As soon as she got the chance, which was after the dinner that night, Hermione had approached Malfoy. Malfoy had looked at her and Hermione could feel him practically undressing her with his eyes. The way he looked at her made her feel violated, but she chose to ignore the feeling. Malfoy didn't realize what he was doing, didn't realize how much he was lusting over her, but Hermione definitely did. Her lip had curled and she demanded he not tell anybody. Malfoy winked at her and assured her that he wouldn't. Hermione didn't trust him of course and had murmured a spell inaudibly before she spoke to Malfoy so if he had the urge to tell someone about his sightings, he'd immediately stop. Feeling successful and somewhat exposed despite being fully dressed, Hermione turned on her heel and left. Malfoy was left staring at her walk off.

Malfoy was still lousy at making a decent potion, so Hermione always had to help him. She didn't even bother going to sit at Ron and Harry's table, knowing that she'd just have to move next to Malfoy. As soon as Hermione got to the classroom, she exchanged a glance with Ron which screamed, "Help me!" Ron had given her a sympathetic smile.
"Good luck," he mouthed. Hermione managed a smile. In return, Ron gave her a toothy grin which made Hermione's heart skip a beat. She sighed and feeling rather smitten, she took her seat next to Malfoy. Malfoy looked at her funnily as if to ask why she was looking the way she was looking, but decided not to ask in words. Hermione naturally ignored him. Malfoy only spoke to her when he needed help, and Hermione only talked to him when she was helping him. This meant that they exchanged blunt sentences quite often, but left the conversations at that.

Their dislike towards each other wasn't the only thing causing this uncomfortable silence. It was the fact that every time Malfoy looked at Hermione he pictured her naked. And every time Hermione looked at Malfoy, she pictured his face looking at her the way he had when he saw her. It was terribly awkward and they found ignoring each other even more so than before quite effective.

Draco frowned. Every time he looked at Granger she was either staring at Ron or the clock. Ever since seeing Granger the way he had, he wanted to see more. Draco kept plotting what he thought were perfect plans, but they kept blowing up in his face. He had tried to walk into the bathroom after Granger did, but unfortunately she had been paranoid ever since and got changed in a place where no one could see her. He also wondered if he should work up enough confidence to have a proper conversation with Granger. Draco decided not to. Draco had no idea what was coming over him, but he just couldn't seem to get the image of Granger out of his head. He had forgotten about the other girls he wanted to corrupt… He wanted a challenge. Something that was extremely hard to get, something that was incredibly rewarding in the end if he managed to catch her…

If... It was a very big if. It seemed as if Granger didn't want him. If she didn't, then so be it. Draco would just have to make her want him.

On Sunday morning, Draco sat at the Slytherin table with his buddies eating breakfast. He was casual, happy and having a good laugh with his friends. The mail owls started to fly in and one dropped in front of Draco. His smile dimmed as he looked down. Immediately he opened it and his smile got completely wiped off his face. He excused himself from the table, leaving his breakfast half eaten, and sprinted to the Slytherin common room, where he knew he'd be alone.

"Ron, no!" Giggled Hermione, as Ron tickled her as she attempted take bites of her egg. The more he tickled her the more she moved around trying to avoid it. She swayed back and forwards and around in a circle. As she bowed her head, her long black hair covered more of her torso and covered her face. Finally, Ron stopped and she stopped exactly then. Her face was centimetres away from Ron's. Slowly, he took his hand and pulled it away gently. Hermione's hair was so soft, Ron couldn't help but to leave his hand on her head. There was a moment where they couldn't hear other people talking and laughing, a moment where they were the only ones in the Great Hall.

"Uh," Ron murmured, breaking his gaze with Hermione by looking down. "I'll let you get back to eating…" Hermione blushed and turned back to her scrambled eggs and bacon. Ron blushed as he chewed on his toast.

"Hey you guys!" Harry said, taking a seat next to Hermione. He must have slept in again. "Are you hot? You're both red."

Could this of really been happening? Of course it could. The Dark Lord was back and strong again. Draco of all people should have known that. What he hadn't realized, however, was that the war was going to come so soon. Surely they needed a little longer than a couple of months to plan things through. What Draco also didn't realize was just how demanding this would be on him. He was already doing horribly in Potions; he didn't need to fall in other subjects because he was too busy doing things he shouldn't have been doing instead of homework. Draco took a deep breath and started to reply to his father.

As Hermione walked through the corridor, she noticed someone sitting against the wall, with their legs folded up and their head against his knees. It was a boy, right? She walked a little slower and further and confirmed it was a boy. The boy was taking deep breaths and Hermione swore she heard a sniffle. The boy lifted his head and looked up. His face looked heavenly; his hair looked like silver silk. Hermione frowned and realized who it was. What was Malfoy doing? He was supposed to be a happy, yet malicious, boy. And yet here he was…having a mini breakdown without the tears? Hermione mentally pinched herself; she stood corrected, because a tear rolled down Malfoy's face. Hermione completely froze… she hated Malfoy. Why was she standing there, feeling somewhat sympathetic for him? Surely he had never stopped and thought things over twice when he had made her feel like crap. Why wasn't she enjoying this sight? Hermione turned on her heel and went in the opposite direction to the Gryffindor common room.

Draco took his head up from his knees. Had someone just been standing there? He swore he could have felt someone's presence. Heck, who the fuck cared? He didn't anymore. Why should he? Draco wondered why he was even bothering. Bothering with his friends, bothering with schoolwork, bothering with life itself. This whole thing with bloody Voldemort. Why the hell did his father have to be involved? Fuck, why did he have to drag Draco into it? Now, Draco had to be a little spy. Heck, he had to do some crazy shit he didn't want to. And why? Because his father said so. Because the Dark Lord said so. To hell with his father! To hell with the Dark Lord. This was wrecking everything! His plans with the girls, his social life, his schoolwork. His father was already on his back for flunking Potions. Hey, maybe the lack of good marks would make his foolish father realize the effect it was really having. But then again, his father would probably say, "Draco, you don't need that much of an education when the Dark Lord takes over. You're an intelligent boy; you will be able to work things out". Draco hated it. Actually, what with the way things were going, Draco was starting to hate a lot more than just the situation he was in.