"So, 'heard you got paired with the ferret yesterday. How's that been?" Her redheaded friend asked between bites of eggs.

Hermione looked back at the table of Slytherins. The blond seemed to be missing from the group. His two peers that he traveled with constantly were there. The one with dirty blond hair nursed a bruised cheek.

"Strange, very strange," Hermione replied.

At this, her friend stopped eating. "He's not being horrible is he? If he's mentioned one thing about your blood or hair I'm going to hex him." She said sternly.

Hermione shook her head with a smile. "I'll be sure to remember that. But no, he hasn't been horrible, he's just been strange."

"Care to elaborate," she asked.

"Well he just…he looks at me," Hermione fumbled.

"That fucking prat," Ginny scoffed. "He should know to avert his eyes in your presence."

"Gin," she laughed. "He was just looking at me strangely is all."

"How fucking dare he," she repeated with fained anger.

"I-I can't describe it, he just was looking at me. I think there's something going on with him," she clarified.

Ginny fully set down her fork and turned to her, her amused smile still playing on her lips. "In all fairness Hermione, he might just not know how to interact with you anymore."

Hermione furrowed her brows and motioned for Ginny to continue.

"Everyone is still trying to adjust to the new year. There's no more dark lord, Harry is away at training, Dumbledore and Snape are gone, there's a lot of changes going around. Even with the Slytherins, they can't be pureblood arses anymore without the ministry getting wind of it. Usually by this time, at least two fights would have happened and someone from our group would've hexed one of theirs".

Hermione sat and thought about this for a bit. She supposed it made sense. Draco Malfoy had no one to sneer at, no basis to hold himself above others. So instead of saying something awful, maybe he just says nothing. How does one act with their schoolyard enemy?

"So, what do I do?" Hermione asked blatantly.

"Well if he keeps staring tell him to piss off or start charging him," Ginny answered going back to her meal.

Hermione glared at her, but it held no real anger behind it. Ginny rolled her eyes with a huff.

"Fine, I can't believe I'm giving you advice on the ferret. I mean do you even care about him?" Ginny asked reproachfully.

"Oh Merlin no," the brunette scoffed. "It's just…you're right it's weird. Some nights I would picture landing a right hook in his stupid face to feel better. But, ever since…that night… at the manor…" Hermione paused mid sentence.

Her friend put a hand over hers. "You don't have to–"

Hermione shook her head. "No it's–it's fine. Ever since that night in the manor, all I remember is everyone's faces. I remember seeing him, for once in the seven years I'd known him… He was terrified, he was human. He didn't feel like Draco Malfoy of the pureblood Malfoys…He was Draco Malfoy, the boy from school."

Ginny squinted her eyes at her before nodding solemnly. "That makes sense, it's less hate and more apathy."

Hermione nodded, taking a sip from her tea. She could agree with that. She didn't like Malfoy, nor was she even interested. She would just continue to ignore him and any of his cronies, no matter how strange he acted.

Food helped. It curbed the baser needs of the wolf within him. It urged him to give into every instinctual action that crossed his mind. Punching Theodore Nott for forcing him to interact with Granger was one of the few instances he let him win. Meat was preferred, but anything was better than nothing.

He had pocketed a bunch of berries from breakfast into a napkin in his bag and snacked on it throughout the day. Whenever he thought about looking at… Whenever he lost his train of thought in class, he'd sneak a bite. When lunch arrived, he had to practice immense self-control to not lunge for all the food. He didn't care if he was a werewolf, he still had to have some damn manners. He packed a few different sandwiches on his plate, along with a healthy scoop of potatoes.

Theodore plopped into the seat next to him, solely to complain about his face, but the blonde ignored him. To his right however, Pansy slipped into the empty space. He stopped eating to look at her curiously. She tossed her dark hair over her shoulder with a snuff.

"So, a little badger told me that you are planning on brewing amortentia with the infamous bookwork in order to trick her into falling in love with you, so you can restore your good grace in society," she asked matter-of-factly.

"There's something wrong with you," Theodore said flatly in response.

Draco pinched the bridge of his nose. "Pansy, what the fuck are you on about?"

"Well is it true?" She asked.

