Betrothal

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Betrothal

by sanna

Chapter Two

The Great Hall was filled with energy that day. It was bright and early on a Sunday morning, and the school was filled with excitement, as there was a grudge match that day, Gryffindor versus Slytherin. Naturally, the Gryffindor and Slytherin members wore their house colors as the rest of the school was divided between cheering for either of the two teams or remaining in the colors of their own house.

Although for the past few years, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff more commonly cheered for Gryffindor over Slytherin, the two houses were tired of Gryffindor winning the Quidditch cup every year since Harry Potter had been made Gryffindor Seeker. And so the two houses seemed to divide themselves equally when cheering during a Quidditch match as so. And not to forget the number of girls who would cheer for Slytherin mainly because their Seeker, Draco Malfoy, had gotten really hot over the past years.

That morning, after hearing the loud battle cries coming from the Slytherin table, the members of the Gryffindor house were not to be defeated. Harry Potter, the new Quidditch captain of the Gryffindor team stood up on his chair and bellowed, "Who's going to win the quidditch match this afternoon?"

"We are!" the Gryffindors shouted back at him.

"And who are we?" he asked.

"We're the Mighty from the house of Gryffindor!" they chanted, "And we're going to win!" The group let out a loud, hearty cheer, drowning out the "boo's" from the Slytherin table, as Harry pumped his fist into the air.

After Harry had sat back down in his chair, his best friend, Ron Weasley clapped him on his back. "Great cheer, mate," he told him. "That'll show Slytherin who's boss!"

Hermione Granger, who was sitting across from the two boys, rolled her eyes. "Honestly, save your voices for later, when the match actually starts." And yet she said this with a smile.

The conversation around the table continued, as the Quidditch players stuffed themselves with the right food to give them the energy they needed for the game later. After finishing a hearty breakfast, the trio headed towards the Gryffindor tower to change for the big match. On their way out though, they ran into Draco Malfoy and his two goons, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle.

"Well, well, well," Draco taunted, "if it isn't Potty, Weasel and the Mudblood. It's a fine day for losing, isn't it Potty?"

"I wouldn't know," Harry retorted, "we're not going to lose, you are. You must be losing your touch, Malfoy, its going to take more than a few taunts to bring us down."

Draco smirked. "Oh I'll bring you down, believe me I will." He then lowered his voice to a stage whisper. "I'll bring you down so low, you'll finally be able to meet your dead parents."

Having provoked the fight and hitting him where it hurt the hardest, Draco was expecting Harry to fight back. He was expecting a duel, or even a physical fight. But what happened, he never saw coming. As he watched and waited for Harry's reaction, he saw from the corner of his eye, Hermione growled and leapt to Harry's defense.

"You bastard! It's better that Harry's parents died and still loved him than having your evil parents!" she screamed at him, kicking him and punching him with all her might.

Draco tried to grab her arms to stop her and his two goons approached, trying to defend him. Harry and Ron then came closer to stop Crabbe and Goyle. Soon, all six of them were engrossed in a physical fight.

They didn't hear the sharp heels clicking as someone approached them swiftly, but none of the six couldn't help but wince when they heard the shrill bellowing of Professor McGonagall, "Just what do you six think you're doing?!" As the six parted slightly and composed themselves, the elderly professor stood before them with her hands on her hips waiting for an answer.

Although they despised each other, the students knew about the unsaid rules about snitching and dared not to say a word. Finally, Professor McGonagall had enough of the silence. "I know there's a Quidditch match coming up soon, but I do wish you could contain your energy until then! You know we forbid fighting in Hogwarts! Ten points from each of you from your respective houses!" Instantly, there was a collective groan from all six students. But the professor wasn't finished with her reprimanding.

"I must say, I am extremely upset with all of you. In your Sixth year at Hogwarts, you still fight in the hallways! I am especially disappointed with you Mr. Malfoy and Ms. Granger. You are both Prefects and I expect much more from the two of you. Detention, tonight."

Draco glowered while Hermione's mouth dropped open in shock. It wasn't the first time Professor McGonagall had given her detention with Malfoy, but this time it just wasn't fair, she thought to herself. After he had grabbed her arms, all she had been able to do was shout at Malfoy; Harry and Ron had actually been exchanging punches with Goyle and Crabbe.

"Yes, Ma'am," Draco muttered, glaring down at the ground. After giving them one last scolding glance, Professor McGonagall walked away, leaving the six to silently glare each other before heading off to their own houses.

