Disclaimer: With the (rather privileged) exception of the mention of Miss Whittington, all other characters are the result of a spill of J.K.Rowling's creative juices. (That sounded rather grotesque.)

A/N: I am so sorry this chapter came out really late; I just started the new school year and have been exceptionally busy. But to make up for it, this chapter FINALLY brings out some tangy DM/HG flavour. Hope you enjoy it!

blueeyedchibi: To save you from impending death, I have updated! Thank you for that glowing review, very much appreciated!

"Miss Granger? Mr Potter? Can I see the both of you after lesson?"

Professor McGonagall's sharp voice did not seem to penetrate the thick thoughts of both Hermione and Harry during the lesson, but it certainly did when they were right in front of her at the end of it.

"Now…" she stacked some parchments neatly by the side before putting her hands firmly on the table and peering at the two pale-looking faces before her. "I know the two of you are very upset over Mr Weasley's accident, but you must not let this affect your work! Miss Granger, I can hardly carry on a lesson anymore without you volunteering your knowledge and sharing them with the class, while Mr Potter, your last essay was completely unlike your usual standard that I can barely pass it!"

Hermione looked numb, so Harry replied, "We're sorry, Professor McGonagall…we…we will try to work harder."

"I do hope so!" Professor McGonagall said stiffly. Then she relaxed and looked at them rather worriedly. "I know it's not easy, but do pick yourselves up. Especially you Potter, we have a Quidditch match coming up, and you mustn't be shirking the responsibility to perform well as the Seeker! Miss Whittington has been informing me that either you missed a few practices or you were not paying attention during training."

Harry muttered something under his breath, but looking at Professor McGonagall's querying expression, he nodded in compliance. Hermione still looked as if she had not heard the whole lecture. Professor McGonagall nodded at him, so he took one more glance at Hermione, and left the room.

"Miss Granger?"

Hermione did not respond, her eyes fixated on the ground.

"Miss Granger, are you alright?"

Somehow, that very simple sentence jerked Hermione out of her reverie. "What?"

"You're not yourself, Miss Granger," remarked Professor McGonagall, standing up to collect the stack of parchments. "Ever since you knew Mr Malfoy became a Death Eater."

"But Professor, if you do know that Dr…Malfoy is a Death Eater, why…"

"Hogwarts is committed to providing its students with the best education in witchcraft and wizardry irregardless of background or intelligence quotient. We…"

"But he is a DEATH EATER, he could KILL someone!" Hermione was nearly shrieking. She didn't know why; she just wanted to rant all of a sudden, and all her sympathy for Draco was beginning to seep away with the rage engulfing her.

"Hush, Miss Granger!" said Professor McGonagall, sharply. "I think Mr Malfoy will have better sense than to murder anybody within the magical walls of Hogwarts. Besides, Professor Dumbledore has approved his stay in Hogwarts." Bending over, she sighed a little as she stared at Hermione. "It is true that having a Death Eater in our presence is a threat, but Malfoy is merely a tool at the moment. We are hoping that through Hogwarts, we can shield him from some of the Darkness he is being exposed to, and gradually shape him back."

Shape him back? Hermione suddenly felt like laughing amidst her anger. Draco Malfoy wasn't even in shape in the first place! But fury flooded her the next second. "What if he brought in others? What if he's a traitor? What if he refuses to accept this education?"

"Others?" Professor McGonagall raised her eyebrows, putting back the stack of parchments she was about to carry away.

Hermione didn't know whether she should tell Professor McGonagall who was at the tower last night. On one hand, it was best a Hogwarts senior staff member should be aware that the school was under great threat. On the other, she was afraid that it would alarm the staff and then Voldemort would know that everyone was on their guard, therefore accelerating his plans. And she was afraid something would happen to his minion.

"Miss Granger?"

"A hypothesis. Just in case."

Professor McGonagall frowned for a moment, then maintained a stern expression. "I cannot guarantee what Mr Malfoy will become at the end of his Hogwarts education, but we will certainly try our best. We are putting up several measures to ensure the safety of the other students in Hogwarts, rest assured. Do not fret too much, Miss Granger."

