So, funny story...

I uploaded this the other day, thinking it would magically publish itself to the story... And so I log on today, das that no one had reviewed this chapter yet...and then I facepalm. IMSOSORRYGUYS. Anywho. Here's the chapter. It's a bit longer, and hopefully worth the wait. Pleasepleaseplease review ~~ Love you all.

Draco Malfoy was known to be an early riser, no matter how late he fell asleep, the dawning sun never failed as his device to wake. Sitting on the edge of his bed, his elbows on his knees and his hands on his temples; he prepared himself.

His godfather, Severus; and his mother had made sure that Draco did as little as possible. Go in, do as told, go out. He didn't even know what the necklace was supposed to do; which only aided his panic. However, it wasn't unknown to him that it was for his own protection. Only Snape would have the blame in the end… Draco shook his head, trying to focus on clearing his mind; time to get into character, put on the mask.

His thoughts, in their process of forced cold calculation, wandered to Hermione. He feared his thoughts will be forever pierced with her image, and it made him shudder. How was he going to keep avoiding her from the issue? No doubt Saint Scarhead was already on to him; surely she, too, had a small seed of doubt in that stupidly brilliant mind of hers. But that was part of the plan, deviating the attention from the real ultimate threat was crucial. A presence stirring somewhere to his right forced him to surface from his thoughts.

"You're up early for once, Blaise."

"It's an important day, isn't it?" the boy was leaning against one of the poles of Draco's four-poster, his hands in the pockets of his pajama bottoms. He eyed the paler wizard, concern striking his features. "Nothing can go wrong." That was Blaise, always catching up with his train of thought. Never saying too much, but enough for Draco's mind.

Draco nodded; his hands still on his face. "Still." She simply stated.

A hand briefly made contact with his shoulder, "Go for a bath in that swimming pool you Prefects have. It'll help."

"Yeah, alright." And reluctantly raised, his gaze turned to the other boy's face, a tired smirk gracing his expression. "I'd rather not be here when Ted wakes up, anyway."

Blaise gave him a knowing look, "he is a right git in the morning…" a quirk of his head towards the door. "Go on, we'll see you at the gate."

With a firm nod and a thankful look, Draco took off.

The morning's frigid air splashed Hermione's face as she and Dean made their way to the Main Entrance, finding they weren't the only ones that decided to come early. The two Heads were trying their best to look authoritative between long yawns, and a very grumpy Daphne was standing with her arms crossed beside Draco, who merely looked bored. All trying hard to ignore the rather disgusting display brought by the two Ravenclaw Prefects, who looked more like they were waiting to get to whatever nook they could find and shag as soon as possible.

Draco was openly staring at her, something she'd think hew better to do in such a small group of people. Meeting his gaze briefly, she found something was lurking behind the cloudy grays; they definitely needed to talk.

"Oh good, we're all here." McGonagall's tall form appeared, making everyone turn, seeing the remaining pair of Prefects at her heels, one on each side. The overall effect gave the woman more of an impressive presence than she already had. "Now I've made my decision with these pairings based on how well you can keep your own focus in the presence of the other." She gave a stern look at the pair of Ravenclaws, the female half of which looked like she might cry. To the right of McGonagall, Hannah gave a subtle, self-satisfied smile, she'd been right.

Hermione felt a twinge of envy towards the blonde just then; she admitted to herself that she missed the feeling of being proven right. She'd not answered as many questions as usual lately; leaving her sort of empty.

The pairings were predictable—to Hermione at least. The male Ravenclaw went with Daphne, Draco with herself, Dean with Hannah, and the Hufflepuff that remained went with the Ravenclaw girl, who was positively fuming; outdone only by the Two Heads, paired with each other, both looked like they might actually explode.