Another detention with that stuck-up know-it-all,

Draco thought to himself as he and the other two Slytherins walked towards the dungeons, just great. Damn, McGonagall.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Cool Mint Gum," Professor McGonagall told the gargoyles in irritation, waiting for them to make way for her to enter the Headmaster's office. She hurried up the steps of the stairway and stepped inside the circular room and found both Professors Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape waiting for her.

"You're late," Severus said, his head tilted to the right, his left eyebrow raised pointedly.

Minerva turned her head sharply towards the Potions Master. "Yes well, I caught Mr. Malfoy and Ms. Granger as well as Misters Goyle, Crabbe, Potter and Weasley fighting in the hallways again. Honestly, those six," she said, bringing her left hand up to massage her forehead.

Albus looked at her inquisitively. "And the punishment this time was?"

Minerva sighed. "Ten points off each of them, plus a detention for both Mr. Malfoy and Ms. Granger." All three professors exchanged a look. "These two have got to be the most stubborn people in the world."

Severus shook his head. "I'm getting worried about those two. They're almost of age. Sixteen and they haven't shown signs of liking each other! They're at a point in their lives when their hormones should be raging!" As he spoke, he waved his arms around to emphasize his point, but in his excitement, he accidentally knocked over one of the silver trinkets sitting on Albus' desk. He bent over to pick the fallen trinket and placed it back on the desk, a trace of embarrassment on his face.

Minerva smiled, bemused. "Severus has a point. We've given them several opportunities to get to know each other, and yet, it is as if their dislike for each other grows even more."

"I have to agree with Minerva," Severus said, looking at the Headmaster. "For two young wizards who happened to be betrothed, their hatred for each other is very strong. I worry for the wizarding world. If these two don't fall in love, the downfall of the Dark Lord may never come."

"But they don't know about the betrothal," Minerva interjected. "So they're not trying to fall in love in the first place, which is what we want." She took a few steps towards the cupboard, which held Albus' pensive. "Why can't we tell them? Maybe they could at least start trying to see another side of each other, rather than remaining in their stubborn ways."

But Severus shook his head. "We've been over this, Minerva. It isn't our place to tell them. And when that time comes, it has to be done with extreme caution and care. If not, all these secrets would have been for nothing. Take the example of why the Magnar daughter was sent to live with the Grangers."

"Yes, I see your point. If Hermione hadn't been sent to live with them, the Dark Lord would have found her out and killed her. If we tell her now that she is actually from a powerful wizarding family, we cannot predict her reaction. She might help us, or, she might turn away from the Light Side. It is all one big risk."

The room quieted as the three wizards began to think. They all seemed to be thinking about the same thing. What would it be like if things were different? What if Hermione was able to grow up a Magnar? Would there have been a better possibility of romance between the two? Or an even worse possibility? With all the power and prestige, Hermione might have grown up to be as stuck up as Draco.

But it was useless to think about "what ifs" and Severus knew that. "I should have made a love potion for them when I had the chance. Their dislike for each other will be the end of us."

"Actually," Albus said, breaking his silence, "it is not so much their dislike, its more their passion turned into anger towards the other which will put them in a situation which will be most favorable to us."

The two other professors just stared at him. How could he predict such a thing, given the circumstances? And yet, he was always right, so they kept their mouths shut.

~*~*~*~*~*~

The following Tuesday morning, the Gryffindors tread wearily to their class - Double Potions with Slytherin. Another awful class, with Snape taking points off them for the slightest reason and disgustingly favoring the Slytherins.

"Today," Snape told the class, "we are going to work on a Pleasant Dream potion. I am told Mr. Potter is quite accustomed to that potion, as Madame Pomfrey has told me she has given him quite a number of them. Too many nightmares, eh Mr. Potter?" The Slytherins snickered while Hermione and Ron tugged on Harry's sleeves to keep him from commenting to the professor's rude remark.

As Snape walked up and down the class, he began to discuss the basics of the potion and the ingredients. Ron whispered to Harry, "It shouldn't be too hard to make, now you can stop asking Madame Pomfrey for it every time you have nightmares about You-Know-Who."

Harry nodded, and jumped with a start when Snape's voice boomed, "Ten points each off Gryffindor for whispering in my class!" Ron and Harry held their tongues as they glared at the Potions professor. He smirked at them as he then said, "I will be choosing your partners for this potion. Mr. Weasley, go to Mr. Goyle over there."

Ron slunk in his seat as he saw from across the room, Goyle grinning evilly, punching his fist. Harry didn't have much luck either, as he was paired with pug-faced Pansy Parkinson.

As Hermione watched Snape pair each Gryffindor with someone from Slytherin, she prayed silently, please don't pair me up with Malfoy again, please. Snape had a nasty habit of pairing her up with the arrogant Slytherin every time he paired Gryffindor with Slytherin, and she was getting quite tired of having to come up with new insults every time there was class.

