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Last time on LGG:
"I can't believe this! My own student!? A member of MY house!? Just wait until I tell his father..." called the loud booming voice of Professor Severus Snape from down the hall. Draco winced slightly.
"I'd forgotten about that," he said to himself, then looked to Hermione. "You better go, or you'll get in trouble too."
"Fuck you, I'm staying right here. Think I'll just run away and let you take all the credit for that stunt, hm? Think again," Hermione said, mock angrily, crossing her arms. Draco smiled. She really was amazing.
.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: Mr. Key Gets 100%
"MALFOY!" Snape yelled as he burst through the door. "I-" he started, but then noticed Hermione. "What are you Granger, his shadow?" Hermione narrowed her eyes and Snape looked from her to Draco and back again. "Are you dating?" he asked with the tone of a deceived parent and Draco and Hermione looked to each other. Hermione gave him a 'don't look at me' look and Draco smirked, which Snape took as a yes. "What's wrong with you, Malfoy? A year ago, you'd never not hand in one of my assignments, then disrespect me in front of the entire school, then date a... a..."
"A WHAT Professor?" McGonagall, who had followed Snape, asked momentarily forgetting about the incident in the great hall and taking on her 'all will respect me and my ways' demeanor again. Snape sighed.
"That's not the point. Miss Granger, I'll have to ask you to leave, unless of course you had something to do with this?" Snape said, expecting her to, like everyone else, bow down to him and do as he asked, but Hermione stood her ground.
"I had everything to do with this. It was my idea and I played out most of the parts. All Draco did was save you from more mindless torture... well, and help me make the potion, but you assigned it, so it's not fair to punish him on that." Both McGonagall and Snape dropped their jaws.
"True," Draco said. "But I also knew every of your plans and not only didn't say anything, I offered to help. I'm an accomplice." The teachers turned to him as he spoke. Hermione shrugged slightly.
"That's justified," she said as if they were having a private conversation, then both prefects turned to the professors. "Well?" Draco said. Snape got over their confessions quickly and burned in anger.
"You are both suspended. Well, technically, I can only suspend you, Malfoy. Your little girlfriend is up to Minerva."
"You bet your broom you are! You shall finish this week. The train will take you back to the station on Saturday, and I don't wish to see either of you again for at least another week," McGonagall said and Snape sneered.
"Two." She looked up at him, then back to the students.
"Yes, two. Run along to your classes now; don't be slacking off... I've got my eye on you... and I'll be owling both of your parents." McGonagall turned and left the room.
"Don't forget; you've already got four more detentions with me," Snape said, following her. Draco turned to Hermione.
"You didn't have to do that." She smirked.
"What kind of a girlfriend would I be if I let my man take all the rap for my backfires?" she asked and Draco smiled for a moment, then it dropped again.
"Are your parents going to be mad?" She frowned and shrugged.
"They won't even know. Even if I wrote them, they never take anything from owls, it freaks them out... and they check their mail about once a month. I'll have to take a bus from the station; a perfectly vile way to return to my perfectly vile home." She shrugged. "Better off than you, I bet. Your dad'll be pissed, huh?"
"Nah. He can't do anything, or he gets time-out, remember? Plus I get suspended all the time."
"Really? I've never noticed..." she said as if she seriously was surprised that she hadn't. Draco shrugged.
"It was usually only for a few days... never this long." Hermione looked down.
"Sorry." Draco smiled.
"It was so incredibly worth it. You should have seen it," he said with a sad sigh. "You're brilliant." Hermione smiled.
"Gee, thanks. We should go to class," she said, standing. Draco did the same.
"Yeah."
~*~*~*~
*You know what we should do?* Draco wrote on his parchment, then moved his hand aside to show Hermione. They'd missed potions entirely, but Snape had almost as well, so it wasn't mentioned, and now were in Transfiguration. McGonagall had changed their seats, placing them in the very front where she could 'keep an eye on them'. This time around, they each had separate pieces of paper so it would look even more inconspicuous.
*What?* Hermione wrote back. *Can we use the glue? It's still in my pocket.* Draco smiled.
*I was thinking more along the lines of you coming home with me for suspension.* Hermione paused for quite a long moment.
*What?*
*Hermione, we're writing. If you didn't catch it, read it over.* She laughed and McGonagall glared, so Hermione quickly made it into a fake cough.
*Why do you want me to do that?*
*It just seemed like you didn't want to go home.*
*You don't have to feel sorry for me; I never asked you to.*
*Okay, so maybe I want you to. What do you think?*
*I think you've contracted your father's mental illness. Do you forget who I am, Draco? I'm Mudblood Granger; Gryffindor prefect. Your house is probably cursed against people like me.*
*Actually, it used to be... but not anymore. So, is that a no?* Hermione looked up at him, but Draco kept his eyes on her paper. He looked on the verge of disappointment.
*No, but it's not a yes either. Can we talk about this later?* Draco sighed.
*Yeah, sure,* he wrote, leaning back and starting a doodle on the bottom of the paper. Hermione looked sadly at him.
*Are you okay?* Draco didn't stop his doodles. *So now you're not talking to me?* He sighed and replied.
*We're going to talk later, remember?*
"Right..." Hermione said quietly, tossing down her quill.
"Something you'd like to add, Miss Granger?" asked an obviously grudging Professor McGonagall.
