This is my first story. Be nice to me, please... I'm quite new to this whole story-writing thing. I'm usually more inclined to writing poems, but I've decided to 'broaden my horizons.'

Warning: This story contains EVIL!DARK!PSYCHOPATHIC!TWISTED!SADISTIC!SEXY!DRACO. No seriously. Draco's very, very, very evil here. And if you can't stomach that then run along to some other fic. This is not for you.

If you like dark Draco, you're going to love this…

English is my second language. So if you find any errors, please tell me.

Beta-ed by Pooja (murtagh799). Thank you.

Okay, here we go.

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The library had been empty when she had sat down to read a book.

Alice in Wonderland. The title held a certain twist, didn't it? Her mind wandered off to her childhood days when she hadn't known she was a witch. She had read numerous times to the point where she'd almost had it memorized.

It had been different from all the other books her mum had wanted her to read as a child… for Alice was not like the young women in other stories. Alice wasn't a princess, Alice didn't have a prince and Alice, no matter how many people she met, was terribly and undeniably alone. Something about that had intrigued her back then, and now it seemed as though nothing had changed after all these years…

It frightened and fascinated Hermione Granger to think that she and Alice had a lot of similarities.

Hogwarts. The place was her adventure, her rabbit hole, her cup of tea, her castle of hearts, her home. She often thought of it as her very own 'Wonderland.'

Seven years, she'd been living here. She had been through a lot, fighting the Final Battle against Voldemort, together with her two best friends. They had triumphed in the end.

Now the Wizarding World was finally at peace.

But things had started to change. Even though the war had ended, it had lasting effects. Her friends had started to drift away. She hadn't known why, but day by day, she could feel them inching away from her.

Or maybe it hadn't been them at all. Maybe it was just her that was drifting away...

Whatever this was, she was scared. She felt powerless to stop it. She was scared that the time would come when they'd be too far for her to reach, that they would be gone completely and she'd be left alone again.

Like Alice?

But Wonderland had only been a dream for Alice and by the time she had regained consciousness, she was safe. Hermione didn't have that luxury. Hogwarts— Hogwarts was real for her.

"Need anything, Malfoy?" she said with much disinterest. She was so busy with her thoughts that she hadn't even noticed him sitting on the opposite side of her table. She shifted her gaze away from the book and looked directly at him. His silver blond hair was a mess and it covered his grey eyes. His hands were on his pockets and his feet were on the table. His very presence demanded attention. He was smirking at her as usual, but there was something different about it, and not in a good way. She shuddered slightly when she met his eyes. Cold and dead, they were...

"How've you been Granger?"

"Don't ask such friendly questions." It was her turn to smirk. For the past few weeks, Malfoy had been acting rather strange. He would sit beside her or near her whenever they had the same class, look at her while they were eating in the great hall or dramatically just pop out of nowhere whenever she was alone. She had paid no mind to it. Perhaps he was just doing it to irritate her. "One would actually think you were interested in me," she added to annoy him.

For how could Draco Malfoy ever be interested in what he sees as filth?

Suddenly, he shifted in his current position and leaned towards her. She pressed her back against her chair in alarm, holding her wand inside the pocket of her robes in case he tried anything funny.

"And if I was?" He leaned in further, enjoying her obvious discomfort.

"What?" The statement had caught her completely off guard. Malfoy's smirk widened. Then suddenly he grabbed her chin and made her look at him. She shivered as she felt his hand on her skin. He looked like he was perplexed.

"Your eyes, Granger. They're so open, so innocent and honest," he said absentmindedly, studying her. He was slowly inching towards her, as if he was about to kiss her. She was so stunned by his uncharacteristic behaviour that she couldn't pull away. He was speaking in riddles. What the bloody hell was he talking about?

"W-what do you—what the bloody hell are you talking about?"

"You should learn to cover them." He was so close; she could feel his breath on her skin. "They're so … tempting."

She shivered at his words but she would never admit to herself that she felt afraid. She was too shocked to say anything. She felt her mouth go dry. What did he mean by tempting? What was wrong with him?

