First day of school today. *sigh* it wasn't that bad, really, and the teacher I hated the most actually changed schools over summer, but I do not like school. So much valuable time that could be spent writing..

Oh well, here's the new chapter anyway.

******'

There were books and parchment, scattered all over the floor, making it look like someone had made an overstuffed book bag explode. The looks of things were, for once, completely true. And in the middle of the surprisingly circular mess, fuming silently was Hermione Granger. Blaise was standing right in front of her, looking rather sheepish.

He had, despite the fact that he should know better, dropped some kind of Zonko product in her bag, causing it to explode. And she, against any rhyme or reason, found herself fighting back a laugh; he was looking just like a little boy being scolded for a prank. And he more or less was, although there were no words being said.

However, just when Hermione opened her mouth to remedy that, Snape stepped around the corner and set eyes on them. His already displeased expression grew angry, and he took the last few steps towards them in a stride.

"I do not want to know what happened. I do not want you to tell me what happened. But, and I must stress this, if it ever happens again, I will have both of you, yes, both, expelled. Do I make myself clear?" He said in a dangerously low voice.

They both nodded, caught like deer's in headlight, and swallowed as he continued. It was almost comical how coordinated their movements were.

"And you will both have detention. Now." He told them and, turning around, started towards his dungeon.

Having no choice, they shrugged and followed him. Once again, an onlooker would have cause for amusement, as they both shrugged at the exact same time. There had been an unspoken, temporary peace between them.

******'

That peace, however, didn't last long. As soon as they were given their detention; cleaning the student's stores, they began bickering again. They had been doing it for so long now that it had become a habit.

"You know, they don't make detentions like this anymore." Blaise commented.

"Nope. These days, torture is outlawed in many countries, and therefore, detentions like this are illegal." Hermione told him in her best know-it- all voice.

"Ah; I knew there was something rather strange about it. But, if it's detentions of the old school you want, you can always trust in Professor Snape." He nodded.

"You mean you don't, otherwise?"

"Of course not; I'm a Slytherin, I don't trust anyone!" Blaise shot at her, looking rather offended.

"I bet you read the Slytherin Rules of Acquisition as a prayer every night, don't you?" She asked, snorting, "I can see it, alright."

"What, me in my boxers?" Blaise asked, holding back laughter at her expression. "Whoever said Gryffindors were pure minded has apparently never met you."

"Shut up!" She growled, blushing.

"I don't particularly care to know what little game you two are playing, but as entertaining as it is to listen to it, this is a detention. Ergo, you are supposed to be miserable. You will be finished when I come back, or you will have to do it over again." Snape interrupted, as he was standing in the doorway.

They nodded, Hermione still blushing brightly.

"However, do tell me who wins." Snape said, smirking before he left them alone.

Hermione blinked. That was definitely...out of character for Snape, to say the least. Sighing, she want back to sorting through the student's supplies of lacewings, while Blaise was kneeling across the smallish room, reorganizing some jars she had no idea what was kept in.

******'

Snape returned, they were finished, and were allowed to go. Surprisingly, no insults had been flying between them since he left. Apparently, neither of them felt like fighting at the moment, however amusing it was. Snape looked at them suspiciously, but let them go.

Silently, they trudged up the stairs again, and while Blaise went off to the Slytherin Common Room, Hermione went down to the kitchen, seeing as they'd both missed dinner. She tickled the pear on the portrait, and went inside.

"Miss! Dobby is so glad to see you. Can Dobby bring you anything, Miss?" Dobby, who else, squeaked as soon as she came into sight.

"Hello, Dobby. Could you bring me some sandwiches? I had detention with Snape and missed dinner." She explained.

"I bring them in a minute Miss!" The House Elf exclaimed, and rushed off.

Hermione settled down on a chair, and waited. Her plan to liberate the House Elves had crumbled to dust when Dobby, Winky and two of the Hogwarts Elves, going by the nickname ´the Twinkies´ had convinced her that the House elves enjoyed serving. It was uncaring employers they couldn't stand.

She was broken out of her thoughts when Dobby came back with the sandwiches. Apparently, he thought she'd been without food for a week, because there had to bee at least fifteen-something sandwiches in that lot.

"Thank you Dobby." She told the Elf, holding back laughter, and accepted the food.

"How are you Miss?" He asked.

"I'm fine Dobby. Look, I really have to go; I've got studying to do. I'll come see you some other time, alright?" She said.

"Alright, Miss!" Dobby bounded off again.

She smiled, and left the kitchen; she really did have studying to do, since the exams were drawing closer. She headed off to the library, munching on the sandwiches as she went, smiling a slightly not-all-there smile, thinking about whatever happened to strike her fancy. What struck her fancy most often seemed to Blaise.

She just couldn't stop thinking about their little exchange in the Potions classroom, when she'd made a comment, and he'd retorted with ´What, me in my boxers?´. Unfortunately, that comment had planted a rather uncomfortable picture in her mind. She more than once had to slap herself silly, mentally of course, to get the image of Blaise in nothing but his underwear out of her head. It was definitely one for the top ten on the List of Things to Confess on Deathbed.

