Back again, guys!

In the last chapter, you guys learned that Draco took the Mark, but this chapter will go into more detail about exactly why he did it, so please forgive me if some things are repeated from the last chapter.

Also, it might seem like this is a different story because of how much I added to this chapter, but I swear it isn't; I just wanted to add more depth. I had always planned on this ending up as a Dramione for the most part, but I thought that the previous version of this story fell short when it came to Draco as a character and his 'relationship' with Hermione, so that's why I added a lot more to it. It's still the same story line with LOTS of Blaise and Theo goodness, but now with more Draco goodness as well! :)

On with the show!

I'm not the one who's so far away
When I feel the snake bite enter my veins
Never did I wanna be here again
And I don't remember why I came

-Voodoo, by Godsmack

Draco was sitting in his common room with Blaise and Theo talking about a whole lot of nothing, while sharing a bottle of the finest Firewhiskey that the wizarding world had to offer. He was swirling the amber liquid in around in his glass as his mind ran through the events of that summer and the event that had undoubtedly changed his life.

~~FLASHBACK~~

Draco stood in his bedroom staring out the large window. It was a beautiful day in August; the sun was shining bright and he could see birds flying from tree to tree as though they were playing tag. As he stared out the window, he was absentmindedly running his hand over his left arm. In a matter of minutes, Draco was going to become something that he had feared; a Death Eater. He had never feared Death Eaters themselves, just the idea of them. He had spent his entire life surrounded by them and he was no stranger to their way of life. He had been raised to believe that pureblooded wizards and witches were the only acceptable kind; half-bloods, blood traitors and muggle-borns, or Mudbloods as they were most often referred to by the truly stuck up purebloods, were a complete waste of magical talent. Muggles, or non-magical people, weren't even worthy to breathe the same air as magical folk. For the better part of his life, Draco had believed everything that his father had taught him and the result was a self-centered, stuck up, egotistical, cruel, cowardly, spoiled little child. He spent all of his time looking down on those less fortunate than him in any way, whether it be in looks, magical talent, wealth, or anything else. Draco had been very content to live a wonderful and deluded life until his world came crashing down on him when he was fifteen.

He had been pulled out of bed in the middle of the night by his intoxicated father and apparated away. Their destination had been a small house, occupied by a muggle family. Draco had still been drowsy, so it had taken him a minute to focus on the scene before him. He was standing in a small living room with meager furnishings and at least ten of his father's Death Eater friends. The muggle family was huddled together on a couch, staring at the intruders with looks of sheer terror. There was a man, woman and two children who were no older than seven. Lucius stumbled over to the woman and pulled her off the couch and away from her screaming children.

He threw her onto the ground and pointed his wand at her, "Crucio!"

The woman started screaming and writhing in pain. Lucius looked over at his son and sneered, "This is the only thing that Muggles are good for, Draco! Never forget that!"

After Lucius released the woman from the curse, he let his friends take turns raping her. Her husband had tried to help her, but Lucius used a binding spell and forced him to watch as vicious strangers defiled his wife. While all this was happening, Draco stood stock still. He had heard about his father's "parties," as Lucius liked to call them, but he had never actually been to one. He watched as the woman's husband screamed and begged for them to stop hurting her. He watched as the woman quit fighting and moving all together after the sixth Death Eater had had his turn. He watched as the two children were cowering at the end of the couch, holding onto each other and crying.

Lucius took his turn with the woman and when he was done, he pointed his wand at her head, "Avada Kedavra!"

He then turned his wand to the children and their father screamed, "No! Please! I'll do anything you ask! Please don't hurt them!"

Draco saw the sneer on his father's face, "I am doing them a favor; all Muggles are better off dead! Avada Kedavra!"