"No, Professor."
~*~*~*~
Draco didn't so much as look at her during Charms and Hermione was beginning to feel a little bit down. Why was he so mad? She hadn't said anything, really... only that then wasn't a good time to talk about it. Did he honestly expect her to jump for joy and ask if they could leave right away? There was so much telling her to just say no; that death wasn't worth Draco... but she just couldn't say that and mean it.
After leaving Professor Flitwick, Draco quickly veered away, leaving Hermione to walk to the kitchens alone. She frowned. Hermione had been planning to talk to him then... but she wouldn't go near the great hall again, and he seemed to be using that against her.
"Well, I guess that means he doesn't want to talk to me... nobody does," she said quietly, slowly making her way toward the one place she still had friends. After a few minutes of solitude, Hermione picked up her pace. For the first time since the train ride, she had an unbearable urge to write.
~
Draco did indeed purposely avoid Hermione throughout the second half of transfiguration, then charms, and left her alone for lunch... but it wasn't because he was angry with her. It was because he needed some time to think. When he'd asked her, he hadn't really thought about it... but she was right. Lucius would have a month of time outs for physical harming if she came over. His mother wouldn't mind... she had more toleration than her husband... but how could he have expected Hermione to just say yes? She was right, though. They did need to talk about it.
"Detention," he decided; provided Snape left them unattended again.
~*~*~*~
"Are you mad at me?" Hermione asked as she took her seat next to Draco for CMC, who was looking blankly at the table in front of him. He didn't say anything... he didn't know what to say. "Please talk to me; I didn't mean to sound unappreciative or anything, I just..." Draco turned to her, a little surprised.
"I'm not mad at you, why should I be?" Hermione looked sadly at him.
"You were avoiding me." He looked confused, although he knew exactly what she was talking about.
"No I wasn't."
"Yes you were! You wouldn't talk to me all through Transfiguration, didn't acknowledge my presence in Charms, and ditched me for lunch. That seems like avoidation to me."
"Avoidation isn't a word."
"I don't care," she said, giving up on trying to make peace and crossing her arms over the table, placing her chin on her hands.
"I wasn't avoiding you, and I'm not mad at you. You said we were going to talk later, so I didn't talk then... I told you that. I didn't mean to ignore you or whatever in Charms, but I was honestly trying to pay attention. I still have no idea what today's topic even was... Flitwick's voice is so annoying it's like it's programmed to tune itself out... and I told you I was going to the great hall for lunch."
"No you didn't."
"Yes I did, right before we went to breakfast. You said you'd rather wash Snape's hair." Hermione sat up straight.
"Oh my god, you're right... you did tell me that." Draco smiled.
"Want to do me a favor?" She turned to him. "Go get the unicorn hairs? I have a bad history with things that pure. I once touched a phoenix and it molted on the spot... creepy." Hermione laughed.
"Sure."
~*~*~*~
Once Hagrid dismissed the class, Draco and Hermione decided to go back to their common room and continue working on the unicorn project. Hagrid had told them they needed to have it nearly completed before the end of the week, due to the fact they wouldn't have contact for two of the four given. Or at least that's what he thought.
"We've got to go, Snape'll be pissed if we're so much as a second late," Draco said and Hermione nodded, but didn't make any attempt to move. They were both on the floor, sitting cross-legged while they took notes, books strewn about between them. Hermione was currently writing one of the ingredients lists and seemed determined to finish it. Draco smiled as she dotted a few 'I's and placed the paper on a pile of already written out ones. "Take a note, Granger."
"I'm not your fucking secretary, take your own damn note," she said dispassionately and stacked the pile a little more neatly.
"Oh, but you'll like this one. Trust me," he insisted and, because of curiosity, Hermione sighed and complied, placing her quill in position and looking sarcastically attentive. Draco rolled his eyes. "Headline: Things to Get Revenge Upon." Hermione's lips curled into a smile as she wrote it.
"Why things and not people?"
"Because. Number one) Mrs. Norris." She laughed.
"Agreed. Number two?"
"We still have to get Arenz and Gouvas." Hermione nodded. "And Potter and Weasley." She looked up. "As fun as that was, I'm going to have to classify it under Snape. All your friends got was a few moments of rejection and a kick in the gut. Not nearly justified." Hermione thought for a moment, then shook her shoulders and agreed, writing down Harry and Ron.
"Filch," she said and he nodded.
"Lucius." Hermione looked up again. Draco smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "Might as well have some fun if I have to go back home." She made no reaction as she wrote it down.
"Parkinson."
"Most definitely. Brocklehurst and MacDougal."
"I think that was a given," Hermione said with a dark smile. "Lavender, Ginny, and Hannah just because I hate them."
"Agreed. Froth and Lance." For the third time, Hermione looked up. "They just seemed like real jerks. If you go home, might as well give them a run through, right?" She shuddered.
"You don't know the half of it. But I can't touch them. My Mum'll kill me... three months later when she finds out about it. It sucks when your parents' friends have kids your age... it's not like I wanted to be with them just because our parents are all friendly. I really don't like those guys," she said and wrote their names down.
"I can come help if you want; we'll make a day of it." Hermione laughed. "What about Snape and McGonagall? They DID suspend us."
"Yeah, but we DID make them practically fuck in the great hall... in front of everyone. I'd say this punishment is justified."