"You can't just— I-I—" she stuttered. Finally, she managed to push him away from her body. She ungracefully stood up, grabbing her books and shoving them messily in her bag. Malfoy had clearly lost his mind and she had a bad feeling about it. She turned to leave.

"McGonagall wanted something."

She stopped on her tracks. She looked back at him, pissed that he held something against her. They stared at each other for quite some time. Her instincts were telling her to run now— to safety— but she refused to be intimidated.

"Well?" she told him impatiently. "What is it?"

He sneered and pushed the chair where she sat a while ago with his feet. "Sit."

She cursed under her breath and grudgingly sat down again, keeping the chair as far away from the table as possible. He only chuckled.

"I'm not going to murder you, love. I just want to talk."

"Don't call me that," she said, seething. "I do not want to talk to you. I do not want to be near you. I do not want anything to do with you. Now please tell me what McGonagall wanted and let me leave."

"Granger, Granger, Granger," he addressed her like she was a child and it unnerved her. "That's no way to talk to a Malfoy. You should know by now that this is your own fault anyway."

"Fault? What's my fault?"

"This." He waved his hands like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

She stared at him questioningly. He smirked again. "You really have no idea?"

"No. Please enlighten me."

"No," he said, suddenly more enthusiastic. It was downright creepy. "You're cluelessness makes it all the more thrilling." He stood and turned to leave.

Her what?

"What was Professor McGonagall trying to say to me?" she called out to him.

He only graced her with one last smirk and continued on his way.

There wasn't really any message from McGonagall, was there?

Hermione cursed under her breath and stopped herself from hexing him right then and there.

"What's going on?" she asked the people in front of her. A huge crowd gathered in the corridors. The students were excited over something. She couldn't see past their heads, but she knew she had to stop whatever was happening. It was her job as Head Girl after all.

"Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini are having a fight!" said an overly excited first year she did not know. Hermione pursed her lips. How dare they cause such a commotion? She tried to go through the group of students but nothing seemed to work and she was stuck at the back of the crowd. Annoyed, she moved to grab her wand but seconds later, the people started to part in front of her, probably to give way to someone.

Draco Malfoy walked pass the crowd with a very angry look on his face. They all looked amazed and scared of him at the same time. Whispers could be heard all around him. He didn't take notice of any of it though. His lip was bleeding and he had a terrible bruise on the side of his head. His hair was dishevelled and he looked as if he wanted to kill someone, although he probably had done just that seconds ago.

She dreaded to think what became of Zabini.

She saw him lying like a corpse a few feet behind Malfoy. No one had dared to go near him in case Malfoy had decided to come back. With all the Gryffindor bravery she could muster, Hermione Granger stayed where she was. She didn't give way to him like the crowd had done, didn't keep her distance. She was determined to give him a piece of her mind and possibly detention. She was face-to-face with Malfoy now, and the murderous look on his face was not helping her courage at all.

She was about to say something when Malfoy finally caught sight of her. He lunged at her so fast, she didn't have time to react. He pushed her to the wall hard, kissed her roughly on the lips,and then punched the glass window beside her head. It smashed into pieces and the crowd that parted for him seconds ago, gasped.

But Hermione couldn't gasp. She couldn't even breathe.

What have you done? Her thoughts screamed wildly. With one last lingering look at her, he walked away without so much of a scratch on his hand to show for his violent activities.

Everyone was quiet. They were all too shocked at what they had just witnessed.

She was shaking with anger now, her hands balled into fists. "Get back to your dorms! All of you!" she yelled. Everyone scrambled on their feet and left.

With a wave of her wand, the glass window was returned to its original condition. She walked towards the unconscious form of Blaise Zabini.

"I told you Harry, I think he's after me," she tried to explain to her friends as they sat in the Great Hall. She sat there staring down at her soup, playing with it with her spoon. She had lost her appetite the moment Malfoy had started burning holes in the back of her head with his eyes.

"Who? Malfoy?" Harry said with a slight frown. "He's mental, Hermione. He's probably just messing with you."

