"Your eyes," he purred gently removing the strands of her hair with his cane while she stared at him completely immobilized under his gaze, "hidden under those dark brown, thick locks of yours, baring the constant expression of seriousness and such angst… and even a tinge of trepidation from what I gather from my observation… I daresay you somewhat dislike me, fear me even." But it wasn't that. There was no hatred. She was to some extent nervous, her insides churning. She could feel her cheeks burning, her jaw beginning to tense up and tighten as she fixed her eyes at the tall handsome man towering over her. Something about him made her feel uneasy.

"I… I-I don't know what you're talking about!" she stammered.

"Yet y-y-you stutter," he mocked amusingly, "why are you so undeniably frightened of me? Is it my past that haunts you, if that is so, may I ask you to disregard our histories. The past is past; I can't change what I've done however I can tell you I am not proud and I still burden my regrets,"

"No – it's not that –"

"Miss Granger, I shall remind you that my intentions are far from trying to kill you and your friends, potter and the weasel, like I have done so previously…" He said coolly, "Although I find that look of uneasiness you wear rather…" A malicious, intimidating to a degree, smile drew itself on his pale skin, "entertaining." She gave him a look of disbelief. "If it isn't fear or hatred, I'm suggesting that you feel something else towards me…" he softly chuckled, "foolish girl…"

"Think all you want. Conceited git, you are," she spat at him, fire in her eyes beckoning him to advance closer. She felt the hot heavy breaths inhaling and exhaling causing her to turn away.

"…. And an insolent child are you…" he pressed his silver-carved serpent cane gently against her chest enough force to push her against the concrete wall, narrowing his eyes of grey smoke, scrutinizing every detail, curve and contour drawn on her face. Sighing he muttered, "You're just a girl… just a foolish, pitiful though blameless little girl who desires some sort of forbidden fantasy, do you not?"

"I told you…" she remained facing the ground beside her away from his spine-chilling eyes, "think all you want Mr. Malfoy."

"Ah…. I know you Miss Granger, intelligent, clever and too smart for your own good. Tired of stupid immature boys? You fancy a more… manly touch?" he softly hissed in her ear, slowly so the words crept in her mind. "As if I don't know… slowly packing up your belongings and waiting until you're the last… student, in my presence? Taking our time are we Miss Granger?" However she didn't budge as he waited patiently for an answer, "I see you, I'm not blind, glancing at me ever so often, it's not your fault…" he smiled as he watched a single tear trickling down the side of her cheek leaving a silvery trail.

"We both know that I am, quite right," he lifted her chin with a single, pale finger pulling her focus back to him, "I'm always right…" He whispered as she watched those words of arrogance slowly flow out of between his pink thin lips. "And you Miss… Granger, are nothing but a lonely child in need of affection,"

"Which is why, sir, I think it would be wise to keep…your distance." She said through gritted teeth rage filling her up.

He shot her a teasing smile before he pulled away and swiftly made his way to his desk, without turning to face her again, "Go, get out and make haste Miss Granger for I have other and better things to occupy me."

Hermione remained standing for a moment or two, the black cloak following after him fluttering and whipping along with his blonde, straight hair. Recovering her books from the back table where she sat, she glanced at the man slumped on his chair, or throne, call it what you will, feet lazily folded on top of each other on the mahogany table as he busily read a piece of parchment ignoring her as if she'd already gone.

"Poor girl….' He muttered under his breath and merely shaking his head at the sound of fainting footsteps storming out of the room.

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"I hate that…" Hermione inhaled deeply and irritably, "man…" she slammed the book before her, looking up at Ginny and the state of shock she was in at Hermione's sudden random reaction.

"What… man?" she asked confused sitting herself up on the cushiony seat she had been slumping on before Hermione's outburst.

"I just simply hate him. He thinks he knows everything…"

"Funny you should say that," Ginny mumbled quietly so that it was left unheard.

"He teases me and absolutely loves it… finds it somehow amusing. The way he assumes and makes of me… for god's sake… he knows too much… as if he can read minds… and those things he said about me… accusations I might have called it… were …" her voice trailed off, "entirely true"

"Hermione, are you sure you're alright?" Ginny asked worriedly as she stared at Hermione who gazed blatantly at the fireplace seemingly immersed in thoughts. The dancing flames of red, orange and yellow illuminated her eyes as it mirrored it back. A distinctive laughter emerged as the portrait of the Fat Lady threw ajar.

"… Did you see the look on his face?"

"Priceless wasn't it?"

Harry, Ron, Seamus and Dean appeared laughing to themselves, smiling at each other mischievously.

"So, who did u hex now?"

"Hex? We're not that cruel Ginny… geez," Ron said cheesed off as Ginny remained looking intently at her tall red-haired brother, the slightest convinced. "It was nothing… just thought we'd give Malfoy a lesson to shut his trap, that's all," Ron confessed.

"What did you do?" Hermione spluttered abruptly after hearing the name.

"Well you should have been there Hermione; you missed out on all the fun. Where were you by the w-"

"'Wait till I tell my father about this!'" Seamus mimicked with a roar of laughter followed, interjecting Ron's sentence.

"How typical of him," Dean said shaking his head, "such a coward…"

"Well if we get slaughtered by his girlish-haired-father, we'll know it was worth it," Harry chuckled. Boys… Hermione stood up still clutching the gigantic book and quietly headed to the stairs that lead to the girl's dormitory, away from distraction and such clamor as they boasted and laughed their lungs out.

