This Subdued Fire

Anti-Litigation Charm: Not mine, no money, only enjoyment out of bending them to my will. :) They all belong to JK Rowling, Bloomsbury, Scholastic and whoever-the-fuck.
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Harry, Ron and Ginny stepped into the Great Hall. The tables were already bustling with activity. Students lolled about eating breakfast and talking animatedly. The head table was full of teachers chatting amiably. The three slid into their places and heaped their plates high with eggs and bacon and scones.

\"Where\'s Hermione?\" Harry asked between chews.

Ron made a face. \"Who cares?\"

\"Ron, that\'s not nice.\" Ginny gave her brother a solid thump on the arm. \"I care.\"

\"Well I don\'t. If I see her, it\'ll put me off a wonderful breakfast.\" Harry and Ginny pulled faces at Ron and continued eating.

Suddenly a cheer went up from the surrounding Gryffindors. Hermione strode into the Great Hall amidst the deafening noise. Gryffindor House was extremely proud of their Head Girl and made no bones about it. Even Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw applauded politely. As was expected, Slytherin was completely silent. Each of the students who wore the green and white were paying undue attention to their breakfasts.

Hermione blushed becomingly and slid into her seat.

\"Well, hail the conquering hero,\" Ron sneered at her.

\"Jesus, Ron. Why don\'t you get over it? It\'s done, finished. Grow up.\" Hermione admonished Ron and selected a scone from the basket.

\"Hmph. I\'m not the one who needs to grow up, Herm.\" Ron slanted Hermione a knowing glance.

\"I\'m not going into that with you today. Not here and definitely not now.\"

\"You\'ll have to get over it some day, you know.\"

\"Leave off, Ron. I\'ve got enough to deal with without you making a scene.\"

Ron, to everyone\'s surprise, dropped the subject. Those within hearing distance were extremely curious as to what they were referring to. Hermione piled her plate with eggs, bacon and a kipper. The fish was her absolute favorite breakfast dish and were not served often enough in her opinion.

She buttered and jellied her scone calmly and surveyed the scene. \"Everyone\'s here I see.\"

\"Everyone except Malfoy.\" Parvati, who\'d overheard Hermione\'s comment nodded over at the Slytherin table.

Hermione looked. The silvery blond head was indeed missing from the sea of dark heads which dominated the Slytherin table.

\"Are you always watching for Malfoy, Parvati?\" Ron asked her with smidgen of scorn in his voice.

\"He\'s sexy, Ron. I can\'t help myself.\" Parvati gave Ron a dismissive look and turned to continue her conversation with Lavender.

As if on cue, the Slytherin table erupted with applause. Their favorite son, Malfoy sauntered in as if he owned the world. It was like a slow motion montage. He oiled his way over to the table and nearly every female gaze followed. The most noticeable of these were Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson. All of the second years and up were aware that those two were locked in a mortal battle to see who could become The Future Mrs. Draco Malfoy.

To those students with a mercenary bent, they\'d started a betting pool as to which girl would achieve that goal. The odds were in favor of Blaise. She didn\'t have as much money or influence as Pansy, but her bloodlines were as pure as Malfoy\'s, they ran in the same circles and fact is, Blaise was far prettier than Pansy.

Pansy, brown haired, green eyed was cute - even with her pug nose. However, Blaise, with her raven hair and bright blue eyes outshone the girl. Plus, Blaise knew how to work her feminine charms. Zabini used Shortening Charms on her school skirts. The combination this with of long legs encased in knee socks made the bad schoolgirl image devastating to the average male. Malfoy appeared to be no exception. They were seen everywhere together. And Blaise wasn\'t at all clingy like Pansy.

Then again, Malfoy seemed to enjoy Pansy\'s company, too. He liked the way she fawned over him. It was apparent that he needed someone who would be there at his beck and call. Someone who wouldn\'t compete with him for mirror time - something Blaise would certainly do. Pansy had her charms as well. She was shorter than Blaise and had a curvier body. She wasn\'t fat, Pansy was filled out in all the right places. Also, the Parkinsons were an established, extremely wealthy family. Still, they were the type of people who bought their own furniture.

Malfoy sat down with an aquiline grace that wasn\'t lost on any girl within looking distance. Even Hermione sneaked a peek from under her lashes. (If he wasn\'t such an arrogant, insufferable little bastard, he\'d be quite a catch.) She felt slightly disloyal thinking this.

As if Malfoy could read her mind, he looked up and caught her gaze. He smirked at Hermione and winked distastefully at her. Malfoy was supremely confident in his power to attract any female he wished. Hermione could feel his oily gaze sliding around what he could see of her above the table. It made her feel like she needed to take another bath.

