CHAPTER VIII

Crystabelle had not decided yet on what she was going to do with all information regarding romantic affairs surrounding the Head Girl she had successfully gathered. She knew now her brother, Blaise, the Head Boy and some other seventh-year boys and the younger ones had feelings for Hermione, ranging from some mere minor crush to heavy infatuation. She also knew Harry Potter and Ron Weasley did not like the muggleborn witch that way at all, and neither did she like either of them as more than a friend or a brother.

With Harry Potter and Ron Weasley off from the list and the Head Girl fancied no one (unless she wasn't being honest with her that day), it looked like Hermione's adorers shared equally poor chance of winning over her heart. But, seeing that Ernie MacMillan as the Head Boy had more excuses to make moves toward her, this could mean a slightly bigger chance for him.

Crystabelle had also obtained quite precious information regarding the type of boys Hermione liked. This one was a pure luck, all right (well, hadn't she been quite lucky these days to be able to easily gather those precious information?); she accidentaly heard conversation between Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley in the Gryffindors' common room that happened to touch the topic. She was reading a book in a secluded corner when the two came and talked on the couch, and they weren't aware of her presence even until the conversation finished (thank her Slyterinish stealthiness for that!).

"Really, Harry, I don't like making Hermione feel like a fifth wheel. Why do you and Ron have to suggest double dates anyway and include her at that? Not that I don't want her to be included. Oh, but you know what I mean! Really, I don't mind if it's just you, Ron and her as in the previous years. You can then separate in the middle and meet me at the Three Broomstick after that or something," Ginny said.

"Yeah, well, I didn't really think about it that way. You're right. But, we can't possibly cancel it now, you know Ron and Lavender … "

Ginny sighed. "Oh, it'll be so much easier if only Hermione has a boyfriend. We can make it triple dates then."

So they don't know Hermione has agreed to go with Ernie then, Crystabelle thought, before listening carefully again.

"Yeah, but you know Hermione. She doesn't want her preparations for NEWT to be bothered by relationship or something like that."

"Not only that, actually."

"What do you mean?" Harry fixed his glasses.

"Actually, Hermione fancied elder guys, and none of them is around now that you guys are in seventh year."

Harry made a face. "What do you mean elder guys? If you mean like our aging professors, that's just sick! AWWW! You hurt me, Ginny!"

Apparently Ginny just smacked him on the head.

"Didn't I just say NONE of them around now? Hermione liking aging professors.. that was twisted and gross, Harry! Eww… How could such thought even cross your mind about your bestfriend, of all people?"

Harry smiled guiltily.

"What I mean is guys a few years older than her, maybe about Victor Krum's age."

"She never told me."

"Why would she? Things like this are only spoken of during girls' talks," Ginny smiled smugly. "Anyway, the point is, Hermione once told me it seemed like she was more into guys a few years older than her because they seemed to be more mature, but of course not those as mature as her dad or around that age. With her being in seventh year now, of course she can't find such guys, unless you put Fred and George into account, but even so she only met them last summer, which was quite a brief meeting too at that."

"Yeah … not to mention they're barely an epitome of more mature guys despite being a few years older, are they?"

"Yeah, I know …"

"So why didn't she date anyone while she was in lower years then?"

"She hadn't realized about it back then."

"Okay …"

That was more or less the conversation Crystabelle heard, before it was ended with a snogging session which made her nauseated and flee the room at once; did not care about being caught. It's not like they were aware of anything happening around them when being so … focused like that. Eww…

Anyway, Crystabelle didn't want to remember the eww-ing scene, so immediately resumed her brainstorming regarding her favorite Head Girl.

So, Hermione liked more mature guys. Who, then, of her adorers, could have slightly bigger chance to win her heart in this regard?

She didn't really know Ernie, but seeing how Hermione often engaged in Heads' businesses with him and all and yet didn't seem to have developed any feelings for the Head Boy, looked like he was not among the 'more mature' type.

Neville Longbottom … forget that.

Blaise, well … He was quiet. But, that was it. Seeing Blaise she knew exactly being quiet was not the same with being mature.

Draco … well … she wasn't against her brother or anything. But, when it came to this being mature stuff, Draco evidently had no chance at all!

