Two Can Play That Game

Hermione fumed away, a tear glistening in her eyes. She was hurt; her two best friends were... traitors! How could they just do that to her? She closed her eyes, choking back the tear that insisted stubbornly to lead many others flowing down her face.

She breathed out; it definitely was not her fault. Harry had been acting weird around her for a bout a month; sure; but...but...

It didn't matter. She'd get them. They'd be sorry.

Where was Malfoy?

Right on cue, Malfoy strode down the hallways. A smirk played on his lips and his eyes danced merrily. His chin was tilted upwards, further suggesting his attitude.

"Malfoy!" Hermione called out, unsure if she could really go through with being seen in public with this arrogant, conceited, evil, Dark Lord supporting and VERY SLIMY git. She was unsure if she could resist; many have fallen for his charm, only to be discarded by him.

She didn't see how, though.

Malfoy turned; a sneer greeted her as he saw who - or what - she was,

"Granger," he greeted in reply, murdering her with his pitiless gaze, "what do you want?"

"Uh... nothing. I just... thought; maybe you'd..." Hermione squirmed at his intensity. "Don't worry about it." She gave up. How the hell would Malfoy even be interested in her? It was almost as impossible as her being interested in Malfoy. Hermione turned to go, only for Draco to catch her arm.

His grip was hard, firm; if she didn't struggle it wouldn't hurt. His gazed softened and shifted to her eyes. He lowered his chin, noticing the glint in the brown; and assumed correctly what had caused them.

"Meet me here tomorrow. In the mourning." Malfoy managed, before he either melted in the intensity of her eyes or barfed at the Mudblood he saw in them. He walked away; unsure of what or why he had just this. He walked off, having the last word and somehow knowing she'd be there.

Why had he randomly snogged her? Teenage Hormones. Easily dismissible.

Why did he agree to meet her?

Destroy Potter.

---

"Malfoy," Hermione greeted, delighted she hadn't been waiting forever in vain,

"Granger," Malfoy returned; unsure why he didn't stand the Mudblood up,

"Well... what do you want?" Hermione provoked; she knew she was pushing it, but she needed to break the silence. Malfoy shrugged with annoying elegance,

"Dunno; just thought you needed to say something. Didn't really want to be seen conversing with a Mudblood in public and broad daylight." Malfoy explained; he thought up his excuse yesterday, playing it out in his head as he walked towards the lake. Hermione hoped he was being sarcastic.

"Oh," she didn't know what else to say. She needed to keep him talking.

Silence followed, though it wasn't the awkward kind. Malfoy reclined gracefully beneath a tree; Hermione followed in suit and did so beside him, all in silence.

"Ugh! It's Friday! Hey, tomorrow - if you're not busy that is - do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me?" asked Draco, as he got up, unsure how long he was out there for.

Their meeting had gone longer than intended; could they be enjoying each other's company? How was this possible? The only answer being, other than the truth neither of them was willing to accept, that it wasn't.

She was late. He was late. They were late!

I need to go to breakfast! I need to get my books! I need to revise my books! I need to get to get to -

Draco's breathtaking hands broke off Hermione's thoughts. He guided her up, intimately touching her. Such things were natural to Malfoy; it was the Slytherin way.

"Um... Sure! Look, I've got to go! I've got to..." Hermione answered, only to be cut off again.

"Is the innocent, little Gryffindor afraid of being late?" he asked playfully; and tapped against her skin with his index finger, slowly pacing up her arm.

"N-No," she answered; but they both knew it was a lie.

"Or is it me; is the innocent, little Gryffindor afraid of being seen anywhere with a Malfoy?" he asked again, his tone now shifted from good-humoured and mischievous to blank and serious. He pulled her in and pressed up against her.

"N-No," she answered, again; but they both knew that was a lie too. He raised his eyebrow and teasingly kissed her.

"Or... are you still madly in love with Potter, whom yours truly can never compare?" Draco asked dramatically, planting light kisses down her neck, unable to resist tempting and teasing her. He knew the answer to the questions before she did.

He fought against the sardonic urge to turn around and bite her; make the Mudblood scream. He fought against the urge to puke. There was no way it would go according to plan if he did.

Yes, Malfoy had a plan. Yes, he'd entice the Mudblood.

"Would I be here with you, now if that were true?" she evaded his question. She pushed him back.

-

All through the day she kept glancing back and forth looking for a certain blonde haired angel, but never prevailed unless it was a mealtime. It was so strange. She was attracted to Malfoy. Merlin's beard! Maybe she was always attracted to him, but never knew it. He was sure good looking enough.

