Disclaimer: Remember in the previous chapters how I mention that I'm not J.K. Rowling? You remember? Great! So I don't have to repeat myself

A/N: Thanks for all your reviews! You guys are the best :D For the colour code, scroll down

-----------------------------------------------------OPERATION BUMFLUFF------------------------------------------------------

Harry returned from the ingredients cupboard with a cauldron full of ... well, ingredients.

"What, no staring at Hermione and Malfoy today?" he joked.

Ron, however, replied in a very matter-of-fact tone, "Not today, no."

"Really?" Harry asked in surprise.

Ron beamed. "Really! I have devised a plan!" He declared dramatically, gesticulating which ended up in knocking most of the ingredients to the ground. "Whoops."

They both bent down to pick it all up. "What do you plan on doing?" Harry asked, genuinely interested.

"I call it Operation Bumfluff," Ron said proudly. His hair turned violet.

Harry, who was used to Ron's ever-changing hair colour, raised his eyebrows at his, "Original, mate. And violet's definitely not your colour."

Ron ignored his last comment, and said, "No, seriously! I'm planning on putting it into action this very lesson." He grinned mischievously, his hair turning lavender.

They finally got all the ingredients together and dropped them on the table.

Harry got his Potions book out, and told Ron, "Look, we're practising how to make a Sleeping Draught today, which is a bit tricky, so I'd appreciate it if you'd at least act as though you're my Potions partner."

Ron's hair turned brown. "But I am your Potions partner!" he said, his eyebrows meeting at a V.

"Really? Could've fooled me."

Ron took out a book that was unlike to Harry's. Harry, glancing at the browning cover, furrowed his eyebrows in thought. It looked so familiar. Harry racked his brain, but still couldn't come up with a solution. He moved on, and dealt with the situation at hand. "Ron, what are you doing? We're supposed to be referring to this," he held up his own copy of his More-than-Advanced Potions book.

Ron looked shifty, but tried to cover it up with an offhand look. "I know, but I forgot my copy in my dorm," he said, flipping the fraying-edged pages extremely carefully. "This book has the same potion in here."

Harry peered into Ron's cauldron. "But Ron, those aren't even the ingredients that we need to make the Sleeping Draught Potion. And besides, we're supposed to be working together."

"Harry, would you quit whining? You're sounding very much like a clingy girlfriend," Ron said, still flipping the pages carefully.

Harry figured that he wouldn't get a logical response out of Ron while he was paging through that stupid book, so he made a grab for the book. The sudden movement caused Ron to drop the book, startled. The book hit the floor, opening up to a page which let out an ear-splitting shriek.

Something triggered in Harry's memory, at the same time that the whole class erupted in sounds filled with surprise. Yes, a screaming book was definitely not what they were used to in a Potions class.

"Ron, would you close that bloody book!" Harry hissed through his teeth, his hands covering his ears. No wonder Ron had been paging so carefully through it; he was probably trying to avoid that! Ron jumped into action, effectively shutting the book with a loud snap. The class let out a relieved sigh, and went back to their cauldrons.

Harry looked pointedly at Ron whose hair was turning green-yellow. He knew he was in trouble. "You brought a book from the Restricted Section?" Harry bit out. He recalled the night in his first year when he had entered the Restricted Section in the library with his Invisibility Cloak on. "Why?"

Ron sighed. "Remember Operation Bumfluff?"

Harry nodded.

"Well..."

Harry's eyes grew wide. "You're not going to hurt him are you?"

"Not physically, no."

Harry exhaled loudly. "Good. Now can you do that later? I rather we focus on this Sleeping Draught right now. We're doing the real thing tomorrow." He got back to his potion, and asked Ron to pass him something.

Ron shook his head, and flipped to the correct page in his book. "Sorry, mate. No can do," he said, answering both questions. He began to whistle a merry tune as he dropped a bit of this and a bit of that into his cauldron. The potion sputtered.

Harry looked at him. "Look, if this is about what I said about Lavender last night, I'm sorry. But you know," Harry said thoughtfully, watching Ron stir his potion, "her nostrils do seem to flare quite a bit when she flirts with you. She also tends to go a bit cross-eyed when she rolls her eyes. And have you noticed how her one tooth -"

"IT'S NOT ABOUT LAVENDER, HARRY!" Ron yelled, his hair turning beige. A couple of people in front of them - Malfoy included - turned around to see what the commotion was about.

Harry looked quite taken aback. He said in a hushed voice, "Keep it down, Ron. There's really no need to shout."

"WHO SAYS I'M SHOUTING?" Bits of his potion spat out onto the table. Harry's potion lay completely forgotten.

A figure approached their desk. "Everything alright, Harry m'boy? Mr Weasley?"

Harry leaned over their table, and beckoned Slughorn closer. He whispered, "I think it's something in his potion, Sir."

"ARE YOU SAYING I'M A BAD BREWER, HARRY?"

Harry rolled his eyes.

Slughorn sniffed the air above Ron's brewing spot. "Uh, Mr Weasley, did you by any chance use Murtlap's essence mixed with Doxy venom?

Ron looked shifty, "SO WHAT IF I DID?"

