Hermione sat, shock still. Her jaw was starting to feel sore from all the dropping it was doing, but she couldn't shut it. 'Did Malfoy…just ask me to…accompany him to Hogsmeade?' Everything felt numb and she felt her brain go a little fuzzy from lack of oxygen. But she paid no attention to it. Seconds later little black spots began obscuring her vision and she finally took a deep breath. 'Well that's just preposterous! How could he even think I would willingly go anywhere with him?' She frowned. Try as she might, she couldn't figure out what was going on with him. It felt like he'd been acting strange ever since the year had begun. 'I'll just have to hideout in my room or the common room the entire day, then. No big deal, I suppose. It's not like he can force me out or anything. Besides, if anything, I can just hex him into next week!' Hermione brightened slightly. Her smile dimmed slightly, however, when she saw the books and parchment in front of her. With a slight frown, she began packing it all away, 'I'll just have to come back and finish this tomorrow, I suppose. No use sitting here doing nothing all night.' After all her books were in her bag Hermione straightened up and turned to either sides, getting all the cricks out of her back. Standing up, she rolled her shoulders a bit and picked up her bag.

Humming slightly, Hermione stepped out into the cold hallway and locked the library up.

'What the bloody hell was that, Draco?!'

Draco Malfoy was currently on his way to the dungeons, berating himself as he did so. He had been trying to figure out what had happened for the past 30 minutes, but he was failing miserably. Something had prompted him to ask her to accompany him to Hogsmeade, and he was willing to bet the Manor that it was that strange thing in her eyes. He growled softly. 'You're letting it get to your head. It's bad enough that you can't get it out of your dreams, DON'T LET IT CONTROL YOU,' he thought sternly. 'Still, a day in the presence of Granger…that ought to be interesting.' A small smirk graced his face. Yes, a day with Granger would indeed be interesting.

"Cupiditas," he said to the stone wall in front of him. It slid open to reveal a small passageway. With confidence oozing from his every step, Draco walked into the Slytherin common room.

"Draco! I thought I was going to have to go looking for you!" someone chuckled from a sofa near the fireplace.

"Please Zabini. I think we both know that if I've been gone for too long, you should be sending out a search party to help the other person." He smirked, but it held no malice.

"True," Blaise chuckled. "Still, I was…concerned. Not to mention Pansy would have had my head."

"I suppose. Where is she? Sleeping?"

"Don't know, haven't seen her all day."

The two fell into a comfortable silence. This was the main difference between Slytherins and Gryffindors: snakes knew how to maintain a peaceful silence, while lions felt the need to galumph about, roaring at everything.

Pansy stretched her arms high above her head. She'd spent almost the entire day in the library after classes, and then returned to her room early. Her intention had been to cast a silencing charm around her bed and work in peace, but as soon as she'd cast the 'Silencio' she'd fallen asleep, books and everything strewn around her. Needless to say, it hadn't been a pleasant night's sleep, and people were going to suffer for it. Even when she was younger, she'd never been one to suffer alone. With a slight smile, she remembered when her favorite doll had its arm ripped off. In her fury she'd reached for the toy closes to her (which happened to be Draco's small broom) and smashed it to pieces beneath her feet. Of course, she wouldn't dare do such a thing now, but still…she never went down alone. With a big yawn she lowered her head onto her arms and closed her eyes.

"We missed your presence last night by the fireplace," a soft voice said suddenly from her right.

"Mmf zrep gurgly," she muttered, head still on her arms.

"What was that, darling?" Didn't quite catch it," another voice said from her left.

"I said, "I slept early." My goodness. And I know you guys didn't even notice I wasn't there." She finally raised her head and squinted. "Besides, we've hardly done that enough for it to qualify as some form of…quality time or whatever."

"Ah, I think our little bird is grumpy this morning. Don't you agree Draco?"

"Seems like it. Care to share what happened?" Draco grabbed a slice of toast and brought it to his plate, and slathered it with strawberry jelly and butter. He'd seen Hermione eat her toast like that once, and decided to try it. He'd never gone back to his old way of eating toast.

"Nothing, I was just overworked. The year's hardly begun and I feel like I've aged at least 20 years. Not that I look it, of course," Pansy sniffed daintily, her pug nose crinkling slightly.

"Of course not, Pans."

"You were out late, Nee." Ron shoveled scrambled eggs into his mouth with a spoon. "We thought we were gonna hafta go looking for you. It's a good thing Harry thought to check his map first! Saved us both a hell of a long walk."

"Ron, please. It hardly takes 5 minutes. And please, chew between bites, yes?" Hermione gave him a slightly grossed out look and slowly handed him a napkin. Ron grabbed it and wiped his mouth messily.

"Anyways Nee, why were you there so late for? Even you can't have that much homework yet…" Harry commented. "I don't want you overworking yourself."

"Guys, it's fine. I wasn't there for that much longer than usual anyways. I'm not overworking myself, and I just wanted to get a little ahead- lesson-wise anyways." She took a sip of chocolate milk and grabbed some toast. Humming slightly, she reached for some butter and slathered it all over her toast. "Harry, could you pass the strawberry jelly please?" It was wordlessly handed to her.

