Draco Malfoy's First Love

Chapter Five: The Prefect's Bathroom

"I'm telling you, Ginny, he's horrid!" whined Hermione. They were sitting at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall late Saturday morning. They had just finished breakfast and were going to the library afterwards for some research.

"He can't be that bad," said Ginny, eyeing Malfoy as he entered to Great Hall, "I mean, look how handsome he is."

"Ginny, this is the boy who humiliated you more than once about Harry, and worst of all, his father was the one who gave you You Know Who's diary three years ago. I mean honestly," she exclaimed as Malfoy approached the two girls from behind, "Malfoy is an absolute nightmare. I'll be glad when this stupid project's over!"

Draco stopped in mid step--Hermione despised him! Why, he asked himself, did I even think they could work together? Malfoy left the hall without Ginny or Hermione even noticing he was coming towards them.

* * *

Late that night in the Gryffindor common room, Hermione sat with her head in her hands. She just couldn't concentrate on her Arithmancy homework. She needed to relax, but it was too late to take a bath in the girl's bathrooms--she'd wake them all up. Then she realized, "I can just use the Prefect's Bathroom."

Hermione creaped up the stairs to the boy's dormitories. "Harry," she whispered, "Can I use your invisibility cloak?"

He groaned sleepily, "Why, Hermione?"

"So I can get to the Prefect's Bathroom without Filch catching me. So can I?" She took Harry's grunt as a yes. "Thank you."

Hermione took the cloak and slipped it on before coming down the staircase and going out the portrait hole. "Who's there?" the Fat Lady whispered.

Hermione reached the statue of Boris the Bewildered, muttered the password (Merlin's warts) and walked into the prefect's bathroom. She noticed the giant tub was already filled to the brim with bubbles and perfume. She faced the wall with the fluffy white towels and slipped off the invisibility cloak. She reached down and picked up a towel. Then she started to undress...

"Fancy meeting you here, Granger." A cold, drawling voice said behind her.

Hermione whirled around with a start--Draco Malfoy was sitting in the corner of the tub, almost hidden by the steam and bubbles. Why hadn't she seen him before?

Malfoy smirked, "Now matter how much you scrub, Granger, you won't be able to get rid of your mudblood scent." He had no intention of being courteous to her anymore--even if they were alone.

"What the hell are you doing here, Malfoy? It's the middle of the night."

"I could ask the same of you, Granger." He moved towards her in the bubbles.

"Don't come any closer," she interrupted, "I don't want to see anymore!"

"Relax," he said as he hauled himself out of the tub; he was wearing swim trunks. "So Granger," he drawled on, "Did you follow me here to spy on me?"

"Yeah, in your dreams, ferret boy."

"More like in my nightmares," Malfoy muttered as he lowered himself back in the bubbles and water. Hermione just stood there at the edge of the tub, not moving.

"Well," said Malfoy in his most oily tone, "don't let me stop your bath."

Hermione glared at him and still just stood there. "I hope your bad manners will one day lead you to a sticky end!" She screamed as she stormed out of the bathroom. Malfoy's eyes roamed the room and landed on the invisibility cloak next to the fluffy towels.

* * *

Hermione stormed up the staircase behind the tapestry. As she stumbled out the other side, she heard a noise behind her. "Hello?"

"Meow," Hermione looked to find Mrs. Norris at her feet. "Oh great," thought Hermione, "Now I'm really done for."

"What is it, my pet, a midnight intruder?" Filch's oily voice echoed in the corridor. "We'll find them soon enough."

Hermione ran down the hall in the opposite direction as silently as she could. She ran around a corner to a classroom door. It was locked and she didn't have her wand. Now Filch's footsteps seemed closer. Hermione held her breath and prepared for the worst--detention, expulsion, stripped of her prefect title. Filch's long, bony fingers wrapped around the corner. Suddenly someone grabbed Hermione from behind and muffled her cry with their invisible hand. Draco Malfoy pulled her under the invisibility cloak.

"Shhh," he whispered, "don't make a noise."

As Filch turned the corner, he saw nothing. His shifty eyes glared about, as if looking for an invisible fiend. Malfoy and Hermione stood three feet from him. Under the cloak, Hermione could smell perfume and bubble bath on Malfoy's body. He was wearing only his swim trunks and he was holding Hermione very close so the cloak would cover them fully. He was very strong, she noted. Filch finally left and Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. Malfoy turned around, took out his wand, and whispered Alohamora. The classroom door creaked open and the two prefects slid inside.

As soon as the invisibility cloak was off, Malfoy shoved Hermione away from himself, sighed, and said, "You could have got us in a lot of trouble, Granger. I can't imagine what would happen if they had found two prefects sneaking around in the night."

"This wasn't my fault, Malfoy," Hermione protested, "if you hadn't angered me, then I wouldn't have forgotten the invisibility cloak!"

"Yeah, but I rescued you from detention by coming after you." I shouldn't have cared so much, he added to himself but said aloud, "You owe me."

"Well, but, how...then," sputtered Hermione, then she sighed, "thanks, I guess."

"No problem," replied Malfoy.

"So how did you not get caught on the way to the Prefect's Bathroom?"

There's a secret passageway from the dungeons to there," he replied, "Just behind the painting of Penny the Perfect Prefect. Password's 'perfitous ponus.'"

"Do you need me to walk back to the bathroom with you, you know, with the invisibility cloak?" she was eager to return the favor Malfoy had done for her--she didn't want to be in his debt.

"No thanks, Granger. I would but see I don't want to take another bath to wash off the mudblood slime. See you around." Malfoy smirked, opened the door, and walked out into the corridor. Hermione stood there for a few moments, bewildered. He had been nice enough to save her from detention, but then he turned around and insulted her family again. She knew one thing, though; Malfoy wasn't always as bad as he seemed.