"Oh dear. Well Mr Weasley, that mixture usually results in the brewer's voice to become just a tad amplified, and by the end of the day, that brewer would go slightly deaf." At this, the class burst into laughter, only to be subdued when Ron shot them scathing looks, his hair turning a dangerous black. Only a few giggled, and Slughorn clapped his hands to hush them.

Harry sniggered, and resumed developing his Draught. "I'm guessing that that," he motioned to Ron's cauldron, "was Operation Bumfluff?"

Ron nodded glumly.

"Guess you'll have to find a Plan B then," Harry said (undeservedly, thought Ron) cheerfully.

"WHY DOES THIS ALWAYS HAPPEN TO ME?" Ron groaned.

Harry flinched from the loud bellowing. "Two things, Ron. One, when you say always happen to you, do you mean the whole hair thing, the amplified voice thing and the whole plans-getting blown-up-in-your-face thing? No pun intended." Ron shot a menacing glare at him. "O-kay, take that as a yes, then. And two, could you please write on paper if you wish to communicate? I don't really feel like going deaf right now."

Ron narrowed his eyes to thin slits, and Harry had a sudden image of Voldemort. Woah, if looks could kill.

Ron pointed his wand at his potion, and muttered "Scourgify," and the contents of his cauldron cleared. He sat down heavily on his chair, a grumpy look sporting his face. He rested his head on his forearms which were crossed over on his desk, not caring if bits of Harry's bubbling potion were flying out. Sleeping Draughts could only take affect on the person if it was taken orally.

The only thing that made him slightly satisfied was the way Hermione had angled her chair so that it was as far away as possible from the captain of Bumfluff town.

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Potions Class - Draco's POV

Granger bustled in through the door, her hands stacked with books which she was hastily trying to stuff into her bag. So she had been running late.

"Sorry I'm late, Professor!" Her voice was so musical, like a little choir of Veela voices put together.

Slughorn waved her apology off with a wave of his hand. She walked stiffly down the aisle and stood next to me. Hang on, let me rephrase that: She walked stiffly down the aisle and stood as far away as she possibly could from me. "Next to me" would require some form of close proximity, but no, Little Miss Perfect was having none of that.

I scoffed at the thought of her wanting to sit next to me. Why would she, when I had so blatantly taken advantage of her last night? I hadn't even asked her if it was alright to do all the things I had done to her! No wonder she had tried to get away.

She obviously hadn't felt all that I had when I was with her last night. Her heart obviously didn't thump against her ribcage as if it was trying to break free. Her lips obviously didn't feel as though someone had set it alight - but in a good way. Only when I really got into the kiss did I realize that she wasn't moving. At all. Her lips, yes, but maybe that was because I had forced her to. So I broke the kiss off. It was for her own good, really.

So now she hated me. And it was all because of one, stupid, thoughtless kiss. Yet it was so wonderful and fantastic. In my mind, that is.

I tried, anyway, to talk to her. To be friendly.

I faced her, and tried to put some warmth into my voice, "Hello, Granger." It came out strangled.

She didn't glance my way, but she gave a stiff nod in my direction, whilst she opened her book to the page number.

I suddenly felt nervous. I couldn't understand how a girl so amazingly beautiful with such a warm heart could hate me. I mean, all girls loved me, right? Yet the one I wanted I couldn't have...

I could see that what I did had hurt her; she tried so hard to keep it off her face, the hurt. So I decided that if it was because of me, which I was unquestionably sure of, then I wouldn't make it worse for her. That much I could do for her.

I would only talk to her if necessary.

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Hermione's POV

The warmth that radiated from him nearly killed me. How could I ignore someone so ... so ... so devastatingly handsome whose scent was so mouth-watering? The same person who could say the funniest of things and make me feel whole?

But I had to.

The sound of ingredients crashing to the ground jumped me out of my reverie. Ron. I didn't know anyone clumsier than him.

My Potions partner - yes, I was back to refusing to think his name - passed me the ingredients that I - that we - would need for the Sleeping Draught. I was thankful that this was only a practice run. His presence was really putting me off. At the end of the lesson, I was planning to ask Slughorn if I could move someplace else.

I threw the ingredients in with vicious force, causing the potion to slosh around, threatening to spill.

"Granger," he said. "You need to cut them up first."

Whoops.

He sighed and reached to take over. I allowed him. I wasn't going to get in an argument with him. That would involve talking. I stiffened at his sudden near presence, and moved further away, and held my breath. He smelt so good.

He was about to say something when I heard Ron shout out, "IT'S NOT ABOUT LAVENDER, HARRY!" I sighed. I didn't turn around, but in my peripheral vision, I saw my Potions partner turn. I chose that moment to let out my breath. I angled my chair away from him, trying to not make it look too conspicuous. I sat down on it. He turned back around, and his mouth turned down at one corner, noticing what I had done.

So much for being inconspicuous. He could see right through me.

The lesson passed by with many interruptions - Ron, of course - but I just couldn't get it out of my head that he could see right through me. And that thought played like a broken record in my head for the rest of the lesson.

-----------------------------------------------------------to be continued----------------------------------------------------------

Colours

Violet: Emotionally excited

Lavender: Mischievous

Brown: Puzzled

Green-yellow: Uneasy

Beige: heated emotions

Black: angry

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