The Intruder

She listened as the clock ticked on, and the sound of crickets chirping in the night outside in the lawn droned on and on. She couldn't sleep. As plain and simple as that and it was driving her crazy.

Hermione had been lying in her bed for the past four hours, staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep. She'd tried each and every method which normally lulled her to sleep: listening to soft music, counting hippogriffs, walking around…you get the gist. But to no avail. She was as wide awake as she was the last time she'd laid down, which had been a little after nine. The fact that the single beam of moonlight entering her room from the window was now illuminating her wardrobe's door proved that it was around one hour after midnight.

She kept tossing and turning but suddenly she turned as still as a statue. Her bedroom door was creaking softly. After the War, Hermione had been very particular to lock all doors against entry both in ways muggle as well as magical, so the creaking could mean only one thing. Someone had bypassed all her wards and was now entering her room. It had to be a very skilled wizard or witch to get past them for Hermione wasn't called the brightest which of her age for nothing.

As she slipped a hand carefully under the pillow for her wand, thankful that her bed was in the dark, she cursed inwardly as she did not find the object of her search there, a picture of the wand lying innocently on the bureau beside the bathtub flashing in her mind.

There she lay, in her nightclothes, without a wand, in a room completely bare except for the bed in the centre and the wardrobe beside the bathroom door. She had moved into the house six years back after the war but couldn't bring herself to decorate it with things which would only remind her of all the ones killed by Voldemort and his Death Eaters, Harry, Ron, her parents…

She took an inconspicuous breath to calm and ready herself for wandless magic when warm fingers caressed her face.

Totally unprepared for that but acting quickly, she caught the hand and using it as leverage, pulled herself up simultaneously grabbing the person's face and pushing it into the pillow. Then, placing a knee on his back, she leaned forward and growled, "Whatever you were hoping to accomplish by coming here is all about to take a turn worse than you could ever imagine."

Holding the wand which the intruder had held in his hand, she murmured, "Lumos."

Nothing could have ever prepared her for what she saw next. For illuminated by the wand was Draco Malfoy's face.

Hermione jumped back, still holding the wand tight. "You! What are you doing here breaking into my place? Come to finish the job your aunt left unfulfilled?"

a/n: I know its short but its just the introduction. The next chapter will continue and conclude this story hopefully as I'm planning to keep this one a two-shot.

Please let me know what you think…

Love,

isophia