A/N: Hey guys, revision is not going well as you can probably tell from the fact this is my longest chapter to date. Some serious procrastination has been occurring but I guess that's alright for you guys, seeing as I've written you more. It's the last chapter for their fifth year, so enjoy!

Luck had never been on Hermione's side. Ever.

Befriending the boy who was being hunted by the darkest Wizard of all time at the age of 11 was not the most sensible move. Being petrified by the Basilisk, when moments before she had identified the monster, was similarly, very unfortunate. Attracting trouble that was completely unwarranted at the absolute worst of times was a talent of hers. Her time in the Black Lake as Krum's person of interest, the fact she had been in the lavatory while there was a troll on the loose during first year and her polyjuice accident involving cat hair all confirmed her theory; that apart from Harry Potter himself, she was truly the unluckiest person.

That's why she wasn't surprised when she was paired with Malfoy to collect Potions ingredients. It was just so bloody typical. After a moment of outrage at whichever higher power had decided to screw her day up, she resigned herself to it.

It was early afternoon and the sun was streaming through gaps in the canopy of the trees above. Columns of light touched the mossy floor of the Forbidden Forest. Apart from the infrequent rays dotted around the wooded area, the lack of sun meant that the ground was grubby and damp as her shoes stamped through the foliage. There were smatterings of mushrooms and fungi across fallen tree trunks. Wildflowers clumped in clusters, all thriving in spite of the darker conditions.

She held her book open as she walked, laying it across her forearms and gripping the tops of the pages in her upturned palms. Every time she felt her cloak snag on a bramble she pushed forward, not caring for her clothes when her partner was just metres behind her.

Every fibre of her being knew that this was awkward. So awkward that she felt like writhing around and stomping her feet to try and get it out of her system. So bloody awkward.

After their argument after the Easter holidays she had avoided him and he had avoided her, and it had worked.

She hadn't thought of him except from when she saw him in the corridors. She was sure that apart from when she caught his eye in class he had no qualms with forgetting what had passed between them.

They had been doing well, great even, until now.

There hadn't been anything excessively bitter in his insults, just the usual venom that she had grown used to over the years. She hadn't felt the pinch of his insults any more harshly than before. Things had returned to normal, and she wasn't hurt and she wasn't sad. There had been an element of finality to their talk on the bridge. It left neither of them in doubt about where their relationship was headed.

It was almost the end of summer term now. Time had passed. They were over it and almost acting mature about it, if you could call a return to their familiar childish spats mature.

Her only problem now was that she was bored.

When she had that revelation a few weeks ago, she had realised that Draco had been something fun. Definitely something entertaining but nothing serious. Someone to argue with and to kiss but not someone constant and certainly not someone to keep. They had both released themselves from the potential to get hurt by walking away. Now it was summer term and there was no pain, only boredom.

You see, even if it was just for her own entertainment, there was no one who could set her on edge quite like Malfoy could. She didn't need him, she just wanted to talk to him sometimes… and by talk to she really meant scream and shout at.

But she was sure that real feelings were based on mutual need, and she didn't need him. She only wanted him, and wanted him to understand that she had been in the right. She clung to the strands of their argument. She thought up scenarios in which she would confront him with all the points in her defense which she had thought up since then. Replaying the situation in her head, she wished she had stayed her rational and logical self instead of flying off the handle in a manic rage.

But she rolled her eyes at the hopelessness of getting that stubborn ferret to listen to her side of the story. She continued to step over large fallen branches as she skimmed her eyes over the pages of 'Advanced Potions'.

She could hear his footfalls behind her, steadily keeping with her fast pace. Rather annoying seeing as she was trying to escape him.

She knew it was idiotic to try and run away from a Potions partner who didn't want to be assigned to be with you either. It would be faster if she just turned around and split the list of ingredients with him to spot and collect. But that didn't stop her continuing her rampage through the forest walking ahead of Draco for another five minutes.

By the time she had come to a stop, they had reached the correct area of the forest. They could hear shouts from other pairs who were close despite the dense vegetation which blocked them from view.

