He'd been dubbed, practically from arrival, as the class "genius" and had an entire flock of freshman and non-freshman girls angling to get their Mrs degree in Malfoy.
Hermione thought he was a pretentious asshole.
She was most definitely going to kill whomever it was who had allowed him to get his hands on her study-guide.
She gave a cold smile. "Gosh. You caught me, Malfoy. I put wrong answers on the study-guide and hoped nobody in our entire class would notice." She folded her arms. "The reason I didn't include anything from Bourne is because Snape said he's wrong and the only reason his textbook was required reading was to highlight what idiots some people are. If you want to add Bourne's commentary to your answer, be my guest. In fact," she leaned forward, extending her hand, "I have a better idea, why don't you give me my study-guide back, and write your own answers."
He smirked and straightened, sliding her study guide back into his satchel. "Everyone knows I'm going to be the one whose paper gets a perfect grade from Snape. I have to say though, it's fun to see you trying."
Hermione refused to rise to his baiting. "Anything else? By all means, feel free to spread a rumor that my study guide's rigged. Maybe then people will do their own homework."
He cocked his head. "So you admit you're angling for the A+."
She rolled her eyes and sat back. "I'm a pretty sure everyone is trying to get it. This isn't exactly a school with a class culture of only aspiring for passing grades."
Malfoy moved slightly closer, edging into her personal space and looming over her in a way that made her want to kick him in the shins or, ideally, a bit higher.
"But you actually think you can do it, don't you?" He flashed another smirk. "Care to bet on that?"
"Care to leave me alone and bother someone else?" Hermione said in a deadpan tone.
His smirk widened into a grin and he glanced across the library where a group of his friends were all watching them. "Well, I should clarify, there are already bets that I'll get it, but I'll make a personal wager with you. Think you can beat me? Tell me what you want. I'm open to anything."
His eyes slid down, away from her face.
Hermione folded her arms again and glared at him. "I don't want anything from you, Malfoy, and you're not getting a thing from me. Fuck off, I'm working on a paper."
She turned back to her computer and watched his silhouette linger in the reflection of her laptop screen for several seconds.
Finally, he laughed. "Thanks for the notes, Granger. I look forward to beating you."
He turned and sauntered off.
Snape's approach to finals was unconventional even for the school. The week before the final exam, each student had a private, twenty-minute meeting with him in which they had to defend their paper. At the end of the meeting, he would tell the student what grade they'd receive on the paper, and then, before the final exam, he'd announce to the class if any students had earned an A+.
To Hermione's irritation, Malfoy's scheduled meeting with Snape was forty minutes before hers. The hallway outside his office door was lined with students sitting silently and reviewing their papers and notes.
The office door swung open and Malfoy emerged, his face aglow with smug triumph.
The hallway broke out in whispers.
"You got it?" Nott asked right out.
Malfoy grinned. "Perfect grade. First one in five years he said."
Hermione stiffened where she was sitting as whispers of admiration and congratulations swept down the hallway.
Padma Patil was sitting next to Hermione and rested a hand briefly on her shoulder.
Malfoy's attention zeroed in and he walked over, stopping in front of Hermione.
"Tough luck, Granger. Maybe in another life. I'm sure you'll at least get an A." He started to turn and then paused as though he were just remembering something. "A lot of us are going to be celebrating tonight, you should come—unless you want people to think you're a sore loser."
Hermione stared up at him with a flat expression until he finally turned with a shrug and walked away.
When she emerged from her meeting, she didn't say a word to the other students waiting in the hallway. She went to her dorm and started studying for the rest of her finals.
The final exam for Snape's class started at an ungodly hour in the morning and the room was blessedly silent as students trickled in and took their seats. Hermione sat reviewing her notes in a corner where no one was likely to jostle her.
The silence was broken when Malfoy entered the room noisily with his friends at his heels and they settled into seats towards the front of the room.
Five minutes before the exam was scheduled to begin, Snape strode into the room and up to the whiteboard. He snatched up a marker and started writing grading percentage brackets. When he finished he added a colon beside each bracket and began adding numbers: number of papers that had failed, the number that had barely passed, moving up towards the 100% that sat at the top of the board.
His hand hovered next to it, and then he suddenly turned and stared at the room, his expression unreadable.
"This semester has a notable distinction," he said after a moment's silence. "For the first time in the years I've been teaching at this college, I have had two students who merited a perfect grade on the semester's final paper."
Hushed gasps swept across the room and students turned to look at Malfoy, whose smirking grin had frozen on his face.
"Next semester, anyone who hasn't failed my class will be assigned to read Mr Malfoy and Miss Granger's papers, and perhaps then the rest of you will begin to understand what I mean when I say I expect and will accept nothing less than excellence in this class."
Malfoy's platinum head slowly swiveled to so he could stare across the room where Hermione was sitting, an impassive expression on her face.
She didn't look in his direction.
He kept staring at her until someone shoved a copy of the exam at him.
Two hours later, after turning in her copy of the final exam, Hermione packed her bag, bobbing her head at a few whispered congratulations, and hurried out of the classroom, heading for the library.
"Granger!"
She froze and turned, rolling her eyes.
Malfoy was jogging after her, notably without his usual posse around him.
She stood waiting until he caught up with her.
He stopped a foot away from her and looked her up and down from head to toe as though he were reconsidering something. "Well, you're full of surprises, aren't you?"
Hermione folded her arms. "Not really."
He looked up and met her eyes, flashing a grin. He cocked his head slightly to the side. "I guess this means we should study together."
Hermione gave a thin, false smile. "I already have a study group, we're not accepting new members."
His grin turned roguish and his voice dropped suggestively as he shifted closer. "It could just be the two of us. You're heading to the library now, aren't you?"
Her expression turned cold and she stepped quickly back. "I'm going to study alone."
She turned on her heel and started walking away.
"You can't avoid me forever, Granger!"
"You'll be surprised," she said, glaring over her shoulder at him.
He was still standing where she'd left him, staring after her, that irritating, over-confident grin still on his face.
He raised an eyebrow. "Care to bet on that?"
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