Hey guys! Just a few commentsfor the sake of clarification:

Some of your commented that Hermione was smarter than what I was portraying and would not fall for Draco like this. In response, I would first like to say that she is not in love with Draco. For that matter, she knows he is still a prick with all his defects. She is simply intrigued, to a point close to what most people consider an infatuation.

However, Hermione is sufficiently grounded to know that she has provoked this infatuation because of her inability to stay out of Draco's business. The more you learn about someone, the more you want to know, sort of speak. It's a step up, plot wise, for this unlikely duo, though far from the happily ever after and in love ending we're all hoping for. Have a little faith in Hermione! The girl can take care of herself, thank you very much.

The exchange with Ginny in the last chapter should have made as much clear (or so I tried). She is intrigued by Draco, and finds herself identifying a lot of her own issues with those he is facing (on a different scale, of course). And the more she learns, the more she finds in him that reminds her of herself. For being in different houses and all, they aren't as different as they seem.

Having said all that, thank you for your reviews! Please do send any other doubts and I'll be sure to try to clear them up! Hope you enjoy this chapter cause it was REALLY fun to write! D

Oh! And sorry for the delay updating! I would love to say it's because I was busy or something, but it was actually finished two days ago and I just forgot that I hadn't actually uploaded it. Not one of my brightest moments, to say the least!

Draco's Point of View:

They are few sights as chilling as that morning's front cover of The Daily Prophet. Draco stared at the image before him, his knuckles white as he gripped at the paper with all his strength in order to keep himself from losing control. The headline burned itself into his mind and he struggled to keep himself from tearing the page apart. However, he could feel the eyes of all his fellow students on him and he forced himself to keep calm, repeating his old mantra:

'Malfoys pride themselves in composure. Malfoys pride themselves in composure.

Malfoys pride themselves in composure.Malfoys pride themselves in composure.'

He stood up, calmly, without any sign of his distress, anger, and fear. He rolled the paper smoothly under his arm, patted Zabini on the shoulder, a little bit too strongly perhaps, before gracefully and unhurriedly leaving the dinning room. Behind him, whispers buzzed as the news reached everyone in the room. In dark green, elegant cursive letters that lacked the urgency of its content, the cover read: "Azkaban prison break: top deatheaters on the loose!".The terrifying words were accompanied by a picture taken by one of the few surviving witnesses. In it, one particular blond man stood out, his face grinning madly from ear to ear as he raised his wand to call for the Dark Mark. And for the few first years in the room who could not figure it out, it soon became common knowledge that the figure in question was non other than Lucious Malfoy.

"Wait up!" shouted Zabini once outside the hall, having made his exit shortly after his friend's. He found the blond boy sitting on the steps at the front of Hogwarts, staring blankly at the scenery before him.

"You okay man?" he asked, knowing all too well what the reply would be. Too his surprise, his friend nodded, his face calm and devoid of emotions.

"Why wouldn't I be, Zabini?" he replied, his voice lacking the irony his friend was expecting. "All is as it should be. Father is out loose terrorizing those worthless mudbloods, and I can go back to not having friends. All is as it should be..." He placed his hand on Zabini's shoulder to help himself up. "Don't bother speaking to me again. If my father finds out you are ... were close to me, he'll be sure to use it against me. Or worst, make you one of us."

"You've got to be kidding me man!" exclaimed Zabini, much too shocked to come up with his usually witty replies. "He's a criminal; the authorities are after him. There's no way he can do anything worth worrying about, at least, not at Hogwarts".

"You have no idea who you are messing with" added Draco dryly, not bothering to look back at his best friend for fear of losing his resolve. "And like I said, don't speak to me ever again or you'll regret it. I'll make it my business that you do. From now on, you are the lowest amongst the Slytherins and by Merlin, I will make you hate me. Goodbye Zabini". Walking away, he forced himself to block away the terrifying thought of never again speaking to his best friend. Two years of respite from his father and he had gotten all too used to the idea of not being alone. 'This is necessary' he told himself.'And now, one down, one to go'. Pushing all the great memories of him and Zabini aside, he turned towards the head boy common room intent on destroying what he knew could have been something great.

