AN: Well, it has been a long time since my last update...several months in fact. Well, I back from holiday and ready to get back into it! For those of you who live in NYC, I am so envious. It is an amazing place - had the best two weeks of my year there! Hope this chapter sets the right mood once again. Thanks for your patience. :p

An author's summary to bring you up to speed: Draco Malfoy is still calling the shots, despite the loss of his Head badge, with his underhanded control over Hermione Granger who is still battling with the unknown. Just add Daphne Greengrass to the mix and Hermione could almost wish for Veritas Civitas...

Being excused from class by Professor McGonagall was a blessing in disguise. However, dinner and detention were always going to be an issue.

Hermione reluctantly entered the Great Hall, hoping to sneak over to the Gryffindor table, load up her plate and eat in silence, unnoticed.

A body rammed into her shoulder, almost knocking her off balance.

"That's for getting me detention." Daphne scowled at her before walking off as if nothing had happened.

Hermione clutched her shoulder, her eyes narrowing. "The pleasure's all mine," she muttered under her breath.

"Hermione!"

She whirled around to see Harry waving at her as he walked into the Hall. She gave him a small smile, wincing as she rotated her pained shoulder. She opened her mouth to speak as he approached, but instead, found her mouth blocked by the shoulder of her best friend as he enveloped her into a tight hug.

"Harry!" Her voice was muffled by his school jumper. His grip tightened before he finally let go of their embrace. Hermione blushed slightly. They were in the middle of the Great Hall, after all, and had managed to attract a few stares.

"I'm sorry," they both said in unison. They both frowned in turn as to why the other was apologising.

Hermione smiled tentatively. "There's a lot to say. I don't know where to start. But, I'm okay. Madame Pomfrey would not have let me out otherwise."

Harry nodded. They began walking toward their table. "And, what of Malfoy losing his Head badge?"

"Can't say I'm upset." Hermione dismissed. The less she made of it, the less she'd have to explain.

He was pensively silent next to her before speaking again. "I heard he poisoned you." It was a statement that did not invite challenge. Up to this point, they had not looked at one another. Hermione stopped and searched his eyes for any sign of question.

"Who told you that?"

"Blaise Zabini." There was a hint of disbelief in his voice, but his unwavering, dead set gaze signalled his disinterest in playing games.

"Well, he was right," Hermione affirmed. She sighed. "But, that's not really news, is it? I told you about the potion. You just didn't believe me."

Harry's face softened. "I'm sorry. I guess I was caught up in the fact that...you know...the other side effects." He ran a hand through his already unruly hair, looking over her shoulder uncertainly.

"Yes. Well...turns out they were the least of my concerns...or yours." Why was it suddenly weird talking about it? She stepped away from him and sat down at the table. A few seconds later, he followed suit and sat next to her.

"It's complicated, Harry," she said. He turned to her.

"I figured as much," he replied.

Hermione nodded. "Believe me when I say it's not what I expected."

"Neither." His gaze faltered before he directed his attention to the pumpkin juice. She could see he was biting his tongue, withholding himself from embarking on a reprimanding rant.

"Pumpkin juice?" Harry was holding the jug in his hand with a lop-sided grin on his face. Hermione exhaled.

"Please." She reached for her cup and held it as he poured. "Thanks." Harry smiled. She didn't have to explain anything. He understood.

Detention with Daphne was a nightmare. The girl would not relent on her taunts, but she eventually eased up as the clock ticked at the halfway mark and realisation of what had to be done to avoid being stuck in detention overtime set in.

Hermione did her best to remain silent as they set about cleaning the Transfiguration props room. Dahpne would direct baleful glares at her now and then, and Hermione could tell she was holding back from speaking out her mind.

The air was tense.

"Psst, Hermione!" She heard someone whisper. Looking around, she spotted Blaise peeking through the shadows of the half open door. Hermione turned to check if Daphne had heard him – she was busy fussing over the cushions in the back cupboard. He gestured for her to walk over. Hermione scrunched up her face in confusion. Since when had he taken to seeking her out like this?

"What are you doing here?" she hissed. He gestured for her to approach.

She chanced a final look at Daphne to make sure she was busy and walked over to him, shielding his presence from Daphne.

"I wanted to see that you're okay." She smiled appreciatively. "How are you?" he asked.

"Better," she offered quietly, "aside from getting my first detention." He gave her a conciliatory smile and glanced over her shoulder at Daphne.

"She giving you trouble?"