"Right, now here is the schedule," a piece of parchment flew into the hands of each girl, "You are to check in with each other at the Three Broomsticks to ensure the next pair has taken over their shift." Her hard gaze met each of the students' making sure she was reaffirming her next point, "Please, I must remind you. Take this seriously, we are giving you an important responsibility," Hermione watched Draco's miniscule eye-roll from the corner of her own eye, "Now, Make sure you're at the Three Broomsticks when your shift starts. The two Heads have the first one, so the rest of you may go wait to leave with the others. Off you go." The Transfigurations Master shooed them away, and Hermione could have sworn she saw a smirk on her face.

The students walked slowly back to the small crowd gathering closer to the gate. Hermione saw Draco hang back, and she slowed her pace to be next to him.

"We need to speak later, Malfoy." Her use of his surname made sure to divert eavesdroppers. Yet another precaution they had somehow adopted when speaking in public.

"It's not like I'm oblivious to our impending conversation, Granger." They were walking like they usually did; a few feet apart, never looking at each other, and moving their lips as little as possible.

She pretended to continue studying the list, which she'd already memorized, hiding her smirk behind the parchment, "Of course." It never failed to amuse her how his vocabulary seems to give away his true emotions. He was always wordy when he was nervous…

Draco turned to her and reached his hand out, looking at the ground between them, "I bloody hate the cold."

She gave him the schedule in her hands, making a show of it to any onlookers by rolling her eyes, and snappily handing him the sheet of parchment. "It's not the only reason you're moody, though."

Draco didn't respond, Theodore Nott had approached him; meanwhile Hermione had spotted Harry, who was sitting on a stone bench beside Luna. They communicated their goodbye with another split-second glance, and Hermione walked away.

Teddy had waited until Granger had gone before he spoke, "Good morning, Blondie." He said with a would-be innocent grin. Draco rolled his eyes.

"Hardly a good morning." He turned his eyes towards the clouds, which had begun to produce flurries of snow.

"What's the problem? Afraid no one would be able to distinguish you from the snow?" he teased as the two boys parted the crowd, on their way to meet Blaise's tall form near the large gate.

"Are you ever not a git?" Draco shot back, his smirk appearing almost out of instinct.

"Call it a gift, sunshine." Teddy said casually. They'd reached a very stoic Blaise, who nodded at the approaching pair of boys.

"Morning, gentlemen." He said, subtly motioning to the group of Fourth-Year girls, all seeming to try and fail to not stare at the trio.

Teddy smiled, this was his favorite form of entertainment, and spoke in his 'posh' voice. "Why good morning, dear Blaise, A promising day, today, isn't it?"

Draco's smirk returned with full force, making the girls giggle, "I seem to be in a disagreement with the pair of you, sirs."

"Oh? And how so, Mister Malfoy?" droned Blaise, his stoicism tilted to entertained interest.

"I'd rather be in warmer weather, Mister Zabini. I find heat more appealing than this frigid air." He looked around for dramatic effect, scowling. This distraction was what he needed to calm his current anxiety. However his straying eyes landed on Hermione, now seated beside a blonde Ravenclaw who had a faraway look in her eye—

"Ah, but Dear Mister Malfoy, your complexion surely isn't friends with such weather." Chimed Teddy, waggling a finger at the blond.

Before he could answer, a particularly red-faced Hufflepuff came up to them, behind her was the group of giggling girls, apparently egging her on. Almost in synchronization, the three of them raised an eyebrow, intrigued and amused.

"G-good morning." She mumbled, then turned back around. "There, I did it. Hand them over." She hissed quickly to them, now giggling louder than ever and taking out their money pouches; each gave the girl a Galleon.

The boys exchanged a look, and they watched the small group giggle their way back to where they were. "Bloody hilarious." Chortled Teddy, causing the other two boys to laugh along.

"Draco Malfoy is looking at you, Hermione." said Luna in her melodic, sedated cadence.

"We've been paired to patrol in Hogsmead. Besides, it's not uncommon to find him glaring at me." She said dramatically, fetching the book she'd taken with her from her robes and opening it; pretending to read.