Snape turned around to face her, almost as if he was reading her mind. He sneered. "Ms. Granger with Mr. Malfoy." Hermione glared at him and then turned to the other side of the room where she found Draco also glaring. She sighed as she picked up her things and made her way to his desk. It looked like it was going to be another long class.

"Missed me much, Granger?" Draco drawled, referring to the fact that they almost always saw each other. It was just last night they were screaming out their lungs at each other during one of their detentions.

"Maybe it's you who missed me, Malfoy," Hermione retorted coolly, "being Professor Snape's favorite pupil, surely you've influenced him to partner us up so often."

Draco smiled sarcastically at her. "But of course, he wants me to get the highest grade, after all. Making you do all the work and then giving me all the credit," he whispered in her ear tauntingly.

Hermione glared at him. Although she had to admit, he was pretty good at potions, she wouldn't put it past Snape and Malfoy for partnering her with the latter just to improve his grades. If it was one thing Hermione Granger got upset the most about, it was grades.

She opened up her textbook and scanned through the ingredients, and lined them up in the order they were supposed to be prepared and placed into the potion. From the corner of her eye, she could see Draco still sitting back in his chair, watching her. His scrutiny irritated her. "Stop watching and get to work, Malfoy," she snapped.

Without a word, he grabbed one of the ingredients and started to slice it into cubes for the potion. "Not that way!" she cried. "Slice them longtitudually then laterally."

"Geez Granger, I'll get there, just not the same way you do," Malfoy cried exasperatedly. He started slicing up the ingredient more furiously. "Would you stop being such a know-it-all!"

"I am not being a know-it-all!" Hermione yelled. "I don't want you ruining my potion! Now give me that knife before you ruin it!" As she lunged to grab the knife away from Draco, the knife accidentally sliced her finger. She squealed in pain, inadvertently knocking a few of the ingredients into the potion as she stood up.

"Good gods, Granger, you shouldn't have grabbed it from me while I was using it," Draco clamored, standing up as well, trying to steady her before she hit anything else. By now the whole class was staring at them. "Now stop crying, you baby."

Hermione, who had been squeezing her cut finger glared at him with glassy eyes. "I'm not crying you git! It's just a scratch after all!"

During all the commotion, Snape had finally made their way over to them. "What is the meaning of this?! Twenty points off both of you and a detention for ruining the ingredients and the mess you've made! Ms. Granger, hurry on to the infirmary while Mr. Malfoy cleans up the remains."

Hermione nodded silently as she threw one final glare at Malfoy before hurrying out of the room.

Snape stared Draco down before the latter finally gave up and began cleaning the mess he and his partner had made. Then realizing the silent room, Snape barked angrily at the class, "well, what are you waiting for? Finish your potions or there will be ten points taken off each of you!"

As the class scurried to finish their potions, Draco began to grumble to himself. Life hadn't been fair lately. Ever since Snape had been pairing him up with Granger in class, he had actually been fair and would take points off both and give them detention, together. They were only in the second month of school and already Draco was hoping it would all end.

He sat back down wearily in his seat, wondering when life would be easy once more.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Bye Harry! Bye Ron!" Hermione waved to her two friends who were engrossed in their game of chess. "I'm off to my prefect duty."

"Bye Herm," Harry said, not looking up from the chessboard. "Have fun."

"Yeah, and good luck staying away from Malfoy," Ron added.

Hermione sighed as she stepped out of the portrait hole of the Gryffindor common room. It was another night of prefect duty. And another night of seeing Malfoy. There were eight prefects in their year, two from each house, and Malfoy was one of the Slytherin prefects, while Hermione and Seamus had been chosen from Gryffindor. Usually Hermione and Seamus went to their meetings together, but ever since Seamus had hooked up with a Ravenclaw prefect, Lisa Turpin, Hermione usually ended up walking alone.

Hermione passed by the dungeons on her way to the Prefect room, and ran into Malfoy on the way. "Watch it," she hissed.

"Hurry up, Granger, we're going to be late," he retorted. They continued their walk to the Prefect room, which was, unfortunately, quite a distance from where they currently were. Both fell silent, and Hermione's thoughts began to drift.

She couldn't believe she had already made it though one month of being a prefect with Draco Malfoy. Last year there had only been one prefect per house for their year, and the Slytherin prefect then was Blaise Zabini. Though quite a snob at times, Hermione thought she was easier to work with than Malfoy.

