Chapter No. 1

Skilled Manipulator

I fiddled with my wand as the stairs leading to Professor Dumbledore's office twisted around and climbed up to the giant oak doors of his office and I wondered why exactly Dumbledore had called me up so early in the morning. What could be that important? And what did it have to do with me, Hermione Granger, senior student of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry? I could only think of one thing…..

I'm getting the Head Girl position!

Obviously, I had been worrying about not getting the badge all summer since normally they send the badge through owl post, and I sat beside my window everyday wondering when I would get it and why was it taking so long, avoiding the idea of the possibility that I wasn't going to get the badge (just the thought of it made me cringe).

But that doesn't matter now, there's no other reason why Dumbledore would call me up to his office so early in the morning! I am going to get the head girl position!

The stairs clicked to a stop and now I stood before the giant oak doors. The doors of heaven, I thought and chuckled happily. I made to knock but the doors opened before expected and what I saw confused me more than any theory on an ancient runes book:

Pavarti Patil and Draco Malfoy were staring at me in confusion…well, more like Pavarti staring at me in confusion and Malfoy glaring at me with all his might.

"Well, you sure did take a while to get here Granger; we've been waiting for you all morning!" said Malfoy angrily "Stop staring at us like an idiot and take a seat!"

"And where might I sit if there aren't any more chairs?" I asked him, feeling irritated already.

"Not to worry, Miss Granger! I brought a chair for you myself!" said Dumbledore materializing out of nowhere and placing my chair beside Malfoy's to my distaste. Malfoy was hardly someone I would sit beside of.

Alas, I did and as soon as I did Dumbledore smiled and began to speak.

"Well I know you all might be wondering what you're doing in here, so I'll get to the point" he said "I know you were all expecting to get a bit of mail in the summer but this year I decided to give the badge to you myself"

I knew it! I knew it! I'm the new Head girl.

"The head boy position obviously will go to Mr. Malfoy, it is incredible how much his attitude and grades have improved through the years and I think he deserves a reward for it" He said beaming at Malfoy who looked pleased (and probably overly so) with himself.

I did expect him to get the position; after all, he had gotten smarter through the years but it was quite disappointing to think that everyday for the rest of the year I would have to see his ugly (not really) face over and over again. I wish Harry would have gotten it.

Lovely Harry, with his green eyes and that thin luscious mouth of his he'd speak the words that would lead students through the—

"Granger, snap out it" said a clear voice, recognizable as Malfoy's.

"Oh? What? Sorry, I was thinking about something." I said, feeling a bit strange.

"No problem Miss Granger, as I was saying a moment ago, the competition for the position of head girl was quite close. A popular girl among the four houses and our very best student…."

Popularity is overrated, I thought trying not to stare at poor Pavarti… surely she would be devastated.

"I asked help from the prefects and they made a choice pretty quick" Dumbledore chuckled a bit "even Mr. Malfoy here helped"

Bet he voted against me.

I looked at Malfoy from the corner of the eye, his attention was fixed on Dumbledore and his face was calm with certain coolness about it. Like he new what was about to happen.

"The outcome of this little poll held not long ago was very surprising, nothing like what I expected it to turn out." I let out a small sigh of excitement, as Dumbledore opened his mouth to say the results…..

"The new Head Girl is Pavarti Patil."

Confusion reigned in the room for a good amount of time.

I opened mouth to say something but was suddenly cut off by the unlikeliest person in the room.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Malfoy spat out in awe.

Dumbledore's eyebrows rose so high that they seemed to have hidden on his scalp.

"I'm the new Head Girl!" said Pavarti, eyes wide and moving around the room manically. "WOO HOO! I'M HEAD GIRL! I CANT BELIEVE IT!"

She rocketed off her chair and ran out of the room saying something like "I gotta tell Lavender weeee!"

A deafening silence filled the room as soon as the doors banged shut.

I looked at Malfoy; his expression of surprise had been replaced with a downhearted one…..?

Suddenly, Dumbledore cleared his throat and began to say the words that although well intentioned, were going to make my life more miserable.

"I know how much this meant to you, Miss Granger, but I thought that maybe Miss Patil would be a beacon of light for the new students, she is very popular among the four houses and recently popularity makes more of an impression that exceedingly good grades and morality."

