Author's note: Here's chapter four!

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NOTE: One week into the school term.

Harry staggered into the Gryffindor common room, swaying dangerously. His left hand was covered in a small cloth which was drenched in blood, turning the white thing into blood red. Hermione gave a little shriek as she saw Harry entering the common room. Ron rushed to Harry's side in an instant and helped him in the couch near the fireplace. Small beads of sweat were clinging to Ron's forehead as he saw Harry panting heavily.

"Harry, are you all right?" No, of course he wasn't. Hermione knew that but she just wanted that reassuring thought from Harry. She was furious, it was just a week back to school and the toad of a woman had already started hunting down students; her main target: Harry.

She collected Harry's hands in hers and slowly undid the cloth. Hermione's fingers trembled as she took the cloth away from the wound and gasped loudly.

I must not tell lies.

The words shone brightly in front of her. Tears streaked down her cheeks. Ron was visibly shaking with fury. When they had first learnt of this; Dean and Seamus had to hold back a very violent Ron who wanted to murder the toad.

"Ron, quick, get the balm which I made yesterday. It must be on Harry's bedside table." Ron did not wait to nod, turning he sprinted towards the boys dormitory. Hermione was still crying by the time Ron came back with a small bowl of yellow paste in his hands. Hermione stretched her hand and held the bowl in her shaking fingers. With a quick nod to Harry she slowly rubbed the yellow paste on the wound. Harry winced and gasped as colour started returning to his face.

Finally, Harry gave a huge sigh and his erratic breathing returned to his regular pattern. "Bloody witch!" Ron swore loudly as he slumped beside Harry on the couch.

"This is getting dangerous Harry; you need to do something about it." Hermione wanted to scream and shout at Harry for ignoring this. This was dangerous, using a blood quill on students? What was Umbridge playing at? Hermione wanted to run and rock some sense into the toad woman but it was Harry who was holding her back.

"It's not much we can do." Harry's voice was a whisper and he looked shakily at Hermione and then at Ron.

"Yes you can. Tell Dumbledore." Hermione felt like running to him this instant. She knew better than to do that, but she wanted Harry to tell someone, anyone who would listen and take action against the mental woman.

"No." Harry's sharp voice cut the train of her thoughts. "He already has a lot on his plate. I can't run to him every time I have a problem Hermione. He runs a school not any Harry's-problem-solving institution."

He leaned his head back on the couch and closed his eyes. Hermione and Ron looked at each other, uncertainty evident on their faces.

"It's not as easy as it looks like." Harry opened his eyes and saw his two best friends staring back at him with worried eyes. "There's something more to it. Something bigger."

Ron looked uncertainly between Harry and Hermione. Hermione's face was impassive while Harry's reflected a lot of emotions, pain not being one of them. "What are you suggesting, mate?" Ron asked when he was sure Hermione wouldn't.

Harry straightened a bit in his seat. "There must be some reason for her to be here. Dumbledore's not that incompetent enough not to find a teacher. I mean look at it, he could have found someone, like Lockhart or anyone you know. But no, the Ministry decided to intervene and they sent Umbridge who has a stack of orthodox believes and my scar hurts pretty badly when I'm in her proximity."

Hermione turned her face to look at the fireplace which dimly lit the room. The machines in her brain were running at top speed. Harry had a point. When Dumbledore could have found another teacher why did the Ministry interfere? Ministry was allowed to appoint a teacher of their choice only when the headmaster could not find any other competent staff. Hermione was pretty sure there were hundreds of people who could have suited well for the job.

She turned back to face Harry and Ron. Harry was staring at her while Ron had his face glued to the poster beyond the fireplace. "But we have no clue what is going on. It's obvious with You-know-who's return things were going to get pretty bad. But we don't even know if she's in league with him or not." She stopped to inhale some air. She realized she had been breathing in only small volumes.

"But still Harry, we are not sure. It wouldn't be a wise option to run on conclusions without enough evidence. As of now, you should try and steer clear of her path." Hermione knew it wasn't a solution but that would have to do for the moment especially when they had no clue what was going on around them. They had no clue who was on their side and who wasn't, who were playing which games and who were trying to protect.