"Have you?" asked Harry, who sat on the other side of Luna, "What, did Snape assign the pairs?"

"You'd think so, it was McGonagall. No really, it was." she said, not having to look up from her book to know his expression had turned incredulous. "Come on, they're opening the gates."

She pretended to not see Ron join them, briskly making a bee-line for Honeydukes, also avoiding the sight of the closed down remains of Zonko's Joke Shop. Hermione felt like she'd rather avoid the fact that the world outside of Hogwarts was changing. Changing for the worst, and fast.

After stocking up on some Sugar Quills, and a rather awkward conversation about the Slug Club with Harry and Ron, they made their way to the Three Broomsticks. There was really nowhere else to go; this was no atmosphere to meander around in, everyone kept their heads down as they walked. This trip was only happening for the sheer necessity of giving the children a brief break from the castle. As immense as it was, one could feel quite imprisoned in the confines of the high corridors.

The over-crowded pub was noisy as ever, Hermione was surprised they were even able to find a place to sit. Harry went over to Madam Rosmerta, leaving her with Ron, who seemed set in avoiding her eye at all cost. A wave of annoyance and guilt hit her; it was partially her fault, her earlier jealousy, that they were so awkward now. She looked at him, finding that he'd been looking at her, and their eyes reluctantly met.

"Hermione, I—"

"Oh, you're already here." Draco's low voice interrupted Ron's as he approached the table.

"The bloody hell are you doing here?" spat Ron, his face pale.

"Our shift begins in a minute" droned Draco, as if Ron wasn't there. He had a strange look in his eye, it made Hermione nervous, "don't wander too far; I'd rather not have to go looking for you, Granger."

She was about to reply, but he was already walking away, going to sit beside a very stoic-looking Blaise Zabini. Hermione continued to stare, until she realized her name had been called a few times. "Yeah?" her head snapped back to face Ron, trying to look as casual as she could, given the circumstance.

"Are you alright?" he asked cautiously, she could see there was something he wanted to tell her; and fresh wave of guilt and nerves settled on her stomach.

"Why wouldn't I be?" she gave a small shrug of her shoulders as a responce, still trying her hardest to not look as awkward as she felt.

Harry returned with three butterbeers and the odd atmosphere surrounding Ron and Hermione broke. She exhaled in relief as she downed about half of it in her first gulp. "What took you so long, Harry?"

"Why was Malfoy here?" he asked.

"Our Prefect shift begins in a few minutes, git thinks I need to be reminded..." she rolled her eyes, taking another gulp of Butterbeer.

Reaching for a napkin and handing it to her, Ron said absent-mindedly "You've got some..foam.." He trailed off, turning back to the current subject "He seems a bit too focused for mere Prefect duties if you ask me." His eyes narrowed, glaring at the blond boy's general direction.

Hermione gave him a practiced, incredulous look, "Do you realize what you just said?"

"He's got a point, Hermione" said Harry flatly.

"Honestly, I doubt Draco even knows I'm a girl." She said to her butterbeer, knowing she'd burst into laughter if she tried looking at them while saying it. "I mean, you two are my best mates and didn't realize I was a girl until two years ago."

"I knew you were a girl, Hermione." Harry stated "My eyesight isn't that terrible" he joked. She smiled at him, causing Ron to look even sourer than before out of the corner of her eye. Ron had always had this irrational fear that she and Harry had something going on behind his back. And though Hermione did acknowledge that her dark-haired friend was indeed attractive, he was too…Harry for her. Sure, she'd gone through a week where she lived in panic that she might have feelings for Harry, though soon it died, Cho Chang just rubbed her the wrong way; sisterly overprotection was all it was.

Of course, telling Ron about her fear was about the worst thing she could've done. Now he seems hell-bent on proving the impossible theory that formed in that silly ginger mind of his. A tedious elephant to be had in the room, to be honest. And, as per usual, Harry seemed oblivious to it all. She finished off her butterbeer and glanced at her watch.