The children had been huddled so close together that the curse hit them both and their bodies instantly went limp and the light left their eyes. Lucius lifted the binding curse from the man and he ran to his kids. Before he reached them, Lucius muttered the curse and he dropped to the ground just as his hand touched his daughter's hair. Without another word, Lucius grabbed his son's arm and apparated back home. They arrived in their Drawing Room and Lucius went and poured himself a drink. When it was clear that he wasn't going to say anything, Draco left him to go back to his room. Draco got to his room, shut the door, slid down to the floor and cried. Up until that moment, Draco had always looked up to his father. The night that Draco watched his father murder an entire family and two children that reminded him of his baby sister, was the night that Draco lost all respect and love for Lucius Malfoy. Something changed in Draco that night; he no longer saw Muggles, Half-bloods, blood traitors, and Muggle-borns as anything other than people. How someone could murder children in cold blood without any show of remorse was something that he would never understand. The events of that night were never spoken of by either Draco or his father and whenever he was in Lucius' presence, Draco made sure to keep up appearances for fear of his father discovering that he had gone soft.

"You're going to ruin your lovely skin before it's even Marked Draco. It's too late to change your mind, you know. Everyone downstairs would kill us on sight I suspect."

The sound of his best friend's voice brought Draco out of his thoughts. He looked down at his arm and dropped his hand, "I've told you a thousand times, Zabini; I'm not changing my mind. Are you trying to tell me that you have?'

Blaise rolled his eyes, "I've told you a thousand times that we are in this together. You, me, and Theo; where you go, we go. I only wish that he could be here with us today."

"Yes, well, his father is under the impression that Theo is just like him and my father. Theo is getting his own celebration tomorrow."

"Well, you, Theo, and your family have been my family for the last five years. After my parents died, your parents took me in as their own. I will be forever grateful to them for that."

"So you're doing this for my parents then?" Draco smirked.

"No, I'm doing this for you. Someone has to watch your back."

"That's why I'm doing this. Someone has to keep my mother and sister safe."

"There's always your father..."

Draco scoffed, "Everything that my father does is just for him. I can't trust him to keep my mother and sister safe if something happens and their lives are on the line. He will always save himself first; the coward that he is."

"You used to be like him, you know. A cowardly twit, I mean." Blaise smiled.

"Yes, well, I grew up, didn't I?" It wasn't a question. Draco had never told Blaise about that night with the Muggle family. He had been afraid that his friend would have thought less of him for being a witness to that night and not turning his father and his friends in. Looking back now, he knew that Blaise would have forgiven him; he had just never found the opportune moment to fill him in.

A knock at the door interrupted their conversation; the door burst open and a little girl with long blond hair and a huge grin came running into the room and jumped into Draco's arms.

"Did you see what Aunt Bella got for me Draco!?" She thrust her little hand in his face and showed him the stuffed bear.

Draco smiled, "That's great Izzy! She always gives the best presents, doesn't she?"

The little girl nodded enthusiastically.

"Isabella, you shouldn't be bothering your brother right now."

Narcissa swept into the room and took her daughter from Draco's arms.

"I just wanted to show him my bear."

"It's lovely dear." She kissed Isabella's head and handed her off to Blaise.

"Will you take her to her room, Blaise? I'd like to have a word with my son."

"Of course." He took the little girl and swung her around and flew her out the door like an airplane and she giggled all the way.

Narcissa turned to Draco, "Are you sure you want to do this Draco?"

Draco let out an exasperated sigh and ran his hands through his hair, "I swear, mother! Between you and Blaise..."

She put her hand on his shoulder, "I just want you to understand what you are getting yourself into."

"Do you really think that I don't know what I'm about to do? Do you really think that I haven't spent months thinking about the fact that I'm going to spend the rest of my life doing the devil's dirty work?

Narcissa shushed her son, "You never know who could be listening."

"I'm doing this for you and Izzy; end of story. I can't trust my father to protect you like a real man would."

A sad smile crossed his mother's face, "Your father used to be a good man, Draco."

"I wouldn't know; this is the only father I've ever known; A selfish bastard."

The smile left her face and it was replaced with a look that Draco had gotten so used to seeing. He hugged her reassuringly, "As long as I'm alive, you and Izzy will be safe."

Narcissa caressed her son's cheek, "You are too good for this family, my son."

There was another knock at the door and Blaise reappeared, "Izzy's in her room playing with the elves. I told them to keep her occupied until this is over."

Narcissa smiled and held out her hands to Blaise. He walked over and took them and she squeezed his hands, "You are like a second son to me, Blaise. I hope you know that."

Blaise smiled, "I do."

"And you are the greatest friend that my son could ever have."

Blaise smirked, "Can you tell him that?"

