A/N: Greetings and salutations my great readers! Allrighty then, this chappie is gonna be very good... nothing like spending good quality time with the guy that's ruining your life huh? (sarcasm there…)

-squox 3

Chappie 8

Hermione needed to stop going to the hospital wing. She sighed and rolled on her stomach, examining the flowers on her table. They were marked, Love Ron (oh, and Harry says hi) and she shook her head. Ron really did want her, but she wasn't in the greatest position at the moment.

"Granger! Get up, you are FINE!"

"Wai-what?"

McGonagall was standing at the foot of her bed, nostrils flaring. "You heard me, get UP. You and Mr. Malfoy will be going to your detention soon so I will meet you two down in the Great Hall after supper. DON'T DADDLE. Now please return to your classes." With that, she left the hospital wing, leaving a very confused Hermione behind.

Draco picked at his food. He couldn't BELIEVE that he had done that! He had done crazy things before for her…but… he shuddered. All the Slytherins stayed clear away and wouldn't dare speak to him. So all Draco heard for the rest of the day was whispers and mutters behind his back, and he occasionally picked up a bit, but mostly only heard 'Hermione' or 'Draco' so it was clear to him what they were talking about. When everyone cleared the hall only he and Hermione were left. She didn't even look up or even speak when he came over and he knew she was mad.

"Hermione?" he asked in a timid voice.

She still didn't look up but muttered, "Ferret."

"GRANGER! MALFOY! Come here so I can tell you what you are doing tonight" McGonagall's voice cut through their silence like a knife through butter. The butter never knew what was coming.

They followed her down to a rather large painting of a bowl of fruit. She tickled the pear and it giggled and the painting swung open. Hermione had been here before. These were the kitchens, and in the kitchens there were-

"HOUSEELVES!" Draco shrieked. In fact, he shrieked so loud it made him sound like a girl.

"What? Never seen slave labour before?" Hermione snapped.

"Um, no, but they're so-so-"

"What?"

"Ugly." Well that was a mistake. One thing that you must NEVER do is insult a house elf when you're in the same room as Hermione. She literally exploded.

"DRACO, YOU GIT DON'T YOU EVER SAY THAT AGAIN! HOUSE ELVES ARE NOT UGLY THEY ARE JUST MISUNDERSTOOD! HOW DARE YOU CRITISIZE THESE INNOCENT CREATURES!"

Draco looked taken aback. He was speechless when she stopped and he couldn't even think of a good comeback. Then he thought of a great one. "Well, you know what? YOUR MOM!"

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU, YOU RETARD! NO WONDER YOUR GRADES ARE LOW, YOUR BRAIN DOESN'T WORK!"

"WELL AT LEAST I DON'T SUPPORT RODENTS WO COLLECT DUST BUNNIES!"

"RODENTS? I WOULDN'T BE TALKING, FERRET BOY!"

"OH YEAH? BOOK WORM!"

"YOUR COME-BACKS SUCK!"

"SO WHAT? AT LEAST I'M NORMAL, UNLIKE YOU, YOU ROTTEN GOOD-FOR-NOTHING, WISH-YOU-WERE-DEAD MUDBLOOD!!"

Now that was the last straw. Hermione grabbed the nearest teacup and with all her might, chucked it at Draco's face. Draco was just quick enough to duck and it shattered aginst the wall behind him.

"DON'T. (chuck) YOU. (chuck) EVER. (chuck) SAY. (chuck) THAT. (chuck) AGAIN!"

Now Draco was surrounded by smashed plates, bowls and cups he either narrowly escaping them, using a shield charm or 'Difindo'ed them. Hermione, though, looked a little like the Hulk, only her face was red instead of green. All he could do was gape at her.

The house elves had slowly slunk into corners or quietly disapperated only leaving a faint pop behind them.

McGonagall, on the other hand, was hiding behind the half open portrait and looked quite astonished. Once she thought the fight had died down she cleared her throat. "Your punishment for tonight is to do the dishes. All of them. No magic, no house elves. Do I make myself clear?"

Hermione was about to ask whether they were aloud to use a dishwasher but that would be pointless, because everyone knows (except Ron) that muggle appliances don't work in Hogwarts.

Draco scratched his head. "How do you do it with no house elves? What do you use?"

Hermione gave him an astonished look. "You're stupider then I thought!"

McGonagall shook her head. "Alright, off to work the both of you. If you will give me your wands?-thank you. The house elves will come with me, and I'll get them to do work elsewhere." She flicked her wand and two neatly folded aprons appeared in Hermione and Draco's arms along with dish towels. "Here is what you will need. All set then? Goodnight." One by one, the house elves bowed and curtsied as they filed out of the kitchen. With a slam of the portrait, Hermione and Draco were alone…

"EWWW it's a ragggggg!" Draco said in quite an immature voice.