Draco rolled his eyes. "We're paired together in potions, that's all and we're not brewing amortentia, we signed up for draught of the living dead. Besides, I thought you and Daphne picked that potion."

Now it was Pansy's turn to roll her eyes. "No, we wanted to, but we talked to Sluggy about it right before lunch and saw the list. You two are brewing it."

Draco clicked his jaw and turned slowly toward his friend on the left. His friend swallowed hard and grabbed his face.

"Draco, I know what you're thinking, let's be rational," he pleaded.

"You better have an excellent reason," he snarled, his canines looking a bit sharper than normal.

"It wasn't me, it wasn't me!" Theo all but cried.

Draco growled. Then he felt a tap on his shoulder, remembering Pansy's presence. "It wasn't Theodore. Slughorn said he might've spilled some juice on the list and asked a fifth year student to rewrite it. Daphne Greengrass might look a bit like Draco and Granger with grape juice on the parchment. I just assumed you would've already known and tried to get that changed. Or you would've heard and created a plan."

"Why would you assume that?" He asked flatly.

Pansy rolled her eyes again and rose from her seat. "Ugh, I can't with you boys. I should've known better than to trust a hufflepuff for gossip." She waved her hand and sashayed away from the pair.

"I can't believe you would've hit me again!" Theo cried out.

"You would've deserved it," Blaise snarked without looking up from his book.

"None of you have any faith in me. I have morals alright. I have some decency. I'm above a simple love potion pairing for Draco's fascination," he scoffed.

"You're just upset because you didn't think of it first," corrected Blaise.

"That is…absolutely correct," he admitted.

Blaise said nothing, just started packing up some raspberries with a small smile. He handed them to Theo with a smirk. "Here, when he hunts you down later, try to distract him with these."

Draco slunk down in his seat, running his hands over his face. He had to make new friends.

Hermione drew in a deep breath before walking into potions class. She wasn't sure what to expect. She approached their table with caution. The quiet blond wizard sat in his chair stiffly, staring down at his textbook. She slid into the table and muttered hello, only to be met with a small nod of his head. Hermione was taken aback then shook her head.

The professor started class, going over Dreamless Sleep Draught, one of the other options for their review exam. There was a noticeable absence of eyes watching her. In fact, she flipped her hair over her shoulder to chance a glance at her deskmate. He sat there, studiously taking notes and sneaking a bite of something from his pocket.

She felt so foolish. There she was earlier, commenting how strange it was he had been staring at her all day yesterday, when today he barely registered her presence. Maybe she just had something on her face. Or worse, maybe she had been staring and he was simply looking back. No, Hermione cleared the thought from her head. Things were simply back to normal, yesterday was just a fluke and they would go on barely acknowledging each other.

She sighed and tied her hair back to avoid it falling into her face while she wrote. The witch turned her focus back to her professor, completely oblivious to the werewolf next to her shoving more berries in his mouth at the action.

He swallowed hard, making a fist in his hand trying to distract himself from the engulfing scent. The sweet tarty taste of berries on his tongue mixed with the warm honey like scent from Granger as she pulled her hair back. It was enough to make his mouth water. Like a man from the desert he swallowed the rest of the water in his bottle, anything to abide the deep hunger in his body. He tried, but Draco knew this wasn't about appetite.

"Now, before I let you use the rest of the time on your assignments, I'm afraid I have to apologize. I was looking over the list during my dinner and accidentally spilled grape juice on it. I did my best to restore what I believe was written. I do apologize for any mix ups, but several of you had already begun work on your potions this morning so I'm afraid the list will remain the same." He explained to the class.

As he released the class to work on their potions, Hermione rose from her seat and skimmed the list on the board. Her shoulders sagged and she pinched the bridge of her nose before returning to their table.

"It appears you and I have the pleasure of brewing the annoying and complete inane Amortentia Potion," she gritted through her teeth.

Draco pretended to be surprised and hissed "perfect, just bloody perfect".

He pushed out of the desk abruptly and stalked over to the supply closet. He closed the door behind him. He just needed one second, barely a minute to breathe without her being around him. He took in a few breaths before grabbing the ingredients. As he was reaching for the Valerian Root, he heard the door slid open.