"Nothing I can't handle." She wasn't going to get into semantics with Daphne only metres away.

"I tried to visit, but Pomfrey wouldn't let me."

Hermione looked down at her hands. "Malfoy mentioned you asked him to visit." She wasn't sure how he would react to the revelation that she had already spoken to Malfoy.

She noticed his jaw clench and lips tighten. "Right. Well ...I don't know why he said that because I haven't spoken to Malfoy since I let loose to Professor Snape about the potion."

"What are you doing?" It was Daphne and she was standing too close for comfort. Hermione gave Blaise a beseeching look and spun around, careful to guard the opening from Daphne's line of sight.

"None of your business," she bit out, glaring at Daphne while inwardly pleading that Blaise had left.

"It must be something if the Head girl is slacking off in detention." Without waiting for a reply, Daphne shoved Hermione aside and opened the door, a clear "lumos" escaping her lips as she pulled out her wand. She was presented with bleak emptiness, the cool air from the hallway driving in to assault the warm hub. Hermione braced herself for the worst as Daphne directed her attention to the Head girl.

Hermione inwardly sighed with relief.

"I don't know what the fuck is going on, but mark my words, Granger; I am going to find out. Things have been too weird around here." Hermione stood challengingly, glaring back at Daphne.

"I don't care what you do, Greengrass. The next time you touch me, I will hex you. And, that's not a threat. It's a damn certainty." The classroom clock ticked over the hour. Both girls turned their attention to it before Daphne broke the silence.

"It's been a pleasure, Granger," her voice dripped with sarcasm. Hermione smirked – it was the only fitting response. They went their separate ways.

The common room was eerily quiet. Hermione sat, reclined in a beanbag staring up at the ceiling. She was vaguely reminiscing of all those months ago...when her only interaction with Malfoy had been to scold him and throw biting remarks in frustration, and sometimes for amusement. There were no complications. Just simple, surface laced derision that could be switched on an off as one pleased – depending on proximity.

And now, she was taking potions to contain the side effects of a curse - Veritas Civitas. She was thankful the essence of it had not come to fruition. Her one off moment of recklessness had almost cost her the ability to do magic. And somewhere along the way, she had become intimately tied with Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini.

Introspection - it did wonders to qualify things.

Hermione let out a long sigh - she had been doing that a lot lately - bringing her hands to rest over her stomach as she closed her eyes and felt the rise and fall of her chest. She needed Malfoy's full cooperation and that meant she needed to wait for him to approach her first. It wasn't as if anything would change in two days, right?

Wrong.

...

Daphne Greengrass was true to her word.

...

Hermione was walking along the corridors on her way to Arithmancy. As she reached the landing of the second floor and turned into the main hallway, Hermione was abruptly interrupted by a swat of Slytherin girls led by Daphne Greengrass. They stepped into her path.

"I have a class to get to. I imagine you lot do, too," Hermione directed impatiently. The last thing she wanted was to be late on her first day back to Professor Vector's class. She needed to be seated and settled before Malfoy showed up. Daphne remained unmoved, a calculated grin crossing her face.

"No one's stopping you from going to class. There are other routes around the castle."

Hermione could see where this was going. Daphne was going to antagonise without actually doing anything. "Right, well, I'm going this way." Hermione stepped forward, hoping that the younger girls would take a hint. But, Daphne stood her ground and so did they.

"I have no problem handing out detentions here."

"On what grounds?" Daphne tested.

"On grounds-" Hermione had to think for a moment, "-of disruptive behaviour."

"I'd like to see you try." Daphne goaded. A few of the girls snickered in response. Hermione glared at the culprits.

"Is this really necessary?"

Daphne stepped closer to Hermione her eyes sparkling with defiance.

"It's not a question of necessity, Granger." They stood eye to eye, waiting for the other to create a reason for them to escalate their hostility.

"What's going on here?" Hermione darted her head around to see Malfoy standing several feet away, his expression passive. She opened her mouth to speak when Daphne cut in with her well practiced sweetness.

"Draco," she purred. Hermione continued to stare at Malfoy – he looked...well, something was different. He did not glance at her once; it gave her an opportunity to continue to appraise him.

"Daphne, what the hell are you doing?" he asked, resignation apparent in his voice. Malfoy looked at the other Slytherin girls who had moved to lean against the wall, talking amongst themselves whilst shooting glances at Daphne worriedly.

"Granger and I were just having a chat about how she cost you your Head badge, weren't we?" Hermione turned back to Daphne, unable to help the scowl on her face as she reacted to the rubbish Daphne was feeding Malfoy.

