A/N: HI! I know I said last time I would update soon, but I wanted to do my best on this chapter. I reckon I could still improve it, somehow, but I don't want to keep anyone waiting, if they are that is. xD (I did update the chapter, and improved it a bit further.)

Things to watch out for:
-I had based some of this chapter from the events of the book, although seeing it through Hermione's eyes. So, yes, there is some dialogue taken directly from the book to give it a bit more of a realistic touch. That's okay, isn't it? I hope so, hehe.
-In my version, Ron started going out with Lavender a bit sooner, and Hermione is still friends with him... For now. Mwahahaha.
-The name of the chapter is similar to Rowling's because, somewhere in my twisted fantasy, I decided it to be so.

Disclaimer: This Written work is based on characters, places and events of JK. Rowling (AND dialogue! :D which is hers too!) No money is made out of this, and none is intended to. Blah... Blah... Belongs to (but not limited to) Bloomsbury Publishing and others. Etc.

I hope you guys will enjoy this, so, without further ado, here we go.


Chapter 2

Opals and Silvers

"Well done, Miss Granger!" McGonagall's wrinkly, weathered face peered down at me from her desk. She was smiling, satisfied with my transfiguration of Crookshanks, who was now a large, wild wolf. I smiled in return, obviously rather pleased with myself, but not surprised, I had known a long time ago that hard work managed to make you successful anywhere. Harry and Ron were staring at me in awe, their mouths slightly agape; Hedwig was half dog and Pigwidgeon was part Parrot. It was hilarious to look at, but rather quite... pathetic.

-Sorry guys!-

I couldn't keep myself from gloating at how Harry couldn't resort to his book, and Ron ... Well, Ron, like always, was too lazy to start fully studying. Besides he was way too busy having his face licked off every other minute by Lavender; not that I cared-they even made a cute couple... I tapped Crookshank's ivory, glistening mane and he turned back into my ginger cat that I adored.

"Well done, Mr Malfoy! Brilliant work, 5 points to Slytherin!" The professor said.

I was sure if my mouth could be any lower, it'd be touching the floor. Malfoy had just done a better job than me? I turned around to find out McGonagall was right. His owl was now a magnificent green Python,

-Truly, what else could it be? Hmph.-

...the detail was astonishing; the head was perfect and oval, the scale-ish skin was showered with small silver stripes every now and then, and it was slowly writhing it's way between the elk wood tables of our classmates. It was truly beauti-

Pansy shrieked, jumping back from her seat; the snake had risen up to eye-level and was swooning side to side, teasing her. It reminded me of when Malfoy(again him) had conjured a snake in our, *cough* Dueling Club with Gilderoy Lockhart , and Harry started conversing with it, looking like he was egging him on to attack Justin Finch-Fenley.

Then Malfoy walked over to his pet, tapped his wand twice on the olive green head and it transformed back into his pale cream/white owl, gazing curiously at us with it's huge grey eyes. It was one of the most delicate eagle owls, hodling itself upright in an pompous manner. It actually kind of looked like Malfoy himself; grand and elega-

I shook my head, and my curly brown hair whipped my cheeks. I was thinking those thoughts again, it had started happening more and more to my greatest dismay. That was just wrong. Nobody knew about our- about that day up in the tower, and if I could help it, it was going to stay that way. We both pretended that nothing happened, never talking about it. I had a tiny flicker of hope that maybe, just maybe, Malfoy would've switched or changed, but the only difference to ensue was the occurrence of our attacks outset to become most vicious in our history.

-Well, if you take away that time I slapped him.-

Even Harry and Ron seemed to cognizance the exceptionally bizarre behaviour of this foul situation. They once confronted me about it, and let me tell you, it wasn't a pleasant conversation.

I shrugged it off, pretending I didn't know what they meant, but of course I did. That 'event' seemed to fuel our hate for each other, it was the reason I spent countless nights in bed, crying, alone at all times, and wished with all my stupid,gullible heart that I had never seen him in the lavatory when he was, erm, upset.

What was I thinking, bloody ideas, that he had a different side to him?

