"This is bad."

"You think?"

"Don't get smart with me. This isn't my fault."

"It isn't mine."

"You were supposed to watch him!"

"I have Quidditch practice, Granger. I don't have time for this."

She huffed and got up off the floor. "Well, I can't deal with this by myself."

"I have-"

"Quidditch practice, yeah, I know. God, you're about as useful as Ron."

If she had faced him, she would have seen a smile. Standing as well, Draco took a deep breath.

"Well, what are we going to do?"

She glared at him. "You're the one who's supposed to know everything about these things! You should have told me-"

"What? That it was going to grow? I've never actually seen one, Granger. Why don't you use that stupid half-giant fellow? He knows creatures, doesn't he?"

"Don't you dare talk about Hagrid that way!"

Draco shrugged. "I don't care. But you have to deal with this. I have to go."

She glared after him before turning back to the broom closet they had been standing outside of. Easter lay curled around a bucket, tail twitching as it napped. But, unlike the tiny cat Hermione had found in the vase shop, this Easter was about the size of a large tabby. He had been growing ever since they had started feeding him and had taken to hiding in places other than Hermione's bed and the second floor bathroom. Draco and Hermione had chased him into the closet after he had taken off in a fit.

Sighing, Hermione closed the door. She could probably leave him there for a while and go find Hagrid. She found Harry and Ron in the Entrance Hall, already heading that way. As they walked down to Hagrid's hut, Hermione looked towards the Quidditch pitch where the Slytherin team was practicing.

Because of their schedules and Easter's unusual habits, Draco and Hermione had taken turns watching Easter as soon as he started getting larger and less afraid of prowling the halls during the day when there were less shadows to disappear into. The food that Draco had made also needed constant management, and while Draco had been unwilling to divulge the recipe, he had shown her how to tend to it. The whole situation had been tense at first, but Draco had been unusually helpful despite continuing to be disagreeable.

She felt Ron's hand take hers and blushed a little, glancing at him. He smiled while still talking with Harry. He had taken to doing things like that lately and it made her stomach do flips. It let her forget all of the stupid things she had to deal with but could not share.

"'Ello, kids," Hagrid greeted as they walked in. "Ron, I hear you've got a good group for Quidditch."

"We've got some good players this year."

"I hear you have some interesting students this year," Harry commented with a smile. Hagrid laughed.

"Them two first years, huh? Got into a bit-o-trouble o'er the Forbidden Forest. Reminded me of you three."

"What kind of creatures are you teaching this year, Hagrid?"

"Got permission to do hippogriffs again. Might even get permission for a dragon or two."

"A dragon, Hagrid?" The trio exchanged worried looks. "You think that's safe?"

"Ah, you know dragons ain't so bad. 'Specially you, 'Arry!"

Harry shook his head in disbelief. Hermione shifted, glancing out the window towards the pitch.

"Um, Hagrid. Have you ever heard of a Mng…Mngwa?"

Hagrid's startled expression caused Hermione some worry. "Mngwa? Where'd ya hear of somethin' like that, 'Mione?"

Hermione shrugged nonchalantly. "Just heard about it. What is it, Hagrid?"

"Don't know much about them other than they're on the Ministry of Magic's danger list. Five X's. Very deadly."

"And you don't know anything about it?" Harry looked disbelieving. "Come on, Hagrid. We know you've got an affinity for things a little more unusual-"

"This ain't just some unusual creature, 'Arry," Hagrid snapped with such force that the Trio leaned in. Hagrid wiped his sweating brow, glancing around. "Ain't supposed to talk about it, its so dangerous. I wouldn't mess with one to save my life, I tell you. Would be best to leave well enough alone."

"I couldn't find any information about it."

Hagrid's eyes widened. "You was looking for it? What the hell for?"

Hermione could not believe how severely Hagrid was reacting to the mention of a Mngwa. "Hagrid, I don't understand why-"

"It's not something ya just go lookin' for. It's a dangerous animal, and rare. Don't even know if they still exist."

"But there must be information about them."

"You leave it alone, 'Mione. It's not information for students."

Frowning, Hermione sat back in her seat. Hagrid's words had her remember the Restricted Section of the Library. Her eyes lit up. Why hadn't she thought of it before?