With that, she finally picked up the stack of parchments and walked off, leaving a rather miserable Hermione behind.

---

"Owls!"

Parvati Patil's excited cry lifted everyone's heads, including Hermione (rather instinctively). "Ooh I wonder if there's anything exciting in the Daily Prophet today!"

Hermione was quite surprised when a rather fierce-looking owl came landing on her fork. When it stared at her, its eyes were almost like sharp daggers piercing into hers…she gasped as it stuck out its foot at her. A small rolled-up note was tied rather tightly to it. She untied the note, only to notice that the string had cut into the owl's leg. It refused to stay any longer, taking to the air instantly, never looking back as it soared away and out of the Hall.

Wondering who would send her a note, Hermione unrolled the note rather tentatively. She could sense Harry was watching her, but she kept her eyes on the note.

"Granger,

Library 8 pm. Don't you dare tell a soul or you'll be sorry."

Only one person would address her so contemptuously, and by her surname. Hermione crushed the note in her hand, but her fist was shaking so badly that Harry could not hesitate any longer.

"Hermione, what is it?"

Don't you dare tell a soul.

"Nothing. Some idiot guy who…who was teasing me the other day."

Harry did not buy it, and Hermione knew it. She was terrible at lying, and she could feel her face grow burning hot, but she carried on with her dinner. She knew Harry would not ask anymore, though she was afraid he would follow her. Hence, immediately after dinner, she sped off so quickly that Harry did not even notice she was gone till a few seconds later.

Hermione stepped into the library, her heart pounding. What did Draco Malfoy want? Why did he send a letter, instead of telling her through thoughtspeech? Questions swirled in her head as she walked past each library shelf. It was both comforting and unnerving that the library was empty, save for Madam Pince, who was dozing off at the counter. She wished there was some noise to distract her, instead of a cold silence eating away at her nerves. Yet, she was glad to see that nobody would notice her meeting with Malfoy.

Just a few more shelves.

Hermione gritted her teeth as she made each step. She suddenly wished she had told Professor McGonagall about the threat surrounding Hogwarts…then she wouldn't have to deal with Malfoy by herself. She wished that Harry and Ron were beside her, so that if Malfoy took things too far, she wouldn't be alone in wishing he were dead. But somehow, the knot in her stomach tightened as she thought of Malfoy dead.

"So…we meet again."

It was a cliché beginning to what was going to happen next, so Hermione instinctively rolled her eyes, but she noticed that Draco Malfoy was not smirking when he said that. He had just simply said that with an expressionless face.

"What do you want?" Hermione narrowed her eyes at him.

"I should be asking you that."

"What have I done?"

Malfoy snorted. "What has high-and-mighty-Granger done? She has no idea? For once, the know-it-all has no answer to a question."

"Get on with it!" Hermione felt her temper rising.

"Touched a raw nerve?" Malfoy looked at her. But there was still no smirk. Hermione couldn't place his expression. It looked something…torn between emotionless…and a trace of…

Fear.

"Look," said Malfoy pointedly, his eyes glinting. "I don't want you messing around in my affairs, Granger. You jolly well know I'm the Dark Lord's minion. I don't want you to be involved in this mess. If someone has to pay, it's Potter. It's not even Weasley, honestly…"

"Stop being a martyr!" cried Hermione, tears welling up in her eyes. "You've landed Ron in the hospital wing, and you're going to get rid of Ginny! How dare you be a hypocrite! How dare you try to keep me away when you're targeting all the people close to me!"

"Granger! I…"

"And mind you Malfoy, Harry Potter happens to be MY best friend and if you dare to lay a finger on him, I'll…"

"Granger!"

"I swear I'll…"

"Granger, damn it!" Malfoy spat. "You were the one who said I cared!"

There was absolute silence for a few seconds.

"What?" Hermione couldn't believe her ears.

Draco Malfoy scowled terribly. "To hell with you, mudblood."

Hermione ignored the swearing. "What did you say?"