Oh, well, since there would be likely no progress regarding this issue yet, and since she also had yet to decide what she actually wanted to do about the issue anyway, Crystabelle decided to give it a rest it for some time and focus on her more timely mission: making her escapade to Hogsmeade!

Oh, really, it was at times like this she hated rules (not that she ever really liked them). Why should anyone be allowed to visit the village only after they were at third year? The third years were only a year and two older than the second and first. What's so different with that age disparity?

Anyway, since she was nowhere near around being someone who could change the ridiculuous rule, she decided to direct her energy for a move which would guarantee a direct result: breaking the rule and visiting Hogsmeade secretly!

Oh yes, she already had a very well-thought-of plan for that. She knew she could get to Hogsmeade through the Shrieking Shack. And she knew, all right, that the shack was not haunted at all! If anything, she lived in a manor house whose dungeons dubbed one of the most haunted places in England! And she had conquered those dungeons. She had seen the ghosts, who did not scare her because most appeared to be her ancestral ghosts, who were quite fond of her and very annoyingly protective of her either. So, she had no reason at all to be afraid of making a stopover inside the unhaunted shack.

And she was, if anything, quite resourceful. She had found out just a few days after arriving at Hogwarts that the Shrieking Shack could be reached from the castle through the Whomping Willow. Getting precious information like that was one of the benefits of wandering around the halls and secret passages of Hogwarts at night and eavesdropping the resident ghosts' conversations. And she had read from books how to immobile the Willow, which seemed to be pretty easy.

The only remaining problem had been how to explore Hogsmeade without anyone knowing it was her. But, she had recently found a solution for that. She had secured a polyjuice potion and ordered one of her house elves (through secret correspondences, of course) to steal hair of a teenage muggle girl, thus there would be no problem that the person she was impersonating suddenly appearing around her in the wizarding village, which could be quite disastrous! That was unless she could quickly cast the Imperius curse and tell the person to tell people she was her twin. But, that was an Unforgivable and she never liked black magic. Not that she could cast it either.

Anyway, she thought she had made a perfect plan, which would guarantee a 100 percent success. Now, the only thing she had to do was executing it.

"Hey, Godric! Have the third years and up departed to Hogsmeade yet?" Crystabelle stopped her Gryffindor classmate, whom she knew was just returning from the Entrance Hall.

The red-headed boy (not a Weasley, thank Merlin!) gasped in surprise as the blonde seemed to come out of nowhere at the long, empty corridor heading to the Gryffindors' common room.

"Yes, uh … I mean, No! No, they haven't departed yet. They're … uh… lining for the carriages," he replied anxiously, couldn't help but still feeling apprehensive when being around the infamous Malfoy, not to mention they were alone in the empty, seemingly endless corridor! He started to turn his head right and left, hoping to see a way escape and wondering where his friends were at critical times like this!

Crystabelle narrowed her eyes at the fidgety boy, and wondered how he had been sorted into Gryffindor with such timidity (the same question emerging whenever she thought of Neville Longbottom). They had been classmates for more than two months, for Merlin's sake! It's not like she ever bit him or something.

She rolled her eyes, and decided to pay no heed to the clumsy boy, leaving after glaring daggers at him, which made the boy shrink even more and his stare glued to the floor.

Only after he thought she was in safe distance that he dared to move and in a speed of light fled toward the safety of his dormitory. Thank Merlin they separated the boys' and girls' dormitories! Phew … He wiped non-existent sweat from his forehead.

Back to Crystabelle, she decided to check the situation herself. Besides, her trip to the Whomping Willow would be shorter from the castle's yard than from the inside once she could confirm that the coast was clear.

She pushed open the double oaken doors of the Entrance Hall that led outside, and saw students lining before a shorter line of carriages drawn by the invisible Thestrals.

She saw Luna Lovegood, separated from the rest, touching dreamily the supposed head of one of the invisible creatures, and wished briefly she could join her (she didn't care if Draco would then say she reminded him even more of 'Looney' Lovegood. He once told her so, citing her lone wandering around the castle and similar blond hair - as if he hadn't been blond himself!). Unfortunately Crystabelle couldn't see the creatures, and wasn't actually sure if she wanted to go through the process which would enable her to do so. So she skipped off the wishful thought, and again fixed her stare at the line.

She saw none of the Golden Trio nor other members of the 'triple dates', so it looked like they had gone. She also didn't see Draco and his cronies, surely they had 'made their way' to the front of the line and were probably already wandering about the village before she even arrived here.

