You dont have to say a word. Nope. Not even one peep. Here are my dot points for you;

1. I know this is outragously late, that i am a horrible horrible writer for making you wait so long, so lease forgive me...lol

2. Yes i said i would update Hearts Intertwined, as it was my top priority, but i didn't feel like it. So THIS became my top priority. I already have chapter 9 completed as well, so if you want that, there will have to be some serious reviews. Mwahaha, yes i am evil.

3. Yes i know Hermione is slightly out of character. I didnt realise how much until i had already posted these chapters, do i am doing my best to put her back in character again. However, you DO have to remember that it is out of character for Hermione and Draco to fall in love anyway, so HA

4. The next chapter will be up as soon as i think i have enough reviews. Ive always said before, if you dont review, i dont update! hehehe

5. I love you all, so please dont be mad at me, here is your chapter xoxoxo

Chapter 8: Are we enemies?

Trees rustled outside the foggy window and ice covered the glass like small droplets of water. A small screech of a morning owl awoke the person lying roughly in his bed. His eyes peered open, the sudden light a bit dazzling. He groaned and looked at his alarm clock placed on the bedside table. Seeing the time he turned away, disgusted, and pulled his warm covers over his head. Surely it wouldn't matter that he slept in for a little longer….

"Good morning everyone and hello again to another FAB-U-LOUS day! For those of you who are still lazing around in bed, time to wake up listen to the Wizarding Wireless! For now, let's get you awake with the latest song by "The weird sisters!"

Draco's eyes flew open again as he looked at the now flashing alarm clock. Frowning at it, he tried to turn it off, but it was just out of reach. Feeling frustrated he tightened the covers around him and reached further towards his table…

"OW!"

A tangled mass of bed sheets fell to the floor as a body hit the ground with a thud. Disentangling himself from his covers, Draco stood up angrily and firmly pressed the 'off' button on the clock. The voices stopped to his relief and he shoved his blankets roughly back onto his bed.

Feeling as though he didn't really have any choice now, Draco picked up his wand and flicked it at his cupboard. A pair of jeans, a black singlet and his Hogwarts robes whizzed towards him. Draco grabbed at his garments unenthusiastically and gruffly put them on as quickly as he could before stuffing a few things into his bag, ruffling his hair so it lay somehow perfectly over his forehead, and heading out his bedroom door.

The squeaking of his trainers was the only thing he could hear as he descended the stairs so he assumed his roommate had already hurried off to an early reading session in the library before breakfast or something. Suddenly, a few images flashed in front of his mind from the night before and he stopped for a few seconds, his eyes wide. It hadn't just been a dream…

Shit

What the hell had he been doing?! He blinked in frustration, trying to shake the images of the past night from his mind. Draco could have kicked himself for being so stupid

Then, just as he was about to cross the tables in the common room, a small whizzing sound met his ears and a piece of parchment almost whacked him in the face. It hovered for a few seconds in front of his eyes, before replacing itself back upon the table. Feeling somewhat obliged, Draco picked it up instantly, and began to read it. By the time he had gotten past the title, he already knew who it was from. The perfectly slanted handwriting of Hermione Granger stared back at him as he looked down the page.

Draco,

Please understand why I have to say this. We will always be enemies.

I can't do this. We can't erase our past.

I'm sorry,

Hermione

It took him a few turns of reading the short letter to actually take in the words neatly scribbled down. It surprised him that he felt a small stab of disappointment after understanding what she had said. As if by instinct, a shadow of pride and dignity crept over and words flew through his head.

The stupid mudblood thought last night meant something.

How pathetic.

As if someone like me could ever fall for her.

The only reason I came last night was...to see what she was up to.

If I turn her in she'll be expelled for sure. No more little Granger to ruin my day.

