A huge and much overdue thanks to my betas on this story! Margot Le Faye, Maz, Little Dollface, kerri240879, Manda06 and last, but not least, TomFeltonIsKindaHot. Their input is what makes this fic make sense! ;)

A new D/Hr archive is up! If you haven't yet, check out the Hawthorn & Vine archive at dramione dot org. All my fic is X-posted there, but for administrative reasons, I can't begin reliably updating Bracelet there until March 1st. :)

And as a sort of P.S. -- I re-enabled anonymous reviews. However, if you comment anonymously, just remember that I can't respond. You're not missing much, as I suck at responding, but just saying.


Theo was wrong.

The ground was shifting under Hermione's feet and she found it safest to fumble her way to her trusty office chair and sit down before scowling at Theo. "Since when do you care so bloody much about whether I like Malfoy or not?"

"I'll be honest," he said, staring pensively over her shoulder. "When I first encouraged Draco, I didn't think he'd get anywhere with you. That's why I did it. To see him fail."

"You did what?"

"And I honestly still think that you are out of his league. You're too smart. Too good. Too idealistic. I don't understand it; it's not logical. But I guess you wouldn't be the first person to fancy someone not nearly good enough for them. I don't know if it's because he makes you feel like you're even better or if it's because you don't realize your true potential…."

"Stop!" Hermione raised her hand. "Did you miss the part where I said that I do not fancy him?"

"Didn't miss it. Ignored it."

"Oh, that makes it so much better."

Theo ignored her sarcastic remark. "On the surface, he annoys you. But you don't get off on being annoyed by someone. So, there must be times when he doesn't annoy you. Times where you see him as someone kissable and someone you can—"

"Don't say it!"

"—relate to. Really, Granger. What did you think I was going to say? Get your mind out of the gutter."

Hermione would bet anything that Theo had embarrassed her on purpose just now, so she gritted her teeth and refused to cringe. "Honestly," she said instead, "I don't understand why you're preaching to me! I know that his attraction to me is only physical. He has said that he doesn't want to be with me, that I'm unsuitable and that he doesn't… have feelings for me. He has said he just wanted to sleep with me. And don't forget that he's a bigoted, evil git. Why would I want more from him?"

Her hands were not shaking. She only clenched them into fists because she was annoyed. And if she was verging on being truly upset, it was only because she was remembering all those nasty things Draco had been saying to make sure she understood that he didn't truly want anything from her—except the sex if it was offered.

Well, it had been offered and taken, and lately he was just playing around with her, seeing how far he could push her. She wasn't even sure that he wanted to sleep with her again. Maybe it was enough for him to let people know that she could be manipulated into kissing him whenever it suited him.

Why did people act as if she should let herself feel more? If she let it be more, then she would be the laughing stock of Hogwarts—if she wasn't already, considering that Theo had known. Others might know too!

"Don't believe his lies," Theo softly said.

She really didn't plan to! "I won't."

He shook his head. "Not those lies. The other ones. Don't believe he doesn't want you."

"Ok. I guess I can believe that." That night at the library he had seemed awfully suggestive. And why wouldn't he want more? The sex had been good, and if they did it again, it would be good again. It didn't take a lot of brains to realize that.

Theo looked at her for a long while and then shook his head, sighing. "He's a bloody idiot anyway and I honestly don't really want this to happen, so…." He shrugged and leisurely walked over to his desk to work.


"Took you long enough to ask for them," Draco was lazily saying.

"Shut up and give them to me."

Draco raised an eyebrow at Hermione. She had waited almost a week to ask for her contraceptive potions and now she was acting as if she was in a hurry to get it over with? She'd barely even spoken to him in all this time. Frankly, he'd missed her.

Of course, she hadn't even come to his room to get them. She had stopped him after class to ask him to get them and meet her in some rarely-used corridor. Apparently, she didn't like being seen with him.

Not that this was terribly surprising.

"Don't I deserve something for my troubles?" he asked.

"Oh! Yes!" She seemed almost startled at the question. "Of course! How much were they?"

