His hands moved down her sides and grabbed her legs. In one swift movement, he hitched them around his waist and pressed her up against the wall. Her moans echoed around the room and her fingers gripped his shoulders. His tongue travelled down her neck, leaving red, damp marks.

"Draco…Draco…"

Hermione sat up, drenched in sweat. Her heart was pounding furiously against her chest and she knew that, if there was enough light in the room, the dark tint of a blush on her cheeks would be displayed for the whole world to see.

On the bed beside hers, Lavender stirred.

"Hermione, you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," replied Hermione, breathing heavily.

"Nightmares again?

"Yeah."

Lavender mumbled something inaudible and fell into slumber again, leaving Hermione alone in her wake.

They weren't nightmares, per se, but she found it much easier to pass them as so than to explain why she was shaken from sleeping every night from dreams of a certain Slytherin.

It was bloody annoying how he entered her mind every time she closed her eyes. He had no business invading her private thoughts like that. She didn't even want him there. Forget how good it felt when he touched her, in real life or in her dreams – it was bloody annoying.

The wind howled against her window panes and with an air of resentment, Hermione swung her legs off the bed and slipped into her night robes. She was not going to get anymore sleep, she knew that. Perhaps with her unwanted thoughts drained, she would get some work done. Godric knew she needed to get some work done.

Her footsteps thudded against the floor. Her biggest concern was waking up one of the girls, Parvati and Lavender being the worst. It was a well known fact that those two have the mouths of a running tap. Nothing escaped their notice and once they noticed, everyone else miraculously did too. She grabbed her books on the way out and when the door closed behind her with a gentle click, she breathed a sigh of relief, only to be interrupted by soft whispering.

"Someone will see you," said a soft voice. Hermione recognized it as Ginny's.

"At this hour? No one will be up."

The second voice was much deeper, stronger, one that Hermione knew but couldn't pin on a face. It did not belong to a Gryffindor; that much was for sure. And by the nature of their whisperings, it was intimate. She felt like an intruder but there was no choice. It was either return to her dorm and risk getting caught or wait for the appropriate moment to execute her escape. Hermione chose the latter.

She flattened herself against the wall and listened intently for her window of opportunity.

"You're up," said Ginny. "I'm up."

"Yes and unless one of your Gryffindor pals is sneaking around with another Slytherin, I highly doubt it."

Hermione's eyes widened.

Slytherin.

The list of any male in the Slytherin house scrolled through her head. She was careful to avoid a certain name.

"Not so loud!" Ginny hissed. Hermione could picture the fiery look on her face. "What if someone hears?"

There was a chuckle. Then, "At this hour? No one will be up."

"You know," Ginny sighed, "you really are a pain in the arse."

There was a hint of teasing in Ginny's voice that made Hermione dread what she thought was going to happen next. It was like this with her and Malfoy. The bickering, the back and forth insults, light-hearted or not, the sudden proximity in their passionate anger, the…

"Yes, but you love it."

And there, she knew it. Hermione was sure that there was no distance between Ginny and the mystery man now. She felt dirty, like she was intruding on something that she should be staying far, far away from. Yet, she couldn't move. Not now anyway. Not when the Weasley girl and God-knows-who had all ears open for any movement.

To her relief, the – what she assumed was – kiss was over in a second.

"Mm," said Ginny dreamily. "Are you going back to your dorm now?"

"Where else?"

The sound of padding feet across the floor resonated the common room and Hermione quickly straightened up. He, whoever he was, was leaving. This was her chance – the sound of her feet would be lost. If she didn't go, Ginny would find her there and know that she was there, listening.

For some reason, she knew that being found out by Ginny was bad. If Ginny purposely chose to hide this relationship, then it was no business of Hermione's to have eavesdropped; accident or not. And though she knew that if Harry or Ron, or her pre-Malfoy self found out about this, feelings of betrayal would definitely arise, she felt the opposite. Perhaps it was because she could relate to the hidden secrets her friend was keeping. Perhaps it was because she hadn't had a decent night's sleep in so long. Perhaps it was some other totally logical reason that she didn't have the energy to think of at the moment. It didn't matter. What mattered was she had to get back to her room in the seconds she had left of distraction. And she did.

Her feet climbed the stairs hastily, taking two at a time. She was at the second last step when she heard the exchange of goodbye.

"Good night, Weasley."

She grabbed the door handle, and flung it open.

Ginny's giggle was barely audible. "Sleep tight –"

Hermione threw herself into the pitch black darkness of her room.

"– Zabini."

