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Chapter 18

October passed with nary a glitch, and Hermione felt the first hint of stress begin to take its toll on her. Her mind, remarkable as it was, functioned well under burden and to her, this was familiar. She'd been hoping for the much awaited normalcy and now she was finally getting it; days passed in a blur of classes and late night library visits, sprinkled with solitary patrols that provided her with ample alone-time save for the occasional joint duty with the Head Boy she had to fulfil out of responsibility, but they successfully ignored each other during those hours. Her preparation for N.E.W.T .s was coming along nicely, and her evening workout left her feeling pleasantly buzzed with adrenaline.

She stood in front of the dresser, naked save for her undergarments and admired her profile. She'd never been someone who needed to spend more than ten minutes in front of the mirror to make through an entire day, but no girl could ignore the change in her body when it was practically staring at her in the face. She took in the line of muscle that stretched along her calf up to her thigh as she turned, and though her stomach wasn't exactly flat, she'd been gaining definition there lately. Her shoulders were straighter, not hunched over like they used to be and her breasts were looking good. Her thighs were firm and toned all over.

She'd squeezed in a few swims into her schedule and it was going to be one or two more before it got too cold to dip her feet in. Her flying was abysmal like always, but at least she'd taken the initiative to get one broom booked in for her own personal use. All she needed to do was to pluck up the courage to ask one of her friends to show her the ropes. Duelling was one thing on her agenda that still hadn't been fulfilled even though it was the one that should take top priority.

Racking her brains for a competent duel partner, she let her thoughts wander. Harry came to mind, but this time his face was accompanied by Ginny's. They'd all stood with each other during their DA days, why not now, when the threat was exponentially more? Starting training again didn't seem like a bad idea in her mind, but what could she say to convince them into it? Ron wasn't interested. Ginny wasn't enthusiastic. And Harry was unavailable.

A knock sounded on her door.

"Granger."

She watched her eyes widen in the mirror and a pink blush spread over her face.

"Bollocks." She whispered, flying over to her trunk situated by the bed and looking for something to wear.

"Granger, are you there?" He shouted, proceeding to start banging on her door.

She made a face at the door. Stupid ferret.

"Give me a minute!" She called out, ducking her head into a sweater.

He didn't say anything, but she could imagine him rolling his grey eyes. Exactly two minutes later she opened the door to step out, only to collide solidly with his chest.

A sane person would have moved someplace else to wait when they were told to do so. Malfoy, not being anywhere near sane, obviously felt the need to loom over people's doors till they came out and answered him.

"What's your problem?" she rubbed her forehead, scowling.

He raised one blond eyebrow, still not moving away.

She brushed past him to stand inside the office.

"What did I tell you?" she said, throwing her arms up in resignation. "Five feet. At all times. Which part of it do you not understand?"

He continued to look down at her with that superior look plastered over his face. He took in her form in one languid once-over, and it set her teeth on edge.

"Going somewhere?"

"Huh?"

He gestured vaguely towards her body.

She looked down to see herself dressed in her baby blue cashmere sweater, her legs clad in denim.

"What about it?"

"Never mind." He cleared his throat. "I wanted to start with our patrols early tonight. I need to get down at the pitch at six in the morning."

She stared at him. "Why?"

He muttered something under his breath.

"We've got the first match of the season against Ravenclaw tomorrow. Surely you were aware of that?"

"Oh." She glanced at the wall clock behind his shoulder. It was almost nine. "Well, alright then. Let's get this over with."

She was nearly out of the door when she realized he hadn't moved an inch from his spot, and looked over to find him staring at her.

"What is it?"

"You should—" he started, before looking away. "You should probably wear something warmer."

It took all her concentration to not let the surprise show on her face.

Clearing her throat, she said, with exaggerated slowness. "Malfoy, I have a wand."

His lips pressed into a tight line.

"Yeah, well, just saying."

Before she could say anything else, he'd shoved past her and was out of the door in the blink of an eye.

They walked towards the grounds in mutual silence, the only sound to be heard was the dull patter of their footsteps. She could feel it closing in on her, thickening the air between them, and she tried to elevate it by taking deep, long breaths but it did nothing to calm her mind. This was different, far from what they usually went through. Part of her couldn't help but wish that it was her imagination—he appeared completely unruffled on the surface—but she could not miss the muscle ticking at his jaw as they passed underneath a narrow strip of moonlight filtering down through one of the windows.

