A/N: I know it's been foreeeeeveeeeerr and ever since I posted an update and I'm extremely sorry for that but now I'm back and determined to post a chapter every couple of weeks if not faster, and try to make up for lost time.

Anyways, now it's finally time to get a glimpse of Draco's thoughts as the story progresses through his eyes. I had to go back a bit and set the background for the story from his point of view, so while the first part of the chapter will mostly present Draco's musings, as we get to that very first day of school the plot will pick up from where we left off. Bear with the lack of action, because the waiting will be well worth it, or so I think :D More actions in the chapters to follow, which I've already started working on (ch. 3, 4 and 5 for now).

Without further ado, enjoy this latest instalment and don't forget to review ;)

Chapter 2 - I want to break the spell that you've created

(Draco p.o.v.)

Draco hadn't wanted to become a Death Eater, and his mother had also been less than happy with the idea, though she hid it well, lest she incurred the wrath of the Dark Lord. Draco's father, however, couldn't be prouder – he was in Azkaban, disgraced, but he hoped that if Draco proved useful to the Dark Lord, then all would be forgiven. And apparently the Dark Lord had a mission for Draco, which settled the matter, whether Draco liked it or not.

There was a silver lining though, in the fact that the mission he was entrusted with wasn't anything drastic like killing Dumbledore, as was first suggested by the Dark Lord… Draco had dreaded having to kill, so he suggested that it might be better to just find a way to bring the Death Eaters into Hogwarts so that the chances of killing Dubmbledore were better. He also offered to spy on Potter and his friends and on Dumbledore himself if possible… and what better way to do that than by going after the weakest of the golden trio?

Not that Hermione Granger was weak, in fact Draco suspected she was the strongest of the three Gryffindors, but Voldemort considered her weak simply because she was muggle born… to the Dark Lord it didn't matter that she was brilliant and probably knew more spells than any other student at Hogwarts – the lack of blood purity obliterated any positive traits she might possess. Still, Draco had played an additional card by pointing out that Granger was smart, so Potter was more likely to confide in her than in Weaselbee. And so if Dumbledore confided anything in Potter, it would inevitably be heard by Granger as well and that's where Draco came in.

The Dark Lord had agreed to the idea, though he made it clear that if within the year he didn't find a way into Hogwarts and also if no useful information came his way, Draco would have to revert to the original mission, which was to kill the Headmaster of Hogwarts himself.

In any case, unbeknownst to anyone else, Draco's suggestion to go after Granger hadn't been an objective, impersonal means to achieve a goal. He'd hidden the truth through proficient Occlumency, and Draco thought that perhaps the only good thing his aunt ever did was to teach him that particular skill of cloaking his thoughts and feelings so well that even the Dark Lord couldn't divine them.

The reason why he'd suggested going after Granger was that Draco wanted her for himself – pure and simple… although there was nothing 'pure' about it, quite the contrary. What had started as animosity between the two of them had turned into a sort of obsession for him – he couldn't stop thinking about Granger ever since she'd hit him in their third year. Sure, he'd deserved it, Draco realized that much, but the explosive temper she'd displayed back then made him wonder how else she might put that temper to use – to better use…

He was sure he could get drunk on passion like hers and it would make him feel alive, something he'd wanted for a long time… While Draco had been spoiled by his parents, his father had always expected too much of him, berating him for letting a mudblood get the better of him in school. As for his mother, although there was no question in Draco's mind that she loved him very much, she wasn't one to express it out in the open too often. He was raised in a cold environment of propriety and lack of emotions which made him feel dead inside… Not even Pansy Parkinson, who fancied herself his girlfriend, had managed to get an emotional response out of him, though she had no trouble obtaining a physical response… though now that he thought about it, even the physical response was fading away due to the routine. Pansy was too easy and he'd had her too many times to present any challenge.

Draco had only ever used Pansy as an outlet for his frustration of not having Granger and although neither of the two girls had any idea about it, Draco always thought of Granger when he was with Pansy, otherwise she never would have gotten even a physical response from him. She wasn't that pretty to begin with, while she was plenty annoying and lately way too clingy and needy. He'd have to do something about it, but not quite yet. Pansy still had her uses.