She averted her eyes hastily, yet she could still feel him looking at her. Hermione began to feel angry at his close scrutiny. Just then there was a loud humming noise and the glass carafe holding ora orange juice shattered and spilled all over Malfoy. The blond Slytherin leapt to his feet and cursed up a storm. The summer sun disappeared behind clouds and it began to rain. Hermione smirked and returned to her breakfast. It certainly was going to be a lovely morning.
**********
For their final year terms, all the Seventh-year students were supposed to pick a specialty. Most Gryffindors picked Transfiguration. Hermione actually picked Potions. Harry and Ron, although their specialties were Defence Against the Dark Arts and Transfiguration respectively, were taking the class with Hermione so she wouldn\'t be the only Gryffindor there. Severus Snape wasn\'t exactly pleased about this. Advanced Potions was the second class on the docket. As it was their first day, Snape was in fine form. He set them on their first project - making Polyjuice Potion. They knew the effects due to the OWL\'s of two years ago. Hermione exchanged amused glances with Harry and Ron. They\'d tackled Polyjuice Potion back in second year. It was going to be a cakewalk for them. Snape saw their smiles and swept over, black robes flying out dramatically behind him.

\"And what are you three smiling at? Is there something here whichses ses you?\" Snape drawled this with menace. The Gryffindors sat silent as stones. This was definitely the prelude to House points being deducted. Problem with that was, since it was the first day of school, Gryffindor hadn\'t the opportunity to earn any. They\'d be starting off with a deficit.

Hermione spoke up. \"No, Professor. There isn\'t anything amusing here, isn\'t that right, Potter and Weasley?\" She spoke in a forbidding tone, looking at Harry and Ron sternly.

\"How would you like it if I took points away from Gryffindor?\" Snape asked her silkily. The Slytherins were nearly shivering with anticipation. Malfoy had an especially malicious gleam in his eye.

\"I would not like that in the least, sir.\"

\"Twenty points from Gryffindor for impertinence.\" The softly uttered words drew groans from the Gryffindor students and chuckles from the Slytherins.

Hermione\'s jaw tightened. Her eyes blazed bright gold in the dark of the dungeon classroom. The various cauldrons Snape had on the boil erupted in a multicolored shower of liquid. Squeals and screams issued from the students. Everyone scrambled to get out of the classroom before the potions caused some sort of damage to their persons.

Snape himself ran screaming like a little girl. Hermione ducked back into the classroom and cleaned up the mess. *\"Scourgify.\"* She flicked her wand over the mess and everything returned to its previously clean state.

\"I must say, good work, Granger.\" Snape offered these words haltingly. His mouth worked before he could speak again. \"Twenty points to Gryffindor.\"

Gasps went up from everyone there. It was the first time Snape ever gave points to Gryffindor House. But to those who were quick with arithmetic, it wasn\'t that he was giving points, just simply returning them to their former zero point status. Still...it was something. Everyone filed into the classroom and got on with the task of making Polyjuice Potion.
******

Did you see the way Snape hiked up his robes and ran out there? He screamed like a little schoolgirl!\" Ron offered up a mockery of the Potions Master. \"Eeeep! What a little wuss.\"

Those in earshot of Ron laughed at his observation. The four friends were walking down the hall on their way to dinner. The rest of the day zoomed by in a round of classes. The incident in the Potions classroom, as well as Snape\'s reaction, was fodder for the entire student body. Even some of the professors got a good chuckle out of it.

Hermione frowned. \"As a prefect you shouldn\'t be making fun of a professor.\"

Ron looked at Hermione coolly. \"Still stuck on rules and regulations, are we? Careful, Granger. You\'re in serious danger of becoming a worse nag than Mum.\"

Hermione shut her mouth.

They entered the Great Hall and seated themselves at the table. Ginny and Hermione were on one side, Harry and Ron on the other. As usual, the table practically groaned with an assortment of delicious things. The smells mingled in wonderful harmony and tickled their noses.

\"What I don\'t get is how *all* the cauldrons just bubble over like that. All at the same time and in such violent fashion. Snape\'s usually more careful about his concotions than that.\" Ginny observed. Her friends had informed her about the incident.

\"Does it matter? It was worth it to see Snape acting like a complete and utter girl.\" Ron, in his inimitable fashion, skipped over the how and why to the end result. \"Bloody hilarious, I say.\" He collapsed in a fresh fit of laughter at the memory.

\"Good thing Hermione was there to give that Cleaning Charm. Snape was running about like a chicken without its head,\" Harry said.

\"Jolly good show, Hermione.\" Seamus raised his goblet of pumpkin juice in Hermione\'s direction.

\"Here heres\" rang from the rest of the table. Dumbledore arose from his seat at the high table and tapped his glass.

\"Seems we\'ve had a bit of excitement today.\" There was an extra twinkle in the old wizard\'s eye. \"Fortunately our Head Girl was there to set the situation to rights. Thirty points to Gryffindor for Miss Granger\'s cool head and quick thinking.\"

Cheers and applause came from all the tables except Slytherin. There was a general gnashing of teeth over there. Malfoy in particular looked extremely hacked off. His face was closed and cold. No amount of cajoling from Pansy or flirting from Blaise could get him to smile.