He frowned as she was looking for her coin purse. "I didn't mean money!"

"I still have to pay for—"

"No! You don't!"

She blinked and stared at him as if he'd gone mad. He probably had. He just didn't want her money when he'd been doing her a bloody favor. Other shows of gratitude, sure, but not that. It seemed like he might as well forget about any 'shows' today, though. Pity.

"I'm not going to be in your debt, Malfoy," she finally said.

"Just say 'thank you'," he said, barely keeping a sigh from his voice. Damn, but he had missed her.

He wished he hadn't.

"Thank you." She sounded strained. How it must bother her to thank him for anything.

"There, was that so hard?" He deliberately sounded patronizing to annoy her. It was the only way to avoid any awkward moments where he would be wanting. Clearly, she wasn't in the mood for his wanting today.

She pressed her lips together in one of those cute frowns. "You could have just taken my money instead of yelling at me."

"I can afford a few sickles."

"It was more than a few sickles."

He nonchalantly shrugged. "Not much. Cheap crap. Fitting for a Weasley."

"Don't start." She apparently wasn't even in the mood for insults. Not much left, then.

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered. "Just make sure that your beloved Weasley doesn't try to make Pansy drink anything this low quality."

Hermione's eyes widened innocently in a way that instantly made Draco suspicious. "Oh, so you think she'll actually have sex with him?"

He stared at her and then the image sank in and he screwed up his face. "Oh, now I'll never sleep again!"

"You really are concerned about who your ex-girlfriend ends up with, huh?" Hermione asked with a shake of her head.

"She's more than my ex-girlfriend."

The words had just sort of slipped out, but before he could clarify, her face softened in a way he really didn't like. "Yeah, she is, isn't she?" she asked almost wistfully. "Anyway, thanks."

Draco had the very discouraging feeling that she'd just misunderstood something again. "Pansy's my friend," he quickly said. "She hasn't been happy with me since the whole… but she's still my friend."

"I know," Hermione said, nodding. "Same as Ron is my friend."

"Yeah…" Draco still didn't really think Hermione understood, but trying to explain further would make him look like a ninny. And what was the point, anyway? She seemed to believe whatever she felt like believing, no matter what he said.

"In any case, since we're done here…" Hermione said and then, after what appeared to be a moment's consideration, stomped on his foot. Hard.

He yelped and jumped before he could stop himself. "What the…? Have you gone insane?"

She crossed her arms over her chest. "How did Theo know we'd slept together?" she very coldly asked.

That was a change of subject if ever he'd heard one. And… ow! "He always knows everything, doesn't he?" he tried. A weak defense was better than no defense, right? And he really hoped he was wrong and that wasn't hurt in her eyes. With how little she cared about him, he really couldn't afford to hurt her.

"Oh, please. He has to learn it from somewhere. He didn't learn it from me, ergo…." She made a gesture indicating Draco.

He sighed. This wouldn't go well, would it? "He may have overheard something."

"And just why are you running around telling people about… that?"

"I'm not running around—"

"My mistake for trusting you in the first place," she interrupted him, apparently not caring for his excuses. "I should have known you were going to use it. Stupid." She was biting her lip and wringing her hands, showing every sign of distress at Draco supposedly spreading rumors about her.

Draco was about to try to defend himself again when he realized it would be pointless. She just wasn't in the mood to listen to him. When she'd worn the bracelet, he had very deliberately spread rumors to make her seem like his personal slut. She would see no reason to believe that he wouldn't do so again now that she'd really slept with him.

She didn't see that he wasn't the same person anymore, and even if she did see some of the changes, she really had no reason to believe that he wouldn't go back to his old self again, did she?

"You never trusted me," he said instead, feeling rather sad. "If you did, you wouldn't be so eager to believe that."

"I went to bed with you, didn't I?" she asked, not looking him in the eye. Her fists clenched and he wondered if she wanted to punch him. In any case, he was probably very lucky that she didn't have an itch to hex him.

