The very next afternoon found Hermione stomping into their shared dormitory, the portrait slamming shut behind her with a little more force than necessary. Malfoy was in a similar position as the day before, book and parchment spread out over the table, bent over with a few strands of hair falling into his face.

"Penny for your thoughts?" he murmured, almost uninterestedly.

Hermione opened her mouth to tell him to bugger off when she paused, thinking better of it.

"No," she finally sighed.

"Suit yourself," he replied.

Hermione frowned, practically at her room door, now. For once, Malfoy wasn't the one to piss her off, and he wasn't likely to gossip. What could it hurt? Making up her mind, she dropped her bag and books onto the floor, frustration seeping into her bones.

"We'd all agreed to meet up in order to get a jump on our assignments, but they decided that Quidditch was far more important. Even Ginny ditched me!"

She huffed, slamming her books onto the table.

"Well, what's the subject?"

"Arithmancy," she sighed, plopping down onto the floor.

She felt his eyes on her and looked up to find that her suspicions were correct.

"What?" she asked, rather rudely.

"I'm here, and this is purely for fun," he said, waving towards his own book.

Hermione frowned, almost turning her nose up.

"Don't be ridiculous. We aren't friends, Malfoy," she said.

"…but you need- well, you don't need to study, but you would be less of a pain if you actually got to study, and besides… When have you ever turned down an opportunity to show how much smarter you are than me, Granger?"

By the growing smirk on his face, they both knew that he had her. With a sigh, she reluctantly agreed, and opened her book. Being civil with Malfoy was…odd, to say the least. Exchanging superficial pleasantries was one thing, even discussing the absurdity behind pureblood supremacy was one thing, but studying was something else entirely. Perhaps it was just her. After all, Hermione did always view studying as a rather intimate matter, academics very near and dear to her heart.

They'd studied for all of an hour when Hermione suddenly felt herself being shaken. It took her a minute to get her bearings, blinking and flinching away from unfamiliar hands. A few seconds passed before it took her to realize where she was, and she frowned.

"I didn't think you'd appreciate me leaving you out here to sleep on the table," a familiar voice drawled.

Hermione's vision finally cleared, and she glanced around.

"What time is it?"

"Only a little past seven," Malfoy answered.

Hermione didn't even remember nodding off. She hadn't even realized how tired she had been. She struggled to stand up, legs numb, and would have fallen had it not been for her dorm mate. Heat traveled through her frame when his fingers splayed along her arm and back, the fabric of her shirt practically equivalent to nothing, at the moment.

"Thanks," she murmured, finally righting herself.

She froze, feeling her back brush against his chest, a shudder traveling down her spine at the action. His breath wafted over her head, jasmine and mint chasing after each other within the air. She took a step forward, kneeling down to collect her things.

"Thank you," she said, much clearer this time.

She reached out to grab her books when his own caught her eye. She'd barely glanced at it when Malfoy grabbed it, collecting his parchment, as well, but not before she caught a glimpse of the work 'Dark" somewhere along the cover. If Malfoy noticed her curious gaze, he didn't say anything.

"Sleep well, Granger," he threw over his shoulder.

"Night," she quietly murmured, the words bouncing off of his room door.

With a slight frown, she slowly made her way towards her room, shaking her head, hoping to knock out unpleasant thoughts.

"Sorry about yesterday, Hermione," Ron sheepishly said, sliding into the seat next to her.

His words barely registered within Hermione's head, and she frowned, hardly sparing him a glance while responding.

"It's quite alright, Ron. I know how the three of you can be when it comes to Quidditch, and even I must admit that I sort of twisted your arms into studying with me," she murmured.

Her head was bent down, hands rifling through her bag as panic slowly began to set in. Where on earth was her book? She swore that she'd dropped it into her bag after studying. Hell, she even remembered complaining about how much heavier it made things. Godric help her, had she forgotten it, or worse, lost it? This was not good.

Harry and Ron noticed her struggle and growing frustration.

"Hermione?"

"I can't find my book. If I have to go looking for it, there's a good chance that I might be late to class," she complained.

The term had only just begun. How irresponsible would that look if she already started showing up late?

"I'm sure it will turn up," Harry reassured.

Hermione threw him a look.

"We have Snape, today. What are the chances of it turning up within the next forty-five minutes?"

Harry grimaced, suddenly sympathizing a bit more with her panic.

"Well, it's clearly not in there. Take a few minutes to eat at least," Ron suggested.

Hermione shook her head, already starting to stand up.