"Ah, decided to stop running like a frightened little girl through the forest have we?" prodded Draco.

"I am a girl, and I wouldn't test this 'frightened little girl' right now. I'm sure you'll find me quite the opposite of scared," she scorned.

He continued on, pretending to be oblivious to her bored tone. "You're a girl? I never would have noticed with that uniform you wear like a sack."

"Oh no! However will my fragile self-image cope!" she exclaimed in mock despair, "You'll have to try harder than that Malfoy."

Sneering at him she glanced down at the pages of her book and then at her surroundings. She felt his eyes on her but continued to scan her surroundings, then marched up to a tree and pulled a vial out of her bag. She let the Flobberworm Mucus which had been left in a trail up the trunk drip into her container. Next she held out her hand for Malfoy to give her his without even turning to look at him.

When she didn't feel him place the vial into her had she turned to look at him with an irritated huff. His face was set in a scowl and his toned arms were crossed over his chest.

"I am capable of doing this myself," he said through gritted teeth.

Without moving or lowering her hand she replied, "I never said you weren't. Now give me your vial and stop wasting time."

"I'd be done by now if you would just move out my way."

"Well why don't you make me?" Hermione snapped.

Her eyebrows were furrowed as she clenched her book under her arm. She was trying to resist the urge to let her hand slip and bash him round the head with the hulking manuscript.

Without realising it they had inched closer to each other with each remark. They found themselves glaring into each other's eyes, their proud jutted chins almost touching.

Since when had he grown so much? And how are his eyelashes longer than mine, surely there should be a rule against that? If he keeps glaring at me with those eyes I will be forced to punch him in the face.

She was seething and he refused to back down. They stood their ground in the damp air for an eternity until Hermione heard the distant laughs of their classmates. Realising they were short on time and had much more to do, she stepped out of the way and examined her list. She would have to be the bigger person; Draco never was.

Draco collected his Mucus and then they turned back to their lists.

Then they heard the crunching of the undergrowth and the snapping of twigs. Thumping footfalls were fast approaching their clearing and Hermione felt the hairs raise on the back of her neck. It may be the day time and Slughorn and Hagrid may be patrolling but this was still the Forbidden Forest.

Both Hermione and Draco drew their wands in sync, edging closer to each other subconsciously. Their arms were raised in the direction of the thundering sound.

Shoulder to shoulder they stood, pushing against each other and finding support in their stance. They both took a few deep breaths, listening to the sound of the forest and trying to stay alert. As the noise neared, they looked at each other and then forward.

"Wand arm straight, Malfoy."

"Fuck off Granger."

With a crash two figures fell through the trees and into the clearing in front of them and immediately stopped when they saw the pair.

"Alright 'Mione?" Ron grinned as Harry grimaced at Slughorn's choice of partner for her.

She stepped out of her stance with Malfoy and almost hexed them.

"You two couldn't have announced that it was you thundering through the forest like hooligans? And not a wild dangerous animal?" she said, placing her hands on her hips and doing her best to sound prissy and annoyed.

The smirk that played on her lips betrayed her however. It revealed the comfort she felt from the familiarity of her Gryffindor's. Edging closer to them with a huge smile, she punched them both playfully on the shoulders.

She was glad to see them, but felt uncomfortable having them so close to Draco. This had happened so many times before but she now felt a need for them not to address him at all. He was hers to argue with, only hers. The key thing she was forgetting that was before she even came into the picture, Harry had ensured Draco's hatred long before she had.

In her friends' territory, she still felt anchored to the boy behind her. It was a strange sensation, not a feeling of support but one of being dragged below the waves. But she couldn't let his cold stare which she could feel on the back of her head sink her.

So she laughed at her friends and it wasn't hard given the state of them. Harry's hair was even more of a black mess than usual. Both boys had grass and soil stains down their uniforms as though they had been tackling each other. She should have guessed that they would not have stuck to their assignment. With Harry's adventurous streak and what some might call an aptitude for trouble, she should have guessed they would be running around after each other like headless chickens instead of doing any work.

