I laid in bed with my eyes wide open.

Close your eyes, Hermione, I told myself. Close them!

My eyes stayed open.

Dammit, cooperate!

My eyes remained glaring open.

I sighed quietly and shifted. Then I shifted again. Then I shifted one more time. I sighed and prepared to shift again.

"Granger if you don't stop moving around I'm going to kick you very hard." grumbled Malfoy.

I made a face at the ceiling.

It wasn't my fault I couldn't sleep. It was Malfoy's. It's always Malfoy's fault.

I thought about his shocked expression when we had opened the door and he had gotten his first glimpse of the bed and smirked slightly. While I had been shocked that there was only one bed, I had quickly recovered since I recalled the greasy hotel manager man telling me how there was only one bed when he had described the room. Malfoy, however, had stood in the doorway gaping in shock while I had sauntered into the room and dropped my bag on the floor, a blasé expression pasted on my face.

"Granger, there's only one bed." he had said in a stunned voice.

I had sighed and turned back around, my hands firmly planted on my hips.

"That matters.. Why?" I had asked grumpily.

Malfoy had opened his mouth then closed it, then had opened it again.

"I'm not sleeping with you."

For some reason his words had stirred something in my stomach. The mashed potatoes had probably gone bad, I had thought. However, despite the stirring, I still felt enough indignation at his assumption and the disgust in his voice.

"As if you're going to." I glared at him. "You're sleeping on the floor."

He recovered enough to glare back at me, volt for volt.

"Malfoys do not sleep on floors."

His pompous statement had surprised a laugh out of me.

"Look at you, Malfoy. You're covered in dirt, you're clothes are wrinkled beyond repair, and I don't even want to mention the hair."

At my words his hands had gone immediately to his head.

I shook my head. "You're so annoyingly vain, Malfoy."

"And you're so annoyingly boring. We can't change who we are."

His statement had stung. We could change who we are, I had thought. Wasn't that why I had gone on this trip in the first place? To change?

I had stared at him for a few seconds after his stinging comment. He had continued to glare at me. Finally, I had sighed in defeat.

"Fine, you can sleep on the bed with me, I'm too tired to argue with you." Immediately after I spoke, I had taken my wand out of my pocket and had waved it briskly at the pillows. They had arranged themselves in an impenetrate able wall in the middle of bed, effectively splitting it into two halves.

"You sleep on the right side and I'll sleep on the left."

Malfoy had stared at the bed for a second before opening his mouth. However, before he could speak, I had cut him off.

"Don't start, Malfoy." I had snapped impatiently. "This is as good as it gets."

He had smirked slightly. "I wasn't going to complain."

"Sure you weren't." I had retorted over my shoulder, already making my way towards the door which I presumed led to the bathroom. "I'm taking a shower, then I'm going to sleep. Don't move the pillows."

I had heard him snort derisively behind me.

So now here I was, lying in an uncomfortable position, waiting for Malfoy to fall asleep so I could move again.

Why was I still awake despite how tired I was?

Because after I had finished my shower, I had walked out of the closet-sized bathroom toweling my hair dry while Malfoy walked into the room.

About ten minutes later while I had laid in bed, with the lights turned off and sheets pulled up to my chin, the door to the bathroom had opened slowly as steam curled out in seductive little tendrils.

Malfoy had stood in the doorway, a slip of a towel wrapped around his waist, and his naked torso shining from steam induced sweat.

I had nearly swallowed my tongue before I had managed to snap my eyes shut. My horrified eyes, of course. Just because Malfoy's defined and muscled chest was etched on the inside of my eyelids didn't mean anything. It was Malfoy's chest, so automatically it was awful. Awful despite the fact that his torso was even nicer than Harry's. That it looked long and rangy and just like a swimmer's build. That it had a slight line of hair beginning from his navel and trailing down into his.. No, Hermione! Don't think about it!

"Granger, you weren't staring were you?" Malfoy had asked. I could practically hear him smirk.

"Of course not." I had said through clenched teeth.

"Of course."

"Just put your clothes on and get into bed." I had glared in his general direction.

"Why Granger, I didn't know you were so eager." he had murmured right before I had heard him snap off the lights.

"Go. To. Bloody. Hell." I had ground out.

