Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any other famous, remotely popular, or hardly recognized works of other people—should cover everything, right?

A/N: I would like to thank my two lovely reviewers for the last chapter HopelessRomanitc31 and JuzJas82. You girls (making assumptions) literally make me an idiot with happiness, my husband keeps giving me an odd look :)

Hermione Granger was seated in Draco's small living room, her chocolate eyes reading over his paper that justified his existence. There was a frown on her face and a disappointed gleam in her eyes. "What kind of dribble is this?" She asked angrily.

Draco's face remained blank but he felt the sting of the comment and a sinking feeling in his stomach. "My reason for existing." He said plainly after she gave him a demanding look.

The scoff that left her lips was accented by the cruel look in her eyes. "This." She said, waving his papers back and forth in her hand. "This is worthless."

A slight drawing down of his brows was the only indication of his current mood, but he remained silent. The woman in front of him stood and approached him where he was leaning stiffly against his living room wall, he would have appeared nonchalant but his shoulders were too taunt, and his jaw was clenched.

She stopped a few inches from his face, officially invading his privacy. There was a crazed hate in her once beautiful eyes. "This is worthless. And do you know why?" She hissed with venom in her voice. She did not wait for him to respond.

"It's because you are worthless. You, Draco Malfoy, do not deserve to live!" Her hisses had risen to a shriek. He felt her wand being pressed into his soft flesh shortly after she quit her talking.

Cold terror penetrated his mind as he watched her glossed lips snarling "Avada Kedavra."

A blinding green light filled his vision and Draco found himself shooting upright in his bed. His breaths were too deep and too quick as he tried to mentally come to terms with the nightmare. His sheets were pooled around his waist, a cold sweat had covered his bare chest.

Closing his eyes he focused on his breathing, trying to calm it before he passed out from too much oxygen. Sighing in frustration he ran his shaking hand through his hair, tugging lightly on the strands before flopping back onto his bed. Wide, empty eyes stared up at his white ceiling.

That was the fourth night in a row he'd dreamt of Granger killing him after confirming his worthlessness, but it still had tremendous affect on him. In some part of his brain he registered the fact that he subconsciously felt his life was without a doubt worthless if Granger, Granger of all people, had given up on him.

That girl would not give up on a dead horse.

Which explained some of his distress; He, Draco Malfoy, was not even worthy of being a dead animal. He took a deep breath and closed his dry eyes; ever since he had turned his paper in on Monday he had been anxious to get it back. Of course on the outside he was cool and collected; as per his habits. Luckily he had been able to avoid Granger since their encounter last Friday. He was positive that she would have picked up that he was not sleeping or eating well.

Sleeping because of the nightmares; eating because...well, he had yet to make a dinner that was edible. He attempted to cook and take care of himself, but, he failed. Like in everything else he did the end results were only suitable for the rubbish can. He'd never felt more incompetent in his life.

Although, on the bright side, he had developed a wonderful love for fruit. No prep, no cook time, all he had to do was wash it. Apples and oranges were his favorite thus far despite their juicy tendencies. Sure he had eaten fruit during his childhood, but they were just 'okay' because he had house elves to cook him delicious dishes. It would appear that his sole dependence on fruits now had increased his liking of them exponentially.

Veering off his tangent about fruit his tired gray eyes focused blearily on the cheap plastic clock by his bedside telling him it was only 5 A.M.

In roughly 12 hours he would have to meet with Granger after class to 'discuss' things. She apparently counted his moment of deranged mental status the prior Friday as enough of a discussion on how he was doing. Not that he could blame her.

Groaning in frustration he tried to get a hold of his scrambled feelings and thoughts. At the very least he would get his essay back today, but that only made a chill pass over him. He was hopeful but dejected as well. He was not sure why he was so set on Granger approving of his essay, he just knew he was.

Crossing his eyes in a rare show of annoyance he hefted his tired body out of bed, clad only in his common cotton boxers, and wandered towards his small kitchen intent on a pot of coffee and a couple of apples. Despite the ungodly hour and lack of proper substance he enjoyed the immodest freedom entitled only to those who live on their own; he'd never been able to waltz about so indecent before, it was a nice feeling.

Draco's slate eyes followed his teacher's supple body as she handed out the graded essays, placing them face down on desks with a request that they not turn them over until she said to. She seemed a little tightly strung today, there was tension in her shoulders, a slightly grim look in her eyes, and her posture was rigid. He silently mused over the reason as she made her way methodically from front to back, but found that he knew too little about her life to sum up a reasonable answer.

