Disclaimer: I forgot one for the last chapter... Um... "If all it takes is
inspiration, then I might have just what it takes... if I don't make no bad
mistakes and I get it right the first time." Sorry Billy Joel... it takes
more than inspiration. It takes JKR.
**NOTE** from now on, anything in *'s is writing, since they seem to do quite a bit of it... ex. *Go back to sleep, Granger*
Last time on LGG:
"Hey, were the winers still in the common room when you came downstairs?" she asked and Draco smirked evilly.
"Oh, indeed."
"Well, what did you do to them?" Draco put on the most suspicious innocent look in history and blinked.
"You'll never guess."
"That's why I'm not trying; just tell me, damn it," Hermione demanded, still smiling.
"I kissed Brocklehurst; right in front of MacDougal," he said and Hermione felt her heart unexpectedly drop, along with her smile.
"You w-what?"
~*~*~*~
CHAPTER NINE: Give a Little, Get a Little, Live a Little
Draco smirked.
"Yep; I know, isn't it great? You should have seen the look on his face, Granger; it was hilarious."
"Yeah..." Hermione said somewhat quietly and turned her face back to her papers, her expression blank. Draco looked curiously at her. Was it just him or did she not seem happy about this? Then, he thought of something.
"Hey," he said and she looked up at him, face unexpressive. "Are you... mad at me?"
"Why do you always think I'm mad at you?" she asked, showing no emotion and turning to stare at Snape's empty desk. Draco looked at her for a moment.
"I don't know, you're just so damn hard to read," he said and she shook her head dispassionately. "I didn't REALLY kiss her, you know. I just..." he said, then paused while he repeated his act on Hermione, kissing her cheek softly. "Kissed her." Hermione, although she felt happier than she had in a long time, simply shrugged.
"Hey, it's none of my business who you kiss and how," she said, looking down at her desk and attempting to hide her amazingly large smile. Draco smirked at her; he knew she did care who he kissed, and it added a gallon or two to that already overflowing bucket of confidence.
"Do you know where Eg is? I didn't see him upstairs," he asked and Hermione smiled at the change in subject. She turned to him again.
"I let him out hours before you woke up; he likes to chase the mice, and the castle is full of them. He'll be back by dinnertime; don't worry," she said and Draco smiled.
"Hey, where's Snape? Shouldn't he be here by now?"
"I don't know; I'm not his own personal stalker. Maybe someone glued him to the floor," she provided and Draco smiled.
"I doubt it; we're not that lucky." Hermione smirked evilly.
"Well, then maybe we should."
"Right behind you," Draco provided and they both laughed. Then, Hermione was hit with a random curse, causing a large amount of dainty white flowers to infest her hair. Draco was somewhat intrigued by this, but Hermione was furious. She stood up and addressed the room.
"ALRIGHT, WHO DID THAT?!" she yelled, causing every person in the room to look at her. "TELL ME RIGHT NOW! Do I look like I wanted pretty little hair accessories? Hm? Do I SEEM like the kind of person who'd ENJOY wearing decaying plants as fashion paraphernalia?" No one said a word. "ANSWER ME, DAMMIT!"
"Miss Granger. Fifty points from Gryffindor for foul language and class disruption, now sit down," said a cold voice from behind her and Hermione whipped around to face the doorway. There stood Snape, looking just as greasy and annoyed as ever. She immediately sat; her mouth open slightly, surprised to see the Professor standing there.
"FIFTY? Isn't that a little extreme, Professor?" Draco asked, sounding just as shocked as most of the Gryffindors. The rest of the Slytherin glared, and Snape narrowed his eyes at the prefect.
"Congratulations, Mr. Malfoy. You've just lost Gryffindor another twenty points," he said, then strode up to his desk; the speech and entrance forgotten. Twenty Gryffindor mouths dropped to the floor.
"But he's not even IN Gryffindor!" Harry argued, earning himself a glare from Snape.
"Astute observation, Mr. Potter. Do you wish to have an unrecoverable lack of points by the end of this class? Then I suggest you do not speak to me in that tone." Harry shut up, but his girlfriend, who was still on his lap and already angry for the break in their snog session, crossed her arms and scowled, causing Snape to notice her. "I do not believe you are a part of this class, Miss Abbot. Might I suggest you leave before I am forced to take points from Hufflepuff?" Hannah obeyed, but not before giving Harry one last kiss. Draco leaned close to Hermione's ear.
"Sorry," he said and she turned to him, a little surprised. She shrugged and began pulling the tiny flowers from her hair and collecting them in a pile on the desk. "You know, I wonder why Weasley doesn't care that his best friend is playing his sister... even I would stand up for my own flesh and blood," Draco said in a whisper, looking toward the red-headed boy beside the wizarding equivalent to a teenage Don Juan. Ron was staring at a fly near the ceiling; easily distracted from the lesson being taught.
"Well, he's not too quick on the uptake; probably didn't even realize that Harry's escapades would be filed under 'cheating'." She sighed angrily. "I swear to god, if I wasn't mad at Ginny, I'd kick both of their asses...it is just so like them to..."
"Miss Granger! Must you continue to interrupt my class? Ten more points from Gryffindor." Hermione scowled; she'd had quite enough of the all mighty professor Snape.
"You say that as if I really give a damn. Why not twenty points? Thirty? God, just take a hundred; you'll end up taking them anyway," she said, surprising all but one member of the class; the minority just happened to be sitting next to her, a smirk on his 'pretty little pureblooded face'. Snape was literally at a loss for words. He struggled for a moment, then regained himself.
