A/N1: Hi-hi! I'm back. This chapter should have been easy to write, but it wasn't. It was actually one of the hardest. I'm not sure exactly where my story is going anymore. Yes I have a general idea...but I don't know specifics...thanks for all the reviews and being patient with me.

Disclaimer: I don't own HP. Well that's kinda—no, that's VERY obvious!!

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XXXXXXXXXXXXXXDracoXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (In the hallway for patrols).

Draco saw what was in front of him and he couldn't believe it. This couldn't be happening. It just couldn't be real. He rubbed his eyes furiously with his fists, hoping to clear the image but it was still there. But...how? It just wasn't possible! He blinked multiple times and looked again, but the sight remained. There in the hallway was a couple snogging the hell out of each other. Not too unusual of a sight around this time, but it wasn't the fact that it was a couple. Oh no, that wasn't it. The fact that it was—or appeared to be—him snogging Hermione! There was no mistaking it was him with the shade of hair, and there was no way that the other half of the couple was anyone but Hermione. She was wearing the same top and shoes and skirt that he had seen on her this morning. How was this possible? Nobody had ripped hairs out of his head for a polyjuice potion or anything; at least not that he knew of. His mind was whirling with possible explanations. The least appealing one was that he was imagining or dreaming this. He didn't want this to be real, but he also didn't want to be dreaming about him 'hooking up' with Hermione...her didn't want to be dreaming about her at all.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing? Its past curfew; you two need to get to bed! Separate beds please, might I add."

A voice called out from behind Draco, a very familiar voice. His head whipped around and he saw Hermione: the one that he was allegedly snogging in the corner right over there. Draco's eyes nearly bulged out of his sockets. This had to be a dream! There was no other way! He stared at the Hermione in her robes and then quickly glanced to the one pinned against the wall only to find that it wasn't Hermione. It was that one Slytherin that Blaise seemed to fancy paired up with...Blaise?! It wasn't he and Hermione after all. But was it ever? He wondered.

"Wha--? But you were just...and she was wearing—and I was..." Draco trailed off miserably, the notion that it was a false appearance spell didn't even occur to him. Blaise stepped away from Spencer and approached his friend warily.

"You ok mate? You've been acting really strange lately."

"Where did you come from?? You're not Blaise, you can't be!! You're me...and you were making out with Gra—Hermione."

"You've really gone off the deep end. I'm not you. She," he motioned to Spencer, "is not Granger, she is Spencer." He said as if speaking to a two-year old.

"I know that! But you weren't before."

"Weren't what before?"

"You weren't you!!" Hermione and Spencer stood off to the side, trying desperately to smother their giggles. It didn't work for very long. Right as Blaise opened his mouth to reply to Draco, the two burst into hysterical laughter. A sudden look of recognition passed across Draco's aristocratic features.

"This was all your idea of revenge for the hickey I conjured wasn't it? It was clever, I'll give you that much, but not clever enough. Did you really think for a second that you could outwit me, a Slytherin? If you did, then you've got another thing coming. Let's just say that with my form of revenge, the consequences are too ghastly to mention in civilized conversation." He turned and walked back the way he came, to his room. He was almost out of earshot when Hermione yelled at him.

"We have patrols, remember?" He froze in his tracks and sighed. Trying to maintain what dignity he had left, he headed back to where the other three were with his head held high.

"I know that. I just thought that it would be better to patrol that way."

"Sure, sure Malfoy, whatever waves your wand."

Patrols passed in a rather awkward silence. Neither of them had anything to say to one another and even if they did, they wouldn't have said it. Draco was mad that she had gotten one over on him and Hermione was mad because she didn't think that he would retaliate; for some odd reason, she thought that they would be able to call a truce but no: stupid Slytherins and their stupid pride prevented that from happening. So now, on top of being mad, Hermione was becoming paranoid. She knew that he was just as clever as she, and if he really wanted to he could do something so insanely terrible to her that there would be no chance of her not being scarred for life, and then she would have no idea how to get him back.

Which, unbeknownst to her, was exactly the situation that Malfoy was going through; the whole confidence-in-a-nasty-revenge-retaliation thing, yeah, that was merely a façade. In reality, he had no idea what to do to follow that up. He would never admit it to her face, but her whole scheme was more than clever...it was brilliant and in his opinion, very much like something a Slytherin would pull. It totally messed with his head. He couldn't think of what to do to get her back. Ok, I know she's expecting something big after I said the line about the consequences, but I don't know what to do. I can't just do not do anything, that'd be so pathetic if I just did nothing! She would just be so paranoid that she'd spend all of her time obsessing and looking over her shoulder...THAT'S IT! I'll do nothing. I really amaze myself sometimes.

The patrol continued to pass in silence; it seemed as if nobody was out past curfew for once. At 9:30, Hermione couldn't take the silence—it's just so freaking loud in its own way—so she started a hesitant conversation with him.

"What do you think of Spencer and Blaise together?"

"I don't know." Again the conversation stopped.

"I think they make a cute couple."

"Mhmm."

"And they have a good chance of actually lasting unlike most of the couples here."

"Yep." Hermione internally groaned at his mostly monosyllable responses. It was impossible to have a conversation with someone who so obviously didn't want to participate in it.

"Ok! I give up. No more talking. But how can you stand the silence? It's driving me insane." This time he simply shrugged which drove Hermione absolutely up the wall. "Goodnight. I'm done. I hope the bedbugs bite and STRANGLE you in your sleep." She stalked off, 15 minutes earlier than she was supposed to.

XXXXXXXXHermioneXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (April 2nd).

The next two months passed in a blur of paranoia for Hermione. She was always looking over her shoulder, expecting the worst from Malfoy, but it never came. She was so caught up with watching her back that when April 2nd arrived—the day before Elaine's birthday—Hermione was frantic. She still hadn't gotten her friend a birthday gift. Now normally, Hermione was one to see something in a store and decide that it would be perfect for a friend and then get it for their birthday, even if it was months in advance. But she didn't remember to find something that Elaine would appreciate; and now she had one day to find something that she would. It was a major shock to Alyssa when Hermione confessed her gift predicament, especially considering the fact that Alyssa was the one who got Hermione started on being months ahead of time, but nonetheless, she agreed to help.

TBC…

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A/N2: REVIEW! No flames.

Lovelove, Amanda