"It's time for my shift. Oh joy…" she sighed, and stood up. "I'll see you back at the castle." With a parting wave from Harry and a grunt from Ron, she headed to the entrance of the establishment.

Draco was already there, leaning on the wall beside the door, he looked her over with a smirk, making her blush as she copied his pose. A foot apart, like always when in public. "If you keep looking at me like that, we might as well tell the Prophet, Malfoy."

"I look at what I want however I want to, Granger." He said, his smirk still firmly in place.

"So who are we waiting for?"

"Thomas and Abbott."

"Alright."

It didn't take long for the other two prefects to walk through the door, sharing a friendly laugh and finishing a conversation. Though, when they spotted Hermione and Draco watching them, and their smiles faltered.

"Well, you're here, we're here. Let's get this over-with, Granger." Draco muttered, not waiting for her as he stormed out of the pub.

"Bye." She muttered with a hasty wave as she tried to catch up to Draco; leaving a very confused pair of Prefects.

"They looked like they were having too much fun." Commented Draco, looking around the quirky town with an unimpressed scowl.

"They're friends, what's it to you?" she asked, though she thought the same thing. Ginny would go on a rampage if she heard of this, word around Gryffindor was that she and Dean were having problems.

Draco merely shrugged "I thought it should be brought to your attention, as he's the bloke dating Girl Weasel, right?"

"Yes…" she said flatly, not wanting to let him know she suspected the same things he was at the moment.

"Right then, so what's been going on with you? You've been acting like Moaning Myrtle during class." Draco looked ahead, walking closer to her than he usually did in the corridors. She allowed it, as they were supposed to be walking together anyway.

Hermione chewed on her lip as she turned the question around in her head. "Well, I've been stressed—"

"Just answer the question. Don't bullshit me, Granger."

She sighed. "I am just…I dunno." She kept her eyes open and scanning her surroundings, not wanting to slack off on her duties.

"Is Potter trying to brainwash you?" he asked, the bite in his tone not going unnoticed by Hermione.

"I—it's not that he's trying to brainwash me Dra-Malfoy. " She made the mistake to look at him as she spoke, now she couldn't look away. His eyes here squinted and the corners of his thin mouth were turned down to a frown, he was scanning the crowd as she was earlier, though he wasn't actually looking at anything.

Draco was thanking and cursing McGonagall for pairing him with Hermione, her presence calmed him, but her words made him boil. It had been done, he had performed the curse and the Necklace had gone to a Gryffindor Draco recognized from Quidditch. Blaise did his best to comfort him, but there are things Firewhiskey and Veela Tequila can't dull. Hermione is what he needed now, just to remind himself that he has one good thing in his life to keep him sane. At least for now.

"Right, Saint Scarhead would do no such thing" he rolled his eyes.

"He doesn't know anything, there's no reason why he would try. And don't call my best friend names" she snapped at him, her arms now crossed.

Draco frowned, the last thing he needed now was to have her upset with him "Fine."

"Fine."

The inevitable moment of awkward silence ensued, causing them both to concentrate on their Prefect duties. Stopping this or that mischief maker, yelling at this or that hooligan. The thought that this was the first time she and Draco were 'out together' hit her, and it made a cocktail of different emotions course through her.

This hardly quialifies as a first date..Hermione you're being an idiot.

But, we're out together, being seen, talking..

Talking? More like bickering…and You're out together because you were forced to by McGonagall..

If it were up to me, we'd be in the Room of Requirement, Or the kitchens, sharing Hot Chocolate..

"So you're going to stare off into space while that Ravenclaw's nicking sweets just because you're upset with me?"

"What?" she snapped out of her mental rantings to focus on the scene Draco had described. "Oi! Stop that!" she hurried off to where the Ravenclaw was, when a blood-curdling scream echoed through Hogsmead.

Perhaps it was the six years of being around Harry that made her react this way, perhaps it was mere human instinct. But before she knew what she was doing, her wand was at the ready and sh was running towards the source of the noise.