"Excellent suggestion, Miss Granger. One hundred points from Gryffindor. Now, back to my lecture..." But no one was listening. Every person in the room stared at the prefect couple in the back; half the class with impressed looks of shock, the other with vicious glares. Hermione looked to Draco, who smiled, then shrugged and continued to pull the flowers from her hair. It wasn't long before she noticed that the supply never ended. Be damned with the illogical continuum of magic... she scowled and crossed her arms, not even bothering to take notes. Snape was lecturing them on the pheromone potion... the same potion they had been assigned to write about. Anyone with even the smallest amount of ambition in research would know every detail he spoke of.
She sat quietly for a while, glaring at the teacher in the front of the room, lips pursed and eyes narrowed. Draco made frequent glances; unable to get the image of her laughing in his bed that morning out of his mind. How could she be so pretty when happy, but still so gorgeous when furious? Hermione didn't notice Draco staring at her until he subtly slid a piece of parchment in front of her. There was one short line written at the top.
*Hey, you alright?* Hermione couldn't help but smile, and when she looked at Draco, he smiled too. Picking up the quill she hadn't even bothered to ink yet, Hermione dipped it in the pot and began a reply.
*I am really not enjoying my 'new look'.* She slid the paper an inch toward him and Draco wrote back.
*Why? Too happy for you?*
*Quite the opposite, actually. I find it rather disturbing that there are dead things in my hair, but this might just be one of those Granger qualities.*
*That other thing in your hair is just as dead as the flowers, if not more.*
*My hair-tie is not dead; my hair-tie is inanimate. It was never alive. There is no organism on the planet which would use my hair-tie as a source of nutrition. Therefore, I am not a hypocrite.*
*I never called you a hypocrite.*
*Not directly.* Draco sighed.
*I think they look nice.*
*I think they're disgusting.*
*Must you be so difficult?* Hermione smirked.
*Would I be me if I weren't?* He smiled.
*No, I suppose not.*
*Just remember that.*
*Oh, I will.*
*Good.*
*Good.*
*Quite.*
*Always have to have the last word, don't you Granger?*
*So what if I do?*
*Well, you won't this time.*
*Oh, won't I?*
*No, you won't.*
*Well, Malfoy we'll see abou*
"Now, pass forward your summer assignments; any of you who felt my class unimportant and do not turn in your essay to me today will receive a week of detentions. Hurry up, then!" Snape said irritably, scowling as he paced across the room. Hermione looked up, forced to stop her immature note passing and collect their papers. She gathered both her essay and Draco's into a pile and passed them to the girl in front of her, who just happened to be a Gryffindor. She glared as she snatched the parchment from Hermione's hand and Hermione hissed, much like Eglamour had to Harry and Ron. Draco seemed to think this act was hilarious and he laughed silently as Hermione smirked and sat back in her seat. The Gryffindor girl glared and turned around. She began to place her pile over theirs, but the housemate beside her grabbed her wrist.
"You're not really going to just hand those in, are you?" whispered the boy.
"Well, what am I supposed to do, Nick? Set them on fire?" Nick smirked evilly.
"Maybe later... just put them in your bag, Claire. Pay Granger back for those points." Claire actually seemed to contemplate this. She looked uncertainly at the two piles in her hand.
"What about Malfoy?"
"He lost us points too... and he's being nice to Granger. Come on, Claire, just do it! They deserve a couple detentions!" Nick whispered fiercely.
"Mr. Arenz! Miss Gouvas! Do you plan on passing up those assignments before the next goblin rebellion?" called Snape angrily. Claire looked uneasily at Nick, who nodded in approval.
"Yes, sorry Professor," she said and handed the girl in front of her the pile in one of her hands, shoving the other nonchalantly in her potions textbook. The dishonest girl wore an insanely guilty expression, but the boy beside her smirked evilly.
~
Meanwhile, at the table behind them... Hermione leaned back in her chair. She said nothing for a moment, then sat up, remembering the written conversation. She smirked as she picked up her quill, but her expression dropped when she discovered she had nothing to write on. She turned to Draco, eyebrows knitted.
"Where's that paper we were writing on?" she asked in a whisper, keeping an eye on Snape. Draco looked around the table for a moment, then thought of something and started laughing silently. "What?" Hermione asked, smiling herself.
"I think you just handed it in with our essays..." he said and she laughed too.
"Oh, shit," Hermione whispered; "He'll kill us."
*How's he going to know who it was?* Draco wrote, using a new sheet of parchment.
*Because we both wrote names at one point or another,* she wrote back and he laughed again.
*Oh yeah; but there's no proof that we were doing it in class... maybe we just have weird written conversations while we sit in the common room.*
*No, we were talking about my flowers; he'll know.*
*Well, at least we didn't say 'Snape is such a poser; I heard from a very reliable source that he enjoys oil massages in his free time; often wearing a frilly pink bath robe and matching bunny slippers.'*
*Great job, now we have to make sure he doesn't see this one... and we both know your memory isn't exactly up to par.*
*Once again, you have no proof of that.*
*I suppose that's true.*
*Of course it is; would I just leave incriminating evidence all over the place?* Hermione laughed.
*I'm not one to admit that I don't know something, but would you happen to know how to stop this damn flower spell? I think I might be allergic.* Draco laughed too.
*Sure,* he wrote, then flicked his wand at her. All the flowers fell from her hair and onto the floor around her, where they dissolved. Hermione wore a big smile as she pulled out her hair tie, letting the wave of ebony hair cascade down her back.
*Thanks,* she wrote before gathering her hair to tie up again, but Draco stopped her.
