Author's Note: Thank you so much for your comments! It's so good to repost this and get some fresh outlooks on it! And well, yeah, it was a nasty cliffhanger, so I'll move straight on.


Thanks …

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CHAPTER V

Treading carefully, Hermione walked towards the couch. As she neared where Malfoy was lying, she saw a couple of bottles lying on the floor next to him. He must have been drinking, consoling himself after his defeat in the Quidditch match. It seemed he hadn't been the only one. The floor was littered with bottles and cans, all that previously contained alcohol. Crabbe and Goyle were sprawled out on a couple of armchairs, seemingly unconscious.

Malfoy moved up on the small sofa, allowing Hermione room to sit down next to him. Nervously, she sat at the opposite end of the couch, avoiding his stare. She suddenly became aware that she had no idea how Malfoy and Pansy acted when they were on their own.

"What's wrong babe?" said Malfoy, his voice slurred by the alcohol, "come over here." He offered his arm to Hermione and she, having seen Pansy wrapped around him so many times, shuffled over towards him and leant against his chest.

She felt Malfoy's hot breath near her ear and closed her eyes as she felt him kiss her cheek. She breathed out heavily; she had only been kissed once before, and that had been by Ron in a Truth-or-Dare game. She had a feeling that this experience was going to be quite different.

Malfoy kept kissing her, moving his mouth from her ear slowly down towards her lips. When he reached them, his hand rested on her other cheek, turning her to face him. Hermione almost pulled back, but didn't want to act suspiciously. Unenthusiastically, Hermione kissed him back. His lips, she found, were surprisingly soft and she raised her own hand to cup his face.

She felt Malfoy pull away and opened her eyes again. He was looking into her eyes, a slightly tired look on his face.


"Malfoy …." she whispered, forgetting for a moment that she had to act as Pansy Parkinson.

"What did you just say?" A surprised look crossed his face as he searched Hermione's eyes.

"Err, Draco … I mean." Hermione could have kicked herself, how could she have let that happen? Draco, it seemed, hadn't paid too much attention to her blunder. He had returned to kissing her face and, beginning to enjoy the attention, Hermione tilted her head, allowing him to kiss her neck.

Moaning gently, she allowed him to continue kissing her neck, before she moved her hands to his face, lifting it up to hers. Closing her eyes, Hermione kissed Malfoy and allowed him to move his hands to her back, gently caressing her skin through the robes.

She liked the touch of his hands and the pressure of his lips against hers, yet there was a voice in the back of her head that wouldn't go away. What are you doing Hermione, it said, this is Malfoy, your enemy. She jerked her head, as she remembered who she was kissing. Malfoy was looking at her again, a strange look in his eyes.

She closed her eyes and shook her head; she would have to be more careful if she didn't want to make Malfoy suspicious. Opening her eyes again, she searched Malfoy's face; he wasn't as bad as she had thought he was. His blond hair was no longer gelled back, and strands had fallen in front of his silver-blue eyes which shone brightly. Gingerly, she pushed a few of the strands away from his eyes and tucked them behind his ear.

Yawning, Malfoy leant his head against the back of the couch and, opening his arms, invited Hermione to lean against him. She willingly complied and relaxed, her head on his chest.

With a start, Hermione lifted her head. The common room was no longer in darkness and her robes felt slightly too big for her. Suddenly remembering the previous night, Hermione gently lifted her head and found, to her relief, Malfoy was still asleep. Slowly, so as not to wake Malfoy, Hermione lifted her head and made her way towards the exit of the Slytherin common room.

Having successfully managed to leave the common room, Hermione muttered to herself as she walked towards her own common room. She hadn't meant to fall asleep; what if Malfoy had woken up? She shuddered at the thought.

Entering the Gryffindor common room, the first thing Hermione saw were the sleeping figures of Ron and Harry. She had forgotten that she had told them to wait for her. She grinned, before turning to make her way back to the girl's dormitories.

"Hermione!" Ron's voice called her. Swivelling on her heels, Hermione walked to where both he and Harry were now sitting rubbing their eyes. "Have you only just got back? What happened?" What had happened, Hermione wondered, she hadn't found out what Malfoy was planning.

"Umm, Malfoy wasn't really in the right state of mind to discuss plans last night," Hermione said, hoping she wouldn't blush. After all, it wasn't really a lie; he wouldn't have been able to remember anything in that state.

"The stupid git must have been drunk after losing the match," reasoned Harry. Hermione silently thanked her friend, at least she was off the hook, for now, "but why did you spend so long over there, then?" This time, Hermione felt her face turning red.

"Hermione ….. you didn't," Ron paused, waiting for Hermione to reply. Getting no response, he continued, "please tell me that nothing happened last night."

Hermione didn't feel like answering Ron's enquiry; she wasn't sure, herself, what she had felt last night. "That really is none of your business, Ron," she said, in a matter-of-fact voice, before once again turning to go to her room.

This time, however, she wasn't stopped. As she neared the top of the steps, she caught the beginning of the conversation which continued between Ron and Harry.

"You don't think ….." Ron's voice trailed off.

"No, she wouldn't. Not Malfoy. No …." Although Harry's voice sound convinced, Hermione could detect a certain amount of uncertainty. She couldn't blame him; she wasn't really sure what had happened last night or how she felt about it.

Hermione, much to Ron's disgust, decided to wait a day before using the Polyjuice Potion again. They had been along to pick up Pansy and had had to use a memory charm on her, so that she wouldn't remember Harry's attack on her. She kept her eye on the two students that day, and planned, with her own two friends, what she would say next time she took the potion.