If possible, she seemed to stiffen even more as she approached the former Slytherin who was lounging regally in his desk. She sent him an amused but tight smile at whatever she must be thinking, which was in and of itself a complete mystery so he did not even bother guessing.

She handed him his paper face down per trend and made her way to the front, her hips swaying softly in rhythm with her clicking high heels. Every students' attention was on their unusually silent teacher, she blinked slowly and took a deep breath before speaking. "As you all are aware it was necessary for an 80% or higher on this paper if you were to justify your existence. I would like you to turn your papers over."

Draco watched the faces of all his classmates go from apprehensive to flat miserable as they perused their grades before he too took his turn to face the big purple grade written on the front of his essay.

79%

He felt a wave of disappointment sweep through him. He failed. Hermione cleared her throat to bring the classes attention and disbelief solely on her. A grim smile was on her full pink lips. "If you had bothered to look around you would have realized that every single one of you failed."

Her words hung suspended in the air as she took a pause, the air in the class mildly unpleasant. She certainly knew how to set the mood.

"I am very well aware that the majority of you are exceptionally bright students who are accustomed to very high personal standards. And if it will relieve some of the anxiety, I will confess that I graded very harshly on this assignment despite my earlier statement of going easy. The majority of you should have passed." her tone was neutral as she ignored the little sounds of protest that sprung up from a few of the students.

"There are several reasons for my actions." She spoke slowly, her eyes fixing on Draco, taking in the blank look he had on his face. It would appear that Mr. Malfoy was not happy, but that was not really a new experience to Hermione.

"I purposely failed each and everyone of you to make sure you understood a few things about writing and life in general. The first is that regardless of the fact that you know you have a justifiable reason to do what you do, there will always be a strong opposition. I was the opposition this time, but next time it might be your boss, your family, or your friends. The point is that just because I tell you that you are wrong, does not mean that I am right."

Draco felt a chill run down his back at the conviction in her voice and the hidden message he felt was just for him. He was unsure if she was trying to tell him that his opinion of her did not matter, or if she was saying hers of him did not matter...perhaps it was both.

The uneasy silence was beginning to lessen, but Hermione's tone was still somber as her eyes drifted slowly across the faces of her students. "The second reason I have for my actions are more psychological: had some of you passed and some of you failed there would have been a subconscious line being drawn between those that are competent and those that are not. Life cannot be so nicely defined by black and white, nor can success and failure. And despite the fact that you would not have been conscious of discriminating against your fellow classmates, they certainly would have been."

She closed her eyes a bit too long for it to be a blink before opening them and continuing. "By failing all of you I have placed the entire group on level ground, no one is higher than one another, as a group and as individuals you received a 79%. Some may protest that this assignment was a farce by grading standards and that is okay. I honestly believe that something like defining and justifying your existence cannot be measured on a scale of 1 to 100, least of all by a stranger."

The way she spoke was calm but Draco could see that many students were highly sensitive to the things she was saying, he was among that group, not that he would admit it. "The third and last reasonably definable justification I have for doing this is that had you passed, you would have become complacent. What, after success, is there left to achieve? And so by placing you all so close to succeeding, and yet so far from achieving it you will hopefully resist complacency. Your justification for existing, can and will change the more you discover the world around you and within you, I would like you to be aware of the changes so that you are not parading around under an outdated banner of justification."

She sighed deeply before clasping her hands behind her back, rocking forward onto her tip toes and then back to the floor with a clack from her heels she smiled at the slightly befuddled group. "Any questions?" Her voice was amused, something that Draco did not appreciate.

A random boy in the class spoke without raising his hand. "If justification is relative, what gives you the right to presume to teach us these 'life' lessons?" He asked, somewhat sarcastically, a bit sore he failed despite her reasoning. Which Draco found a tad offensive, only he was allowed to be mean to Granger, he was much better at it anyway.

Hermione chuckled a little, sending a rather sardonic smile towards her smart-mouthed pupil. "Mr. Sanders, I am your Professor, by consenting to take this class you consent to replace your relativity with mine. If you do not feel like consenting, you are more than welcome to leave." Draco had to suppress a smirk, what an eloquent way of saying "Because, I said so."

It would appear that Granger's tongue and wit were as sharp as always.

