Disclaimer: J.k. Rowling owns everything except this sorry plot line hahaha

Author's Note: Hey! Guess who's back! Back again! Susamina's back, back ag…*watches pitiful stares in my direction and clears throat* Right…well first I'll start with an apology for not updating but I really had to study guys…but I raised my GPA one point (u'd be surprised how hard that is) hahaha and a 4 out of 5 on my AP Physics test so yay I finished all that, it's done, completed and I have time again woo hoo! And a lot has happened since I last updated- Harry Potter 5! Got a nod towards that in this chapter so thatz cool...umm well I hope you like it I'll be updating soon after this one is up and please review thanks!

Chapter 12:  Poetry, Brawls and Bathroom Stalls

"And what causes the Throgweaves to turn purple, becoming a strong potion causing delusional behavior?"

Hermione's hand shot up during Potions class- no one was surprised. Snape tried to find someone else to call on and attempted to ignore her but as she was practically out of her seat he nodded in her direction.

"It has to be mixed with Wolfsbane and Ancronite," she said, confident as usual.

"And what's this elixir called?" he asked in one of his futile attempts to catch her not knowing something. That of course required a miracle…and maybe a bit of that potion.

"Dystronesia," she answered correctly without the slightest waver of doubt in her voice.

"Mm…Correct," he mumbled and quickly moved on, "All right class you'll be making this potion today, and YES you will be required to test it. Now break into the groups you were in last time, we can't waste class time fretting childlike about groups."

Hermione sighed with relief; her last group was with Harry and Neville. Wait a sec…'Oh no! Not Neville!' she sulked inwardly. She was so busy being relieved that her last group wasn't with Malfoy that Neville had seemed like he was the next Potions master. But as he clumsily tripped over the size 3 cauldron on the floor and dropped half the ingredients on the table (from hopping up and down clutching his injured toe) she started to think that maybe Malfoy wouldn't have been so bad after all. She paused to think about this, considering either having her eyebrows burned off by Neville's potion or having to deal with the tension if Malfoy was there. 'I could always just draw my eyebrows on until they grew back…" She sighed; nothing was making sense anymore. She smiled at Ron and Neville as the approached was as bright as usual, but she didn't quite feel as bright. She felt tense and uneasy, but most of all guilty. Draco was in this class and she didn't dare turn her head or allow her eyes to flicker in his direction. Her actions disgusted her and the thought of them made her feel like she gave something to Malfoy, like he triumphed over her in some way. She shuddered just thinking about their kiss. What will everyone think of her? 'It doesn't matter what they think,' she thought, only her own opinion mattered and that, quite frankly, was disappointment. How could she let herself be…

"Hermione?" Harry beckoned as he caught her staring fixedly at the wall. He snapped his fingers in front of her face.

"Oh!" she awoke from her daydream, "Sorry… I was just…" Suddenly the sound of glass shattering drew away Harry's attention. Hermione exhaled in relief, she was never caught daydreaming during a class and she certainly had no way to explain herself now. Her head spun to the source of the shattered glass and found that right next to her Neville was fumbling frantically with a broken vial filled containing an extremely volatile silvery blue liquid called Mioxilus. It eats through wood.Uh-oh. Harry and Hermione sprang up from their chairs and attempted to get rid of the mess and prevent it from doing too much damage…that is before Snape noticed. But were they ever that lucky? Before they knew it the corner of the table broke of and tumbled to the floor and Snape came thundering to their table.

"WHAT HAVE YOU FUMBLING GRYFFINDOR'S MANAGED TO DESTROY NOW? MIOXILUS! WHERE DID YOU GET THIS?" Snape bellowed demandingly at them. He quickly flicked his wand to clean up the mess and fix the damage then looked stealthily at Neville. 

"I…I…Malfoy handed it to me professor! He told me to hold it and it slipped from my hand!" Neville managed to stammer as he pointed accusingly at Draco who was sitting behind him.

"Malfoy!" Snape snarled, "Is this true?"

"No, professor I was sitting here this whole time finishing up the potion with Crabbe and Blaise. Wasn't I?" Malfoy looked at them to back up his story and they nodded ardently. 

Snape looked positively thrilled, "LONGBOTTOM! DETEN…"

Just then Dean jumped up from his seat, "He's lying professor! I saw it myself! Malfoy and the rest of them dipped the vial in Sliddulus and handed it to Neville!"

"THOMAS! SIT DOWN THIS INSTANT!" Snape shouted looking very annoyed that there was an apparent witness to this, "TWENTY points from both houses! Wait no…FORTY points from Slythindor! And if so much as a GRAIN drops throughout the rest of this class I'll put every last one of you in detention and you can be sure… it won't be pleasant," with that Snape glared contemptuously at Neville and threw a warning glance toward Draco as he stormed away looking hazardously aggravated muttering something about damaged furniture and foolish Neanderthals.

When he left the air was still thick with anger and disgust.

"What the hell was that stunt for Malfoy?" Harry hissed as Hermione tried to keep busy by making the potion and avoiding any sort of contact with Draco however irritated she was.

Draco and the rest of his table smirked, "For pure entertainment and pleasure I'd say, wouldn't you think?" Draco asked his counterparts as they again nodded in agreement, "Like everything we do…" Draco's eyes flickered toward Hermione.

Hermione looked up, startled at those words, anger rising from the pit of her stomach where her nerves were crashing like tidal waves, "Excuse me? EVERYTHING you do?" Her eyes bore into his meaningfully.

"Pretty much," he replied being bluntly dismissive, his eyes failing to betray any sort of emotion or connotation to their exchange. Everyone else just looked confused.

"What the F…" Harry began.

"HARRY!" Neville interrupted him, giving him a Snape-will-hear-you-then-we'll- be-shoveling-dung-all-night look.