"I'm going to run back to the dormitory for just a moment, see if it's there…"

She didn't give them time to protest before she sprinted off. However, luck was not on her side, because neither her room nor the common room contained her book. She checked every possible place she could think of, even attempting to 'accio' it to her with no such luck. Without giving it much thought, she made her way to the other side of the common room, fist rapping against Malfoy's door. She wasn't even sure if he was in there, but she didn't recall seeing him at breakfast.

His door opened, and she opened her mouth to speak, only for her words to get caught in her throat. Malfoy was still in the process of getting dressed it seemed, shirt parted to give a tease of his alabaster skin, the hard contours of his chest rendering Hermione speechless. His tie was resting on his neck, each end being pulled taught by his hands as he held it.

"Yes?"

Hermione blinked, suddenly remembering the reason she'd knocked in the first place. She gazed up at him, relieved to find a neutral expression on his face. If he'd notice her slight scrutiny, he didn't comment on it.

"Um…I've seemed to misplace my book. I was wondering if you'd seen it lying around," she answered.

A slow smirk crawled onto his lips, and Malfoy leaned against the threshold, eyes twinkling.

"You've misplaced your book, have you? That's quite irresponsible, don't you think?"

She rolled her eyes.

"Please don't make my morning any harder than it has been. Have you seen it or not?" she asked again.

His expression did not change.

"No, I haven't. I'll look around for it, though before I leave," he said.

Hermione blinked, taken aback by that.

"Thank you," she slowly murmured, eyebrows furrowing just before he closed the door.

She walked back to breakfast, mind going a mile a minute. Hermione knew that Malfoy had apologized, and was basically turning over a new leaf, but it still took her by surprise. She was still expecting him to sneer at her and call her names. Of course, who could blame her? Years of bullying and scornful remarks prevented her from accepting his changed behavior with ease.

Breakfast was a quiet affair on her part, still pondering over the whereabouts of her book. The chances of Snape actually calling on her in class for once were slim, but Hermione's luck always had been a hit or miss. She felt like today of all days would finally give Snape a legitimate reason to humiliate her in class.

She trailed beside Ron and Harry as they made their way to their seats. She'd hardly contributed anything to the conversation, but they didn't seem to mind all that much. They knew how caught up she could get in things that the two of them deemed as insignificant, so they figured it best to leave her be. Hermione had just slid into her seat when she felt a presence to her right.

Hermione looked up to see Malfoy towering over her, fully dressed now, with a crooked smile decorating his face.

"I think you're losing your touch, Granger," he said.

She frowned before her eyes fell onto his outstretched hand, her book in his grasp.

"Thank, Merlin…," she breathed.

"Thank me."

"Where was it?" she asked, looking back up at him as she took it, fingers grazing over his own as she did so.

"Underneath the couch," was his answer.

Hermione frowned, stumped.

"…but I checked there. At least, I was sure that I did," she whispered.

Malfoy shrugged.

"I ran into McGonagall in the corridor. We're to be patrolling, tonight. Something about a nasty bug and detention," he grumbled.

"Yeah, sure," Hermione halfheartedly replied, already flipping through her book.

She didn't hear him leave, only realizing that he'd done so when Harry all but rounded on her.

"What, you two best mates, now?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, refusing to even spare him a glance as she replied.

"He found my lost book and returned it to me, Harry. I don't think that suggests that we'll be gossiping over tea and crumpets any time soon," she murmured, distracted.

"For all you know, he could've taken it," Ron threw in.

At this, she did look up.

"If that were the case, then why return it? Surely if Malfoy had taken it, then he would have done so to humiliate me in some way. Seeing as he returned it to me before class even started…I doubt that," she deduced.

Neither one of them could argue with her logic, and instead settled for leaning back into their seats, clearly displeased. Snape entered the class then, instructing them to open their books, and Hermione caught Malfoy's eye, sending him a barely noticeable grateful smile.

"I take it that your sidekicks weren't happy with our little display this morning," Malfoy drawled.

The only sound throughout the corridor was that of their shoes against the stones, wands shining light onto their otherwise dark path. Hermione repressed the urge to sigh.

"You returned my book to me. Hardly a display," she grumbled. "…but yes. They weren't as appreciative as I was."

"They don't trust me," he stated.

She glanced at him, her silence the only answer they both knew he didn't need.

"I don't blame them. They have every right not to," he continued.

"They don't exactly believe in second chances," she whispered.

"Do you?"

"We wouldn't be having a civil discussion, right now if I didn't," she replied.

Malfoy chuckled, an unfamiliar sound, one that made her heart falter.

"That's awfully trusting of you…"

"Everyone deserves a second chance," she quietly said.

Malfoy hummed, thoughtful.

"Everyone? Even say…someone like Voldemort?"

