JAIL BOOTH

It was you ordinary school day, on a day like this, but for Hogwarts, it was not. Today was the last day of school and Hogwarts was having a fundraiser. All Hogwarts students, former and present, were required to join.

In the Gryffindor Girls' Dorm, Hermione Granger was packing her belongings. She was a newly graduated Hogwarts student with top marks in all her subjects. Hermione smiled when she remembered her name being called for the 'Most Intelligent Student in Hogwarts' award. At last, she was done packing. She quickly changed into a turquoise top and jeans. Slipping on her sandals, she shut her trunk and headed downstairs.

Meanwhile, Draco Malfoy was busy grooming himself. It was his last day in Hogwarts, yet, he hadn't packed a single thing. He looked around the Slytherin Boys' Dorm affectionately. It had been his home for the past seven years. Quickly pulling on his T-shirt and jeans, he put on his shoes and glanced at himself in the mirror. Nodding satisfactorily at his appearance, he headed downstairs.

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Hermione approached her friends. "Hi. What's going on?" she asked them curiously.

"Hi, Hermione." Harry said, his eye on the ball. He swung it at the bottle. It missed. "Another round!" Harry yelled determinedly, giving the man a Galleon.

"He really wants to get me the giant Teddy Bear." Ginny whispered. "This is his fourth try."

Hermione laughed. "No luck yet?"

Ginny sighed. "You got that right." She wiped her forehead on the back of her hand.

"You look thirsty." Hermione observed. "I'll get you a drink." She told her.

"Me too!" Harry added, his eyes still trained on the bottle. Hermione gave him the thumbs-up and went in search for a soda stall.

"Another round!" she heard Harry shout at the man.

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"Blaise!" Draco said, punching him in the arm.

Blaise glared at him. Draco looked at him and the girl across him sitting in a booth that said: '1 Galleon, 1 Kiss'

Draco rolled his eyes.

"Draco! Draco darling!" someone called out to him. Draco sighed. He knew that voice. He knew what she wanted. He began to walk away from her. "Draco! Draco!" she called out simultaneously. He cursed under his breath and turned to face her.

"Draco!" she said in a pouty voice. "Don't you want a kiss from Pansy-wansy?" she said hopefully.

"Uh…no?" he asked uncertainly.

"Of course you do!" Pansy squealed. She jumped out from her stall and began to run towards him, her arms opened wide.

"Uh-Oh." Draco muttered. He quickly ducked and ran for safety.

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"Now where are the drinks?" Hermione wondered to herself. Spotting a snow cone stall a few meters away from her, she stepped over a white line, going towards the stall.

"Whoops." Somebody said, grabbing her arm. She turned around to face him. It was Michael Corner from Ravenclaw.

"What?" she snapped at him.

"You stepped over the white line." He said, pointing to white line she just crossed.

"So?"

He pointed to the Jail Booth.

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Draco turned to his right. He hid behind a food stall. He could still hear his name being called by Pansy. He groaned. Was she ever going to give up? 'Apparently not.' Draco though, as he heard her coming closer. Grabbing his chance, he leaped out of his hiding place and ran toward another food stall, nearly tripping over a white line. As soon as he steadied himself, two people grabbed his arms.

"Gotcha!" somebody yelled in his ear. It was Cho Chang. She looked triumphant.

"What are you doing? Where the hell are you taking me??" Draco demanded, trying to break free.

Terry Boot tightened the hold on his arm. "Someplace." He said simply.

Draco glared at him. "Be specific." He snapped.

Cho grinned at him. "Do you really want to know?"

Draco scowled.

She sniggered.

"Let's go." She told Terry, dragging Draco to the Jail Booth.

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Hermione and Draco were both shoved into the Jail Booth. It consisted of thick rope crisscrossed together to form some kind of jail. Cho looked at all the captives smugly.

"You are now trapped in the Jail Booth because you're all wearing jeans." She told the crowd. "That, and because you crossed the white line."

A murmur issued from the crowd as everyone realized that they were all wearing jeans.

"Curse you jeans." Draco muttered.

Cho continued. "To get out, we will make you do something and you will have to do it. This Jail has been bewitched, so no magic can be used to get out. And the task is…"

The Ravenclaws made a loud drumroll. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Act like a monkey!" They all yelled.

As soon as the captives heard this, some of them instantly started to act like monkeys. Passerby's came by and watched them. After a few hesitations, the rest began to act like monkeys too. The watchers roared with laughter. After the captives had their fill of humiliation, they were released.

Cho noticed the only two people left in the booth. "You won't do it?" she asked them, surprised.

"My reputation will be ruined." Draco said automatically.

"I don't believe in forcing people to do what they don't want to do." Hermione said democratically.

"Oh jeez." Draco muttered. Hermione glared at him. "And besides, it's a stupid dare." She added.

Cho looked thoughtful. "Suit yourselves." She said. She motioned to her fellow Ravenclaws and made a huddle.

"They won't do it." She told them, looking disappointed.

"Make them do something silly." Marietta said.

"The monkey was silly enough." Cho contradicted.

"A dare!" Michael said. They all nodded.

"Eat dirt?" Terry asked.

"Dance naked?" Anthony Goldstein suggested.

"Give them makeovers!" Padma gushed.

"Smell their feet?" Neville asked hopefully.

"Hey!" Cho said angrily. "You're not a Ravenclaw!"

"Sorry." Neville said in a small voice. He walked away dejectedly.

"Let them kiss each other?" Luna supplied.