Harry ignored this and continued, "Malfoy if you think you can be a bloody disgusting wank…"

"Wait," Hermione interrupted again, not even hearing Harry speak but continuing her interrogation, "What EXACTLY do you mean by that Malfoy," she continued grilling him wrathfully, "Pure pleasure and entertainment you say? What if I told you ripping out your eyeballs and frying them on a skillet was entertaining? Hmm? WOULDN'T THAT BE LOVELY?!" Hermione stabbed the table with her knife, "AUGH!!" She gave Draco unarguably the most abhorrent look and stormed off to get more Wolfsbane.

Harry sat blinking repeatedly at her retreating figure. Neville cleared his throat uneasily and pried the knife from the table before Snape came over and fried THEIR eyes for damaging the furniture again.  They glanced at each other and after deciding that pretty much did it, they continued chopping ingredients and mixing the potion quietly. Malfoy had watched this whole scene with quite a bit of astonishment.  It had started as amusing, seeing her so incensed but WHOA, if he was close enough that knife would have been going through his face and not the table that's for sure. Would have left a rather unattractive scar…tarnish his impeccable complexion.  He saw Hermione return to her table, expertly avoiding his gaze and causing her partners to exchange some she's-finally-cracked looks as she slammed ingredients down, made huffing noises as she measured and was just plain in a tizzy. Hey, she had to face facts just like he did, was how Draco thought about it. What was the point? There wasn't one, he was a PUREBLOOD. He had to accept that since truth is truth, and the truth was that he'd been getting FAR too friendly with her, and it had to stop. He was no good for her anyway, she provided an ear to listen to his stupid ramblings that he daftly spilled out to her but that was over now. And it was time she realized it.

After class, Hermione, still irritated, stormed out of the dungeons carrying her books in a haphazard manner and drudged along the hallway. Ron and Harry tried to catch up but she expertly maneuvered her way through the crowd and turned a corner to lose them. She really didn't want to deal with them and their prodding right now. It was the beginning of the lunch period but she felt more like throwing up food rather than eating any. After a bit of aimless sauntering around Hogwarts she found herself in front of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. She seemed to find herself there whenever she felt a bit forlorn. Her anger had receded and had left her feeling a bit dejected. She pushed open the door and found the bathroom empty and a faint splashing sound resounding from a far stall in the bathroom as usual. As she proceeded inside, flashbacks of all her encounters with Draco flashed in her mind and made her heart jump. It also made her feel a pang of guilt. She never thought that she was capable of betrayal, but it had seemed that the Draco she had known before was just wearing a mask. A mask over his true self, over the trapped, seemingly helpless boy she knew. She had fallen for his trap though, 'He probably uses that 'pity me' garbage with everyone.' But then she remembered what she had seen in the cabin when they were in the forest and how his father hurt him…how she helped him and he helped her…But why? What was it for? How could he just use her? More like how could she LET him use her…She looked into the mirror against the wall and saw a blurry reflection staring back at her as her eyes clouded with tears. She had betrayed her friends and herself, and all for nothing but Draco's smug satisfaction. He had gotten his revenge. Suddenly she heard a loud splashing sound and groaned.

Moaning Myrtle popped out of the drain inside the sink she was in front of, "Oooh, Hermione are you crying? How dreadful!" Moaning Myrtle exclaimed almost gleefully.

Hermione sniffed and wiped her eyes, "I'm not, Myrtle, I've just got…allergies."

"You think Myrtle doesn't know crying when she sees it? And allergies from what? Are you allergic to ghosts?"

"NO, I just…it's only…"

Myrtle gasped, "Ooh a BOY? What has he done?" Her eyes widened in anticipation.

"Nothing…no I mean he didn't do…oh god I mean there is no boy in the first place."

"Hmph! Just 'cause I'm a ghost doesn't mean I'm stupid. If you don't trust me then just say it!" she practically shouted before bursting into tears and wailing so loud that Hermione covered her ears.

"No Myrtle please…I didn't mean…please stop crying…could you just…OH ALL RIGHT!"

Moaning Myrtle stopped on cue as if she had got what she was aiming for, smiled triumphantly, sidled out of the drain and sat on the sink, "Goooood, now spill"

For a second Myrtle reminded her of Lavender and Parvati which was quite disconcerting but she continued anyway, "Well, I did something I really shouldn't have…I kind of…well there's this Slytherin boy that torments all my friends AND tormented me before too, but started being nice to me and I helped him and he helped me and then we got trapped in a net and he kissed me and I kissed him back and now I find out he just used me for his entertainment and now I feel like crap." Hermione drew her first breath since the beginning of her explanation.

"Slytherin? Aren't you in Gryffindor? Ooh this is good! But predictable…you should have seen it coming," Myrtle said matter-of- factly, "He wouldn't by any chance be that apparently gorgeous blonde bloke in Slytherin that all the girls that come in here blabber about constantly, right?"

"N-no… it's not," Hermione stammered then cursed herself for not being a better liar as she watched Myrtle's eyes widen with pleasure.

"It issssss him! Wow…I'll tell you one thing...you've gone farther with him than any other girl that's been in here. They've only been ogling him from afar. But I'll tell you what, anyone every fleshy girl is gushing about must be quite the charmer so don't feel so bad…your hormones probably took over your brain for a while, just ignore him from now on…at least you learned something from it right?" Moaning Myrtle looked back at her with the calmest voice Hermione had ever heard. She had never seen Moaning Myrtle talk so...normally before. She was a girl before after all…

Hermione wiped her eyes with her sleeve, "Thanks Myrtle, you're right…and lucky you don't have any hormones," Hermione smiled meekly.

Apparently that was the wrong thing to say, "LUCKY? Oh so I'm LUCKY to be dead am I?! You think that's so funny that I don't even have a PULSE either? I'll tell you what I do have- FEELINGS!"

"No Myrtle I meant…lucky since…" Hermione sighed- it was no use. Myrtle sprung up from the sink bawling, then splashed into a toilet on the far end of the bathroom continuing her fit of wails. 

