My words came out very quietly, in a near whisper, and I closed my eyes after saying them. I could hardly imagine what was going through Malfoy's mind. His own father had condemned him to death.

I heard him blow out a breath, as though he had been holding it for some time.

"Well, Granger, that could mean one of two things. Either my father is trying to make himself sound good for Wilder or I really am just some sort of tool against the enemy."

I opened my eyes and looked at him. His voice had sounded surprisingly calm. He looked at the expression on my face and shrugged.

"Well, it's not like I didn't figure that anyway."

I opened my mouth and closed it a couple of times. He smiled at me again.

"Don't let the flies in, Granger, and you know it's rude to stare."

"But ... But I thought he was trying to protect you! He seemed so upset ..."

"The only thing I think he's upset about is losing whatever advantage I might have put him at. Face it, my father only wanted a kid so he could get in You-Know-Who's good books."

I shook my head.

"Well then ... I'm confused. You said you didn't want to back out because it would cause your father to be persecuted. Why do you even care?"

Malfoy pushed his hand through his hair again.

"He's my father, Granger."

"Well, from the sound of it, he doesn't really seem to care that you're his son."

I watched as Draco's cheeks turned slightly red. He looked away from me.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that, I-"

"No. That's the problem. It's true. He doesn't really care. He tolerates me because of Mother, and because he thinks I could be an advantage some day" he ducked his head, so I couldn't see his face. "Besides, I've always been kind of a disappointment to him anyway."

My eyes widened considerably. Draco Malfoy was admitting that he was a disappointment to his family? A lot had changed in the past few days. Without looking at me, he continued.

"You know, he wanted me to make friends with Potter, too. That was one of the first things he told me to do. Make friends with Potter. Get inside his head. He was a big threat to the rising, even then."

"So why didn't you? Make friends with Harry, I mean. He didn't know anybody at the beginning of first year. You could have-"

"I tried" he gave me a wry smile. "He blew me off. Hated his guts ever since."

I stared at him.

"So ... the only reason you hated us all for so long was because Harry blew you off?"

"No. You bloody Gryffindors annoy the hell out of me."

There was a very long pause. I held his eyes and tried not to glare at him. I tried to keep my face deadpan, but he saw through my mask.

"Well" one corner of his mouth lifted slightly. "Most of the time, anyway."

I realised suddenly that we had gone grossly off-topic. As much as I wanted to discuss our past, I knew that Malfoy's future was much more important.

"Right. So, that's why I came down. Just to tell you about the dream. I thought it was kind of important."

He blinked, as if only just remembering what we had been talking about.

"Oh, I see. Well, I suppose this means you're not going to back off."

"I can't. It's too late now, I can't just leave you to die or something."

"Why not?"

I frowned at him.

"Why not? I can't just leave somebody to die, Malfoy or not."

My frown deepened as I saw a familiar smirk begin to spread across his face.

"So, it wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that I kissed you, would it Granger?"

I could feel the blood rushing up to my cheeks, and looked quickly away from him.

"I would have helped you even if you didn't."

I heard an unfamiliar noise, and looked up to see that Malfoy was actually laughing quietly. I wasn't used to the sound of his friendly laugh, but it made me smile nonetheless. He quirked an eyebrow at me.

"I'm sure you would, Granger. Anyway, I should really get back and take that spell off Crabbe and Goyle before somebody finds them."

I nodded, and made to walk away when he grabbed my arm to stop me.

In a move so quick I never saw it coming, he leaned down and pressed his mouth on mine. I felt his tongue press against my lips, demanding entry, and started to panic. I pulled away quickly and forced a smile at him.

"I'll talk to you later" I whispered, and fled.

---

I didn't know where to go.

I had been in such a hurry to get away from the Gryffindor common room I hadn't thought that I was acting strangely in front of half the house. I would need a good explanation before I could go back there.

By instinct, I headed straight for the library. I needed badly to sit down and collect myself.

Taking a seat at my usual table, I promptly folded my arms on the table and lowered my forehead onto them. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply.

In my head, I made a mental list of things I had to do.

First on the list was thinking of an excuse for my rapid departure from the common room. My Flitwick lie had worked fine on Ron, but I had a feeling that collapsing and then running out of the common room as if it were on fire could not be blamed on school work. Even I wasn't that obsessed with my work.

Second on the list was Malfoy. I knew that I had to try and help him, after promising and all, but that wasn't what I was thinking about. What I wanted to know was, how had he changed so fast? He had been a smirking little ferret just weeks ago, calling me a mudblood and insulting my friends at every opportunity. Now he was freezing his friends to save me, being mostly civil and even kissing me. Sure, I had changed a little, too. But that was just insane.

My daydreams were interrupted by a concerned looking Ron.

"Hermione? I hoped you'd be here. What's wrong?"

He sat down opposite from me, and looked into my eyes, as if he would be able to see into my thoughts. I blinked and looked away from him.

"Look, it's nothing. Really."

"Nothing? Hermione, you passed out on the floor, then woke up and ran God knows where so nobody could find you. Then I find you in here with your head on the desk and your eyes closed and you tell me you're fine?"

I sighed. I couldn't lie anymore, I knew.

"Okay. Well, you know how I said I was having those dreams?"

He nodded.

"Yeah. You said you weren't having them anymore."

"Um, yeah, I did. But I kind of-"

"Lied?"

I looked back up at Ron's face. He didn't look angry.

"Well, sort of. I mean, I am still having them but ... I figured they weren't that important. They started being kind of random, and I don't seriously think they're real things. I think they're just dreams."

Alright, so I was lying. What was I supposed to tell him? That I told Malfoy about the dreams and was now trying to save his life? That we had kissed, not once, but twice? No. I couldn't tell Ron that. A little white lie never hurt anybody.

I hoped.

"Just dreams? Come on. I thought we said we were gonna go tell Dumbledore."

"I know. I just changed my mind, is all."

Ron's gaze was boring into me. I could tell he didn't believe me, but he was just going to have to. For now.