A/N: Yes! Next chapter! Woohoo!!! I'm so proud of myself for getting it done quicker then last time. Haha.

Enjoy!!!

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Chapter Eleven

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Prefect meetings were cancelled, for a whole two weeks.

Why?

Because Valentine's day was coming up in two weeks. And Hermione and Ernie were put in charge of making preparations for that oh-so-special day. That oh-so-special day that always succeeded in making her feel like utter crap. Because every year, Hermione found herself alone, surrounded by lovey-dovey couples. And now she was supposed to find an easier way for those couples to get together? She was not pleased.

Dumbledore was doing everything possible to make sure the students' minds were

Hermione and Ernie had decided to do Valentine's cards again. Of course, it would be handled in a less disastrous way, unlike what had happened in their second year.

The cards would be collected two days before Valentine's day, and then, instead of dwarves, Pygmy Puffs ordered from the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes would deliver them on Valentine's day. Of course, the Pygmy Puffs would be enchanted, so there wouldn't be any disasters.

It would be perfect.

Of course, what would make it even more perfect would be if Harry would stop being so damn stubborn.

"Will you PLEASE just send it to her?" Hermione asked, waving the red card under Harry's nose.

All three of them were sitting in the Gryffindor Common Room, conveniently being the only ones there. Harry was currently doing his best to avoid looking at Hermione, and Ron was attempting to do his best to not get involved by trying to look very interested in his Transfiguration essay.

For the past week, Hermione had been trying to convince Harry to send a Valentine's day card to Ginny. His feelings for her were so blatantly obvious, Hermione thought it a wonder that the whole school didn't know! Hermione didn't know what was more surprising- that the whole Hogwarts population didn't know, or that Ron, Harry's best friend, and Ginny's big brother, didn't know either.

"Hermione, no! I don't want to!" Harry exclaimed, having given up trying to deny how he felt about her. Hermione always managed to see right through him when it came to those types of situations.

"But you'd make her so happy!" Hermione argued, plopping on the couch next to Harry and trying to stuff the now-crinkled paper into Harry's hand. The Boy Wonder only responded by turning away from Hermione, and then, when Hermione was just about to give up, he reached over his shoulder, and without looking at her, plucked the crinkled card from Hermione's hand.

Hermione giggled, and leaned back against the couch, staring into the fire, the nice, warm fire…that suddenly reminded her of Malfoy's intense gaze staring up at her as he held her inches above the ground.

Hermione's face suddenly turned completely red as she abruptly looked away from the flames, choosing instead to stare fixedly on what lay outside the window.

That little 'incident' of theirs had happened three weeks ago. Ever since then, things had gotten just plain awkward between Hermione and Malfoy. Neither wanted to spend enough time together to risk that happening again, but Hermione still wanted to spend enough time with him to try and find new ways to persuade him that the Order of the Phoenix was the better choice.

So, in short, Hermione would just blurt out, "Join us!", and then run before Malfoy could retaliate in anyway.

And another reason she's been avoiding him so blatantly? Malfoy's attitude towards her had changed. And not in a way she liked at all.

His eyes were colder, his face meaner. Whenever he turned to her, she could once again see all the insults he was trying to come up with. It's like they were waiting, right at the tip of his tongue, all to be released with only a single word from her.

And now, because she didn't want to unleash the storm of insults, Hermione was too paranoid to say anything. If only he hadn't kicked the habit of insulting her! Now she was used to, very surprisingly, considering who it was she was talking about, peace, or some form of it. And now that she was used to it, Hermione didn't want to revert back to their bickering ways.

Yes, things were just much too awkward between them. And it was all that stupid Malfoy's fault!

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Curse that stupid Granger! It was all her fault!

When that incidenthad happened, there'd been a rush of something. He didn't know what exactly. A spark, so to say. Electricity had seemed to run from his fingertips, through her arms, and had jolted right back into him again. And frankly, it scared him.

Damn her! If she hadn't said that stupid thing, he wouldn't have been surprised like that, and he wouldn't have held her up in the air like that, and then that rush wouldn't have happened.

But it had. So now Draco had no choice but to fix it. Obviously, the problem had been sprung from the fact that Draco had been too 'kind' to that Granger girl. He'd started to tolerate her, her and her stupid 'persuasion's, and apparently, Granger had grown used to it.

Now that just wouldn't do.

Things had to go back like they were before. Before Granger found out about his Dark Mark, about his affiliation with the Dark Lord, and before she started staying after prefect meetings to try and convert him.

Which is why, during Potions, Draco roared as loud as he could with laughter when Neville Longbottom's Drowsiness Drought exploded in a blast of gray sludge. His very obvious laughter got himself a surprised look and a vicious glare from Granger. She'd obviously gotten way too used to his kindness.

And, of course, it's why Draco purposely knocked his shoulder into hers when they were passing by in the hallway, and then made a big scene about how 'dirty' he felt now. Somehow, though, he couldn't quite bring himself to actually say the word 'mudblood'. He'd have to work on that.

