A/N: Once again, thank you to all my readers. I've had a very bad week and I appreciate all your comments. They're the few bright spots in a time that's been really dark lately.

CoolChick0506: Thanks for all your reviews. Yes, I know I have several typos in there (whoops.) I just got myself a Beta, so hopefully that will decrease.

willow fairy: Thanks! Enjoy the chapter!

C.T Cruise: Thank you. I love you!

Disclaimer: I don't own HP, I never will. sad face

Hermione exhaled noisily, glancing down at her watch. Potions was almost over and she'd finally be free of the droning voice of Snape and his sycophantic Slytherin-worshippers. But then again, a transition from Snape to Draco Malfoy wasn't much of an improvement. He'd been infuriating last night. He'd left her so angry she'd barely slept a wink--and it wasn't hard to tell. Her eyes sported hefty dark circles from her tossing and turning. It wasn't much like her, but she'd found education an utter bore today. All she could think about was putting on some soft, fleece pajamas and crawling in-between her sheets for a well-deserved catnap. She supposed most students would be doing that after this class. Millicent Bulstrode looked positively lethargic as her heavy-lidded eyes began to droop. Unfortunately, for a Head Girl, the end of classes only meant the beginning of tutoring. As Snape announced the end of class, sneering happily to be rid of his students, Hermione walked out of glass with Ron and Harry.

"That class is such a bore." Ron complained as he ran a hand through his fiery hair.

"Having Snape teach it doesn't make it any better." Harry agreed.

"I'm exhausted." Hermione couldn't think of anything better to say than this.

"Go to sleep," Ron suggested plainly.

"Tutoring," she smiled sleepily "With Malfoy."

"I forgot," Ron rubbed his forehead groaning, "Sounds like torture."

"Definitely. Skip out today and go to Hogsmeade with us." Harry suggested.

"We can't just go to Hogsmeade," Hermione sighed, although the idea of sipping down hot butterbeers over a bag of Zonko's candy was tempting.

"We have an invisibility cloak, don't we?" Ron was chomping down on a chocolate frog he'd had in his pocket. Hermione furrowed her eyebrows together. She couldn't believe she was actually considering this.

"I can't. I just can't. I have to go to tutoring." She gave them a disappointed half-smile and turned down the hallway to the library. "Don't get caught."

"We probably will!" Ron called after her. This made her smile. True, the "Three Musketeers" didn't have a squeaky clean record and required an extra 'eye' from many of the teachers. Hermione watched Harry and Ron turn down the second hallway and then continued her journey to the library, carrying her books.

Filthy mud blood. Know-it-all, pretentious kiss-ass. Draco slumped in his chair, frowning. He could see out the double doors, to the saccharine communion of the three people he hated most in the world. Well, save for his father. She, with her just-out-of-bed hair and trembling posture that made her look fragile and volatile all at the same time. Her lips pressed together gently, her cheekbones standing a bit more prominent on a face that seemed all too pale. He despised this creature. Her mannerisms, from the way her hands fluttered at her hips to the way her eyebrows arched in disbelief, they rubbed him raw. But he'd found something new. In all his hatred, he was fascinated. Utterly fascinated with the way one girl could receive so much attention and yet cast it off, completely oblivious to the way others stared. She only seemed..ashamed, perhaps? He was dumbstruck with this new realization of Granger. He didn't find himself fascinated with Potter and Weasley. He only found contempt in his heart for them. Granger's eyes bore into the library as she started to walk, scanning it for a safe haven. It was then that her eyes focused in on his. Watery, rimmed with dark circles. She looked tired, broken, more frail than usual. He turned his head down, focusing his eyes on the desk.

"Malfoy," Hermione set her books down on the table next to his. "Today you're to tutor Layla Wilkins. When she's here, I'll let you know." She turned her nose up in the air, another mannerism Malfoy felt himself invariably annoyed by. Hermione scooped up her books and located herself over to a table at the opposite side of the set up. She looked down at her list. It looked to be a long night. Only four prefects were signed up to tutor tonight, save for she and Malfoy. And it wasn't like Malfoy counted. She slid her eyes over to him. He was resting his chin on his palms, elbows propped on the table. He wasn't frowning. Nor was he smiling. He simply looked…indifferent. Hermione wasn't used to this. In her previous encounters with him, he usually showed highs of emotion--that emotion usually being irritation or condescension. His silvery eyes flickered between his stacks of books and the ceiling, creating the illusion that he was rolling his eyes…but Hermione knew different. Draco's anger was much more refined. Rolling eyes was reserved for the amateur cynics.

