Author's Note: I have yet to have inherited HP from JK. But I shall still write. So I finally updated, and I think you will be happy to finally find out part of what Draco is up to and what he is still doing at Hogwarts as well as what happens next. Plus, it's really long. Enjoy!

Draco

Draco decided the minute he got out of the Great Hall that he was Britain's Biggest Idiot. But then, if all went well with this, he might be Britain's Biggest, but he at least would be it's happiest as well. Just yesterday, his life had been forced to change course; having received a letter from his Mother containing the news that his task had changed had thrown him for a loop. He would never have guessed he'd be instructed to get close to Granger but there it was, written out in scarlet ink: Weaken the Trio and Gain The Woman's Loving Trust, his mother had scrawled and underlined quickly in the middle of the page. To Draco, the phrase sounded a bit like a Muggle Romance novel, and he was sure that had been the intention. With the words surrounding it, to anyone but a Death Eater or his mother, it would look as though he had received a letter about a book his mother had been reading recently, a truly innocent letter. Draco praised his forethought, even though he knew he'd just gotten lucky. Granger seemed to trust him already, or at least she was pretending to. He wondered why she wanted to force him upon the Walk of Shame, but if he had to do this to get what he wanted, what he needed, even just to make her happy, then so be it. The only problem, that was acknowledged by a squelching feeling in his stomach, was that he would become dangerously close to living out his night time fantasies when he was only supposed to pretend to like her.

Thus,even with two small accomplishments already out of the way, he somehow felt he was setting himself up for failure. Not academically; something he would never live through, but socially; a failure he felt that even if it happened he could crawl his way back to the top in a reasonably short amount of time. He was a Malfoy, after all, and with the name came privileges. Certainly this couldn't backfire permanently if he succeeded in one way and failed in another. Though he'd had no choice but to agree to walk with Granger since he'd set himself up for the offer, even so, he would make it at least look like he wasn't softening up too quickly. There was something about Potter's reaction that should have told him as a man to drop this immediately and leave Hermione alone for good; but, alas,his curiosity was getting the best of him anyway and now he had to obey his orders.

So now, as he headed along the corridor, he couldn't help but smirk evilly, scaring a random third year who must have thought that with the way Draco was strutting and twirling his wand absently that he was either going to be cursed by a madman or was in the presence of an idiot. He wondered absently what the child was still doing here, as most of his year had been yanked out weeks ago, but the question lingered only as long as the boy remained in sight. Draco really couldn't care less what the boy thought of him or really why he was there. He had more pressing matters to attend to.

For one, his life was still on the line as much as it ever had been, despite his recent triumphs. It didn't matter how many books he read, his knowledge of the Dark Arts hadn't really expanded in the confines of Hogwarts, and he was honestly no closer to completing even the supposedly simplest of his tasks, one of which now threatened his image at school and his status at home. This was where he worried he was failing. It was becoming harder to keep up his fake appearance as the troubled teen who'd returned to Hogwarts scared and changed after last Spring's occurrences. He was supposedly ashamed of his attempts on the Headmaster's life; repentant and fearful of the repercussions of his deeds. And the stupid good people around him had mostly eaten that up, welcoming him back with open arms; with the exception of Potter and his close followers. And although he was sad about everything he'd done, he couldn't act like a child and he had to make his father think he was only disappointed that he'd failed. This only caused him guilt; a feeling he had only begun to feel once he watched Dumbledore fall from the tower, his eyes wide and unblinking, his body crumpled and splaying in the wind.

Draco's eyes suddenly became watery, and he turned around, searching for the lavatory he was sure to be found somewhere around the area. Spotting it up ahead to his right, he ran towards it, rubbing at his eyes as he went. Reaching it, he hurled himself inside and locked the door. He considered sitting in a stall, as his legs were shaking but decided against it. He cast aside his bag and transfigured the trash can into a small stool and sat upon it, wringing his hands nervously, trying to regain control of his nerves.

His lip trembled slightly; that had been happening far too frequently lately, and he bit it to suppress any emotions that were trying to come out. He wouldn't be like was last year, no more did he cry in bathrooms, even if he was sitting in one at the moment. No more was he supposed to be weak. He'd promised himself that this year would be better, but once he'd arrived with tasks having been drilled into his head, Draco was becoming more and more confused. His motives were changing and his strength already lines between what he was doing and what he should do were blurring in front of him, and he was losing some control the more complicated this became.

He might be scared of the road ahead, but even this dark road had periods of light in it. So he would find a way to let Granger in, and get into her mind. She would resist him, oh how he knew she would, but even he knew it had to be her decision. He wasn't supposed to use any force on her in any way, and he never intended to anyway. Manipulating the situation would be hard, but if she was a noble and good as he thought she was, he would find a way to use that to his advantage. In theory, Granger was just a smart witch, brandishing vast knowledge, fiery determination, and a wand; but still just a woman; and all women wanted the same basic things: acceptance, understanding, entertainment, and a man to keep her warm at night. Draco had to somehow become the man who accepted and understood her, entertained her, and loved her, and he had to do it just like any other man would; through the old fashioned method of flirtatious courting.

