A/N: Written in response to the overwhelming amount of feedback I received from my story "10 Things I Know About Hermione Jean Granger." This is basically a short series of drabbles detailing Draco's unreturned affection for Hermione. Enjoy(:

1. freckles
SHE HAS A LIGHT SPRINKLING OF FRECKLES ON THE BRIDGE OF HER NOSE
– and there's fourteen; i've counted

She is concentrating hard, I can tell. Her brow is furrowed in that inquisitive way of hers and I can hear her muttering things under her breath as she runs her finger down the list of ingredients. Her bushy hair is pulled back into a messy ponytail and her shirt is damply clinging to her body, but she looks sexy to me, she looks like a princess, even sitting there in that hot, dark room full of the smell of elixirs and things that have been dead for a long, long time. I don't know why my legs are moving, don't know why I'm walking over to her side until I'm there. And then my mouth, my stupid mouth opens.

"Need help?"

She looks up. There is fire in her eyes, sparks flying off her tongue.

"Go away."

The rejection. It's in every syllable, infiltrating every letter, every gap between the words. With a sigh of contempt, she goes back to her book and I walk back to my cauldron because maybe I'm just not cut out to be her Prince Charming.

I forget about my potion for the rest of the lesson, and even when it simmers over, I don't care, because I only have eyes for her, for watching her tiny little hands pour ingredients into her pot, watching her twist her hair around her finger and contemplate, watching her wrinkle her nose in frustration and flip through the pages like they have an answer. Watching her be her.

I stare at her, counting the freckles on her nose. She doesn't ever notice me, not even when I count oh so high, all the way up to fourteen. It's a magic number, and when the voice tells us we're dismissed, I leave and wait for the night to come. And then when it does, I stare out the window, stare into all that shuddering blackness, that cloudy expanse.

When my vision focuses, I see fourteen stars, one for every single freckle.

A/N: If you wouldn't mind, I sure would love a review. It always bolsters my spirits and energizes me to write more. So clicky-clicky? It's a tiny little button and it won't really take that long...(:

XOXO,

-Sianatra