How dare she act so naturally around her peers, like nothing had even happened. Why was she so gentle and loving towards people he considered below himself ? No! That shouldn’t even matter at all. He fucked her out of his system, so why does he still want her?
Trashy whore.
His thoughts turned irrational, wanting her to be needy and desperate and lost without him. Wanting her to cling to him like he was the only thing keeping her alive. He sighed in annoyance, trying to block her out of his mind. She shouldn’t matter. He glanced over at her table through slitted eyes.
She looked pretty normal, albeit a bit tired. She seemed to be talking to her partner, Weasley, quite animatedly. What was she doing? She ought to be taken away where no one would ever see her. She should be taken away to the dungeons and beaten.
<Damn! > he snarled mentally, twisting his head in the other direction. He took a deep breath and tried to steer his thoughts off that particular path.
He vaguely heard the potion master pairing his table up with Hermione’s. What the hell was wrong with Snape? He had never paired up Slytherins with Gryffindors before. He continued to sit there, ignoring the expectant gaze of his partner and Ron. He noticed she wasn’t even looking at his general direction. As if he could care less. He could hear the two whispering to each other, their voices rising.
"Well, who cares if he’s not coming to work with us?! We can finish the blasted thing without him!"
"I don’t want to work with him any more than you Ron, but we need four people for the experiment." Her voiced sounded haggard and strained. Good.
"Then call them over!"
A pause. Curious, Draco turned his head slightly towards them.
"……..I…."
"’Mione?"
"I can’t……I-I just…..why can’t you get him?"
"Fine, fine. OY! We’re supposed to be working together, you stupid ferret! What, are you deaf AND dumb?!"
Draco turned his head around completely. He saw her hiding behind the towering redhead, letting her knight take over and protect her. He stood up abruptly, making his partner jump a little in surprise.
Fool. He had no use for him, even if he was a Slytherin.
With an irritation he couldn’t understand, he noisily shoved his desk over to join Ron and Hermione. He rammed into their desk with excess force, causing some of their potion to spill out of the cauldron.
"Hey!" Hermione snapped as she wiped up the mess, forgetting who she was talking to.
Draco glared at her, his steely eyes a storm of gray. She nervously took a step back as he took a step forward.
"What’s the matter, Granger? I thought you liked it rough!" he snarled, taking another step forward.
The room went silent. She was acutely aware that almost everybody’s eyes were on them. Hermione’s cheeks flushed at the sexual intonations and his closeness, accidentally dropping the vials she was holding. She bent down to pick up the pieces of broken glass, hiding herself from everyone’s view.
Ron looked down at her with a strange, muted expression on his face. She could feel both of their eyes burning into her hunched back, making her extremely uncomfortable. She kept on fumbling and dropping the pieces, prolonging her concealed state. She noticed Ron moving towards Malfoy, but she did not turn around as her breathing grew quicker. Ron sized Draco up; both men glared at each other.
<Please…..don’t…..>
"Don’t you ever speak to her like that again," Ron growled. "Especially in front of me."
Malfoy stepped closer to him, exhaling sharply. His anger also mounting, he sneered, "Oh? What position are you in to speak for her?"
Ron’s eyes narrowed. "What position are YOU?!"
"What is going on, gentlemen?" a cold voice interjected, halting the battle of testosterone.
Malfoy glanced over at Snape, then looked over to Hermione, who, upon rising, was clutching Ron’s robe from behind, holding him back. He could see her shivering.
<Please don’t say anything………..>
"Nothing," Draco spat out, whirling around to collect his books.
Snape merely raised an eyebrow. However, he briefly set his eyes on Hermione, and then back on Draco. Without skipping a beat, Snape did something he had never done before.
"I will not tolerate such impudence in my classroom, Mr. Malfoy, especially from my own house," he said, though his tone showed that he was truly not angry.
"I want you to leave my classroom for today. If you come back tomorrow with the same attitude, I will start deducting points."
Draco halted and turned around, disbelief not only on his expression, but on every other person’s in the room. He stood there, not really knowing what to do. Finally, his body taking over the mind, he stormed out of the class. He didn’t even bother to take his books with him.
Hermione stared at Snape, her plight temporarily forgotten. What did he just –
"Don’t look so pleased, Miss Granger," Snape sneered, focusing on her. "I want you to stay behind after class as punishment for spilling your potion. Now get to work with the table behind you or I will take off points!"
"Y-Yes sir!"
*****************************************************************
She could hear the clock echoing throughout the empty classroom. She fidgeted nervously, uncomfortable with the lack of sound. Snape was in the back room, looking for a potion or other, leaving her alone in the room. She sighed, wishing her punishment would come sooner so she could leave. Leave, so she could go back to her room and escape from everythi-
Snape was suddenly in front of her, placing a vial of blue liquid on her desk. She jumped a bit, and then hesitantly gazed up at the Potions Master.
"I want you to drink this potion before you come to class tomorrow, Miss Granger," he informed her in his deep baritone. "Understand?"
"Er….," Hermione stuttered, not really wanting to ask the itching question: What are you going to do to me with this? What IS this??
He sighed heavily, and explained very slowly, "It’s a Soothing Serum, we did devote a whole chapter of our studies to it. Hopefully your nerves aren’t so frayed as to affect your memory now."
Hermione blinked. Soothing Serum? It was basically a liquid that relaxed the person, almost like an alcoholic drink, but without the actual alcohol content and the nasty hangover the next morning. Why would he give this to her?
"O-Of course, sir, but….,"
"Why are you to be taking it?" he sneered, finishing her question. "You have been gone for three days, and the day you are here you’ve been severely off-task and have been spilling and breaking things the whole time. No doubt from stress over something trivial. You are a nuisance to this classroom. If this behavior continues tomorrow, I will be inclined to believe you are behaving this way out of spite, and I will take off points not only from your House, but from your grades as well, Ms. Granger. Keep your graduation in mind."
At the word ‘graduation,’ she let out a small meep and nodded her head frantically. Snape merely curled his lip in disdain and stalked back to his backroom. Hermione quickly shouldered on her bag and, very carefully, carried the vial out of the classroom.
As she was closing the door, a large hand grasped her right shoulder gently from behind. Too shocked to pause, her legs continued to move. She whipped her head to the left, fearing for the worst. However, it was not who she feared it to be. Ron had been waiting silently for her outside the classroom, leaning against the wall in a nonchalant manner.
He lightly put his right arm around her and squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. Hermione’s eyes softened at such a sweet gesture.
<So different from him…..> she thought distantly, remembering a certain other man’s violence. And passion….
She shuddered, not wanting to think about it. Not here, not now. Not ever. Thinking she was merely cold, Ron pulled her a little closer as they walk on. Hermione could feel her face getting warm; Ron had not even made eye contact, but he had somehow conveyed his support for her.
Finally he spoke. "Don’t let him get to you, he only wants to see you suffer. He’s sick like that."
He failed to mention who he was referring to, Snape or Malfoy. Nevertheless, Hermione nodded, walking just a little bit closer to her best friend. Her protector.
Meanwhile, in the backroom, the remaining mixture of the Soothing Serum bubbled in its cauldron. The Potions Master heaved a deep sigh, plopping down bonelessly in an old leather chair. This was all he could do.
<Child, I couldn’t think of anything else……>
*******************************************************************
After Ron had escorted her back to the Gryffindor Tower, she locked herself up in her room, thankful Harry had been there to distract Ron, and that she didn’t have to share her room with anyone else. Carefully placing the Soothing Serum on her dresser, she finally allowed herself a shaky sigh. She ran a trembling hand through her curly hair.
She would NOT cry. She had cried almost everyday since he…..since he……
She sat down at her vanity, and looked at her reflection – something she was doing a lot recently. She was determined not to cry. She would think of something. She was through feeling sorry for herself. She was Hermione Granger after all. She gave the mirror a determined look.
<I’m Hermione Granger, bred from generations of Grangers! We’re fighters, and we have enough intelligence to take over a small country! I’m the one who assisted Harry all these years against Voldemort, the most evil being ever created! I’m the one who can get over a 100% on any given test, any given day. And dammit, I’m the one who solved that bloody problem about making boxes out of bloody toothpicks in the shape of bloody triangles!* No stupid Malfoy is going to outsmart me on this. >
She let out another deep breath, now glowering at the mirror, which would have shrunk back if it could.