Maybe? No. Definitely not. Hermione shook her head, further convincing herself that it was nto so.

But her devotion to Harry had discriminated anything even close to friendship with his enemy. Now all this has changed. Everything had changed. What have I got myself into? How can she be pining for two people; so different... yet terrifyingly alike?

She gaped at the tree. It was a special tree. It was their tree. Everything seemed to draw out memories of her blissful time with Harry.

.::Flashback::.

"Do you think I'm pretty?" she asked impulsively, while tangled I his arms.

"No," he answered mischievously, earning him a punch and he tried to not fall off by grabbing a branch.

"Don't you want to be with me forever?" she asked teasingly.

"No," he continued.

"If I left right now, would you be sad?" she persisted.

"No." he finished.

"Harry!" she cried, finally giving up. "Fine," she muttered and began to leave.

"What?" he asked, and ran up to her and caught her arm.

"If that's how you honestly feel..." she trailed off.

"Don't you believe me?" Her gaze told him no, it asked him what he was playing at. "I don't think you're pretty," he repeated, earning a punch from his girlfriend, "I think you're gorgeously beautiful," he clarified. "I don't want to be with you forever, I need to be with you forever." She sighed at his romantic gestures. "If you left right now...I'd die," he refined.

"I'm not falling for your cheesy lines!" she declared, trying to convince herself.

You're so perfect.

.::End of Flashback::.

How everything seemed so easy back then. Harry was her romantic and undeniable hero. Now...now: she didn't know.

-

"Oi, Draco! What's up with you and the Mudblood?" yells Blaise across the Dungeon common room. "Heard her and Potter broke up..." he trailed off, and hoped Draco will fill in the blanks.

Draco rotated around.

"Potter dumped her even though the dim-witted Gryffindors are still hopelessly in love with each other," Draco stated, to which Blaise replied with a confused expression, "then, that's where I come in. The Mudblood, being an action taking Gryffindor, is bitter in getting revenge. I, being a cunning Slytherin, took advantage of the situation and got her laid," he concluded, "I'm taking her to Hogsmeade tomorrow!" he declared stridently to everyone.

"But, why? You've already got what you wanted, haven't you?" asked Blaise, still confused, but grinning widely at the thought of Draco shagging another unsuspecting Gryffindor.

"I've already told you. What are you - a bloody Hufflepuff? Potter is still madly in love with her. He's just not admitting it to himself...yet. When he does though, the filthy Mudblood will be head over heels in love with yours truly," Draco explained and bowed as he boasted his plan.

"Just be careful that you don't fall for the Mudblood yourself," Pansy warned, as she entered the conversation.

"Are you suggesting that I, cold heart-less Malfoy could actually fall in love?" Draco replied mockingly.

"Just suggesting a negligible possibility," she purred. "Do you still have time for me?" she asked innocently, but her hands sliding up his leg unmistakably suggested something else.

"Always," he replied, leading her into his room and placing her onto his bed.

---

"...c'mon, get real Herms! You can't be serious!" exclaims Ron, "Tha-That's bloody..."

"Calm down Ron, I'm just going to Hogsmeade with him," she replied, earning her a horrified look from her best friend at her declaration.

"But, what about Harry? What's he going to say?" asked Ron, only to realise his mistake as it was too late.

"I DON'T CARE about Harry!" she fumed back at him, so clearly in denial. "I bet he's going with Ginny!"

"Is this what it's about? Oh Merlin! Herms! Just because Harry decides he wants to get with Ginny doesn't mean you have to mix with Malfoy!"

"I'm not doing this because of Harry," she stated, "have you ever considered that maybe he might actually like me? That I might actually like him?" she asked.

"This is Malfoy we're talking about, Herms! The same one that mocks you! The same one that taunts you because of your blood, the one who scorned us and made our lives a living hell for six years! You can't like him. I know you; you're up to something!" he declared. "What I don't get is how Malfoy would just kiss you - yes, no ones forgotten about THAT Herms - and the creepiest detail that he would even let you join them! That the Slytherins would let you join them. That to me was kind of weird."

He was panting, plainly out of breath, and stormed off before she could get the last word. Not that she would retaliate; she wanted at least one friend.

Hermione had to consider what her friend had just told her.

-

"May I escort you, my lovely lady, to Hogsmeade?" asked Draco, with a dramatic sweep of his arm, he led her away with a hand on her back guiding her; she giggled shamelessly.

"Draco," she said, now serious, but paused considering why the name sounded so alien coming from her.

