A/N: Sorry for the huge delay, but my semester end exams are finally over! Here's a chapter to celebrate! :P

Hope you like it.

Chapter 14

Draco was most certainly not waiting for the mudblood. It was thirty minutes past ten and their rounds had supposed to have been started half an hour ago. As far as tardiness went, she had surely surpassed the limit by a lifetime, for her. He couldn't have cared less about her records. Though unlike her, he did have a life and he'd like to get back to it as soon as possible. He just wanted to get the whole ordeal over with.

He was lounging by the fireplace within the office, a rare feat nowadays considering how determinedly he had previously been avoiding the Head Girl. As a matter of fact he would have continued to avoid her, and this office too, had it not been for the rare opportunity that had presented itself today.

There was a creak of the door opening and in walked Hermione Granger.

She caught sight of him and said, "Great, you're here. C'mon, let's get this over with." Almost as if she'd read his thoughts.

He unfolded himself from his seat and walked towards her till he towered over her small frame. She stared at him warily.

Her face was flushed slightly and her skin was coated in a fine sheath of sweat.

"Where were you?"

She raised her eyebrows in mock surprise.

"I wasn't aware that I was under any obligation of answering back to you."

"When you're thirty minutes late mudblood, you sure as hell do."

She turned her back on him and proceeded to walk out the door. "I was at Hagrid's."

He didn't believe that for a minute, but he let it slide for now.

A short while later, they found themselves overlooking the vast grounds of Hogwarts. The entire area was awash with a pale, eerie glow from the full moon that hung high in the sky. A cool breeze ruffled his hair and he felt tiny goosebumps break across his skin. He smiled.

"I think we should simply cut a three mile perimeter, there's no need to touch the forest boundary. What do you say?" Her bushy hair whipped across her face in the wind.

He didn't reply. He simply began walking in the opposite direction.

"Where do you think you're going?"

He gave her an exaggerated sigh and the most irritated expression he could muster.

"Patrolling, Granger, what else? We'll cover more ground if we do this separately."

Something like uncertainty passed over her features, but he knew she knew he was right.

"But…"

"But what? Don't tell me you're scared to do this alone."

"Of course not." She snapped. "I was about to suggest the same thing."

"Then what the hell are we waiting for? You go have a look around the lake too, I'll do the Quidditch grounds."

"Meet me near the Whomping Willow in an hour." She called after him.

He chuckled softly as he walked away.

Twitchy little ferret.

Why. Oh why did anyone think of making him the Head boy?

She hugged herself in an attempt to shield herself from the chilly October wind as she marched steadily towards the Black lake. The patrol had yielded a dozen or so students till now, all couples and a few misguided teenagers who'd somehow gotten access to the castle's wine cellar that was meant for the Professors' use.

She had handed them each a detention.

She could no longer deny the tiny wisp of relief that was coursing through her veins. He was not ignoring her any more. They were back on speaking terms. She gave a little snort. Yeah, if that's what it was called: speaking.

He was unpredictable, to say the least. She hadn't expected him to ignore her for so long in the first place and she had hardly anticipated that he'd stop so soon. Their game was back in full swing and she was curious about what the next few days would yield. Strangely enough, they were both more productive as heads when they worked together, but stuck in some kind of limbo when left by themselves. Having experienced it first-hand during the past few days, she realized that she was just not tenacious enough to do this alone.

Alone.

She rubbed her arms and cast a wary look around herself. The Black lake lay true to its name, dark, silent and mysterious. She had always been scared of deep waters. It had started when she'd been only seven. She'd been thrown into the deep end of the swimming pool by a big fourteen year old girl in pigtails. Charles Granger had rescued his daughter only a minute later but she'd been mentally scarred for life. Although, she'd gradually learnt how to swim when the waters had been no more than three feet deep but she hadn't quite gotten over the incident.

That was also the day she'd shown the first signs of magic.

She'd watched as a small whirlpool had formed around the older girl, watched with relish as she struggled for air. That time she had no idea that she'd done it. But she knew she had stopped it by merely thinking it.

She increased her pace as she walked around the shore. Why would any student even fancy coming out here? This part of the lake was closely touching the forest, and despite all the times that she'd ventured into its depths with Harry and Ron, she was in no mood for a closer look. Stranger things had happened.

Something whirred past her right ear. Her eyes snapped forward towards the surface of the lake where small, silent ripples were beginning to form. She turned to look inside the bushes behind her.

