Disclaimer: Don't own it!

A/N: hey, thanks guys, I LOVED your reviews! Just a few quick thankyous before I begin:

mAI: thanks for that. I went back and corrected both chapters and I'm gonna read through this one 10 000 times before I post it, mwa!

Anna-Belle Malfoyx3: two great reviews! Thanks for your enthusiasm!

Yay! On to chapter 3. ok guys, I'd love to know what you recon is going on, so please when you review have a crack at figuring it out, who knows, you could be right!

Chapter Three: Hermione's Stranger

Hermione woke with a start. She was confused for a second, then she realized what happened last night and why she was on the couch. She let out a low moan and rolled over. Through the darkness of the cold winter morning she could have sworn she saw an outline of someone on the chair opposite her. In fact she was positive. She reached out to grab her wand on the table in front of her.

"Lumos"

A small light was emitted from the tip of her wand and she waved it around in the direction of the figure, hoping the motion would some how spread the light further. She sat up and walked over to the chair that now was empty. She put hand on the seat and it felt warm. Someone had been there and had been there for a while.

A little shaken she crept upstairs.

Maybe Ginny or Luna couldn't sleep and came down stairs Hermione thought. Then why did they sit down if they didn't find you awake. She shook her head; Hermione's mind was taunting her.

Once she had reached her bed room she quietly heaved oped the heavy wooden door and peered in. The bed was empty, and on the perfectly made bed spread was a roll of parchment. Pulling the door open to it's fullest she walked in. The large grand father clock in the corner of her room read 6:00. Hermione scrunched her face up in confusion and sat on the end of her bed. She unravelled the letter and began to read:

Dear Mione,

We are real sorry but we had to get going early. Harry's being a real slave driver with Quidditch practice, 5:30 in the morning, I mean common! Luna left too to head up to the astronomy tower. I think I heard her say some thing about Nimble Nicmets migrating to the forbidden forest. Then she rambled some thing like, "are you positive you can't come? They only do this once every 12 years; you can read about it in the Quibbler, great article! We'll have the best view from the tower!"

Well I gotta go now too, Harry will have my neck if I'm not down there soon and I only have 30 minutes to get my uniform and get down to the pitch.

Love ya Mione! See you at breakfast, that is if Harry is in a good mood.

Ginny.

Hermione placed the letter beside her, more confused than ever. From what she could gather from Ginny's letter she must have left at least an hour ago, Luna before that. It couldn't have been either of the two girls.

Hold the phone! Nimble Nicmets? What the, there's no such thing. Oh my god Hermione, stay focused!

If it wasn't Luna or Ginny, some one must have broken in to the common room. That was it, she was going to wake up Draco and inform him right away! Just the thought of a break in was terrifying!

Barging in through his door, much like she had the other day she marched right up to the side of his bed and shook his shoulder roughly.

"Granger? What the… it's quarter past 6 in the morning. If you must be a cow, can't you wait another 45 minutes. A man needs his sleep."

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Look Malfoy, the world don't revolve around you ok."

At this stage Draco was sitting up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"I think someone has broke into the common room this morning," Hermione continued, "when I woke up someone was sitting in front of me. By the time I grabbed my wand and went to check, the seat was empty. But get this; the chair was warm, like someone had been sitting there for a while!"

She gave him a triumphant look.

"It was probably Weaselhead's sister or that crack pot, what's her name, Lisa or something?"

Hermione glared at him.

"It's Luna for your information and they left way before I woke up, so it's not possible."

Draco sighed and shook his head.

"What's not possible is someone breaking in. You remember in 3rd year when Weaselhead was attack in his dorm? Well yeah, since then Dumbledore has designed a new enchantment that makes locks impossible to open from the outside. Cause it's cold out, all the windows were closed last night, right? The fire was probably the one that warmed the chair and it burned out just before you woke up."

Hermione shook her head, unconvinced, "but I saw someone sitting there."

Draco growled impatiently, grabbed her hand and dragged her out of his room and down the stairs all the while telling her, "If this intruder didn't get in through the windows then the only way in is the portrait."

He finished as he pulled her through the common room and out through the portrait.

"Now if anyone has come in, this old bag will know, wont he?"

Sir Cadogan puffed out his chest. "I have most certainly not let anyone through! The only people I have seen all morning were two young ladies and they came from in there," he jerked his thumb behind him, indicating the common room.

"Thankyou Sir Cadogan," Hermione said sweetly and she returned inside, followed by a very victorious looking Malfoy.

"I don't understand! I saw someone, I know I did!"

Malfoy smugly sat down on the chair that Hermione's stranger had sat. Just then, as a smirk spread across his face, Hermione looked up at him and just beyond the chair on the wall behind him was a portrait of a previous head girl. She wore thick tortoiseshell coloured glasses and reminded her much of Percy Weasley. She smiled.

"Umm, excuse me Naomi," she said referring to the gold plaque under her picture, the girl looked up at her and Malfoy turned around, confused, "this morning, you didn't happen to see someone sitting in the chair that he is in, maybe watching me sleep?"

The girl gave a little cough, "why yes, I was on my way back from visiting Deirdre Sharp on the second floor when I noticed someone walking down those stairs. They came and sat down right there; I didn't think much of it though and fell asleep. When I woke up both you and the man had gone. I'm sorry but I didn't get a look at his face."

Naomi left the portrait, leaving it blank.

"Ha, see I was right Malfoy, someone was here and I'm gonna find out who!"

And with that she departed for her room, leaving Draco with an almost terrified look on his face.

It did not occur to Hermione once that the man she had just left had been the one that had watched her whilst she slept.

A/N: hehehe the plot thickens! R&R guys, all thoughts are much appreciated.

By the way Nicmets is pronounced Nice- mets