"Just stay out of her way Harry, please." Hermione couldn't think anymore. The danger was evident, they could sense it, times were getting harder and it would be wise and safe for them to stay clear for a couple of months.

-….-

It was a gloomy day. The Slytherin common room was empty as usual as it was in the early hours of the morning. Many students had already left for the breakfast. Draco sat on a chair near the window waiting for Zabini to appear from his dorm. He looked at the view that surrounded the school. The gloomy and damp day made him feel rather uncomfortable. He straightened a bit in his chair as he heard footsteps coming down from the boys dormitory.

"What took you long?" Draco got up from his place near the window and stood in front of his best friend. "Goyle was being an arse as usual." Draco snorted and turned to the door which led them into the long corridor of the dungeons, his best friend following his lead.

"Eager aren't we today?" Zabini eyed Draco sceptically. Draco decided to ignore him and quickened his pace to the Great Hall. "Hmm…I see. The Gryffindor princess is hardly going to go under a lot of changes in one night's span Malfoy, slow down."

A low growl escaped Draco but he dropped his quick pace nonetheless. "What have you got to do with it? It's none of your concern."

Blaise arched his eyebrow. "On the contrary, I think this has everything to do with me." his words slow and deliberate.

Draco frowned. "How?"

"You are my best friend so that automatically means your problems-

"Yes I know." Draco didn't let him finish. "Some best friend philosophy which Nott has carved into your skull."

"I carved what into Blaise?" Theodore Nott appeared from behind them, his pace now matching with Zabini and Malfoy.

"Bullshit." Draco retorted. Blaise and Theo managed to give Draco a similar smirk and Draco frowned at them even more.

The three boys reached the Great hall and made their way to the usual Slytherin seats which they occupied in the middle of the table. Draco preferred to seat between the two boys as it gave him the clearest view of Hermione from where they sat.

She was there today before him. Normally, he would be the one to enter the Great Hall before her and leave after her. She was seated as usual; between her two body guards. The close proximity of their body made Draco twitch slightly.

"Looks like someone else was eager too." Theo snickered while Blaise gave him an amused look.

She looked the same today, with her long mane of hair, her brown eyes bright with secrets and her face masked with intelligence. Draco was willing to give up his fortune just know what she thought about so much all the time.

He glanced at her so called best friends. Potter looked a little dishevelled, his hair sticking out in every way possible. Disgusting. A white bandage covered a small part of his left hand and he seemed to wince in pain every time he attempted to touch anything with it. Draco's eyes then shifted to her other side. Ah! The pathetic Weasley. Draco still didn't understand why Hermione wanted to hang around someone like Weasley. He had nothing to give her except a grin which was pathetic as hell.

Just then Harry attempted to touch his Pumpkin Juice with his left hand and he winced loudly enough for Hermione to notice. She immediately went from her calm posture to a panicked one. She held his hands between hers and started rubbing her fingers gently and smoothly over the white bandage, muttering soothing words.

Something inside Draco stirred and his body stiffed in response. Blaise and Theo who saw this were trying to get Draco out of the Great Hall before he marched up to them and punch Potter. They knew how possessively dark Draco was when it came to Hermione.

After much pleading and a promise of revenge on Potter and Weasley, Draco left the Great hall with Blaise and Theo trailing behind him.

-…...-

It was in Arithmancy that Hermione noticed Draco's strange behaviour. Not many people took the subject as it required more brain cells and Draco was definitely with some more. Most of the other students were from Ravenclaw. In all 7 students took Arithmancy; four from Ravenclaw, one from Hufflepuff, one Slytherin and one Gryffindor.

Professor Vector was a fine woman with lenient features and mostly left the students alone; mostly because the problems were so difficult that the students were left to fend for themselves the majority of the time.

