Chapter 22

He didn't stop looking at her once she had turned back to her book blushing mildly. Smirking slightly at the pink tinge on her cheeks, Reece picked up his book and turned to the back page. As he had hoped, it was blank so as quietly as possible he tore it out. Reece glanced back up at Granger as he crushed the page into a ball with his palms, and as she was focused back on her writing he found it to be the perfect opportunity to distract her. No matter his mood he could always find the smallest things entertaining at times, so Reece subtly lobbed the ball across the library. It landed right in front of her, almost knocking her quill and Hermione recoiled quickly in her chair out of shock. He watched as she picked up the ball slowly, opening it to find there was nothing written. She then looked up to find the culprit, and found Reece smirking one of his oh so charming smirks in her direction. Her face was full of confusion and it only emphasised when he pointed to a long row of bookshelves in the far corner of the library, in his mind simply gesturing for her to make her way over there. Reece stood up, picked up his book and then wandered off in the direction of which he was previously pointing. Not caring for the library layout once he was behind the furthest bookshelf and out of everyone's view, Reece dumped the book between a few worn ones not even knowing what section he was in. Surprisingly he didn't have to wait long, and he grinned when he saw Hermione walk hesitantly round the corner and into his view.

"What do you want Lestrange?" She whispered coldly as she folded her arms and stopped a metre in front of him. He didn't expect her to be happy with him, as she'd just watched him shake hands with Malfoy. But her being off with him was not his goal. Far from it in fact.

"I just want to talk to you, that's all." Reece replied as he held his hands up to show that he had no other intentions. "Please Granger, I miss our conversations." He didn't seem to be winning her over, and no matter how irritating it was he expected nothing less than a challenge from the stubborn witch. "Look I just wanted to ask how you're doing," Reece whispered. "So how's you?"

"Fine." She answered slightly too quickly, giving away the fact that she clearly was not. "Why did you shake hands with Malfoy?" Reece frowned, if she wanted to play question for a question that was fine, but why ask such a big one straight away?

"Because we've not been on the best of terms – I don't know if you've realised – and that's because he's an absolute prat. But I need to be sound with him; we're in the same house and I know his family and it's just not ideal for us to be against each other." She seemed content with his honest answer, and so Reece chose to ask her another one. "Why'd you lie to me and tell me you're fine?"

"I am fine." Hermione shot back, taking a step towards him while keeping her arms crossed. "And even if I wasn't I wouldn't tell you why anyway." She muttered, awaiting an arrogant response from Reece. To her surprise she didn't get one, in fact all she got was a brief look of hurt on his handsome features as he looked away from her momentarily. It was at this point that she realised something was up with him, and it wasn't Malfoy as she'd previously expected. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Reece snapped in a heated whisper. "No one would trust a snake anyway, it's my fault for expecting an answer to such a ridiculous question." He moved to leave, stepping past her only to be paused by the feeling of a small hand on the bottom of his arm.

"It wasn't ridiculous, it was genuine." Hermione said softly as she released her loose grip on his arm. "I shouldn't have been so stubborn about it, it was nice of you to ask how I was." Reece immediately felt relaxed as her soothing voice eased his tension.

"So now we know we've both got stuff going on, how about a hug?" It may have been cheeky but when it came to Hermione he always knew it was the best way to go. She appeared to have a bit of a soft spot for him, and he liked it because she made him feel special in a way that no one else could.

So it turned out that Malfoy considered their conversation to be not just a peace treaty, but a sign of full on friendship. Reece continued to try and get some space but now he'd 'apologised' Malfoy wouldn't leave him be and had even decided that Reece was going to accompany him, Crabbe and Nott to Hogsmeade. Of course, Reece had asked why Goyle wasn't going but Draco had only gone on to rant about him getting on well with Bulstrode. He didn't want to even go to Hogsmeade, but as he had to meet Mr Yaxley he had to go – much to his annoyance. Following Malfoy and the gang round in the snow was far from exciting. Draco would constantly find something or someone to rant about, and Reece couldn't help but think about how the fleece inside his winter leather jacket wasn't keeping him warm enough. Even with his black hoodie underneath and the hood from that over the back of his head, it was still freezing. The thought of being cold left his mind when Malfoy dragged them off to the Shrieking Shack and when they arrived to see Potter's sidekicks there, Reece wanted to strangle Malfoy until his pale face turned purple.

"Well, well. Look who's here." Draco said cockily as he descended the slope with the other three making their way down behind him. The two Gryffindors turned round to receive a verbal blow from Malfoy. "You two shopping for your new dream home?" Reece just stood next to Nott with his arms folded as Malfoy gave Ronald stick. In honesty he didn't care what Malfoy said as long as it wasn't to Granger. "Bit grand for you, isn't it, Weasle-bee? Don't your family sleep in one room?"

"Shut your mouth, Malfoy." Ron mumbled as Reece moved closer to Draco, far away from Nott and his constant sniffing.

"Not very friendly." Draco quipped in response while giving Reece a small nudge with his elbow. "Boys, I think it's time we welcome Lestrange back properly." He looked at the blonde incredulously but Draco simply smirked at him. "So Lestrange, teach Weasle-bee here how to respect his superiors." Reece looked up at Weasley, and then to Granger as she stood in front of her friend.

