(A/N: Hello again you lovely readers out there in reader land! It's been a while since I last updated because I've been having computer/parent issues. I'm sure you all understand, and I hope you love this chapter the most seeing as it is the first one I had to write almost completely by hand! ♥)

'You know,' said Harry conversationally to Ron, 'In the muggle world they call Sunday a day of rest.'

They both turned to look pointedly at Hermione who was curled up in an armchair by the fire and scribbling furiously on a piece of parchment.

'I don't think Hermione got the idea,' Ron replied with a raised eyebrow.

'Hilarious,' Hermione told them dryly, 'How many times did you rehearse that exactly?'

'How could you suggest such a thing?' Ron asked, pretending to be shocked, 'We're being caring. We're worried about you!'

'Hm?' Hermione mumbled, her quill held between her teeth as she hurriedly leafed through a book on her lap.

'We think you're working too hard,' Harry told her gently.

Hermione's jaw dropped and her quill hit the carpet.

'Working too hard?' She repeated incredulously, 'I haven't been able to do anything ever since-' she hurriedly stopped herself. She guessed that "ever since Draco Malfoy started eyeing me up in classes" probably wouldn't go down too well with her friends. With a flicker of regret she could imagine the word "HYPOCRITE" stamped across her forehead. But he started it…

'Ever since…?' Harry prompted questioningly.

'Ever since we, um, got back here!' She said resolutely, 'This year's first years are far too noisy! It's… well… y'know… off-putting…'

Ron and Harry stared at her in a silence that seemed to go on forever.

'Stop worrying about me,' she said finally, 'I'm fine.'

Ron shrugged, 'Suit yourself, 'Harry glared at him, 'She's fine Harry: she just said so.'

Harry shook his head in disbelief as Ron stood up and headed for the portrait hole.

'I'm off for lunch,' he said over his shoulder, 'Either of you coming?'

'Mmm,' Hermione murmured noncommittally.

'In a minute,' Harry told him.

They both watched as their friend clambered through the hole and the portrait swung shut behind him.

'I know you're not fine,' Harry said, 'Even if you've got Ron fooled.'

Hermione grinned, 'He was just hungry.'

Harry didn't return her smile.

'You'd better tell me what's up with you Hermione,' he said, 'You've been acting weird all week. What's wrong?'

'Nothing,' she said automatically.

'I'm your friend: don't lie to me. If you don't tell me I'm going to have to start asking questions.'

'All right,' Hermione said, closing her books and looking up at him, 'Ask me anything you like.'

'Tell me the truth Hermione,' Harry said, 'How long have you been involved with Draco Malfoy?'

Hermione almost fell out of her seat. She practically felt the blood draining from her face. Of all the questions to ask, he just had to ask the right one, didn't he? Trust Harry.

'What?' She whispered, 'How did you-? How could you-? How?'

'He's had his eye on you for weeks,' Harry said, making a face which was somewhere between a grin and a grimace.

Hermione shook her head, 'It only started this week.'

'Maybe you only noticed this week,' her friend corrected, 'But he's been after you at least since we got back to school.'

Hermione was speechless.

'Didn't you notice he left you out of all of the daily insults?' Harry continued, 'Apart from yesterday's, I noticed.'

'He was baiting me,' she said, hoarsely finding her voice.

'Baiting you?'

'We had a row,' she explained, 'And I was determined not to look at him. I guess he was after any kind of emotion he could get from me: even anger.'

'Sounds pretty serious to me,' Harry said sagely.

'Serious,' she scoffed darkly, staring down at her feet, 'I hope he ends up in St. Mungo's with a serious problem.'

Silence filled the common room again, and Hermione looked up at Harry. He was staring into the empty fireplace, his head resting on one hand and looking as though he was deep in thought.

'So…' Hermione ventured worriedly after a while, 'What do you think? Do you hate me now?'

He looked at her and shook his head

'Don't be stupid,' he grinned, 'But I wish you'd told us sooner.'

'It doesn't matter now anyway,' Hermione said, 'Nothing happened, and nothing will.'

'I don't think you can be so sure,' Harry disagreed, 'It wasn't so difficult to tell me, was it? I'm sure other people would get used to it if you gave them time.'

Hermione went back to studying her shoes.

'And Malfoy likes you Hermione, I can tell from the secret hand-holding in the corridor.'

Hermione's cheeks flushed pink.

