t w e n t y - f o u r

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“What do you have planned for us today?” Hermione asked Draco with an excited grin, her eyes shining with anticipation.

“Nothing special, I was planning on taking you to the Astronomy tower and staying up all night there.” Draco told her with a shrug as he looked over at her.

“You really want to do that?”

“Do what?”

“Stay up all night.”

“Why? Are you too weak to stay up all night? Do you need your beauty sleep?” He teased her as he lightly laughed.

“No, I was asking because I was worried about you. I know how much you like to value your beauty sleep. I just don’t want to ruin your sleeping pattern, either.” Hermione said coolly, shrugging him off as she looked down at her book.

“Is that a challenge?” Draco asked, cocking up an eyebrow as he stared at her.

“I don’t really see you as a challenge.” Hermione said, looking up and smirking at him. “I apologize.”

Draco scoffed and shook his head as he leaned back in his chair. “I’ll make sure you regret saying that to me.” He told her as he stretched.

“It’s the other way around, Draco.”

“We’ll see about that.” Draco told her as he leaned in towards her, placing his elbows on the table.

“Don’t go crying to Zabini when you lose.”

“I won’t be the one crying.”

“Are you certain?” Hermione asked as she shot up her eyebrows.

“Positive.”

“Well, it’s nice to know you have the confidence . . . and pride. I just hope your pride will hold up even when you lose to me.”

“Let’s make a bet.” Draco said as he stared at her with a small glare.

Hermione rolled her soft coffee bean eyes and groaned. “Another bet? I feel like our relationship is solely based on bets.” She complained as she lowered her gaze on him. “And I find it extremely unhealthy.”

“That’s what keeps this relationship fun.” He told her with a wink and let out a deep breath, pondering on the punishment for a minute or two. He snapped his fingers and smirked. “The winner gets to draw on the loser’s face.”

“With a sharpie.” Hermione added and saw that she had lost him there. “It’s this muggle marker . . . it’s hard to get off. I have a few in my room so we’ll use that.” She said with a mischievous beam. “Deal?” She asked as she stuck out her hand.

“Deal.” Draco shook hands with Hermione with a competitive stare. “This is going to be a fun night.”

“It sure will be.” She said as she got up, closing the book and placing it on the bookshelf. “Prepare to be mortified in front of the whole school—well, what’s left of it at least.” She said as she left the library first, booming with laughter.

“I won’t be the one—ah, forget. She’s never going to listen to me.” He said with a small groan as he quickly jogged over to Hermione.

Back in the right corner of the library, Ginny and Blaise dropped their books from their faces and groaned. “I thought they’d never leave!” Ginny complained as she looked around the place. “Seriously, they need to stop coming to the library.”

“Well, now that the coast is clear . . . it’s time for another round of—“

“Yes, I know.” She snapped at him with angry eyes. “You’ve been mentioning it for the past, oh I don’t know, DAY!” She yelled at him angrily receiving a few glare from the students in the library. She glared right back at the people and sighed, nodding her head. “Sorry.” She apologized and shot daggers at Zabini. “If we don’t even find a lead on the person working for Parkinson by tonight, I will personally hex you to oblivion and that is a promise.” She told him in a low, dangerous whisper as she got up, walking over to the other back corner.

Blaise stayed put in the same spot and pressed his lips into a thin line. “Damn woman . . . why is she so scary sometimes.” He complained, muttering under his breath as he took a seat. He grabbed a peculiar green book that looked a century old off the shelf and looked at it to see a few holes in the cover. “Wow, what happened to this one?” He shook his head and shrugged. He opened it when suddenly; a note fell out of it. He furrowed his eyebrows and reached for it. “Will this be a clue . . ?” He asked himself, his eyes widening as he opened the note to read it, only to realize it was just a paper full of gossiping made by some girls. He let out a frustrated groan and crumbled it up, throwing it aside angrily. “Who the hell is the one putting us in this wild hippogriff chase?” Blaise threw his hands up in the air, full of aggravation and resentment.

“Keep it down there.” A voice hissed as he felt someone slap him upside the head with a book. “Do you want to get our cover blown, you idiot.”

Blaise rubbed the back of his head and sighed, looking over to see a fuming red head. “A man has to let it out sometimes.”

“Yeah, I respect that—oh, wait, I don’t. I can’t afford for your miniscule guy pride to get in my way of finding the freaking culprit, alright? Now, get back to work or I will send another book flying up your face.” She threatened in a low whisper. “Damn, you are so lucky we’re in the library all the time. I would’ve half killed you by now if we weren’t.” She said and walked off with a grunt. “Damn libraries and their damn rules.” She grumbled under her breath, dragging her feet back to her spot.

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“Hmm, season?” Hermione asked as she looked over at him.

“Winter.” Draco answered immediately as a small smirk climbed itself onto his lips. “Weather?”