Lucius held a hand up, the Inferius stepping away from Hermione. "No worries, it won't hurt any of you." He waved the same hand, the Inferius turning to crawl around the classroom, eliciting shrieks of panic.

Lucius walked over to Hermione, placing a hand on her shoulder gently. "It's okay. Stand up." He instructed. The Inferius ended up at the front of the classroom again, straining as it moved to stand up.

Hermione was absolutely red with embarrassment. She had forgotten that Malfoy could control it! How could she have been so stupid?

"Th-thank you, Professor Malfoy," she said, still trying to catch her breath. She moved back to Harry and Ron, who were watching her worriedly.

"Are you ok?" Ron asked, putting an arm around her. In her embarrassment, she didn't notice.

"Yes, I'm ok."

Harry was looking at the Inferius calculatingly.

"This proves it!" he whispered to them. "This proves that he's evil! Only a Dark wizard can reanimate an Inferius! Who else could have done it for him?"

"Oh, Harry," Hermione sighed. "He isn't evil. He stopped it before it got me, didn't he? And it's not only Dark wizards who can reanimate an Inferius. It's just that they're really the only ones who do it. I'm sure he only got it for educational purposes."

"But he should have stopped it from going near anyone!" Ron snapped. "If he's got power over it, he should have told it to stay where it was!"

Although it was a very inappropriate moment, and had nothing to do with the current conversation, Hermione realised Ron's arm was around her.

"Ron, kindly take your arm off me," Hermione said slowly. 

Ron blushed and obeyed. 

"Miss Granger," Lucius purred, returning to a corner in the classroom. "Will you kindly stand up and show us the proper way to handle an Inferius?" He asked, the Inferius swaying from side to side.

((Oh wow, fail.)) 

((Ooh, a purr. Rawr.))

Hermione nervously got up, and walked to the front of the room. She eyed the Inferius, and summoning up all her Gryffindor courage, she yelled, "Incendio!"

The Inferius instantly caught fire, and in a few seconds, was nothing but ashes. Before it was gone, it let out a horrible scream, and Hermione and the class covered their ears.

Seeing the ashes, Hermione grinned a small, satisfied grin before she sat back down.

((Sorry, I don't know what happens when you try and kill Inferi. xD If it was in a book, I didn't notice.)) 

((Lol, no problem ^.^))

Lucius nodded. "Very good, another five points to Gryffindor. I'd like to see a paper with what Inferi are and how to dispose of them on my desk by tomorrow. Class dismissed." He said, watching as the students started packing up. "Miss Granger?" He called when everyone was almost gone. 

((Oh gosh, the start of romance. <3 ))

"Yes, Professor?" Hermione paused in what she was doing. She saw Ron and Harry's worried looks.

"Go on, guys, I'll be fine," she said, giving them a reassuring smile. They left, glaring at Malfoy venomously. 

Hermione moved towards Malfoy, stopping a foot away. 

((Not so soon xD.))

"Did you honestly believe I would let an Inferius hurt any of my students?" Lucius asked, an eyebrow raised as he looked down at her. "There was really nothing to be afraid of."

((Awwie. That breaks my romantic heart. :c))

"Um, well, sir, let me be frank." She hesitated. Was she really going to tell him what she was thinking of telling him? She continued before she could change her mind. "Everyone knows you were a Death Eater the first time around, and now no one's so sure where your loyalties lie." She straightened up and looked him in the eye. "If you're in league with Voldemort, then I'm sure you could have let the Inferius hurt a student."

((My brave Mione. <3)) 

((No worries, He'll still be all, Lucius.))

Lucius chuckled softly. Wow, she was brave. "Touche, Miss Granger. However, I did have the Inferius stop before it could hurt you, correct? Now, I know that my intentions have always been shady, but if I was the same person as I was back then, I would have let it kill you." He said, serious for a change. And it was true. She was a Mudblood, and everyone knew how he felt about them.

"That's a reassurance," she said dryly under her breath. Then realising that he might have heard her, she backtracked. 

"Um, I didn't mean that as sarcastic as it sounded. It, er, is very reassuring that you wouldn't...let it kill me. And I thank you for...not wanting to kill me." She fumbled for words, feeling very awkward. "I-I've got to go to my next class. Bye!" She raced out of the classroom, feeling mortified. Hermione Granger, fumbling for words? What was the world coming to?

((I'm sorry I didn't post all yesterday! We didn't have any internet... :c I just wanted to warn you that school's starting again, so my posting times and stuff will be pretty inconsistent. :x Yeah. Anyway.))

Hermione was down the Potions corridor just as Snape was entering the classroom. She sighed in relief, thanking Merlin that Harry and Ron sat in the back. She could just slip in behind the Potions Master and take her seat... 

"10 points from Gryffindor, Ms. Granger," Snape drawled in his nasal voice, lifting an eyebrow. "You're not usually one for tardiness."

Hermione, still flustered from her talk with Professor. Malfoy, kept her head down and hurried to the empty seat near Harry and Ron. Snape was very surprised when she didn't try to talk back to him.

"I'm sorry, Professor," said Hermione. She hurriedly took her things out.