(Stupid mudblood bitch. She\'ll get hers.)
********

After ascertaining that all the Gryffindors were in house, Hermione sat her housemates down in the Common Room and read them the rules and regulations. This brought groans from everyone there, but especially from all the sixth- and seventh- years. Hermione ignored all of their grousing and continued on.

All but the first-years knew Hermione was a stickler for rules and while she might be tolerant of a first offense, it was detentions all around if she caught you a second time. When her speech was done, she sent everyone off on their own way. Some were staying in house, others went to the library or to the Great Hall to get some studying done. Hermione herself went to the library.

The book-lined shelves and the warm, slightly closed smell of the library were comforting to her senses. Hermione dropped her bag down into an empty chair and went off into a stack to search. She found her quarry rather quickly. Hugging the book, she sat at the table, pulled out a quill, ink and parchment and set about making notes. The subject matter was fascinating and, as she discovered, highly accurate.

While skimming through the volume she ran across a particular spell that was both intriguing and useful in some situations. Hermione wrote down the incantation eagerly. She sat back in her chair and noticed that she was the last one in the library. Even Madam Pince was gone. Hermione stood up and saw the note Pince left. It contained simple instructions to put the torches and candles out and to lock the door.

Hermione did so and swiftly walked the corridors to Gryffindor Tower. Giving the Fat Lady the password (Orange Zest), Hermione went through and up the short flight to her bedroom. She shrugged off her robes and uniform and slipped into a pair of pajamas and fuzzy slippers. Crookshanks lounged on the red rug. He\'d been roaming the castle for the whole day and night before. She was vaguely surprised to see him, but thought nothing more of it. He did things like that - all cats did. Hermione pulled her notes out of her satchel and looked over them.

(This is just what I was looking for. Maybe it\'ll help me understand how to go about things...) She thought excitedly.
The problem was, her room wasn\'t large enough for what she planned and it was after hours. That meant definite rule breaking. And after her stern words to her housemates, it was something she didn\'t relish having to do.

(But one does what one has to do.) With that thought she scooped up her robe and stepped quietly down to the common room.

There was one person there: Neville. But he was sound asleep on one of the couches. Hermione pulled on the black printed robe and climbed out.

She tipped along the corridors, sweating bullets with each step. Hermione concentrated and sent all of the torches lining the walls winking out. Halfway to the Great Hall, Hermione spotted the glowing red eyes of Filch\'s cat, Mrs. Norris.

\"Move out of the way, cat.\" Hermione tried to shoo Mrs. Norris away, but to no avail. She soon heard the footfalls of Argus Filch, the Hogwarts caretaker. Hermione ducked into another hallway.

\" \'ere my sweet. What do we have slinking along the corridors? An ickle naughty student, out of bed after hours?\" He looked down at the feline. Mrs. Norris looked straight down the hallway.

\"Well, they\'ll not get away from Argus Filch! Come along my pet.\"

It was all Hermione could do to keep from vomiting at Filch\'s affection toward Mrs. Norris. She slipped further down the side corridor, realizing that she was perilously close to the entrance to the dungeons. Hermione knew she dared not move a muscle. Snape was known for keeping very late hours and the man had the ears of a bat.

She could hear Filch moving closer andser ser to her hiding place. She held her breath when she saw Filch\'s torch pass into the opening of the hallway. He quickly moved away and up the stairs towards the Astronomy Tower.

(No doubt to catch the poor benighted souls who are having a snogfest.)

She moved quickly out of her hidey hole and back down the corridor to the Great Hall. The House banners were still in the quiet night. The trophies and cups sat in their cases, gleaming dully in the dim torchlight. The tables were all against the walls, the elves having scrubbed the floors in readiness for the next day.

(Who would think of using the Great Hall for \'illegal\' activities?) Hermione grinned. No one would venture in here looking for wayward students. The consensus was that most students who were out after hours were looking for, er, \"private\" places. The thing of it was, it was the perfect place, aside from the Prefect\'s bathroom, to do things which were slightly beyond the pale.

Hermione took her robe off and laid it on a table. She stepped to the middle of the chamber. She stood there, head bowed, eyes closed. She willed the magic into her fingertips. Hermione could feel it running through her system. She lifted her head and with a graceful flick of her wrist - *\"Lepidopterae!\"*

Thousands upon thousands of brilliantly colored butterflies appeared in the air. They dipped and swirled and twirled in the cavernous ceiling of the Great Hall. The winged creatures became fluttering shadows in the night sky suspended above Hermione\'s head. Hermione thought of the spell she\'d stumbled across in the book from the library. She decided to try it out on the butterflies.

*\"Coruscatus!\"* The masses of butterflies began to glow. At first faintly and then as they flew around they sparkled with diamond-bright flashes of light. Hermione laughed, delighted. She lifted her hand and one butterfly, a scarlet and gold one, landed on her outstretched finger. It shook its wings and tiny sparks of light flew from it. The butterfly twinkled merrily in her hand. She sent it off to join its friends.