"Whatever," she retorted. "I'll be on my way, then."

Hermione felt Daphne's hand take hold of her arm. "Not so fast. This looks like a perfect opportunity to have a reconciliation of sorts. It's been days since the Head girl and ex-Head boy have shared the head digs. Has it been lonely, Granger?"

Now that the girls had their confident leader back, they crowded around Daphne like vultures - her spectators.

Hermione eyes widened at the inferences being drawn and she stared at Malfoy with unconcealed horror. What the hell was Daphne playing at?

"Daphne, stop this," Malfoy demanded. He was standing straight and rigid.

"Tell him, Granger. Tell him that you miss him. He only has to hear it once to break him." Daphne's voice was dripping with ill intent. Hermione had walked into a trap. The only thing was that she had no idea how deep it ran.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Hermione wavered. She forced a mask of indifference as her gaze drifted back to Daphne. Her insides were squirming.

"Oh, sure you do, Granger. Malfoy isn't that bad a lay."

Hermione blanched, her books slipping from her hands and thundering against the stone floor. Gasps of surprise surrounded them – clearly Daphne had not divulged her intentions prior to the event.

"Enough!" Malfoy thundered, his voice booming around them. Daphne was clearly taken aback by his ferocity. Hermione clenched up, she had never been so frozen with inaction. "I don't know what crap you've been fed, Daphne, but let it go," he ground out viciously.

Daphne motioned to speak, but Malfoy stopped her before she could let a word out. "Get the fuck out of here. All. Of. You." His voice was low and threatening. The Slytherin girls scurried away in fright.

Daphne glared back at him. "Just reinforced the rumour, Malfoy," she shot back challengingly.

Malfoy marched forward, straight past Hermione and stood in front of Daphne. "What are you going to do, Daphne?"

She scoffed, crossing her arms. "You hold no authority over me, or anyone. Don't threaten me, Draco. It's you who should be worried."

"You've got some nerve if you think I'm worried about your salacious gossip mongering. You know nothing!" His voice was fierce and dismissive. Hermione had never seen him talk down to someone from his own House.

"You are a disgrace to Slytherin, Draco Malfoy."

"You're a meddlesome bitch, Daphne Greengrass." His anger was laced with mockery as he mimicked her.

"At least I don't fuck Mudbloods."

Hermione was broken out of her trance like state as the magnitude of Daphne's insult registered. That was the final straw. She was about to pull out her wand but Malfoy's reaction had caught her attention. He had stifferend with rage - the air crackled with the threat of an explosion of hexes that she would regret allowing. Hermione had to intervene, despite the cutting pain those words had unleashed.

"Malfoy-"

"Granger, go to class." It was not negotiable. He waved his wand at her fallen things and they hung near her stunned form.

She couldn't explain why, except that is was becoming unusually commonplace, but Hermione gave in to the prat's request. She grabed her things and walked past hurriedly, wondering whether she had done the right thing.

Hermione was naturally late to class; she quickly murmured an apology and made her way to a vacant seat near the back. She could hardly pay attention to a word the Professor was saying and spent the next fifteen minutes staring at the clock, clutching her quill, oblivious to the ink leaking all over her hand.

Her heart hammered against her chest and Hermione's face flushed with heat. How on earth did Daphne find out? She brought a hand to her cheek; it was so warm. Professor Snape's potion was not working as well as it should. Or, perhaps it was her first panic attack?

The classroom door finally opened and Malfoy walked in while the Professor was facing the board. A few heads stirred and looked up, but the class was left largely uninterrupted as Malfoy moved to sit at the only remaining vacant desk behind her. He did not acknowledge her once as he strode past, but she caught his agitation as her eyes flickered over him when he wasn't looking. It wasn't as if Hermione was trying to catch his eye anyway...was it? Her insides churned as she heard Malfoy shuffle his things behind her – she was on edge. Truthfully, she was desperate to know what had transpired after she had walked away.

The class continued with Hermione mostly so wound up, she had completely lost concentration. The hairs on the back of her neck were standing on end as she could sense Malfoy's gaze on her – one so intense that Snape's potion was definitely dwindling in its effectiveness as she could feel resentment hitting her like a wet towel: an uncomfortable slap behind the knees.

Hermione had never been so thankful that a class had come to an end. Reluctantly, Hermione slowly gathered her things as the other students cleared out.

She had an inkling that Malfoy wasn't going anywhere.

So there you have it...the story continues...:p