"Yeah, but not because you trusted me. You went to bed with me because you wanted the sex badly enough that you just didn't care anymore whether you could trust me. I'm sorry that you regret it now, but that's hardly my fault. I gave you what you asked for and in spite of what you seem to believe, I didn't spread any stories."

He could tell by the way she looked at him before she left that she didn't believe him.

She never believed him. She never would believe him. He shouldn't even bother.

He just couldn't seem to stop bothering.


"What rhymes with 'grateful'?" Ron's brow furrowed as he was battling the piece of paper in front of him.

Hermione had to hand it to him, attempting to write poetry during the evening meal in the Great Hall was pretty brave. Or, possibly, just stupid.

Harry wrinkled his nose, thinking about it. "Hateful?"

Ron looked like he actually considered it. Good grief! This was a disaster waiting to happen.

"Try 'fateful'," Hermione suggested. "At least if you want her to leave your bits intact."

"Her?" Harry suddenly perked up. "Wait, this is for your mystery girl?"

Ron shot him a semi-amused look. "No, mate. I've taken up rhyming as a hobby."

Harry made a face. "Let me see!"

He reached for the paper, but Ron was quick to move it away. "Dream on!"

"Friends show friends their rhyming."

"They do not."

"Do too!"

"Hermione!" Ron was looking panicked.

"How old are you two?" she asked. "Twelve?" She shook her head. With nothing but shadows to fight so far this school year, Ron and Harry had taken to acting a lot like, well, boys. She couldn't help but wonder how it would have been to have had a normal childhood with them.

"Hey, not fair!" Ron objected. "He was the one to…" His voice trailed off at the look Hermione shot him. "I was just minding my own business," he muttered before sulking.

Harry laughed and Hermione pinned him with a glare, turning his laughter into a coughing fit.

Deciding that she was done being their pseudo-mother for now, Hermione asked, "Where's Ginny?"

Ron made a weak wave with his hand. "She said she needed to write some essay because she got an answer wrong in class."

Harry was still grinning. "Actually, if I recall correctly, she was a bit more colorful than that."

"Yeah, well," Ron muttered, "she's just lucky Mum didn't hear how she referred to her teachers."

"I find it quite refreshing, really," Harry said.

Ron snorted. "Unless it's directed at you. You don't seem that 'refreshed' when she cusses you out. In fact, you didn't seem very 'refreshed' after Hogsmeade!"

Harry shrugged. "I do admit she cussed at me a bit, but the date turned out all right, didn't it? We're good now. If I was in a bad mood, it was due to being stalked by all these… Aurors."

Hermione very carefully focused on her food.

"Come on, mate, you don't really think the Aurors were stalking you?" Ron asked.

Harry pursed his lips. "I went to the loo and two followed me in there. One went into a stall, but there was no… activity… if you know what I mean, and the other one spent five minutes washing his hands. Then when I went back out, they followed and two more were lounging on the other side of the door, talking about whether kumquats are a vegetable or a fruit—why this should be question, I don't know—and trading crocheting patterns."

Ron looked as if he didn't know whether he should laugh or commiserate. "Oh."

"That's only the tip of the iceberg. Everywhere I went there were Aurors under ridiculous pretenses. I'm going to ask Dumbledore about it as soon as I can catch him. So, no. It wasn't your sister that soured my mood. She was an angel."

Ron looked mildly puzzled. "She's a bloody harpy! Having said that, she still is my sister and you'd better be good to her."

Hermione choked on air, coughing and sputtering as she tried very hard not to laugh out loud at that ironical statement. Ginny could be very blunt, but at least she had her heart in the right place. She'd proven her loyalty to her family and friends before. Pansy Parkinson, on the other hand, who Ron fancied, was nothing but a cold, superficial bitch, no matter what Ron or Malfoy said. There was no doubt in Hermione's mind who'd win the Harpy of the Year Award.

Harry looked curious and Ron looked resigned, probably knowing why Hermione was having trouble breathing.