"Don't," he whispered, taking her hand. Hermione looked up at him and Draco smiled, then took the hair-tie from her wrist and tucked in daintily in his inside robe pocket. Hermione watched this, a little surprised, but Draco simply smiled again, then turned to listen to Snape talk about their next assignment... but not before sliding his arm over the back of her chair, enjoying the tickling tingle of her dark hair on his pale skin. Still a tad confused, but not bothered in the least, Hermione leaned back, letting her curtain douse over his arm. Unnoticed by her, Draco shivered a bit.
~*~*~*~
When Snape was finally satisfied with his lecture and announced it complete, he ordered the class to create a pheromone potion in their groups, while he began to look through the essays. The students silently got to work; including Draco and Hermione. What looked like observations was actually another ink born debate.
*I do NOT have girly fingernails.*
*Yes you do, dammit; here compare them to mine.* Hermione wrote, let him read, then reached for one of the ingredients. Draco, however reluctantly, reached for the one next to it. He scowled at the two digits, then swiped his hand away. Hermione dropped in her potion component, then picked up her quill.
*Told you; they're shaped exactly the same. Have you ever had a manicure?* Draco looked at the sentence and opened his mouth in shock.
*No!*
*It's okay; I won't tell, I promise. Nothing to be ashamed of, really; lots of men have.*
*Really?*
*No.* Draco scowled at her as he stirred with the other hand. *Well, some. Really, really vain men.*
*Or really, really, gay men; neither of which am I.* Hermione snorted.
*I'll take you word for the latter claim, but the previous might take a little convincing.*
*Oh, come on! Not only are you accusing me of having feminine fingernails, which I do not, you think I'm obsessed with my appearance? Who am I, Prince?*
*Or the artist formally known as Prince.*
*Oh, good one.* He rolled his eyes, suggesting sarcasm.
*Don't deny it, Malfoy. You have more hair care products in the bathroom than I do.*
*That doesn't mean I use them; I didn't today.*
*Only because you didn't have enough time; lazy git.*
*I won't deny that, but I also won't admit to it.*
*Very diplomatic answer, Draco.*
*I thought so.*
*I really do think you do too much to your hair; if you keep it up, you'll be bald by thirty.*
*Bald?*
*Yep; you think that stuff has no effect? Your hair is already paper thin; although quite nice, in my opinion.* Draco raised an eyebrow as he read this.
"Malfoy, add the Aqua cloves before it starts to turn purple," Hermione said out loud, partially to not get in trouble, but partially to distract him from the last sentence written. She could have easily added the cloves herself. Draco was startled slightly, but did as she asked, pausing a moment before going back to their conversation.
*Hermione, can I ask you something? As a friend?*
*Wow, I'm surprised you can even spell my name.*
*Fine, forget it.*
*No, sorry, couldn't resist. What did you want to ask me?*
*Never mind. It's not important.* Hermione scowled.
*I'll kick you if you don't ask me.*
*Yeah ri-*
"Ow!" Draco said fiercely as Hermione kept her word and indeed kicked him. She glared for a moment, then smiled and went back to putting the ingredients in order.
*I really don't think that was necessary.*
*I do. And I warned you.*
*Whatever.*
*Are you going to ask me that question, or am I going to have to kick you again?*
*Okay, okay.* He paused. *What do you think of me? As in attraction-wise?* Draco wrote this quickly, then put all his attention on the potion, acting as if nothing had happened. Hermione read the message, then looked up at him. He didn't even glance at her.
*Looking for another ego booster, are we? I don't know why you're asking ME this.*
*Hey! After all that damn trouble to get me to ask you, you sure as hell better answer me, Granger.*
*Fair enough. I think you're* she paused a moment, thinking, then smirked and looked back down at the paper. *brutally handsome.* Draco read this and smiled.
*And you, my friend, are terminally pretty.* Hermione looked up at him, somewhat surprised. Not only was she taken off guard by the compliment, but...
*Eagles fan?* Draco smiled.
*My Mum.*
*Seems your Mum and I have quite a bit in common.* Draco smiled down at Hermione, who looked straight from the paper to her text book, then chose the last ingredient and handed it to him, smiling. Draco did nothing for a few seconds, then poured the vial into their caldron, causing a small puff of green smoke to billow up and disappear.
"Well, well, well; seems the two most incompetent students have completed their potion first. How ironic. I'd like to... well, actually I wouldn't, but I'm afraid I must see you after class, Mr. Malfoy, Miss Granger," Snape said, causing the whole class to look at them. Draco noticed that the Gryffindor boy in front of him looked quite a bit smug.
*This can't be good,* he wrote and Hermione nodded. Then, she smirked.
*I have an idea. Pass me a couple of those empty vials?* Draco smirked and did as she asked, watching as she fixed each to the vial tongs and filled the little glass tubes with their sea-green potion, then slipped them into her pocket.
*May I ask what this is for?*
*I'll tell you later; although I'm sure you'll figure it out anyway.*
*Fair enough.*
*One more thing? Do me a favor and steal me about an ounce of wolfsbane?*
*Why? If you put it in that, it'll just create an antidote... what good will that do?*
*Like I said, I'll tell you later.*
*Right.*
One by one, each of the groups finished their potions with a puff of smoke. In some cases, it was a bang. Literally. Tad too much jellied stingray. The last group finally finished, however quite unsuccessfully; a black and putrid cloud had risen from their potion, causing half the room to nurse watery eyes, and Snape dismissed the class. Draco and Hermione cleaned up their table, making sure to burn their written conversations, and stayed after as asked. When the last student had left, the prefect couple approached Snape's desk.