Anger began to seep through his head and his fist clenched around the parchment tightly so that it crumpled and split. How dare she toy with his emotions like that! He was Draco Malfoy, Head Boy of Hogwarts and pureblood perfection of all Slytherins. He could have any girl he wanted in this entire school. What made her think that he would ever want anything to do with her? It wasn't as if he had actually meant what had happened last night. He was just pretending. Yeah, that was it… just pretending. It was pretend the way he had shivered when she had placed her hands on his shoulders, pretend the way he had comforted her on the balcony. It was also just pretend when he danced with her, all night as if it was only them and no one else. Yep, that was it…all an act.

He grabbed his bag from the table and left the common room without another thought. If that was the way she wanted it, fine.

Nothing had ever happened.

Hermione rushed upstairs as quickly as she could after her breakfast. Unusual of her, she had completely forgotten all her textbooks and notes for Charms, her very first class of the day. She could have hit herself for being so stupid. She didn't like such…disorder.

Harry panted, rolling his eyes, annoyed, as he jogged after his best friend.

'Mione..' He puffed. 'What…are we doing up here…we're going…to be late for class…'

Hermione growled at him. 'Don't you think I know that Harry?' Her voice was panicked and she mumbled angrily as she slipped past the portrait hole and into her common room. 'Can't believe I forgot my books. I am so stupid! I can't even remember where I put them!'

Harry hurried in after her and placed his hands on his knees, bent double as he tried to regain his breathing. That girl sure could run fast. 'Hermione what are we doi-

'I forgot my books for charms Harry ok! Shut your mouth and help me find them!' She moved around him, bustling around, trying to locate the missing books. He stared at her cautiously and said '…Err...'Mione, are you ok?'

She turned and hissed, 'HARRY, my books!!' Her eyes flashed and it seemed electricity was building up around her. Harry knew her well enough to know that now was the time to just shut up and do exactly as she said. He would have a better chance of living that way.

Harry shuffled away from the portrait hole and into the room a little more, hesitantly looking under desks and on the cushions of chairs. He almost jumped aside every time Hermione scuttled past him, making sure that he didn't get in her way. He walked over to the bookcase and saw numerous, large, colour-coded folders all in a neat row, each one labelled accordingly. Harry tilted his head to see the words spread across them and ran a hand along the many spines. As soon as he had found the label 'Charms' he drew it out from the bookcase and almost dropped it because of its weight. Having no idea how Hermione managed to carry three of these around wherever she went, he turned around and spoke. 'Um, Hermione is this-

She took the folder from his hands before he had even said another word and muttered an incoherent "thank you" as she continued to pick up parchment and quills from here and there. Harry noticed a few scrambled notes on the desk and he picked them up. No sooner had he done so were they snatched off him by her long fingers and shoved into the bag she had slung around her shoulder.

'Ok, I think I have everything.' She said, breathing a little easier. Just then, they heard a loud bell ring from outside the door and she whimpered a little.

'Oh, no!!'

She shoved Harry out of the door and took a last look around the room in case there was anything she had missed.

Hermione noticed a small crumpled piece of paper on the floor. She picked it up, thinking it was some charms notes she might have overlooked. As she unfolded it and smoothed it out, she saw her own handwriting splayed across it, addressed to Malfoy.

She sighed and looked at its crumpled and torn state before placing it on the table. This couldn't be a good sign.

She heard Harry's voice ring from outside. 'C'mon Hermione we're already late!' She suddenly remembered her current situation and stammered 'Oh, yes, coming!' before sighing and rushing quickly out of the portrait hole, and following Harry down the staircase.

Harry looked at the flushed face of his best friend as they descended the stairs. Her hair whipped out behind her wildly and he noticed it seemed even bushier this morning than usual, as if Hermione had forgotten to brush it at all. Her eyes had replaced their usual bright, brisk cheerfulness with a gaze Harry only ever saw in there when something troublesome was occupying her mind. Hermione hadn't forgotten her books once, not ever, during their entire time at Hogwarts. Not even in their second year when Hermione had just recovered from her petrified state after being almost killed by a Basilisk.

'Are you sure you're all right Hermione?'

