Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

A/N: Trying out the author's note up here. Huge thanks to those of you who favorited and followed after last chapter. Big thanks to my reviewers: Myrrdin Emrys The Third, The Butterfly Dreamer, SereniteRose, Guest, ShaleeDeaver, DepressedAleera, Silver Wolf Luna, Kittyinaz, pianomouse, OnceUponASlytherinPrincess, Onyx Obsidian, HarryPGinnyW4eva, Guest, Guest, Beautiful-Liar13, smore4u1, Pwrmom2, iffa, Soul . Thief, allyourrain, Lady Roaddog, Mercedes, lilyflower49, and Sarah885! You guys are wonderful.

Please let me know what you thought of chapter four and be on the lookout for chapter five next week.

By the time that Hermione had returned to the Gryffindor Common Room, everyone had already heard that Seamus had kissed her in the library. She didn't know who it was that blabbed - maybe it was Seamus himself, but whoever it was it didn't matter.

Hermione had been minding her own business in the library, when Seamus came and sat next to her. His chair was unusually close to hers and she could practically feel the heat radiating from his arm. "Thanks for all your help with Charms this week Hermione." He'd said with his Irish accent voice a bit huskier than usual. "I'm sure that I aced the quiz today."

Hermione felt herself blushing - blushing! - at his attention and closeness. "It was no trouble at all, Seamus. You are quite good with...charms." Why hadn't she noticed just how blue his eyes were before now? Merlin, she could just stare at them for hours.

But that was when she noticed that his eyes were trained on her lips. He looked up at her eyes once more, nervous. He pushed some of her hair behind her ear, before dipping his head down so that his own lips might meet hers. It was a bit awkward. They both turned the same way and ended up bumping noses, but it was a kiss none the less. His lips didn't quite fit with hers and it was a bit wetter than she expected, but her heart was still pounding against her rib cage with excitement.

Seamus had gotten up from the table shortly after that, scrambling away from her. Hermione sat at the table with a silly grin on her face. She tried desperately to get a little more work done, but was unable to finish it, with her mind racing.

But now that she entered the common room, and everyone seemed to be whispering about her, she began to worry. She'd only kissed Viktor before and that had been two years ago, and she'd never had an actual snog, with tongues. What if she'd been a terrible kisser? And what if he'd told everyone about it? The thought was nearly too much to bare.

But then she saw Ron Weasley storming across the room, race as red as could be and with accusations in his eyes. Ginny and Harry were trying to stop him, but he reached her first. "Oi! Hermione, what do you think you are doing with Seamus? Snogging in the library?"

"I hardly see how that's any of your business, Ronald." Hermione sniffed. "I don't complain about where you and Lavender snog."

"How did you even get him to snog you in the first place then?" He demanded. "Have you been slipping him a love potion." He heard Ginny hiss first. She had warned him not to ever say that to Hermione's face, but he wanted some answers. He just didn't understand it.

He noticed Hermione's face next. The annoyance that had been on her face dissipated in an instance, leaving behind pure hurt. "How could you ask me something like that?"

Harry put his hand on Ron's shoulder. "Stop while you're ahead, mate."

Ron shook the hand off his shoulder. He couldn't really pinpoint why it was bothering him so much. But Hermione had always been there, steady. She wasn't like the other girls who flirted and giggled and had more boyfriends than Hermione had OWLs. He just always expected her to be there when he needed her. "Well, how else would you get a bloke like Seamus to snog you?"

Hermione's tears made him want to stuff his foot in his mouth, but it was too late. "Do you really think that way about me?" She asked, taking a great shuddering breath. "After all these years of friendship, you can't fathom why someone might be attracted to me or that they might be interested in me as a person?"

Ron just stood there with a stupid look on his face.

"That is the cruelest thing anyone has ever said to me, Ronald Weasley! I hope you fall off your broom!" Hermione stormed out of the portrait hole, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Hermione, wait!" She heard Harry call after her.

Hermione spun on her heal, wand drawn. "Don't." She told him quietly. "I just want to be by myself right now." And then she walked off in the direction of the library.