As Hermione threw a quick glance at Malfoy, she mused, I bet his father paid Hogwarts to make his son a prefect, I wouldn't put it past that slimy git. But then again, with the power of being a prefect, there was the responsibility, like the prefect duty and other assignments Dumbledore gave them. Hermione had to admit, Draco took his prefect duties seriously enough, and although she wasn't sure, he had pretty high grades, although his attitude towards schoolwork could use a lot of work.

In the middle of her thinking, Hermione suddenly yawned. "Tired, Granger? Maybe you should skip out on tonight's duty and leave me with all the work and glory," Draco said with a smirk, knowing that Hermione would never skip her duty. She just glared at him and then rubbed her temples. She had been studying her Arithmancy homework earlier, and studying the upcoming chapter had stressed her out a bit.

As they stopped in front of the portrait leading to the Prefect room, Draco muttered the password, "Diligence." They stepped into the room, just as Professor Dumbledore was in the middle of his instructions.

He smiled at the two of them. "Ah, Ms. Granger and Mr. Malfoy. Do join us." Hermione and Draco took the only available couch, as the other prefects watched in silence. "There aren't any new instructions for tonight, just make sure no students are caught out of their common rooms beyond the curfew. Studying in the Library isn't permitted, Ms. Granger," he added, a twinkle in his eye, "so please return them to their respective houses. If any student caught has claims that he or she needs to talk with a professor due to utmost importance, direct them to the said professor or myself."

All the prefects nodded at the Headmasters instructions. "Any questions?" They shook their heads. "Alright, you may split into pairs - oh wait, you already did that." He turned to Draco and Hermione who had turned slightly pale. "I guess that leaves you two to be paired together, Mr. Malfoy and Ms. Granger," the Headmaster told them, smiling a bit too wide for their taste. "Your duty will take place at the first floor of the east wing, near Transfiguration classrooms."

Hermione turned pleadingly to Seamus, who unfortunately gave a helpless shrug as he took Lisa's hand and headed out the door for their duty. With a scowl, Draco stood up, waiting impatiently for Hermione to follow him.

As they headed for the east wing, Hermione whispered, "Lumos," lighting her wand, Draco following suit. They had been silent for some time, until Draco broke the silence.

"What Dumbledore said earlier... have you been caught in the library past curfew often?" he asked curiously.

"What's it to you?" Hermione replied quickly, shooting him a questioning look. "OK, so I was caught a few times. I was so engrossed in my work I wouldn't notice the time, and I guess Madame Pince would just forget I was there..." she trailed off giving a slight shrug of embarrassment.

Draco covered his mouth with his hand and gasped mockingly. "No! You?! Granger! Get caught past curfew? It's a surprise it didn't prevent you from becoming a prefect," he laughed.

Hermione threw him a look. "I'll have you know, I'm the top of our class, and getting caught a few times will not stop me from becoming a prefect! I'm surprised your terrible attitude didn't stop you from becoming a prefect," she added. "Your father must have bought your way in!"

Before Hermione knew what was happening, Draco had grabbed her two wrists and was squeezing them tightly as he held them high. "Listen, Granger," he said, spitting out her last name, "my father did not have to buy my way in, I am capable of handling myself. I may not be as good as you, but I'm doing quite fine, mind you. And if I ever catch you insulting my family again, don't think I won't hurt you. Got it?" He asked, glaring at her.

Hermione glared back, their faces only three inches away from each other. She could feel the heat from his breath, and half his face was covered by the darkness, as their only light came from his wand; hers had fallen to the ground. "Got it, Malfoy," she replied scathingly. "Now let go of me!" she said, struggling to release herself from his grip.

His sudden release of her grip, made Hermione fall a bit, but she caught herself just in time and smoothed her fall by picking up her wand and then standing as straight as she could. She glanced down at her white wrists, which were slowly starting to turn red as the blood flowed. She rubbed them slightly; completely forgetting Draco was there until he spoke.

"How's the finger?" he asked.

She jumped a bit, and then frowned at him. "Fine, no thanks to you."

He shrugged in a non-committal manner. "You shouldn't have grabbed the knife from me in the first place, know-it-all."

"I'll keep that in mind next time, you conceited git," she shot back. They exchanged glares before finally continuing their prefect duty.

The hallways were dark, the only light coming from their wands. It was pretty cold too, and Hermione wished she was with someone she could snuggle with on a night like this. Draco was definitely out of the picture. She shivered.

Draco glanced at her. He pointed his wand at her, mumbling a few words, and instantly, Hermione felt herself warm up all over. She glanced at him in surprise. He had cast a warming spell on her. "Th-thanks," she stammered, unsure of what to say.

He merely nodded at her. "Just don't let it get out that I do stuff like that. It wouldn't be good for my rep." She glanced at him skeptically, but held her tongue. He had done her a favor after all.