"You…doing alright Draco?" Blaise asked warily.

"I'm fine," he replied, annoyed.

"You sure? I noticed you were looking a bit stressed. Maybe you should–"

"I'm fine," he cut off, "I'm just running low on berries."

Before Blaise could respond Draco slid past him back to the corner of the room where their table was. Hermione had already started heating the cauldron and setting out the tools. He put all the ingredients onto the table by the cauldron and started separating them in order. Once they agreed on jobs, it actually wasn't so bad. Draco continued to slip berries into his mouth while measuring out all the wet ingredients. Hermione didn't seem to notice as she chopped their dry ones. They worked in amiable silence for the next half hour, only speaking when instructing which ingredients needed to be placed in the cauldron next. After Draco stirred the pot four times, they lowered the setting on the flames and placed a stasis charm on it.

"Okay, when we come back tomorrow it should have settled so we can add the pearl dust and let it simmer," Hermione explained.

Draco nodded his head and started packing up. They left the classroom without another word.

The blond wizard tossed and turned in his sheets. He growled as they tangled around his limbs and his pillow seemed to fold awkwardly. Worst of all Theodore's snoring seemed worse than usual, he was able to hear it from his room! Curse the prat for sleeping with his door open. He huffed and sat up on the edge of his bed. As much as he wanted to blame everything on his sleeping situation, and he really did, he knew most of his insomnia was due to a particular negging feeling in the back of his mind.

Just like the first days back at school, his wolf paced. It urged him to get up, to get out. It tingled around his body, like a pull to the outside. He tried to fight it, grinding his teeth. He felt the wolf rush to the front of his mind, pushing his way into power.

Instantly, the blonde sat up and rushed out the door.

He closed the door to his dorm quietly, not wanting to wake any of the other rooms. He hadn't even bothered to check the time. He could feel the moon in the sky, still dimming from its full luminescence. He paced down the hall in calm, even steps. At the end was a large bay window. A few of the other returning seven years treated it as an open seating place during the day, but tonight it was empty.

He took a seat on one of the cushions and looked to the sky. He felt the soft cool glow from the moon wash over him and eased his thoughts. As much as he may hate his monstrous form, he did appreciate his connection to the celestial body. His thoughts slowed down, and he was able to take in the small area. Different cushions from the houses had been left around the floor and seats of the window. Someone had placed a small cart in the corner adjacent, with some trinkets and spare books. A plush purple blanket had been folded neatly on the seat next to him.

He reached out and ran a finger over it. His nose twitched as he brought it up, curiously. He gave into the urge and sniffed the blanket. His pupils dilated, and a shiver rolled down his spine.

He brought it up to his face and inhaled deeply. There it was. The warm, sweet scent, something akin to honey, with a woodsy undertone he couldn't place. He knew immediately who the blanket belonged to. He looked around the empty, dark, hallway assuring no one was near. He unfolded the blanket and covered his entire body.

It felt right. Or it felt nearly right. This was the closest thing to satisfying that feeling he'd been having for a while. He tried not to think too hard on what that might mean for him. What that might mean for both of them. He wasn't sure, but he knew his current fixation on Granger was not going away any time soon.

His downward spiral was cut short by footsteps down the hall. He stepped away from the light and hid in the shadows of the corner by the cart. He cursed himself for forgetting his wand in his haste. The person was coming closer, and he started to focus on them. There were quick gasps of air, and soft crying. Crying?

The girl's steps were coming quicker, but her crying was starting to ease up. He heard as she took in deep breaths.

"Oh, no," she moped softly in the dark.

His ears perked up at the voice. He knew that voice anywhere, of course he did. He'd heard it the last seven years.

She huffed and rushed to the seat at the window. The sad brunette rubbed her eyes fiercely, not realizing she had an audience. He stared at her as she brought her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around herself. She looked around the seat area, seemingly searching for something.

Oh fuck. The blanket.

Her crying stopped as she was now focused on finding her item. She started lifting up pillows and peering into the darkness of the floor, the only light streaming from the moon above.

He tried to remain still, morph himself into the wall if possible. He stepped back, trying to adjust himself on the wall. She heard the rustle of fabric and brought out her wand. No sooner did she grab it did she speak clearly, "lumos".

