Hermione had lately noticed how tense Hogwarts made her.

Being paranoid and alone in a forest did leave you tense, but there was also peace there, serenity almost. You only had to deal with books, shrubbery, and the occasional animal. At Hogwarts, there were death traps everywhere. Gossiping paintings, students of all ages, people that were too curious, and death eaters to be.

It's one thing to be afraid of a Death Eater sneaking up on you in a forest in your dome of protection, another completely to be forced to sit next to them in classes.

The Rosier boy hadn't stopped staring at her, hence her tense shoulders. She sometimes wondered if they would be permanently up, waiting for his move.

And then there was Lily who even with the increased increase in distractions from James Potter, still hadn't stopped trying to make contact with Hermione. She had always figured Harry had gotten his tenacious nature from James, but now she wondered if it was the combination that made Harry so completely impossible to steer away from an idea he had gotten.

"Could I borrow a pen?" his voice was masculine yet pleasing and made Hermione almost jump out of her seat.

She stared at him with her doe eyes, her mind whirling away, and still not catching what he was saying. He arched an eyebrow in amusement and asked again.

Her mouth felt so dry "What?"

"Quill?"

"I-"

"Simple question really would think a girl in Arithmancy wouldn't be stumped by such a simple request." He teased, teased!

She passed him one of her extra quills, carefully and meticulously laid out in front of her, and knocked over her ink pot to spill all over his notes. "oh!" she exclaimed, surprised and alarmed by it all. She was sure she hadn't put the pot there, how stupid of her.

The Slytherin, Rosier, looked at his notes and with too much calm simply said: "Guess I'll have to borrow your notes then."

Narrowed eyes in suspicion, Hermione waved her wand and left his notes to spill free, perfectly fine. His eyes shot up and seemed almost angry at what she had done. His tone was no longer pleasant when he said: "thank you."

Unsure of what else she could do, she jerked her head and then returned to writing down what the teacher was lecturing. The rest of the class she noticed how his shoulder was now as tense as hers.

For some reason, that helped her relax a fraction.

A couple of days later, he talked to her again.

"You left your book in Potions." He handed her the book she could have sworn she put in her bag earlier. Stumped by how he had left before her as well, did he think she was stupid?

She took the book and jerked her head at him in a form of thanks, studying him but not saying anything. She pulled away but wasn't about to turn her back on the enemy.

"Polite thing is to thank me." He said, and almost seemed mad at her.

"For stealing my book?" A twitch let her know he hadn't expected her to call him out on it.

"For giving it back." He replied, still just as casual.

She paused, and they stared at each other, him still waiting for her to thank him. Instead, she threatened him.

"Don't do it again."

"Why? What will you do?" he challenged, his eyes glinting like he had won a prize.

She stared at him, not going to give into him, and unsure what exactly she would do.

"Last time you tried to hex me it backfired." He smirked at her, and she could feel her blood boiling.

"That was a mistake."

"What were you doing there?"

"None of your business."

"Oh, I think it is my business Mudblood."

She opened her mouth to retort, but they ceased to be alone in front of the D.A.D.A. Classroom. The Marauders and Lily had shown up, Lily getting close to Hermione, making her skin itch, and she tugged the scarred arm close. Still staring at Rosier she noticed his eyes shooting to it, and his subsequent smirk having confirmed she kept it a secret.

"Hermione," Lily said and put her hand on her shoulder, a hand she shrugged away.

Rosier stared at her again, a strange gleam in his eyes that made her heart thud against her throat, fear to tingle through her a little bit, even with the others there.

"Hermione!" Lily repeated, and she finally tore her eyes away from Rosier.

"Yes?" she snapped, but Lily didn't seem to react as badly as she was prone to in the beginning.

"He's not worth it." She pleaded, apparently Lily had caught onto something between them.

"How would you know Evans?" His voice was even silkier with the other girl, and Hermione noticed a chill running through Lily. Strange seeing such a reaction from the otherwise confident woman. Rosier must have a history with her, or in this school. History one only is privy to when they actually talk to other people.

"Back of Rosier." James to the rescue once more, and then the two started arguing. Lily mad at him for not trusting her to take care of herself among other things. Hermione stared at the Slytherin, infuriated by his smirk like this was all going according to plan.

Because he had plans for her, that was sure.

The other Gryffs interference didn't bother him all that much, he had noticed a lot about her in the short time they had talked of course.

Her fear of discovery the one thing he could always count on, and the fact that even with how little he knew about her, it was more than anyone else at the school.

He wanted to be the first to know all of her secrets.

When she looked at him again he smirked at her and noticed that her responding scowl did strange things to him.

Oh no, he wanted to be the only one to find out all of her secrets.

A week later he had cornered her in a deserted corridor. For all her sneaking around did hide her away, but it also left her all alone most of the time.

"What do you want from me?"

"What does a man usually want from a woman?" Instead of blushing like he thought she would, she stared at him, level, clear-headed, infuriating.