The heavy doors of her dorm closed behind her with a light click, just as the sound of the portrait hole in the common room shut softly.

With uneven breaths, Hermione leaned against the cool wood and stared into nothing, eyes wide in surprise.

Zabini.

The careful whisper of the Slytherin's last name was so quiet; Hermione didn't know how she heard it. She wished she never did.

It was strange. She wasn't anything but slightly puzzled. Of all the houses, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Slytherin, Hermione would never have expected for Ginny to jump into the arms – or pants – of a snake. And for it to be Blaise Zabini… she never would have guessed. In all of their Slug Club meetings, the two had never been anything but hostile towards each other.

Much like you and Malfoy…

Heat rushed to her cheeks. Hermione cursed her emotions for betraying her, even at a time when no one was looking. She supposed Ginny and Zabini were in a similar situation. She wondered whether they started off the same way: a heated argument, an unintentional invasion of personal space, a forbidden kiss that became like a drug.

But they were happy. At least, they sounded happy. Even in the middle of the night, hiding from all their friends, putting everything on the line, they sounded happy.

Hermione's feet unconsciously directed her to her bed. She wondered how long she had before she had to wake up again. The sky outside was just beginning to lighten. There were only a few hours left at best.

Slipping into her still-warm bed, she silently tossed the covers over her and stared at the blank ceiling. She wished that they were enchanted like the one in the Great Hall. Then, even in her moments of insomnia, there would be a worthwhile task to do. Searching the skies for the telling stories of years ago didn't sound too bad.

Despite her obvious fatigue, Hermione couldn't bring herself to close her eyes. Her mind was too jumbled now, a mixture of Ginny and Zabini, her and Malfoy, and everything in between.

She lay there for hours, hypothesizing the possible scenarios which would have brought the unlikely couple together. And, when her exhaustion finally caught up with her, she slipped into a state of slumber, wondering whether she and Malfoy would meet the same fate.


If it wasn't for the constant clinking of silverware and the buzz of incessant chatter that filled the Great Hall, Hermione was sure she would have collapsed into her plate of mash potatoes right then and there.

Her sleeping problem had not stopped. In fact, it had gotten worse. Not only did her dreams of Malfoy get more and more creative, her workload was finally catching up to her. No sleep, no concentration and a three-foot scroll to write every night did not fare well together.

The thing that troubled her was the intensity her dreams were reaching. Just the night before, she had been woken up, covered in sweat, with a tight clenching in her thighs, by no other than Parvati Patil. Parvati said that Hermione was moaning too loud. It caused her the utmost embarrassment, and now, sitting in their house table, she could not bring herself to meet the Gryffindor twin's eyes.

What troubled her the most was the fact that she had not had any interaction with Malfoy since that day in the girls' bathroom. He would always move to the opposite side of the room when she entered, she never saw the familiar head of platinum blond in the hallways, and during mealtimes, his back was always facing the Gryffindor table. His avoidance was so obvious that even Ron and Harry were riled up by it.

"That bloke," said Ron, jabbing his chicken leg with a fork.

Hermione lifted her head from her Arithmancy homework.

"Who?" she asked warily, already knowing the answer.

"Who else? Malfoy."

She squirmed nervously in her seat. "Ron, just drop it."

"No, I won't 'just drop it'," said Ron, glaring at the table in the far end of the room. "He is being completely out of line!"

"Ron!" said Hermione in exasperation. "Stop it!" She looked at Harry. "Make him stop."

Harry didn't look up from his Potion's book. "Hermione, the only reason I'm not saying anything right now is because I'm too busy trying to finish this essay."

"Thank you!" said Ron, patting his best friend on the back. He turned his attention to Hermione. "Listen, Hermione, I don't care how much trouble it'll get me into. Malfoy deserves a good blow to the head. Or two. Or three. Or –"

"Ron!"

"– four, or five…"

Hermione blood raced. They keep talking about him and making her think of him when she did not want to talk about him or even think about him. He was in her thoughts so often that she couldn't stand it and when there was a time he possibly wasn't, Ron and Harry were thick-headed enough to bring him back.

"Ginny," she pleaded, "help me out here."

Hermione's gaze flickered over to where the sixth-year was sitting and realized that Ginny had not been paying attention at all. Instead, her eyes were transfixed somewhere behind Hermione's head, looking dazed.

A small voice in her mind told her that she shouldn't turn around. It gave her suspicions of what, or who, Ginny could possibly looking at – suspicions that Hermione was almost sure of. She didn't listen. Turning her body around the bench, she glanced over her shoulder in the direction of Ginny's stare.

