Merlin must have heard Hermione's plea. The owl that arrived the next morning was a blessing. It was from McGonagall, informing her that her next round would begin the next day and that she would be serving it alone. She and Draco would no longer be required to do their rounds together. It stated that they may be paired up for some of the outside rounds from time to time. But she could worry about that later. For now, she was safe.

A sense of relief over took her and she breathed a little easier as she got ready for the day.

/

Draco received the same notice while sitting in the Great Hall for breakfast. Pansy leaned over his shoulder to read what the owl.

"Thank goodness. I can't imagine how horrible it was for you to be forced to associate with that wretched thing Draco." Pansy pitied him.

Draco just nodded in acknowledgement and folded the letter to put it away. He would be lying if it said that he wasn't disappointed. Just when the fun was beginning, McGonagall was going to tear them apart. That was so like her to ruin a good thing.

Draco's eyes scanned the Gryffindor table for any sign of her but she wasn't there.

/

Hermione had decided to skip out on breakfast that morning. She was still recovering from the mistake she had made the night before. It was silly, but she was nervous that Harry or Ron would able to look at her and see her guilt and shame. She'd allowed her physical desires to cloud her better judgment.

There was no way she was going to make the same mistake twice.

Hermione picked up her books and walked to class.

/

She decided not to go down to the Great Hall during lunch either, just in case Malfoy decided to bother her. Unfortunately, by dinner time her stomach was growling.

She felt a wave of anxiety crash through her as she entered the Great Hall and began to scan the Slytherin table for any sign of him.

She saw him sitting at the end of the table, Pansy hanging ont his arm as she jabbed his ear off. She hoped she would keep talking. There was no way he was going to approach her when Pansy was watching him like a hawk. She would have to make sure she finished eating before Pansy left the room. It wouldn't be hard, Pansy's mouth barely stopped running enough for her to eat.

When Harry asked why she was eating so quickly she used her homework as an excuse.

"I just have a lot of studying I need to get done. Also, I just got a new book that I'm anxious to read," she lied.

She could feel Draco's eyes settled on her like a predator stalking it's prey as she walked out of the Great Hall and headed back to the common room.

/

She knew she couldn't have avoided Draco forever. When he finally ambushed her it was unexpected. She was doing a night round by herself, walking through the library when he pulled her in-between two bookshelves. She would have hexed him out of reflex had he not grabbed onto her wrists right away.

"You've been avoiding me," was the first thing he said.

"Of course I've been avoiding you! You seduced me!" Hermione accused.

Draco couldn't help but laugh, "I seduced you?"

"Yes, I never would have done want I did if you hadn't taken advantage of me."

"I took advantage of you?" Draco was in disbelief, "That's a laugh. Your body was begging for my tongue when I-'

"I was confused," Hermione interrupted him sharply, "You can stop following me around with your eyes every day. It's not going to happen again," she stated forcibly as she ripped her wrists away from his hands.

"And why can't it happen again?" asked Draco as he firmly replaced his hands onto her waist in defiance.

"Because you're a foul excuse for a human being"

"But I don't have to be. I know how to be nice when I want something" Draco said as sweetly as he could muster, playfully batting his eyelashes as he said it.

Hermione scoffed and pushed his arms away from her. "What we did was completely inappropriate Malfoy. Even if I was a willing participant, that kind of behavior is prohibited on school grounds-"

Draco was laughing.

"This is not funny!" Hermione fumed.

"If you were a willing participant? Tell me, during which part of our last encounter were you unwilling?"

Hermione was turning a brilliant shade of red as she walked herself back into the bookcase.

"No one's touched you like that before me, not even Weasley. I know that you loved it and I think that if you're honest with yourself Granger," Draco closed the space between them, locking her against the shelves. "You want me to do it again." His hands returned to her waistline.

Hermione's heart was racing, beating hard against her chest as he moved in closer. Draco could feel her body lightly trembling beneath his fingertips as they began to caress the contours of her shape. He watched her reaction carefully as he slyly began to inch her skirt up past her knees and then past the swell of her thighs.

Hermione shut her eyes and tried to calm herself, but it wasn't much use. She was flustered, and by this point Draco knew how he was affecting her because he could hear it in the sound of her breathing, see it in the heaving in her chest, feel her shaking hands and soon…

Draco's fingers ran between her thighs in a smooth caress. She was soaked through her panties and there was no way of hiding it now. "Just admit you want me Granger, you're already sooo wet for me," observed Draco with an amused smirk and a predatory glint in his eyes.

"I can't do this Malfoy," Hermione breathed, "I'm not that kind of girl."

