Hello! This is my first time ever uploading anything here, as my previous attempts at fan fiction were... well, kinda sad XD

Anyway, this is a oneshot, which was inspired by the many amazing fan fictions out there :) It takes place during Half-Blood Prince and is a bit AU with one or two things that don't actually occur in the book. I hope you enjoy!

The Encounter Gone Awry

Draco strode leisurely across the grounds of Hogwarts through the thick, white fog, black robes billowing behind him as he swaggered. It was early in the morning, around six o'clock, and he had come out, trying to process all this new information that had rushed forth in to his life with the force of a massive tidal wave.

Draco's father, Lucius Malfoy, had finally escaped Azkaban over the Easter break, leaving the entire wizarding world, including his own son, wondering how on earth he did it. He and a few other Death Eaters went on a celebratory killing spree, torturing or murdering an entire street of muggles. This, of course, sent the muggle world in to a predictable and most likely planned panic. His father's escapades made the front page of the Daily Prophet, causing his son much unwanted attention.

As if that wasn't enough, his task to... dispose of Dumbledore was not going well at all. The cursed necklace had found its way in to the wrong hands, and Dumbledore hadn't even come close to drinking the potion, even though Draco couldn't help but be filled with something short of glee when he discovered that it had been Weasley who drank it. These feelings slowly ebbed away, however, when he realized that he was, already, out of plans, due to his confidence that the first two would succeed. Of course, every time he would think about how he would react if his plans would actually succeed, an irritating, mysterious presence of some feeling would begin nibbling at the back of his mind, pestering Draco with its murmurs of doubt. Usually, he would find concentrate hard on something, willing it away with all of his mental strength. He could do it. He had to.

As Draco began to approach the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest, he stopped mid-stride as his icy glare fell upon a familiar face with a mop of brown, bushy hair. The girl's head was bowed and she was shuffling her feet across the earth, with her hands fingering the frayed sleeves of her robes. A smirk slid fluidly on to his face. Her parents had been two of the muggles to be murdered by his father, and he couldn't help but provoke her just a bit.

"Hello Granger," He drawled out, feigning friendliness. Immediately, she froze, but Hermione did not look up; her melancholy, doe-like eyes were fixed on the ground before her. Draco was a little taken aback, surprised that she didn't answer with a usual, fiery retort, but he continued despite it. "How are you today?" He asked with that same, cutting sarcasm. Yet again, he was met with silence, much to his annoyance.

"Granger, I'm talking to you. Are you muggles really that thick?" This time, her gaze slowly shifted upwards to meet his. Her eyes glittered with unshed tears and the skin surrounding them was tinged with red; she looked absolutely miserable. At first Draco's heart softened by a tiny bit, and a muscle in his cheek twitched. As soon as he realized what was going on, however, he immediately snapped out of it, now furious with himself.

"Oh, why don't you go find Potter and Weasley and cry your bloody eyes out? Filthy mudblood. Why he didn't kill you after he got your muggles is unknown to me." As soon as the words left his lips, a tense silence hung in the damp, foggy air, creating an almost unbearable tension. Hermione took an unconscious step back. The color had washed out from her face, giving it a chalky pallid look. The smirk marring Draco's face faltered at her pained expression. Had he gone too far? No. He dismissed the thought, replacing the unfamiliar emotions with the cold, bitter indifference he was most accustomed to. That is how father would have done it, He thought bitterly, not sparing time to reminisce. Draco stepped forward towards Hermione's wounded form, and moved in for the kill.

Before he could move his pale lips however, Hermione had lunged forward, sending them both toppling backwards on to the soft, waterlogged earth. She sat on his stomach, a leg either side of him, and pinned his arm over his head with her trembling, yet forceful hands. Draco's eyes widened, feeling an alarming amount of emotions pulsing through his veins as his heart beat an uneven, disjointed rhythm. Hermione was glaring down at him, absolutely livid, seemingly unaware of the drastic change in his demeanor. The intense look of hatred dancing in her normally gentle brown eyes chilled him to the very core. Upon closer inspection, Draco noticed tears streaking noiselessly down her now flushed cheeks.

"You bloody bastard," She swore through gritted teeth, her voice husky and strained as she shook with rage. His mouth fell open a few times, but found himself uncharacteristically wordless, making him feel completely and utterly ridiculous. Perhaps it was because she had caught him off guard, perhaps it was because she had reacted so violently, or may be it was her sudden, unexpected proximity, the warmth that seeped from her body to his.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" She demanded, his silence only mounting on to her already roaring fury. Draco's breathing only became more shallow and frequent. With her fists clenched tightly, clutching his robes in her hands, she thrust him backwards in to the earth, beginning to shake him relentlessly by the shoulders. He screwed his face up, feeling helpless and pathetic. Finally, however, she stopped.

Draco slowly opened his eyes, blinking a few times to clear his blurred vision. His cold, icy grey stare swept over her face, now seeing that tears were pouring from her eyes. Her eyebrows were furrowed and nose scrunched up in anguish and pure misery, causing Draco to take a sharp breath of humid, autumn-scented air. After a sob tore its way through her throat, red crept in to Hermione's already flushed cheeks and she hid her face in her hands. As she made to get off of him, Draco acted in a way that he would question over and over in the years to come. Instead of letting her rise from his body and run off to wherever she was going to hide, he reached out hurriedly and grabbed her upper arm, preventing her from making an escape.

Frozen grey met warm, honey brown and for the first time he would let himself admit it, Draco found himself lost in her gaze. Hermione let out a small noise of protest, a cross between a yelp and a whimper, but Draco didn't pay it any heed, nor did he care.

With a sudden, fluid, one-armed movement, Draco yanked her forward so that she fell on top of him. He snaked a gloved hand behind her head, weaving it in to her thick, bushy hair and using it to guide her face towards his own.

Their lips met with such a powerful, startling force that they both gasped in to each other's mouths. Hermione lay still against him, whether it was from shock or lightheadedness, and he used it to his advantage. As soon as his other free hand found its way in to her hair, Draco's lips slid across hers quickly and feverishly, giving her little time to make sense of the situation. It was only a few seconds afterwards that she wriggled and squirmed in his arms, attempting to break his strong hold. After a brief struggle, she placed her hands on to his chest and pushed with all the strength she could muster, breaking apart his arms.

Draco merely watched her as she scrambled up to her feet, his chest heaving and his heart beating as loud as he had ever heard it. Hermione's face was blanched, far whiter than before, and she gaped at him with a mixture of astonishment and disgust. Before he could do anything, she had bolted. Sprinting at full speed as far away from the scene as her legs could take her.

It would only be until later that morning that Professor Snape would find his numb body sprawled out on the ground just outside the Forbidden Forest, and it would only be until late in the evening, in a deserted Slytherin common room that the realization of what he had just done would hit him with full force. Until then, he lay there, unconsciously fingering his swollen lips and gazing up at the light gray sky, absentmindedly noting that it looked as though it were about to rain.

Well, that's it! I hope you did like it, but if there's anything you didn't like, I would definitely appreciate if you told me! Critique or just a review is most welcomed, lol...

I apologize if either Draco or Hermione seem extremely out of character, I did my best to make them act the way I think they should, even though I might have done it completely wrong. Also, if some of these things seem unlikely (Lucius escaping Azkaban, Draco/Hermione, etc.), then I am also sorry! I did my best to follow facts of the books as well...

Thank you so much for reading! Just taking the time to read what I wrote really makes me feel good!

- DuskEmbrace