AN: Hi there! Thank you for the nice reviews in the last couple of chapters :)

I would like to aware you that this chapter has not been checked by a native speaker, as my betas are not available anymore. I've tried my best, but I apologise for the mistakes in advance, and friendly ask anyone who would want to help me with that to PM me. Any kind of help would be truly awesome.

Again, thank you for reading my story :D

Chapter 3: Kindness and Confusions.

Hermione's heart nearly stopped when she saw her twin going in Myrtle's bathroom.

"How has it going?" She asked, visibly anxious.

Pansy leaned against the wall and sighed loudly.

"It has been really difficult to restrain myself when I wanted to rape your friend in the middle of the field." She confessed.

Hermione's lip rose in a grimace. Seeing herself saying those things was scary to say the least, even though she was aware that this Hermione was not the real one.

"I meant the plan, Parkinson."

"Ah, that." Pansy ran a hand through her frizzy hair, her fingers tangled in the process. "Damn Granger, how can you live with this hair?"

Hermione took a few steps closer, crossing her arms. The intrigue was killing her slowly. If the Slytherin had failed that second attempt then she would definitely give up with that.

"It was a success." Replied the girl. Hermione's heart skipped a beat in her chest. "I told him that he insulted me out of envy, I mean, that he insulted you out of envy. That he knew that you are better than him in everything he could ever imagine and that that is why he hates you so much. Also, I have shown him that you could beat him even in what he is best at, playing Quidditch. It was a lot of fun."

"Have you beaten him in front of everyone?"

"More than that, Granger. I've humiliated him in front of everyone." The fake Hermione's eye color had begun to turn greenish. Pansy had to blink a little to get her sight back. "Yes, I did so. But don't be so excited. You know that this will have consequences, right?"

"Consequences? How?"

Pansy gave her a malicious smile.

"It is Draco Malfoy who you want to conquer, or have you forgotten? I've hit him where it hurts the most and now you won't leave his head. He tends to overthink the situations that remain etched in his memory." Hermione held her breath and swallowed at her words. "Surely he will take advantage of the first opportunity he has to corner you in a lonely hallway to try to intimidate you. That will be our next move, make it easy for him. But we'll talk about it when the time comes, now it's my turn. Tell me Granger, what is your plan to hunt down Potter?"

Pansy's borrowed face began to bubble as she regained her real appearance. Her straight black hair replaced Hermione's brown hair as the freckles disappeared from her perfect smooth face. It took her a couple of minutes to be herself completely again, Pansy Parkinson, and a few more seconds to recover from the effects of the potion, ranging from dizziness to nausea. When she was finally recovered, Pansy looked at Hermione as she removed her Gryffindor gear.

"Here, put it on to go back to your common room." Hermione took those garments while trying not to stare at the half-nakedness of the Slytherin. "And now you better speak. Tell me what you have thought for me."

Pansy had started dressing in her own clothes when Hermione mustered the courage to say what she had to say.

"Be nice."

The Slytherin stopped buttoning her shirt and stared at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Is that your plan? To be nice?"

"Yes." Hermione tried to hide the nervousness in her voice. The truth was that nothing good enough had occurred to her to be considered a real "plan." She just needed time to think about something… though she didn't think Pansy was going to be a bit benevolent to her. "Let's start with something simple. Harry needs to change the way he sees you, so you being nice to others can make a difference."

"What absurdness of a plan, Granger. Besides, how could I make him realize that I have changed if we're never around?" She said the word as if it was completely insane just to think about her being "nice".

Hermione frowned a little and bit her lip as she thought, though it didn't take more than half a minute to find the perfect situation.

"We have a Magical Creature Care class tomorrow, right? Well, make yourself noticed there. Those in your house always find new ways to insult Hagrid, and he is one of Harry's best friends. Intervene for him, come to his defense. I'm sure Harry won't forget your gesture with him."

"Oh, I see. You want me to turn all the Slytherins against me, huh?" Pansy complained.

"I don't want to put your friends against you, but it may be a collateral damage that you have to suffer to achieve your goal. What matters more to you, what other slytherins may think about you or that Harry falls at your feet?"

Pansy gave her a poisoned look before buttoning up the pair of remaining buttons and leaving the bathroom slamming the door.