"I'm surprised you even saw that." Hermione batted her eyelashes.
"I just couldn't keep my eyes off that hottie of a potions master we have." Draco winced and she laughed. "Speaking of which, let's continue this later; fourteen is a good start, and I'd really like to not get into any more trouble today... just today." Hermione placed her clipboard atop her pile of papers, making sure to fold the list and tuck it into her pocket for safe keeping... just in case. Draco agreed and they headed off to detention.
~*~*~*~
"Glad to see you could make it, prefects. Do you enjoy being fashionably late?" said the icy voice of Snape before they even entered the room. Both Draco and Hermione stopped momentarily to wince, then continued into the room where their potion master sat at his desk.
"Good evening, Professor," Draco said, not mockingly, but Snape sneered just the same.
"Wands," he said and held out his hand. With a sigh, both prefects handed over their prized possessions. "Good. Now..." Snape's lips curled into an evil smirk. "The substitute this morning made a little error in reading the lesson plan, and instead of instructing the students to start the next project, he handed out a practice OWLS exam. Surprisingly, everyone finished. I'd like you to grade these." Hermione and Draco looked stunned. The owls had three hundred questions, but if it were only the first class... that meant there would only be about 20 tests... they'd be done within an hour... what was Snape playing at?
"That's it?" Hermione asked, glad to be rid of the aching feeling the last two days with Snape had earned her, and the potions master's smile doubled.
"Yes, that is all. You may leave when you are finished," he said and spun in his chair, pulling a book from the bookcase behind him. Surprisingly or not, the case melted away, displaying a large room with a table, two chairs, and a ten-foot tall stack of papers. The mouths of the prefects opened simultaneously. "Oh, did I forget to mention that, to be fair, I gave the test to the rest of the classes? Go on now; I'll be waiting. Call me when you're finished." Hermione and Draco looked to each other, shocked looks still on their faces, then moved slowly into the room. The bookcase automatically closed behind them.
"Well this is bloody wonderful," Draco said, sitting down angrily in a chair and picking up the top paper. "How are we supposed to do these if we don't even know the answers?"
Hermione walked over to the table, sitting in the other chair. She looked to the paper Draco was looking at and smiled.
"What?" he asked.
"That kid's name is funny. He must get picked on a lot." Draco looked to the designated name blank: Answer Key.
"Oh," he mumbled, feeling pretty stupid, then let his head slam against the table. Hermione giggled.
"Stop your grumbling. If we just do it, we'll get it done faster. And Snape's not here, we can do whatever we want in the meantime." Draco lifted his head and raised an eyebrow.
"Like what?"
"Maybe continue our conversation from Transfiguration." Draco let his head fall again and Hermione smiled. "Here, why don't I take this one, and you can do the next one, alright?" she said and pulled the answer key from below his head, flipping through the pages and pretending to check answers. "Wow, Mr. Key is like a friggin genius." Draco lifted his head slightly and let it fall again. Hermione smiled, then began work comparing the answer key to the first test. Draco sighed and took the next test, comparing as Hermione was.
It was a tad bit more difficult for him, as he was sitting across from her and was forced to read the answers upside down. Hermione knew this and kept her smirk to herself as she watched him crane his neck and scowl as she turned a page he wasn't finished with yet. They worked in silence for a few minutes, then Draco stood in frustration and started toward her, carrying his chair. Hermione was a tad scared.
"What are you doing?" she asked, doing wonderfully at hiding her unease from him. Draco set his chair down and continued toward her, but didn't answer. He stopped once behind Hermione's chair and bent down, lifting it from the ground easily and moving her about a foot to the side. Hermione made a small startled peep as he did this and Draco smiled. Why were her involuntary noises such a turn-on?
Draco then went back to his chair and set it where Hermione's had been, giving himself a better view of the answer key. She smiled.
"You could have just asked me to move it," she said and he shrugged.
"Where's the fun in that?" Hermione shook her head and went back to work. It was a few more minutes before Draco spoke again. "Well, you wanted to talk. Initiate conversation."
"You speak to me as if I'm a machine," she said distractedly, still grading her test. It was taking longer than she would have expected.
"Right now, you're acting like it." Hermione paused long enough to glare. "So, thoughts on my offer, which still stands."
"First of all, I doubt your father would enjoy my presence."
"Very true, but then again, he doesn't enjoy my presence either."
"What about your mother?"
"She's not like him, Hermione."
"I didn't say that... but what are you going to say? 'Hey mum, there's this girl at school who got me suspended. Can she come over?' Not exactly a good first impression," Hermione said, going back to her grading. If they were going to get this done, she was going to need to put at least a little effort toward doing it.
"She doesn't have to know that. I'll tell her it was a misunderstanding, and I got you suspended. She'll believe me."
"So you're going to lie to your mother, just so she'll like me? What a great idea," she said sarcastically. "And then when McGonagall tells her it was all my fault, she can hate me even more."
"Remember when you said that you could go into the kitchens and Avada all the house elves, but Dobby would still like you?"
"Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?"
"My mum spends way too much time around the house elves. She's the same way. They're all she has when I'm not home... frankly, I think she'd love you, if for no other reason, than because you're a girl. All those daughters she wasn't allowed to have? She loves it when Parkinson comes over."
"You let Parkinson within a thousand yards of your house? I shudder to think," Hermione said, pretending to shudder and Draco laughed.
