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Chapter 4

"Hey 'Mione, aren't you coming back to the common room?" Ron asks. Harry is meeting with Dumbledore again,so it's just her and Ron.

"No, I'm going to go to the library and finish up my Arithmacy assignment," Hermione says, turning towards the corridor that leads to the library.

"Oh great, I'll come with you- I haven't even started it yet," Ron says, smiling. Hermione bites her lip.

"No, no, don't worry about it; it's not due for a few weeks anyway. I'll let you take a few pointers off of mine." Ron frowned and looked at her carefully. Hermione, telling him not to worry about an assignment? Offering to let him cheat? Something was up, but he knew better than to pry. She would tell him when she was ready.

"Okay then, see you later," Ron said sullenly. Hermione waved goodbye and walked away. The truth was, she had finished that assignment the afternoon it was due. All she wanted was some quiet time to mull over the surprising events of the day without the Patil twins or Ron or anybody interrupting her. Though her last expedition to the library had been a disaster, she crossed her fingers that Draco had made it a habit to only come late at night.

She was happy when she entered the library and saw it was empty, save for Madam Pince glaring at her over her spectacles from her desk. Hermione gave her a hearty wave and drifted towards her usual table. She pulled a book out of her bag and pretended to read.

Now, how could Malfoy have possibly got his book back? According to Hogwarts: A History,a complicated spell was set over the dorms so that one cannot summon an object from anywhere in the castle. It had slipped her mind back in her dorm when she was searching for the lost backpack, but she remembered now, so that ruled out him accioing the bag. Could he be working with one of the Patil twins? Possibly.

"Merlin, mudblood, I know I'm handsome but do you have to follow me everywhere?" said a snide voice from behind her. She sighed and tucked her book into her bag before turning around and gazing into Malfoy's face.

"Godric, Malfoy, just leave me alone," she murmured. "You win this one. I have no idea how you managed to get your bag back- it was either extraordinary magic that I know you're not capable of or you managed to seduce one of the Patil twins with your handsomeface." The last comment was a taunt, and Draco was unsure of whether she had just complimented or insulted him. He hid his confusion well.

"Finally admitting defeat, are you?" he sneered. "Finally realising that you're just a little mudblood, huh? You and the rest of the Golden Trioare just a bunch of wankers-"

"Oh get over yourself Malfoy," Hermione interupted, rolling her eyes. "Has anyone ever told you you're a pathetic pain in the ass?"

"Anyone ever tell you you're a little know-it-all goody-two-shoes mudblood?"

"Oh shut up!" Hermione growled. "I come in here forone minute of peaceand you think you're all high and mighty! Think of something new! I've heard it all and you're just a fowl evil little cockroach!" Draco scowled at the familiar insult from third year and fingered the scar on his chin from her punch. It was a painful memory, being beaten up by a girl, and a mudblood at that. He whipped out his wand.

"Levicorpus!"he shouted, and the mudblood was pulled up suddenly and dangled by her feet. Her blood flushed her face, which is twisted up in rage.

"Merlin you're insane!"she shouted, just as Madam Pince rushed up to them.

"No! No no no! No spells in the library," she shouts, her face red. Draco reluctantly mumbles the counter-curse and sends Hermione crashing back down.

"If you want to be welcome in my library, behave,"she scolds Draco. Draco smirks at her but then looks at Hermione.

"Well, I'm not letting a little mudblood-" "-we do notuse that word-" "-keep me from studying." Draco looks at her defiantly. Last time they encountered each other he had let her chase him away, but that was not happening this time. Madam Pince looked flustered and walked away, muttering to herself about teenage hormones.

As soon as she rounded the corner to her office, Hermione sprung up from the ground and backed Draco up against the wall.

"Just leave me alone, okay? I'm not interested in you or your little games-"

"Why don't you go back to your common room? Rejected by your friends?"

"Don't talk about my friends-"

"So it's true then?" he smirked. "Little Potty is off playing with Dumbledore and Weasel, too clumsy and stupid to do anything." Hermione eyes are blazing now, and her erratic breaths wash over his face. She is too close for comfort.

"Don't everinsult Harry and Ron in front of me! They are twice the man you are! You wouldn't know a real friend if it slapped you in the face-"

"Hit a nerve didn't I? They must have some nerve, abandoning you and leaving you to waste away in the library-" That was enough for Hermione. She threw her hand back and swung it around, aiming for Malfoy's face, but Draco's seeker reflexes kicked in and he snatched her hand out of the air, spinning her around and pinning her up against the wall instead.

"You've got quite a temper," he said, but it lacked his usual acid. She was pinned beneath him, every inch of him touching her, and her face was tilting up to his, eyes blazing. They looked at each other for a few minutes, the anger fading away.

It took Hermione a second to realise why Draco had suddenly gone silent. His body was pressed up against hers, pinning her against the wall. His face looked down on hers, his gray eyes calm and his skin pale in the dim light. She realised he really was a handsome wizard, chiselled and masculine with beautiful eyes. His jaw is square and his lips are full. His pale hair looks soft, and Hermione was hit with the sudden urge to feel it. His breath tickled her chin. He smelled like... mint, and the woods. It was nice. She closed her eyes and inhaled.

