Halloween Mix-Up

Just a small note to let everyone know. This story takes place in Hermione\'s sixth year in Hogwarts. While there may be some spoilers from the books, for the most part, this story is not canon with the books. There are some other things to keep in mind.



Harry was born July... 28th? 29th? 1980, according to J.K. Rowling. Hermione was born September 18, 1979, again, according to J.K. Rowling. So, although this is her sixth year, Hermione is 17 years old during this story. Which means that, according to the Wizarding World, Hermione is an adult.



Furthermore, as you have seen this story does contain explicit scenes throughout it. I will not warn you when these scenes come about for I will not always know. There may or may not be scenes of incest, slash, and maybe even double penetration. If any of these things disturb you, please be weary. With my stories, though I may not warn you, you can pretty much tell if and/or when such a thing will occur. I will try to keep my explicit scenes in separate chapters from the rest of the story, so if there is a chapter with an explicit scene, it\'s pretty safe to say you can skip that chapter if you wish and continue to the next. I will not have two explicit chapters back to back.



Also, as I say in all my stories which will involve Draco and Lucius Malfoy, I go by what the books say, not what the movies portray. There is no indication in the books that Lucius was ever an abusive father or husband. If anything, I\'ve always gotten the idea that he is actually a caring, loving father and husband who would do practically anything for his family. With that being said, I will never portray Lucius as anything but a caring, loving father and husband who wants nothing but the best for his wife and child.



(And no. Snobbery is not the same thing as abuse. Just because someone is a snob does not mean they are abusive. I also do not believe Lucius ever ignored his son, even during the first war. And no, my beliefs in this are not debatable. I do not argue with those who portray Lucius as a self-centered, egotistical, abusive bastard, so I do not expect anyone to argue with me about portraying him as I wish. If you don\'t like it, oh well. That\'s not my problem.)



Okay. Enough bitching. On with the show!





Halloween Mix-Up

by: Tassana Burrfoot







Chapter Nine: Undermining Authority





"Detention, Miss Granger!" came the dreaded snarl from the front of the class.



Hermione\'s eyes widened as she stared at the Potions Master in complete shock. "What?!"



He sneered at her. "You heard me. You are to come to my office tonight. Six o\'clock. And if you are a minute late, your sentence will be longer," he warned.



She hadn\'t even done anything. She tried to think of what she could have done to have caused this to happen, but she was out of ideas. Sure she had been daydreaming, but her work was done. There was no reason for her to pay attention to anything. She hadn\'t helped Neville. In fact, she had been trying to do all she could to avoid getting a detention from Snape.



To her horror, Harry spoke up. "But, sir. If she serves at six, she\'ll miss dinner," he argued.



Hermione closed her eyes and let her chin fall to her chest. Before Snape even spoke, she knew Harry had made a wrong move. "Ten points from Gryffindor, Potter," the professor snapped. Though she had her eyes closed, Hermione knew Snape was looking at her. She heard him add, "Perhaps I should take another ten points from Gryffindor since Miss Granger seems to think it\'s okay to allow others to stand up for her."



Her eyes snapped opened as she met his black gaze. She frantically shook her head. "No, Professor. Actually, I was just about to tell Harry to mind his own business. I did not ask him to come to my rescue. As you know, I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself."



"Apparently not," the professor commented, flashing a knowing look to Hermione\'s two best friends and then to Draco.



She knew what that look meant and she hated herself and Snape for it. She prayed he would not alert the rest of the school to her plight. It was something she did not need.



"I will be lenient with you, Miss Granger, on that offense. Even I am not fool enough to believe you can control the garbage that springs from Potter\'s mouth," Snape surprised her even more. "Besides, you are all ready serving one detention with me. I expect you to be on time."



"Of course, Professor," she easily gave in.



"Might I ask why you are daydreaming and not doing your work?" he inquired, surprising the rest of the class with his curiousity.



She shrugged. "I\'m finished. I have nothing left to do," she answered honestly.



He stood up and walked from behind his desk. He approached her cauldron and looked down into the bubbly froth. "You need to stir it, Miss Granger," he informed her.



She shook her head. "Not for another twenty minutes, sir. The directions say to allow it to simmer for twenty minutes before stirring three times clockwise. Then, you must stir three times counterclockwise and allow it to sit for twenty four hours," she informed him, then clapped a hand over her mouth.



She could feel the stares from the other students. She just corrected a teacher! And Snape at that! She knew she had just earned herself yet another detention.



Then she saw something she had never seen before. Snape looked up at her and... smiled. It was a soft smile, barely a grin, but a smile nonetheless. He gave her a single nod. "Very good, Miss Granger," he praised.



She did not know how to respond. Never in all five years of attending Hogwarts had Professor Snape ever praised her for anything. She had to stop from pinching herself for she knew she had to be dreaming.



"Miss Granger," Snape commanded as he turned his back to her and began walking to the front of the classroom, "say the name of the only other person in this room who has gathered enough brain to read the directions correctly."



Hermione looked around the class to the other students until her eyes fell on Draco. He was the only other student who had apparently not been doing anything. "Draco Malfoy," she answered, meeting the blond-haired boys silver eyes.



He shot her a cocky smile and nodded. Then, like a good student, he turned his attention back to the professor.



When Snape reached his desk, he pivoted on his heel again until he was facing the class. "Correct. You and Mr. Malfoy are the only two people who apparently know how to follow directions, therefore you shall be exempt from researching this potion for your homework, unlike your fellow classmates," he told her.