"It's an apron, and you WEAR it, genius."

"Eww I am NOT wearing that!"

"Oh yes you are!" Hermione shrieked. With a sweep of her wand the apron was on him and for some reason refused to come off... "As you can see your apron won't come off," She smirked, "And it won't come of until I want it to, so you might be having it on for a while. Oh and another little touch-" She flicked her wand again and Draco's apron turned pink and frilly. "Thought that would bring out the colour of your eyes."

Draco cast her a dirty look then turned to the mountain of dishes. His jaw dropped. You see, when I said mountain, I meant mountain. The elves had used their magic so all the plates, cups and bowls were stacked on top of each other almost touching the roof. The knives, forks and spoons were thrown into piles looking like rolling hills. Draco gulped.

"Well, these dishes aren't going to clean themselves, you know, so get to it." Hermione broke the silence.

"Wait, aren't you gunna help?"

"Oh, I will, I just want to see how the living conditions are for these house elves. I want to make sure that they're happy, healthy and comfortable." She started walking around, examining every nook and cranny until she let out an ear-splitting shriek. "MY HATS! MY BEAUTIFUL HOUSE EVF HATS!" She came running towards Draco, who had started the water in the giant bathtub size sinks, and shoved a waste bin under his nose. He peered inside and noticed a pile of fluffy lopsided things that looked like lumpy bludgers.

"What are they, bludger clothes?"

"NO YOU IDIOT! THEY ARE HATS FOR THOSE POOR ELVES TO SET THEM FREE AND THEY'VE THROWN THEM AWAY!" Hermione burst into tears. "Th-th-ey (sniff) don't li-i-ke (sniff) my hats! (sniff) why don't (sniff) th-they like them?"

Draco shuffled his feet. God, I don't want to be mean, but-

Oh, come one, tell her the truth! They SUCK.

Well, actually, I can start to see the resemblance…

Just tell her that house elves DON'T WANT to be free!

I can't! Just look at her!

Fine, be that way. walks out of Draco's head

Noo don't go! Damn it…

"Ummm, Hermione? I don't think the house evles want-" He saw her deadly look and backed out immediately. "-let's just do dishes."

Time passed without words or noise except the splash of water as they worked, the clatter of plates and the ticking of the magic clock that sort of resembled Mrs. Weasley's. Except the hands said things like, 'dinner,' or, 'lunch' and they were all pointing to a part on the face of the clock that said, 'wrong time', right beside a part that said, 'time.' The middle of the clock was just like a regular one. Hermione glanced at it and say it was 1 o'clock. She sighed. "Draco, I know why we're in love with each other."

He immediately looked up and smiled. "Thank God one of us knows what's going on. Tell me."

"Well, remember when we mixed our potions together?"

"Yeah."

"Well you made the right potion, the Imperiadus potion, and I had made the wrong potion." She gulped. "I made a love potion."

"Why?"

"Because Ronald told me that's what we were making!" Hermione snapped. "And when any potion is mixed with an Imperiadus potion, such as a love potion, the drinker is controlled by the maker of the potion, and in this case, control their love life. Since we both made the potion, then we both control each others' love life. Except something went wrong… we can't control ourselves and it comes on and off. I figured out that your potion wasn't done properly, and obviously mine was done perfectly," she smirked at that remark, "So these must be the defects."

Draco scratched his head. "In English please?"

She smacked her head. "Ok, basically we love each other one minute, then the next we hate each other. It all has to do with the potions we-"

"I know that part already."

"Then why did you ask me to repeat it?"

He gave her a small smile. "Because I love the sound of your voice."

She looked at him with eyes full or sadness. "Draco, please don't do this to me."

"What? I know you want me to."

Hermione gave in. She couldn't fight this. Until she figured out how to undo this mess she'd have to give in. She closed her eyes. Slowly, ever so slowly she leaned forward. Then the rest was like magic. Not the magic they practiced, but real magic. Hermione never thought that a mess this big could have its advantages…

They never thought it was possible to finish that mountain of dishes, but they did. Hermione sighed and pulled off her rubber gloves in a triumphant way. She turned to Draco and she suddenly felt sick to her stomach. She had kissed Draco Malfoy. She, Hermione Granger had kissed the ferret. She can't love him, he was an enemy and he always will be. He was a Slytherin and a Malfoy, the enemy to everyone with a noble family or with pride in their blood. Yet she is. Suddenly a thought crossed her mind, What if you are ACTUALLY in love with him? What if all you needed was the potion to show you the truth? She gasped, forgetting Draco was still there. She shook the horrific thought out of her mind.

"Hermione," Draco asked cautiously (and randomly), "What would happen if we mixed our Imperiadus potions together?"

She sighed. "Then we would control eachother."

A/N: ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo