"What did you think of ol' Malfoy's class?" Seamus asked them at lunch that day. They had just been in Charms, but no one could stop thinking about Professor Malfoy's class. It seemed strange to think of Malfoy as a Professor.

"I thought it was rather interesting," Hermione said primly. "I didn't know that about zombies. I always thought they were just bodies that came alive on Halloween or something."

"Well, I thought it was useless," Ron said. "Why do we need to learn about Inferi? It's not like one'll come walking into Hogwarts."

"Don't be narrow-minded, Ron," Hermione scolded. "You know very well that-" her voice dropped, "-Voldemort uses any and all types of Dark creatures. I'm surprised Malfoy even wanted us to learn about them. Wouldn't he want us to not know about them? If Voldemort's going to use them, he wouldn't want us to be able to protect ourselves." 

"I find it suspicious that he let you talk, Hermione," Harry said suddenly. "And he didn't say anything about you answering without his permission."

"Why?" Hermione asked, her face going red with anger. "Is it because I'm a Muggleborn? Well, let me tell you something, Harry. Maybe he isn't as bad as we thought he was. Maybe he can identify an intelligent person when he sees one, no matter their blood status!" She slammed her fork down, and stood up.

"I didn't mean it like that, Hermione, but you're playing right into his trap! Hermione, that's what he wants you to think!" Harry said, going red as well. "He wants to let us think he's a good guy, so that when the moment comes, he'll bring me to his Master and no one will suspect him!"

"Not everything's about you, Harry," Hermione said venomously. She stormed out of the Great Hall. 

Ron watched after her mournfully, before taking a bite out of his pie.

"Smooth, Harry."

"Oh, shut up, Ron." 

((LOL Lucius? Thinking a Mudblood can get on his good side? ♥

Oh God how I love roleplays.

Oh btw -stalks-))

((Still. ;o))

Hermione was in the Gryffindor Common Room. She thought about what Harry had said, and after calming down, she realised he was right.

Lucius Malfoy wasn't nice. This was probably just a cover. That was why he wanted to be a Professor. 

It would be terrible if he got to Harry. Harry was the 'Saviour', a beacon of light to everyone who was against Voldemort... If they lost him, it would be disastrous. He'd need his best friends with him, to help him out of danger and to keep him safe when he decided to dive head-first into trouble. And speaking as Harry's best friend, she loved him, and didn't want him to die. It was a horrible thought. 

Sighing, she stood up and strode out of the Common Room. She'd apologise to Harry. Most likely they were still pigging out in the Great Hall... Ron, at least, would be.

((Don't really know what to post.))

Lucius mulled it over again, trying to figure out the best way to get on the Mudblood's good side. He figured it would be as easy as 'being' nice and handing out House Points like they were going out of style, but nothing was ever that easy. 

((Oh, Ling, I didn't see your post up there. xD Mind Rmailing it to me as well?)) 

"I'm sorry, Harry, for blowing up at you," Hermione said as she took a seat next to her raven-haired best friend. "It's just..."

"I understand," Harry replied, smiling. "So we're good?"

"We're good," Hermione smiled back. 

“Why am I always left out of the love?” Ron whined.

“Because you’re always talking with your mouth full and flicking bits of food our way,” Hermione grinned. Ron mock-glared at her.

The rest of lunch was filled with light conversation, but Hermione couldn’t really concentrate. For some strange reason, she kept thinking about Lucius Malfoy. Was that really what he wanted to do? To hand Harry over to Voldemort? That couldn’t be his only reason for being at Hogwarts. Snape was a Death Eater as well, and he could easily do it himself. There must be another reason.

Or, maybe there was no other reason at all. Maybe she was over-analysing it. After all, did she really know how Malfoy’s mind worked? Or how Voldemort’s mind worked? She decided that she would wait until her next DADA lesson, and she’d watch Malfoy very, very carefully.

“Why are you so excited?” Ron asked Hermione as they sat down in the DADA classroom. The room already had most of the class in it.

