down a corridor, Hermione only a few steps behind him. Uma stopped in front of a portrait of a nymph. It smiled.

"Password," she commanded.

"Flames of Old," Uma spoke and the nymph curtsied. The portrait door swung open to reveal a common room not unlike the one of Hogwarts, except it was a bit bigger and the colors were red and silver.

"If you want to change the colors to something that makes you feel a bit more at home, just tap the walls with your wand and say the colors," Uma said. She nodded to the doors at the top of the stairs. "They've got your names on them. The rooms will change automatically to your mood and preference. You will be sharing a bathroom, like at Hogwarts. Have a good evening. If you have any questions, ask the nymph above the fireplace. She'll be happy to answer them." With that, she left. Draco immediately turned on Hermione, wand out.

"What did you tell them, mudblood?" he growled, advancing on her. Hermione backed up, eyeing the wand nervously.

"I didn't tell them anything," she mumbled, fear evident in her voice. His eyes narrowed.

"And we're not going to tell them anything, are we, mudblood?" he asked. She nodded as she was forced to stop at the wall.

"Not a thing," she murmured. He glared.

"It better stay that way, Granger, for your sake." With that, he turned and walked up the stairs, slamming his door behind him. She collapsed in a sofa, shivering.

Why do I let him do this to me? She thought to herself. Why does he scare me so much? Her hand went to her cheek, where the scar of the Mongolian Crypt Dagger still lingered.

Because he can hurt you, she thought bitterly. Because he could kill you if he wanted to. But something in her mind told Hermione that Draco, no matter how malicious he was, no matter how cruel and tyrannical he was, something deep down inside of her told her that Draco Lucius Malfoy was not at all capable of killing her. Maybe hurting her. But not killing her.

The next morning happened to be Saturday as Hermione woke up with a bad neck sprain. She had fallen asleep on the sofa and, although it was comfortable, her neck had been twisted at an odd angle. Sitting up and stretching, Hermione cracked her neck and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Then she froze and slowly moved her hands from her face. Draco Malfoy sat in one of the large, overstuffed chairs by the fire, watching her with mild interest in his eyes. He wore a black shirt and knee short camouflage pants. His blonde hair hung down over his eyes and his scar seemed to stand out a bit more. She fiddled with her skirt.

"What do you want?" she asked, not looking at him. He considered her for a moment and then shrugged, standing.

"Kingsley came by an hour ago and said you and I were to go around the school and check things out," he said. "Besides, it's interesting watching you moan in your sleep, 'Oh, Ron, oh RON!'" Her eyes widened and her face became a large tomato. Her mouth opened and closed but no sound came out as Draco began to laugh, falling back into his chair. "You should really see the look on your face, Granger!"

"You're a liar!" she shouted at him.

"Of course I was lying," he said, smirking at her. "It was more like, 'Oh Draco, OH DRACO!!'" She stood, becoming a deep magenta color.

"You're a pervert, you know that," she hissed. He got up and approached her, wrapping his arms around her and wriggling his eyebrows.

"You know you love me," he murmured to her huskily. She squeaked, pulled away and fell back into the sofa as he burst into uncontrollable laughter once more. Glaring daggers at him and blushing furiously, she fled up the stairs and into her room, shutting the door behind her.

Draco switched his position in the chair, getting impatient. Getting up, he glanced at the clock on the wall. 9:30. They should have been gone half an hour ago. Storming up the stairs, he banged on the door.

"Damn it, Granger! Open this door!!" He stepped back as the door opened and Hermione stood in the doorway, looking peeved. Draco gawked.

Hermione had discarded her robes for a long, white skirt and tank-top that showed her…chest area off very nicely. She wore sandals and her hair was up in a ponytail. She had put on a bit of make-up and now stood with her arms across her chest, growing red under his stare. She felt like a piece of meat that he was ogling. Fortunately, Draco realized what he was doing and shook his head, putting on an uninterested expression.

"Come on, mudblood," he growled, turning on his heel and heading down stairs. Following him, she kept a good two feet between them as they headed down the corridor.

Draco had no intentions of spending breakfast in a Hall where the students of this school would ogle him. No, he would find the kitchen, and, no matter how much he wanted her dead, he would need her help. And she soon realized this after they passed the Hall and circled a corridor several times.

