A/N : Again, I'm sorry about the length of the last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one..here goes.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The library. It was Hermione's heaven on Earth. Ron and Harry were off at Quidditch practice and Malfoy was usually in their common room at this time of night, so she had decided to go to her sanctuary.

She made her way to the back table which was unofficially hers. Madam Pince knew how much she liked it, and did her best to keep it available.

Hermione settled down and tried to decide what subject she would complete first. I'll do charms, she thought. That's always relaxing. As she tucked into the work ahead of her the rest of the library faded away.

After an hour she completed the relatively easy (but unbelievably tedious) assignment. She decided to do her Transfiguration essay. She was about halfway through when she realized she needed a book she didn't have in her immediate vicinity.

As she was searching through the shelves, she had the persistent feeling that she was being watched, and kept looking around to assure herself that no one was there. The third time Hermione did this, she found herself looking into a distinctly familiar pair of eyes.

"Draco." She mentally cursed herself. Ahhh, I should've called him Malfoy!

He looked as surprised as she felt. "Since when do you know my name?"

Hermione was at a total loss for words. She just stood there, gaping. His eyes were hypnotic and she couldn't look away. Neither could he.

"I.......uh......I........was........book.......Transfiguration........," she stammered.

Draco, while not at such an embarrassing loss for words, was trying to keep himself from doing anything that could be considered--shall we say-- unwise. He lifted a finger up to her lips to silence her.

"Why don't we just leave it at that."

And with that, he swept away, thankful that he had not acted unwisely; but, as Hermione had been days earlier and still was, he was confused by the look he had seen in her eyes.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* One Week Later *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"So, there I was, up in the air, all alone, and then, out of nowhere, comes this rouge bludger! If it wasn't for my excellent flying skills, I would've been totaled!" Ron exclaimed.

Ron was going on and on about his latest Quidditch conquest. Saying Hermione was bored to tears would be a dishonor to the phrase bored to tears. She was practically dying from the lack of intellect involved in Ron's story.

"I think I'll go back to my common room," she interrupted.

"But, I was just getting to the good part!" Ron objected.

"Yes, well, I do have some homework left to do. I'm dreadfully sorry."

With that, she nearly ran from the common room toward her own (mostly) private quarters. She silently hoped that Draco wouldn't be in the sitting room as she gave the password to the portrait of the founders that hid the entrance. So far, she had not seen him alone since the incident in the library a week ago.

"I see we've finally decided to return to our quarters," drawled that oh-so familiar voice.

Damn.

"Hello, Malfoy," she sighed resignedly.

"What's this? Upset to see me?"

"Really, I'm not in the mood." She started making her way up to her room.

A voice surprisingly close to her ear whispered, "Running away from your problems won't make them go away."

Hermione turned around with a speed that surprised even herself. Malfoy was less than two inches away from her face. She backed up to catch her breath. "What did you say to me?" she queried, although she knew perfectly well what had come out of his mouth.

"Nothing. Nothing important." He smirked, making her more anxious. As soon as he had turned around she fled to her room. She threw herself onto her bed when she arrived, welcoming the comforting softness of her queen-size bed.

What am I going to do?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* A few moments earlier.... *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Before he knew what he was doing, he'd catapulted himself out of his chair by the fire and whispered in her ear.

"Running away from you problems won't make them go away."

"What did you say to me?" Hermione appeared breathless.

He knew she had heard exactly what he'd said. "Nothing. Nothing important." He gave his trademark smirk for a bit of dramatic effect, and turned around to sit back down. Draco heard he run up the stairs and wondered if she wasn't running to him, in spite of the fact that she was heading in the opposite direction.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Later, as Draco making his way up to his room, he noticed that her door was slightly opened. Unable to resist the urge he peeked in at her.

She was lying on her bed, peacefully asleep. He wondered if it wasn't possible that she was more beautiful when she was asleep. He sighed and made his way down to his room. He opened his door and who should be waiting there but.......
.......Pansy.
Damn, how did she get in here?

"Oooooo, Dracy, it's simply lovely in here!" she gushed.

He winced at the nickname.

"What do you want, Parkinson?"

She looked at bit put off by the way he addressed her. But then, that was the point.

"I was just hoping that maybe you'd like to come and sit with me in the Slytherin common room."

"No."

"Oh, come on, it'll be fun!" squealed Pansy.

"Are you deaf? I said no." Draco was rather annoyed.

"Fine. But don't think I won't be back to see you. I'm only leaving now because you must need to work out your frustration over the unfortunate demise of your father."

"GET OUT NOW!"

She left quickly, for a Malfoy who is angry, is a man not to be toyed with.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A/N: yeah, I know, pretty bad....but I felt guilty not posting for so long. Forgive me? Oh. :'-( Again, sorry it's so short but I wanted to get it posted. I'll try to write longer chapters but I have homework and such and my teachers all have sticks up their (expletive deleted) so they like to pile it on. Many thanks to everyone who reviewed. KEEP REVIEWING!!!! ;-)