In any case, it was clear to Draco that he needed Granger to light the spark of life in him, and he relished the challenge of winning her – anyone would have said it was an impossible task to get the haughty Gryffindor princess to fall for the fallen Slytherin prince. Draco was well aware she looked down on him, a fact which irked him to no end given that he was the pureblood in this equation – despite her many talents, she remained a mudblood, so he was incensed that she spurned him.

Also, it would serve her right if he got her to fall in love with him only to drop her afterwards – he expected it would destroy that pride of hers, and it was no more than she deserved for casting this spell on him that made him so crazy with wanting to have her.

Draco was not beyond thinking she'd slipped him a love potion, but he doubted any such potion in existence could have been so potent because what he was feeling was too strong to be artificial… besides, why would she want him infatuated with her? Just to mock him? No, that would be a Slytherin move, not something a good little Gryffindor like her would do.

Case in point, Draco was determined to have his fill of Granger because that was the only way he could break the spell that she'd cast on him. It was frustrating that he was so good at Occlumency – which required a great capacity for compartmentalizing emotions – and yet he couldn't get over his obsession with this one girl. So the sooner he made her his and then got her out of his system, the better.

Draco hadn't expected to meet Granger sooner than the first of September, when they'd both be in the Prefect's carriage on the Hogwarts Express – but she'd come in at Madam Malkin's, just as he was trying on his new robes, and she was accompanied, of course, by Potty and the Weasel.

When he saw her black eye, Draco had been enraged. Who had done that to her? His foul mood back then had been because if someone was going to hurt her, it had to be him, no one else. He already considered Hermione his, and no one touched what was his, either to hurt or caress…

Caressing her, now there was an intriguing thought.

But that hadn't been the time to tip his hand - he had to maintain appearances for a while longer so he teased her and left sooner than he would have liked. On the plus side, he managed to ditch his mother before heading to Borgin and Burke's, where he intended to pick up something special for Granger.

He had ordered a beautiful choker which was, unfortunately for her, infused with dark magic of the best kind – untraceable. The proprietor had vowed that the spell which was placed on the item ensured that it couldn't be detected when it wasn't activated, and it wouldn't be activated until it touched the skin of its target.

Draco had purchased the item and then had gone a step further, by enchanting the choker with a spell of his own making, so that the dark magic could only be activated by him, even if its target was already wearing it… that way it really would be extremely difficult to detect the danger before it was too late. Because once Granger put the choker around her neck, it would be impossible for anyone other than him to take it off.

He was surprised to receive an owl from Borgin that very evening, telling him that someone had come snooping around trying to find out information about Draco's purchase. Draco had no trouble identifying Hermione Granger as the culprit, and he was amused when he read the proprietor's description of her lame attempts to gather information: she'd actually said she was his friend and wanted to buy him something for his birthday… which he very much doubted she knew was in June, so had long since passed.

He didn't let on that he knew about her queries at Borgin and Burke's when they met again, this time as expected, in the prefect carriage – he noticed with satisfaction that her black eye had gone, but he would like to find out one day what had happened to her. He stayed behind when the Weasel left, chasing after the trolley witch – a much better match for him, as Hermione Granger was obviously so far out of his league, it wasn't even funny.

And what was even less funny, was the fact that Granger had brushed him off and would have left him standing there, had he not grabbed her. He made sure he squeezed hard enough to leave a mark or two… or five, so that she'd remember the consequences of defying him. It would prove a useful lesson for the future, given that he intended to have his way with her, though the thought of her resisting was quite as appealing as the idea of her being submissive.

Draco wasn't sure which one he'd prefer, but perhaps he could get both… after all, knowing Granger, she'd start off defiant, being the Gryffindor that she was, but he was sure he could tear down her resistance until she became more…accommodating to his needs.

He was tempted to shut her impudent mouth with a punishing kiss, but she already had her wand pointed at him, so better not to risk it. After all, he had his secret weapon ready – the necklace that would make her submit to him.

So he let her go and went to sit with his Slytherin colleagues. His mood had taken a turn for the worse when Pansy started acting like his girlfriend just because he wanted to rest his head on something softer than the train bench, but luckily his encounter with Potter had made him feel loads better: 'the boy who lived' could go on living with a broken nose, it was no more than he deserved for being so nosy.

