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Hermione headed off towards the front of the compartment. She didn't go too far up because of the spots both her and Draco had claimed to patrol. He decided on the front and half of the middle. She decided on the back and the other half of the middle. She was happy about that because that means she would spend as little time with Malfoy as possible, and she got to patrol around her friends. She quickly checked on everyone else on her side of the train, then rushed over to where she saw her friends earlier when they got on the train. But unfortunately when she looked in there, she saw a couple of 3rd year Slytherins. Just then she heard laughing coming from a few compartments up and immediately recognized it as her guy friends. She smiled and started to walk towards them. Out of no where, some1 ran into her, knocking her to the ground. She muttered under her breath about people not paying attention then looked up to see Malfoy smirking down at her.

"And where, do you think you're going Granger?" he asked accusingly, still with that same evil smirk on his face.

"To go see my friends, why does it matter to you?"

"Hmmm, maybe because this is my patrolling area,"

"Yeah, but my friends-"

"Are in my area. Did we or did we not agree that this was where we would patrol and we wouldn't go onto the others area? Didn't we do this so we would be able to spend as little time together as possible?"

"Yes but-"

"But nothing, sorry bout your luck Granger"

"Ugh!" Hermione said annoyed. She started to back away when someone grabbed her by her elbow and spun her around. She was surprised and when she spun around, she became a bit too close to the person.

"Hi Hermione" Hermione stepped back and looked at the person. It was Blaize Zambini.

"Erm, yea, hi" Hermione said awkwardly. Malfoy stood behind the pair smirking.

"So what isn't Draco letting you do?" Blaize asked kindly.

At first Hermione was shocked by his sudden kindness towards her. But in no time at all she warmed up to him and said, "I know my friends are just a few compartments down from the end of my side but he wont let me go see them. He said we had an agreement to stay on our own patrolling area so we won't have to be around each other much."

"Well then he must be crazy." Blaize stated simply, and as if it was the most obvious thing ever.

Hermione had a confused look on her face and asked, "Why would he be crazy?"

"To want to spend as little time with you as possible. He must be crazy. I mean, your smart, sweet, and beautiful" With that Hermione couldn't help but giggle. She had never been talked to like that by a guy. Malfoy rolled his eyes at them and shook his head knowingly.

"I'll talk to him" Blaize whispered to her. She could feel his warm, soft lips touch her skin and it sent chills. Blaize then walked over to Draco and they walked into another compartment. About 2 minutes later he came back out and put his arm around Hermiones waist. "I got you 20 minutes every hour. Of course that should be fine considering you should be patrolling, not talking with your friends." With his arm still where it was before, he guided her over to her friends' compartment, then took her hand gently in his and kissed it softly before walking away. Hermione was so shocked she just stood outside the compartment looking dumbfounded for a moment before opening the door.

"Hey guys!" Hermione said to her friends, walking into the compartment. She quickly realized that she was the only girl in there, usually Lavender Ginny or anyone else would be in there. "Where is everyone else?"

"Hey, and what do you mean, everyone else?" Neville asked her.

"Nevermind I guess. So what have you guys been up to, and how was your summer?" Hermione asked while hugging Neville, Dean, and Seamus.

They all took turns talking about their summers and anything and everything they had on their mind. They were having a great time when suddenly their compartment door slide open to revel Blaize.

"What do you want Zambini?" Harry asked quite rudely.

"Actually, Potter I'm here because Malfoy says Hermione needs to get back on duty and it's been well passed 20 minutes." Blaize then looked at Hermione. "Sorry, I tried to get you a bit more time, but Draco just wouldn't budge on his decision."

"Oh, its fine," Hermione said standing up. Blaize walked into the compartment and put his arm around her waist casually, which caused her to blush.

"May I walk you back to your compartment, Hermione?" Blaize asked politely.

Hermione smiled and muttered a small "sure" before walking out with Blaize. As soon as she left, chatter sprung up from the boys about Hermione and Zambini.

"What the bloody hell was that all about!" Ron asked angered.

"I know, I mean, he's a Slytherin!" Harry commented.

"What is she thinking?" Dean questioned.

"Maybe they put a spell on her."

"He is just messing with her, he's got to be."

"I dunno, have you seen her this year?"

"Yeah I definitely wouldn't say I didn't understand if he started liking her."

As the conversation went on, it turned from Blaize and Hermione to just plain Hermione. They were talking about how hott she's gotten and even Harry and Ron were commenting as much as the others about her and her changes. They were so busy talking they didn't know that the compartment door was open just a bit. Actually it was just enough for someone standing outside the door to hear every word they were saying. Draco Malfoy smiled and walked back towards the Head's Compartment. He walked into see Granger already changed into her school robes and reading a book. A perfect opportunity to tell her what he heard.

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i kno this is a sucky place to stop but i spent days typing nd i prolly have atleast the next 10 chapters already typed up. this is the only spot i could stop at unless i choose to put 2 more pages of word in here. ne way it just seemed too long for me so here ya go with the next chapter! pleze reveiw!

christa