As she had guessed, it was Zabini that was the distraction. His eyes were also dazed.

Hermione's lip tugged into a small smile of affection. It was sweet that Ginny and Zabini were so…into each other.

A wave of sadness and loneliness hit her and she determinedly pushed it away. Just as she was about to turn around, there was a flash of blonde and then, a pair of silvery eyes met hers.

Her heart stopped.

Blood rushed to her cheeks.

She wanted desperately to look away but she couldn't.

They hadn't made eye contact for long, and in the few seconds that they did, she couldn't move. Images from her dreams flashed through her head.

His hands on her.

Her breathing hitched and she felt a familiar stirring just below her stomach.

Her hands on him.

"Hermione?" Ron's voice broke through the silence. "Are you alright?"

A part of her told her to turn around and answer Ron, but the more dominant part stayed rooted to her position.

"Hermione?"

Touching.

"What the—"

Feeling.

"—devil is she—"

Pleasing.

Hermione stood up abruptly and tore away from Malfoy's gaze. Her knees were weak and she wanted nothing more than an icy cold shower. She piled her books into her arms and hopped over the bench, throwing an apologetic smile at Ron, Harry, and Ginny, who finally brought her attention back to the Gryffindors.

Harry stared at her in bewilderment. "What are you doing?"

"I just remembered that I have a – a … a Runes essay to translate," she said hastily, juggling the heavy load in her arms and backing away from the table.

"What?" said Ron, looking at her as if she was mad. Hermione turned around on her heel and began walking towards the doors. "Wait!" he called after her. "Where are you going?"

Hermione broke out into a slow run. "Library!" she threw over her shoulder the first thing that popped into her head. The doors approached her quickly. She broke through and gasped a gulp of air, as if she had just been drowning. Her legs felt weak and tired but she couldn't bring herself to stop walking. And she didn't.

Step by step, she marched through the halls until the smell of parchment wafted around her and the silence wasn't eerie. She gave Madam Pince a curt nod (if Madam Pince was capable of liking students, Hermione would be the number one favourite) and began counting the aisles that she passed.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

Six.

Seven.

Her feet came to a halt. This was her favourite area in the library – the Potions section. It was secluded and students rarely visited: students rarely liked the subject.

But Hermione, she always felt she had a fondness towards the subtle art of potion-making, regardless of the professor that taught the subject. It was one of the oldest subjects and the field of study offered some of the oldest books ever to be written in the wizarding world. To her, it was fascinating.

When she trailed far enough down the aisle, she set her books on a nearby table and leaned against a book shelf, closing her eyes momentarily.

How bad in it was she that she couldn't even stay in the same giant, crowded room with him? How bad in it was she that every time she closed her eyes, he invaded her mind? Was it some wicked plan of his, to seduce Hermione Granger and distract her so that she couldn't concentrate, couldn't think?

Hermione drew a shuddery breath. She didn't need to be a genius to know that the situation was helpless, and Godric, she was going to need all the help she could get.


Draco watched as Granger stalked out of the Great Hall, her skirt moving appreciatively with her. The spot just below his stomach twitched and he swivelled back to face Zabini with self-disgust.

The dark wizard was still concentrated on something beyond him.

Draco reached over and snapped his fingers.

"What were you looking at?" he asked when the attention was back on him.

Something indefinable flickered in Zabini's eyes before he said, "Nothing."

Draco rolled his eyes. "That's likely."

Zabini's eyes focused suddenly on him.

"What is that supposed to mean?" he demanded, his dark eyes calculating.

"Nothing," said Draco, smirking. He watched as Zabini scoffed and returned to his meal.

In the short weeks since his first encounter with Granger, Draco found himself to be in the presence of another magical being that he did no expect. Zabini had always irked him so and Draco didn't know what compelled him befriend the other wizard, but he did. At least he was a better, more educated company than Crabbe and Goyle. They were almost friends.

The truth was that he was also on to Zabini. Draco had caught him sneaking into their dorm last night, and a couple of nights before. At first, it was no big deal. So the fellow Slytherin was getting some. So what? That was until Draco had woken up one night to find him entangled around a certain red-head in the common room.

How Zabini managed to sneak the Weasley in was beyond him. It was common knowledge that the only people that had ever stepped past their portrait-hole were Slytherins. And yet, the Gryffindor had entered, and Draco assumed on multiple occasions, without a scratch.

