A/N: So I struggled a bit with this chapter. I hope the pace isn't too slow, but one of my major irks is when the characters fall for each other too fast. I know they have known each other for seven years, but still, these things take time. I hope you enjoy it, it's not as dark as the last one.

Chapter 4 - Routine

He woke up to his head slamming on the floor and a yelp.

"Bloody hell Malfoy!" Hermione said, shocked. Regaining her composure somewhat, she quipped, "Do you generally abandon comfortable beds for bathroom doors?"

He was still dazed by his surroundings, until the events of the previous night caught up to him.

"I... er... I..." He tried to think of something but failed miserably. She was still studying him curiously.

"Well, if you are not going to tell me, would you mind getting out of the bathroom?" She was clearly annoyed by his answer, or lack thereof, but he was thankful she did not press the issue.

"Right... er... yea" He replied pathetically, quickly exiting the bathroom.

The rest of the morning passed well enough. They walked to the Great Hall for breakfast together, before separating to go to their own House tables. After breakfast, they received their timetables, he groaned in seeing he had double potions first, Professor Slughorn was still teaching potions, which meant that he would have to endure his congratulating all the students who were on the right side of the war, and wondered what treatment he would get.

He arrived at potions with a few minutes to spare, and was not surprised to see Hermione was already there. Remembering Professor McGonagall's intructions, he sat next to her.

"Hullo partner!" He smiled, hoping she would forget the awkward events of that morning.

"Hi" She smiled tentatively back, clearly confused by his behaviour.

Hermione's behaviour improved throughout the lesson, clearly the difficult potion proved to be a useful distraction for her ever-busy mind. Slughorn, however, was worse than he thought he would be. He spent all lesson ogling over Hermione, and avoiding Draco like he was some kind of a disease. He was obviously trying to distance himself from the darkness surrounding the Slytherin house, as he was their head. Twice, he asked her if she wanted to switch partners, the second time almost broke Draco's resolve, but he managed to hold his anger within.

After lunch, they had Defence Against the Dark Arts. Their new Professor was a small witch by the name of Whitney Orleue. She was from France, and very determined to prove herself, and by the end of the lesson, she had gained their respect.

After DADA, they went to the library to do their homework. They were to write the exact instructions for making Felix Felicis for potions, and for DADA, they had to write twelve inches on the impact of the Unforgivable Curses. Draco sighed, this was going to be a tough year.

When dinner time came, Hermione had finished her homework, but continued to read Advanced Potions, just for fun. Draco was still struggling on his DADA essay, he had three more inches to go and he had said all he had wanted to say.

After dinner, they went back to their common room and Hermione disappeared into the bathroom while Draco struggled to find more things to say about Unforgivable Curses. He finally finished went to bed. That night, he again had trouble sleeping, and was again confronted my Hermione's screams. It seemed that she still had not realized that she had two doors, or maybe she had presumed that her silencing charm would cover both doors.

If she had not been screaming in pain, he would have been amused that the brightest witch of her age had finally made a mistake.

And so they fell into a steady routine. They would go to breakfast together, most of the time in silence, attend lessons together, he had all his classes with her, but she was taking more classes than he was, sometimes go to the library together when neither of them had lessons, and finally they would end up at their common room. They talked when necessary, never displaying hostility in front of others, never actually putting too much emotion into their conversations. She had accepted that she was stuck with him, and he had accepted she did not like him.

Every night, he would lie awake, and then finally fall asleep after her screams subsided. She always locked her door, but he made sure to never make the mistake of falling asleep by her door again.

He gained a lot of respect and admiration for her, each night, she went through hell, and each day, she had to put up with him, her tormenter of seven years, but never once did she complain. She was never unpleasant towards him, and she always put on a smile for the world to see. He was amazed at her strength, and began to realize why the Sorting Hat had put her in Gryffindor and not Ravenclaw. As smart as she was, her courage was ten times greater. He just wished she did not have to suffer alone.

They continued like this for weeks, both going through the motions, but secretly dying on the inside. She became his role model in a way. Whatever agony he was feeling, he would always tell himself that if she could deal with it, so could he. If she could face each day with a smile, despite all her burdens, then he could too.

Despite the fact that they never talked more than necessary, despite the fact that he was quite sure she hated him, not only for what he had done but also for who she thought he was. Despite the fact that his father would disown him if he ever found out, despite the fact that he denied it, even to himself, the impossible was happening.

Draco Malfoy was slowly falling for Hermione Granger.

A/N: Well there you go, I hope I did the classes justice, as J.K. never really wrote too much about the seventh year I had to do a bit of research and guess work, if anyone has any suggestions homework and class wise for NEWT level, it would be greatly appreciated. :)

Thanks for reading!

Always,

Shan :)