"Hello." A quiet voice pulled her from her thoughts as the small body of a girl knocked up against her desk. The girl's voice was tranquil, but her face was not. Her features screamed of exuberance, from her thick blonde hair to her wide, straight-toothed smile. Hermione envied the girl for a bit. She seemed young--a fifth year, perhaps--but she carried herself with a confidence that Hermione could only dream of. Hermione had confidence in her intelligence, but was far from steady when it came to her personal opinion of her face.

"Hello." Hermione smiled up at the girl, waiting for her name.

"I'm Layla. Layla Wilkins. I should be on the list." Hermione briefly considered telling Layla that her name didn't seem to be there. It wasn't like Malfoy would teach her anything. She'd probably just giggle and flirt, anyway. "You're with Draco Malfoy. He's sitting right over there," She pointed to Draco's unenthusiastic form.

"Thanks." Layla smiled and walked on over to Draco. Hermione watched from the corner of her eye as Layla introduced herself to Malfoy. Well he seems quite pleased.

"Hi. I'm Layla!" The girl before him stuck out her hand, grinning widely. Her green eyes seemed almost too big for her face.

"Oh. Hello." Draco looked up at her. He gestured to the seat beside him and she sat down.

"I need help with my Wingardium Leviosa. I know it's like, a first year charm, but it's been giving me problems ever since I got a new wand." She tucked a strand of silky hair behind her ear, revealing large diamond studs.

"Okay." Draco stuck out a hand for her wand and she handed it to him. He held it in his hand. It was springy…not too stiff and not too flimsy. A good, sturdy wand. "Nothing seems to be wrong with it." He handed it to her. She grasped the wand, frowning. He looked her over, noticing the green and silver of her tie. A Slytherin, in fact. He hadn't seen her before. He found this odd, because she was quite attractive and he usually scouted the "fuckable" ones within the first day.

"What year are you?"

"Sixth."

"Oh. I guess we've never met."

"I look different. I…grew up over the summer." She smiled flirtatiously at him.

"Well I guess that's it." Layla leaned over her charms book, her chest squashing against it, giving Draco a very nice view.

Hermione watched at the scene going on across the room. Whore. She's not even that cute. They're not even learning. It's insulting.

"Hermione?" The first year next to her tapped her on the shoulder. "Is that right?" Hermione scanned over Caleb's paper.

"Good job, Caleb. I think you've got it."

"Finally." Caleb sighed. "Took me long enough."

"Don't beat yourself up. You're taking advanced transfiguration as a first year. I didn't even do that."

"Really?" Caleb looked up at her with a mixture of awe and wide-eyed surprise. Hermione grimaced at this reaction. Everyone seemed to crown her the queen of education. She didn't hate this title…but sometimes it got a little…old.

"Really. Now I think you're ready to go and take a well-deserved break."

"Thanks Hermione." Caleb gathered his things and exited the library, obviously quite pleased with himself.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Layla swished her wand in an arc and the pencil in front of her began to levitate.

"I think you've got it." Draco nodded at her. Layla smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks, Draco. You were so much help."

"I'm glad." Draco gave her a stone-faced glare. Sure, she was cute, but ten minutes with this girl gave him a serious migraine.

"You know," Layla stood up and straightened her skirt, "We should get together sometime." Draco nodded. He didn't have the energy to turn this girl down. Besides, watching her yap like a Chihuahua for his attention was mildly entertaining. He watched her saunter out of the library, turning back several times to wink at him. Fucking serious. Desperate, much?

Hermione watched the last few students trickle from the library. Two hours later and she was just barely awake. Her eyes were becoming even more heavy as she stood to dismiss her volunteers.

"Thanks for your help." She smiled as the prefects left. She couldn't help but be glad to see them go. It just meant she was closer to being in her bed. She watched lazily as Draco trudged out of the library. Wait. Wasn't he supposed to stay? She groaned.

"Malfoy!" He turned around to glare at her. "You're supposed to stay, remember?"

"Of course I do. I'm not an invalid, Granger. A man's got to put up a fight, that's all." Draco raised his eyebrows expectantly at her.

