(A/N: This is quite long in comparison to the other chapters, but I had the writing bug last night so I hope the length and the quick update makes up for the amount of time it took me to post the 3rd chapter. Be pure, be vigilant – behave! ♥)

Deep in her sleep, Hermione was safe from everything. Hogwarts was the safest place to be in the world, and her dreams were the safest place to be inside her head. It was typical, however, that she was dreaming of books. She sat in the middle of a vast library, far bigger than the huge library at Hogwarts, surrounded by hundreds upon thousands of books. There was no doubt that this was heaven. It was pleasant to find a book already lying open in her lap. She could happily lift it, curl up and read for the rest of her life. With a sigh of contentment, she raised the volume from her knee and saw, with horror, that it was the very same Muggle Studies book that she and Draco Malfoy had been grappling with only hours before. And then she felt a familiar shiver run through her as a gentle hand touched her shoulder and heard a dry voice whispering in her ear: "Maybe I'm not trying to scare you off Granger…"

Hermione sat bolt upright in bed, gripping the sheets with white knuckles. Why was her brain letting her dream about Draco Malfoy? And why was her brain trying to trick her into thinking he was the one doing all this watching? She hurriedly checked her watch and was relieved to find that it was ten to seven. The less time her unconscious mind had to poison itself the better. Hogwarts might be safe, but Hermione's head certainly wasn't.

'Bad day…?' Harry ventured as Hermione sat down with a thud at the dinner table, banged down her elbows and covered her face with her hands.

'Mmph,' she replied.

'Never mind,' Ron said consolingly, 'Have some toad in the hole.'

'Yuck,' Hermione said unenthusiastically through her hands.

'Don't worry, it's not real toad-' Ron began to explain.

'I know that,' Hermione groaned, finally removing her hands from her face and looking down at the food in front of her. She wasn't hungry, but if she didn't eat then she would have to talk.

'Something up?' Harry asked conversationally, obviously hoping to avoid any more arguments.

Of course there was something up: it was plainly obvious. What was up was the fact that whenever Hermione let her attentions wander from some kind of specific task it had begun to always end up in the same place, more specifically, in that dungeon with Malfoy. Somehow the whole host of other people who had witnessed the event had melted away in Hermione's memory, and now whenever she drifted off inside her head she saw Malfoy's eyes fiercely gazing into hers. If she stopped listening to a teacher for more than a millisecond, that dry, unbelievably believable voice would start up in her ears like a record player stuck on repeat. If she stopped thinking, she relived the surprising warmth coming from his body as they both held on tightly to Hermione's book. She was afraid that if it happened one more time she would explode.

'No,' Hermione shook her head and reached for the steak pie, 'Nothing's up.'

Her fork was an inch from her mouth when she felt the back of her neck prickle in a pleasant way. She had never before experienced pleasance which made her so on edge. She jumped to her feet and ran from the Great Hall, moving so fast that her fork had not yet clattered back onto her golden plate when she started up the marble staircase towards Gryffindor corridor two steps at a time.

She kept running up another flight of stairs and along two long corridors before she gave in to the stabbing pain in her chest, and stopped to catch her breath. Almost immediately she heard footsteps coming

down the hall after her, and the prickling sensation on her neck caught up. Behind her was the owner of the eyes who had tricked her into obsessing about Draco Malfoy. Behind her was the person who had spoiled a perfectly good dream. Behind her was the person who had made this one of the worst weeks in history. With a new surge of anger, Hermione whirled round and faced her watcher.

Behind her was Draco Malfoy.

'You!' She exploded, clenching her fists tightly to stop herself from slapping that pale face for the second time.

Malfoy stood his ground, 'Me,' he agreed with not a smirk in sight.

'You've been looking at me!' Hermione shouted accusingly, anger still thumping through her veins.

'Looking at you?' He repeated, 'Isn't that what you're supposed to do when you're talking to someone?'

'In class,' she snapped, 'History Of Magic and Transfiguration and Potions and just now at dinner.'

'Me?' He asked innocently.

Hermione fumed silently, beyond words that certainly wouldn't be found in any book in the Hogwarts library.

