Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot, mmk?

A/N: Thank you to all my reviewers. It just makes me all bubbly inside when I read a nice review. Sorry it's been a while, been purdy busy. Anywho, here's the new chapter and enjoy.

Chapter Seven

Draco walked down the corridor to his room, his footsteps clicking loudly in the empty hallway. He had just been to the library to research for a small project when exiting he was cornered by none other than Pansy.

"Hey, Drakie, what are you doing?" she asked. She was leaning against the wall, twirling her short, black hair, obviously trying to be seductive.

"Well, Pansy, normally when you're in a room and you walk to the exit, that usually means you're leaving the room. Now I know some concepts are difficult for you to grasp..."

She sighed deeply. "I meant, where are you heading?" She crept closer to him as she spoke.

He looked at her with disgust. "I'm heading back to my room. And I'm in a hurry." With that, he stepped around her and began scurrying down the hall. Pansy bounded after him, staying at his heels.

"Would you like me to accompany you to your room?"

Draco stopped suddenly, causing Pansy to run right into him. He turned around and got right into her face. "Listen, Pansy, I don't know how many times I have to say it, but I do not like you like that. I never have and I never will."

She looked pained, but Draco didn't feel sorry for her. Tears were welling up and her bottom lip began trembling. "Well, Draco, if that's what you want." She turned slowly and walked away.

Draco sighed. He didn't want to deal with anything right now. There seemed to be a lot of drama these past few days. People have warmed up to him slightly since the Quidditch match, but its still not like it used to be. The younger students don't act terrified around him, or whisper around him anymore, but his peers are still suspicious of his previous actions. Draco knows the time is coming when he can no longer play the role of hard-headed Slytherin who "doesn't take orders from a psycho suffering from malnutrition who wouldn't hesitate to kill his own men".

"Hey, Draco!" ...But that time is not now.

Draco turned around and saw Blaise running toward him. He slowed down when he caught up to him.

"Hey, listen, we've gotta talk."

"Does it have to be right this second, Blaise? 'Cause I'm a little busy and really can't stop."

Blaise ignored Draco's protest and continued. "You've been acting really weird lately. I just don't get you. Our whole life, we were raised Voldemort supporters. Now all of a sudden, you've been openly insulting the Dark Lord."

Draco wasn't sure what to say. Is it a question? It's all true, should he just admit to it?

"Umm, OK, Blaise."

Blaise looked at Draco with a bewildered look on his face. "You are not Draco Malfoy anymore. I don't know who you are, and I do not care to find out." And he turned around and walked away.

Great. Draco managed to push away the only two people still hanging around him that were capable of conversation away in about five minutes. Oh well, it had to happen sometime. He slowly continued his way to his common room.

Hermione's POV

Hermione sat on her bed, her hair in a quick, messy ponytail and wearing comfortable shorts and shirt. She also wore her reading glasses. Not many people knew she needed glasses, but then again she only had gotten them recently. She'd been reading her Transfiguration homework, but noticed she had read the same paragraph about six times.

Looking around the room she noted there were too many distractions. The sky was becoming a dark blue as it slowly turned to night, but it was windy, pouring, and kept blowing leaves against her window. She shuddered, thinking of the Gryffindor Quidditch team practicing in this brutally cold weather. Oh well, she still had to get this book read. At home, when she needed to concentrate, she would play some music. Luckily, she had bewitched her CD player to work at Hogwarts, despite all the magic in the air. Her only hope was that no one found out about it, because Dumbledore probably wouldn't appreciate his Head Girl breaking the rules. But no one was in here and she really needed to concentrate. Hermione got up and rummaged through her CD collection. During her trip to America, Chloe burned Hermione some of her own CD's, with which Hermione fell in love right away.

Hmm, what to listen to...There's Linkin Park (Hermione's personal favorite), The Used, Disturbed, Evanescence, Korn... The list went on. Deciding on Linkin Park, their Meteora CD, she went outside to the common room with her CD player and Transfiguration book.

Draco's POV

Draco walked into the common room and stopped dead in his tracks. In his sight was Granger, cuddled up on the couch with a book in her hands. She was wearing short red athletic shorts and a white tank top and her hair was pulled back into a ponytail. She looked incredibly hot to Draco. He also noticed that she was wearing glasses, something he'd never seen her in. He had to admit that she can make even glasses seem sexy somehow.

He stood there quietly, watching her read. He watched her eyes travel back and forth as she read each line, her dark-rimmed glasses slowly sliding down her cute, girly nose, her hand as she brushed a piece of hair behind her ears. He let his eye slinger on her body. He stared at her face. She had such gentle features, her soft brown eyes, perfect, full lips, and her feminine chin. His eyes moved down to her slender neck and her collar bones that stuck out slightly. Her tank top was a bit low, exposing only a sliver of cleavage. Her long legs were bent up on the couch to her side, and her skin was flawless. She was more than slightly tanned, but with no tan lines, and it was so smooth. He watched as she sat there motionless, except her fingers, which were moving to a beat. What beat? That's when he noticed something lying on the couch beside her. It was metal-looking and flat, and a string was leading from the device on the couch to Granger's head. Just then she looked up and, noticing Draco just standing there, squealed.