Hermione was leaning over her parchment, occasionally scratching her end tip of the quill on her forehead. After a couple of minutes of full concentration she felt someone's eyes on her. She tried her best to ignore it but when she felt it was dragging holes near her temple, she looked up. There, Draco Malfoy sat two seats away from her, openly staring at her with what Hermione guessed fury in his eyes. Hermione visibly flinched away from him. The fury directed to her was so strong, like it physically radiated off him. Hermione felt her heartbeat increasing at a dangerous rate and her hands absently gripped the table tightly, her knuckles turning white from the pressure.

She looked down at her parchment immediately. Her handwriting was unsteady near the end where she had stopped to look up at Malfoy. Thoughts were running at top speed in her head. She couldn't think properly. The hate that radiated off him was enough to knock someone off their ground. She took huge volumes of air and tried to control her heartbeat. Finally calmed, she thought about what could have possibly set Malfoy off. As far as she remembered she hadn't done or commented anything to anger him. She couldn't risk taking a peek at him again.

In normal situations she knew how to deal with Malfoy and his 'mudblood' comments, but today it was different. It was not his 'mudblood' hate glare; it was different, something very different. His eyes were dark grey with hate and rage. She wanted to run from his piercing gaze as he continued looking at her from his seat. She couldn't bear it. His gaze was accusatory; like she had stripped him naked in front of the entire Great Hall and now he blamed her for his humiliation, like he was insulted by her.

As soon as Professor Vector ended the class, Hermione shot from her seat like a bullet and ran from the class without a backward glance. She was not one of the people who got easily scared or intimidated; she was fierce and bold; being with Harry Potter for the last four years had made her strong from within, but the accusatory glare which Malfoy kept shooting her had troubled her. She did not stop when a Ravenclaw from her class called out to her. She kept running and stopped when she knew she had put some reasonable distance between them.

The whole day passed in a similar manner. He kept giving her his glare and made her squirm in her seat. Gryffindor lost five points in Potions because she kept fidgeting in her seat a lot. He glared at her in Care of Magical Creatures and in Defence against the Dark Arts. His glare kept getting stronger and stronger as the day past and Hermione kept getting uncomfortable and irritated. She wanted to storm at him and ask him what his problem was but the minute she gathered her courage and looked up at him; his glare ripped her of all the courage she had managed to gather. Damn her Gryffindor courage!

-…-

Harry, Ron and Hermione made their way to the Gryffindor table for lunch. They sat in their usual places with Harry on Hermione's right and Ron on the other side of the table with Seamus and Dean on his either side. Neville sat next to Dean while Ginny sat on Hermione's left. The Weasley twins were next to her. It was their usual arrangement; they were all good friends and knew each other quite well. Seamus, Dean, Harry, Ron and Neville shared a dorm while Fred and George tested their new products on the five of them; Hermione usually was with Harry and Ron which made her a part of that group while Ginny was simply Hermione's only girl best friend.

So the eight Gryffindors were in the middle of their Quiddtch talk, except for Hermione, she hated flying so she was left with her thoughts as her only company. Her thoughts went to the only thing that was bothering her: Draco Malfoy. She wanted to punch him hard for making her think about him, for making her look like a complete idiot; at least he should have told her what she had done. But he didn't, he just kept glaring at her making her even more uncomfortable.

"'Mione…" Ginny called out to Hermione in a whisper so none of the boys could hear her. Ginny was in the middle of an argument between George and Seamus about the Irish team when she noticed Draco Malfoy throwing daggers at Hermione.

"Huh…yeah…what? I was thinking about something. What did you ask?" Hermione was jerked from her thoughts as she felt someone poking her with an elbow. She looked at Ginny and found her looking back at her with suspicious eyes.

Ginny let out a small breath of air as she repeated her question. "I asked why Draco Malfoy is staring at you like that." Ginny's voice was a whisper but worry was evident in it.

Hermione's eyes shot up and she found Draco Malfoy looking at her the same way he had the entire day. She tried reading his eyes; to see if he was giving away something. But his eyes were shielded was usual. His face was expressionless and his posture rigid and stiff as if he was ready to pounce on the next person who dared cross his path. Hermione shook a bit in her seat and dropped her gaze when she was sure he wasn't going to show any mercy. She turned back to look at Ginny when a small scream on her right diverted her attention.

