Ok, I couldn't resist, there's still one last part to this chapter (3 parts all together). I'll post the rest later today or tomorrow most likely (cause it's only 7:05am here)
As I always say...
enjoy
Sarah

Chapter 9
Draco's Detour (Part 2 of 3)

Draco flinched at the sound of Pansy’s name. Hermione spun around in her chair and went back to her work. Sighing, Draco sent the book at Hermione’s head again, not really wanting to do so.
“Go away!” she said louder.
“No!” Draco responded with the same volume in his voice. “Not until you get over here!”
“We don’t tolerate loud talkers in this library,” a voice said from behind him. “But if you were smart you would continue your conversation outside or quieter in here!”
Draco’s head spun around in time just to see Madam Pince walking away. He scoffed and rolled his eyes. Turning back to Hermione again, he found her back to her work. Pulling a thicker, heavier book from the shelf, he placed a silent hover charm on it and sent it hurdling towards Hermione at full speed, causing it to veer not even a hair from her head so it wouldn’t hit her. She spun around again.
“Would you go and get a life elsewhere?” she snapped. He beckoned her with a sharp hand gesture.
“Bloody hell! What don’t you get about ‘no’?”
“I’ll go through every single book from the library to get your attention, Granger. Now get over here!”
“No!” she said angrily, on the verge of yelling now.
“Young lady! You of all people should know the rules of the library. One more loud noise out of you and you’ll be gone for the week!” Madam Pince said sharply. Draco saw the librarian heading towards Hermione, but didn’t have time to say anything. Hermione’s mouth dropped and she watched the librarian walk away.
With a dirty look on her face, Hermione abandoned her table and walked behind the shelf and towards Draco.
“What the hell do you want?” she snapped.
“I need your help.”
“I mean, sending books at my head for... what did you say?”
“I need your help,” Draco repeated, this time through gritted teeth. It was hard enough to say it the first time. Hermione’s face slowly turned into a triumphant smirk. Usually Draco hated it when people tried to copy his trademark smirk, but he found the sneering grin upon her face fit her in an alluring way.
“A Malfoy needs help from a muggle-born?” she asked, triumphant smirk still set on her face. Draco rolled his eyes and didn’t respond. “How... un-Slytherin-like.”
“Can you even help me at all?” he snapped.
“Of course! If I want to is your issue.”
“My issue?”
“Yeah, you can’t expect me to be jumping around the library and scanning through books for you after everything you’ve done to me.”
Draco clenched his jaw, running his fingers through his silky platinum blonde hair and sighing.
“What do I have to do?” he asked.
“Apologize and swear you’ll leave me alone after I help you with what you need help with.”
Draco grimaced inwardly. Apologize? Malfoys never apologize; it was always someone apologizing to them.
“If you aren’t even able to say a truthful...”
“Sorry,” he breathed, almost unable to hear himself speak.
“What was that?” Hermione asked, a genuine look of surprise was set on her precious expression.
“Sorry,” he said a bit louder, trying to at least sound like he meant it so he wouldn’t have to repeat himself.
“And you’ll leave me alone after I help you?”
Draco shrugged.
“Fine, have fun figuring out your problem...” Hermione’s voice trailed as she started to walk away.
“No! I’ll... leave you... alone after everything,” Draco said abruptly, not wanting Hermione to go. She stopped on the spot and turned around slowly.
“You will? You won’t come near me at all after this?”
“If only I could,” Draco mumbled.
“What?”
“I... I promise,” he said a bit louder, not wanting Hermione to know what he really said. Hermione first looked skeptical, but then her features brightened slightly.
“What do you need help with?”
“The tournament. I know full well you helped Potter three years ago and he... managed to win,” Draco said, adding sarcasm to the last part. Hermione glared.
“If you want me to even help you with this, you better lay off the sarcasm about such things,” she snapped. “I bet you wouldn’t have been able to get past a Hungarian Horntail in 4th year anyways, let alone make it to your portkey.”
“My portkey?”
“Yeah, your portkey.”
“I didn’t make the cup a portkey; all the students here know it. Yet it seems that the brightest witch here can’t seem to grasp that,” Draco snapped. He was sick of being pinned for everything the Death Eaters did, he had been forced to become one, he never truly wanted to be in the ranks of such deep-rooted evil that had caused him agony for so many years.
Hermione’s face darkened instantly. She turned around and started to walk away again.
“Granger!”
“No yelling in the library!” Madam Pince said from behind him. Draco rolled his eyes and waited for the old bookworm to leave. He heard Hermione snicker.
“Granger!” She ignored him.
Levitating the largest book he could find, Draco sent the book flying towards Hermione. She barely missed her head.
“I told you to go away, you prat!”
“N until you agree to help me.”
“I’d never consider to help someone like you, ferret. Now go away.”
“How much do you want?”
Hermione turned around in her chair and faced Draco again, an eyebrow raised.
“What?”
“How much...” Draco sighed and beckoned her over.
“You get over here this time!”
“No, I’m not going out in the open where you are!”
“If I somehow agreed to help you, you might have to do so, so you better get used to it!”
“You’re saying you’ll help then?” Draco asked with a smirk.
“No, I said ‘might’, you twit. Now get over here.”
Scowling, Draco gave in. Hermione had a look of shock on her face when Draco came up to her chair.
“What were you saying before?” she snapped.
“How much do you want?”
“What do you mean?”
“How much do you want? Uh... thirty sickles an hour?”
“30?”
“50 sickles?”
“50?”
“60 sickles?”
“60?”
“80 sickles?”
“80?”
“One Galleon and ten sickles?”
“Ok look, I don’t need money, Malfoy. I’ll help you for free, but as long as you actually promise to stay away from me after I do help you, and as long as you actually meant your apology earlier.”
“I can’t make any promises about distance, Granger.”
“Then no help.” She started to turn back to her work again.