Crystabelle decided to sit down on a rock emerging out of the grass-covered ground a few yards from the entrance doors, watching the line growing shorter.

Saying that Draco was having a terrible mood was an understatement. He was having an extremely, tremendously, awfully terrible mood that his friends, excepting Crabbe and Goyle (who didn't seem to know what to do without their leader during the weekend trip), decided to stay away from him.

"What's wrong with him?" Pansy whispered as she and Blaise watched Draco push harshly a third year Ravenclaw boy to the side of the street as he made his way further down Hogsmeade, tailed by his two cronies, who occassionally helped him get rid of other students from the street.

"Get out of my way!" he was now heard barking at some sixth year Hufflepuffs, who obediently parted to give him a way.

"I don't know, he wasn't like this when we had our breakfast," Blaise replied. It was true, Draco had only seemed rather moody during breakfast (as he had been since the new school year had started), but had become rather violent since they took the carriage to get to the village.

"Looks like he was being mad about something," Blaise offered.

"What else is he being mad about? He seems to be always mad about anything. What makes the difference now?"

Blaise shrugged. "Perhaps it's just the time of the month. Ouch! Pansy, you don't need to punch me like that!" Blaise brushed his arm as Pansy put her fist back in her jacket's pocket.

"That's not funny! Your friend is obviously very angry right now. If he heard you speak like that … well, you know what could happen! And I've had enough with his rants!"

"All right!" Blaise decided to end the conversation. Who cares about Draco being mad or not anyway? He already seemed to be rather angry with him in the past few days, treating him coldly if not harshly without Blaise having any idea why. And it's not like Blaise didn't have a problem of his own. He just saw Hermione, the girl he had a crush on for quite some time, going out with Ernie MacMillan, of all people! Since when had they started dating? Last time he checked she was still single. Blaise was being burned with jealousy. He wanted to just leave Hogsmeade and return to the Castle as soon as he had seen the couple getting off the carriage, didn't want to see them being lovey-dovey and all, but that would look too suspicious. He decided to continue his weekend trip but to stay clear off the couple so that they wouldn't ruin his supposed-to-be-fun day.

Little did he know it was the same sight that had turned the mood of his blond bestfriend from bad to awfully bad.

Yes, Draco had seen the stupid, clumsy Hufflepuff put his hand on Hermione's back as if she was his! And he had seen the lovey dovey look in the Head Boy's eyes as he stared at her, which was almost all the times! And Draco had seen her laugh at his jokes, and accept his hand while she was getting off the carriage, and let that dirty hand linger on her waist and then now her back. And he had heard those girls gossiping that the Head Girl and the Head Boy were now a couple!

Who does she think she is? She shouldn't let anyone claim her or touch her like that! She is his, and his alone (it's not important she wasn't aware of the fact yet). And the poor, disgusting MacMillan boy, how dare he touched what was a Malfoy's! Draco couldn't let this continue. He got to do something, and decided it was the time now as he saw the Heads couple parted from their group and headed to the bookshop on the left.

"But, Draco, I thought we were going to the Three Broomstick?"

"Shut up, Goyle! I need to find a book. Unlike you two, I read!"

His two cronies decided to keep their mouth shut, didn't want to trigger further their leader's already awful mood, and reluctantly followed him to Tomes and Scrolls.

"Now what is he doing, going to the bookshop?" Pansy again whispered, which made Blaise roll his eyes as they were evidently in a safe distance, a hundred yards or so, from the blond.

"He reads, Pansy, I see nothing extraordinary about him wanting to buy something to read," Blaise answered irritatedly as he really wanted to stay as away as possible from the Head Girl and her new beau, whom he had seen entering the bookshop too.

"But, it's really not like him going to a bookshop when being in that mood!" now it was Pansy who was being irritated with her friend's ignorance.

"Will you just quit it? Let Draco do as he wants; it's better than he barks at us all the times. Let's just go quickly to the Three Broomstick, have some drink, and go back to the castle immediately."

Pansy stared at the boy suspiciously. "I tell you what. You too don't so much sound like yourself, Blaise. Since when have you favored a short Hogsmeade trip? Something's troubling you, isn't it?"

"No." He decided to just end the conversation and quicken up his steps toward the Three Broomstick.