When Hermione appeared across the portrait, several colleagues approached her to congratulate her and pat her on the back. Apparently, the news that Hermione Granger had managed to unseat the most relevant Quidditch player in the entire history of the Slytherin house had spread like wildfire throughout the castle. Hell, yes, Pansy was good at flying. Malfoy's relentless pride must have definitely been touched and sunk.

The best part was that everyone seemed to have forgotten her embarrassing spectacle of yesterday, her "hey, look at me, I'm in new clothes" time.

"Where have you been?" Harry's voice made the crowd dissipate around her and leave her alone with her friend.

"Uhhh... Peeves intercepted me in the hallways."

"Ah, that damn ghost." Harry rolled his eyes without giving it more importance. "Hey, I talked about it with the team and we want you to play with us in the last game."

"What?" Hermione's voice sounded half hysterical. Without giving him time to answer, she started walking through the common room towards the bedrooms.

"Yes, what you did today… I don't know how you did that, but it was impressive." Harry followed her urgently.

"But I'm not part of the team."

"We will make an exception."

Hermione turned to her friend with such violence that they collided. She took him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him to whisper in his ear:

"I don't think I could hold myself on the broom with all that crowd staring at me, Harry."

"But today…"

"Nothing happened today more than me having a bit of a luck. Besides, I'm scared of being the center of attention of a whole crowd, okay? Please don't insist.

She went up the stairs and locked herself in her room for the rest of the day.

Pansy had dressed and gone up to have breakfast reluctantly.

"Better already?" Draco asked with sarcasm.

"Oh boy, I'm feeling better than ever." She replied.

It was a lie. She was feeling really angry and nervous at the same time, as it seemed that Granger had nothing planned for her. She had no time to waste, each hour that passed kept her from Potter a little more, and if that Gryffindor did nothing for her she would end up regretting it for the rest of her life. A deal was a deal, right? She had risked her neck using a forbidden potion for students for trying to help her, if she didn't hear a plan on her lips soon, as a "kinder" measure, she would hang Granger from the top of the Astronomy tower and leave her there until someone found her body. She was not fooling Pansy Parkinson, it would be the last thing she did.

They had already gone to Charms and Herbology with those from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, and were now heading to the school grounds to attend Care of Magical Creatures. Draco spluttered something next to her, visibly sulky. Since yesterday he had been very irritated, although nobody had seen him comment on what happened yesterday, while training, with the false Granger, that is, with her.

"It is ridiculous that we have to continue going to classes when we have already finished the N.E.W.T.s. They could have given us these two fucking weeks of vacation, but no, it's better to have the students in shit until the last day.

"Yeah, it's pretty stupid." Theo commented on the other side of Draco.

"Speaking of stupid things." Draco said, pointing at Hagrid in the distance. Class had already started and the three of them seemed to be the last to arrive. "That fool over there is going to hear me. I need to set this anxiety free."

Pansy would have laughed if she hadn't known that contradicting Draco in front of all those Gryffindors could put their friendship on a tightrope. Granger was right, someone of them will find the way to mess with Hagrid in that class, what she didn't know was that that someone would be Draco Malfoy... Although it wasn't that hard to guess, was it? She would follow her advice anyway, whatever the price she must pay later.

When Pansy and her two friends joined the students, she could see a fleeting look between Draco and Granger that lasted a thousandth of a second, but that existed. She felt the tension between them, the sparks that leapt around them. But the two of them calmed down before anyone else could notice that.

Hagrid's class started as always, boring and baseless. He showed them a very ugly creature called ghoul. It resembled ogres, although the ghouls were only half a meter.

"Can anyune tell me whut category these creatures belong to?*" Hagrid asked with hoarse voice.

Pansy rolled her eyes as she saw Granger raise her hand as if an electric current had passed through her from side to side.

"They are beasts according to the Ministry of Magic classification, professor." She said.

"Like the professor himself." Draco scoffed at his group of friends.

"That's right, Miss Grangger, ten points for Gryffindur," the man added, ignoring the Slytherin provocation. "These creatures are condemned beahst ulthough being harmless, but at times they can throuw objects when they get anggry.

The ghoul, who was walking freely on the field, made a sudden growl that made more than one move back. It was an almost guttural, monstrous sound. Draco laughed out loud, drawing the attention of the others. Then he pointed at the creature without stopping to laugh.

