Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me in anyway nor does any of the songs I post with each chapter, and I will post the artist with them.

Fur Cue

"Fake,
You're more than I can take,
And something's gonna break,
Get out of my head,

No shame,
Passing all the blame,
And nothing's gonna Change,
Get out of my head…"

Fur Cue by Seether

Sunday September 22nd, 1996

Gryffindor Dormitories- Quarter Noon

Lazily sitting crisscross on ground beside the couch that was in front of the fireplace, with a yawn and a book in hand, Hermione looked up towards her two friends. They were currently sitting behind her playing a game of wizard's chest. She thought about how last night she had just decided to let go of the whole Ron not telling her about prefect's thing, and just go with it, because Ron was honestly far from the most intelligent boy she knew. Clearing her throat, she stood up, fixing her long sleeve shirt and her jeans, and then walked over towards the two as they continued to argue.

"I have some… studying to do in the library, so I will see the two of you at lunch…" she said quickly, deciding it was best they knew nothing about her trying to find Malfoy because the two were still so sure he had attacked her during patrols. Whether he did it or not, she had to talk to the git in order to know anything, which meant she had to find him soon, and before he had another chance to run away from her as he had done this morning after breakfast. Hermione was starting to remember a little about that night, small flashes of Malfoy shouting stupefy and blocking attacks, and in all honesty, she did not think Malfoy was the one who hurt her.

The both of her friends waved hands dismissively at her as she scoffed half-heartedly with a small smile, and proceeded to roll her eyes at their annoying yet reoccurring behavior. Walking away from them, in the direction of the Fat Lady painting, she thought about being in the hospital wing yesterday, and how it turned out other than some memory loss that should completely return soon, there was nothing wrong with her. Madam Pomfrey had told her she passed out from lack of eating the other day, and most likely hit her head when she fell down.

After eating something, she received a long lecture about eating properly and told not to skip any more meals or she would end up back in that bed. Hermione then had explained she lost track of time in the library on accident, and that it would not happen again. Stopping her thoughts, she pushed open the painting, letting it shut softly behind her, and walked down the set of stairs before her trying to think about where Malfoy could possibly be. She turned the corner to her right, passing a giggling group of Gryffindor fourth years as she decided to go to the dungeons, hoping he would be in the hallway.

Quickly making her way down the long narrow hallways, she turned down a set of spiral stairs, and nervously tugged at the sleeve of her shirt with her hand. Last night she found that the note had a charm where she could only read it during nighttime, and she should have known, really. The spell honestly was not that difficult to do, which made her annoyed that Malfoy did a simple charm, and she spent over two hours trying to figure out. Now, she knew she could wait until tonight to talk to him as the note said, but then decided it was best if she did it during the daytime, and not going out to have some random night meeting in the dark.

Once down in the corridor for the dungeons, she slowed her fast pace to an almost casual speed, as some of the Slytherin's that stood in the hallway, eyed her with sheer blatant disgust. Ignoring the looks, she lifted her chin looking around in hopes of seeing the stupid ferret, but from what she could see, unfortunately he was not here. Sighing loudly in annoyance, she looked around in hopes that someone here would know where he is. When she spotted Zabini, she almost relaxed in relief walking in his direction, and thankfully, he was not with Pansy but he was listening to Theodore Nott talk about something in boredom. Stopping just beside them, she loudly cleared her throat, tilting her head upwards to look the two of them in the eyes. Theo sneered down at her while Blaise just rose an eye brow in what she assumed was curiosity, both waiting for he to speak.

"Would either of you happen to know where Malfoy is?" she asked, hoping that her voice was as even as she hoped she sounded. Theo then ginned widely at her shinning his particularly white straight teeth, and then closed them into a small arrogant smile while he wiggled his brows twice causing her to roll her eyes.

"Granger is it? You sure are brave, aren't you?" Nott chortled casually and rather loudly while leaning one arm against the wall, as she almost sneered at the obnoxious Slytherin. Looking away from him, she turned her attention back towards Blaise, and obviously, she was not the only one annoyed by Theo's behavior. With a shake of his head, Zabini scoffed looking towards her and then spoke.

"Now even if I did know where he was at, why would I tell you Granger? Surely, you can wait until tomorrow during potions with whatever you have to say to him. He is, after all, your lab partner." Zabini drawled with a pointed sharp expression, but at least he remained somewhat polite compared to all the other Slytherins.