He held a hand over his eyes to block the blaring light from her wand.

"Malfoy" Hermione asked, surprised. She cleared her throat and fixed her tone. "What are you doing here?"

"Could you lower your wand? I'm unarmed and frankly it's blinding me."

She lowered it from his eyes, but kept it lit at her side. "What are you doing here?"

He scoffed and stepped away from the wall. "I believe I have just as much right as anyone to enjoy our amenities, do I not?"

"It's past curfew," she said lamely.

"So? You're out here," he countered.

"Well, yes, but," she started. "You see…"

Draco smirked at her lack of rebuttal. He took a step closer to the window, but stayed standing.

"What, snake got your tongue?"

"No! It's just… well it's none of your business why I'm here. I was just looking for something of mine."

The blonde's smirk dropped as he gripped the blanket around him a bit tighter. "Yeah, well if it's not here, someone might have just borrowed it."

She squinted her eyes at him, giving him a once over. Later he would imagine what her gaze might look like without the scrutiny. For now though, he tried to will away the flush on his cheeks.

"Malfoy."

"Granger"

"Why do you have my blanket?"

"How do you know it's yours? I don't see your name on it."

She rolled her eyes and pointed to a corner of it on the floor. "HG short for Hermione Granger."

He looked down at the corner, and sure enough in swirly gold stitches there was an HG. Draco slowly removed it from himself and rolled it up. "Sorry, I thought it was Nott's".

Hermione looked at him completely bewildered, but then he noticed a corner of her lips rising in amusement. As she took it from his hands she broke out into a full grin and shook her head.

"My apologies, I know your friends struggle with reading. He very well could've thought there was an HG in his name." She said with a small chuckle.

He mimicked her amused expression and bounced an eyebrow. "Yes well, there's only so much he can remember in that small brain of his. Between his name and new address something had to go."

Hermione broke out into a full laugh at his teasing of his best friend. "You mean to tell me he doesn't just follow you and Zabini home every day?"

"Fair point, but he still had to remember how to lace up his shoes to get out the door. That requires much more memory than you might think," he said in a fake-serious tone.

She nodded her head sternly, the amusement still playing on her lips. "Boy, it sounds like Nott could give Harry a run for his money. I don't think he ever really learned where any of his classes were. I'm sure he just looked for red hair and followed."

"Now, let's not be cruel Granger. Give Potter some props, there's no way he was looking for red hair. There's a whole fleet of them in your house. He knew enough to listen to a bossy brunette shouting at a redhead."

Hermione rolled her eyes with a grin. "Fair point, although you do realize you complimented Harry. Albeit, in a roundabout way."

"Well, it's the least I can do given everything. Don't expect another one in the next decade."

She nodded her head, an amused glimmer in her eye.

His smirk spread into a genuine smile; one he was ready to deny should anyone ask his friends to ask him. Hermione however, lost her smirk. She looked over at the blonde, his smile radiating a warm inviting feeling. With the moonlight shining on his face, he looked quite handsome. She would never admit this of course, but no one was asking her to.

"So why are you here," she said, interrupting that line of thinking.

"The same reason as you," he replied.

Her eyebrows shot up, that warm fuzzy feeling gone. She doubted he knew the extent of her nightmares, even so, he probably had his own. Still, to admit such a vulnerable thing would—

"Couldn't sleep, wanted to look at the moon. It's quite pretty in its crescent form," he clarified.

"Oh," she said, surprised. She didn't know if he realized the lifeline he just threw. "Yeah, you could say I've been a fan lately. There's something about it that's just really enchanting."

She looked back at him, his grey eyes boring into her, the remnants of the smile still on his face. She saw something shimmer, an almost gold color cross his eyes. She looked between the sky and him, figuring it must've been a star.

"I get it, I've certainly come to appreciate it more," he hummed in agreement.

She didn't know why he was behaving like this… all non-prat like. Maybe it was the moon, the moon caused all kinds of weird things. This must've been the longest conversation they'd had and she would count it as odd.

He put his hands in the fronts of his pockets and looked down. "Well, I think I should get off to bed, see you in class Granger."

"See you Malfoy"