"I can understand it better than when Hagrid speaks!" He exclaimed, clutching his body with laughter.

Of course, all his roommates started to laugh at the professor, all except Pansy. Her eyes flew to Granger, who pursed her lips a little as she nodded slightly. The time had come, she knew it, but... was it really worth it? Was she really going to sell her reputation for a boy? Potter had been her obsession for years, but reputation was something that once broken is never fixed.

Somewhat distressed, she tore her eyes away from Hermione and rested them on the professor. The gigantic man lowered his head a little, his eyes sadder than ever. Her heart stopped a beat. Why had the sight of Hagrid with almost watery eyes made her feel sorry? She had never felt anything like this for any teacher attacked by one of her classmates, although now that she thought about it, perhaps it was that she had never stopped to appreciate the moral damage they caused on them.

"Oh, come on, stop being mean, you idiot." She said suddenly, raising her voice a lot. She didn't think about it too much, she just let what she thought escape from her lips to the outside. "What are you trying to do, making people to laugh at something other than the humiliation you suffered yesterday from Granger?

Draco Malfoy had instantly stopped laughing. He had straightened up enough to have to lower his head to look at her, although Pansy Parkinson was not intimidated, not a little. Contrary to what any other girl would have done, she kept her gaze on his and crossed her arms to imply that she wasn't going to give in to his visual intimidation.

"Okey guys, don't start a fight." The professor said in his shrill voice.

Draco didn't say a word, just wrinkled his nose and looked away from her until class ended. Pansy thought she appreciated how the teacher gave her a half of a smile full of thankful.

All the students returned to the castle for lunch, but Pansy fell behind to face her friend's anger. She knew that if he did not find a moment to speak to her alone he would end up exploding, so she forced the situation voluntarily. It was not he who scared her, but the possible consequences on her popularity.

She rolled her eyes when Draco finally grabbed her arm from behind to spin her around.

"Don't you ever dare to expose me like that again." He growled at her.

"Or what?"

The girl's defiant attitude caused him to tremble slightly due to the anger that was going through his body at that moment.

"Or you will have serious problems with me." He threatened.

"Anything more serious than the fact that your parents want me as a daughter-in-law? I don't think there's anything worse than that." She snapped, making a move to break free of his grip and keep walking. But her friend stopped her again by closing his fingers around her wrist.

"You won't leave until you explain to me why you have been behaving in such a strange way lately."

Pansy raised an eyebrow as she smirked.

"Are you now worried about me?"

"I'm concerned about you missing training and making a fool of me."

"Don't make so much drama out of this, will you?" Despite the boy's strength, Pansy was able to free her wrist. "I will play the last game and, if our families finally stop messing about us getting married, you won't have to see me again after graduation if you don't want to. Not that it's a big deal. What you should be concerned about is the fact that no one faces you out of fear instead of respect. Very few people respect you in this castle, they only fear that you may retaliate against them." Pansy stood on tiptoe to reach her friend's ear and whisper to him. "Just because I face you doesn't mean I don't respect you. I am one of the few people who really appreciates you at this school, keep that in mind."

And with that she turned around and left.

It was only a few minutes since the food had started to appear on the tables, but the students' plates were already full, especially Ronald's.

Hermione had waited until the right moment to speak to Harry. Now that Ron was talking absentmindedly to his sister and Dean, she could take the opportunity to ask him what he thought of Pansy's gesture, but surprisingly, it was he who came forward and spoke first.

"I wasn't expecting Parkinson doing that today."

Hermione nodded, trying not to sound too excited.

"Me neither. No one expected it, I think."

"What could have crossed her mind? Parkinson's not that kind of girl."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that she would never put her reputation at risk for coming to someone's defense, much less when it is Malfoy who mocks at someone."

The girl shrugged, staring at her plate.

"Maybe they were mad at each other for some reason. Or maybe this is only an example that people can actually change."

"I suppose, though I can't quite figure out why. When you told me yesterday about her, I couldn't truly believe you. Not a hundred per cent."

Hermione frowned a little, looking away from her food and staring at her friend.

"What did I say?"

"You know, that that you said when we got back from training."

"Oh yeah, right." Hermione's fork slipped from her sweaty hand and fell to the floor with a metallic noise that caught the attention of those around her. It took her a couple of seconds to breathe and try to calm down, then looked back at Harry. "Well, then you should believe me, you know that I never say anything that is not true."

