A/N: I have updated! So... Hermione's just discovered in the last chapter that Malfoy is in fact an animagus. This just opens up the doors for some explaining. But before we go there, there is the little matter of all the tension and the dynamics between Blaise, Hermione and Malfoy. This was a super fun chapter to write and I hope you enjoy! xx

The air was thick around them, loaded with a silence that made the hairs on Hermione's neck stand on end. Either that or she was suffering from some sort of side effect that had her nerve impulses going a little haywire. Her eardrums hummed, creating a veil to the building noise as other pairs tested their potions, retelling their experiences.

"I guess we are at some sort of an impasse," Malfoy finally said.

Hermione remained mute, still digesting the fact that he had successfully become an Animagus while she had almost lost her magic with the same concoction.

"Who approved your transformation?"

He could not mask the mild surprise at her first question. What did he expect, an outburst of fury? "Lucius."

Hermione raised an eyebrow at the first name reference. "What does it feel like?"

Malfoy was now verging on amusement at her line of enquiry. "Aren't you more interested in what this means for you?"

Hermione shook her head. "What difference does it make? We've come this far." And it was true. Whatever it was, they were in it together, as much as she hated to admit it.

Draco shrugged. "It gets cold."

It was difficult to conceal the twitch of lips that Hermione felt grace her lips. As much as she wanted to hide it, his tepid response washed away her guard. "I suppose it would."

He gave her a knowing smirk.

The ensuing moment of pensive silence between them was strangely comfortable until all hell broke loose.

"Hermione Granger?" someone questioned so loudly, Hermione heard her name echo through the room.

Hermione turned her head to see a wide eyed Tracey Davis staring back at her like she had been Petrified.

"You!" she screeched, her face twisting into an expression of distaste. The whole class, including Malfoy, shifted their attention to the back of the room.

"Excuse me?" Hermione said. The telling empty vials on the bench top only served to heighten Hermione's worse fear. Her gaze flickered to an enigmatic Blaise who stood stiff, avoiding her eyes.

"I know what I saw," Tracey hissed. Her eyes narrowed. "You and him?"

"Me and who?" Hermione asked, tightening her lips. She knew who Tracey meant.

"What a way to promote house unity, Granger. Who would have thought you had it in you." Her snide comment sent a wave of murmurs through the room.

Hermione moved to stand, but Malfoy beat her to it, the legs of his chair scraping against the stone floor as he shot out of his seat. Instead of facing Tracey however, in one swift move, Malfoy had leant over the bench and grabbed Blaise by his robes, pulling him across. She could not believe her eyes.

Gasps shot through the room. "Let him go!" Tracey yelped, leaping forward to grab Blaise's arm.

"What did you put in your potion, Zabini?" Malfoy asked through gritted teeth. Blaise was glaring back with equal hatred.

"Malfoy!" Hermione hissed.

"That's quite enough." In all the commotion, Hermione didn't notice Professor Snape approach the back of the room. He grabbed both Malfoy and Blaise and yanked them apart with arguably a little more force than necessary. "Not in my classroom. Detention. All four of you." The finite tone of his voice reserved no room for comment. "You're doing well today, Miss Granger," he added.

Hermione winced.

"Miss Davis, we don't yelp and screech like a banshee in the middle of class." A few chuckles could be heard around the classroom.

"Silence! The rest of you pack up your things except for your cauldrons. I want a vial of your finished products labelled and on my desk. Homework is a foot long account of the process and your experience of any side effects." Groans circled the room. Hermione turned to start clearing away her workbench.

"Not you, Miss Granger."

Snape stood his ground watching the four of them until the last person cleared out of the room. It was unnerving.

Hermione could feel Snape's agitation at the whole scene as he moved around and picked up the empty vial in front of Tracey and brought it to his nose. He sniffed once and slowly reached over the cauldron, taking the ladle and refilling it with the concoction. He examined the contents before looking at the two students. "What did I ask you to brew Miss Davis, Mr. Zabini?"

"A memory enhancing potion, Professor," Tracey whimpered.

"Who was in charge of adding the ingredients?"

"We both were, Sir."

Hermione carefully watched Blaise as he remained silent, his expression unshaken.

"The potion I asked you to brew should not have a scent to it. This does."

"But we followed the instructions exactly."

"Did you experience a shared memory then, Miss Davis?"

She looked nervous. "No, not exactly. It was something Blaise had seen?" She shot an accusing glance at Hermione.

"Witnessed with his eyes? You were standing in his place in this memory, I presume?"

Tracey nodded.

"And you, Mr. Zabini?"

"Professor, it was a shared memory from Tracey's birthday."

Hermione heard Malfoy scoff. She looked over at him – his arms were crossed and he was glaring at his fellow housemate accusingly.

"The four of you will clean the cauldrons of all your classmates."

Tracey sniffed.

Hermione send her a scathing look. This was all her fault and now she was playing victim.

"Miss Granger, can you please prepare a sample of your potion for my assessment? Your additional detention will take place tomorrow evening."

Hermione nodded, inwardly groaning, and hurried to fill a flask. She sealed it and handed it to Snape.

