Title: Break My Heart Not My Face

Author: Leopard Print and Diamonds

Notes: Draco/Hermione is sooo much better and sassier than Ron/Hermione. I don't care much for the HP canon pairings, anyway. As far as the new book goes, ten galleons says that Snape is a good guy. That's my opinion on the matter waves a mini I HEART SNAPE banner. Anyhoo, thanks to everyone who's been reading/reviewing/story alerting!

Disclaimer: Harry Potter stuff belongs to JRK. I just wrote this story.

Chapter Five: A Manipulative Little Ferret

Hermione headed up to the astronomy tower. Alone.

So much for patrolling with Malfoy.

It had been like this all week, since their first night of rounds. The second they'd left Snape's office with the patrol assignment, Malfoy had gone into 'I'm-listening-to-music-so-leave-me-alone' mode. Hermione had rolled her eyes and ripped the assignment in two parts.

"You patrol the first four places and I'll patrol the last four." She'd said and shoved the ripped parchment at him, pushing it against his chest.

That was Monday night.

By Friday, their nights were a quiet routine: Malfoy would step from the portrait and plug himself into his Ipod; Hermione would ignore him and walk the opposite direction down the corridor. It was a happy arrangement.

Hermione walked the tower stairs at a leisurely pace. It was the first Friday night of the school year and she had plans to hang out in the Gryffindor dorm after rounds. The week had been rough. She'd taken Harry's advice and had spent the week avoiding Malfoy like an Unforgivable curse.

Hermione sighed. She leaned against the cold stone balcony ledge and stared at the night. The deep indigo sky blended into the dark green horizon like mixed watercolor paints. Jagged treetops were nothing more than moon-silvered shadows. Everything was hushed and still... Which was surprising, considering all the dangerous things that lived in the forbidden forest ... Even so, the view was beautiful.

Her eyes softened as her thoughts wandered to Ron. If they became a couple, this place would be perfect for her first real kiss. They'd come up here after a formal ball, dressed up and passionate, and embrace. She smiled, lost in her dream.

"Shouldn't you be in your dorm? It's past your bedtime. I might have to deduct points from your house ... unless... you can convince me not to ..." A gratingly familiar voice purred. Hermione's hands balled into fists. She spun on her heel, an angry mass of wavy hair.

"Malfoy! Not funny!"

His laugh was shameless. He leaned against the stone ledge and flicked his hair back with a tilt of his aristocratic chin.

"Relax, Granger. I knew it was you. Snape saw me in the hallway and asked where you were. He gave me a grand lecture about how it's my job as Head Boy to keep you safe." His words were sweetened with false concern. Every feminist nerve in Hermione's body sparked like bomb wicks.

"I don't need protection! I can manage perfectly on my own, thank you." She snipped.

"Yeah, I told him that. He said we can either do rounds together or have detention together. Our choice. Get the point, Granger?" He glanced down his haughty nose at her, his eyes narrowing in amusement at her frustration.

"Ugh. Great." She muttered, turning from him to watch the moon. Compared to Malfoy, three trolls and a harpie were pleasant company. He was the last guy she wanted to share the romantic view with. "Well, as you can see ... I'm safe. I don't need you, so feel free to wander back to the dorm." Her voice was flat and dismissive.

An armslength away, Malfoy mirrored her stance. He rested his elbows on the cold ledge and stared out into the distance. Hermione peeked at him from the corner of her eyes. His hair was an ethereal white in the moonlight. His face was flawless alabaster. Even bent over with bad posture, it was obvious that he was taller than Ron. Hermione blinked in shock. Until this moment, she never realized how physically attractive Malfoy was.

Was she becoming shallow and vain? Or just more aware of things? She bit her lip and wrapped her arms around her chest.

"Right then. I'm going back." Hermione moved to leave, but Malfoy stopped her with a question.

"Do I make you uncomfortable, Granger?"

"If 'uncomfortable' means I'm wary of you... then, yes." She said simply, watching him. He threw a small pebble into the darkness. They both waited, listening. Hermione couldn't hear it land. Her heart began to beat an uncomfortable rhythm. Being alone with Malfoy made her nervous.

She tried to step past him. He stood in her way, an impassable wall. It drew her eyes to the broadness of his shoulders.

"I fluster you more than boytoy Weasley does. That means something, right? What other guy makes you feel so ..."

"Disgusted? Nauseous? Revolted?" She supplied with a smile.

"Excited." He quirked an un-phased eyebrow.

"What!?" She coughed from shock. "Why would you say that?"

He shrugged casually. His cool demeanor was a complete contrast to her riled temper.

"It explains why you get all hot and bothered every time we're together."

"If I am 'hot' and 'bothered', it's because every time we're together, you're hurling insults at me! And don't forget how you got all push-y shove-y on the Express." She said through her teeth, remembering the force he'd used to push her shoulders against the back of the seat.

"Granger, I touched you. And you had an asthma attack. Doesn't that say something?" His voice was soft. Amused. Dangerous.

"It says that I got scared because you pushed me around. I didn't have time to grab my wand and you happen to be a lot bigger than me." Her words were cool. His false charm meant nothing after six years of plotting and sneaky doings. Even though he was beautiful, he still had one of the most twisted, complex natures of anyone she'd ever met.

Malfoy snorted. Shadows darkened the paleness of his face as he tilted his chin to fix her with a stare.

