Author's Notes: This chapter contains a bit more action between Snape and Hermione than I'd intended it to have, but the story just really flowed out this way. It won't be too bad, and I swear this is the worst of it for the rest of the fic and probably the last of it you'll see, at least for a good long while. (They'll still remain friends though, probably.) This fic will ALWAYS be a Draco/Hermione story!

Chapter Five

Messing with Malfoy

Hermione was doing her best not to laugh as she crept down the dungeon stairs to Snape's office. She knew Malfoy was following her; during dinner, she had winked at Snape and smiled while Malfoy was watching. Snape had grinned back and raised an eyebrow before leaving the Great Hall; she had left not long afterwards, and a discreet glance at the Slytherin table on her way out had told her Malfoy was leaving too.

She knocked on Snape's office, and entered, looking around and glimpsing Malfoy's blond hair around the corner. The moment she closed the door, she nodded at Snape to let him know Malfoy was listening. "Hello Professor," she said in the same seductive voice she'd used the previous night.

Snape smiled, deciding he might as well have some fun with their little game. "You're late, Miss Granger. I was beginning to worry you weren't going to come."

Hermione grinned and forced herself not to laugh. "I never have to worry about that," she purred.

Snape's eyes widened and his jaw dropped slightly before he recovered. "Yes, and I'll make sure you never do," he said, making his voice sound a bit deeper.

"Ooh, I love it when you use that tone," she said with a giggle. Not to be outdone, she added, "Can we do it on the desk this time? Just this once?"

Outside the office, Draco was feeling faint. This couldn't be happening, could it? Snape couldn't really be screwing Granger; that was just… no. No way.

Without thinking, Draco stepped up to the door and banged on it. He didn't know what he was going to do, but he had to find out for sure if they were really about to do what they were talking about.

Hermione and Snape both froze in horror. "Malfoy!" she mouthed, then promptly unzipped her robe.

"What are you doing?" Snape mouthed back, startled.

She pointed at the door and began to untuck and unbutton her shirt, stopping before the amount of skin uncovered became indecent and messing up her hair. Snape caught on and shucked off his own robe, undoing the buttons at his shirt collar and cuffs and shaking his head to make his hair look a little messier before heading for the door and throwing it open. "Draco," he said coldly, as a shocked Draco stared up at him. "What can I do for you?"

Draco turned to look at Hermione, who blushed, then glanced at her shirt, widening her eyes as if only just realizing how she looked. She tugged the shirt up around herself and then turned her back to him.

"I was just stopping by to ask you about our homework," Draco said in a strangled voice. "I'll… I'll, um, I didn't know you were busy, I'll leave you alone now."

"Feel free to talk to me before class," Snape told him, sounding irritated. He closed the door in Malfoy's face and turned to Hermione. "Can't believe we forgot the Silencing Charm," he told her, throwing his voice in the direction of the door for Malfoy's benefit before pointing his wand at the door and saying "Silencio!"

The two of them started laughing hysterically. It was a long time before they got control, and Hermione managed to do it first. An idea had occurred to her, and the very thought made her cringe, but she knew it was a good plan and had to pitch the idea to Snape. "Professor?" she said seriously.

"Oh, the look on his face… what, Hermione?" he asked.

She blinked, having heard Snape use her first name for the first time since she'd met him. She remembered her idea, however, and closed her eyes, not wanting to see the look on his face when she told him. "Professor," she said, her voice much more high-pitched than usual, "give me a hickey."

Snape was dumbfounded, to say the least. It was quite awhile before he could form a coherent thought. "WHAAAT?" he choked out.

"Malfoy will eventually start thinking we're playing him. If he sees me with a hickey, though…"

"So get Weasley to give you one," Snape told her, staring at her with an expression that clearly said "oh hell no."

Hermione shook her head, her eyes still tightly shut. "First of all, Ron wouldn't do it once he figured out why I was asking him to do it, which won't take long considering I've always told him I'd hex him straight into St. Mungo's if he ever did it before. Second… Malfoy's going to be waiting for me the moment I step outside here. If I don't have a hickey until tomorrow morning, he's going to know it was Ron, not you, or at least suspect it was Ron if he starts trying to weigh all the evidence that points to you and I doing… well, you know… or not."

