Disclaimer: I don't own any characters you are familiar with.
A/N: I revised the first chapter, finally! It's basically the same, just with less grammatical errors, and (hopefully) less confusing.
"Ferret!"
"Mudblood!"
The two marched back to their rooms and slammed their doors at the same time.
And this was one of the days that you can call them being "nice" to each other. Other days, well… let's just say the only way you couldn't't here them shouting at each other is if you left the castle. As Head Boy and Head Girl, it was their duty to promote inter-house unity, and to at least be civil with one another out of there private quarters. So far, from the sound coming from the Head dormitories, things weren't going so well. She blamed it on him having the inability to work with others courteously. He blamed it on her always wanting to control everyone and everything. Others blamed it on inability to see that they both fancied each other, and the tension was just too much. If Draco wasn't Head Boy, he would have thrown his head back, laughed, and hexed you until you had to walk on one leg because all your other limbs were nowhere to be found. Malfoy believed that it was the wizarding world's most malevolent and despicable man who did this to him on purpose. Not Voldemort, or his father.
Dumbledore.
Malfoy believed it was Dumbledore's secret desire to make his life a living hell. And he was succeeding.
X
"I mean I can't be-"
"Hermione! You've been talking about Malfoy for the past 15 minutes! Can we talk about something we care about?" interrupted Ron.
"Well, sor-ry Ronald," replied Hermione, her eyes narrow and dangerous. Hermione always called Ron, "Ronald" when she was annoyed with him. "I always have to listen to you talk about Quidditch, girls, how much you hate Snape, but I can't talk about my life for a good 10-
"15." corrected Ron, "And you hate Snape too!"
She continued to eye him, thoroughly irritated, "Fifteen minutes –"
"Okay Hermione! Forget I said anything at all, all right?" apologized Ron. And then mumbled something about insane women.
"Fine. I'm going to the library." Hermione gathered her things and left in a huff.
"You know not to interrupt Hermione when she's in one of her moods." Harry told Ron after she had left.
"I know, but geez, there's only so much a man can take."
X
Draco had been watching this happen from the Slytherin table. He had heard all her rude remarks about him and had rolled his eyes so many times that he could have developed a serious eye problem. Though, the fact that he had been on her mind so much did sort of made him feel proud.
X
Hermione, who had cooled down since the Great Hall, had strolled in the Head's Common Room with a handful of books and saw Malfoy scribbling on a piece of parchment. She put down the books on the end table near the entrance and wondered what Malfoy could be so immensely focused on. She leaned forward, and saw Arithmacy, written in neat, small, slanted handwriting at the top of his paper.
"Have you always been this nosy?" Malfoy said suddenly, without looking up from his essay.
Hermione jumped back in surprise, she was almost certain he didn't't notice her come in.
She didn't't bother answering his question.
"How did you…"
Malfoy glanced up from the parchment, a slightly annoyed expression on his handsome features.
"If you haven't noticed Granger, you aren't't the most discreet person."
"Excuse me?" asked Hermione as she sat across from him.
"And I'm doing an Arithmacy essay if you must know" said Malfoy, sensing that she had been curious as to what he was writing. A few moments later, he had put the finishing touches on his essay, and in one swift movement rolled up the parchment and placed it in his bag.
He leaned back on the sofa, crossed his arms over his chest, and observed Granger.
Granger ignored the initial urge to squirm under his intense grey gaze, took his stare as a challenge, and in retaliation narrowed her eyes into slits and glared back.
Draco broke the silence, "Do you always go to whine to Potty and the Weasel every time we get into a fight."
"I do not whine, Malfoy. And I honestly don't know why you insist on calling them "Potty" and "Weasel", it's like your five or something."
"I do not act like I'm five," Malfoy said a matter-of-factly, "And I'll stop calling them Potty and Weasel, when you all stop calling me "Ferret".
Draco despised Mad-Eye Moody even though it was revealed that it wasn't actually him. That experience, whether Draco admitted it or not, still had its effects on him. It made him sort of… twitchy.
Granger smiled, "Like that will ever happen."
Draco smirked in return, "Exactly."
Silence.
Granger opened her mouth, closed it as if she changed her mind, and finally, "Did we just… agree on something?"