"As prefects I would have expected more from you. I see you didn't feel the need to complete this summer's assignment? And do you know the consequences of this choice?" Draco and Hermione's mouths dropped.
"W-What? We did those essays!" Hermione argued, but Draco said nothing. He was silently piecing things together.
"Are you calling me a liar, Miss Granger?" Snape asked, sounding surprised, and Draco brushed his hand against Hermione's arm, causing her to look up at him. He shook his head slightly in warning and she turned back to the potions master.
"No, Sir," she said, but sounded disgusted and glared. Snape stuck his nose up.
"You will serve detention with me every night for the next week between seven and ten, and I expect those assignments in tomorrow, or it'll be another week. Do I make myself clear?" Hermione was about ready to pounce on Snape; she stepped up to his desk and leaned in, teeth bared. Draco, sensing danger, stepped in, taking hold of her arm to remind her that attacking a teacher wouldn't be such a good idea.
"Of course, sir. We'll be there," Draco said and Hermione looked back at him. He nodded and she turned back to Snape.
"Yes, Professor. Delighted," she said, voice dripping with sarcasm.
"I should take points for your tongue, Miss Granger, but considering your house is already negative about a hundred and fifty or so, I'll have mercy. Now leave my classroom."
"Come on, Granger," Draco said, pulling Hermione away from Snape's desk. She came, but with great reluctance.
Once out the door, Hermione burst out laughing. Draco looked at her as if she were insane.
"Oh, that was almost as much fun as waking you up this morning," she said, regaining herself.
"Did I miss something?" She nodded.
"Maybe." Hermione pulled up the sleeve of her robes and opened her clenched fist, revealing a small glass vial nestled between her fingers. At the very bottom, a tiny blue-green drop was still lingering. Draco looked suspicious.
"What did you do, Hermione?" he asked and she smirked.
"Just put today's lesson to use, is all."
"You didn't!"
"Indeed I did. Professor Snape may find that his coffee tastes a tiny bit sour this evening."
"Oh, you're hardcore, aren't you?"
"Indeed. I just have one question."
"Yes?"
"Why the hell didn't he get our essays?! I'm not too happy about a week of detentions, even if it gave me the opportunity for a brilliant joke...what happened?" she asked and Draco scowled.
"I'm not exactly sure, but I think it may have had something to do with that hairy kid who was sitting in front of me... he looked way too pleased with himself when Snape told us to stay after." Hermione narrowed her eyes, looking away from her fellow prefect.
"Why must those Gryffindor conspire against me?"
"Well, you DID lost them a hundred house points," Draco pointed out and Hermione smirked.
"Yeah, I did... didn't I? Ha! As if they have any chance of winning without me answering all those damn questions. And I refuse to do it, too. I'm not answering a single one this year... I don't care who thinks I've gone crazy... nope."
"What if I think you've gone crazy?"
"Then you're pathetically unobservant," she said, smiling up at him.
"To Transfiguration?"
"Lead the way."
A/N: Haha... no I'm not going to make the whole day like that... I'm skipping to lunch after this, I think. And those of you who don't understand, Mione put the pheromone potion in Snape's coffee... hehe, this should be interesting.
PRF: Whoa! 100 reviews! Yeah!
Draco JAE: We'll see about the action... lol; I've got some plans!
Clover: Haha, lots of questions, one answer: You'll find out!
Mysticpixie: thanx!
Kat-tak: Thanx, too!
Starry Skies: Hehe, you mean... NOW? Sorry about the cliffies, but I like you all to suffer! (But you can avoid this surrounded in black sheets with Draco's arms wrapped around you... hehe, we all wish)
Little Witch: Sorry! You're special now! And that's the impression I wanted you to get, so go you with picking up on the jealousy thing!
Tom*Feltons*Babe: I know... MPES was written in a very depressing manner... I really should edit it though; some of those parts are... bad. There's no other word for it. Lol. Thanx for reading, and I'm updating as fast as I can!
Crystalline Lily: Well, yeah... duh, of course they have feelings for each other! Otherwise they wouldn't have had their little conversations with Eglamour! Lol.
Ezmerelda: Thanx! I'm enjoying writing this story anyway! Lol.
Erilyn Rose: Not a lot of jealousy... mostly just fun stuff... but yes, Mione had her moment there... lol
Some1: Lol, okay... horrible, mind-numbing, huh? Maybe just a little longer then.... j/k! Lol, thanx! ~Some2
Sleepy-kitty: Lol, so would I! And I swear on my life the only reason he kissed MANDY was for plot development... okay and maybe a little for playing out of my fantasies... shut up! Lol!
Silver Dragon Goddess: I love proof reading; I do it like five hundred times... even for FOE I write it with ink, then go back and read it, then continue writing, then go back and see how they fit together, then type it, then re read it, then re read it again before I post it... tons of fun fun fun! I've re-read this fic about a hundred times; it's good though, it helps me think of connections I can make between the beginning and my current position... such as when Hermione said 'and we know your memory isn't up to par' or when Draco was thinking about her laughing in his bed... those were from previous chapters... and stuff. Yeah, I'm babbling...and don't we just love torturing the cute ones?
Tainted Black: For you, I hope it's a guy too... for me, I won't let it be anything other... lol. About the glasses, I was actually going to make him wear them during class but for one I thought that might be a little too obvious and for two, there was no really good place to put that in. Yeah, he'll probably wear them in their rooms, but he was wearing them before too... when they were listening to music in the common room. So I don't know... Yeah, she's a tad on the jealous side, but as you can see, Draco made it all better! Hehe. Lol, I can't believe you actually searched to see if HEX was a real band... talk about a devoted fan, lol! Thanx!