"Hermione, where are you going?" Ron, who noticed her silently pacing away to disappearance, called out.

"Aren't you having dinner?" Stopping dead on her tracks she quickly stirred up an excuse.

"No, you guys go on ahead, I don't feel very hungry and I have loads of homework to do… homework extensions," she lied with a slight chuckle.

"Ah, yes… not surprised, well then we'll see you later,"

After their departure the common room was now deserted, just the playful fire still blazing lively away from the fireplace.

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Just a girl…foolish…pitiful…blameless…poor little girl… child…in need of affection… manly touch... She couldn't bare it. Words, words, words, simply drowning her. And there was Lucius. Elegant figure, mysterious eyes that were filled with grey hypnotising smoke, his thin pink lips, soft and silky, slightly parted, muttering these words, whispering them in her ear. She couldn't handle it, couldn't escape it… luciu, lucius, lucius….

After thier previous encounter, Lucius couldn't avoide her from his mind. After hours of contemplating, it soon became somewhat of an obsession. He began to realise that he was growing all the more aware of her. When they'd gathered in the Great Hall he found his eyes begin to wander trying to find the beautiful face hidden from all the chaos. It seemed that absence in the evenings had become some sort of a routine for quite a while. Though whenever he spotted her walking along the corridors with her friends, he noticed nothing but her, as she would change the direction of her eyes, when she caught him.

Lucius you foolish git…weakling for merlin's sake… She's a mudblood… She's just a girl…

Over and over again he would remind himself. But he didn't seem to make any effort striving to rid her out of his mind. Mudblood or not, woman or girl, right or wrong, there was just something he clinged to that kept him hanging behind her, attracting him to her. At some time he would pass by the smell of the sickly, sweet scent of perfume smothered on her neck that robbed the very atmosphere. So close yet so unreachable. He suffered classes with her, although he kept a straight confindent emotionless face, he couldn't help but gaze and glance at her countless times.

Lucius… you pathetic stalker... she's a girl… what don't you understand… you're a teacher… to teach… nothing else…

But everywhere he looked he hoped it was her, beginning to think that he was almost driven insane, completley insane. As he lay down in bed each night he found trying to get some sleep almost compelling. Nevertheless, somehow in his dreams she still seemed to slip between the cracks. A slideshow of images glued to the lids of his eyes. Hermione… A matter of thought, she was always the subject, and somehow it started to bother him less.

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In spite of his sudden growing interest on one of his students, he still behaved in the same Malfoy-ish manner.

"Been missing dinners have we?" a cold, taunting voice erupted from behind her as she made her way to her next lesson, Self Defense Against the Dark Arts, "I see you've lost a bit of weight… you look quite thin in the face, starting a new diet I presume?"

"Funny how you noticed. Do you find stalking 'poor little girls' a hobby of yours now? Never knew you had the time of day to nose around other people's businesses, considering all you really have time for is your hair and the mirror," she snapped and to her astonishment Lucius gave out a chuckle but said nothing to back himself up. Instead he marched forth, cane to his right, nose held up high surpassing Hermione with large, swift strides. He threw the door open and with a flick of his ebony wand, a dozen flying aeroplanes, spitballs and scrunched papers that had been zooming from across the room had died down and dissolved in thin air. Sauntering off to the front of the room he started the class promptly.

"Chapters 3 to 6, start reading and not a word," he ordered folding his arms as he sat on top of his desk glancing at the back of the room where Hermione had just settled and retrieved the page. Time passed slower than usual and there were about a dozen yawning students seemingly bored and eventually the faint sound of snoring was soon heard. However Lucius couldn't careless. His mind along with his eyes seemed to be wandering off elsewhere. He rose from his table and quietly paced between the desks. Hermione was aware that he was watching her bringing about a sense of insecurity. The rigid shadow that had pasted itself on her textbook triggered the churning of her stomach like she hadn't eaten for days. She lost all concentration and the line she had been reading. Without thinking she quickly turned her head to face him and there he was the handsome, angelic yet develish face of Lucius Malfoy, head held high as usual but percing eyes that remained looking below fixed upon her as his lips were slightly curved upwards, until he continued pacing the aisles again.

"Pack your things, quickly, class is dismissed and that will be a summarisation of chapters 3 to 4 for homework," He instructed, above the outburts of long-awaited chattering.

"Miss Granger, not so fast," he called out to her as she headed for the door first, "eager to get out are we now? Summarisation of all chapters for you."

"What? That's not fair!" She cried, the whole class watching their argument looking as confused as Hermione was.

"Well I suppose it's a fairly reasonable punishment for insulting your own professor just before class has started, do you not? You know perfectly well what I'm talking about"

"What's he talking abo-" Ron, seated at the desk just infront of Hermione, mouthed out.

"Hurry off, out of my class, everyone!" And with that they started to exit, Hermione storming, books in her hands, toward Lucius who stood there with his arms folded waiting for whatever was coming to him.

"This is ridiculous! You can't seriously expect to write about a whole 3 bloody long chapters from this dim-witted book in one night until our next lesson tomorrow morning. You've seriously got to be joking!"

"Which is why I've cut you some slack… consider yourself lucky," he hissed, "tomorrow before dinner, on my dask no later than that, understood?"

She stared him in disbelief.

"Understood?" he repeated. Taking a deep breath to calm herself down she answered, "As you wish, Mr. Malfoy."