Draco was sitting in the library. Quidditch practice had dragged out, and was now facing a dreaded essay on beetle-to-button transfiguration, which was incredibly boring. The day had been a very long one, and the only light gleam of the day, was Weasley puking snails all over the Quidditch pitch. He laughed at the mere memory of it. Hermione had walked into the library, she was hoping to impress Lockhart with her essay "What is your rendition of my quest as described in 'Holiday with Hags'. As she was writing her essay, she looked up and noticed Draco Malfoy at a nearby table. Her thoughts traveled back to earlier today when he had called her a "Mudblood." Hagrid had to explain what it meant, after, but it was definitely the rudest thing he could have come up with. Leaning back in his seat after finishing about a third of his essay, he caught a glimpse of Granger. Of course it had to be her, walking in to the nearly deserted library. She couldn't have chosen any other day to sit in there? Obviously not. A flash of regret hit him, as he recalled what he had called her earlier that day, but he quickly pushed it away - he simply regretted not saying anything worse, probably, maybe. She bit her lip. Should she talk to him about it? Would it do any good? Ron was already burping up slugs for her - the damage had clearly been done. He caught her staring at him. And now she had noticed he was there. Just perfect. Why couldn't that little filthy human being just stay to herself. He looked back at his essay, and tried to muster up something to write, but his mind came out all blank. He snuck up a glance, to see if she still was there, but quickly looked back. This was stupid, he muttered to himself. Enough was enough, she decided. She wasn't able to focus anyway, that's how she was able to convince herself. Getting up and leaving her essay she approached Malfoy and cleared her throat. He looked up. Looking up, he saw that Granger had actually approached him. Why him. Why was it always him? "What do you want, Granger," he drawled, putting as much poison as he could in to those five words. She didn't know what to say. How could she bring up what happened today without it sounding like she was dwelling over it. He rolled his eyes at her, and looked back at his essay. If she didn't want to say anything, he certainly wouldn't push her to do it.

"I'm waiting for you to apologize." Were the words that finally left her mouth.

"For what," he asked and looked up at her again. "For being rude? I hope you didn't expect anything else from me." She actually thought about those words. She realize he was right. She didn't expect anything else from him. Why was she dwelling on this then?

"I wasn't." She finally said. "But you should still take it back."

Forcing himself not to roll his eyes again, he simply stared at her. "Sorry," he drawled, his voice still laced with irony. She stared at him. What was she expecting? She almost forgot who she was dealing with. The ignorant, arrogant Draco Malfoy.

"Mean it." She growled.

"Why," he asked with a playful smile on his lips. He couldn't believe that this was actually entertaining for him, but teasing Granger had been something he'd enjoyed for the past year.

Now it was her turn to roll her eyes. "You know what? Forget it." She turned away

"You should learn how to take a joke," he called after her, earning an angry look from Madame Pince. "Acting like you have a wand stuck up you-know-where will get you nowhere in life."

She turned back to him, glaring. "That was NOT a joke." She practically yelled, not bothering to lower her voice.

"But it was," he retorted. He rolled up his parchment and collected his books in his bag. "And I suggest you lower your voice, before Madame Pince finds a reason to throw you out of your precious library." She followed him out, she wasn't going to let him get away with this.

"If it was a joke, why did no one laugh?" She demanded.

"The Slytherins laughed," he said, stopping in his tracks outside the library.

She glared at him. "Well ha ha." And with that she turned her heel and walked away. He watched her walk away, and with a small thought of "I'm going to hate myself for this tomorrow." He ran after her.

"Granger," he said. "I'm sorry, okay. I won't call you a - that, again." What had gotten in to him? She turned around. Her eyes wide in shock. This IS what she wanted, but... it wasn't right.

Wasn't she going to say anything? A thank you maybe? No? Nothing. He stood there, watching her carefully, wondering if she was going to hex him...?

"Thank you." Now she was wondering if he actually meant it. He didn't answer her. He simply turned around and started to walk towards the dungeons. His head fuming with his own thoughts about how absolutely stupid that was. Hopefully, she would keep her mouth shut to Potter and Weasley though. She ran back to the Gryffindor Common Room. She had done it - she had gotten the slick git to apologize. But... that wasn't enough, for some reason. Still fuming in bed that night, his mind started to wander. Why had he even bothered to apologize to that bothersome know-it-all? It was all very stupid of course, it was just... He hadn't meant it. Of course. Maybe. No. He'd certainly meant it. No one could ever know about this though. It wasn't until the wee hours of dawn, that Draco finally fell asleep in the Slytherin common room. Hermione was tossing and turning herself. She should be asleep by now, but her thoughts all turned back to a slick-haired blonde "Stupid Malfoy" she whispered to herself.

The morning after, Draco was sitting by the Slytherin table, red-eyed and absolutely not looking his best. He was glad it was Sunday, so he had another day to get that bloody essay done, and maybe catch some z's when nobody was looking. His eyes kept trailing of to the Gryffindor table for some reason though, but he couldn't see Granger anywhere. "Stupid Granger," he muttered silently, making sure no one heard him.

Hermione had overslept. By the time she had woken up her dormitory was empty - she expected everyone was at breakfast. She hoped she wasnt too late. Rushing to get dressed, she made her way down to the Great Hall. Draco was almost finished with his bacon when he saw her storm in. He quickly retreated his eyes to himself, hoping to everything that was good in the world, that she hadn't seen his spontaneous reaction to her entrance. Luckily for him, she hadn't. However, as she was pouring herself milk her eyes wandered over to the Slytherin table. Now she was scanning it? But their eyes met. Draco followed her with his eyes to the Gryffindor table, and their eyes locked. He could feel his blush spreading over his face, and he quickly retracted his eyes again. Stupid Granger, he thought once again. In any case, he decided to linger a bit in the Great Hall after everyone was done eating, pretending that he was reading the Daily Prophet someone had left behind. The Great Hall was soon nearly deserted, only a few people sitting at the various tables. She noticed the crowd thinning out. Harry had gone off to Quiddich Practice, which was rescheduled and Ron was off doing his detention in the hospital wing. When Draco looked up from the Daily Prophet the next time, he was almost alone in the Great Hall. No one was sitting there except from that one girl. Hermione Granger. What was his problem exactly? It was Granger, he didn't want to talk to her? But still, like he was on auto-pilot, he got up from his seat and started to walk towards her. She noticed someone approach her. It was Draco! What was he doing? She looked around, in panic, but calmed herself down

"Hi," he said rather awkwardly as he finally came close to her. Now, what what he supposed to say more? He should have a reason to be there. "Did you sleep well?" Was all he could muster up to say. Seriously? What was wrong with him. And now he wanted to die in a hole, great. She noticed how red his eyes were. She also noticed the bags under his eyes. She wondered if she should comment on this.

"I'm fine. Yes, I did sleep well," she lied, "How are you?" she added as an afterthought.

"I just... noticed you were late," he rambled. "I'm fine. Well. Didn't sleep, but I'll try to get in a nap when I'm done with my essay." Why was he telling her this?

"Do you...need help?" She didn't know why she just offered Draco Malfoy help. She never even let Harry and Ron copy off her homework.

~~To Be Continued~~