"What you said, idiot." Malfoy sounded almost repulsed to drag those words out of his mouth, though the 'idiot' came quite naturally.

Hermione blinked. She didn't know what to say next.

Malfoy glared at her. Seeing that she was not about to respond anytime soon, he gave up and slammed his fist on the table so loudly that a loud SHHHH could be heard from Madam Pince many shelves away.

"Now look here," he lowered his voice to a whisper, his eyes staring piercingly at hers. "You just stay away from what I'm involving myself in. I'll handle my own affairs."

"Not when it involves my friends!" retorted Hermione in a fierce whisper, tears trickling down her cheeks. "You're going to kill Ginny, and I can't let you!"

"Who said anything about killing that ridiculous red-head?" snorted Malfoy. "Her life is worth nothing! What the Dark Lord wants is to weaken that stupid Potter, not to kill Ginny Weasley!"

"So what? If you paralyse her, leave her in a state like what Ron is now, how different is it from killing her?" Hermione challenged, the words rushing out of her mouth in a torrent. Then she gave a big shudder, and began to sob, as all the images of Ginny ending up being Stunned just like Ron came flooding into her mind.

Draco Malfoy stared at Hermione Granger in despair. He was thankful when he heard the library door click; it meant Madam Pince had enough of weird students in the library and had gone to get coffee to wake herself up from weirdness. Now he was stuck here, rage and desperation barely concealed on his face, with a sobbing girl whom all he had for now was solely hatred and anger.

"Damn it why do you care so much about other people, Granger, why don't you just think about yourself and stop being such a stupid fool!"

"Because I'm not as unfeeling as you!" Hermione nearly shouted through her sobs. "I'm not as cruel as you to abandon your friends, to think you're the greatest in the whole universe, to go ahead and give yourself to the Dark Lord without thinking about other people who are sick to death worrying about what you'll do next and forgetting that you're going against the very man who let you have an education in Hogwarts and still is allowing you to carry on despite the fact that you're a filthy Death…"

"I didn't CHOOSE TO BE ONE, goddamn it Granger!" Malfoy spun around and pulled out his wand, pointing it at Hermione with a trembling hand. "Now shut up your preaching, I don't need ANY word of it! You claim to be so honourable and great, what about you thinking you are the cleverest witch in the school and acting so pompous around everyone else, huh? You think you're being really kind and all to care about other people, but let me tell you, people like me don't need your bloody concern!"

Silence once more.

"Oh yeah?"

Malfoy looked a bit taken aback by that, but he merely snorted again and looked away.

Hermione looked at him, her vision blurred by hot tears. She stood up and took a few steps towards him. What about this? You told me. You chose to tell me. Eight pm. Tower.

Granger, shut up. "Shut up!" he repeated himself, just to be doubly sure the message got across. Apparently it didn't.

Malfoy…I do know. I do know you didn't want to be. Through…through this. The tears never stopped falling from Hermione's red eyes. I know you didn't want to become a Death Eater…you were made to…weren't you?

Draco Malfoy backed away a little. Hermione took a few steps forward.

What do you want?

"I don't want anything," whispered Hermione. Draco was about to back into a shelf, and suddenly his whole body shuddered. The mask of rage and smugness had come down, leaving behind a pale, shaking boy clutching onto his wand helplessly.

"I just want to let you know, you can get out of this. You can. You don't have to kill anymore…please, Draco, don't hurt anymore people! You can turn back!"

Hermione's voice was so pathetic, pleading; but she really wanted him to pull through, she really wanted him to turn back and go on the right path…she didn't want him to be sucked into the Darkness…to be completely rid of any trace of good he could have in him…

Suddenly, Draco Malfoy dropped his wand and his feet moved away from the shelf, until it was just in front of Hermione's shoes. He looked into her pleading eyes that were red from crying. Please, Draco.

He hesitated, before he raised a trembling thumb to brush away the tears on her cheeks. Hermione's eyes widened, and suddenly became rigid as he lifted her chin with his fingers gently.

Then he kissed her.

No, Hermione. I can't.