Chapter 3 � Infringements of Privacy

Hermione had slept well into the afternoon. Unbeknownst to her, Lavender and Parvati had made to wake her up, and found the book in which she had written in the night before. Parvati lifted the book and looked at it quickly. �It must be her diary or something,� she told Lavender. A mischievous look crossed both of their faces.

�Should we?� grinned Lavender.

�It really isn�t our place�� started Parvati.

�Oh, but she would never know!� she insisted.

�And it�s not like we would tell anyone�� Parvati stated, letting go of her hesitation, her grin widening.

 �Well then, there�s no argument is there?� Lavender smiled and grabbed the book.

The two girls sat on a bed, the book resting between them. As their eyes scanned page after page of Hermione�s neat writing, they consistently had to pull their hair behind their ears, as it tended to fall onto the book.

�Hey!� exclaimed Lavender, �She mentions us!�

Parvati sighed happily. �That was fun making up pairs. Remember how often we were right?� She reminisced.

�It does sound like he likes her. Wonder why nothing happened��

�Same� look! She obviously likes him! Read this,� Parvati pointed at the part where Hermione had analyzed her actions around Ron.

�Aw! They were both shy around each other!� Lavender squealed with girlish excitement.

�They loooove each other!� The girls giggled simultaneously.

� �Oh-so-obvious hug crusade?� Did you notice a hug crusade?� Lavender said, mouth hanging slightly.

The other girl shook her head to show that she didn�t know either. Then she said, �Well she�s always watched the boys play Quidditch!� in response to Hermione�s private stare-fests.

Both girls were giggling uncontrollably. However, their mouths fell to the floor within a few minutes of reading. �How could Hermione think such things?� the brunette asked her friend in disbelief.

�I don�t believe it! It�s so unlike her!� the other girl replied.

Of course, both girls had been shallow at one point or another, and it was perfectly normal between them. However, hearing Hermione -- sweet, kind, polite Hermione -- saying such horrible things, it was a genuine shock. The girls� hearts went out to Hermione. They sympathized and felt her guilt through her words. In their minds, both of them knew that they could not -- and would not -- tell anyone this. To do so would be too cruel.

Once they had finished, they left the book, exactly as it was, on Hermione�s pillow. They made their way to the door, still talking about what she had written. Lavender was in deep thought. �What do you think she means by �If only I�d left it at that.�� The other girl shrugged. �What could Hermione possibly do? She had said she was over him� what more can you do afterwards?� Both girls ceased their chatting as they left the Girls� Dorms and entered the Common Room.

*

After a few hours that seemed like a few eternities, Hermione turned over. She stared blankly at the darkness her eyelids provided. She was awake, but she insisted on keeping her eyes shut. However, she was growing restless. She slowly opened one eye, and then the other. How difficult it was to open her eyes, she noticed. Then she realized why. The corners of her eyes were moist, and her lashes were had some sort of crust on them. I must have teared up during the night, or what little there was left of it, she concluded. Hermione moved to go to the bathroom, then paused. She picked up her quill from the floor and tucked it in between the pages as a bookmark. Then, she placed the book into the same drawer her laptop was in.

Hermione walked along the fifth floor corridors, not caring that her hair was in such disarray or that her face was full of sleep. Most of the students went home for the holidays so they wouldn�t be crowding up the halls.

When she reached the statue of Boris the Bewildered, she counted four doors to the left and muttered �Jiminy Cricket� under her breath. The door swung open, giving her way to the Prefects� Bathroom.

The candle filled chandelier hung brightly from the high, pink tinted ceiling. Hermione made her way to the pile of white fluffy towels. She picked up a rather large one and one that was more like a hand towel. Slipping out of her shoes and stockings, she made her way to the pool. The feel of the cold white marble tiles against her feet sent goose bumps all along her arms. She dropped the towels beside the vast tub.

Hermione smiled. This was one of her favorite parts of taking a bath in the Prefects� Bathroom. She twisted her favorite taps; a pink opal jeweled one that shot out pink water and beach ball sized bubbles that looked like they were blown from bubble gum, an emerald jeweled one that spurted out thick white foam that one could probably walk on, and a sapphire encrusted one that spurted out azure water and a light, perfumed haze that floated around the tub. Very quickly, the tub was almost overflowing and the bathroom was filled by the fragrance of watermelon and lilies. The water was a deep purple (a mixture of the pink and blue) with a coat of heavy foam. Enormous rose bubbles floated carelessly amongst the indigo mist.

Hermione slipped out of the rest of her clothes, not minding the mermaid who was splashing around in her portrait, and threw herself into the pool. She landed on an island of white foam that was starting to turn a light shade of purple. Hermione put her weight on the side of the foam. The action resulted in her being tipped into the hot water. She broke the surface, coming back up for air. Helplessly treading water, Hermione tried to get onto the foam once more. The mermaid was laughing at her feeble attempts.

�Oh bugger off!� Hermione told the blond maiden off.

The mermaid did not speak, for if she would have, the room would echo a most horrible screech. Instead, the mermaid flicked her tail, splashing water out of her picture, and swimming away defiantly.