Hermione gathered her tower of books again and left the bathroom feeling a tiny bit better now that she had her hormones to blame. She closed the door on a howling Myrtle and proceeded down to the Great Hall. She had regained her appetite so she quickened her pace a bit on her way to lunch which made her pile of books waver unsteadily. She ignored this however as she continued jogging along the corridors until she caught a couple of people coming up to her from a different direction.

"Hey there," Hayden emerged seemingly out of nowhere and greeted her with his cute dimply smile. He had a friend with him that had short dark curly hair and was rather cute. He stayed behind though as Hayden approached Hermione.

"Hi," Hermione slowed to a stop and grinned back, her books still teetering to and fro, "I was just heading down to the Great Hall for a late lunch; where are you going?"

"I was just looking for you actually, so I was going to pay the library a visit, but I see you've already done your share of book borrowing for the day, eh?" he said chuckling.

She ignored his last question, and after musing that going to the library must be a rare occurrence in his life, she called him on his first remark, "Looking for me? Why?" She put her books down on the floor as they were getting rather heavy.

"Remember that blonde bloke Malfoy we were talking about the last time we spoke?"

She nodded, curious as to where this was going, "Yah…why?"

"Well you remember my Rolex right?"

Hermione inwardly rolled her eyes at hearing about this again. She knew it was valuable but he really needed to get over it. However, memories surrounding that particular watch pained her into a momentary reverie…She snapped out of it as Hayden continued talking.

"My friend Orlando here," he motioned to the boy behind him, "was asking around about it and when Malfoy was asked if he knew anything…he said you had it," he finished with hesitation, not wanting to accuse her but feeling obligated to call her on it nonetheless.

Hermione looked appalled, "ME?! That lying rat! I haven't the slightest idea where your Rolex is! He specifically said that I had it?"

"Actually," Orlando spoke up for the first time approaching Hayden's side, "His exact words were 'I last saw it with that buck toothed, shaggy haired brunette in Gryffindor.' And when I asked for your name he said, 'Encyclopedia 'halfwit-annica.' Oh and he also added that we should watch out for your volatile temperament as you notoriously brandish sharp objects and throw rather heavy items at people's heads." Hayden apparently hadn't expected this bout of honesty so he elbowed him and widened his eyes warningly.

"Oh and you thought of ME right away, did you?!" Hermione put her hands to her hips, feeling insulted. The two boys tried not to look apprehensive in case Draco's words rang some truth in which case they were probably risking some extreme blood loss.

Hayden looked guilty and opened his mouth to explain when Orlando spoke again, "Don't worry, we can see he's lying," he looked her up and down then winked, "His friends were muttering your name while he spoke, that's all."

Hermione was very uneasy; the way he was looking at her was making her extremely uncomfortable, "Oh…ok…right well sorry I couldn't help."

Hayden took this opportunity before she picked her books back up to take her by the hand, and whisper in her ear, "Remember our date…" Then he softly kissed her on the cheek. Orlando rolled his eyes visibly behind him. At that moment before he broke away and before she could notice, Hayden slipped a note inside the cover of one of her books. Then with one last look and another flirtatious wink from Orlando, they both continued down the corridor. Hermione looked after them, puzzled, 'What is WITH boys these past few weeks? I guess since the ball is coming up everyone's getting all flirty,' she sighed, '...whatever,' she mused to herself as she picked up her books and checked her watch. Only a half an hour left of lunch and she'd have a lot of explaining to do. However with the amount of books she had, the library excuse would do. She was really hungry now though so her pace picked up quickly as her pile of books teeter tottered about. She didn't care though as she dashed through the corridor; she was getting closer now. When she only had one more corridor to pass she broke out into a run, but as soon as she did, her foot stepped on something small that caused her to be thrown off balance. She stood there a second trying to steady her books again as they swayed, but at that instant she felt herself needing to sneeze. 'No…no…please…,' she wriggled her nose, but it was in vain, "ACHOO!" As soon as she sneezed, her tower of books fell onto the floor and scattered.

"ARRGGGHHHH! What the HELL tripped me?!" she searched around the area where she lost her balance and caught a glimpse of something shiny and golden from below one of her fallen books. She moved the book aside and to her shock she found herself picking up a…ROLEX?! "Why God? WHYYYYYYYY? How in Merlin's name did this stupid watch get here?! Damn ubiquitous piece of crap." She shoved the problematic watch into her pocket, begrudgingly got on her knees and started gathering her books. After piling them again she counted them to make sure she had them all. 'Hmm…one's missing." She glanced around her and spotted the small red book on blood transfiguration beyond her stack.  However, when she extended her arm and grabbed it, the book was already being lifted off the floor. She rose with it, still clutching it until she reached the top of her pile when she could see who was on the other end of it. She found herself standing, staring into the eyes of Draco Malfoy, the last person she wanted to see right now. They stood gazing at each other for a second before his grip loosened and she snatched her book away.

"I didn't ask for your help you prat!"

Draco rolled his eyes and continued walking.

"Wait a second, where do you think you're going?"

He turned around, raising his eyebrows and giving her a now-you-want me-to-stay? look.

"I heard about your flattering description of me, while accusing ME of having Hayden's watch!"

Still silent, Draco paced back and stood in front of Hermione. She watched as he unexpectedly stuck his hand in her pocket and pulled out the Rolex.

"You do."

Hermione glared at him, as he smirked arrogantly. She snatched the watch back from a now sniggering Draco, lifted up her books and continued walking down the corridor in a huff.

He called after her still chuckling, "Hey Granger, need a little help there?" She was looking even more imbalanced than before, looking somewhat like a circus seal trying to balance a ball on its nose as she moved around haphazardly through the hall trying not to drop anything.