Katie Bell was suspended in the air, her mouth kept open in a silent scream, the sight made Hermione shudder. Harry and Ron had beaten her to the scene, or maybe they watched it happen. Nevertheless, she hurried to their side. The looks of shock and fear on their faces mirrored in her own as Katie dropped to the ground, seeming like a lifeless ragdoll. Thankfully Hagrid arrived not much later, taking Katie with him. Along with a necklace, which seemed to be the cause of the incident, Hermione remembered seeing it before…somewhere…

"Where's Malfoy?" asked Harry, his face stony and his thoughts obvious.

"He was with me the entire time, Harry." Was her reply, and she hurried after Hagrid and the unconscious Katie. Where had Draco gone…?

Unfortunately, the half-giant was much faster than she had estimated. And she soon gave up on finding him. Ron and Harry had decided to go back to Gryffindor Tower, and Hermione didn't doubt it was because Harry wanted to look at Draco through the map.

This is why she currently found herself in the Room of Requirement, after finding yet another one of his notes in her cloak pocket. And here she was, sitting on an over-sized chouch. Waiting.

He had to disappear as soon as he heard the scream, acting on instinct, he apparitated to right outside the school's barrier; something he had learned to do from his father this summer. Draco couldn't stay to see what he had done, he'd lose his nerve and turn himself in. Which would surely be counterproductive.

Gods, he hated himself. Hated himself and his father and the blasted Dark Lord.

No, he can't fail this. It was much harder work to fuck up on purpose and make it look like you were actually trying. Almost like an exact and intricate potion recipe. Too much or too little of the most insignificant thing may prove lethal.

However, he was going to see Hermione tonight, that is, if she showed up after the small row they had gotten into in Hogsmead. He doubted she thought too much of it, as it was the usual bickering problem they had since the day they began…Seeing each other? Yes, that seemed like the proper term. 'Shagging' was too vulgar a term, too emotionless… then again, 'seeing each other' wasn't a much better label…

Draco suddenly began to wonder when had be turned into such a fucking girl.

He stepped inside the Room of Requirement after a rather tedious scolding from his Godfather. Draco knew Severus had his best interests in mind, but he man was never really good with children, his little speech had only left Draco feeling even worse about it all. The sight of Hermione was like the sight of salvation. And he couldn't help but grin at her.

"Hello."

"Where did you go? Katie Bell was attacked, and you as Prefect should've—"

"You and the rest of the Golden bloody Trio seemed to have handled it well enough-"

"I know I hate that term, Draco. And it's not like they were running to the scene like—"

"Right. Of course not. You three just happen to stumble upon every unfortunate incident that happens in Hogwarts and its surrounding areas—"

"If the purpose of this meeting was to argue—"

"We're not arguing"

"Yes we are."

Her arms were folded over her chest now as she continued to sit on the couch, she was only curious. No reason for him to be so snappy, though she had to admit she regretted going right out with it. Draco's expression softened as he sighed, making his way to the couch and sitting down unceremoniously

"I'm just… tired.."

"You're cranky because you're tired?" she raised an eyebrow at him, her hands playing with his hair.

He rested his head on her lap, burying his face in her warm belly. "Yes." She said, the sound muffled and untrue.

Hermione smiled, her hands now massaging his scalp. "You can be such a boy.."

"I am a boy."

"I'm aware."

Hermione watched his body slowly relax, he was so fascinating to observe. His angular yet soft features the picture of old Aristocracy, his mask only really leaving when he was asleep. She could tell he was troubled. About what, though, she had no idea. Though she knew she'd find out soon enough. He nuzzled closer, her smell and her hands working like a sedative. It was almost as if she were cleansing him of his sins. And she didn't even know… It didn't take long before he fell asleep. Feeling like a child, small and unworthy of the bushy-haired saint currently lulling him into the dark sanctuary of sleep.