She flashed a look at him, and he couldn't work out if it was a look of irritation, or a look of how-does-he-know. Quickly looking away from him, she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear nervously and stammered 'of…of course I'm fine Harry. Why wouldn't I be?'

There was something in her voice that Harry didn't believe, and he stared at her intently all the way to Charms. They rushed in the door and Hermione answered a grovelling apology to a bewildered Professor Flitwick, sitting down at their usual table.

Harry watched as she almost slammed her books on the table, and noticed that Ron was staring at her in a worried way too. They exchanged meaningful glances just as Hermione swore under her breath after splattering her piece of parchment with ink. She scrunched the paper into a tiny ball and almost hit Ron as she threw it into the waste paper bin. He ducked just in time and turned to stare, almost fearfully, at the girl next to him. The last time she had been as irritated as this was when she had stormed off after slapping Draco Malfoy in the face.

Harry grew more and more curious about what was bugging Hermione as the day went on. She answered questions wrong all the way through Defence Against the Dark Arts, and accidentally transfigured a quill into a snake. It took 5 minutes for Professor McGonagall to calm down a group of girls who were standing on their table, shrieking and pointing at the cobra on the floor.

Hermione had then said to Harry in reply to him asking why the hell she had gotten that simple spell wrong, 'But what was wrong with it Harry? It was a really nice cobra!'

He sighed and pushed her out of the room as the bell rang. 'Yeah it was Hermione, except for the fact that we were supposed to be changing the quills into butterflies.'

At lunch, Hermione didn't utter a word to anyone, and seemed to continuously stare at the jug in front of her with a sort of bewildered expression on her face. Not even loading her plate with food, she chewed thoughtfully on the end of her quill all the way through their break, and then only retired to their next class when Ginny had poked her several times.

By the time they got to Potions, she seemed to have regained herself somewhat, but not completely. Harry noticed that she once again had her brisk sparkle in her eyes and she answered every time he spoke to her. And although it seemed unlikely, he concluded that she must have just been having an off day.

They settled themselves into their Potions class and unpacked their books as other students bustled noisily around them. As Hermione unpacked her things, she felt a sudden jolt on her shoulder and turned to see Pansy pushing past her to get to another table.

She looked back at Hermione and smirked. 'Is there a problem Granger?'

Hermione was just about to yell something back when Harry stomped on her foot. 'Don't push it 'Mione' he mumbled in her ear. Hermione grumbled at Pansy under her breath as she unpacked the last of her parchment.

Before much longer, Snape strode into the classroom and a hush filled the room at once. He swept to the front of the class and looked around with the familiar snarl planted on his face. 'I don't believe that I permitted you to return to your regular seating'

Everone stared at him reproachfully at this and a lot of mumbled insults permeated across the room. Snape's lip curled into a crude sneer and hey leant against his desk, his fingers strumming the tabletop tauntingly. 'Well, MOVE.'

There was a great scraping of chairs and many pairs of feet grudgingly shuffled towards their irregular seats. Hermione exchanged looks of annoyance with Harry before he got up and moved to the back to sit with Pansy. Hermione glanced the other way as a certain blonde-haired boy moved past to sit down next to her. He dumped his scrambled mess of books and quills on the table in a heap, hitting Hermione's hand with the corner of a heavy book in the process. She yanked her hand away and rubbed her thumb over the red mark that was now clear just below her wrist, glaring at him reproachfully. He made no sign of apology and sat down quickly, his eyes not meeting hers. They once again sat away from each other uncomfortably, but now there was a new feeling of awkwardness between them.

Snape conjured the usual steps of the potion they were making up on the board and there was soon people moving about the classroom and taking ingredients from shelves. Hermione went to take the small knife to begin chopping her snakeskin, but Malfoy grabbed it roughly and she had to pull her hand away quickly to avoid being hit. She paused cautiously for a moment before reaching out again for the frog liver. Once again, Malfoy snatched it from the desk before she had even touched it.