Malfoy had begun to take shuffling steps to the bed, careful not to stumble in the complete dark of the room. Seconds later, I had felt him sit on the bed. Without stopping to put on clothes. Right after that, I had heard the unmistakable sound of a coarse towel sliding over skin, then a slightly wet plop. The bed had shifted a bit as Malfoy had laid down.

It was then that I realized it. He was laying down in the bed. Naked. Malfoy was in the same bed as I was, and he was stark naked. Malfoy. Naked.

My eye's had popped open and I had shot up into a sitting position.

"Put on your clothes, Malfoy!" I had hissed.

I could see the slight outline of his body against the sheets and once again I was assailed with images of his naked upper body. Good Merlin, I was going mad.

"I'm not putting on my clothes, Granger, they're filthy." he had replied calmly.

I closed my eyes again, despite how it was too dark to see more than just an outline of his body. I was taking no chances.

"I'm not sleeping on the same bed with you, if you're naked!" I had exclaimed, a hint of panic that I couldn't control creeping into my voice.

"Then sleep on the floor."

"Malfoy!"

"Did you know, Granger," he began in a pleasant voice, "that you're prim little white nightgown is practically see through with that slight hint of moonlight shining through it. That nightgown is practically worn through."

I had gasped and thrown myself back on the bed, allowing the pillows that split us to hide me. I was so glad he couldn't see my furious blush.

"Don't worry, Granger. I didn't see anything but an outline."

I had remained silent.

"Well then, now that that is settled. I'll be going to sleep. Naked. Don't have sweet dreams, Granger."

And he had rolled onto his side and to all appearances gone to sleep.

And that was why I was laying on my side in an uncomfortable position, and absolutely unable to sleep. I could not sleep because Draco Malfoy, my sworn enemy, was sleeping next to me in his birthday suit. The prat. It wasn't that I was interested, because I definitely was not interested in his naked body, it was just that the idea of him being naked and in the same bed as me revolted my Gryffindoric sensibilities. Yes, that was exactly what it was.

What would Ron and Harry- No, I definitely am not going to finish that question. I don't care what they would say. They were complete prats too.

I will sleep. I will close my eyes and drop into a deep sleep without dreams.

A thought occurred to me and I broke out into a cold sweat.

What if while I slept he-

No, the pillows were very effective barriers. They would keep him on his side and keep me on my side.

I WILL SLEEP.

My eyes were still open.

Why was life so unfair to me?

I do a good Samaritan act and fate throws me a naked Malfoy.

It just wasn't fair.

"You're still awake aren't you, Granger?"

I jolted at the sound of his amused voice.

"Gee, how can you possibly tell?" I asked in a tone as sarcastic as I could manage.

"Well for one you're breathing is too erratic for sleep. Plus you keep shifting around as if you've got spikes stuck on you're backside."

"Well I'd be much more comfortable if you'd just put on your clothes."

I had a feeling he was smirking at me.

"Does my naked body disturb you that much?" asked Malfoy silkily.

"Yes." I snapped. "The nausea is about to overwhelm me which means I'll have to rush to the bathroom to puke." I paused and added, "And in my rush, I'll probably trip and break my neck. The blame will lie solely on you and you'll have to get your magic back by yourself, which basically means you'll be nuts in a month. I hope you have a room settled at Mungo's." I finished nastily.

He was silent for a second.

"Well, I see when you're nervous you tend to babble, Granger." he murmured in an amused voice that infuriated me.

"I am NOT babbling."

"If you say so."

"I hate you, Malfoy." I muttered.

"Mmm.. Music to my ears."

He was smirking. I know he was!

"I'm going to sleep."

"If you can." said Malfoy in a taunting voice.

I refused to respond.

He sighed contentedly.

"Good night, Granger."

And after another hour of restless tossing and turning, I finally did fall asleep. However, the next morning, I woke up to a nightmare.

The light was shining directly into my eyes. Something brushed against my cheek and I batted it away impatiently. I wasn't ready to wake up, and it felt as if I had just dropped asleep.

I rolled onto my side, then restlessly, I rolled back onto my back. The fuzziness in my mind began to clear away and memory rushed in to fill the newly cleared space.

My eyes popped open and I shot straight up into a sitting position, only to collide with a loud crack against someone else's head. Draco Malfoy's head.