"Draco..." she whispered as he made his way into the room. He noticed how worriedshe looked and he restrained himself from twinging at the knowledge that he would soon have to makeher cry. "I'm so sorry...are you alright?" she continued, moving towards him. She reached out, wanting to hug him and comfort him. However, unlike the last time, he did not relax in her well intentioned embrace. Instead, he pushed her off, unable to stand another moment of her closeness and her warm brown eyes.

"I don't know what you are talking about, Granger" he snarled, his voice colder than that which he'd used with her in days. She too noticed the change, her eyes narrowing in question. "All I know is that, with father back, I can go back to hating you and all your other filthy little friends. The pact is off, Granger, I have better things to do with my time". He could see her lip wavering, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. He was about to turn away from the heart wreaking sight when something caught him by surprise. She stepped up towards him, and slapped him – hard. She then stood, inches away from him, as she began speaking in a voice as low as a whisper but with the rage and anger of a blood curling scream.

"Is this how you chose to live?" she snarled, her eyes blazing. "All those fancy speeches when all along you were nothing more than a coward! How dare you pretend to look down on me when all you want is to run away the moment daddy comes knocking at the door! Are you afraid that he might see you for who you are? Afraid that he might not be pleased that his son did not turn out as fucked up as he would have hoped for?" He felt his own anger rise and he too lost control as he grabbed her by the shoulders and nearly slammed her up against a wall, making her physically twinge at force of his blow.

"Don't you dare call me a coward" he roared. "You have no idea what fear is. When my 'daddy comes knocking', people die. People suffer. People are tortured beyond recognition as he laughs at their pain. So, are you Miss Brave and Strong Gryffindor, who does not fear her death and stands boldly for truth? How brave will you be when you see children being killed at your mistakes? When one misstep with your father forces him to kill another dozen or so as your punishment?" He pushed her off into the sofa and began pacing, wanting to return to his original plan and break off from this whole argument as quickly and cleanly as possible.

"Those deaths are not your fault" she finally managed, which startled him beyond words. 'Of all the crazy things to say, she picks that!'

"Like hell they're not..." he mumbled bitterly, punching a nearby wall with all his strength. He didn't even flinch when stone met bone and his knuckles began bleeding. Instead he rammed his fist into it again, wanting to numb out his anger through pain. His third attempt was stopped by the fact that a certain girl who now stood in between him and the wall.

"Hit me and prove that you are indeed your father's son" she spoke bravely and defiantly, her eyes shining with unshed tears. He made as if to do as much, never one to back down from a taunt, but his fist stopped an inch from her face. She hadn't even blinked.

"I know you, Draco Malfoy" she said with a strong, confident voice. "Those deaths were not your fault. They were killed by your father. You did not kill them. I might not know the details, but I'm sure that no matter what you would have done, he would have likely killed them anyway. Because he is a twisted man. And you are not your father. The guilt that you feel makes your so much more human than he's ever been. And in my eyes, those of a hero-struck silly Gryffindor, that means something". She took his bloody hand in hers and frowned, her voice overcome by a motherly tone, completely lacking the fury which it had previously possessed. "And you've made quite a mess of yourself. Let me get my first aid kit to fix that up for you. Or you can go to Madame Pomfrey, though I'm pretty sure you don't want to have to explain how that happened."

"I will make you hate me Hermione Granger" he whispered before she could do anything. "I don't deserve your sympathy and I will earn your distrust once more if only to keep you safe. And when you live to be an old woman and have learned the meaning of fear, you will be grateful for my having done as much. It will be my way of thanking you". To his surprise, she walked up to him, stopping a few centimeters from his face before smiling.

"Try your worst, Draco Malfoy" she taunted with that knowing smirk of hers. "Because knowing that, I will prove to you what true friend do: we stick around. Because even if I'm scared witless, I think I'd rather be so with someone I trust than on my own".

Author's Note:

Hope you guys enjoyed that! I've already started the next chapter, which slightly overlaps towards the end with this one from Hermione's point of view. And sorry for the ridiculously extensive Author's Note at the beginning P

(btw, I reposted the chapter a few hours after I originally put it up to fix some typos... no substantive changes were made)