disclaimer: even though in my mind I am dating Malfoy I do not own him, he owns me, um lol anyway, in other words, I don't own Harry Potter J.K Rowling does

new chapter yay hope this was a quick enough update for you

enjoy, let me know what you think!

For the next few days, Hermione, against her usual stubbornness, decided to actually listen to Malfoy and avoid him.

But she was in no way avoiding him because he asked, she was avoiding him because she was confused about how she felt about the git. He had been trying to help her right? Maybe she had misread the entire situation, instead of warning her maybe he was actually threatening her! the thought sent shivers down her spine.

There was a problem with her plan of dodging Draco though, for every time she saw even a fleeting glance of the ferret (or even just blonde hair) her heart would skip a beat. For some weird reason now that she was aware of his presence, he was everywhere!

Earlier that day during potions, when she had been collecting ingredients, she had accidentally brushed shoulders with him and because of this gave a little yelp in shock, her face had gone crimson with embarrassment, but Malfoy had just rolled his eyes and with a sneer said something along the lines of "Mudblood and therefore batshit crazy" which made all his Slytherin peers laugh their heads. The whole ordeal, of course, ended with Ron threatening Malfoy about hurting Hermione, causing her to step in and confess he hadn't actually done anything at all and that she was just jumpy, but of course, for the rest of class, Harry and Ron (like the good friends they are) continually glared in Malfoy's direction.

As much as the glaring in Malfoy's direction was appreciated, Ron and Harry for the life of them could not multitask, resulting in Ron's potion bubbling over and burning a hole in the table.

By the end of class Professor Slughorn had let them know that because of all the drama and focus issues (insert glare at Ron here) next class they would change the seating arrangement.

Later that night in the common room Hermione was doing charms homework (that hadn't even been assigned yet), Harry was doing the Defense Against Dark Arts essay (that had been due days ago), and Ron was lounging on the couch with Lavender in his lap, he was successfully avoiding all school-related priorities.

Hermione noticed that Harry kept glancing at Ron impatiently as if waiting for something.

After another hour or so of this realizing it was getting quite late, Hermione (having finished all of her still yet to be assigned homework) stood up stretching her arms above her head, with a yawn said "okay I think I'm going to head to bed" at her words Harry jumped and giving her a pleading look, he flicked his eyes toward Lavender as if to say "your a girl, make her leave," Hermione rolled her eyes and sighing softly and in a very polite voice said, "Lavender can you leave please?"

The girl in question (with great difficulty) pulled her eyes from Ron and gazed at Hermione a very annoyed expression on her face, she opened her mouth probably preparing to whine and complain about Rons 'awful' friend choices, but Hermione who was not in the mood stated "it's so Harry, Ron and I can talk about Voldemort" both the boys mentioned made a face "I just don't want you to be disturbed is all" Hermione finished in a fake concerned voice.

This tactic seemed to work because Lavender left the room quite quickly, but not before some serious PDA with Ron.

Once she was gone Harry visibly relaxed and got right down to business, directing his attention toward Hermione he asked "during your late-night library excursions have you ever run into Malfoy?" he said this so quickly Hermione almost missed it, but the moment his word registered her blood instantly ran cold and she stiffened.

Harry, always the observer, noticed her change in demeanour, "you have, haven't you?" Hermione deciding on impulse to tell the truth (but not the whole truth) composed herself and answered "yeah but only once, we just bumped into each other in a passage" Harry nodded as if he suspected as much, he looked hopeful when he asked, " did you see where he went?" Hermione shook her head, "no I didn't see where he went, why do you ask?" she said trying to act nonchalant, but inside her mind was whirring.

Harry hesitated then blurted " I think he's up to something!" Hermione controlled her impulse to voice her disagreement, and instead frowned, she glanced over at Ron who had started speaking " do you reckon he's a death eater?" Harry didn't hesitate "I'm sure of it" he stated confidently "I have a gut feeling" Ron nodded as if having a gut feeling made everything true, and although in this case, it might be true, Hermione had no intention of telling them.

"Harry, can I borrow the Marauder's map for a few days?" for some weird reason she wanted to be the one who found out about what Draco was up to, not Ron, not Harry, only her. "sure I guess, what do you need it for?" Harry replied.

Harry was much too trusting for his own good (not that she couldn't be trusted) "Filch has been roaming the corridors a lot lately, I want to be able to slip by him on my way to the library" Harry nodded "okay, do you want it now?" Hermione pondered this for a moment before replying "that would be great Harry, I think I'll go now"

Harry stood up from the couch and headed towards the stairs, "I'll get it, wait here".

When Harry came back he had both the invisibility cloak and the Marauders map with him.

That was more than Hermione was hoping for "oh thanks Harry" she said whilst taking the items handed to her.

He gave her a small smile in response to her thanks. As she was leaving for the portrait hole Ron yelled after her "stay away from any Malfoys tonight Hermione."

If only he knew.

The moment Hermione had left the tower she threw the cloak over herself and took out the map, she had a ferret to catch.

Authors note:

I'm aiming to publish new chapters every few days, although I cannot guarantee all updates will be as timely as this one (i do have a bit life outside Draco worshipping after all )

hope you enjoyed it

I wanted to thank everyone who has been reviewing, you guys are soo nice and supportive (definitely motivating) all of your reviews have been so kind! when I was reading some I was laughing so hard my dad literally told me to shut up lmao

please continue to review and give thoughts and feedback on what's happening, also getting reviews just makes me happy lol

thanks again!