"Yes, though I do wonder how you two always get partnered with each other. It's hardly fair," Hermione responded to Ron's question.

"Perks of being one of Sluggie's prizes I guess," Harry said uncomfortably, kicking the dirt at his feet. He was always unable to lift his eyes to her when talking about Slughorn's favouritism.

That's when something wriggled in his hand and he jumped, seeming to remember why he was chasing after Ron in the first place. He lifted the Horned Slugs he had been threatening to dump down Ron's top and put them in the container Ron was holding up. Hermione physically cringed when Harry wiped the gunge from his hands down his uniform. Boys, she thought.

Malfoy had a similar aversion to Harry washing his hands in that particular fashion as she heard him tut behind her. She could practically sense him baring his teeth in disgust.

"What's wrong Malfoy? Don't like to see the relatives treated that way?" Harry said, raising an eyebrow and confusing the others with his statement.

"What are you talking about?" Draco snapped.

"Oh was I mistaken? Sorry I just thought there was some family resemblance there," Harry grinned, pointing between the slugs and Malfoy. Ron guffawed as Harry began to list the qualities that Malfoy's shared with slugs, "Slimy, ugly-"

"Really Potter? If that's the best you can do I'll be moving on," Draco said. He rolled his eyes as he strutted off in the direction of where Harry and Ron had picked up their slugs.

Maybe he was going to be the bigger person for once.

The trio chuckled to themselves at the expense of Malfoy but Draco's voice cut through their giggles with an amused drawl. It was as though he had been waiting for the right moment to punctuate the little bubble of joy the three Gryffindor's found themselves in.

"And as I recall, Ron has much closer bonds with slugs than my mere familial ties. I'll never forget Second Year."

Ron looked as though he was about to turn green at the memory of when his spell had backfired (because of that dodgy wand of his which Hermione had told him he needed to replace). Harry was clearly trying to bite his tongue to avoid the mention of the second year incident again. But Hermione could see that he was struggling not to sass Malfoy just one more time before they parted ways.

Malfoy had wandered further away so Hermione nodded apologetically to her friends, saying she would see them later. Then she stomped after Malfoy.

Did he need to be so nasty all the time?

That was completely uncalled for and poor Ron hated the mention of his day spent throwing up slugs. Only Harry could tease him about it (as she was sure he was doing when running after him with Horned Slugs). Anyone else and he got incredibly touchy.

She caught up to the Slytherin who had collected a few other ingredients on his journey. Yanking on the back of his robes, she caused him to topple off balance and stagger backwards. His previously confident strut through the forest was cut off with her sharp tug to the ruff of his cloak and he whipped round on her in a rage.

Realising he wasn't being assaulted by another student and only Hermione, he growled but his eyes softened. He no longer felt alarmed by the sudden attack. This was normal. Granger always seemed to want to throttle him and this time she almost had done with his own robes.

"You could have been a bit nicer you know," she said as her temper bristled.

"Why the fuck would I do that Granger?"

She was about to say because they were her friends. But she didn't understand how that would mean he would have to be nice to them. She had just felt like that was the right answer but choked on it. She wasn't even friends with him, why would he have to be nice to her friends? And why the hell would he be when he couldn't even have a civil conversation with her? Seeing as he thought she had double-crossed him, it was unlikely he was going to grant her any favours.

Malfoy looked at her expecting a logical answer but found none.

Granger looked stumped and whatever argument she had been about to unleash on him was drowned before it even ignited.

"Common decency I guess."

Malfoy released a loud jeering laugh at the idea and grinned at the naivety of the argument.

As if appearing from the shadows of the forest, Zabini and Nott slunk into the clearing also laughing along with Draco. Malfoy immediately toned down his laughter around his housemates. Hermione thought it was odd that he should have to hide his joy around his housemates, especially when his laughter was at her expense. Surely that would unite them all in derision.

Zabini spoke first, "What is Draco Malfoy's house, Granger?"