"Satisfaction." His heart jumped, he excused it as his imagination.

He cleared his throat, unused to such a sharp retort from someone that usually seemed so timid. Oh, he knew she wasn't, but it was so rare to see her mask slip, to become that girl with the wand to protect a house elf.

"But this is not about that."

"Oh?" he inquired, curious to her thoughts, he moved closer. As if the movement could enlighten him to what it was she was hiding.

She moved back in the hallway, not backing up to the wall like he had hoped, but sidestepping elegantly, leaving her free to retreat easily if need be. "What does a Slytherin want with a Gryffindor?"

He laughed and she clutched her book tighter, telling him a lot about her. She was still hiding, but now she was no longer out of sight, at Hogwarts there were few places to hide. So she had chosen books to hide in.

"What does a Pureblood want from a Mudblood?" he said and moved closer once more. But that word did not make her sad, did not make her retreat, the desired effect was her becoming defensive.

Hermione was not one to do as everyone else would have. Suddenly her book, her shield, was gone, and her wand was out.

"Never anything good." she said, wrist loose, ready to curse him if he did a wrong move.

"What if it was?" He smirked.

"Guess I'll never find out." elegant perfect movement and sparks flew out of her wand, momentarily blinding him. He turned away, shielding his eyes. When he could see again, there was nothing left to see.

Curse it all.

She had escaped the annoying Slytherin, only to find herself stuck in a secret passage, hearing footsteps nearing her. It was too narrow to sidestep someone easily by hiding in the shadows. Not willing to go back and possibly have to face Rosier again, she braced herself and stood still, wand hidden just in case.

"Hermione?"

She knew that voice. Unusual pitch compared to her memories, and lighter by not losing his best friends, Sirius Black stood in the hallway.

"Hi." was all she could manage, and she tried to move around him, but he blocked her.

"What are you doing here?"

"On my way to the common room."

"Ah, I meant, in this passage."

"Don't see how that would effect my answer." she quipped and wrinkled her nose in annoyance when she realized this was not the response she should have given Sirius Black.

He smirked, and she sighed in annoyance at Wizards. "How did you find this place?"

"By looking." in for a penny, in for a pound. She tried to move around him again, but he blocked her again.

"Do you always go looking for secret dark hallways?"

"Not when I've already found them."

"Wanna go looking for some more?"

"No."

"Why not?" He sounded genuinely surprised by her response, and if it hadn't been so dark she would probably have seen a frown on his beautiful face.

She rolled her eyes and tried again to move around him, quicker, this time, she managed to get to his side. Yet he was just as quick and boxed her in between his arms and the wall.

"Seems like you planned this Miss Granger." he practically purred.

"I'm not the stalker here."

"Are you saying I am?"

"Yes."

"So you've noticed me watching you."

She sighed. "Let me go."

"Why?" He moved closer, and she stretched upwards like it would make her smaller and get her further away from him. "Are you afraid of me?"

"Gee a dark tunnel, nobody around and a guy that won't let me leave, nothing to be afraid of here."

Immediately he moved back and gave her space she so desperately longed for. Instead of moving she stood there perplexed. She wished she could see his face, figure out what was going on with him. Then she remembered herself, and her vow to stay in the shadows.

She only took one step when she heard "I'm sorry."

She turned her head, but the only thing she could see was that he had his head bent.

"I didn't mean to scare you."

"You didn't." Only the fact that this place was so eerily quiet enabled Sirius to hear what she had said, it was barely above a whisper. He looked up at her, and she remembered the way he had looked at her when she saved him from the Dementors so long ago, and so far into the future. Those puppy eyes that seemed so broken, like they had given up on redemption years ago.

"Why are you leaving then?" his voice had that same tone to it as when he had thanked her for saving his life.

"Because I have to."

"You don't have to."

"You don't understand."

"Then explain."

"I can't."

"Try."

He reached for her, and it snapped her out of whatever sort of moment they had just then, and she withdrew suddenly. Without saying another word, she left him there in that dank place, feeling guilty and hoping he could forgive her someday. While another part of her hoped he didn't so he would stay away.

Authors Note: I know it's been so long since I updated, and I have to apologize. I've just been so lost and Idk what is going on with me but for some reason, I am just completely unable to write anything. This did not flow easily like all the other chapters (of all my stories) have done. I am feeling slightly better so that's how I managed this, but I can't promise frequent or speedy updates.

What I can promise is that none of my stories are abandoned, if something ever happens that stops me from continuing the story, I promise to post everything I have so that you can, at least, get some closure on the story.

Thanks to my reviewers; AliceEnchanted, purple breeze, marianna79, and angel897

PS: I update Twitter (not so often) and Tumblr (where you can find aesthetics and excerpts from future chapters) so if you need an extra fix or update on any of my stories I recommend checking them out. They are both under Lenore483

Edited all chapters with the help of Grammarly. Should be fewer errors, but the program isn't flawless (and neither am I).

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