Hermione had been sitting at her favorite table in the library, crying her eyes out for the last thirty minutes. She couldn't believe that she ever even considered Ronald Weasley a friend, let alone that she thought that they might end up together. She was just glad that the library was empty - it was, after all a Friday evening - so no one would see her losing it over him.

That was until Malfoy sauntered over her table, and confronted her with his lazy drawl. "Merlin Granger, you couldn't possibly be crying any louder. You're worse than Moaning Myrtle. Maybe I ought to start calling you Groaning Granger." He told her with a smirk. But then the vision of her moaning or groaning had him thinking deliciously dirty thoughts.

"Oh, piss off, Malfoy." She said. At least he'd gotten her to stop crying almost immediately.

"Not until you tell me why you are sitting in the library, sobbing." He told her. "I want to send the responsible party a gift basket."

Trying to deflect the situation, she thought about how unusual it was that Malfoy was even in the library. "What are you doing here anyway? It's a Friday night, don't you have somewhere to be?" It was well known that most of the Slytherin girls thought that Malfoy was quite the catch, and were always trying to score a date.

Hermione hated to admit it, but she could see the appeal. He was pretty attractive, especially since he stopped gelling his hair back. Now his white blond hair was neatly in a side part. His gray eyes were inquisitive and sharp and he was actually quite intelligent. If only he didn't act like a complete tosser, she might consider dating him. She had to stop herself from snorting aloud. As if Malfoy would ever date her, a mudblood.

Draco considered his options, before countering her question. "You tell me first."

"I don't know, Malfoy." Hermione said. This was perhaps the longest conversation they'd ever shared. He was being rather genial about it too. "Telling a Slytherin my problems is what got me into this situation in the first place."

Malfoy smirked at her. "I'm not Daphne, Granger. I am not going to give you hair care tips."

Hermione blushed. "Oh, so I'm the laughing stock of Slytherin house, too? I suppose you probably already know why I am here then."

"No, Daph didn't blab." Malfoy said seriously. "I just recognize her potion. It smells like oranges."

Hermione blushed, realizing that Malfoy had effectively told her that he had smelled her hair. If he could share that with her, she decided, she could tell him why she was here. Besides it wasn't as if all of Gryffindor didn't already know. The way Lavender and Parvati gossiped, she was sure that all of the other houses would know by Monday. "Ron said something really awful to me."

"Go on." Malfoy said with a smirk. It faded quickly when she had tears in her eyes again.

"Well, Seamus kissed me earlier tonight and Ron asked if I'd...if I'd given him a love potion!" Draco was annoyed at hearing that. He handed her a small handkerchief that he always carried in his pocket. He was pleased to see that she took it without questioning. "He said, I must have because why else would someone want to kiss me?"

Draco shuddered at the thought. It was only too easy to want to kiss Granger. Especially now that she had shined away the veneer of messy bookworm and now had all of her womanly graces on display.

"It's like he hasn't even noticed that I've done all of this." Hermione waved a hand in front of her face to indicate the new hair and new clothes that Weasley must not have noticed. Obviously.

"Ugh." Draco groaned. "Please tell me - all of this - isn't for Weaselbee's sake." He couldn't imagine a witch as pretty and smart as Granger being wasted on that tosser.

"No." Hermione told him in that indignant tone she usually reserved for her two oafs of friends. "I just wanted to be seen as a girl for once, not an encyclopedia."

"I'm pretty sure the entire male population of Hogwarts knows you're a girl." He mumbled. "You are too good for Weasley anyway." He added.

"Really, I thought that...I was beneath purebloods like Ron." She snarked at him.

"As much as it pains me to admit, you are definitely above Weasley."

That did bring Hermione some comfort. It was odd, to be comforted by Draco Malfoy, but she tried not to think too much on it. Instead, she remembered that he was going to tell her why he was in the library as well. "So, your turn. What are you doing in the library."

"I'm not telling you!" He sneered like a petulant child.

"But we had a deal!"

"Slytherin. Did you forget?" Malfoy could be so infuriating sometimes, she thought. She wrang the handkerchief in her hands like she wished she could wring his neck. "Fine, fine. But don't go blabbing this or I will tell everyone about how your so ugly your friend can't understand why anyone would kiss you."

