While sitting in class taking notes, Hermione was struck in the head by a ball of parchment. Hearing the familiar deep chuckle of the Slytherin prat Malfoy, she turned quickly around in her seat to glare at him.

"Do you have something to say to me mudblood, or do you just like what you see?" Draco said, before smirking over at his best friend Blaise.

"Let me give you some advice Malfoy. Instead of acting like a child why don't you actually pay attention? That way you might actually be able to turn yourself back after I transform you into the rat that you were always meant to be." Hermione said hotly.

Draco's eye's darkened as he quietly responded. "Don't think you can talk down to me Granger. Threaten me again and you'll really have a problem to deal with."

Hermione froze for a split second before she shook off the chill that ran down her spine. "Don't assume I'll be intimidated by your threats Malfoy. Keep talking and I will curse you. I'm stressed enough as it is without having to hear your mouth."

Draco smirked, "Oh please Granger, you wouldn't have the guts to stand up against me. So just turn around and be the good little bookworm that your pathetic self can't help but be."

Without warning and with out any outward show of aggression, Hermione sent a spell at Draco. But having quick reflexes, he was able to deflect it and send it bouncing out of the classroom window, making the other students duck and jump out of the way.

"Miss Granger! Mr. Malfoy! What in the world has gotten into the two of you?" Professor McGonagall yelled at her disruptive students. "That will be 20 points taken off both your houses and a week's detention for the both of you, starting tomorrow at 8 o'clock!" the professor sharply turned back to her lesson with a slight edge to her voice as she went on.

Harry turned and whispered to Hermione, "What has gotten into you?" he asked his best friend with a slight smile on his face. "You usually ignore him and go on with your studies."

Hermione turned to face him. "I'm stressed out because of the N.E.W.T.'s, I've had late nights all week. Malfoy…well he was just the last straw, I can't take any of his prat attitude right now." She turned back to her notes trying to block out the dreadful feeling she felt. A weeks worth of detention was the last thing she wanted when she had N.E.W.T.'s to study for, granted they were still several months away. She just hoped she wouldn't have to spend the detention with Malfoy.

After class ended, Hermione and her two best friends headed down to their common room. Once they arrived there Hermione made them immediately start their homework. She wanted it out of the way so she could have the rest of the day to hang out amongst her friends.

Several hours later they finished. When they looked up at the clock they were happy to see it was time for dinner. After putting their stuff away they hurried off to the Great Hall. "Ron, slow down before you choke!" Harry said, trying not to laugh as he watched his red headed friend stuffing so many things into his mouth that he looked like a chipmunk.

Ron swallowed his food and took a large gulp of pumpkin juice, then turned to his friend with a toothy grin, "Mum thinks I'm havin' another growth spurt."

"Great, now I'll really look like a wimp next to you." Harry joked. Hermione just sat and watched her friends in amusement.

After dinner had ended, they all hit the showers. It was half past nine and they were sitting around in their pj's. Hermione was wearing boxer shorts and a long t-shirt, she hardly ever showed that much leg, but it was a warm night. The boys could appreciate the view of her with a sort of passive admiration. She had grown more self aware over the years, making her improve herself in little ways like straightening her hair and dressing more like a teenage girl and less like a tomboy.

The boys had one day realized that their friend was now a woman and had the appeal to attract men. This worried them for two reasons. One, they didn't want to lose their friend if ever she got into a relationship. And two they saw her as a sister and no guy would ever be good enough for her or could ever have the right to touch her. They especially boosted their protectiveness over her as they noticed that even a few of the Slytherin boys were following her with their eyes.

They felt lucky that Hermione seemed both unaware of her admirers and completely uninterested in finding a boyfriend, unlike most girls their age. However, they knew she wouldn't always be blatantly uninterested in being in a relationship. They just hoped that when she did find someone it would be a person that both deserves her and will treat her right. Because if he didn't they were both prepared to interfere in every possible way to protect her.

The next day after her classes were over Hermione said her 'see you later's' to her friends, and headed over to McGonagall's office for her detention. Seeing that Draco was already there waiting, she hastily sat down in front of her professor's desk.

"Now that you're both here, I'll be sending you off to the trophy room. That is where the both of you will be serving your detention for the next week, hand polishing every single trophy without magic." McGonagall looked sternly at each of them before sending them on their way.

Hermione groaned as she trailed behind Malfoy on their way to the trophy room. She was feeling thoroughly sorry for herself and could tell that it was going to be a long night.

Draco and Hermione entered the trophy room in silence and started polishing without so much as a sideways glance at one another. About a half an hour into their work, Draco discreetly started eyeing Hermione.