Ignoring the look of anger in Mr. Sanders body language she blithely asked her question again. "Any more queries?" But they were not idiots the last time they checked, so they stayed silent. "Good, then I will explain the actual grading scale I plan to use."

"On essays it will be a scale of one to nine, one being awful, nine being superb. On projects there will be an assigned amount of points that will be disclosed at the time of the project. We will be reading King Leer by Shakespeare, Invisible Man by Ellison, The Gutenberg Elegies by Birkets, and a few other pieces. Along the way we will be learning to read, write, speak and think for ourselves. We will employ a heavy dose of rhetoric to achieve the aforementioned goals. For the next class I would like you to read chapters one through three of Invisible man and be ready to discuss them in class. I will be available after class for a short while if there are any issues." And with that Hermione Granger dismissed the class in a professional manner.

No body stayed after.

4:45pm

He was early, underestimating how long it would take him to walk across campus, but there was not much to be done about it now. He was absentmindedly wondering when Granger had learned all these random but applicable 'life lessons'. They all made sense in theory, but he wondered if she practiced as much as she preached.

Guess there was only one way to find out.

And with that Draco Malfoy confidently rapped his knuckles against her office door a small smirk on his face, this time it would be he whom made Granger uncomfortable, or at least that was his plan. It was not much a of a plan to be honest though.

He heard a muffled "Come in." and strode in confidently to behold the view of a very stressed looking Hermione Granger, she did not even bother to hide it in front of him, like she did in class. It made him both uncomfortable and mildly appreciated that Granger did not feel the need to put up fronts with him.

That is not to say that he would drop his, just that he was aware of her trust in him. Meant nothing about him trusting her.

"Hello, I just need to gather a few things and then we will be relocating, if that is suitable to you." She said distractedly while her brown eyes finished scanning the paper she held in her steady, but pale hands. Draco noted how her overall parlor seemed to be lighter than normal, even her chocolate eyes seemed lighter, more comparable to mocha than chocolate.

He briefly wondered why he could only find victual based descriptions suitable for her eyes. Perhaps it was because he had not had a decent meal in a while.

His smoky eyes drifted around her office, it was fairly nondescript: bookshelves, books, a couple potted plants, and a small couch shoved in a corner. There was also Hermione sitting at her desk, which held a computer and a few binders.

There were no displays of personal affections like family pictures or even pictures with friends; consequently, Draco could not help but wonder why there was not ample evidence of Scar Head and Weasley in her life. Last he recalled they were rather chummy with each other.

He briefly wondered if the lack of aforementioned items had anything to do with her sudden retreat from the wizarding world. It seemed unlikely, but both Potter and Weasley had tremendous amounts of stupidity in them, so it was entirely possible.

A heavy sigh drew his attention back to the woman sitting in front of him. Curiosity flickered in his eyes before, and only god knows why, it floated out of his aristocratic mouth. "Everything okay?" It was a simple question that was circulated in everyday speech, but he suddenly felt as though he was using a foreign language. Luckily it came out as a drawl, which only conveyed boredom with a very minimal, almost sneering, derisive sort of interest.

"Ron and Lavender Brown are getting married." She mumbled while folding up the paper in her hand before tucking it into a bag beside her desk that he had missed in his earlier inventory of her office. An indulgent smirk crossed his handsome face that Hermione wished she had missed.

"Do not even insinuate any crack pot theories about jaded or shunned lovers Mr. Malfoy." There was clear annoyance in her flat voice, which only made Draco smirk more. "Whatever do you mean?" He questioned silkily, sounding the farthest thing from innocent.

She gave a lady like snort at his poor attempt. "Would you like to eat at a restaurant, my place, or yours? I know you do not want to be 'exposed' to me but since this is mandatory, I must insist on having provisions."

He mentally weighed the pros and cons of each situation: his house was out since there was a serious lack of food, he would prefer not to know where Granger lived, but he did not have enough money to being going to restaurants and though the current situation was a blow to his pride he absolutely refused to allow a girl, even if it was just Granger who might not count, to pay for him. What a repulsive idea.

"Your place, assuming you are not planning to poison me." He said half joking, half serious; to which she just rolled her eyes. "If I felt like killing you, I certainly would not be using poison." She muttered darkly as she stood, bag in one hand the other out stretched for him to take.

Well that was reassuring.

He stared at her delicate hand that was waiting for him to touch it so she could apparate them away, the look on his face must have been mildly insulting because she huffed before forcefully grabbing his larger one hovering over hers. She must have perceived his hesitation as disgust at having to touch her, but really he was hesitant because he was simply not used to physical contact.

