NEW CHAPTER IS FINALLY HERE! Thanks for going along with this, let me know what you think with some reviews! XOXO

The castle walls seemed to soften that night, the air a little easier to breathe. Both students were free from any dreams that night, free from each other. When the sleepy sun finally rose in the autumn sky, however, it was a different story.

Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley were getting ready for breakfast in their cozy Gryffindor dorm room. The former had allowed her friend to plaster Quidditch posters all over her side as part of a deal that involved an extended desk- for all of Hermione's books. It wasn't very often that Hermione was wrong, but she was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to share a room with a Weasley.

"You seem awful chipper this morning" Ginny eyed suspiciously.

"Well, didn't you notice Ginny?" Hermione said excitedly as she pulled on her sweater. "I finally got a full night's sleep!"

The redhead's eyes widened. "Yeah… yeah you did, didn't you!? Oh, that's great news Hermione!"

A dark cloud soon settled over her celebration.

"But…" Hermione sighed. "Snape did say there were going to be some strange side effects…"

"Are you talking about that outrageous gas last night? I assumed that was Parvati." This made Hermione smile, appreciative of her friend's good natured humor. Ginny was like her brothers in that way, an easy breath of laughter after a cold night in the storm.

"No… not that. Just promise you'll be my friend regardless of any strange… happenings okay Gin?"

"Geez, Hermione, you're making it sound like life or death."

That's what it sure feels like, Hermione thought, as she walked down to the great hall nervously anticipating her first confrontation with Malfoy since this potion had taken its effects.

Hermione felt like a brand new woman. She hadn't had a full nights sleep- especially such a good one- in weeks. The bags under her eyes lightened and even her hair seemed to be cooperating this morning. Her restful high came to a screeching halt however, when a certain pair of pale blue eyes came into her mind.

Snape had warned her of this, of course, but the feelings still came as a shock. Her heart fluttered at the thought of him. Hermione rushed to the bathroom and looked in the mirror; to her horror she was blushing, and- subconsciously fixing her hair! "Oh God", she moaned, "this is bad." What was she going to do when she ran into him in the halls? And… "Fuck." Hermione did not curse very often, she usually saved words like that for special occasions. Potions class with Draco Malfoy was most certainly a special occasion.

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Hermione took as steady a breath as she could manage; the breath was shaky at best. She couldn't help but let her lips slightly part in awe as her eyes finally landed on Draco Malfoy. The collared shirt he was wearing today seemed particularly befitting. Before she was even able to control herself, she was undressing him with her eyes.

"Hermione, are you alright?" Harry's tender voice brought her out of her trance, for which she was very grateful.

"Oh! Yes, thank you Harry. It's just this whole Draco thing… ya know."

"Draco? Since when do you call him Draco?"

"What's the big deal? It's not like I'm in love with him!" Hermione immediately regretted saying this as soon as it escaped her lips. Luckily Harry just gave her a strange look and likely passed it off as lack of sleep, then went back to his sausage and beans. The Gryffindor girl spent the rest of breakfast trying to keep her eyes away from the Slytherin table, and trying to untie the knot in her chest whenever thoughts of his ice blue eyes invaded her mind.

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Over at the Slytherin table, Draco was suffering just as much. It was just as ridiculous as he had worried; the emotions that ran hot through his blood when he finally laid eyes on Granger. She's taunting me, he hissed under his breath, surely she got dressed up like this on purpose to torture me. But Hermione looked just as plain as ever to everyone else in the great hall. Her untamed curls fell around her shoulders, framing her delicate freckle dusted face. Had she always had freckles? God, they were perfect… like someone deliberately placed each and every single one just right. Just then, Draco was pulled from his trance by a familiar whining voice and pointed nose.

"What the fuck are you looking at?"

"Get out of my face, Pansy," Draco said lazily, never taking his eyes off his prey.

The slytherin girl followed his line of vision and scoffed, "Ugh, pathetic, isn't she?"

"Who?" Draco was hardly listening.

"Hermione Granger! Isn't that who you're staring at?"

At this, Draco looked over to his classmate. Pansy started wearing makeup sometime last year, and he had just recently come to appreciate what the charcoal liner did for her eyes. That appreciation was quickly fading, however.

"Yes," he let out a heavy breath, attempting to focus on Pansy's emerald eyes but could only see a pool of deep chocolate "pathetic."

Pansy furrowed her brows at him, disappointed and bored by his response, and strutted over to her seat at the table. For the rest of the meal Draco did not take his eyes off of his food. None of the other Slytherin's at the table noticed, despite a few glances from Pansy and Blaise. However, he did notice the occasional sensation of a certain pair of golden brown eyes on him from across the hall. He let a smile creep on to his lips, perhaps he could have a little fun with her in Potions.

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Hermione practically ran out of potions class later that day. She had felt the burning of his ice blue eyes on the back of her head for nearly the entire hour and a half. As hard as she tried to keep dirty thoughts of him out of her mind, they persisted. At one point Harry actually asked Hermione if she was okay after she sighed so deeply a few students looked over at her.

"Of course," she spat at him, "I'm just worried about my classes." It was the response everyone would have expected, but Harry knew just a bit better.

"Sure." He figured he would have to catch her again later, when there wasn't an audience.

When she was finally sure that he was gone, Hermione found an empty classroom to run into. As the door closed and muffled the sound of students passing by in the halls, she dropped to her knees against the stone wall and cried. This was all so overwhelming. She wasn't sure if this was any better than the dreams, honestly. Her obsession with him felt just as shakling as her lack of sleep and nightmares. The only difference now was that Draco Malfoy haunted her during the day, taunting and toying with her like a puppet on strings. It was rare that Hermione became this overwhelmed with emotion, especially with a boy- the thought only made her angrier and more hot tears ran down her face.

"Enough of this" she mumbled to herself, and stood up to wipe her tears and cool down. The reflection looking back at her in the mirror was one she was not proud of, but this time instead of red hot anger for Draco Malfoy, she thought of a hook nosed man with nasty black curtains of hair. After ensuring her countenance was composed, she burst out of the classroom and headed straight back down to the potions dungeon.

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