"Why don't we try down there?" she recommended, pointing down a corridor they hadn't taken. Glancing at her and shrugging, he headed down it, Hermione taking up the rear. They came to a dead end. The wall in front of them had a cake on it. Hermione glanced at her watch, which she had charmed to work in the magical realm. It was now 10:00. Breakfast, she had been told, would start in half an hour. Sighing, she turned to Draco.

"This is hopeless," she told him. "Why don't we just eat breakfast in the Hall? I mean, who cares if we get stared at?"

"We still have thirty minutes and, from what I understand, you can't go anywhere without me. So we stay here." She stuck her tongue out at him but refrained on commenting. Draco reached up and ran his fingers on the cake. No movement. Taking out his wand, he tapped on the cake. It jumped, but the painting did not open. Hermione tilted her head.

"Maybe…" She pulled out her wand, tapped the wand, and muttered, "Food please." The cake jumped up and down three times and so did Hermione. The cake giggled and the painting opened. Giving Draco a look that said 'Oh-yeah. Look-at-me-and-my-bad-self', she entered the kitchen, Draco staring at her with a look of interest on his face as he followed.

"How did you know?" he asked softly, careful not to make eye contact with her as he looked around. She glanced at him.

"I always said that to my mother when I wanted her to let me into the kitchen. It always works." Draco gave her a peculiar look and said nothing more.

The house elves looked up from their work to watch the two students head to two chairs in the corner. One of them rushed up.

"May I help you, sir? Madam?" Draco nodded, looking around.

"Why don't you bring around whatever you have?" Draco said. Hermione gave him an odd look. Why was he acting so…NICE Draco noticed the look and glared. "I don't treat everything the way I treat you, mudblood," he growled. She scowled but said nothing.

After a great breakfast, both students left the kitchen to explore the castle. Somewhere on the way, a silent contract was made between them that they would try to avoid people. It didn't work.

"Hermione! Draco!!" Both sighed and turned around, waiting as Kate, Ashley, Jason and Brian rushed up.

"Hey guys," Hermione said, smiling slightly.

"Where were you guys during breakfast?" Kate asked, glancing between them both.

"Overslept," they both said at the same time. They glanced at each other, frowning. Ashley scowled at Hermione, but said nothing. Kate, however, raised an eyebrow.

"Overslept, huh?" she said, looking between the two. "Were you both a bit comfortable?" Draco paled and Hermione reddened.

"Oh…oh it wasn't like that…Malfoy and I…ugh, no, I was on the couch…" Hermione couldn't find the words to say. Draco's eyes narrowed.

"Are you serious?" he snapped. "You can't possibly think that I want anything to do with her?" He shuddered. Kate shrugged. Jason smiled.

"Do you guys want a tour of the place?" he asked. Draco glanced at Hermione for the smallest second before giving Jason a wary gaze.

"No," he answered. Hermione frowned at Draco.

"There's nothing wrong with a bit of help, I guess," she said pointedly. Draco glared at her, but said nothing. Hermione grinned triumphantly. "Good. Of course, we would love a tour." Jason's smile widened and off they were. Draco stayed a couple of steps behind Hermione, who walked next to Jason. There was something that was bothering him about Jason and he had a feeling Hermione had something to do with it.

Granger! Granger had something to do with it! Draco mentally hit himself. Maybe he was getting sick. Only when he was sick could he be starting to be calling Granger by her first name. The fact that he knew her first name bothered him. Ever since they had started this damn trip, something had gotten into him about the mudblood that he still hadn't figured out.

"Thinking?" Draco blinked and turned his head to the left, where Kate was walking beside him. Draco shrugged and she smiled. "Don't stop. You're cute when you think." Draco rolled his eyes, giving her a small smile. On the inside, his mind screamed CORNY! Did she know how many times he heard that from girls? But, he liked the body on this girl, so putting up with the flirtations would be one step closer to an all nighter. He had observed the girls of the school and concluded that this one was definitely the most luscious one. And she looked pretty experienced. Besides, Draco had no intentions of developing a relationship with her. She would be like the other girls. A warm body and lots of fun to play with. Sure, Draco had thought of the time where he would have to stop messing around and actually find someone, but that time would come on its own. Right now, he was going to study Ms. Ashley's behind until the stupid tour was over. After all, he had nothing better to do. Except maybe eyeball Gra…

Draco shook his head. He was going to really have to see a Healer today. He was losing his mind.