At first his eyeing was menacing, in his mind it was all her fault that he had to cancel the date he had with a very attractive Ravenclaw, and instead, spending the time he would have been making out, here tiring his wrists and hands polishing old trophies. However, his glare relaxed as she bent over to grab the polish on the floor. He tilted his head slightly and started to smirk when he suddenly became conscience of what he was doing. He abruptly turned away from her as his eyes grew wide in shock. He couldn't believe he just checked her out. He knew he was a fan of women but there was no way he would take it that far. Maybe she cursed him? He whipped his head around and eyed her suspiciously. He kept glaring at her with disgust showing plainly on his face. He was confident that he would never find someone like her appealing.

Hermione glanced back and had to do a double take, she was surprised to see Draco staring at her so harshly. She let out an exasperated sigh, "Jeez Malfoy, what is your problem?"

Draco said nothing at first; he simply gave her a cold smile and looked away. "Well, you're just so repulsive it's hard not to gawk at you." He said as he picked up a half polished trophy.

When you've been made fun of your whole life for the way that you look, it makes it hard to ignore people when they remind you of that pain. "You're really a jerk you know that. What exactly is it about me that you hate so much?" Hermione snapped at him. "You don't even know me!"

"There's no need for me to know you personally. I know your kind." He snapped back, annoyed by her voice.

"Know my kind? What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means exactly what it sounds like. You fit into a very specific category of people. You're the kind of overachiever that has no life because you have a compulsion to lock yourself in a quiet room and do nothing but study. You think you're doing yourself a favor because you're preparing yourself for your future. But what you don't realize is that you're really screwing yourself over. You'll end up being socially dense and won't know how to interact with people other than the few friends you have around you. It is possible to study and have a social life you know."

Hermione blushed. "You talk as if you have me all figured out, but people aren't as black and white as you obviously think they are. So before you open your mouth you should make sure you actually know the person, so that way you'll have some kind of valid authority on the matter. Otherwise you take the risk of making yourself look like a prat like you just did."

"So what, you want me to 'get to know you' is that it? I think I'll have to pass on that one." Draco said with laughter in his tone.

"No that's not what I want. I would be happy if I never had to speak to you again for the rest of my life. I just think if you learned to open your eyes a little more and your mouth a little less, you might come to realize that you're wrong about most of the things you think about others. But you're so shallow and self-centered you'd rather sit on your throne and look down on everyone else. You're the most heartless, cruel, closed minded person I ever had the misfortune to know!" She said all of this in a rush of irritation and distaste.

"Stop acting so high and mighty Granger. I act the way I do towards you because I like to and that's how a mudblood should be treated, it's as simple as that. Now you seriously need to back the hell off you ignorant little mudblood!"Malfoy was now fuming with irritation. He hated having this back and forth conversation with her.

"Whatever Malfoy, I was just hoping that you might take my advice for once. We're stuck here with each other for three hours every night for a week. It would be nice if you would stop your petty judgments and try to be a little civil or to at least quietly ignore me and keep the glares to a minimum. But I guess you'd rather us both be miserable the whole time!" Hermione said with a mixture of exasperation and menace. Draco simply dismissed her words and continued to polish the trophy in his hands with rough violent movements.

Hermione couldn't understand what Malfoy's problem was. He treated her like she was constantly offending him. But she figured it had to do with her being muggle born. She turned back to her own work and decided to ignore his presence.

Draco was smoldering on the other side of the room. He hated that he let her irritate him so much. To him her existence didn't even matter so she shouldn't be able to get under his skin. While he was lost in his own thoughts he didn't notice the Slytherin girl walk into the room.

"Heeelloooo…! Draco! Snap out of it!" the Slytherin growled in frustration as she was trying to get his attention.

"Oh." He said in mild surprise. "Pansy what are you doing here? If you're caught in here and I get in trouble I'm really not going to be pleased." Draco stated, finally noticing her presence.

"I just wanted to come down and make sure that," She threw a dirty look over her shoulder at Hermione, who simply rolled her eyes and continued working, "wasn't driving you mad."

"Do you really think I can't handle the mudblood?" Draco said a little darkly, Pansy drew back a little and didn't answer. Draco sighed and turned away from her as he said in a bored voice, "It really doesn't concern you either way." He glanced down at her. "You need to leave now."

This offended Pansy and hurt her pride. "Well sorry for worrying about you! You don't need to act like that."

Draco was now aggravated, he turned again to look down at her. Hermione was amused when she glanced back and saw the thin 5'8" girl cower from Malfoy's well toned 6'1" frame. Hermione herself was only 5'3" and she had never let her intimidation of Malfoy's powerful form show as blatantly as Pansy was now. "I don't understand why you're concerning yourself in the first place." Pansy took another step back. "I broke off our relationship last month; there shouldn't be any reason for you to concern yourself with me anymore." Draco's voice was both irritated and malicious.