I rubbed my forehead furiously and glared at him. Apparently, I had knocked him pretty hard in the nose since he seemed a little dazed and in a lot of pain. Served him right.

"What the bloody hell were you doing?" I growled, uncomfortably aware of my bad morning breath and husky voice.

"I watyin toake emup." His muttering was unintelligible due to the fact that he had both hands clapped over his nose and partly over his mouth. Malfoy glared bloody murder at me over his hands.

I glared right back at him.

"You didn't move the pillows did you?" I asked suspiciously, looking down. I saw that the pillows were still arranged in the wall, but it was then I spotted his hand holding my wand on top of them.

"And why do you have my wand?"

Malfoy gave one last furious rub to his nose and lowered his hands cautiously. Carefully, he scrunched it slowly, then relaxed it just as slowly. Finally, he brought his eyes up to meet mine, but unfortunately, my eyes were no longer on his face.

Of their own volition, they had wandered slowly down his face, pausing slightly at his chin where shadow was slowly growing, then downwards more to the seductive arch in his neck, then down further to his milky pale skin and broad shoulders, then to my absolute horror, then went even further down, gazing at his defined pectoral muscles lightly sprinkled with hair, and the dark, pink spots of his areolas, and then my eyes gulped up the tasty sight of his rippling abdomen muscles that just made me want to reach out a hand and..

"Um.. Granger.. Before you look down any further, you're going to have to pay a fee." Malfoy's maliciously gleeful voice interrupted the suicidal trek of my eyes.

Mortified, I tore them away from his body and stared determinedly at a point just over his right shoulder. I could feel blood rush into my face, and I just knew that my face had to be redder than a Weasley's hair.

"Gee, Granger, I didn't know you'd be so interested in my.." he paused and was no doubt wearing his patented smirk, "umm.. Shall we say.. Physique?"

I gritted my teeth and said nothing. I was determined to just let him have his fun teasing me and then I would just be a bear to him for the rest of the day. He deserved it, after all, he was making me crazy. Only a truly insane Gryffindor would be entranced by Malfoys.. Physique. I used to be a nice sane person until I came across him on the side of that road. Oh I rue the day I felt humanitarian.

"So.. Potter obviously doesn't look as good as I do, since you were practically salivating.. Tut tut, What would Weasel say?" murmured Malfoy.

I couldn't stand it anymore. I just couldn't sit here and let him have his fun with me. I couldn't.

"Look you," I gritted and forced his name out, "Har- Harry looks much better than you. I was just staring because I couldn't believe you could be so sadly lacking."

I grinned triumphantly at my clever and cutting remark, suitable for any Gryffindor.

However, instead of narrowing his eyes and getting angry like I had intended, Malfoy nodded sagely and simply said, "Of course."

I looked at him in puzzlement. "Of course what?"

He ignored my question. "So, what is up with you and Potter anyway?"

I resisted the urge to wince and instead asked as nonchalantly as possible, "What makes you think that there's something up with me and.. And him."

Malfoy shrugged and eyed me curiously. "Well for one thing, I've been with you almost an entire day and you've yet to contact him. For another, you seem to have a problem saying Potter's name."

"I do not!"

"Prove it."

"I.." I tried, I really tried to utter the Worm's name, but I just couldn't. So as a last resort I did a very un-Gryffindor thing, I retreated.

"I don't have to prove anything to you." I threw off the covers and clambered angrily out of the bed. However, doing so made me realize that by looking down I would see his.. Well.. I didn't want to, so I snorted derisively, grabbed my overnight bag, and locked myself in the bathroom.

When I finally emerged from the bathroom much later, the first sight to greet my eyes was Malfoy wrapped in the bed sheet and looking out the window. I took a step towards him then stopped abruptly.

Malfoy's face looked nostalgic and unbearably.. Sad. However, it wasn't those emotions stopping me from approaching him. It was the anger and veneer of hatred that was radiating off of him in thick waves that kept me away. I wondered what he was seeing. I wondered even more what he was remembering.

Finally, unable to approach him but also unable to retreat, I cleared my throat loudly. Malfoy didn't jolt, but slowly turned towards me and the sheer enraged look in his eyes startled me, until he quickly and successfully suppressed it.

I wondered once again what he was thinking of.

"Staring again, Granger?"

"Kiss arse, Malfoy."

"You first."

I sighed tiredly and averted my undisciplined eyes.

