A/N Hey guys! So...this chapter is smutty. I hope you don't think its too much too soon – I hope you enjoy. Let me know what you think, please! R + R

5. A Strange Kind Of Love

The boys dormitory on the fifth floor of the Gryffindor tower was normally, at 3am on a Sunday morning, filled with sleeping students, tired from their first week back at Hogwarts. Seven days had passed since the incident on the train – each day in lessons, Hermione had ignored all of her old friends, sitting on her own, eating on her own and working in the Slytherin common room on her own. This morning, however, Ron and Harry were both in their own beds, staring up at the ceiling, wide awake.

Ron was thinking about how much Hermione had changed since she had learned how her entire life was a lie – Harry had filled him on the situation. She had completely blown him off on the train, treated him like dirt. And he wondered what had been happening between her and that Malfoy scum before the confrontation between the four of them. It looked more friendly than he would have expected from the two of them. He'd also heard the commotion Hermione had created in the girls dormitory – rumours had been flying around the common room all week. Some people were saying Hermione had gone crazy, others said she was under the Imperius curse, and there was a strange story going around that she'd starting going out with a hardcore biker guy from home and he had changed her attitude to life. He was worried about her, and couldn't help wanting to help her. He was in love with her after all.

In the next bed, Harry was contemplating how his life, as well as Hermione's, had been a sham up till now. His mother was...a whore. She had slept with her worst enemy – Severus Snape, how could she? And to run straight back into James' arms after giving birth to an illegitimate child straight away, as if nothing had happened...that made him feel sick. He was angry at his mother, and at Hermione. They had both brought him such pain. But despite that, he felt unrelentingly awful for slapping Hermione. He hadn't realised that she was going through the same thing he was, she was hurting for the same reason. Her life had been tipped upside-down as well. Maybe he should talk to her.

"Ron, are you awake?" Harry whispered through the darkness of the room.

"Yeah, you idiot. I'm not snoring – so I've got to be awake. Or dead."

Harry laughed. Ron always knew how to lighten the mood at the most awkward moments.

"I think we need to go and see Hermione. Where do you think she'll be? I need to apologise to her."

"We'll find her. She's probably in the library, camped out between the shelves or something. She's not been sleeping in the dorms, so where else could she be? Hey, reckon she'd help me with the reading we were supposed to do over the holidays?"

"No, you git. She's a bit busy dealing with being my half-sister and learning she's adopted to do your sodding homework for you. Geez, Ron." Harry launched a pillow at Ron's head, and hearing a gasp, he knew he'd hit his target.

Later that day, at a more reasonable hour, Harry and Ron began to search the grounds for Hermione. They were sure she would be in the library – probably already caught up on the work the teachers had set them in the first week – but unfortunately it wasn't as easy to find her as they'd hoped. They looked in the hallway outside the Gryffindor common room, in the girl's bathroom, interrogated Moaning Myrtle and Peeves when they came across them at various parts of the castle. The check broom closets, and abandoned classrooms. Eventually they gave up, and settled down onto a staircase on the second floor.

"I don't understand where she could have gone, Ron."

"Me either, Harry."

"Well, congratulations on putting maximum effort into trying to find me, you lazy gits. I've been in the Entrance Hall all morning."

The two boys looked behind them, seeing Hermione scowling at them. They noticed her new uniform – green and silver. The Slytherin badge gleamed on her chest.

"What? Why are you wearing a Slytherin uniform, Hermione? I don't..." Ron looked very confused.

"Oh, don't think too hard into it, Weasel. It couldn't be that I'm IN SLYTHERIN now or anything, could it? You would never consider that I've grown up over the holidays, and come to my senses. I'm tired of being in your shadow. Slytherin will give me the opportunities I need." Hermione fingered the new colours on her uniform. "Plus, its rather fetching in combination with my new hair colour, don't you think?"

"Hermione, look, we've come to bring you back to Gryffindor, and to apologise, you didn't deserve..." Harry began, but was cut off short when Hermione placed a finger to his lips, signalling that he should be quiet.