She popped the last bit of the ham sandwich in her mouth, stuffed the remaining twelve in her bag, and entered the library. Madame Pince refused to let anyone eat as much as a Chocolate Frog in the library, so she thought it best to hide the food.

*******'

Blaise was in a foul mood. He had gotten detention with Snape, he had cleaned out the student's supply closet together with Hermione Granger, all the while not saying a bloody word, and now he had missed dinner. Since he didn't know how to get into the kitchens, he would have to go hungry until breakfast. Which was about twelve hours away.

He wasn't sure he'd make it. He needed something to distract himself with, and thus, he was going to the library. Books had always been able to pass his time when he was bored, so he figured it would work if he was hungry too. Even if it didn't, it was worth a shot.

He pushed the doors open, and walked aimlessly through the bookshelves for a minute or two, before he came to a sheltered nook of the large room, which seemed to house Muggle books, both fact and fiction. He had always enjoyed reading Muggle fiction; most wizarding fiction was based on the author's life, or other famous wizard's lives. Ergo, it got boring quickly. Muggles, however, seemed to have a livelier imagination than wizards, and therefore wrote more interesting books.

He pulled out one at random, and sat down in one of the overstuffed chairs. He glanced at the title before opening the book. ´Finnegan's Wake´ was emblazoned across the cover. He smiled; that reminded him of that Irish Gryffindor, Seamus Finnegan. He settled in and buried his nose in the book.

It must have been hours later, when his stomach rumbles started to register on the Richter scale, when he heard someone coming closer to his section of the library. He glanced up from his book, to see Hermione standing there.

"I'll just be leaving then." She said, and turned to go.

"No. Sit down." He said.

She turned back and, raising an eyebrow, looked at him, with a very small smile tugging at her lips. He raised an eyebrow himself, wondering what was so amusing.

"Ordering me around, are you?"

"No. But I'm not going to chase you away either. Sit down." He said, and buried himself in his book again.

"´Finnegan's Wake´?"

"Yes." He muttered. "Is that a problem?"

"Nope. It's kind of good actually. But I'll settle for ´Neverwhere´." She said and sat down across from him.

"Hmm," Was his distracted reply.

******'

Suddenly, the lights went out. Blaise looked up from his book, startled, and caught Hermione's equally surprised gaze. Madame Pince always made sure people were out of the library before she closed it. So why hadn't she this time?

"I'll go check the doors." Hermione mumbled, and lit the tip of her wand with a mumbled spell before she headed off.

"You do that." He said, saying a ´Lumos´ spell of his own, and placing the book on the table.

Soon, she returned, looking slightly annoyed. She plopped down in her seat and heaved a sigh, which made him smile a bit.

"It's a well known fact that I am intelligent, but that intelligence doesn't cover telepathy. What happened?" He asked.

"The doors are locked and they seem to be spelled shut too; not even Alohomora works." She spat out at the ground, not looking at him. "And since there are no other exits to the library, we're stuck."

"How do you know about that? Maybe there are other exits." He pointed out.

"Oh, trust me, there aren't. We're stuck till dawn at least." She said darkly.

"This brings back memories." He snorted.

"I'd like to state for the record that I feel a general dislike towards you at the moment." She said.

"Only at the moment?" he asked, and nearly hit himself over the head for sounding hopeful.

Where the hell had that come from? She was the girl who had threatened to push him off the Astronomy Tower. The girl who called him Baldrick, purely to annoy him. She was the girl who had promised, or threatened, to come to his funeral. The same girl who constantly annoyed him and made fun of him. Why did he give a damn about what she thought?

"Do you honestly want me to answer that?"

"Yes?" He grinned uncertainly.

"Alright." She sighed, "No I don't dislike you all the time; sometime, only rarely mind you, you can actually be quite funny. You're intelligent, you can talk about other things than Quidditch, chess and the latest girl to walk by, and you see me as neither a walking lexicon nor a threat against the pureblooded world. On the whole, I can stand you." She winked while saying the last part.

Against his will, he felt hope rise in his chest. She didn't hate him, after all. And the next second he was kicking himself over why it mattered to him. Sighing, he pushed those thoughts aside and concentrated on the here and now part of proceedings.

"I am rather tolerant towards you as well." He said casually.

"Why thank you." She was just about to say something further, when his stomach interrupted them with a large growl.

"Damn; traitorous body functions." He mumbled.

"Hungry?" She asked, diving into her bag for the leftover sandwiches.

"Have I died and gone to heaven?" He asked, as he accepted the food and ate gratefully.

"No, but please do as soon as you can." She quipped, grinning slightly.

He mock-glared at her, but couldn't find it in his heart to be angry, since he was famished, and she had just put food in his hands. That made her the equivalent of a goddess. He caught himself again. He really shouldn't spend time alone with her; it messed up his thinking.