Malfoy made an almost inaudible snort of laughter.

Thanks Professor, you just said that all my effort isn't worth anything.

I had to look at the bright side, I wouldn't have to spend the rest of the year standing Malfoy's childish attitude.

I think I'm gonna throw up.

I got up from my seat, directing a smile to the two men staring at me and slowly, very slowly made my way to the door never taking my eyes of Dumbledore. Incredible how a man that had simply sprung back from the dead less than a year ago suddenly knew everything about his students and damn it! It was getting hard to hate him for it.

"Thank you, Professor, I'd love to continue to discuss this decision of yours but I have pressing matters at hand, have a nice day!" I said, finally feeling the knob of the door against my hand and attempted to open it but it wouldn't budge. I turned around to grasp it fully but to no avail.

The room was spinning around me almost as fast as the thoughts in my head.

I pulled the door harder but again it didn't budge.

"Do you need help, Miss Granger?" Dumbledore looked at me, puzzled.

"Oh? What' No, it's alright, I'm alright. I just feel a bit----

I passed out.

We stood in the midst of a forest full of little shinning orbs.

My dress was of astonishing beauty, whiter than ivory, sparkling in the night like a beacon of hope, little pearls attached to the silky resembling droplets of dew, a lake full of floating lotus flowers glistening romantically in a side .

I looked around and saw Harry standing at the lake's shore, looking more striking than ever before. Green eyes twinkling, he approached me and held me against him, hands firmly on my back, then he leaned, his face so near, I could feel his breath on my face, then without further ado…..

He shook me.

I frowned puzzled, how could ruin such romantic moment with such rude gesture?

"Harry! What are you---?

He shook me again, even harder.

"Harry, what the hell are you doing?"

"Harry?" he said, his voice becoming irritating, very much unlike him. "Granger wake up and stop dreaming about your stupid boy toy."

My eyes flew open and I saw two steely orbs staring at me very closely, framed by a significant frown of concern….staring a little too close for my comfort.

"You know, it's illegal to take advantage of unconscious people!" I spat out indignantly, realizing that I was lying on the lap of my arch nemesis.

"Conceited, aren't we? I don't aim that low." He sneered and let go of me unceremoniously, consequently I hit my head with the hard, cold marble floor.

I pondered for a second what he meant with that. Did he mean that he didn't take advantage of unconscious ones or he meant he didn't aim for me? Arse.

Either way, I still found the idea of him touching me insulting.

I looked around the room perplexed; I wasn't in Dumbledore's office anymore, I was in the Infirmary.

"You passed out." He said, reading my mind. "I carried you here."

"Thank---

"And let me tell you, you are very heavy." He said indignantly, "I'll have a back ache for months! I had to carry you away from the door, to the bed from which you decided to slide off!"

I bit back my words, feeling anger starting to rise up in my chest like a lion preparing to attack. I simply ignored his rude comment and checked my watch.

9:00 am.

"Tee hehe…" That was probably the gayest man-giggle I have ever heard.

I looked up at him weirdly, was he….was he laughing?

"What's so funny?" I asked, not feeling quite happy of having someone laughing at my expense.

"Oh nothing, just the idea of any girl passing out because she didn't get Head Girl", He didn't even try to cover the peals of laughter my misery caused him.

"Whew!" He whistled, removing a tear from his right eye with an elegant flourish of his hand

I chose to ignore this comment too.

"I have to go to class." I stood up, perhaps a little too fast because I immediately felt light-headed and swooned forward, head burying in Malfoy's chest.

"I don't feel so good." I managed to croak out, snuggling in the enemy's chest (that sounds so weird). My knees felt like jelly, he smelled nice.

Memories of what happened a few hours earlier rushed to my head.

"The new head girl is Pavarti Patil."

Suddenly, I felt like throwing up again. Oh lord!

Malfoy pushed me off him none too gently, apparently he liked his personal space and what he didn't like was me invading it. I sat on the floor with my head between my knees, trying to lessen the nausea, but to no avail.

Dumbledore's gone mad, how can he choose her over me? I've worked so hard…what are Harry and Ron going to think? Mom and Dad? The entire student body? It's all those prefects' fault, Ravenclaws never liked me…My grades are better than any of theirs…Hufflepuffs think I'm a conceited idiot and Slytherins…don't get me started on those.