There was sufficient distance between them as they walked, but she'd wished it had been in such a way that one of them was in front of the other. Walking side by side, though, she was acutely aware of every step he took, and she wanted to scream at him for actually slowing down enough to accommodate for her shorter steps. He'd never done it before, so why start now?

She needed to get a good look at his face, wanted him to say something so she could deduce just what was going inside that ferret mind, but he wasn't cooperating.

After what seemed like ages, they reached the entrance and looked out at the grounds which stretched in front of them, like an uncharted territory waiting to be explored. She was nearly giddy with relief, relishing the fact that she'd be getting her much needed reprieve from his oppressive presence when they'd part to patrol the grounds separately.

He appeared to be waiting for something.

A cold gush of wind interrupted her musings, and she performed a warming charm over herself.

He made a sound of satisfaction, and she could only stare at him in confusion.

What did she have to say? What were they waiting for? Usually they walked straight out into the grounds and he'd be on his way, barking at her to cover whichever part of the grounds he deemed fit.

Finally deciding to take initiative, she stepped forward, and made a beeline towards the lake. She'd gotten familiar with the path these days, so it came as a natural decision for her.

The sound of a twig snapping made her whip around.

"What are you doing?" She asked, curious as to why he was following her.

He finally looked at her, his face nearly incandescent in the moonlight.

"What does it look like I'm doing? We're patrolling."

She crossed her arms in front of her chest. This should be interesting.

"Exactly. We never patrol together. Why don't you cover the Quidditch field?"

His eyes were impossible to make out, shadowed as they were beneath the pale white fringe of his hair. Goosebumps were breaking out on her skin, despite her warming charm.

"We need to start following the protocol. Heads patrol together, and I don't think walking around alone is safe at this time."

What in the world—?

"Look, Ferret. I can take care of myself." Not to mention she'd feel far from safe chaperoned by him of all people.

"I wasn't talking about you."

"Let me get this straight." She faced him fully now. "You want us to do this together, because its 'safer', despite the fact that it will take twice the usual amount of time, and time was the only reason I agreed to do this early in the first place."

The corner of his mouth turned upwards, and it felt like a shot of excitement had been poured into her bloodstream. What was wrong with her?

"What's the matter, Granger? Scared of the big, bad Malfoy?"

She turned around with a loud snort, completely aware of the fact that he'd just manipulated her into doing it this way, his way, but like always her curiosity got the better of her. He had something up his sleeve, and she wanted to see what it was. He'd been acting strange for the past few days, and normally she wouldn't pay attention to his ferret mood swings, but her awareness for him had been heightened ever since Pansy had confronted her regarding their precious relationship.

Is that what this was about, then? Had Pansy relayed the contents of their conversation to him? Highly unlikely, considering how she'd nearly threatened her into keeping mum about it. And even if she had, what could he hope to accomplish by this, whatever it was?

"What are you playing at, Malfoy?" she decided to ask him, only to ease her mind out. "I don't have to tell you that I refuse to be a participant in whatever game you're playing."

He was back to walking at a distance by her side, synchronizing with her steps.

"Granger, has anybody ever told you how deeply paranoid you are? You let your insecurity govern your life. Your grades, your friends, even your free time when you're out here every other evening, busting your arse out."

She felt indignation swirl inside her like a storm. And how did he know about that anyway? It was supposed to be her secret.

"It's not paranoia, Malfoy. It's called 'Constant Vigilance'. And please, don't get all analytical with me. I know better than to be careless where you are concerned."

Almost immediately she wished she could take her words back.

"Oh?" He questioned, unmistakable glee in his voice. "Is that a roundabout compliment?"

She refused to grace that with a reply.

He scoffed.

"And there you have it. You're so bloody hung up on authority, you're quoting a Death Eater doppelganger."

She blinked at the statement. It was true.

"That doesn't answer my question. You're acting strange, and I want to know why. Don't pretend you're suddenly psychoanalyzing me out of the goodness of your heart."

"I'm what?"

"Forget it," she muttered.

Maybe he was right. Maybe it was just her paranoia speaking. Despite his tendency to annoy the living crap out her, he really couldn't be held responsible for every emotion that she felt in his presence. It was better for both of them that they ignored this altogether, ignored this viscous agitation stirring amidst the space between them. Five feet or fifty, he would continue to affect her in this manner. And she was too afraid to completely acknowledge why.

For the first time in her eighteen years, ignorance was bliss.

They were silent for a while.