"Hagrid, I need to go," she said, standing. "I have to speak to Professor Slughorn about something."

"Hermione, I thought you already finished your homework-"

"I'll be in for dinner, Ron," she called over her shoulder on her way back. She got to Slughorn's office quickly and found him pouring over some essays.

"Hi, Professor."

He smiled and gestured her in. "What is it that you need, Miss Granger?"

"I was hoping to get your help on the potion's essay. You see, I know we're supposed to research on ancient potions, but the class book only has so much and I really want to get some more detailed history into the potions I'm writing about."

His face lit up and his chest puffed out. "Well, it's so wonderful to see a student such as yourself take a real interest in research, Miss Granger. I can, of course, offer some of my own knowledge, but I fear that is as much as is available."

"Really?" Hermione huffed. "Not that I won't be happy for your expertise, but when I'm writing it all, I'll need more than just you as a citation. You asked for ten sources, remember?"

"Hm…" Slughorn looked around at his own personal library before smiling. "I have an idea. Come with me, Miss Granger."

Hiding her own smile, Hermione followed after her professor. As she suspected, he headed straight to the Library.

"Madam Pince, I'll be taking Miss Granger back to the Restricted Section with me."

"I don't think Miss Granger need to go back there!" Madam Pince called, but Slughorn dismissed her, moving passed the roped off entrance.

"She's a little bit of a straight hat, hm?" he said with a chortle. He looked about before turning to her. "No point in hanging about. I'll check this way and you look around in this area, okay?"

She nodded and started down the aisle. Making sure she found at least one tome on potions, she then prowled about for anything on creatures.

Slughorn was waiting for her by the entrance with a couple books of his own. "Give me the names of the books you got and I'll sort it all out with Madam Pince. These will get you all the information you need."

"Thank you so much, Professor!" Hermione hurried off. It was too close to dinner to go to Gryffindor Tower so she went straight to the Great Hall. Harry and Ron came in a few minutes later, perplexed looks on their faces.

"Where did you run off to?" Ron asked as he settled in beside her.

"Library with Professor Slughorn. He got me into the Restricted Section."

"What did you need in there?"

"Potions stuff." Her stomach knotted at lying to them, but it was not a new feeling. Ever since Draco had entered the equation, she had been lying quite a bit to cover her disappearances in between classes and on the weekends. "He was able to let me borrow a few books."

"Hey, what was up with the questions at Hagrid's?" Harry inquired. "You got Hagrid pretty upset. He wouldn't talk much after you left."

"Really?" She frowned. "I didn't know."

"That thing you were talking about. Where'd you hear about it?"

"I told you. I just heard someone mention it and couldn't find anything about it in any of the books in the Library."

"Well, maybe you should let it go. Hagrid seemed pretty shaken about it."

Hermione nodded. "Of course. It was just curiosity."

Ron looked to the entrance and rolled his eyes. "Trying to look like you're doing something about your horrible game plan, Malfoy?"

The Slytherin team stopped, turning to the humored Gryffindor table. Malfoy, however, did not even hear Ron, going straight to the table where Blaise was waiting for him. While Ron and a few other Gryffindors continued to taunt the Slytherin team, Hermione could tell Draco was more interested in what Blaise had to say. A dark look came over Draco's face and he looked over at Nott. Then he looked to Hermione. She frowned, glancing at Nott. What was going on?

Dinner passed quickly and they all soon returned to the commons. Hermione excused herself from the others after a while, inventing some excuse about going to see Slughorn. Draco was already in the lavatory, stirring the sludge. Easter sat in the sink next to his, watching the spoon go slowly around in the bloody mess he would eventually eat.

"What exactly are you putting in that?" she asked, setting down her things to greet Easter, who had jumped down from the sink. "Hey, baby. Got tired of the broom closet, huh?"

"Had to tempt him out," Draco grumbled. "Used the rest of my supplies."

"Well, there's a Hogsmeade trip next weekend, so we should be able to stock up." She hefted Easter into her arms and approached the sink. "What is it that we need?"

"I can get the supplies myself."

"Why won't you tell me?" She shook her head in disbelief. "I could help-"

"I don't need help, Mudblood." He glanced at her agitated features and smiled. "You can stir."

"I don't want to stir."