"Hell no. I have a 'we have to be friends because our parents are' situation too. And her parents are the most impolite, snobbish, stuck up people I have ever met in my life. She's like a deluded form of them... I never INVITE her over... she just... comes. One morning, I woke up and found her in my bathtub. To this day I knock before going in there." Hermione laughed.
"Oh man, Draco, I'm sorry," she said, patting him sympathetically on the shoulder. Draco half-smiled.
"So will you come? I promise nothing bad will happen... and Pansy won't be there," he said. "Please?"
"There you go with the begging again..." Hermione said, rolling her eyes.
"Soliciting."
"Right."
"But anyway..." he stuck out his lip in that irresistible way that made Hermione, and almost every other girl he'd shown it to, want to snog him to death on the spot. Hermione bit her lip and let it pop out again, and Draco felt a flutter... she'd done that last night.
"Okay, I'll come... but only if Eglamour can go too." Draco smiled near ecstatically.
"Hell yeah he can. I want him to meet Atrolynn, anyway." Hermione smiled, looking happily up at him. Then, with a sudden movement, Draco captured her lips. Hermione jumped slightly as he did, but got into it soon, kissing him softly, their papers forgotten. Draco dropped his quill and brought his hand to the side of her face, pulling her a little closer. It was quite a while before either of them could find the will to break away, and in the end, it was Hermione.
"We really have to do this," she said, pointing to the still tall stack of papers. Draco smiled and nodded, then moved in to kiss her again. How she managed, Hermione didn't know, but she pushed him away. "Really." With a sigh and a slight frown, Draco nodded again and pulled back, returning to his half finished exam.
A/N: Did I see a little spark there? :oD. Go them.
PRF:
Dark_Dragon: Thanx, and I'll change your email in my addy book if I remember... I will hehe. Thanx.
Daydreamer: Calm down there, kiddo! Lol. I still have quite a bit planned; I have to get all that revenge over with, don't I? I was thinking about stopping it soon and making a sequel, but I've decided that I like the title too much to stop it yet... lol. So, no worries... much more to come.
Starry Skies: I'm jealous; I don't have that yet :o(, but I'll get it sometime! Lol. Deleted scenes rule! And Snape is at his best when cowering below a crowd of love-struck women... hehe.
KittyKat589: Yeah, she likes him... it's totally obvious, lol. And yes, potions master was the best word possible to put in there ;o)
Tom*Feltons*Babe: That chapter I had done a few days early and I saw the movie last weekend for the first time, and I'm like DUDE that is so WEIRD! Lol. I liked the last one, myself. It was kinda nice. And if I killed P+W I wouldn't be able to screw with them anymore!
Silver Dragon Goddess: I LIKED that drooling line! It like... makes your stomach lurch... lol. You're right, I should have made them do a duet... lol. Or had Harry recruit Ron instead of Ginny... lol. That would've been funnier. I'm honored that you come everyday to check up on me! That's so sweet! ::makes granny pucker face and pinches cheeks::
Cytosine: Yeah, I usually skip over the alien fics... lol. I enjoy smuts n' fluff. That'd be a good name for a store. Smut's n' fluff. Like an adult toy store, lol. And that song is actually called That's amore, by Dean Martin , of course.
Crystalline Lily: They're just playing with each other. The darkness is only skin deep... when they're together. It was deeper for Hermione at the beginning of the fic, but she's becoming more and more... happy inside. And she'll figure out that it's Draco who makes her feel this way and blah, blah, blah... lol. Thanx for the observations, though.
Well Crap: Lol, nice name. I love your review! Lol. And I love slow motion too... it's a VERY creepy song. ::Shudder::
Erilyn Rose: Nice overview of the chapter, lol. You seemed to like pointing out every aspect and its goodness... thanx! Lol. I liked it too.
Silent-Fire: Well, they WOULDN'T have gotten caught, but Draco wanted to make Hermione feel better and not all attracted to Snape. If he never went back in, they wouldn't have had any problems.
Girl-named-Belle: What can I say? I'm gifted; lol. Thanx.
A reader: Good new is, you're also a reviewer! Yippie skippy! Thanx!
Little Witch: I know, I'm a jerk. I'd hate that too... and I told you! Didn't I tell you he had the hottest hands in the free world! I SO told you... lol
Tainted Black: Lol. Sorry.... I know! McGonagall may be old, but she's still a woman; lol. And that song IS by Dean Martin, but it's actually called 'That's amore' not the pizza moon song, that's just what Harry calls it. I apologize for the absence of Eglamour... we'll see him in a couple chapters. And Lucius too... :oD but he has to be a good boy, or he gets time out, remember? Lol.
Sleepy_Kitty: Wow, lol... that's a lot o' movin! Thanx for the praise... And I have no idea what 'Najserdeczniejsze pozdrowienia od twojej Polki i Tomcia' means. Lol. I WANNA KNOW! TELL ME!
Crystal-Kitty2003: Lol, if this is heaven, I'd rather go back to living, thanx. Lol.
Amora-Ryuko: Hey! I appreciate your reviewing of ever chapter! Lol. I know, so sad when you finish a fic and then you have to WAIT just like everyone else to read it... :oD
Cookie: Here ya go!