"Lumos."

There was no sign of movement inside.

"Who's there? Show yourself."

Silence.

She waited with bated breath but no one came out. Of course they won't. She was so certain she'd heard it from behind her.

She looked back towards the lake. It lay completely still, all signs of the previous disturbance had vanished from its surface. It was as if the past few seconds had been just her imagination.

Drawing in a shaky breath, she continued forward. She wasn't so eager to walk forth now but she'll be damned if she let something like this keep her from completing her job.

Slowly the drop between the land and the water below got steeper. She stepped forward to check the height. It wasn't much, three feet at most. Her moonlit face reflected back at her.

That's when she heard it.

Hermione…Her…Hermione…

Her skin prickled at the voice. It was unlike anything she'd heard before. Was it the merpeople?

Hermioneee….Hermione…

This had been a bad idea. A very bad idea.

She stumbled backwards in an attempt to get away from the source but the nail-on-chalkboard voice didn't leave her.

Hermione…oh Hermioneee…come.

It wasn't the merpeople. The voice was coming from within her.

Hermione.

Her heartbeat increased in its pace. Her breath was beginning to come in shallow bursts. The wand fell from her grasp.

Suddenly, she felt two warm hands settle over her shoulder blades. Something like relief coursed through her, but she suddenly realized that it was too late.

The hands gave her a solid push forward and she was falling…falling down in the direction of the lake.

Just a fraction of a second before she hit the surface of the water, she heard that familiar laughter.

That son of a bitch.

SPLASH!

He laughed harder than he'd ever laughed in his life. Oh her face! It had been the best expression to cross her face in all the time he'd known her. He almost wished for the muggle contraption that Creevey kid was always carrying around. He would've captured the moment, framed it and put it up as it covered an entire wall of their office.

His laughter subsided as he peered down at her. She had surfaced from the depth but she was splashing around in the water. Probably pissed. He smirked at her antics.

The smirk disappeared from his mouth as he watched her struggle. The longer he looked at her, the more uncertain he got. She knew how to swim. He'd seen it during the second task of the Triwizard Tournament. Why wasn't she swimming?

Almost as if she'd read his thoughts, she slowly began paddling towards the other shore. She was doing a lousy job of it, however, and her technique was all wrong. With a start, he remembered that she'd been wearing her robes when he pushed her. They must be weighing her down and by the look of it, swimming wasn't one of her strengths.

He was unclasping his robes and toeing off his shoes before he'd given it a conscious thought. He pulled off his sweater, followed by his shirt and his socks. He unfastened his belt. Clad only in an undershirt and pants, he jumped.

The water was freezing but he expertly made his way towards the dark bundle of flesh struggling in the water. Her hands were flaying outwards but she wasn't moving anywhere. He came up behind her without alerting her to his presence and put both his arms around her waist. Thankfully, she froze.

He lead her out of the water slowly, one arm clasped firmly around her waist, while he paddled forward with the other. Within minutes they were moving slowly towards the pebbled shore. He had to hold her body upright while he got her out. She wasn't unconscious but she wasn't strong enough to hold herself on her feet.

Letting go once they reached the solid ground, she fell onto her knees, coughing.

He, too, was gasping with the effort that had taken for him to get her out of the lake. He hadn't done this before, nor had he known that a hundred and ten pounds felt like a ton inside the water.

"Where's my wand?" She croaked.

He sighed.

"Stay here."

He walked up to the steep ground where he'd found her standing frozen at the edge, intently listening to the voices that he'd fabricated. Had it been only a few minutes ago?

After retrieving her wand and his outer clothes from the ground, he made his way back towards her.

He came to an abrupt halt once he came within ten feet of her. She had taken off her wet robes and her sodden shoes. She was sitting on one of the rocks, wringing the water out of her long hair. The drops sparkled in the moonlight as they fell.

His chest contracted when she turned her head to catch him staring. She stood up slowly and it felt like all breath had left him in a sharp exhale. Barefoot, she walked towards him, and he watched as her shirt clung to her skin, her skirt lingering over her thighs at every step she took. Her breath was still short from the ordeal and her lips were still blue.

She extended one hand toward him, palm facing up.

He could only stare at her pale face.

"My wand, Malfoy."

Wordlessly, he handed it to her.