Suddenly the torches in the room sprang to life. The glittering butterflies disappeared as Hermione was startled out of concentration.

\"Well, well. What have we here?\" The drawl was unmistakable.

Hermione turned around to face Malfoy. The Slythern was dressed in black satin robe and pajamas, typical.

\"So, Granger, you\'re a Mage. I never would\'ve guessed it.\"

\"What are you doing up?\" Hermione decided to go on the attack.

\"Oh, nothing much. I decided to take a stroll and what should I find but our beloved Head Girl doing wandless *unauthorized* magic.\" Malfoy smiled his nasty smile. \"It was *you* that made the juice explode on me. It was *you* that made the Potions classroom into an unholy wreck.\"

Hermione said nothing. Her silence was her assent. Malfoy walked around Hermione slowly. His eyes took a leisurely stroll over her form. Hermione could hear Malfoy making little noises of approval behind her back.

\"Sexy black pajamas, Granger. I thoroughly approve.\" Malfoy faced her with a malicious gleam in his silvery eyes. It was clear that he wasn\'t mocking her. The black tank top and pants that rested on her hips weren\'t overtly sexy, but apparently Malfoy thought they were.

\"The fuzzy slippers have to go though.\"

\"Alright. Enough of this. What will it take for you to keep this whole thing quiet?\"

\"What do you think?\"

\"You can\'t honestly mean...\" Hermione was flabbergasted that Malfoy would even suggest such a thing.

\"Oh, I do. And you will. You know what happens to Mage talents once they\'re found out.\" Malfoy smirked at her triumphantly.

Hermione *did* know. Most of them were studied and examined. They were stuck in what amounted to gilded cages. The doctors were constantly trying to figure what made a witch or a wizard into a Mage. Mages were able to do complex magics without wands or other concentrative forms to channel their magic through. Mages were often able to heal themselves and others without tonics and potions. They were, in short, the true definition of the term \'thaumaturge\' - miracle worker. People from all over the world knocked on their doors, seeking cures and the like. It was an intolerable situation. If they managed to keep their wits about them through all the attention, Mages very frequently went mad through the years. Their abilities to heal themselves assured them extraordinarily long life spans. It was as if they had internal Philosopher\'s Stones. The prospect of living centuries, perhaps even eons, living through loves, children, reliving past regrets over and over, watching the world continue to spin as they stayed rooted on the mortal plane was enough to break even the most resilient mind. Plus, the Malfoys were most definitely Death Eaters. Malfoy could go running to his father now that he\'d been cleared of all the charges (damn Cornelius Fudge) and his father would most certainly tell Voldemort. And then that would most certainly be the end of Hermione Granger.

Malfoy watched the play of emotions on Hermione\'s face. Her expression settled into one of resignation. \"If I agree, will that be the end of it?\"

\"You have my word as a Malfoy.\"

\"Which doesn\'t amount to much.\"

Malfoy\'s face tightened. \"If you were a man, I\'d call you out for that remark.\"

\"If you were a man, you would never have suggested this detestable bargain in the first place.\"

Malfoy\'s jaw set and his fists clenched. \"You\'ll pay for that.\"

Hermione\'s eyes widened with mock amazement. \"Will I really?\"

\"You silly little bint. You have no idea of who I am, do you?\"

\"Please, Malfoy, you\'re not Satan.\"

He smiled maliciously. \"I\'m not?\"

Hermione smirked. \"No, you\'re not. You\'re a vain little tart who wears silk and lace and way too much product in your hair.\"

\"You obviously could use a little grooming.\" Malfoy raked his eyes over her bushel of hair and unpolished hands.

\"Forgive me for not being a superficial twit like you. I guess with all your millions you don\'t really have to do anything except be a poncy git do you? You\'re completely useless, you know. I don\'t even know why you\'re still in school. You should just drop out now, since you\'re wasting everyone\'s time with your tiresome presence.\"

*\"Bitch.\"* Malfoy raised a hand and uttered something low. Hermione was sent flying against one of the tables. She crashed into the stout wood and rolled off, lying still. Malfoy stepped over to her and nudged her with a slippered toe. She didn\'t move. He kneeled down and rolled Hermione over. She still didn\'t move.

\"Well, I\'ve done it this time, haven\'t I? Ah, one less Mudblood to be bothered about.\"

At that, Hermione\'s eyes opened and her hands wrapped themselves around Malfoy\'s throat. They went flying off of the floor and into the walls. Hermione dug her thumbs into Malfoy\'s Adam\'s apple. He began to turn purple. The pair went ricocheting off the walls and up into the enchanted ceiling. They got tangled up in the House banners suspended there. There was an ungodly loud rip and they broke apart. Hermione slammed to the floor, Draco into one of the trophy cases. The ensuing crash was enough to bring Professors Snape and McGonagall into the Great Hall. They were followed by Filch and Mrs. Norris.

\"WHAT IN MERLIN\'S NAME IS GOING ON IN HERE?!\" McGonagall screeched.