"I believe we did, Granger."
Another moment of silence.
"You have bushy hair." Draco said out of the blue.
Granger instinctively touched the back of her head and scowled at Malfoy. "Never pass up the chance to be an arse, do you Malfoy?"
"Of course not. In fact, it's what I strive for."
Granger was so sick of how he constantly picked at her insecurities for no reasons other than being a complete jerk.
Granger temper was beginning to flare, "You're just like your father. Arrogant, rude, pompous –"
Draco glared at her, "I don't see what my father has to do with any of this."
If there was one thing Draco hated, it was being compared to his excuse for a father. He spent all his life trying to get the man's approval, and it wasn't until recently that Draco had realized that he was better off without Lucius.
"I'm sure he has everything do with how you are. You're like his personal mini-me, made only for the purpose of terrorizing everyone around you."
Draco began to rise on his feet, "And what about you Granger?" Malfoy said in a vicious tone, "You're something of a "mini-me" as well, right? Skipping after Potter and Weasley like some poor pathetic groupie."
"They're my friends!" Hermione began to rise as well, "But you wouldn't't know anything about friendship would you? No, of course you wouldn't. Considering you don't have any-"
"Don't talk about things you have no idea about, Granger." Draco said dangerously, standing at his full height.
"-Minions, acquaintances, sure, but you probably couldn't be civil enough to –"
Two of them stood there, Granger screaming at him, with only the small common room table between them, when Draco did something he had wanted to do since the beginning of 7th year.
X
FLASHBACK
It was a rainy day in October, Draco had just come from Quidditch practice, and he was very muddy. You might ask why, since quidditch is played in the air, on a broomstick. Well, when incompetent new players, keep falling off their brooms, hitting the mud, and continuously bumping into you, you tend to get a bit dirty after practice. But as captain, he had to train and put up with them. Draco swore they were much better in try-outs. The first thing he did after practice was tell his players they better not suck when they played Gryffindor next week, and headed towards the Heads' bathroom. Everything was quiet so Draco thought Granger must have gone to the library.
"Going to become a book herself soon" he mumbled to himself.
As he opened the bathroom door he heard a feminine voice scream, and not after, a shaving, and naked Hermione, with a red towel at her feet.
"AHHHHHH!" Get out you pervert!" yelled a flushed and yet infuriated Granger trying desperately to cover herself.
That night he got a nasty scar on his left eyebrow from the razor Granger threw at his head.
He dodged the rest of the things she threw at him, and went to his room as he heard Granger slam the bathroom door shut.
"I'll guess I'll shower in the morning," he thought to himself as he flopped on his bed.
That night he couldn't help but think about Granger, and how he had never realized how she had "developed". The next day she went on as the stern, firm, McGonagall-like, Head Girl Granger with a stick up her arse and pretended as if nothing had happening the night before. They were patrolling that night, and Draco thought it would be a great time to bring up some "friendly" conversation.
"Malfoy," Hermione said, "Let's get this over with."
"Agreed."
After walking about three floors and seeing a few 5th years snogging in secret places, without saying as much as a peep to each other, Draco decided to break the ice.
"Look Granger, about last night," Draco started.
"Forget it Malfoy, let's just say you never saw me, ok?" said Hermione stopping to face him..
She grabbed Draco by the arm, firmly.
"Am I understood?" asked Hermione sternly.
"Yes, now get off me woman!"
And that was the end of it…Publicly.
Secretly, Draco had begun to… let's say lust for her. Love was definitely too strong of a word. Don't worry though; Draco wasn't the sappy, lovesick kind of an admirer who stalked her behind trees and statues and whatnot. He was still the dignified, sophisticated Malfoy he had always been, and would never ever tell a soul about his desire for Mudblood Granger. Not even if his head on the guillotine.
END FLASHBACK
He kissed her.
He leaned toward Granger, and he kissed her. Hermione froze and just took the kiss, wide-eyed and not knowing what to do. Not kissing him back, but not making the effort to get him off of her. Realizing she was probably too much of a prude to kiss him back, he pulled out of the kiss, looking deeply into her eyes, looking for an answer. This is what he got; "Good night, Malfoy"