So this chapter is a bit different from the others, you'll see why. As usual, please R + R, I want to know what you really think, whether its a bit too smutty so early on – please let me know your thoughts! Also, I finish my exams on Wednesday, and these three chapters had already been written a while ago, so give me some time to write the next one. Should be up within a few days. Thanks people!

3. What's happening to me?

The door in the next room slammed, making Draco drop the book he was reading, "Wizarding Wonders and How to Accomplish Your Own" by Familda Forncop. He hurried into the common room that joined his and Hermione's rooms, looking around for her. She had justcome in, and was clearly in a bad mood, sitting on the plush sofa in the middle of the room, her arms crossed in front of her chest, eyes staring at the flames in the fireplace as though she wished she could throw someone into them.

"What's wrong, Granger?" Draco had not meant to sound so concerned.

"Oh, for god's sake, Draco…would you stop calling me Granger? My name is Hermione. I am a girl and my name is Hermione. Say it with me, Her-mi-o-ne! Hermione! Ok? Boys might be fine calling each other by their last names, but I prefer being referred to by my actual name."

"Woah! Someone's got her panties in a twist! Sorry, HERMIONE. I won't forget again, HERMIONE. Now what's wrong really, HERMIONE? Because it certainly can't just be me, for once." He tried to put the image of her panties out of his mind.

He stepped towards the coach and lowered himself so he was sitting next to her, closer than he thought she'd allow, but he liked the proximity. He could smell her perfume, and feel her hot, heavy breathing as she kept sighing at whatever was annoying her.

"Right, well, you know how I'm quite clever?"

Draco snorted at this comment. "I think you're underestimating yourself a little there, Hermione. You're the cleverest girl I know.."

"Thanks," Hermione blushed, immediately realising who she was blushing at, and calmed herself. This was Draco Malfoy after all, the thought of anything happening between them, well it was wrong.

"Well some people seem to think that, just because they have a clever friend, it means they never have to work and they can just drop it all onto me. I'm not a computer who can just do the work in a matter of seconds and then be done and move onto something else, it still involves a lot of work, and I…"

"Granger...I mean Hermione, what's a com-put-er?"

Living in the Muggle world during the holidays meant that Hermione was a part of both worlds, the wizarding world, and the non-wizarding world. Some people, however, had been brought up by wizards, like Malfoy who was from a pure-blood wizarding family, and Ron, and so they were not familiar with Muggle inventions like telephones, computers, televisions….the list was long.

"Oh, yeah...sorry Malfoy. It's just a sort of electrical thing that can work out things for you, like calculations and you can use the internet on it..."

"Erm...the in-terr-net? What's that?" Draco was getting more and more confused by the second. Hermione thought the confused look on his face was rather adorable.

Did I really just refer to Draco in my own head as adorable...Oh my...This is so wrong. He's a Slytherin, he's my best friend's arch-nemesis...and he's Draco!

"Oh, it doesn't matter Draco, I mean – Malfoy. Well Professor Flitwick has set us a 3 foot essay on a charm of our choice – and Ron's just given me his essay to do – and it's due to be handed in tomorrow, and I have three other essays to write tonight, and I just don't get how Ron thinks he can do this, and..."

Draco slid his arm around her shoulders, hoping to relax her. He hated it when the Weasel did things like this to her. She wasn't his friend to be used and abused, she was a beautiful intelligent woman, and, Draco thought, she looked absolutely gorgeous when she was angry. Best of all, in her anger she had slid down the couch and her skirt had slid up slightly, revealing her toned thighs...Draco's eyes wandered down to them and he wished he could summon the courage to touch the soft skin her skirt had revealed.

Feeling Draco's warm arm slung around her shoulders, Hermione felt her heart start to beat faster. Only just now did she see how close they were sitting, how warm his muscly bicep felt against her neck, how if she moved her hand just a little to the side she would be touching his gorgeous legs. Sneaking a peek up to his face she saw how dark and lustful his eyes had become, staring down at the floor – or what she thought was the floor. She followed his gaze and saw that her skirt was riding up a little too far, showing off her trimmed legs. Hermione had summoned some exercise equipment to her room next-door when she had moved in – convincing herself that losing weight was good for her health, but secretly hoping to impress a certain Slytherin with her new body.

"Erm, Draco, get your arm off of me! What do you think we are, best buddies all of a sudden? Ew!" Faking disgust, Hermione stood up from the couch and stormed into her room, leaving Draco sat on the couch wondering what had just happened. He thought they'd been getting closer, he had even been considering asking her to go to Hogsmeade with her on the school trip that weekend.

Draco had dreamt of taking Hermione shopping, buying her everything she wanted – he had of course taken over the Malfoy family wealth after his aunt and his father were no longer around, his mother passing the opportunity down to her son in hopes that he would stay at home longer with her to keep her company. They would have gone for some warm drinks in the Three Broomsticks, at a table close to the roaring fire so he could see the warmth rising in her face, the glow that he loved so much. After that he would have walked her back to the grounds, holding her hand tightly if she would have allowed him to and waiting for any opportunity to push her up against a wall somewhere and place his lips against hers, so soft and wet...he'd been secretly admiring them for days. A year ago he would have banished thoughts about her from his mind, she was a Mudblood after all, but now he couldn't help himself. Several times he had caught her (sometimes on purpose) on her way for a shower in the Head's bathroom, wearing her nightwear. His favourite was the purple silk dress that clearly had been bought with ulterior motives – surely she wasn't just wearing it to feel nice in bed, she must be trying to seduce him.

Waking up from his daydream, Draco felt a pain in the arm he had wrapped around Hermione's shoulders and which he had not moved after she had left. He stood up from the couch, and walked back into his room, stiff in more ways than one.

From the other side of the door, Hermione heard Draco go into his room. She sighed and walked to her window, admiring the beautiful view of the Forbidden Forest, trying to immerse herself in the scenery of Hogwarts rather than think of him. She knew she felt nothing for Draco, he was just a friend – not even that, really. She'd had the occasional dream about him, rushing into her room and tearing her clothes off – but that was to be expected when spending so much time with somebody, surely? The lingerie she had bought recently had nothing to do with him, she had explained her purchase with the excuse that she had lost her parents, and would have to keep herself busy with work, and buying herself new clothes. The purple slip that she had spent far too much money on was just to make herself feel sexy, not to impress anyone. Although she had loved the look on Draco's face that night when he had caught her in it. She definitely hadn't counted on him being on the way to the bathroom as well, and catching glimpses of his eyes wandering over her body when they were both brushing their teeth that night in the bathroom, well that hadn't affected her at all. She might have gone to bed feeling very turned on, but that had nothing to do with him.

Hermione wasn't going to let anything happen with Malfoy, she knew that she found him attractive – mostly because of the personality change, but also because he had been doing more and more Quidditch practice and his muscles because of this were fantastic.

"No, no, no, no, NO!" Hermione shouted to herself. She was going to have to learn to deal with living with him. They had all of their classes together, and Harry and Ron were in most of them as well – what would her friends think of her if they found out she liked a Slytherin.

"I like him? What?" Hermione fell back onto her bed. "What's happening to me?"

Meanwhile, in Draco's room, he was wondering what her favourite flowers were. "She seems like a girl who likes romancing, maybe I'll ask Potter what she likes. He'll help me, won't he?"

Realising that her friends would never help him, he fell back onto his bed in defeat. He was never going to have any luck with her. He liked her, and he wanted to do something nice to her.

"What's happening to me?"