**NOTE** from now on, anything in *'s is writing, since they seem to do quite a bit of it... ex. *Go back to sleep, Granger*
Last time on LGG:
"Hey, were the winers still in the common room when you came downstairs?" she asked and Draco smirked evilly.
"Oh, indeed."
"Well, what did you do to them?" Draco put on the most suspicious innocent look in history and blinked.
"You'll never guess."
"That's why I'm not trying; just tell me, damn it," Hermione demanded, still smiling.
"I kissed Brocklehurst; right in front of MacDougal," he said and Hermione felt her heart unexpectedly drop, along with her smile.
"You w-what?"
~*~*~*~
CHAPTER NINE: Give a Little, Get a Little, Live a Little
Draco smirked.
"Yep; I know, isn't it great? You should have seen the look on his face, Granger; it was hilarious."
"Yeah..." Hermione said somewhat quietly and turned her face back to her papers, her expression blank. Draco looked curiously at her. Was it just him or did she not seem happy about this? Then, he thought of something.
"Hey," he said and she looked up at him, face unexpressive. "Are you... mad at me?"
"Why do you always think I'm mad at you?" she asked, showing no emotion and turning to stare at Snape's empty desk. Draco looked at her for a moment.
"I don't know, you're just so damn hard to read," he said and she shook her head dispassionately. "I didn't REALLY kiss her, you know. I just..." he said, then paused while he repeated his act on Hermione, kissing her cheek softly. "Kissed her." Hermione, although she felt happier than she had in a long time, simply shrugged.
"Hey, it's none of my business who you kiss and how," she said, looking down at her desk and attempting to hide her amazingly large smile. Draco smirked at her; he knew she did care who he kissed, and it added a gallon or two to that already overflowing bucket of confidence.
"Do you know where Eg is? I didn't see him upstairs," he asked and Hermione smiled at the change in subject. She turned to him again.
"I let him out hours before you woke up; he likes to chase the mice, and the castle is full of them. He'll be back by dinnertime; don't worry," she said and Draco smiled.
"Hey, where's Snape? Shouldn't he be here by now?"
"I don't know; I'm not his own personal stalker. Maybe someone glued him to the floor," she provided and Draco smiled.
"I doubt it; we're not that lucky." Hermione smirked evilly.
"Well, then maybe we should."
"Right behind you," Draco provided and they both laughed. Then, Hermione was hit with a random curse, causing a large amount of dainty white flowers to infest her hair. Draco was somewhat intrigued by this, but Hermione was furious. She stood up and addressed the room.
"ALRIGHT, WHO DID THAT?!" she yelled, causing every person in the room to look at her. "TELL ME RIGHT NOW! Do I look like I wanted pretty little hair accessories? Hm? Do I SEEM like the kind of person who'd ENJOY wearing decaying plants as fashion paraphernalia?" No one said a word. "ANSWER ME, DAMMIT!"
"Miss Granger. Fifty points from Gryffindor for foul language and class disruption, now sit down," said a cold voice from behind her and Hermione whipped around to face the doorway. There stood Snape, looking just as greasy and annoyed as ever. She immediately sat; her mouth open slightly, surprised to see the Professor standing there.
"FIFTY? Isn't that a little extreme, Professor?" Draco asked, sounding just as shocked as most of the Gryffindors. The rest of the Slytherin glared, and Snape narrowed his eyes at the prefect.
"Congratulations, Mr. Malfoy. You've just lost Gryffindor another twenty points," he said, then strode up to his desk; the speech and entrance forgotten. Twenty Gryffindor mouths dropped to the floor.
"But he's not even IN Gryffindor!" Harry argued, earning himself a glare from Snape.
"Astute observation, Mr. Potter. Do you wish to have an unrecoverable lack of points by the end of this class? Then I suggest you do not speak to me in that tone." Harry shut up, but his girlfriend, who was still on his lap and already angry for the break in their snog session, crossed her arms and scowled, causing Snape to notice her. "I do not believe you are a part of this class, Miss Abbot. Might I suggest you leave before I am forced to take points from Hufflepuff?" Hannah obeyed, but not before giving Harry one last kiss. Draco leaned close to Hermione's ear.
"Sorry," he said and she turned to him, a little surprised. She shrugged and began pulling the tiny flowers from her hair and collecting them in a pile on the desk. "You know, I wonder why Weasley doesn't care that his best friend is playing his sister... even I would stand up for my own flesh and blood," Draco said in a whisper, looking toward the red-headed boy beside the wizarding equivalent to a teenage Don Juan. Ron was staring at a fly near the ceiling; easily distracted from the lesson being taught.
"Well, he's not too quick on the uptake; probably didn't even realize that Harry's escapades would be filed under 'cheating'." She sighed angrily. "I swear to god, if I wasn't mad at Ginny, I'd kick both of their asses...it is just so like them to..."
"Miss Granger! Must you continue to interrupt my class? Ten more points from Gryffindor." Hermione scowled; she'd had quite enough of the all mighty professor Snape.
"You say that as if I really give a damn. Why not twenty points? Thirty? God, just take a hundred; you'll end up taking them anyway," she said, surprising all but one member of the class; the minority just happened to be sitting next to her, a smirk on his 'pretty little pureblooded face'. Snape was literally at a loss for words. He struggled for a moment, then regained himself.