Malfoy's insults were getting much more sadistic and personal, I had to somehow defend myself! Once he even suggested that I was such an emotion turmoil because it was 'that' time of the month, and I was pissed off that my dream boy, who I yearned to have have lots of ginger, freckled babies with and live in a shoe, was dating another girl. Not only had he insulted me, but hitched Ron onto the ride in his wake! With regret I admitted to myself, that, yes, I was a bit jealous of Lavender. I didn't fancy Ron or anything, those feelings disappeared in our fourth year, around the time of the Yule ball, when he had acted so childish and immature, but... I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

"Oh, Drakie! Thank you so much!" Pansy pounced on Draco, her soft and straight locks bouncing behind her, and gave him a hug, squealing, like he was, Oh, I don't know, Superman. His face flashed some kind of grimace of annoyance, but disappeared momentarily, his cool, placid mask settling on his features as usual. I thought I was going to be sick,must've had something bad to eat. Grumbling under my breath, things that sounded like they weren't suited to be overheard by anyone, I walked over to Ron and Harry, who were leaning on their desks, frowns on their faces. I sat up on the table next to Harry, with an almost-fake-cheeriness, letting my legs dandle in the air like a child's.

"Congrats on your transfiguration, 'Mione." I smiled over at Ron, glad that took notice of me; his expression was grim and distasteful, as he was still looking at the scene of Malfoy-Pansy. We both glanced over our shoulders at his pet, who was now imitating weird noises with it's multi-coloured parrot beak.

"It'll be better next time" I tried to give him a genuine smile, but it seemed to come across as a doubtful grimace, because I couldn't quite put my face into an otherwise opposite expression of the repulsion I felt with Parkinson. Ron laughed anyway, and I followed suit, not particularly finding anything amusing, but happy to let go of held-up emotions.

Malfoy in the process of insulting Harry's mother (one of his, humouring, topics), currently mentioning something about her heritage; he always likes a wide variety of begrading Muggle-borns and those related to him. Smirking, he stood with his hands crossed in front of him and leaned back slightly in defiance; Crabbe and Goyle, flanking his sides, were cracking their knuckles. Harry started growing red like a ripe tomato, with even a tinge of purple in his temples and I could see his hand sliding down his black robes, reaching for his wand. It was a split second moment where Harry whipped his wand out and pointed it at Malfoy's icy eyes; in response Malfoy flashed him a sneer of superiority and amusement.

"Conjucti-"

Harry's wand shot out of his hand and into McGonagall's, where it rested, slightly shaking, in her palm. Her face seemed very angry; her mouth was pursed into a thin line and she had a look of absolute outrage in her eyes(which, Ron noticed with a gasp, was very similar to Mrs. Weasley's while she was scolding the twins), which enhanced her wrinkles even more, only making her seem stricter and scarier. I stood in shock, glued to the hexagonal, grey stones, which most of Hogwarts was made of. The spell Harry tried to use was dangerous and banned at Hogwarts( and forbidden by the Ministry of Magic in most cases). Malfoy seemed to mirror the state I was in, with the exception of the previous ghost of his signature sneer on his lips, and clearly not yet understanding what the use of the spell was.

Everyone had seen how much pain and terror it had caused to Victor Krum's Dragon during the first task; it had started sprawling around the arena in panic and twisting its head as if to rub it's eyes, clearly in agony. This had given Victor a chance to grab the golden egg for the Triwizard Tournament, but the cruel method pushed Krum out of my mind, whatever it was I was thinking. Malfoy seemed to register the use of the spell and his eyes turned bigger than ever before, right before a smug look took shape on his face contours. I could just imagine what he was thinking:

-Saint Potter had just tried to curse me! Haha-

Or something along these lines. I mean, I wasn't a mind reader, right? I chuckled nervously while the Professor seemed to come to a decision, her eyes stopped darting from Harry to Malfoy, then she sighed and, with disappointment, stated:

"Detention, Potter. 20 Points from Gryffindor for an attempt at using magic on a fellow student. I will also have a talk with Professor Dumbledore if there are any other incidents as such, young man, and you should know how he feels about students hexing each other. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Professor." Mumbled Harry, looking down.