Tommygurl: Lol, well I'm glad you don't actually HAVE asthma... lol. It wasn't THAT funny... :oD
Last time on LGG:
"I can't believe this! My own student!? A member of MY house!? Just wait until I tell his father..." called the loud booming voice of Professor Severus Snape from down the hall. Draco winced slightly.
"I'd forgotten about that," he said to himself, then looked to Hermione. "You better go, or you'll get in trouble too."
"Fuck you, I'm staying right here. Think I'll just run away and let you take all the credit for that stunt, hm? Think again," Hermione said, mock angrily, crossing her arms. Draco smiled. She really was amazing.
.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: Mr. Key Gets 100%
"MALFOY!" Snape yelled as he burst through the door. "I-" he started, but then noticed Hermione. "What are you Granger, his shadow?" Hermione narrowed her eyes and Snape looked from her to Draco and back again. "Are you dating?" he asked with the tone of a deceived parent and Draco and Hermione looked to each other. Hermione gave him a 'don't look at me' look and Draco smirked, which Snape took as a yes. "What's wrong with you, Malfoy? A year ago, you'd never not hand in one of my assignments, then disrespect me in front of the entire school, then date a... a..."
"A WHAT Professor?" McGonagall, who had followed Snape, asked momentarily forgetting about the incident in the great hall and taking on her 'all will respect me and my ways' demeanor again. Snape sighed.
"That's not the point. Miss Granger, I'll have to ask you to leave, unless of course you had something to do with this?" Snape said, expecting her to, like everyone else, bow down to him and do as he asked, but Hermione stood her ground.
"I had everything to do with this. It was my idea and I played out most of the parts. All Draco did was save you from more mindless torture... well, and help me make the potion, but you assigned it, so it's not fair to punish him on that." Both McGonagall and Snape dropped their jaws.
"True," Draco said. "But I also knew every of your plans and not only didn't say anything, I offered to help. I'm an accomplice." The teachers turned to him as he spoke. Hermione shrugged slightly.
"That's justified," she said as if they were having a private conversation, then both prefects turned to the professors. "Well?" Draco said. Snape got over their confessions quickly and burned in anger.
"You are both suspended. Well, technically, I can only suspend you, Malfoy. Your little girlfriend is up to Minerva."
"You bet your broom you are! You shall finish this week. The train will take you back to the station on Saturday, and I don't wish to see either of you again for at least another week," McGonagall said and Snape sneered.
"Two." She looked up at him, then back to the students.
"Yes, two. Run along to your classes now; don't be slacking off... I've got my eye on you... and I'll be owling both of your parents." McGonagall turned and left the room.
"Don't forget; you've already got four more detentions with me," Snape said, following her. Draco turned to Hermione.
"You didn't have to do that." She smirked.
"What kind of a girlfriend would I be if I let my man take all the rap for my backfires?" she asked and Draco smiled for a moment, then it dropped again.
"Are your parents going to be mad?" She frowned and shrugged.
"They won't even know. Even if I wrote them, they never take anything from owls, it freaks them out... and they check their mail about once a month. I'll have to take a bus from the station; a perfectly vile way to return to my perfectly vile home." She shrugged. "Better off than you, I bet. Your dad'll be pissed, huh?"
"Nah. He can't do anything, or he gets time-out, remember? Plus I get suspended all the time."
"Really? I've never noticed..." she said as if she seriously was surprised that she hadn't. Draco shrugged.
"It was usually only for a few days... never this long." Hermione looked down.
"Sorry." Draco smiled.
"It was so incredibly worth it. You should have seen it," he said with a sad sigh. "You're brilliant." Hermione smiled.
"Gee, thanks. We should go to class," she said, standing. Draco did the same.
"Yeah."
~*~*~*~
*You know what we should do?* Draco wrote on his parchment, then moved his hand aside to show Hermione. They'd missed potions entirely, but Snape had almost as well, so it wasn't mentioned, and now were in Transfiguration. McGonagall had changed their seats, placing them in the very front where she could 'keep an eye on them'. This time around, they each had separate pieces of paper so it would look even more inconspicuous.
*What?* Hermione wrote back. *Can we use the glue? It's still in my pocket.* Draco smiled.
*I was thinking more along the lines of you coming home with me for suspension.* Hermione paused for quite a long moment.
*What?*
*Hermione, we're writing. If you didn't catch it, read it over.* She laughed and McGonagall glared, so Hermione quickly made it into a fake cough.
*Why do you want me to do that?*
*It just seemed like you didn't want to go home.*
*You don't have to feel sorry for me; I never asked you to.*
*Okay, so maybe I want you to. What do you think?*
*I think you've contracted your father's mental illness. Do you forget who I am, Draco? I'm Mudblood Granger; Gryffindor prefect. Your house is probably cursed against people like me.*
*Actually, it used to be... but not anymore. So, is that a no?* Hermione looked up at him, but Draco kept his eyes on her paper. He looked on the verge of disappointment.
*No, but it's not a yes either. Can we talk about this later?* Draco sighed.
*Yeah, sure,* he wrote, leaning back and starting a doodle on the bottom of the paper. Hermione looked sadly at him.
*Are you okay?* Draco didn't stop his doodles. *So now you're not talking to me?* He sighed and replied.
*We're going to talk later, remember?*
"Right..." Hermione said quietly, tossing down her quill.
"Something you'd like to add, Miss Granger?" asked an obviously grudging Professor McGonagall.