...

Far off the library doors opened with a bang, snapping them back to reality. Draco stumbled back from the horrified witch, his stomach churning. He raced out of the library, past a bewildered second-year Hufflepuff and to his common room, which was buzzing with Slytherins, doing their homework or lounging on the couches. He looked around and spotted Pansy, grinning slyly. She walked up to his and pressed her chest to his where Hermione had been moments before.

"I don't know about you, but I'm feeling horny..." she murmered, tracing patterns on his neck. He smiled coyly and grabbed her hand, pulling her towards his dormitory. Just the distraction he needed.

...

The doors slammed loudly behind Draco and Hermione's knees gave, sending her tumbling back to the floor. She buried her face in her hands.

What had just happened? One moment she was angry, almost as angry as when he had taunted them in third year about the assassination of Buckbeak. And the next... she had no idea what it was, except that his lips looked tantalising. He was so close to her, so close, and for a second it seemed as if he was lost in her, too.

She had to remember who she was talking about. Draco fucking Malfoy. She could still smell him, and she realised she had to get out of the library. She had to get back to the common room where Ron and Ginny would be waiting, her friends.They would distract her and make her laugh and she would forget all about this little... episode. Yes.

...

Harry was sitting at a table with Ginny, Ron, and Dean when Hermione got back to the common room. Ron saw her and waved. Hermione smiled and weaved through the throngs of Gryffindors blocking the way, pushing the Malfoy incident to the back of her mind.

"Hey Hermione, guess what?" smiled Harry, his cheeks flushed.

"It's not another love potion, is it?" Hermione whispered loudly to Ginny, and the table laughed.

"Harry is Quidditch captain!" Dean shouted. Hermione smiled and acted excited for Harry's benefit, though she couldn't care less about the sport, and everyone knew Harry would get the position anyway. She supposed it was a boy thing.

"Oh Harry, that's great!"

"Yeah! But I was talking with a few of the players from last year and it's going to be hard to schedule practices with all the OWL and NEWT training. I'm feeling stressed already." Hermione's face fell when she realised what this meant. With Harry and Ron playing Quidditch again and Harry at his meetings with Dumbledore, Hermione would be having a lot of alone time. Though she often complained about having no quiet time to finish her essays, she really did enjoy the boys company, and there was less of a chance Malfoy would approach her with them around.

Ron and Harry were too busy discussing tactics to notice Hermione's concern, but Ginny reached over and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. Hermione noticed her other hand was grasping Dean's under the table, and she gave Ginny a tight smile.

"I'm going to go up to bed," Hermione whispered to Ginny. Her head was pounding all of a sudden, and her whole body ached with fatigue. Ginny bade her goodnight and promised to poke her head in on her way up. Hermione was almost at the staircase when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked behind her and saw it was Ron.

"Oh hey, what's up?" she asked.

"Well," Ron began nervously. "I was wondering if you could help me with that Arithmacy assignment?"

"Of course, I promised you, didn't I? But I'm really tired right now. Maybe tomorrow?" Ron looked dejected, and Hermione was a bit confused. She had promised him, hadn't she? She always helped him with his projects.

"Okay, see you tomorrow," Ron murmured and walked away. Hermione watched him walk away with a frown on her face, but shrugged it off and dragged herself up to her room, where she collapsed on her bed fully clothed. Despite the thoughts whirring around in her head, she was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

Meanwhile, in the common room.

Ron approached the table looking beat.

"No luck?" asked Harry. Ron shook his head.

"That's twice today she's rejected me," he frowned and slumped down in his seat. Ginny patted his shoulder and Dean looked uncomfortable.

"Hey, I'm sure she'll come around," Dean reassured him. He knew it seemed like he was flaunting his relationship with Ginny when Ron was going through a tough time, but he wanted Ron to know he was still supportive. Ginny and Harry nodded in agreement.

"Don't you worry about a thing," Ginny said, taking a bite off a Cauldron Cake. "And if all else fails, I bet Lavender Brown would be more than willing to step up." Ginny tilted her head to the brunette in the corner, eyeing Ron with a hungry expression. Ron couldn't stop himself from letting out a laugh, and felt better already. He leaned back in his chair. They were right, of course. She had to come around eventually.

...

Draco panted and rolled over, tangling his legs through Pansy's. She grinned at him with post-coitus bliss and lay beside him for a second, catching her breath before rolling out of bed and pulling on her clothes. Draco watched her dress with a cocky smile. She gave him a kiss on his mouth before rushing out, adjusting her clothes so no one would suspect anything though everyone already knew. Not that Draco minded- shagging the sexiest Slytherin wasn't a bad reputation to have.

He rolled over in his bed, burying his face into his pillow and relaxing his muscles. Right now his little encounter with Granger was the furthest thing from his mind, and that was how he liked it.

Hm, things are heating up, aren't they? After this, who knows what will happen next time Draco and Hermione are alone together. And what's up with Ron? Guess we'll have to wait to find out.

xxxx,

Malfoy-Anonymous