If anything could've sealed Malfoy's victory, it was that. Destructive anger started boiling inside me, and I could've sworn that one little thing, remark, glare, or whatever, would most likely tip the already full cup and I would lose my temper; the chain of events that would follow would result in more detentions and lost points.

-Who is Malfoy to bully Harry, then cause him to get a Detention?! Not to mention lose Gryffindor points, which were already low due to Harry's lateness for the opening ceremony. Which, oh yeah, was caused by him too.-

Harry resignedly took his things and, together with Ron, slumped out the classroom. I honoured Malfoy with an evil glare, full of hatred and malice, but he just smiled at me, amused by everything and visibly celebrating he got Harry into trouble.

"Now, now, Mudblood. You should go join your boyfriends in their failure of a life, they must be missing you." He drawled, while Professor Mcgonagall was turned around, then inclined his head to his two goons, who began laughing mercilessly. I just gritted my teeth, grabbed my bag, and counted backwards from ten, hoping I could keep my cool.

"Shut up, Malfoy. They at least don't go around, crying their eyes out in bathrooms, like some." That earned me a murderous look from Malfoy, and two quizzical ones from his sidekicks. Before he could say or do anything( which I was sure of, he looked as if he himself was going to curse me), McGonagall engaged him with a conversation about homework of some sort.

I left the classroom, smirking; delighted with myself that I got back at him for both me, and Harry. I proudly walked with my head high, through the stone corridor leading to the dining hall, but as I started nearing the entrance hall for dinner, I started feeling remorse; I shouldn't have sunk to his level. Besides, he couldn't have been crying without a serious reason. Brilliant, this was just like me to double-cross and analyse everything. Why couldn't I just be like Ron or Harry? 'Go with it and see what happens.'

-Ah, yes, because both of them acting purely on instinct resulted mostly in mortal danger and harm-

It was a couple of days after and I was stuck in the Library over my transfiguration homework, bored to death, or shall I say, weary of the essay I yet had to fulfill. It was rather quite strange, odd, peculiar or quaint; whatever you want to name it. Very out of my character; I was never bored or fed up with essays, especially since I had paragraphs to finish and research to conduct. However much I tried, I couldn't stop my mind wondering over to how pretty the day outside was; even though it was the middle of October, the sleepy grounds bathed in the cold sunshine looked extremely inviting. I wished I could bundle myself in a scarf, take a stroll down to the lake and let the crazy wind mess with my hair, while I stood enthralled with Autumns beauty. I sighed, things like these have to wait, finishing my essay. It was good to be out of Ron's disgusting presence: Lavender started calling him Won-Won, which was completely revolting, and Harry couldn't help but ramble on about how Malfoy was definitely scheming. I had no idea what was worse, but both got on my nerves so bad I felt cluttered by their presence. There was also the case of Cormac McLaggen, who seemed to think he was irresistible; he was a pompous ass, talking about himself all the time, literally! I swear every time he opened his mouth, things like 'When I was...' or 'The minister of magic has invited us to this, or to that, he's a family friend you see...' etc. I needed a breather every time he came close to me, making crazy excuses along the lines of 'I've got detention' or other gibberish. I wondered how he did not end up in Slytherin (and how of all houses he became a Gryffindor), it seems he should be off with the other idiotic aristocrats. Surely he'd be better off there? Oh, him, Zabini and Malfoy could be best mates, frolicking around the school (Malfoy frolicking. What a thought...) and saying how much better they are than everyone else. I guessed chasing a Muggle-born didn't exactly earn him points in the house of Sly and Cunning. Ah. On the subject of Malfoy-ism; we had done a rather good job of the project, we resolved and developed every miniscule factor on the Potion. Our determination to make the other suffer seemed to have wavered somehow, even if it was a tiny amount; the remarks were savage and hit the spot, but the amount was definitely smaller.