"Slytherin."

"Have you ever known a Slytherin to have 'common decency'?" he continued, smirking and looking charming while doing so.

Blaise's skin was glowing and his high cheekbones gave him the same regal look as Draco. Theodore Nott was pale, but with the same jutting bone structure. His light brown hair was mundane in Hermione's opinion, but what he lacked there he made up for in the formal way he carried himself. Tall and thin, he still managed to resemble authority.

Unfortunately for her, Theodore was also the son of a Death Eater. He had laughed at Draco's mudblood comments in earlier years and believed in his own superiority. What a fun meeting this was going to be for her.

She fumbled for her wand and clutched it inside her robes, paranoid and ready to draw it at any point. She knew she could take at least two of them, but three was pushing it even for her. The cold of the air made her shiver while her own nerves induced a clammy sheen of sweat on her temples and down her back. She did not like the fact she was looking up at them and she really did not like the fact they outnumbered her.

She found herself moving closer to Draco because although they weren't on good terms, he wouldn't harm her. He must know he would get the blame for anything that happened to her seeing as they were partners. It seemed logical to align herself with him out of the three towering boys.

Blaise noticed her jitteriness and seemed to smile to himself, about what she would never know. He stood at least two metres from her and leant back on his heels, keeping his hands in his trouser pockets. Malfoy had nothing to worry about so was twirling his wand in his hands distractedly. At the small gesture of respect; acknowledging her personal space she exhaled. She tried quirking her lips into a meek smile, but still clasped her wand in her pocket.

Curiousity peaked, Nott prompted her for an answer to Blaise's question, "Well, have you ever met a decent Slytherin?"

Now she knew why Slytherin's were called calculating. They were all staring at her. When she so much as shifted feet they noticed. Hermione was pretty sure they were reading her body language as easily as they would a book. Her next answer may determine what they thought of her, whether they would be civil or somewhat less so.

She sniffed and then responded as diplomatically as she could, "I have yet to find a wholly decent Slytherin. But I guess I don't know many well enough and historically there have been many who were brilliant, take Merlin for example."

There was no reaction from them for a second. Hermione worried she was about to be hexed but after a moment, they tilted their heads up, nodding. Blaise's eyes seemed to light up slightly; he liked the open-minded Gryffindor. She hadn't completely condemned Slytherin. He also never completely condemned impure blood. That's not to say he was sympathetic. He just never knew what to think of blood purity politics so stayed well out of it.

Theodore's shoulders slouched, feeling less as though he had the formidable reputation of his house to uphold.

Seeing them relax when she was still on edge made her decide to ramp up the discomfort. "I don't judge people based on their natures. Not on things that people cannot help," she said scathingly. The open feelings the Slytherin's were having towards her were cut with the sharp knife of reality.

While she didn't judge Slytherin's for their houses dark image and supposed allegiance to Voldemort, they judged her for her blood. The isolation of their house wasn't too bad because at least they had each other. But it came like a punch in the stomach to the boys when they realised she was alone against their prejudice.

Just as quickly as this realisation came, Theo brushed it off as sentimental nonsense. Draco pushed it out of his head, choosing to ignore his mixed emotions. It was easier that way. Facing their own hateful ways only led to the realisation that things were wrong and their family and friends were all wrong. Cowardly it may seem, but it was never a possibility for them to stand up to their families. That would indirectly be standing up to the Dark Lord himself.

But it stuck with Blaise. He grimaced at Hermione's words.

Glancing at the other two boys, he knew they had no sympathetic sentiments towards muggleborns. He saw them as their masks. As the charades they put on for the rest of the school. He understood that if he spoke out now and supported Granger's sentiments he would be reported back to Voldemort. He wasn't stupid enough to take that risk. It wasn't worth it just to reassure a girl who he was pretty sure didn't need or want his reassurance. She was strong enough herself.

