A/N : Big thanks to Jack for putting up with so many chapters all at once! And special thanks to Jessica for helping me overcome writer's block this chapter! Love you girls.

Also thanks to my faithful reviewers, who keep me going when I think it might be better for me to stop all this nonsense. You guys keep me crazy, even when the world is peer pressuring me into being sane. So thanks! :D

Draco was dreaming.

He was sitting in the drawing room of the Manor; he was alone. Suddenly, an owl appeared at the window. Draco stood to let it in, and the owl transformed into Hermione Granger, who sat on the windowsill and gave him a sultry look.

"Hey, Malfoy, come here, I want to show you something," she crooned, pushing her robe off her shoulder and baring just enough skin to stop Draco's breath and heart. He debated for a moment; then threw caution to the wind and kissed her.

Her lips were soft and sweet, and she eagerly returned the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him closer. Her legs were around his waist then, and he picked her up and carried her to the sofa, where they collapsed in a writhing, panting heap. He pushed her robes up around her waist in one rough motion; he wanted more.

Suddenly his father's voice came from the doorway of the drawing room. "I always knew you were worthless; sullying yourself with a Mudblood," and then Lucius raised his wand and bellowed, "Avada Kedavra!"

The rush of wind was distorted around Draco's ears and he saw the flash of light coming and shut his eyes, waiting for the curse to hit him. Instead he felt Granger go limp in his arms.

"NOOO," he cried when he opened his eyes and saw that hers were unseeing and blank. He raised his wand at Lucius, but he was too late, another curse was flying already from the older man; it hit Draco square in the chest and everything went black.

Back in the hospital wing, Draco sat bolt upright in his bed, completely unaware of where he was and that he had been dreaming. He was drenched in sweat, and he looked around wildly. It was dark. Someone was rushing to the bed where he was, but he barely noticed them.

"He killed her! He…" Draco kicked the blanket off his legs and swung them to the cold stone floor. "The bastard! I'll kill him, I'll kill him!"

"Mr. Malfoy! Mr. Malfoy, calm down, no one's killed anyone; please lie back down." The witch was fumbling in the dark next to him, one hand on his arm and the other waving her wand so a candle blazed to life on the bedside table. Her face came into illuminated glow immediately, and he recognized her.

"M-Madam Pomfrey? Where…where am I?"

"You're in the hospital wing, Mr. Malfoy," she replied. "At Hogwarts, remember?"

Draco suddenly felt very tired. It had been a dream, of course. Why hadn't he realized that at once? It had been strange from the start; and the idea of him defending the Mudblood? Insanity!

He had been ready to kill his father because of a stupid dream; not only that, the witch he'd been so ready to avenge was Granger.

He leaned back on the pillows and waved the mediwitch away, assuring her that he'd merely been dreaming. Madam Pomfrey cast him a suspicious glance, but urged him to get some rest as she scurried off back to wherever the hell she went. Draco didn't care. He was thinking too much to notice.

He determined that something was wrong with him. For some reason, he was attracted to Granger. It couldn't be denied, for the previous day – before she hexed him, of course – he'd been ready to kiss her. He supposed that in that moment he'd somehow forgotten who she was and had allowed the electricity he could feel between them cloud his thinking.

That was all it had been. A moment of hormone-induced insanity. A moment that, of course, could never be repeated.

If her bloodline had been different…but that was neither here nor there. Her blood was what it was, and it was simply unacceptable for him to associate with her, in that way or otherwise. And with that, Draco lay his head on the pillow and drifted into an uneasy sleep.

The next day, Madam Pomfrey pronounced Draco fit as a fiddle and released him to go to classes, as long as he didn't overexert himself.

The only comfort Draco had was that Granger had more than likely been expelled immediately when they learned she had openly attacked him the way she had. He heaved an inward sigh of relief as he left the hospital wing, secure in the knowledge that he wouldn't have to worry about her anymore.

He'd already missed more than half of his first class, Transfiguration, when Madam Pomfrey released him, so he headed for the Prefect's bathroom for a quick bath before Potions.