"Not that I have to explain myself to you Zabini, but, I will not wait until tomorrow to talk to him. I need to talk to him today about working together as lab partners and not against each other. It actually would do well for the both of you, to think about doing the same with your lab partners." She quipped, slightly annoyed by his reluctance to tell her a simple yes or no, as to whether or not he has seen the stupid ferret. Hermione watched Blaise's lips curl into a right smug smirk, as he crossed his arms over his chest and looked her over for a few seconds before responding.

"He usually likes to sit in the courtyard near that tree, he goes there to, as he likes to say, clear his head for a bit." He stated smugly, tilting his head to his right while raising his left brow slightly. Hermione nodded slowly knowing she had confusion written all over her face, but inhaled mumbling an awkward thank you. "Oh and tell Draco that I said hello." He added as she gave him one last look and walked down the hall quickly, away from the creepy dungeons. Hermione was confused about Zabini's sudden change in behavior, wondering why he would tell her to begin with, let alone seem almost giddy about it as he did.

'Probably some sort of payback or to annoy Malfoy…' she thought to herself, as she walked up the stairs while grabbing the railing. 'Well whatever the reason Zabini told me is, I still need to hurry if I don't want to miss lunch…' she added with a huff, turning a corner in the direction of the doors whilst chewing upon her bottom lip at the thought of being alone with Malfoy, yet again.

Back in the Slytherin Hallway

Leaning his back against the wall of steel colored stone with his arms still crossed, Blaise watched the obnoxious know-it-all witch saunter away to find his friend. His smirk faltered, slowly dropping from his lips which now formed a line as he stood there deep in thought. He then stopped to think about the exact reason as to why he told her where Draco usually hangs out. Blaise sighed looking towards his other friend, Theo, and thought to himself, that in all honesty after how his Draco treated him after covering for him about last night; he deserved to have Granger snooping into his business.

"So… What exactly was that about?" Theo asked Blaise with his facial features riddled in confusion, and yet still somewhat amused, as if he wanted to know why it was amusing to actually help Granger with anything. Rolling his eyes in annoyance at Theo's sheer stupidity, he uncrossed his arms, and started towards the common rooms knowing Theo would follow him until he explained.

Once the two of them were at the door, which lie hidden behind a statue, Blaise mumbled the password, and then proceeded to go inside the surprisingly empty room. Raising a singular eyebrow, Blaise made his way over towards the black leather couch and sat down watching Theo follow in suit on the opposing sofa.

"I'm gonna share a secret with you Theo." Blaise said sternly, and then looked towards his friend while crossing his legs. Locking his fingers together, he cleared his throat as he shifted in his spot waiting for Theo to acknowledge what he had said to him. When his friend nodded, suddenly a flash of worry crossed Theo's features for a split second, then disappear as soon as Blaise had saw it. "I have been asked personally, to watch over Draco. By who does not matter all that much, but what does matter is I need another pair of eyes to make sure, nothing, happens to him." He drawled softly, still watching the room in order to make sure no one was here.

"Okay, so what does that even have to do with talking to Granger just a few minutes ago?" Theo wondered leaning forward with his elbows upon his knees and one hand touching his chin, probably trying to understand.

"Nothing actually, I was just a bit upset at Draco for being such a tosser lately, and what better way to get him back than to send Granger after him." Blaise chuckled with a little smirk and a twitch of his brows in enjoyment causing Theo to laugh. "Besides, if she's bothering him, her annoying Gryffindor traits will kick in and nothing can possibly happen…" he rolled his eyes, stopping himself before he could continue thinking about how she ended up in the hospital wing to being with.

"Alright, I will keep an eye on him just to make sure he's okay…" Theo said gruffly, still somewhat amused by what Blaise had said as he stood up fixing his clothes. "Well I promised Pansy I would meet her, so I'll talk to you later. Oh, and let me know what happens with Draco and Granger if you hear before I do." He added with a pointed look and a raised eyebrow.

Blaise nodded slowly while pushing tongue against the inside of his cheek, then watched him leave the common rooms, and began to let his thoughts conjecture as to why Draco was having a hard time right now. There was obviously something was different about his friend, and when Pansy pointed out over the summer something most likely happened to their friend that changed him. Sighing loudly, he got up from the sofa then he went to his room. Once in the room, he grabbed a blank piece of parchment, a quill, and began to write in his fine penmanship.

'I have asked a close trusted friend to help watch over Draco and they agreed. Do not worry about him; I will make sure Draco follows through with what is needed of him whilst staying out of danger…'

From B.Z.