Draco punched his shoulder and Narcissa smiled.

At that moment, Bellatrix appeared at the door with a crazy grin on her face.

"Boys, it's time! It's time for you to become one of us!"

Draco was severely bothered by the fact that his aunt was so excited. Of course, he had always known what a crazy lunatic she was, but it still never ceased to amaze him how depraved she really was.

Draco put on his best game face and smacked Blaise on the back, "Let's get on with it, then!"

He winked at Narcissa and followed them all out the door.

It had hurt like a bitch. Draco's skin was still searing as he stood and watched Blaise go through the same torture. He was clenching his teeth so hard, Draco was sure that he was going to crack a tooth. When it was all over, Lucius called the boys into the Drawing Room.

He clapped them both on the back and grinned, "Congratulations, Boys! Welcome to the family!"

Blaise was just as good at pretending as Draco was, "It's an honor, sir."

Draco forced a smile, "It truly is, father."

"I'm so proud of you, Draco; you are shaping into a fine man, my son."

The door was suddenly flung open and people started pouring into the room, ready to congratulate the two newest Death Eaters. They boys put on their best game faces and proceeded to join in on the party. The party mostly consisted of men getting drunk and slags hanging off their arms; Draco and Blaise were more than happy to partake in the drinking, but they steered clear of the women. When the festivities were well underway, a highly intoxicate Lucius Malfoy came stumbling through the door with two very frightened young women by his side. He flung one of the girls at Draco and he caught her before she stumbled and hit the floor. Lucius handed the other girl off to Blaise and then went to get another drink. After they had agreed to receive the dark mark, Draco and Blaise had known that this would be coming. They knew that Death Eaters took whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted; that included women, as Draco had discovered years earlier. Luckily, they were both prepared for this. Draco grabbed hold of the girl's arm and dragged her up to his bedroom. Not wanting to raise suspicion with the hordes of people milling all over the house, Draco opened the door to his room, shoved the girl in and slammed the door behind him, muttering a locking and silencing spell. The girl was sobbing as she tried to get as far away from him as possible.

Draco took a small step towards her, "Relax; I'm not going to hurt you."

The girl stopped sobbing and looked at him, "You aren't?"

"No."

"Then why-"

"It's complicated."

"Why did that man bring me here?"

Draco sighed, "You don't want to know."

"It looked like there was a party going on. Am I supposed to be a present for you?" The girl was clearly terrified, but she couldn't help spitting the word 'present' at him.

"Something like that. Look, what's your name?"

"Christina."

"Well Christina, I have no intention of...unwrapping my present, so will you please calm down?"

"Do you think this is funny?" She barked.

"You are awfully mouthy for someone who is locked in a bedroom with a man that is twice your size."

Draco saw some of the color drain from Christina's face, "You said you aren't going to hurt me."

"And I'm not. Although, I suggest you lose the attitude or I might change my mind."

"Sorry."

Draco pointed to a chair, "Sit; we are going to be here for a while."

She warily made her way to the chair and sat down. Draco sat down on his bed and studied the girl in front of him. She looked to be about his age with long blond hair and bright green eyes. Her nose was a bit too large for her face, but all in all she was quite attractive. She was wearing a sky blue sun dress with white sandals and pink toenails to match her manicure.

"What were you doing when my father found you?" Draco asked,

Christina gasped, "That monster is your father?"

"I'm sorry to say that he is."

"My sister and I were on our way to my cousins house and-" at the mention of her sister, Christina shot out of her chair, "Natalie, I have to find her!"

"Is that the other girl that my father brought with him?"

"Yes. Please, she's only fifteen!"

"She's with my friend Blaise; she will be alright."

Christina slowly sat back down, "I don't understand any of this."

"Well, I can't explain it either, but I promise you that she will be ok."

"What's your name?" Christina asked.

"Draco."

"Draco; that's an interesting name."

"So I've been told."

"It's pretty. You don't seem anything like those men downstairs; why are you here?"

"I'm doing what I have to do to protect my family."

"Your father?"

"No, I could care less about him. I'm doing this for my mother and sister."

