Chapter One

'Sometimes good girls do bad things.'

'It was a night like any other.' was the sentence Hermione Granger wished she could use to explain her current situation in life; small beads of sweat building up at the hair line of her forehead.

"Stealing!?" a little voice in her head chanted loudly.

"No, not stealing." Hermione whispered back to herself, before letting out a small nervous sigh. "I'm just borrowing" she attempted to convince herself, but failed miserably.

She pressed her body tightly against the closest bookshelf, before slowly sliding to the floor on her knees. She was shaking, knowing the consequences she would face if she were to get caught. "It's for a great cause." she told herself, still trying to calm her nerves into thinking what she was doing was okay.

It was pitch black in the large library at Hogwarts, silent, cold, and motionless. Aside from Hermione, all the other students were tucked away in their rooms, awaiting the sound of their alarm clocks in the next few hours. It was 3:15am while Hermione slowly crept her way towards the restricted section.

You see, Hermione had learned from Harrys past mistakes. She had made sure to have his invisibility cloak with her but had chosen to leave the lantern behind. She didn't need a repeat of almost getting caught by Mr. Filch like last time her close friend tried busting into the restricted section. When finally reaching only a bookcase away from her destination, Hermione got the strangest urge to turn around. As if someone would be standing there, looking at her. This unsettled her, and the butterflies in her stomach started up again. She did as her wits told her and of course turned to find no one; she couldn't explain the sensation. It was so odd. Feeling silly she redirected her focus to the task at hand, needing no more reasons to freak herself out. Suddenly, just as soon as she turned back a large 'thud' came from about three or four shelves away. It was hard for Hermione to tell how many back for sure because panic set in the moment her ears received sound not made by her own hands. Freezing instantly, wide eyed Hermione became a statue in her crouched position. Not knowing whether to run, screaming while wailing her arms about or stay calm. It could have been anything really.

"Oh yeah just ANYTHING at 3:20 in the morning three (or four) shelves away from a sneaky teen girl trying to BREAK INTO the restricted section in the library of HOGWARTS." Hermione could feel her own thoughts psyching her out.

"Breathe." she said to herself mentally, "If I panic now then I'm totally screwed."

Slowly regaining control of her still wobbly legs, she silently made her way to the end of the bookcase she had been using for cover. Peeking out into the rather large 'studying quarters' of the library, down towards where she had thought the sound had come from; still not finding who or what wasbehind it. Finally after a minute or two of slow, deep inhaling and exhaling Hermione had caught her breath and realized it must have been the floors shifting under the weight of what looked like over a million books in the hefty room. Feeling more confident she made her way to the third row of books, looking for any sign of something disturbed to make such an inconvenient 'thud' during her one chance to get what she came for. Her eyes hurt from trying to see in the dark, and without another moment passing she slid her hand to her right hip and gently pulled out her wand. "Lumos." She whispered, and without hesitation her wand created a small burst of light. Sort of like a flashlight but not as obnoxious.

"Nothing." She hissed under her breath as she walked down the third row.

She crept down the fourth only to find a large book lying distorted on the ground, its pages bent under the weight of itself.

Hermione, having a slight case of O.C.D, felt leaving this sad looking book crumpled on the floor just seemed wrong to her. Putting it back from whence it came was what she felt obligated to do. "Up you go." She whispered softly, with a small smile to the spine of the book. But as she reached up she felt a small, misplaced gust of wind from behind her.

Instantly her body reacted, sending a chilling shiver up her back making the hair on her neck stand on end. Letting out a loud 'gasp', Hermione spun around dropping the cloak and exposing herself. "Blimey.." Was all she could think at that moment in time. Once exposed, two strong hands griped her tightly from behind, one over her mouth and the other around her waist before hurling them both to the ground. Hermione landed on top of the hooded figure, their hand preventing her from letting out the loud shriek she could feel burning in her throat. Sitting them both up to a crouching position, the hooded individual pressed her body close to theirs while snatching up Harry's cloak and throwing it over them. She could feel their breath softly hitting the side of her neck, sending another wave of shivers up her back. Suddenly a stream of light broke into the library; she could hear Mr. Filch mumbling incoherently from the entrance. He made his way up and down each row of bookcases; He must have been investigating the noise Hermione had heard too. Her body stiffened when she could hear his muttering right on the other side of the shelf where she and her, 'saviour?' not sure what to call them, were crouched hidden underneath the invisibility cloak.

"Don't make a sound." A harsh but strangely familiar voice lightly breathed into her ear.

Hermione nodded anxiously in reply, while looking over to the end of the bookcase as the light from Mr. Filch hit the exact spot they lay dormant. She felt the boy's breathing get put on hold, so she imitated him and was motionless holding her breath as well.

Mr. Filch slipped past them without a second look, relief flushed over her body as the door to the library was shut once again. Complete darkness took over Hermione and the boy holding her, his grasp still tight.

"The SECOND he lets go of me, its game over for him."She told herself.

Another minute or two passed before she was set free, making sure the coast was clear. The second she was out of his grasp Hermione sprang to her feet all but screaming the word "LUMOS!" Hermione lit up the stranger where he stood.

"Pull off your hood or suffer my wrath." She told him sternly, furrowing her eyebrows together trying to look tougher.

"Now, now. No need for the dramatics, Granger." He retaliated with the same harsh tone she had used.

"Granger." Hermione repeated slowly, out loud. "Take it down this instant!" she ordered again this time bringing her wand higher, walking smoothly towards the hooded man.

"Relax Mudblood, I may have just saved your ass from getting expelled. Is this the thanks I get?" He said all the while reaching up to gently pull down the hood and expose a platinum blond head of hair, steel blue eyes, and a pale yet striking complexion.

Hermione's eyes widened and her mouth hung half open. "There's no way.." Her mind raced.

Please R&R!