Against You

Author\'s Note: Thanks for continuing to read, once more :D Have any of you ever read Skip Beat! by Yoshiki Nakamura? Draco, here, is essentially taking a page out of Fuwa Sho\'s book in dealing with Hermione. It\'s manipulative, under-handed and irritating as all hell. I feel that this suits him perfectly. I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!

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Some say that a way to a woman\'s heart is through affection, kind words and romantic gestures. Others say that the best way is through money and gifts. Draco had a different altogether. Money (though it was a wonderful thing) did not mean anything. One man\'s purse was not any different from another; only the size differed, and though he had a very large purse (amongst other things, he mused), this wasn\'t going to be the path to Granger\'s heart (amongst other things, he mused once more).



The key to a woman\'s heart, he firmly believed, lied in how long one could maintain her attention. Affection could be for ill-bred kneazles and Weasels alike; what he wanted from Granger was more than that. He wanted not just her affection or her body: he wanted the entirety that was Hermione Jean Granger. He wanted the judicious Head Girl, the rule-breaking (within reason, of course) best friend of That-Really-Irritating-Guy, the merciless spitfire lioness. There was so much to Granger that chocolates and puppy dog looks just wouldn\'t cut it for wooing. What Draco had to do, was to claim his spot in her heart and in her mind, then make sure there was no room for anyone else.



It was with this tactic in mind that he had scrawled the first note and left unusually early.



"Sorry."



By nature, Draco was not an apologetic man. He took what he wanted, when he wanted and dumped it when he grew tired of it (Blaise always said this applied not only to material things, but women as well). He knew that Granger knew this simple fact about him: he was a right git when he wanted to be, which was in fact, most of the time. A simple apology would send her uptight little brain into spirals upon itself trying to unravel the meaning of one, five-letter word.



Still, ignoring the fact that Draco had written it to confuse the poor girl, he was sorry. Sorry that he was so forceful and almost sorry that it was him. Sure, he was the crème de la crème, but the difference in their status was a gaping chasm that would trouble them. Not the usual Pureblood/Mudblood shite that\'s spouted off, but he was part of the social elite. Just liking a girl like Granger was likely to bite him in the ass.



Then again, Draco thought as he watched Granger fairly stomp into the Great Hall, most of the things he had done in his life would come back to bite him in the ass. That\'s why he had contingency plans, though he doubted there was any contingency plan strong enough to take on the force that was Granger, but the disgruntled look on her face that just screamed "Curse you, Malfoy!" was absolutely worth it.



With a bit of a bounce in his step, he excused himself from the dining hall rather early, lying with ease that he had forgotten his potions book. Draco had watched her furtively in the Great Hall; he could tell she was struggling to just forget all about him. That just wouldn\'t do.



Though Snape had given him a bit of a glare, he went largely unnoticed in the face of prep for the coming lecture. Draco needed to give Granger another kick in the arse (figuratively, of course). Another note, perhaps? Something that would pique her interest, remain even more firmly burned in her mind than the previous letter...



He smirked to himself as he wrote the words down and magicked it over to her usual seat. If there was ever a way to ruin the bookworm\'s concentration, this would be it. All he had to do was wait...



Hours later, after classes, after lunch, after listening to his Housemates prattle on about Quidditch, homework and some bird on the cover of some magazine. Wait for her, he did, though Draco emanated an calm, nonchalant air. It was no big deal (which was a lie) to him, but he had to make it a big deal to her. A straight-forward approach would only send her Gryffindor defenses into full gear. He suspected that any flowery acts towards her would only result in an exclamation of "You ponce!" and perhaps a hex (or two, or three).



So this is why he lounged on the generously stuff sofa in the Heads\' common room, casually reading his Transfiguration book. Reading, perhaps was a bit of an overstatement, but he was at least absorbing roughly five percent of each page. As the time drew nearer to when Granger would appear for patrolling, Draco\'s senses grew more and more agitated. Just being near her had become such a thrill in the past, and now that she knew, it affected him even more.