His sarcastic tone only served to irritate her more, "GO...STICK YOUR HEAD…IN A POT… OF BOILING WATER…MALFOY!" she retorted in between her attempts to maintain stability. She soon disappeared as she turned (more like bumped) around a corner. Draco fully expected to hear a crashing noise and feel the ground vibrate as if there was a small earthquake as he had felt before. He had been walking to the library when he had a moment's peace to escape from Crabbe and Goyle, when he heard the loud noise and watched Hermione and her books tumbling to the ground like an avalanche as he turned into the corridor.  He found this quite funny as he watched her rage about the watch and crossly gather her books. He always liked to see her annoyed… and oddly enough his feet had carried him to where she was struggling and he found himself picking up her book with her grasping the other end. Her incensed countenance pleased him greatly as he cunningly pulled out the watch from her pocket to enrage her even more. It was weird…but he enjoyed being around her. Not that he'd ever admit it to anyone- that information was as secret as his stuffed bear Smooshy... whatever. Part him honestly did want to help her…chivalry wasn't dead after all. And Malfoy's were quite the proper breed of men if he did say so himself…except not to mudbloods.  'But what about intelligent, funny, understanding ones?' something inside him asked against the will of his pride. Frustration with himself and this growing fear inside him were spreading throughout his body because of what he was feeling. It was distressing that he was feeling anything, period. After Hermione could no longer be heard knocking into walls and banging into suits of armor along the hallway, he was about to turn around and resume his walk to the library when he caught a glimpse of a small folded up piece of paper on the floor. He bent down and picked it up and it said, "For Hermiony's eyes ONLY."  Draco smirked mischievously as he opened the note. However, he soon wished he hadn't…

Deer Hermiony,

            How have you been? Pleese excuse my speling mistakes…I'm not very good at grammer…Anyway, I'm sitting here in class (I'm not sure witch one) riting to you because I thowght yu should know that I've been thinking abowt yu a lot. I was mezmerized by yur incredible intelligense and wunderful sence of humor. To show yu how much I'm looking forwerd to our date, I rote yu a poem…

Hermiony, yu are nice and sweet

As my date to the ball, yu cant be beet.

I'll meet yu by the door at sevin.

And I'll make sure yur evening is like heavin

I really wish that I coud build yu a shrine

And that mayb I coud make you mine,

I know Im not as smart as yu

But yure worth evrything that I do

I hope youll give me some of yur time

Because looking like you do must be a crime

            Well, I hope yu liked it. It took me about 8 ours to rite it. Anyway, see yu at the dance.

                                                                                                                                    Luv,

                                                                                                                                  Hayden

            Draco read it over and over again. He found his hand contracting over the paper, crumpling it as his fist balled up. He glared at the paper and felt an overwhelming sense of disgust. 'Who does this IDIOT think he is?' Draco felt like throwing up his past 25 meals. But then he stopped himself, his emotions were take over his brain again. He only wanted to rip Hayden's brain out through his nose because…he had atrocious grammar. 'Who the hell cares about that mudblood's love life? That imbecile can have her,' he thought. He sure didn't want her around to have an intelligent conversation with or tell her what was on his mind or to kiss her again... 'I'm going through a mental breakdown I know it, I need to calm down.' The letter was now the size of a marble. Something was overcoming him-fast. He swore to himself up and down that he didn't like her…but yet he knew that no matter what he told himself, she just wasn't as bad to have around anymore. She was unlike any other girl he'd ever known, and he was feeling things that he had never felt before. Draco un-crumpled the letter, folded it up and put it away in his pocket feeling that he needed to keep it for some reason. He then continued his stroll to the library with thoughts storming through his mind 'What was going on between those two? Had they talked after that time he saw them together? WHY THE HELL DO I CARE?!' As he arrived at the library he gruffly opened the doors, attracting attention from all directions (the right amount of attention for a god he figured). His cloak billowed behind him as he speedily went to renew his book; glad that for once he knew Hermione wouldn't be there. As he finished his business with Madame Pince, she had scurried off quickly muttering something about a faculty meeting she was late for. Draco was about to turn around and leave when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He spun around and found his face stiffening at who was facing him.

"Hey Malfoy, I heard what you said about Hermione before," Hayden said crossing his arms and trying his best to put on a bullying face. His head was thrown back, and his eyes glared as he scrunched his face in some weird version of an angry expression. It was clearly a sadly failing attempt to look menacing. He was accompanied by Orlando again, who was looking quite disinterested, his eyes affixed on some blonde girl waiting to take a book out.

Draco ignored this comment and the absurd face he was making, "Are you sure you didn't take a wrong turn somewhere? Because this is the LIBRARY, you know with these things, no they're not sandwiches…they're BOOKS," Draco took one off the table next to him and proceeded to open the front cover slowly, "See you open them like this…"

Hayden actually looked like he was learning a thing or two as he stared at the cover. As his friend chuckled, he realized the joke and elbowed Orlando who immediately put a serious face on and proceeded to stare at some red haired Ravenclaw.

"You're not funny Malfoy, especially when you make fun of Hermione," Hayden took another step towards him. Draco didn't even blink.

"Aww…does Hayden have a widdle cwush on Hermy?" Draco made a face of mock adoration, but only a second later it soured, "Now, if you don't mind too much, I'd rather you keep details of your love life to yourself as I would very much like to keep my lunch down, thanks." Draco was surveying him, 'So this was the kind of guy Hermione liked, huh…' he mused, maybe he would lose his lunch after all…'And as if I didn't hear such idiotic ramblings from Crabbe and Goyle all day. Can I never escape it?!'

"I do NOT have a crush on her," Hayden returned with his eyes flashing dangerously.

Orlando scoffed, and muttered, "More like an obsession."

Hayden's head jerked in his direction and gave him a death stare. Draco snickered loudly, soon finding Hayden's livid stare upon him.

"You know what I don't understand is what a cold hearted Death Eater would know about matters that involve actual feeling about anyone else besides his reflection," Hayden spat contemptuously, his countenance expressing the utmost confidence. Orlando let out a low whistle, which one would think signified that the line was crossed but was actually for a passing Hufflepuff girl. 