Hermione and Draco picked themselves up from the wreckage their fight created. She sported a bloody lip and a bruised jaw. Malfoy had yellowish finger marks and nail scratches around his throat. He\'d be wearing a turtleneck for quite sometime to come. Hermione would\'ve smiled except that it hurt. Malfoy was also coughing, trying to catch his breath. He was actually red from the effort.

\"Severus, go see about your student,\" McGonagall snapped. She went over to Hermione, plaid robes swishing out behind her.

The deputy Headmistress laid her hand lightly on Hermione\'s face and brushed away the tangled hair. She gasped when she saw her student\'s bruised face.

\"Mr. Malfoy, what did you do to this girl?!\"

Malfoy gave one last cough and then looked at McGonagall balefully. \"What did *I* do to *her*? She choked the hell out of me! Look at my bruises! I can\'t wait to tell my father.\"

Snape cut in at this point, having been silent since he walked into the hall. \"Mr. Malfoy, as much as I dislike to do so, even I must admit that Miss Granger wouldn\'t try to strangle you unless there was some provocation.\"

Hermione managed to mumble, \"He threw me against a table and when he came to see if I was dead, I started choking him.\"

\"He did what?!\" McGonagall screeched again.

\"Yeah.\" Hermione\'s face began to fall. \"Professor, I don\'t feel too good.\" And then she fainted dead away.
***********

When Hermione came to, it was morning. The sunlight streaming through the windows of the hospital wing made her eyes squint. Malfoy lay in the bed across from her, he was still sleeping. She tested her jaw gingerly. No pain. She tried to sit up in bed but was stilled by a twinge across her midsection. The area had been sensitive ever since Dolohov sent those flames shooting into her.

\"Ugh. What in the...\" She lifted the top of her regulation flannels and saw a welter of bruises across the skin. Just then Madame Pomfrey bustled in.

\"Ah. You\'re awake.\" Her lips were pinched tighter than Joan Rivers\' face. \"I\'ll go get your Head-of-House.\"

She left and Hermione contemplated the bruises across her skin. Malfoy was beginning to snore loudly. Hermione wrinkled her nose in distaste.

(Could he be any more disgusting?) The bruises on Malfoy\'s neck were a livid purple, blazing across his fair skin. Hermione took a perverse satisfaction in that. (He\'s not so pretty anymore, is he?)

Madame Pomfrey came back in with Professor McGonagall hot on her heels. McGonagall\'s mouth was pursed even tighter than Madame Pomfrey\'s. Hermione\'s Head-of-House stood at the end of the bed and Pomfrey sailed back into her office with a dismissive sniff.

\"Miss Granger. I want you to know that I am very disappointed in you. Not only were you out after hours, but you fought with a fellow student and *completely* destroyed the Great Hall! I have no idea what you were doing down there, but the fact remains that had you not been there in the first place, you would never have gotten into a fight with Mr. Malfoy.\" Hermione hung her head in shame. Professor McGonagall was entirely right.

\"As your punishment, after your ribs heal - by the way, you have two broken ribs - you are going to be helping Mr. Filch with whatever he needs doing around here for the next three nights. And one hundred points from Gryffindor. Now, let that be a lesson to you.\" Professor McGonagall turned on her heel and strode out of the room.

Madame Pomfrey came back in and handed Hermione a small vial of something bright greenish-blue. \"Take this, makes your bones knit in a minute.\"

The medi-witch set a minute glass on the table and Hermione swallowed the stuff, which tasted not unlike Muggle dishwashing detergent. She pulled a face and waited for the potion to work its magic. Hermione felt it oozing sluggishly down her throat. It was all she could do not to gag. \"Bleah.\"

But then she felt something like little knitting needles go to work. If she closed her eyes could almost hear them clacking along her bones. Just as soon as they really started going, the little pinpricks stopped. Hermione looked over at the glass and all the sand was in the bottom. Pomfrey stuck it back in her apron pocket.

\"All right, Hermione take a deep breath for me.\" She did, it was pain free. \"Very good. That\'s why you fainted last night. You couldn\'t get a good breath in. Now, just lie here for another hour or two and then you can get dressed and leave.\"

Madame Pomfrey went back into her office and shut the door. Draco suddenly sat up and looked at the shut door.

\"Don\'t you ever wonder what it is that she does in there? Probably dreaming of Sinistra and his stylish purple robes.\" Malfoy grinned rakishly above the purple hands ringing his neck.

\"You know, for someone who almost got themselves killed last night, it\'s truly a testament to how much of an asshole you are that you can sit there and make jokes.\" Hermione swept back the covers and got out of bed.

\"Now, now Granger. You\'re supposed to stay there for another hour,\" Malfoy smiled patronisingly.

Hermione went behind the curtain and changed clothes. \"You must be insane if you think I\'m going to endure your bloody presence one more second.\"

\"But I thought you loved me,\" Malfoy replied in mocking tones.