Shite, the last thing he needed was a bloody tent in his pants when she walked through the door. Calm down, Draco. Quidditch locker room. Blast-Ended Skrewts. Hagrid nude. Ah, there we go. A burning, horrible mental image, but at least Granger wouldn\'t walk out on him.



Right on time, the door swung open. Granger walked in, her flush face a mixture of terror and disappointment. Draco merely closed his book and looked up at her from his leisurely position.



"Punctual as usual, Granger," he drawled, his gray eyes staring intently into her\'s, "Ready to go?"



"G-go?" Granger asked in a squeak. She coughed quickly to try and cover it up, "Erm, where is it we\'re supposed to be going?"



Fantastic. She completely forgot about patrol.



His trademark smirk crept up over his lips as Draco stood and glided past her, "We\'re to patrol the ground floor today, Granger."



As he reached the door, he decided to taunt her a little more, "Or perhaps you were too busy thinking of other things?"



Granger\'s face flushed even redder and her mouth even hung open, unable to form any words. Draco knew, as he walked out that door, that every tiny bit in her brain was working to find a retort, an insult, anything to regain some ground. Just the thought of having made her so flustered brought his smirk into a full, mischievous grin.



By the time Draco reached the staircase to the ground floor, Granger still hadn\'t come after him. Was the lioness just a meek kitten after all? He rather doubted that. More likely she was squaring out her shoulders, giving herself a pep talk and getting ready to march out there to straighten him out. Depending on the kind of straightening out she planned, he could be inclined to allow it...



"Malfoy!" Angry footsteps followed the voice, "Who do you think you are?! Some sort of cryptic wizard bent on irritating me for the rest of my life?!"



The Head Boy glanced back at her once and began to descend the staircase. Playing aloof was a Slytherin\'s specialty and this would be no different. He expected her to give him a fiercer lecture in about 5...4...3...2...



"Are you even listening to me!" Granger screeched, forcefully turning him around. She stood a step above him and imperiously glared down at Draco, "First you-you-you KISSED me! Then apologize! THEN left me that ridiculous in Potions! I should report you to Dumbledore for sexual harassment!"



Cooly, Draco replied, "And to which of these do you have more grievances with? The apology was for that, ahem, kiss and the note was merely a reminder from the Head Boy to the rather distracted Head Girl about patrolling together. There isn\'t anything wrong with that, is there?"



The Head Girl\'s strained breaths from yelling at him only grew more frantic as she realized that he did in fact apologize. A note is perfectly justifiable, given the pitiable state she had been during breakfast. These were all to be perfectly expected from a reasonable Head Boy.



Draco used all of his willpower to suppress the smirk threatening to break through as she narrowed her coffee-colored eyes at him.



"Just what\'re you up to, Malfoy?"



He brought his face close to hers, so close he could smell a trace of chocolate on her hot breath and whispered, "Nothing that would be getting me into trouble."



Once more, Draco left Granger in her tracks as he carefully made his way down the darkened staircase. Only the sounds of his very finely made leather shoes could be heard tapping against the stone. He was almost at the bottom now, and still she hadn\'t moved an inch. Maybe that was a little too much, too fast. Or maybe (he truly hoped this was the case), her mind was just so flooded with images of their bodies entangling together in the most explosive sex she could possibly fathom that she wasn\'t able to move, for fear of climaxing on the spot.



If another minute had ticked by, he might have been inclined to believe that she was busy with her hand of her skirt, but alas, he could hear her footfalls slowly make their way downstairs.



In a near-perfect imitation of his demeanor earlier, she glided right past him without looking back, "Hurry up, Malfoy. The sooner we get this over with, the happier I\'ll be."



It was a good thing Granger didn\'t look back, or she would have caught the mischievous smirk returning to Draco Malfoy\'s face.



Yes, he thought with glee, we will get something done and over with.