CHAPTER 2

They ended up in the library. Hermione looked around the empty desks, selecting one at the very back. Natalie plonked herself down and started pulling out books. Hermione looked around for her own bag.

'Where is my bag?' She whispered to herself.

Natalie heard her, 'Oh, it's still in Myrtle's bathroom. Sorry I didn't grab it, I'll go get it.' She started to get up, but Hermione placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

'No, it's ok, I'll go get it.' Hermione turned to leave, then another thought popped into her head, 'Oh, you should start on Chapter 9 in Magical Theory while I'm gone'. Natalie nodded and pulled a book open. Hermione headed out of the library, taking a shortcut, she arrived opposite the bathroom. Going in she was careful, deciding that her bag could stay there if there was anyone inside. She turned the handle and pushed open the door, she couldn't hear anything so she went in further. Seeing her bag near the back wall, she hurried in to grab it, glancing into the last cubicle as she did so. She noticed a neatly folded note resting next to the loo like it had been dropped. She crawled over to it and flipped it open.

'Draco', it read. She skimmed through it, a few sentences stuck in her head.

'Disappointment to the Malfoy name...'

'Don't deserve the honour of pureblood status...'

'Need to study harder if you are being beaten by a mud-blooded girl...'

She couldn't bring herself to read any more, she folded it noticing the Malfoy crest at the top of the stationery and stood up. Turning around, she discovered that she was face to face again with Draco Malfoy. He was sneering then he noticed the letter in her grasp, his eyes widened, breaking his perfect mask, he snatched the note a look of anger and fear filling his grey eyes. Hermione took a step back trying to get away from the fury building inside of him. He followed her as she backed into the cubicle, shaking with anger, but fear was still in his eyes. He looked like he was about to explode.

'How much did you read?!' He screamed at her. She shook with fear as she looked into his eyes. 'You think that you can just read my private letters?! Have you any respect for your betters?!'

'I'm so sorry,' Hermione whimpered. She was pushed as far back as possible but they were still nose to nose.

'Sorry isn't good enough! How much did you read?!' He started pulling out his wand. His eyes showed angry fear. He seemed desperate to know how much she had read.

'I...I only read a few sentences', she mumbled, trying not to look into the silver depths.

'What did you read?! Tell me what you read!' He demanded his wand close to jabbing her in the throat. She lifted her head trying o put space between the wand and her neck.

'Draco...' She sobbed, looking at the wand. 'Draco, please... I won't tell a soul, I promise!' He took a step back with a deep breath. Closing his eyes he lowered his wand, Hermione straightened up breathing hard. 'Draco...' She took a step towards him.

'Get out' was all he said. He closed his fist, crumpling the letter. 'Get out now, Granger'.

She took one look at him before scooping up her bag and running out of the bathroom. She wiped her eyes dry as she climbed the stairs to the library, where Natalie was waiting. In the distance a bell went, but Hermione's swirling thoughts didn't register it. She continued up the stairs until he bumped into someone. Stumbling back down a few stairs she looked to see who she had collided with. It was Ginny.

'Hey, I was looking for you; Nat said that you had gone to...' She noticed Hermione's wet sleeve and watery eyes and trailed off, 'What the hell happened to you?!' she cried putting her arm around Hermione's shoulders and leading her up the stairs into an unused classroom.

'Nothing happened,' She muttered edging for the door, But Ginny blocked her way.

'That's bull Hermione! Was it Umbridge? What did that old bat do to you?' She flicked her hair fiercely, plotting revenge on the pink toad.

'Nothing happened... I just... my head...is sore from hitting a wall...with it.' Hermione looked up through her eyelashes. Ginny laughed.

'Yeah, Nat told me about that.' She admitted before opening the door and pulling Hermione out with her into the deserted corridor. 'Hey, you should probably get to class as well.'

'But the bell hasn't gone yet?'

'Oh yes it has, it was going when you tried to pull me down the stairs.' She winked before sashaying down the corridor, leaving Hermione to rush to Arithmancy.

She made it to the classroom on the seventh floor just at Professor Vector showed up. After offering a quick apology for being late, Hermione walked in and looked for a seat. There was one at the very front, she promptly sat down and took out her books and a quill and sat patiently while conversation babbled around her. The teacher called for attention and then started class talking about what she expected from their OWL year. The door opened and the class turned to stare at the late comer, it was Draco. He glanced around at the class staring at him, as he met their eyes; they turned back to their books and the front of the room.

'Hurry to your seat Mr Malfoy', said Professor Vector, indicating the seat next to Hermione. He looked at the seat and then scanned the taken seats around the room. With a sigh, he trotted down the aisle and dumped his bag on the desk. He slumped in his chair and moved it as far as possible away from Hermione as the desk would allow. He searched his bag briefly as the teacher finished speaking and flicked her wand, instructions appearing on the board. Hermione grabbed her 'Numerology and Grammatica' and opened it to the specified chapter and began reading. All of a sudden the book disappeared. Hermione looked up at Draco who had stolen her book and was reading it with his back to her.

'Uh, that's my book' she said quietly, not forgetting what had passed that morning. He glanced at her.

'Well done Granger. But I don't have mine, so suffer.' He turned his back to her once again.

'You know, there is a custom that you might not have heard of called 'sharing', it is when something is divided among multiple people.' Hermione muttered.

'Miss Granger, where is your textbook?' Professor vector looked up from her papers to stare at Hermione.

'I... I thought I had it, but I can't find it in my bag.' Hermione glanced over at Malfoy who was watching her warily out of the corner of his eye. He was waiting for her to rat him out, but she wouldn't.

'Mr Malfoy, please share your book with Miss Granger. Problem solved, now continue reading chapter 8.' Professor Vector resumed her scribbling. Draco glowered at the teacher before shifting his chair noisily so Hermione could see the book as well.

'Happy, Granger?' He muttered in her ear. She glanced at him, his grey eyes hard as granite. She didn't answer but kept reading.

The bell went and Draco dumped the book on Hermione desk, bending the spine and creasing the pages. He smirked and knocked his chair over as he stood. He threw his bag over his shoulder and swept from the room. Hermione looked after him before paying attention to the textbook that lay in a mess on her desk. She tapped it with her wand and it shrank to the size of a card. She placed it in her bag carefully before standing up the chair and walking out of the class. The rest of the day was normal, with no run-ins with Draco, no tardiness, and no more trips to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.