Draco didn't feel like sharing so he stood up and motioned for Christina to stand as well. When she did, he took his wand out and pointed it at her. He muttered a few spells and watched as one of the straps on her dress snapped, her hair was thoroughly mussed and a small cut appeared on her lip, as well as a bruise on her cheek. Satisfied with his work, he pointed his wand at her again and said, "Obliviate." The panic that had been on Christina's face was replaced by with a look of utter confusion. Before she could say anything, Draco spoke again, "Imperio." The confusion subsided and a look of contentment crossed her features.

Draco walked up to Christina, "When you leave this room, I want you to cry and scream bloody murder. I want you to run down the stairs and out the front door as if the Devil himself is chasing you. Do not stop until you are home."

Christina nodded her head with a smile on her face. Draco lifted the locking and silencing spells on his room and opened the door and shoved Christina out the door. Right on cue, Christina burst into tears and screamed loud enough to wake the dead. She bolted down the stairs and out the front door, passed all the drunk men. They stopped for a moment to watch the girl, then they looked up at Draco who was standing at the top of the stairs with a very smug look on his face. He had untucked his shirt and undone a few buttons for the full effect. The men looked at him for a moment and then burst into a chorus of cheers. Draco descended the stairs and grabbed a bottle of Firewhisky out of a man's hand who just shrugged and went to get another one. When Draco was a third of the way through the bottle, he saw Natalie come down the stairs in much the same manner as her sister had, only a little quieter. She bolted out the door and Blaise appeared. He received the same hoots and hollers as Draco had and he wore a similar expression. He joined Draco and commandeered the Firewhisky; he gave Draco a knowing smile and took a big swig of the liquid fire.

~~END FLASHBACK~~

Draco was ripped out of his memory when he felt a pillow pelt him in the head. He grabbed the offending furniture accessory and threw it back at Theo, "What?"

"That far away look you've had almost constantly since school began is getting old, mate."

Blaise refilled his glass, "Theo's right; you've got to snap out of it, Draco."

Draco slammed his glass onto a nearby end table, "I'm worried about my mom and sister, alright!? I can't stand the fact that I'm here in this blood useless school while they are out there, unprotected! This school can't teach us anything that we really need to know about the world. It sure as hell can't teach us how to survive in this upcoming war! If my father knew about what's really going on in my head, he'd kill the girls just to make me suffer and then kill me for being a blood traitor!"

Blaise put his glass down and squeezed Draco's shoulder, "You need to relax, Draco. Your mother and sister are going to be fine!"

"You don't know that! " Draco barked.

"Yes, I do! When the war starts; that's when you need to start worrying, and by then we will be out of this place."

Draco let out a breath and ran his hand through his hair, "I just don't like them being alone."

Theo refilled Draco's glass and handed it to him, "We know, mate. You just need something to take your mind off of it."

Draco narrowed his eyes at Theo, "Don't start, Nott."

Theo chuckled, "Did you honestly think that Blaise and I wouldn't remember that drunken night just last year where you revealed your obsession over our very fine Head Girl?"

Draco growled, "I am not obsessed with Granger! It's just a-"

"Crush?" Blaise offered.

Draco pushed Blaise away, "I am not a silly fifteen year old girl, Blaise!"

"We don't blame you, Drake; not in the least. In fact, if you don't jump on this perfect opportunity that has been dropped in your lap by The Powers That Be, someone else will."

Draco scoffed, "By someone else, I assume you mean yourself."

Blaise grinned, "Absolutely."

Draco waved his hand in a dismissive manner, "By all means, knock yourself out. I've got too much going on in my life right now to make the most vexing female on the planet a part of it."

As if on cue, the common room door opened, and the subject of their conversation flounced in.

Around ten that night, Hermione said goodnight to her friends and headed back to her common room; the next day was going to be incredibly busy for her and she needed her rest. When she got to her common room, she heard voices on the other side and she knew that Draco's little friends were still there. She laughed out loud when she thought of them as 'little;' there was nothing little about the Slytherins. She braced herself for another confrontation and opened the door. Sure enough, Draco, Blaise and Theo were all sitting around the common room talking; thankfully, Pansy Parkinson was nowhere to be seen. When she appeared, they all stopped talking and turned to look at her. She ignored their leering and glared at the offending, and very lovely Slytherins. She had never had the opportunity to be so 'up close and personal' with them in the past and now that she was, she knew that she could get into a lot of trouble as far as they were concerned if she wasn't careful. She made the mistake of letting her mind wander and she started thinking of three sets of hands doing very bad, but also very good things to her and she couldn't stop herself from blushing furiously.