"Well… seeing as your top of the class I was wondering if you could help us find the knotgrass," Blaise said, segueing away from that awkward topic. She wasn't oblivious and realised he had been clever enough to stroke Hermione's ego. Anyone who complimented her brains was sure to be treated like a friend, and Blaise knew that. She knew that he knew that, but couldn't help it when all she wanted was to be acknowledged for the hard work she put into school?

Sizing him up, she glared at him as though trying to decipher any ulterior motives.

"Nott and I have pretty shoddy eyesight… and don't have a clue what we're looking for," he continued to explain, faltering only slightly under her daggers.

Hermione's face broke into a small self-indulgent grin. She then walked up to him and gently pushed his arm so he stepped backwards. Dazzled by the gesture he looked at her hand and then her face to see her smirking at his hesitance.

"You're standing on it, Zabini," she laughed. He looked down and identified the sodding grass they had been looking for for ages and heard Theo guffaw behind him. Blaise's facial expression was a little shocked so Hermione removed her arm from his, flinching as though she had been stung.

He didn't like the close proximity to a muggleborn. She took a step back, trying to be respectful of his space as he had been to her. Perhaps she'd pushed it too far and been too nice. Who the hell knows with these Slytherins? They seem to be inept at normal human interactions.

Seeing her rip her hand from his arm he frowned, confused as to what he had done to offend her. He was just so surprised that she had actually helped them. He had stared at her as though she was a mythical creature. For Salazars sake Blaise, get your act together, he thought to himself.

He reached to the side and thumped his friend for laughing, even though he knew Theo wasn't laughing at her. He should be thumping Theo especially hard because he was laughing at him, stupid prick.

Grinning at Hermione, he crouched and pulled up tufts of the annoying grass. It had been elusive until Hermione had located it. How typical?

Zabini shook his head because now he looked stupid. He was pretty sure it was worth it when Granger seemed to ease up around him. He hadn't scared her and hadn't given her a bad impression of Slytherin's. As far as he was concerned he had made a new acquaintance in Hermione Granger.

Blaise held out his hand for her container while he was crouched on the ground and placed a few tufts of the weed into hers. He then stood and looked at Draco whose mouth had dropped open as he stood with his container, which had not been filled by Blaise.

"You couldn't have spared a minute to collect mine as well?" Draco said through gritted teeth as he watched Blaise and Theo walk away.

"Ah, Draco, I never would have guessed you are such a princess," sarcasm dripping from his words.

"You managed to get this priss over here some," he said, pointing to her. She shuffled her feet and smiled, trying to suppress a chuckle.

"That's because I'm a gentleman… and I like the Granger girl, she's more fun than you are" he laughed, walking away with Theo and not sparing them a glance over his shoulder.

She expected Draco to be fuming but found that the boy did have a sense of humour. Who would have guessed, especially with the sour look he always had on his face? He was smirking as his eyes followed his two house mates, but immediately became defensive when he looked up at her.

She had one of those moments they talk about in novels. That moments when the gears stop turning and everything just fits into place. When you understand a complex puzzle after years of trying.

She finally understood the Slytherins. She just couldn't believe she had been so stupid not to figure it out sooner. They were just the same as anyone else only they isolated themselves. A bit like the way she always asked for some time alone to lick her wounds after an argument, the Slytherin housemates did that with the rest of Hogwarts. Their isolation was a result of constant conflict with the other houses and a belief that above all they had to defend their own. It wasn't some self-righteousness (though in many individual cases it was). It was their instinct for self-preservation that kept them at bay. She supposed being in the most isolated and hated house could do that to a person.

She wanted to be in that circle and she didn't know why.

She wanted to climb over Draco's defences and completely break down those large stony walls. It wasn't because of any sentimental reasons. No, she wanted to know the way things worked. She simply had a wieerd fascination with the psychosis of the members of Slytherin house. Perhaps she felt slightly responsible for his loneliness, as a student who had spurned the Slytherins. Following that thought she remembered that he had done that to himself. He had made an enemy of the other houses and it wasn't her doing.

