Chapter 4

Later that evening Hermione was having trouble concentrating on her work. She kept replaying the earlier encounter in her mind.

"Why do I let him get to me" she screamed in her head

In the room next to hers Draco was having the same thoughts, but added to those thoughts were

"Why did I even say those things? I sound like Lucius!"

After a while they both gave up on their thoughts and went to bed.

The next day Hermione and Draco avoided each other to the point of not even insulting. As Hermione was leaving her last class she walked around a corner only to be bowled over by a very annoyed Pansy Parkinson.

"Argh, stupid mudblood" Pansy yelled

"What!" Hermione retorted "you ran in to me"

Pansy looked at he in disgust before spitting out

"You think you are so much better than everyone else miss know- it- all. Well you're not; you are a worthless piece of filth. Just because you hang around with Dumbledores pet doesn't give you any more right to be here"

"Is that the best you can do?" Hermione attacked her "just grow up"

Pansy laughed at her "you think they are your friends? Oh you do? Aww" Pansy started again "Potter and Weasley just felt sorry for you, then kept you around as a waking dictionary"

The group Slytherins following Pansy all laughed. Hermione felt the sting of tears threaten to fall.

"Aww, are you going to cry?" Pansy taunted.

Luckily at that moment Harry and Ron rounded the corner, witnessing this last taunt.

"Bugger off Pansy" Ron hissed "haven't you got someone to stalk or something?"

Pansy glared at them and left, as Harry asked Hermione if she was OK, she affirmed that she was, secretly hoping that they wouldn't notice the amount effort she was using to control herself. They looked suspiciously at her at first, then left it when she said that she had to go to a meeting. With that she left them and hurried back to the prefect's common room. When she got there it was deserted so she sat on a sofa and stared into the fire. The tears that had been threatening started to fall, no matter how hard Hermione tried to stop them. Her head was swimming with thoughts of what she had done to deserve all this, and why it affected her so much. Whilst in her thoughts the door to the common room slipped open. Hermione heard footsteps behind her the first thing she thought was

"Please don't let it be Malfoy"

As Draco walked into the common room walked into the common room he saw a figure curled up on the sofa, the figure appeared to be crying. He recognised the figure to be Hermione and automatically insulted her.

"What's wrong with you, finally realised you shouldn't be here?"

Upon hearing this Hermione inwardly groaned, why him of all people.

"Just leave me alone" she spat

"Ooh, did I hit a nerve mudblood" he taunted

"Malfoy, for once in your pathetic life shut up and leave me be" she yelled back, staring into his stormy grey eyes.

Draco gaped at her; she held so much hate in her usually soft eyes it took him aback. This puzzled him, he always spoke to her like that, but she'd never looked at him in that way before, he might have well have been the dark lord himself for the look currently being sent in his direction. Hermione had enough, she ran to her room in even more of a state, silently cursing Draco and his ability to make her feel that much worse. Draco mentally slapped himself as he made his way to his own room

"Good going idiot!"

Draco reached his room, sat at his desk and stared out of the glass doors leading to the balcony. As he did this his mind wandered back to the scene that had just unfolded in the common room. He wondered what had happened to Hermione to make her react in that way. Draco also thought about the impact that Hermiones glare had on him. Usually she made him angry, livid even but any glares were shrugged off, but lately he'd been noticing the amount of nasty glares he received from other students especially the Gryffindors. There was a well-known rivalry between the Slytherins and Gryffindors despite many attempts at inter- house unity.

Yes he hated Gryffindors, but for what reasons? Their ability to get away with everything, especially the Golden trio, the amount of half bloods/ muggleborns in the house or that they always managed to come out on top. There wasn't really one specific reason. Draco hated to admit it but part of his immense dislike of the Gryffindors was jealousy, not that he'd admit it, but the other part was what? His fathers ideals.

Whilst pondering this Draco thought back on his years at Hogwarts, he was in his sixth year and realised he didn't really know any Gryffindors apart from what he saw in class or heard. He also found he knew little of the reasons behind many of the praises and successes of Gryffindor.

Draco thought about his life in and out of Hogwarts. He had many friends in Slytherin but often wasn't sure whether this was due to the social standing of his parents. Draco had been thinking for sometime now that he didn't really want to follow the path expected of him. He didn't want to worship the dark lord, a being who wasn't even pureblood! On the other hand neither was he going to fall all over Saint Potter, which a lot of people did. During this little epiphany of his, Draco decided he wasn't going to receive the dark mark. But not hating everyone, going against everything he'd had ever been taught, all that had been drummed in to him since birth, that was going to take time... and effort.

"Why does everything have to be so screwed up!!"

He meant to scream this in his head but it flew out of his mouth, and very loudly.

"shit!" he exclaimed

Meanwhile Hermione sat on her bed in her own room contemplating her own life and situation.

"Why is the world against me?" she thought

Hermione thought about her recent run- ins with Pansy and Draco, it seemed as if they were out to tear her apart. Then there was the small problem of having to be around Draco all the time and go to the ball with him. She also found herself wondering why Draco especially hated her so much, there were other muggleborns in their year but she always had the most trouble. Hermione hated being constantly teased for being studious and intelligent even by the teachers – as Professor Snape liked to point out 'do you take pride in being an insufferable know- it- all?'

Although she had plenty of friends in Gryffindor, people such as Pansy sometimes made her feel like she really was only known because Harry and Ron took pity on her in first year.

"Why does everything have to be so screwed up?" She accidentally shouted this aloud, but it seemed to be magnified.

At the same time Draco and Hermione looked outside their doors due to the unnaturally loud vocals expressed. They looked at each other and for one brief moment their eyes locked, their faces wore mirrored expressions of weariness with a hint of sadness. For that brief moment they gave each other a resigned half- smile before shaking their heads in confusion. Both Draco and Hermione went back into their rooms wondering why they had just done that. The two prefects were equally baffled by their actions yet felt oddly comforted that someone else, even a supposed enemy knew what they were going through.

A/N: That was longer than I thought. What do you think, should I keep going?