"What's wrong with you two?" Pansy cried frustratedly before deciding to sprint to catch up with the long strides of her tall Italian friend.

Hermione was downright irritated with the Head Boy. She thought they had made it clear it wasn't a date, but Ernie kept treating her like it was a date! First, he wouldn't let go off her hand after he helped her get off the carriage. Then, after she had somehow managed to remove said hand off his without making him feel too dejected (she still didn't want to seem or sound rude), he daringly put his hand on her waist! Unfortunately Harry and Ron were too occupied with their girlfriends, and vice versa, that they didn't notice what he did, although she had tried numerous times to draw their attention to her. If they did, surely they would have done something to him, and he wouldn't have dared acting as if she were his girlfriend!

She then again managed to slither away from his hand, but just when she was relishing her success, he put that same hand on her back and somehow succeeded in keeping it there despite her efforts to avoid it all the times, such as by leaving the main road to reprimand three fifth-year Slytherins seemingly scheming on something -although she actually didn't care what they did, and intentionally dropping her scarf and telling him to go ahead while she took the scarf, only to find him stay glued at her side in every attempt.

He also seemed to intentionally let people think they were a couple! She heard some students whisper, 'Hey, the two Heads are going out?' 'Aww… what a sweet couple..' 'See? It's true when they say Head Girl and Head Boy always end up together.' But, while she always tried to distance from him when they were in front of those gossipers to avoid misunderstanding, he always tried to keep her as close, such as by suddenly putting his arm over her shoulder, or even put her loose hair back behind her ear, while a very smug smile was plastered on his face. Ugh…!

And now, as she was seeking a refuge in the bookstore, he insisted on following her! She had told him she might spend hours in and so he could just leave her be and enjoy the rest of his weekend trip, but he just shrugged and said,

"I like reading as much as you, Hermione. I could spend hours there as well, and even days," and put his arm back over her shoulder.

And when she suggested that they better part their way so as to ensure all students were supervised, he replied simply,

"Some perfects are on duty, too, Hermione. And I've told them to spread."

Arrrghhh…!

Now they were in the aisle where romance novels and beauty magazines were displayed. She intentionally picked it in a hope he would scan for books in other parts of the shop and so perhaps give her a chance to escape (probably straight back to the Castle, anywhere is better as long as he's not around!). But, he kept doting on her unabashedly, and kept his arm over her shoulder although she kept shrugging it in obvious discomfort.

"I don't know you read theses kind of magazines, Hermione. Never saw you read ones, unlike those girls."

"Yeah, well, I'm a girl, too," she replied irkedly.

"Ah, but you're different. You don't need to read these, you're very beautiful already," he smiled at her too sickeningly sweetly, which made Hermione just couldn't stand it anymore! Where had he lost his shyness anyway? She was just about to turn around and lash out at him when a rather familiar voice drawled behind them.

"Well, well, well, look who's here? If it isn't the Mudblood and her … " the Slytherin Prince looked at Ernie up and down with disgusted face before adding venomously, "… new lapdog. Why? Can't keep your two old lapdogs, Granger? So you need to find a new one? You certainly have a very poor taste. You should use the chance to find a better lackey instead of … a very poorly-bred one." He emphasized the last part with even more repulsed tone.

Hermione wanted to jump at him right there and then. Malfoy couldn't come at more proper time! He was her savior, for Ernie finally let go off her now as he clenched his fists and yelled,

"How dare you talk that way about the two Heads, Malfoy! 50 points from Slytherin!"

Draco saw the strangely relieved look on the Head Girl's eyes, but was too annoyed and angered with the Hufflepuff he didn't give it much thought and was responding hotly to him instead.

"And how dare you speak to me, your superior, with that tone! Who do you think you are, you lowly, clumsy, weakling, good-for-nothing Hufflepuff!" he said in menacing tone as he stepped closer, intimidatingly, toward the Head Boy, who shrank in fear of the infamous Slytherin Prince but was too proud (despite his Hufflepuffness) to let it shown, for he was the Head Boy nevertheless.

"Malfoy… you go away or I'll take 100 points from you!"

"Ernie, I don't think that's necessary. Let's just go and leave these idiots. It's not worth it," Hermione cut off. She honestly really wished she could just flee, this was her chance. But, being the Head Girl, she couldn't possibly let a fight happen right in front of her and do nothing about that, could she? She was a responsible person after all.