Draco became irate. His face burned with anger as his desire to break Hayden's face increased, "What did you just call me you brainless, feeble-minded fool? Did you think this would impress her? You don't know what she needs." He didn't know what he was saying anymore, something was infecting every particle of his body with…with…he didn't know but it was taking over fast. His jaw clenched and his fists tightened threateningly, knowing that this guy was crossing the line by even speaking to him, let alone calling him a death eater. As far as Draco was concerned Hayden was an inch from death, and he wasn't bright enough to know when to stop apparently as his face almost brightened with satisfaction with Draco's visible ire. 

Hayden, in fact was enjoying this immensely, and seeing this as a victory he returned superiorly, "I think I know what she needs in a way you never will." This time Orlando was off flirting with the blonde he was staring at initially, but as he saw Draco about to pounce on Hayden he took a double take and rushed over. Before he got there though, someone else was intervening.

Apparently no one had seen Hermione approaching from behind, casually walking into the library as she did on any other day. That is until she caught sight of both Hayden and Draco wearing alarmingly belligerent expressions and uttering inaudible insults at each other near the librarian's desk. She watched as Draco's face went from amusement to rage, his whole body stiffening as his eyes turned to slits and his mouth a rigid line on his face. Hayden's back was to her, but apparently what he was saying irked Draco in a severe way. It wasn't the way Harry or Ron annoyed him, it was somehow deeper, more cutting. Normally she would just avoid fight scenes and make her way as far as possible from the site, but somehow she knew what this fight was about. She immediately dropped her book and rushed over as soon as Draco's face had burst from fury. Without delay she placed herself between them, an intervening hand on each of their chests struggling to keep them apart. Orlando joined her soon as well attempting to break them up before they were able to do something they would soon regret. Both belligerents never broke their livid eye contact as they struggled to lunge at each other. Soon other boys in the library had intervened as well, holding them back away from each other. Hermione stood a few feet away from the forming crowd, listening to the ensuing argument and growing alarmed by the hostile environment growing around her.

"You filthy piece of scum, you'll pay dearly for this. Do you think this is the end of your fight with a Malfoy? I'd leave town if I were you. Actually if I were you I'd probably drink poison from the agony of being a barbaric, crackbrained oaf!" Malfoy spat, still struggling violently to free himself from the grasps of the boys still clutching him tightly.

"You're just mad I caught you off guard without you're pathetic blank-faced body guards," Hayden retorted, equally trying to free his arms, "They're the only friends a spiteful callous bloke like you would have anyway; figures they're so dense that light bends around them." A couple of watching Gryffindors chuckled. The Slytherin spectators however, were not amused.

"Think that's funny do ya? What, you sure aren't the smartest bloke in this school you hideous, deformed imbecile! Last time I saw a face like yours it had a hook in its mouth! Not to mention you're a dirty Gyffindor," a Slytherin boy from behind Draco shouted.

"What are you saying about Gryffindors you vile cretinous dungbat! Is 15 your age or your IQ?!" a girl standing beside Hayden shouted. Students gasped and grew angered; this was getting personal.

"Oh please, you can't even spell IQ!" So you just shut your filthy trap! another girl on the opposing side shouted. Dark, ominous looks could be seen on he faces of every person in the room. Fists began balling up and it was quite clear that the any further provocation would set them off.

"Come MAKE me!" the other girl shouted back. Those three words were like a match dropped in a barrel of gasoline.  Except what exploded was rage.

Before they all knew it, as she lunged at the other girl, all hell broke loose. Masses of students from both sides dived at each other creating one of the biggest hand to hand brawls Hogwarts had ever seen. It wasn't all hand to hand though, those who could get to their wands out attempted some hexes, however missing many times and hitting an ally as they couldn't aim properly through the tangle of feuding bodies. Shouting and screaming was heard as robes tore and punches were thrown. Tangles of bright lights shining and sparks flying could be seen on top of that as spells went rampant throughout the massive brawl. It was just a big web of feuding students, some piling on top of each other as more people came to join the fight. It was getting more violent by the second, grunts and groans could be heard as insults sliced through the air that was thick with hatred. Books fell off shelves and pages tore while Hermione stood, still feet away from the brawl watching the huge cluster of fighting students. Hogwarts student against Hogwarts student. Weren't they all on the same side? In the end weren't they all fighting for the same cause? Everyone, side by side struggling, good against evil? And why was everyone acting like they were in different houses again? They were all in Slythindor, a fact they should have accepted by now. 'Why are they doing this?' she thought, shaking her head shamefully. As she watched the clash ensue, growing more violent as the seconds slipped into minutes, she got her answer.

The noise of the uproar was so loud, that it sounded like a war zone, 'That's it I'm getting out of this chaos, I can't even hear myself think, and this is the library." But as Hermione was about to make her way out the door, her disgust repelling her from the sight before her, she heard someone call to her in a rather unpleasant manner…

"Hey mudblood! Where do you think you're going?" spat a fuming Pansy who Hermione could hear approaching from behind.

Hermione turned around to face her and rolled her eyes. Pansy's hair was still purple, but just a little lighter than she had charmed it before. It was layered, with most of her wavy tresses lying just below her shoulders, but some framing her face and falling in front of her crystal blue eyes. Her eyes were looking incredibly menacing at the moment however, but Hermione was rather indifferent. She glanced at her watch impatiently, "Listen Pansy I'm leaving now; can I ignore you some other time?"

Pansy didn't look amused, she bellowed over the noise, "I don't think so, not before I make you change my hair back you dirty-blooded wench!" One hand was on her hip, the other gesturing at her head of purple hair.

Hermione laughed out loud, her hands wrapped around a large book "You wish! While you're here in the library why don't you brush up on a bit of reality? I wouldn't help you if my dear life depended on it!" she shouted over the exploding spells and shouts in the background.

"Oh…it will," Pansy spat threateningly as she took her wand out, Hermione noticed immediately that she must have been involved in the scuffle as the top of her wand was broken and left a jagged edge at the tip. Pansy pointed her wand at Hermione. Her lips moved to say a spell but Hermione was too quick for her. Within a second she dropped her book, and expertly snatched her wand from her robes.