Harry's detention was merged with Professor Snape's, after his rather, smarts-ass behaviour in Defense Against The Dark Arts. It had been already postponed once; for one of those exquisite lessons with the Headmaster, and Harry didn't get out of it again, this time for Slughorn's party, which meant I was left alone in the company of Cormac, Zabini and the others.

I shuddered at the thought of that evening. It had been absolutely horrifying; Cormac kept looking at me, winking, licking his lips and eating his food in what he must have thought was a 'seducing manner', but it rather looked like he had major problems with biting and swallowing. I hadn't found it funny at all, considering it was aimed at me. I had felt so uncomfortable and awkward, which is why I decided to this unrealistic resolution; next time we had a dinner party and Harry couldn't come I'd definitely call in sick or- or something.

On my way back to the tower I had bumped into, who else, but Malfoy?We collided and Malfoy once again found my face centimeters away. He shuffled backwards, creating a loud scraping noise, picked up his bag off the floor and mocked haughtily,

"I see you can't stay away from me for long, Granger. I would advise you to keep your hands to yourself, though."

"Oh I'm sorry, did I get my germs on you? Perhaps you'd like a second dosage?" I reached a hand out to him.
I was grinning, the idea behind that was that perhaps he'd be surprised or at least taken aback, so I wouldn't have to listen to all his offending Muggle-born crap.

"Eh, Mudbloods."

He seemed to be in a hurry to get somewhere, and as well as I knew him, it was probably the meeting of posh Slytherins. OR he was going somewhere with Pansy-

Why, that pug-faced, little...

I pushed that thought out of my mind, deciding that it was going into a file named 'Things I must not think,care, or mind about.'

Regardless the reason, he didn't say anything more to mine, rather obvious, invitation to a fight- arguement.
Malfoy shrugged, deciding that I wasn't worthy of his wonderful presence, probably anyway, his imbecilic thoughts and ideas didn't matter to me. He started walking away, leaving me still half-sitting on the ground, he turned around to watch me scrabble up from the ground, whilst laughing to himself languidly.

I was retrieving one of my books -Hogwarts: A history- off the wooden floor, which lay sprawled due to our bump-in, and attempted to fit it inside my already full bag. It was then I decided I was going to rise up and have a chat with ferret-boy about that peculiar day up in the tower and the night preceding; it was a puzzle, and although my heart told me I really shouldn't know, like a parent protecting it's child from harm, my brain wanted life to return to normal; that could only happen by logically solving and analysing the issue. I called for him to wait up and my slightly nervous tone echoed around the tapestry filled walls, some of the portraits glared at me angrily, and other whispered things about peace and quiet. Anyhow, the blonde figure didn't stop, but the back of his head bobbed up and down for a second, and I could picture the snickering; his lips rising in the aumsed-but-not-so-amused gesture, half closing in laughter. Oh how much I hated that expression. Not that I was surprised, what with him belonging to the lineage of Malfoys, pure-bloodied, arrogant snobs, and all, he forseeingly didn't wait up.

"Ugh, what do you want from me, Granger? I hate you, so can you,you know, move?" Malfoy sneered, but there was a glint of annoyance in his eyes. He quickened his pace, his footsteps more determined and loud, and an placid unbothered expression completed his visage. I copied him in effort to keep up, but I was still slightly out of breath; unfortunately that was a result of being a bookworm. We were now in the corridor leading to the dungeons. The walls were plain, boring stone, and torches littered every other pillar, giving a rather cold and eerie glow. The ceiling was high and obscene, and the occasional gargoyle or ornament casted unpleasant shadows, giving the impression that something, for an example an Leithpod, was lurking in the darkness Not a friendly place for a Gryffindor to be in alone.

" Feeling's mutual. What-" I was about to demand why he hadn't bothered to berate or bully me when he had a chance- it was very odd, yet another puzzle I yearned to solve, but he cut me off, glaring at me from the corner of his stormy eyes, daring me to interrupt.

