A/N yikes, sorry for the delay in updating! Been super busy. Hope no one has given up on reading this! Thank you for all the lovely reviews on the last chapter, they really do make me smile :) It's so nice to know that the story is being appreciated! Maybe drop me a few more for this one? :p Haha ideas are always welcome too, so feel free to pop those in a review or an inbox to me and your idea may appear in the story!

Enough of my little ramble, please R&R, but most importantly... enjoy! (And I'll try not to take so long with the next update!)

The following evening marked Hermione's first Prefect patrol of her sixth year. Ordinarily she would be looking forward to fulfilling her duties as a Prefect, but this time was different. This time would also mark her first Prefect patrol with Draco Malfoy. That thought alone was almost enough to tempt her to try and find out if Ron had any of his brothers' Skiving Snackboxes, but then she reminded herself that she would have to patrol with him for the rest of the year, so she may as well get used to it. Besides, McGonagall had assigned the pairings and Hermione didn't wish to disappoint her Head of House. Especially if Luna was correct in saying that that particular pairing had been done to, in some way, help Malfoy. Still, that didn't make it any less horrible.

An hour or so later, Hermione found herself waiting outside the Great Hall for Malfoy. Ron and Harry had expressed their sympathies before she left, and she knew neither were planning to leave the Common Room until she had arrived back and they could make sure Malfoy hadn't harmed her. She had rolled her eyes and laughed affectionately at them, knowing she would be able to take care of herself should the Slytherin Ferret try anything. At that moment, however, it seemed more likely that he wouldn't even turn up, let alone try and hex her.

Just as that thought crossed her mind, she heard footsteps.
"Lumos," she whispered, lighting her wand.
"Do you mind?" The cold voice of Malfoy sounded as soon as she had moved her wand in the direction from which she had heard the footsteps.
"Sorry." She replied, realising as she lowered her wand that she had been shining the light right into his eyes. Apparently he had been closer than she realised. As expected, the Slytherin did not offer a response, unless you count a sarcastic raising of the eyebrows as he turned away and started walking, clearly expecting her to follow. Hermione took a deep breath before indeed following, ready to get on with their patrol. After all, the sooner they got it over with, the sooner she could separate herself from him and go back to Gryffindor Tower.

The first hour of their patrol passed in silence, which suited both of them just fine. It wasn't a comfortable silence, obviously, but neither was it uncomfortable. It just was. They were on the third floor when they heard a slight noise just around the corner. They barely even glanced at each other to check the other had heard it, both just knowing the other had.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" Malfoy's harsh voice spoke out as he turned the corner just a moment before Hermione did. As she, too, rounded the corner, she noticed a pair of third year Hufflepuff students. The boy, though looking just as terrified as the girl, was standing slightly in front of her as if thinking he would have some chance of protecting her from the Slytherin Prefect leering at them.
"50 points each from Hufflepuff may teach you a lesson."
"Malfoy!" Hermione hissed, turning to glare at him. He merely raised his eyebrows and met her glare with his own. She ignored this and turned to look at the Hufflepuffs, her eyes stern but fairly kind. "10 points each will be deducted from Hufflepuff. It will be more if you are ever caught in the corridors after hours again. Understood?" She glanced from the boys face to the girls, both of whom nodded their understanding. "Good. Now, both of you get back to your Common Room."
They didn't need telling twice.
"I still think it should have been 50." Malfoy grumbled, and Hermione, who had been watching the younger students hurry away, rounded on him, hands on hips as she fixed him with a frown worthy of her stern Head of House.
"It's only the first week of term." She stated simply, raising her eyebrows as if daring him to challenge her. Predictably, he did.
"Even more reason to take more points. They need to learn."
"And they have been warned, but there's no need to abuse our power as Prefects simply because we can!" She shot back, walking away before he even had a chance to think of a retort. He caught up with her quickly, and they finished the rest of their shift in silence.

"Well?"
"How was it?"
The moment she stepped into the Gryffindor Common Room through the portrait hole, Harry and Ron had immediately jumped from the sofa and hurried over to her. Though neither mentioned about the potential of him hurting her, she could see them both eyeing her up and down to check for scratches or other injuries to which she simply rolled her eyes.
"It was fine." She shrugged. "Malfoy tried to abuse his power as a Prefect…"
"That dirty Ferret!" Ron cut her off, but was silenced by a slight glare from Hermione.
"As I was saying, he tried to abuse his power as a Prefect when we found a pair of third year Hufflepuffs out after hours, but I stopped him. Of course, that didn't go down well with him and he had to say something about that but," she held up her hands as she saw both her best friends tense at the idea of Malfoy having something to say. "No wands were drawn and no hexes were thrown." She smiled as she saw both of them visibly relax. "Now, if you'll both excuse me, I'd rather like to get some sleep." She bid them both goodnight and walked up to her room. She picked up the diary, but put it away again. It was late, and she really did want to get some sleep. Surely Slytherin Boy wouldn't mind missing just one night. Besides, he was probably already asleep.