Hermione looked practically murderous in that moment. It certainly matched his feelings. "I am hiding from Professor Snape."

Hermione was shocked to hear this explanation. "Professor Snape? Why would you do that?"

"He's been keeping an annoyingly close watch on me since my father went to Azkaban." Draco said darkly. "I know he and my mother have some kind of weird relationship or pact, but I don't need him pretending to be my father either."

She just remembered that Lucius Malfoy was in Azkaban. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to have your father sent away. "A pact? What kind of pact?"

"Keep me from joining up with the Dark Lord, suppose. Not that I need any restraining." Malfoy told her with a role of his eyes.

"Really, I thought you'd be quite eager to follow in your father's footsteps." Hermione said darkly.

"Father did want me to join. Said I'd be the youngest Death Eater in history. Younger than even Regulus Black." Draco didn't know why he was spilling his secrets to her, but she was very easy to talk to. "I don't want to join though. So mother and Professor Snape have been shielding me all summer."

"But I thought you were all about blood purity and all that." Hermione told him.

"Look, I am not about to mate with you!" The statement came unbidden from his mouth. Currently, it was just about the only thing his mind could focus on. "But, I'm not stupid either. You've got more magical talent in your little finger than Crabbe does. And Weasley is clearly scum, despite being a pureblood. And muggleborns don't kill innocent children for fun."

Hermione was stunned into silence. She was surprised that he would share this with her of all people, but didn't question it right now. "It seems as if we are both held back by the perceptions other people have of us." She offered him a tentative smile.

"We have nothing in common, Granger." He spat back at her, embarrassed by how familiar she'd become with him in just a few short minutes. She was insightful and sweet and he found himself liking her personality a lot more than he expected. He wanted to hurt her, to make sure that she didn't think they were friends. "And, for the record, just because one guy kissed you doesn't mean that others are going to be lining up to put up with your swotty attitude."

Hermione looked really hurt again, but it quickly transformed into anger. At least she wasn't crying this time. "Well excuse me for trying to be nice to you, Malfoy!"

"I don't want you to be nice to me - we aren't friends, okay?" He didn't wait for her response, instead storming off into the direction of the exit.

Draco was annoyed with the thought of that git Seamus Finnigan kissing Granger. He wasn't right for her at all, and he couldn't imagine that they had much in common at all, besides both being Gryffindors.

If Draco closed his eyes, he could see that minger pressing his lips to hers. He was probably a sloppy kisser. He couldn't seem to get the thought out of his head. But, if he left his eyes closed long enough, Finnigan would fade away and it would instead be him - Draco Malfoy - kissing Granger instead. She'd probably press against him, clutching him while he kissed her like she'd never been kissed before. And then he'd remember his last potions lesson.

Try as he might, Draco could not get the image of Hermione Granger in dark green lace knickers out of his head. What on Earth was she thinking wearing something like that? And when did she get such a nice arse and toned legs? Not that anyone would have ever known the way that she wore those hideous long skirts and bulky jumpers.

And her breasts! All throughout the potions lesson that they had been forced to partner for he had stared at her breasts. He'd obviously understood on some baser level that she'd had breasts long before…she'd gotten them around third year when the rest of the girls in their class had. Being a pubescent boy though, he'd been more far more interested in the likes of Daphne's soft, pillowy tits than he was of Granger's. But in potions, he couldn't help himself, thinking about the pair of Granger's breasts trapped in the confines of white cotton, straining against – if her knickers were any indication – green lace.

His brain was only too happy to prepare a visual for him of Granger lying on her back on his bed with nothing but green lace on! And just where did she get off wearing green lace? In his mind he'd always expected her to wear utilitarian white cotton. As boring and prudish as she was.

He felt his erection throb insistently, and try as he might, he couldn't get it to leave him. Resigned to his fate, Draco pushed down his pajama pants and sighed over what he was about to do. He was going to wank to thoughts of Hermione Granger.

