A/N: So this update came a little bit faster...How was everyone's Halloween? I watched two minutes of Saw IV and then I got really disgusted. That movie scared the crap out of me, but then again, everything scares the crap outta me. Anyway, this chapter is random too. Yeah, it popped in my head for some reason, a certain part, and you'll probably know what (it actually came from a dream I had at one point, but that's another story). Enjoy the chapter, and don't forget to review!

Chapter 7

Just as Draco was confused about his feelings, Hermione was going through the same thing. The next day, she had to deal with the silent treatment from Ron. Harry and Ginny didn't seem to notice though, but that may have been because Hermione and Ron's relationship was being kept a secret. Hermione had no one to turn to. Trying to be strong, she kept all her tears, her sad feelings in the inside, being a good actress at disguising her emotions. No one had any idea what she was going through.

Draco Malfoy knew better than that. From the moment Hermione and Ron had their brief argument, he knew that there was a fling going on between them. Everytime he glanced at her, he could see the hurt in her eyes, and she'd been holding it in. She never met eyes with the red-head, and when she did, she looked on the verge of tears but held it in. For him to see this was pathetic, but hey, there was nothing he could do. It wasn't his business to intrude, and even if he did do something, there would probably be more trouble in her little paradise.

Later on that day, when he happened to notice that once again, Hermione and Ron were ignoring each other in Care of Magical Creatures. He led his niffler a little closer to them so that he could hear what they were saying, pretending to be interested in the niffler digging in the ground.

"Harry, could you pass me that gold right there?" Ron asked as he picked up his niffler to check for any treasure.

Harry held them out for Hermione, too far to reach Ron. "Hermione, could you pass this to Ron?"

"Oh, sure." Hermione took the coins and instead of giving them to Ron, she dropped them on the ground next to his feet.

"Sorry about that," she said rather stiffly.

Ron chuckled as he bent down to pick it up. "Real mature, Hermione."

"Well, I wouldn't have to do these things if you'd just hear me out," Hermione told him as she reached for a silver spoon dug up by her niffler.

Ron sighed. "You know, I don't have time for these games."

"I'm not playing any games!" Hermione hissed, crossing her arms and totally oblivious to her animal-watching. "You never listen to what I have to say. I don't lie to you, Ron."

"Oh really?" Ron turned to her, his ears pink. "Well, you and Malfoy were sure hitting it off the other night."

He glared over at Draco, who realized that he was standing only a few feet away, staring at the two of them. Clearing his throat loudly, he turned back to his niffler and pretended to engage in conversation with Crabbe and Goyle.

"You have it all wrong, Ron, you really do," Hermione said quietly.

Ron said nothing but looked a whole lot more interested in his niffler.

Hermione said nothing else but kept her distance the whole time. How could Ron had possibly thought a little fling was going on between her and the biggest jerk she's ever met? Though, she had to admit, after he seemed to care about her in detention, she didn't hate him as much as she usually did. He might not be so bad of a person.

Wait a second. Hermione almost cursed at herself for thinking such a thing. Malfoy would never like her in a million years. He wouldn't dare do anything nice for her again. In the meantime, she would have to figure out more ways to get on Ron's good side.

As class ended, Hermione walked next to Harry instead of Ron, who was talking to Seamus and Dean nearby him. As they entered the Dining Hall, Hermione noticed Harry and Ginny flagging her down in particular. With raised eyebrows, she went over to them and they offered her a seat in between them. As soon as she sat down, she knew that they were up to something, especially the smiles they kept throwing at her.

"What?" she asked irritably as Ginny threw her googly eyes.

"Trouble in paradise?" she asked as she sunk into some pudding.

Hermione, who was just about to eat a cracker, dropped it on to her plate. "What?" she repeated, cheeks slightly pink.

"Don't play that game, Hermione," Harry said to her. He looked around before dropping his voice. "We know about you and Ron."

"How-?"

"The Weasley's know everything," Ginny told her with a wink. "So, we're right?"

Hermione nodded sadly. "He caught me alone with Malfoy...and thought we were up to something."

"Really? what were you doing with him anyway?" Harry asked.

"Arguing," Hermione said simply. "Then I tripped, and he fell on top of me..."

"The freak!" Ginny exclaimed. "Trying to put his moves on you! Our innocent Hermione..."

"I pulled him with me," Hermione added a little defensively, not knowing why it was important to clarify that.

Harry and Ginny glanced at each other and stared back at her in amazement.

"She's...she's moving up now, Ginny," Harry said seriously, looking at the girl and clutching his heart in surprise.

"Our precious little flower is growing up!" Ginny said as she embraced The-Boy-Who-Lived and began to fake sob.

"It seemed like just yesterday that Victor Krum would be our new brother-in-law," Harry said wonderingly, looking off into the ceiling.

"But I'm glad he didn't," Ginny said as she wiped imaginary tears from her eyes. "I'm afraid we would've had muscular, duck-footed children."