"Excellent suggestion, Miss Granger. One hundred points from Gryffindor. Now, back to my lecture..." But no one was listening. Every person in the room stared at the prefect couple in the back; half the class with impressed looks of shock, the other with vicious glares. Hermione looked to Draco, who smiled, then shrugged and continued to pull the flowers from her hair. It wasn't long before she noticed that the supply never ended. Be damned with the illogical continuum of magic... she scowled and crossed her arms, not even bothering to take notes. Snape was lecturing them on the pheromone potion... the same potion they had been assigned to write about. Anyone with even the smallest amount of ambition in research would know every detail he spoke of.
She sat quietly for a while, glaring at the teacher in the front of the room, lips pursed and eyes narrowed. Draco made frequent glances; unable to get the image of her laughing in his bed that morning out of his mind. How could she be so pretty when happy, but still so gorgeous when furious? Hermione didn't notice Draco staring at her until he subtly slid a piece of parchment in front of her. There was one short line written at the top.
*Hey, you alright?* Hermione couldn't help but smile, and when she looked at Draco, he smiled too. Picking up the quill she hadn't even bothered to ink yet, Hermione dipped it in the pot and began a reply.
*I am really not enjoying my 'new look'.* She slid the paper an inch toward him and Draco wrote back.
*Why? Too happy for you?*
*Quite the opposite, actually. I find it rather disturbing that there are dead things in my hair, but this might just be one of those Granger qualities.*
*That other thing in your hair is just as dead as the flowers, if not more.*
*My hair-tie is not dead; my hair-tie is inanimate. It was never alive. There is no organism on the planet which would use my hair-tie as a source of nutrition. Therefore, I am not a hypocrite.*
*I never called you a hypocrite.*
*Not directly.* Draco sighed.
*I think they look nice.*
*I think they're disgusting.*
*Must you be so difficult?* Hermione smirked.
*Would I be me if I weren't?* He smiled.
*No, I suppose not.*
*Just remember that.*
*Oh, I will.*
*Good.*
*Good.*
*Quite.*
*Always have to have the last word, don't you Granger?*
*So what if I do?*
*Well, you won't this time.*
*Oh, won't I?*
*No, you won't.*
*Well, Malfoy we'll see abou*
"Now, pass forward your summer assignments; any of you who felt my class unimportant and do not turn in your essay to me today will receive a week of detentions. Hurry up, then!" Snape said irritably, scowling as he paced across the room. Hermione looked up, forced to stop her immature note passing and collect their papers. She gathered both her essay and Draco's into a pile and passed them to the girl in front of her, who just happened to be a Gryffindor. She glared as she snatched the parchment from Hermione's hand and Hermione hissed, much like Eglamour had to Harry and Ron. Draco seemed to think this act was hilarious and he laughed silently as Hermione smirked and sat back in her seat. The Gryffindor girl glared and turned around. She began to place her pile over theirs, but the housemate beside her grabbed her wrist.
"You're not really going to just hand those in, are you?" whispered the boy.
"Well, what am I supposed to do, Nick? Set them on fire?" Nick smirked evilly.
"Maybe later... just put them in your bag, Claire. Pay Granger back for those points." Claire actually seemed to contemplate this. She looked uncertainly at the two piles in her hand.
"What about Malfoy?"
"He lost us points too... and he's being nice to Granger. Come on, Claire, just do it! They deserve a couple detentions!" Nick whispered fiercely.
"Mr. Arenz! Miss Gouvas! Do you plan on passing up those assignments before the next goblin rebellion?" called Snape angrily. Claire looked uneasily at Nick, who nodded in approval.
"Yes, sorry Professor," she said and handed the girl in front of her the pile in one of her hands, shoving the other nonchalantly in her potions textbook. The dishonest girl wore an insanely guilty expression, but the boy beside her smirked evilly.
~
Meanwhile, at the table behind them... Hermione leaned back in her chair. She said nothing for a moment, then sat up, remembering the written conversation. She smirked as she picked up her quill, but her expression dropped when she discovered she had nothing to write on. She turned to Draco, eyebrows knitted.
"Where's that paper we were writing on?" she asked in a whisper, keeping an eye on Snape. Draco looked around the table for a moment, then thought of something and started laughing silently. "What?" Hermione asked, smiling herself.
"I think you just handed it in with our essays..." he said and she laughed too.
"Oh, shit," Hermione whispered; "He'll kill us."
*How's he going to know who it was?* Draco wrote, using a new sheet of parchment.
*Because we both wrote names at one point or another,* she wrote back and he laughed again.
*Oh yeah; but there's no proof that we were doing it in class... maybe we just have weird written conversations while we sit in the common room.*
*No, we were talking about my flowers; he'll know.*
*Well, at least we didn't say 'Snape is such a poser; I heard from a very reliable source that he enjoys oil massages in his free time; often wearing a frilly pink bath robe and matching bunny slippers.'*
*Great job, now we have to make sure he doesn't see this one... and we both know your memory isn't exactly up to par.*
*Once again, you have no proof of that.*
*I suppose that's true.*
*Of course it is; would I just leave incriminating evidence all over the place?* Hermione laughed.
*I'm not one to admit that I don't know something, but would you happen to know how to stop this damn flower spell? I think I might be allergic.* Draco laughed too.
*Sure,* he wrote, then flicked his wand at her. All the flowers fell from her hair and onto the floor around her, where they dissolved. Hermione wore a big smile as she pulled out her hair tie, letting the wave of ebony hair cascade down her back.
*Thanks,* she wrote before gathering her hair to tie up again, but Draco stopped her.
