Her footsteps echoed in the deserted corridors as she practically ran to the common room; her lungs were burning and as the fear continued to creep up on her. Engulfing her in its grasp as she tried to shake it, her feet could not carry her fast enough through the dark corridors their shadows seeming to hold the air of someone waiting, ready and willing to jump out at her. It made her skin crawl. Quickly she made her way to the fat lady. "Fizzy Faries" She shouted when she was a few steps away and the door swung open for her to run inside. She did not know what she was afraid of but being inside the common room and away from the shadows had given her a sense of relief. She bent over to rest her hands on her knees as she caught her breath and tried not to panic. Just focusing on the in and the out, willing the damned tears to stop welling in her eyes. She was not a crier; one encounter would not turn her into one.

"Hermione are you okay?" Harry said standing up and running to her. She shook her head to stop him from talking and stood, raising her arms above her head she stretched to the ceiling, she had expected the boys to be at dinner.

"What would you do if he is?" She mumbled out through deep breaths as she felt the fire in her lungs leave and her heart return to normal, she brought her arms down to her hips and looked between their faces "If Malfoy is a Death Eater what is it you plan to do?" She repeated at their confused looks.

"What did he do to you Hermione! Is that why you weren't at dinner" Ron said turning red in the face and rolling up his sleeves to head through the door she had just come through.

"Honestly Ronald sit down I am fine I just got spooked is all." She said smiling

"So, did you find something!" Harry said practically buzzing as he sat in his seat with excitement. This wasn't right. Nothing about this felt right.

"I don't know Harry I really don't. He was reading, well sleeping, there wasn't very much reading happening, you could tell he had been there a while, there were some weird books around some on invisibility and teleportation, which Wizards can apparate so I'm not sure what that would have done for him. Nothing made any sense when put together." She was slowly becoming embarrassed, she knew she was rattling, skipping the point of it all. She wanted to tell Harry the truth, of what she had thought she had seen. For all she knew he could be researching for charms and she was here entertaining Harrys idea as if she had some legitimate proof.

She could feel the gaze of both the boys as they studied her, and she began to fidget with the end of her hair. "I shouldn't have said anything I'm sorry Harry it really isn't anything. There was just a look on his face before he left, it was so different from the one before." She needed to stop herself.

"I thought he was asleep?" Ron said looking confused

"Well he was until I woke him up" she said throwing her hand up, the familiar blush she wore often began to creep up her face.

"Hermione, you were alone with him and he didn't tell you anything, let anything slip"

"Harry you act like we've been best friends for ages and he's going to jump at the chance to tell me anything." she said looking at the boys in confusion. They both looked at each other before setting back in their chairs. He had thanked her for something as simple as just doing something decent. She wasn't even sure what she had done had even warranted some thanks on anyone's scale of good deeds, yet he had before walking away. The nerves around her heart had her feeling sick to her stomach in a way she had never felt before. It wasn't the thanks that got her, it was the utter defeat he had showed. Murderous to defeated in a second flat. There was something not right in the situation, something that tugged at her need to know.

They quickly settled into their nightly routine, Ron and Harry began to play a game of chess as she pulled her books out of her bag. Her mind was racing.

"You never answered my question, what would you do?" she asked again staring into the fire.

"I'm sorry?" Harry said looking up from his game.

"Malfoy" was all she said in return

"I would stop him. Hermione I would do whatever it took to stop him." Harry said standing up and stretching "There's no room for people like him, those that help Voldemort will be stopped."

She could do nothing but agree.

He had placed himself in an empty corridor on the seventh floor to think.

Days had passed since the disaster that could have been the restricted section. He knew she had seen it, at least a small part of it had been visible. How could he have been so stupid to allow this to happen. He all but attacked her, thinking he was catching up to the man in his dreams, he was lucky he didn't kill her. He had wanted to; every fiber of his being had wanted to utter the words that he at one time swore he would never say. It wasn't until she had made a noise that he knew he was no longer dreaming. He was sure that any day now the old bat Dumbledore would come down and rain hell on him for what he was doing in the castle. Attacking students in the restricted section. He had been stupid and careless; but it had been days without sleep and his body had simply had enough.

The look on her face had not left him in the days to come either. When he had finally regained his senses, her golden eyes bore into his and like a deer caught by a trap he could practically see her heart beating in her chest. She had feared him. She knew what he had been thinking of doing and she had been scared. He could feel it in the way she was breathing, see it in her eyes. It had made him want to explain it all, he was used to people fearing him in a different way. A fear for what he was going to say but never the fear of him that he had felt radiating from her in waves. He hated her for it.

It was the reason he had waited in the corridor leading to the Gryffindor tower for her. In the shadows, he was going to give her a better reason to fear him, he would be kicked out from the school anyways after she told the boy wonder. So, what did it matter to him. It was when she finally came running, tears streaming down her face that he couldn't do it. Couldn't bring himself to do it and he hated her even more.

"Draco follow me." Snape said walking past him in the corridor and into one of the many empty classrooms. Rolling his eyes, he followed as instructed and walked through the door before being thrown into the wall by Snape slapping him across his face.

"What the hell!" Draco yelled picking himself off the floor and wiping the blood off the corner of his mouth. He could feel the blood flowing in his mouth and he spat it out on the ground at the professor's feet. The anger burned through him, but it was nothing in comparison to the Professors gaze.

"Do you have any idea what you have done. What this means for me." Snape said staring over him, Draco only sat and waited expectantly. "Oh, so you haven't been made aware of the punishment you have to endure. I have warned you boy. I told you that you were being a child, I made you sure you knew just how insolent you were being, yet you continued on as if everything was sunshine"

"What are you getting at you bastard" He said screaming at him.

"Due to the speed in which you work." He sneered at him pausing "You have been tasked with the greatest honor Mr. Malfoy. You must kill Dumbledore." Snape sneered as he swept his cloak over Malfoy and walked out of the room. He could feel the air leaving his lungs. The walls of the small room were caving in on him as his mind tried to process what he had been told.

A.N. Thank you all for reading! Please let me know your there by leaving a review. What are you thinking?