"Expelliarmus!" she bellowed, watching Pansy's horror stricken face as her wand flew out of her hands, she followed up with, "Accio Wand!" and her opponent's wand fell into her hand. She smiled widely at Pansy who looked at her lividly with wide eyes and clenched teeth.

"Hmm… now what should I do with this? Any…ideas?" Hermione asked sweetly as she placed her wand on Pansy's neck. 

"You'll be sorry for this Granger," Pansy said silkily through clenched teeth. They were close enough now that they didn't need to shout above the havoc taking place a few feet from where they stood. Suddenly Hermione caught sight of something behind Pansy…some silvery blonde hair…

Hayden and Draco were unsurprisingly still at it, Draco attempting at every chance to hex him and Hayden still trying to land one sweet blow on Draco's face. At the moment they were just scuffling, trying to gain control over the other when Draco decided to put brains over brawn, finding himself at an advantage even being able to call on his brains unlike his adversary.

Through their wrestling Draco managed to grunt, "Hey Murray, I didn't know you were so serious about Granger…building her a shrine…wow that's going to take some work."

Hayden was taken aback, he shoved Draco hard away from him, "What did you just say Malfoy?" His brows furrowed in curiosity while his eyes flashed with a new wave of anger.

Draco was very pleased, looking back at him nonchalantly with a wicked gleam in his eye, "Oh nothing…I just thought it was cute, a little mudblood couple at the ball together…"

Suddenly, Draco was caught off his guard as his eyes landed on Hermione who he saw was in the middle of a duel with Pansy. It distracted him from Hayden who had lost it completely and punched Draco in the face. Hard. Draco felt the pain in his jaw sear through his face as it was flung back. He retained his balance and as his hand found its way immediately to his wounded face, he lowered it to look at the blood from his lip. He knew he deserved it. His words were provoking as usual, but he knew Hayden was love-struck with Hermione and the anger that stemmed from this took over. However, there would still be severe consequences. He looked from his bloody hand to Hayden who was giving him a smug superior look, similar to what one would usually find to be Draco's countenance. At that second where Draco's rage peaked, with the brawl around them still ensuing someone was shoved right into Hayden, knocking him to the floor. Thankful for this, Draco's wand was out in a flash pointed at Hayden's chest. Hayden's eyes were filled with surprise and alarm as Draco, looking livid and disheveled, still panting from their brawl stood above him looking severely hazardous.

 Draco's eyes blazed with fury, and above the uproar he shouted, "I don't know how many times you've tried trifling with a Malfoy, Murray. But you obviously don't know of the meaning of fear. Actually, come to think of it, you don't know the meaning of a lot of words…" Draco laughed arrogantly, now having the upper hand. Hayden, finding himself in direct danger of one terrible hex, boldly tried to escape through the side but it was far too late.

"Furnunculus!" Draco bellowed, smirking very proudly as he watched boils materialize all over Hayden's skin. He chuckled as Hayden struggled to his feet and felt his face, so horrified that he began to scream and hopelessly tried to swipe his hand across his arms and face, vainly thinking that they'd just fall off. After looking thoroughly revolted, he eventually composed himself and putting the pain of the boils aside, gave Draco a withering look that could only mean revenge was near. But Draco wasn't going to lose the upper hand. As Hayden raised his wand, it was close enough for Draco to grab it out of his hand, so he snatched it from Hayden's grip.

Glancing at Hayden's helplessly shocked face, Draco spoke silkily, "Now what shall I do with this lovely piece of wood?" Draco looked the wand up and down, and smirked, "Any ideas…pus face?" He laughed as he looked at Hayden's boil filled complexion. They traced down his arm to his fingertips and throughout his body as well.

Hayden looked very aggrieved as the boils burned, but at the same time his face reddened from anger, desperately trying to remain collected as his blemished skin pained his entire body, "Give it back Malfoy or this time I'll break your jaw in half."

Draco was unaffected, and as he opened his mouth to retort, he caught sight of Hermione again, this time with her wand on Pansy's neck. They made eye contact for a split second and to his shock he saw Pansy grab her wand back. It was too late for Hermione's attention to return as Pansy used her wand not to do magic but he saw her smack it clean across Hermione's face. He watched Hermione as the pain seared through her face, because as he failed to notice, Pansy's wand was broken at the tip leaving quite a sharp edge. Hermione's face bled from the gash across her cheek, and as Draco saw this he took Hayden's wand and threw it into the middle of the brawl. Hayden didn't expect this and let out an infuriated grunt, muttered something about never finding it and as Draco had intended, sent Hayden on a mad rush to find it, disappearing into the bulk of the riotous students. Draco immediately headed over to where Hermione and Pansy were; not knowing exactly why his feet were carrying him there, but a powerful feeling inside of him drove him in their direction. But then…suddenly he stopped. He watched as Hermione turned her face back to Pansy, brushing her curly hair from her face and tucking it behind her wounded left cheek. She traced her hand over the raw cut, and looked down at her hand wielding the blood that trickled down her face. Draco touched his lip again and did the same, feeling as if he had just hit a hard wall of realization. Everything around him became silenced. He looked from his blood to hers. His brain felt cramped from concentration, he didn't understand what the difference was between their blood. Both their faces were dripping the same warm red substance that coursed through their veins and kept their hearts pulsing life into them every day. He'd been calling her a mudblood this whole time, and even though he didn't expect her to literally have mud as her blood, he had never really seen it with his own eyes. Nothing made her blood dirty, it was the same as his, what difference do her parents make in what kind of blood she had? Blood was blood, and theirs looked the same to him. Gazing at this sight not only incited realization, but the fact that she was shedding blood at all sent a jolt through his chest. Was it anger? He couldn't be sure. All he knew was that Pansy had better run. Fast.