"Get over here and help me put away these books, Malfoy." She pointed to the large pile on top of the book cart.

"Yes, M'am." Draco felt heat rising in his cheeks, giving them the slightest pink. He hated being told what to do.

"So," Hermione began as she and Draco pushed the heavy cart over to the first stack, "I didn't know you were turning tutoring into a escort service."

"What?" Draco watched as Hermione pushed her hair away from her face, frowning at him.

"That tart," Hermione climbed onto her stool, "Layla. Looks like you were having fun."

"I was." Draco lied, simply because he liked seeing infuriation grace the features of the one Hermione Granger. Draco watched as she stretched up, her whole body elongating as she tried to replace a book on the top shelve. Her legs began to wobble oh so slightly. She emitted a tiny squeak, dropped her stack of books, and toppled onto the ground. Draco could only chortle as he watched the disgruntled Hermione attempt to regain her footing. She looked up at him, angrily.

"Help me." She stuck out a hand and Draco grasped it, yanking her up. "Ouch. Don't rip my arm off." She said haughtily, picking up her fallen books.

"Well, you're welcome." Draco snapped sarcastically. He watched lazily as Hermione continued restocking the bookshelves, every so often handing her a book. Every time she'd demand a new title he could feel his blood boil. The way she stuck out her lower lip ever so slightly when she ordered him around…it was so..so…aggravating. He gazed on as Granger pulled her long, out of control hair into an elastic, surprised to see a neck that was much longer and graceful than he would have guessed. She climbed down from the stool and knelt, searching the cart once again.

"It's boiling," she complained as she stood up. She unclasped the front of her robes and tossed the black fabric onto a chair behind her. Draco noticed for the first time in his life that the mud blood was, in fact, a girl. She wasn't just an ostentatious brain on legs. This thought was preposterous to him. It scared him, shook him to the core.

"Don't just stand there. Hand me the book, Malfoy." Draco lifted his head and realized that Granger was perched on her stool once again, her hand outstretched for the book.

"Calm down," He snapped, shoving one fist into his pocket. " What was the title again?"

"McMann's Guide to Charming Charms." Draco searched the cart, pulled out the hardcover book, and handed it to Hermione. "Thanks," she mumbled. "Well. That was the last one, Malfoy. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Unfortunately." Draco added as Hermione climbed down from her stool. He leaned against the bookshelf, watching as Granger gathered her things and tossed on her robes, once again cloaking a body that Draco had never realized existed.

Hermione awoke Saturday morning after quite a peaceful sleep. She felt rejuvenated, finally. After nights of tutoring that had left her resentful and unable to sleep, she'd finally gotten the rest she deserved. Over the last three sessions, Draco had mellowed out a bit. Rather than exchanging witty banter, he had mostly ignored her, happy to see Layla come in day after day to flirt with him. The girl had nearly had a fit when Hermione had scheduled her with a different tutor, and immediately requested Draco's 'excellent teaching skills'. "He's the only one that gets through to me." Layla had whimpered. Hermione had given in, finding Layla's obsession almost too comical to bear.

Hermione crawled her way out of bed, moving with the speed of a sloth and slid her trunk out from under her four poster. She propped up the lid of the trunk and rifled through it. From the window, she could see that green leaves were now various colors of red, orange, yellow, and brown and a slight drizzle was plastering them to the ground like a collage. While she could hear Lavender and Pavarti complaining from the across the room, she found the array of color and the rhythm of the rain quite striking. She pulled on a pair of jeans, sneakers, and a thick white jumper. It was one of those tops that made her feel like a princess, wrapped up in warm cashmere and a cowl neck protecting her from the cold. She looked in the mirror across from her. It had been a long time since she'd seen her hair be anything but frizzy. She'd found her ways to play up her curls, of course, but the energy and time it took to straighten was ridiculous. She found the idea of giving up a whole hour of sleep (like Lavender) to fix herself up absurd. But as she sat on her bed, giving herself the once-over, she decided today would be the fourth time in her entire life that she'd see herself with straight hair.