Snape frowned. He could definitely see the merit in marking her neck… but that didn't change the fact he didn't want to do it. "I could get fired," he said, searching desperately for excuses.

Hermione sighed and finally opened her eyes. "Thirty Galleons says Dumbledore not only knows exactly what we're up to, he thinks it's hysterical."

Snape couldn't help but chuckle. "Yes, you're right. Fine, I'll do it, but if you ever tell anyone about this I'll Avada Kedavra your Gryffindor arse."

Hermione smiled slightly, privately thinking that he didn't need to worry about her telling anyone. She and Snape stepped closer, and she tilted her neck to the left and swept her hair away, feeling as though she was presenting herself as a sacrifice to a vampire.

Snape gave a small shudder and grabbed her shoulders, lowering his mouth to her neck. She cringed, far more than creeped out as her professor—who just a few weeks ago had been one of her least favorite people—began sucking on her skin. "Okay, this is beyond weird," she whispered a few moments later.

Snape snorted and cracked up, tickling her neck as he laughed against her. She shivered slightly and tensed at the strangely pleasant feeling. Snape pulled back to appraise his work. "It's barely noticeable," he told her. "Give me a second."

A second turned into a minute, and a minute turned into several. Snape spent a while on the same spot and then moved up and down her neck, covering the whole side of it. Hermione was starting to feel a little light-headed; somewhere along the line, she'd forgotten she was letting her professor mark her neck and had given in to the pleasurable feeling.

As he moved his mouth from one point of her neck to another, his lips brushed her and she let out a strangled, barely audible groan. It was enough for Snape to realize what he was doing and pull back quickly, surprised at himself. "I may have overdone it," he said ruefully.

Hermione's eyes stayed closed, half in embarrassment and half in a deranged sort of delight. "Oh, the more the better," she said off-handedly.

"Should I do the other side, then?" Snape asked, trying to keep the hopefulness out of his voice. He was mildly surprised when Hermione nodded and tilted her neck the other way.

It was a very long time before he stopped, and he only did so because he was running out of space and wishing more and more that he could nibble her ear, or go lower, or perhaps do more. It had been way too long since he'd done this sort of thing. "Well," he said slowly, "Draco will be downright frightened. I do hope you've thought of an explanation for Weasley."

Hermione blushed. "I'm not going to tell Ron. I'm going to tell him I used a spell if he sees me before I can do a Concealment Charm."

"Why didn't you use a spell?" Snape asked suspiciously.

"Because I don't know any, duh," she said, rolling her eyes. "Why on earth would I bother to go learn a hickey-faking spell? If there even is such a thing."

"Good point," Snape said with a smile. "Well, you should get going."

"Yes, definitely—oh!" She told him about the letters from Sirius and Remus, leaving out the pranks that had been done to Snape. The two of them were soon laughing, the bizarre feeling of the neck incident forgotten.

"I helped Lily put Lupin in the forest," Snape explained. "She lured him outside by asking him to go for a walk with her. I followed, knocked him out, and dragged him into the woods… we stayed away from the major monsters, kept to the outskirts of the forest and all, but it was still difficult for him to get out, never mind get into the castle. A Ravenclaw girl saw him and snapped some pictures; she used them to blackmail him into taking her to a dance."

"He failed to mention that," Hermione said, cracking up.

"I'm not surprised. Well, it's getting late; you should get back before curfew."

Hermione nodded. "Same time tomorrow?"

"I have papers to grade," Snape said regretfully.

She frowned. "I have papers to write, come to think of it. Trying to stay ahead and all."

"All right, maybe the day after tomorrow?"

"No, that's Saturday, remember? You have to catch the Head Girl kissing her boyfriend and detain them in your office, then tell Professor Dumbledore about it so they have an alibi when Malfoy is discovered hanging from the Quidditch goalpost in a black lace thong and bra."

"Where are you going to get a black lace thong and bra?" Snape teased, smiling.

"Uh… Ginny," Hermione said, blushing.

"Ginny, huh?"

"Yes, from Ginny," she repeated firmly. "Honest." Oh, no, don't say that! she scolded herself. Oops. Damn, hadn't that word caused enough trouble?

"Sure, Granger. Sure."