"I don't want the air I breathe tainted by you. Have you any idea how much I'm going to have to wash already?!" His tone was twisted with hatred, and then followed his face. He had added a sadistic sneer of repulsion, which he reserved just for me, where the one of the top halves of his lip curled up in disgust. I bit my tongue, a retort at the ready (something about being a sleazy ferret), but my intention wasn't to go around in circles, bickering with each other. I gathered my courage and attempted to ask,

"About what happened-" But before I could finish, he grabbed me by the shoulder and flung me against the wall like a lifeless doll, and my shoulder blade erupted with sharp pain.

" I don't know what you're talking about. Nothing happened, and if you say something related or whatever, I will kill you." He snarled, his face inches away from mine, his arm positioned threateningly on the stones next to my head.

"Back off, Malfoy." I spat through gritted teeth, surreptitiously drawing my wand out and putting my it against his stomach,while twisting to get into a more, painless position.

"Is there something in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?" Smirking,he moved away and walked off, this time not followed by me and his footsteps got quieter and quieter, until there was a smothering silence I wished not to be part of any longer.

-Wow. How's that for a day's excitement?-

"Hermione!" Ginny's face was light and a broad smile painted her features, her red hair seemed orange compared to the fabric of the top of my fourposter bed, which was a bold, velvet burgundy."Hermione! Wake up! We'll be late to Hogsmeade!"

I sat up and stretched, yawning. I stifled a gasp as pain shot from my still sore shoulder blade.

"Sorry, I was so tired from yesterday." I returned the smile and looked over to my reflection in the silver framed mirror. I jumped out of bed shouting how terrible I looked, but I felt even worse; like I had been run over by a horde of buffaloes, elephants and rhinos.

My hair was frizzy and tangled, I had shadows under my eyes( probably because of staying up so late to talk with Harry and Ron) and my cheeks were slightly grey. The worried expression certainly didn't help. Ginny held her wand out in my direction and muttered a couple of spells. My eye bags disappeared, the skin took on a healthy glow and my hair seemed to be tame and pretty, flowing down onto my shoulders in calm soft locks.
"Thanks, Ginny" I hugged her , really smiling this time.

"No prob. This is what I got from Fred and George's shop before school started." she said pointing to a weird looking ring that was on her wand.

"It makes you feel and look better, but you can only use it twice." I felt honoured that she used it on me, then I wondered if she already had tried it out, or if I was the guinea pig. I shrugged mentally; the outcome was good, so who cared about the intentions?

Taking my books and my bag, I and Ginny rushed down to the dining hall, starving. A nice, breakfasty smell infiltrated my nostrils causing my stomach to growl in anticipation. Scanning the Slytherin table I could see Malfoy chomping on bacon, laughing his head off with Zabini. I groaned and sat next to Ron.

"Not a good day for you too, Hermione?" Harry asked, deep in thought. I grumbled something under my breath about being tired and set off to drinking coffee. I hated the way Malfoy treated me yesterday, made me look vulnerable and small, which I really didn't want happening.

Ron started talking about a brand new spell, which was probably invented by The Half-Blood Prince,

"... and then there was another flash of light and I landed on my bed again!" He grinned, putting some sausages on his plate. I didn't find it funny at all, and I looked over at Harry with disapproval,

"Was this spell, by any chance, another one from that potion book of yours?" I inquired. He frowned at me.

"Always jump to the worst conclusion, don't you?" We continued to argue, both irritated. I couldn't believe how irresponsible Harry was being, but the talk had now steered over to Death Eaters so I let it slide.

We had walked into Hogsmeade together, battling the cold wind and rain, and took shelter in the warm insides of Honeyduke's, when Slughorn asked Harry about his dinner party. Of course Harry wriggled out of it. Again.

"They're not that bad, you know... they're even quite fun sometimes..." Ron's face seemed grave, so I thought I wouldn't go on. It was awkward enough already, and I didn't need more tension ,or this meeting to get worse. I tried to distract them by pointing out some new sweets in the shop, which worked a perfect treat. Then we headed out to The Three Broomsticks and on the way we met Mundungus Fletcher, a vile, disgusting guy, and Harry had gotten all worked up; it was understandable, his heirloom was being stolen by a slimy lowlife and he was aggravated. I just wished he hadn't had the need to portray it in front of everyone. Concluding; it was a rubbish trip; as soon as we drained our drinks, I asked if we could go back and they both nodded, obviously thinking the same, and relieved I had taken the initiative.

