"Professor Snape, I have to go." Draco stammered. He had to get out of the classroom before the potion wore off. He had to forget this day. He lusted to, wanted to, NEEDED to forget this day. The day he almost kissed a mudblood. The day everything started to fall apart. The day that he would die if he ever remembered his feelings for her. He made a vow long ago to his father. That he would never associate with a mudblood. The only words he would ever speak to one were words of hate. If he broke that vow, he'd be killed. He prayed that Pansy hadn't seen. She'd get jealous and tell his father. Even if it meant she would never see Draco alive again, she'd be content that he wouldn't be in that mudblood's arms.

Draco picked up his pace to his dormitory. He burst into the common room and ran into his room. He grabbed his spare wand, the wand used only for powerful spells, and muttered "Obliviate." Instantly, it felt like he was moving backwards. The world spun around him faster and faster, until the experience was so dizzying, that he felt like he was going to vomit. Then it went pitch black. Draco opened his eyes moments later. He was on the floor clutching the green and silver throw rug.  "What happened," he though to himself, "I was just eating breakfast..how'd I get in here?" He tried to open his door, but he couldn't. He heard whispering outside, then the booming voices of Crabbe and Goyle. He pressed his ear up against the door.

"We should give him some privacy." Crabbe suggested, in an odd motherly way.

"I agree." Goyle said, although Draco guessed he had no idea what he just agreed to. Then he heard Pansy's pathetic whine.

"But he NEEDS me. He's clearly feeling unloved."

 Draco had to hold back a snort of laughter. Pansy was annoying, but sometimes she just downright made him laugh. Then, what startled him was that he had no idea why he would even look "unloved." What had happened to him? Draco knocked on his own door and he immediately felt it go back to its original state. It had been bending backwards. Obviously, one of his croonies had been leaning on it. Draco turned the door knob and went outside. What he saw confused him to no end. The whole of Slytherin House was standing in front of his door, looking worried.

"Ok," he started, "Who died?" Draco asked.

"You ran out of Potions for no reason. You just left. Don't you remember?" Pansy asked.

"No. I think I need to get some fresh air." He said. He parted a path through the crowd and escaped through the portrait. Draco walked outside into the pleasant  atmosphere and cringed in pain, as he tried to remember what happened. It hurt to try to think back, as if there were a curtain over his memory. The giant squid's tentacles rose up and down in a rhythmic dance and Draco found himself hypnotized. His state of calm broke after something hit him square on the forehead. He picked up whatever it was. He wove the silver chain around his fingers and looked at the heavy object attached. Hung on the thread of silver was a circular, emerald amulet. He slid his finger down the smooth surface of the stone. "It can't hurt," he decided, "It'll just add to my smoldering good looks." Draco mused, an arrogant smirk plastered onto his face.

No matter what he did, that smirk was always there. Whether visible or not, there would be that smirk that clearly stated that he was considered better than others. Even when the world abandoned him, he realized he'd always have his pride. For the first time in his life, the thought brought him no comfort. He brought the amulet over his head, so that it hung around his neck, and hid it in his robes. He walked back up to the castle, again confused, but this time by his own thoughts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hermione finally snapped out of the potion's grasp. She looked around. All of her classmates were whispering, excitedly. It looked as if something unusual had just happened. She was about to ask Draco what had happened, when she realized he wasn't there. Hermione had never seen Snape look so shocked. Something was up. She walked over to Ron, who was talking animatedly with Harry. "What's going on you guys?" She inquired.

"Oh right, you were still under the potion," Ron said, "Draco just said he had to go and flew out of the room, looking as if he'd just seen a Grim." Hermione mulled over this, her lips parted slightly, in deep thought.

Hermione went back to her seat and continued to think about the situation. Finally, Snape dismissed the class and the Slytherins hurried off to find Draco, while the Gryffindors hurried of just to hurry away from Snape, who was looking rather peeved that his class had been disrupted. Hermione followed Harry and Ron up to Gryffindor Tower. They paid no attention to Draco's disappearance, blaming it on constipation, or something equally ridiculous. Climbing up another staircase, she looked out the window. She saw a head of silver-blond hair and a swirling green and silver robe. She turned around and forced herself through the flow of traffic going the opposite direction. She didn't know why she was so worried about Draco, but she at least had to figure out the details of what happened in Potions.

She met him just as she was coming down the last set of stairs. "Malfoy!" she called out. He stopped and turned around. An emotion that he'd never think he'd feel out of his father's presence overcame him. Fear. Why was he scared of the mudblood? He recognized another emotion weaving its way through his nerves. Anxiousness. Like there was something frightening, but exciting before him, but when he came back to reality he still saw Granger. "What happened in Potions?" She persisted.

"I don't know." Draco replied. And it was the truth.

"You're lying. I know it." She growled back.

"I am not! I swear I have no clue what happened! The last thing I remember is breakfast!" He yelled at her, his anger taking over.

Hermione was quite angered, but kept calm, as she realized that Draco really, truly, didn't know. She could tell by the look of frustration molded onto his face.

"Well then Mr. Malfoy," she continued, "It seems that we have a mystery on our hands." Hermione grabbed his hand, causing an unmistakable surge of electricity to pulse through him. "Now, that's not the only thing I have on my hand." He though to himself. And another frightening thought occurred to him. The feeling when she took his hand....

He liked it.