He had spent the start of the year feast not feasting on food but rather staring at Granger, well, covertly, otherwise he'd have some explaining to do and he had no intention of doing that. During the night he dreamt of her, dreams that made him hot and bothered, not to mention uncomfortably hard.

On the plus side though, none of the professors had managed to identify anything suspicious about the choker he'd sent Granger. He felt extreme satisfaction when she placed the choker around the neck, sealing her fate without even knowing it.

He'd lure her into a false feeling of security by not activating the spell on the choker that day… he'd wait for the perfect moment and then enjoy the look of shock on her face when she realizes that she and all the professors were outsmarted.

"What are you smirking for, Draco?" Pansy asked, interrupting his thoughts.

"You call that a smirk?" Theodore Nott observed, as he stirred his green tea. "I say that's too evil an expression to qualify as a smirk, so I don't even want to think about what's going on inside Draco's head."

"And such a pretty head at that", Pansy purred, as she ran her fingers through his hair. The gesture felt anything but good to Draco so he casually pried her hand away.

"How about you all mind your own business", Draco said, his voice just shy of sharp. He couldn't afford anyone finding out about his plans.

"Oooh, someone's grumpy", Daphne Greengrass teased. "What do you say we leave him to brood or plot whatever it is that's making him look so evil and we go have some fun in the Common Room? How about a game of exploding snap?"

"Might as well, before classes start and we'll be buried in homework."

"Oh, lighten up, Theo", Blaise Zabini said, as he got up from the Slytherin table. "We'll have an entire year to worry about homework…"

Draco tuned out their voices, glad that they were going, so he could watch Granger for a little longer without running the risk of being discovered staring.

But Pansy was still there, as well as Crabbe and Goyle.

"What's wrong, Draco?"

"Why would something be wrong, Pansy? Just because we've slept together a couple of times does not mean that you know me."

She looked hurt, but Draco didn't really care. It was her fault for assuming things.

"Look, just to be clear, this year I've got a lot going on, so whatever we had going on is over, ok?" he added, to make sure she understood the situation. "So go play exploding snap with the others and let me be."

"Fine!" she snapped and left huffing, her nose up in the air – not a very flattering look for her, but then Draco didn't really care as long as she left and didn't come back.

"You two might as well go too, I'm in no mood for company", he told his minions and they dutifully left, wistfully eyeing the remainder of the feast. Skipping dessert couldn't hurt either of them, so Draco felt no remorse in sending Crabbe and Goyle away.

He watched his 'target' for a while. She was immersed in conversation with her Gryffindor friends, but every now and then her hand would go up to her neck and she'd touch the choker. Each time, as soon as she realized her unconscious gesture, she would hastily retreat her hand, and look around as if she'd been caught doing something she wasn't supposed to.

Draco wondered who she imagined had sent her the 'gift'. She'd looked at him earlier, when she'd just opened the package containing the choker, so the though had crossed Granger's mind that it was he who had sent it to her. But Draco could tell she changed her mind, writing him off as an improbable person to gift her anything. If she only knew….

When she left with Potter and the Weasel, Draco saw no reason to continue sitting in the extremely crowded and noisy Great Hall. He followed the trio up the staircases, although he couldn't hear what they were saying – he had to keep a distance so that he wouldn't look suspicious, given that the Slytherin common room was down in the dungeons.

He did catch a little of their conversation, and it was clear they were speculating about Draco's words back on the Hogwarts express. That blasted Potter, to think he had the guts to spy on him in a train carriage filled with Slytherins… he didn't lack any courage, that much was sure, but then again, it had been extremely satisfying to break his nose. Too bad he had already had it fixed, not to mention someone discovered him under that invisibility cloak.

Draco had hoped he'd be all the way back to London before anyone figured out he was there, but Potter had the devil's luck. Still, it had been very fun to re-enact the moment he broke Potter's nose, and his audience had been thrilled. But the adulation from his peers wasn't exactly cutting it anymore. Draco needed something more, and he knew that only by possessing Granger would he feel free from his obsession.

He returned to the Common Room but his fellow Slytherins were still immersed in their game, so he went directly to the dormitory, hoping to get some rest before what he hoped would be an eventful day tomorrow. However, that night he tossed and turned in his bed, in the thrall of a very intense dream.