Harry's fork had somehow managed to slip from his fingers and poked him right on the wound. His eyes were watery as he tried to control the pain. All thoughts which kept worrying Hermione were lost the minute she heard Harry. A small red spot was starting to become visible on the white bandage. A few people stopped to stare at them, but Ron and Dean shooed them away. Hermione took Harry's hands in hers again and slowly undid the bandage. Ginny was now standing behind Harry and was rubbing small circles of his back while Fred, George, Dean, Seamus and Neville tried to shield Harry from the people surrounding them.

Hermione slowly redid the bandage after putting on some cleaning and basic healing spells which would stop the bleeding for the time being. Everyone relaxed in their seats as Harry regained some of his lost control.

"Hear, drink this mate." Dean pushed a glass of pumpkin juice towards Harry which he willingly accepted.

"Thanks." Harry said, a little breathless. Dean gave him an appreciative nod and returned to their previous argument about the Irish.

Hermione let out a small breath as she saw Harry relax. His wound was still fresh and it was going to take another week for it to settle down. Hermione was thinking of different ways in which she could manage to keep Harry out of Umbridge's way when her eyes found his again. Draco Malfoy looked at Hermione with even more hatred, if that was even possible. He was visible shaking with fury. He got up and stormed away from the Great hall without a backward glance at her.

Tears welled up in Hermione's eyes, unknowingly. No one in her entire life had glared at her with such fury. She got up and collected her books in a hurry. Eight pairs of eyes looked at her with confusion. "Library." She muttered and half ran from the Great Hall.

"What happened to her?" Neville asked as he strained his neck to watch Hermione leaving in hurry.

"Maybe she's upset" Ron said as he turned to look at Harry.

"But why?" Fred asked, "She seemed okay for a while."

"She must be a bit upset." Ginny joined in the discussion. "What makes you say that?" Seamus looked at Ginny and back at everyone else.

She knew it had something to do with Draco Malfoy, but she thought better than to tell the boys. She didn't think Draco Malfoy would survive if the whole cavalry marched up to him unannounced; even magic wouldn't save the poor boy.

"About what happened with Harry. She's just a bit upset with it." she lied plainly, without a hit of regret. It was necessary.

Harry let out a small 'oh'. "I'll talk to her, don't worry." Ginny then turned back to her plate without meeting anyone's eyes.

-…-

Hermione ran all the way to the library without halting anywhere. She stopped when she reached the library doors. She stood there and tried to control her erratic breathing. She combed her fingers through her hair and pushed open the doors. A familiar scent of books and silence washed over her and she felt a little peace. The library was almost empty as it was the lunch hour except for some six or seven students who lingered near the tables adjacent to the huge windows.

She walked in gracefully and with confidence as she normally did. She gave a small nod to Madam Pince who returned it with a small smile. Hermione made her way to her usual table at the far end of the library. Her table was a little secluded and covered her presence with huge bookshelves. So if anyone had to see her they would have to make their way to the far end.

Hermione dumped her bag near the foot of her chair and slumped down on her chair. She folded her hands on the table and rested her chin on them, her thoughts circling around Draco Malfoy. When she realised she had spent fifteen minutes thinking about her enemy, she felt disgusted. She quickly opened her bag and took out her Potions book and parchment. She stood from her chair and walked to the bookshelf directly behind her to look for some additional information on Invigoration Draught.

Her fingers scanned the various titles of the books on Potions; she wasn't sure which one of them would have the exact kind of information she was looking for. The names of various authors and books skipped past her delicate fingers, she was so engrossed in her own thoughts that she missed the arrival of a presence behind her. The figure lingered near the entrance for a while before making his way towards her. He stretched his hand and reached for the still unknown Hermione who had no clue that someone was standing directly behind her.

-xxxx-

That's it for this chapter. I know I'm leaving you'll hanging, but c'mon you'll are smart. You have figured out who that person is!

Note: Invigoration Draught is a potion which presumably boots the drinker's energy!

Hope you'll have enjoyed the chapter!

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