I'm not one to drown in self pity, but the moment just screamed for it.

I should've seen it coming...

Maybe being head girl came with an image stereotype.

Then I never had a shot.

Suddenly I felt angrier than ever. Fine, if the prefects thought that a pair of double D's were worth more than seven years of perfect grades and great behaviour then they could take their stupid head girl badge and shove it were the sun doesn't shine!

Its better off this way, I get more time to spend with Harry…..and Ron. Harry wouldn't care if I was head girl or not, he likes me as I am. He thinks I'm better than Pavarti; actually, he never really liked Pavarti. Neither did Ron…

'He did go to the Yule Ball with her though..!' said a little voice in my head.

Nausea really kicked in now and I couldn't bite back the moan of discomfort that came out.

"Granger, I don't know about Mudbloods but sitting with your legs spread and moaning like an animal while you're at it isn't really appropriate in normal civilization" drawled Malfoy, staring at me from his spot on the floor with a raised eyebrow, a pink flush gracing his cheeks.

"Malfoy, fuck you, you're nothing but a smarmy Death Eater bastard so don't lecture me about proper behaviour"

Shite

His reaction was actually of surprise, his eyes went wide and his mouth agape before it all turned into white hot anger and his face contorted with rage, this was apparently the drop that spilt the glass.

"How dare you!" his eyes narrowed almost into slits "you filthy Mudblood!"

He roughly picked me up from the floor and rammed me against him angrily, his hands had a dead grip on my arms, his face mere inches from mine. He was scary.

"Don't you ever, ever, EVER tell that to ME!" I could feel how his chest reverberated with every word; he shook me to the point of dizziness with his every word just as his scalding breath fanned my face, followed by the rhythmical beating of his speeding heart.

At first I didn't know what to do, how to react to his offence but then I did what was most logical.

PLAFF!

I slapped him across the face as hard as my strength would let me and he staggered backwards in utter shock. The sound of my hand colliding with his cheek was so loud that ill people around us stared in wonder; obviously they were just pretending to be asleep.

Silence settled in and time seemed to go slower, not a noise in the room but the gossiping of some very excited and very injured first years.

Okay so maybe we overreacted here…

No way, he deserved it, said a shrilly voice inside my skull.

Well he only shook me once or twice; I slapped the life out of him…again! Twice! Physical damage!

Well what about all the psychological damage he has inflicted on you for the past seven years, does the word Mudblood ring a bell? the shrill voice if my conscience on crack screamed at me.

I'm gonna apologi-

"You're going to pay for this, Granger." He glared at me from scalding metallic pools of grey, ready to burn me whole any moment now. Now I wasn't scared, I was scared shitless.

I was about to retort when he started talking again, leaning against the wall, still glaring at me with all his might.

"I may have said this before, Granger, you probably think all my threats are vain but mark my words now, this time you pay, Granger. Last time I let it pass, gave you an opportunity to redeem yourself but now, oh Granger! Now you're gonna pay!"

"Did you hear that?"

"He threatened her!"

"I can't believe this, were they dating before? I saw him carry her in here, he looked very worried!"

"Oi! Little idiots! Be quiet over there before I rip you apart limb by limb!" Malfoy yelled at them angrily, the first years seemed quite asleep immediately.

I had decided on staying quiet, trying not to make sudden movements to avoid getting him angrier when that blasted Gryffindor bravery thing kicked in and words came out of my mouth before I realized what I was saying.

"Harry and Ron will tear you apart before you can lay a finger on me, Malfoy, so you better not—", I stopped talking. That came out like a challenge.

What was that for! You idiot!

He closed the distance betweens us in the blink of an eye.

"Malfoy, what are you do-

"Eeeeek!" he raised his hand and I flinched only to realize in utter embarrassment that he only placed it on my shoulder testily, smirking as usual.

"Afraid, aren't we?" He actually grinned now; he raised his hand again just to watch me blink when it got nearer, it was pure involuntary reflex I tell you! I am not afraid of him!

I glared at him.

"So where's Potty and Weasel? 'Cause I believe I've just laid a whole hand." I slapped his hand off my shoulder just as he started laughing again.