"Harry, darling brother...shut up. I'm not interested in coming back upstairs. I'm a clever girl, and I know what I can achieve by staying right where I am. Soon enough, I'll have new, more powerful friends, and new, more powerful allies. I don't want your apology – save it for someone who cares."

Pushing through her ex-friends, she giggled, and said, "See you in Potions, Gryffindors. Careful not to trip up on your way back upstairs." Flicking her wand at the gobsmacked twosome, she cast a Trip jinx that she'd seen Malfoy perform on many students before, watching as Harry's glasses flew up in the air as he fell to the ground, and Ron made a loud whelping noise as he followed Harry.

At the bottom of the stairs, Malfoy stood admiring Hermione's wandwork, while Crabbe and Goyle stood behind him, leering at her, as she made her way down the stairs towards him. He was impressed, she cast a good spell, especially the one she had cast over him. He was enthralled. Today, she had tied her hair back, high up on her head – she looked devilishly attractive. She flashed him a sultry look as she neared the bottom of the stairs.

"Move along, Mudblood – you'll stink up the place."

"Yeah, move along. Before Draco does something you'll regret."

Crabbe and Goyle chuckled at each other, thinking themselves clever.

"Don't speak to her that way, you idiots. Can't you see her colours now – she's becoming one of us. And she isn't a filthy Mudblood. Call her that again and you'll be tied by your ankles to the top tower of the castle for a week." Draco said coldly. He held his wand at Crabbe's throat to demonstrate his seriousness.

The two boys whimpered and backed off to the other side of the hall, then scurried away down a corridor. Draco turned back to face Hermione, noticing she'd moved a lot closer than when he'd lasted looked – she was mere inches away from him now.

"You didn't have to do that, Draco," purred Hermione, stroking his face with her fingertips. She felt indebted to him for standing up for her.

"I wanted to, and anyway – they've been annoying me all day. Anything else I can do for you?"

"Actually, yes, there is. Nobody in Slytherin has been amazingly welcoming – nobody worth my time, anyway. Except you. I was considering...an alliance? We both have similar goals, we're both...talented." Hermione let her fingers linger over Draco's lips, her eyes smouldering when he lightly bit the end of one of them.

"Let's talk about this somewhere more private shall we?"

The two Slytherins entered Hermione's room in the Slytherin common room. Draco admired the room with jealousy – even his father, a highly-respected Ministry of Magic employee, had not been able to convince the school to let his son have his own room. Hermione settled herself on the end of her huge bed, and Draco chose to sit on the plush green leather sofa set down opposite the bed. This, he thought, was living in style. What a lucky, lucky girl.

"Now, about this deal we're going to make..."

"Draco, you're the only one in Slytherin who has accepted me. In the last week I've been ignored, taunted and scorned by all of my fellow housemates. You're the only one who will give me the time of day. Why is that, may I ask?"

"A few reasons. The simplest being that I find you attractive – you're a conquest, Hermione, and an important one to me. More importantly, you're useful – you know magic like nobody else in this school, even some of the teachers. You could be helpful to me. Also, I've always known you had a dark side to you, and I've been dying for it to come out and play. This is your time, and mine, to shine, Hermione. What did you have in mind, for this alliance?" His grey eyes shined silver for a second at the thought of what a powerful couple they would make. Her intelligence, his daring, their wands together as one.

"I had a dream a few nights ago, of how powerful I could become. I want to rule this school, and that's not all. I want to overturn the wizarding world. It's never been good to me, so I want to change it all. And you would make an excellent partner. What do you say?"

"And what do I get out of this deal, I already own the school, more or less."

She knew what he was asking for. Hermione slid off of the bed, and walked towards the attractive blond settled on the sofa in front of her. Bending over him, to give him a good view of that black lacy bra she knew he liked, she stared him straight in the eyes and said, "You get to share my power, Draco. Our power. We'd be unstoppable. I have much bigger ambitions than Hogwarts. I'll tell you my plans soon enough."