Blaise saw the tint to her complexion and he smiled, "What's on your mind, Granger?"

His velvety voice brought Hermione out of her daze and she blushed even harder at being caught, "Nothing." She squeaked.

He smirked, "Really?"

Hermione didn't like the smug look on his face and she glared, "Yes, nothing's on my mind. What are you two doing here after curfew?"

"What does it look like they're doing, Granger?" Draco drawled.

"It looks like they are breaking the rules."

"What's it to you?"

"I'm not going to get into trouble because you are a bunch of rule breaking gits! This is your one 'get of jail free' card."

All three boys looked at her like she had lost her mind, "What the hell does that mean, Princess?" Blaise asked.

"It's a Muggle term; it means that I won't report this little lapse in judgment, this time. And, don't call me Princess."

Draco got up from the couch and stormed over to her, "What makes you think that you have any control over this, Granger?"

"Because I'm the Head Girl, you stupid arse! I'm not going to risk losing everything I've worked so hard for because of you three...snakes!" She bellowed.

Draco clenched his teeth, "Mind how you talk to me, Granger."

Hermione took a step closer to him and they were almost touching. He was a good foot taller than she was, so she had to look up, "Or what, ferret?"

Draco's eyes narrowed into slits, "I can make your life very difficult, Princess."

Hermione was so sick of his empty threats, and now with the new pet name, she snapped. She growled and launched herself at Draco, trying to hit him, kick him, punch him or anything else that would leave a mark on him. He barely flinched when she jumped at him, but seeing that she obviously wasn't going to stop until someone got hurt, Blaise decided to intervene. He casually got up from the couch and went over to peel Hermione off of Draco. He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her off, kicking and screaming.

"Let me go, Zabini!" Hermione barked.

"You need to calm down, love." Blaise whispered in her ear.

Hermione ignored the shiver that tore through her body at the feeling of his breath on her ear and she kept trying to wiggle out of his arms, "Dammit, let me go!"

Draco was just standing there, watching her with a highly amused expression on his face. That just angered Hermione more and she started struggling harder to get free.

"I'm going to rip apart his beautiful face!" She roared.

This made Draco smile and he walked closer to her and leaned down to her eye level, "You think I'm beautiful?"

He was just out of her arm's reach and she growled at him, "Your little friends can't protect you forever, Malfoy; I know where you sleep."

Theo chuckled at the highly amusing entertainment, "Come now, Granger; we are far from little."

Draco smirked, "First you are trying to claw my eyes out, then you tell me I'm beautiful, and now you are thinking about my bed; I had no idea you were such a masochist."

"Anche se sono abbastanza godendo il suo dimenarsi contro di me, probabilmente si dovrebbe mollare. Lei alla fine arriva da solo e lei avere la sua bacchetta la prossima volta; รจ sempre la quiete, amico." Blaise smiled at Draco. (Although I am quite enjoying her squirming against me, you should probably let up. She will eventually get you alone and she'll have her wand next time; it's always the quiet ones, mate.)

Hermione howled in rage, "I know you are talking about me! Put me down!"

Blaise brushed the hair away from Hermione's ear and leaned in again, "You need to relax." He murmured, as he just barely grazed his lips against the skin just behind her ear in a feather light touch.

"That's not fair; stop trying to distract me." Hermione whimpered and stopped struggling.

She looked around the room and realized the position she was in with three of the sexiest guys she had ever seen, and more fantasies came rushing into her head and she suddenly realized that she needed to get out of there...fast. She stopped trying to grab at Draco and she put her hands on Blaise's; his hands were so warm and so soft and the feeling of him holding her so closely was making her brain fog up. She swallowed thickly and gently pulled his hands away from her as he set her on the ground. Hermione saw that Draco still had that damnable smirk on his face and even though she knew that she would probably live to regret it, she couldn't resist hauling off and hitting him square in the jaw with all the strength she could muster. She didn't see Blaise close his eyes and shake his head, but she did see Draco's eyes flash and the look he gave her had her quickly backing away from him. She backed into Blaise and he put his hands on her hips to steady her. She heard Draco growl at her and she braced herself for some pain. Before any blood was shed, Theo darted up from a chair and was holding Draco back before he could get to her.