"No, Professor."
~*~*~*~
Draco didn't so much as look at her during Charms and Hermione was beginning to feel a little bit down. Why was he so mad? She hadn't said anything, really... only that then wasn't a good time to talk about it. Did he honestly expect her to jump for joy and ask if they could leave right away? There was so much telling her to just say no; that death wasn't worth Draco... but she just couldn't say that and mean it.
After leaving Professor Flitwick, Draco quickly veered away, leaving Hermione to walk to the kitchens alone. She frowned. Hermione had been planning to talk to him then... but she wouldn't go near the great hall again, and he seemed to be using that against her.
"Well, I guess that means he doesn't want to talk to me... nobody does," she said quietly, slowly making her way toward the one place she still had friends. After a few minutes of solitude, Hermione picked up her pace. For the first time since the train ride, she had an unbearable urge to write.
~
Draco did indeed purposely avoid Hermione throughout the second half of transfiguration, then charms, and left her alone for lunch... but it wasn't because he was angry with her. It was because he needed some time to think. When he'd asked her, he hadn't really thought about it... but she was right. Lucius would have a month of time outs for physical harming if she came over. His mother wouldn't mind... she had more toleration than her husband... but how could he have expected Hermione to just say yes? She was right, though. They did need to talk about it.
"Detention," he decided; provided Snape left them unattended again.
~*~*~*~
"Are you mad at me?" Hermione asked as she took her seat next to Draco for CMC, who was looking blankly at the table in front of him. He didn't say anything... he didn't know what to say. "Please talk to me; I didn't mean to sound unappreciative or anything, I just..." Draco turned to her, a little surprised.
"I'm not mad at you, why should I be?" Hermione looked sadly at him.
"You were avoiding me." He looked confused, although he knew exactly what she was talking about.
"No I wasn't."
"Yes you were! You wouldn't talk to me all through Transfiguration, didn't acknowledge my presence in Charms, and ditched me for lunch. That seems like avoidation to me."
"Avoidation isn't a word."
"I don't care," she said, giving up on trying to make peace and crossing her arms over the table, placing her chin on her hands.
"I wasn't avoiding you, and I'm not mad at you. You said we were going to talk later, so I didn't talk then... I told you that. I didn't mean to ignore you or whatever in Charms, but I was honestly trying to pay attention. I still have no idea what today's topic even was... Flitwick's voice is so annoying it's like it's programmed to tune itself out... and I told you I was going to the great hall for lunch."
"No you didn't."
"Yes I did, right before we went to breakfast. You said you'd rather wash Snape's hair." Hermione sat up straight.
"Oh my god, you're right... you did tell me that." Draco smiled.
"Want to do me a favor?" She turned to him. "Go get the unicorn hairs? I have a bad history with things that pure. I once touched a phoenix and it molted on the spot... creepy." Hermione laughed.
"Sure."
~*~*~*~
Once Hagrid dismissed the class, Draco and Hermione decided to go back to their common room and continue working on the unicorn project. Hagrid had told them they needed to have it nearly completed before the end of the week, due to the fact they wouldn't have contact for two of the four given. Or at least that's what he thought.
"We've got to go, Snape'll be pissed if we're so much as a second late," Draco said and Hermione nodded, but didn't make any attempt to move. They were both on the floor, sitting cross-legged while they took notes, books strewn about between them. Hermione was currently writing one of the ingredients lists and seemed determined to finish it. Draco smiled as she dotted a few 'I's and placed the paper on a pile of already written out ones. "Take a note, Granger."
"I'm not your fucking secretary, take your own damn note," she said dispassionately and stacked the pile a little more neatly.
"Oh, but you'll like this one. Trust me," he insisted and, because of curiosity, Hermione sighed and complied, placing her quill in position and looking sarcastically attentive. Draco rolled his eyes. "Headline: Things to Get Revenge Upon." Hermione's lips curled into a smile as she wrote it.
"Why things and not people?"
"Because. Number one) Mrs. Norris." She laughed.
"Agreed. Number two?"
"We still have to get Arenz and Gouvas." Hermione nodded. "And Potter and Weasley." She looked up. "As fun as that was, I'm going to have to classify it under Snape. All your friends got was a few moments of rejection and a kick in the gut. Not nearly justified." Hermione thought for a moment, then shook her shoulders and agreed, writing down Harry and Ron.
"Filch," she said and he nodded.
"Lucius." Hermione looked up again. Draco smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "Might as well have some fun if I have to go back home." She made no reaction as she wrote it down.
"Parkinson."
"Most definitely. Brocklehurst and MacDougal."
"I think that was a given," Hermione said with a dark smile. "Lavender, Ginny, and Hannah just because I hate them."
"Agreed. Froth and Lance." For the third time, Hermione looked up. "They just seemed like real jerks. If you go home, might as well give them a run through, right?" She shuddered.
"You don't know the half of it. But I can't touch them. My Mum'll kill me... three months later when she finds out about it. It sucks when your parents' friends have kids your age... it's not like I wanted to be with them just because our parents are all friendly. I really don't like those guys," she said and wrote their names down.
"I can come help if you want; we'll make a day of it." Hermione laughed. "What about Snape and McGonagall? They DID suspend us."
"Yeah, but we DID make them practically fuck in the great hall... in front of everyone. I'd say this punishment is justified."
