AUTHOR'S NOTES:

This was my 3rd and final entry for the 2014 Hawthorn & Vine "Reverse Challenge" 2013-2014 (dramione . org). The fest is long over and reveals are out, so I can post this for you here. This fanfic is multi-chaptered, but complete. I will post it all up at once for you.

Here was the prompt I worked from - art by the ULTRA TALENTED "smilewithoutcat": farm3 . staticflickr 2843 / 9836487205_75811d1368_c . jpg (remove spaces in that URL to see the image)

Thank you to the H&V Mods for hosting this fantastic fest! How fun!

I loved the artwork, provided by smilewithoutcat - so inspirational! Beautiful job!

Special thanks to Ladysashi for her advice on how to solve the conundrum of picking a story plot to write. I had three ideas that popped into my head from this art prompt, all vastly different. She gave me the solution as to how to make them all work for this piece – A 'Choose Your Own Adventure' style ending. THANK YOU, LS – you're brilliant!

Please review!

DISCLAIMER: "Harry Potter" is the property of J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. This fanfiction was written entirely for fun, not for profit, and no copyright infringement is intended. All characters depicted in sexual situations are above the age of consent.

TIMELINE: Various A/U scenarios (different timelines)

MAIN CHARACTERS FEATURED (alphabetical order, last name): Hermione Granger, Ferret!Draco Malfoy

SUMMARY: With his keeper, Hermione Granger, asleep at her work bench, Ferret!Draco finds he has options at long last: to escape out the window, to steal some sweet treats before escaping out the window, or turning back and staying put in his cage. What should he do?

RATING: T / PG-15

WARNINGS: Choose-Your-Own-Adventure type story (3 possible endings), one profanity, one ending is dark-ish, characters a bit OOC for the sake of the plot.

STARE

By: RZZMG

Finally, she was asleep.

Draco let out a soft, nearly silent sigh of relief.

It had only taken two hours of silent reading, a cup of warm milk, and a crackling fire, but Granger had finally succumbed to her exhaustion, the long days and nights of continual research and occasional experimentation taking their toll. She was down for the count, lightly snoring.

He inched the door of his cage open, careful of rattling it. Earlier, he'd spit upon the hinges and placed straw between them to minimize the harsh metal-upon-metal squeak emitted whenever the front trap was opened. Granger didn't like it when he attempted to escape his enclosure; being under her foot was an absolute no-no. But he'd been waiting for this exact chance to break out, and there was no way he wasn't going to take it. Patience had never been one of Draco's virtues, after all – not even when he'd walked on two legs, rather than four.

He managed to get the cage door opened and on skilled, silent feet, escaped his prison. His intended destination: the window. There was a tree just outside, he knew, and although it was a very long jump, he felt confident that he could make it. It was a bit of a drop to get there, but he was determined. He'd been cooped up in his family's manor long enough!

He quickly snuck across the table, stopping every few seconds to look up and glance over at Granger, assuring she was still asleep. As he came into close range of her, he crept right up into her face, sniffing. She smelled of the tangy Italian-made ink she preferred to use for her copious note-taking, and the sweet perfume of Asphodel from the labs where she worked, and underneath it all, the cloying scent of the multitude of potions she'd been taking to stay awake for the past several days.

Stay asleep, he willed, and hurried past. This was his last chance to get outside – to feel the sun on his back, and the crisp, autumn winds ruffling his fur. He couldn't miss it!

As he scampered down the tiered work bench to the floor, and headed for the open window, something sparkling and bright caught his eye. Instinctively, he stopped, mesmerised. The candy dish had been restocked! It practically overflowed with brightly-wrapped chocolate – Granger's offering to visiting guests to her private quarters, or a simple treat for her when alone.

Draco's mouth watered. He'd gone so long without the flavour of sugar on his tongue… and oh, how that had left him depressingly resigned to his fate! Surely, he had enough time to try for a treat, didn't he? Stopping for just one candy wouldn't delay him for too long, and then he could make a run for sweet freedom, yeah?

He contemplated his next move, switching his attention back and forth between the call of the open window and the lure of the shiny candy dish, and then back over his shoulder at Granger, who's snoring sounded unusually... off.

What should he do?

If you believe Draco should go for the chocolate then escape out the window, go to CHAPTER 2

If you believe Draco should run for the open window now, go to CHAPTER 3

If you believe Draco should instead investigate Granger's odd sleep, go to CHAPTER 4