She partially blamed herself. If only she wasn’t stupid and fell into his trap in the beginning. If only she didn’t focus so much on school, she could have gotten a boyfriend, making her less susceptible to Malfoy’s advances. She could have been less vulnerable to the spell he had weaved over her. If only she had…..with Ron…. If only if only if only if only……
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////FLASHBACK//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
She didn’t even know how she got into her room, nor did she particularly care. She guessed she had a gift of going places while her mind was somewhere else. She looked blankly at a beautifully jeweled letter opener on her vanity. She remembered her parents gave it to her when they found out she was to be Head Girl. Parents. What would they think of their little girl now? What if she got pregnant? She wasn’t ready to be a parent yet!
She began breathing heavily as she panicked. Too many thoughts were filling her mind. She closed her eyes and clenched her teeth hard, breathing out in a hiss. She tried to think neutral thoughts, to calm herself down. Slowly, she walked to her vanity and sat down, looking at her reflection in the mirror. She took the letter opener, calmly placing the sharp edge to her throat. Pressing the cold blade to her throat, she wondered if her pain would end. She wondered about everyone’s reaction to her death…..
Yes, wouldn’t that be nice? To simply end it all, leaving all of her troubles behind like a coward? She smiled sadly at the sheer stupidity of suicide as she gently placed her letter opener down, shaking her head.
Besides, even if she did kill herself, that didn’t stop Malfoy from hurting all the people she loved. She had to be strong. For them.
////////////////////////////////////////////////END FLASHBACK/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Hermione buried her head beneath her pillow. As she tried to sleep, she asked herself once again, the one question that has been torturing her since the first day he locked her in that dungeon room.
<Why did he have to choose me?!>
****************************************************
Meanwhile, in the Slytherin Tower, Draco was also having difficulties getting Hermione out of his head. Even when he absentmindedly brushed his hand over his cherry wood dresser, he was reminded of how smooth and soft her thighs were……
He quickly downed a shot of liquor. Being an exalted figure in the Slytherin House had its benefits. Take, for example, his own private room and liquor cabinet. He ran a hand through his feathery hair. Distraction. He needed something to distract him. He scanned his room, looking for something, anything, that would invoke a pondering. His eyes wandered back to his dresser, landing on a bottle full of pills.
It was a bottle holding around 120 small white pills. On the bottle was a label that read: Bertie Bott’s Underground Beans: The Hollows. Bertie Bott’s, being the intelligent business-witch that she was, quickly found that, although popular, her Every Flavor Beans were merely favorites among children and childish adults.
Hermione has never felt so giddy in her life. Knowing that taking too much of the Soothing Serum would render her into her drunken-like stupor, she merely took a sip of the potion. But Professor Snape must have made it extremely potent, as she felt all of her fears and worries melt away. Apparently, so did most of her prized self-restraint. Giggling, she playfully batted Harry’s hand away from the cauldron. He looked at her in surprise, a bit nervous at her complete 180-degree change. He tentatively smiled.
Smiling mischievously, she whispered to him, "No, bad boy!"
Laughing as if she had made the world’s most witty comment, she stumbled as she tried to reach for the cauldron’s stirring rod. Harry instinctively caught her around the waist and righted her up. He gently placed his hands on her shoulders, making sure she wouldn’t sway too much.
"’Mione…….how many fingers am I holding up?" he held up three. She childishly pantomimed him and held out three fingers as well.
<Ooookay, she’s not completely crackers………..> Harry thought. Where the hell was Ron?
"Are you feeling alright?" he ventured, pushing up his glasses.
She blinked and looked at him with large, doe-like eyes. "Of course I am Harry, I’ve never felt better!" Suddenly, her eyes watered a bit and she nearly tackled him in a bear hug. She had to stand on the tip of her toes as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Oh, you’re such a good friend Harry! I love you SO much!" she exclaimed, to the embarrassment of her friend. He looked around nervously as the class stared at the pair. Some glared. Mostly the males. Though very flattered at her show of affection, he wished she would have chosen a more secluded area to display it.
"Er…..of course. Say, why don’t you let go now?" He gently tried to pry her arms loose, but she clung on.
"What would I do without you? You’re my hero!" she continued, completely unaware of his discomfort. She took his head in her hands and kissed him on both cheeks, Continental style. He blushed a deep shade of red and tried a little harder to release himself.
He was interrupted as the door to the Potions Room swung open, revealing Professor McGonagall, Ron, and Draco. Draco, with his sleeves pushed up, looking like he had just run around the castle a few times. Ron looked livid with a bruised cut on his cheek, while McGonagall looked plain furious.
