CHAPTER THREE

It had been weeks since his incident with Hermione. He hadn't thought about it once. He felt reassured but also drained at the same time. His brain had mostly been taken up with his duties to the Dark Lord. He thought of ways to find the confidence to go through with it. He would not be a coward this time. His family and his life depended on it.

He found school to be important to him right now. The few times he would show up to class, he couldn't be bothered to pay attention. He was preoccupied with the weight on his shoulders. He didn't have time to be worried about school work right now. He knew he was letting assignments slip by him and he hadn't learned one thing the entire 2 months of being there this year.

It wasn't until Defense Against the Dark Arts that he started feeling drowsy. The lack of sleep was taking a toll on him and his energizing charms wore off far too soon. He rested his head in his arms and fell asleep on his desk.

Whenever he closed his eyes, everything went dark. He lost all control when he fell asleep. He dreamt about his parent's execution. They died because of him. He was just about to watch himself die when someone shook him awake.

He turned around to see Professor Snape hovering over him.

"You have not turned in one assignment all year Mr. Malfoy" he spoke with his monotone voice and had a dreadfully unenthusiastic look on his face. Nothing out of the ordinary.

"I- I'm sorry sir," Draco replied as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "I think I'm coming down with something." He forced a cough which didn't convince Snape in the slighted.

"If you don't start doing your part as a student, I will have no choice but to expel you." He looked more serious than usual. If that was even possible. "You will be spending your nights at the library from now on until you are caught up." Draco tried to interrupt. "No exceptions Draco."

Snape left him alone in the classroom. Draco felt overwhelmed. He couldn't get expelled. His life depended on it. He sat while his thoughts raced in his head. It took a while for him to get up. Perhaps studying would be good for him. It could possibly take his mind off the stress. He tried to stay optimistic as he drug himself to the library.

He strolled the aisles looking for the book he needed to get started on his missing assignments. He found the section but was it was blocked by a quiet brown-haired girl who was far too interested in her book to notice he was there. When he realized who she was he just stood there. For a little too long.

Hermione felt the presence of someone behind her. "Can I help you?" she spoke before she even knew who it was. She turned to see Malfoy towering over her. She felt small compared to him.

"I need that." he pointed to a book that was in front of her. She was kind of shocked that he hadn't insulted her yet. She handed it to him and he walked away without saying thank you. She didn't expect him to.

He sat down at a table adjacent to hers and opened the book to a random page. He looked lost. Hermione tried to get back to her book but couldn't help but study him instead. He looked all around puzzled and didn't even have any parchment to write notes on. She noticed he lost focus far too often. What was he doing here? For how many years she'd spent in this library she had not once seen Draco in here.

Being the bright young lady she was, she decided to see if he needed any assistance. Even though she despised him, she couldn't pass up an opportunity to show off her brilliant mind.

"Do you need help with your assignments, Draco?" he didn't look up from the book. He didn't even respond. She noticed what he was reading was year six spells. She had taken that class last year so she could take more advanced classes this year.

"I already took that class you know, I wouldn't mind showing you where to start." She tried not to sound too cocky but it just came naturally.

"And why would I need help from you Granger?" he had already had enough of feeling stupid for one day. He didn't need to be belittled by that know-it-all right now.

"It was just an offer..." her words lingered as she went back to her seat. He stared blankly at the pages. He did need help. He had been looking at the same page forever and hadn't read one word. He was hopeless. He couldn't help to think what would happen if he got expelled and if he failed to follow through with his mission.

He sat in silence for a while before raising his voice.

"Actually, I am a bit behind." He caught her attention. "Would you mind helping me get started with this assignment?" he felt ashamed asking for help but greater things were at risk.

She sat next to him and started going off. He only caught bits and pieces of what she said but he got the gist.

"I only asked you because I'm too tired right now to do it myself, okay?" he started to feel vulnerable. He had to shake that. "Don't think too much about it Granger." he spat, "I don't need your charity work."

She knew she was supposed to feel insulted by that but she didn't. She found this diss rather pathetic. She almost felt bad for him that he couldn't come up with something more hurtful.

It was nearly midnight and they were the last ones in the library. Draco was getting his work done but also not at the same time. He found himself looking over at Hermione a lot since her page-turning was distracting. His gaze would go from the book to her chest then up to her full lips as they mouthed the words she was reading. He had done this about twelve times and quickly looked away before she noticed he was staring.

He had never noticed her before. She had always been around, yapping that big mouth of hers in every single class. That was hard to ignore, but he never actually noticed her like this before. Her skin was smooth and her lips pouted as she talked to herself. She wasn't a knockout by any means but her subtle beauty did it for him.

For a moment he couldn't tell if he was dreaming or not. he was definitely not dreaming, this was way more pleasant and he was in control. He daydreamed about her shedding her robes to the ground. Next was her shirt, then her skirt. He pictured what her body would look like and he felt his blood rush to his groin. He must have been more sleep-deprived than he thought because he forgot she was sitting right there.

He pictured her naked body walking towards him. Her lips formed his name and he was in complete awe of his imagination.

"Draco.." his thoughts were becoming more realistic.

"Draco!" He sat up with a jolt and quickly covered his lap with his book. She was standing over his table saying something inaudible.

"What?" he managed to choke the word out.

"Yoo-hoo" she sang waving a hand in front of his face. "I said the library is going to close soon. I don't think Filch will appreciate you staying the night here." she laughed at him.

"Right," he said but didn't stand up yet. He waited for her to leave before he followed far behind her. He was embarrassed for even thinking something like that. If his father knew he had been fantasizing about a mudblood, he would have his head on a steak.

He got to his common room knowing very well he could've gotten himself in trouble tonight. He needed sleep. He gave into a sleeping spell he put on himself praying for a dreamless rest. He fell asleep before his head hit his pillow.