"Prove it."

Hermione blinked. What the hell was he up to?

"I'm sorry. I have nothing to say to you. I don't have to prove myself." She elbowed past him. Marching toward the tower's trap door, Hermione flung it open hard on its heavy hinges. Screw him and his stupid games. He was like a cat with a baby bird--he was a creature amused by games and cruelty. How was she supposed to survive the school year if they had to patrol together every night? Angry tears pin-pricked her eyes.

She skittered down the tower staircase and ran through the corridor, head down and robes flowing, when someone grabbed her elbow. She spun around and came nose-to-chest with someone who smelled of expensive lavender and oakmoss cologne. The silver "H" badge at his heart, pinned beside the Slytherin crest on his robes, instantly gave him away. Malfoy. Hermione kept her eyes down as his fingers curled lightly around her wrists. He held her hands against his chest, forcing her to look up into his smug face. The contact put her into a slight panic.

"Are you out of your mind? What are you doing?" She tried to pull her wrists from his grasp. An odd mix of fear and anger struck her. Malfoy didn't seem to give a damn what she felt. He bent his neck so his face was a few inches from hers. In the torchlight of the corridor, Hermione stared into the dangerous gray of his eyes and watched the corner of his lips coil into a smirk, betraying the snake-like ways of a true Slytherin. His lips brushed her temple as he whispered in her ear.

"I think you're a liar, Granger. I don't know what happened on the train, but I'm going to keep pressing until I find out what's going on. There's something ... tempting ... about discovering your weaknesses." Warm breath touched her ear. "Especially if I'm one of them." His hands moved lower, fingers splayed, molding the curves of her small hips. Hermione's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Don't touch me like that! You have no right, Malfoy! Do you want me to slap the hell out of you AGAIN?" She added for emphasis, referring to how she'd knocked him senseless during their third year. He didn't have to know that she'd regretted losing her cool back then. Being angry didn't give her the right to hurt someone (even Malfoy...) just because they were being rude and annoying.

He had the grace to smile at her threat.

"I know you better than that, Granger. You may be bossy and a know-it-all, but deep-down, you're a compassionate person. What if I told you I had a rough childhood? Complete with neglect and an unloving father?" His long carefully-cut, white-blonde bangs fell at an angle across his face.

Oh, he was such a manipulative little ferret.

"I'd give you a great big hug and bake a batch of your favorite cookies. Poor baby." She cooed, placing a hand on his chest, not realizing her voice sounded more flirty than sarcastic. Since when did she, bookworm Hermione Granger, know how to flirt? It must be Ginny's outrageous influence, Hermione blinked.

To her shock, Malfoy's fingers tightened around her hips. He pulled her entirely too close. What began as a game between them somehow changed into something more serious. She'd never been held this way by any guy, including Viktor Krum. The strange look on Malfoy's face and the glint in his eyes scared her.

"I see, Mr. Malfoy, you've found Ms. Granger." The dry voice of Severus Snape broke the silence. Hermione blushed. Of all people to see her like this Snape was by far the most embarrassing choice.

Not sparing a second, Hermione went limp in Malfoy's arms. Surprised, he locked his elbows and braced his knees to keep her standing. She seemed as lifeless as a ragdoll. Her shoulders drooped and her head bent forward, her thin neck resembling a bent lily stem. The hand that she had pressed against his chest now clutched at his robes for support. This is what Snape saw as he circled the couple like a keen-eyed vulture.

"I...I can manage to stand on my own now, Malfoy." Hermione managed an indignant tone in her prideful but weakened state. "I just shouldn't have taken the tower steps so fast... so soon after the scare I had on Monday. Madame Pomfrey told me to take it easy..." Her voice was breathy.

"A damn stupid thing to do, Granger. I'm Head Boy, not your nanny. Can't I lean you against a statue somewhere? You're putting wrinkles in my robes." Malfoy's lip curled in disdain.

"Not so fast, Mr. Malfoy. Is Ms. Granger ill?" Snape's dark eyes narrowed as he examined the scene.

"Not ill. Winded. She was doing rounds by herself and decided to run down the tower stairs for fun. I found her here, ready to fall over, chattering on about her asthma." Malfoy lied beautifully, a master at the art.

Snape sniffed and straightened his posture, his hands clasped sternly behind his back.

"Ten points from Gryffindor for Ms. Granger's careless disregard for Head duties and Twenty points to Slytherin for Mr. Malfoy's diligence and sense of duty. Draco, please see Ms. Granger to her room." He instructed.

Malfoy roughly grabbed Hermione's arm as if he intended to drag her back to the dorm.

"And Draco...The next time Ms. Granger feels the need to run down the stairs in her condition, I advise you to let her make the floor's acquaintance. Sometimes common sense must be knocked into a person's head if their skull is particularly thick." Snape sneered and spoke as if the words stuck in his throat. Hermione coughed.

"God, he's unbearable." She muttered under her breath when the Potions Master was out of hearing range. "Good thing you're so brilliant at lying." She shot a look at Malfoy.

"Me? I was playing along with YOUR lie, Granger. I had no idea a Gryffindor could be so dishonest."

"Because you underestimate my house." She threw back. "I guess this means we have to patrol together from now on..."

Malfoy shrugged.

"It'll give you more time to stare at my hot ass." He straightened the collar of his robe, catching her eye with a smirk.

Hermione rolled her eyes.