"I just care! Is that a crime?" Pansy snapped defensively. Draco just continued to stare down at her, waiting for her to leave. Pansy hesitated, not sure if she should continue. "I-I wanted to ask you something." Pansy said shyly. There was a pause where Pansy waited for Draco to respond.

"Well hurry up and ask already!" Draco snapped.

Pansy jumped and rapidly continued. "I wanted to ask you if you would…if you would take me back." Pansy said this last bit as fast as she could.

Meanwhile Hermione was in shock. She had never seen this side of Pansy before, usually she was terrorizing students, including Hermione, or openly flirting with almost every good-looking guy who passed by her. Hermione thought that she must really like Malfoy to lower herself so much. Usually Pansy had too much pride and now here she is practically begging for him to take her back. Seeing this side of Pansy made Hermione see her as a normal girl for the first time since she's known her.

"No," was the simple answer he gave before turning away from her.

Pansy's true character flared up, she shed the meekness and let her rage take over her senses. "No? That's it? I deserve a better answer than that! A lot of guys would die to be with me!" She confidently stated as she gestured at her body, which was thin, though not very well curved in the hips, but she was toned and had an ample 36D chest that she was extremely fond of. Hermione couldn't help but glance over Pansy sleek frame, then timidly look down at herself. She's thin, not model thin like Pansy but a healthy more athletic looking thin. She has a nice curve to her hips, but her chest isn't as big as Pansy's but is a moderate size. Hermione saw nothing special about her body, and glanced back a little enviously at Pansy.

Draco looked at her in disgust. "If so many guys want you than go run to one of them. As for me, I don't want anything to do with you."

Pansy was shocked; she looked down at her body then looked back at Draco, not understanding why he wouldn't want her. "Why? Why did you break it off in the first place?" She demanded to know, her pride was wearing down and she was starting to lose her confidence.

Draco was officially angry that she was still there and that she had the nerve to give him attitude. "It's simple really; I broke it off because I'm not into you. I think you're pathetic, and the fact that you're here asking me to take you back just shows how pathetic you really are. Now get out of my sight, and don't ever think about attempting this conversation again." Draco quickly dismissed the girl.

Pansy, lost for words, quickly stomped out of the room looking very hurt. Hermione found herself feeling sorry for the Slytherin girl. She thought Malfoy could have at least put her down easy instead of being so cold hearted.

"Malfoy, I hope you know you're a git." Hermione said evenly as she started to polish a new trophy. "I seriously never thought I would ever feel sorry for Pansy Parkinson, so thanks for that." She shivered in disgust over the unwanted feeling.

He narrowed his eyes at her, "First off I don't ever want to hear that you've been listening to my conversations again, and secondly a slut like her deserves no one's pity, not even yours."

"I know about Pansy's reputation just as well as everyone else does, but what gives you the right to call her a slut when you yourself dated her?"

"And what gives you the right to even ask that question? Who are you to question my motives in anything I do let alone what I do with my ex girlfriends."

"You're pathetic Malfoy, you really are. You just keep proving my point over and over again that you're a heartless, shallow prick, that doesn't care who he hurts, even if it's someone you once cared enough about to date."

"You know what, it's really none of your bloody business, but for the sake of proving you wrong and pointing out the fact that you're a hypocrite for judging me before you know the whole story, just like you said I did, I'll enlighten you a bit." He said angrily with an aggressive smile on his face as he took several steps closer to her. "I have the right to call Pansy a slut because she cheated on me, and not just once, and not with just one guy. I have more of a right than anybody to call her a slut."

Hermione bit her lip, as she realized her mistake. She should have just stayed out of it; she hated the feeling of guilt. She hated being called a hypocrite by Malfoy even more. "Re-um really?" She said with uncertainty and hesitation. "She seemed to really like you. She was trying so hard to get back together with you. It's hard to imagine her cheating on you when she likes you so much as to go against her pride and ask you back."

"She doesn't really like me, she never did. A girl like Pansy likes to be free so she can do whatever she wants to whomever she wants. She's only after the Malfoy name, not me. The people in our social circle, especially her father, have great respect for my family." Malfoy said this last part with a very slight hint of sarcasm and disgust, almost as if to say it was ridiculous for his family to have such respect. This puzzled Hermione, but she dismissed it, sure that she was reading his voice wrong. "So she and her family want her to be with me for the social status it will give her family, and that's the only reason." Draco looked at Hermione coldly. "Now tell me Granger, don't you think I have the right to call her slut, she both cheated on me and used me." He had a slight hitch to his voice that made him sound a little hurt to Hermione, though she wasn't sure.

Hermione quietly asked, "You really liked her didn't you?"

Draco was surprised that she could tell, but he quickly masked it. "Who would fall for a bitch like her?" He snapped. "I'm not a fool Granger." He then turned his back to her and walked over to his unfinished trophies.