In his dream, he and Granger were alone in one of the dungeons.

"What do you want, Malfoy?"

"I want to break the spell you've created. And unless you tell me how to do that, I'm going to do it my way, which I guarantee you won't like… on a second thought, you will like it, and a lot too"

"What spell? I haven't been inventing any new spells and even if I did, despite my not liking you one bit, I wouldn't just randomly test spells on you. You're not making any sense." She was looking at him as if he'd lost his mind, but Draco wasn't going to be fooled so easily.

"First of all, I highly doubt that you don't like me one bit, in fact, I think you like me very much but you refuse to admit it. After all, what's not to like? And second, maybe it wasn't a spell, maybe it was a love potion, although I just don't see how Amortentia could be so strong – not that I've experienced it before, and not for a lack of trying from others. Girls have been trying to slip me love potions for years but I've been smart enough to avoid them… perhaps till now, but then I always knew that if someone could outsmart me, it'd be you."

"Malfoy, I have most certainly NOT given you any love potion so whatever it is you think is happening to you is not my fault. If you feel sick or something, I can take you to the hospital wing to see Madam Pomfrey and you should be grateful I do even that much given how you've treated me and my friends over the years."

"I kind of anticipated that so… Obfoco!" As he chanted the spell, he saw Granger's surprised look as the choker began to cut off her air supply.

She tried to pry it off her neck, to no avail. He let her struggle for a few moments, enjoying the feeling of having power over her, but he didn't want her seriously injured …yet.

"Finite!" he said and watched as she collapsed to the floor, drawing deep breaths.

He grabbed her arm and pulled her flush against him, circling her waist with his other arm just to be sure she couldn't escape.

Draco didn't waste any time in sealing her lips with his, and taking advantage that she was still trying to catch her breath, he easily slipped his tongue inside her mouth, tasting the sweetness within.

She tried to get away, but her fists against his chest were as pointless as trying to tame a blast ended skrewt. He tightened his hold on her, so that her fists remained trapped between their bodies.

When he had to breathe or die, she immediately took the chance to protest verbally, given the captive state of her arms.

"I don't know what's gotten into you, Malfoy, but you'd better release me immediately or…"

"Or what?" he cut her off, enjoying that she was still bossy despite her predicament. "There's no one here but you and I, and if you do go complaining who is going to believe you? Your word against mine, and I'm a pureblood while you're a filthy mudblood… and everyone knows I wouldn't touch a mudblood."

"Except you just did! And forget my complaining to anyone, I'm going to jinx you into oblivion the first chance I get."

He tsked while drawing her face closer to his.

"You can try, but remember that I can choke the life out of you anytime I want, so you'd better behave."

Draco captured her jaw in his hand and forced it open so that she could receive another hot kiss. The hand he held her waist with went lower to caress her rounded bottom, but then he squeezed, making sure Granger would feel a bit of pain, just to drive the point home that she was at his mercy.

Draco woke up suddenly, disappointed that the dream had ended before he got to the good parts. He also noticed that he had a painful erection but he knew that his dream had been a prophetic one…because he could make it happen whenever he chose to, given that his choker was on Granger's neck. With that thought in mind he went to take a shower…

He considered a moment whether he should take a cold shower or just use the lingering images from the dream to get himself off, and decided that thinking of Granger would be far more satisfying than a cold shower.

The blasted castle was made of stone and it was rather cold even in early autumn – especially when you lived in the dungeons. As he got out of the shower, he wondered whose bright idea was to place the Slytherin Common Room underground, but then he figured it must have something to do with the nearness of the Black Lake. After all, the element of Slytherin house was water.

"Long time in the shower, Draco", Blaise said. "Any particular reason that you'd care to share? Hot dream?" he teased.

"That's not really any of your concern, Blaise, is it now?" Draco snapped, not in the mood to indulge his fellow Slytherin.

He had to advance his plans with Granger because fun part aside, he had a mission from the Dark Lord and he couldn't afford to fail – his life and the lives of his parents were at stake. He was sure he could get information from her, if not voluntarily, which was unlikely, then by force – physical, or mental, in which case his legilimens skills would come in handy. He was better at Occlumency than Legilimency but unless Granger was an outstanding Occlumens, Draco was sure he could find out some things from her.