Hermione stood, shocked at Pansy's unexpected blow. She must have known that using her wand for magic was going to just backfire. After seeing the blood on her hand Hermione felt like the red she was seeing on her palm was everywhere. Her eyes were practically flashing red from rage and before she could even think what she was doing her wand was held straight at Pansy who was laughing hysterically

"Aeroculus!" she shouted stealthily in total concentration, her anger seeping through her wand. A blue shiny substance shot out from the tip of her wand and wrapped around an alarmed Pansy. She began screaming as the peculiar blue liquid surrounded her completely. When it had her caged in Hermione lifted her wand and Pansy lifted straight of the floor, higher and higher…Some people watched, jaws dropping, as a livid Hermione deftly lifted the screaming Pansy above their heads and so high that she reached the top of the highest bookshelf in the library. Pansy looked tiny now as Hermione dropped her on top of the shelf. Hermione muttered another spell and blue platforms on either  side of the shelf flashed then disappeared, everyone assuming that was so she wouldn't fall off…or try to escape (Pansy wasn't the fastest broom in the fleet after all). Draco approached Hermione from behind, his eyes still affixed on Pansy as he walked up to her side.

"Where did on earth did you learn that Granger? Since when do you read hex books?" Draco asked looking at her now amazed at what he had just seen. He was rushing through the crowd towards them before when he stopped in his tracks seeing Hermione, well...handling it.

"I don't. That spell is meant for objects, and I used it on one," her face was straight as she said this, turning to him almost not realizing who she was even speaking to. She had enough of this, and now she felt her head ache from all the noise and her face stinging her sharply. She looked back up at Draco who was eying her curiously. He was in quite a state with his hair and clothes disheveled with his bottom lip swollen and bleeding. Hermione hid any concern she had and shook her head, "What the hell were you thinking Malfoy? Look what you've started," she waved her hand around the room at the chaotic fight scene, then placed it on her hip reproachfully "Only you of all people could start a brawl THIS big." She sighed as she touched her bleeding cut again, letting out a slight groan. She spotted the book she dropped before right behind Draco and bent down to pick it up. When she grabbed it however something fell on top of it. Hermione picked up a dark, familiar piece of cloth. She looked up at him questioningly.

"Use that on your cut," Draco said plainly, his face straight and serious, gesturing his head in the direction of her hand. She got up without picking up the book.

"Is this…from your cloak?" she looked from the cloth into his eyes that were masked completely. He had kept a piece of the cloak she had ripped up in the forest.

He gave the slightest nod, "I'm returning the favor."

She raised her eyebrows, "Since when do Malfoy's do that?" she asked still holding the cloth in her palm.

He took her hand and raised her palm to her face, covering the wound with the cloth, "Since now." The noise behind her disappeared; he made her feel like she was the only person in the room.  She found herself lifting her hand and tracing his injured lip softly; wanting to do something she knew she shouldn't. Hermione felt his thumb stroke her hand ever so slightly, setting off alarms in her head causing her to realize what she was doing. She shoved his hand away.

"What do you think you're doing?" she interrogated sharply, "Why do you keep doing this?" She threw the blood streaked cloth back at him, watching him catch it reflexively. "I don't want anything from you. What do you want from me? Other than pure entertainment and pleasure that is?" She glared at him contemptuously.

He was caught off guard, he hadn't really known what he was doing and was thrown by her reference to his earlier comments. He said them purely to irritate her, and he wished that he had meant them, but an infuriating something inside him was telling him that he hadn't.

His eyes were guarded, "I don't want anything Granger, Merlin forbid I try to help y…"

She interrupted, glaring into his eyes, "WHY? Why would you of all people want to help me? Just tell me… I can't take this anymore." She looked away from him, her eyes almost tearing from the anguish building inside of her.

His eyes glimmered softly as he looked at her now.  She seemed so hurt and distressed, him being the cause. But wasn't that what he had intended?

"Can't take what? All I did was give you a stupid cloth," he held it up in his hand. But he knew that it was more than just a stupid cloth. "I just felt I needed to make things…right."

She shook her head, "Right? Is it right to toy with people, making them think you gave a damn about them?" He saw her wipe a frustrated tear from her eye. Hermione didn't know exactly why she shed that tear but for one thing, it was for letting him awaken things inside of her that she never knew existed. She was allowing him to consume her, and it had to stop. She spat disdainfully, "You could never do anything right. It's far too late now."

She shook her pained head as she picked up her book, and she didn't give him a second look as she moved towards the door. Draco looked dumbstruck, his eyes not betraying his dejection however as he watched her turn to leave. But someone else entered before Hermione could take a step.

They watched alarmed as Dumbledore strode into the library. His face was unnaturally stern as he eyed the noisy, violent brawl taking place in front of him. They saw him take his wand out and point it at the ceiling, and before they knew it an ear-shattering thunder bolt could be seen ominously illuminating the library from the tip of his wand. Everything went silent and all movement ceased. Every single person in the room stopped in their tracks and looked up at Dumbledore. He surveyed every bump, every bruise, and every cut they had and shook his head. Their eyes were wide as they stared back at him, unsure of what he would do, but they knew that they were going to be in for it. The bright twinkle in his eyes was gone, and his beard seemed stiff as a board. The enormity of his displeasure was visible but their surprise, with one last withering glance, Dumbledore immediately turned on his heel and walked straight out the door. Everyone sighed from relief, but a second later they sharply inhaled the breath they just released. Filch had walked through the door with Mrs. Norris sauntering behind. They could almost see Mrs. Norris mirroring the malevolent yet gleeful grin that Filch wore.

"Come with me," he said, still grinning widely, his eyes dancing with delight. He turned around and everyone followed leaving the library in an extremely chaotic state, with books strewn everywhere, parchment ripped and scattered throughout the floor on top of and beneath the many fallen book cases. A serene silence remained after every student had left…well except for one.

"Hey…is anyone there?" asked Pansy shakily from above the bookcase, "Can somebody please get me down? ANYBODY?!" But no one was there to hear her sorry cry for help as she was left there to brood by herself while everyone else was following Filch up many long staircases.