"You should've gotten Malfoy to write a note for you, 'Mione," Ron said, "although, come to think of it, he probably wouldn't have written one for you anyway. So what'd he want?"

Harry's head, which had been dropping considerably, jerked to attention.

"Um..." Hermione mumbled. "Well, he wanted to reassure me that he wouldn't have let that Inferius kill me."

Ron scoffed. "Malfoy? Reassure you? I'm sure. If you really don't want to tell us what he said, although I don't see why you wouldn't, just say so."

"That's what he said!" Hermione insisted. "Listen-" she started speaking softer, "-I insinuated to him that he was still working for Voldemort like he was during the First War, to his face, and he laughed! And then he told me that if he was the same man he had been then, he would have let the Inferius kill me."

"So he's changed, has he?" Harry hissed. "I don't think so. He's the one who slipped Ginny the diary, remember?" Ron's face grew red with fury as he remembered it. "And that was long after the First War."

"He still could have changed from then until now?" Hermione said, although she sounded a little less certain than before. "Really, I don't think he's here for any malicious reason, so why can't you guys let it go?"

"I have a plan that I've been thinking up," Harry said, "and if my suspicions that he's a Death Eater are unfounded, then we'll stop fussing ourselves over him. But, Snape's a Death Eater, right?" He glanced nervously at the Potions Master at the front of the room, who was still talking about one potion or another. He was surprised he hadn't noticed the three of them huddled up at the back, but he didn't question it. "And he's part of Voldemort's Inner Circle. Malfoy Snr. is as well. If Snape mysteriously disappears one night, we'll look for Malfoy. We can use the Marauder's Map. He'll still be here if he isn't a Death Eater, because I know that if you don't answer Voldemort's call, the pain in your arm gets worse."

Hermione frowned. He seemed very determined about this. Hermione worried that it might become obsessive, but she decided to humour him. "Fine, we'll do it." She looked to Ron for agreement, who nodded. "You'll be able to see a Death Eater meeting through your scar, though, wouldn't you? Wouldn't it be easier to just see if he's there?"

"I've been trying to close it up since what happened last year," Harry said dully. Hermione only nodded sympathetically.  

"We'll have to wait until the next Death Eater meeting then." 

((Yaaay you're back. School's starting?))

Lucius spun in his chair, already bored with the day, especially since he currently did not have a class. One thing about 'changing' it that, no matter what, he'll always have a Dark Mark. And he'd always have to answer the call. He didn't want his broken family getting hurt any more than it already has.

He found himself thinking of Hermione and the brief conversation they had. Why he was thinking of the little Mudblood, he had no idea. Wait, that was wrong. Lucius was astonished by her wisdom. He had always heard that Miss Granger was the smartest witch of her time, but he scoffed at the thought. A Mudblood, smart? He couldn't believe it. But he has just been proven wrong. She was smart enough to confront him. That took all the Gryffindor bravery ever, it must've. But he'd be a Death Eater for life. 

((Mhmm. It's only Winter holidays here. xD Lucius is such a sweetheart. <3 And oh gosh, I don't know what to write. :S))

That night, Hermione lay in bed, staring at the canopy above her. She couldn't sleep, because every time she closed her eyes, a bony hand with rotting flesh reached out for her... and then she awoke feeling terrified.  

That experience had been more terrifying than when she had come face-to-face with her Boggart.

She didn't understand why it was so terrifying. Sure, it was a corpse. And it was moving. And it looked like it was trying to kill her. But she had faced Death Eaters, and besides the fact that they weren't reanimated dead bodies, they were doing pretty much the same thing.

Her thoughts drifted to Professor. Malfoy, as they had been doing regularly since he arrived. Guiltily, she realised she hadn't spared a thought for Professor. Lupin, who was supposed to have come. But she didn't think of him now.

Hermione hoped that Malfoy wouldn't answer Voldemort's call. Harry would become obsessive, and then he'd have Dumbledore call the Ministry to arrest Malfoy, and as much as she hated Malfoy the Ferret, she didn't want his family to be torn apart. She wasn't that heartless, because she knew that despite all his misgivings, Malfoy was a good father to his son. Watching him in the DADA classroom was proof enough of that.  

Heaving a great sigh, she turned on her side and was finally able to get to sleep. 

((Fail. D:))

"But sir!" Pansy whined. "Potter, Weasley and Granger have been sending us menacing glares all morning!" 

((I have no idea where that came from, but I couldn't think of anything.)) 

((The cane... ♥.♥))

Pansy yelped. "Really, sir! We were in the Great Hall, having breakfast, and then Mud- I mean, Granger tripped Draco! And then, of course, Draco asked her to say sorry, but the bint said no! And then.. Draco got a bit angry, and next thing we knew, Granger's on the ground and Weasley's punching Draco in the face. Uhm...Granger had to go the Hospital Wing, but Pomfrey was able to fix her straight away. Draco's still in the Hospital Wing, though!" Of course, this was some weird, twisted story of the truth. A tear slipped down her cheek.

"And sir!" cut in another Slytherin, "that's why they've been glaring at us. Granger was crying really hard after Malfoy said some stuff to her-" She was nudged very hard in the ribs by Pansy.