It wasn't the first time either. Embarrassingly, the first time had been after she'd punched him in the face during third year. For weeks after, he couldn't shake the annoyed and passionate look on her face, the pure loathing at who he was. It had continued throughout the years, but he would deny it, telling himself that it was some other brunette girl from Hogwarts and that she definitely wasn't wearing a Gryffindor uniform.

His hand moved up and down his shaft, paying particular attention to the head. In his mind, Hermione was on her hands and knees above him, her mouth wrapped tightly around his cock. She would move up and down, trying to reach all of him that she could, but she wouldn't be able to take all of him. Instead she would use her small hand to wrap around the remaining portion. She'd push her wavy brown hair out of the way, so he could see her face and her small, firm breasts. She wouldn't mind when he wrapped his hands in her hair guiding her up and down. Her brown eyes would sparkle as she made eye contact with him, smug to have him in this position. He'd see her rubbing her legs together for some friction as this excited her just as much as it excited him.

Draco felt himself getting closer and closer to the edge. Despite his warning, she wouldn't care when he came in her mouth and she would always swallow. Grunting, Draco came in two, three, four more thrusts, his essence hitting his bare stomach. Sighing, he enjoyed the feeling for a few moments before grabbing his wand to scourgify away the mess.

At least now, he hoped, he'd be able to get some sleep without that damned Gryffindor making an appearance.

The next morning, Hermione was sitting with Ginny outside under a tree by the Black Lake, as Hermione was currently not speaking to Ronald, and Harry had just ineffectually shrugged his shoulders when Ron made no effort to apologize for his crass words the night before. It was an unseasonably warm weekend and it was nice to sit outside in the bright sunlight. Ginny had apologized profusely for her brother and had told her that she thought that she looked quite pretty.

"I just don't understand why you'd ask Greengrass for help and not me." Ginny was a little bit hurt. Sure, Greengrass was one of the prettiest girls in school, but she wasn't Hermione's best girlfriend.

"It was just a matter of right place, right time, Gin." Hermione responded. "It's nothing personal." Although, Hermione thought, it was a bit personal because she was sure that if she'd told Ginny her problem, the ginger girl would have just told her that she was beautiful the way she was and that she just had to wait for the boys to mature. Daphne had looked at her with detached interest and a kneen eye and suggested subtle changes.

"Speak of the devil." Ginny muttered, seeing the blonde girl walking with purpose towards them.

"Ginny!" Hermione scolded.

"Hermione. Weaselette." Daphne greeted before sitting down next to the pair. "So you naughty girl, I hear that you had a bit of a snog. And in the library no less! Who are you and what have you done with Hermione Granger?"

Hermione giggled. "Yes, Seamus kissed me. And all this time I thought he actually wanted help with Charms." She told Daphne. She had been surprised about it, that it had all been a ruse. "But it was rather...sloppy."

"Well, you can't expect all guys to be great at snogging, but with a little practice, you can teach them what you like." Daphne said with a knowing smile.

"Something kind of odd did happen." Hermione started, unsure of whether to tell Daphne and Ginny about the Malfoy encounter. But it was such an odd event, she decided she had to get it off her chest. "I was crying in the library, after Ron was a bit of a tosser to me, and I spoke with Malfoy. And he was actually being nice. But then, it was like something snapped and he was back to his awful, rude self."

Daphne pursed her lips together. Hmm, maybe there was more to what Theo told her than she'd thought. "I wouldn't worry about it too much, Hermione. He was probably just upset that his mother didn't send him chocolates that day or perhaps Pansy cornered him in a broom closet."

Hermione and Ginny giggled at the visual.

"Anyway Hermione, I was wondering if you could give me some help in the library this week with potions?" Daphne asked eagerly.

"Watch out, Mione, she might be after you, just like Seamus was." Ginny said, teasingly.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that Hermione - you don't fit my two criteria: tall and rich." Daphne said, flipping her hair over her shoulder with a smirk. "So, Monday after dinner?"

"Sure, see you then." Hermione replied with a smile and then watched as her one Slytherin friend flounced away.

"Huh. I think I like her." Ginny said, with a confused look on her face. Maybe all the Slytherins weren't that bad.