"Do that in front of Harry and he'll hex you to oblivion! Besides, it's a figure of speech!" he just continued to laugh. "I'm going –

"To shag Potter in a broom closet?" he offered still laughing at me.

URGH!

I let out an indignant huff and stomped out of the office.

The nerve of him! God I hate him! I hate him! I hate him! I hate him! I hate him SO MUCH!

By lunch time I was seething, I had the creepy feeling everybody already knew of the little event that occurred inside Dumbledore's office. As if fainting was something that bad! I mean my whole career is at risk here! Hello!

The only person that seemed to relate was Harry, since he experienced something much like it if not worse with the dementors back in third year, thinking of this as a good thing, I stomped my way inside the Great Hall trying to ignore the stares and shout outs I got from other students, specially the words of a certain disgusting, remarkably stupid and ugly ferret.

I sat between Harry and Ginny and threw my bag on the floor with a bit more strength than I meant and it landed on the floor with a thump. They exchanged meaningful looks and then turned to look at me again. Ron was stuffing his face again but this didn't stop him from talking first.

"Shwoengig blong egrmiole?" I tried to ignore the half masticated cow inside his mouth and concentrate on formulating an answer.

"I'm sure you all know already, so I won't bother to explain." I smiled glumly, trying not to look at any of them.

"Being Head Girl is overrated, Herms. You only get your own room and some extra duties like planning school events and such." Ron finally swallowed his food and was talking normally.

I started to bang my head with the table. Harry seemed to have kicked Ron from under the table because he let out a yelp and started rubbing his knee; I simply continued banging my head on the table. Until Harry's hand slipped in between so I wouldn't hit my head with the table too hard. So sweet…!

I stopped banging my head and looked up at him with a grateful smile, he smiled back and I felt like melting into a puddle and just staying there.

"I don't care if you're head girl or not, Hermione. I like you a lot as it is and I'm more than glad that now you have extra time to spend with me." He gave me a toothy smile. Ron and Ginny stared at him with their eyebrows raised meaning they wanted an explanation.

I analysed what he said. I like you a lot as it is……

Oooh!

"We…we like you a lot….as it is…yes…" he avoided the pointed look the three of us gave him. "Ahem….stop staring at me like that!"

Ginny choked on her giggles.

"Hahaha….so herms…cough…Hermione, how are you feeling? I mean are you alright?" Ginny slung an arm around my shoulders into a hug.

"I'm alright, I just need to…you know…..sulk a little." I let out a watery smile and now Harry looked like he was the one melting. Hehe…I'm so evil.

cough "loser!" cough

I cocked an eyebrow "need a cough drop, Smith?"

Zacharias Smith gave me a knowing smirk, Ginny sneered at him. The idiotic Hufflepuff didn't know how to choose his fights; he was a bit of a copy of Malfoy only more stupid.

Harry was already choking him before he could answer, his hands wrinkling the collar of his robe. "You say something like that again and you won't have a tongue to talk with, got it Smith?"

"O-o-okay, but let me go please!" he winced as Harry violently let him go and he immediately rocketed out of the Great Hall as though the devil was on his tail.

You don't want to get on Harry's bad side; he's got more rage than all the rage every student in Hogwarts, Durmstrang and Beauxbatons together can muster.

"So who got head boy?" Ginny offered, trying to lighten the mood.

"Draco Malfoy" I barked out with distaste. "That sodding bastard!"

Malfoy seemed to have heard me because he threw me a dangerous look that made me cringe.

"But oh Hermione! He may be a complete idiot but he sure is gorgeous" Lavender barged in our conversation rudely "Too bad Pavarti got the place and you didn't… Tough luck I guess!"

"Go lay someone, Lavender." She huffed indignantly and turned her back on us, back to chatting frivolously with her little frivolous friends.

"Wow…Herms…I know you're angry but there's no need to be rude!" Ron sputtered in shock.

I've never been rude to anyone, but today seemed like the right time to be like that. Twice in the same hour I had been humiliated with immature (yet hurtful) comments about what a big failure I was….or am…I don't know anymore!

"Shut up, Ron. She deserved that!" Ginny snapped at him, with one last lethal glare she turned to look at Seamus and started chatting animatedly with him. She's moody I tell you!