"Did you hear that?," he spoke suddenly.

"What?"

They held their breath, eyes trained at the foliage that lay in front of them, ensconced between two trees.

A hushed giggle sounded from behind the tree on the left.

She could have groaned at the situation. This was something that they dealt with on a day to day to basis; hormonal teenagers out for a night thrill by the lake, or behind the greenhouses, but it was not something she wanted to deal with right now, and she could not figure out why.

They walked over to the tree, despite her heart instructing her not to. The scene was standard, and not much, to be honest. But this time she felt it acutely, the pulsing sensation that thrummed in her veins at the sight. The couple stood leaning against the trunk, locked inside an embrace with their mouths whispering carnal secrets to each other.

The boy was older, probably a sixth year, and the girl looked to be in her fourth year. Through the mess of their wandering hands, she could make out the bright yellow colours that belonged to Hufflepuff. They were kissing deeply, passionately, and completely unaware of the older students who stood watching them. It was awkward as hell, honestly, and logic demanded that she say something, but her ears were ringing.

Malfoy decided to do the honours.

"Alright, enough of that."

The pair continued with their activities, not having heard him at all.

"I said, break it up!" he said, raising his voice.

They jumped apart, and Hermione couldn't help but smile as the girl moved to cower behind the guy.

"This isn't the time or place to get friendly, get back to your common rooms."

The boy looked like he wanted to argue.

"Twenty points from Hufflepuff, each. Now, get going."

"But – its only ten minutes past the curfew. We were about to leave, honestly!"

"You want a detention?" said Malfoy. "Is that what you want?"

"Alright, alright." He mumbled something under his breath.

"What was that?"

"We're leaving, okay!"

Hermione watched them make a slow trek towards the castle. She couldn't help but wonder, as she looked at their entwined hands, what it must be like to feel something strong enough to leave the warm, cosy security of the castle…to want to leave behind the familiar faces for a while, only to steal a private moment underneath the stars.

They continued to move forward, effortlessly falling into step beside each other. But underneath her thin cashmere sweater, her heart was racing.

She was going crazy. There was no other explanation.

Inadvertently, her gaze moved to Malfoy. He was keeping up with his strange, silent act but as if sensing her attention, slowly turned his head to look at her. Something flashed in his eyes, but it might have been her imagination – what with her going out of her mind and all.

Bloody hell, they'd been just two inexperienced kids looking for some action. There really wasn't much to it, so why was she thinking about it?

The next few hours were pure torture. They didn't catch any more couples, thankfully, but they did come across several butterbeer bottle strewn across a spot of grass by the lake. The rest of the patrol was thoroughly uneventful, and yet, as they entered the common room close to midnight, Hermione felt like she'd just attended the longest duty of her life.

She entered first, closely followed by him. Somehow, it felt like she'd come home. It was ten minutes past twelve, and she couldn't help but notice that this was even later than their usual joint-patrol time.

She looked at him curiously. Wasn't he annoyed at all?

"I never thought it would take us this long." She addressed him. "We should stick to separate patrols from the next time. Looks like your idea to start early wasn't any good at all."

He was staring at her. Out of nowhere, he smiled.

"I don't know...it was pretty – interesting."

She couldn't help but gape at his face.

Was this...could it be possible...that this whole thing had been premeditated?

Slowly, he stepped forward, coming to a stand directly in front of her. If she had a way to measure it, she was sure the distance would come out to be five feet. For the life of her, she didn't know whether to be grateful or regretful for it. Her heart was back to beating a steady tattoo inside her chest, and her fingers curled into tight, little fists by her sides.

The firelight painted him into a glowing, radiant statue - only she didn't recall any statue ever making her feel like this. Behind the unfamiliar turmoil that was brewing inside her mind, there was still a small, sane part of her which was telling her that it was all a big farce. That this was Draco Malfoy, that it was just a trick of the light, and they hated each other, and nothing could ever change that.

His face was unreadable, but a hundred emotions were playing inside the grey depths of his eyes. She wished he'd stop looking at her like that.

The fact that he had a game tomorrow made her come back to her senses, and she pulled her eyes away. He sighed, as if she'd failed him somehow.

As she turned to make her way inside the hallway, he said something that left her feeling stunned.

"Goodnight, Granger."

She whipped around, unable to believe her ears. But all she saw was the back of his blond head disappearing into the darkness.

A/N: Sort of a filler chapter, but hope you liked it. :)

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