'You know full well you're doing it, and it's… it's… distracting,' she finally managed to hiss. For one horrible minute she thought was going to tell him it was exciting. She needed to get away before she lost control of her mouth, as well as her brain.

'Distracting,' Malfoy said slowly, as though hearing the word for the first time, 'I like that.'

Hermione was determined to make this quick.

'Look,' she said, 'What are you doing here? Why did you follow me out of the Great Hall? And why do you keep watching me in classes?'

'It feels strange to be answering questions coming from you,' he mused, 'I'm so used to hearing you answer other peoples'.'

Hermione folded her arms across her chest and set her mouth in a grim line.

'All right, all right,' he sighed, 'I'm here because I want to be, I followed you out of the Great Hall because I wanted to and I keep watching you in classes because I want to.'

'So you admit it now?' Hermione pounced.

Malfoy looked like a rabbit caught in headlights.

'Er…'

It was the first time Hermione had ever seen him falter. So he was human after all.

'Well,' she said after an awkward pause, 'You've had your fun, so could you just go back to ignoring the fact that I even exist please? I prefer it to this.'

'Why?' He wanted to know, recovered from his mistake, 'Is it because you can't control the feelings that you get from me paying attention to you? Because you can't find a cure for this in one of your books?'

'A cure for what exactly?'

Malfoy made to give an immediate answer, and then stopped himself.

'Distractions,' he said instead.

'A distraction is a cry for attention,' Hermione said, wryly noting that she sounded a lot like she did when she answered a question in class, 'What kind of attention could you possibly get from me? I'm just a mudblood, remember Malfoy? Just a filthy, stinking, wretched-'

'Enough!' He interrupted, and his voice echoed along the empty corridor. Hermione saw, with a wicked twist of delight in her stomach, that there was again fire in his eyes. Yet, all too soon, his gaze dropped to the floor between them.

'I'm sorry,' he mumbled.

Hermione did a double take.

'What?' She said incredulously.

'I'm sorry,' he said, louder and with more feeling, 'I shouldn't have said all of those things about you. If I could take them all back, I would.'

He looked up at her again and Hermione stared at him, shocked and silent. Then, slowly, she shook her head in disbelief.

'It's true,' he said quietly.

'What utter rubbish,' Hermione muttered, shaking her head again and turning to leave.

'Just because you're scared,' Malfoy said tauntingly, yet she knew he was smiling broadly. If anything, that made her even more annoyed with him.

'Scared?' She cried, rounding on him.

He caught her by the wrists before she could do any damage and brought her arms down to her sides.

'You know,' he said thoughtfully, 'You're really quite beautiful.'

Hermione felt sick and glorious at the same time.

'What?' She choked out.

'You're beautiful Hermione.'

Her name. He had used her name. Hermione's mind was reeling.

Malfoy still had a strong hold on her arms. It was surprising how strong he was, for always looking so pale and thin. She could feel warmth seeping through her robes and onto her arms from his fingertips. Everything about her was tense and on tenterhooks.

'I'm here because I finally got the nerve to do this, I followed you out of the Great Hall because I was wanted to know why you left in such a rush, and I've been watching you in classes because I can't help it. My eyes just seem to seek you out, and once I start I can't stop. I think I'm addicted to you.'

And then, with his hands still binding her to him, he leant forward and kissed her. He was gentle, respectful, and everything else that Hermione would never have guessed in a million years that he would be. She wanted to melt into him and never let him stop. She felt wonderful, and more alive than she had in years. Nothing could have prepared her for what was happening, but suddenly it all made perfect sense to her. Kissing Draco Malfoy. It was a completely flawless idea.

All too soon Malfoy stopped kissing Hermione altogether. She was rather pleased to see that his pale cheeks were slightly flushed, and that fire was still burning in his eyes.

'Good night,' he said rather hoarsely, and then he was gone.

Gradually, Hermione came back down to earth. She licked her lips and tasted Draco Malfoy. She knew she wouldn't sleep that night, and she also knew that the next day was going to be pure torture.