"Don't," he whispered, taking her hand. Hermione looked up at him and Draco smiled, then took the hair-tie from her wrist and tucked in daintily in his inside robe pocket. Hermione watched this, a little surprised, but Draco simply smiled again, then turned to listen to Snape talk about their next assignment... but not before sliding his arm over the back of her chair, enjoying the tickling tingle of her dark hair on his pale skin. Still a tad confused, but not bothered in the least, Hermione leaned back, letting her curtain douse over his arm. Unnoticed by her, Draco shivered a bit.
~*~*~*~
When Snape was finally satisfied with his lecture and announced it complete, he ordered the class to create a pheromone potion in their groups, while he began to look through the essays. The students silently got to work; including Draco and Hermione. What looked like observations was actually another ink born debate.
*I do NOT have girly fingernails.*
*Yes you do, dammit; here compare them to mine.* Hermione wrote, let him read, then reached for one of the ingredients. Draco, however reluctantly, reached for the one next to it. He scowled at the two digits, then swiped his hand away. Hermione dropped in her potion component, then picked up her quill.
*Told you; they're shaped exactly the same. Have you ever had a manicure?* Draco looked at the sentence and opened his mouth in shock.
*No!*
*It's okay; I won't tell, I promise. Nothing to be ashamed of, really; lots of men have.*
*Really?*
*No.* Draco scowled at her as he stirred with the other hand. *Well, some. Really, really vain men.*
*Or really, really, gay men; neither of which am I.* Hermione snorted.
*I'll take you word for the latter claim, but the previous might take a little convincing.*
*Oh, come on! Not only are you accusing me of having feminine fingernails, which I do not, you think I'm obsessed with my appearance? Who am I, Prince?*
*Or the artist formally known as Prince.*
*Oh, good one.* He rolled his eyes, suggesting sarcasm.
*Don't deny it, Malfoy. You have more hair care products in the bathroom than I do.*
*That doesn't mean I use them; I didn't today.*
*Only because you didn't have enough time; lazy git.*
*I won't deny that, but I also won't admit to it.*
*Very diplomatic answer, Draco.*
*I thought so.*
*I really do think you do too much to your hair; if you keep it up, you'll be bald by thirty.*
*Bald?*
*Yep; you think that stuff has no effect? Your hair is already paper thin; although quite nice, in my opinion.* Draco raised an eyebrow as he read this.
"Malfoy, add the Aqua cloves before it starts to turn purple," Hermione said out loud, partially to not get in trouble, but partially to distract him from the last sentence written. She could have easily added the cloves herself. Draco was startled slightly, but did as she asked, pausing a moment before going back to their conversation.
*Hermione, can I ask you something? As a friend?*
*Wow, I'm surprised you can even spell my name.*
*Fine, forget it.*
*No, sorry, couldn't resist. What did you want to ask me?*
*Never mind. It's not important.* Hermione scowled.
*I'll kick you if you don't ask me.*
*Yeah ri-*
"Ow!" Draco said fiercely as Hermione kept her word and indeed kicked him. She glared for a moment, then smiled and went back to putting the ingredients in order.
*I really don't think that was necessary.*
*I do. And I warned you.*
*Whatever.*
*Are you going to ask me that question, or am I going to have to kick you again?*
*Okay, okay.* He paused. *What do you think of me? As in attraction-wise?* Draco wrote this quickly, then put all his attention on the potion, acting as if nothing had happened. Hermione read the message, then looked up at him. He didn't even glance at her.
*Looking for another ego booster, are we? I don't know why you're asking ME this.*
*Hey! After all that damn trouble to get me to ask you, you sure as hell better answer me, Granger.*
*Fair enough. I think you're* she paused a moment, thinking, then smirked and looked back down at the paper. *brutally handsome.* Draco read this and smiled.
*And you, my friend, are terminally pretty.* Hermione looked up at him, somewhat surprised. Not only was she taken off guard by the compliment, but...
*Eagles fan?* Draco smiled.
*My Mum.*
*Seems your Mum and I have quite a bit in common.* Draco smiled down at Hermione, who looked straight from the paper to her text book, then chose the last ingredient and handed it to him, smiling. Draco did nothing for a few seconds, then poured the vial into their caldron, causing a small puff of green smoke to billow up and disappear.
"Well, well, well; seems the two most incompetent students have completed their potion first. How ironic. I'd like to... well, actually I wouldn't, but I'm afraid I must see you after class, Mr. Malfoy, Miss Granger," Snape said, causing the whole class to look at them. Draco noticed that the Gryffindor boy in front of him looked quite a bit smug.
*This can't be good,* he wrote and Hermione nodded. Then, she smirked.
*I have an idea. Pass me a couple of those empty vials?* Draco smirked and did as she asked, watching as she fixed each to the vial tongs and filled the little glass tubes with their sea-green potion, then slipped them into her pocket.
*May I ask what this is for?*
*I'll tell you later; although I'm sure you'll figure it out anyway.*
*Fair enough.*
*One more thing? Do me a favor and steal me about an ounce of wolfsbane?*
*Why? If you put it in that, it'll just create an antidote... what good will that do?*
*Like I said, I'll tell you later.*
*Right.*
One by one, each of the groups finished their potions with a puff of smoke. In some cases, it was a bang. Literally. Tad too much jellied stingray. The last group finally finished, however quite unsuccessfully; a black and putrid cloud had risen from their potion, causing half the room to nurse watery eyes, and Snape dismissed the class. Draco and Hermione cleaned up their table, making sure to burn their written conversations, and stayed after as asked. When the last student had left, the prefect couple approached Snape's desk.
"As prefects I would have expected more from you. I see you didn't feel the need to complete this summer's assignment? And do you know the consequences of this choice?" Draco and Hermione's mouths dropped.