"Then do something else. But I don't need your help with the ingredients."

"Hey, Malfoy."

He looked at her and she shoved him to the floor. "Don't you call me a mudblood again," she hissed at his surprised expression. She stalked back to her bag. "I found some books," she muttered after a while had passed and Draco had gone back to the sludge. He set down the spoon, coming over as she pulled out two tomes. She set Easter down and opened up the first tome. Draco stood a little behind her, looking over her shoulder at the pages.

"Where did you get these?"

"Restricted Section."

His eyebrows rose. "Seriously? How did you get in there?"

"Intelligence. I know not being quick can be disconcerting, but do try and keep up, Malfoy."

She smiled at his dark look. He crossed his arms over his chest, trying to hide his awkwardness by showing more interest in the tome.

"Is it in there?"

She glanced up at him. "Why don't you look through the second one?"

Frowning, he sat down next to her and pulled the other tome up. For ten minutes, the only sound in the lavatory was the simmering of the sludge and Easter cleaning his fur. Hermione and Draco kept glancing at each other, feeling strange sitting so close to each other.

"Here."

Hermione leaned over to look at the page Draco had indicated. "A Mngwa is an incredibly dangerous enormous feline. Ferocious and bloodthirsty, it can use the shadows to move undetected and stalk its pray. It can kill with a single bite of its sharp jaws or swipe of its claws. No successful attack or capture of the beast has ever been made and no survivors of its attacks have ever been recorded. Its habitat is in Tanzania, though it has been sighted in other parts of Eastern Africa. The Ministry of Magic has classified this creature XXXXX. Do not approach under pain of death."

There was a brief description of a darkly colored cat the size of a horse. Hermione and Draco looked up at Easter. He curled up in the shadows underneath the sink so that they could only see his burning eyes. Hermione covered up a dismayed gasp with her hands.

"What did I do?"

Draco swallowed hard, turning the page. "There isn't anything else here. No picture, just the description." He shut the book, shaking his head. "You sure know how to pick them, Granger."

"This isn't the time, Malfoy!" Her breathing got heavier. "Oh my gosh, what did I do?"

Draco looked at her, surprised at how badly she was taking this. "Granger, calm down-"

"I brought him here and he could completely kill someone!" Hermione scrambled to her feet, clutching her stomach as she tried to catch her breath. "This can't be happening to me. Not again!"

He got to his feet, catching her by the shoulders. "Will you stop this!" he hissed. "Someone's going to hear you outside!"

"You let me go!" She shoved him away and stumbled over to a stall, shutting herself up inside.

"Damn it, Granger!" Draco kicked a stall post, causing Easter to growl. Backing away from the creature's location, Draco pounded on Hermione's stall. "This isn't going to solve anything! There is nothing we can do about this right now, so get out here! God, Granger! Grow a freaking spine and get out here!"

The door swung open and she was standing there glaring at him. "Grow a spine? That's rich coming from you. At least Nott and the others stuck around. You ran like a coward. Wouldn't even stand up for what you believed in, however misguided it was!"

Hermione found herself up against a wall, tip of a wand underneath her chin, and Draco's enraged face terribly close to hers.

"You and your lot think you're so bloody clever, throwing around words like coward," he whispered. His grip on his wand turned his knuckles bone white. "Think you know everything because Potter's the bloody savior of everyone, right? Well, let's get this straight, because I'll have no more of this coward stuff from your lips. I went to France…I went to France to protect my mother, Granger."

"Your moth-"

"Don't interrupt!" He slammed his fist into the wall next to her head, gray eyes so stormy they sent a pang of fear through Hermione. "My mother. I had to protect her from my father and his ill-advised pacts with You…with him. If I had stayed, she would be dead and, in all likelihood, so would I." He leaned in, nose almost brushing hers. "And don't you ever compare me to that piece of shit Nott. You give him a pass because he carries that shiny Head's badge and he stuck around? Well, he's got no interest in you past what's under those robes, so let's reserve who we pronounce honorable just because he didn't turn tail and run. He's a complete psychopath, Granger. Don't you ever compare me to him."

She trembled. It was involuntary and horrible, but she did it anyway. His gaze bore into her, daring her to contradict him. Daring her to say anything. But she couldn't.

She just trembled.