"Why aren't you wearing you're damn clothes?" I asked exasperatedly.

"I will as soon as you clean them for me."

I stifled a scream of frustration.

"Then give me my damn wand!" I muttered still not looking at him.

"Glad to." he chuckled.

I turned, expecting him to throw it to me, however, since when does Malfoy ever do what I expect?

When I turned I practically bumped into him he was standing so unnecessarily close to me.

I gasped and scrambled back, the sight of his muscled and unblemished chest had been directly in front of my eyes, something that made my heart beat faster and my palms sweat.

Wait..

I gasped in horror as the truth crashed into my head like an anvil dropped from fifty feet above me. Malfoy gave me a strange look but I hardly notice, horrified as I was.

I thought Malfoy was.. Was attractive.

It hadn't been indigestion I had been feeling. And I wasn't getting sick either.

This was.. Awful. Worse than awful. It was even worse than terrible. It was so horrifying there wasn't even a word to describe it.

I suddenly felt dizzy and needed to sit down badly. I stumbled to the bed and collapsed on it, not even noticing Malfoy's puzzled look, I was so shocked with the unwanted revelation.

Did it matter that I thought he was attractive?

Of course it did, it changed everything.

No, no it couldn't. I wouldn't let it. God dammit, I was Hermione Granger and no spoiled pretty faced rich boy was going to phase me, not even if he had the best upper body in the entire-

No, nope, definitely not going to continue that line of thinking.

"Uh, Granger.."

Malfoy's puzzled voice interrupted my dangerous train of thought but it did nothing to soothe me. I looked up at him only to see his bare chest again.

"You look rather peaky."

"Oh gee, I wonder why." I snarled, not in any mood to put up with his smarminess. I was sure he was going to follow that statement with something insulting because that's the way Malfoy was made.

"Why are you suddenly looking so peaky?" he asked in a perfectly polite voice.

I wanted to gape at him, but I was still angry at myself and him for making me realize that he was-

No, I refuse to say it. Or think it.

"None of your goddamned business." I looked away and glared at a point over his right shoulder.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw him shrug disinterestedly.

"Fine, but will you please hurry and clean my clothes so we can get the hell out of this cheap motel?"

I ignored him and thought about my realization instead.

Did my thinking Malfoy was attractive important?

No, I couldn't let it. Besides, just because he might have been somewhat attractive didn't mean anything. I was not a shallow person, there was more to people then just looks, and let's face it, Malfoy had nothing else to recommend him. His last name was Malfoy after all.

Another reason why I didn't give two beans about his being attractive was because I just got out of a relationship that was rather traumatic, and I didn't need to go rushing into another one. And I knew for sure, that anything to do with Malfoy would be difficult and exasperating, not something I was looking for on this trip.

Not that Malfoy would ever be interested in me anyway.

Did that matter to me?

No, of course I didn't care whether or not Malfoy would ever be attracted to me. I didn't want him to be. I didn't need him to be.

My mouth straightened into a grim, determined line. Just because I thought Malfoy had the potential of being attractive didn't mean anything. He was still a spoiled, pampered, and bad-tempered man who I could never stand for days on end.

But why didn't I think of him as my mortal enemy anymore?

I chewed on my lower lip while I contemplated this.

Hmm..

Well of course I couldn't think of him like that. The poor man had no magic and his mother had been kidnapped. Even Ron wouldn't think of Malfoy as a mortal enemy if he was in my shoes. He probably wouldn't think Malfoy was the tiniest bit attractive, but, well Ron was a guy. A rather stupid and insensitive one too.

Malfoy cleared his throat loudly and that's when I realized I had probably just been sitting on the bed for a few minutes thinking.

"If you're done contemplating you're ugly manicure, Granger, would you please clean my clothes that way I could wear them and you could stop staring at my impressive chest." sneered Malfoy.

I smiled good naturedly at him now that I realized his being a bit attractive didn't mean a thing to me.

Malfoy looked startled at my sudden change of mood.

"If you'd just give me my wand, I could do it. And I wasn't staring." I stood up and brushed imaginary specks of dirt off my out of style pants.

I looked up to find Malfoy sort of gaping at me. By sort of, I mean that he was gaping at me but in a way that told me he'd rather not be, if that makes any sense.