Gripping the sofa behind his head, she straddled him, placing her thighs either side of his, and lowered herself gently onto his lap. "And obviously, there are certain perks. I'm sure you'll appreciate that part of the job." Feeling him harden beneath her, Hermione leaned her head down to his, meeting his lips for the first time. She kissed him softly at first, enticing him to deepen the kiss. He parted her lips and thrust his warm, soft tongue into her mouth, battling hers for dominance. She had never been kissed like this in her life, this was a wild, animal kiss – it meant something.

Draco pushed the hem of her skirt up high onto her thighs, wanting the kiss to never end. He slid his hands beneath the fabric, skimming over her panties and round to her firm ass. He squeezed her hard like he had on the train, and she gave a deep moan into his mouth, and ran her hands through his hair. He hated it when Pansy did that, but Hermione...she just made him want her more.

Gasping for air, they ended the kiss. The two of them sat in this provocative position, smirking at each other.

"Well, that was interesting. For an ex-Gryffindor, you sure do know your way around a man. I'll take your offer. But I'll need to know those plans of yours, if we're going to be a team." Draco patted her on the ass, and chuckled.

"Welcome to the team, Malfoy. Now, where were we?"

Staring into Draco's ocean-grey eyes, Hermione began to grind against his stiffness, making him throb more and bit his lip and pushed her down onto his member, his hands massaging her thighs in encouragement. What an amazing business deal this was. She began to unbutton her shirt slowly, watching his eyes twinkle at the sight of that infamous lace bra.

"My..my..Hermione. What a naughty girl – that bra is going to have to come off immediately," Draco said while expertly reaching around and popping the clasp. It fell down onto her lap, revealing her firm breasts, nipples hard and ready for him. He pulled her down, licking from the bottom of her right breast to her nipple, which he took into his mouth, nibbling and sucking, massaging her other breast while she moaned and began to grind against him even harder than before.

Releasing her nipple, Draco ripped off Hermione's skirt, and marvelled for a moment at this semi-naked girl, writhing on top of him. He knew she was different from the other girls. She wouldn't just be a one-night stand. He loved the way she wanted to please him, and how she had so much confidence in her body. What a change from the mousy-haired girl of the year before.

Hermione caught Draco staring at her, and decided she couldn't wait anymore. She needed to be his. She leaned down to his face, taking her lips with hers, kissing him hard and deeply. Her hands wandered down to his shirt, which she unbuttoned and pushed to the sides of his chest. Kissing down his chest, Hermione slipped to Draco's side, unstraddling him, and began to unzip his trousers. As soon as she could access him, she slid her hand into his trousers, moaning when she realised he was going commando, and grasped his hard cock in her hand.

"Oh, my...Draco," Hermione groaned at the size of him – who would have thought!

She let go of his manhood, and ran to the bed, getting underneath the covers, suddenly feeling a little shy. Draco followed her to the bed, stripping on his way, and lay next to her on the bed. He felt a little wary – he felt different about Hermione, compared to the total, all-consuming lust he had experience a few moments before. He cared for her. What was happening to him?

Hermione wriggled out of her pants, threw them off of the bed, and pressed her body to his, staring into his eyes.

"Something's changed, hasn't it Draco? I don't quite understand what..."

"I know what you mean...I feel...strange. Like, this isn't just sex."

"Take me, Draco. Now. I need you," Hermione begged, kissing him softly.

The next morning, Draco awoke to a strange sight – he wasn't in his dormitory! Never before had he slept in a bed with a girl, even after sex. He noticed Hermione was asleep, her head resting on his chest, her arms wrapped around him. This would have irritated him, normally...but with her, something was different. He thought he sort of like being in this situation. Trying not to wake her, he settled back into a deep sleep.

Hermione was pretending to be asleep. She had woken up several minutes before and realised Draco was still in her bed, and that they had fallen asleep in a rather romantic position. This hadn't been her plan. She remembered the amazing night they had had, the sex had been fantastic. Of course, she had nothing to compare it to, but he hadn't hurt her at all. It had been a passionate evening. She stifled a gasp as she remembered gazing into his eyes lovingly. What was happening to them?

This was a strange kind of love.