The three began talking about anything and everything that came to their minds, and time flew by. It was still early enough that dew was clinging to the grass outside and the enchanted ceiling was still hazy. Soon enough it was time for classes to begin. Hermione took a glance at her watch and nearly jumped out of her seat. "GUYS! We're going to be late!" she exclaimed, grabbing her bag and jumping out of her seat. "We've got to go!" Hermione gasped. "OH bugger! I bet we won't even be able to find seats in the front!" She threw her head back and moaned, "Oh…I just know today's lesson's going to be super important. And I bet we won't even be able to hear anything!" Without waiting another second, she ran out of the Great Hall.

The door burst open, and a panting Hermione stood in the doorway. "Professor Slughorn! I'm so sorry." She paused to try and catch her breath. "Was…eating…breakfast…lost…track of….time." She winced- there was a stitch in her side that felt like a knife slipping through her ribcage. Professor Slughorn laughed.

"My dear! There's no need to be sorry! There are still 5 minutes left before class. And you should know better than to run in the hallways, young lady!" He shook his finger at her, but his eyes were crinkled. "Now, come in and catch your breath before you pass out! It won't do to have my best student in the infirmary even before class starts, now will it?" With a smile he waved his hand towards the tables in front of him. Hermione gave him a weak smile and took her spot at the head of the classroom. 'Whew, that was close,' she thought happily. Humming slightly to herself, she began taking out her parchment, quill and textbook and laying them out in front of her. Then she took out her took out her cauldron and undid the shrinking spell she had cast on it earlier. After she had everything set in front of her in the perfect fashion, she folded her hands in front of her and gave a contented sigh.

After a couple minutes, the rest of the students began trickling in. And, as usual, the class segregated itself. Today was double Potions with the Slytherins. Even though the war was over and done with, the two Houses maintained their high levels of hatred towards each other- especially the 8th years. They acted like oil and water, even though on the inside they were much more alike than they believed. The Gryffindors took the right side of the room and the Slytherins took the left. There was no written or spoken rule to it- it was just one of those unspoken laws of life.

"Hey you guys! Over here! I saved you two a seat!" Hermione waved frantically at her two friends, who were deep in conversation about something- probably Quidditch. "Guys! Guys! GUYS!" Hermione suddenly yelled. The whole room froze- everyone was staring at her in surprise. With a blush she lowered her hand and began staring hard at her parchment.

A soft chuckle came from her right. "Look Nee, I know you're absolutely in love with me but you gotta calm down," Harry whispered. He flashed a smile at her.

"Mate, we know I'm the one she's in love with. Please," Ron added jokingly.

"You two better shut it! I didn't realize my voice was so loud…" She was still blushing furiously, and she hadn't raised her head. "Oh my gosh! What will Professor Slughorn think?! Oh my gosh oh my gosh…that was soo embarrassing!"

Someone cleared their throat from the front of the classroom, and everyone quieted down. "Now everybody, don't think it's escaped my attention that your two classes have yet to develop the bonds of friendship. So, today we will be brewing our potion in pairs." At the beginning of his statement everyone had begun shifting slightly in their chairs but by the end everyone looked significantly happier. People were already starting to look around the room, searching for who they wanted to pair up with. Some people even began whispering to each other and pointing at themselves and them. Professor Slughorn cleared his throat again. "Your pairs have already been made, and the list shall-" here he waved his wand at the blackboard behind him, "appear on the board." People leaned over their desks trying get a better look at the names. Slowly everyone's jaws started dropping all over the room. Seemingly everyone was in shock, but one person raised her hand. "Umm…Professor Slughorn?

"Yes, dear?"

"I…I was just wondering if the, um, the pairs are written correctly on the board?" Hermione squeaked. There was no way a professor would pair off Gryffindors with Slytherins. That was like begging the universe for a catastrophe.

"Yes, Miss Granger. The names are written correctly. Now, if everyone would just move around and sit with their partners…yes, that's it. Just stand up and rearrange yourselves!" He rubbed his belly and patted it.

"But…Professor!" Harry sputtered. "We…they…that is to say…." He seemed ready to hyperventilate. "I…I" he sputtered again a couple times. Ron's ears and face were turning a dangerous red color next to him. "Guys, come on. Let's just move. I'm sure it won't be that bad…" Hermione said to them quietly, tugging slightly on their sleeves. When the two boys made no move to calm down she tugged harder. "Guys! Sit your arses down," she hissed. Harry finally took notice of her. "Nee, have you even looked at your partner yet?" He raised his eyebrow at her, daring her to say she had.

Meekly, Hermione shook her head. Honestly she had still been hanging her head in embarrassment. "Well then, Hermione. I suggest you take a look before you tell us to calm down." She looked up in surprise at his acidic tone.

Slowly she turned her head towards the front of the classroom. Quickly, she scanned the list for her name. They were listed in alphabetical order, by last names and by House. She scanned the Gryffindor column, eyes darting down the board. D….F…..G….Gr…Granger...there was a line connecting her name to another on the other side of the board. Her breath caught in her throat as her eyes traced the line. When they reached the other side, she gasped.

Draco Malfoy.


a/n: hello again :) fastest update yet i think! FINALLY some real Dramione action coming up!

according to the Notre Dame latin dictionary (thing), cupiditas translates to ambition :) please read and review! and enjoy

disclaimer: don't own anything