She recoiled again and bit her lip. Should she say something? Would he even talk to her? Was it worth the risk? She opened her mouth and words spilled out like water from a glass.

'Look, Malfoy…about last night-'

Malfoy reached past her and grabbed another ingredient. She leaned as far back in her chair as she could; it was the only thing she could do to stop him from hitting her.

'Move it Granger. You're in the way'

She sighed and looked down at her shoes. 'Look I know you fee-'

'You have no idea how I feel' he spat back at her. 'Just hand me that vial and let me work in peace, so I can get away from you more quickly'

She frowned and was just about to reach out and snatch the knife away from him when her sleeve caught his vial of squid juice and it tipped all over the desk. She gasped silently and tried to clean up the mess but Malfoy had already hissed in annoyance and pulled out his wand to fix the liquid that was now leaving inky blotches on his parchment.

'Oh, I didn't mea-'

She had to stop because the look he gave her was one of pure loathing.

'Cant you do anything right, you stupid little mudblood?'

Hermione cringed and looked away from him, not wanting him to see the water swelling in her eyes. How could she have thought that anything would change between them after that night? Of course she hadn't wanted them to be anything more than enemies but surely he hadn't forgotten everything? What about those kind words he had told her on the balcony? Was it all an act?

'Granger.' A voice spoke over her thoughts and she looked up into the face of Professor Snape. He glared down at her with his usual scowl. 'The teachers were in need of your assistance last night regarding a few matters of the Christmas ball. They were unable to locate you, and you would not answer when they knocked at your common room door. Where were you last night?'

Draco saw the fear in Hermione's eyes as she trembled under the look Snape gave her. He stopped his work and looked on at the conversation, with a strange feeling welling up inside him.

'I…um…well I…' Hermione stammered, staring into his cold black eyes, certain that she was going to get caught. 'You see I…'

'Yes?' Snape sneered, his fingers once again strumming on their table.

Draco clenched his fist underneath the table and gulped. How could he really be thinking of doing what half his mind was telling him to do? He looked over at the helpless Hermione again and grinded his teeth. She looked so utterly petrified. Once again a Pansy-like voice rang through his ears like a bell, screaming at him to stop being such a traitor. This was his chance to tell Snape where she had been! She could be stripped of the Head Girl badge, maybe even expelled!! Suddenly his mind swung the other way. There was no way he would. He had more sense than that.

God help me

I'm going to say it.

'Miss Granger I asked you a simple question.' Snape said, a smirk playing about his face. 'Where were you last-'

'She was with me, Professor.' said a deep voice next to Hermione.

Hermione blinked suddenly, and turned, still trembling, to look at the boy sitting next to her. Surely she had been dreaming.

'What?' Snape said, obviously highly confused. 'She was with you, Malfoy?'

'Yes she was,' he replied, not looking at Hermione, but staring straight at Snape without so much as a flinch. 'We were doing some last minute research in the restricted section of the library. I needed some help with some homework and she offered help me. We returned late, sorry for any inconvenience.'

Snape stared suspiciously at him for a moment before looking back at Hermione. 'Hmm…Very well,' he said, coldly. 'I shall inform Professor McGonagall of your whereabouts last night.'

He swept away from their table just before the bell for the end of period rang out. Students once again bustled around them and Draco started packing up his things without a word. He stood up before Hermione had even realised what had happened. She stared at him silently as he pushed his chair in and slung his bag over him shoulder. He walked around the desk to catch up with his friends, but just as he was about to leave, Draco's eyes came to rest upon Hermione's for the first time that day.

She suppressed a shiver. Those eyes. Those grey cloudy eyes. Her mind spun with memories of the past night and it flashed back to where their lips had almost touched as they danced so freely together, for the first time in their lives.

She blinked again, but he, and his eyes had already left her, sitting in the middle of a deserted Potions classroom, completely lost for words.

Hope you liked it! and again so sorry for the humongus delay, please please PLEASE review, i cant update if you dont!

xoxo Abs xoxo