Hermione's POV

As I walked to my next class, I hugged my books closely to my chest; I didn't want them to be knocked on the floor again by the one and only Draco Malfoy. I'm usually not one to pay attention to what silly school boys say or do, but there is something about Draco that just irks me, and I don't know what that is so it just bothers me even more. I was lucky in this school though, at least I had Harry and Ron that would stick by my side no matter what happens, and I'm sure that Ron would love a chance to show Draco 'what's what' but I can't have my best friends going around hitting people especially with the extra... 'work' we do outside of lessons. I turned the corner to the transfiguration room, I was so close, and I actually thought I might get there without having to see Draco...

"Hey Granger!"

... Or maybe not. I closed my eyes and turned around, putting on a fake smile.

"What do I owe the pleasure Malfoy?" I asked (I never referred to him by his first name to anybody but myself). "Or why don't I save you the trouble..." I say sarcastically and dropped my books onto his foot. He gave a small yelp of pain as he dragged his toe from under my books – it was at times like these I was thankful for the amount of heavy text books I owned. Draco glared at me for a moment before Professor McGonagall's footsteps could be heard around the corner. I quickly picked up my books and took my usual seat next to Harry.

Throughout the lesson I couldn't help but feel as if someone was staring at me, eventually I got the courage to look around to see who it was. It was Draco. Except it wasn't the glare he was giving me before, he wore a softer expression, almost puppy dog like. I managed to hold his gaze for a few seconds, before he turned away; his cheeks turning a faint shade of pink, making me chuckle slightly.

WHAT?

What was I thinking? Was I mad? Had that actually just happened? All sorts of questions raced through my mind, but the main one was how the hell was I going to explain this one to Harry and Ron! Wait what was there to explain, nothing is happening. I need some serious girl talk but by only girl friend that I was close enough to trust this kind of things with was Ginny.

I tried to concentrate for the rest of the lesson but I barely managed to keep my work at an 'excellent' grade instead of its usual 'outstanding'. The end of the lesson couldn't come fast enough for me (never thought I would say that!) so I took to drawing doodles on a spare but of parchment, but that didn't help either. Finally, Professor McGonagall dismissed us from class; I gathered up my stiff as quickly as I could and rushed out of the classroom.

"What's with her?" I heard Ron ask behind me, but I didn't stop, I just kept walking. I headed to my place under the stairs that none of my friends knew about, and even if they did there was probably a million staircases in this place, they would never find me. I was sure that I wouldn't get disturbed. I took the piece of parchment that I had doodled on out of my bag and looked at what was written on it. There was an awful lot of hearts with 'H+D' written in them. That's when I heard the faint sound of footsteps from behind me. I quickly shoved the crumpled up parchment in my bag. The footsteps stopped, still quite a distance away but to close for me to feel comfortable with. I hesitated before I turned around to see who it was.

"Hey Granger," Draco said in a soft voice. I rolled my eyes and turned to face the wall again, so he couldn't see my face.

"What do you want?" I snapped.

"Just to talk to you..."

"Well I don't want to talk to you. How did you even find me?"

"I... err... I followed you..." I turned around to glare at him, but he just turned his face to the floor, a sheepish look plastered all over it.

"Now you're sounding like a stalker," I state as I get up to leave, swinging my bag over my shoulder. Draco grabbed my arm, preventing me form leaving. I looked over to him, and then down to where his hand rested on my arm. He followed my gaze and quickly let go, mumbling a few words of apology but I just walked away – heading to Gryffindor tower. I was thankful that he didn't try to follow me; I let myself look behind me to see if he was, but was looking to floor, seeming angry with himself.

By the time I got to the common room, it was nearly time for dinner, which worked in my favour because it meant no question and answer session from my friends – Ron will be too busy stuffing his face with food, and Harry and Ginny will be too busy trying to prove to Ron that they aren't dating, which let me off the hook. I walked straight past everyone and headed straight to my dorm. I threw my bag onto the bed and sat on the floor, resting my head on one of the posts. I was mentally drained, all this worrying about the situation with Draco that really isn't a situation at all, it's just... who was I trying to kid? It was a situation. A bad situation that could turn out good, but it more than likely won't. I heard a soft knocking coming from the other side of the bed before Ginny sat down next to me.

"I came to see if you were OK,"

"I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" I said, trying to convince myself, as well as her, that that statement was true.

"Well, Harry mentioned that you seemed to be in a rush after Transfiguration to get away from him and Ron, and then you disappeared for a few hours. I guess they're just scared that they did something wrong!" Ginny laughed. A small smile grew on my face as I sniggered at her last comment, thankful that they had missed everything as usual and formed a wrong conclusion.

"Well you can tell them that they have done nothing wrong... for once. I just needed to go to the library for some research," I say, it seems like and adequate excuse. Ron and Harry avoided the library like the plague and only went in there when absolutely necessary.

"Or better yet... you can tell them at dinner. Come on we should get to the great hall."

By the time we arrived at the great hall Ron was already shovelling as much food s possible into his mouth, Harry was sat opposite him searching for me and Ginny, probably more Ginny though. I took my usual seat next to Ron and started to put some food onto my plate. After telling them the same story I had told Ginny, the usual dinner-time banter took up; which included teasing Harry and Ginny, and trying to sop Ron from eating the whole feast. I could feel myself relaxing already and I really began to enjoy myself. I knew there would be no more awkward encounters with Draco tonight, he probably wouldn't risk it with his idiot friends around and there wasn't another opportunity where we could see each other again, so I was safe. That still didn't make it any clearer for me as to what was going on with him, well between the two of us. I tried to push it from my mind, and enjoy the time with my friends but that didn't seem to happen, it just kept creeping to the forefront of my mind. I must have feel into some kind of daydream, because the next thing I know, Ron is clicking his fingers infront of my face, trying to get my attention. I immediately snapped my head up to look at Ron.

"What are you doing?! I asked. He started to mumble something I didn't quite catch, but it made Harry and Ginny laugh so I just let it slide.

After dinner we sat by the fireplace, watching the flames grow in strength and then weaken again. So I took to thinking about the 'me and Draco' situation again – unintentionally of course. I saw Ginny lean across to Harry to whisper something to him before she grabbed my arm and pulled towards the girls dorms. As soon as we were out of earshot of the boys she immediately asked...

"What's going between you and Draco?"