Hermione could tell by his response that Draco did in fact like Pansy. She should have guessed it herself anyway. She knew his reputation, Draco didn't date girls, he messed around with one for awhile then he easily dropped them whenever he wanted. So it was easy to guess his feelings for her if he was willing to date her when he had never been known to date anyone before.

The truth was that Draco had liked Pansy for awhile now. Since they were kids Draco had admired her strong convictions and confidence. The fact that they grew up in the same environment was even more appealing to him. He thought he would find her to be someone with common thoughts and someone that could empathies with him. So naturally when she grew into her body and became as attractive as she is now he was drawn to her. At first he found her very shallow in both her mind and tastes, but as soon as she realized his dissatisfaction with her she changed and was able to deceive him into thinking she was the person he always thought she was. But in the back of his mind he knew he could never really confide in her or tell her any of his secrets. When he found out about the cheating and the whole reason behind her dating him in the first place he wasn't really surprised, and he was more disappointed by her betrayal than hurt. Especially since he thought he found someone perfect for him but he was proven wrong.

Two hours passed, and neither one of them said another word to the other. When it was time to leave Draco threw one more glare at Hermione before he walked coolly out the door. Hermione just rolled her eyes at his attempt of intimidation and gratefully made her way to Gryffindor tower.

Unfortunately for Hermione she found it hard to sleep. The night's detention had left a bad taste in her mouth; somehow Malfoy had become just a little more human to her. He wasn't completely unfeeling like she always thought he was. He was visibly upset about Pansy, though Hermione couldn't tell how deep those feelings ran. For all she knew they could be shallow, fleeting emotions. None-the-less he had shown some kind of substance that she didn't think he was capable of. This didn't alter her opinion of him in the slightest, but it did inspirer a sort of curiosity. There was no doubt in her mind that Malfoy was a slimy git, but still Malfoy was the type of person you couldn't help but wonder about. He's everything dark and mysterious, and someone like Hermione, who wants to believe that every person has the power to better them self, can't help but wonder about him. So that night Hermione tried to grasp onto the fleeting feelings of emotion she glimpsed from him and tried to picture a Malfoy who wasn't so stone cold. But she couldn't do it; to her Malfoy was nothing but a block of ice, nothing but cold feelings and icy expressions.

Meanwhile, Draco was getting ready for bed when he was interrupted by a tapping at the window. He glanced over and saw it was his mother's owl. When Draco had the letter away from the owl his heart jumped as he took in the wrinkled parchment and messy scrawl. His mother always used the best paper and usually had beautiful writing that flowed across the paper in even lines. He knew something was wrong.

I need you. Come quickly.

He didn't hesitate. He could guess what was wrong and he couldn't waste anytime, he had to get to her. He quickly threw on his robes and grabbed his broom. He flew until he was out of Hogwarts grounds, then he apparated to his manor.

Once he was inside his house he quietly, but quickly, started searching the rooms for his mom. He had to be careful to scan every room before he stepped into it and dodge behind corners every time he saw a flicker of movement. The house was dark and the only sound was coming from the old grandfather clock they had in the hall. Finally he spotted her; she was on the floor, apparently unconscious, between two bookcases. Draco hesitated, his eyes locked onto his mother, he had to cross the library where there were a lot of dark corners and shadowed chairs. This was a trap, Draco knew what was waiting for him in the shadows, but he couldn't hesitated any longer he had to get to her and take her to the hospital. With a burst of speed he ran across the open space, completely vulnerable, and just as he predicted a spell was shot at him. He quickly deflected it, and before another one could be sent at him he had dove to his mother's side and quickly apparated them both out of the manor and into the hospital lobby.

He had his mother in his arms and carefully ran her over to the reception desk.

"What's happened?" the receptionist asked.

"Poison." Draco said quickly as he watched the little witch quickly send for a healer and wheeled over a bed, where he gently laid her down.

"What kind?" the healer, who over heard them as he made his way towards them, asked.

"I don't know." Draco felt helpless and numb; he thought he would be used to this by now, but looking at his weakened mother he knew that this was something he could never get used to.

His mother was soon wheeled away and Draco was advised to go home. He didn't like leaving his mother there alone, but he knew now that she was in the hands of the healers she would be fine. Every time this had happened it's been a different poison, but the poisons have always been easily recognizable and curable. He had to get back to the manor and confront his assaulter. He wasn't worried about school, he knew his family could take care of it if need be.

With one last glance down the ward his mother was taken to he apparated back to his house, where his attacker was waiting for him in the library.

"That was pathetic. A few more minutes and you would have been too late." A drawling voice said coldly to Draco as he stepped into the fire light.

"What can I say father, I grow tired of your games."