Realising that they only had another eight days until Ron would have to meet Malfoy, Hermione decided that it would be best to get the information out of him as soon as possible. That night, at eight in the evening, she sent Ron to sneak up on Pansy and to disarm her. After he returned, Hermione gulped down the remainder of the Polyjuice Potion. She would have to get some more from the girl's bathroom before going to the Slytherin common room, she reminded herself, just in case.

Hermione, having dropped off at Moaning Mrytle's bathroom, walked down the corridor that lead to the Slytherin area. She found herself uttering the same password as the previous night. This time, however, there were more people standing around in the common room. Most of the seats were taken and on the far side of the room, she saw Malfoy with his two closest friends, Crabbe and Goyle.

As she neared where they were seated, Hermione heard the three boys talking about her. "Where's Pansy now?" She heard Malfoy's voice, "she's been a bit strange today. Last night, she was fine but today's she's been acting a bit distant." Hermione held her breath, had they made the spell too strong?

She was now standing almost behind the figure of Malfoy and glanced at his two best friends who had begun to snigger stupidly. "There she is Malfoy," Goyle's voice was thick and, as he said this, he pointed in her direction.

"Pans ….. babe, where have you been all day," As Malfoy said this, Hermione saw his eyes light up. They really were quite beautiful, she thought, before blushing red again, had she really just thought that about Malfoy? "Where have you been all day?"

Hermione walked around to sit herself next to him. She leant over and allowed him to kiss her as she had seen Pansy do many times before. Briefly Hermione remembered the previous night, and how she had responded to his touch. Drawing back from his kiss, Hermione smiled.

"Sorry, I've been a bit distant recently; I've had things to think about, y'know." In her mind, Hermione crossed her fingers. It worked; Malfoy asked the question she wanted to him to.

"Like what?" Malfoy didn't look too interested, when asking her the question. Oh well, she thought, at least he had asked.

"September the thirtieth," she replied, searching his face as she answered. He grunted as a reply and Hermione groaned, inwardly. Why couldn't he just come out and say what he was planning.

"I still don't know what I'm going to do." Hermione's head snapped around to face him. "I was hoping you'd be able to help me with that, tonight." Unless Hermione was very much mistaken, there was a small mischievous glint in his eye. A second later, his face broke into a grin, "don't look so worried," he reassured her.

Malfoy hugged her and Hermione relaxed. "So, what awful fate do you think should come Weasley's way at the end of the month?"

"Well….." Hermione thought, she hadn't expected Malfoy to not already have a plan. "You could just leave it." As soon as she had said the words, Hermione wished she could take them back. Malfoy, however, had a far-away look on his face; he hadn't even noticed.

"It's got to be something that Weasley will never forget but," Malfoy paused, "but …. no one can find out I'm involved. I don't want to lose my position as Head Boy." At this, Hermione giggled, forgetting who she was. "C'mon, Pans, you know how important this is to me. If I wasn't Head Boy, there's no telling what my father would do."

"What do you mean, Mal …. I mean Draco". Malfoy shook his head, and mumbled under his breath. Hermione sensed that he didn't want to talk about, but wasn't going to change the subject that easily.

"Draco? Tell me," Hermione persisted, draping her arm around Malfoy's shoulders.

"She felt his chest rise and fall before he continued, "You know that Luc – I mean, my father, has been hitting me at home." Hermione almost gasped; she hadn't expected anything like this. She wondered why Malfoy had begun to call his father by his first name, but decided now was not the right time to ask. Malfoy carried on, "well, he gave me a big lecture when I found out I was Head Boy; told me to keep an eye on Granger, her being a Mudblood and all, and that if I ever did anything to jeopardise my position, I would feel his disappointment."

Hermione looked stunned. She hadn't even noticed that Malfoy had raised his hands to cover his face and was sobbing quietly into them. "Draco, my dear Draco." She pulled him closer to her and cradled his head in her arms. She hadn't never known anything of Malfoy's personal life, and until now had never been in a position to question him about it.

Suddenly, as though realising what he was doing, Malfoy pulled his head away and turned away from Hermione. She didn't question him or attempted to make him face her. They remained like this for at least five minutes; occasionally Malfoy would wipe the side of his face with the end of his cloak. Hermione assumed he was still crying but didn't want her to see.

Finally Malfoy turned to face her; his usually pale face was flushed and his eyes slightly puffy. "Oh Draco," Hermione sighed, pulling him closer to her, closing her eyes while she ran her fingers through his hair. Her eyes filled with tears as she held him against her chest.

The two seventeen year olds sat like this for at least fifteen minutes before Hermione excused herself and made her way to the bathroom. She had begun to feel strange, as though she was changing back into her original form. I'll have to find out exactly what Malfoy is thinking about doing at the end of the month, Hermione thought. Slipping into one of the small toilet cubicles, Hermione took out the container where she had stored some more of the Polyjuice Potion and swallowed it down quickly. That would last her another couple of hours; that should be more than enough time.

She passed Millicent Bulstrode as she made her way back to the Common Room and flinched, remembering the Duelling Club when she had been in her second year. She and Millicent had been paired together and had ended up in a fight. As she shuddered, Millicent gave her a cold smile which Hermione attempted to return.

As she neared Malfoy, she saw that he was looking his usual self; his face was pale again, and his eyes back to their regular silver-blue colour. As she sank back down into the chair next to him, he smiled at her wearily.

"I've worked out what we're going to do on the thirtieth." Malfoy's eyes lit up. Hermione frowned, she didn't like the way he had said we. Subtly, he leant over and whispered something into Hermione's ear. As she listened, her eyes widened and she allowed a small gasp to escape her lips.