"Fine, I'm using my own knickers, you happy?" Hermione snapped. "I'm using my old worn out, former-favorite black bra and a thong that's too small now. I own black underwear, I admit it. I own more than one pair, too!"

Snape held up his hands in surrender. "Sorry, couldn't resist." He cleared his throat, a touch of the awkwardness returning. "Anyway, start snogging Weasley at noon, right outside the library. I'll be waiting."

"Gotcha. Bye!" Hermione called. She picked up her robe and left hurriedly.

She'd just turned the corner in the hallway when she ran smack into Malfoy and stumbled back, nearly falling on her butt. "Watch where you're going!" she snapped.

Draco grabbed her arm as she tried to walk away, his eyes glinting. "What happened to your neck, Granger? Been having a little… fun with Snape?"

"Are you mad?" Hermione retorted, schooling her features into a slightly worried but mostly defiant expression and keeping her voice less than confident for the proper effect. "Me and Snape! What potions have you been drinking?"

Draco suddenly pushed her against the wall, glaring into her eyes. She glowered back, not wanting to let him know he was getting to her. Draco glanced down, straight down her still half-opened shirt. Hermione gaped at him, unable to believe he was actually checking her out. "You should button up your shirt," Draco said, staring at her chest and smirking. He met her eye again with a mocking gaze.

She pushed him with strength she didn't know she had, shoving him off her and against the opposite wall, hard. "Don't concern yourself with my shirt," she snarled, her voice dangerous and low, her body shaking with rage. She drew her wand, pointing it right between his eyes.

Draco merely smirked back, maintaining eye contact for a long while before letting his eyes slip to her chest once again. Hermione's lip curled, and she stomped away, knowing he was just trying to get to her.

Ginny looked up in surprise as Hermione returned late once again, as disheveled as the previous night but also infuriated, looking like she was ready to throttle someone. "What's wrong?" Ginny asked as Hermione turned towards the girls' dormitory staircase.

Hermione spun, her expression softening as she spotted Ginny. "Hey," she said, trying to calm herself. "Where are Harry and Ron?"

"The hospital wing," Ginny replied absently. "What's wrong?"

Hermione's eyes widened. "The hospital wing? Why? Are they okay?"

"They're fine. Pansy Parkinson tried to do that one spell Remus told us about, the one where James and Sirius could only say 'I'm an annoying stupid prat.' It didn't work right—no surprise, considering this is Pansy Parkinson we're talking about. They both went half-blind and have been constantly repeating 'omelette du fromage' for the past hour and a half."

"How exactly does one go from 'I'm an annoying stupid prat' to the French phrase for 'cheese omelet'?" Hermione demanded. "Honestly! And she's a prefect? Puh-lease."

Ginny smiled. "Oh, so that's what 'omelette du fromage' means. I thought it was gibberish. Anyway, Madam Pomfrey is trying to alter the antidote potion, but she has to figure out just how the curse was botched. They should be out by morning, though. So, question number one—what the hell did you do with Snape that got you covered in hickeys, and number two, why are you so pissed off? He didn't do something—"

"No, of course not," Hermione said hastily. She cast a Concealment Charm on her neck and filled Ginny in on the story of letting Snape mark her so Malfoy would freak, then explained what Malfoy had done.

"He's just trying to upset you, Herm," Ginny told her, her eyes still wide from the shock of hearing about Snape sucking neck (Hermione's neck, which was even more bizarre) and Malfoy scoping her out.

"True, but it was thoroughly disgusting—especially considering he's seen me naked."

"WHAT!" Ginny shrieked.

"Duh, Ginny, the prank, remember? He took my clothes and put me in bed with Snape?" Hermione shivered.

"Oh, yeah, almost forgot," Ginny said sheepishly. Then her eyes narrowed. "Well, perhaps an interrogation is in order, don't you think?"

"What do you mean?"

"When you've got him hanging from the goalpost, maybe you should ask him a few questions. You know, hit him with a truth spell, or threaten to leave him there if he doesn't talk. Leave him there anyway, of course."

"Yes, of course. That's not a bad idea—but then he'll have proof it was me."

"Proof he can't use—Malfoy would be incriminating himself, if he told about the prank he played on you and Snape."

"Hmm… true. An interrogation… that could get interesting."