A/N at the end this time, ok guys? Thanks for your patience - VOILA!!!! Chapter 4~~~
* indicate Hermione's thoughts*

Chapter 4 - The Return of the Towel

Hermione slowly stretched the next morning in her bed. A loud groan escaping from her lips, she pushed herself up on her elbows and rubbed her eyes. The warm sunlight drifted through the large windows next to her and she felt it caress her face. Hogwarts almost seemed more like home than HOME did. The familiar faces and people -

She sighed into a blissful state of nostalgia as she glanced around her magnificent room again. It only seemed to get better, and her astute eyes picked up every detail anew: the large chairs, the beautiful walls, the couches, the mantle - where, she noted, a portrait of a black knight was perched - identical to the one at the entrance to her dorm, the slightly ajar door to the bathroom, the gold lions, cat eyes -

"AUGH!"

Hermione hit the floor with a thud in a mass of brown hair and bedsheets with a huge weight on her chest.

"Crookshanks! You bad boy! You scared me half to death! Merlin, what am I going to do with you?"

She proceeded to coo and cuddle her large cat, oblivious to two gray eyes observing her from the door of the bathroom.

"Well, Granger, obviously the Golden Trio needs to alter their resumé. We now have at Hogwarts - the Dork Who Lived, Weasel, and the Mudblood who Meows. Lovely."

He smirked and pulled a folded, pink towel from behind his back.

*Did he just wink at me? No way. Stupid git - why can't he just leave?*

Crookshanks emitted a low growl from the back of his throat.

*Great judge of character, that cat - *

"Don't you have somewhere to be, Malfoy?"

"Same place you were supposed to be-" he checked his watch, "three minutes ago. But, Mudblood, unlike you, I will not receive a weeks detention for this little slip-up. Any guesses where you need to be?"

"OH MY GOD! OH.....MY....GOD!!!!! I had double Potions today! And...I overslept! I overslept!"

She rambled on, not noticing Draco lazily leaning against the doorframe.

"....and Snape will give me so many nights in the dungeon cleaning the floor and THAT will cut in on my time at the library and my grades will fall and MALFOY! This is ALL your fault! Why didn't you wake me up?! And WHY are you just standing there?"

*Is he laughing at me? No, that's more like a snarl. What was I thinking? Malfoy? A human emotion? Dream on, Hermione.*

"And you thought I was riled up yesterday?" Malfoy sneered, but his face momentarily softened when he spoke again. "Maybe this will teach you not to spy on me in the loo anymore, Granger." He threw the towel and she caught it against her chest, only to drop it beside her in a crumpled heap to place her hands on her hips indignantly.

"I was NOT!"

"Not that I blame you, of course," he retorted thoughtfully, knowing full well that this would infuriate her even more.

"Draco Malfoy! You sick egomaniac! Get out!"

"Willingly," he mocked, mimicking her deep bow from the previous night and never breaking eye contact. Blue met brown, and for a minute, time stopped -

*Wait, his eyes really are blue - so blue! He's incorrigible! How can he just- just-*

Her thoughts stopped, and all that existed to her for that brief moment was his steady gaze. It still held so much hatred, but yet, perhaps he was enjoying their little verbal spat. Who knew?

Hermione finally ripped her eyes from his and ran an exasperated hand through her hair. "Just leave, Malfoy."

"And a mediocre morning to you, Miss Granger." He turned and took a few deliberate steps away from her, but suddenly stopped and looked over his shoulder.

"By the way, Granger, it's Saturday - you should really take a pill or something..."

With that, he smirked. Raking over her figure with his eyes, he turned and stalked away. Hermione clenched her fists in apprehension of a slammed door, but none came.

~~click~~

Malfoy was gone.
A/N: SOOOOO..what'd you think? Merci to all my reviewers! I nearly fell out of my seat when I saw what nice things you all said to me! I really appreciate you taking the time to review!

Girl-Named-Belle: Thanks! I'm glad you like it!

Dreaming One: Thank you for your suggestions! Unfortunately, I am completely computer illiterate, so I'm just going to stick with ".doc"'s for fear that I'll competely screw something up, but thankx for the tip! I know my writing is a little coarse around the edges, one might say, but I hope that it's getting better! I'm trying to "show" more and not "tell" - you know? But thank you for pointing it out - I think I'll make an extra effort! ( Oh and you're right - I like to think that Malfoy thinks of human emotion as weakness, and he detests it in himself so much that he constantly puts on a cold front. Heh heh..part of his charm I guess - I know that's why I love him!

Devin-Jaime: I took your advice! Hee hee..did you notice the "**"? Thanks for letting me know! Thanks for pointing out my little error in Ch. 2.actually, I think I might have done that purposely but for whatever reason I cannot remember - perhaps to emphasize Harry's stream of consciousness or something - oh well! I guess you'll just have to keep reading to see if they'll get together! OHHHHH suspense! Hee hee....

Totaloser: Thanks for your encouragement! I really hope to receive more reviews from you!!

That's all for now! Til next time! XOXO - Kate