"Right," Hermione croaked. "Um, I need to see Ginny about something. Have fun with your… rhyming." She quickly got up and left before Harry could badger her about her odd reaction.


Finding Ginny wasn't any trouble at all. She was in the Gryffindor common room, angrily muttering to herself as she was jotting something down on a piece of parchment. She seemed to welcome the distraction, though, and was more than willing to follow Hermione to her room to get back the 'things' Hermione had borrowed.

"Why exactly am I getting these back?" Ginny asked as Hermione led the way into her room to give Ginny the potions in privacy.

"Since Theo and I broke up there's no point in being 'prepared'. With you getting back with Harry, you'll probably have more use for them," Hermione replied, feeling like that was a reasonable response.

"Right. So you're just going to keep pretending you never slept with Malfoy, then?" Ginny casually said as she went over to Hermione's desk and looked at the books scattered there.

Hermione's mind went blank with shock and she couldn't think of a better response than: "What?"

Ginny shrugged and looked up, pinning Hermione with a look. "You don't have to keep lying to us, you know."

"Ginny, I don't know what he told you—"

"He told me nothing," Ginny interrupted. "Why would Malfoy even talk to me?"

Hermione swallowed. "Theo?"

"No."

"Then who?" How far had it got around?

"I have a brain of my own," Ginny said, looking somewhat annoyed. "I noticed the tell-tale awkwardness. And giving these back to me is just another attempt at covering up, isn't it?"

Busted. But at least not by the rumor mill. "I'm sorry," Hermione said, dropping any pretense. "I just didn't want anyone to know."

"I get that. I really do," Ginny said, squatting down to pet Crookshanks. "But, believe me, these secrets aren't healthy. You just have to let Harry and Ron react to the news and then get over it. Didn't you tell me to do something like that as well?"

She probably had. But that had been different—Ginny had been hiding things from her boyfriend, and the thing with Zabini had been buried in the past and… well, it was always easier to tell others what to do, wasn't it? "You think your experiences with Zabini apply here?" she asked.

Ginny shrugged and strolled over to the bookcase. "I learned something. A secret like this festers. And, worse, the taboo of it might lure you back to repeat your mistakes. Not that I did after getting together with Harry, mind you."

Hermione shook her head. "I didn't think you had, and I won't repeat my mistakes."

Although they sure would be worth repeating—from a purely physical perspective, that was. Too bad that it wasn't worth it when it came to her mind and soul, not to mention her self-esteem, self-respect and the respect of her friends.

"You kissed him in Hogsmeade," Ginny pointed out, still casual as ever.

"There was a reason for that!"

Ginny smiled rather cynically. "And there'll be a reason for it next time too, and I'm sure there'll be a really good reason when you sleep with him again."

"What do you want from me, Ginny?" Hermione sighed. She really couldn't have this discussion when she could hardly sort out her own mind.

"Look, it's none of anyone else's business," Ginny said, surprisingly gently. "Do whatever you want. But just be careful. And keep the potions in case you need them." She gave Hermione a genuinely sympathetic look.

"I won't need them," Hermione said.

Ironically, she wouldn't need them whether she did as people seemed to predict or not. It wasn't for her to share the details of Draco's curse, though. She doubted he'd care much for her telling her friends that he was sterile until he married. He probably found that fairly personal.

"Just in case. Better than having the devil's spawn, right?" Ginny gave a wink that Hermione really could have lived without.

After Ginny had left again to finish her essay, Hermione stared at the potions on her desk. Having the devil's spawn. Yeah, no chance of that happening. Ever. No matter what. Since she hardly planned on marrying Malfoy, it was physically impossible.

That was actually sort of a strange thought.

But the real surprise was that she sort of wished she could have more no-spawn-making activities.


"The world must be ending," she drily replied.

"So, if the world is ending anyway, why are we doing this stupid walking? Why don't we just go up the Astronomy Tower and talk instead?"

For a second he thought he'd tempted her, but then her expression became shuttered. "Is this how you usually do your rounds, Malfoy?"