Or so she hoped. A new fork magically appeared next to her plate.

Pansy strode to Myrtle's bathroom. They had barely a few minutes before the last class of the day began, and she hoped her urgency would do some good. Granger would have to be smarter if she wanted to make it to graduation alive. She would definitely strangle her dirty blood neck herself if she couldn't make a proper plan.

Granger was waiting for her leaning against one of the sinks while the ghost hovered around her without saying anything.

"What did you say to Harry yesterday?" She asked.

"Yesterday? I told him many things. Not those I would have really wanted."

Granger rolled her eyes.

"He mentioned that I… that you said something about yourself coming from training."

"Ah, I just tried to soften his opinion of me a little. But that doesn't matter now, has he said anything about...?"

"About Hagrid?" Hermione smiled broadly at her. "Of course. You have been great."

"What did he say?" Pansy's voice sounded louder than usual. She hadn't expected any progress with Granger's silly idea, but now that she had confirmed that her sacrifice had been paid off, she was eager to discover more.

"He said you've surprised him, which is good, although he's a little confused by your sudden change in attitude."

"It's good, but it's not much. I don't want to confuse him, Granger, I want to seduce him, make him fall in love with me. I'm going to need something better than defending Hagrid from Draco's teasing."

"I know, but…"

"But nothing. I don't think you're aware of how little time we have left." She said, approaching her with her forefinger raised in warning. "If you can't find the key to make your friend begins to want me, I assure you that you will pay the failure in a way that you can't even imagine. You can't play with me and get away with it, that doesn't work like that with a Slytherin. I won't advise you on Draco again until you come up with a perfect plan for me, have you understood?"

Hermione nodded once. She knew where she was going at the time of making a deal with a snake, what she did not imagine was that she would feel so pressured and intimidated. Parkinson had had good ideas for her, but Hermione was not as cunning, nor had a mind as convoluted as hers. No, she was not a Slytherin person, that was clear.

"I'll have something good for you." She promised.

"I hope so." Pansy replied, turning around and walking out the door.

Thank heaven that was the last class of the day. Hermione was mentally exhausted and felt she needed to take a hot shower and go to bed early, but until she could do that she would have to put up with Professor Snape and his class on the Volubilis potion. At least the Ravenclaws focused on their own cauldrons and didn't constantly approach her to ask her questions.

The creaking of the door as it opened caused everyone to turn to see who had arrived.

"Miss Patil." The words were creeping out of the professor's mouth, who was looking at Padma with narrowed eyes. "What excuse do you have for being twenty-one minutes late to my class?"

"I…"

"Fifty points less for Ravenclaw." The man said, turning and waving his blackest robe in the air. "I will not tolerate any more disrespect towards myself. I have had enough for the year. Next time any of you are late for my class, I will not only deduct seventy points from its house, but he or she will earn a punishment in my office." He turned slowly to the girl, who had been left standing on the threshold of the door. Hermione knew Parvati's sister had been ill over the weekend, but Snape was not going to give her a chance to explain herself. "Sit down." He said in a cold, sharp voice.

Pansy was returning from her Astronomy class. She was descending the last flight of stairs to the dungeons when someone bumped into her shoulder and kept walking. The Slytherin almost screamed some insults at that person, but that frizzy and voluminous hair made her change her mind. She followed the Gryffindor through the castle to the bathroom that had become their secret headquarters.

"Light me up." Pansy said when the door closed behind her, thinking it was impossible that Granger would have find a plan to follow so fast.

"Padma Patil was late for Potions class today."

Pansy rolled her eyes. She knew it.

"Why the hell do you think I care about that?"

"Snape has threatened anyone who is late with exemplary punishment in his office. Well, with that and with a reduction of seventy points to his or her house."

Pansy was already tired of her speaking.

"AND?" Almost shouted.

"Tomorrow we have a joint class, remember? What if Harry can't find his wand? You know that it is essential for making potions. What if you are also late and you two have to be alone in Snape's office?"

The corners of Pansy's lips rose slowly as she understood her words. If she set aside the seventy points reduction thing, that was the perfect plan she was waiting for.

*This is the way JK Rowling says Hagrid speaks.

Review? Please :)
Cristy.