Draco didn't even notice her defending of his House points. He was too burned with jealousy that all he saw was her defending her pathetic excuse of a boyfriend! So he left the Head Boy and unexpectedly, and very fast too at that, moved straight toward the Head Girl and pushed her harshly on the arms, pinning her against the bookshelf behind her and trapping her with his arms and body.

"Hey!" the Head Boy protested, but was soon stopped from doing anything by Crabbe and Goyle, who had been behind Draco all along.

"Malfoy… Move!" Hermione gritted her teeth, glaring up at the towering blonde, who was invading her personal space and somewhat hurting her arms for God's sake! She forgot at once her previous gratitude to him.

But, Draco barely heard her words. He was relishing the feeling of her this close to him, the feeling of her delicate arms -although covered by layers of clothing- in his hands, relishing her nice and pleasant smell, and wanted to get even closer that he was now instinctively closing the room left between their bodies, which of course instantly triggered alarm on Hermione.

She gathered her power and then pushed him as hard as she could, which made Draco stumble and release her because he had been too in a daze and had been thus unprepared for the sudden attack.

"Don't. Move!" the Head Girl was now pointing her wand straight up at his nose.

"You old scumbag! Don't you dare ever doing such thing again! If you think you can intimidate me by doing … doing that, well guess what you're wrong. And aren't you afraid of my mudblood germs anyway?"

Her words made Draco suddenly panic his feelings for her could be somehow exposed, thus he abruptly, and thoughtlessly, replied,

"As if I want to touch you! You dirt, lower than the ground I step my feet on. But, thanks for reminding me of the germs anyway, Mudblood. That was very nice of you. You know … sometimes even superior people like me can act recklessly; forget that I shouldn't be anywhere near a lowly, disgusting Mudblood," he closed the sentence with a sneer, and made gestures as if he tried to clean dirt off his robes.

Then he saw flash of hurt in her eyes, and immediately regretted his words. He didn't really mean it; only said so in a hope his real feelings wouldn't be discovered.

But, she was definitely good in hiding hers, because in the next second she looked as strong as a lioness could be, dropping her wand hand as she said coldly,

"50 points from Slytherin, for insulting the Head Girl. That makes it 100 from Slytherin today." She threw a hateful glance toward him before, with her chin raised, leaving the scene, tailed by the Head Boy.

Draco stood unmoved. He was beating himself mentally. Now he had just officially crushed any prospects of him winning her over. Stupidly, he just realized he didn't care what people would say about him being with the Muggleborn, after he lost all the chance now, after she flashed him that so full-of-hatred look, which she had never bestowed to him before, even with those insults he had used to throw at her in the past.

"Draco," Crabbe, or maybe Goyle (he honestly didn't care) poked him on the shoulder.

"Are you all right, Draco?" he poked him again.

"Go. Away," Draco said coldly, before turning around and raised his wand.

"Expelliarmus!" he shouted, sending Goyle toppled on the floor several yards from where he had stood before turning around again, leaving his two shocked friends alone.

Hello, everyone! Sorry for the three-week stall. As usual, I was busy with job and all. Hope the quite long chapter can offset the delay :). Once again thx for reading, reviewing and all. Especially for MasterArbor , thx for reviewing every chapter, that's so nice of you, really appreciate that! :D

And thanks to DIANA-FANofHOTNESS4ever (whose calling me 'mean' has served as sort of a 'wake-up call'), katie4dragons,
CheshireCat23 , NessaWayMalfoy, kleipoppetje, and all others ...

Looking forward to your reviews again, otherwise I would think this story isn't worth reading and feel that there's no use updating it (do I sound like sulking? sorry ... but I do need your reviews!).

Btw, I've published another story called "Turn Back Time". It's rather gloomy, but I mean it to be happy ending. Hope you have time to check it out and tell me what do you think.

For fanfiction readers living in Japan, I express my deepest condolence for the recent tsunami attack and the ongoing nuke crisis. Hope you can go through them all well. My prayer goes for you..

Another btw, English is not my first language, so I'm sorry for any grammar and vocabulary mistakes/peculiarities. Please bear with me. Because to be honest, I'm completely in dark over Beta reader stuff and all.

Have a nice weekend! :)