"You called me by my name," he replied huskily, and rewarded her with a deep kiss.

"I've been thinking," she began, after he pulled away and she regained her wits, "how come you kissed me?"

"It was reward for using my first name... and because you're so irresistible!" he replied lightly.

"No... I mean, in Potions. Like, how come... you've let me join you? How come the other Slytherins accept...this?"

"Um... let's see..." he began, pulling her closer, "I kissed you, like I said before, because you're so damn irresistible. If I accept you, the Slytherins accept you," he clarified, and saw her eyebrows raised in surprise.

Hermione was anticipating a reply, but... not quite one like this.

"I-I see..."

"Like... Potter, for instance, if he was to suddenly like someone. A Slytherin. Would all you other little Gryffindors follow his lead? Would you believe your famed leader, would you trust him to make the right decision? Not that I'm comparing such as myself to such as Potter, of course," he tried elaborating, and grimaced at Harry's name.

"Harry," she began, her face darkened when saying his name, "I don't think he would like a Slytherin. It's-It's very...unlikely." she replied. "Try a different comparison, you two are impossible to relate with each other!"

"It's like...I keep order with my Slytherins. We play by our own rules. I make them," she nodded at this "but I guess innocent Pottie wouldn't mix with us Slytherins. Suppose you Gryffindors are too haughty to mix with such a criminal," he finished and began pouting.

"HAUGHTY??? GRYFFINDORS? Why you-you...!" she began, he gave her a dazzling smile and swept her into the Three Broomsticks.

She couldn't help but think about Harry and Sirius. A criminal, who escaped Azkaban! Maybe Draco was wrong. How blindly we followed Harry and accepted Sirius.

The question she wanted to ask most still lay, unspoken inside her. It was too early to question him. Maybe later he'll tell her; maybe later she'll ask him:

Do you accept me being Muggle born?

---

They entered the Slytherin dungeon at - what - ten, eleven? Neither of them knew. They spent the whole day together and were - surprisingly - enjoying each others company. Blaise's eyebrows quirked up questionably.

"Poker!" Draco yelled "Can I join?" he asked, grabbing a chair and placing himself down; it was more of a statement than a question. He forgot about Hermione. "Oh, um... do you know how to play?" he asked of Hermione, but his eyes never left the game. Draco loved poker.

"Uh...sorry," replied Hermione, and blushed at the fact that she didn't know how to play poker.

"It's okay!" he hollered. "You can be my muse, my inspiration, my goal. I shall win all the rounds...for you," he said, and sounded horribly romantic, with a twisted sarcastic dark side to his remarks. "This is Blaise," he gestured at Blaise, "and Malcolm," he nodded at Malcolm.

"I'm gonna kick their ass," he stated, and placed... shit!!! What rich bastards, are they betting 250 galleons on one bloody game? Hermione's thoughts were right, and they all placed 250 galleons each on the table.

"What makes you so sure?" asks Hermione playfully, seating herself on Draco's knee playfully and looking at Blaise, who winked mischievously back at her.

Draco won every game.

"I thought this was a game of chance. How come you keep winning?" Hermione couldn't help but ask.

"Because, it's also a game of skill!" declared Draco, earning a snort from each Blaise and Malcolm.

It started getting interesting when Draco laid down a hand with two aces, Malcolm with one... and Blaise with three!

'What the hell!" bellowed Draco, who took the game far too seriously, and pinned Malcolm down and searched him. He found nothing suspicious - for this game of poker anyway - and continued to Blaise. Draco found another pack of cards shoved down Blaise's pants. Why and how he found those, I will never want to know.

"It was... you!" cried Draco accusingly, while also cracking up along his two friends.

"It's always the last place you look," either Blaise or Malcolm said.

"Of course it is. Why the fuck would you keep looking after you've found it? Do people do
this? Who and where are they? Gonna kick their ass!" replied Malfoy, now doubled up with laughter.

This proves it; Draco has a twisted sense of humor. Wait, no. Make that, Slytherins have a twisted sense of humor. She gazed at the three card players, with their Aces in their hands, enjoying themselves and laughing.

Are they actually... smiling? They're not so horrible when they're smiling. Or laughing. Or not being what she thought Slytherins were. But they cheated. Typical. It was such a ridiculous sight.

She couldn't help but join in. All four of them collapsed on a green velvet couch in a heap of laughter.

After they calmed down, Malcolm and Blaise helped her up.

"Hey, you two. No moves on my girl," stated Draco teasingly, and they both responded with mischievous grins. Blaise winked at her again. Does he have something in his eye?