She crumpled to the ground, holding herself together. The tears fell unbidden, uncontrollably. The pain she felt was so intense she didn't know if she could make it home. What was it about her that no one wanted her? She had dated Ron and he cheated on her. William cheated on her too. Now Nate had openly made out at a party with her boss. Three men in a row was too much for her to take. She needed to get away from this party and get home. Thankfully there wouldn't be any reason for Nate to follow her. They had only been dating a few months and hadn't gotten to the point of leaving possessions at each other's house.

With tears still falling down her cheeks, she stood up and walked to the gate that would lead her to the street so she could apparate home. Her quiet, lonely home.

"Hermione!" a voice called to her as she reached the gate. She continued through not wanting to talk with anyone. She heard footsteps coming up quickly behind her, "Hermione, stop. What happened?"

She turned around ready to tell off Draco. He may be her best friend, but she wasn't in the mood for twenty questions.

"Nate decided he needed an upgrade. What did it look like? Now, if its ok with you, I'm going home," she turned and walked again.

Draco grabbed her elbow stopping her. He pulled her into his arms and held her close to his chest.

"No, it's not ok to go home, you don't need to be alone tonight. We are going to my place," he spoke purposefully.

Before she could pull away, he had apparated them to his foyer.

"What the hell! I said I want to go home. Why did you bring me here? You could have gone back and found a girl to bring back here to shag her brains out," Hermione shouted stepping back from him.

Draco shook his head and kept his hand on her elbow, essentially blocking her from apparating out. She was one of the few people who had the privilege to apparate in and out of Draco's house. They had been friends for the last two years, just after her breakup with Ron. Somehow, during a party for the ministry, they had gotten to talking and became fast friends. He could keep up with her. He had held her through the breakup from William. And it looked like now he would hold her through this disaster.

But somehow, along the way, Hermione had lost her heart to Draco. She had been with William a year when she realized that she was in love with Draco. When William had cheated on her, it wasn't much of a shock, but it still hurt like hell. She didn't feel good enough. Draco had been dating Terri, a girl a few years younger than them. So, she threw herself in the relationship with Nate. She told herself it was to forget, but she knew she didn't think she had a chance with Draco. He liked a certain type of girl-smart yes, but bloody gorgeous. And she was smart but never gorgeous. Plain was the adjective that was ascribed to her. Her grey eyed, white-blond haired best friend was gorgeous and would never look at her with anything other than platonic affection.

The tears continued to fall down on her cheeks as Draco led her to the library. Her favorite couch was there, and he knew being around the books would calm her. The only other person who may have helped her better might have been Harry, but that was only due to knowing her longer and being rather empathetic without a piece of Voldemort's soul destroying him.

"Hermione, when have I ever allowed you to go through a breakup alone? I'm not starting now. You are my best friend, now shut up and tell me what happened."

"I already told you. He decided he needed an upgrade. It's not like we had been dating all that long. I'm fine. It just hurts to have this happen a third time, you know? I'm done trying to be in a relationship, it hurts too much. I will be the crazy cat lady or something. Maybe I should work in a library." Her thoughts running away with her in ramblings, she smiled gently at the thought of working in a massive library. Maybe Miss Pince would retire soon and she could work at Hogwarts.

Draco had sat her down on the couch by this time and was holding his handkerchief out for her to take. His hand was still on her elbow, but it was now rubbing soothing circles that she could feel through the thin layer of her jumper. Being here with him was torture. If only he would let go of her, she could leave and cry alone.

"You don't seriously believe that the slag he was sloppily kissing was an upgrade, do you? You are brilliant and beautiful. She was stupid and average at best. Did you see her arse? It was so flat, there was nothing there. Now, your arse, its perfectly round and perky," Draco said with a grin.

Hermione didn't see the darkening of his eyes as he looked at her. She turned from him and tried to stand up. She needed to get away. He didn't believe that at all. He was trying to make her feel better and it was making her feel worse.

"I need to leave. Let go, Draco," she said turning toward him.

"No," he spoke firmly. He pulled her to his chest and raised her chin with his other hand, "I'm not letting you go."

"Why not? You can't just kidnap me!" she fairly shouted at him pushing his chest with her hands. But she wasn't strong enough to put any space between them.

"Because I have been waiting for years to do this," and he took her face in his hands and put his lips on hers in a gentle kiss. Hermione froze for two seconds and then melted into the kiss, deepening it. Instead of pushing him away, she grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer. She still had tears on her cheeks, but his lips felt heavenly.

Draco moaned when she opened her mouth to the swipe of his tongue on her lips. His arms were holding her close. She felt like she was in a dream. This couldn't be real.

A/N: I know I'm supposed to be writing the next chapter of Safe at Last, which is almost complete btw and should be uploaded by Sunday, but this plot bunny popped into my head. It will only be a two or three chapter fic. Just something that allows me to go a little different direction with Draco and Hermione for a bit. This story will be finished uploading before the end of the weekend.

Life is not nearly as crazy as it was, (read: I had to drop out of University, sadly, and yes I am depressed by this) so I will be able to get on an updating schedule that is more consistent. I'm hoping to update once a week for Safe at Last.

I hope you like what I have so far! Read and review!