She dragged him out of view of the glass plane on her door, her grip firm but her hand soft. It was actually giving Draco a slight tingle up his arm to be holding her hand, which sent alarms off in his head. He needed to get out more if the small action of holding hands was eliciting reactions, when had he turned into such a girl?

He was so lost in his musings of his missing manhood that he failed to note to look of concentration that crossed Granger's face as she apparated them to her flat. Caught off guard and wholly unprepared for the semi familiar rush of magic to flow through him he stumbled a bit when they appeared in her living room, his head whirling painfully. A small, warm hand helped steady him, leaving a patch of tingling skin on his shoulder where she had touched him.

Physical contact with Granger was quickly rising on his list of things to avoid; although, the reason he had in Hogwarts was completely different than the reason he had now. Grounding himself he gazed at his surroundings as he followed her from the living room into the kitchen, noting when she placed her bag by the door.

Her flat was larger than his but not extravagantly so, she had nice up-scale furniture and earth colored walls with a mix of modern and classical decorations. Overall it gave off the vibe of belonging to an intellectual. There were no pictures of her years at Hogwarts or any personal life really.

He was starting to wonder what had transpired that was so devastating that she had to strip her life of anything personal. But he held his tongue, now was not the time to be prying, that would come later.

"The first door on the left is the loo, the second is my library, and the first on the right is my bedroom. You can go to the library if you do not feel like watching me cook, it should only take a few minutes though." She spoke calmly, gesturing down the hall they were passing, not facing him, and acting for all the world that she was not wandering around with her back turned to a death eater. And perhaps she truly was not worried about him attacking her.

He silently seated himself at a small mahogany dining table where he had a clear view of her cooking, he would not tell her, but he was hoping to learn a thing or two. Then maybe, just maybe, he would be able to eat more than fruit...

Watching Hermione Granger cook was an odd experience, she used a bizarre combination of magic and muggle actions to prepare it. She would physically fill the pot with water but magically summon ingredients to her hands. The disconcerting thing was that she did so silently without the use of her wand.

He had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Hermione Granger was apparently more powerful than he last remembered if she had perfected nonverbal, wandless magic, and for all intent and purposes it appeared that she had. "When did you learn nonverbal wandless magic?" He found his mouth asking without his brain's permission, a filter in his head must have busted at some point.

She gave a small jump, as though she had forgotten he was there, before turning her head so she could look him in the eyes. "The final battle. My wand had been broken by a death eater. There is something to be said about self preservation apparently." Her tone was light, though her eyes looked haunted.

His eyebrows rose in surprise at her admission. He had a hard time imagining Granger learning things on the fly, but she had always been exceptional at anything academic. The sound of pasta being boiled was soon filling the air as she summoned lettuce, carrots, and a few sticks of celery and began chopping and peeling the vegetables by hand.

Granger was a confusing slip of a woman. Moments like this it appeared that she had no qualms answering personal questions, but it seemed as though she did not find them personal, more akin to facts of the past than personal memories.

"What made you leave the wizarding world?" He asked evenly, testing his theory. He did not get his answer immediately, and she continued making dinner, summoning a colander, before draining the noodles and sliding them into a large bowl and adding the Alfredo sauce. He thought that his theory was incorrect, and that she did have some secrets, but once she had set the plates, brought the food, and seated herself directly across from him she looked him dead in his eyes and whispered one word, almost like a painful prayer.

"Pansy."

She took a sip of water and a moment to clear the emotion from her voice and eyes before continuing. "I had seen her momentarily in the middle of the battle and thought it odd that she would be there. As far as I knew her family had gone into hiding, but I had bigger things to worry about than a rogue Slytherin wandering around."

Draco's emotionless mask must have cracked a little at the mention of his former friend, he had not heard a whisper from her since their sixth year at Hogwarts right before she fled to be with her family.

"The death eaters where in the process of fleeing when I found them." There was a tinge of disgust in her voice.

"She was on her knees on the ground, Ron was standing over her, wand in her face, as she begged him to help her. Her face was smudged with blood, dirt, and tears; she was a wreck, but Ron did not seem to care." her voice had gotten a bit higher and her face had paled a bit, but her eyes were still eerily blank.