On the way to our beloved school, Katie Bell had a horrible incident, involving a cursed piece of jewellery. We rushed to Professor McGonagall's office with Leanne, her best friend, who was shook up and crying in my arms. Behind me and the poor girl,Harry was sauntering about Malfoy being the villain of this, that he must surely have done it. I groaned, vexed. Why must Harry always blame everything on Malfoy?

Ron had obviously been logical about it and didn't lead Harry on. Malfoy wasn't evil like that, was he?

"I think Draco Malfoy had given Katie that necklace, Professor." At one moment Harry sprung out with his ideas. I couldn't believe what I was hearing; it was different blaming someone to a person of authority than your friends. I shuffled away from him, determined to get as much distance between us as possible. Harry had gone mad, Malfoy wouldn't do such a thing. The boy who cried in the toilet couldn't have...
The Professor seemed outraged by this, which wasn't surprising. She scolded him, pinpointing to herself that Harry must be making accusations as these because of the bitterness he held for Malfoy. Nevertheless he tried to prove it was him, we disputed and made arguements that actually made sense, unlike Harry's mindless ramblings, even to prove one of them was a far stretch.

I was simply being logical, yes that was it. It wasn't as if I wanted to protect the blonde, was it?

-Nahhh...-

Harry was obviously rather angry that we didn't take his side, but what did he expect? It was a delirious accusation! Besides, it turned out that he hadn't even been in Hogsmeade, because, quite frankly, he had detention with the Professor due to undone homework...

-That must've been what she was speaking to him about!-

We discussed who it might've been for and who gave it to Katie, Harry sticking to his theory, made impossible and amusing objections and ideas to prove he was right.

"... It wasn't very well-thought-out at all." I said, hoping to finish the conversation.

"But since when has Malfoy been one of the world's greatest thinkers?" asked Harry. None of us answered, but I quietly thought how he was actually rather smart. His work on our presentation was flawless, and in some aspects, even better than mine! Add to that the transfiguration and I started suspecting he might be just as smart as me; it wasn't easy to get the hang of the spell, he must've spent hours studying it, as did I. I speculated why I had defended Malfoy so... fiercely? Determined? It was too much; all this thinking was overwhelming and I truly wasn't in the mood to make distressing revelations. I sat on my bed, rubbing my temples gingerly, re-thinking about the morning. The whole day gave me a headache and I was tired and groggy from the weather. The cold seemed to get right throughto my bones, I was woozy and felt like it was the beginning of a major flu; the kind that made you pent up in your room for days.

-What I need is a hot, relaxing bath.-

Following my new found idea, I robustly swung my pajamas, my striped towel and my snug bathrobe onto my shoulder, and departed for the prefects bathroom. If I was going to bathe I might as well do it in style. I padded down the stone stairs, not exactly earnest to give Parvati or Lavender a possibility to gossip. Half-way down I doubled back to my room; I forgot that I hadn't taken my apple bathing set with me; it was a wonderful feeling, wonderful smelling, very expensive set which contained of a shampoo and conditioner, shower gel, shower cream, bath bombs(they were normal Muggle bathbombs, not these amazing wizard ones which exploded and lit the room with some extravagant lights and alike) face exfoliator, moisturising cream and body balm. Green apple was the uncomparable thing in the world to me, and by the time I fulfilled my bathing routine I was extensively smothered by the scent.

The common room was almost deserted; it was still not past curfew so the Gryffindors were assumably enjoying themselves throughout the castle, or stuffing their faces in the great hall. I knew for a fact that Harry and Ron were already in their dormitories, they announced languorously they were immensely beat; I placed my bets on the hope that they were possibly snoring their faces off even now, not bothering to give any thought to personal hygiene of any sort. I was not going to begin judging presently, anyhow. With the portrait hole swinging shut behind me I made a mental note to additionally visit Madam Pomfrey in the Hospital Wing to acquire some Pepper-Up Potion for the chill.