Draco shuddered slightly at the thought of becoming the pathetic wooing idiot he was intended to be, but then quickly decided that if it was done right it could be enjoyable. He could make Potter suffer as his lovely object of affection was whisked away by none other than his dashing enemy. And dashing I am, if I do say so myself, Draco thought, smiling into the mirror as he got up off the stool. He waved his wand, returning the trashcan to it's original state, and sighed at his recent emotional turns as he retrieved his bag. He left the lavatory and headed to class, now aware that if he didn't hurry he would be late. He didn't wish to go to Charms on a morning like this, but as he passed a window the sun was falling behind the growing clouds so it was not an ideal day to skip and leave for a walk. The plans had been made, now all he had to do was come up with some suitable conversation starters to use as he walked with Hermione. As soon as that thought reached his conscious mind, he started, reacting slowly to his own brain. So now he was planning conversations? Trying to figure out how to get inside her head? "Seriously, have I lost it already,"he asked himself accidentally out loud.

"No, no dear, I'm sure you haven't lost it yet," replied a wizened old witch in a portrait to his left. "I on the other hand, well that's something to wonder about, isn't it Tilly, dear?"

Draco hadn't a clue as to who Tilly was, but he wasn't about to hang around the area to find out, as he could see students up ahead, filing into Flitwick's class room as the bell was about to sound. He rushed forward and slipped into a seat in the back just as tiny Flitwick himself reached his pedestal and opened his mouth to start his lecture.

Charms went by quicker than he expected, and before he knew it, he found himself on his way to Ancient Runes, and towards two hours of staring at the back of Granger's head until that fateful bell would sound and he'd be meeting her outside the door. Draco loved Ancient Runes because it challenged his mind more than his magical abilities, so he enjoyed it almost every time he had class. Today however, he found himself focusing more on Granger than on his homework. She concentrated, of course on her work, her head bent down and her long hair spilling over the sides of the table as her quill scratched rapidly on the parchment. He watched her movements as often as he could, as her shoulders scrunched and she pushed her hair out of the way, all the while trying to complete his assignment. He handed his roll of parchment to Sinistra a minute before the bell was to ring and gathered his stuff. Once everyone else was getting ready to leave, he stationed himself directly outside the door as he'd promised, and stood, waiting.

He ruffled his blond hair absently as he watched Granger heading toward him. Her eyes were bright but her steps were wary, and she had a clear grip on her wand, placed in her jean pocket. He made the first move towards her, and nodded, a small smile was allowed to tug at the corners of his mouth. "Hi, Granger, shall we?"

She hesitated, then smiled, leading the way down the hall. He kept pace with her, keeping two feet between them. "So Runes was good today, wasn't it," she asked suddenly, her voice cheerful.

"Er, yeah, it was." In truth, he hadn't paid as much attention to the lesson once he'd figure it out and begun to solve the problems. "So what should we start with today?" Talking to her was easier than he'd thought, as long as he played nice and didn't let his mouth run away on its own.

"Hmmm...I was thinking you'd have already figured that out, since this was your idea."

"Oh." He grimaced in embarrassment, then frowned at her.

"But that's not a problem! I have plenty of ideas." She smirked in triumph as they finally reached the library floor.

"Of course you do."

"Well, since we have to come up with a reasonably good attempt at creating a potion, maybe we could research potion theory to start." Draco stared at her, not sure he could trust his ears.

"You mean, like we have to read about how potions work? And how they were first developed, the whole history? And-" She cut him off, nodding as she spoke.

"And how they're created and brewed, yes."

"Do you have any idea how long that will take? I don't know about you, Granger, but I don't intend to spend all my time on this. I do have other things to do."

"Well there are two of us. We're sharing the work," she retorted. "And I'm starting right now, and as we've already agreed, this was your idea, so follow me."

"You're insane," Draco whined as he followed her into the depths of the library. They reached a secluded corner towards the back, not that they had no privacy; there were very few students there at this hour. Still, he was amused at the choice she'd made; if he were to make any moves on her, as he probably would end up doing, no one would be there to interrupt, and with this realization, Draco's sour mood lifted and he reached for the book she handed him. He opened it, only to find his attention diverted as she set down her own book on the table and lifted her sweater off over head, revealing a nicely fitted white blouse; with two buttons undone he noticed, underneath. Once she'd stuffed the sweater in her bag, she returned back to perusing the shelves. "Its going to be a very short two hours," Draco whispered, returning to his book.

"So you do enjoy studying?"

"Well right now, very much so," he replied, and winked. It didn't seem to register with her why he smirked, but nevertheless, she looked please.

Very short session only if you unbutton one more button, thought Draco, finally forcing himself to ignore her and concentrate on his research.

A/N: So what do you think? I hope it wasn't too dramatic too yet.