�Least it leaves me in peace,� the girl mumbled. Hermione resumed her attempts at getting back on the foam. She failed miserably. �Oh well,� she mumbled and let herself sink under the surface. Hearing a faint noise, Hermione rose to the surface once more, popping her head through an island of foam. The noise had come from none other than Draco Malfoy.

Hermione screamed and went into a panic. She was naked, trapped in a room with a horny teenage boy who fancied her. What could be worse?

�Am I really that frightening Hermione?� he asked with mock innocence, trying to act coolly.

�No, you�re much worse! How I reacted was an extreme understatement.�

Malfoy put a hand to the left side of his chest. Where his heart would be if he had one, the girl thought. �I�m hurt!� his words were full of sarcasm, however, Hermione was sure that she had heard a hint of truth from them. �The mudblood has scorned me!� he declared, ridicule ringing clearly from his voice. Then again, Hermione continued her previous thought, maybe not.

Swimming to the edge of the tub where he stood, thankful that the water was so cloudy you could not see a thing beneath the surface, she started speaking. �Well, now that you�ve had your little spat with me, why don�t you go on your way?� she asked in a voice that was strained to be polite.

�Now where�s the fun in that?� he smirked. Draco got down on his belly, so that his face was almost level with Hermione�s. His white-blond hair was tumbling in tresses over his pale forehead. Hermione did not lower her gaze when his eyes met hers. Instead, she held what she hoped was a glare full of distaste, one which said �I�m too good for you. You are beneath me.� However, Malfoy did not falter. He stared into her eyes coolly. Merlin�s Beard, help me! Hermione pleaded. Draco was determined to stare at her, watch her. She did not want to think about what was going on in his twisted, perverted world.

He smirked, sensing her discomfort. He suddenly got off the white marble floor and jumped in.

Hermione screamed at the sound of his body cutting through the liquid. She backed up against the wall as he rose to the surface. When it was too late, she realized what a horrible mistake she had made. Draco Malfoy was quickly closing the gap between them. Hermione looked for a way out, her heart sinking when she discovered that she couldn�t find one that would work. Draco was smirking like a mad man. Hermione�s face was screwed up in a look of terror and utter disgust. At once, Draco lunged for the defenseless girl.

Hermione dived � or attempted to. Draco had locked her in a tight embrace. Frightened and frantic, Hermione was kicking and screaming and thrashing like a child throwing a tantrum.

�Shut up, bitch!� Malfoy hissed. Hermione paused for a second. Those words had hurt. Perhaps it was because she had not been called by such an offensive term for some time, but it threw her off balance. Hermione blinked and returned back to reality. She continued her struggle against Malfoy, screaming for help, whether or not anyone could hear her from inside the room.

Malfoy seemed to realize she would rather die before she gave up her fight, and decided to act now. His greedy, lustful hands moved around Hermione�s back. Lower and lower they walked. The frightened girl�s chest was squeezed up against the clothed body of her attacker. Hermione did her best to push him away, to try and release herself from his grip. His skilled fingers grabbed her fleshy skin in all sorts of places. His mouth was closed over her own. How difficult it was to try and romance a girl while she constantly tried to hit you, he thought. He flicked his tongue at her pronounced color bone and gave it a teasing bite. Hermione slapped him to the best of her ability while trying to keep her head above the water and to push his determined hands away. How tiring this was�

Hermione kicked, not at Malfoy, but at the water. She was quickly loosing her energy. She was slowly sinking. Draco seemed to have picked up on this and placed his arms under hers and around her back, lifting her up. He moved to lift her onto an island of foam, but she told him off. �Don�t you dare take me out of this water,� she spat.

�Fine! Suit yourself you ungrateful little whore!� Malfoy let go of Hermione, even giving her a slight push downwards. He swam to the edge of the tub and started to pull himself out. Hermione gasped and flailed as she tried to support herself. She, too, moved to the edge, not to get out, but to hang on for dear life. Draco was already out now, his robes clinging to his sculptured body.

Hermione tried to ignore the body of a god standing in front of her and reached for her wand. It was lying on the floor, next to the towels. Her clothes were unfortunately on the other side of the tub. Try as she might, she couldn�t extend her hand far enough to grasp the ends of the magical piece of wood that lay only inches out of her reach.

After tousling his hair in one of the towels, the drenched boy moved closer. His hair was messy and sticking up. How gorgeous he looked. Draco took pity on her and moved towards her wand, as graceful as a cat. His long, pallid fingers enclosed it in his clasp. He had his crazy smirk on again as he made his way over to Hermione. She didn�t know whether she should stand her ground or shrink away from him, so she stayed there, stiffening and shrinking on the inside. Malfoy leaned in close to her face. He gave a brisk laugh as he placed the wand just above her ear. He leaned in closer. She could feel his breath on her skin. He placed his hand on her cheek.

Back away! Back. Away. Now! She was telling herself. However, she had seemed to loose the ability to move, and was stuck there, clinging to the wall to keep herself from drowning.

The little space between their lips soon became nothing. His icy lips were soft and wet. Hermione neither leaned into the kiss nor backed away. She was still frozen in place. She had not even closed her eyes as his lips moved across hers. Instead, her eyes did the opposite and widened in shock. Draco pulled away; his thumb stroked her cheek before he moved his hand to his side to help him get up. Her cheek felt an icy burning sensation where he had touched her. There was a tingle on her lips � a cold tingle.