The idea of their being together was still a shock to Draco. He always knew that Zabini found Ginny Weasley attractive, as did many other male students, but he never would have guessed that anything would have been acted upon it. It was hard to get a grasp on it.

He was always under the impression that Gryffindors and Slytherins were supposed to hate each other – natural born enemies. And there stood Weaslette and Zabini, living proof against the same principal. And him and Granger… they were close enough to proof against it. He wondered how many more of his fellow students were in the same situation, hidden and consumed with passion.

His head hurt.

The pumpkin pasty on his plate never looked less appealing. He pushed the plate away noisily, ignoring the small rumbling in his stomach that begged for food. Draco gathered his robes and stood up from his seat.

Zabini's eyes snapped towards him.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"To bed," said Draco simply, stepping over the bench.

"Really," said the other wizard in amusement.

Draco rolled his eyes. "Sod off."

Without waiting a reply, he made his way out of the Great Hall. Each step he took increased the pounding in his head and when the heavy doors closed behind him, leaving him in silence, he stumbled against it. Going to bed hadn't been his intention when he said it, but after leaning against the door for some much-needed support, Draco decided that anywhere else would become the death of him.


Hot, throaty moans filled his ear and Draco groaned, kissing her fervently. He felt her hands grip his arms, then his waist, then slide around the planes of his stomach. His need heightened. With a quick rip, the only fabrics left between them tore away and he relished in her heat. She writhed against him and just the feel over her skin against his length almost sent him over the edge.

"I can't wait much longer," he whispered into her ear. His fingers reached down and brushed her most sensitive spot, then entered her in one smooth movement. She whimpered and bucked against his hand, trying to feel more.

A single nod on her part told him just what he wanted to know. Positioning himself over her, he kissed her full on the mouth and thrust into her. Pure bliss.

Draco sat up straight and stared into the darkness.

Fuck.

His hardness under the sheets taunted at him, aching for something he shouldn't – couldn't – want.

He was trying. He avoided her in the halls, in class, at breakfast, at lunch, at dinner and it still wasn't enough. Damn it, he was trying so hard to rid her from his thoughts but he couldn't. He fucking couldn't no matter how hard he tried. Salazar knew how hard he was trying.

Beside him, Crabbe snored loudly. Draco looked to his right. Zabini's bed was empty.

Another loud rumble filled the air and Draco had the urge to throw a pillow at Crabbe and suffocate him. Everything was getting on his nerves.

Irately, he tossed off his thin blanket and slipped on his robes. It looked to him like another sleepless night, and it was getting annoying. He wanted his sleep. He needed his sleep.

His legs felt stiff under his hips and he thought of ever retched thing that came to mind. Blast-ended Skrewts. Threstals, though he couldn't see them. Newborn house-elves. The gash on his arm from Buckbeak's talons. They were of no prevail.

Draco stole once last fleeting look around the room, making sure everyone was asleep, before slipping quietly out the door. The common room was quiet, save for the gentle cackling of the fire that never went out. His favourite chair sat beside the fireplace, calling for him, but he ignored it and kept on walking. He just wanted some air. The portrait-hole opened at his arrival and Draco was greeted with a wave of coolness. His muscles loosened slightly.

He didn't know where he was supposed to go, but he knew that he wanted to keep walking. So he did. His feet moved on their own accord and Draco savoured the quietness.

He rarely experienced times like these now. Everything was so hectic, so demanding, that he never had anytime to just think. When he was younger, he used to take some time on the weekends and just reflect on the days that passed – what he did, how he did, when he did. It allowed him to catch his mistakes and improve upon them in the next week. That was what his father told him. Malfoys always succeeded. And if they didn't, they kept trying until they did. Draco lived by those words like they were gold, and that was what kept him on top.

But lately, he found that he hardly had a chance to catch his breath and too many mistakes were being made. That was his only explanation.

Familiar doors appeared around the corner; Draco had arrived at the library. He looked around the hallway and silently rejoiced in his luck. Filch usually caught any students out of bed at night and Draco was luckier than lucky to have escaped the caretaker.

The doors gave way slowly and soundlessly and he quickly slid through the crack. The sheer silence of the library calmed his nerves immediately and he began weaving through the aisles. Counting on his luck to support him for the remainder of the night, Draco dropped his foot like a ghost with each step, hoping that Madam Pince wouldn't catch him.

Books had become his resolve ever since his Granger-filled dreams started. There was just something about old Potion masters and ancient draughts that destroyed a man physically that reduced his desire to a slow smouldering, rather than the fast-burning fire that he experienced otherwise.