Hermione stared at the two before bursting out in hysterical laughter. She actually had to hold her sides and the table to keep herself from falling to the floor.

"After a while, Fred and George will start to rub off on you," said Ginny grinning at the brunette. "Glad to see you're smiling, Hermione."

"Ron always has his moodswings, you know that," Harry told Hermione. "But in the meantime, we'll always be here for you Hermione if you're in trouble."

Hermione wiped her happy tears away, grinning at her friends. She was quite amazed at their Weasley-twin like antics, yet touched at the same time by the fact that the two cared so much for her. At least they realized that her and Malfoy getting together was just out-of-the-question.

"Thanks, you guys."

The rest of the day turned out quite smoothly. Hermione had been in high spirits as Harry and Ginny kept her company and laughing. Though, when Dinner ended, she was on her own as she had to go serve out her detention.

"Don't let the pureblood catch ya!" Ginny called as her and Harry headed up to Griffindor Tower.

Hermione laughed and turned around only to bump into Draco, who was heading towards detention too. Her smile quickly faded as she glared at him. "Where do you think you're going?"

Draco rolled his eyes.

"I was actually about to do something nice for a change," he said to her. "Look, as soon as I call you a Mudblood, slap me as hard as you can."

Hermione gaped at him for a moment. That didn't sound like Malfoy at all. At least, not the Malfoy she knew anyway.

"What?" she asked in disbelief.

"Just play along," Draco told her. He cleared his throat and said loud enough for everyone to hear, "Why don't you get out of my way, Granger?"

"Uh...You're the one who bumped into me!" Hermione raged back, trying to fit into the role of the victim. "I don't have time to fuss with with you!"

"You don't have time for anything but opening your legs!" Draco snapped back.

Oh that was good Hermione thought, raising her eyebrows considerably at his comment. She was nearly about to congratulate him on this when she realized that they were roleplaying, and she immediately snapped back into her role.

"You jerk!" she shouted. "I hate you!"

"Same here, you little mudblood!" Draco shouted back.

With everyone in the room watching, Hermione raised her hand to slap him, but someone suddenly grabbed her wrist to prevent her from doing it. She looked over her shoulder and saw Ron, holding her wrist firmly and face red with anger.

"Go away, Malfoy, before I make you," he said in a voice that Hermione never heard before. She had never seen him looking so serious before.

Malfoy raised an eyebrow. "Fine. See you in detention, Granger," he added with a glance towards the girl as he walked out, just as people were starting to stand up and file out of the Great Hall.

Ron watched him leave before turning back to Hermione. "Can we talk?" he asked quietly.

Hermione nodded, not quite believing what just happened. She absentmindedly followed Ron, not at all concerned about what he was going to say, but instead of what Malfoy just did for her. Did he really, truly, just try to help her out? I was actually about to do something nice for a change he had said. Was she right about what she thought? was he actually growing soft on her? the thought of this sent her heart flying off course. Why was that making her nervous?

When her thoughts came back to reality, she realized that she was standing in front of the prefect dormintory entrance. She looked around and saw that nobody but her and Ron was there. She turned to Ron and saw that he was staring at her strangely.

"Ron-" Hermione started to say but was cut off when Ron suddenly grabbed her and thrusted his lips to hers. Wide eyed, Hermione waited until the impulse had went away, and the red-haired boy finally pulled away. "Ron!" she said breathlessly, amazed at what he did.

Ron grinned at her. "A sorry just didn't cut it. I over-reacted Hermione. I should've realized that you would never date him. Let alone touch him."

Hermione sighed with relief. "It was an accident Ron, trust me. I didn't want to touch you because I was nervous. Besides, I would choose you over Malfoy anyday."

Ron smiled. "I wish I would've seen you slap him, he deserved it for that comment he made."

Hermione's smile faded away a little. "Yeah," she said, though she was thinking opposite. "I'll see you later."

"Bye." Ron kissed her and headed back to the prefect's dormintory.

Hermione was about to leave to the library when she bumped into Draco on the way there. The two stopped and stared at each other for a while. Hermione's heart started to hammer faster against her chest as she darted her eyes away from him.

"Weasley still mad at you?" Draco asked her.

Hermione shook her head, surprised to feel her cheeks flushing brightly. "That was nice of you," she said quietly.

"I wasn't trying to be nice!" snapped the Slytherin. "You are so pathetic, you know that?" with that, he walked away from her, trying himself not to blush.

Hermione just watched after him for a while, thinking maybe, just maybe, that Malfoy wasn't such a bad person after all.

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It was killing Draco in the inside to know that now, he had done something nice, for the first time, in his whole life. As he walked with Snape, beside Hermione, he noticed that she didn't give him a look of disgust or glance at him hatefully as she always did. She didn't exactly smile, but she just glanced at him and looked away rather quickly. He didn't know what to say to her, and she didn't know what to say with them. The two of them were so caught up at the moment, that they let Snape criticize them without talking back.