"Hope you don't mean yourself." She said with a sharp laugh as Reece's fists uncurled instantly at the thought of accidentally hitting her instead.

"How dare you talk to me?" Malfoy spat as his lip curled up in disgust. Reece tensed up from head to toe, and anger flushed over his bones as he knew what was coming. "You filthy little mudblood!" Instantly he got possessive, only he could call her that word. No one else could, and Malfoy certainly couldn't. Suddenly Draco was smacked in the shoulder by a snowball, and everyone turned to look where it had come from as Reece drew his wand. "Who was that?" Malfoy asked as he observed the clearing. As another ball came flying he managed to cover his face in time and get out the way. Reece stayed put while the other three backed away. "Don't just stand there, do something!" Reece stared at Granger. She stared back at him.

"What?" Nott yelled to Draco's command as his hat was pulled over his eyes and Crabbe's trousers dropped to the floor. As he tried to pull them back up, he flew forward with a scream, his face landing in the snow. Reece whipped round, breaking his stare off with Granger to notice that no one appeared to be there. Some sort of illusion charm Reece immediately guessed as Draco fell over Crabbe and Nott was spun around by his scarf. He pointed his wand at Malfoy's feet, as they were currently in the air and being pulled towards the entrance to the Shack.

"Stupefy." Reece muttered as a stream of light shot past into the clearing, hitting the snow and leaving a burned imprint. Disappointed about missing his target, Reece lowered his wand as Draco was taken further down the path that lead to the Shrieking Shack.

"What's up Malfoy? Lost your skis?" Weasley taunted as Malfoy managed to scramble to his feet. Suddenly Reece felt his wand disappear from his fingertips. Not good. He made a lunge for Weasley in frustration but Granger blocked his path as Draco hurtled away from the scene with Nott and Crabbe chasing after him. He felt both of her hands on his chest, holding him back from her stupid friend.

"Get off me." Reece growled as he looked down, lowering his voice to its lowest octave as he spoke. Granger didn't move though, and Ronald stood behind her like a lost puppy waiting to see what happened next. When he looked back up at her, her expression was softer than it should have been. It showed courage, yes, but she also had compassion in her eyes that was clear for him to see. "Where's my wand?" God he hated how she could calm him; control him during his moments of aggression just by being herself. Hermione seemed to know where it was, but not know where at the same time. "Tell me where my wand is or I'll twat Weasel right in front of you." He didn't want to threaten her, and definitely didn't want to upset her or make her hate him, but he needed to leave soon and couldn't duel without his wand. Suddenly his wand dropped next to him, hitting the snow with a tiny crunch from the white layer. "Weasley pick it up." Reece muttered, not taking his eyes away from Hermione's as they stood face to face, her hands still in place.

"No." Ron grunted, his face showing his distaste for the Slytherin and his lazy commands.

"Please can you pick up this wand?" Hermione asked sweetly as Weasley opened his mouth in horror. Clearly unhappy, Ron muttered something under his breath as he trudged over to pick up the wand. "Thank you, Ronald." She said as he handed it over to Reece, both guys showing a clear resentment for one another as Reece grabbed it and shoved it back in the front pocket of his hoodie.

"Got all the boys wrapped around your finger, don't you mudblood?" Reece taunted with a smirk as he stepped away from the two and set off to the apparition point.

"Few minutes late Reece." Yaxley grumbled once they had both apparated to London.

"Apologies." He replied as his held his hands behind his back as if going on a Sunday stroll. "Draco was having another issue with those Gryffindors, and as per usual I had to have his back."

"As any loyal Slytherin should." Yaxley said as they looked out at the many colourful tents set up in the snow just like at Quidditch world cup matches. "But you must learn to remain punctual as well." Reece barely processed the words as he had just spotted the tall structure of the stadium that he was to compete in later on.

"How'd you even manage to get me in this competition anyway?" Reece asked, taking advantage of the opportunity to finally gain some knowledge of the contest, its duels and its competitors. Yaxley's letters about it had been brief, too brief for Reece's liking as he knew basically nothing about what he had been entered in.

"You enter with recommendations." He explained as they made their way past noisy tents to a more reserved part of the campsite. "The more recommendations the better, the more powerful those who have recommended you, the better. As you can imagine, you have many Ministry words of praise and I even managed to get a note from Dumbledore as well. The group that runs these events couldn't wait to have you." Reece could tell that Yaxley also had another vendetta, he always did. It seemed like a lot of important people were going to be here, duelling and watching. This was a perfect business opportunity and a good way for him to make contacts, especially if Reece did as well as he was hoping. "Here we are." He announced, gesturing to a large brown tent that appeared to be newly purchased. As they entered, Yaxley looked down at his watch as Reece inspected the large space. "Looks like you've got an hour before your first duel, get ready - everything you need is in that bag over there." Reece glanced to where Yaxley was pointing and noticed a black bag on one of the emerald arm chairs that was near the far end of the huge living space.

"How many rounds are there before I can reach the quarter finals?" Reece questioned as he opened the bag, pulling out a fitted black cloak that had the British flag on the back of it. A note seemed to be attached and he scanned it quickly, taking in that it had to be worn so the scorers knew which nation to note down as winners for each battle.

"Only a few." Yaxley stated as he began to take off one of his winter coats so that he could replace it with his best Ministry attire. "They only wanted the best of the best, so don't disappoint."