They went quiet. Then Cho cheered. "Luna! You're brilliant!" she crowed. She walked away from the huddle. The other Ravenclaws and followed her in anticipation. "We have decided!" she announced. She looked at them mischievously.

Draco and Hermione gulped.

"You two remaining people," Cho started. "Who absolutely refuse to act like orangutans, will have another dare. If you ever want to experience freedom again, you will have to kiss each other!"

"Do it now!" Terry Boot yelled. Hermione's eyes widened. Draco looked shocked. A small crowd started to gather around the Jail Booth, waiting for the action to begin.

"You have approximately 10 seconds." Michael said, looking at his watch. "Ready, go!"

Draco glanced at Hermione. She stood frozen in her spot, staring at him, horror-struck. The Ravenclaws began the countdown.

"10…"

Draco debated on hexing them after he got out. Hermione took a deep breath.

"9…"

"I'll pay you 100 Galleons each." Draco offered the Ravenclaws. Terry Boot opened his mouth excitedly but Cho clapped a hand over him and slapped him with her other hand. The other Ravenclaws shook their heads.

"I'll lend you my brains." Hermione added weakly, although she could tell that this was not going to work since they had already graduated. They stood their ground.

"8…"

"This is just great." Draco muttered sarcastically. "Bribery always works. I don't understand why it won't work now." He looked at Hermione. "Any plans?" he asked her.

Hermione looked outraged. "You're the diabolical one!" She snapped.

"7…"

"Well, Excuse me." Draco scoffed. "You're the smart one. You think of something."

Hermione glared at him. She wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans. "Look, I am obviously out of ideas here. A little help from your abnormally oversized head?"

"6..."

Draco glared at her. "Well, I've got nothing. As you can notice, we only have 6 seconds left." He said, wiping his sweaty forehead.

"I wonder." Hermione said. "Why us?" she wondered aloud. "It could be anyone else on this whole damn fundraiser and it had to be us."

"5…"

Draco sighed angrily. "Save your philosophical theories for later." He snapped. "We don't really have a choice! It's either we kiss or not!"

Hermione glared at him. "Well, I'm not!"

"Neither am I!" Draco said stubbornly.

"4…"

Hermione sighed. "This had got to be the worst day ever."

"And me being forced to kiss you is not making my day either." Draco agreed.

"3…"

"I have an idea!" Draco proclaimed. Hermione looked at him appraisingly. "As soon as they get to one, we don't kiss at all! It's like rebelling!" he told her.

Hermione looked thoughtful. "That could actually work."

Draco looked triumphant. "Ha! I actually thought of a plan rather than Granger!" he said gleefully.

Hermione scowled at him. "This doesn't change anything." She snapped.

"Sure it does." Draco said airily.

"2…"

"Alright," Draco whispered conspiratorially. "As soon as they say 1, we'll both go to opposite ends of this jail. I'll nod at you and we'll both say that we won't do it."

"Agreed." Hermione said. "I can't believe I'm actually listening to you." She said in amazement.

Draco grinned. "Trust me. We both don't want to do this dare and I'm our only hope."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "As of today." She muttered.

"Ready?" he asked her. She nodded. They started to cross the jail.

"1!"

But at the count of one, Draco looked at Hermione, and Hermione looked at Draco. They both stopped.

Hermione didn't know how, what, and why, but she suddenly had this breaking urge to go near her enemy. She slowly started to walk towards him. Draco didn't know what had happened, but he just needed to get closer to her, for whatever reason. And thus, he started to walk to her too.

"I…I think I changed my mind." Hermione stammered, taking a step toward him.

"Yeah, me too." Draco agreed, going closer to Hermione.

Hermione leaned forward slightly. She could smell his perfume. The smell meddled with her mind and she could not think clearly. Draco brought himself closer to her. She was like a magnet, pulling him closer, and closer until-

"Oi!" A voice yelled and they froze in mid-air. "What the hell are you two doing??" They sprang apart.

"Go away, Weasley." Cho said impatiently. "Can't you see they're in the middle of something?" she criticized.

Ron looked at Draco and Hermione back and forth in bewilderment.

Hermione went red. "We weren't-"

"-doing anything." Draco finished.

Ron continued to look at them suspiciously. Draco excused himself from the scene and Hermione quickly followed him out, her head bent. The Ravenclaws didn't bother to call them back.

"Hermione!" someone called her. She looked up. It was Harry and Ginny. Ginny was holding an enormously stuffed bear, looking happy.

"Where were you?" Harry asked her.

"Ron told us that you were stuck in the Jail Booth. What did they make you do?" Ginny asked her, cuddling the bear.

Hermione needed to clear her swirling head. "Uh, er-bathroom." She said quickly, turning away from them and leaving them confused.

Hermione sought solace at the back of the fundraiser. She sat down on the bench. What had happened earlier? She asked herself. Was I about to kiss Malfoy? She closed her eyes.

"You know, we never did finish the kiss."

Hermione opened her eyes slowly. She sighed. "We never even started yet." She told him. "It's hard to imagine what would happen if we did kiss." She mused.

Draco looked at her strangely. "And if we did?" he asked her.

"I don't know." Hermione admitted.

Draco faced her. "I'm considering it."

Hermione turned around to face him. "What? Continuing the-" She gulped. "-kiss?"

"Maybe."Draco shrugged. After a still silence, Draco looked at her. "Alright. But what happened a while ago and what's going to happen now, never happened." he told her firmly.

Hermione was confused. "What??"

And then he kissed her.