They had already gone two days without DADA, and instead of spitting about Malfoy, Harry and Ron had been mostly ignoring his presence. They didn’t want to upset Hermione again.

“Oh, well, I’m just glad to have a DADA teacher who will actually teach us something,” Hermione lied. She turned a bit pink, but Ron seemed to take this explanation without suspicion.

“Where’s Harry?” he asked, looking around. “I thought he was right behind us.”

“He wanted to stay in the Great Hall until Malfoy left so that he could make sure of his every move,” Hermione replied, rolling her eyes. She didn’t mention that she wanted to ‘watch his every move’ as well.

“Oh, well. I think he’s taking his suspicion too far,” Ron said, shrugging. “But if he wants to do it, let him. He’ll get bored after a while.”

Hermione blinked in surprise. “That’s a mature way of thinking, Ron.”

“Well, I can’t always be the stupid dunderhead in the Golden Trio, can I?” he asked, laughing sardonically.

“You aren’t stupid, Ron,” Hermione said. “You’re just a bit slow on the uptake sometimes.”

“Thanks Hermione.”

“No problem.”

“He’s coming!” Harry hissed, sliding into his seat beside them. “I left when Malfoy got up. He’s coming.” 

((Lololol))

Lucius walked in, the clicking of his cane loud in the now silent room. Harry would never make a great spy. Lucius knew that he was watching him; especially since, when he stood, Harry ran out of the room. He tried to hide his sneer as he passed him.

He turned to the class, a large closet sliding into the center of the room. The closet was silent except for the ominous 'thump' it made when it stopped abruptly. "Can anyone tell me the most efficient way of defense against an Inferius?"

Hermione's hand shot up. This time, though, she waited to be called. She saw Draco's hand go up as well.

((Whoo! My first two liner! xD)) 

((High five!))

Damnit. Lucius was caught between calling on his son or the Mudblood. But he did want to get on her good side. Umm... Lucius sighed.

"Yes, Draco?" He hoped he answered incorrectly. 

"Light," Draco said confidently. "Inferi live in the dark, so naturally, they dislike heat and light. Therefore, the best spells to use against them are spells that conjure fire." He smirked proudly.

Hermione shot a glare at him. He wasn't supposed to be as smart as her! Well, she'd answer the next question. She had a faster arm. 

"Correct, but that's not the whole answer. Five points to Slytherin." Lucius said, a small smile on his face. At least his son paid attention in class. Mostly. "Can anyone add to Draco's answer? How about you, Granger?"

Hermione gave a very Slytherin-like smirk at Draco's downcast face.

"Um, well. As Malfoy said, fire conjuring spells work the best against Inferi because they hate light and heat. However, other spells may works against them. One thing to remember though is that, because an Inferius cannot feel pain, they remain unaffected when most spells are cast on them, especially ones that induce pain."

She looked at Malfoy Snr. - Professor Malfoy - to see whether she had gained his approval. As always, she was eager to prove herself. 

((Oh crap. My post didn't get through. :c))

Hermione screamed and gripped Ron's arm. Her shriek was echoed by all the girls, and in a more manlier way, the boys.

The Inferius looked like a decaying corpse, with bony arms and hollow eyes. It crawled in a jerky manner. The sight was absolutely terrifying. 

Hermione watched it with wide, fearful eyes. Her eyes didn't leave the Inferius at all, as it moved around the classroom, seemingly looking for something. Now, it seemed to be moving towards her. She regretted having picked a seat near the front. 

"Uh...In-Incendio," she tried on it, taking her wand out, but all that emerged from her wand was a wisp of red. "Oh, come on. Incendio! Incendio!" But it seemed that her fear had put a damper on her magic, and she couldn't do anything.

The Inferius was so close now. I'm going to die, she thought. I'm going to die, I'm going to die. She tried to get help from Harry and Ron, but now that it was in such close proximity, they seemed to be frozen.

The stench of rotting flesh was strong in her nose. Before she closed her eyes, she sent a terrified and enraged look at Professor Malfoy.