'No one was supposed to see that,' she muttered worriedly.

'And nobody did,' he assured her with an easy smile, 'Except me, because I was looking for it.'

Hermione let out a sigh and smiled at her friend.

'Thanks Harry,' she said, 'Thanks for understanding.'

'Don't mention it,' he said, standing up and offering a hand to pull her to her feet, 'But some day you're going to have to explain to me what on earth could be attractive about Draco Malfoy.'

Hermione laughed, 'I'll tell you when you're older,' she assured him.

They walked side by side, joining the crowds of other students who were all heading down to the Great Hall for lunch. Hermione's shoulders felt lighter and there was a bounce in her step that hadn't been there before. It was such a relief that she didn't have to keep secrets from Harry and Ron anymore. Well… after she told Ron, obviously.

'Harry,' she said quietly as they slipped through the doors of the Great Hall and headed for the Gryffindor table, 'Don't tell Ron, okay? Let me do it.'

Harry nodded silently. Not for the first time in her life Hermione realised just how good a friend Harry Potter was: not many people would understand completely that their best friend had fallen for their worst enemy behind their back, let alone encourage them to continue it. Ron, however, was a different matter. Hermione would need to think long and hard about the best way to tell Ron Weasley that it wasn't only in pre-class slanging matches that she had been at the mercy of Draco Malfoy's bittersweet tongue.

Unfortunately, or perhaps quite the opposite, the moment to confess to Ron never really came around that day. What with all of her work to catch up on and so many burning looks from a certain Slytherin to ignore, Hermione just didn't find the time.

Draco was getting impatient now, she could feel it in the tense atmosphere between them as she skirted past him in the corridors with averted eyes. It was an arrogant impatience; ordering her to pay attention to him as though he were the only thing that should matter in her life. It was a kind of impatience that made her jaw tighten and her blood boil.

With her head in a book of Arithmancy charts and her mind working furiously to understand them, Hermione heard her name. For one moment she thought that it was Draco Malfoy, realising that it was okay for people to know how he felt about her. When Justin Finch-Fletchley touched her on the arm, Hermione felt betrayed by her own weakness.

'Hi,' she muttered, hating the disappointment in her voice.

'Hey,' he smiled, 'How's life?'

'Oh you know,' she gestured at nothing in particular, 'As normal and boring as ever.'

She didn't think she'd ever told a bigger lie.

'You look rushed off your feet,' Justin said, sounding concerned.

'Well I guess that's school for you,' Hermione shrugged, 'I work better under pressure anyway.'

'If you feel like relieving some of that pressure, I know somewhere very relaxing to go,' he told her intriguingly, 'And I hear it's a full moon tonight.'

'What if there are werewolves?' She asked playfully, with a hint of a knowing smile on her lips.

'Don't worry,' he murmured, 'I'll protect you.'

Hermione raised an eyebrow, but her mouth remained in an amused, relaxed curve.

'So what do you say?' He wanted to know, 'Meet me outside your common room after dinner?'

Hermione felt her newfound rebellious streak take control. There was only one place it could have come from. Had he really got under her skin so quickly?

'Sure,' she said, sounding determined, 'Why not.'

'Great,' he grinned, 'See you then.'

He squeezed her hand affectionately in his and then headed off up the corridor. It was only then that Hermione heard the swish of robes and saw a flash of black as someone disappeared around the corner. A watcher.

Over dinner Hermione began to have doubts about meeting up with Justin. Would it be leading him on too much to go out for what would surely be a romantic, night time walk? Was she being bigheaded by presuming that he wanted her as more than just a friend? Perhaps she was picking up some of Malfoy's less desirable qualities without even noticing. She shuddered at the thought.

Thinking about it, where was he? From her seat she had a perfect view of the whole of the Slytherin table, but no white-blonde head stood out from the drab blacks and greens that swamped the group. The watch on Hermione's wrist told her that she still had ten minutes or so until she was supposed to meet Justin, and with Harry and Ron deep in conversation about Quidditch tactics, there was no one to stop curiosity getting the better of her.

Before she had time to weigh up the pros and cons of going on a Malfoy hunt, Hermione found herself already on her feet and slipping, unseen, from the Great Hall. As she ducked under tapestries covering familiar doorways and hopped over steps that weren't really there, she could almost hear time ticking away. She was sure she was late, but the small stab of guilt she felt as she thought of Justin waiting for her was nothing compared to thee pull of Draco Malfoy. She felt like they were playing hide and seek and, even though her sensible, bookish head was telling her that this boy was something she didn't want to find, her pounding heart disagreed and won every time.