Granger was outstanding at many things though, so getting into her mind might prove to be challenging. If all else failed, he still had a backup plan thanks to the Room of Hidden Things. The Vanishing Cabinet could be fixed, he was sure of it, and once he managed to repair it, it would form a passage with the one in Borgin and Burke and his mission would be completed. The Dark Lord would be pleased and his family safe.

Draco had been so lost in thought he hadn't even realized he'd arrived in the Defence Against the Dark Arts class.

The first thing he did was check to see if Granger was there… and of course she was, Weasel and Potter in tow. The best thing though, she was still wearing the choker… he wondered if she'd considered removing it to find out she couldn't…. it had been a risk not approaching her before and telling her about the choker but he had a feeling she wouldn't want to take it off yet.

Draco had added a touch of spell of compulsion on the choker – a much milder version of the Imperius curse that made the wearer not want to take it off. The beauty of the choker pretty much made sure she wouldn't want to take it off anytime soon but it was better to have an insurance. The spell was harmless enough that it wouldn't be detected as dark magic, although he did worry for a while when Dumbledore and the rest of the professors scrutinized the choker.

Snape started the class, but Draco wasn't paying much attention. He was already pretty skilled with nonverbal spells.

He sniggered when the professor told Granger that her answer to the question regarding those spells was taken almost word by word from the textbook.

Trust Granger to memorize the entire book of spells.

He ignored Potter's defiance of Snape – for once, it didn't bother him because Snape was a bit of a nuisance lately, offering unsolicited help and whatnot.

He got lucky at Arhitmancy. Professor Vector decided to do something completely new and had them pair up in order to figure out some particularly complex number charts.

"My top two students will obviously work together", she said happily, and completely oblivious to Granger's dismay at such an assignment.

"Want to go first, Granger?" he asked, gallantly offering her the charts.

"Actually, I think I can work these out on my own, Malfoy, so you just sit back and I'll do the rest."

Draco imagined her speaking those words in a whole different context and he felt himself get hard again. He liked how bossy she was, but he wasn't the type to be ordered about.

"Thanks, but I'm not the kind of person who lets his partner do all the work" he said with a leer that made her blush all the way up to the roots of her bushy hair.

"Besides", he continued before she could voice her indignation, "I rather enjoy this subject so I wouldn't dream of letting you have all the fun."

"Fine!" she snapped as she split the charts between them.

"You should come a bit closer if we're to work together", he drawled, extremely amused that she was sitting at the far end of the desk, and on the farther edge of the seat from him – in fact, he was surprised she didn't slip off to the floor on that tempting bottom of hers, she was sitting that precariously.

She moved the tiniest bit closer but once they started working together, her scholar instincts took over and she obviously relaxed, coming closer to him, so close that at one point their upper arms touched.

She hastily moved away, but Draco was quite pleased and decided to add floo powder to the fireplace.

"Nice choker, who gave it to you?"

Self-consciously, she raised her hand to her slender neck and touched the choker. Draco wondered whether Ganger would lie to him or tell him the truth – which was that she didn't know.

"I have no idea, it was sent to me with no note. Do you know who sent it to me?" she replied and looked him straight in the eyes, something she didn't usually do, especially at such close range.

He held her stare and didn't bat an eye when he replied.

"I figure you might look them up at St. Mungo's – in the loony ward, because only a lunatic would send something so expensive to a mudblood."

She flinched at the use of the vulgar word, but she quickly recovered.

"No need for name calling, Malfoy, but then you're no better than that, so I don't know why I should expect better. Let's just get back to work, shall we?"

"Sure", he agreed, his voice a bit huskier than usual, but that was only to be expected given his state of arousal.

Sitting so close to her he could smell her perfume, something like sandalwood and also other scents he couldn't quite place but which ensnared his senses better than any Amortentia potion. Her voice and her spunk also did things to him and being so close to her body he could almost imagine her body heat mixing with his – and he didn't know about Granger, but he could feel the heat rolling off of him, he was that hot for her.

Draco realized she was talking to him.

"Excuse me?" he asked.

"I asked if you were done with that chart", she said in a terse voice.