Hermione peered at the mirror, scrutinizing her face. It wasn't something she normally did because she knew she'd only find flaws. Her straightening attempt hadn't gone completely as planned. It wasn't a total train wreck, but she definitely hadn't ended up with sleek, shiny hair like she'd imagined. Halfway through, her arm had gotten tired and she'd given up the whole idea. Her hair was wavy, though without the frizz, and she had to admit it looked nice. Pretty, even. She turned her head from the mirror and returned to her trunks. It was lovely out. The rain had plastered even more leaves to the ground, so much that the ground looked like tie dye. She grabbed a big, black camera from the bottom of her trunk. She didn't have a particular talent for photography, but over the summer months she enjoyed taking pictures in her neighborhood. She hadn't even thought to bring the clunky excuse for a camera to Hogwarts until this year. She figured it was her last year, so she might as well bring something to remember it by. Hermione slipped her head through the neck strap (mildly amused that her hair didn't get caught in the fastenings for once) and left the room.

As she entered the common room, she could see Harry and Ron playing chess by the fire and Ginny snuggled up in a quilt, reading.

"Going out?" Ginny asked, looking up from her book, which looked to be a muggle romance novel. Hermione smiled.

"Yes. Good book?" Ginny blushed furiously.

"My dad brought home a bunch of muggle books in a cardboard box. I can't get enough of this." She pointed enthusiastically at her book.

"It's embarrassing, really." Ron added. "Hey, where are you going off to? It's miserable outside."

"No it's not." Hermione watched as Harry made an especially sneaky move.

"Checkmate." Harry smiled.

"Sneaky, Harry. Real sneaky." Hermione gave Harry a thumbs up as she walked out of the common room and into the hall.

The Hogwarts grounds were wet and soggy as Hermione stomped through them, the grass protesting in squashy noises as she walked. Hermione held up her camera, focusing it on a rainbow that was starting to form over the forest. The camera clicked as she captured the moment, smiling. That one would turn out wonderfully. She turned the camera to a group of students walking about twenty feet away. As she held the camera to her eye and snapped the photo, she felt oddly like Colin Creevy. She shuddered. Nice boy, but socially inept. Even more so than she. Hermione plopped onto the ground and lay down, the moisture soaking into the back of her sweater. She grinned. The back of her head was going to be back to frizz when she sat up. She held the camera up, looking through the lens at the color streaked sky. It was breath taking. She held the button down, her camera snapping.

Draco was glad to finally be out of his stuffy robes. He pulled his leather jacket around his form as he walked the grounds. He liked rain. It was noiseless and void, unlike the bustling and harsh sunlight of summer. He watched as a group of students wrestled in the grass. To him, it ruined the comfort of the weather. He liked things quiet and peaceful, undisturbed by people's stupidity. His eyes wandered to the form of a girl, laying on her back in the grass. Her brown hair was splayed behind her across the ground as she held a camera above her face. As he got closer, he could hear the click of the camera. She set the camera next to her waist and sat up. It was then that Draco recognized her. Granger. He watched, intrigued, as she smoothed the knees of her jeans and stared out at the horizon, the faintest of smiles crossing her face. The dark shadows of clouds played across her face, making the freckles across her cheeks and nose more noticeable.

"Malfoy?" She turned to him. Her voice sounded perplexed, but not irritated or angry like usual.

"You take pictures." He said this with his voice cool and flat, no inflection marring it's simplicity.

"Yeah." She picked up the camera and took another picture of something in the forest. "I like rain."

"Me too." He plopped down next to her, amazed that he was speaking to her without a hint of indignation in either of their voices.

"There's something so surreal about it. Like the world doesn't care what's going on. It just does what it has to. So many people find rain depressing, but it makes me feel better." Hermione moved a rain soaked piece of hair from her cheek.

"Exactly." Draco leaned back on his palms, admiring the rain falling on the shine of his black shoes. They sat in silence like this, neither of them speaking, barely breathing.

"You know what's funny?" Hermione turned to him, smiling.

"What?"

"We're having a conversation." Draco chuckled quietly.

"I guess that is funny." He stood up, wiping the grass from the back of his pants. "See you around, Granger."

"Wait." Draco spun around. Hermione was holding her camera up. He heard it click.

"Something for your masturbatory fantasies, Granger?" Draco's voice came out harsher than he had intended. Hermione's face fell.

"Go away." She lay back into the grass, staring up into the sky. She felt ashamed she'd even spoken to him like he was human. He was disgusting. She watched from the corner of her eye as he walked away, not bothering to turn back.

A/N: Please review. It really helps me write and get through my rough times…sob story, I know. Thanks all for reading!