His feet carried him to the seventh farthest aisle, having memorized the way. Draco had one hand reaching to grab a book when he realized there was someone else there. He stumbled back and grabbed his wand.

"Lumos," he whispered.

He waved the pale light in front of him, once, twice.

Chocolate curls.

It took Draco only a second to register the witch sitting in front of him: Granger.

He stepped closer towards the Gryffindor. By the looks of it, she was fast asleep, her upper half splayed across the table. His first thought was how uncomfortable that position was for her, even though she was oblivious to it in her slumber. His second thought was how alluring she looked, barely moving, her shirt riding a bit over the top of her pants, revealing a sliver of fair, silky-smooth skin.

Draco gulped slowly and felt a wave of loathing mixed with a more powerful craving. He couldn't. He wouldn't. Yet he stayed rooted to the spot.

He blamed her. This was obviously some Muggle form of seduction he was not familiar with. There was no way she could be that appealing to him without some sort of outside help. There was no way anyone could be that appealing to him without some sort of outside help. It was just not possible. Draco was composed. He had self-control. He did not lose all logic for any witch, much less a Mudbl— Muggle-born.

He couldn't.

With a final lingering glance towards her, he spun on his heels and made towards the exit.

He was half-way into his fourth step when it happened: a single, feminine moan, and then, "Draco."

He stopped dead in his tracks and whipped around.

Granger looked as delicious as she did moments before, but was still asleep.

Had he imagined it?

The enticing sound was still ringing in his ears. It was quiet and if it hadn't been his name, the one thing he had been hearing his entire life, he would have dismissed it. But it was.

Unthinkingly, his foot inched forward. Granger was at rest, slumped over the table just as he had left her seconds ago. Maybe it was all in his head. Why would she have said his name in the first place? It was ridiculous.

Draco took a slow breath and cursed himself. He was going mad. She was driving him to insanity.

And then it happened again.

Granger moaned in the darkness and sighed. "Draco."

It was so raw, so real, and it ignited the fire in his stomach again. Images from his dreams flitted through his mind and he grasped the near-by bookshelf for support.

Was she dreaming of him too?

No.

He couldn't.

There still had to be some self-respect left within him, some self-control. He was just desperate for sex. A quick fix with Astoria would restore his logic.

His insides curled at the thought of being with Astoria. As gorgeous as she may be, all her beauty was shadowed the moment she opened her mouth. But she was safe. Draco knew what would happen if he was found to be harbouring any feelings other than pure-hatred towards Granger. He couldn't risk it. It was a mistake that would cause his demise. As much as he wanted to, and Merlin, staring at her now, he really, really wanted to, he simply couldn't.

Draco felt like he was teetering on a thin rope suspended in the air. He would fall if he wobbled either way – towards her to away from her.

He couldn't.

Decision made, he slowly backed away from the temping witch before he changed his mind. Draco was so lost in concentration that he didn't notice a stack of books piled taller than his own height behind it. His back hit it and it toppled to the floor, a great thud echoing the atmosphere.

In front of him, Granger jumped and looked around nervously. Her eyes were fogged from her sleep and her hair was unruly, framing her face in a jumble.

Granger blinked twice and seemed to become aware of her surroundings.

"Malfoy," she breathed in surprise with the just-awaken hoarseness in her voice that sent shivers down his spine, ending in the spot just between his hips.

There was something about the way that she looked that tore all good sense away from Draco. She looked too fucking appealing for him to just walk away now. He took a few steps forward, and with each stride, he listed a new reason why he should just take her then and there. He won his own argument by the third step.

To hell with mistakes. From all the shit he was put through this year, he at least deserved something that he wanted. And fuck, he wanted her too much.

Draco's lip turned upwards when her eyes widened in surprise at his proximity. Her cheeks flushed a delicious shade of scarlet and her breathing became ragged. It took Draco all of his power to keep poised, standing a mere few inches in front of her.

"Dreaming of me, Granger?" he said, smirking down at her.

He wanted her too much, but he'd be damned if he let her know that.


AN: Okay a couple of things here:

1. HAPPY TURKEY DAY to all my fellow igloo-housed polar bear riders c:.

2. SORRY FOR BEING SUPER LATE.

3. Thank you SO MUCH to those who reviewed, favourited and put this story on alert. I don't even know how to convey my feelings into words :')

and lastly, I actually really liked writing this chapter and had extra fun writing the end. I think it's like half a cliff-hanger but that's just me.

Please pleaseeee review and all that good stuff and I promise I'll try to update faster next time! :D