She muttered a drying spell over herself and immediately her skirt flared back to its pleated perfection, her shirt reassumed its former starched white glory. He had the strangest urge to snatch her wand and toss her back into the lake.

She followed it with a warming charm and turned to make her way back to her rock, obviously feeling no need to extend the same kindness towards her saviour.

His mind resurfaced from the thick haze at the sight of her turned back and he bit back a curse. Patting his robes, he withdrew his own wand and repeated the motions over himself. Feeling significantly warmer and self-assured, he marched over to where she was sitting putting on her shoes.

Was it his imagination or the air had just gotten a tad hotter?

Slowly, she pulled her eyes upwards to meet his. They were breathing fire.

She was up in flash.

"Get away from my sight before I do something we both regret."

He leaned in and smirked, "I think you owe me something, Granger."

He knew it would drive her up the wall, so he pulled a stray curl and rubbed it between his fingers. It was smoother than it looked.

She gave his chest a hard push. He stumbled back, more out of surprise than anything.

"I owe you this, Malfoy." She flipped him off. "And that's not all. I'm this close to punching you in the face. What the hell did you think you were doing?! I could have died!"

He snorted.

"Now hold it. You would have died had it not been for me. You were going down like a pile of rocks there. So, I think a nice little 'thank you' shall suffice."

Her small face took on grotesque proportions due to the immensity of her rage. It was strangely comforting to him.

She closed her eyes and breathed deeply through her nose.

"Had it not been for you, you stupid ferret, I wouldn't have fallen into the freaking lake! You pushed me in! What are you, ten? Why did you push me? Give me a reason or so help me I'll beat the crap out of you."

He threw his head back and laughed.

"Granger, you can barely stand on your feet. I don't really blame you though. Lake diving is not for the fainthearted. What happened back there by the way? Were you suddenly suicidal? I've seen planks swim better."

She bent down to pick a small rock from the ground and threw it in his direction before he could even guess what she was doing.

"OW!" It hit him square in the forehead and he covered it with his hand. Merlin, it hurt!

He saw her stoop down to pick a bigger rock. She drew her hand back.

"Hey! Stop that."

"Start speaking." She gritted out.

"Or what?"

"This will carve a hole through your head."

He attacked her before she could draw her hand back.

She screamed in rage. He clasped her wrists in his hands and twisted them till the rock fell from her grasp. She tried to wriggle out of his grip and had almost succeeded, but he caught hold of her arms pushed her backwards. She stumbled. They grappled there for a few moments, as she managed to swing in a few blows in the direction of his face. He cursed as her nails trailed down painfully over his forearms. He turned her around as her back hit his chest, his one arm looped around her neck and the other wrapped around her waist, securing her arms in.

He bit her earlobe, and she gasped out.

It had the desired effect. Gradually, all struggle began to leave her and she stilled. He felt her breathing slow, even out, and then become painstakingly erratic. His own breathing pattern mirrored hers. In and out. In and out.

"Revenge." He whispered.

"What?"

"This was my sweet revenge for the little stunt you pulled that day in the office. You thought I'd forgotten it? I've been dreaming about this day for ages."

She struggled.

"Hush. I know it doesn't feel very nice to be bested, Granger, but for once, learn to accept your defeat."

She gave a derisive snort.

He tightened his hold on her neck and she gasped again.

"Say it."

"What?"

"Say 'Thank you, Draco, for saving my life'."

"Over my cold dead body." She muttered.

His arm flexed dangerously around her trachea.

"Th-Thank you.."

"The whole thing."

"Thank you, Malfoy, for saving me."

He brought his mouth closer to one ear.

"Draco." He prompted.

She paused for a fraction of a second.

"Thank you, Draco, for saving my life."

He relished the feeling for a few moments, before eventually loosening his hold on her and pushing her away.

Instantly, she whipped around to face him, hand automatically moving to the pocket for her wand, and coming out empty.

"Really slow Granger, I'm almost disappointed." He held her wand in front of her face.

Her eyes smoldered.

"You can have this on one condition. That you promise you won't try anything once my back is turned."

"I promise." She bit out through clenched teeth.

He threw it in her direction, and she catched it within her outstretched fingers.

He gave her one final smirk, and turned on his heel.

"See you around, mudblood."

Whistling, he made his way towards the castle, feeling ecstatic and leaving her to nurse her wounded pride. He was confident that she wouldn't attack him from behind.

Hermione Granger was just that stupid.

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