"Non sarebbe la migliore idea per voi per uccidere il Caposcuola prima dell'inizio delle lezioni ancora di iniziare." Theo said. (It wouldn't be the best idea for you to kill the Head Girl before classes even start.)

"Ha ragione, Drake; appena lasciato andare, l'uomo." Blaise added. (He's right Drake; just let it go, man.)

Hermione was flush against Blaise, just praying that he and Theo were convincing Draco not to kill her. Draco closed his eyes and clenched his fists, visibly trying to calm down. His eyes snapped opened and he sneered at Hermione.

"This is your one 'get out of jail free' card, Granger. Next time I won't be nearly as nice."

Hermione knew that she should just shut up and walk away, but she just had to put her foot in her mouth again, "Do not threaten me, you ferret!"

Draco growled at her again and Blaise spun Hermione around, "Christ Granger; you just don't know when to shut up, do you?"

Her threw her over his shoulder and walked to her room, ignoring her squeaks of protest, 'What's your password?"

Hermione scoffed as she hit his back with her fists, "Like I would ever give you my password!"

"The second Theo and I leave, you will be all alone with Draco...without your wand."

That realization made Hermione stop struggling, "Amaryllis is the password." she murmured.

Blaise said the password, the door swung open, and he plopped her down just inside the door, "You might want to lock your door. Sweet dreams, Princess." He winked at her and shut the door.

Hermione grabbed her wand off her nightstand and said every locking spell she could think of. She stripped off her clothes, put on her most comfortable pair of pajamas and then crawled into bed. She was so exhausted from her near death experience that she almost instantly fell asleep.

Out in the common room, Draco poured another glass of Firewhiskey and downed it in one gulp, "See what I mean? If I made that woman a part of my life, one of us would surely kill the other."

Blaise and Theo laughed.

The next morning, Hermione's alarm went off at six and she shut it off and trudged out of bed. She grabbed her toiletries and wand and headed towards the bathroom. She knew that Draco wouldn't be up this early, so she muttered all the locking spells she knew on Draco's door and got ready for the day. After she was showered, her hair was done and her makeup applied, she undid the locking spells on Draco's door and went back to her room. She got dressed, grabbed her bag, scratched a sleeping Crookshanks on the head and left her room, carefully tiptoeing her way across the common room. She bolted out the door and breathed a sigh of relief when she was in the clear and made her way to the Gryffindor common room. She didn't plan on avoiding Draco forever, she just wanted to give him as much time as possible to get over the fact that he most likely wanted to hex her into oblivion. When she got to the common room, she wasn't surprised to see only a few people milling about. Her best friend, Ginny Weasley was one of them.

"Hermione! What are you doing here this early?" Ginny asked.

"I had a slight run in with Malfoy last night and I'm trying to avoid him until he has the chance to cool off."

Ginny frowned, 'What happened, 'Mione?"

"He threatened me and I may have punched him."

Ginny's eyes went wide, "You hit him again? Oh, Hermione; he's not the same as he was in your third year. How did you get away without being hexed?"

"Well, Zabini and Nott were there."

Ginny gasped, "You hit Draco Malfoy when his two best friends were there? Have you lost your mind!?"

"Nott stopped him from attacking me and Zabini...helped me to my room."

Ginny flushed, "I can't believe you are going to get to spend so much time with three of the hottest guys in this school."