Neatly folding the note, Blaise grabbed a small string from his side table then shuffled towards the window, and pushed it open. With three distinctive whistles, a cream owl flew down, and landed upon the window ledge. Once Zabini tied the paper to the owl's leg, he then gave the directions and instructing to the owl to deliver with urgency, as it hooted in understanding. Blaise just hoped that Theo and he would be enough to help everything go according to plan.

"It's all too revealing,
Your words are deceiving,
I can't let you get in my way,
I sense all your actions are meant as distractions,
You must know I won't play your game…"

Fur Cue by Seether

The Courtyard- Quarter until One in the afternoon

Hermione listened to the sound of her shoes patting against the paved stone courtyard ground walking over towards the tree she could see at the other end. Slightly nervous, she pushed the feeling aside passing some small groups of students with a sharp intake of breath. Just like Zabini had told her, there hesat surprisingly upon the ground, with his eyes closed, and she looked him over once.

'He does look somewhat peaceful without some sort of sneer or scowl…It's sort of nice…' she thought to herself feeling her cheeks flush at the thought of him. Pushing the thought aside, once she got to the tree, she cleared her throat in order to catch his attention, but all it did was make his brow frown, then return to the still serene facial expression.

Then she proceeded to nudge his leg with her shoe softly but he caught her off guard as his hand went swiftly to her ankle, his cool fingers touching her skin. With a gasp, she tried to balance herself the best she could with one leg, but almost fell on top of him, throwing both of her hands out, pressing her palms into the tree. Hermione then began attempting to make his grip loosen by shaking him off, but all it did was cause a small flickering smirk take hold of his lips for a fraction of a second.

"Really Granger, is it actually necessary to touch me, with your shoe." He said with a casual sneer causing her to scoff whilst trying to rid her ankle of his tightened grip. Reaching down to take his hand off her physically, the second she touched his hand with hers, she felt the burning feeling she felt in potions, then looked towards his face, watching his eyes snap open abruptly.

She stopped breathing when she realized just how close they were as she felt his warm breath upon her flushed cheeks. The overwhelming musky Malfoy scent played at her nose as the realization hit her causing her to lose her balance. In an attempt to keep up right, she tried to reach for the tree in order to keep herself from falling, but still ended up landing square on her arse.

Looking towards Malfoy, she sent him a heated glare as he lifted his brows, causing his forehead to crinkle slightly while his hand remained on her ankle. Hermione then helplessly watched as he proceeded to brush his thumb in a singular docile stroke against the ball in her ankle. As he slowly released her, she pulled her leg back, and then cleared her throat, thankful when his hand was no longer on her. While her skin still tingling from his touch, she put her foot back down onto the ground and continued to stand before saying anything to ease the now thick silence.

"Uh, well Zabini says hello…" she stated softly just loud enough for only him to hear her as she swallowed her nerves trying to forget what just happened and quickly. She then looked at him and right into his steely eyes with puzzlement. Observing his expression, Hermione noticed it then changed from a dull amusement to irritation quickly, but also accompanied by an unfamiliar glint in his eyes. Hoping her flushed cheeks had not giving her away, she sucked in a mouth full of air, looking away for a second and began to nibble upon her bottom lip.

Lifting her chin as she narrowed her eyes back towards him causing him to roll his and then he started to walk away from her in the direction of the school. With a click of her tongue, she scoffed loudly, and then followed him towards the castle. Walking faster to stay caught up with him; she huffed in annoyance as he made his way down the hall to a set of stairs.

Confused as to where he was going, she walked quicker as he looked back at her going to the first door at his right. Hermione's eyebrows frowned, as he pushed open the door to a surprisingly empty classroom; he then reached for her wrist, abruptly yanking her inside as he shut the door behind them.

"What in Merlin's name, are you doing?" she hissed through her teeth causing him to look back towards her with a sheer arrogance only by a Malfoy. With a shrug, he walked past her, to sit at a desk, with a certain nonchalance that annoyed her even more. Huffing loudly, she tried to calm herself down, trying not to think about how she was yet again, completely alone with Malfoy, this time in an unsupervised classroom, at the beginning of lunchtime. Cursing herself because she thought of it, she cleared her throat again.