"W-What? We did those essays!" Hermione argued, but Draco said nothing. He was silently piecing things together.
"Are you calling me a liar, Miss Granger?" Snape asked, sounding surprised, and Draco brushed his hand against Hermione's arm, causing her to look up at him. He shook his head slightly in warning and she turned back to the potions master.
"No, Sir," she said, but sounded disgusted and glared. Snape stuck his nose up.
"You will serve detention with me every night for the next week between seven and ten, and I expect those assignments in tomorrow, or it'll be another week. Do I make myself clear?" Hermione was about ready to pounce on Snape; she stepped up to his desk and leaned in, teeth bared. Draco, sensing danger, stepped in, taking hold of her arm to remind her that attacking a teacher wouldn't be such a good idea.
"Of course, sir. We'll be there," Draco said and Hermione looked back at him. He nodded and she turned back to Snape.
"Yes, Professor. Delighted," she said, voice dripping with sarcasm.
"I should take points for your tongue, Miss Granger, but considering your house is already negative about a hundred and fifty or so, I'll have mercy. Now leave my classroom."
"Come on, Granger," Draco said, pulling Hermione away from Snape's desk. She came, but with great reluctance.
Once out the door, Hermione burst out laughing. Draco looked at her as if she were insane.
"Oh, that was almost as much fun as waking you up this morning," she said, regaining herself.
"Did I miss something?" She nodded.
"Maybe." Hermione pulled up the sleeve of her robes and opened her clenched fist, revealing a small glass vial nestled between her fingers. At the very bottom, a tiny blue-green drop was still lingering. Draco looked suspicious.
"What did you do, Hermione?" he asked and she smirked.
"Just put today's lesson to use, is all."
"You didn't!"
"Indeed I did. Professor Snape may find that his coffee tastes a tiny bit sour this evening."
"Oh, you're hardcore, aren't you?"
"Indeed. I just have one question."
"Yes?"
"Why the hell didn't he get our essays?! I'm not too happy about a week of detentions, even if it gave me the opportunity for a brilliant joke...what happened?" she asked and Draco scowled.
"I'm not exactly sure, but I think it may have had something to do with that hairy kid who was sitting in front of me... he looked way too pleased with himself when Snape told us to stay after." Hermione narrowed her eyes, looking away from her fellow prefect.
"Why must those Gryffindor conspire against me?"
"Well, you DID lost them a hundred house points," Draco pointed out and Hermione smirked.
"Yeah, I did... didn't I? Ha! As if they have any chance of winning without me answering all those damn questions. And I refuse to do it, too. I'm not answering a single one this year... I don't care who thinks I've gone crazy... nope."
"What if I think you've gone crazy?"
"Then you're pathetically unobservant," she said, smiling up at him.
"To Transfiguration?"
"Lead the way."
A/N: Haha... no I'm not going to make the whole day like that... I'm skipping to lunch after this, I think. And those of you who don't understand, Mione put the pheromone potion in Snape's coffee... hehe, this should be interesting.
PRF: Whoa! 100 reviews! Yeah!
Draco JAE: We'll see about the action... lol; I've got some plans!
Clover: Haha, lots of questions, one answer: You'll find out!
Mysticpixie: thanx!
Kat-tak: Thanx, too!
Starry Skies: Hehe, you mean... NOW? Sorry about the cliffies, but I like you all to suffer! (But you can avoid this surrounded in black sheets with Draco's arms wrapped around you... hehe, we all wish)
Little Witch: Sorry! You're special now! And that's the impression I wanted you to get, so go you with picking up on the jealousy thing!
Tom*Feltons*Babe: I know... MPES was written in a very depressing manner... I really should edit it though; some of those parts are... bad. There's no other word for it. Lol. Thanx for reading, and I'm updating as fast as I can!
Crystalline Lily: Well, yeah... duh, of course they have feelings for each other! Otherwise they wouldn't have had their little conversations with Eglamour! Lol.
Ezmerelda: Thanx! I'm enjoying writing this story anyway! Lol.
Erilyn Rose: Not a lot of jealousy... mostly just fun stuff... but yes, Mione had her moment there... lol
Some1: Lol, okay... horrible, mind-numbing, huh? Maybe just a little longer then.... j/k! Lol, thanx! ~Some2
Sleepy-kitty: Lol, so would I! And I swear on my life the only reason he kissed MANDY was for plot development... okay and maybe a little for playing out of my fantasies... shut up! Lol!
Silver Dragon Goddess: I love proof reading; I do it like five hundred times... even for FOE I write it with ink, then go back and read it, then continue writing, then go back and see how they fit together, then type it, then re read it, then re read it again before I post it... tons of fun fun fun! I've re-read this fic about a hundred times; it's good though, it helps me think of connections I can make between the beginning and my current position... such as when Hermione said 'and we know your memory isn't up to par' or when Draco was thinking about her laughing in his bed... those were from previous chapters... and stuff. Yeah, I'm babbling...and don't we just love torturing the cute ones?
Tainted Black: For you, I hope it's a guy too... for me, I won't let it be anything other... lol. About the glasses, I was actually going to make him wear them during class but for one I thought that might be a little too obvious and for two, there was no really good place to put that in. Yeah, he'll probably wear them in their rooms, but he was wearing them before too... when they were listening to music in the common room. So I don't know... Yeah, she's a tad on the jealous side, but as you can see, Draco made it all better! Hehe. Lol, I can't believe you actually searched to see if HEX was a real band... talk about a devoted fan, lol! Thanx!