Gradually Hermione realised that she was going round in circles. She felt something tighten in her throat. She wasn't going to find him, was she? He was probably in his common room or out having a good time on the Quidditch pitch. He probably hadn't even thought of her all day. Her eyes dropped again to her watch. She was at least fifteen minutes late, but maybe Justin would still be waiting.

She rounded a corner and hurried in the direction of her common room, biting her lip to take her mind off the miserable ache in her stomach. Draco had given up on her already. She was surprised to find herself surprised at that. What reason did she have to trust him? Or was the warmth that glowed between them when they touched trust enough?

The Gryffindor portrait was in Hermione's sight now. She could see Justin, loyally standing his ground outside. He stood side on to her, gazing absently at one of the paintings on the nearby wall. Hermione had opened her mouth to call out to him, when she was suddenly grabbed by the hand and pulled from the corridor into a room she had never noticed before.

Whichever room it was, it was pitch black and smelled faintly of lemons.

'Lucky escape that one,' said a familiar voice that sent an array of emotions shimmying down Hermone's spine.

'You almost ended up with a whole night of Justin "I-would-have-gone-to-Eton-if-I-hadn't-got-in-here" Finch-Fletchley.'

Hermione clenched her fists in annoyance and opened her mouth to retaliate, but Malfoy got there first.

'I could put up with the evil looks,' he said, 'And the ignoring me and the avoiding me like the plague.'

Hermione couldn't see him at all in the darkness, but she felt the delicious warmth from him as he moved closer.

'But every single time I almost catch you alone, along comes everyone's favourite Hufflepuff in shining armour,' Draco continued, the sneer obvious in his voice.

'So what?' Hermione challenged.

'Don't get me wrong, I'm sure he's a nice guy,' he replied in a tone which made it obvious that he thought quite the opposite, 'But does he always have to have his hands all over you?'

'Don't act as if you own me.'

'Sometimes I wish I did. At least if I owned you Mr Charm there wouldn't get a look in to bugger it up like he has done already.'

'Oh come now, don't be modest Malfoy,' Hermione said bitterly, 'You've done a very good job of buggering it up all by yourself.'

'Malfoy again, is it? Are we back to being enemies?'

'We were rarely little else,' she said with deliberate flippancy.

She made to leave, but Draco expertly cornered her, trapping her against the wall with his own body.

'You know that's not true,' he murmured, his voice dangerously low and his mouth so close to hers that Hermione could feel his words on her own lips.

Hermione's teeth clenched indignantly. She got as far as: 'Don't you dare think that you can just-' before Malfoy covered her mouth with his own.

He held her differently as he kissed her: his body shielding hers with his hands on her back, holding her tightly to him, as though he were staking claim instead of just fooling around. Hermione had never before fully appreciated what a powerful thing jealousy was.

Coming up for air, Hermione rested her on Draco's shoulder and took in his gorgeous scent, mixed with the smell of the mysterious room. She decided that it must be one of those strange, magical rooms like the Room of Requirement; this one perhaps opening out onto a grove of lemon trees occasionally lit by a pink and orange setting sun.

'Where are we?' She breathed.

'Broom cupboard,' Draco murmured in her ear, his breathing heavier than normal.

Bang goes the lemon trees, Hermione thought.

'Very romantic,' she said dryly.

He laughed, 'Only the best for my girl.'

There was a pause which went on for a little too long.

'What?' Malfoy asked, 'What is it?'

'I was just thinking… I won't ever really be your girl, will I? If no one knows, I mean.'

'I don't exactly see you shouting it from the rooftops,' he pointed out.

'I told Harry,' she said defensively.

The way that Draco's back stiffened made Hermione think that maybe this wasn't something he wanted to hear.

'I'll bet you shocked him with that one,' Draco said grimly.

'Hmm…' Hermione felt herself flush and was thankful for the cover of darkness.

'What is it?' He wanted to know.

'Let's just say: maybe you should be a bit nicer to Harry.'

'Mmm,' Draco said noncommittally.

'Although, maybe that would be a bit suspicious,' Hermione thought out loud.

'Not to mention a bit impossible,' he said with a grin as he leaned in to kiss her again.