Draco continued to entice her, running his soft lips up and down the side of her neckline, "What kind of girl aren't you, Granger?" he whispered into her ear before nipping her earlobe between his teeth. He heard her moan at this and felt a need begin to quiver inside of him. "You're not the kind of girl that likes to feel good? Or you're not the kind of girl who knows how to say yes to what she wants yet?" Draco's fingers hooked her panties, pulled them aside and began to fondle her as he spoke; slowly pushing his fingers inside her past the accumulating wetness and pulling them back out, his thumb rubbing against her clit on occasion. Each time his thumb pressed against the swollen nub he heard her breath hitch and felt her thighs tense. "Stop thinking and just go with it Granger. I promise you're going to love the way it feels."

Hermione's mind was so clouded that she couldn't think straight enough to formulate a competent response. "Why-why are you doing this Malfoy? I thought you hated me. None of this makes sense." She pushed her hands back against his chest to get him to look at her.

His eyes were filled with lust as he looked at her, and his voice overcome with desire as he spoke, "Because I think you're beautiful Granger. Your drive me crazy. Every time I see you, I can't help but imagine what you'd look like with those full thighs wrapped around my waist and my cock buried deep inside of you; wet and tight. I want to know what you'd sound like moaning my name out in the heat of an orgasm as I pound relentlessly inside of you," Draco's fingers were penetrating her faster and deeper as he attempted to lure her with his fantasies. "You can stand here and tell me what you don't want this but I can feel your need against my hand. You might be tight, but you're crazy wet and I know how to fix the first problem."

Hermione got shivers down her spine as he started to descend to his knees again.

"Stop, Malfoy stop," Hermione begged as she pulled him up by his arm.

"Just let go Granger, stop thinking about it. I know you want this as much as I do"

"Fine!" Hermione admitted, her clothes now disheveled and her face flushed from the hot blood racing through her body when he'd touched her. "Maybe all of this does feel good but I am not going to experience my first time with a man in the middle of a library."

Draco chuckled, "I thought the library was your favorite place to be?"

"Yes, my favorite place to read. Not too…you know," she was blushing furiously. Was she seriously considering this? Having sex with Malfoy of all people? Her mind told her she was crazy and deluded. But her body was telling a completely different story. Every nerve inside of her was screaming for more of his touch and his kisses, and to feel him in every possible way she could imagine.

"Well, if you haven't tried it. How can you know you wouldn't love it?" Draco teased.

"Look Malfoy, if you're serious about this there's a few things we need to cover before we honestly consider doing this together."

"I don't think so. I think you need to stop considering things and just let me do things to your body that you've only dreamed of so far."

Hermione tried to keep her composure, "I'm being serious right now."

"As am I, but what's your point Granger? If you want me to take out you, and buy you flowers and dinner first, that's not going to happen. I'm not that kind of guy."

"Trust me Malfoy, I know that. I'm not asking for a miracle." She was glad he smiled at that, "I don't think I should be having my…my first time with someone who can't even call me by name first of all."

"Fine then. Hermione, please let me have hot, wild sex with you against this bookshelf because I know you want me to as badly as I want to do it," teased Draco with a playful grin.

"That's a start. Secondly…Draco," she figured it was only fair to give him the same respect. "No one can know about this."

"Well, that's a given."

"If Ron or Harry knew ever found out…I don't want to think about what they might do."

"Don't take this the wrong way Grang-…Hermione, but I'm not going to tell anyone about us."

"Okay, good. Lastly, I'm not having my first time in the middle of a library. If you truly want this as bad as you seem to, you should be willing to wait."

Draco's mouth dropped in disbelief, "Wait? How long?" he whined.

"Just until the weekend you brat," she couldn't believe he'd actually whined at her. "There's a quidditch game on Saturday. It's Gryffindor against Hufflepuff so I won't have to worry about Ron or Harry being around. I'll tell them I'm ill and I can't make it to watch them. The password to the common room right now is Pixie Flight."

"Pixie Flight?" Draco repeated.

"Yes, I didn't pick it out. Then my room is up the stairs and to the right, just cast a quick disillusionment charm and no one will see you come up. When you get to my room the password is Crookshanks."

"What in Merlin's name is a Crookshanks?" asked Draco, confused.

"It's the name of my cat."

"You have a cat?"

"Yes, I have a cat. Stay focused Draco. Be there twenty minutes before the game starts and make sure we're done before it ends. I'm sure Harry and Ron will come and let me know what happened first thing when they get back to the common room. But we shouldn't be bothered in the meantime."

"That seems like a lot of trouble just for one girl," teased Draco.

"Yes well, you've always been a lot of trouble Draco."

"I guess that's true." Draco snuck a quick kiss from her lips, "I'll see you Saturday then."

"See you Saturday," Hermione repeated.

She could still feel Draco's kiss lingering on his lips and his touch tingling inside her panties as Draco snuck back out of the library. Hermione took a deep breath and finished her rounds alone.

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A/N: Yup, yup I know that I kinda disappeared on this story but I didn't forget about it. I just put it in the corner for a while. Hope you enjoyed the update and are looking forward to the next chapter. I know I am ;) Also, you should check out my other stories: Torn (completed) and Bridges (which I just started but I'm super excited about). Thanks for reading and don't forget to review. Thanks!