The rest of Hermione's week was relatively normal, with one exception: Potions lessons with Malfoy. The potion had begun to increase in difficulty, and as a result, tempers flared.

Hermione was just exiting the Great Hall after lunch and heading toward the dungeons for her Potions lesson when she spotted Malfoy exiting a men's bathroom just ahead of her. She knew he saw her, because he seemed confused for a minute before he shook his head and turned his back on her, his Slytherin robes flaring out behind him.

Hermione felt as confused as Malfoy looked. Usually he would go out of his way to call her 'Mudblood' or some equally rude name, but today he seemed less inclined to do so. Could it be possible he was experiencing the same confusion she was? Every time she saw him, she felt awkward and unsure of the correct etiquette. For the past week, they had been getting along better (apart from a few arguments), and whilst they may not be strictly enemies, they certainly weren't anything close to friends.

Hermione was mulling this over as she entered the dungeon. She could see Malfoy at their table up the front of the room, checking on their cauldron. It's funny, Hermione thought, all these collective nouns she was using. Their table. Their cauldron. Their potion. She was subconsciously including Malfoy in her academics, something she never did with anyone. It had always been her work. The realisation shocked her as much as Malfoy's lack of insults did.

She walked over to the table and sat down beside him, like she had done for the past week.

"Malfoy," she said by way of greeting.

He nodded. "Granger."

Hermione started. It was the first time he had ever called her 'Granger' instead of 'Mudblood' or nothing at all. Things were changing, Hermione thought.

"Okay, so today we need to add the knotgrass and slightly more water, and then we let it stew for a week," she informed him.

"Can do. Hey, tonight's the full moon, right?" he inquired.

Hermione was confused. "Yeah," she said. "Why?"

Malfoy looked uncomfortable. "Well, it's just that the fluxweed has to be picked on the full moon, and I didn't know if you'd just bought some, or if you planned to pick it tonight or what. I mean, I'm not saying you have to do it, I can do it, but I wanted to know what your plan is."

"I was just going to buy some," she said.

"Well, see, I did some research, and apparently freshly picked fluxweed produces much better results than store-bought," he said.

"Yes, but where on Earth are we going to get freshly picked fluxweed?" she asked him.

Malfoy winked. "I know a place. Meet me by the entrance to the Astronomy tower at eleven o'clock tonight."

Hermione left potions class feeling breathless, like she'd run a race. Malfoy's wink had done funny things to her insides, making her stomach flop and her knees feel kind of… jelly. She watched him walk ahead of her, and couldn't help but notice the way he smiled at his mates, or the way his hair would occasionally fall in his face, causing him to push it back. She didn't understand how she could possibly be feeling this way toward Malfoy of all people, somebody who had made her life hard since they first met. And why was he acting so nice to her? He'd always been physically attractive, but he'd always been a huge git, too, which had easily offset his attractive physique.

But now- what? She didn't understand what was going on with Malfoy, but there was one thing she did know for sure: she was going to have to get Harry to let her borrow his Invisibility Cloak, and she was going to have to do it without mentioning Draco Malfoy.

Draco Malfoy lay down in his bed in the Slytherin common room that night, mind whirring. He had called Granger by her last name today, instead of calling her 'Mudblood'. He was trying to convince himself that it was just an accident, but he knew better. He couldn't bear to insult her anymore. He wanted to call her something nicer, something that suited her. For the past few Potions lessons, he had been noticing things. The way her brown curls tumbled down her back, the way she could get so lost in her own head that he wanted to go in there with her and find out what she was thinking about, watch her incredible mind work. He knew it was wrong to be feeling these things for someone his father would call a Mudblood, but he couldn't help it.

Draco checked his watch. It was time to go meet Granger. He got up, pulled his green and silver scarf around his neck and headed towards the door of the Slytherin common room, but was stopped by Goyle.

"Oi, Malfoy, where you off to?" he asked in his deep, stupid voice.

"Why don't you mind your own business instead of snooping in on mine?" Draco snapped.

Goyle, looking affronted, stepped aside and allowed Draco to go through the door.

Heading down the corridor, he breathed a sigh of relief that nobody except the dim-witted Goyle noticed or tried to stop him. He was already nervous; he didn't want anybody trying to intercept him.

He rounded the corner to the left and headed toward the Astronomy Tower. He was shooting glances up and down the halls, checking for teachers and poltergeists alike, because if he got caught out of bed at this time of night, there would be a price, and Draco was determined to avoid scrubbing the chamber pots in the hospital without magic for detention.

He rounded another corner and saw Granger standing there, at the entry to the Astronomy tower. She had some sort of silvery thing bunched up in her arms. Her back was to him, so he snuck up behind her and, standing at her left shoulder, reached around and tapped her right one. She jumped and turned her head to the right to see who was there. When she realised there was nobody on that side, she whipped herself around to face him, glaring.

Draco smirked. "The oldest trick in the book, but everybody falls for it," he said in lieu of saying hello.

"Malfoy, you nearly killed me. I thought you were McGonagall or someone!" she said, with her hand over her chest as if to steady her breathing.

Draco nodded toward the silver bundle in her arms. "What's that you've got there?" he asked.

"This," Hermione said slyly, "Is an Invisibility Cloak. You didn't tell me where we were going, but since we are meeting alone at eleven o'clock at night in the most deserted part of the school, I figured sneaking around would be involved and so I made preparations accordingly."

Draco's face broke out into a broad smile. "Granger, that's brilliant! Does it work?"

"Of course it works, idiot," she said. "If it didn't, I wouldn't have brought it. By the way, are you ever going to tell me this brilliant plan of yours?"

Draco had spent the afternoon planning the exact route he would take to get what they needed and not get caught, and hoped to impress her with his thoroughness.

"I think I just might," he said. "Okay, so we're going to be using that Cloak, and we're going to sneak out to the greenhouses where we have Herbology. In the back of Greenhouse Two, there's a door that leads to a back room. That's where Professor Sprout keeps all her private plants that she grows for her own personal enjoyment. That is where we will find the fluxweed, bathing under the moonlight, ready for the picking. We will only take what we need, so that Sprout doesn't notice that anything's gone missing. We will then sneak back to the castle, and rejoice in our own devious victory. Sound like a plan?"

Hermione grinned. The sight of it made him feel funny on the inside, and he shook it off. He should not be feeling this way.

"Sounds like an excellent plan," she said.

Hermione walked over to him and threw the Cloak over the pair of them.

"Let's go."

And they made their way, together, through the door and out into the darkness.