He got nothing but the sound of Hermione\'s feet going out of the door in response.
************

Hermione made it to Advanced Arithmancy. She sat in the classroom amid curious stares and whispers. \"Oh, sweet Christ. Will you all grow up?\"

She pulled a face at her classmates and sat down at her spot next to Neville. He looked at her wide eyed. \"Not you, too, Nev?\"

\"Well, Hermione. You did completely trash the Great Hall and almost killed Malfoy.\" Neville\'s voice wavered a bit.

\"I did *not* almost kill Malfoy. *He* almost killed *me*.\" Hermione stuck her chin out defiantly, as if expecting the predominantly Ravenclaw classroom to argue.

Apparently, she\'d forgotten the lone Slytherin in the class. Pansy jumped up and faced down Hermione.

\"You stupid bitch. When Draco\'s father hears about this your pathetic life won\'t be worth two knuts!\" Pansy was mottled in her rage.

Hermione raised an eyebrow mockingly. \"That might be true, but you\'re not going to do anything about it, Pansy. So just sit down and wait like a nice little girl for Professor Vector to come in.\"

Pansy pulled out her wand. \"I\'m going to enjoy this.\" She raised it to give it a good swish and flick, but Hermione was quicker.

*\"Expelliarmus!\"* Pansy\'s wand went flying out of her hands and into Hermione\'s.

\"You\'ll have to be faster than that, Parkinson.\" Hermione pocketed Pansy\'s wand. Pansy looked apoplectic.

However, before Pansy could do anything about it, Professor Vector entered the room. She wrote an extremely long equation on the board.

\"Now, class. Solve this.\" Pansy simmered quietly while Vector taught.

Soon, the cuckoo clock Professor Vector kept in the classroom popped out of its little place. \"It\'s time to go. Get out. NOW!\"

The cuckoo yelled the last word. It had a bit of an anger management problem. Most students ignored it, some made faces at it. When Pansy swished out of the classroom the cuckoo snickered at her. The curly haired Slytherin looked up at the bird distastefully and gave it a vicious pop with her fingers. It went bobbing up and down and back and forth on its springed perch violently. When the bobbing stopped, the cuckoo gave Pansy the feathered finger. Talk about flipping someone the bird.

Hermione was a little way behind Pansy and she saw the girl\'s horrid treatment of the bird. It appalled her. She tapped Pansy on the shoulder. When Pansy turned around, she gave the girl a withering look.

\"Ten points from Slytherin.\"

\"For what, Granger?!\"

\"For abusing that poor defenseless bird.\"

\"Defenseless?! Everyone knows that bird is a nutcase!\"

\"Perhaps. That\'s still no excuse.\"

Pansy swallowed a blistering response. \"Whatever. Give me my wand, I need it for Magical Maladies and Cures.\"

Hermione grinned. \"If you can catch it, you can have it.\"

She tossed Pansy\'s wand into the air and thought, (*Wingardium Leviosa.*) The wand stayed suspended in the air, drifting along the currents gently.

\"What did you do to my wand you stupid little twit!?

\"Oh, nothing.\" Hermione gave Pansy a small smile and walked away. She could hear Pansy jumping up and down trying to get her wand back.
***********

The day whizzed by in a flurry of activity. All the professors seemed to have some sort of tacit agreement that on the second day of class, the summer holidays were over. The students were piled down with homework assignments. Hermione relished it. She\'d needed some sort of busywork to take her mind off of other matters.

It was after dinner and she, along with her fellow Transfiguration classmates, were working on the 2ft long essay that McGonagall wanted from them for the next class. McGonagall had begun to explain the ins and outs of Apparating. The essay title was \"Why Is It Really Awful To Become Splinched?\" Hermione had written 4ft so far and showed no signs of stopping. Ron looked over at Hermione scribbling away furiously.

\"Oi, let me have some of your ideas, Herm.\" Ron spoke in a wheedling tone.

Hermione looked up, her face very prim. \"If I tell you the answers, you\'ll never learn it for yourself.\"

Ron made a face. Sometimes she reminded him all too much of McGonagall. He went back to his essay without a word. Harry looked at Ginny and they exchanged smiles. Harry sat up a bit straighter in his seat. Ginny had begun to run her foot up the back of his leg. He squirmed at bit, trying not to betray himself. Ron looked between Harry and his sister, disgusted.

\"Christ, if you\'re going to be all like that, I suggest you take it to the Astronomy Tower where people don\'t have to look at it!\" Ron slammed his books closed and marched out of the Common Room.

Hermione looked up at Ron\'s sudden departure. She looked at the slightly red look on Harry\'s face and Ginny\'s pink tinted cheeks. \"You know...for once I agree with Ron.\"

She was about to leave Harry and Ginny to it when a small folded parchment appeared at her elbow. Hermione broke the seal and scanned its contents. Her lips pursed and she stuffed the parchment into the pocket of her robes. She got up and left the room, her air of annoyance trailing like cloying perfume.