"I do hope you two will stop sitting around, lounging and make better progress," Snape commented as he led them inside the library. "I must say, you two put a whole lot more effort in this library than you ever did in my classroom."

Draco was picking at his nails, glancing at Hermione while Hermione pretended to be busy with a spot on the floor.

Snape raised his eyebrows at the fact that they didn't sass him back. "I'll be back around midnight. I hope I see that you two are almost done with the second stack."

As soon as he left, Draco and Hermione turned to glance at each other.

"What are you looking at?" they both asked each other.

"I didn't look at you, you looked at me!" Hermione raged back.

"Whatever." Draco turned around towards the stack and barely picked one up when he heard laughing. He turned and saw that Hermione was chuckling, staring at him. "What the hell is so funny?" he growled.

"You know Draco, you really are funny. But I get you." Hermione was smiling at him now. "All this vented anger...it makes sense now."

"What are you talking about?" Draco asked, and Hermione was glad to see that he sounded a little nervous.

"I think you're starting to change your feelings about me," said Hermione as she crossed her arms.

It was Draco's turn to laugh, though he did it rather weakly. "You've got to be kidding me. Okay look Granger, I've hated you for six years now."

"Really?" Hermione raised an eyebrow. "So, can you explain to me why you saved me from the spider? and why you helped Ron and I get back together?"

Draco's mouth hung open but didn't find any words to say but, "Leave me the hell alone!" He walked away from her, heart hammering nervously against his chest. As much as he'd like to deny it, he couldn't get over the fact that maybe, just MAYBE, he really has changed his feelings about the girl, but he couldn't break down in front of her; she couldn't possibly get the satisfaction of the doubt. But he would never ever tell her, and nothing could make him.

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"Times up," Snape called yet again as he came into the library three hours later.

Draco and Hermione joined him moments later as they rushed from different floors, faces pink and flushed from heat.

Snape looked up at their progress and smirked. "Hmmm...I guess you've made a satisfactory progress here...you did start on the second stack, but I certainly hoped you've learned a lesson on extended time, because you'll be finishing tomorrow at the same time. Sleep well."

Hermione's mouth opened to argue but Draco stepped lightly on her foot. She caught his glance out the corner of her eye, and he was shaking his head lightly.

Snape's smile grew even more menacing as he turned and headed out the library. Hermione cussed silently as she followed him, thinking nothing but death threats. As soon as Snape disappeared around the corner towards his office, she couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Why did he have to do that? We got to the second stack like he wanted us to!" she raged.

"Because he's the world's biggest shit head," Draco told her simply. "Yeah, I said it," he added when Hermione looked at him in amazement. "Because it's true, he is a shit head. I really do see it now. If you had made the same mistake I made a couple of nights ago, we would probably be fuming mad now because we got extended time."

"Then I would have to get a knife and slit Snape's throat," Hermione muttered.

Draco chuckled. "That's a bit dark for you, Granger."

Hermione realized that he was right. So much has changed, she thought. She couldn't even believe that she was sitting here holding a conversation with the boy she supposedly hated, and agreeing with him.

Moments later, the two arrived inside the The fireplace was blazing with heat, no one to be seen. She looked around once and instantly saw something she's never seen before. "Wow! look at that!"

Draco looked in her direction and his eyebrows raised. There, on the side of the room, was a long, brown table holding a big black coffee maker, which was steaming with coffee as it sat. Next to it was like a concession stand; it was stored with popcorn, muggle and wizard candy, even Muggle soda machines. "Well, time to eat I guess," he commented as he headed over to it, Hermione following him.

Draco saw a small little red box with a girl on it. He grabbed one and opened it, seeing dark purple shriveled up looking things. He stuck his finger in the box, got one out and put it in his mouth. Seconds later, he was spitting it out on the floor.

"Gross!" he said with a disgusted face. "This tastes like shit!"

Hermione, who was drinking a water bottle, suddenly sprayed Draco with water, choking slightly. "S-sorry," she gasped, choking and laughing at the same time.

Draco, who was now dripping wet, stared at her. "Oh, so you wanna play that way huh?" He grabbed a water from the counter, screwed open the top and slung some water out of it at her.

Hermione shrieked as the water hit her. The smile slid quickly off her face. "How dare you!" she fumed angrily, slinging some of her own water at him.

Draco ducked out of the way. "Missed, loser," he teased, sticking a tongue out at her.

Hermione tried again, and Draco moved too late. He was hit in the attempt on rolling out the way again. Swearing loudly, he revealed himself from behind the couch and flung water back at her. Hermione dove behind the other couch and missed the water by only a second, giggling madly.

"Now who's the loser?" she teased him, poking her head from over the couch. Draco wasn't looking at her anymore, nor was he smiling. He was looking over her shoulder, looking quite blank. Hermione's stomach dropped as she slowly turned on the spot and saw Ron, standing at the foot of the stairs, staring at them. He crossed the room as if he hadn't seen anything and went straight into his room.

Hermione didn't know how to explain this one.

A/N: So How was it? Review please!!!