Disclaimer: I don't own a thing, apart from my story, hopefully.

Author's Note: Tammy- San. I'm sorry for my grammar mistakes! I often end up writing this really, really, late at night. So I hope you can forgive me on that one. And you'll have to wait and see about those questions…who knows what could happen with a mind like mine! Also MoogleWithAStick, thank you for your speechlessness!

Acknowledgements: To Clara Lou (ID: 142468) who I think might have a little too much faith in my writing skills.

Chapter 3

Loneliness in this world is a bitter thing. When you are truly alone, you are haunted by thoughts and memories. Each one nips at you making you crave solidarity. Maybe then, you could have the knowledge to answer the questions. The questions that are driving you mad. They say that curiosity killed the cat…

Hermione threw herself onto the main couch in the Gryffindor Common Room and glared down at her knee. Her skirt was raised slightly revealing the pale flesh. She wrinkled her nose up at the sight of it. It was dirty. She felt betrayed by her own knee, and at the same time stupid for feeling like that. Her whole being was thrown into contradiction. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes. It was time to sort things out in her mind before the confusion drove her mad.

Draco had touched her. He had violated her personal space. His fingers had caressed her knee softly making her feel… She bit her lip at the thought. A shiver had run through her body making her feel alive. As if, his touch could replace the essential things in life. Disgusted by herself, she covered her knee angrily with the course material of the skirt. What had he done to her? She was pretty sure it was not natural to feel anything like that about someone you hated with your body and soul, someone who supposedly hated you with the exact venom. Had he bewitched her? Was it merely a spell? Or…

'Mione?' A soft voice pierced her thoughts. Instantly she looked up to find herself looking into the eyes of Ron. His face was softened by the glow of the fire and a serious frown etched his features. She frowned at the sight. Something was wrong.

'What's wrong?' She said urgently, 'Has something happened? Where's Harry?'

She found herself on her feet looking around wildly. It wasn't like her friend to be so serious. Her mind conjured images of Voldemort and she could feel the panic rising in her.

Ron laughed quietly and placed his hands on her shoulders, rubbing gently at the corners. Hermione relaxed. She had over reacted once again and now she felt stupid. A blush crept about her cheeks. 'The world isn't ending just yet. I just need to talk to you,' Ron said moving an inch closer to her. She looked up at him and smiled. 'Hermione….I…'

The Fat Lady swung back and Harry stuck his head round the corner. Both Hermione and Ron turned to stare at him. Harry had a small smile on his face, and it suddenly dawned on her what he was thinking. Ron was stood close to her, his hands on her shoulders, a serious look on his face, in a completely empty room. She felt her jaw drop slightly and brushed Ron's hands away. She didn't want Harry making something out of nothing.

'Caught you at a bad time?' Harry said with a laugh.

'No!' She replied a little too quickly and she glanced at Ron just in time to catch the hurt look on his face. He turned away from her and paced over to the fire, his head low. Reaching out a hand, she went to touch him but he moved away. A frown creased between her eyebrows and a sigh escaped her lips audibly. Ron turned his head to look at her.

'Get out,' He said softly.

'What?' Harry said slightly shocked.

'Get out. I need to talk to Hermione,' Ron replied firmly.

Hermione could see Harry's eyes darting between the two of them and she felt a familiar tugging at her heart. About a year ago, Ron had tried to tell her how he felt and she had rejected him. She loved him dearly but not in the same way he did about her. Since then they hadn't spoken about it. She thought he might have forgotten her and moved on, but something told her this was going to end in pain.

'I can't stay,' She said quickly, 'I have to go find…Ginny.' Quickly she darted across the room and pushed past Harry with a smile, then ran down the corridor. 'Bye!' She called back.

***

Draco walked along the corridor, scuffing his feet along the carpet. Since his encounter with Hermione he couldn't settle to one thing. He felt somehow rejected by her, even though he had expected nothing but that reaction. Swiftly, he whipped his cape round him. Crabbe and Goyle lingered a couple of steps behind. He acknowledged their presence but was completely ignoring their conversation. One thing and one thing only, occupied his mind. It had done so for weeks now and was driving him insane.

As they reached a corner, Draco felt an intense stare burning into him. He looked up from his feet and the floor and saw Hermione stood in front of him. Her hair was tussled and her eyes seemed darker then usual. A single strand of wispy brown hair dropped down onto her face. Draco longed to tuck it back behind her ear and gaze into her troubled eyes. Instead, he looked at her critically and sneered slightly.

'Why?' She asked in a dangerously soft whisper.

'Why what Granger?' He said daring her to continue her train of thought. He knew too well what she wanted the answer too, and he under no circumstances wanted it voiced to the world.

'You know what I'm talking about, Malfoy. Why?' She was shouting now and he winced slightly, anger building up.