For a moment, Hermione didn\'t know which was worse, detention with Snape or no Potions homework. "To be handed in on Friday, I want everyone, with the exception of Mr. Malfoy and Miss Granger, to write three scrolls on the making of, uses, effects, and side effects of this potion," Snape told the class.



No one dared to groan, though Hermione knew they wanted to. Snape returned to his desk and Hermione returned to her thoughts. She was quite annoyed he had interrupted her. She had been thinking about the past few days.



She had touched Seamus. Worse, she knew he had developed feelings for her now, which meant he was not gay, as she had hoped. Even more, it was getting harder and harder to avoid Harry and Ron.



She knew they cared about her, but their needs for her were something she wasn\'t sure she could handle. She didn\'t like the idea of being with the two guys she had always viewed as brothers. And she did NOT want to even attempt to picture them naked. Perhaps, when the time came, they could keep the lights off?



Then, there was Draco. He was a paradox to her. Since Saturday night, he had been treating her like his girlfriend. He wasn\'t possessive or anything towards her, but he did a lot for her. He carried her books, walked her to classes, held her hand, and many other things. Sunday he had spent touring the school with her. Since it had rained all day, they had mostly stayed within the corridors, going outside only to see if there was any chance the ran may let up.



Even more, Draco was helping her with the spell. He made sure she wore her gloves and kept as much of her skin covered as possible. If he saw her in danger of accidentally touching someone, he would pull her out of "harm\'s way." He listened to her as well, engaging her with his own philosophies about politics, Muggles, magical creatures, Runes, and anything else she seemed inclined to talk about.



Their conversations were odd and intriguing. Their views were so different, yet the same. They shared their own hypothesis\' of spells and literature. They suggested books to one another. He was such a pureblood, having been raised to believe that purebloods were somehow better than anyone else. It was interesting to finally get his true perspective of those things. He was like a missing friend she hadn\'t realized she lost.



He got her.



Her gaze traveled to her Potions Master. He had returned to his desk, silently watching over the students like a bird of prey watched mice. She knew what awaited her tonight with him. He was going to "punish" her by making her sleep with him.



Perhaps she could surprise him. She knew the time was coming. She would eventually have to lay upon his sheets of emerald and give to him what she had given to Draco. There was no fighting it. No way around it.



But, she did have some choices. She could choose how she ended in his bed. She could come to him willingly. She could openly accept him and feel the man beneath the layers of mystery. For tonight, she could be fully, completely, and truly his. Who knew? Perhaps he was her true love?



She looked up at the clock in time to see that twenty minutes was up. She stirred her potion as she had been instructed by the directions. Then, she began packing her stuff. Professor Snape had timed the entire lesson perfectly. The class ended a few minutes after the stirring.



"Mr. Malfoy and Miss Granger," the professor said aloud. Once he had their attention, he informed them, "I want both of you to pick a random potion from your books and write three scrolls about it. You are to give me the uses, effects, side effects, and histories of your potion. You are not to choose the potion you worked on today. Tomorrow at this time, I will expect you both to return to this class to stir your potions again. As I\'m sure you both know, this potion has to stew for a week. I expect your scrolls to be handed in on Friday."



They both nodded as they finished packing and heading out the room. Hermione smiled. Perhaps today wouldn\'t be so bad after all...



(II) (II)



"Hermione!" Ron called out as he ran to catch up with her and Malfoy.



She turned to look at him curiously, though he wasn\'t quite sure if he was mistaking curiousity for annoyance. He gave her a quick, nervous smile and a single nod to Malfoy. Never had he hated the blond Slytherin as much as he hated him now. However, he was willing to put aside his differences for the moment.



"That was so unfair what Snape did," he commented. "Is he really going to make you serve detention tonight?"



Hermione cocked an eyebrow at him. "Have you ever known Snape to not make someone serve a detention, Ronald?" she asked.



He loved it when she used his whole name. "No, but you\'re going to miss dinner," he complained.



"I highly doubt Snape will keep her from eating," Malfoy sneered. "He\'s not barbaric."



"Says you," Ron quipped, earning a reproachful look from Hermione.



She huffed, "Ronald, if you are going to stand there and insult our teacher, then you have no business here. I know he can be a jerk at times, but he\'s still our teacher. He deserves our respect."



Ron\'s eyebrows knitted together. "Respect? Since when has he ever shown us respect? You saw what he did to Harry today."



"Harry had no business saying anything," she rebuked. "He\'s lucky he got away with points. Snape must have been in a very giving mood today."



"Giving?" he repeated. "Were you even paying attention? He was practically drooling over you. Did you see the look he gave you when you answered the question he asked?"



She just stared at him, dumbfounded. Ron knew he had gone too far the moment the words had left his mouth. He was accusing the teacher of foul-play. While it was no secret Hermione did not like Snape, she would never believe a teacher would be so dishonest.



"Ronald Weasley, you are pushing your limits with me," she growled, fists thrust into her hips. "Draco and I have to get to our Runes class. I shall meet you in the common room tonight after my detention with Snape. Make sure to have Harry there as well. There is something I wish to discuss with you both."



He nodded in agreement, though he was confused. Ron watched as the girl of his dreams walked away with Draco Malfoy. For once in his life, Ron couldn\'t bring himself to stop her.