"He was going to kill her." She whispered, visibly shivering at the memory. She was still looking in his direction but she was not really seeing him, she did not see him clench his fist in anger, nor did she see the look of cold hate burn in his dull silver eyes.

"I was about 3 or 4 meters away when I realized it. I tried yelling at him, but he was not listening. I had to stun him. When I got there Pansy grabbed my hand, clinging to it like a life line. She was sobbing, but not over what had about happened."

She paused, refocusing her eyes on the present and the man in front of her. "She was sobbing over you." She said quietly.

The words hit Draco like a ton of bricks.

"She kept insisting that she had to find you. She could not let Lucius take you away again. She kept saying that Lucius was going to try and take the Dark Lord's place and that she had to find you. She wanted to save you from another living hell." Granger's eyes softened a bit as she thought of the other girl.

"She was desperate and it broke my heart. We were all such kids, so unprepared for the horrors of war. She kept insisting that it was not your fault you were a death eater, your father made you. And I believed her."

She closed her eyes for a moment, taking another sip of water. "I told her I would help. But by that time Harry had found us and he revived Ron. Oh it was a terrible mess. I tried to get them to understand, but they would not listen. We were all just caught up in the hands of fate. Just because someone was the opposition did not make them wrong or evil. They told me I was hysterical and in shock. That I was not in my right mind."

"Harry did not want to kill her though, he wanted to turn her in so that she could be tried, then the court could decide if she should live or not. His conscious would be clear." Some emotion was starting to seep into her eyes. It seemed to swell into a storm, rolling around in her gaze, revulsion mixed with sorrow.

"When I told them she did not have a dark mark and reminded them that she had gone into hiding before things could get too nasty they just told me that I was being soft. They told me 'Hermione, its Parkinson. Parkinson!" As though a name was enough to condemn her forever."

Draco shivered at the intensity in her darkening eyes, it had begun to tinge her voice as well. "They were just going to abandon her, a relatively innocent girl. A girl we knew. A girl we had spent six years of our lives living around. What the hell did it matter what part of Hogwarts she housed in? She was still a Hogwarts student, a part of our school family."

"I remember the broken look in her eyes. She thought that I would listen to them." A bitter scoff came from her pretty lips. "I remember telling Harry and Ron that they were no better than death eaters before latching onto Pansy and appareting us away." A small smile broke through the storm.

"She was frantic when we she realized what I had done. Kept insisting they were going to try and kill me now too, call me a blood traitor and send aurors after me. I remember laughing and telling her that I could never be a blood traitor since I was already muddy, and she got this wide, doe eyed look and began stuttering before she just dissolved into a mess of tears and hiccups." A small smile had worked its way onto Draco's face as well. Good old Pansy. It felt good to hear his dear friend talked about so kindly.

"When she calmed down and wanted to know why I was doing this I did not really have a coherent answer. I just told her that they were wrong and I was going to help her." Her tone had returned to normal as had her eyes. The clink of her picking up her fork drew Draco's eyes down and he realized that they had yet to touch their food.

"I was able to get her back to her family, and settle her down. We still keep in touch, once a month we meet for coffee and catch up." A genuine smile curved her lips up in a rather attractive way. "If someone had told me that one day my best friend was going to be a Slytherin, I probably would have hexed them. But she has been wonderful, still very Slytherin, but I think I have grown accustomed to it." She said laughing at some personal memory he was not privy to.

"I promised her that day almost seven years ago that I would try to help you if I could and if you would let me. I think I realized that day that I did not know enough about life to decide what was right or wrong, and that I would never know both sides of the story. Since everything was relative I would just have to stick to my morals and do what I thought right."

Ah, so that is where she learned her life lessons; life. What a funny concept.

She let him sit in silence, soaking in her story, as she dished them both a bowl of salad and put some noodles on their plates. Her story explained quite a bit about her treatment towards him. He was unsure if she was kind to him because it was second nature to her or if it was her promise to Pansy, perhaps a little of both.

"She is doing fantastic by the way." She said in between bites. Hermione's sharp eyes did not miss the look of longing on her dinner guests face, the show of emotion was touching, even if he meant to keep it hidden.

"I was actually hoping you would willingly come with me to visit her in a week or two. I know she would be ecstatic to see you. I have not told her about you yet, I was hoping you would help me surprise her." Her voice was a bit hesitant at asking his help. After all this was Draco Malfoy, and Malfoys were not really known for their helpfulness.