He took it, a slight smirk gracing his lips. "You have an hour to clean up this mess."

"But, Professor –"

He turned to Tracey. "Not another word," he said. Hermione knew what she was about to say – how could he leave the four of them in a room together given the biting hostility in the air? Funnily enough, she shared the same sentiment.

The moment the four of them were alone, the tension in the air set loose.

"Something you shared at Tracey's birthday?" Malfoy said snidely. "That some way to put it!" He gave a resounding laugh.

Hermione, confused by the target of Malfoy's antagonism, watched Blaise and Tracey for a reaction. Her reddening face said it all. Blaise on the other hand, narrowed his eyes.

"When was you birthday?" Hermione asked out of sheer curiosity, thinking aloud.

Tracey sent her a distasteful scowl. "This isn't about me."

"Shut it, Tracey," Malfoy spat.

"…Said the Slytherin who tainted himself with the Mudblood," she taunted. Her saccharine sweetness had mysteriously evaporated.

"Watch your tongue, Davis." Hermione warned.

"What exactly did you see in Blaise's memory to make you so sure?" Malfoy asked. "Because if you didn't already know – being a Slytherin yourself – he's a fucking calculating snake!"

In an instant blur, Blaise was on Malfoy, pulling him to the ground and, suddenly, they were fighting. Like Muggles!

"What is wrong with you two?" Tracey yelled, nearly in tears.

Hermione could not believe the dramatic repertoire the girl possessed. Her musing were cut short, however, by the sound of Blaise's fist connecting squarely with Malfoy's jaw. "You think you can have it all, Malfoy?" he yelled.

Malfoy groaned, his head rolling back momentarily, giving Blaise enough time to rise to his feet and kick Malfoy in the stomach.

She had never seen Blaise so enraged. "Stop!" Hermione pulled out her wand, pointing it at Blaise. Before she could fire a hex, Malfoy brought his leg in and kicked Blaise in the shin. Hard. Blaise cried out and leaned against the bench for support as Malfoy sat up, coughing and holding his stomach.

"Either of you move an inch and I will hex you both," Hermione threatened.

Tracey was in tears. "I saw her straddling you! How much more evidence do I need?" she cried.

Malfoy shook his head. "You stupid bint," he said between laboured breaths. He was in pain. It didn't take a potion connection to see that.

"Tracey, as much as we don't get along, whatever you saw Malfoy and I doing was false." Hermione said. It had to be. The only time she could recall doing such a thing was in the Head digs, when she had swiped the bottle of Firewhisky from him and then thrown it in the fire. There was no way Blaise could have witnessed it.

"You were in the Slytherin change room," Tracey added between sniffs, "before the game. How could he make that up?"

Hermione froze. She inhaled, looking at Malfoy with questioning eyes. And then realisation hit. But how could Blaise…?

Malfoy was watching her quietly. The room was silent. He had rejected her advances as soon as she had started them, pushing her away in anger. She reaclled speaking to to Blaise only moments before entering the change room to seek out Malfoy who would have had a view of the change room entrance when she had sought to hold up her end of their bargain. He eyes widened as it hit her. Malfoy had spotted Blaise watching them...in action. She cringed.

"You just can't make that shit up," Blaise said.

Hermione lifted her wand. "Stupefy!"

Blaise fell to the ground with a thud.

Tracey gave another squeal. "You bitch!"

"Silencio!"

Hermione watched in surprise as Tracey mouthed off in silent protest. She sent Malfoy an amused glance.

"She had it coming," he said simply, grimacing as he tried to stand.

"Are you okay?"

"We should clean up," he dismissed.

"Right," Hermione murmured.

"Davis, I swear if you screech like that one more time I will hex you something rotten," Malfoy warned.

Tracey nodded timidly. She was all cried out.

He flicked his wand at her and moved to the front of the room, as far away from them as possible, to start his apparent detention. It was ironic that he had just fought and hexed a housemate while serving it.

Hermione eyed Tracey with trepidation, wondering if she was going to say anything.

"So… do you plan to leave Blaise like that?"

"For now," Hermione replied, turning on her heal and moving to a separate workbench. She reached for the cauldron and pulled it closer.

"It's clean," she said aloud, glancing over at Malfoy to see what he was up to. He seemed to have reached the same conclusion and was sitting, elbows on the bench, his head in his hands.

"Is it supposed to be a secret?"

"Hmm, what?" She shifted her attention to the girl who was now asking questions like they were friends when only moments earlier, she had called her a 'bitch'.

"Because now that I know, I kind of can't believe I haven't noticed it before... because it's so obvious."

Hermione frowned. "What is?"

"You and Draco."

It was like she had just been winded. "Excuse me?" She laughed in disbelief. "Tracey, I know you're playing nice for a reason."

"It just took me by surprise, that's why I went all crazy. I mean, there have been rumours, but to find out it's actually happened…"

Hermione ignored her. "What Blaise let you see was out of context."

"You can't put context into chemistry. He was angry you know... in the memory."

Hermione sat down and sighed. "Look, I'm uncomfortable having this conversation – "

"With a Slytherin girl, I know. Don't worry, I won't tell Daphne."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Ok, what do you want?"