As the night wore on, Hermione found herself actually grateful that Malfoy was her partner for that prefect duty. She could feel herself begin to feel sleepy, but with the arrogant boy that he was, their constant arguments kept her awake and her mind working. Draco Malfoy was her intellectual equal, she grudgingly had to admit to herself, and debating with him over several things forced her to use her mind and her cunning, and at the same time, it allowed her to learn new things.

But she would never tell him that. He was still an annoying ferret. And no matter how often she was partnered with him in prefect duty or in potions class, she still hated him.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"You again!" they exclaimed at the same time. A few days after their prefect duty, Draco and Hermione found themselves in the same room, waiting to receive their detention. Hermione threw up her hands in exasperation, wondering if she was doomed to spend most her sixth year in Hogwarts with her worst enemy.

"Well you don't think detention should be enjoyable, do you?" Professor McGonagall said clippingly as she entered the room. As soon as they heard her voice, the two students jumped and waited for her instructions. She glanced down at the two of them. "Come with me," she said.

In silence, they followed her. They followed her all the way outdoors... to the Quidditch field?! Draco and Hermione exchanged a look of bewilderment as McGonagall came to a stop in the middle.

"The Quidditch match earlier between Slytherin and Hufflepuff proved to be quite a dirty game, both literally and figuratively," she said, eyeing Draco. "One student had his wand and to get the quaffle or who knows what, he used magic to distract the members of the other team. It so happened that one of the members of the other team also had his wand, and retaliated."

Hermione and Draco quickly surveyed the area. It wasn't pretty. It was disgusting. The grass was pink and purple, and the hoops on one side were slimy, while the hoops of the other were covered in spider webs, complete with spiders.

"Your job is to clean up this area... without magic." The two groaned, but the professor ignored them. "The grass shall be fixed tomorrow by some of the professors, but you two can handle the hoops. There are some jars over there... do catch the spiders so that Professor Snape can make use of them for his potions class." Draco saw Hermione turn squeamish, and grinned evilly.

Professor McGonagall gave them some final instructions before leaving them alone on the field. They sat there in silence for awhile, before Hermione finally stood up and said, "Well, what are you waiting for, Malfoy. Grab one of those jars and lets start catching those spiders."

~*~*~*~*~*~

They had been working for more than three hours, and had only one slimy hoop left. Hermione fell to the ground in exhaustion. "Come on, Granger," Malfoy said impatiently, "there's one left, don't go abandoning me now."

"Give me five minutes, Malfoy," Hermione snapped back in irritation. "I'm too tired to lift another finger." She lay on the grass, looking up at the sky. "I swear, if I see another spider or its web, or another slimy hoop, I'll scream!"

After staring at her for what seemed to be the longest time, Draco gave up, tossed his rag aside, and lay down on the pink and purple grass, his head next to Hermione's, but his body facing the opposite direction. They watched the clouds move slowly, and the numerous stars twinkle. It was a beautiful night, Draco had to admit, it was such a shame it had been wasted by him working out his detention, and with the enemy.

Hermione seemed to be thinking the exact same thing as he. "Who would you bring out here? As a date, I mean."

Draco pondered this for a moment. "Pansy's too much of an old-time friend for me to enjoy this with. It's got too much of the romance mood for me to enjoy it with her. Now Megan Tyler on the other hand," he said with a wicked grin, referring to the hot, seventh-year Slytherin, "I think I could enjoy sitting here in the cold, Quidditch stands, trying to keep her warm."

"Pervert," Hermione muttered.

Draco shot her a look. "Who would you like to share this with? Potty and the Weasel?"

This time it was Hermione's turn to give him a look. "Yeah... why not? They are my best friends after all. This is actually a cool place to sit, being quiet and just thinking--"

"Just as best friends? Surely you have something going with one of them... or even both," he said, grinning suggestively. "Oohh... I get it now, you're a two-timer, Granger! Playing both of them, and yet they don't know about the other, huh?"

"Quit it Malfoy!" Hermione said warningly. "Can't you feel it? The atmosphere is so wonderful... you just want to sleep out here underneath all the stars--"

"You want to sleep out here with Potty and the Weasel? Geez Granger, I knew you guys were close, but I didn't think you guys were at that level yet," Draco said, laughing, as he sat up.

Hermione screamed in frustration, sitting up as well, and tackling Draco. "Stop putting words into my mouth! Now come on, let's finish this so that we can get away from each other as soon as possible!" She stood up, brushing herself off.

Draco stood up as well. "For the first time, I couldn't agree with you more. Let's go."

...to be continued...