Draco felt a tug at his heart, whether it was from the prospect of seeing Pansy again or the semi-pleading look Granger was giving him, he was unsure. He hoped it was Pansy.

"Of course I will help you, she was my friend first." He found himself saying in a relatively polite tone. The smile that Granger shot him could have powered a city block, that being said it also seemed to send little electric shots down his spine.

He had a sinking feeling that this reaction could not be blamed on Pansy. Avoiding Granger was slowly moving its way up his list of things to do, too bad he just agreed to spend more time with her outside of class. He never had been too good at to do lists.

"Splendid! I cannot wait to see her face, oh, she will flip." She rambled happily. A sudden thought seemed to flutter through her mind which quickly killed her smile. "Er, Malfoy, there are a few things you should know about her..." She said with discomfort as though she would rather not say it at all.

He nodded for her to continue as he had food in his mouth, which by the way, was delicious. Not that he was going to tell her that.

"Well, Pansy lives up in Wales with her family now..." She trailed off, trying to get him to understand without actually saying anything.

He swallowed his food before replying. "That makes sense, Pansy's always been really close with her family."

"No, not her family. I mean her own family, as in husband and children..."

The look on Draco's face must have been distressing because she quickly continued, speaking faster than he had ever heard her speak before.

"I know you guys used to be close, and she did wait for you for a couple years. But then she met Andre, and well, he was just so good for her. And honestly I was unsure that you would ever be in the right mind frame to be a loving husband and father considering the past few years. I am sorry but I could not let her sit around and waste her life when she could be so happy. It was not fair to her or you. I mean, she would have to sacrifice years of happiness on a maybe, and what if you were ever in a position to make her happy, you feel obligated to do so..."

She took a deep breath to continue her frantic ramble but was interrupted by a deep chuckle which rose slowly into a full blown laugh. Draco Malfoy was sitting across from her laughing, laughing at her obvious distress.

She had never heard him laugh before, not genuinely anyway. She had heard his evil chuckle plenty of times and a dry mocking laugh, but not a true one. It was rather charming actually.

When he quieted she was still staring at him with her mouth slightly slack. "Close your mouth Granger, it makes you look slow." He replied teasingly in an obviously good mood.

Her mouth closed with an audible click. "So, you are okay with this?" She asked slowly, as though she could not comprehend the idea.

A true smile set upon his lips, he honestly felt waves of relief. "Pansy and I were never in love with each other. Sure we loved each other and had our parents demanded we would have gotten married and had a relatively enjoyable life, but no, I am not upset. Quite relieved actually."

He watched as the tension literally melted out of Hermione's posture. "Good, I may like you Mr. Malfoy, but I was prepared to stop you if you were going to do something stupid, like try and break up her marriage." She said with the air of someone who had just been relieved of a tedious duty.

She turned her focus to her dinner and did not notice her counterpart go ridged at her words. Hermione Granger liked him? Logically, that could have been concluded from their encounters and her helpfulness. But to hear it so plainly was alarming.

She was not confessing undying love or even a romantic interest, but that perhaps would have been easier to deal with. He could straight reject her on that since he did not feel the least inclined to do naughty things to or with her.

But like? Well, how to you stop someone from liking you? She was not emotionally invested in his reaction towards her liking him, like she would have been had she been romantically interested.

He did not have to like her back for her to keep liking him, he supposed he did not have to love her back either if she ever decided she loved him, but his refusal to reciprocate similar feelings were much more important if there was romance involved.

He had a sinking feeling that no matter what he did, Hermione Granger would always like him; after all, she had seen the worst of him and that did not seem to deter her.

"You like me?" He said softly, scrunching his face up as if the words tasted foreign. Hermione looked up and had to laugh at his discomfort.

There was a wry gleam in her eyes as she answered. "Heaven knows why, I personally blame Pansy. I apparently have a penchant for sulky Slytherins. You are a very amusing lot, you have to admit."

"Lot? As in more than Pansy and me?" He had a slight tone of disbelief floating through his voice. Just how many of his former housemates had she been hanging around?

She just grinned in response. "Pansy had drug me to a little get together of hers and I had to spend the afternoon around a few Slytherins from our year that had gone into hiding and avoided reprimands by the ministry. Although Blaise Zambini and Theodore Nott seemed less than impressed by my interest in them, even more so than you."

Blaise Zambini and Theodore Nott, how long had it been since he had thought of them? A smirk was forming on his face as he imagined the unlucky bunch being subjected to an afternoon of Granger.