She just supported the segregation of the snakes. She didn't instigate it and she couldn't solve it as an individual so why should she bother? After all, he had treated her awfully. She owed him nothing.

But had he really treated her awfully? There was no question about his bullying in earlier years but now his treatment of her was halfheartedly mean. All in the name of self-preservation. She hated him for not having a back bone but she hated Voldemort even more for driving people like him away from her side. Her side of the war.

She was on the good side, the side of the light. He was dark.

Draco watched her thinking to herself for a few minutes. Her withdrawal from reality was marked by the way her eyes glazed over. He could see the cogs turning in her mind as she thought something through, he only wished he knew what went on in there. He had realised that she was crazy and impulsive and not at all like the good, rule-abiding girl she was reputed to be. But she was disciplined and meticulous. As he watched her he admitted there was a certain brilliance to her neurotic tendencies. Completely fucking psychotic, but fascinating.

He found the corners of his lips being tugged up though a smile could never settle on his face comfortably. Instead he settled into a familiar smirk. Her eyebrows were sewn together. The tip of her tongue was sticking out of her lips, clamped between her teeth as she bit down in concentration. It would be endearing if he didn't know she was probably orchestrating plans to dispose of him.

"I didn't think a simple conversation with some Slytherins would challenge you so much," he drawled, walking on to collect the last ingredient on their list.

Nightshade would be found back on the edge of the forest where Slughorn and Hagrid would now be waiting for the return of the final few fifth year students. Draco walked off leaving Hermione throwing daggers at his back.

Clenching her fists, she grunted in irritation. After a few calming breaths she followed her rude, obnoxious, vile partner who clearly had a problematic superiority complex. She thudded along, stamping her feet with extra venom. She hoped he would hear her huffing and realise the giant, sodding prat that he was to make her so angry all the time.

She stared at the back of his head, memorising it so that one day, when they were out of school and allowed to duel, she would know exactly where to aim her hexes. He had tested her patience. She didn't know the extent of her rage until she felt herself grab his arm, spin him round and slam his back against the trunk of a nearby tree.

She had her wand at his throat, hovering a centimeter away from his face. She clenched the arm of his robes as she pressed him back. She felt her pulse thumping in the back of her head. With every beat she thought of another way he had degraded her, insulted her or discounted her. It fuelled her anger. The fire she felt in the pit of her stomach lit flames which licked her skin, her face radiating angry heat as she held it inches away from his. She wanted him to feel how angry she was.

She felt an itch in her palm and she realised she wanted to throw a punch his way like she had in Third Year. She tightened her fist, trying to diffuse the craving. Her balled hand in his robes twisted as she gritted her teeth.

"I hate everything about you," she growled, releasing her grip on his robes. When he went to move, thinking he was going to get away. She raised her wand closer to him, threatening him to take just one more step and find out the huge array of rather nasty hexes she knew.

Sinking back, he put his hands in his trouser pockets and jutted his chin proudly.

"That's nothing new Granger. What's caused this bout of unprovoked rage?" he said. He sounded uninterested in hearing every reason for her loathing, which he was sure she was planning on listing for his entertainment.

She hated almost everything about him.

But what had brought this sudden fit of rage upon her?

The answer erupted from her mouth before she had an opportunity to censor it.

"Why have you returned to treating me like a stranger? You've returned to the despicable little boy you pretend to be in public," she yelled.

He looked surprised by her admission, raising his eyebrows but immediately furrowing them. His face was warped by anger and then a second later, morphed into his stony mask. He felt it getting harder and harder to breathe as he thought about how fucking condescending she was being. She was only thinking about her own problems with him, and not considering that perhaps he still hadn't forgiven her. Everytime he saw her he got a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach, like a small tightening knot, a reminder of her duplicity.

Everything she said had nothing to do with meaning it. He hadn't wanted her to say anything meaningful anyway. She couldn't even say the simplest of things without weaving lies into her speech, and it polluted his memory of her.

He spoke quietly, slowly and definitely.