Draco nodded and pushed the chart to her… he didn't trust himself to speak. Just like in his dream, he wanted to ask her what spell she'd cast on him that kept him so obsessed with her, wanting her so bad.

He was more determined than ever that he would have her and then be free of her… still, he didn't want to rush things, first he was going to play with her, throw her off her game and maybe, just to make her see what it felt like, he'd make her fall for him…

No girl could resist him once he'd made up his mind to have her – Granger won't prove to be any different, he was sure…

The class was over much sooner than he would have liked, but maybe it was better that way: it was both pleasure and pain to sit so close to her and not touch her.

"It's been a pleasure working with you, Granger!" he said with a smirk, but she didn't even reply, she just gathered her things and marched out of the classroom.

He laughed and followed her, knowing she was heading to Potions, yet another class they had together.

He sat with Theo and when Granger told Slughorn she was muggle born, he didn't waste the occasion to comment with his friend.

"Mudblood is the right word for it, not that she'd ever use it", he said and they laughed together.

Draco's laugh died soon though when the professor commented that Potter had said that one of his best friends was Muggle-born and that she was the best in their year… and Granger couldn't look more pleased.

Was there something going on between the two of them? If anything, he though she and the Weasel might have a thing going, but maybe it had been Potter all along, like Rita Skeeter had suggested back in their fourth year… not to mention there was Viktor Krum..

Draco's mood took a definite turn for the worse when he considered that Granger might actually have a love life… he thought she was too much of a bookworm and a prude to pursue any romantic relationship, but then there was that Gryffindor fire hidden inside her…

He hoped she hadn't shared that fire with anyone yet as he felt it belonged to him, whether she liked it or not…

The talk about Amortentia wasn't helping either, but then the professor mentioned Felix Felicis, liquid luck and that got Draco's attention.

He sure could use it to fix that bloody cabinet, not to mention he might even get Granger for a day if he drank it, so he set his mind on making the very best Draught of Living Death potion.

Needless to say, his disappointment was extreme when not only did he not make the best potion, but it wasn't even Granger who beat him to it, but Potter! Potter, for crying out loud, who was abysmal in Potions, how on earth had he managed it? It clearly wasn't luck, as the 'chosen one' claimed – he'd need a full cauldron of Felix Felicis to get lucky enough to improve his potion making skills just like that.

Over the next week, Draco derived his amusement from sending Granger gifts every morning at breakfast in the Great Hall. Nothing of the magnitude of the enchanted choker, of course, but enough to make her wonder who her secret admirer was.

The second gift was a roll of the highest quality parchment, and this time he did add a note saying "For when you want to write me notes". Draco used a spell that changed his handwriting to a standard font that one might find in a spellbook, because he didn't want to risk someone recognizing that he had written the note.

Granger looked bewildered by the gift, as she frantically looked around the Great Hall, trying to figure out who had sent her the parchment.

The following morning he sent her the book 'Sonnets of a Sorcerer'. It had been a cursed book that the Weasel's father had confiscated a while back but which Draco's own father had later on retrieved. Draco had removed the curse before sending it to Granger – he didn't want her talking in limericks for the rest of her life, but the sonnets were rather dark and intense and he felt it was an appropriate gift. Plus, Granger loved books. He didn't send a note on this particular occasion, the sonnets were enough of a message to convey the powerful and mixed feelings he had for her.

After that he sent her everything from silver scales (with the note 'Even with these precise scales you can't weigh my feelings for you'), to protective gloves ('It would be a pity to hurt such beautiful hands that will surely feel like heaven on my skin') and he even sent her new robes ('I'm sure I got the measurements right because I've been devouring you with my eyes for a while now… and I'll make sure to get you out of your robes the first chance I get').

His notes were getting bolder and bolder and Draco enjoyed how red Granger's face became each time she read them.

Draco had no idea if she kept his gifts but that didn't really matter as long as she had the choker on her neck at all times.

When he wasn't watching her, he spent his time mostly in the Room of Hidden Things, working on the Vanishing Cabinet. He was making progress but too slowly for his liking.

Soon he'd have to act and reveal to Granger that he had a leash on her… and then see how soon he could make her submissive and eating out of the palm of his hand.