"You’ll have to excuse these gentlemen’s tardiness, Severus," she said in a clipped voice. "I saw them in the hall this morning, fighting! Fighting! I’m only thankful I ran into them at the beginning of their fight, not the end! Mr. Weasley here had to be taken to the infirmary, while your student was lectured by me!"
She glared at Draco, who sullenly glared back. "I’ve concluded that Mr. Malfoy started the fight, therefore I am giving him detention for two weeks. I’m taking 30 points off Slytherin, and I’m here to make sure Gryffindor retains its points!" She looked pointedly at Snape, who would’ve no doubtedly taken points off Gryffindor for tardiness, despite the fact that Ron was the innocent one. Displeased, Snape merely grunted and marked his grade book accordingly. McGonagall turned around swiftly and walked back to the Teacher’s Lounge.
"Mr. Malfoy, you’re working with Zabini’s table today. Weasley, Longbottom," he sneered.
As the two young men stalked to their respective tables, something caught their attention. They simultaneously turned to see a blushing Harry, with Hermione slung around his neck, with his hands on her waist. Knowing exactly what it looked like, he wrenched himself free from his friend.
Anticipating the glare of a lifetime from Ron, he was surprised to see a pair of gray eyes burning holes through his face. Confused, he took that fierce look as general dislike and glared back. However, he couldn’t help but notice that this look was more intense than any other he had received. Not at all offended at Harry’s action, Hermione fluttered over to Ron’s side.
"Oooh, Ron’s got a nasty cut on his face! Why didn’t the nurse fix that?" she pointed to the slash on his face.
Utterly taken aback at her innocent, carefree manner, he managed to explain that the nurse already had a hell of a time healing the rest of his wounds in such a short time. She figured he could survive healing the superficial wounds on his own.
Hermione clucked in pity, utterly unaware of Draco’s mounting vexation. She put her hand to his cheek, making him blush. "I would kiss it to make it better, but contact of the mouth on an open wound could lead to infection. Because the mouth has so many bacteria in it, you know," she babbled happily.
Unable to take her slathering any more attention on Ron, Draco grasped her by the shoulder and spun her around so that she would be facing him. To his chagrin, instead of staring at him with hate or fear, there was merely irritation written on her face. The Soothing Serum must have soften the affect of Draco on her psyche, making her think of him as the pesky guy she had to deal with for six years. She shrugged off his hand in annoyance.
"And you, Draco Malfoy!" she said sternly, as if speaking to a naughty child. She jabbed her finger at his muscled chest. "You leave Ron alone! Don’t you have anything better to do than to pick fights? Honestly, I’d say you were dying for some attention around here."
With that, she spun around and grasped Ron by the hand, leading him to her table.
"Um…actually ‘Mione…….I’m at…..Neville’s……..table…..," he mumbled, trailing off. But it didn’t look like he was trying too hard to get to his table, which was on the other side of the room. Harry pulled Ron aside, watching Hermione in the corner of his eye. Draco stood there, a look of confusion on his face. He raised an elegant eyebrow as he looked at their table, his eyes flashing.
<What the hell was that? Is that stupid cunt playing with Potter now too?>
Harry and Ron were talking too softly for Draco to hear, but he could read some of their conversation off their lips. "Nutters" and "I have no idea" came up often, while Ron looked constantly back at Hermione with a look of utter puzzlement. Also, Harry was doing a strange thing with his finger, where he positioned it to the side of his head, pointed to his head, and spun it around in circles.
"In any case, I’d say she’s one can short of a six-pack," Harry confessed, running his hand through his messy hair.
"A what short of a what?"
"……………Nevermind."
"Hermione! NO!" they suddenly cried, rushing back to their friend’s side. She had been pouring all the different colored liquids into the pot, trying to make "the most beautiful color in the world!" The cauldron started to bubble and froth started to flow out.
Snape looked at Hermione with a look of disbelief. He glanced down at a parchment of paper, moving his fingers slightly as he did some quick mental math. He crumpled it into a little ball. He cursed.
********************************************************************
As the day progressed, the Soothing Serum lost most of its punch, thankfully. She was almost normal by the time Herbology rolled around. As the rest of the class was taking notes on Professor Sprout’s lecture, Hermione was content to stare blissfully off into space.