I dreamt of the day up high, in the tower, recalled every individual detail;how Malfoy's delicate arms caressed me, and how my lips against his had a mind of their own, I was filled with desire and longing and...I could feel his lean muscles tense and relax under his shirt, the softness and silkiness his hair... How his pupils shrunk with horror and astonishment as he looked at me, dancing with uncertainty and- fear? That was when I awoke, and a blunt pain hit me scattered close to my heart, a numb agony of something along the lines of hot knives stabbing me. I had no idea what to do anymore, or what to think; so I drifted back into uneasy sleep.

Harry continued his rant of Malfoy-is-a-Death-Eater; at breakfast, studying, leisure time. Together, Ron and I feigned deafness whenever he occurred to discuss this with us.

It was the day of our presentation, and, sadly, Seamus was left alone to make the potion, Harry was with Dumbledore in a meeting. It was definitely going to be an, exploding lesson!

-I like to make puns, so sue me.-

I sat at the front of the class, confident I would exceed. No Harry and no book to take away my victory, or outshine my work; I missed my usual ahead-of-the-game self.

-Besides, I have the prince of potions to help me.-

I thought slyly to myself while I readied the ingredients, he was unquestionably stupendous at the subject, and, not for the first time, I was happy he was my partner, once you put aside all his personality, and, well, him, and focused on his abilities. Malfoy was on the other side of the classroom, talking to Pansy. Or she was talking to him, because he looked like he wasn't listening to her anyway. I caught him gazing at me and saw- saw something quaint. His face seemed warm and- open, and he was watching me with what looked like a tingle of a smile. Not a smirk, but an honest, genuine smile. I blinked in confusion, only to find he was glaring at me again. There was something amiss with his expression, like he was troubled. None the less, it might've been some deviating idea of mine. He started towards me, hissing,

"Stop looking at me, Mudblood, I don't want to end up looking like you!"

"Me? You were the one staring at me!" I fired back, I stood up in anger, knocking my stool to the ground. My hands were balled into fists, my fingernails digging into my palms, and my cheeks were most definitely burning. My response took him aback, and he looked like he was blushing, but his brow was furrowed and his lip was curling again. My imagination was playing tricks on me, he was clearly flustered. He vociferously threw his bag onto the cold, dungeon floor next to the desk, slowly, but vehemently circled it and sat himself calmly onto the stool opposite me. Then he shuffled it away with a loud screeching noise made from the contact of metal against stone. Then Malfoy propped his elbows onto the wooden surface in an almost defiant manner, leaning forward, and rested his chin onto his pale,slender hands. He eyed me with suspicion in an almost deflated way, before averting his gaze somewhere to the side, which, I realised, was Pansy's behind. I huffed in annoyance at how he was behaving, but also at how all boys were just shallow, stupid planks.

"Let's just get this over with." He whispered clamorously, more to himself than me.

-Ditto on that.-

We worked in silence, and I attempted to cut the Sopophorous Bean. It had proved just as hard and almost impossible like in our first lesson; another couple of minutes started edging me into a less-than-calm state, the only thing that kept me from erupting into desperate sobs was that others seemed to make no progress either and, well, I was working with Malfoy- I'd never hear the end of that. Seamus's potion had exploded almost 20 minutes ago, and he was taken to Madam Pomfrey by Michael Corner, a fellow classmate who, not by chance, wasn't exactly doing well on his cauldron. Malfoy took this chance like always to gloat and begrade Seamus, who had soot distributed all over his face and robes, giving him a rather gaunt look, and was also a in a shocked trance; his eyes were slightly glazed over and he was staring off into space with a distant grin. My annoyance got the better of me and I started hissing remarks, which I really hoped hurt, and that resulted in me slightly tipping over our cauldron.