Hermione blanched, shooting him a scathing look as he chuckled again.

"Even I must admit that there are some exceptions to the rule… I'm surprised you even spoke his name," she mused.

"Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself."

Hermione paused, gazing up at him as he did the same. She was sure that a rather funny expression was working its way onto her face, but she didn't care. She blinked before continuing on.

"Yes…that's right," she finally agreed.

"You look a bit stunned," he commented.

"Quite observant, aren't you? No, I just… Well, yes. I suppose it is a bit shocking that you'd throw that back into my face. Even more so that you believe it. Ron still feeds into the whole you-know-who thing, sometimes."

Malfoy snorted, and she knew what he was thinking.

"Don't utter a word. Your opinions about Ron have always been made perfectly clear…"

"Well, that's because he's kind of a sad excuse of a wizard," he said matter-of-factly.

"You don't know him. Ron is actually quite brilliant when he wants to be," she defended rather harshly.

"Retract the claws, Granger. I assure you, Weasley's honor is still intact," he joked.

Her face heated up, and she chewed on her lip.

"Sorry," she murmured.

"A shame you fancy the bloke. You could do so much better, if you ask me…"

"Well, no one asked you-!"

Hermione cut herself off, stopping to stare at him with wide eyes.

"How did you know that?"

"It's obvious," he deadpanned, rolling his eyes.

"It is?"

Was it really that obvious? No. Surely, if it was, then Ron would have…he would have noticed, right?

"Weasley's a tad dense," Malfoy answered her unvoiced question. "I'm almost certain Saint Potter and the she Weasley know."

Hermione didn't respond, walking beside him in silence. Malfoy hardly even knew her, knew them, so if he could tell… She shook her head. Malfoy was right, Ron always had been a bit oblivious.

"It's never going to happen if you don't speak up, you know…"

"I am not taking relationship advice from you, Malfoy," she spat.

"You don't have to, but I'm sure even you know that closed mouths don't get fed. I caught wind that Weasley is going to try out for the Quidditch team… If he makes the team, surely you don't think you'll be the only girl who notices how dreamy his eyes are?"

Hermione looked down at that.

"What bloke is going to resist any pretty girl practically throwing herself at him?"

"Not every male in this school is like you, you know," she threw at him.

She could see the faintness of a smirk on his lips as he took a step towards her.

"You honestly don't think that Weasley would turn down a shag from, let's say, Daphne Greengrass, do you?"

Hermione flushed in anger, eyes narrowing as she glared at him.

"Ronald would never date someone like-!"

"Ah, ah. I didn't say anything about dating, did I?"

Hermione huffed, looking away.

"Daphne's a pretty witch. There's no doubt in my mind that Weasley would jump at the chance to get with a girl like her, even if only for a night. Of course, she's just an example. Albeit a terrible one, because let's face it, she'd never even look in Weasley's direction, but I digress. There are plenty of witches in this school who are probably eyeing Weasley. Why do you think you're the only one?"

"I don't…"

"Oh. Well, then I suppose you suspect he'll continue to play this awkward dance the two of you have been playing for years then?"

"No-."

"Then what? You clearly have no intentions of making your feelings known anytime soon. Are you waiting for him, because we both know that could be a while…"

Hermione's shoulders slumped, defeated.

"I don't know," she finally sighed. "Why do you care, anyway?"

Malfoy shrugged, one hand in his pocket.

"You've been pining after him, and I suppose that I pity you. You should get it over with, and put yourself out of your misery," he answered.

"I…I wouldn't even know what to say. With Ron, you have to be very upfront, and I'm not sure I could just blurt it out to him. Some Gryffindor I am, huh?"

"Well, then you force his hand…"

She gave him a skeptical look.

"How on earth would I do that?"

Malfoy let out a soft chuckle, walking past her, arm brushing her own.

"Keep talking to me. I'm sure that will do the trick," he replied, half joking.

"…but…I actually rather like talking to you. Surprisingly enough…"

"Tell him that, then. Let him know how enjoyable my company is, and how surprisingly well we're getting along," he continued. "I guarantee you, you'll be seeing a lot more of him at the dorm, and it won't be long before he outs himself."

"That will just make him angry," she disagreed, rolling her eyes.

Malfoy shrugged.

"Makes no difference to me. It's your choice, Granger…but googly eyes and awkward brushes of skin will only hold him for so long," he mockingly sang.

Hermione pondered this, his words eventually rolling over her back.

A few days later, Ron made the Quidditch team. Lavender Brown was there to cheer him on, and Hermione felt Malfoy's advice sink its teeth into her chest like a snake bite. And the venom spread.

~ SD ~