Furthermore, it was why Draco kept frightening her during their prefect rounds in the evening, by hexing doors to slam open and shut as she passed by him, or transfiguring paper into little rats to crawl over her shoes. Of course, he made sure to laugh loudly to let her know it was him.

In classes, he sent 'rogue' charms her way, causing her hair to go up on its end, her fingernails to lengthen six extra inches, and her skin to turn a shade of light purple. Of course, none of the spells caused her actual harm, and she was able to easily reverse the effects, but it was all very amusing to watch, and to laugh at. Despite the TINY nagging feeling of guilt at the very back of his mind. The VERY back of his mind.

She'd have to stop looking at him like that though, with those big, pain-filled and surprised eyes. This was to be expected of him. She was used to it, she'd been dealing with it for seven years, after all. They were enemies. She had found out his biggest secret, and hadn't turned him in, but that had changed nothing. Except for the fact that she all of a sudden wanted him to join their side, and was using his secret as blackmail. Still, nothing had changed. So why should she be surprised that he was acting this way?

Damn it, it was HER fault! She'd said that stupid thing, that thing where she'd said she would never hurt him. He'd actually felt safe with her, in that split second. And then that damned SPARK had happened, and it had shocked him right back into reality. Granger was so obviously lying. She must've planned that! It had to be another ploy to try and convince him to leave the Dark Lord's army!

He wouldn't be sucked into her little plan. She had only herself to blame for how he acting towards her now. Nobody tries to trick Draco Malfoy, and gets away with it.

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"That JERK!" Hermione shouted as she stomped into the Gryffindor Common Room, using her wand to mend the burn mark in her skirt, and using the 'Episkey' spell to heal the small, stinging burns she'd gotten around her ankles.

Malfoy had left Exploding Snap cards all over the floor she'd been patrolling, and she hadn't been able to see them because he'd bewitched them to resemble the floor! And Hermione had walked right over them! That ass!

And then he had to come waltzing right over, when he shouldn't have even been on that floor, and smirk at her frenzied state.

"Playing games on the job, Granger? Not a very responsible thing for the Head Girl to do." He'd sniggered, and then continued on his way, as she glared at his retreating back. She then proceeded to curse at the stinging sensation in her ankles, and it only struck her when she got back to the Common Room that she could easily mend them with 'Episkey'.

"Who's a jerk?" Ron asked, climbing through the portrait hole, his patrol of the second floor apparently finished. Or maybe he just got lazy and came back.

"Ugh, Malfoy. Who else?" She asked, fixing the whole in her white knee-highs and stomping over to where Harry was sitting, waiting for them in his favorite couch before the fire.

"Of course he's a jerk. He's a Death Eater." Harry said, not even looking up from his copy of the Daily Prophet as she walked over.

Hermione fidgeted uncomfortably, and busied herself with taking her Potions text book out of her bag, and unrolling a blank piece of parchment paper, preparing to right her essay on the many medical uses for the Valerian Root.

"You're not still on that, are you, mate?" Ron asked, after the short, awkward pause following Harry's remark.

"'Course I am! I just don't know why you guys don't believe me! It's so obvious!" He snapped back, ripping the Quidditch page of his papers as he angrily turned the page.

"Honestly, Harry. Do you really think that git is brave enough to do something like that?" Ron responded, trying keep his voice as calm as possible.

"Harry!" Hermione suddenly cried, slamming down her quill. Both the boys jumped, and gave her looks as if she had finally lost her mind. Well…maybe she was, but it was Malfoy's fault!

"Harry, did you send the card to her?" She asked, grinning a little, keeping her voice low, for there was a bunch of second years who were very obviously trying to listen in. It was a very random change in subject, but she had to change the subject before the boys got out of control. And the subject was making her uncomfortable. It reminded her about the fact that she was lying to her friends. Her BEST friends.

Ron's head snapped back to Harry, like Hermione predicted he would. Her attempt to change the subject was obvious, and Ron knew it, but he was still interested in Harry's answer. Harry remained silent, but the blush rising to his cheeks gave it all away.

Hermione laughed, and clapped her hands, while Ron's face went sullen and uncomfortable again. "It's just so weird, you suddenly liking my sister." He muttered, playing with his wand. Another blatant change of subject was made, this time by Harry.

"Who's going to be singing at the next ball?" He asked, knowing fully how badly of a change of subject it was. Ron shot him a 'you-could-do-better' look, and chuckled a bit.

"Padma Patil's mother has a friend who's cousins with Celestina Warbeck, so we're going to get her to come." He said, his voice grudging when he mentioned the singer's name.

Harry apparently had the same views about the singer that Ron did. "Argh, are you serious?! She's so lame!" He complained, sitting up in his spot.

"What could I do? She apparently 'fit the mood of the ball'." Ron said sarcastically, scoffing.