'I don't have time to play petty games with a little Mudblood like you!' He retaliated softly, feeling guilt almost the second the words fell out. The look on her face was more then enough. She looked almost betrayed by his words and he thought he saw a tear forming in her eye. With that she shoved past him and stormed up the corridor.

'Want us to go after her? Show her some manners?' Crabbe said with a snarl.

Draco stared at the space where she had been. So close it had seemed, yet so far. He had pushed her too far before and had sworn not to do so again. Now on top of that he had hurt her. It had seemed like such a natural thing to do. Almost instinctively he had thrown abuse at her.

'No,' He muttered, 'leave her to me. I know what to do.'

***

'Boiling his blood could be fun'

Hermione was sat in the library leafing through a book of curses. There was no way she was letting Malfoy get away with that. He would have to pay somehow and the list of curses she had written out on a piece of paper was going to help. She growled and looked up at the clock. It was nearly time for dinner in the Great Hall. The possibilities of her cursing him tonight didn't seem to be high. Slowly she closed the book and rubbed her temples gently.

After a couple of minutes like that, she rose from her chair and prowled across the room, placing the book back on its shelf. She pushed the door open wearily, feeling the lack of sleep wash over. The past couple of days had been riddled with confusion and curiosity. She rubbed at her eye with her hand and yawned. 'Sleep,' she muttered.

As the words left her lips she felt a sharp tug at her arm and found herself being dragged forward into a pitch-black classroom. She gasped in surprise and felt a hand clamp down over her mouth. Whoever had pulled her in was stood close. She was pinned up against the wall by a strong grip round her wrist and a hot sticky breath against her cheek.

'Don't ever, ever, confront me like that ever, ever, again,' said a slow dangerous voice by her ear. Hermione grimaced.

The pressure over her mouth was released and she took a couple of deep breaths before trying to speak. 'What do you want from me?' she asked in a croaky voice, 'Because if that's all you have to say, I have to go.'

The grip on her wrist tightened and she felt his body touch hers. His free hand was stroking her hair tenderly. She shivered feeling a familiar feeling wash over her. The intended inward sigh escaped and she felt her heart skip a beat. Draco was laughing softly.

'I don't see what's so funny! You drag me in here after having insulting me previously, not to mention invading my personal space earlier, and scare the hell out of me just to…'

She was cut off by a pair of cool lips firmly pressed against hers. It took her a couple of minutes to realise what was happening. Draco was kissing her. She thought about what to do. She should push him away with her free hand and then slap him. Her eyes slowly closed as the kiss became more intense and instead of pushing him away she felt her hand claw at the side of his body. 'No,' she tried to mutter and felt the kiss end.

Slowly she opened one eye and felt a steely stare upon her. The grip on her wrist was gone and the body heat that had been close was far. Suddenly a sense of loss ripped through her. What had she done wrong? Her hand went up to her lips and she checked to make sure they were still there. A soft rustling noise came from somewhere in front of her and she closed her eyes again, leaning heavily against the wall.

'Malfoy?' She whispered.

She stretched a hand out in front of her and searched for him with her fingertips. Unsteadily she stepped forward into the darkness. With a simple wave of her wand she could have illuminated the room but some how it didn't seem right. The darkness seemed appropriate as she stumbled about. Her leg crashed into a desk and she let out a little whine. Instantly her hands where on her leg, soothing out the bump. 'Damn you Malfoy,' she muttered, 'If I ever get my hands on you, I'll…' She faltered. What would she do?

Suddenly she felt fingers lightly brush the sides of her waist. Her eyes fluttered closed as her hair was pushed aside from her neck and a pair of lips was placed hungrily against her flesh. Trails of fiery kisses were slowly creeping up her neck towards her ear. The sensations running through her were beginning to take effect. Slowly, she found herself raising her hand, her fingertips stroking gently at Draco's cheek. His free hand was round her waist, pulling her close to his body. A soft, musky moan drifted in the room. Hermione felt a familiar blush creep up her cheeks. The kisses became tendered, the higher up they got on her neck. His fingers were idly playing with the material of her jumper as his head nuzzled hers.

'Malfoy?' She whispered again into the darkness.

'Goodbye Hermione,' he said softly into her ear. With that, he moved away and all Hermione had left with was the echo of the door closing behind him.

A tear softly trickled down her cheek as she realised what had happened. Her eyes opened and she was alone. She hugged her arms around her body and let her head hang.

'What do you want from me?'

…but knowledge brought it back. So, do you keep the knowledge to yourself? Build up the walls and hide behind a mask? A mask is ever only temporary, for you crave to pull it away. You crave to let it been known. Ultimately, knowledge gives you power but not necessarily action. Again, you are alone in the world…

***

Author's Note 2: Well I hope you enjoyed this instalment as much as I did thinking it up. Now please review!