Hermione went down the corridor, muttering to herself. \"Damn Malfoy. Now I have to spend three nights with Filch of all people. I can\'t believe I have a stupid detention! I\'m Head Girl for Merlin\'s sake! I don\'t get detentions, I *give* them. Bloody stupid damned Malfoy.\"

Hermione reached Flich\'s office and opened the door without knocking. She was shocked to see Malfoy lounging in one of the chairs. \"What are you doing here?\" she queried.

Malfoy looked at her with a touch of ennui. \"Knitting fuzzy pink booties, Granger.\"

\"Ho ho ho, Malfoy, you *are* a tease.\" Hermione sat down in the other chair, surveying Filch\'s overly crowded office.

\"I never tease, my dear. I deliver.\" Malfoy leered at her.

\"Ugh. You have no idea how completely revolting you are, do you?\"

\"Your mother never told me that. She always found me rather charming.\"

Hermione\'s normally brown eyes blazed bright burning yellow for a hot second. She managed to master her temper and found that discretion was the better part of valour. She remained silent at Malfoy\'s barb. It was just like him to sink to using tired old \"mother\" jokes. Hermione merely quirked an eyebrow and turned her head.

\"Ah. Trying to ignore me, hm? Well, Granger, you couldn\'t ignore me if you tried.\" Malfoy ran his finger along the side of her neck.

Hermione slapped his hand away. \"Look, your oily charms may work on someone as weak minded as Pansy, but they won\'t work on me. So I suggest that you not touch me again.\"

Draco just smiled a lazy smile and left her alone. Filch chose that moment to walk in. The old man carried a couple of buckets. In the bottom of one of these buckets were soap and brushes.

\"I still think it\'s a pity we can\'t use the old punishments on you. Damned Ministry regulations. Ah, what I wouldn\'t give for Professor Umbridge to be Headmistress again, if only for two seconds. Well, you two are set to clean up the classrooms - Muggle style. It\'ll keep you so tired you won\'t think of causing trouble.\"

\"Muggle cleaning!? But I\'m a *Malfoy*. We don\'t clean.\"

\"You will clean or I will write your father.\" Filch seemed impervious to Draco\'s little superiorty act.

\"Write him. See if I care. But I will not - ugh- scrub floors like a common house-elf.\" Malfoy\'s mouth made a little moue of distaste.

Filch did something uncharacteristic then. He approached Malfoy, sitting smug in his chair, and loomed over him. Filch looked at Malfoy disgustedly. \"I hate you spoiled little pricks that come in here every year, disregard the rules and think you can get away with it. You\'re just like your father, young Malfoy - in every despicable way. As it happens, I took the liberty of owling your father with your misdeeds.\"

Filch pulled out the letter. To Draco\'s disbelieving eyes, it did, indeed have the distinctive Malfoy seal affixed to it. \"It says, and I quote, \'Mr. Filch, if my son has misbehaved you have my full permission to punish him as you see fit. He is an arrogant, willful young man and I believe that discipline is necessary to correct him in this.\' Need I say more, young Malfoy?\" Argus Filch\'s normally sour visage took on an almost wolfish gleam.

Draco remained impassive. Only his eyes betrayed any hint of emotion. \"No. You needn\'t say anything else.\" Draco spoke with rigid correctness. \"Let\'s get on with it then, shall we?\"

Draco stood up, grabbed the buckets from Filch and marched out of the door. Hermione was behind him. She hadn\'t said a word during the whole dialogue.
**********

They were scrubbing down the Transfiguration classroom. The two had been at it for a good hour or so. Hermione was making more progress with her side than Draco was. Actually, Draco wasn\'t doing much of anything. He sat on his butt, watching Hermione do the work. She was on her knees, scrubbing the floor with a brush.

Draco admired her raised posterior with an amused air. \"You know, Granger...that\'s a really good look for you.\"

Hermione looked up at him. \"I wonder how you can live with yourself, knowing how disgusting you are. I mean, do you ever realize how you sound?\"

\"You mean, devastatingly sexy and irresistible?\"

Hermione made a scoffing sound and went back to scrubbing. Draco looked at her. She kept moving her arm back and forth in circles on the floor. Her whole body quivered in time with her arm. Hermione could feel Draco\'s eyes roving over her.

\"Instead of leering at me like a dirty old man, you could make yourself useful.\"

\"Oh, but didn\'t you say that I was completely useless? Besides, you\'re doing a far better job at this than I am, being that you were born into this kind of life.\"

\"Oh, stuff it.\" Hermione sat back on her heels and looked at Draco. \"Filch was right. You really are a spoiled little prick. Always looking down on people. Like you\'re so much better than everyone else.\" Hermione stood up and looked down at Draco, lounged in his chair.