"I'm surprised you even saw that." Hermione batted her eyelashes.
"I just couldn't keep my eyes off that hottie of a potions master we have." Draco winced and she laughed. "Speaking of which, let's continue this later; fourteen is a good start, and I'd really like to not get into any more trouble today... just today." Hermione placed her clipboard atop her pile of papers, making sure to fold the list and tuck it into her pocket for safe keeping... just in case. Draco agreed and they headed off to detention.
~*~*~*~
"Glad to see you could make it, prefects. Do you enjoy being fashionably late?" said the icy voice of Snape before they even entered the room. Both Draco and Hermione stopped momentarily to wince, then continued into the room where their potion master sat at his desk.
"Good evening, Professor," Draco said, not mockingly, but Snape sneered just the same.
"Wands," he said and held out his hand. With a sigh, both prefects handed over their prized possessions. "Good. Now..." Snape's lips curled into an evil smirk. "The substitute this morning made a little error in reading the lesson plan, and instead of instructing the students to start the next project, he handed out a practice OWLS exam. Surprisingly, everyone finished. I'd like you to grade these." Hermione and Draco looked stunned. The owls had three hundred questions, but if it were only the first class... that meant there would only be about 20 tests... they'd be done within an hour... what was Snape playing at?
"That's it?" Hermione asked, glad to be rid of the aching feeling the last two days with Snape had earned her, and the potions master's smile doubled.
"Yes, that is all. You may leave when you are finished," he said and spun in his chair, pulling a book from the bookcase behind him. Surprisingly or not, the case melted away, displaying a large room with a table, two chairs, and a ten-foot tall stack of papers. The mouths of the prefects opened simultaneously. "Oh, did I forget to mention that, to be fair, I gave the test to the rest of the classes? Go on now; I'll be waiting. Call me when you're finished." Hermione and Draco looked to each other, shocked looks still on their faces, then moved slowly into the room. The bookcase automatically closed behind them.
"Well this is bloody wonderful," Draco said, sitting down angrily in a chair and picking up the top paper. "How are we supposed to do these if we don't even know the answers?"
Hermione walked over to the table, sitting in the other chair. She looked to the paper Draco was looking at and smiled.
"What?" he asked.
"That kid's name is funny. He must get picked on a lot." Draco looked to the designated name blank: Answer Key.
"Oh," he mumbled, feeling pretty stupid, then let his head slam against the table. Hermione giggled.
"Stop your grumbling. If we just do it, we'll get it done faster. And Snape's not here, we can do whatever we want in the meantime." Draco lifted his head and raised an eyebrow.
"Like what?"
"Maybe continue our conversation from Transfiguration." Draco let his head fall again and Hermione smiled. "Here, why don't I take this one, and you can do the next one, alright?" she said and pulled the answer key from below his head, flipping through the pages and pretending to check answers. "Wow, Mr. Key is like a friggin genius." Draco lifted his head slightly and let it fall again. Hermione smiled, then began work comparing the answer key to the first test. Draco sighed and took the next test, comparing as Hermione was.
It was a tad bit more difficult for him, as he was sitting across from her and was forced to read the answers upside down. Hermione knew this and kept her smirk to herself as she watched him crane his neck and scowl as she turned a page he wasn't finished with yet. They worked in silence for a few minutes, then Draco stood in frustration and started toward her, carrying his chair. Hermione was a tad scared.
"What are you doing?" she asked, doing wonderfully at hiding her unease from him. Draco set his chair down and continued toward her, but didn't answer. He stopped once behind Hermione's chair and bent down, lifting it from the ground easily and moving her about a foot to the side. Hermione made a small startled peep as he did this and Draco smiled. Why were her involuntary noises such a turn-on?
Draco then went back to his chair and set it where Hermione's had been, giving himself a better view of the answer key. She smiled.
"You could have just asked me to move it," she said and he shrugged.
"Where's the fun in that?" Hermione shook her head and went back to work. It was a few more minutes before Draco spoke again. "Well, you wanted to talk. Initiate conversation."
"You speak to me as if I'm a machine," she said distractedly, still grading her test. It was taking longer than she would have expected.
"Right now, you're acting like it." Hermione paused long enough to glare. "So, thoughts on my offer, which still stands."
"First of all, I doubt your father would enjoy my presence."
"Very true, but then again, he doesn't enjoy my presence either."
"What about your mother?"
"She's not like him, Hermione."
"I didn't say that... but what are you going to say? 'Hey mum, there's this girl at school who got me suspended. Can she come over?' Not exactly a good first impression," Hermione said, going back to her grading. If they were going to get this done, she was going to need to put at least a little effort toward doing it.
"She doesn't have to know that. I'll tell her it was a misunderstanding, and I got you suspended. She'll believe me."
"So you're going to lie to your mother, just so she'll like me? What a great idea," she said sarcastically. "And then when McGonagall tells her it was all my fault, she can hate me even more."
"Remember when you said that you could go into the kitchens and Avada all the house elves, but Dobby would still like you?"
"Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?"
"My mum spends way too much time around the house elves. She's the same way. They're all she has when I'm not home... frankly, I think she'd love you, if for no other reason, than because you're a girl. All those daughters she wasn't allowed to have? She loves it when Parkinson comes over."
"You let Parkinson within a thousand yards of your house? I shudder to think," Hermione said, pretending to shudder and Draco laughed.