"What does it look like I am doing Granger? I obviously found somewhere we could talk alone, because either you did not figure out my note or you've forgot how to read…" he sneered annoyed while playing with the Malfoy ring on his finger as she jeered at the gall of him. Stomping towards him in a fit of anger, she stopped just before him with her hand upon her hips to glare down at the git.

"I read your stupid note Malfoy. I just obviously did not care when you wanted to meet because I would rather it be now and not at nighttime. Now, what, stop playing these games, and just tell me what happened on Friday?" she spat heatedly at him, leaning forward in order to extract some sort of reaction telling her he knew what happened, and with a settle twitch of his lips, she caught him. "And don't even think, about telling some half arsed lie Malfoy. I remember you trying to stupefy someone, or something, so explain." She said with a huff, blinked twice as he gritted his teeth together in what looked like irritation. .

Suddenly he stood up causing the chair and desk to scrape against the floor roughly, as she jumped backwards falling into an opposing seat from where he had just sat with the cold metal bar of the desk pressing into her back. When she was about to stand up, he took two steps towards her, placing one hand on the desk and the other upon the back or her chair trapping her in. Frozen in her spot, she watched him lean downwards to get eye level with her, as he sneered.

"Nothing, happened, Granger. So, leave it, alone…" he snarled down at her, feeling the smooth material of his dress shirt against the top of her hand. With the inclination about how he made her feel more ready to fight rather than feeling frightened. Scooting forward towards him, now feeling the heat of his body and face against her, she sneered right back at him.

"That intimidation crap may work on other's but let's get one thing straight, it doesn't work on me Malfoy. Now, tell me, what happened." She whisper haughtily and proceeded to scoot closer as he let go of the desk. Once she got her footing, she stood right up against him with a glare, causing him to step backwards. With a scoff, he arched his left brown, almost read to snip at her in annoyance.

"No." he as if it were witticism, yet whilst still seeming almost angry. "See you, tomorrow in potions Granger." He said, clicking his tongue, lifting his brows one last time before he walked right out the door.

Hermione stood there dumbfounded by what Malfoy had just said to her, and she thought about how it felt rather odd to have him the one walk away from one of their quarrels instead of her walking away. Malfoy was hiding from her and she just knew it; everything he was doing was in attempts to keep her from finding out what that was exactly. Unfortunately, for Malfoy, she wasn't going to stop digging until she found precisely what she was looking for. Shuffling away out of the random classroom she walked quickly in order to not miss the last fifteen minutes of lunch.

"I am machine,
A part of me,
Wishes I could just feel something,

Here's to being human,
Taking it for granted,
The highs and lows of living,
To getting second chances,

I wish I knew what it was like,
To care about what's right or wrong,
I wish someone could help me find,
Find a place to belong…"

I am machine by Three days Grace

Quarter until Midnight- In the hallway just outside the Slytherin common rooms

'The blasted room better decide to let me in, because I am in no mood to play any games tonight…' Draco thought to himself, still rather annoyed by today events that transpired, but waited for his aunt's signal nonetheless. Walking down the dark empty corridor, he pulled out his wand in order to light his way so he could see the door when it appeared. Quickly making his way down the hall trying not to draw any attention to himself, he reached inside his pocket for the black's coin.

When he thumbed the coin in the palm of his left hand, he couldn't help but remember his and Grangers encounter before lunch. Honestly, he still was rather confused himself by the way he acted, grabbing her ankle was childish, yes, but her reaction had been somewhat priceless. It had felt like previous school years where he could pick upon Granger without worry.

What shocked him though was that stupid feeling he got during potions just a few days ago, returned whenever he was in close proximity of her, and especially when he felt her silky skin underneath his cool fingertips. Just the mere memory made him shiver and he found himself silently wishing he could have another whiff of that damned cinnamon, or at the very least, brush his skin against her.

'Why in Salazar's name, are you think about the, mudblood, that way?' Draco thought to himself as he cleared his throat. The notion was simply ludicrous and was in truth quite arbitrary; he then felt the smoothed coin inside his hand warm to his touch, as lit words scratched one by one into the coin before him as he watching intently.

Five minutes…

B.L.

Raising an eyebrow at the message upon the coin, he looked up just as the door before him started to grow in size, expanding into the door that belonged to the room of requirements. Walking over towards the room, he pulled open the door, and went inside, shutting the door behind him. Fallowing the same path as he did the other night, he made his way over to the cabinet, whilst waiting for his aunt to tell him it was time. As the coin began to burn once more, he tugged at the sheet, and pulled out his wand in order to perform the spell.