He shook his head and seemed to blink out of it. "Here." he said and unceremoniously shoved my wand into my hand.

I shrugged. Let Malfoy have problems, I had just solved mine.

I turned and waved my wand in a negligent motion over his clothes which had been laid on the bed. "Scourgify."

Immediately the wrinkles smoothed themselves out, loose threads fell back in place, and stains shrank then disappeared. What was left lying on the bed were clean and simple black trousers as well as a white, linen shirt. I had not noticed Malfoy's clothes before and was somewhat surprised at his simple yet elegant attire.

Malfoy immediately leaned forward and scooped up his clothes. He turned and looked at me, for a second seeming as if he were going to thank me, but instead, he nodded curtly and went to the bathroom. This didn't surprise me much since I hadn't been expecting any thanks from him.

A few minutes later, Malfoy emerged from the bathroom fully clothed, but this didn't seem to stop me from staring. He looked all the more regal with his clothes on despite the fact they were hardly elegant. My eyes traveled down his form then back up to meet his amused eyes. I coughed in embarrassment and looked away.

"You'll do." I muttered.

Malfoy paused then brushed past me and opened the door. He swept his hands towards me in a mocking gesture. "Ladies first."

I sniffed haughtily and breezed past him, then made my way down the hall to the elevator, determined not to look back at him. To my surprise the oily manager from last night hurried from behind his counter and approached me as soon as the doors opened.

"Ms. Granger, I hope you had a nice night." he said wheezily, eyeing my ugly purse.

I shifted away from him and put my purse on the arm opposite of him.

"It was lovely. I especially loved hearing the rats skitter around on the floor." I said with a straight face, delighted that I had come up with something so utterly rude and sarcastic.

Unfortunately, it was lost on the dim manager who only nodded eagerly and opened the entrance doors for me.

I paused and searched in my bags for the keys to the car.

"Like the car, do you?" I heard Malfoy say over my head.

"Oh yes." the manager's voice was even more oily than last night. "Very nice Porsche."

Oh. So that was why the stinky man was being so polite and nice. He had obviously seen the porch, and since I had a sneaking sensation that we had been the only ones to be staying in the motel, he had come to the conclusion that the car belonged to Malfoy and me. Or well, to me.

I finally located the keys so I turned and gave the boorish man a frosty stare.

"Thank you so much for your wonderful service." I said as sarcastically as possible, hoping that this time it would penetrate his thick skull.

It did, and the man looked at me in confusion, then at Malfoy as if looking for an explanation.

I opened my mouth to give the man a scathing answer to his silent question, but Malfoy beat me to the punch.

"We had such a good time, in fact, that we won't be coming back. Ever." he said with a pleasant smile.

Malfoy then presumptuously put his hand on the small of my back and pushed me slightly down the steps and to the car. I looked back and saw that the manager looked extremely confused at Malfoy's paradoxical statement. Against my will, my lips twitched but I managed to hold the grin in.

"What are you staring at?" I muttered at Malfoy, who was just sitting in the passenger seat and looking at me with a strange expression on his face.

"You're.. Different."

"I believe you mentioned that already."

Malfoy shrugged then looked at me with shrewd eyes. "Why?"

I quickly tore my gaze from him and gunned the accelerator. I drove out of the lot quickly and made my way towards the road.

"Why aren't you answering me?"

I thought for a second and didn't answer again, but I could feel his eyes boring holes into me.

"Do these miraculous changes have anything to do with Potter?" asked Malfoy.

Merlin, I hated the fact that he was actually in possession of a functioning brain. It made it so much harder to deal with him.

"It isn't any of your business." I finally snapped when I could no longer stand the feeling of being stared at.

"Then I suppose I'll stop asking."

I allowed myself to relax, but obviously it was too soon.

"For now."

I stifled the urge to scream, "JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" Instead, I just shrugged my shoulder in a calm way that said I didn't give two beans about what he was asking.

For the next two hours, it was blissfully quiet as I drove and Malfoy gazed moodily out the window. But I knew it wouldn't last. Such things never did when Malfoy was nearby.

Well, that's it. Sorry it took me about FOREVER to get this up.

By the way, to all my beloved readers, I am an eighty year old woman who likes to quilt. I am in no way in high school. No way at all! ;)

(that was just a little note to a certain someone. If you ever get to this chapter, you know who you are!)