"Merlin, he's right Hermione," said Ron while he filled his plate with enough food to feed a whole army. "I don't think that git would want to date someone like you."

"Someone like me?" she repeated angrily, her voice starting to rise. "And what do you mean by that, Ronald?"

"I reckon he's into a more beautiful ty— " His eyes suddenly widened when he realized what he was just about to say. Harry glared at him. Hermione banged her palms on the table and stood up.

"I'll see you guys later," she said icily. She knew what they were on about. They just couldn't believe the idea that anyone would show even the slightest bit of interest on her. They hadn't heard yet about the kiss (Merlin, she could vomit just by saying it), and she wasn't planning on telling them either. Even if they did eventually hear about it, she would deny it. She walked away from them and didn't look back.

She could feel everyone's eyes on her. She could hear their whispers.

And she knew what they were talking about.

She cursed under her breath and walked angrily towards the Hospital Wing. Zabini was lying in one of the beds, a book in his hands. He didn't look up when she sat beside his bed.

For a moment they were silent. She didn't speak, thoughts still lingering on the past events. Draco Malfoy was not stupid. He knew what would have happened as a result of his actions. He knew that rumours would spread. He knew that this could possibly stain his pureblood name.

So why did he still do it?

Of course with the war over, blood didn't matter anymore. But still… she couldn't help but feel uneasy. It was as if something very bad was about to happen.

"Yes?" Blaise Zabini said, while still reading his book. It was only then that she noticed that she had been mumbling to herself.

"My apologies," she responded, bitterly. She shoved the uneasy thoughts aside and gave him a warm smile. "How're you feeling?"

"Better," he said, finally closing his book and turning to look at her. Her relationship with Blaise had been a civil one since the year had started. He was Head Boy and thankfully, he was willing to put their differences aside to work together. Even though he was a Slytherin, she respected him, and he respected her.

A lot of people even said they would make a great couple.

"I—er, wanted to ask you something," she said quietly, unsure if she wanted to continue.

"Yes, of course," he said. "Anything."

"What happened between you and Malfoy?"

"Anything but that," he replied grimly, his black orbs gazing at her brown ones. She frowned.

"Why?" she looked at him questioningly. "Is it that much of a secret?"

"No, I'm just worried of the outcome."

"You're scared of him, you mean?" she snapped back. She couldn't understand how anyone as clever as Blaise be scared of someone like Malfoy. He wasn't thatdangerous, was he?

Was he?

He turned his gaze away from her and sighed. "Draco is more evil and dangerous than what you give him credit for."

"Is he?" she asked, disbelief marring her features.

"Yes Granger, he is," he said seriously. He closed his eyes for a moment, as if thinking of what to say next. "You don't even know the half of it. I'm warning you now, as your—acquaintance. Be careful. He's after you—"

"Blaise," she heard a cold familiar voice behind her before Blaise could even finish his sentence. She felt herself shiver as Malfoy wrapped his arm around her waist. Their bodies pressed against each other, and for a moment Hermione felt the sinking feeling of fear again. She brushed it off. He stood arrogant and tall, a smirk plastered to his face. "How are you?"

She tried to push him off but he wouldn't budge. He was too strong. He had the nerve to come here when it was his fault Blaise was in an infirmary bed. "Have you forgotten who did this to him?" she told him angrily. Blaise glared at her. She mouthed a 'what?'

"Granger was just about to leave," Blaise said, with a hint of warning in his voice. He was trying to tell her to run for her life but being the stubborn girl that she was, she brushed it off.

"Brilliant, I'll come with her then," Malfoy said, smirk never leaving his face. Blaise's eyes widened.

"I think she can manage on her own, Draco," he muttered grimly. "Besides, didn't you come here to talk to me?"

"I have nothing to say to you," Malfoy said coldly. "I was just checking to see if you were still alive. Unfortunately, you are." He grabbed her hand and pulled her roughly as he walked to the door.

"Hey! What are you—Let go Malfoy!"

Blaise Zabini shook his head. Granger was in for it now.

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Sooooo. How was it? Should I continue? :)