"You had better have a good explanation." Snape growled as he slammed the door behind them both, shutting them in an empty classroom so that they could talk.

"Well, it's not what it looked like if that's what you wanted to hear. Not entirely, anyway." Draco said, keeping his eyes on the ground and trying to sound nonchalant. Snape didn't seem to be taking it too well.

"So what part of you're seeing Hermione Granger isn't entirely true?" he hissed.

"It's all part of my plan!" Draco shot back, lifting his eyes now to glare at his Professor. Snape raised an eyebrow, waiting for the boy to continue and not at all intimidated. "I needed her help with something and knew I had to make her fall for me before I could ask her for any favours."

"So that's why you've taken so long to get your mission into action? You spent the time getting friendly with Miss Granger?" Snape asked in disbelief, saying the word 'friendly' as if it was dirty.

"In a sense. But I was working on the-" Draco stopped and looked away from Snape again, sighing.

"The what?" Snape asked in a low voice. "Why won't you tell me what you're up to?"

"I'm going to do this on my own!" Draco shouted angrily, his hands clenching into tight fists. "I don't need your help."

"But apparently you needed Granger's. Why on earth did you go to her for help when instead you could have asked me?" Snape asked in exasperation.

"Fine! You want to know? It's because I wanted everyone to think I could do it by myself, which I could, but if I got Granger to help me no one would have known I'd asked anyone for help since we would have kept our relationship hidden." Draco explained.

"You didn't seem to be hiding it in the library." Snape pointed out threateningly.

"Things didn't go as planned! You must know what girls are like – especially Gryffindors! They always want to make sure you love them and she wanted proof. I was planning on announcing later that I had just been playing with her." Draco shrugged.

"What are you going to do about Miss Parkinson?" Snape asked then, folding his arms and watching Draco closely.

"I'll tell her what I told you." Draco said quietly.

"Why didn't you tell her that before, to ensure she didn't ruin things for you?" Snape pressed further, wanting to get as much information as he possibly could. He hoped something they spoke about soon made Draco slip up and say something else about his mission which he had kept secret so far.

"I didn't think she was interested in me before, or that she would notice anything." Draco said.

"I mean after you knew she knew. Why did you agree to pretend to go out with her instead of just telling her the truth?" Snape asked, curious now as to why Draco was still lying to him.

"Oh," Draco swallowed nervously. "I-"

"You're lying about something, yes, I gathered that much." Snape said before he could continue.

Draco didn't say anything for a moment, just watching Snape and wondering whether he would manage to tell another lie or not. Apparently the man was smarter than he appeared to be at first glance and it was going to take a lot more to fool him.

But of course... Draco didn't know what Snape thought he was lying about. One false move and he could reveal a lie that Snape may not even know about and everything would be for nothing.

"If you don't leave me alone I'll tell him you've been trying to help me." Draco finally said, clenching his teeth afterwards and keeping his appearance neutral.

"You think he'd care?" Snape asked.

"I'm supposed to be doing this alone! No one's meant to help me, so stop trying to!" Draco yelled before turning and leaving the room quickly. He didn't want to be questioned any more and broke out into a run when he heard Snape follow out of the room after him.

Dashing around corners to try and get away before Snape could grab him again and force him to tell more than he wanted to, Draco soon found himself nearing the owlery. He didn't slow down until he had darted up the stairs and gone to the far side window, gripping the window sill and staring out at the grounds beneath.

He listened for a while, worried that Snape would find him up here as well, but after a while of hearing nothing but the hooting of owls and his own breathing he managed to relax.

Then he closed his eyes and sat on the ground, enjoying some time by himself and trying hard not to think about his mission or anything else.