A/N Thank you to those who have reviewed - special thanks to guest reviewers as I can't reply - and thanks to Ines. Your review gave me the impetus to update this evening :)

Chapter Two

Once the Granian begins to tolerate your presence, spend a little time doing something it will enjoy. Use your knowledge of what it likes.

Extract from "From Wild Beast to Wizard's Steed, a how-to guide on taming Granian".

Draco left it two more days before he approached Granger again.

She had clearly been surprised by his move by the lake and hadn't reacted entirely favourably (he did not want her jerking back every time he touched her), so Draco had concluded he needed a more circumspect approach.

During those two days, he maintained the daily greetings and raised the stakes by politely requesting she pass the eel entrails during Potions. (The latter had earned him a funny look from both Weasley and Pansy.)

On the third day, he waited until he knew Granger had a free lesson after lunch and engineered a meeting en route to her common room.

Even with his slight misstep at the lake, the previous week's work had obviously had its effect – she neither ignored him nor shot him a look of death, and even stopped in the corridor when he hailed her.

"Hello, Granger." Draco drawled. "I have a proposition for you."

Granger raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"

"The opportunity to spend large amounts of time in my illustrious company gazing upon my beauty."

Granger rolled her eyes. "Not interested." She stepped around him.

Drat. Too much snark. Draco stuck an arm out in front of her. "It's for the good of your education."

Granger stopped, head cocked. "What do you mean?"

"Are you familiar with the saying, 'To catch two Kelpie with one net'? Oh, wait – I forgot. You're a Muggle. It means—"

"I can extrapolate based on context." Granger's hands were on her hips.

Cheeky girl – she was trying to put him in his place by displaying her vocabulary. Two could play at that game.

"I am proposing a mutually beneficial, synergetic, symbiotic scholarly affiliation."

Granger didn't skip a beat. "Why would you want to become study partners? No, wait – why would I want to become study partners?"

Draco shrugged. "To help improve your marks?"

Granger puffed up with indignation. "I don't need help improving my marks – especially from you." She tried to step back around him.

Damn. She was becoming hostile – he was losing her. There was only one thing for it.

He had hoped to avoid this, but it was time to appeal to her inner do-gooder.

"Please, Granger – I need your help." Forcing the words out actually caused physical pain.

Granger stopped again. "With what?"

Draco plucked a subject out of the air. "Ancient Runes. I'm not achieving my full potential."

Granger's expressive eyes ran the full spectrum of emotion, first rounding in surprise, then narrowing in suspicion, searching his face for the truth. Then they so clearly filled with compassion it made Draco's skin crawl and his pride revolt. But moments later, all other emotions were totally eclipsed as she practically combusted with swotty excitement.

The glee on her face almost made his self-abasement worthwhile.

She looked so enticing, for one mad moment he almost tossed all caution to the wind and caught her up in a kiss then and there.

Restraining himself, he thanked her (which stung even more) and suggested they meet the following evening in the Library after dinner.

Granger happily complied, beaming once more. "I'm sure I can help you."

Draco hurriedly left before he was tempted to do something stupid – like kiss her.

Or vomit.

Draco had been busy in the two-day gap he had left Granger alone, carefully laying the groundwork for their study date even before he asked her.

He had scouted out the perfect space in the Library: a semi-enclosed area with red carpeting and a comforting fire nearby. It was tucked away behind the Legal section, where hardly anyone ever went since its fusty, arcane books could have been written by Professor Binns' less engaging twin.

Draco's reasons for selecting this study area were three-fold: 1) they were unlikely to be disturbed there, which meant 2) they were less likely to become objects of gossip, leading to unpleasant encounters with their respective hostile house members, and 3) it was romantic as hell.

Of course, Draco only told Granger about reason number one, pointing out they would get more work done with fewer interruptions.

If someone did happen upon them, Draco even had a cover story up his sleeve: they were being forced to work together in the name of inter-house unity. (A crackpot policy he planned to lay at Dumbledore's door.)

That evening, Draco got there several minutes early to ensure no one else was there, adjust the candlelight level, and spell the fire to burn continuously.

Satisfied the ambiance was suitably cosy but sufficient to read by, Draco sat down to wait.

When Granger was six minutes late for their rendezvous, Draco started to fidget.

When Granger was twelve minutes late, Draco practically chewed the nib of his quill off in frustrated impatience.

When Granger was twenty-two minutes late, he realised she wasn't coming.

Apparently her revulsion towards him even eclipsed her love to lecture and rescue. Draco was surprised at just how much that stung.

Angrily, he began gathering his things together, stuffing them haphazardly into his bag. Just then Granger appeared, bent double with the weight of her school bag.

"Hi, Malfoy!" Beaming, she set the bag down on the table with a loud THUNK.

"You're late," Draco said flatly.

Granger shrugged, looking slightly uncomfortable. "Sorry – I was delayed. Ron and Harry didn't want me to come. We had a... conversation about it." Granger's eyes sparked in remembered anger. But hers was nothing to Draco's.

Bloody, meddling, stupid BUNDIMUN!

Draco managed not to voice his livid thought, but his nostrils flared furiously. Thankfully, Granger was looking elsewhere, as she had begun to unpack her overladen bag.

He forced his voice to come out evenly. "So why did you come?"

Granger shrugged. "Ron and Harry aren't the boss of me. Besides, you said you needed my help." She smiled at him in a friendly manner, easing much of the tension from his body, and continued unpacking the books into a pile, which was now around a foot high. "Now," she continued, adopting a decidedly bossy tone. "I thought we could ease in with Advanced Rune Translations and Magical Hieroglyphs and Logograms. Once we've covered the basics, we'll really get down to work." She gestured at the tower of books in front of her with a satisfied air.

Draco glumly surveyed the ever-increasing stack of starchy volumes.

This had better be a bloody good kiss.

A/N 2 "The Bundimun is a magical creature found worldwide. It is a greenish, many-eyed fungus that feeds on dirt and can destroy a whole house. Their presence is indicated by the foul stench of decay." From Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.