"Hell no. I have a 'we have to be friends because our parents are' situation too. And her parents are the most impolite, snobbish, stuck up people I have ever met in my life. She's like a deluded form of them... I never INVITE her over... she just... comes. One morning, I woke up and found her in my bathtub. To this day I knock before going in there." Hermione laughed.
"Oh man, Draco, I'm sorry," she said, patting him sympathetically on the shoulder. Draco half-smiled.
"So will you come? I promise nothing bad will happen... and Pansy won't be there," he said. "Please?"
"There you go with the begging again..." Hermione said, rolling her eyes.
"Soliciting."
"Right."
"But anyway..." he stuck out his lip in that irresistible way that made Hermione, and almost every other girl he'd shown it to, want to snog him to death on the spot. Hermione bit her lip and let it pop out again, and Draco felt a flutter... she'd done that last night.
"Okay, I'll come... but only if Eglamour can go too." Draco smiled near ecstatically.
"Hell yeah he can. I want him to meet Atrolynn, anyway." Hermione smiled, looking happily up at him. Then, with a sudden movement, Draco captured her lips. Hermione jumped slightly as he did, but got into it soon, kissing him softly, their papers forgotten. Draco dropped his quill and brought his hand to the side of her face, pulling her a little closer. It was quite a while before either of them could find the will to break away, and in the end, it was Hermione.
"We really have to do this," she said, pointing to the still tall stack of papers. Draco smiled and nodded, then moved in to kiss her again. How she managed, Hermione didn't know, but she pushed him away. "Really." With a sigh and a slight frown, Draco nodded again and pulled back, returning to his half finished exam.
A/N: Did I see a little spark there? :oD. Go them.
PRF:
Dark_Dragon: Thanx, and I'll change your email in my addy book if I remember... I will hehe. Thanx.
Daydreamer: Calm down there, kiddo! Lol. I still have quite a bit planned; I have to get all that revenge over with, don't I? I was thinking about stopping it soon and making a sequel, but I've decided that I like the title too much to stop it yet... lol. So, no worries... much more to come.
Starry Skies: I'm jealous; I don't have that yet :o(, but I'll get it sometime! Lol. Deleted scenes rule! And Snape is at his best when cowering below a crowd of love-struck women... hehe.
KittyKat589: Yeah, she likes him... it's totally obvious, lol. And yes, potions master was the best word possible to put in there ;o)
Tom*Feltons*Babe: That chapter I had done a few days early and I saw the movie last weekend for the first time, and I'm like DUDE that is so WEIRD! Lol. I liked the last one, myself. It was kinda nice. And if I killed P+W I wouldn't be able to screw with them anymore!
Silver Dragon Goddess: I LIKED that drooling line! It like... makes your stomach lurch... lol. You're right, I should have made them do a duet... lol. Or had Harry recruit Ron instead of Ginny... lol. That would've been funnier. I'm honored that you come everyday to check up on me! That's so sweet! ::makes granny pucker face and pinches cheeks::
Cytosine: Yeah, I usually skip over the alien fics... lol. I enjoy smuts n' fluff. That'd be a good name for a store. Smut's n' fluff. Like an adult toy store, lol. And that song is actually called That's amore, by Dean Martin , of course.
Crystalline Lily: They're just playing with each other. The darkness is only skin deep... when they're together. It was deeper for Hermione at the beginning of the fic, but she's becoming more and more... happy inside. And she'll figure out that it's Draco who makes her feel this way and blah, blah, blah... lol. Thanx for the observations, though.
Well Crap: Lol, nice name. I love your review! Lol. And I love slow motion too... it's a VERY creepy song. ::Shudder::
Erilyn Rose: Nice overview of the chapter, lol. You seemed to like pointing out every aspect and its goodness... thanx! Lol. I liked it too.
Silent-Fire: Well, they WOULDN'T have gotten caught, but Draco wanted to make Hermione feel better and not all attracted to Snape. If he never went back in, they wouldn't have had any problems.
Girl-named-Belle: What can I say? I'm gifted; lol. Thanx.
A reader: Good new is, you're also a reviewer! Yippie skippy! Thanx!
Little Witch: I know, I'm a jerk. I'd hate that too... and I told you! Didn't I tell you he had the hottest hands in the free world! I SO told you... lol
Tainted Black: Lol. Sorry.... I know! McGonagall may be old, but she's still a woman; lol. And that song IS by Dean Martin, but it's actually called 'That's amore' not the pizza moon song, that's just what Harry calls it. I apologize for the absence of Eglamour... we'll see him in a couple chapters. And Lucius too... :oD but he has to be a good boy, or he gets time out, remember? Lol.
Sleepy_Kitty: Wow, lol... that's a lot o' movin! Thanx for the praise... And I have no idea what 'Najserdeczniejsze pozdrowienia od twojej Polki i Tomcia' means. Lol. I WANNA KNOW! TELL ME!
Crystal-Kitty2003: Lol, if this is heaven, I'd rather go back to living, thanx. Lol.
Amora-Ryuko: Hey! I appreciate your reviewing of ever chapter! Lol. I know, so sad when you finish a fic and then you have to WAIT just like everyone else to read it... :oD
Cookie: Here ya go!
Tommygurl: Lol, well I'm glad you don't actually HAVE asthma... lol. It wasn't THAT funny... :oD