Thirty minutes later, he stepped out into the hall, his hair still glistening from the bath and feeling much better. He plunged his hands into his pockets and whistled tunelessly as he strolled down to the dungeons. He stopped briefly in his dorm to pick up his schoolbag, then he headed for dungeon five, the Potions classroom.

He walked in and couldn't help but smirk. He'd been right, of course; Granger wasn't there, and she was usually the first to arrive, the goody two-shoes. Draco dropped his bag on his regular table and began to unpack his things, humming slightly to himself as his good mood persisted.

Suddenly his happy disposition was shattered into a million pieces as he heard the unmistakable voices of Potter, Weasley, and none other than Hermione Granger enter the room behind him. He whipped his head around quickly, not even bothering to hide his shock and anger that Granger hadn't been expelled.

"You!"

"Yes, me. Who did you expect, the Minister of Magic?" Granger replied sarcastically with a smirk. Draco resisted the urge to curse her into oblivion.

"They haven't chucked you out?" he spat, trying to regain some of his composure now. It wouldn't do to let them see him all out of joint over this.

"Apparently not, as I'm still here," she replied, setting her bag down and beginning to unpack it. Potter and the Weasel chuckled stupidly.

"Better watch out, Malfoy, or she'll hex you again," Weasley grinned, elbowing Potter in the ribs. Hermione pretended not to hear, but Draco saw the barely concealed grin on her face.

"Oh, yeah, Weasley? Why don't you just hex me yourself? Or do you have to always hide behind your little Mudblood girlfriend?" he retorted. He knew it was lame, but he could barely think straight at this point, he was so angry Granger hadn't been expelled. The best he could do was attack her friends and her parentage.

The look on her face as she stepped up to stand beside the Weasel almost made it all worth it. She was so angry that her eyes glittered - barely controlled magic danced in those eyes.

If Snape hadn't walked in right then she might have hexed him again. All three of them might have attacked him at once, actually, as they all drew their wands at the exact same moment.

"Twenty points from Gryffindor for drawing wands in my classroom," Snape barked as he swept between them to the front of the room. He didn't even look at them as he passed, and Weasley groaned at the loss of points. Snape whisked around as he reached his desk and arched an eyebrow maliciously. "Each," he added, causing groans from several Gryffindors who had just entered the dungeon classroom.

"Silence!" Snape snapped, and the room quieted instantly.

Draco took his seat as class began. He was certainly not happy. Even the extra points docked from Gryffindor didn't cheer him that much. Granger was still at Hogwarts. After she almost killed him!

He hated her. He hated her arrogance, her skill with a wand and her blood. He hated her idiot friends. He hated that Potter was still breathing, that Weasley had managed to scrape through to fifth year classes, and that Hermione Granger was still at his school.

In his earlier years, Draco mused, he would have just owled his father to have this whole mess straightened out. He could have had her expelled if he'd wanted to. Lucius would have had no problem getting a Muggle-born chucked out, all Draco really had to do was ask. Of course he couldn't do that now; it would only further convince his father that he was useless and weak, and besides, he reasoned, I can take care of this myself.

He would have his revenge. He would make her suffer. He would make her pay; make them all pay, once and for all.

Draco skipped lunch in favor of a little trip to the library.

He had considered going to the common room, but there was always a chance that some couple had skipped lunch in order to have an uninterrupted snog session there, and he needed a place where he wouldn't be disturbed. Outside on the grounds would have been a good second choice, but the weather was already getting cooler, and at least in the library he'd be sheltered from the wind that was blowing mercilessly outside today.

When he arrived in the library, habit sent him on his way to his regular table in the stacks, but he stopped short halfway there.

Perhaps that might not be the safest place, he mused. He wasn't thinking of running into Granger again; it was just that he didn't think he wanted to be in the place he'd been when he'd almost kissed her. It might send him on a train of thought he wouldn't like.

So he settled for a table on the edge of the library instead. It was next to a window overlooking the lake; and he could see the giant squid stretching its tentacles lazily above the water before it disappeared into the murky blackness. The water barely made a ripple in response.