\"Well, let me tell you something. You most definitely are not better than anyone else. You are just complete scum. And you are useless. Useless for doing anything except running that fat mouth of yours, being completely negative. I can\'t even see how you got to be Head Boy with as much shit talking you do. You don\'t even have any real friends. No one cares about you. Why don\'t you just kill yourself? It really is the simplest solution for us all.\" Hermione took a deep breath after her speech. She was astonished that she told Malfoy to off himself. It wasn\'t her style to say things like that, even to someone she loathed.

For his part, Draco sat there. He seemed shocked as well. But behind that, there was a sort of weary resignation in his eyes. Hermione felt sorry for him that she said that. She didn\'t feel that way for long.

\"You know...I never realized until this moment how jealous you are of me,\" Draco drawled.

Hermione was so instantly incensed she couldn\'t speak. Her mouth worked before she could get any words out. \"Jealous?! Of you?! A disgusting, soft, spoiled poncy little git? Never! If anything, you\'re jealous of me.\"

\"Methinks you doth protest too much. Envy is a bitch, innit, Hermione?\" Draco smiled a slow oozing smile that made Hermione\'s fingers itch to slap the hell out of him. So she did.

She didn\'t remember her hand going up; she didn\'t remember the contact her palm made with his cheek. She didn\'t even remember hearing the crack of flesh against flesh. What brought her back to a reasonable state of mind was seeing the violent red imprint of her hand on his pale, pale skin. It was clearly delineated. Five fingers, slender palm...it sprang to life instantly.

When Draco looked at her, his eyes were so dilated with anger, there was nothing but a tiny sliver of palest silver silhouetted against the dark dark void that had become his eyes. He rose from his seat and stood in front of her. Hermione backed up slightly, but she refused to back down. She was ready for a fight. A fight was not what she got.

He uttered softly, \"What makes you so special that you think that you can just touch me - hit me - whenever you like? Who in the hell do you think you are?\"

Hermione said nothing. She inched her chin up higher, looked him in his eyes. He moved closer. \"You\'re nothing to me, Granger. Absolutely nothing. And what\'s more, you still owe me.\" Malfoy smiled a gruesomely cold smile.

Hermione looked vaguely puzzled. \"I don\'t owe you a damned thing.\"

\"*Au contraire.* I haven\'t yet said a word about your...talents. And I stress yet. Don\'t you think you\'re treading on rather thin ice with me?\"

\"I wouldn\'t put it past you to squeal on me. You\'re just the kind of slimy bastard who would do something like that.\"

\"Slimy or not, you are in my debt, and I intend to collect.\"

\"Never. You\'ll have to kill me first.\"

Draco raised an elegant eyebrow. He moved closer to her. She kept moving back until she was pinned against McGonagall\'s desk. \"You know...I still haven\'t paid you back for the delightful necklace you\'ve given me.\" Hermione looked at the livid black and blue bruises from the previous night.

Draco lifted his hand and stroked Hermione\'s throat. She tensed, waiting for his grip to tighten unmercifully. It didn\'t. He moved his hand lower, stroking the thin skin over her collarbone. Hermione breathed shallowly, but roughly. The suspense was killing her. Draco moved his hand up and grasped the back of her head. His fingers twisted roughly in her hair. Little pinpricks of pain sprung up from her scalp. This was better; familiar. She didn\'t know what to make of Malfoy when he was gentle. He pulled her face up higher. Then he did the strangest thing.

He kissed her.

Hermione was so thoroughly astonished that she didn\'t even think to fight him off. His lips weren\'t invading, but they were demanding. Insistent. And Merlin help her, she couldn\'t turn her head away.

In her deepest, darkest thoughts she\'d always wondered what made Malfoy so special amongst the girls (and some of the boys, Hermione suspected) of Hogwarts. She was very secretly intrigued by him. Curious, she leaned into him.

Draco was surprised but not really. She was butter in his hands. He let her kiss him for a minute and then he turned the tables, becoming the aggressor. Hermione was arched back against the desk, her hands flat on the surface while he bore down on her. Draco stepped back and surveyed her.

She looked slightly dazed and not a little confused. \"Why did you do that?\"

Malfoy stood with his arms crossed, looking into her face, her still bruised face. \"To see what you would do.\" He spoke the truth. \"Now I know.\"

\"I was disgusted.\"

\"Oh, is that why you were so avidly kissing me back?\"

\"I did not kiss you back.\"

\"Right,\" he drawled self-assuredly. His tone changed then, became reasonable. \"Look. Whether you want to admit it or not, you do owe me a rather large debt. While you were all swoony I could\'ve told them just what you were up to in the Great Hall last night. So, why don\'t you do yourself a favor? Give me what I want and I\'ll give you what you want. It\'s as simple as that. What do you have to lose?\"

Malfoy stood before her. Lucifer himself couldn\'t have been more tempting to Eve. Malfoy had tapped into Hermione\'s one true weakness - her insatiable curiousity. Like Pandora contemplating her famous box, she was consumed with the desire to know what made Malfoy so damned special.

Draco looked at her warring emotions. He decided to play it low-key. He turned and walked away. As he went through the open door his voice came floating back to Hermione.

\"Think about it.\"