"And you escaped alive?" He asked skeptically, despite her sitting across from him quite alive.

"No, they all turned on me halfway through our crumpets and tea and mercilessly tortured me before killing me." She said rolling her eyes, of course she survived, was he dense?

"Er, right. Well, as much fun as this has been, I do believe our hour is up." Thank Merlin, he added silently. Extended amounts of time spent around Granger could only lead to bad things, like him liking her back. Gross.

The attractive woman across from him waved one delicate hand in a lazily elegant manner and sent all their dishes to the sink. She stood before a thought floated through her eyes. "Oh, before we go I have another book for you." She said excitedly, before rushing down the hall to her library, not giving him the chance to protest.

He followed her a leisurely gate and entered the room, expecting a small room filled to the brim with books. What he encountered was something only magic could create. Her library was massive. No wonder she did not have a more expensive flat, it would appear she spent all her money on books. What a surprise.

There were bookshelves from ceiling to floor with small sliding ladders and the room must have been as big as his entire apartment. It was quite impressive, loathe he was to admit.

He quietly leaned against the door frame and watched the little witch hurry to the far side of the room before kicking off her heels and scaling the ladder with practiced motions.

It struck him that Hermione Granger was short. This was the first time he had seen her out of heels, it added a certain sort of appeal to her. Thinking back, even in her three inch heels he was taller than her by a couple inches. He must have grown since their times at Hogwarts, but maybe she was short back then too and he had been to busy to notice. It was entirely possible.

She ran a delicate finger across the spines of her books before she came across the one she wanted. She deftly pulled it from the shelf and half slid, half jumped from the rung she was standing on before scurrying over to him. Leaving her shoes discarded by the ladder.

Only Granger would be so excited about a bloody book. She reached him in a flurry of curls and enthusiasm, holding the book in front of her like a prize. "I cannot wait for you to read this. I wanted to give it to you with the first set, but I could not be completely stupid, less I get both you and I in trouble. But you seem grounded and not entirely evil, so I do not see the harm." She rambled sounding slightly like an idiot, in Draco's opinion anyway. He was unsure how to feel about the 'not entirely evil' comment.

"Gee Granger, I never knew you thought so highly of me." He said sarcastically, resisting the urge to roll his light gray eyes.

"Oh, hush up. I am doing you a huge favor with this." She stated primly before shoving the book in his hands.

"A guide to wandless magic"

His eyes widened in surprise. He glanced between the old worn book in his hands and the woman standing a scant foot away, looking for all the world as though she had singlehandedly made Christmas happen.

His brows furrowed as he asked slowly, hating himself for it. "Are you sure you should be giving me this? I mean, they said I was not to have my wand for four years..." Merlin help him, he was growing a conscious.

"But you will not be using your wand. Besides those hypocrites at the ministry took magic away from you more out of perverse pleasure than concern of safety. They could have easily placed restrictions on your wands, but they would rather make this program as uncomfortable as possible. They are hoping that the majority will fail and then they can parade around proclaiming their humanity at the second chance, and their innocence at having to send you to Azkaban. Sickening really." She added lightly.

The idea of Hermione Granger willingly breaking rules and regulations and badmouthing those in power was an odd experience; perhaps Pansy had rubbed off on the once straight laced Gryffindor.

"Granger, you are starting to worry me, are you feeling okay?" He asked seriously, placing his hand against her forehead without really thinking about it. She did not have a temperature though...so perhaps she had just lost her mind, yes that was feasible.

"Yes, Malfoy. I am feeling just fine. Now quit being a baby, I need to get you back home." She said removing his hand from her head and apparating them to the living room of his flat. His head spun from the sudden unexpected transportation.

"Bloody hell Granger! Quit doing that." He groaned, as his eyes refocused on the image of Hermione Granger standing barefoot in his living room, looking around with curious eyes, even though she had obviously been there before.

She sent him a slightly wicked smile and just shrugged in response. "Please read that book, I would like to see some progress by next Friday." She said using her best teachers voice before disapparating from his sight.

Merlin help him if he had to spend the next four years of his life with Hermione Granger, she was completely off her rocker in a completely logical way. Making perfect sense in her nonsense and simultainiously building and tearing down walls.

Daft little twit.

"We can never judge the lives of others, because each person knows only their own pain and renunciation. It's one thing to feelt hat you are on the right path, but it's another to think that yours is the only path"-Paulo Coelho