"I don't feel like eating." I pushed my plate aside and the food seemed to glare at me like everyone else did. I pinched the meat with my fork before letting it drop making a clattering noise and grabbing my bag.

"Come on guys, we've got Charms"

By the following week I had already forgotten all about Malfoy's threat, Lavender's comment and the fact that I didn't make it to Head Girl. Actually, the Weasleys were quite delighted (especially Fred and George) while Mom and Dad didn't even care, they said they only wanted me safe and sound and perhaps that I came for Christmas.

Stopping my train of thought before it got too far, I made my way to DADA class with Harry and Ron chatting cheerily, yet I wondered who the teacher was this year. I mean, the man (or woman) hadn't shown up for one class and we're reaching October!

As though reading my thoughts Harry asked,

"Who do you reckon will be the teacher? I mean, we haven't done anything in class for weeks, what could delay the teacher so long?"

"Probably some crazy bloke like last week…" we all reflected on Professor Crook for a couple of seconds…poor man.

Last week, when we had our first DADA classes of the year we gave them with Prof. Crook, a sandy haired man in his 50's with a walking stick that he used to threaten us with saying that he would bang our brains out if we didn't behave. The man was mental and when I say mental, I mean mental. He made us do a field trip inside the Forbidden Forest at midnight on a full moon! He died that very day, got attacked by a giant bat.

"Terrible thing…terrible" Harry shook his head solemnly and I nodded.

The solemn moment was interrupted by Ron who let out a loud snort of laughter that clearly said "What the bloody hell do I care!"…immediately we burst into laughter.

"What if we get a female teacher this year?" Ron asked once the laughter died down.

I exhaled deeply "Ronald we had a female teacher back in fifth year, remember Umbridge?"

Harry and Ron started to make choking and sputtering sounds with a look of great distaste.

"What!"

"Umbridge does NOT, under any condition of any sort is considered a woman under any kind of reason!" Ron spat indignantly "That's an insult to women, Hermione"

I couldn't help but laugh at his comment.

"You're crazy, Ron" Harry could only agree.

We sat down at the front of the class as usual feeling pretty eager to start but I knew this feeling would deflate quickly. Half an hour flowed by us like breeze.

"Guess there's no DADA class for us today…." Harry sighed disappointedly; he seemed to be waiting for one of us to make a comment.

"No need to worry though we know plenty of DADA as it is." I ruffled his hair with a smile.

"Well I've still got you so I feel better about it" suddenly he seemed better looking than ever, green eyes sparkling brightly through those bottle shaped glasses that made him look kind of nerdy and the hair! The messy hair!

He looked dreamy…ah…

He caught my hand and entwined it with his making my stomach do a gymnastic routine. Oddly enough Ron hadn't interrupted us, his gaze was fixed on his notebook were he doodled absentmindedly.

Perfect…

Harry grinned at me "Say Hermione, I was wondering …would you like to go tadpole fishing? I like to squish them into jelly and then eat them.

"How dare you imply that the Chuddly Cannons aren't good enough to beat the Tornadoes!" Ron shouted, face aflame and seething.

"They're fourth in the league Ron, Tornadoes are the first!" Seamus yelled back.

Testosterone overdrive…this is gonna end in a fist fight; I chuckled slightly at my own thought which is by the way, right because they were already shoving each other.

"Had a good nap, Herms?" Harry asked me suddenly.

Oh yes a very good one, you were in it occasionally.

"Not particularly because I didn't actually fall asleep since Ron here likes to use his lungs to the fullest." I smiled at Harry.

"Well maybe we can take a nap later, away from Ron." He didn't seem to realize what he was saying because he was smiling slightly….that is until he realized that everyone in the room what staring at us.

The class had gone quiet, all the chattering was gone and everybody seemed to have fixed their attention on us, they were all gaping in shock.

"Never know you were one to make that kind of proposition to a girl, Potter!" someone yelled from the back.

"Say Harry, why are you banging your head with the desk?" asked Ron, who had clearly noticed nothing.

Luckily, class ended at that exact moment so I zoomed out of there, bumping and knocking aside many students on the way but not bothering to listen to their indignant curses or even apologizing. Dinner was suddenly not as a appealing as it was mere moments ago so I headed to my sanctuary, the library. I pushed past the doors ignoring the pointed look Madam Pince gave me, waved my way through the desks and finally got to the bookshelf furthest away from Madam Pince or anyone for that matter.