"Ms. Granger!" Sprout yelled, snapping her out of her daydreams. "Are you so confident in your knowledge of water plants that you feel excused from writing notes like the rest of your classmates?"
The normal Hermione would have meekly said no and begun writing (although, the normal Hermione would’ve been taking notes in the first place). However, traces of the Serum were still in her bloodstream, allowing her to freely speak her mind.
"Actually, yes."
"…..E-excuse me?"
"I know all about the water plants, thank you Professor." she said with a smile, but her eyes were already hardening, anticipating the professor’s next words.
"Then would you be so kind as to share your knowledge with –"
Hermione interrupted her by flooding the class with her extensive knowledge, her tone of voice indicating she was not holding back this time.
After what seemed like pages of information being recited, Professor Sprout shakily interrupted her, "T-That’s quite enough, thank you Ms. Granger."
"Are you sure Professor? There’s more," she said softly, with a small smirk playing across her lips.
At this, Draco couldn’t help but smirk a bit himself. She was so devastatingly brilliant. And not just the bookwormish type, he realized, but the kind of genius who could bring her intelligence to the next level, to application. After her display, he finally understood that he had misjudged her. He always figured that, as a Gryffindor, she was too goody-goody and stupid to really put her mind to some good use. But he was wrong. Just because she didn’t play dirty didn’t mean she couldn’t. She was a lion ready to pounce; if the right buttons were pushed, he wouldn’t be surprised to find scathing comments and ideas worthy of him.
Draco figured that if she had been sorted at this age, instead of the tender age of 11, there was a chance she could have been put in Slytherin. No matter how noble the lioness’ heart is, the longer she is exposed to idiots who couldn’t appreciate her intelligence, the more the serpent inside her would eat that noble heart.
<Bravo, my mudblood. Bravo.>
***********************************************************************
"Finally, lunch! I never thought classes would be over," Hermione professed, taking a huge gulp of pumpkin juice.
Harry and Ron exchanged wary glances.
"Hermione," Ron began. "What’s wrong with you today?"
"What do you mean, Ron? There’s nothing wrong with me!"
He sighed. "Sure, okay." Were this any other time, he and Harry would have probed harder and wouldn’t have let her slide so easily. But Dumbledore’s words held them back. Besides, a giddy, albeit crazy, Hermione was better than a depressed Hermione.
"So what happened this morning?" Harry asked, taking another bite out of his sandwich.
"That Malfoy is off his bloody rockers! I mean, we did knock shoulders the other day, but this morning he was ready to kill! I’ve never seen him so mad – not even when you insulted his mum! Stupid git just attacked me and broke my damn nose and probably did some internal damage. Bloody bastard, I’ll get him one day………" Ron snarled, red with anger.
"What the hell is wrong with him? Usually he waits until one of us insults him first!" Harry added, equally pissed. "What do you think Hermione? …….’Mione?"
She hadn’t been paying attention. She had turned and began talking to Lavender and Parvati who were surprised, but pleased, that she was striking up an actual conversation with them. Discussing something or other, they suddenly burst out into giggles.
"Hermione!" Ron and Harry both cried, aghast at her lack of concern and that she, well, giggled with Lavender and Parvati.
"Oh, yes?"
"……………."
"Er, right. Sorry," she said, blushing. She cleared her throat nervously. "Yes Ron, you go get that….slimy…git…."
Malfoy, watching her from behind, shook his head. He knew she was behaving this way because of the Soothing Serum from watching her in his mirror last night. Thankful that she usually didn’t converse with those two girls like an air headed teenager, he was able to control himself from shouting out an insult or two.
<She must have really hit that serum hard – she’s bloody trashed!>
Hermione was suddenly aware of Draco’s eyes on her. Again. She started to feel the heat rising up her body and prayed her blush wasn’t noticeable. She couldn’t help but feel…….flattered at the attention. After all, he _was_ labeled the most wanted man in Hogwarts, and for good reason too. His body reminded her of Da Vinci’s David, but a better version. Draco, unlike the statue, radiated heat. Such an intense heat…………
And as much as she reminded herself that she was a modern-day woman who didn’t have to worry about trivial things such as a man’s interest in her, she couldn’t shake that intense feeling whenever she thought back to his touches.