Hermione remembered the feeling of Blaise being so close to her last night and she couldn't help but blush. No man that attractive had ever given her the time of day and she knew better than to think that someone like Blaise Zabini would ever be interested in her; he was just messing around. She had had enough experiences with boys to know that she wasn't worth a damn to them. She had been head over heels in love with Ron Weasley since her fourth year and he had chosen that slag Lavender Brown over her. She was over him now and just saw him as more of a brother, but sometimes it still hurt to see how head over heels he was for Lavender. She had had a brief thing with Viktor Krum during the Tri-Wizard's Tournament, but when she had refused to sleep with him, he had dumped her and gone after a Ravenclaw. Then of course, there was last summer with her muggle neighbor; he had come home from University for the summer and she had always had a crush on him and when he had asked her out, she had been so excited. Deciding that if she was ever going to have a guy that actually wanted her, she was going to have to give him what all guys seemed to want. After their first date, she had given her virginity to him in hopes that he would stick around and show her what she had been missing by not having a boyfriend. After two weeks had gone bye and she hadn't heard a word from the boy, she realized that she had been used. He had used her to get laid and then he never spoke to her again. She had tried so hard to figure out what it was about her that seemed to turn guys off. She had gone back to school in hopes that someone...anyone would prove to her that not all guys were jerks. She had started taking more pride in her appearance, but deep down, she knew that she was still the same unattractive book worm know-it-all that she had always been. She had watched guys like Blaise, Draco and Theo mess around with girls that were less than pretty just because they knew that they were sure to get lucky, but Hermione would be damned if she was going to become like those girls.

Ginny noticed the tint to Hermione's cheeks, "You're blushing; why are you blushing?"

Hermione blushed harder and Ginny narrowed her eyes, "What happened, Hermione?"

"It's not a big deal, just Zabini being...Zabini."

"Zabini!?" Ginny grabbed Hermione's arm and pulled her onto the couch, "Tell me what happened."

Hermione told Ginny about her 'interaction' with Blaise and Ginny's eyes got wider by the minute. When Hermione finished the story, Ginny let out a breath, "Wow."

"I know he was just trying to distract me so that I wouldn't try to pummel Malfoy, but it still felt...really good."

Ginny cocked her head to the side, "You think he was trying to distract you?"

"Well yea; why else would he do it?"

"Um, maybe because you're hot and he likes you?"

Hermione let out a bark of laughter, 'Yeah right, Ginny."

At that moment, Ron came bumbling down the stairs just as Lavender was coming back from the bathroom. She spotted Ron and squealed as she ran up and wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a kiss. Ginny and Hermione both rolled their eyes at the disgusting display.

"That's why; Ron didn't even want me, so why the hell would a guy like Blaise Zabini want me?"

"Ron is an idiot, Hermione."

"Maybe, but he's not blind."

"What on Earth are you talking about?"

"I can't compete like girls Lavender, or Pansy Parkinson, or you!"

Ginny scoffed, "Are you seriously comparing me to those two twits?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "I mean that you are all beautiful and I'm just...not."

"How can you say that Hermione; you're gorgeous!"

"No, I'm not Ginny."

"Is this because of that jerk Matt? I'm so sorry that that arsehole did that to you, but not all guys are like him. Not all people can have what Harry and I have either. You are smart, kind, caring, loyal, and beautiful. You are the complete package and guys are intimidated by that."

"Not guys like Zabini. He could have any girl he wants, and definitely someone better looking than me."

Ginny rolled her eyes, "You're hopeless, Hermione."

She turned her attention back to her brother who was snogging the life out Lavender and she made a gagging noise, "Come on, let's go to breakfast before I lose my appetite."

During breakfast, everyone received their schedules for the semester and Hermione was very pleased. Her first class was double Advanced potions, which just happened to be her favorite subject despite who the professor was. Every day she had Potions, Transfiguration and DADA, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights she had Astronomy, and on Tuesday and Thursday she had Charms and Arithmancy. With her patrolling and other Head Girl duties, she was going to be plenty busy this year, but that's how she liked it. The busier she was, the less time she had to let her mind wander to stuck up pretty girls and beautiful Slytherins. Hermione was on her way to potions when she looked in her bag and saw that her book wasn't there. She cursed and headed back to her room to grab it. When she finally found her book, she was already five minutes late for class; Snape was going to have a field day.

She jerked open the door and rushed inside, 'I"m so sorry Professor! I forgot my book in my room and-"

Snape put up his hand, "I do not have time for your insolent excuses Ms. Granger. Fifty points from Gryffindor; now take a seat."

Hermione blushed and sat at the only empty table in the room which happened to be in the very back, in the far corner, and right behind Draco and Theo no less.

Draco turned around and smiled at her, "Late to the first class on the first day? That is very unbecoming of a Head Girl, Granger."

