Hermione was surprised at how little she saw of Draco during the week. She did not expect him to publicly acknowledge her nightly activity, but at least a few words could have been exchanged between lessons. It was not that she did not try, but after Monday's Potions lesson Draco had not even looked at her.

Did he regret what had happened?

She tapped her quill against her lips thoughtfully. She should be concentrating on her essay and using the half hour until ten o'clock to finish her homework in the library, but her mind kept wandering.

She was not necessarily experienced when it came to sex, but she was confident enough to stand by the fact that she liked sex. She was no longer a little girl; she was nineteen years old and felt like a woman by now. She liked sex and she was sure that her male partner liked sex with her too. Ron, at least, had never complained, even if he had not been too experimental like her.

Had she misjudged the situation that much? She had been sure that Draco had been just as fired up about it as she was. After all, he had also been the one to make the first move.

Sighing, she put the quill aside. She would not be able to put another line down today anyway. Normally she always tried to get all her homework done before the weekend, but that just was not possible this week. She was too distracted. By Draco Malfoy.

As she gathered her things, Hermione thought again of the moment in the bathroom. Certainly, Draco had seemed a little reserved afterwards, but she blamed that on the fact that neither of them knew how to handle the situation. They had not suddenly become friends, after all.

Had she perhaps simply misinterpreted it? Had the sex not been so fulfilling for him after all?

She felt cold spreading through her whole body. No, she would not let Malfoy destroy her self-confidence. Not again. She was not twelve anymore and unsure if she belonged in the wizarding world. Malfoy could not do anything to her. She enjoyed the sex. And he definitely was as greedy as she was. He could not complain.

As always at this hour, she was the last person in the library. She put the borrowed books back in place one by one and then made a small round of the library to collect and put away the books that other students had simply left lying around as well. She was just about to put the last two books on the shelf when she heard a soft clearing of the throat behind her.

For a split second, her mind wandered to Malfoy, but when she turned around, she found someone else in front of her entirely. "Nott?"

"I knew I'd find you here," he grinned widely. "And that you'd be here alone."

Uncertainly, Hermione looked around. She had never had any problems with Theodore Nott, but he was a Slytherin and one of the few friends Malfoy had. She set her school bag down in front of her on one of the tables so that behind it, kept from Nott's gaze, she could reach for her wand. She jutted her chin a little higher and straightened up. "What do you want?"

His eyes grew wide and he pulled both hands out of his trouser pockets, as if to signal to her that he was unarmed. "Easy, easy, Granger. We're not at war."

Hermione was not distracted by his words. No one sought her out alone in a secluded place at such a late hour without purpose. Especially as everyone knew that the new librarian was not present after eight o'clock. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously, wand still covered in her hand, waiting for a proper answer.

The tall Slytherin student in front of her seemed to realise that she was not going to let up. He folded his arms in front of his chest and leaned against one of the bookshelves. "Do you have a Mad-Eye Moody whispering in your ear all the time, constant vigilance? Relax. I'm not so tired of life as to want to do anything to you." His words sounded mocking, but Hermione could tell by the tense corners of his mouth and the way his gaze was unblinking on her that he understood she was not in a joking mood right now.

"I understand your mistrust," he continued pointedly slowly. "But we have spoken very civilly in the past, haven't we? I just want to ask you something."

Hermione took a deep breath. Perhaps she was overreacting. Theodore Nott had indeed been a Slytherin student, who always proved to be polite, especially this term. But fear was rooted deep in her bones. "Then ask," she hissed tensely.

"Did something happen between you and Draco?"

Her eyes grew wide. She did no expect that, though it made a lot of sense now that he asked. Of course, Malfoy sent his friends forward to communicate with her. She lifted her hand that held the wand from behind her school bag and tucked it into her sleeve, emphatically slowly.

"Hey, woah," Nott commented horrified. "You really thought I was going to attack you?"

"A year on the run from Death Eaters and their sympathisers changes a person," she said simply, but she looked him in the eye deliberately. No one here understood what she, Harry, and Ron had been through.

"Right, yeah, okay," Nott murmured softly. "Maybe it wasn't so smart to ambush you alone here."

"Maybe," she agreed coolly. "So, what's with the Malfoy question?"

He pushed himself off the shelf and nodded towards the exit. With an annoyed sigh, she followed him and waited patiently for him to explain what exactly he wanted here.

"You were pretty angry with Draco on Saturday," Nott began as they walked down the corridor together. "And he seemed pretty pleased with himself. Then Sunday comes and he looks angry while you look pleased. I don't have to be a genius to see that something is going on between you."

"He's angry with me?" Hermione exclaimed indignantly. "What the ... ugh, unbelievable. Seriously, Nott. He has no reason to be angry."

"Uh, yeah, that may be so," he hesitantly replied, "but the fact is, he's mad at you."

With a frustrated groan, Hermione stopped and looked up at Theodore. He was the last person she wanted to talk to about this, but he obviously gave her no choice. "Okay, here's the thing. Your good friend Draco wanted something from me and I happened to have no problem giving it to him. But I also happen to be unwilling to be embarrassed by it. If he thinks he can ruin my reputation, let him."

She could see that Nott was even more confused after her answer than before. He raised his shoulders and very slowly lowered them again. "I don't even want to know what this is all about. It's none of my business either. All I can see is that Draco is angry, and has been for a week, and I doubt he has no reason to be."

Hermione felt the incomprehensible anger she had felt alone in the library earlier burst out of her again. Of course Nott was not questioning his friend. Of course Malfoy had every right in the world to be angry with her.

"You know what?" she hissed, "You can go to Malfoy and tell him he can go die in a fire for all I care. If it's up to me, we've never exchanged a single word."

"Oooookay." Nott's voice resonated with his confusion and surprise, but Hermione had enough.

Without saying goodbye to him, she trudged up the stairs that led to the Gryffindor common room. She could not believe Malfoy was making such a fuss about it and was now apparently angry with her.

What was he angry about? That she had willingly gone along with him? That she had promised to keep it a secret so he would not be besieged by horrified Slytherin students? Or did it go against his grain that she had had fun too?

If she had known he would mutate into such a drama queen, she would never have gotten involved with him. She would have settled for her fantasy, and forever chased the dream that maybe Draco Malfoy was a good guy after all. That was now forever shattered and she knew she would no longer be able to enjoy her stimulating fantasies as she had before.