Which was utterly, utterly wrong. But……
Smiling slightly to herself, fully aware of his attention on her, she tested his limits by resting her head on Ron’s shoulder. Sputtering and blushing profusely, Ron somehow managed to stay still enough so that her head didn’t go falling to the bench. She could actually feel his glare intensifying, almost tasting his anger. Her blush deepened until something deep within her stirred.
She abruptly stiffened and jerked away from Ron. She blinked and ran her hand through her hair. The serum must have worn off, because she could feel all of her inhibitions, worries, and fears rushing back. Hitting her hardest was her sense of self.
<What the bloody hell?!>
What was wrong with her? Her heart began to beat faster as fear clawed at the pit of her stomach. When did she start thinking such things? This wasn’t the first time today when she pushed her luck with Draco. Mounting fear and shame brought her close to tears as she asked herself the pivotal question:
<When did my affection for Ron become a display to see how Dra – Malfoy would react?!>
Before she could probe deeper, a school owl dropped off a letter addressed to her. Panic struck her, fearing that this was another one of Draco’s twisted notes. She breathed a sigh of relief when it had the school’s official seal on it. Ripping it open, she quickly scanned the few lines written before rising. Muttering that she had to see the Headmaster, she left the table. Harry and Ron looked at each other with a worried glance, but weren’t too worried because they knew she was headed for Dumbledore’s office. He would take care of everything.
Watching her retreating back, Malfoy could feel his anger rising. She obviously didn’t know her place around here. After waiting a respectable interval, he also rose and exited the Great Hall.
It had stopped being a game. And he had no intention of letting her go. It didn’t matter what his reasons for wanting her were anymore. She was his.
Before exiting however, he stopped by the Gryffindor’ table and swiftly took the vial of Soothing Serum Hermione left behind without stopping. Harry and Ron didn’t even notice his slight-of-hand.
As he walked into the hallways, he realized he had no idea where she was headed. There was a fork in hall’s path, so he needed to decide whether to go left or right. His feet started to lead him towards the right when a familiar voice stopped him:
"I would go left, if I were you," Morwena declared in a velvety voice.
Draco’s eyes snapped up, scanning the multiple paintings up on the wall. Wasn’t she supposed to be a few floors up….?
He finally spotted her, in a cheerful painting of a young girl watering a colorful garden with a silver watering pail. Currently, the young girl was in tears, as her neck was in the grasp of the powerful enchantress. She whimpered, clutching the pail with all her gentle might.
"If you would only hand over your pail peacefully, you wouldn’t be in such pain, girl. I need it for a spell I’m casting……" Morwena said quietly, her voice deep with barely hidden malice.
"Left, you say?" he ventured, not wanting to take a part in this.
She turned her striking head to face him, and smiled seductively. "Oh yes, left, if you wish to find your lady. That is what you’re doing, isn’t it?" Her smile deepened. "It seemed like you both enjoyed that bathroom many days ago, but then you never returned. I was waiting to offer you another favor," she pouted.
Draco, not really in the mood for pleasantries, merely nodded. "I’ll leave you to your work then." At this, he turned his heels and headed towards the left.
"I’ll be seeing you around, Dragon," she breathed.
She returned her attention to the pitiful child she was holding. She raised her hand menacingly, her elegant nails appearing to function as claws. Her hand inched closer and closer to the girl’s face as her eyes watered with tears.
"Now, about my pail………"
*************************************************************************
Hermione couldn’t help but feel nervous while she was walking down the deserted hall. She kept getting the feeling that someone would pounce on her from behind, and she would have no one to help her. She clutched her note tighter in her fist, quickening her pace.
<Once again, why did I NOT ask someone to come with me?! I really am an idiot……>
Trying to concentrate on something else, she focused her attention on the sound her footsteps made in the empty hallway.
That was odd. She thought she heard another footstep. She froze. She DID hear another footstep. And from the sound of it, it was heavy, fast-paced, and, was she just paranoid, angry? Hoping against all hope it wasn’t who she feared it to be, she quickened her pace. She just needed to get to Dumbledore’s office. If she could do that, she would be safe. She broke out into a run.
<Forget this! I don’t care if it’s just some random student behind me!> She didn’t care if they would think her silly for sprinting down the hallway. Her blood ran cold as she heard the footsteps quicken as well.
It was him. She could feel it. No way would he let her behavior go unpunished. It was the Serum! – she wanted to scream, but she knew from the sound of his footsteps he wasn’t in the mood to be reasoned with.