"COULD YOU GET EVEN MORE AGGRAVATING, GRANGER?!" Malfoy roared at me out of nowhere, and I whimpered slightly away from him, the small of my back bumping into a table behind us. He was the cold, calculating prat of Hogwarts, who schemed and took revenge mercilessly, this was extremely unlike him, it simply scared the hell outta me. It wasn't every day Draco Malfoy screamed at you from the top of his lungs, his hands curled up into what looked like a good strangling position, with his veins throbbing, very visibly, in his pale forehead. I was struck dumbfounded like some small girl who went into a huge toy wonderland; I couldn't move, I couldn't speak, all I could do was gaze at him in astoundment, wondering where that had come from. His hair was incredibly tousled; it was slightly swaying in front of his eyes, an ivory cleft cutting one of his grey irises into two seperate pieces, and he didn't even spare me a second glance as he fumbled with the beans. Seconds later he was pouring the extracted Sopophorous juice into our cauldron, and quickly stirred with the wooden spoon. He seemed to do exactly what Harry done; seven stirs clockwise and one anti-clockwise, then repeat. The potion turned a light shade of lilac colour right before taking on the form of a clear liquid, and I knew it was finished. He scrabbled with his bag clasp before angrily storming out of the class, whilst running his hand through his hair. The whole process looked... Cute.

I gagged momentarily in my mind, silently scowling myself for acting so strange. I had gotten so distracted with his presence that I had nearly cost myself a grade, and then did nothing about it; if it hadn't been for his quick thinking the solution would've been wasted and it was hard to imagine the next few days of mockery from fellow students, hell, probably even fellow Gryffindors. Being second in class was one thing; completely failing was quite another. That thought extricated me from the deep thinking and I let my eyes slowly drift over the rest of the class; Lavender and her crabby partner weren't doing so well, basically sitting like ducks, their backs turned away from each other, Pansy seemed infuriated with Parvati; they were both whispering angrily towards each other, looking as if one comment would erupt in a cat fight, Zabini and Goyle seemed to be doing okay-ish, but nowhere near mine and Malfoy's work. I didn't even bother looking over at Ron and Dean; both of them sucked at Potions and I didn't want to see them looking all hopeless and sad. God forbid if Ron looked at me with his big blue, lost-puppy eyes, and I would've been persuaded to go and help him. No, it was better I didn't look at him.

"Well done, Miss Granger-" Slughorn suddenly appeared out of nowhere beside me, " And Mr Malf-" He looked around the class frantically, then eyed the empty stool opposite me with anticipation; like Malfoy was going to apparate on that particular spot any second. He turned towards me, a whiff of old Fire Brandy and Cigars floated my way with his movements. In a split second window I thought he smelt oddly familiar, if I looked back on it later I would realise that my Dad smelt like that after going out with his friends to the Pub on Saturdays .

"Where is Mr Malfoy, Miss Granger?" He eyed me with suspicion, as if I knew where Malfoy stalked off to.

"I don't know, Professor. He was here a second ago." My voice was unusually calm, which contrasted to all the feelings inside my stomach, furling angrily away and making me feel slightly nauseated. I hastily added,

"But he did do the potion, sir, helped me loads with it, really." I looked towards the teacher, anticipating either a growl of fury or a smile of amusement. He did neither, he simply stated that I should tell 'Mr Malfoy' that he had achieved the highest level possible in both practise and study. My mind let me slip the part where I hadn't even began to actually agree to what I was saying which was; 'Yes, of course Professor. I shall let him know as soon as I see him.'

It was my reflex to agree and, almost unresolutely, always carry out the given task. This was going to be an exception. No way was I going to go searching for Malfoy to inform him of these- endeavors. If he found me, great, if he didn't... He would simply have to wait until I saw him again... Not in class... Without any people around... I knew that the finality would be that I either went and told him soon, or go mad with the nagging inside my head to listen to the teacher's demands.

In other words, I was screwed.


And with that we finish for now! I tried to not make anyone out of character, because I simply adore them as they are! I will improve on the next chapter, so don't you worry *grin*

Is it too soon for Hermione to be questioning Malfoy's true self? ...

Nahhhhh...

Please review! I need to know if I should continue this fic, so anything would be useful, praises, criticism, etc.

Well. Bye!

Nox