Draco dropped his bag on the table and extracted a piece of parchment and a self-inking quill. He sat down in a chair and spread the parchment on the table.

How can I get even with Granger, once and for all?

From somewhere down the line in his education from Lucius, he remembered that if you wanted to destroy someone, the best way to go about it was indirectly. You didn't attack them head-on; instead you attacked the things they cared about. Emotional pain sometimes was greater than physical pain.

So. What does our dear little Mudblood care about?

For starters, she practically worshipped that stupid git Potter. She'd have a cow if she made anything less than top marks in any of her classes. And she obviously still gave a damn about that wanker Krum, even though for the life of him Draco couldn't figure out why.

What else is there? he thought irritably.

Before too long, Draco heard voices in the corridor outside the library and knew lunch was over. He had a short list of things he knew Granger cared about scrawled on the parchment, which he rolled up and magically sealed so that no one but him could open it. He wasn't exactly pleased with his plan yet, but he decided it was a start, at least.

Smirking, Draco stowed the scroll in the pocket of his robes and left the library. Whistling softly, he made his way not to the dungeons, but up to Ravenclaw tower. There was someone he needed to see.

Two days later, Draco's plan was in full swing. Even he had to admit it was brilliant; and even he couldn't have guessed how smoothly it would go.

He was set to meet her in the library after lunch to study. She had agreed to help him with his Charms homework after he'd convinced her he was a complete dunce at it and would never figure it out on his own. She'd bought every word he'd said; apparently she couldn't resist helping someone with their homework, even across House boundaries.

When he walked in the library, he didn't have to look far to find her. She was sitting at a table in the middle of the room, her books and notes strewn around her. Draco strolled over to her table and placed his hands on the back of her chair. She stiffened when she realized someone was behind her.

"Sit down, Malfoy," she said, not even turning around. He smirked and dropped into the chair next to her.

"Why so formal, love?" he drawled as he pulled his Charms book out of his bag. "If we're going to be spending so much time together, you should be able to call me Draco."

"Fine, Draco," she sighed, tucking her dark hair behind one ear. "What did you need help with?"

"Well, Padma, darling, I need whatever your brilliant Ravenclaw brain can give me," he replied silkily, cocking an eyebrow at her and giving her a dashing smile. He couldn't be sure, but he was sure she had blushed a bit before delving into her bag for another book. When she brought her head up a second later, she was calm and collected once more.

The rest of their free period passed in a similar way, excepting that Draco decided to tone down his charm a bit. He didn't like to overdo it, after all. He wanted to charm this girl, but first he had to gain her trust. It wouldn't be as hard to gain her trust as it would be to gain Granger's, he knew, but he still had to get past his pureblooded prat reputation even with Padma Patil.

In fact, she would be the essential tool in his plan to get to Granger.

Padma didn't know it, but she was playing right into his hands. By the time they parted ways, they had set up a regular study date in the library, every other day after lunch during their free period. He would use these meetings to get her to fall for him; and he would treat her better than any other boy had ever treated her before. He would essentially sweep her off her feet.

Draco wasn't stupid. He knew Padma had a twin sister in Gryffindor, and that said sister shared a dormitory with a certain bushy-haired know-it-all and would certainly share every detail of her sister's relationship with her. It was only a matter of time before Granger decided that Draco wasn't so bad after all.

And that, Draco decided, was when he would strike. She would never know what hit her.

A/N : It's that time again, folks!

xxx

Malfoy jumped and put his hand over her mouth quickly, glancing around to make sure no one had heard. In doing so, he brought their bodies very close together, and she could hear his breath coming hard as he finally brought his steel grey eyes back to meet her wide brown ones.

"Shut it, Granger, do you want someone to hear and come running? I thought you were supposed to be smart," he whispered fiercely, his eyebrows drawn together in annoyance. Suddenly he seemed to remember his hand was over her mouth and he snatched it away harshly, taking a step backwards for good measure.

xxx