******'

Three hours later found them still sitting in the overstuffed chairs, Blaise having given up Finnegan's Wake for another book called The Green Mile and Hermione still deep in Neverwhere. Sine they weren't getting out any time soon, they had settled in to read their way through, to keep from getting bored.

But the reason Blaise had changed books was not that it was boring, but that he kept getting distracted. His thoughts kept dwelling on Hermione; on something she'd said, or on something she'd done, or even something someone else had done or said, which for some reason or the other related to her.

With a sigh, he put the book down and got to his feet. Hermione didn't even glance at him, and it made him slightly angry. They were, after all, locked in the library; why didn't she give the slightest if he got up and walked away? Maybe he would leave her alone, finding some way out, and not care that she was stuck there all night, all alone.

Frustrated, he started walking back and forth next to the chairs, turning every time he was a foot or so away from the bookshelves. He just couldn't sit still anymore; he had to do something, or he would go insane.

After a while, he became aware of Hermione watching him from her chair, having put her book on the table in front of her. Her expression seemed slightly amused, and there was a small smile playing on her lips. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes, and then shook his head, mumbled something not ever he could decipher, and continued his pacing.

Bushy-haired Gryffindors oughtn't to be allowed in his presence. They were distracting, annoying and not exactly good for his self-esteem. And the fact that they were almost unhealthily beautiful weren't helping.

He halted abruptly. Beautiful? Alright, now he was losing it. Hermione Granger wasn't beautiful, not by a long shot. But then again, she wasn't ugly either, that he had to admit. The bushy hair might not be the most fetching in the world, but she made up for it by not wearing ridiculous amounts of make-up and beauty-products. In fact, the only time he had ever seen her with make-up was in Fourth Year, at the Yule Ball.

He'd been standing in a corner, talking to his date, the pitcher of Pumpkin Juice, mentally making sarcastic remarks about the other attendants, when the doors had opened, and Krum had entered. He, contrary to all the others, had immediately recognized her. What surprised him was how relaxed she looked, how happy, in a slightly triumphant way. It had been strange, not seeing her worrying over something, be it her friends, her homework or something else.

He didn't realize he had been staring at Hermione for the last two minutes, before she got up and waved her hand in front of his face. He blinked, and looked at her in confusion. She raised an eyebrow and tapped her foot.

"What could possibly be so interesting that you have to stare at me?" She asked.

"Nothing." He mumbled, still staring.

"Nothing? As if I believe that. Now tell me." She ordered.

The next few moments could only be described as impulsive, incomprehensive and more than merely strange. For years to come, he would ponder exactly what prompted him to do what he did, but he would never some up with a decent answer.

To put it bluntly, he put his hand on her shoulders, leaned forward and kissed her. To use a well-worn cliché, the world seemed to come to a standstill around them, and narrowed down to only the two of them.

Seconds later, he pulled away and stared at her in a mixture of horror, surprise and not a little shock. Her expression was much the same, and for a moment, neither of the said or did anything, they just stared at each other.

Then, Blaise let go of her as if he'd been stung, and took a step back, almost stumbling but managing to catch him self. He mumbled over and over under his breath, as he stared at Hermione in wide-eyed shock.

"I shouldn't have done that. I should not have done that." He repeated over and over, almost like a mantra.

He turned on his heels and walked away. Not out of the library, but away from that particular section, knowing that there'd be hell to pay if he didn't explain himself. But right now, he couldn't even understand it, or find reasons to it himself, so it was an impossibility to explain it to her.

*****'

Hermione stared after him as he disappeared behind the shelves, mumbling something under his breath and looking absolutely terrified. To tell the truth, she wasn't much better off herself. The last thing she'd expected him to do was kiss her.

And what a kiss it had been. Now she knew what being hit by a ton of fuzzy bricks felt like. She'd never really had any boyfriends, but it wasn't her first kiss, but it was by far the best one. And to think it had only lasted a few seconds.

The question burning a neat little hole in her mind at the moment, however, was why. Why had he kissed her? Why had he stared at her? Why had he even bothered to engage in conversation that could be termed as civil, after all that had happened between the two of them?

But those questions could wait either until he came back or they were let out of the library. Whichever came first. Now, all she had to do was sort out her own thoughts. And that was, by no means, an easy task. She had never been so confused in her whole life.

True, she didn't particularly dislike him; he was arrogant at times, but in a mocking way. He could be endlessly annoying, and he was at least a match for her when it came to brains, but neither of those really bothered her.

"Arhg." She muttered to herself, "This isn't helping, not at all. What the hell am I thinking, even contemplating things like that? He's an annoying little brat, and that's the way it should stay. But if he's a brat, then why the hell did I enjoy the kiss so damn much?"

She sank down in her chair and put her head in her hands, trying desperately to think rational, logical and calm thoughts, but not succeeding.

******'

Ending Notes; and there it is; the inevitable kiss. It might have come too soon, but I never intended this to be a very long story anyway. I promise, is it over ten chapters, it's much more than I had planned. Be happy about that. *winks*.