Resting my head on the cool oak wood of the shelf I considered what I was going to do now that I was inside the library. Read? Perhaps...

Sighing, I walked from book shelf to book shelf feeling quite annoyed. Arithmancy, Charms, Transfiguration, Ancient Runes…I had already read it all. Just then, I saw it.

The Restricted Section

Oh no no no noooo, Hermione! It's the RESTRICTED section.

My conscience placed extra emphasize on the word restricted. But restricted or not at the moment it seemed like the answer to my prayers. Polished oak doors with the words RESTRICTED on golden letters, it seemed to draw me into it. I mean, I hadn't been inside that section since second year and I only came in looking for that potions book….and madam Pince was there all the time…I couldn't even catch a glimpse of the other books before she kicked me out.

Stop making excuses; you're not going in there!

Curiosity never hurt anyone, Hermione. It's a normal reaction….

Curiosity killed the cat; it gave it a painful, slow, tortuous death involving needles and hot wax. My conscience warned me.

You forget the cat had nine lives. A voice resembling Malfoy's said in a sing song tone.

"Blast it!" I my hand grasped the knob and turned and before I knew it I was inside and still breathing.

See Hermione? No harm done. The Malfoy-like voice told me with a snigger.

Amazing how after so many years the restricted section still smelled the same, the mouldy tang of old books and the sweetness of the pine wood shelves made me feel like I was home, safe of any kind of disturbance. Inside this place most of the books talked about the Dark Arts, dark charms, dark curses, and dark potions. Eerie as it seems, it's very interesting.

I went from to shelf to shelf grabbing book after book, perusing through a particularly interesting one. I walked around the section absentmindedly while stacks of books levitated behind me, following obediently.

…The Flagaris curse is an especially difficult one to achieve. Being a Dark curse; it requires a great quantity of magical power to even perform it in a weak form. Making a slashing movement across the image of the person it is performed on, a whip-like flame should appear and go through said person's chest causing….

I paused my reading for a few minutes. That curse was very much alike the one performed on me back in fifth year. Inside the Department of Mysteries, a death eater performed it on me…..Dolohov I think…

Placing my hand on my chest and tracing a small vertical line, I seemed to remember everything vividly. The burning feeling, the surprise it caused me to be attacked so suddenly and violently…..the look on Harry's face…

Don't think about that.

I shook my head, freed myself from those thoughts and resumed my reading.

…person's chest causing unconsciousness and in some cases death, therefore the use of this curse is prohibited by article number three of law number eighty tw---

Ummph!

I collided with something hard and landed on my backside violently, book flying out of my hands instantly and landing raucously on the floor beside me.

"Bloody hell!" I looked up, trying to cover the fact that I had just sworn and did so quite loudly. Don't let it be a teacher.

I prayed to every god, demon and deity in the universe for it not to be a teacher. I saw a set of polished black shoes which connected with elegant black cashmere trousers, shiny black belt, and torso wrapped in a white scholar shirt. Robes that seemed tailored for him not to mention the pale skin peaking out of the collar of the aforementioned shirt. The blonde hair, pointy chin and noble eyebrows told me everything I needed but didn't want to know about the person standing before me.

I groaned, the gods must be having a real laugh. The person before me was none other than Draco Malfoy, git extraordinaire. Heck this is worse than a teacher!

"Well, well, well….if it isn't Granger herself!" he drawled, smirking as usual. "Wonder what she is doing in here! You know….the restricted section."

"What are you doing here?" I snapped at him with a glare that I doubted caused any effect on him since I was sitting on the floor rather pathetically. He looked bigger and more imposing than ever.

"Do you always answer a question with another question?" that line reminded me of a muggle movie.

"Do you always avoid every question thrown at you?"

He raised an eyebrow. Typical

"Answer my question, Granger"

"I'm reading, and you?" I declared. When in doubt, go for obvious.

"Same…" he answered nonchalantly. He merely stared at me for a couple of seconds as though assessing me and every physical reaction I gave when he spoke to me. His gaze was fixed on me completely, giving me the chills.

"It's rude to stare." I smirked at him as he quickly removed his eyes from my being.

