Disclaimer.

I think there's a difference between a gamble and a calculated risk. -Edmund H. North

Chapter Nine; Granger

I showered and dressed feeling tired. Both metally and physically. I had rounds tonight with none other than the very person who had me so flustered. As prefects we had to patrol the halls. We would group up in random pairs on random nights and search the halls, making sure everyone was in their commons and settled.

I sighed. I wasn't looking foward to going to see Malfoy tonight. My day was so odd. I wasn't sure what had occured between us. That and the weird meeting with Blaise. I was practically lost. My mind was skipping around, like a scratched cd trying to find a place that wasn't messed up. Unsucessfully I might add.

I rounded the spiral steps to the Gryffindor commons. Only Harry was there, writing a late night paper it seemed. He looked up with a crooked grin. "Off to prefect duties?" He asked, his smile tinting his words.

I huffed at his chipper attitued. "Yep. Unfortunately."

He chuckled and I was on my way, in no mood to deal with his jokes. As I exited the portait and walked the halls of Hogwarts as it slept, I saw him almost immediately, like he was waiting for me and I felt prockles all over my back, like I'd fallen asleep.

"Granger." He nodded hello, his eyes distant. His arms were crossed over his chest and he was propped against the wall.

I nodded back awkwardly. "Where do we start?" I noted, angry with myself for being so attentive about him, that he looked very tired. His shoulders seemed heavy and he, somehow, didn't seem like the Draco I knew. "Lead the way." He replied and I ignored the fact that it wasn't an answer. There was something different about him. He seemed deflated.

"It's quiet tonight." He said walking just behind me. That sounded an awful lot like small talk.

I chewed my lip. "Is everything okay?"

From behind me his steps were slow and steady. I could hear the clear echo and somehow it unnerved me. "No Granger. I'm not. Why? You want me to go back to being cruel Mudblood?"

I sighed. "You need a new insult. Mudblood doesn't effect me anymore."

He had closed the gap between us and it somehow escaped my attenttion until he was right beside me. "Yeah, well it's the only thing I can find wrong with you." The realization that he had somewhat complimented me made me feel weirdly lightheaded. Or maybe it was an insult, I wasn't sure.

As the silence insued I noticed he began walking slower and soon stopped.

I paused with him, turning to face him. "Malfoy?" He had been staring at the ground and when he looked up the dark circles under his eyes were shockingly stark. Slowly he stepped foward, closing the gap between me and him. When I went to draw back he grabbed my wrist and I froze, unsure of what to feel or do. His jaw locked tight and he was gazing at me relentlessly. With each step he took foward I took one back until my remaining hand was pressed against the wall, the hard stone cold against my sweaty palm and my tense shoulders. Then he stopped, his toes touching the tips of mine. He was closer than I'd ever experienced him. Simply staring at me with a haunted look on his face. Slowly he leaned foward and I didn't dare move. He was slightly to my right I noticed, and he came in until his forehead was touching the wall too. We were ear to ear. His chin rested on my shoulder. When I went to move he released my hand and braced both of his palms on either side of me.

"Malfoy?" I dared to whisper, feeling hot and unsure.

"I can't sleep Granger." His voice was harsh when he spoke. "I can't even close my eyes."

I just stood there, listening to him speak, his voice just next to my ear. He sounded like a ghost of the Malfoy I knew. "Who are you? You can't be Malfoy."

He laughed quietly. "For once, I agree."

I exhaled, lifting my hand and placing it on his chest, it was hard and warm beneath his shirt. He sucked in a deep breath, and I never head it released. I didn't understand what was happening. He was Malfoy. I would have done anything to avoid seeing him one on one. But this was different. This didn't feel like Malfoy. It felt like anything but in fact.

He tilted his head toward my ear. "Granger." His breath on my ear made me shiver, and it almost hurt my pride that I know he felt it, it was too violent not to notice. "Do you hate me?"

I breathed in. "Yes." I answered honestly.

He nodded, his nose brushed against my cheek. I bit my lip. "I know. If you had said no I wouldn't have believed you. I hated you too Granger." I squinted. Hated? As in not anymore? "You mean so much to eveyone. You're brilliant and people listen to what you have to say. You don't make any sense to me."

He dropped his right hand back to my wrist and slid it up my arm. I cursed myself for just wearing my uniform, not the robe, because I could feel the warmth of his hands through the thin white fabric.

I closed my eyes as he leaned closer. I could literally feel his lips on my ear. "You make me sick" His voice was like barbed wire, dragging against my skin, and he pulled his lips into a snarl. Then, as he stepped away from he, he gave me one last seething look before he turned and stomped away.

I felt like I'd been slapped in the face. My jaw dropped, and my arms were dangling at my side uselessly. I could feel tears burning my eyes and angry, I stomped the other way, back to my commons. Duties be damned.