Tracey smiled. "Just your reassurance that, should the occasion arise, I can rely on your assistance."

"Could you be more specific?" Hermione raised a brow.

"Fine. I need you to swap my patrol times."

She could read between the lines. "Who do you want?"

"Theo."

"Right. I'll see what I can do."

"I know you will." Tracey said. "Blaise and Draco are really dividing the House. He's using you as a means to drive it further. You should probably know that."

Hermione exhaled.

"Granger!" Hermione turned to see Malfoy tilt his head toward the classroom clock. "You better release Zabini," he said reluctantly.

They had five minutes.

Hermione walked over to where Blaise was lying on the floor. She kneeled down, her eyes fixed on his displeased expression. "I don't know why you felt the need to do that. You can't apologise and then use me to fuel your personal vendetta," she said in a low voice.

Whether he reacted to her words, she couldn't tell. "Finite."

His whole body relaxed, and he breathed, closing his eyes.

"Why did you follow me into the change rooms that day?"

"Curiosity." He shrugged, sitting up, running a hand through his thick hair. "It's not every day that a Gryffindor gets off with a Slytherin. I should know." He smiled – a twisted, amused sort of smile.

"Friends don't talk about each other like that." Hermione stood up, looking down at him.

"You can't be friends with both of us. And, clearly you've made your decision." He lifted himself up off the floor. "It was nice while it lasted, Granger. You ever hex me again like that and I will make sure-"

"Silencio!"

Hermione watched Blaise fume as his gaze shifted behind her.

"He asked for it," Malfoy simply said.

"Malfoy!" she reprimanded. "Undo it now!"

They were interrupted. The door swung open and Snape stepped in, glaring at the four of them.

"I trust you have completed the task if you are busy having a social chat?"

"Professor – "

"No further discussion, Miss Granger. I will see you tomorrow. All of you get out."

Hermione hurriedly collected her things, unaware if Malfoy had managed to undo his charm or not. Tracey raced through the door without chancing them another glance. Blaise followed.

Snape gave them an impatient glare as they made their way to the entrance. "Sir, the cauldrons –"

He smirked.

She shut-up.

The door slammed behind them and Malfoy and Hermione were alone, standing in the dark hallway. The realisation of what had just passed set her off. What Malfoy just did inadvertantly sealed her alliance and she was angry for not being the one to control it.

She glared at the blond Slytherin. "I didn't need you coming to my defence! I hope you undid the charm before he left!"

"Is that what you think I was doing?"

Hermione huffed. "You are the cause of all my problems, you know that?"

He laughed. "Well what a coincidence, Granger. Because you happen to be the cause of mine, so what do you suppose we do about it?"

"Resolve it once and for all. I can't continue like this!"

"Neither can I." In one swift move, Hermione suddenly felt herself pressed up against the cool wall, her mouth opening in defied surprise.

Malfoy was hovering over her, his hands on her shoulders. The look on his face – she had seen it before – triggered a rush of adrenaline to course through her veins. It had been a while, but how could she forget the determined heat that pooled in his darkening eyes. "What you nearly lost doesn't even come close to what I stand to lose," he said, his voice low.

Her internal dialogue begged her to step away but she was locked in place, suddenly wishing for him to close the distance - needing him to close the distance. She was emotionally drained and yet, it was clear to her in that moment why she had taken a side. Even her voice betrayed her as she tried to comply with her logical side. "Then, don't," she said in defeat. There was no authority in her tone.

His lips came down and brushed over hers before he pulled back. Hermione shut her eyes, pretending that the stream of heat leading to her lower abdomen was nothing more than an imagined response.

"Granger, you're my biggest problem." And then he kissed her hard. She let him. And it was unlike any of the kisses they had shared previously – the ones that had served to calm the needs of a potion. It was real and she was responding, her desire growing like she had waited for it for so long that the finality of his mouth dancing with hers only hinted at what they could share.

There it was: the full realisation of their predicament.

His hands came off the wall and cupped her head, his fingers raking into her hair at the nape of her neck. His mouth goaded hers open and she melted into him, his dominating tongue swiping across hers and sending shivers down her spine.

Finally, Hermione let her hands come up and grab hold of his forearms, letting her body relax against the wall as he took charge, his hands moving slowly down her neck, over her shoulders, brushing past her heaving chest, and down to her waist. He gripped her hips and pressed himself against her, his mouth growing more dmemanding against hers, like he couldn't get enough. Neither could she. Hermione moaned into his mouth as he ground his hips against hers, letting her feel all of him. She heard him inhale and felt his arms tense.

"Granger," he groaned, pulling back. She looked back at him, her breaths coming short as she watched his façade drop to show the real Malfoy. "Agree to this, Granger. Agree to it and we can sort the rest out."

His hand was sliding up her skirt as he waited for her response, caressing her thighs, and riding up and up, brushing over her panties – one finger, then two, grazing over the spot that gave away her answer. She exhaled, closing her eyes and nodded. "Yes," she whispered.

Just as soon as the word has escaped her mouth, he removed his hand and stepped back, taking her hand and pulling her down the corridor. He was leading her into darkness.

A/N: OMG! What now? LOL