"What are you doing?" she asked, her eyes wide with surprise.

"I didn't know you wore glasses," he said, avoiding the question.

Still a little flustered, she stuttered, "I-I've only worn them since summer. And I only need them for reading."

"I see. Well, you look good in them."

She didn't respond, but simply looked at him with a bewildered look on her face. He actually didn't mean to say that out loud, but he wasn't going to take it back. After about a minute of just looking but not looking at each other, Draco shrugged and headed towards his staircase.

"Thank you," she piped up. She was turned around in the couch, watching him walk away. He stopped and looked at her. He suddenly decided he didn't want to leave.

"So, what are you reading?" She held up her Transfiguration book for him to see. "Oh." He went over and sat on the chair. "What's that?" He pointed to the thing beside Hermione.

She picked it up. "It's called a CD player. It's a muggle device for playing music." Last year, anything to do with muggles was forbidden, but now, Draco was interested and wanted to know more.

Hermione explained how the CD held recorded music and how the sound came out the earphones. Hermione's hair had been hiding her earphones. She even let Draco listen to what she was listening to. He liked it, the band called Linkin Park. Not too many wizard bands sounded like them.

"So. How does this CD player work in Hogwarts? Surely there's too much magic in the air that it normally wouldn't work at all. I mean, it says in Hogwarts, A History—"

"You've read Hogwarts, A History?" She cut him off. He wondered why she was amazed by this.

"Yeah, so?"

"Nothing. It's just that I haven't met anyone else who's read it before."

"But you haven't answered my question," Draco pressed her. "Did you bewitch it to work here?"

Hermione started to look uncomfortable. Shifting her weight and twisting her hands in her lap, she wouldn't look him in the face. "I, uh, might have tweaked it a bit so it would work..."

With a smile on his face, he leaned forward in his seat. "'Tweaked it'? Is that what they call rule breaking these days?"

She looked him in the eye. "Well, Malfoy, you'll find that I don't always follow the rules." Did Granger just say a flirtatious thing to me? He was slightly caught off guard, but quickly recovered.

With a small smile on his face, he replied, "Really? Well, that is very interesting. What other rules do you so blatantly break?"

She gave him a smirk and opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the common room door opening. Dripping with water and mud, Weasley stood in the door way. Hermione suddenly jumped away from Draco; he hadn't even realized she had scooted closer to him.

"What were you doing?" Weasley asked in a slightly threatening voice.

"Ron, we were just talking."

Weasley stood there and looked from Draco to Granger than back to Draco. There was still suspicion in his eyes, Draco could see. He also knew that his time for talking with Granger was up.

"Malfoy, leave."

Granger stood from the couch. "Ron, don't be ridiculous. He doesn't have to leave. We were just having a civil conversation." She turned to Draco. "Malfoy, you don't have to leave—"

"Yes, he does, Hermione," Weasley cut her off.

She spun to face him. "Why? Just because you're here now? That's hardly a just reason, Ronald."

"It's fine. I'll go," Draco spoke up. He stood from the couch and turned toward his staircase.

"No. Malfoy, listen to me. This is as much your common room as it is mine. You can stay if you want, I'm telling you. Ron'll have to learn just what exactly he has control of." She gave him a quick glare before turning back to Draco, almost pleading with her eyes.

Draco could see Weasley fuming behind Granger. As much as he'd like to continue to talk with her, he didn't quite feel like having Weasley in the same room.

"No, it's fine. I was going to leave anyway. Can't stand to be in the same room with a muggleborn for that long." He didn't mean it at all, and he's sure it didn't sound like he did.

Granger just stared at him as he slowly walked up his staircase. Out of sight from the others downstairs, he opened his door and without walking inside, closed it. He crept down about half way and listened to the conversation below.

"Ron, don't do that please."

"C'mon, Hermione. We're alone down here. Why not?"

Draco crept lower and was silent as he moved. He leaned over and saw Granger and Weasley sitting on the couch, their backs turned to him. Weasley was practically on top of Granger, and she kept scooting away from him. His face buried in her neck as he tried to kiss her, and he saw Granger move his arm away from her body.

"Ron, I'm serious. I am not in the mood. Please stop trying to grope me. I am tired and I'm going to bed." She stood up and made her way to her own staircase. Weasley also got up and followed her, but Granger turned around.

"Ron, hun, I think it would be best if you slept in your own bed tonight."

"What? Why?"

"Just, I don't feel like sleeping with you tonight. We're not exactly getting along great right at the moment. I just need tonight for myself." She said this in a soft tone, as if to not hurt his feelings.

But Ron's face was turning bright red. "It's 'cause of Malfoy, isn't it? I knew it. Fine, if that's what you want. Fine." And with that he turned on his heel and marched out.