Hermione allowed herself to tune out of their conversation about Celestina Warbeck (although she didn't really want to mention she was quite fond of the song "A Cauldron Full of Hot, Strong Love") and though instead of what had been going on between herself and Malfoy lately.

He was acting so…mean lately. Actually, no. He was acting exactly how he used to act before she'd found him in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. And it hurt. It shouldn't have, but it did. He'd stopped being so rude to her, and had actually talked to her normally these past weeks. And suddenly, he was back to being an ass.

Hermione didn't like it. Not one bit.

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Valentine's day came along, and it just conveniently fell on a Wednesday. Preparations for Valentine's day was done, so prefect meetings were finally able to resume.

Not that anyone got anything done.

Little pink and purple Pygmy Puffs kept floating into the room, disrupting their discussion to drop a tiny, folded red card in someone's lap from the tiny satchels each little critter had around them. And then the discussion would lead to who sent the letter, and what it said.

Not that Draco minded the interruptions. Frankly, he cherished them. He was just not in the mood to sit there and talk about a dance that was going to be too pathetic to be any fun.

So, much to Granger's obvious dismay, the entire meeting became a discussion about the success of the Pygmy Puffs, how much better they were then the dwarves five years ago, and a contest for who got the most cards. Granger, having received none, definitely lost. Even the Weasel got one, from Lavender Brown girl.

Malfoy had taken the opportunity present to him, and openly mocked Granger about her lack of Valentine's cards, brandishing his four cards with pride. She'd said nothing, simply blushed and looked down while he leered.

The meeting finished somewhat earlier that day, because Ernie finally realized that they were just wasting their time there.

Draco was leaving the room, second to last, as was his new habit, though he was rushing to avoid confronting Granger. He didn't intentionally stay behind. He just couldn't help it, and besides, it was easier walking out alone then with a crowd. He didn't feel so very much like cattle being herded when he left the room alone.

He didn't get very far out the door though, because Granger had grabbed the back of his robes, and had pulled him back into the room, angrily shoving him into the wall.

"Listen, you!" She seethed, cutting off his angry protest. "I am SICK of your attitude! It's just so UNNECESSARY! I've done absolutely nothing to you, and I've even kept the fact that you're a…Death Eater," she whispered those two words as she pointed at his left forearm, "a secret, when I could've just turned you in. And I've already got enough of my mind without YOU," She poked his shoulder angrily, "acting like a complete ass to me!"

She let out an angry noise, and spun on her heel, returning to the place where she'd been sitting before, and stuffing her notes into her bag angrily.

Draco remained where he was, looking blankly ahead and rubbing the sore spot which she'd poked.

How dare she talk to him like that, and abuse him so!?

He turned towards her, with every single intention of yelling right back at her, and stopped, his breath hitching in his throat.

Through the window, he could see the sun was setting, and it had turned the sky a lovely array of colors such as pink, orange, and the lightest shade of violet. But that wasn't what had affected Draco so deeply. He wasn't one to fall apart over a boring thing such as sunset.

Granger was standing right before the window, carefully putting her quill into her bag, the golden orange glow cast off by the sun illuminating her form. Her face had suddenly transitioned from raving mad at Draco to simply…peaceful. It was as if…as if Granger was shining with some sort of light from the inside. She looked practically ethereal.

Granger looked up at that exact moment that he was caught breathless, her own eyes widening just a bit.

'She's beauti-FUCK NO!' Draco caught himself mid-thought, and then the moment was gone.

He tore his eyes away from hers, and spun around, desperate in his attempt to escape the room, and his thoughts. But in Draco's desperation to escape, he bumped right into the wall. By the door As if he wasn't humiliated enough.

Draco, without looking back at Granger again, stepped sideways, and fled the room.

'She's not beautiful. She's not that. She's anything but that.' He thought, frantically trying to erase any stir of feelings, any positive thoughts he might've had about her in that split second.

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Hermione was just plain angry.

Malfoy had been looking at her weird. It was an almost…nice expression.

But that git wasn't capable of those kind of good feelings. Therefore, it had to be something sneaky. He was planning something. That had to be it. He'd gotten mad that she'd shoved and yelled at him like that, and so now he was planning something to get back at her.

Talk about sensitive.

'That stupid prat.' Hermione thought huffily, as she slung her bag over her shoulder, and left the room.

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TBC…

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A/N: YES! DONE! WAHOOO! And in record time, I would have to say! Especially with exams coming up in two weeks. does a dance Ah! So excited now! (About the fanfic, not about exams. Blah.) Yup yup.

The next chapter might take longer to spit out. Like I said, I have exams coming up, and review week before that…and then vacation after that. Although I'm definitely bringing my laptop, wherever I go. Haha. So hopefully it won't take TOO long.

Jessie: You totally better not laugh at me in school. -.-

Well, enjoy please! And, like always, read and review!