Hermione sneered at him, "Piss off, Malfoy."

At that moment, the door burst open again and Blaise came rushing in.

Snape glared at him, "Let me guess Mr. Zabini, you forgot your book?"

"Yeah, we'll go with that." Blaise smirked.

"Thirty points from Slytherin; take a seat."

Parvati Patil, who was sitting in the the middle row, stood up, "Sir, that's not fair! You took fifty points from Hermione!"

"Ms. Ganger is the Head Girl, Ms. Patil; She is expected to set a better example to the other students. Sit down, or I will take points from you as well."

Parvati glared at the potions master as she sat down.

When Blaise saw that the only available seat in the room was next to Hermione, he gave her a wolfish grin as he made his way over to the table. Hermione was going to have to sit next to him for the whole class and all she could think about was the feeling of his lips on her skin and his hands on her body. She could feel herself flush and she quickly started rummaging through her bag for her supplies. Blaise dropped his bag on the floor and took his seat. He nodded to his friends and leaned over towards Hermione, whose head was in her bag.

"Morning, princess," he murmured in her ear.

Hermione jumped and glared at him, "Personal space, Zabini!" She hissed.

The boys in front of her snickered and Blaise just smiled.

They all turned their attention to Snape when he started talking, "Now, I hope you all chose your seats wisely because the person sitting next to you will you be partner all year."

Hermione didn't miss the self satisfied smirk that Snape shot at her when she realized that she was going to be surrounded by Slytherins all year; Blaise looked extremely pleased with the information and Hermione felt like going back to bed and staying there until she was thirty. Snape turned them lose on the Felix Felicis potion and Hermione immediately went to gather the ingredients. Hermione worked diligently the whole period, doing her best to ignore the three Slytherins as they were relentless in trying to get her flustered enough to mess up the potion.

At one point, Hermione felt a hand on her ass and she stabbed Blaise in the throat with her wand, "Keep your slimy hands to yourself, Zabini!"

Blaise gave her a knowing look, "That's not what you were saying last night, princess."

Hermione blushed and brought her wand to his chest, "If I mess up this potion because of you, I'll hex you so bad your kids will feel it!"

Despite the fun that he was having, Blaise decided that he didn't want to fail the assignment on the first day, so he kept his hands to himself for the rest of the period. When the potion was finally finished, it looked perfect. Hermione bottled it up and started packing up her stuff.

"Malfoy." She was trying to get his attention, but he didn't seem to want to listen, "Malfoy!" She barked.

He gave her an annoyed look, "What?"

"McGonagall wanted me to tell you that we have a prefects meeting in her classroom right after dinner tonight and she wants us to spread the word. Will you tell the rest of your house and the Ravenclaws?"

"No." Was all he said.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Come on you prat; I don't have time to scout out all the prefects myself!"

"Not my problem, Granger." Draco slung his bag over his shoulder and sauntered out of the room.

Hermione slammed her bag on the desk, "It is his problem; he's Head Boy! I hate him!" She spat.

Blaise chuckled, "He's just being Draco."

"Well, I hate him! How am I supposed to find all the bloody prefects before tonight? I don't have time for that!"

"Sometimes you've just got to make some noise to be heard, Princess; see you at lunch." Blaise winked at her before leaving to join his friends.

Hermione stood there for a minute trying to figure out what the hell Blaise was talking about; she was halfway to her next class when it came to her.

Lunch was in full swing when Hermione hopped up onto her chair and tried to get the attention of everyone. All the Gryffindors looked at her, as well as a few of the Hufflepuffs, but everyone else was oblivious.

Hemione growled in frustration, "Hey everyone, listen up!" She barked.

That seemed to do the trick and the Hall became silent as everyone looked at her, "Thank you; I just wanted to tell all the prefects that our first meeting is tonight in Professor McGonagall's classroom right after dinner. Ok, that's all."

She hopped off her seat and sat back down and looked over at the Slytherin table and saw the amused expression on Draco's face as he looked at her. She stuck her tongue out at him and turned her attention to Blaise; he was smiling at her and she couldn't help but wink at him.

Ok, there you have it!

I added a lot to Draco's story and I hope you all enjoyed it!