Turning Points

Turning Points: Chapter 13

Hurrying after Hermione Granger was not Draco's idea of an enjoyable evening. He was quickly running out of what little patience he possessed and couldn't figure out why she continually stormed off angry, which only served to irritate him even more.' I save the stupid bint from a good majority of the Slytherins at this school and don't even get anything in return. This is why I leave all of this 'good guy' stuff to the Gryffindors--a Malfoy should be showered with praise for every little thing. Saving her life definitely has earned me more that the view of her hastily retreating backside,' he thought grumpily.

Rather than pouting, which Draco considered to be beneath him anyway, he called after her. "Granger, if you don't slow your pretty little arse down, I swear I'll--" Draco was cut off by the sudden appearance of a wand in his face.

"Or you'll what, ferret?" Harry Potter demanded.

"Bloody--where'd you come from, Potter?"

"What're you trying to do to 'Mione?" Harry asked, further emphasizing his hatred for the Slytherin by taking on the dueling stance Gilderoy Lockhart had taught them second year.

Hermione pushed between the two and before Draco could respond, she said, "We're going to duel, Harry. I got trapped in the dungeons and the only thing I could think of to do was to challenge Malfoy here to a private duel." Exasperation was clearly evident in her voice and Harry saw her roll her eyes before looking back at him.

"What were you doing in the dungeons?" he asked, momentarily looking away from Draco.

That moment was all Draco needed and in an instant he had his wand out and level with Harry's. Harry turned back to Draco and the boys shared mutual glares.

Still hoping to dispel the situation, Hermione began, "I, um... I needed to ask Professor Snape something about that paper he assigned. I wasn't sure whether or not to include the ingredients as a part of the length, although I do already have seven scrolls written..." She trailed off and put on a thoughtful face, mumbling to herself as she always did when she was working on school work.

Harry and Draco had mixed reactions to her response. Draco wondered where she found time to do any work at all given the amount of time she spent researching and practicing for their side project. He also wondered where she learned to lie like that. 'Makes you wonder how close the Wonder Trio really was,' he mused.

For his part, Harry started laughing. "Only you would venture alone into the dungeons to ask about adding even more extra roles to your homework. And to Professor Snape at that!"

Hermione and Draco looked at each other and let out silent breaths of relief. They joy was short lived, however, for Harry had stopped laughing and was now full of more questions.

"Er, Hermione," he began, glancing at Draco. "Professor Snape's classroom and office are in a different corridor from the Slytherin common rooms." He turned to Hermione with a deadly look on his face. "There's no reason for you to have been down that hallway with the ferret."

Hermione's face paled, but before she could respond, Draco spoke up. "Wait a minute, Potter. How do you know where our common room is?"

His menacing glare met Harry's furious one and the two wizards stared at each other until the silence was broken by the clicking of Hermione's shoes as she took a tentative step forward. Even the paintings on the walls had been silent, watching the scene unfold before them and anticipating the hearty gossip they would be able to spread at the end of this face-off. Hermione didn't care much about the portraits, though. She was just glad that no other students had shown up yet to egg either party on.

'The last thing we need right now is a full-out duel,' she thought.

Breaking Hermione's train of thought, Harry said, "Maybe it's because I've been there, Malfoy."

Hermione shook her head. 'There goes any hope of that.' She couldn't believe Harry was doing this and was about to comment when a portrait to her right of an old man wearing a dark green wizards hat spoke up. "What's this? A Gryffindor in the Slytherin common room? Why that's preposterous! Not even Godric Gryffindor himself ever saw the Slytherin rooms!"

Violet, The Fat Lady's friend, was also apparently housed in this hallway for she and The Fat Lady were crowded into a portrait for too small for either of them and watching the scene with bated breath.

"It's not possible," Draco said.

Hermione wasn't sure if Draco was reassuring the portrait, himself or just refuting the claim, but he kept his slanted eyes focused on Harry.

Harry took this as his cue to prove and took his time describing the look and feel of the Slytherin common room. "I especially liked how the all of the green matched my eyes so well," he added at the end of his little speech.

While Harry was spouting off random details about the room, Hermione took the chance to watch him. He was acting strange. The last time she had spoken to him, he had been so moody and grouchy and an all-around pain. Now, however, he was acting more jovial than his old self.