As Hermione climbed staircase after stair case, Draco a few steps behind her, she became very worried. "Uh oh…we could get expelled for this…and Pansy! Maybe I was a little to harsh…where could he be taking us?" As they approached the seventh floor, it began to dawn on her and some other where they were being led to. They walked along the corridor until the portrait of Barnabas the Barmy being clubbed by trolls came into view. Across from it lay the room of requirement and to Hermione's dread, Filch stopped right in front of it. Many people had no idea where they were being led to, but others, they were quite aware that was the Room of Requirement, and Filch wasn't going to require something pleasant.  They all stopped to stare at the closed door in front of them. Filch was facing it but he gave them one more glimpse of his grin over his shoulder and opened the door. Cries and outbursts of disgust could be heard throughout the crowd as they entered. They held their noses as they saw what looked like two long lines on either side of them…of bathroom stalls?! Dirty, dingy, revolting bathroom stalls. To their utter disgust, Filch inhaled pleasurably then turned around to them.

"This is your punishment for the rest of the week. Every day from the time you leave classes until 6 in the evening you are all to report here and clean," he smiled broadly, "Dumbledore let me pick this rather enjoyable punishment, as I know how much teenagers love cleaning the loo…it'll be almost as fun as dunking your head into them, but the Headmaster has no sense in fun. He asked that two members from Slythindor get assigned to each loo and they must work to clean it until it sparkles, or else nobody goes to the ball. Are we clear?"

Protests and groans of abhorrence could be heard from every mouth. They held their noses from the putrid smell, some lifting their shirts up to cover their noses.

Filch ignored them, "You rotten children deserved it anyhow, tsk tsk tsk a brawl in the library? You are suspended from classes for the rest of the day. This will remain on your record until your punishment is complete. For now I strongly suggest that some of you make your way to Madame Pomfrey with haste. As for your assignments, your names are already written on the doors," his eyes twinkled mischievously with pleasure, "All work is to be done manually; don't even try…nothing in this room can be cleaned with magic. So…have fun" And with that he left them staring at his retreating figure in shock. A few long seconds after Filch had left, they wanted nothing more than to leave the place, but curiosity drove everyone to take a peek at what exactly what they were up against.

Hermione, holding her nose and feeling extremely guilty, searched for her name along the stall doors. She walked along farther and farther looking on both sides, with others doing the same. Each of them stopping and with dread opened their appointed doors. She never go to see their reactions however as she searched for hers, gaining hope that it wasn't there. She sure wouldn't have a problem with that. As the end of the long corridor approached she could begin to see the very last stall, probably because it stuck out so much. Its top hinge was broken, causing the rusted door to fall over into the equally filthy bathroom waiting inside. The other doors were dirty, but not that dirty, this one looked like the grime had several layers to it…all different shades of green and parts rusted brown with peeling paint. 'No…please no…oh God what did I do to deserve this?' As she got to the very end, and checked every other door, so she stood in front of visibly the dirtiest bathroom she had passed yet. She had to lean her head over to check if her name was there, and she grimaced as she saw it pasted on a piece of parchment on the top right corner or the door. With disgust she opened the door properly, which was quite a task since it was molded to the grime, causing her to have to pull harder to peel the door from the filth it was stuck to. If the door was bad…the inside was worse. The layers of grime were peeling off the wall, as well as the tiles along the back wall thick with mildew. Top to bottom, all four sides were thickly encrusted with dirty, grungy, muck. The toilet wasn't any better…if you could call it a toilet that is. The water inside it was a deep, dark orange color and debris that looked like pieces of the rusted wall could be seen inside it along with rings of scrum running along the inside perimeter. The outside was corroded completely, splotched with stains all over the mold coating every inch of it, top to bottom, inside out. Hermione felt like she was having a nightmare as she rubbed her temples with her fingers, feeling one major headache coming on from the overwhelming dread building inside of her.

"Augh, this has to be a terrible, terrible dream; someone pinch me please," she found herself muttering aloud. As soon as the words were out of her mouth she felt a pinch on her arm, startling her dreadfully, "Ouch! What the…" She found herself facing the source of her jolt, a slightly smirking yet uneasy Draco Malfoy. She should have known, "Oh no…please…" she mumbled to no one in particular as she frantically opened the door, pushing him out of the way to check. Sure enough, as her eyes glanced over the broken door, her stomach did an odd back flip as his name was printed clearly on the top left hand corner of the broken door, opposite hers.

She looked back at him, clenching her teeth and glaring her eyes, surveying the result of her misfortune. His eyes were slightly hesitant to look at her, probably from her outburst before, but they filled with disgust as he looked past her at the stall.

"Filch never said anything about house elves did he?" Draco's eyes glinted mischievously, already plotting to send for a whole fleet of house elves.

"Don't even think about it Malfoy, how could you use those poor things to do your work for you? Have you no shame?!" she crossed her arms.

"Are you kidding me, you're still on about that thing …S.C.R.E.W. or whatever it was?"

Hermione looked aghast, "It's S.P.E.W.! Society for the promotion of Elfish Welfare! Not S.C.R.E.W. you dolt! Although, I should start one! Society for the Castration of Retarded Egotistical Wizards!" she steamed indignantly, "We're going to clean this ourselves, and you're not going to get out of it. Now if you don't mind, I'm not going to stand here all day listening to mindless infuriating nonsense from a vile troll like you!"

She turned to leave when he called after her, smirking, "Troll? A dark, handsome bloke like me?"

She kept walking but responded, "Yah, when it's dark, you're handsome." It was her turn to smirk now as she looked back at his mock insulted look. She shook her head. This was going to be one long week…

*sigh* WHERE do I come up with these things?? I'm just trying to keep it unique I guess LoL please review you're feedback really helps and is really appreciated. I should be updating soon so check back in a bit! Oh and I'd like to thank my friend Kristen whose been helping me a TON with this fic and prodding me to update hahahaa she has a D/H fic too under the name Sweetwater called "The Mistake they Can't Deny" () Check it out sometime itz really good. Ok well cya- remember to review! =)