"I don't want your reasons behind it, but if I wanted you, you would be only mine. I don't. But I haven't forgotten the fact you lie like a snake and I suppose I should have expected it, you're as ruthless as any Slytherin. I would advise you to remember you're the one in the wrong here," he stared at her as he paused. She took a stumbling step back as the anger she felt towards him was sucked out of her. It felt like a punch to the chest, the air had been knocked out of her lungs.

"I don't trust you because every time you're with me, your intentions are unclear. I don't want to be around you if at all possible."

During his speech her wand had been lowered as she had felt her whole body go limp. Her wide eyes tingled as she fought back tears. He was holding all those false rumours about her and Ron against her. He didn't want to be civil to a girl who he believed had made him share her. Stupid as the whole idea of sharing was, when they weren't in a relationship, she understood why he was angry. She had lied.

She had forgotten in the months since Easter. She had betrayed his trust. Or at least he believed she had because of rumours Ron had circulated. Sod it, how could she even expect him to be okay with her? He never was before, only a few times in private had she really felt him enjoy her. She had understood his magnetism but in those few moments she had become completely engrossed in him. So completely engrossed that she forgot that they were brief and fleeting moments. He never treated her differently in public. Her expectations for him to be civil were laughable, but she wanted that secret back.

As she watched Malfoy walk away, she expected with a sinking of her heart that he would hold a grudge. She still hoped, rather foolishly that he would forgive her. That he would listen to her long enough for her to explain and for him to understand. If there was one thing Hermione knew about herself it was that when she wanted someone to, they would listen.

She would make him listen.

When she caught up to him, he was back on the edge of the Dark Forest with the rest of the class listening to Slughorn register them all. She answered her name and then returned to the castle. The rest of the summer term, she resigned herself to a life without that feeling Draco inspired in her. She missed how her spine had dissolved at the feel of his grip on her, but found that when she tried to approach him he avoided her. Always disappearing down corridors and secret passageways. She had come to terms with the fact that she should respect his space and his desire to be away from her, no matter how much it ached to have so much space between them.

She boarded the Hogwarts Express at the end of the summer term and returned to her very normal life, with her muggle parents and her muggle house. He left the train platform, heading in a different direction. In the direction of a dark house, full of dark magic, dominated by a Dark Lord. He didn't know it yet but he was about to come face to face with his father's failure. He would have to face everything his family had ever hoped for him and he wasn't going to enjoy it.

No, he wasn't a willing subject to receive the Dark Mark, but Voldemort pressed on even as he writhed under the pain of the spell.

He had expected to feel powerful at least, but when he even so much as looked at it he felt the blood drain from his face.

He had been through agony and the only thing he could think to do was shut down and shut off.

Draco Malfoy had finally lost himself.

But it was a common saying that you had to lose everything you once knew about yourself, in order to find yourself.

A/N: To be honest I don't know what happened here. I just kind of went with the flow and yeah... it'll probably be several months before I post again so I just wanted to post this chapter to keep the story going and keep you guys happy.

1) There have been some important interactions here with different characters who will be playing a larger role later... just keep them in mind when reading in the future. I always write them when they are alone and cut off from everyone around them, I thought it was time to bring them into play with the rest of the Hogwarts' students.

2) Hermione basically completely forgets about the rumour with Ron here because it wasn't real for her. Malfoy is superb at holding a grudge so of course he's still clinging to it. Hermione says she wants that secret relationship back with him and that's what is attracting her to him right now, the excitement of it all. He is not so enthusiastic about that idea.

3) Hermione's gaining an insight into why Draco and the rest of Slytherin are such shits. If anyone, she would understand not being able to make friends so easily and being isolated so she's the best one for the job when it comes to cracking them.

4) Draco got the Dark Mark. Thoughts and feelings about that in general are that he knew he had to do it, but wasn't willing. He just didn't really have a choice. For the end of the chapter just keep in mind this quote; "To deny the self, to die to it, to lose it, is to understand its true nature."

Follow, favourite and review if you enjoyed it... Just let me know what you thought. Thanks for reading!