"As if I would ever set my eyes on your kind, I was merely admiring the way your hair seems to defy gravity"

My hands flew to my hair while I cringed with embarrassment. Git…

"Question here, Granger, what are you reading? I mean, almost every book here is related to the Dark Arts or is…" his eyes glinted mischievously "mature reading."

I merely glared at him.

"So are we changing sides or are we being a naughty girl?" He smirked again and I had to hold the urge to just smack it off again.

"Neither. I'm merely expanding my knowledge" he gave me a suspicious glance.

"Expanding your knowledge on what?"

"Curses" he stiffened suddenly, he seemed to realize that I was bound to ask back.

"And you, Malfoy?" gathering some info to use when you become a Death Eater or being a naughty boy?" Ha! Now it was my turn to smirk.

He answered with a cocky smile "The latter, Granger. I've got to please the ladies"

Now I regretted asking him, I felt my face on fire and I probably was much more flushed than I felt. He was just disgusting.

"You know you can't be in here without authorization, even if you have to…"I stopped momentarily, cringing in distaste "ahem…please the ladies, as you so elegantly put it." His smirk widened as I realized my stupidity.

Bloodybuggershitbullockscrapfuckbloodyfreakingshite!

You stupid, stupid witch!

He had an authorization, and he was going to ask me back.

"Snape gave me a lifetime authorization last year, Granger, plus I'm Head Boy so I can come in here any time I want. I'm the highest authority here after the teachers"

"Smug, aren't we?"

"Of course"

"Well now that we've established that…" I got up so quick I almost tripped on my own two feet "…I have to go now; Harry and Ron must be looking for me. Ta!" I spun on my heel and made to leave. I hadn't even given two steps when Malfoy's voice filled the restricted section again.

"Forgetting something?" I turned around and saw him holding a book recognizable as the one I was reading a moment before. Shite!

"Oh…my book…" I strode towards him and stretched my arm to grab it before he suddenly pulled it above his head making it almost unreachable since he's about 6' feet tall and I am more of a measly 5'4'' kind of girl. I sighed and stretched to the point I was standing on the tip of my toes trying to grab it ineffectively.

He grinned in satisfaction "Where's your authorization, Granger?"

I hopped and he held it even higher eliciting a groan of annoyance from me, "give me my book"

"Not until you answer my question, love" I jumped again but to no avail. Damn you and your height!

"You're no one to question me, give me my book!" I gave one last jump to grab it, only managing to stumble against Malfoy's taller form.

"I'll give you the book when you show me your authorization" I backed down, deciding I could get the book back when I come back later. That is if I come back.

"I have my authorization, Malfoy, no need to worry" he gave me a look that clearly said 'Oh really?' and he whipped out his wand in the blink of an eye.

"Accio authorization!" he seemed surprised when nothing happened.

He tried again, nothing. He tried one more time and still nothing, he did it one last time and nothing happened again. He raised an eyebrow and eyed me disbelievingly.

"You don't have an authorization." Now I was in, as Americans put it, deep shit, "Tsk…tsk…one would think the school's most talented student would know better…."

"I'll be leaving now,"

I was leaving, I swear but he had to go and threaten me!

"Wonder what McGonagall would say about this…." Immediately I spun around and grabbed his arm with a pathetic 'Don't!'

He looked like Christmas had come early this year, "what's in it for me?"

Selfish bastard!

"The fact that I'll owe you one?" I offered, letting go of his arm.

"You know I'll hold you to that don't you, Granger?" his eyes glinted mischievously as he handed me the book back.

I merely gulped, now considering the idea of letting him tell McGonagall…

"Okay what do you want in exchange?"

"For now nothing, I enjoy the idea of keeping you on your toes" he towered over me with a teasing smile, a smile so dangerous I took several steps backs.

"It's a deal then?" I held out my hand expectantly which he looked at with distaste before turning back to the shelf, perusing through it.

I'll take that as a yes, you smarmy git!

TBC…

A/N: Well? How did you like it? Review and tell me what you think, what you liked, what you didn't like, what you wish that happens, your ideas, and your thoughts on the plot…. In other words, EVERYTHING! 

Remember reviews make the carpel tunnel syndrome and the sore eyes worth it!