Hello!

I've had a crazy busy week working on multiple works, and this little fic snuck up on me so here it is. Just a quick one shot. (Shifting my works onto here from A03 so copy pasting my A/Ns.)

Thanks to fellow Aussie friend; Affectiion, for beta-ing for me.

Hope you enjoy! Let me you enjoy this!

-GiTG x

Just one look- that look, and she has his heart beating utter chaos in his chest.

Death by arrhythmia is a strong possibility right now, he did not doubt it. He watched her from beside the bookshelf, with a gaze so intense he could bore a hole through her book.

Her brown wild curls cascaded around her face.

Her soft luscious lips glistened from her saliva.

She licked her lips again and he shuddered, trying to suppress the chill of love and desperation that rolled through his body. Draco needed Hermione like a drowning victim needs air. She was survival; his survival; his means with no end.

If the rumors were true, he didn't know how he could go on.

Draco's feet took him to her before he consciously recognised he was moving. He was stopping in front of her, stuttering her name before biting his tongue.

"H- Hermione. If there was a possibility of tomorrow not existing, would you kiss the hell out of me, right here, right now?"

"Malfoy?" Responded Hermione quizzically.

Draco refrained from stuttering, but in all honesty, he was terrified.

"Please. Just kiss me like there's no tomorrow."

Hermione's reaction was not one of shock. She'd expected this. Some sort of fallout was sure to come from dating Ron.

"Malfoy, I- I'm sorry but I can't."

A sting of jealousy, followed closely by a pang of guilt. Draco's steel grey eyes blinked away the tears that threatened to spill.

"So it's true then?" he asked in disbelief.

Hermione struggled with her emotions; the internal fight was overwhelming.

"Don't do this," said Hermione as her brittle voice conveyed emotions she was refusing to show. "I can't. We can't, and I'm sorry but it really isn't any of your business."

"Of course its my business, when the girl I love happens to be dating Ron- fucking Weasley!" shouted Draco as his anger rose beyond anything he had ever felt before.

Hermione cast a muffliato attempting some form of privacy, but they'd already drawn attention.

"Draco. Could you lower your voice? Please!" hushed Hermione desperately.

"Why?" Draco demanded. "Everyone knows, Hermione. It was only a secret from me. Why the secrecy? Because of him? Or because of me? Whilst Gryffindors are brave and fearless, Slytherins fight with a loyalty and ambition that far surpasses anything a Gryffindor can give you." The words spilled from Draco's mouth before he could gain control of them. "I'm sorry I was afraid to love you sooner. But I can give you so much more than he can. I can give you all of me now."

Hermione placed her hands flat on her study desk, and pushed to a standing position. She stepped around the desk and took Draco's hand, leading him to a heavily shelved area for seclusion. She let go of his hand and shook her head.

"I'm afraid it's a case of too little, too late, Draco."

Draco's head instantly mimicked hers, and he shook his head too, disagreeing with her last statement.

"Don't play hard to get, Hermione. You've got me, there's no need -"

Hermione stepped back as anger overtook her calm. He's so bloody stubborn!

"Don't come here, telling me you've finally realised it was me you wanted all along when you denied me in the first place!" she sobbed as a single tear rolled down her cheek. "You made me fall in love with you, and then you failed to catch me when I fell! You broke my heart, Draco! I'm too good for you."

That hurt. Draco felt an unfamiliar angst build in his chest. He did not like where this conversation was going at all.

"You are- I know that. But I know I can be good for you, if you'll let me? Just give me a chance to prove it to you," he pleaded.

Hermione's bottom lip trembled and she nervously bit it in an attempt to stop herself from completely breaking down.

"I can't do that."

Draco, the persistent man he was, was not going to give up easily.

"What are you scared of, Hermione?"

She avoided his gaze while he continued to press the matter.

"I'm not -"

He reached forward to grab her face. Both of his hands cupped her cheeks and he forced her to look at him.

"You can't lie to me," he proclaimed.

She released the harsh bite of her lip, and her lips trembled as she spoke.

"I'm scared that if I kiss you I won't be able to stop," Hermione placed her hands on his, and pulled them away from her face. "When I kiss him , it's easy to stop... When I kiss you ; I feel like I'm unable to break away. It's a dangerous thing, Draco, to know that I can lose control in your kiss."

Draco lowered his hands and threaded them through her fingers as he spoke.

"It's not like you to hold back out of fear."

Hermione was a complete mess now. Raw emotion, now fully exposed for what it was.

"It's not fear... it's pain."

To know she was in pain, hurt him.

But he understood the feeling all too well, because he experiences pain at the thought of her being with someone else.

He attempted to explain further, but she wouldn't have it.

"Herm -"

Hermione didn't give him a chance to explain.

"You can't pick and choose when to walk in and out of my life and expect to leave no mess. How am I supposed to appreciate the red apple, when the green apple keeps wanting a taste?"

Draco laughed at her ironic statement.

"Green apples, red apples, they are all capable of good and bad, Granger," Draco smiled wryly. "You just have to take a risk to find out which is worthwhile. You'd only have to take one risk to know how good a green apple can be, and I assure you, the green ones are not only more crisp; they have a better flavour!"

Hermione hid the smile that threatened to turn her lips.

"I kiss him knowing full well he won't hurt me."

"He won't hurt you, but he could. Anyone could. What's love without a little risk? Do you want to be with someone that will take care of you and offer you a life long friendship, or do you want someone who can challenge you, love you, grow with you and create a life with you?" Draco asked questioningly as he pulled Hermione into a tight embrace. "You deserve someone who is utterly obsessed with you, trust me when I say that I am. There is only one witch for me, Hermione. Let me prove to you what love can really be."

Hermione stroked Draco's face gently and pushed him away.

"I can't do that to him. Not like this… I need some time to think. Please give me that."

"You know I'm not patient but I suppose I could give you a few minutes."

"Draco! That's not long enough. Just give me a week…"

"A week! Are you trying to kill me? I've already waited years for you."

"Then what's a few more?" said Hermione with a cheeky grin, as she brushed a kiss over his cheek before turning to leave the library. She summoned her things on the way out.

Draco stared blankly, wondering if she seriously meant the last part. Whats a few more? She couldn't be serious! Could she?